9th Feb

CR IP TI ON BS SU

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

More dolphins found dead in Kuwait

Russia ups threats as crisis escalates

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JAMADA ALAWWAL 8, 1435 AH

Stylish United demolish woeful West Brom

Brutality yields confessions of graft - in China

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Malaysia plane with 239 aboard ‘missing’

Max 30º Min 17º High Tide 03:16 & 14:57 Low Tide 09:18 & 21:55

Two passengers may have been carrying stolen passports

PARIS: Photo shows the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER that disappeared from air traffic control screens yesterday, taking off from Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport in France. (Inset) A relative of passengers cries at their house in Kuala Lumpur. — AP

Hollywood film Government to reject ‘Noah’ banned in proposals on bedoons the Arab world CAIRO: Three Arab countries have banned the Hollywood film “Noah” on religious grounds even before its worldwide premiere and several others are expected to follow suit, a representative of Paramount Pictures said yesterday. Islam frowns upon representing holy figures in art and depictions of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in European and North American media have repeatedly sparked deadly protests in Islamic countries over the last decade, fanning cultural tensions with the West.

“Censors for Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE (United Arab Emirates) officially confirmed this week that the film will not release in their countries,” a representative of Paramount Pictures, which produced the $125 million film starring Oscar-winners Russell Crowe and Anthony Hopkins said. “The official statement they offered in confirming this news is because ‘it contradicts the teachings of Islam’,” the representative said, adding the studio expected a similar ban in Egypt, Jordan and Kuwait.

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KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysia Airlines flight carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew went missing off the Vietnamese coast yesterday and was presumed to have crashed. There were no reports of bad weather and no sign why the Boeing 777-200ER would have vanished from radar screens about an hour after it took off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing. There were no signs of sabotage nor claims of a terrorist attack. However, in Europe, news reports and officials said at least two people on board may have been carrying stolen passports.

The Italian foreign ministry said in Rome that an Italian was listed on the flight’s manifest although no national from the country was on board. The passenger list provided by the airline includes Luigi Maraldi, 37, an Italian citizen. Newspaper Corriere Della Sera reported that Maraldi’s passport was stolen in Thailand last August. The Italian Interior Ministry was unable to immediately comment on the report. In Vienna, the Austrian foreign ministry said an Austrian listed among the passengers was safe and had reported his passport stolen two years ago while he was travelling in Thailand.

Asked for a possible explanation for the plane’s disappearance, Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya told a news conference: “We are not ruling out any possibilities.” By yesterday night, there were no confirmed signs of the plane or any wreckage, over 20 hours after it went missing. Operations will continue through the night, officials said. Vietnam said its rescue planes had spotted two large oil slicks and a column of smoke off its coastline, but it was not clear if they were connected to the missing plane.

“We sent two maritime boats and some military boats there to clarify, each boat with about 20 people,” Pham Quy Tieu, vice minister of transportation, told Reuters by telephone yesterday evening.

Continued on Page 13

Seven Kuwait inmates charged with arson

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GCC internal crisis brews

By A Saleh and agencies

Kuwait Airways denies report KUWAIT: Kuwait Airways has denied reports of gun shots targeting one of its planes that was coming from Doha Friday evening. “Reports regarding a shooting incident at Airbus A320, flight 618 from Doha to Kuwait are inaccurate,” the airline said in a press statement to KUNA. The statement added that the plane arrived at 6:48 pm local time at the Kuwait International airport

and all 81 passengers were safe. The statement noted that “the pilot told the control tower about what appeared to be a shooting incident at a considerable distance from the plane toward the sky, but not on the plane,” adding that “the pilot followed the necessary procedures and aviation regulations by informing aviation authorities.” — KUNA

KUWAIT: While indications suggest that Gulf states will try to end the crisis before the Arab Summit later this month in Kuwait, preparations are ongoing to hold an Arab-American summit during US President’s upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia.

Obama’s high profile visit to Riyadh is expected during the last week of March, as part of his regional tour.

US President is scheduled to meet with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, but reports suggest that leaders of Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, as well as Egypt and Jordan could attend the meeting. “The talks will highlight the strategic relationship between Washington and the Gulf states, and will send a clear message to Iran that those

countries remain strategic allies for the United States,” according to high level sources.

Keeping issue internal The visit comes at a critical time for the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) following the decision of Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain to withdraw their ambassadors from Qatar last Wednesday.

But there is growing realization among the Gulf states that the issue must be resolved internally, and that efforts on that regard must be improved to end the crisis before the Arab Summit that Kuwait hosts on the 25th and 26th of March. “In case a solution is not reached before that date, Gulf states are likely to hold an impromptu GCC summit at the sidelines of the Arab Summit,” sources said.

Continued on Page 13

Domestic violence cases spark protests in Lebanon

KUWAIT: Britain’s based Breitling Wingwalkers display team performs over Kuwait City yesterday during a promotional event to mark the opening of the first dedicated store of the Swiss luxury brand, Breitling watches in Kuwait. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat (See Page2)

BEIRUT: Nada Sabbagh received a brief, chilling telephone call from her son-in-law last month telling her: “Come to your daughter. I am going to kill her.” Sabbagh said by the time she arrived to her daughter’s home in Beirut, her husband had kicked, punched and beaten her with a pressure cooker, leaving her mortally wounded and bleeding on the floor.

“I walked in and started jumping in shock then begged him to let me take her out,” Sabbagh later recounted. She said he responded by saying: “I will not let her out. I want her to die in front of you.” Manal Assi’s husband, Mohammed Nuheili, was detained shortly afterward and is still being questioned by authorities. It remains unclear if he has a lawyer and he could not be reached for comment.

The killing of Sabbagh’s daughter is one of three domestic violence slayings in Lebanon in recent months, drawing new attention to women’s rights in this country of 4 million people. Although

BEIRUT: Nada Sabbagh weeps in front of a picture of her daughter, Manal Assi, who was killed last month. — AP Lebanon appears very progressive on women rights compared to other countries in the Middle East, domestic violence remains an unspoken problem and the nation’s parliament has yet to vote on a bill protecting women’s rights nearly three years after it was approved by the Cabinet. “If a woman does not have authority in her house, how can she take an authoritative post (in government)? It starts here,” said Continued on Page 13

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

LOCAL

Two more dolphins found dead in Kuwait Officials silent on ‘real reason’ Kuwaiti fund to sponsor 14,910 bedoon students

KUWAIT: The dolphins that were found dead in Kuwait yesterday.

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: In addition to seven dolphins that died during the past two years, two others were found dead yesterday at two new locations — the Green Island and Negat Al-Shamlan. The seven dolphins were found perished at the Anjifa beach in Salwa, Kheiran beach, Fintas beach, Mina Abdullah, and Kuwait Bay. The official institutions did not issue any statement about the reasons behind this phenomena. “This number of dead dolphins in Kuwait is very big and is considered a disaster to our marine environment. In fact, we are are not sure about the real reason behind this disaster.

There are public institutions that should tell the public about the reason. We can only speculate.

We suspect that a virus in food these dolphins have consumed may be the reason for their death. Other speculation is that they were captured in the nets of passing ships while fishing, who later threw them into the sea,” Director of

the Kuwait Diving Team Waleed Al-Fadhel told the Kuwait Times yesterday.

He excluded the oil pollution to the reason behind this phenomena. “We have oil leaking in Kuwait since many years, and even Qaroh Island is full of oil slicks and still sea creatures live there perfectly. Experts in the field should examine these dead dolphins and tell us about the reason to solve the problem. The number of dead dolphins here is very big in Kuwait or the GCC countries. We cooperate with other GCC countries through a joint network, and our colleagues in Qatar informed us that they find two or three dead dolphins every month and the reason is always the fishing nets,” explained AlFadhel.

According to him Kuwait has the resources and ability to find out the reason behind this disaster. “It’s supposed that people know after two or three days what caused this disaster. For instance the dead whale that was found on the beach of Failaka Island last week remained at

KUWAIT: Bulgarian Ambassador to Kuwait Alexander Olshevski hosted a reception on the occasion of the country’s National Day at the Bulgarian embassy in Jabriya on Monday. Members of the diplomatic corps, journalists and guests attended the event.

the beach for some time because of the negligence of the responsible institutions, and they only took action after the media publicity. They then brought specialists and doctors and they dealt with the issue within two hours. So if they made the examination they could find the reason behind this increasing death of dolphins,” he pointed out.

Al Fadhel called upon the government to form a committee from related institutions such as the Environment Public Authority, Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources, Zoo, Marine Sciences Center of the Kuwait University, the Kuwait Institution for Scientific Research and others, which will have an operation center to study the situation.

“There were other marine disasters in the past such as the 2300 Tons of dead oysters within 21 days at the Kuwait Bay and till today they didn’t announce the reason behind this disaster.

We hope the this won’t happen again in the issue of dead dolphins,” concluded Al-Fadhel.

KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti charity fund announced yesterday sponsorship of 14,910 students of illegal residents in Kuwait for the second semester of current school year 2013-2014.

On the occasion of end of the midsemester break, the fund will pay off full costs and fees of educating students of illegal residents in Kuwait, Dr Tariq AlShatti, Executive Director of the Charitable Fund for Education saidthat the total budget for educating them for the school year 2013-2014 is KD 4.453 million.

Dr Al-Shatti pointed out that the number of male students included in the Fund’s sponsorship is 7,168, which is 48 percent of total number of students, while the number of included female students is 7,742, which is 52 per cent of total students, adding that around 7,857

male and female students are registered for elementary, 4,263 for middle school, and 2,790 for high school.

He also added that all students resumed their studies and were back to their school seats following end of the mid-semester break as the Fund is closely following workflow of the educational process, affirming at the same time the Fund’s keenness to provide all required necessities to prepare a supportive environment for education.

In addition, Dr Al-Shatti mentioned that the Fund takes care of all expenses for educating needy students who are registered at one of the civil Arab schools that are licensed by Kuwait’s Ministry of Education in accordance to priority segment, which is based on ministerial decision on fees determination in civil Arab schools. — KUNA

Lawyer calls for greater support for women DOHA: The eminent Kuwaiti human rights activist, Abrar Al-Saleh, has affirmed necessity to offer women all “serious support to enhance their status in the Gulf societies.”

In remarks to KUNA, the Kuwaiti lawyer proposed forming a higher council for women to support the young ones and shed light on their role.

Legal systems in the GCC states constitute some of factors of the women power, she said, also noting that the GCC states’ constitution address men and women as citizens of equal rights.

International treaties for safeguarding the women rights have turned into national laws and thus have become compelling, she pointed out, however the prominent attorney indicated “some obstacles” in implementation of such legislations.

Lawyer Al-Saleh called “for women quotas” in the parliaments “as a start for bolstering the women political participation,” also calling for allowing them occupy senior government posts.

Kuwaiti women, in particular, have made strides at this level, occupying rank-

Abrar Al-Saleh ing positions, in addition to serving in key sectors and posts in the political and media domains. The Kuwaiti activist has recently taken part in a meeting on role of the media for backing women role in sustainable development. Conferees tackled women role in the media. —KUNA

KUWAIT: (From left) Spanish Ambassador Angel Losada, US Ambassador Matthew Tueller, Saudi Ambassador Dr Abdulaziz AlFayez and the British Ambassador Frank Baker are seen at the reception. — Photos by Joseph Shagra

KUWAIT: A partial view of the participants.

KPC launches media campaign to promote oil culture among youth KUWAIT: Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) announced yesterday that it plans to launch a media campaign which aims to instill oil culture in the younger generation.

The campaign will support school curricula to teach students more about the oil industry, said Managing Director for Corporate Relations and Information Technology at KPC Ali Al-Obaid in a press statement, who added that the corporation is also launching a new educational publication for the young which will be promoted to them via visits carried out by the Department of Public Relations and Media team at the corporation.

Al-Obaid stressed that the corporation is fully aware of the magnitude of the social responsibility placed on it as it is the main engine of the

Kuwaiti economy and its business has multiple dimensions; let alone, it is an integral part of society; so KPC deemed it appropriate to take the entrepreneurial spirit by way of launching a media campaign to promote oil culture in the younger generation as they are the mainstay of the future and the cornerstone on which it is based. “In this campaign, we will launch an oil educational publication that is considered as a cultural pioneering and unique project in which the Corporation made every possible effort so as to combine in it accurate scientific material, fine literary presentation, illustrations, and interesting narration,” Al-Obaid said.

“Throughout this publication, we made sure that it helps sharpen a child’s cognitive curiosity, simulate the child’s imagination in the target

age group ( ages 9-13) and broaden his or her perceptions so as to understand the story of oil as energy, from it being stored in the ground and then extracted as the primary source of energy to move all aspects of modern life,” he said. Furthermore, he said that there will be educational field visits paid by the team of Public Relations and Media to the schools of Ministry of Education, which comes out of the KPC’s awareness of its responsibility for the promotion of oil culture among the young generation and for support of the educational curricula of the Ministry of Education in the field of oil culture.

These field visits and other efforts by KPC fall within its keenness to increase public awareness about the importance of oil in modern life”, he further said. — KUNA

Burgan Bank concludes national celebrations KUWAIT: In lieu of this year’s National and Liberation days, Burgan Bank hosted a range of local activities to celebrate this anticipated week with its customers, employees and the wider public.

The festive program began with the month-long photography contest for its ‘BuBa’ Kids account holders that reflected their patriotic efforts. It also included distributing gifts to visitors of the bank’s branch at The Avenues mall, as well as employee activities and surprises at the bank. Burgan bank continues to share in its joy of momentous occasions with its audiences and remains an integral part of the Kuwaiti society through engaging in nationwide activities.

Established in 1977, Burgan Bank is the

youngest commercial Bank and third largest by assets in Kuwait, with a significant focus on the corporate and financial institutions sectors, as well as having a growing retail and private bank customer base.

The Bank has continuously improved its performance over the years through an expanded revenue structure, diversified funding sources, and a strong capital base.

The adoption of state-of-the-art services and technology has positioned it as a trendsetter in the domestic market and within the MENA region. Burgan Bank’s brand has been created on a foundation of real values - of trust, commitment, excellence and progression, to remind us of the high standards to which we aspire.

KUWAIT: Breitling Wingwalkers fly above Kuwait City’s iconic Water Towers with pilots David Barrell and Martyn Carrington yesterday. The team loop and roll up to 160 mph enduring G-forces of 4-5g. Crowds gathered at the Kuwaiti coastline to catch a glimpse of the British Wingwalking team yesterday marking the opening of the first dedicated boutique in the city for the prestigious watch brand.— Photos by Joseph Shagra

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SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

LOCAL

Govt to reject proposals on bedoons, allowances Call to increase salaries ‘inappropriate’

By A. Saleh KUWAIT: The government is likely to reject MPs’ proposals that stipulates naturalization of bedoons qualified to receive Kuwaiti citizenship, as well as draft laws to increase the children and rent allowances. On that regard, sources with knowledge of the government’s thinking indicate that a committee assigned to study the allowances gave recommendations to the Cabinet that the draft laws must be rejected in order to prevent similar proposals from being made.

“Proposals that call for increasing salaries are inappropriate amid ongoing efforts to address the budget imbalance and review the public sector’s payroll,” said the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

On the bedoons’ issue, the sources said that the government is convinced that a proposal to naturalize at least 4,000 stateless residents this year must be rejected because it is considered an intervention in state’s efforts to end the decades-old problem.

“The government prepares to handle the bedoons’ issue solely and without binding laws,” the sources said.

They underlined the role of the Central Apparatus for Illegal Residents “which is assigned to study the issue and provide radical solutions within a year remaining in the ultimatum set by its creation law in 2010.”

In a related note, head of the Central Apparatus Saleh Al-Fadhalah will meet this morning with members of the parliament’s bedoons committee, which will discuss granting more facilitations for stateless residents at state departments.

Housing conference The Kuwait Housing Conference opens today at the parliament, featuring experts who will highlight the efforts needed to end the country’s housing crisis.

During the conference, the experts will attempt to come up with a vision for the future of housing welfare in Kuwait, as they start by addressing the current situation of housing welfare, then move to discuss the state’s capabilities and reasons behind the failure to meet the growing demand on government housing.

Government officials, including housing minister Yasser Abul as well as public works and electricity minister Abdul Aziz Al-Ibrahim are set to speak during the conference that is also expected to feature appearances from Parliament Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem and Prime Minister HH Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah.

Talks delay Kuwait and Iraq are likely to postpone meetings to discuss joint oil investors until the end of the year or the beginning of 2015, according to sources with familiar with the news.

The reason why the talks cannot be held this month as scheduled is preparations in Iraq for parliamentary elections set for the end of April. “There is concern that preparations to form the new government could take a long time similar to the previous elections which saw the government announced several months later,” the sources said.

Oil, health ministries co-organize walkathon KUWAIT: Oil and Health Ministries have jointy organized a walkathon to promote health awareness in the country.

Kuwait Petrochemical Company and Al-Sadri Hospital were the organizers of a walkathon arranged for the first time by the oil sector, as part of the sector’s societal responsibilities.

Minister of Oil and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Dr. Ali Al-Omair stressed in his speech that organizing this event is in line with the oil sector’s obligation towards the betterment of the society. He added that the oil sector always strives to interact and connect with the country’s various institutes through the organization of social events that benefit the people; hence, comes this walkathon.

The walkathon aims at promoting fitness and nutrition as a first step on the right direction of eliminating obesity, a major culprit in heart and arteries diseases.

He hoped that this initiative will be well-received by the public to encourage them to adopt an active and healthy lifestyle.

On his part, the Minister of Health Dr Ali Al-Obaid that organizing the walkathon is part of the Ministry’s prevention program that aims at reducing chronic noncommunicable disease such as cardiovascular disease, Cancer, Diabetes, respiratory disease as well as unhealthy habits like smoking, unhealthy eating habits and inactivity.

Preventing these diseases is a joint societal responsibility and a top priority in the country’s developmental plan, he explained.

Meanwhile, CEO of Kuwait Petrochemical Company Assad Saad expressed pleasure to taking part in this event and pointed out that other similar health and environmental projects are yet to come. — KUNA

FM in Cairo to attend Arab meeting CAIRO: Kuwait’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad AlSabah has arrived here to attend the 141st session of the Arab League Council at the ministerial level to be held today and tomorrow.

The meeting is scheduled to discuss a set of major issues, primarily the Palestinian cause and the current situation in Syria.

The minister was received at the airport by Kuwaiti Ambassador in Cairo Salem Al-Zamanan and Kuwait’s permanent delegate at the Arab League Aziz AlDehani.

Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled’s accompanying delegation includes the Director of First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister’s bureau, Ambassador Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah, Director of the Ministr y ’s Arab World Depar tment Ambassador Abdulhamid Al-Failakawi, Kuwait’s permanent representative at the Arab League Aziz Al-Dehani and a number of senior officials at the ministry. — KUNA

KUWAIT: The joint Gulf traffic week exhibition was opened on Thursday at 360 Mall under the patronage of Assistant Undersecretary for Traffic Affairs Maj Gen Abdelfattah Al-Ali, in the presence of Assistant Director General of Traffic Department for Planning Affairs and Traffic Research Brig Saleh Al-Najim, Assistant Director General of Traffic Department for Traffic Organization and Licenses Brig Ihsan Al-Owayesh, and other traffic department officials.

—By Hanan Al-Saadoun

GCC traffic week kicks off KUWAIT: The 30th edition of Unified GCC Traffic Week 2014 is to kick off today in the country under the theme “Your Safety is Our Goal” as part of an initiative covering all the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states.

The event will see the participation of delegations from the GCC countries. It

aims at ensuring the safety of people, reducing the number of traffic accidents in all the six GCC countries and finding solutions to different traffic problems.

The event will see various activities related to traffic safety such as workshops, lectures, exchange of visits with the rest of the GCC countries. — KUNA

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

LOCAL kuwait digest

Local spotlight

Increase of children’s allowance

Is it over for the GCC?

GCC about to collapse?

By Dr Hassan Abbas

H

as the time come for the Gulf Cooperation Council to disintegrate? Now is the time to answer that question, an answer that I honestly believe has been obvious since the GCC was established over three decades ago. The answer in my opinion is yes, and for the following reasons: First of all, the GCC was different from known international unions since its creation, in the sense that Saudi Arabia is the main player here. The kingdom’s geographical presence, as well as its economic, religious and Arab influence allowed it to ‘direct’ the GCC. That changed however when Qatar introduced young second-generation rulers. Unlike international unions, the GCC mostly moved in accordance to the Saudi direction instead of moving as per a collective direction.

The second aspect is the fact that the six GCC states always gave attention to security fields more than any other topic. This is the most notable featured that can be noticed by anyone who followed up with the GCC’s

By Muna Al-Fazai

local@kuwaittimes.net

Al-Anbaa

While conflicts between Gulf states is nothing new, it has never escalated in the past to the point in which a country withdrew its ambassador from another. work or attempts to describe its activity since its establishment. This exaggerated concern over security gives the impression that Gulf states are more concerned from themselves rather than from foreign risks. I don’t think there is a need to give examples for security breaches between the GCC member states.

While conflicts between Gulf states is nothing new, it has never escalated in the past to the point in which a country withdrew its ambassador from another. The recent response is clearly strong and completely different compared to how past issues were solved.

Therefore I can say that there are two indications this time that warn that the future of the GCC is going through a completely different crossroads. The first indication is that the reaction was strong, and the second is that the ambassadors’ withdrawal announcement came only hours after Bahrain’s blasts. It is clear that the crisis is serious, and that the GCC is moving towards inevitable change. The region has become completely different compared to how it was three decades ago, and the need for ideological leaders capable of adapting with change has become an urgent demand of the people.

After that, I can say without hesitation that the Gulf region is about to witness competition in the political scene between traditionalists and modernists. —Al-Rai

T

Assembly

kuwait digest

Unfortunate US praise

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij

I

t truly appears that our American friends took an unfortunate step when they praised the human rights situation in Kuwait. The human being is oppressed to the bones here in Kuwait. But it appears that the concept of human rights is different between the United States and Kuwait. Either that, or the Americans have became very ‘satiated’ with human rights to be concerned with the human rights situation in Kuwait.

Yes, we suffer oppression and deprivation of rights.

Oppression does not always mean persecution, imprisonment and torture. We enjoy safety and security, and much gratitude to those who made - and will definitely continue to make - this happen. However, we are deprived of rights and making human choices in behavior. We are also deprived of collective and individual rights of self determination and future planning.

Democracy and freedoms are regressing here openly, and under suspicious consensus. Neither political forces are showing objection nor authorities are slowing their efforts in reducing rights and public authorities. And now, our gentlemen friends in the United States enter as a contributor by praise, commendation and extolment that ‘endorse’ the current situation.

Let’s put political freedoms and public authorities aside, since we have a very long road to achieve that. If anything,

most of us prefer taking prudent steps towards that goal.

Instead, let us talk about social and living rights. When it comes to standards of living, we currently enjoy evanescent luxury. In fact, we face the highest risk of suffering in the future around the world due to the inability to secure the future of the generations to come, as well as lack of efforts to provide opportunities of decent living.

Actually, our current generation seems to be at risk, which is something that a US ambassador unfortunately predicted. By the year 2020, according to your own prediction and not anyone else’s, the Kuwaiti citizen will not find a place to call home. What’s the use of maintaining political rights for a few years, after which the public disarray and humiliation happens?

When it comes to social rights, not only are we deprived from everything, but we are also forced to live by and spend our money in accordance with outdated traditions, and accept the cultures of societies that were not even acceptable during the Middle Ages.

Leave aside the freedom of expression because that is something we do not even dare to dream of. Let me inform you instead in case you didn’t know, which is doubtful, that Kuwaiti citizens are not allowed to express joy, clap or sway, let alone dance, in their or their children’s weddings. —Al-Qabas

kuwait digest

Kuwait between 1958 and 2014

By Osama Al-Shaheen

D

uring the sixth decade of the 20th century, the Arab region featured several military coups that found support from the public who were influenced at the time

by Arab nationalism theories. This led hereditary kingdoms to seek establishing a ‘security union’ that protected Arab ruling families from a serious threat influenced by these growing sentiments. The Hashemite union between the kingdoms of Iraq and Jordan in 1958 was one of those attempts. But the kingdoms sought further expansion and financing, so they offered Kuwait the chance to enter the newly formed Arab federation.

Already a rich country at the time but yet to achieve independence, Kuwait’s hereditary system that it shared with Iraq and Jordan qualified it for an invitation to the Hashemite union despite the fact that the ruling family is not Hashemite.

The late Amir Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, after consulting with the British, made the right reaction towards the offer, as well as the military coups spreading through the region at the time. He took steady steps to achieve Kuwait’s independence in 1961, the release of its constitution in 1962, and the inauguration of its parliament in 1963.

Sheikh Abdullah Al-Sabah had already been the state’s ruler since 1950, but that did not stop him from reaching the conclusion that partnership with people in power is the best direction to take in order to thwart foreign interventions and local troubles. History is repeating itself with the Arab Spring revolutions that swept through the entire region since 2011.

After it achieved change in the ruling system in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, Morocco and Syria, hereditary regimes in the Arabian Gulf region proposed a security union that is identical to the one signed in 1958 and failed to protect the Hashemite family in Iraq.

The Gulf security pact which has been in debate since 2012 is ignoring the depression that the region is moving towards as a results of the discovery of shale oil around the world. It also ignores the Iranian-American agreement, and the increasing normalization efforts with the Zionist entity.

Furthermore, it focuses on the security of regimes and governments, not people and nations.

It is a theory that violates the sovereignty and rights of governments, citizens and expatriates in Gulf states alike for several reasons, including: l Article 5 allows Gulf states to recruit Kuwaiti civilians in their intelligence services. l Article 16 allows extradition of a Kuwaiti citizen from one Gulf state to another. l Article 4 allows invading the privacy of any resident of a Gulf state, and releasing their personal information as per the request of another state.

The best thing that the government can do today is to follow on the footsteps of Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, the founder of the modern state of Kuwait. People’s participating in running the state’s general affairs must be improved, coupled with true political and constitutional reforms that ends the state of division in the country which drains the energy of its people and distracts them from the serious challenges ahead.

If the 1961 Kuwait example is not enough to prove the necessity of this step - there is the example of 2011 Morocco to learn from. —Al-Rai

he GCC seems to have come to an end. This opinion may not be agreed by all, but indicators show that the base of this union is about to collapse and whatever reason this council was created for doesn’t exist anymore. Let’s think of the worst scenario this council may face, which can be the actual end of its existence. Should we, the citizens of the GCC, get affected or harmed? Should we shed tears or even care?

This council was established in the ‘80s with the six founding countries - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The unified economic agreement between these countries was signed on Nov 11, 1981 in Abu Dhabi .

The objectives of the GCC was set forth with key aspects that focus on formulating, strengthening and encouraging regulations that provoke and upgrade the GCC to move forward to the future. But predicting the future in the tense Arab states and set mandatory agendas can be a mistake. This is why the GCC is facing a tough time now unless a miracle happens.

For example, one of the objectives of the GCC is setting up joint ventures and encouraging cooperation of the private sector. I wonder how much effort has been made in this field with Kuwait? I know for sure that UAE would welcome such cooperation with Kuwait. But they are open to the world and not to the GCC only. Saudi Arabia also has made a tremendous progress in trade and economy in the last few years. So the bottom line is that with or without the GCC, the UAE is heading to the future nearly in all aspects, especially tourism , foreign banking and financial services, while Saudi has stepped forward in economic growth and science remarkably.

The question here is how much this council has given to the citizens of the GCC? Yes, we can travel to any GCC country with our civil IDs. I think this is a small step that can hardly be seen as a major accomplishment. How much cooperation was made in regard to human development in these countries, because as far as I can see, we are losing the balance between whom we need for expertise and useful labor and the so-called marginal workers that fill our countries. What about human rights and freedom of expression? Children’s rights? I know that these topics are not popular and have never been given priority. We live in an open world and the policy of silencing the opposition in front of the Arab Spring’s wind will only delay the explosion and not heal it.

In the GCC, poverty is not recognized and that is a mistake. We have poor people and we need to set a poverty line like the rest of the world. Stop pretending that all GCC citizens are rich and live happily after. All these matters are essential to the citizens of the GCC. In the public eyes, some believe this union has not done enough for its people - the citizens of the GCC and their political, economical and social interests and welfare. The council needs to focus on economic development and confront political challenges to protect and secure the people and the systems itself from any turbulences and possible impacts that may come from nextdoor countries as well as the needs of the GCC people today, especially the youth and women. GCC is not a social club of rich countries.

letter to Badrya

Issues that go unnoticed Madam, Great article about Ward 10 - I never knew it had a real name. I’m an American volunteer and I’ve visited the ward with the Filipino ladies who help them out. I brought baby clothing, shampoo and other items for the ladies. There are around 15 or more women in one big room, beds touching each other and barely any room to walk.

There were two women who had just given birth in a smaller room with two beds. A month later, the same woman was there with her baby. There are also women who’ve been raped or sexually assaulted staying there as well. The women are not given clothing or any types of items for themselves or their babies.

We brought undergarments, shampoos, soap and lotion for the women and babies as well. I also brought some of my old clothing as they have nothing to wear.

It’s very sad and depressing there, especially when the women are there for long periods of time and the babies grow in an unhealthy environment.

I volunteer with Operation Hope and recently, there was a call out to people for help with this ward. The response was so great and a sheikha decided to adopt the ward and she is currently trying to get a license for her charity but she’s having a hard time getting it as there is a lot of red tape.

They have an Instagram account - helpkidzq8 - in which there are pictures of the clothing they bought for the babies. I don’t know for sure if they sent the clothing or not as one has to get it approved from the Kuwaiti counselors first. They also help other kids in need. I would like to bring to your attention the children of prisoners who are raised there with their mothers.

My mother used to work with IPC and they visited prisons. I gave my mom some baby clothing to take to the kids as they don’t have anything as well. There were around 5-6 kids there at the time. There are so many issues that go unnoticed in Kuwait and some good people are trying to help those in need.

I just want to say good job for bringing these issues to light.

M Dennis

LOCAL

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

KUWAIT: The Kuwait Oil Company laid the foundation stone for a project to build 160 houses south of Ahmadi, in a celebration organized recently. KOC CEO Hashem Hashem said during the event that the project comes as part of a major plan to rebuild and renovate the area, that includes building 1,800 housing units with integrated services.

Kuwaiti embassy signs MoU for employing students in US Vocational development and creativity WASHINGTON: The State of Kuwait Ambassador to the United States, Sheik h Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, has affirmed that the embassy has exerted relentless and intensive efforts to create opportunities for excellent Kuwaiti students to work in top-notch American companies for one year.

Ambassador Sheikh Salem said the diplomatic mission had played an effective role in signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Kuwait Foundation for Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) and the National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce (NUSACC) on Dec 12, 2013. Today, a similar MoU was signed by the embassy with the chamber and KFAS, Sheikh Salem, said in a statement on the occasion late on Friday.

Objective of such MoUs is to assert each side’s role in bolstering the training program and offer everything needed for the Kuwaiti students to take advantage of such opportunities, Sheikh Salem said.

He affirmed the close coordination with KFAS, namely its Director- General Adnan Shehab-Eddine and the Arab-American chamber to help the Kuwaiti students get enrolled in the top American companies and establishments to gain field experience and professional skills, before looking for work in the Kuwaiti market.

The embassy, represented by the Cultural Office, headed by Dr Abdel Aziz Al-Omar, has paved the way and offered all possible facilities for launching the joint training program, themed, “vocational development and creativity,” during this year. For its part, the chamber will seek to meet all the program requirements

in coordination with the relevant authorities, namely the American corporations and institutions.

Nomination of the students for employment will be on basis of specific criteria.

Choosing American companies for the task will be also on basis of certain considerations, namely their qualification for the mission.

Kuwait’s Ministry of Higher Education has agreed to cover the students’ expenses to be selected in the program, Ambassador Sheikh Salem added. He also thanked all the involved authorities and their efforts to ensure success of this program, designed to enable the students work in Kuwait and contribute to the country’s progress under “leadership of my master His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah may Allah safeguard him.”

President of the NUSACC David Hamod said he is privileged to par ticipate in the Professional Development Initiative (PDI). “We are very proud to join two outstanding partners - the Embassy of the State of Kuwait and the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) - in what we believe is the first such Public/Private Partnership (PPP) of its kind in the Arab world.”

The internship opportunities offered by PDI will help to bridge gaps between formal education in the classroom and the kind of “handson” experience that is needed for the workplace. Over time, this program will help to train a new generation of Kuwaitis for the global marketplace. This will be very attractive to U.S. and Kuwaiti companies looking for talent, of course, but the biggest beneficiaries of all will

be the Kuwaiti young professionals who have an opportunity to experience this program, he said. “ The ‘sof t opening’ of PDI commences today, enabling us to move into high gear in the months ahead. It’s a modest start but, over time, I believe that this program has the potential to play a vital role in Kuwait’s historic transformation from a hydrocarbons-based economy to a knowledge-based economy. “ Hamod added.

President of the National Union of Kuwait Students (NUKS) Ahmad Qabarzad thanked the Sheikh Salem for all the effort that he has put in to the initiation of this program.

He added, “I would also like to thank the National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce , the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences, and Ministry of Higher Education for providing the necessary factors that helped start this program. Through this program, students will not only benefit from getting an education in the United States, but will be able to gain work experience as well.

“Based on our fundamental belief, that our generation shall take the lead in the prosperity of Kuwait, we regard this program as an investment in us. We hope our fellow students would be able to make the most out of this experience, and return to Kuwait to enhance the labor force. This program provides an incentive for us as student to strive for excellence, and this will consequently add a more competitive edge in the job market. Therefore we hope that this program will expand, in the next years, to allow more students to benefit from such an experience.” —KUNA

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

LOCAL

Seven inmates charged in Central Prison fire Officer in custody for drug abuse KUWAIT: Seven inmates were charged with arson Friday after they started a fire inside the Central Prison. Firefighters were called to the scene after the fire was detected inside the solitary confinement, and the blaze was put out before it could spread. Preliminary investigations revealed that seven prisoners set garbage on fire for reasons that remain under investigation. No injuries were reported in the incident.

Drugged officer A special task force officer was arrested for drug abuse, driving under the influence and possession of an unlicensed firearms. Patrol police had pulled the man over on Khansa Street in Salmiya, before placing him under arrest for DUI. He was identified as a 24-yearold Kuwaiti citizen who works in the special task force in the Interior Ministry. Police then searched his car and found a pistol, a shotgun,

46 bullets and four envelopes containing shabu (meth) as well as two Captagon tablets.

Police also found a walkie-talkie and Taser in the car. The man was taken to the Criminal Investigations Department for further action.

Stray bullet A man was hospitalized with a gunshot wound af ter he was hit by a stray bullet according to his statements. The 23-year-old Kuwaiti man was taken to Farwaniya Hospital in an ambulance that responded to an emergency call made in Firdous. The man told police that a bullet hit his shoulder while he was standing outside the area’s co-op society, adding that he could not identify the bullet’s source. A case was filed for investigations.

Two hurt in fire A child and a domestic worker were injured in a fire caused by an exploding air condition-

ing unit in Al-Qasr. Firefighters successfully evacuated the house after arriving at the scene before paramedics rushed the child and the housemaid to the Babtain burn injuries hospital. Doctors said that the condition of the 6year-old Saudi boy and the Ethiopian woman were stable. Preliminary investigations indicate that an AC unit exploded inside a room in the house, which caused the fire. A case was filed Child run over A child died after he was hit by a car in Salmiya on Friday. The 4-year-old Syrian boy was pronounced dead at the scene before criminal investigations were called. Paramedics and police arrived to the scene shortly after receiving an emergency call reporting the accident. The body was taken to the forensic department, while police escorted the driver, a Sri Lankan man, to the area’s police station for further procedures.

Kuwait urges N Korea to respond to calls on abandoning all WMD VIENNA: Kuwait urged North Korea to respond to international calls and cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to ultimately eliminate all weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Lojain Bolayyan, the Diplomatic Attache at Kuwait Embassy in Austria and the Mission to the International Organizations in Vienna, made the remarks in a speech during IAEA Board of Governors’ discussion on North Korea and NPT implementation status.

Bolayyan urged North Korea to swiftly and fully cooperate with the IAEA and effectively implement the signed safeguards agreement, particularly with regard to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the remaining outstanding issues, including allowing IAEA inspectors to examine the country’s nuclear activities.

Bolayyan added that Kuwait shares its concern with the international community about North Korea’s program, especially since the last announced missile-test on Feb 3 of last year, expressing Kuwait’s dismay for having five years since the departure of IAEA inspectors from Korean territories. Bolayyan also expressed

hope for the resumption of the six-party negotiations to reach a comprehensive peaceful agreement with North Korea.

Bolayyan also mentioned the importance of having IAEA safeguard system which is being implemented in member states, noting that such system was the backbone of IAEA work, which is also the basis for the prohibition of nuclear weapons, and has the support of almost all countries in the world.

Bolayyan said that Kuwait hopes North Korea would comply with the demands of the international community and UN Security Council resolutions, particularly the issue of abandoning all nuclear weapons, and return to the NPT. The Kuwaiti diplomat noted that Kuwait has full confidence in the role played by the IAEA, including its effective capabilities in facing challenges, expressing willingness to support their efforts and to strengthen their capacity to achieve the desired goals of its establishment and to ensure security and peace for the whole world. —KUNA

NBK celebrates graduation of new batch of students KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) celebrated the graduation of the fourth batch of newly hired young Kuwaitis from the new Shabab Training Program.

The program is specially designed to develop the skills of newly recruited diploma holders as part of NBK’s strategy to attract and develop young Kuwaitis.

NBK organized a special ceremony for the graduation of the newly hired young Kuwaitis. The ceremony was attended by Mazin Al Nahedh, NBK General Manager, Consumer Banking Group and Emad Al Ablani, NBK Deputy General Manager, Human Resources Group, Mohammed Al Othman, NBK’s Executive Manager, Consumer Banking Group along with senior leaders from the bank.

Shabab program is the first initiative of its kind in the private sector in Kuwait

designed to develop the skills of diploma holders, and is part of NBK’s strategy to attract young Kuwaitis by offering them a range of career and professional development opportunities.

NBK Shabab Training Program extends over a period of two and a half months and is specially tailored to provide trainees with theoretical and practical skills covering the different aspects of the banking industry.

NBK’s training programs include NBK Academy which aims to train and develop the professional skills of fresh graduates, the Summer Internship Program for high school and college students, in addition to professional training and development programs especially designed and provided by world renowned institutions to enhance the skills of the Bank’s young leadership members.

KUWAIT: A group photo of the graduates with NBK officials.

Kuwait to host Gulf Petroleum Forum KUWAIT: Under the Patronage of His Highness the Prime Minister, Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, and as an emphasis of the strategic importance of the Arabian Gulf region, the Second Gulf Petroleum Forum will be held in Kuwait at the Kuwait Jumeirah Hotel, with a view to keep abreast with the regional changes and their impact on world oil markets given the strategic importance of the Arabic Gulf countries.

In a statement issued in connection with the arrangements being made for holding the forum, the chairman of the organizing committee, Dr Jasem Besharah said that, in light of the oil potentials and economic capabilities of the countries of the region as a key player in global oil markets, given the new projects that will be announced during the coming few years in the fields of oil, petrochemicals and energy and against the background of the call for achieving a Gulf oil integration, the Gulf Petroleum Forum is being held with a view to explore future potentials and highlight and provide opportunities to specialists and investors through the main and complementary events of the Forum.

Dr Besharah emphasized the vital importance of future plans for developing and expanding the oil sector in Kuwait with regard to the oil and gas sectors and the projects that fall within this area. He indicated that the Forum will give particular attention to this important sector and added that the GCC countries are particularly important to any thing related the oil, gas and petrochemical industry as they contribute one quarter of the world oil and 20% of natural gas supply and own 40% of the world’s oil and 15% of the world’s gas reserves.

Dr. Besharah emphasized that the Forum reflects the genuine attention being given to the Gulf oil sector development plan and providing the global companies with the opportunity to keep abreast with the latest developments in oil sector in the Arabian Gulf region in general and the works that will be covered by mega projects in Kuwait in particular.

He went on to say that the Forum, which will be attended by a large number of interested parties, experts, decision makers and specialists, both local and international, in the areas of oil, gas and petrochemical industries and key personnel from regional and international organizations, will present and discuss the main developments seen by this sector. The Forum will also discuss the challenges in various areas and at various levels. In addition, it will

discuss the future developments of this sector.

The chairman of the organizing committee of the Forum, Dr. Jasem Besharah expressed his thanks and appreciation to His Highness the Prime Minister for his generous patronage and constant support to all serious economic events that are undertaken in the service of Kuwait. He also expressed gratitude to the various sponsor companies for their support of the Forum.

It is worth mentioning that the Forum includes a number of workshops to be presented by experts and specialists from inside and outside Kuwait, allowing the participants the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the latest technical, scientific and economic developments witnessed by this sector, given the fact that the importance of

Dr Jasem Besharah the Forum is derived from the vital role played by Kuwait and the GCC countries in the world oil sector, as this region owns the largest world oil reserves and seeks to acquire state-of-the-art technologies in the fields of exploration, drilling, transport and export.

The participants will include Nizar AlAdsani, Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, Abbas Naqi, Secretary General of OAPEC, Suleiman Al-Herbish, Director General of the OPEC Fund for International Development, Dr. Adnan Shihab-Eldin, Director General of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences, Asaad AlSaad , Chairman of Kuwait National Petroleum Company, Mohammed Hussain, President and CEO of EQUATE

Petrochemical Company, Abdulaziz bin Hamad Al-Ageel, Secretary General of Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting, Abdullah bin Juma Al- Shibli, GCC Assistant Secretary General for Industrial Affairs at Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf , Dr Thani Ahmed Al-Zeyoudi, Director of Energy and Climate Change at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the UAE, Dr Naji Mohammed Al-Mutairi, Director General of Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research , Dr. Mohammad Al-Zuhair, Executive Chairman of Kuwait National Fund for SMEs Development , Ali Rashid AlJarwan, Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company, Dr. Bassam Fatouh, Director of the Oil and Middle East Program at Oxford Energy Studies Center , Bill Farren Price, CEO of Petroleum Policy Intelligence, Riyadh AlSaleh, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kharafi National , Prof Dr HHolger Rogner, Former Head of Planning and Economic Studies Section at the IAEA, Dr Salem Al-Hajraf, Manager of Renewable Energy Program at Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research , Malek Al-Ajeel Advisor to Deputy CEO and Chief Investment Officer at Gulf Investment Corporation, Dr. Ramadan Al-Sharrah, Secretary General, Union of Kuwaiti Investment Companies, Dr Abdul Rahman Al-Awadi, Executive Secretary of Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment , Engineer Najib Saab, Secretary General of the Arab Forum for Environment and Development, Dr. Ibrahim Al-Ghusain, Corporate Director at Kharafi National, Dr. Mohamed Dawod El Ahmed, Chairman of the Kuwait Environment Protection Society , and Claudio Palmieri, Business Development Director at Kharafi National.

Dr Besharah added that the Forum, as it attracts the major companies operating in this vital sector in order to present the latest developments of their various activities and introduce their current and future projects, will be an important event for both the public and private sectors as it strengthens and develops opportunities and means of cooperation among the GCC countries.

The Forum will have several main themes closely related to the oil, gas and petrochemical industry from the technical, economic and commercial aspects, and will highlight the role of this industry in the comprehensive development process currently being witnessed by Kuwait in particular and by the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in general.

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

All aboard!

Pakistan’s first women-only bus

Obama warns party to focus on 2014, not 2016 Page 9

Page 11

UKRAINE: Pro-Russian demonstrators gather during a rally in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk yesterday. Thousands of pro-Russian activists rallied in the eastern heartland of Ukraine’s ousted leader on March 8 after Moscow threatened to cut off gas to its ex-Soviet neighbour following its tilt toward the West. Rallies in industrial cities that rely on Russia for trade and whose cultural roots lie closer to Moscow than Kiev come as Kremlin-backed troops have tightened their grip on the flashpoint peninsula of Crimea. — AFP

Pro-Russians rally in Ukraine Putin holds firm • Moscow has threatened to cut off gas DONETSK, Ukraine: Pro-Russian activists rallied in the eastern heartland of Ukraine’s ousted leader yesterday after Moscow threatened to cut off gas to its ex-Soviet neighbour following its tilt toward the West. Rallies in industrial cities that rely on Russia for trade and whose cultural roots lie closer to Moscow than Kiev come as Kremlin-backed troops tighten their grip on the flashpoint peninsula of Crimea. The predominantly Russian-speaking southern and eastern swathes of Ukraine have been in upheaval since three months of deadly protests brought new pro-European leaders to power in Kiev whom they view with disdain and mistrust.

The Kremlin says the new rulers have fomented a lawless atmosphere of intimidation against ethnic Russians that President Vladimir Putin says prompted him to threaten to use force in Ukraine - a shock decision that has sparked the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War. Now activists who have set up a round-the-clock picket on Donetsk’s central Lenin Square under a red Soviet flag with the golden hammer and sickle are calling for a secession referendum just like the one planned in Crimea on March 16.

“Only Russia can help us so that our rights are not dragged through the mud!” said one protester named Natalia who works at a local beauty salon in the eastern city.

“There needs to be a referendum,” she said. Similar protests have hit nearby Russian-speaking cities such as Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk. The imposing Donetsk city adminstration building has flown both Russian and Ukrainian flags after being repeatedly raided in the past week by irate protesters from both sides. The city was the regional stronghold of deposed president Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia late last month.

‘Boomerang’ Sanctions Russia says it has stepped up protection of its Black Sea Fleet base in Crimea and is working together with local selfdefence militias but refuses to acknowledge it has deployed extra troops to the peninsula. Ukrainian border guard general Mykola Kovil said Friday there were now 30,000 Russian troops in Crimea - higher than the 25,000 allowed under an existing agreement with Ukraine. Successive attempts by 47 unarmed military and civilian observers from the Organisation from Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSE) to verify what is actually happening in Crimea came to nothing after gunmen blocked their entrance from the Ukrainian mainland.

Moscow blamed the OSCE on Friday for trying to enter Crimea “without considering the opinions and recommendations of the Russian side” despite a push by US President Barack Obama for monitors to be let through as part of an “off-ramp” to de-escalate the crisis. Russia’s decision to flex its military muscle for the first time since it waged a brief war with Georgia in 2008 has prompted Washington to slap visa bans and asset freezes on top Moscow officials involved.

The European Union has also threatened to toughen economic sanctions against Russia should it fail to immediately open talks with Ukraine. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told US Secretary of State John Kerry that any puni-

tive measures against Moscow would strike back like a “boomerang” against Washington. The foreign ministry also warned EU powers that sanctions were a double-edged sword that could hurt Russia’s trading partners.

Russia Raises Gas Threat Those warnings became more concrete on Friday when the state-run energy giant Gazprom told Ukraine it may have to cut off the gas shipments on which its economy relies for the first time since 2009. The halt - ostensibly over debts that the economically struggling nation has been running for years - would almost certainly affect Gazprom’s Western European clients such as Germany and only further damage the Kremlin’s reputation. Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller argued that “we cannot deliver gas for free.”

But Russia’s largest company is often accused of being wielded as a weapon by the Kremlin against uncooperative neighbouring nations that are thinking of breaking ties with Moscow-and consequently Putin’s dream of building postSoviet military and economic alliances to rival the NATO and EU blocs.

No Negotiations Obama has twice telephoned Putin in the past week to try and nudge him to open talks with Ukrainian leaders that could avoid an all-out confrontation on Europe’s eastern edge with unimaginable consequences for global security.

But Putin has refused to recognise the legitimacy of interim President Oleksandr Turchynov and is clearly smarting from the downfall of Yanukovych - an ally who sparked protests that claimed some 100 lives after he ditched an historic EU pact in November in favour of closer ties with Russia.

Yanukovych’s Feb 22 ouster by lawmakers came one day after he grudgingly signed an internationally mediated agreement calling for snap presidential elections and ceding much of his authority to his parliamentary foes. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday openly ridiculed Western calls for the Kremlin to launch negotiations with Turchynov with the help of foreign intermediaries.

“It is very curious that now, in Europe, we hear calls from Europe for Russia - with the help of Western nations - to negotiate with people from Kiev who call themselves the legitimate authorities of Ukraine,” Peskov told Russian state television. “One can only smile at that, because of course, the creditworthiness of these so-called (foreign) guarantees expired after we saw what happened with the document that Yanukovych signed,” Putin’s spokesman said.

The comments and Gazprom’s threat against Ukraine were followed by another urgent phone call by Obama - on vacation in the US southern state of Florida - to German Chancellor Angela Merkel aimed at bridging Washington’s firm position on Russian sanctions with Western Europe’s softer stance. The White House said Obama hailed the two sides’ “unified position” on the standoff but provided few details on sanctions. “The leaders reiterated their grave concern over Russia’s clear violation of international law through its military intervention in Ukraine,” the White House said. — AFP

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

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

Palestinian women join West Bank anti-riot police JERICHO, Palestinian Territories: Instructors bark orders to a column of Palestinian women recruited to an antiriot unit, part of an effort to tackle problems caused by conservative attitudes in the West Bank force. Decked out with helmets, assault boots, batons and shields, the students at the Jericho police school weather a barrage from stone throwers, before rushing to arrest the “troublemakers”. “There is no difference between the training for men and women for combat abilities and searching cars and houses,” said one of the instructors, Lieutenant Naama Shalalfat. “Law enforcement is not reserved for men,” she told AFP. The recruits, who are taking classroom lessons to supplement the training exercises, belong to a new all-female anti-riot unit, which will be made up of 220 members and will be deployed across the West Bank when it is operational. Col Ramadan Awad, deputy police chief for the West Bank, says the unit was formed in response to problems caused by old attitudes towards women in the territory. “The idea behind training this unit goes back to 2009, when a women’s demonstration in the streets of Hebron

(in the West Bank) degenerated into acts of vandalism, while the police couldn’t intervene because we live in a conservative society,” Awad said.

Lt Osama Awda, 28, says he is “training police officers of both sexes in martial arts and self-defence before moving on to law enforcement”. He says that with his three colleagues, two men and a woman, he trains 500 female recruits every year.

Violence Against Women Rising Rashida Brahma, a 22-year-old recruit at the Jericho school, says she wanted to be one of the first to work in a profession long seen as off-limits to women. “My main reason for joining the police after school was to serve the homeland and to get a job that only men had been able to do until then,” she says, just after practising how to disarm an attacker. Only three percent of the Palestinian police force’s 8,000 members are women, but other branches of the security forces are making tentative steps to boost women’s numbers in their ranks. This week, a group of 23 women finished their training to join the presidential guard, which protects key figures and carries out spe-

cial operations.

But despite signs of limited progress, the level of women’s participation in the Palestinian labour force remains low, at about 17.3 percent compared with 69.3 percent for men, according to figures from the Central Statistics Office published ahead of International Women’s Day yesterday. The ratio is a little more balanced in the public sector, where 40.6 percent of employees were women and 59.4 percent men in 2012, according to the same source.

But in 2013 there was a marked rise in violence against women in the Palestinian territories: 27 women were killed, 15 in the West Bank and 12 in the Gaza Strip, compared with 13 killings in the two territories in 2012, the statistics office said, quoting a women’s rights group. The office of the UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories said it was concerned by the “increasing incidence of femicide”. It added that “the realisation of women’s rights and gender equality will not be fully achieved without progress to sustainable peace,” leaving Palestinian women “fragile and prone to regression.” —AFP

Libya port rebels start exporting oil TRIPOLI: Armed protesters controlling ports in eastern Libya said yesterday they had started exporting oil, bypassing the Tripoli government in a major escalation of their blockade to demand a greater share of the nation’s petroleum wealth. A North Korean-flagged tanker docked earlier at the Es Sider port, which is controlled by protesters who want more regional autonomy, officials at state-run National Oil Corp (NOC) confirmed.

The oil standoff is one part of deepening turmoil in the North African OPEC producer, where the government is struggling to control militias who helped topple Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but kept their weapons and are challenging state authority. Any independent shipment would be a blow to Libya’s government. Tripoli had said it would destroy tankers trying to buy oil from Ibrahim Jathran, a former antiGaddafi rebel who seized the port and two others with thousands of his men in August.

“We started exporting oil. This is our first shipment,” said a spokesman for the protesters based in the eastern town of Ajdabiyah. Jathran had commanded a brigade of former rebels paid by the state to protect petroleum facilities. He

defected with his troops, however, to take over the ports. There was no immediate word from the Libyan government and navy about the shipment, but Prime Minister Ali Zeidan and the justice minister scheduled news conferences in the afternoon.

In January, the Libyan navy fired on a Maltese-flagged tanker which it said had tried to load oil from the protesters in the Es Sider port. The tanker Morning Glory, which was previously flagged in Liberia and can load around 35,000 tonnes (about 250,000 barrels) of oil, had been circling off the Libyan coast for days. The vessel had tried to dock at Es Sider on Tuesday, when port workers still loyal to the central government had told the crew to turn back.

Workers confirmed they could see the ship docked at the port, but it was not immediately clear whether it had started loading crude. Tanks at Es Sider and other seized ports are full, according to oil sources. “We have informed the government and the defence ministry so they can take action,” a senior NOC official said, adding that the tanker’s crew “are trying to buy oil illegally.” It is extremely unusual for an oil tanker flagged in secretive North Korea to operate in the Mediterranean region,

shipping sources said. A spokesman for NOC said the Morning Glory was owned by a Saudi company. It had changed ownership in the past few weeks and previously been called Gulf Glory, according to a shipping source.

Protests Western powers worry Libya will slide into instability or even break apart as the government, paralyzed by political battles in parliament, struggles to assert control of a vast country awash with arms and militias. At a Libya conference this week in Rome, Western countries voiced concern that tensions in Libya could slip out of control in the absence of a functioning political system, and urged the government and rival factions to start talking.

Libya’s government has tried to end a wave of protests at oil ports and fields across the vast desert state that have slashed oil output, the country’s lifeline, to 230,000 barrels per day (bpd), from 1.4 million bpd in July. Tripoli has held indirect talks with Jathran but his demand for a greater share of oil revenues for the east, like the region had under Gaddafi’s predecessor King Idris, is sensitive for a government that worries this might lead to secession. —Reuters

JERICHO: A Palestinian policewoman takes part in a training session that aims at preparing a special women’s unit to intervene during riots in this West Bank city on Feb 20, 2014. —AFP

Israeli airport security measures questioned Travelers often left dumbfounded JERUSALEM: Jack Angelides was about to board a flight out of Israel’s international airport when he was given a curious choice that baffles him to this day.

Traveling with a laptop and a stack of printed reading material, he was told to part with one or the other, due to unspecified security concerns. The Israel-based British-Cypriot businessman says he negotiated a compromise in which he kept the computer and several pages, checking in the rest of the documents. “It was a very unpleasant, very uncomfortable” experience, said Angelides, the general manager of the Israeli soccer team Maccabi Tel Aviv.

While standing in long lines, walking through scanners and removing belts and shoes are a fact of post-Sept 11 travel worldwide, Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport seems to stand alone with its security techniques, often leaving travelers dumbfounded. Though Israel denies profiling travelers, business executives, journalists and especially Arabs and visitors to Palestinian areas seem especially prone to being targeted with aggressive questioning, long luggage examinations and even strip searches.

The tough security is not new, but it is stirring debate. On one side stand those concerned about Israel’s good name, tourism potential and moral standing. On the other are those for whom security arguments can seem close to sacrosanct in a country hit with decades of attacks by Palestinian militants, a series of hijackings in the 1960s and ‘70s, and whose travelers abroad are targeted in terrorist attacks.

The issue recently burst onto the national agenda after an Arab schoolteacher who teaches at a Jewish high school was strip-searched at Israel’s airport in the southern resort town of Eilat during a class trip with her students.

Israeli Arab citizens, including lawmakers and other community leaders, complain of frequent discrimination when traveling.

Aryeh Shaham, the Airports Authority’s legal adviser, told a parliamentary hearing that there is no ethnic profiling at the airport. “The inspection is not done according to population groups,” Shaham said. Instead, it is done according to criteria set by security officials “and I can’t disclose those.” He said fewer than 5 percent of Arab travelers are inspected in Ben-Gurion Airport, and said the authority receives more complaints from Jewish travelers than Christian or Muslim Arabs.

In response to emailed questions, the Airports Authority said its inspection process is “anchored” in Israeli and international law. It said the high level of security threats facing the airport “demands a severe level of inspection,” including questioning, scanning of luggage and inspections of handbags and travelers. But it acknowledged that with 20 million traveling through the airport, “there are extraordinary events that we

regret”. And it is not clear whether terrorists have ever been caught as a result of the airport interrogations.

worked in a different industry than his. “It makes one think twice about where to visit,” Silberling said.

‘Disgrace’ Adi Kol, the lawmaker who chaired Monday’s parliamentary hearing, said she found the responses by security officials “frustrating”, particularly their denial that there is a problem. Kol, whose Yesh Atid party is a member of the governing center-right coalition, said she is now trying to set up a training program in which Arab community leaders will give awareness training to airport security workers.

Security authorities “can use the proper technological equipment” to find explosives “and spare us all this disgrace,” said opposition Labor Party lawmaker Nachman Shai. “It is simply a disgrace.”

In an editorial, the Haaretz newspaper wrote that the incident involving the teacher “proves that the religion of security drives the authorities out of their senses” and called for checks “devoid of racism and humiliation.” In some cases, pro-Palestinian activists have been asked to open their email or Facebook accounts for inspections, and a small

Journos Targeted Journalists also appear to be a target.

Several weeks ago, a senior executive from Sky News was detained for two hours of questioning as he entered the country. In another recent case, an Associated Press manager who is a British national almost missed a return flight to Cairo after facing a prolonged barrage of questions. Officials ran his socks and individual bank notes through an anti-explosives machine and demanded he lower his pants and be further scanned. He said he was asked three times by different people about a small hole in his carry-on bag.

“Why do you not have more luggage? Why did you choose to stay in Israel for just three days? Why did you not come overland?” he was asked. Also: “What is the ethnic makeup of the people in your office in Egypt?” “If they are using security as an excuse to abuse journalists I condemn that,” said Nitzan Chen, the head of the Government Press

TEL AVIV: In this Nov 2, 2010 file photo, passengers have their hand luggage screened by security personnel inside the Ben Gurion airport terminal. —AP number have been barred from entering the country.

Diana Buttu, an Arab lawyer who holds Canadian and Israeli citizenship, said she has traveled out of Ben-Gurion dozens of times and has gone through intense security checks each time. This includes questions about what holidays she celebrates, the names of her parents and grandparents, why she doesn’t speak Hebrew, as well as the unloading the contents of her bags, passing through metal detectors and undressing.

“I get the same exact treatment since I was 17 or 18 years old. It’s clearly not random,” she said.

American Michael Silberling said he was removed from the immigration line, “left to stew” for 20 minutes and then quizzed aggressively about why he came and why the person he was visiting

Office. He said that path can be smoothed by new procedures enabling journalists to coordinate their arrival ahead of time. He also said some accounts might be exaggerated.

Jeff Price, an aviation security expert, said there is some logic to ethnic profiling in a place with a long history of conflict with the Arab world, and that odd and random questions are part of a strategy: “Once you understand how people respond to ‘normal’ questions that they should know the answers to and have no reason to lie about, you’ll be able to spot the lie when asked other questions.”

Price, owner of the consulting firm Leading Edge Strategies in Denver, said Israel is generally considered the “gold standard” for airport security - but added that “security questioning should never demean or degrade an individual” —AP

Turkey ex-army chief released from prison ISTANBUL: Turkey’s former army chief Ilker Basbug, who was jailed for life last year for plotting to overthrow the Islamic-rooted government, walked free from prison on Friday after a court ordered his release. “We were put behind bars by those who act on revenge and hatred,” Basbug said in an emotional speech following his release from the highsecurity Silivri prison near Istanbul, where he was held for more than two years. “Prison means pain, agony and suffering,” he said. “But I do not harbour any revenge or hatred because love conquers hatred.”

The release came a day after Turkey’s Constitutional Court ruled that Basbug’s legal rights had been violated, saying that a lower court had failed to publish its detailed verdict on the case and send it to the appeals court. The court has imposed an overseas travel ban on the ex-commander, according to local media. Basbug was initially detained in 2012 before being sentenced to life in prison in Aug 2013,

along with hundreds of other military officers who were given long jail terms for their roles in the so-called “Ergenekon” conspiracy to overthrow the government.

But Basbug said he would continue his legal struggle until his last comrade in jail is set free. “My release is just the beginning,” he said. “I firmly believe that all of my comrades will be released soon. If that does not happen, there is no point in my being released. “Our hands are clean. We have only one demand: justice.” The 71-year-old general, who led the army between 2008 and 2010, again denied the charges.

“Turkish people have understood that we have no interest in plotting a coup, that it is unacceptable to accuse a general of being a member of a terrorist organisation,” he said. The military, which sees itself as the guarantor of Turkey’s secular constitution, has carried out three coups - in 1960, 1971 and 1980, - snd pressured an Islamist government to step down in 1997. —AFP

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

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

Birthplace of Venezuela demos becomes barricade city SAN CRISTOBAL, Venezuela: Barricades made of burning trash, metal fences, tree stumps and washing machines block several streets in the western city where Venezuela’s protest movement was born. It is no longer just students who are building barriers in San Cristobal. Doctors, lawyers, shopkeepers and retirees fed up with the government of President Nicolas Maduro have joined the action. They are angry at the massive lines at supermarkets lacking flour or toilet paper.

They are tired of being afraid at night because motorcycle gangs roam the streets. They are furious at the national guard’s crackdown and arrests of protesters. One month after the first demonstration, the defiant students and residents of this opposition stronghold warn that they will keep up pressure until Maduro listens to their grievances or steps down. “This is the epicenter of the bomb that made everything explode,” said Liscar Depablos, a 22-yearold medical student from Los Andes University. “This will not stop.”

Students first protested here on Feb 4 after the attempted rape of a young woman. The muscular police response led to more protests that eventually spread across the country. At least 20 people have died since then in Venezuela. More than 1,000 protesters were detained, but most have since been released.

‘Like Ukraine’ The barricades across San Cristobal were initially built to block riot police and armored cars after the first protest erupted on Feb 4. But many residents in the city of 260,000 are now blocking streets to deter gangs that roam the streets after dark, robbing and shooting.

The protesters used sewer grates, boulders, mounds of dirt, billboards and even an old armoured vehicle that was ripped from a military monument and marked with the word “peace.”

At each student-built barricade, a half-dozen to 20 masked young men guard their turf with sling-shots, rocks and metal tubes that launch fireworks.

Depablos lives on a cul-de-sac whose residents made a barrier with bamboo and barbed wire after the national guard fired tear gas into homes two weeks ago, breaking windows and denting doors.

“My dog fainted. We hid in the bathroom and turned on the water to counter the tear gas,” Deplabos said.

Residents showed a “made in Brazil” tear gas grenade and several empty birdshot cartridges marked with the words “anti-riot”. They say the national guard fired after they banged pots outside their homes, a traditional Venezuelan way of protesting. “We are like in the Ukraine here, waiting for trouble,” said Jarriz Ordonez, a 33-year-old chef, referring to last month’s Kiev uprising that caused the Ukrainian president to flee his country. But analysts say

Venezuela is far from seeing a Ukrainestyle revolt. Maduro’s socialist government still enjoys vast support among the poor, who were deeply loyal to his late predecessor, Hugo Chavez. The government held one of its newly established “peace conferences” in San Cristobal on Thursday, but the opposition shunned the meeting, saying demanding protesters be released. “We won’t recognize a conference of lies while there is repression and armed ‘colectivos’,” San Cristobal’s opposition Mayor Daniel Ceballos told AFP, referring to leftist pro-government gangs.

Disrupting City Life The mayor supports the protests despite the disruption to daily life in his city. Few shops are open across the city of 260,000 people, located in the Andean state of Tachira, whose economy includes trade - legal and illegal - with neighboring Colombia. Some shopkeepers are frustrated with the barricades, saying they have exacerbated the city’s food scarcity because delivery trucks are shying away. “They are hurting the city,” said Jesus Robles, a 35-year-old manager of a small kitchen that sells arepas, a Venezuelan maize flatbread. “We don’t have products and everything is expensive.”

At supermarkets, hundreds of people stand in line before dawn every day to buy the few available items, but the problem existed before the demonstra-

Officer says US general sexually assaulted her Accuser gives tearful account of sex crimes FORT BRAGG, North Carolina: US Army general twice forced a female captain to engage in oral sex when she tried to break off their illicit sexual relationship during their deployment in Iraq in 2011, the woman said during an emotional account on Friday at his military trial. The junior officer testified that Brigadier General Jeffrey Sinclair grabbed her by the back of the neck and sexually assaulted her after she tried to explain she was fed up with their adulterous affair and needed to move on. “He pushed me down,” she said through tears. “I felt like I had no control at all over my own body.”

Her allegations are the basis of a forcible sodomy charge that could send the 51-year-old general to prison for life. Sinclair is also accused of grabbing her genitalia against her will and of having sex with her in public places, including a parking lot in Germany and militar y offices in Afghanistan. The general, who is married, denies sexually assaulting the captain 17 years his junior and says the relationship was consensual, although inappropriate by military standards.

The rare court-martial of a highranking US military official is unfolding in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, amid a growing debate among US lawmakers over how best to curb sexual assault in the military. A government

prosecutor told a jury panel of five two-star generals that Sinclair abused his rank and power to threaten the captain to stay in an intimate relationship that spanned three years and two war zones. “It involves a lot of consensual sex,” the lead prosecutor, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Stelle, said during opening statements on Friday.

But “this is a case where non-consensual sex was used as an instrument of control.”

Defense attorney Ellen Brotman read aloud excerpts from the female captain’s journal that the lawyer said help prove the liaison was based on mutual affection, not coercion, and remained consensual from beginning to end. “You will see that this case is nothing more than a workplace affair,” Brotman told jurors, adding the captain’s fear was that Sinclair would never leave his wife. The identity of the captain, a military intelligence officer, is being withheld by Reuters due to the nature of the charges.

Initial Encounter The captain, 34, recalled on the witness stand her first physical encounter with Sinclair, saying he invited her into his private quarters in Iraq in 2009, asked her to take down her hair and caressed her face. “I had developed a very strong attraction for him,” she said. “On the one hand, I’m thinking how amazing it feels, but on

FORT BRAGG, North Carolina: Brig Gen Jeffrey Sinclair leaves the courthouse with his lawyers Richard Scheff and Ellen C Brotman, following a day of motions on March 4, 2014. — AP

the other hand, this is my brigade commander.” The captain, now stationed in Arizona, did not meet Sinclair’s gaze during her testimony, during which the general sometimes shook his head and looked annoyed.

The relationship went through volatile highs and lows, and the captain said her frustration and mistrust grew. She said Sinclair once threatened, after they had sex, to kill her if she told his wife or anyone else about the affair. Another time, at a hotel in Arizona, they had sex against her will on a balcony and Sinclair later grabbed her by the throat when she became upset and tried to leave, she testified. After court, Sinclair’s attorneys said that account contradicted her previous descriptions of the hotel meeting. In a journal entry, she wrote that they had a huge fight over a change in his travel plans but said, “It was so wonder ful to be with him again though.”

The captain testified that she stayed involved with Sinclair because she felt emotionally connected and worried about how ending it would affect her military career. She did not immediately report him to superior officers after the alleged sex crimes. “I knew if I said anything that it would be my word against his and nobody would believe me,” she said. “I had no way out.” When she told Sinclair of her desperation, she said he texted her, “Get a grip.”

On Thursday, Sinclair, a one-star general, pleaded guilty to lesser offenses that carry a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and possible dismissal from the Army. He admitted to having an extramarital affair with the captain as well as asking other junior female officers for nude photos and viewing pornography while deployed. The charges saw him stripped of command in southern Afghanistan in May 2012 and sent back to Fort Bragg, where he remains on active duty. His wife is not attending the trial.

Sinclair’s attorneys said the captain’s testimony provided new fodder for their cross-examination of her on Monday. “It was an interesting story we heard,” said lead defense attorney Richard Scheff. “Unfortunately, it’s fiction.” — Reuters

Obama warns party to focus on 2014, not 2016 WASHINGTON: Democrats could get walloped in the November elections. The party gets sleepy and distracted in the midterms. And its supporters simply may not show up to vote. Those aren’t hopeful predictions from Republicans.

They’re the dire warnings of President Barack Obama, who is seeking to gin up enthusiasm for the midterm elections from party activists already looking toward the 2016 race to replace him. The remainder of his presidency hangs on Democratic performance in the November contest. If voters hand the Senate over to Republican control, Obama will lose even the uphill chance he has to get legislation passed in his remaining time in office.

“I hope that just because I’m not on the ballot that people aren’t going to take it easy this time, because the ideas I care about and am fighting for are on the ballot,” Obama said to about 75 donors who paid $5,000 to $20,000 to hear him speak over dinner at a swanky Boston art gallery Wednesday night.

Obama’s challenge is to set an agenda for a party that is not always embracing him, especially after the problems with his health care law. There are areas of the country where he can’t campaign since he would only be a drag on more moderate Democratic candidates.

“Our message to candidates is: How can we help?” White House political director David Simas said in an interview. If

showing up for a rally isn’t the answer in moderate districts, Simas said the president can give candidates a boost by raising money and setting a national debate on economic opportunity. “The president is the only individual who can really set what the national narrative is going to be,” Simas said.

White House advisers say the president’s economic agenda, including an increase in the minimum wage, particularly appeals to the Democratic base voters they most need to turn out in the midterm elections, including single women, young people and minorities. Obama will be holding events this week specifically targeting women’s economic issues. He’s also committed to 30 party fundraisers through June, with more being scheduled, and into the fall will campaign with candidates running where he still has appeal, White House advisers say.

‘Disconnect’ Brad Dayspring, a strategist working on the Republican campaign to win Senate seats, said Democratic candidates in battleground states still are going to have to answer for Obama policies they supported, including healthcare, and overall disapproval of Washington leadership. “Obviously their plan is to hide Obama in deep blue states and use him to raise money in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles,” Dayspring said.—AP

SAN CRISTOBAL: A member of the National Guard dismantles a barricade set up by anti-government activists in San Cristobal on March 6, 2014. — AFP tions. Government supporters say shelves are empty because people take advantage of Venezuela’s weak currency to sell goods at a hefty profit in nearby Colombia. The protesters, who blame the shortages on the government’s price and foreign exchange controls, acknowledge they are affecting residents but they say it is the best way to keep pressure on Maduro.

While the protesters here vow to never stand down, some worry that their peers in Caracas will lose steam. “If we

don’t awaken all the other states, we won’t reach our objectives,” said Johan, a 31-year-old waiter manning a barricade on a major avenue who refused to give his last name. Fernando Marquez, a 20year-old student leader at Catholic University of Tachira, was optimistic as he stood at another boulevard with scattered barricades. “ We will continue resisting in the streets until we see change in the country,” he said. “There is a saying now: ‘We must follow Tachira’s example.’”— AFP

Turner hospitalized with appendicitis BUENOS AIRES: Philanthropist and former media tycoon Ted Turner was rushed to hospital on Friday in Argentina’s Patagonia region before flying to Buenos Aires for appendicitis surgery, local media said. After being seen by doctors at the San Carlos clinic in the lakeside city of Bariloche, near an area where Turner owns property, the 75-year-old founder of cable TV network CNN was flown to the Argentine capital for treatment.

Workers at the San Carlos clinic said Turner was there in the early morning complaining of acute abdominal pain but was able to leave on foot. He then took a jet to Buenos Aires to be treated at the Argentine Institute for Diagnosis and Treatment in the upscale neighborhood of Barrio Norte. “He’s here,” an employee at the institute told Reuters without providing details. A spokesman for the hospital declined to comment.

Turner spokesman Phillip Evans said in a statement that his boss was admitted to a hospital for observation while traveling in South America. “Given it is our policy not to comment on his personal health, no further details will be provided,” Evans said. Turner, who turned his father’s billboard business into a billion-dollar empire that included ownership of the Atlanta Braves baseball team, ditched his role as

media executive years ago to focus on charity and green initiatives, including the fight against climate change.

Dubbed “Captain Outrageous” for his antics in the world of competitive yachting in the 1970s, when he once drunkenly swashbuckled through a news conference after winning the America’s Cup, Turner created CNN in 1980 as the world’s first 24-hour cable news channel. — Reuters

Ted Turner

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

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

Crimea eyes bridge for link with Russia KERCH, Ukraine: A ferry is the only way to cross the small strip of sea that separates Ukraine’s Kerch peninsula in the far east of restive Crimea from Russia. But maybe not for much longer. If the city’s pro-Russia mayor gets his way, there will soon be a bridge, forging a physical link to an area that is already under de facto Russian control. Oleg Osadchiy is in a confident mood as he sits in an imposing office dominated by a satellite map showing Kerch and the spit of Russian territory that looks like an open hand reaching out to grab it.

“The 7.5-kilometre bridge will be finished in four or five years,” said Osadchiy, who is in his fourth term as

mayor of the 145,000-strong city, which he claims is “74 percent Russian”. The project received a boost this week when Russian Prime Minister Dmitr y Medvedev awarded a reported Ä480 million ($345 million) contract for its construction to federal road agency Rosavtodor. Days later Crimea’s parliament, regarded as renegades by the new government in Kiev, voted to secede from Ukraine and said it would hold a referendum on the issue on March 16. Moscow’s forces already control strategically important Crimea - a mainly ethnic Russian peninsula about the size of Belgium and home to Russia’s Black Sea fleet.

An old dream Ukraine and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding on the bridge project more than three years ago, in the hope they could finally realise a project that was first begun seven decades earlier. Wartime forces built a 4.5-km bridge that was opened in the summer of 1944, but its poor Soviet construction meant is was carried away by ice in the fierce winter six months later. Several other attempts were made over the coming decades to link the sister republics of Ukraine and Russia under the banner of the USSR, but none bore fruit.

This time, says Osadchiy, “the gov-

ernments of Russia and (the autonomous republic of ) Crimea are very involved”. Although the Ukranian flag sits to his right - in contrast to its disappearance from many official buildings in Crimea - he makes no mention of lawmakers in Kiev, some 1,000 km away. Despite his determination, there is much work still to be done before the bridge becomes a reality, Osadchiy concedes.

It is still at the stage “of technical feasibility studies”, he says, which are expected to be completed in November. Osadchiy speaks excitedly about the rail and road links his city will enjoy with Russia, although he is vague

on what the economic impact might be. Although he does not provide evidence, he says a million people would use the crossing every year, two-and-ahalf times the number who traverse the strait between Krymsk and Kavkaz on the ferry.

Down at the docks, armed Russian soldiers - who might normally find themselves on the other side of the water - carry out patrols. There are few takers for the four-times-daily ferry when an AFP journalist visited. No one wants to travel in such a tense atmosphere, said one Ukranian who did not want to be named. “ The people are afraid,” he said. — AFP

It’s Obama v Putin on Crimea WASHINGTON: Now it’s personal. By upping the ante with his threat to isolate Russia with sanctions over Crimea, Barack Obama risks setting off a cycle of confrontation with Vladimir Putin. And despite his reluctance to play Cold Warstyle chess with the Russian president, a degeneration into a new great power rivalry cannot be ruled out. Since Russia’s move into Ukraine, President Obama has steadily upped pressure, while offering Putin a diplomatic “off ramp” to defuse the crisis.

Indefatigable Secretary of State John Kerry has spent hours bartering ideas with Russia’s tough foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Europe. But the belief in Washington is that only Putin has the power to dictate outcomes - introducing a personal dimension into the crisis. That recognition underpinned two bluntly spoken calls between Obama and Putin this week. The US plan would see international observers monitor the welfare of ethnic Russians in Ukraine, Moscow’s troops withdraw to Crimean bases and Ukrainian elections in May. But the Russian troop buildup in Crimea and a pending referendum among peninsula’s mainly Russian-speaking citizens on joining Russia seems to be outpacing US diplomacy.

How Bad Will it Get? The question now is whether the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War will chill the entire relationship between the world’s top two nuclear powers? For instance, can Washington insulate high priority areas of cooperation - like Iran nuclear talks and its transit route out of Afghanistan - from the dispute. Or will

the dynamics of the crisis and the pressure on both Obama and Putin to appear strong create their own destructive dynamic?

Lee Feinstein, a former US ambassador to Poland and a campaign advisor to both Obama and Hillary Clinton, said options were already narrowing. “It depends on the trajectory that Putin takes,” said Feinstein, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund. “Frankly, if the intervention in Crimea continues, that is going to make it much more difficult on a whole range of issues.”

Obama this week appeared on camera to personally highlight visa bans on some Russian officials and a structure for sanctions on some entities and individuals. If Crimea is taken from Ukraine and taken by Russia, Obama would have little choice, along with European partners, to make good on his threats, risking Russian retaliation. The president’s personal credibility, already derided by political foes who slam him as a “feckless” statesman, is now clearly on the line.

Not Obama’s Preferred Legacy A new great power rivalry is not Obama’s choice, He came to office determined to “reset” relations with Russia.

Although the policy yielded a new nuclear arms reduction deal, helped him win a Nobel prize and was instrumental in clamping tight sanctions on Iran - it ran out of steam before he won reelection. But by keeping diplomatic options open through Kerry and by coaxing Putin, Obama hopes to forestall a prolonged confrontation. Michael McFaul, Obama’s just departed ambassador to Moscow, believes Russia’s cooperation on

Iran nuclear talks, for example, can endure “not because Putin is doing us any favors but because he sees (it) in Russia’s national interest.”

In that sense, the idea behind the reset - that while Russia and the United States are not friends they can cooperate where it makes sense - could survive. But with Putin often seeming to define his bid to restore Russia’s pride and influence by thwarting US foreign policy - in Syria for instance - the spirit of the reset is long dead. Soil was piled on its grave with Russia’s offer of asylum to fugitive US leaker Edward Snowden.

And Obama penned its obituary by snubbing Putin last year by judging their agenda too threadbare to justify a planned Moscow summit. “Already, well before this crisis there was not a ambitious program coming out of Washington in terms of some great set of initiatives,” said McFaul. The revival of long dormant tensions has meanwhile electrified old cold warriors in Washington. “Maybe the president thinks the Cold War is over, but Vladimir Putin doesn’t,” said Republican Senator John McCain on MSNBC. But Obama has long dispensed with illusions about Putin. He sees Putin’s worldview as framed by his apprenticeship in the KGB and nationalistic nostalgia for the Soviet Union. He is also irritated by the perception that Putin “rescued” him after he blinked at striking Syria over its chemical weapons use.

Obama argues the now troubled deal to destroy the Assad regime’s chemical arsenal was his idea nurtured by painstaking diplomacy, not an opportunist pounce by Putin.—AFP

KIEV: In this Feb 20, 2014 file photo, activists evacuate a wounded protester during clashes with police in Independence Square. — AP

Russia, Ukraine feud over sniper carnage Riddle has become latest flashpoint KIEV: One of the biggest mysteries hanging over the protest mayhem that drove Ukraine’s president from power: Who was behind the snipers who sowed death and terror in Kiev? That riddle has become the latest flashpoint of feuding over Ukraine - with the nation’s fledgling government and the Kremlin giving starkly different interpretations of events that could either undermine or bolster the legitimacy of the new rulers.

Ukrainian authorities are investigating the Feb18-20 bloodbath, and they have shifted their focus from ousted President Viktor Yanukovych’s government to Vladimir Putin’s Russia - pursuing the theory that the Kremlin was intent on sowing mayhem as a pretext for military incursion. Russia suggests that the snipers were organized by opposition leaders trying to whip up local and international outrage against the government.

The government’s new health minister - a doctor who helped oversee medical treatment for casualties during the protests - told AP that the similarity of bullet wounds suffered by opposition victims and police indicates the shooters were trying to stoke tensions on both sides and spark even greater violence, with the goal of toppling Yanukovych. “I think it wasn’t just a part of the old regime that (plotted the provocation), but it was also the work of Russian special forces who served and maintained the ideology of the (old) regime,” Health Minister Oleh Musiy said.

Putin has pushed the idea that the sniper shootings were ordered by opposition leaders, while Kremlin officials have pointed to a recording of a leaked phone call between Estonia’s foreign minister and the European Union’s foreign policy chief as evidence to back up that version. This much is known: Snipers firing power ful rifles from rooftops and windows shot scores of people in the heart of Kiev. Some victims were opposition protesters, but many were civilian bystanders clearly not involved in the clashes. Among the dead were medics, as well as police officers. A majority of the more than 100 people who died in the violence were shot by snipers; hundreds were also injured by the gunfire and other street fighting.

On Tuesday, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov signaled that investigators may be turning their attention away from Ukrainian responsibility. “I can say only one thing: the key factor in this uprising, that spilled blood in Kiev and that turned the country upside down and shocked it, was a third force,” Avakov was quoted as saying by Interfax. “And this force was not Ukrainian.”

The next day, Prosecutor General Oleh Makhntisky said officials have found sniper bullet casings on the National Bank building a few hundred yards up the hill from Maidan, the square that became the center and the symbol of the anti-government protests. He said investigators have confirmed snipers also fired from the Hotel Ukraine, directly on the square, and the House of Chimeras, an official residence

next to the presidential administration building.

Deputy Interior Minister Mykola Velichkovych told AP that commanders of sniper units overseen by the Berkut police force and other Interior Ministry subdivisions have denied to investigators that they had given orders to shoot anyone. Musiy, who spent more than two months organizing medical units on Maidan, said that on Feb. 20 roughly 40 civilians and protesters were brought with fatal bullet wounds to the makeshift hospital set up near the square. But he said medics also treated three police officers whose wounds were identical.

Forensic Evidence Forensic evidence, in particular the similarity of the bullet wounds, led him and others to conclude that snipers were targeting both sides of the standoff at Maidan - and that the shootings were intended to generate a wave of revulsion so strong that it would topple Yanukovych and also justify a Russian invasion. Russia has used the uncertainty surrounding the bloodshed to discredit Ukraine’s current government.

During a news conference Tuesday, Putin addressed the issue in response to a reporter’s question, suggesting that the snipers in fact “may have been provocateurs from opposition parties.”

That theory gained currency a day later when a recording of a Feb 26 private phone call between Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton was leaked and broadcast by the Russian governmentcontrolled TV network, Russia Today. In the call, Paet said he had heard from protesters during a visit to Kiev that opponents of Yanukovych were behind the sniper attacks.

Paet said another physician who treated victims, Dr Olha Bogomolets, told him that both police and protesters were killed by the same bullets - and “there is now stronger and stronger understanding that behind snipers it was not Yanukovych, but it was somebody from the new (government) coali-

tion.” On Wednesday Paet confirmed the recording was authentic, and told reporters in Tallinn that he was merely repeating what Bogomolets had told him. He said he had no way of verifying the claims, though he called Bogomolets “clearly a person with authority.”

Bogomolets couldn’t be immediately reached by the AP for comment. She did not answer repeated calls to her cellphone or respond to text messages. In an interview earlier this week with a correspondent from British newspaper The Telegraph, Bogomolets said she didn’t know if police and protesters were killed by the same bullets, and called for a thorough investigation. “No one who just sees the wounds when treating the victims can make a determination about the type of weapons,” she was quoted as saying. “I hope international experts and Ukrainian investigators will make a determination of what type of weapons, who was involved in the killings and how it was done. I have no data to prove anything.”

On Thursday, Russia’s UN envoy said he discussed the leaked phone call during a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council. If the call represents the truth, Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters, “it is hard to imagine how such a parliament ... can be regarded as a legitimate parliament that can pass legitimate decisions on the future of Ukraine.”

Confusion A former top security official with Ukraine’s main security agency, the SBU, waded into the confusion, in an interview published Thursday with the respected newspaper Dzerkalo Tizhnya.

Hennady Moskal, who was deputy head of the agency, told the newspaper that snipers from the Interior Ministry and SBU were responsible for the shootings, not foreign agents. “In addition to this, snipers received orders to shoot not only protesters, but also police forces.

This was all done in order to escalate the conflict, in order to justify the police operation to clear Maidan,” he was quoted as saying.— AP

DONETSK: A pro-Russian demonstrator holds up a sign as she shouts slogans during a rally in this eastern Ukrainian city yesterday. —AFP

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

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

All aboard! Pakistan’s first women-only bus RAWALPINDI, Pakistan: At 7:15 am on a dusty street corner in Rawalpindi, among the dozen rickety minibuses jostling for passengers, a brand-new, bright pink vehicle stands out. Emblazoned with the words “Ladies Transport”, this is Pakistan’s first commuter bus solely for women, aimed at those sick of wandering hands and unwanted attention on regular services. Some see it as a welcome respite, but detractors warn it is reinforcing gender segregation in a highly patriarchal and often misogynistic country.

Sat on one of the minibus’s four banquette seats, Azra Kamal, who works at an electronics shop, welcomes the new project, named “Tabeer” - “fulfilment of a dream” in Urdu. Her face half-hidden behind a black veil, she tells of obscene comments and other inappropriate gestures she suffered on mixed transport. “I have a long journey to work and when I get there it’s often only me left on board. Sometimes the driver will take advantage to give me his phone number and ask for mine,” she said during the 20-odd kilometre ride to her destination in the capital Islamabad.

Others on board described being touched by drivers, conductors and male passengers. To add to this harassment, the tiny minibuses that ply the roads of the Pakistani capital and its twin city Rawalpindi often have only a few seats, sometimes with only one out of a dozen reserved for women. “I used to work in a hospital.

Often there would be no space on the bus and I would get told off for being late,” said Sana. Today the 21-yearold proudly wears a pink tunic, the uniform of her job as conductor on the women’s bus, as she collects the 30rupee (30-US cent) fare.

Mobile Segregation?

But the new service has not impressed everyone in a country where the forces of conservatism are seen to be growing in strength. In a blog post for one of Pakistan’s leading English-language newspapers, journalist Erum Shaikh called the project a “complete sham”. “The mere

News

in brief

Magnetic bomb targets Afghanistan’s governor JALALABAD: A magnetic bomb attached to a district governor’s vehicle exploded in eastern Afghanistan yesterday, killing the governor and his bodyguard, provincial authorities said. The attack in Nangarhar province highlights the security threat surrounding presidential elections in a month’s time, when voters will choose a successor to Hamid K arzai. “ Today 9:00am, a mine attached to the vehicle of Nazyan district governor Noor Agha Kamran was detonated in the city of Jalalabad,” Nangarhar police spokesman, Hazrat Hussain Mashriqiwal told AFP. “Unfortunately, district governor Noor Agha Kamran was martyred along with his one bodyguard, and several passersby were wounded in the attack ,” he added.

Nangarhar governor spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai said five bystanders were slightly wounded. They were discharged from the hospital after treatment. In another attack in neighbouring Laghman province, four Afghan soldiers and two policemen were killed while defusing a roadside bomb.

“Today 8:00am, Afghan security forces went to the outskirts of Mehtarlam provincial capital to defuse a roadside bomb, and another bomb detonated,” Sarhadi Zwak, Laghman governor’s spokesman, told AFP. Plane evacuated after catching fire in Nepal NEW DELHI: An IndiGo flight from Delhi to Kathmandu evacuated passengers using a slide chute yesterday after its rear wheel caught fire while landing in the Nepalese capital, the carrier, India’s largest airline, said.

“Af ter park ing, the ground engineer observed smoke and fire from the right brake assembly... All 175 passengers, one infant and six crew members are safe,” said a statement, adding an investigation was underway. The low-cost airline, launched in 2006, is a privately held success story, famed for placing the largest-ever plane order of 180 Airbus A320 aircraft worth more than $15 billion in 2011. US aviation authorities downgraded India’s air safety ranking in January to category two, saying its aviation safety supervision did not comply with international safety standards. The downgrade brought India below Pakistan and on a par with countries such as Bangladesh, Ghana and Indonesia, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration.

China to work with Afghans to fight terror BEIJING: China said yesterday that it will work with Afghanistan to fight terrorism, after it blamed a deadly train station attack on extremists from its western Xinjiang region, which shares a short border with the war-torn nation. Beijing has become increasingly concerned about security in restive Xinjiang, where it says Muslim extremists receive help from militants in neighbouring countries. China says separatists from the region, home to a large Muslim Uighur minority, launched a terrorist attack in the southwestern city of Kunming last week, killing at least 29 people and injuring about 140. China will work with the international community for political reconciliation in Afghanistan and support reconstruction, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a press briefing during an annual session of China’s largely rubber-stamp parliament. “We will also work with Afghanistan and other neighbours to resolutely fight all terrorist forces,” he said. China will host a foreign ministerial conference on Afghanistan in August to encourage “a move toward lasting peace”, Wang said.

fact that the authorities thought it appropriate to introduce something like this should actually offend women and yet we sit there smile, look pretty and let the big, tough, muscular men build walls around us to ‘protect’ us,” she wrote. On board the bus, bank worker Misbah agrees. “I really appreciate the service but we must tackle the root of the problem and make people take harassment seriously,” she said.

But the man behind the project, Ali Naqi Hamdani, says it is empowering women in a society where many are not permitted to leave the house without male accompaniment. “The women here are willing to go out to work, they’re willing to go out for education purposes but they don’t have such a conducive situation where they can feel secure in public transport,” he said. “So it was very important that you provide them an environment where they step out of their homes, they feel secure before they reach their universities or their offices so they are encouraged to come out.”

The Tabeer project has been running for three weeks, with 12 vehicles in the capital, and is hoping to expand to other cities if there is enough demand. Sana is already dreaming of moving on to drive the bus - for a shortage of female drivers means that currently the women-only bus has a man behind the wheel. — AFP

RAWALPINDI: Pakistani female university students gather around vans from the newly launched Tabeer transport service at the Fatima Jinnah University on March 5, 2014. — AFP

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

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

China to ‘defend every inch’ of territory: FM Wang declares ‘no room for compromise’

BEIJING: A woman surrounded by media covers her mouth on her arrival at a hotel for relatives or friends of passengers aboard a missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 yesterday. —AFP

Tears, fury as relatives wait for news of plane BEIJING: Tearful and angry, the friends and relatives of passengers on board missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 lashed out at the company yesterday as journalists besieged them in a Beijing hotel. Many were taken there by the airline after going to the Chinese capital’s airport to meet the flight, scheduled to land at around 6:30 am. A press conference was expected at the same location, and when others arrived later, they had to run the gauntlet of scores of Chinese and international reporters shoving microphones and cameras in their faces.

“They should have told us something before now,” said one visibly distressed man in his 30s, from the Chinese city of Tianjin. A man in his 20s struggled to help a grieving older woman, possibly his mother, into a quiet room as journalists shouted questions at her. “They are useless,” he said of the airline. “I don’t know why they haven’t released any information. We waited for four hours and all they told us was the very few details they released at the media conference.”

At the press conference, a Malaysia Airlines staffer read out a statement that had already been given in Kuala Lumpur and which the passengers had read online - in chaotic scenes as scores of cameramen fought and barged each other out the way to get clear shot. Fighting back tears, a 20-year-old woman who had

gone to the airport to meet a college friend said the passenger’s family still had not been told by the airline she was on board. According to Malaysia Airlines, 153 of the 239 people on board the missing flight - a codeshare with China Southern Airlines -are Chinese citizens.

Scores of family members spoke to airline officials in small groups in a room on the hotel’s second floor. Security at times struggled to hold back the huge throng of reporters crowding outside the door and making it difficult for relatives to enter or exit. Hundreds of journalists from across China are currently in Beijing for the annual session of the National People’s Congress, the Communist-controlled parliament, and many of those present wore badges from the event.

One woman in her twenties entered the room frantically crying, ignoring questions from the horde. A man in his 60s wiped tears from his eyes with a handkerchief as he entered the room. He hit a cameraman in the face who tried to film him as he walked by, as a security guard shouted “Don’t you all have families?” In the evening a group of about 10 family members made their way into the room to meet airline officials, sobbing into their hands. At the airport, for hours after the flight should have landed, the digital arrivals board described it, in red, as “delayed”. Then it changed, to “cancelled”. —AFP

BEIJING: China’s foreign minister yesterday said his country would vigorously defend its sovereignty, declaring there was “no room for compromise” with Japan over territory or history. “We will never bully smaller countries yet we will never accept unreasonable demands from smaller countries,” Wang Yi told reporters. “On issues of territor y and sovereignty, China’s position is firm and clear: We will not take anything that isn’t ours, but we will defend ever y inch of territor y that belongs to us.”

China is embroiled in disputes with several of its neighbours including the Philippines and Japan, with tensions centred on rival claims in the South China Sea and East China Sea. Beijing asserts that almost all the South China Sea is its territory but the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have overlapping claims. The dispute with Tokyo is particularly tense given historical animosities between the two countries over Japan’s invasion of China in the 1930s and 40s. Beijing and Tokyo both claim a small uninhabited archipelago in the East China Sea, administered by Japan as the Senkaku Islands, but which China calls the Diaoyu Islands.

Chinese officials and state media have this year demanded that Japan reflect on its historical aggression and atrocities, in much the same manner as postwar Germany has with its Nazi past. “On the two issues of principle, history and territory, there is no room for compromise,” Wang told reporters on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress, China’s communist-controlled legislature. “If some people in Japan insist on overturning the verdict on its past aggression I don’t believe the international community and all peace loving people in the world will ever tol-

BEIJING: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during a press conference for the second session of China’s 12th National People’s Congress (NPC) on China’s foreign policies yesterday. —AP erate or condone that.”

Tensions Tensions between the two have risen markedly since 2012 when Tokyo purchased islands in the chain it did not already own from their private Japanese owners. Beijing has taken an increasingly hard line on the issue ever since. Ships and aircraft from both countries regularly patrol waters around the contested territory and have on occasion come perilously close to armed clashes.

Some, including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, have mentioned the dispute within the context of World War I, when European powers Germany and Britain went to war. Wang, a career diplomat who has served at China’s embassy in Tokyo and speaks Japanese, discounted such a comparison at the press conference. “I wish to emphasise that 2014 is not 1914, still less 1894,” he said.

The latter year marks the start of the First Sino-Japanese War, which ended in victory by Japan in 1895, marking that country’s rise as a regional power after more than two centuries of isolation. “Instead of using Germany before the First World War as an object lesson, why not use Germany after the Second World War as a role model?” Wang added.

The United States, China and Japan are the world’s three biggest economies, while Tokyo has a security pact with Washington, which is treaty-bound to come to its defence if it is attacked. Wang became foreign minister in March last year as China completed a once-a-decade leadership transition that saw Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping become state president. He reiterated Beijing’s calls for dialogue to resolve the issue of the nuclear program of North Korea, which receives most of its trade and aid from China.

“All along, we have a red line, that is we will never allow war or instability on the Korean peninsula,” he said, adding that “mutual mistrust”, particularly between Pyongyang and Washington, was preventing a resolution.

Wang also stressed the need for discussions in Ukraine, where forces of China’s ally Russia are in effective control of Crimea. “The priority now is to exercise calm and restraint and to prevent further escalation of the situation,” he said. “The parties should carry out dialogue and consultation to put the issue on the track of a political settlement.”

Despite tensions with the US over issues including mutual suspicions related to defence and cyber security, Wang gave an overall upbeat assessment of ties. “The Asia-Pacific should be the testing ground of our commitment to build a new model of relations rather than a competitive arena,” he said. —AFP

NEWS

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

Domestic violence cases spark protests...

Continued from Page 1 Maya Al-Ammar, an official with a Lebanese women’s rights group Kafa, Arabic for “Enough.” “If you don’t remove (domestic) violence and the woman can’t become the ruler of herself, she will not be able to be able to take a decision-making post.” Civil rights activists say that a woman is killed every month by their husbands on average in Lebanon, while thousands are subjected to physical or verbal abuse every year.

In the past, it used to be taboo to openly speak about such family issues. Some used to claim that their daughters died after they fell in order to avoid what could be seen as “shameful.” Today, however, the death of a woman at the hands of her husband gets extensive coverage by local media and has sparked widespread awareness campaigns online. “We are not doing anything shameful. We are not harming anyone,” said a Lebanese domestic violence survivor who only gave her first name as Bahiya out of fear of reprisals. “We probably reached this point because of the word shame.”

Bahiya described how her husband of nearly 20 years regularly beat her with his hands and a stick.

She once went to the hospital after he grazed her with a gunshot. With the help of Kafa, she was able to get a divorce recently and won custody of her four daughters. The woman recounted how once after fleeing to a police station, an officer there told her that she faced merely “a family affair.” Many Lebanese women also see the laws in this Arab country as discriminating against them.

Lebanese women married to foreigners cannot pass their citizenship to their children and husbands.

The country’s personal status law, which deals with cases involving divorce or inheritance, is implemented according to the person’s religion and their faith MANILA: People gather to form a woman symbol to celebrate International Women’s Day at Manila’s Rizal Park yesterday. The organizers hoped to bring in 10,000 participants and set a Guinness World Record for the largest human woman symbol. The event’s official recorded participants has yet to be announced by Guinness World Records. — AFP

Malaysia plane with 239 aboard ‘missing’ Continued from Page 1 “The oil spills are about 15km long. Those boats will be there in about three to four hours.” A crash, if confirmed, would likely mark the US-built airliner’s deadliest incident since entering service 19 years ago. And it would also mark the second fatal accident involving a Boeing 777 in less than a year. An Asiana Airlines Boeing 777-200ER crash-landed in San Francisco in July 2013, killing three passengers and injuring more than 180. Boeing said it was monitoring the situation but had no further comment.

Massive search A large number of planes and ships from several countries were scouring the area where the plane last made contact, about halfway between Malaysia and the southern tip of Vietnam. “The search and rescue operations will continue as long as necessar y,” Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak told reporters in Kuala Lumpur. He said 15 air force aircraft, six navy ships and three coast guard vessels had been pressed into service by Malaysia.

Vietnam dispatched two navy boats from Phu Quoc island and sent two jets and one helicopter from Ho Chi Minh City to search for the missing airliner. It was readying a further seven planes and nine boats to join the search effort. Other than Vietnamese and Malaysian search operations, China and the Philippines have also sent ships to the region to help. The United States, the Philippines, and Singapore also dispatched military planes.

China has also put other ships and aircraft on standby, said Transport Minister Yang Chuantang. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters in Beijing that China was “extremely worried” about the fate of the plane and those on board. Search and rescue vessels from the Malaysian maritime enforcement agency reached the area where the plane last made contact at about 4:30 pm local time but saw no sign of wreckage, a Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency said. The 11-year-old Boeing, powered by Rolls-Royce Trent engines, took off at 12:40 am from Kuala Lumpur International Airport and was apparently flying in good

weather conditions when it went missing without a distress call.

Relatives angry The disappearance of the plane is a chilling echo of an Air France flight that crashed into the South Atlantic on June 1, 2009, killing all 228 people on board. It vanished for hours and wreckage was found only two days later. Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 last had contact with air traffic controllers 120 nautical miles off the east coast of the Malaysian town of Kota Bharu, Malaysia Airlines chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said in a statement. Earlier yesterday, the airline had said people from 14 nationalities were among the 227 passengers, including at least 152 Chinese, 38 Malaysians, seven Indonesians, six Australians, five Indians, four French and three Americans.

Flight tracking website flightaware.com showed the plane flew northeast over Malaysia after takeoff and climbed to an altitude of 35,000 feet. The flight vanished from the website’s tracking records a minute later while it was still climbing. Chinese relatives of passengers angrily accused the airline of keeping them in the dark, while state media criticized the carrier’s poor response. “There’s no one from the company here, we can’t find a single person. They’ve just shut us in this room and told us to wait,” said one middle-aged man at a hotel near Beijing airport where the relatives were taken. “We want someone to show their face. They haven’t even given us the passenger list,” he said.

Another relative, tr ying to evade a throng of reporters, muttered: “They’re treating us worse than dogs.” In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Airlines told passengers’ next of kin to come to the international airport with their passports to prepare to fly to the crash site, which has still not been identified. About 20-30 families were being kept in a holding room at the airport, where they were being guarded by security officials and kept away from reporters. Malaysia Airlines has one of the best safety records among full-service carriers in the Asia-Pacific region. It identified the pilot of MH370 as Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, a 53-year-old Malaysian who joined the carrier in 1981 and has 18,365 hours of flight experience. — Reuters

dictates their fate. Some young women under 18 get kidnapped by their future husbands and get married with the help of religious clerics against the will of their parents. The same goes for politics. There is no quota for women in parliament or government ministries. Women now hold just four seats in the country’s 128-delegate. Lebanon’s newly formed government has only one female Cabinet minister. Activists are urging Lebanon’s parliament to approve a new law regarding domestic violence at its first meeting after a legislative subcommittee approved it last year.

Ghassan Moukheiber, the general rapporteur of the parliamentary Human Rights committee, said the reason the law has not been approved is because parliament has not met since a previous Cabinet resigned in March last year. Lebanon was run by a caretaker Cabinet until last month. Moukheiber said he expects the draft to be unanimously approved once parliament meets. “I look forward for the voting of this bill because it is going to be a very important and meaningful step toward stopping all sorts of violence against women,” Moukheiber said. Some Sunni and Shiite Muslim clerics have criticized the proposed law, however, saying it dismantles families.

Yesterday, about 5,000 people marched in Beirut to demand protection for women and urged the parliament to vote on the domestic violence law. “We came down to the street because we want a law to protect us. We tell the state we want a law quickly,” hundreds of women chanted. But for Sabbagh, the damage of domestic violence has already been inflicted on her family. She said she could only be happy that her daughter’s two children were at school at the time of the killing and did not see their mother’s bloody, beaten corpse. “My heart is boiling like fire,” Sabbagh said. “My daughter was not an insect. She was the light of my heart. — AP

Hollywood film ‘Noah’ banned in the Arab...

Continued from Page 1 The film will premiere in the United States on March 28. Noah, who in the Bible’s Book of Genesis built the ark that saved his family and many pairs of animals from a great flood, is revered by Judaism, Christianity and Islam. An entire chapter in the Quran is devoted to him. Cairo’s Al-Azhar, the highest authority of Sunni Islam and a main centre of Islamic teaching for over a millennium, issued a fatwa, or religious injunction, against the film on Thursday. “Al-Azhar ... renews its objection to any act depicting the messengers and prophets of God and the companions of the Prophet (PBUH),” it announced in a statement.

They “provoke the feelings of believers ... and are forbidden in Islam and a clear violation of Islamic law,” the fatwa added. Mel Gibson’s 2004 film “The Passion of the Christ” on Jesus’s crucifixion was widely screened in the Arab World, despite a flurry of objections by Muslim clerics. A 2012 Arab miniseries “Omar” on the exploits of a seventh century M u s l i m r u l e r a n d co m p a n i o n o f t h e Pro p h e t Mohammad (PBUH) also managed to defy clerics’ objections and air on a Gulf-based satellite televi-

sion channel.

Th e p u b l i c a t i o n o f c a r to o n s o f t h e Pro p h e t (PBUH) in a Danish newspaper in 2006 touched off riots in the Middle East, Africa and Asia in which at least 50 people died. A 2012 amateur Youtube video deriding the prophet produced in California stoked protests throughout the region, and may have contributed to a deadly militant raid in Libya which killed the US ambassador and three other American staff. “Noah,” whose official video trailer depicts a burly Crowe wielding an axe and computer-animated geysers swamping an army of sinners hoping to board his ark, has also stoked religious controversy at home.

Jerr y A Johnson, president of a conser vative National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) group, said last month he wanted to “make sure everyone who sees this impactful film knows this is an imaginative i n te r p re t a t i o n o f S c r i p t u re, a n d n o t l i te r a l.”

Paramount responded by agreeing to issue a disclaimer on advertising for the film. “While artistic license has been taken, we believe that this film is true to the essence, values and integrity of a story that is a cornerstone of faith for millions of people worldwide,” the advisory reads. — Reuters

GCC internal crisis brews Continued from Page 1 The recent news seem to support earlier reports which talk about an Arab movement ‘in which Kuwait is strongly involved’ to support Gulf reconciliation efforts ahead of the upcoming summit. “The features of this activity are expected to become clear during the closed session for Arab foreign ministers,” said ‘diplomatic sources’ quoted by Al-Rai yesterday. “There is hope for a solution,” the sources added. Similar sentiments were echoed by a member of Qatar’s ruling family, who told Al-Qabas Daily that the crisis will be resolved very soon, and that Kuwait will be ‘the main player’ in the mediation talks.

Brotherhood classification Qatar’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood is described as a factor why some GCC countries withdrew their envoys from Doha. Two days after, Saudi Arabia officially branded the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist

group. Though they are yet to make a similar decision, but sources said that UAE and Doha are likely to brand the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group in the near future.

Such decision would tighten the grip on the Muslim Brotherhood in the Gulf region, as it would mean that the group’s activity would be criminalized in most of the Gulf states. Though not officially represented in Kuwait, the Muslim Brotherhood is heavily linked to the Social Reform Society as well as the Islamic Constitution Movement.

Meanwhile, MP Kamel Al-Awadhi announced yesterday that the foreign relations committee’s meeting this week will discuss the Gulf crisis with the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid AlSabah. “An assessment will be made after the meeting to determine whether to release a recommendation to discuss the issue during a special parliamentary session,” AlAwadhi added.

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

ANALYSIS

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Issues

South Sudan conflict could infect region

By Hannah McNeish

A

s ongoing fighting in South Sudan shatters any pretence of a ceasefire between government troops and rebels, analysts fear the conflict could engulf the region, as former foes fight old wars in a new country. There are tensions between South Sudan’s northern neighbor and old enemy Sudan and its new ally Uganda, while chief mediator Ethiopia is likely alarmed by allegations that its arch-enemy Eritrea is funneling weapons from ally Khartoum to South Sudan’s rebels.

One Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the worst case-scenario currently being discussed is that “you’ve got Uganda fighting Sudan inside South Sudan, with Eritrea fighting Ethiopia inside South Sudan and a complete law and order vacuum.” “As far as the regionalization of the conflict goes, the question is not if, but when”, said Casie Copeland, South Sudan analyst for the Brussels-based International Crisis Group think tank. What started as a power struggle between South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar in late December quickly split the army and exacerbated ethnic feelings in a nation born less than three years ago, after five decades of war with Khartoum.

A feud between Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and his Sudanese counterpart Omar Al-Bashir is rooted in Uganda’s rescue of a then southern guerrilla army battling Khartoum forces in the last stages of the civil war that ended with a 2005 peace deal and South Sudan’s independence six years later.

Uganda has long accused Khartoum of funding rebel groups such as the Lord’s Resistance Army on its territory. With Ugandan troops now openly backing Kiir and pushing north, and as rebels retake territory near oil fields whose produce flows north for export, Sudan could soon go on the offensive.

“We do worry about the regionalization of this. The Ugandans and Sudanese hate each other,” the diplomat said.

Proxy armies Rebels from Sudan’s troubled Darfur region, who have been battling Khartoum for a decade, are also reported to be fighting alongside South Sudan in oil-rich Unity state, and ethnic militia from other parts of the south are also pitching in, further straining north-south relations. There are real fears that Sudan could revert to old tactics of funding proxies or arming the opposition as calls for Uganda to withdraw go unheeded and oil assets are threatened. A row in early 2012 over how much South Sudan should pay to export its oil through northern pipelines to port led to an 18-month halt in production that brought both economies to their knees. Kiir and Bashir eventually signed deals on oil and security that included a promise to stop funding one another’s enemies to ensure their co-dependent stability. The current conflict has called this and also the future of South Sudan’s oil revenues into question, with many seeing newly oil-rich Uganda’s military support as a bargaining chip for oil.

South Sudan’s defense minister recently admitted that Ugandan troops were on the payroll, contradicting his colleagues’ claims there were no foreign forces in country. But speculation is rife over what else South Sudan’s governmentstill reeling from the shutdown-has offered to secure its position. “I heard one of the oil blocks, or so much (oil) per day”, said the diplomat. South Sudan’s decision to build an alternative pipeline to Kenya or Djibouti further unnerved Khartoum and raised Uganda’s hopes it might link up to an East African pipeline and build its own refinery. With French oil giant Total owning concessions in Ethiopia, Uganda and South Sudan, “the pieces are there for big play”, says Copeland.

Risk of bankruptcy But for now, cash-strapped South Sudan is embroiled in a war that has displaced almost a million people, with many wondering how long the baby nation can last. “International financial experts are suggesting that the government might be bankrupt in 2-3 months,” said one analyst on condition of anonymity.

South Sudan’s biggest oil-backer China has played a role in supporting the government financially with development projects and loans, and is now increasingly wading into internal politics.

But its weight is unlikely to cut through strained regional relations as paranoia over history repeating itself with regards to oil, guns and borders grows.

“A nightmare scenario is unfolding in this region”, said John Prendergast in a recent report for the anti-genocide Enough project. He has called for a proper investigation into whether Eritrea is providing arms through Sudan and for an extension of sanctions already incurred by Asmara for supplying weapons to Somali groups. Until there is no “visible presence” of Ugandan forces in South Sudan, he doubts that peace talks in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa that the host and Sudan have backed will ever start in earnest. But even without confused regional backers, half-hearted international pressure or China’s economic carrot, left alone, South Sudan’s war could rumble on for years, funded solely by the spoils of corruption and determination of former guerrilla leaders. —AFP

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.

In China, brutality yields confessions of graft

By Gillian Wong

T

he local Chinese official remembers all too clearly the panic he felt in Room 109. He had refused again and again to confess to bribery he says he didn’t commit, and his four Communist Party interrogators were forcing his legs farther apart than they could go. Zhou Wangyan begged them to stop. But the men taunted him and kept pushing. Then, with a loud “ka-cha,” his left thigh bone snapped. The sickening crunch reverberated in his mind, nearly drowning out his howls of pain and the frantic pounding of his heart. “My leg is broken,” Zhou told the interrogators.

According to Zhou, they ignored his pleas.

A rare act of defiance Zhou, land bureau director for the city of Liling, was confined in the party’s secret detention system at a compound in central Hunan, touted as a model center for anticorruption efforts. Nobody on the outside could help him, because nobody knew where he was. In a rare act of public defiance, Zhou and three other party members in Hunan described to The Associated Press the months of abuse they endured less than two years ago, in separate cases, while in detention. Zhou said he was deprived of sleep and food, nearly drowned, whipped with wires and forced to eat excrement. The others reported being turned into human punching bags, strung up by the wrists from high windows, or dragged along the floor, face down, by their feet.

All said they talked to the AP despite the risk of retaliation because they were victims of political vendettas and wanted to expose what had happened. Party representatives contacted by the AP denied the abuses had taken place. The demands of Zhou and the others reflect a surging tide of expectations in today’s China, where an increasingly prosperous, better-educated and more Internet-savvy public is pressuring the party to live by its promises of a fairer society. The same expectations have fuelled anger against rampant graft, and the party has responded with China’s biggest anti-corruption campaign in years.

Since President Xi Jinping took power in late 2012, the campaign has felled dozens of mid-to-high-level officials and punished thousands of cadres.

However, the party’s methods for extracting confessions put its 85 million members and their close associates at risk of abuse through its internal investigation system, which is separate from state justice.

While police are legally required to notify the relatives of detained suspects, the party is under no such obligation. And since its powers are unchecked by police, prosecutors and courts, the party can abuse its own members in its own secret jails with impunity, even though torture is banned by its regulations.

Opaqueness of the system It’s impossible to tell how rare or common such abuse is. The opaqueness of the system, known as “shuanggui,” (SHWANG’gway) also makes it impossible to tell whether corruption investigations are legitimate, or simply efforts by party members to target rivals or settle scores. Zhou’s account is supported by medical records, statements from prosecutors, reports from party discipline organs and the land bureau, and a statement from police saying they could not investigate the abuse. The AP also corroborated information through interviews with family and friends, four of whom say they were detained and coerced to falsely accuse Zhou of taking bribes, and in two cases abused also.

Some details of his story could not be independently verified. Video surveillance footage from his interrogations has not

been released, and a Liling party official named Yi Dingfeng said provincial-level authorities were investigating the case.

Local anti-graft officials on a Hunan online forum in February last year denied Zhou was tortured, saying he injured himself by slipping in the bathroom. Eighteen months after his leg broke, Zhou still limps on crutches. “My time in shuanggui was tragic and brutal. It was a living hell,” he says.

“Those 184 days and five hours were not a life lived by a human. It was worse than being a pig or a dog.”

Believe me, I’m innocent The three men from the party’s disciplinary arm came for Zhou in his office on a hot summer morning in July 2012. Zhou, then 47, made two brief calls - one to tell the city’s mayor that his deputy would be in charge, and the other to his wife. “Believe me,” he told her, “I’m innocent. The organization is just taking me away to ask me some questions, I’ll be back soon.” Zhou trusted the party, as a career official who had slowly climbed out of poverty and up its ranks. In 2007, he was appointed to head the land resources bureau in Liling, a city of about 1 million famous for its porcelain and fireworks. Zhou blames his detention on a local party boss who bore him a grudge, later removed by the party in an investigation without reasons given.

Of course, abuse in detention goes far beyond the party in China, where police use similar methods with anyone from

bers last year, officials say, and at least three people died. In an unusual public prosecution, six party cadres were also sentenced to prison for inflicting harm that led to the death of Yu Qiyi, a state engineer in eastern Wenzhou. Aside from Zhou, three others told the AP they too had suffered in detention in a 2011-2012 investigation that rounded up 18 people, including non-party family members. Wang Qiuping, party secretary of an industrial park in Ningyuan, said he was slapped often and forced to stand and kneel for hours during a detention of 313 days.

His deputy Xiao Yifei told the AP he was hooded for more than a month and beaten up by an interrogator who went by the nickname “Tang the Butcher.” Xiao provided the AP with a receipt from a local party discipline office showing his sister paid 35,000 yuan, or $5,700, in “violation fees” to secure his release after 208 days. And Fan Qiqing, a contractor, said he was kicked and lashed with a metal whip and wooden plank during his 431-day detention and forced to take hallucinogenic drugs. A Ningyuan party official who refused to give his name said the investigation involving all three men was carried out in a “civilized manner” and no one was tortured.

In Liling, Zhou believed he could defend himself during questioning. It was not long before he realized he was wrong.

In the first week, Zhou slept barely an hour each night in a hotel because his interrogators stood in a circle and endlessly pushed

HUNAN PROVINCE: Zhou Wangyan, head of the Liling city land resources bureau, demonstrates how he was tortured by Communist Party anti-graft investigators who struck at the soles of his feet with wires, during an interview in his home in Liling in central China’s Hunan province. —AP mafia suspects to dissidents. Despite hopes that Xi’s administration would be less authoritarian than those before, critics believe he is clamping down even more strongly, with increased detentions of people who push for political change, protest censorship and demand wealth disclosure from officials. However, little is known or reported, at home or abroad, about mistreatment within the party’s own obscure detention system, which runs up against Chinese laws that say only prosecutors and police have the right to arrest or detain people. The party defines “shuanggui” as an order to its officials to appear at a designated time and place to account for their actions. Experts who study corruption statistics estimate at least several thousand people are secretly detained every year for weeks or months under this system. Party anti-corruption experts acknowledge that the practice is legally problematic but say it’s indispensable in fighting corruption.

About 90 percent of major corruption cases involving party members in recent years were cracked through the use of “shuanggui,” a party official said last month.

Anti-graft authorities investigated 173,000 cases of corruption among mem-

him back and forth, demanding he confess to accepting 100,000 yuan, or $16,000, in bribes. One investigator protested the tactic as inhumane and slammed his hand on a table in anger, but he was overruled, Zhou says. Zhou soon sank to the floor like a pile of mud. The interrogators then rolled him around. He was so dizzy that he saw stars.

They moved him to another hotel and did the same for several days. Then one night, they drove Zhou to Qiaotoubao, or “Bridgehead Fort,” on the outskirts of the nearby city of Zhuzhou. Qiaotoubao looks like any austere government building in China, pale green and nondescript, but for the steel bars across its windows. Since 2010, the Zhuzhou government has conducted regular tours there to warn party cadres against corruption. On an official tour in 2011, Zhou himself had noted the audio and video surveillance in each room and concluded that it seemed like “a safe environment” for detainees.

Qiaotoubao is closed to the public, but the government says it is equipped with electronic surveillance, infrared alarms, intercoms and fingerprint door controls. An exhibition center shows documentaries of

corrupt officials expressing repentance, and an electronic display urges members to “let official power operate in the sunshine and within the rules.”

Yet it was in Qiaotoubao that Zhou says he faced the worst abuse. He was shuttled between rooms with padded walls to prevent detainees from harming or killing themselves. His questioners forced him to stand or kneel for hours, punched him and dragged him on the floor by his hair, he says. They made him smoke 10 cigarettes at once with his face near lit coals, stinging his eyes and nose. Again, an interrogator objected. And again, he was ignored.

Zhou’s treatment reflects the bind in which the Communist Party in China finds itself. In a one-party system, it is often party officials who control the courts and police. So the party says it needs its own investigation system, outside the courts and police, to keep its members in check. Yet the very secrecy of this system and the minimal supervision allows abuse.

The party has made efforts to reduce torture by police, close labor camps and curb the use of other informal jails. Its own detention system, however, remains the blackest of black holes. One reason is a general lack of sympathy for officialdom in China, according to Flora Sapio, a legal expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who has researched the detention system extensively. “Among the ordinary people in mainland China, you notice a lack of care towards the fate of Communist Party officials, and the public even seems to be in favor of ‘shuanggui,’” Sapio says.

“These are victims who are screaming, in a sense, yet no one listens to their voice.”

Deep inside Qiaotoubao, nobody heard Zhou. A month after he was taken, he still refused to confess. He knew a confession could mean jail time, the end of his career and disgrace upon his family. “My daughter cannot have a criminal for a father,” he told himself. The interrogators stepped up the torture, he says. They pressed his face into water in a sink until he thought he was drowning. They whipped his feet until they were bloody, and made him swallow hair from his beard. They slapped his face with shoes and broke four teeth. He was allowed one bowl of rice a day. He fainted several times. On at least three nights, they pinned him down and force-fed him feces and urine with a spoon. They dubbed the meals “American Western Feast” and “Eight Treasures Porridge.” Most painful of all, they showed him a video of his 22-year-old daughter being detained for 48 hours and interrogated. His wife, Huang Yimin, visited every official she knew to try and find her husband. She gave one official a package for her husband with a thin wool sweater, milk powder and two traditional mooncakes. None of the items made it to Zhou.

Torture or interrogation In September, interrogators forced him onto the floor with his back against the wall. Then two of them leaned their weight into his chest while two others forced his legs beyond 180 degrees. That’s when his leg broke. At first, they ignored his pleas to be taken to a hospital, forcing him to stand on his good leg. He knelt down to beg them. Two weeks later, he had lost all feeling in his leg and started slipping into unconsciousness. Only then, he says, did they let him go to a hospital under the false name of Wang Yan, with the story that he had fallen in the bathroom. Zhou stayed in the Zhuzhou City No 1 People’s Hospital for just 12 days. Medical records show that upon admission on Sept. 29, his thighs, calves and feet were swollen, his skin red and hot and his left thigh badly bruised.

Further tests revealed fluid in his thighs, kidney stones, an enlarged liver and swollen lymph nodes on his groin. Scans

confirmed that his left thigh had broken into several pieces, and a photo of an X-ray shows that doctors inserted three pins to hold the bone in place. A week after surgery, Zhou’s investigators had him discharged, he says. They took him back to Room 109. There he lay immobilized on a thin mattress pad on the floor, his left leg in a splint. His minders gave him a little more food, but continued to show him the video of his daughter’s interrogation. Some days, they tried softer tactics, he says. “Old Zhou, you’re already disabled. All you need to do is to admit you accepted 100,000 yuan, we will then try our best to get you medical parole,” they told him. He refused.

It was three months later, in the winter, when Zhou finally caved. He was worn down by the threats and injuries, and worried about his elderly father’s health. He signed a confession saying he had accepted 40,000 yuan, or $6,600, in bribes and wrote a resignation letter. He was released in January last year and told that prosecutors would investigate his case further. An amateur video shot on the day of his release by his family shows a visibly thinner Zhou hobbling out of the building on crutches. He was helped on a stretcher and into an ambulance. A week later, Zhou submitted complaints to party and provincial authorities accusing Jiang Yongqing, the city’s then-party secretary, of abusing his power. He also accused his interrogators of torture. Two months later, the Hunan antigraft commission announced it was investigating Jiang for “grave violations of discipline.” Jiang could not be reached for comment, and a party official said he had been handed over to provincial prosecutors.

Zhou also found out that some of his associates had been secretly detained and questioned about his case, including a real estate developer and a village chief who also claimed they were beaten and forced to stand or kneel for hours. The AP spoke to them and saw their written statements on condition of anonymity, because they were afraid of official retaliation.

Prosecutors eventually decided not to indict Zhou, according to a notice from the Liling City Procuratorate. Zhou still holds his position as director of the land bureau. In August, he contacted a Hunan lawyer, Cai Ying. He continued sending complaints to prosecutors, police and higher levels of the party’s discipline commission. In October, Cai began posting essays online that Zhou had written about his ordeal. The posts were quickly deleted by censors. But they drew the notice of three other party members, Wang, Xiao and Fan, who also contacted the lawyer.

Strict censorship rules In November, the party decided that more cases of suspected official corruption should be handed over immediately to the judicial system rather than party investigators, according to Chinese academics who were consulted by the party about the changes. However, experts think the internal decision will have limited impact on the use of secret detention. A year after Zhou’s release, no action has been taken against his interrogators. And despite Zhou’s demands, the local anti-graft commission has not released the surveillance video from his time at Qiaotoubao.

Strict censorship rules prevent the Chinese state media from reporting on the case. So Zhou says he is taking the tremendous personal risk of talking to the foreign media. Since the AP contacted Communist Party officials for comment, Zhou has received two calls warning him not to talk.

Wang’s wife and his younger brother also got similar calls threatening “consequences” if he talked, and Wang was told he would no longer receive a salary or health insurance. —AP

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

S P ORTS

Driscoll ties course record PUERTO RICO: PGA Tour journeyman James Driscoll tied his own course record to earn a one-stroke lead after the second round of the $3.5 million Puerto Rico Open on Friday.

Driscoll had an eagle and seven birdies in a nine-under-par 63 on the Trump International course next to the Atlantic Ocean in Rio Grande, east of San Juan.

“I had the putter going pretty hot today and I hit a bunch of shots pretty close too,” the 36-year-old from Boston told reporters after signing for a 12-under 132 halfway total. PGA Tour rookie Chesson Hadley (65) moved into second place on 11-under, while fellow American Eric Axley (66) was alone on 10under.

New Zealander Danny Lee (68) was among a group of four players at nine-under, while first round leader Brian Stuard (71) slipped five strokes behind.

A morning downpour that briefly stopped play left the course soft and at the mercy of the field, which averaged 70.23 strokes, more than a stroke better than on Thursday, despite brisk winds.

Driscoll, who also shot 63 in 2011 to hold a share of the course record, is enjoying a solid season, sitting 67th on the FedEx Cup standings. “I wasn’t hitting it great off the tee but the irons were really solid, so that gave me a chance coming into these pins,” he said. “The wind was blowing pretty hard out there this afternoon. —Reuters

Russians EPO test confirmed

Happy ending in sight at All England event BIRMINGHAM: China’s holder Chen Long and his girlfriend Wang Shixian are on track for a happy ending to their love affair with the All England Open Badminton Championships after reaching the singles semi-finals on Friday.

Chen kept his title defence alive by overcoming an early scare to beat Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Vittinghus, who showed his pedigree to win the first game 21-18. However, Chen composed himself at the break and then showed his qualities to take the next two games 21-11 21-14.

“I was worried especially during the first game because my opponent is a great player so I did feel quite a lot of pressure at one point,” said Chen.

“But I think both of us performed really well so I think in the end I was really lucky to progress. This is a very unique place and many players want to win.

“And it’s a fine line between winning and losing so I just want to try my best.” Chen next faces compatriot Zhengming Wang who beat South Korean Dong Keun Lee 21-13 16-21 21-17 in his quarter-final. Women’s No. 4 seed Wang eased past India’s Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal 2117 21-10 to set up an all-Chinese clash against London Games silver medallist Wang Yihan who beat South Korean Bae Yeon Ju 21-8 21-13.—Reuters

MOSCOW: Top Russian biathletes Irina Starykh and Ekaterina Iourieva have tested positive for the banned substance EPO, the International Biathlon Union and Russian officials confirmed yesterday.

Starykh and Iourieva gave their samples on December 23 at the World Cup event in Pokljuka, Slovenia and both ‘A’ and ‘B’ samples tested positive for the blood booster Erythropoietin (EPO), the IBU said.

Earlier this year, Starykh was provisionally suspended and excluded from the country’s Olympic squad at her request after the IBU had announced that three biathletes representing Russia and Lithuania had failed dope tests.

That news cast a shadow over Russia’s preparations for the February Winter Olympics in Sochi even though Starykh, a potential medal contender, had withdrawn herself from the team.

Iourieva, 30, who has already served a two-year ban for doping, announced her intention to reture on February 27.

But Russia’s Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko announced that the ministry was set to issue an appeal over the Starykh case in a civil court, saying the objective character of the assessment of her samples was in question.

“We have some witnesses in the favor of Starykh,” Mutko said. “Our lawyers are preparing to struggle for the rights of our biathletes.”—AFP

Panthers maul Sabres

CHRISTCHURCH: Schalk Burger (right) of the Stormers tackles Johnny McNicholl of the Crusaders during the Super 15 Rugby Union match between the Crusaders vs RSA Stormers. — AFP

Crusaders edge Stormers CHRISTCHURCH: All Blacks flyhalf Tom Taylor kicked his third penalty with six minutes remaining to give the Crusaders a deeply contentious 14-13 win over the Stormers in Super Rugby yesterday.

The seven-time champion Crusaders retained an unbeaten record in home matches against overseas team stretching back to 2004 when Taylor’s penalty snatched victory against a heroic Stormers side.

The Cape Town based Stormers held the Crusaders to 3-3 after a first half in which the home team had 80 percent of possession and 70 percent of territory.

They then surged to a 13-3 lead with a brilliant second half try from center Damian de Allende.

But the Crusaders hit back with a try through debutant Kieron Fonotia and Taylor’s late penalty gave them their first win in three matches this season.

The win was extremely fortuitous. The Stormers had a clear try disallowed during the first half and Taylor’s penalty, which gave the Crusaders their first lead in the 73rd minute, was also subject to dispute. Lock Michael Rhodes was penalized for intercepting the ball in an offside position but he seemed to have come from on-side and his infringement was not greater than those committed by the Crusaders regularly throughout the match.

Though the Christchurch-based Crusaders had an overwhelming surplus of possession and territory throughout the first half they were unable to break down a resolute and well-organized Stormers defense. They led with a penal-

ty to Taylor after three minutes, balanced by a goal to Stormers’ flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis in the 34th minute.

Catrakilis’ penalty was a small consolation for an attack by the Stormers in which captain Jean de Villiers clearly scored by forcing the ball against the goalpost. The television match official denied the try, without explanation, and the Stormers were forced to settle for a penalty that tied the scores.

They took the lead with Catrakilis’s second penalty in the 45th minute and surged to a 10-point lead when Allende scored in the 50th minute.

Flanker Schalk Burger, who was the outstanding player of the match, retrieved a kick from Crusaders’ fullback Colin Slade while sweeping behind his backline. He broke the defense, then passed to de Villiers who sprinted into open space. De Villiers paused in flight and put in a perfectly-weighted kick for de Allende who collected the bounce to score.

Taylor cut the lead to seven points with a 61st minute penalty before the Crusaders constructed a try for Fonotia which marked the first lapse by the Stormers’ defense. After missing a conversion which would have tied the scores, Taylor kicked the decisive penalty in the 74th minute.

The Crusaders were unworthy of their win. Their attack was stilted and unimaginative and their set pieces, handling and kicking were all flawed. But they were able to infringe without penalty while the Stormers suffered heavily from a slanted penalty count. — AP

Force pounce on Rebels PERTH: The Western Force produced the best 30 minutes of their Super Rugby history to stun the Melbourne Rebels in their clash in Perth yesterday.

The Force scored the first 32 points of the match to blow the Rebels away and went on to open their account for 2014 with an upset 32-7 win.

The home team went within seconds of holding their opponents scoreless for the first time ever, only for the Rebels to score their lone try as the final hooter sounded. Force captain Matt Hodgson said the Force were determined to show they were better than their two losses this season suggested.

“The way we came out showed people how we do play football,” he said.

“The way we controlled the game, our defence was back to where it was last year and that is what won us the game.”

Not surprisingly, Rebels skipper Scott Higginbotham said the game was lost early.

“They caught us napping in the first half,” he said. “We did well in the second half, but it was not good enough.” The Rebels were coming off an emphatic 3514 win over the Cheetahs last weekend, while the Force were easily beaten 27-14 by the ACT Brumbies.

The Force didn’t score until the dying minutes against the Brumbies, but ran in the last two tries of the match, and lived up to their promise with a stunning start

against the Rebels, who made five changes to their starting 15.

The underdogs regained possession from the initial kickoff and their first attacking move saw Alby Mathewson dart through a big hole in the Rebels’ defence to score the game’s opening try in the second minute.

They then got the first of several fortuitous first-half bounces in the 10th minute, allowing Luke Morahan to regather a chip kick after a line-out and cross out wide as the lead went out to 14-0 on the back of Sias Ebersohn’s second conversion.

Ebersohn added penalties in the 17th and 22nd minutes, with his team totally dominating possession. In the 24th minute, another favourable bounce from a chip kick enabled Hodgson to soccer the ball past the defence, and then gather and cross for his team’s third try in his 100th Super Rugby match. Up 27-0 after the Ebersohn conversion, the Force again capitalised on an unpredictable bounce in the 27th minute, with Nick Cummins able to regain possession after another kick and set up Angus Cottrell for the bonus point try.

Nothing was going right for the Rebels, who appeared to have scored their opening try just seconds before half-time, but were denied by the video referee and trudged off 32-0 down at the break. — AFP

SUNRISE: Roberto Luongo made 25 saves in his return to Florida, while Dmitry Kulikov and Jesse Winchester each scored power-play goals to lead the Panthers over the Buffalo Sabres 2-0 on Friday night.

Luongo, acquired in a trade with Vancouver on Tuesday, was in net for the first time for Florida since April 18, 2006.

Luongo previously played for Florida from 2000-2006.

It was the fourth shutout of the season for Luongo. His last was on Dec. 13, 2013, a 4-0 win for Vancouver over Edmonton in which he made 19 saves. It was the first regular-season shutout for the Panthers since a 2-0 win over Carolina on March 11, 2012 in which Jose Theodore had 34 saves.

Michal Neuvirth stopped 42 shots in his first start for Buffalo since being acquired from Washington last Wednesday. The Panthers won for just the second time in seven games. The Sabres lost their second in six games.

RANGERS 4, HURRICANES 2 Derek Stepan scored on a 5-on-3 power play with 2:45 left in the game. Rick Nash and Ryan McDonagh scored earlier for the Rangers, who beat Carolina for the 10th straight time, and Carl Hagelin added an empty-netter with 41 seconds to go.

Carolina took a pair of delay-of-game penalties in the final five minutes to give New York the two-man advantage. Stepan was set up for a short shot by Martin St. Louis, who played his second game with the Rangers since being acquired from Tampa Bay on Wednesday.

Jeff Skinner scored on a penalty shot in the third period to give Carolina a 2-1 lead.

Jordan Staal scored his 12th goal of the season for Carolina’s 1-0 lead in the opening period, but McDonagh tied it with New York short-handed.

RED WINGS 7, DEVILS 4 Johan Franzen had two goals and two assists, Gustav Nyquist a goal and three assists and David Legwand a goal and two assists.

Brendan Smith, Kyle Quincey and Drew Miller also scored for Detroit. Jonas Gustavsson made 21 saves. Adam Henrique had two goals and Patrik Elias and Jaromir Jagr also scored for New Jersey. Cory Schneider, who gave up seven goals for the first time in his career, stopped 25 shots.

FLAMES 4, ISLANDERS 3 Joe Colborne scored twice during a furious third period comeback for the Flames, who got three goals in less than five minutes.

Colborne got the comeback started at 11:29 when Mark Giordano’s point shot missed the net, but the puck caromed out sharply to Colborne. He fired it in the open side on rookie goaltender Anders Nilsson.

Rookie Sean Monahan tied it at 14:22.

Taking a slick pass from behind the net from T.J. Galiardi, Monahan went forehand to backhand to tuck his team-leading 19th goal past Nilsson.

Colborne completed the comeback, deflecting in Giordano’s slap shot at 15:41.

It was the seventh goal of the season for the 2008 first-round pick acquired from Toronto at the start of the season.

PENGUINS 3, DUCKS 2 Evgeni Malkin scored the tying goal during a power play in the third period and Brandon Sutter got the deciding goal in a six-round shootout.

Defenseman Deryk Engelland scored in the first period for the Penguins. MarcAndre Fleury made 29 saves for his leagueleading 33rd victory, after the Penguins rallied twice from one-goal deficits in a showdown between the leaders of the Eastern and Western Conferences.

Corey Perry scored twice for the Ducks and Ryan Getzlaf had two assists, but the Ducks’ captain missed a chance to extend the shootout with a shot over the net making him 0 for 6 this season in the tiebreaker. Jonas Hiller had 15 saves, one of them on a breakaway by Sidney Crosby in the first minute of overtime. — AP

SUNRISE: Florida Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo (1) blocks a Buffalo Sabres shot on goal during the third period of an NHL hockey game. — AP

NHL results/standings NY Rangers 4, Carolina 2; Detroit 7, New Jersey 4; Florida 2, Buffalo 0; Calgary 4, NY Islanders 3; Pittsburgh 3, Anaheim 2 (SO).

Western Conference Eastern Conference Atlantic Division Pacific Division 40 17 5 195 138 85 W L OTL GF GA PTS Boston Montreal 35 23 7 166 162 77 Anaheim 43 14 7 207 157 93 Toronto 33 23 8 189 195 74 San Jose 40 17 7 195 157 87 Tampa Bay 34 24 5 180 163 73 Los Angeles 36 22 6 155 135 78 Detroit 29 21 13 171 176 71 Phoenix 29 23 11 175 182 69 Ottawa 27 25 11 177 206 65 Vancouver 28 27 10 151 173 66 Florida 24 32 7 154 201 55 Calgary 25 31 7 149 189 57 Buffalo 19 36 8 127 186 46 Edmonton 22 34 8 160 208 52 Metropolitan Division Central Division Pittsburgh 42 17 4 201 157 88 St. Louis 42 14 6 206 142 90 Philadelphia 33 24 6 180 184 72 37 13 14 221 171 88 Chicago NY Rangers 34 26 4 168 162 72 Colorado 41 17 5 195 168 87 Columbus 32 26 5 185 178 69 Minnesota 34 21 7 153 150 75 Washington 29 25 10 188 195 68 Dallas 30 23 10 181 176 70 New Jersey 27 24 13 156 163 67 Winnipeg 30 27 7 177 184 67 Carolina 27 27 9 156 179 63 Nashville 26 27 10 152 190 62 NY Islanders 24 33 9 181 224 57 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column

Paris-Nice reels from Porte’s withdrawal PARIS: The Paris-Nice week-long stage race begins today in turmoil following the last-gasp withdrawal of reigning champion Richie Porte.

The Tasmanian was shifted at the last moment to the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race in Italy next week after his Sky teammate, Tour de France champion Chris Froome was forced out of that with a back injury. That moved sparked anger from Paris-Nice organisers Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO), who were relying on a thrilling battle between Porte, Giro D’Italia champion Vincenzo Nibali and world champion Rui Costa. “We find it cavalier to have the reigning (Paris-Nice) champion pull out just before the start,” said ASO official and Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme.

“We were told that to win points for the world rankings, the Tirreno was more favorable (to Porte) due to its technical characteristics and the presence of an (individual) time-trial.”

The course of the ‘Race to the Sun’ had already caused some waves in the peloton due to its profile, deemed not to the advantage of riders such as Porte, who usually gain ground in time-trials or on summit finishes.

Paris-Nice had been one of Porte’s major objectives in the early part of this season before he makes the transition from chief support to major Tour leader.

Having been Froome’s chief lieutenant during last year’s Tour de France and a domestique for Bradley Wiggins in his Grand Boucle victory the year before, Porte will make his debut as a major stage race team leader at May’s Giro d’Italia.

But with Froome now sitting out the TirrenoAdriatico, that race offers a more suitable course for Porte’s abilities with two summit finishes and both an individual and a team time-trial.

It means one of the main draws will be missing when the Paris-Nice gets underway on Sunday with a 162.5km ride around the Paris suburbs.

ONE-DAY SPECIALISTS Despite Italian Nibali and American former Tour white jersey winner Tejay van Garderen being in the field, the course appears more suited to the one-day specialists.

Chief amongst those is Portuguese Costa, who has switched from Movistar to Lampre this season. The 27-year-old has good stage-race pedigree having won the Tour of Switzerland the last two years. And he is confident he can put in a good performance, despite usually riding the Tirreno-Adriatico at this time of year.

“I don’t have a bucket-load of experience in the Paris-Nice. In the past I normally opted to ride the Tirreno-Adriatico but, in 2013, we decided to change programme given we felt the French course better suited my abilities,” he said.

Costa crashed out in the second stage, bringing a premature close to his challenge. But he agrees that this year’s course will suit him. “It is a curious profile, particularly without any individual time-trial stages or tough uphill finishes.

“So it means that you have to pay attention on all the stages and every kilometre of every stage. “I think this kind of profile will be ideal for me, in the sense of improving my form and fitness ahead of the (Spring) Classics.

“It looks more like a series of one-day races rather than a regular one-week stage race. It will certainly be a new and exciting experience.”

Other punchers who may be looking to impress are AG2R’s Frenchman Romain Bardet and Australian Tour Down Under winner Simon Gerrans.

Home hopes of at least stage successes will come in the shape of the ever-present Sylvain Chavanel (IAM) and Thomas Voekler (Europcar) while Belgian one-day specialist Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) could also shake things up. — AFP

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

S P ORTS

Celtics dominate Nets

DORAL: Tiger Woods plays a bunker shot on the first hole during the third round of the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral. — AFP

Reed leaves pack behind DORAL: American Patrick Reed grabbed a one -shot lead at the end of the raindelayed opening round of the WGCCadillac Championship on Friday while Tiger Woods saved his day with a blazing finish. Reed, who had a four-way share of the overnight lead when play was halted due to darkness, returned early on Friday to complete his final seven holes en route to a four-under 68.

Compatriots Harris English, Jason Dufner, Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Hunter Mahan and Italian Francesco Molinari were all a further shot back.

But most of the drama was taking place behind the front-runners as and Australian world number two Adam Scott endured roller-coaster finishes to their opening rounds.

Woods, a seven-times winner of the WGC-Cadillac, picked up where he left on Thursday. After bogeying the 10th in the evening dusk Woods returned to the Blue Monster layout in the morning sun and promptly bogeyed the 11th to go to three over.

The defending champion’s woes contin-

ued with a bogey at 13 and a doublebogey at 14 to send him plummeting down the leaderboard.

But Woods hit back with three straight birdies from the 15th to claw his way back into contention before finding the water on the 18th to finish with yet another bogey and four-over 76.

Playing partner Scott, who will have a chance to replace Woods as world number one with a win this week, began his day one shot back of the leaders but quickly found himself heading in the wrong direction with a double-bogey on 11.

Things continued to go from bad to worse for the Masters champion with a horrendous stretch of holes that included a bogey at 13, a double-bogey at 14 and another bogey at 15.

But like Woods, Scott halted the slide with birdies at 16 and 17 before one final bogey at the last left him on three-over 75, seven back of the leader.

With the sun shining and wind blowing, golfers were quickly back out on the course in an attempt to get the $9 million event back on schedule. — Reuters

Four share midway lead as Blue Monster shows teeth DORAL: American Hunter Mahan eagled his penultimate hole to grab a share of the halfway lead at the WGC-Cadillac Championship on Friday as the Blue Monster showed its true colors, with more than 100 golf balls ending up in the water.

On a gruelling day that some players described as a survival test, Mahan eagled the par five eighth in fading light for a second round of two-over 74 that left him tied for the lead with his compatriots Dustin Johnson (74), Patrick Reed (75) and Matt Kuchar (74) at one-under par.

Northern Irishmen Rory McIlroy (74) and Graeme McDowell (71), Italian Francesco Molinari (75) and Welshman Jamie Donaldson, who posted the low round of the day with a two-under 70, were all lurking one shot further back.

“I felt stressed all day because I knew every shot had a big penalty written all over it, staring at bogey or worse I thought at a well struck shot,” Mahan told reporters.

“It was a really tough day.

“There wasn’t an easy shot out there and you know, you’re going to have to find a way to make some putts. “One of those rounds where it could go south pretty fast so you’ve got to grind it out and find a way to get a number up there and get to the weekend.”

Long regarded as one of the PGA Tour’s great layouts, the Blue Monster course underwent a massive $251 million renovation that made it even more frightening and almost unplayable when the winds whipped across the sprawling layout on Friday. With most players arriving early to complete their rain-delayed opening rounds, exhausted golfers slumped off the course after a day of battling brutal winds and fatigue.

Only three players managed to break par during a wild second round that saw 113 balls find a watery grave while the average score was four-over 76.

“It was just brutally difficult,” said McDowell. “I don’t think I’ve played in conditions this difficult in the US. “It’s an Open

Championship day. It’s a real Friday afternoon at St. Andrews in 2010 before they called it. “It was hard out there, really, really hard, and part of me feels ecstatic to be off the golf course right now.”

TOP RANKING SHOWDOWN One of the intriguing sub-plots at the $9 million event was expected to be a showdown between world number one Tiger Woods and a Australian world number two Adam Scott for top spot in the rankings.

Scott could have a chance to replace Woods as number one if he wins on Sunday but the two men have spent much of the opening two rounds slugging it out closer to the bottom of the leaderboard. Woods, who had a blazing finish to his rain-delayed first round making three successive birdies before he gave a shot back with a bogey at 18, was quickly on the charge in the afternoon.

The 14-time major winner carded birdies on his opening two holes but was soon sliding back down the leaderboard with four bogeys.

The highlight for the round came on the fourth when Woods rolled in a massive 92foot birdie putt which was followed by another birdie at the fifth but the fight back would end with four straight pars and a one-over 73 to sit on five-over.

“That was a tough golf course today,” said Woods, who found the water three times during the second round. “I don’t think that we expected the golf course to be that hard that fast, but it kept getting quicker and quicker.”

Scott, who arrived on Friday sitting one shot off the lead at two-under, finished his opening round at three-over and continued to lose ground in the afternoon with a 73 to reach the midway mark at four-over.

Phil Mickelson, another former-champion, looked headed for trouble when he began his second round with a par and three consecutive double-bogeys before he scrapped his way to a 75 to join Woods on 149, six shots behind the leaders. — Reuters

BOSTON: Rajon Rondo scored 20 points and the Boston Celtics dominated the boards to beat Brooklyn 91-84 and stop the Nets’ fourgame winning streak Friday night.

Boston scored the first five points and never trailed, although Brooklyn used an 11-point run to cut the lead to 70-68 with 2:02 left in the third quarter. But the Celtics came back to take a 78-70 lead entering the final quarter and led by at least seven the rest of the way.

The Celtics outrebounded the Nets 62-37, an important advantage because they turned the ball over 28 times, twice as many as Brooklyn.

Rondo also had nine assists and seven rebounds.

The Nets were led by Joe Johnson with 21 points and Deron Williams with 20 as they fell back to .500 two days after going over the mark for the first time this season.

Jason Collins, the NBA’s first openly gay player, did not play for the Nets for the first time in seven games since signing a 10-day contract Feb. 23.

MAVERICKS 103, TRAIL BLAZERS 98 Dirk Nowitzki scored 22 points, Devin Harris hit the go-ahead shot in the final minute and Dallas rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Portland after blowing a 30-point lead.

LaMarcus Aldridge finished with 30 points for the Trail Blazers, including 18 in the third quarter when they went in front for the first time at 69-67 after trailing 44-14 early in the second. The Mavericks snapped their seasonhigh, three-game skid but nearly tied the franchise record for their biggest blown lead.

Aldridge also grabbed 17 rebounds and Wesley Matthews had 26 points for Portland.

ROCKETS 112, PACERS 86 James Harden had 28 points and Houston used a huge third quarter to turn a close game into a blowout against Indiana.

Harden scored 16 in Houston’s 38-point third quarter, which turned a three-point lead into a 29-point advantage. He also got into a dustup with Evan Turner that resulted in both players receiving technical fouls. Harden and Dwight Howard went to the bench for the fourth period and watched their teammates wrap up Houston’s fourth consecutive win.

David West had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Eastern Conference-leading Pacers, losers of three straight for the first time this season. Howard finished with 15 points and seven rebounds. Chandler Parsons and Jeremy Lin added 11 points apiece for the Rockets.

BOBCATS 101, CAVALIERS 92 Al Jefferson scored 28 points, Kemba Walker had 20 points and 14 assists, and Charlotte defeated Cleveland for its sixth straight win at home.

Jefferson shot 12 of 18 from the field and reached 20 points for the 22nd time in his last 24 games. Chris Douglas-Roberts added 14 points, including four 3-pointers, and a seasonhigh nine rebounds for Charlotte (29-33), which surpassed its win total from the previous two seasons combined.

The Bobcats, seventh in the Eastern Conference, improved to 3-0 this season against the Cavaliers and now own the tiebreaker against both Detroit and Cleveland, the ninth- and 10th-place teams in the East.

Dion Waiters and Luol Deng each scored 19 points for Cleveland, which is 31/2 games behind Atlanta for the final playoff spot in the East. Charlotte’s six-game home winning streak is its longest since a seven-game run in March 2010.

GRIZZLIES 85, BULLS 77 Marc Gasol had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Memphis used its stout defense to defeat Chicago. Mike Miller made four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points as the Grizzlies closed out a three-game road trip with their third victory in four games. Zach Randolph added 10 points and 11 rebounds after missing Memphis’ previous game with the flu.

The Grizzlies shut out the Bulls after Taj Gibson’s layup trimmed Memphis’ lead to 81-77 with 3:15 to go. Gibson had 18 points for Chicago, which had won 10 of 12. Playing with a sprained right thumb, Joakim Noah finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists, but also had six of the Bulls’ 13 turnovers.

WARRIORS 111, HAWKS 97 David Lee had 18 points and six rebounds, reserve Jermaine O’Neal added 17 points and eight rebounds, and Golden State returned

BOSTON: Celtics guard Rajon Rondo (left) and Brooklyn Nets forward Paul Pierce compete for a rebound during the second half of an NBA basketball game. — AP

home to beat Atlanta for its third straight win.

Andre Iguodala and Stephen Curry each scored 13 to help the Warriors build a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter. Golden State, fresh off a 4-2 road trip, is 8-2 since the All-Star break.

Paul Millsap had 16 points and seven rebounds after missing the last five games because of a bruised right knee for the Hawks, who have lost five straight.

The only major setback for the Warriors came when shooting guard Klay Thompson limped to the locker room 6 minutes into the first quarter with a strained lower back. He did not return for precautionary reasons, the team said.

TIMBERWOLVES 114, PISTONS 101 Kevin Love had 28 points, 14 rebounds and five assists, and Minnesota outlasted Detroit.

Kevin Martin scored 24 points and Ricky Rubio added 11 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for the Timberwolves, who are trying to mount a push for the Western Conference playoffs.

Greg Monroe had 20 points and 15 rebounds, and Will Bynum scored all 17 of his points in the fourth quarter for the Pistons. But Detroit shot 40 percent and lost for the ninth time in 11 games. Nikola Pekovic had 17 points and nine rebounds for Minnesota.

RAPTORS 99, KINGS 87 Terrence Ross scored 18 points to lead the Raptors over Sacramento, spoiling Rudy Gay’s return to Toronto. Gay had 15 points for the Kings, who acquired him in a seven-player deal on Dec. 9. The game marked his first trip back since he was shipped with Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy to the Kings for Greivis Vasquez, Patrick Patterson, John Salmons and Chuck Hayes.

Patterson and DeMar DeRozan each scored 15 points, while Jonas Valanciunas added 14 points and Amir Johnson had nine rebounds to go with nine points for the Raptors, who have won eight of 10. DeMarcus Cousins topped Sacramento with 24 points.

KNICKS 108, JAZZ 81 Carmelo Anthony scored 18 of his 29 points in the first quarter, sending New York to a rare easy night against Utah. Anthony added a season-high eight assists while playing just three quarters of a game that wasn’t competitive for long after the opening tip. J.R. Smith had 17 points and Tyson Chandler finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Knicks, who led by as many as 32.

With a long way to go to get back into playoff position, the Knicks won their second straight following a seven-game losing streak.

Gordon Hayward and Alec Burks each scored 18 for the Jazz, who dropped their fifth straight and fell to 0-5 on their six-game, nineday trip that ends Saturday in Philadelphia.

PELICANS 112, BUCKS 104 Anthony Davis had 29 points and 14 rebounds, and New Orleans defeated struggling Milwaukee. Tyreke Evans scored 25 points for the Pelicans, who have won two straight after losing their previous eight games.

Anthony Morrow added 16 points, including a 3-pointer as he was fouled to give the Pelicans their largest lead at 100-90 with 4:50 left. Brian Roberts scored 14 and Eric Gordon 12 for New Orleans. Khris Middleton scored 25 for Milwaukee, which lost its second straight. Jeff

Adrien added 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Milwaukee played without starting forward Ersan Ilyasova, suspended for throwing a punch in a game Wednesday. The Bucks then lost guard O.J. Mayo to an ejection for a flagrant-2 foul late in the first quarter.

NUGGETS 134, LAKERS 126 Kenneth Faried scored a career-high 32 points and Ty Lawson had 30 in Denver’s victory over skidding Los Angeles.

Lawson also had 17 assists and Faried grabbed 13 rebounds. Wilson Chandler had 19 points, and Timofey Mozgov and Evan Fournier added 13 apiece for the Nuggets, who swept the three-game season series. Pau Gasol scored 27 points to lead the Lakers in their third straight defeat and sixth in eight games. This one ensured their first losing season since going 34-48 in 2004-05. Jordan Farmar and Robert Sacre had 24 points apiece for the Lakers, who were coming off a 142-94 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday. The 48point defeat was the biggest in franchise history. —AP

NBA results/standings Memphis 85, Chicago 77; Charlotte 101, Cleveland 92; Toronto 99, Sacramento 87; Boston 91, Brooklyn 84; NY Knicks 108, Utah 81; Minnesota 114, Detroit 101; New Orleans 112, Milwaukee 104; Dallas 103, Portland 98; Denver 134, LA Lakers 126; Houston 112, Indiana 86; Golden State 111, Atlanta 97.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT Toronto 34 26 .567 30 30 .500 Brooklyn NY Knicks 23 40 .365 Boston 21 41 .339 Philadelphia 15 46 .246 Central Division Indiana 46 16 .742 34 28 .548 Chicago Detroit 24 38 .387 Cleveland 24 39 .381 Milwaukee 12 49 .197 Southeast Division Miami 43 16 .729 32 29 .525 Washington Charlotte 29 33 .468 Atlanta 26 34 .433 Orlando 19 44 .302 Western Conference Northwest Division Oklahoma City 46 16 .742 42 20 .677 Portland Minnesota 31 30 .508 Denver 27 34 .443 Utah 21 41 .339 Pacific Division LA Clippers 43 20 .683 39 24 .619 Golden State Phoenix 36 25 .590 Sacramento 22 40 .355 LA Lakers 21 42 .333 Southwest Division San Antonio 45 16 .738 43 19 .694 Houston Dallas 37 26 .587 Memphis 35 26 .574 New Orleans 25 37 .403

GB 4 12.5 14 19.5 12 22 22.5 33.5 12 15.5 17.5 26

4 14.5 18.5 25 4 6 20.5 22 2.5 9 10 20.5

Duke beat Georgia Tech GREENSBORO: After stumbling a bit down the stretch, No. 10 Duke came to the right city - and faced the right opponent - to get rolling again.

The Blue Devils claimed their 37th straight victory over Georgia Tech on Friday night, an 82-52 win in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinals.

Duke has made Greensboro its home-away-fromCameron over the past few years, reaching the ACC championship game five times in coach Joanne P. McCallie’s previous six tries and winning it three times - including last year.

They will face No. 13 North Carolina (24-8), the tournament’s sixth seed, on Saturday in the semifinals. The Tar Heels swept the regular-season series, including a four-point win last Sunday in the finale.

The Blue Devils came here this year on a slide, having lost two of three while adjusting to seasonending injuries to their two starting guards and effectively playing without a true point guard. “We’ve done just a great job as a whole, everybody just embracing the challenge of what we’ve gone through this year,” said Haley Peters, who scored 19 points.

“Over the last few games, we’ve had some setbacks ... but we’ve always stayed with each other and stayed with what we’re trying to build on,” she added.

Elizabeth Williams scored 15 points and blocked

five shots, and Tricia Liston added 15 along with her school-record-tying 80th 3-pointer of the season for the second-seeded Blue Devils (26-5).

They shot 53 percent, held the seventh-seeded Yellow Jackets to a season-worst 24 percent shooting and used a 29-8 run to push their lead into the 20s.

“We did that (on offense) because we were patient and we moved the ball and we got the ball in the right spots,” McCallie said. “That’s important to us.

We’ve got to play this game together.”

Tyaunna Marshall had 17 points on 5-of-18 shooting for Georgia Tech (20-11). The Yellow Jackets remained winless against Duke in tournament games, lost in the league quarterfinals for the 23rd time in 29 years and have not beaten the Blue Devils since 1995. Kaela Davis had 16 points on 6-of-22 shooting - and was 3 of 11 from 3-point range - for Georgia Tech. The Blue Devils forced Tech into another terrible shooting performance: In the previous meeting, a 17-point Duke win in January, the Yellow Jackets shot 26 percent - which had been their worst of the season until this one.

On three different occasions Friday night, Tech missed at least seven consecutive shots. “We weren’t able to make shots,” coach MaChelle Joseph said.

“When we can’t make shots, we can’t set our defense.” Richa Jackson had 14 points while Liston

matched the single-season record she set last year for the Blue Devils.

Williams blocked multiple shots for the eighth straight game despite the Yellow Jackets’ best efforts to avoid her, Oderah Chidom and the Blue Devils’ imposing front line. Duke blocked 13 shots, outscored the Yellow Jackets 38-22 in the paint and outrebounded them 49-36. “Blocked shots are just intimidating, honestly, and I think everyone contributed to that,” Williams said.

The Yellow Jackets took their chances on the perimeter - where Duke is down two of its best guards in Chelsea Gray and Alexis Jones. Both of them were on the bench in sweats, lost for the year with knee injuries. And once Tech went cold, this one was effectively over. Georgia Tech missed 17 of its last 20 shots of the half and went six minutes between field goals.

“I think that we got kind of on our heels,” Joseph said. “We hit a wall and we never really recovered. ...

We didn’t have much left in the second half.” During that time, the Blue Devils started to grow their lead.

Duke outscored the Yellow Jackets 14-4 during the final 7:22 of the half, and went up 35-26 at the break on Ka’lia Johnson’s 3 just before the buzzer. Williams’ layup 30 seconds into the second half gave the Blue Devils their first double-figure lead. —AP

GREENSBORO: Duke’s Haley Peters (33) is fouled by Georgia Tech’s Dawnn Maye (1) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game at the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. — AP

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

S P ORT S

F1’s latest rules leave cars quieter, slower MADRID: Formula One’s latest changes mean the sexy purr of engines and the violent throttle of speed won’t quite be what they used to be.

The usual title talk has surrounded preseason testing as usual, but the normally boisterous roar of F1’s engines has been slightly subdued. Get used to it.

“I’ve grown up with the ‘old’ sound, and I loved it.

Some of the old cars that had the exhaust coming under the floor, the sound was just awesome - just from the TV,” Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton said.

“The V10 and V8 of the last few years, with their special roar, had goose-bumps potential. When you started the engine you had to cover your ears. That’s history. F1 is moving on.” Moving on, yes. But not at a blistering pace.

In a bid to bolster innovation and perhaps shake up Red Bull’s grip at the top of the standings, F1 has cast out the 2.4-liter V8 engines to make way for 1.6liter V6 turbo engines, which means a drop of traditional horsepower. The loss is expected to be made up by the Energy Recovery Systems, which generates energy under braking by using wasted heat from the engine’s turbocharger. It is expected to give drivers double the amount of kick for five times as long.

“It is a step back - F1 is slower than last year,” fourtime defending champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull said during preseason testing. “But how much slower, we will see once we get the car in a condition where we can start to look for speed.”

Red Bull has yet to reach that point as it ended testing with Renault unable to provide its teams with

an engine configured to excel under the new rules.

And whether the new racing will be what fans want will be seen over the course of a 19-race season, starting with the Australian Grand Prix on March 16.

“We are not in race conditions here, but if we were in race conditions I think I should bring a GP2 car,” Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi said of his Caterham car, which was also never expected to be one of the fastest cars on track. “The lap time is still quicker in GP2. We need to work, but in this moment if we were to race, I think it’s not Formula One.” Still, Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso said the new cars are easier to maneuver, with less force and speed on the corners even though there are more parameters to control, “more buttons on the steering wheel.”

“I’ve driven karts that are half a minute slower than F1 and I still sweated and enjoyed driving. As long as you are driving at the limit, the lap time you do, it doesn’t change the emotional point of view.

This car is still fun to drive.”

Drivers were encouraged that the pace would pick up as the season progressed, even as many struggled in testing as teams grapple with the new mechanics. Hamilton, the 2008 champion who is a favorite to depose Vettel from the top, was choosing to embrace change.

“Maybe we will soon all be happy about this new ‘low noise.’ It sure will make communications between cockpit and pit wall easier,” the British driver said. “There are always good and bad things attached to the same medal.” — AP

Azarenka loses comeback match at Indian Wells

INDIAN WELLS: Victoria Azarenka of Belarus reacts after losing a point to Lauren Davis during the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden. — AFP

INDIAN WELLS: Victoria Azarenka tumbled out of the BNP Paribas Open on Friday, beaten 6-0, 7-6 (2) by American Lauren Davis in her first match in more than a month.

Azarenka, from Belarus, had been sidelined since the Australian Open because of a left foot injury that required her to wear a boot for several weeks.

The two-time Australian Open champion, hampered by nerve damage between her toes, limped visibly at times, had trouble serving, fell to her knees several times, broke a racket after double-faulting to fall behind 4-3 in the second set, and fought back tears.

“Basically, all I had was my fighting spirit,” third-seeded Azarenka said. “When I’m on the court I try to give as much as I can, even on one leg. I try to do my best in tough situations.

That’s part of our job.”

She isn’t sure if she’ll try to play in the Sony Open in Florida in 10 days. “I want to be painfree because it’s not to the most fun to be out there like that,” Azarenka said.

Most of the other second-round matches were routine. Second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland beat qualifier Heather Watson of Britain 6-4, 6-3; No. 6 Simona Halep, No. 7 Jelana Jankovic, No. 9 Sara Errani and No. 10 Caroline Wozniacki were straight-set winners. Two-time tournament champion Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, seeded 29th, fell to American Varvara Lepchenko, 6-3, 6-2.

Meanwhile, with the unseeded men finishing their first round, Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka, the 2008 Olympic doubles gold medalists for Switzerland, teamed up

Alvarez wants to put Mayweather in past LAS VEGAS: Canelo Alvarez gets a pass, if only because everyone who fights Floyd Mayweather Jr. gets a pass. Lose a second fight to someone not named Mayweather, though, and the redhaired Mexican’s star could begin to fade.

“I learned a lot from fighting Floyd, but I’m ready to get back in the ring to maintain the path that I was on before,” Alvarez said. “This is what I love to do.”

The path Alvarez was on took a detour in September when Mayweather dominated him over 12 rounds, handing Alvarez his first loss. He gets a totally different type of opponent late yesterday, taking on slugger Alfredo Angulo in a junior middleweight fight that likely won’t be wanting for action.

The story line against Mayweather was whether a young and strong champion could solve a puzzle no other boxer had been able to. The story line against Angulo will be whether Alvarez can come back from the loss and establish himself again as one of the stars of the sport. “What happened in September is in the past,” Alvarez insisted. “I’m fully concentrated on this fight.”

Alvarez didn’t pick a walkover for his comeback fight, the first of what he hopes to be three bouts this year.

Angulo is a rugged and hard-hitting contender who may come into the ring as a big underdog but will have more than just a puncher’s chance.

Angulo was stopped in his last fight

by Erislandy Lara after his left eye swelled shut in the 10th round. But he had knocked Lara down twice earlier and was holding his own before suddenly turning his back to Lara in a sign he couldn’t go on.

“I’m ready to chase him or fight him like a true Mexican warrior,” Angulo said.

“I plan to test him like he’s never been tested before. I don’t think anyone has ever hit Canelo as hard as I’m going to hit him.”

The fight is part of a pay-per-view card on Showtime that was supposed to include a fight between IBF light mid-

Canelo Alvarez

dleweight champion Carlos Molina and challenger Jermall Charlo. That fight was canceled Friday, though, while Molina remained in a Las Vegas jail on a 2007 felony warrant for failing to register as a sex offender. Promoters elevated a lightweight fight between Ricardo Alvarez, brother of Canelo Alvarez, and Sergio Thompson to the televised spot instead.

Alvarez weighed in at 155 pounds Friday, the contract limit, to 154 1/2 for Angulo.

Angulo (22-3, 18 knockouts) has had his own issues with jail, spending eight months at a detention facility in California after turning himself in for being in the US on an expired visa. The native of Mexico says he has since cleared up his immigration issues, and devoted himself to his boxing career at the age of 31.

“There were a couple times when I was in the immigration detention center that I wanted to quit,” Angulo said.

“But my team of lawyers always motivated me, wouldn’t let me stay down for too long and kept telling me that justice would prevail and that I shouldn’t give up. I always dreamed of being a headliner on a major card, and here it is. I am so ready for Saturday.”

Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 knockouts) was overmatched in his fight against Mayweather, losing almost every round and never being able to figure out how to get inside Mayweather’s defense. He vowed to use his first defeat as a learning experience, though, and wants to regain the stature that has made him a reliable pay-per-view attraction in recent fights.

To do that he must win - and win impressively - against a fighter who might have more guts than talent.

“Angulo presents a difficult challenge because he’s a fighter who can punch and take a great punch,” Alvarez said. “I know I have to prepare and establish my game plan early. But you know how it can be with game plans. Sometimes, once a fight starts, you have to do what you have to do to win.”—AP

again for a 6-2, 6-7 (4), (10-6) victory over Rohan Bopanna of India and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan in a match played in the new 8,000-seat Stadium 2.

“I don’t know if it was sold out, but it felt like very, very full,” said Federer, a four-time singles champion at Indian Wells. “You’re not probably going to achieve that on center court (where capacity is 16,100) for a doubles. But that was a perfect setup, a feeling, and we can thank the tournament and (owner) Larry Ellison for building such a court so quickly.

“It’s nice to see the game grow and seeing people coming out and enjoying it. It’s great. I really had a great time out there with Stan today.” Wawrinka is the Australian Open champion.

“It took me time to realize really what I did in Australian Open,” said Wawrinka, who is the No. 3 seed and could meet No. 7 Federer in the quarterfinals and top-seeded Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. “Still when I’m saying that I won a Grand Slam it’s still strange for me, but that’s why it was good to be home during three weeks. It was good to be with the family, to take more time for myself.

Wawrinka’s second-round opponent will be Ivo Karlovic of Croatia, and Federer will open his title bid against French qualifier Paul-Henry Mathieu. Wawrinka and Federer both will play late yesterday.

On Saturday night, Nadal will take on Radek Stepanek. Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro, Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are the other top-10 players competing in doubles. — AP

With Al-Tijari Visa Card... FIFA World Cup is at your fingertips KUWAIT: Within the marketing campaign activities of its new campaign designated for CBK visa pre-paid card holders, Commercial Bank of Kuwait announced that it will set a booth in 360 Mall during the weekend. The Bank’s Marketing and Sales Department will be present at the booth to familiarize the customers with any campaign details, and respond their inquiries.

It is worthy noting that the Bank launched its VISA FIFA campaign in the beginning of February 2014 under the slogan “With Al-Tijari Visa Card ...... Fifa World Cup is at your fingertips”, which was dedicated to all CBK pre-paid card holders to win 1 out of 3 all inclusive packages to attend the quarter final World Cup football games in Brazil for 2 people. In addition, CBK has launched a special edition VISA pre-paid card with a unique design that suits this event.

For every KD 10 spent on the pre-paid card customers get 1 chance to enter the draw, and for every KD 10 spent outside Kuwait, they get 2 chances. The winners will be announced at the draw to be held on May 18, 2014.

The Bank invites its customers to visit its booth in 360 Mall for this weekend from March 6th until March 8th 2014 to be acquainted with the privileges and activities of the new campaign and the chances of winning they can get through this campaign which will increase when using their CBK prepaid cards more. On this occasion, the Bank wishes its customers the best of luck to become among the lucky winners to win the trip to Brazil.

LAS VEGAS: Joey Logano poses for photos after winning the pole position for today’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race. — AP

Logano wins NASCAR pole in Las Vegas LAS VEGAS: Joey Logano believes two facts are abundantly clear after he emerged from the organized chaos of NASCAR’s first threeround knockout qualifying session Friday with the pole position at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

This new qualifying system is a whole lot more interesting than the prior system. And nobody is quite sure what they’re doing yet.

“It gets crazy out there,” said Logano, who earned his eighth career pole. “I think it’s way cooler than old-style qualifying, don’t get me wrong. It’s awesome. ... We’re all learning right now. It’s all new to us, but we’re having fun with it. I enjoy it. I think it’s cool.”

The Penske Ford team has figured it out better than most. Logano won the pole for Sunday’s Las Vegas race with a qualifying lap at a track-record 193.28 mph, and he’ll start on the front row next to teammate Brad Keselowski, who came in second at 193.099.

The Penske drivers swept the top two spots for the second straight race, reversing their two-round qualifying finish in Phoenix a week ago. Clint Bowyer finished third, with Austin Dillon in fourth and Jimmie Johnson in fifth.

NASCAR added the knockout system to goose interest in a dull weekly ritual, and it’s working. The teams are challenged by multiple chances to hit top speed. The drivers are both worried about the danger and excited by the challenge. And fans seem quite intrigued, judging by the larger-than-normal crowd in the Speedway stands.

“That’s the whole point of this,” Logano said of the fan turnout. “A lot more preparation goes into it, a lot more communication between myself, my spotter, my crew chief.

Not really about our race car, but how are we going to go out there, and what’s our game plan? Every time we’ve had a game plan going into it, it’s changed so far. At least we’re pulling audibles and they’re working.”

Drivers are understandably concerned by the huge speed disparities on the track during the qualifying sessions. While some drivers were going about 30 mph to cool their engines, others were ripping right past them about 150 mph faster, resulting in a handful of near-misses. Brian Vickers even called Friday’s session “the most dangerous thing I’ve ever done in a race car.”

Bowyer echoed the mix of excitement and concern. “Our normal deal is to be scared once a weekend,” Bowyer said of the previous one-lap qualifying scheme. “Three times is a lot to ask out of us. You know, it is really exciting.”

Logano is expecting NASCAR to eventually allow teams to use portable cool-down units instead of taking those dangerously slow cool-down laps. As for the strategic decisions necessary to turn the best laps in the allotted time, everybody is still working on it.

“So much more goes into qualifying,” Logano said. “To me, it’s even more special to get a pole.” As if the knockout style wasn’t exciting enough, the majority of the drivers surpassed the previous track speed record during qualifying. Bowyer and Keselowski expect track speed records to fall all season under the cars’ new setups.

“It’s just simple physics,” Keselowski said.

“The cars make 300-400 pounds more downforce. The engine manufacturers continue to find more horsepower, so they’re going to go faster. I don’t think it has anything to do with this (qualifying) format. In fact, I think if it wasn’t for this format, they would be even faster.”

Defending champion Matt Kenseth finished way back in 29th place, failing to make it out of the first knockout round.

Overall standings leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start 14th, between Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon. — AP

Ligety wins giant slalom KRANJSKA GORA: America’s giant slalom Olympic champion Ted Ligety recorded his 22nd World Cup victory yesterday as he took the latest race in the event in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.

The 29-year-old-also a two-time world champion in giant slalom-was winning for the sixth time in the Slovenian resort as he timed 2min 30.80sec.

He became the first skier to win six times at the same resort in the same discipline in the World Cup. “I have always liked this course, it has a lot of personality and is very demanding,” said Ligety.

Austrian veteran Benjamin Raich narrowly missed out on his 37th World Cup success as he took second, 0.18sec behind-his first podium placing in two yearswhile young Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen claimed his first podium finish in the discipline as he finished third, 0.25 slower.

Ligety’s victory saw him close the gap in the race for the World Cup giant slalom crystal globe to 50 points on Austrian Marcel Hirscher.

However, the American said Hircher’s consistency dictated that he would fall short of taking the globe when they contest the final race of the season in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, next Saturday.

“I have to win and he has to make a mistake,” said Ligety. “If it was anyone other than Marcel I would have said it is possible. “But being as he is, he never gives out presents, he is constantly on the podium.” Hirscher’s fourth place finish saw him also reduce the gap between himself and Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal for the overall World Cup title-the Austrian is the two-time defending champion-to 41 points. “Those are important points for me, it won’t be easy but these points keep me in the race,” said Hirscher. —AFP

KRANJSKA GORA: Ted Ligety of the United States competes during the first run of an alpine ski men’s World Cup giant slalom. — AP

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

S P ORT S

KUWAIT: President of the Asian Shooting Federation Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah (center) during the meeting of the Asian Shooting Confederation in Kuwait yesterday.

Kuwait-Asian Fund set up to support shooting

By Abdellatif Sharaa KUWAIT: President of the Asian Shooting Federation Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah, announced that arrangements are being made to establish the Kuwait-Asian Fund to support the Shooting sport in Asia during the meeting of the Asian Confederation in Kuwait yesterday.

Sheikh Salman said the meeting was successful as all heads of delegations were in agreement towards the issues that were discussed.

Items on the agenda included participation in the Asian shooting during the Games in Incheon, Korea in addition to the youth Olympics in China.

Sheikh Salman thanked all members of the Asian

Shooting Confederation for their efforts to improve the game and spread the cooperation spirit among all members. The meeting was chaired by Sheikh Salman at the Regency Hotel as all board members attended.

Meanwhile, two gold medals are up for grabs today, the first day of HH the Amir Grand Prix in the shotgun event.

The men’s double trap and women’s skeet will see fierce competition. The seventh Asian Air Gun Cchampionship will see three winners in the 10m pistol for men and youth, men and women, meanwhile preliminaries of the men’s 10m air rifle, youth and women.

Vice-president of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF), President of the Italian Shooting Federation Luciano Rossi said HH the Amir Grand Prix is now an important event on the international agenda. He

said the Grand Prix is developing at the international level and technical standards were expected to continue in the third GP that was launched yesterday.

Rossi was impressed with the organization and the facilities at Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex which is the most modern around the world. He thanked Kuwait and KSSC for inviting him to attend the GP activities. Rossi appreciated the hospitality afforded by the President of the Asian Shooting Confederation, ISSF Vicepresident Sheikh Salman.

Meanwhile, Qatar’s national team is participating in the 7th Asian Air Gun Shooting Championship. Supervisor and head of Qatar’s team, Ibrahim Al-Muhannadi said the championship is very important because it qualifies for the China 2014 youth Olympics.

He said participants had very good results during the previous events, and commended the efforts of the technical preparations of the Qatari team.

Youth coach Zain Al-Senani said the Qatari team was well prepared for this major event, and it has skillful shooters who are able to achieve great results and reach China Olympics.

Kuwait’s Nasser Al-Miqlid said Kuwait is hosting HH the Amir Grand Prix for the third time and he is looking forward to win the gold medal, for which he has strived hard. He said competition for top places will be very fierce, especially as world and Olympic champions are participating. Al-Miqlid said he participated in training camps in Qatar and Kazakhstan for this championship.

Sri Lanka thump Pakistan Lift Asia Cup

GERMANY: Bayern Munich’s French midfielder Franck Ribery (left) and Wolfsburg’s Serbian midfielder Slobodan Medojevic vie for the ball during the German First Division Bundesliga football match. — AFP

Bayern hit six to beat Wolfsburg BERLIN: Bayern Munich went 23 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga yesterday with a 6-1 thrashing of Wolfsburg to record a 16th consecutive win and 49th match without defeat. With just 10 games left in the campaign, the European champions are virtually assured of defending their title after a sixth successive win over the 2009 champions.

Victory was also the perfect tonic ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League last-16 tie against Arsenal where they will defend a 2-0 first leg lead. Naldo gave Wolfsburg a shock 17th-minute lead before Bayern, heading for a 24th national title, turned on the style.

Pep Guardiola’s side scored five times in 20 secondhalf minutes on Saturday and they have now hit 30 goals in eight games since the Bundesliga resumed after the winter break.

They have also scored 72 times since the start of the season with just 11 conceded. “We haven’t been this dominant in recent matches,” said Guardiola.

“Wolfsburg were very well organised and very aggressive. They caused us a lot of problems in the first half and at the start of the second.

“But we scored the goals we needed.” Wolfsburg’s lead lasted just 10 minutes before Xherdan Shaqiri levelled. Thomas Mueller and former Wolfsburg striker Mario Mandzukic both scored twice in the second half.

Mandzukic now has 16 league goals for the season while Franck Ribery added to the scoreline to mark his return to action after a month out through injury.

Borussia Dortmund can cut the gap to Bayern back to 20 points with victory at Freiburg today.

Bayer Leverkusen are third after a 1-1 draw at Hanover in a game where their goalkeeper Bernd Leno saved a Szabolcs Huszti penalty.

Schalke are in fourth place, also with 44 points, after seeing off Hoffenheim 4-0 with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar hitting a hat-trick. It was a welcome result for Schalke who had been routed 6-1 by Real Madrid and 5-1 at Bayern in their last two outings. Huntelaar could have had four goals but missed a 31st-minute penalty. — AFP

DHAKA: Opener Lahiru Thirimanne hit a magnificent century to help Sri Lanka thump Pakistan by five wickets to regain the Asia Cup title in Dhaka yesterday.

The left-hander notched 101 for his third one-day hundred to anchor Sri Lanka’s successful chase of a 261-run target in 46.2 overs for his country’s fifth Asia Cup title at Dhaka’s Shere Bangla stadium.

Thirimanne, who also scored a hundred in the tournament’s opening match against the same opponents, hit 13 boundaries during his 108-ball knock and steadied the chase during a solid 156-run third-wicket partnership with veteran team-mate Mahela Jayawardene, who made 75.

Pakistan’s main spin weapon Saeed Ajmal had broken through after Sri Lanka’s confident start of 56, dismissing Kusal Perera (42) and dangerman Kumar Sangakkara (nought) off successive deliveries. Jayawardene, who had a poor run of scores with 13, nine, 14 and nought in the tournament, benefitted when wicketkeeper Umar Akmal dropped a regulation catch off Shahid Afridi. Jayawardene, then 36, hit nine boundaries and a six before he holed out off paceman Mohammad Talha.

Sri Lanka also lost Ashan Prinyanjan (13) to Junaid Khan and Thirimanne to Ajmal but skipper Angelo Mathews (16 not out) hit the winning runs.

Thirimanne, who reached his hundred with a single off Khan, was finally bowled

by Ajmal who finished with 3-26. Sri Lanka had also won the Asia Cup in 1986, 1997, 2004 and 2008.

“We wanted to break the barrier between us and finals,” said Mathews of Sri Lanka’s failure to win the World Cup finals of 2007 and 2011 and the Twenty20 finals of 2009 and 2012.

“The credit goes to the whole team. It was a very good run chase and big victory not only for me but for the whole team,” said Mathews whose team won all the five matches in the event.

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq blamed defeat on his side’s loss of early wickets. “I think losing the first three wickets quickly put us under pressure and although we managed to reach 260, it was some 20-30 short,” said Misbah.

Pakistan, who decided to bat after winning the toss, were helped to 260-5 by a brilliant unbeaten 114 by Fawad Alam and a solid 65 by Misbah.

PAKISTAN ON BACK FOOT Alam’s knock helped Pakistan recover from early devastation caused by paceman Lasith Malinga, who took the first

three wickets to force Pakistan on to the back foot, before he finished with 5-56.

Alam added an invaluable 122 for the fourth wicket with Misbah and then another 115 for the fifth wicket with Umar Akmal who made a 42-ball 59.

Alam, who returned to the team with a brilliant 74 against Bangladesh on Tuesday after a four-year absence, hit eight boundaries and three sixes off 134 balls.

Alam became the first left-handed Pakistan batsman, other than openers, to hit a one-day century. He hit paceman Thisara Perera over long-on for a six to reach his century off 126 balls. Akmal hit seven boundaries to give impetus to the innings as Pakistan scored 101 in the last ten overs.

Earlier, Malinga rocked the innings with the wickets of Sharjeel Khan (eight), Ahmed Shehzad (five) and Mohammad Hafeez (three) in his incisive four-over spell, pushing Pakistan to 18-3 by the fifth over. Misbah and Alam played steadily during their 122-run partnership and were lucky to survive some close chances.

Misbah was ruled not out on 19 by Australian umpire Bruce Oxenford when action replays suggested he edged Mathews to wicket-keeper Sangakkara.

Misbah hit three boundaries and two sixes during his solid 98-ball knock before Malinga returned for his second spell and had the Pakistan captain caught in the deep. Five-times champions India, hosts Bangladesh and Afghanistan were the other teams in the competition. — AFP

SCOREBOARD DHAKA: Complete scoreboard of the Asia Cup final between Pakistan and Sri Lanka played at Shere Bangla stadium yesterday.

Pakistan Sri Lanka Sharjeel Khan c Thisara b Malinga 8 K. Perera st Akmal b Ajmal 42 Ahmed Shehzad c Sangakkara b Malinga 5 101 L. Thirimanne b Ajmal Hafeez c Sangakkara b Malinga 3 K. Sangakkara lbw b Ajmal 0 Misbah-ul Haq c Perera b Malinga 65 M. Jayawardene c Sharjeel b Talha 75 Fawad Alam not out 114 A. Priyanjan c Akmal b Khan 13 Umar Akmal c Priyanjan b Malinga 59 A. Mathews not out 16 Shahid Afridi not out 0 C. de Silva not out 6 Extras: (lb1, w5) 6 Extras: (b1, lb1, nb1, w5) 8 Total: (for five wkts; 50 overs) 260 Total: (for five wkts; 46.2 overs) 261 Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Sharjeel), 2-17 (Shehzad), Fall of wickets: 1-56 (Perera), 2-56 3-18 (Hafeez), 4-140 (Misbah), 5-255 (Akmal) (Sangakkara), 3-212 (Jayawardene), 4-233 Bowling: Malinga 10-0-56-5, Lakmal 10-2-41- (Priyanjan), 5-247 (Thirimanne) 0 (2w), Senanayake 9-0-54-0, Thisara 10-1-66- Bowling: Hafeez 9-0-42-0 (1w), Gul 6-0-44-0 0 (2w), Mathews 7-1-23-0 (1w), de Silva 4-0- (1w), Khan 9-0-56-1, Ajmal 10-2-26-3 (3w), 19-0 Talha 6.2-0-56-1(1nb), Afridi 6-0-35-0

DHAKA: Sri Lankan cricketers and support staff celebrate with the trophy after winning the Asia Cup final match against Pakistan yesterday. — AP

Ibrahimovic shines as PSG continue to cruise PARIS: Zlatan Ibrahimovic was at his enigmatic best as champions Paris Saint-Germain continued their inexorable march towards retaining the Ligue 1 title with a 30 win at Bastia yesterday.

The big Swedish forward scored the opening goal and then set up Ezequiel Lavezzi for the second with an outrageous back-flick.

He also teed up the diminutive Argentine for the killer third two minutes from time with a headed flick-on. The result sent PSG 11 points clear of their only remaining potential title rivals Monaco, who can cut the gap back to eight points with a home win over lowly Sochaux later

yesterday. This was the fifth straight win for Laurent Blanc’s PSG team since a 1-1 draw at Monaco in the league in early February and the team have racked up 16 goals in that period.

Deprived of record-signing Edinson Cavani, held over in Uruguay for personal reasons, they even could afford the luxury of keeping centre-back Thiago Silva on the bench throughout the game ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League last 16 second leg tie with Bayer Leverkusen.

Although that tie looks to be nothing more than a formality having already won the away leg 4-0. Ibrahimovic

opened the scoring on six minutes after a bright opening from the visitors in Corsica.

Brazilian Lucas Moura made the most of the start Cavani’s absence afforded him to cross from the right for Ibrahimovic to leap high above his marker and use the strength to direct a bullet header into the top corner despite stretching for the ball.

On 19 minutes he turned provider with the kind of genius only Ibrahimovic, in this league, is capable of, picking out Lavezzi with a back-heeled, volleyed pass despite looking the other way.

The Argentine outpaced the defence and nonchalant-

ly prodded the ball past goalkeeper Jean-Louis Leca. And Lavezzi was the beneficiary once again from Ibrahimovic’s instinctive vision, although centre-back Sebastien Squillaci was partly to blame for failing to cut out the Swede’s flick-on, while Leca’s ill-advised rush from his line also helped make the Argentine’s job easier.

On Friday night Marseille’s hopes of snatching the third and final Champions League qualifying berth were dented by their third defeat this season to Cote d’Azur rivals Nice. Valentin Eysseric scored the only goal of the game with a free-kick midway through the second half at the Stade Velodrome. — AFP

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

S P ORT S EPL results/standings English Premier League Cardiff 3 (Caulker 45, 67, Riether 71-og); Fulham 1 (Holtby 59); Chelsea 4 (Eto’o 56, Hazard 60-pen, Ba 88, 90) Tottenham 0; Crystal Palace 0 Southampton 1 (Rodriguez 37); Norwich 1 (Johnson 56); Stoke 1 (Walters 73-pen); West Brom 0 Manchester United 3 (Jones 34, Rooney 65, Welbeck 82).

English Premier League table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):

Chelsea Liverpool Arsenal Man City Tottenham Man Utd Everton Newcastle Southampton West Ham Aston Villa Stoke Hull Swansea Norwich Crystal Palace West Brom Cardiff Sunderland Fulham

29 28 28 26 29 28 27 28 29 28 28 29 28 28 29 28 28 29 26 29

20 18 18 18 16 14 13 13 11 8 8 7 8 7 7 8 4 6 6 6

6 5 5 3 5 6 9 4 9 7 7 10 6 8 8 3 13 7 6 3

3 5 5 5 8 8 5 11 9 13 13 12 14 13 14 17 11 16 14 20

56 73 52 69 37 46 38 37 39 31 31 29 30 37 22 19 31 22 26 29

22 35 28 27 37 31 27 39 35 35 38 43 35 41 44 38 42 50 42 65

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MADRID: Barcelona slumped to their third defeat in seven league games as they lost away to relegation-threatened Valladolid 1-0 yesterday.

Italian Fausto Rossi scored the only goal of the game as he slammed home from close range after 17 minutes. Valladolid goalkeeper Diego Marino was forced into four saves

by Lionel Messi, but it was Neymar who had the best chance to level when he ballooned over just before the hour mark.

However, the Catalans couldn’t find a way through and could fall four points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid should Los Blancos beat Levante at home today.

Victory for Valladolid also has significant consequences at the other end of the table as La Pucela move out of the relegation zone with just their fifth league win of the campaign.

“What we lacked today is normally what distinguishes the team; our circulation of the ball and our movement off the ball to find space. As a consequence of that we lacked penetration,” Barca boss Gerardo Martino admitted.

“We lacked ideas, movement and penetration, but I didn’t in any way see a lack of attitude.” Defeat means the Spanish champions will likely have to beat Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in two weeks time to have any chance of retaining the title.

And with his side’s Champions League last 16, second leg with Manchester City just four days away, Martino admitted his side are a long way off their best form.

“It is clear that right now we are not in

SPAIN: Barcelona’s Neymar (left) runs with the ball during a Spanish La Liga soccer match at the Jose Zorrilla stadium against Valladolid. — AP our best form and we need to be to be able to beat Real Madrid. There are still 15 days to go until that match for us to find ourselves.

Right now we have the Champions League to worry about.

“Today we didn’t play well, just like we didn’t play well in the game straight after

the Manchester City game, in San Sebastian (a defeat to Real Sociedad). We will try to make sure it is the reverse on Wednesday.”

Despite the majority of his squad having been away on international duty in midweek, Martino named almost his strongest starting line-up with only Jordi Alba and

Cardiff 3

Fulham 1

CARDIFF: Cardiff defender Steven Caulker improved his side’s prospects of avoiding relegation from the Premier League as his brace clinched a crucial 3-1 win over fellow strugglers Fulham yesterday.

Caulker ended a Cardiff goal drought that had stretched to over 400 minutes in the league when he netted just before half-time in south Wales.

On-loan Tottenham midfielder Lewis Holtby equalised for Fulham, but Caulker struck again before a Sascha Riether own goal ensured the end of Cardiff’s five-match winless run.

Cardiff remain in the relegation zone on goal difference, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side will feel more optimistic about their survival chances after just their second league win since the former Manchester United striker took charge in January.

In contrast, Fulham’s dismal display left them rooted to the bottom of the table after their 20th defeat in 29 league matches. With his team in desperate need of a morale-boosting win, Solskjaer handed a start to Kenwyne Jones and recalled Craig Noone and Jordan Mutch.

Felix Magath gave a first start to Fulham’s record signing Kostas Mitroglou after the Greek

forward was finally deemed fit enough to feature and there was also a surprise Fulham debut for young forward Cauley Woodrow.

Cardiff started brightly and striker Fraizer Campbell weaved through a pack of Fulham defenders to draw a full-stretch save from Maarten Stekelenburg from the edge of the area.

The Bluebirds threatened again when Noone evaded challenges from Steve Sidwell and Brede Hangeland before shooting narrowly wide from 20 yards.

After dominating for much of the half, Cardiff finally broke the deadlock in the 45th minute when Noone’s low cross reached captain Caulker, who had the simple task of slotting home from no more than two yards out.

It was Caulker’s third goal of the season and the previous two had both come in victories, including a rare away-day win at Fulham.

Fulham needed a stronger showing in the second half and Holtby led the charge with a volley that brought David Marshall into action.

Magath’s team equalised in the 59th minute when a corner from substitute Giorgos Karagounis was flicked on by Johnny Heitinga and Holtby tapped in for the first goal of his loan spell with the Cottagers.

But the visitors weren’t on level terms for long as Caulker rose to meet a corner and directed a downwards header past Stekelenburg’s weak attempted save in the 67th minute. The decisive third goal arrived four minutes later when Noone’s cross caused havoc in the Fulham defence and Riether deflected into his own net.

— AFP

CARROW ROAD: Norwich City’s Gary Hooper (front) and Stoke City’s Ryan Shawcross battle for the ball during their English Premier League soccer match. — AP

Walters hero to zero as Stoke hold Norwich Norwich 1

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Andres Iniesta missing out.

However, after Messi had forced Marino into an early save at the end of a swift counter-attack, it was Valladolid who had the upper hand in the opening half hour.

Rossi opened the scoring with his first goal for Valladolid as he took advantage of a ricochet off two Barca defenders inside the area to fire past Victor Valdes.

Barca reacted as the first-half drew to a close and Marino had to be alive to deny Messi twice from range before Cesc Fabregas also tested the keeper with a drive from the edge of the box.

Marino made another good save just three minutes after the restar t as the Argentine squeezed a shot towards goal with his weaker right foot from a narrow angle.

Neymar then had a great chance to equalise when he blasted over from close range after being brilliantly played in by Fabregas.

That pass was to be the former Arsenal captain’s last significant involvement as he was replaced by Alexis Sanchez with just under half an hour remaining.

Gerard Pique and Neymar were also withdrawn as Martino made a desperate last attempt to influence the game by introducing Sergi Roberto and Cristian Tello.

Messi had another free-kick comfortably held by Martino eight minutes from time. And the result could have been e ve n wo r s e fo r B a rc a h a d O s c a r n o t wastefully spooned over Valdet Rama’s cut-back moments later. — AFP

Caulker double boosts Cardiff’s survival bid

Stoke 1

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Barcelona suffer shock defeat at Valladolid

MILAN: Veteran striker Antonio Di Natale struck a second-half winner for Udinese to put the brakes on AC Milan’s Europa League qualification push yesterday.

Milan’s third defeat in seven games under Clarence Seedorf dropped the Rossoneri one place to 11th in the table with a six-point deficit to fifth-placed Inter, who host Torino today.

Seedorf welcomed Mario Balotelli back into his squad after a two-game absence due to a shoulder injury. But with a decisive second leg against Champions League last 16 opponents Atletico Madrid in midweek, Seedorf opted to rest a number of regulars.

Brazilian forward Kaka was on the bench throughout with Keisuke Honda, Valter Birsa and Robinho playing in support of striker Giampaolo Pazzini. Udinese forged the opening chance when Roberto Pereyra’s run down the left ended with ‘keeper Christian Abbiati making a desperate one-handed save.

However Milan failed to capitalise on several early chances with Pazzini, wearing a protective face mask, missing the target with two headers and then Cristian Zapata spurning a good chance for the opener when his diving header

at the back post sailed well over.

Pazzini had a chance to make amends but teenaged Udinese ‘keeper Simone Scuffet pulled off a fine one-handed save and then parried Robinho’s snapshot.

Milan continued in the same vein after the interval, with Robinho forcing Scuffet to parry his header from Urby Emanuelson’s cross on 49 minutes. Di Natale missed a great chance for the hosts on the hour after Philippe Mexes gave up possession.

Balotelli replaced an ineffective Robinho just after the hour, but minutes later the Rossoneri were trailing after Di Natale finished off a smart passing move with Roberto Pereyra and Bruno Fernandes to beat the diving Abbiati with an easy tap-in. Milan fought back in the closing stages and Michael Essien, who replaced Birsa just before the hour, saw a header from a corner scare Udinese as Balotelli lurked nearby.

Balotelli saw a tame free kick come to nothing, and Essien’s long-distance drive was high and wide. In the closing minutes Pazzini was unlucky not to get on the end of Balotelli’s through ball which, ultimately, was out of the striker’s reach. — AFP

NORWICH: Jonathan Walters scored but was then sent off as Stoke City held Norwich City to a 1-1 draw at Carrow Road in the Premier League yesterday.

Norwich were hoping to bounce back from their 4-1 defeat by Aston Villa last weekend and took a 56th-minute lead when Bradley Johnson headed in from a Robert Snodgrass free-kick.

Walters equalised from the penalty spot in the 73rd minute, but the visitors finished the game with 10 men as he was shown a straight red card less than five minutes later for a high challenge on Alexander Tettey.

Stoke, 1-0 victors over Arsenal in their previous outing, increased the gap between themselves and the relegation zone to six points, with Norwich two points worse off in 15th place.

Both sides made one change from their previous outings, with Ricky van Wolfswinkel returning for Norwich after a knee injury and Peter Odemwingie replacing the suspended Charlie Adam for the Potters. Stoke started the brighter of the two teams, with halfchances falling to Marko Arnautovic and

Walters within the first 15 minutes.

Despite the away side having more possession, however, it was the Canaries who created the best chance of the first half, with Snodgrass forcing an acrobatic save from goalkeeper Asmir Begovic in the 29th minute after being found by Wes Hoolahan.

The hosts continued to pile on the pressure and record signing Van Wolfswinkel saw a glancing header from a Snodgrass corner flash narrowly wide in the 33rd minute.

The second half started frantically for Begovic after a seemingly innocuous shot from Hoolahan squirmed through his hands, forcing the Bosnian to scramble the ball off the line and out for a corner.

It was to prove a temporary reprieve, though, as Norwich made their bright start to the second period count when Johnson turned in Snodgrass’s free-kick to claim his third goal of the season.

However, the away side levelled the scores after Sebastien Bassong was adjudged to have fouled on-loan Manchester City striker John Guidetti and Walters coolly beat John Ruddy from the spot. It was the Republic of Ireland international’s fourth league goal of the season, but he went from hero to villain just five minutes later after he was dismissed for a studs-up lunge on Tettey.

Despite Norwich’s numerical advantage, the home side were unable to make their way through Stoke’s resolute defence, with Begovic proving himself equal to a shot from Nathan Redmond. — AFP

Stylish Arsenal sweep into FA Cup semi-finals LONDON: Arsenal cruised into the FA Cup semifinals as a late brace from substitute Olivier Giroud sealed a 4-1 win over Everton at the Emirates Stadium yesterday. Arsene Wenger’s side remain on course to finally end their nine-year trophy drought thanks to an enterprising quarter-final display in the spring sunshine in north London.

Mesut Ozil ended his three-month wait for a goal to give the hosts a perfect start before Romelu Lukaku’s equaliser. Once Mikel Arteta had converted a penalty midway through the second half there was only ever going to be one winner and France forward Giroud’s late double ensured Arsenal can look forward to a last-four date at Wembley in April.

With Arsenal’s Champions League hopes hanging by a slender thread-they travel to Bayern Munich on Tuesday trailing 2-0 from the first legand their Premier League title charge fading, the FA Cup could represent their best chance for silver ware this season. Ever ton boss Rober to Martinez is no stranger to glory in the competition having masterminded unfancied Wigan’s

Cup final win over Manchester City last season.

But his bid to earn a repeat with Everton looked in trouble from the moment Germany midfielder Ozil slid home the seventh minute opener for Arsenal. Santi Cazorla made the most of a slip by James McCarthy and his perfectlyweighted pass ensured the out-of-form Ozil scored his first goal since December. Ironically Ozil’s last goal came against Everton and you could see his confidence lifted as well as that of his teammates.

COUNTER-ATTACK Arsenal striker Yaya Sanogo saw his shot beaten out by Everton goalkeeper Joel Robles and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also went close inside the opening quarter. Arsenal were looking to expose stand-in Robles at every opportunity, but they were caught by a quick counter-attack that ended in Everton’s 32nd minute equaliser. Ross Barkley broke through from midfield and even though Kevin Mirallas scuffed his shot from the

cross it fell kindly for on-loan Chelsea striker Lukaku to turn the ball home. Lukasz Fabianski had barely been troubled but the Arsenal goalkeeper was fortunate to see Mirallas, and then Lukaku, fail to get any power on their shots at the end of two Everton counters. For all Arsenal’s dominance at the star t of the second half, Everton should have taken the lead in the 53rd minute through Barkley.

A Thomas Vermaelen mistake was seized upon

by Lukaku and his pass gave Barkley a clear sight of goal, only for the England midfielder to curl his shot past Fabianski’s right-hand post. In an increasingly tight game it appeared a mistake might prove the difference, and so it proved as Gareth Barr y ’s clumsy trip on Oxlade Chamberlain left referee Mark Clattenburg with no choice but to point to the spot. Arteta’s first penalty was converted and, after Clattenburg ordered a retake for encroachment, the Spaniard stepped up to once again beat Robles in the 68th minute.—AFP

LONDON: Arsenal’s French striker Olivier Giroud (left) celebrates their fourth goal with teammate German midfielder Mesut Ozil during the English FA Cup quarter final football match. — AFP

Barcelona suffer shock defeat at Valladolid

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

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Stylish Arsenal sweep into FA Cup semi-finals

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Sri Lanka thump Pakistan to lift Asia Cup

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LONDON: Manchester United’s English striker Wayne Rooney (second right) heads the ball past West Bromwich Albion’s English goalkeeper Ben Foster (right) during their English Premier League football match. — AFP

United demolish woeful West Brom West Brom 0

Man United 3

WEST BROMWICH: Goals from Phil Jones, Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck eased the pressure on manager David Moyes as Manchester United won 3-0 at West Bromwich Albion yesterday.

In what was United’s first game since their 20 defeat by Olympiakos in the Champions League, Moyes saw headers in each half from Jones and Rooney put the visitors in control

before substitute Welbeck added gloss with a clinical late strike.

United striker Robin van Persie was fortunate to avoid a second yellow card after a reckless challenge in the second half, but overall it was a rare satisfying afternoon for Moyes, whose side climbed to sixth place in the Premier League table.

Pepe Mel’s West Brom, meanwhile, remain perilously placed above the bottom three, and with just one win in their last 18 matches, look increasingly in grave danger.

Moyes made five changes to the side beaten

by Olympiakos 11 days previously, with Juan Mata, Marouane Fellaini and Adnan Januzaj among the players recalled at The Hawthorns.

West Brom were indebted to goalkeeper Ben Foster in the 29th minute when he reacted superbly to tip Rafael da Silva’s header against

the crossbar after the right-back met Januzaj’s cross at the back post. By the 34th minute United were ahead, though, as a Van Persie free-kick was headed home emphatically by Jones after a Chris Brunt foul on Rafael on the right-hand edge of the area.

But United’s defensive frailties were apparent again seven minutes before the interval when Claudio Yacob headed Jonas Olsson’s flick-on inches over the United crossbar.

Yacob was forced off three minutes later after a Fellaini challenge left him with a nasty gash on his thigh, with James Morrison introduced in his place.

The Scotland international almost made an immediate impact when he found Anichebe, who spun sharply, only to drill his low shot inches past the post.

There was still time for a moment of contro-

versy before the half-time whistle. Mata’s probing long ball prompted Foster to dart to the edge of the area as Van Persie closed in, but the goalkeeper swung and missed with his attempted clearance and the ball struck him on the arm.

United vehemently protested for Foster to be penalised, but referee Jonathan Moss elected to wave play on in what appeared a lucky escape for the England international.

Van Persie was cautioned five minutes after the restart for an ugly tackle from behind on Morgan Amalfitano that left the Frenchman in a heap.

The Baggies always looked capable of a goal and they threatened two minutes later when a neat one-two between Zoltan Gera and Anichebe sent the former Fulham player through, but with the angle tight, his effort was

Palace in deep trouble

Chelsea rout Spurs Chelsea 4

Tottenham 0

LONDON: Samuel Eto’o set Chelsea on their way to a ruthless 4-0 victory over 10-man Tottenham that moved Jose Mourinho’s side seven points clear at the top of the Premier League yesterday.

Eto’o, who had been drafted into the starting line-up at the last minute after Fernando Torres was injured in the warm-up, capitalised on Jan Vertonghen’s poor back pass to break the deadlock in the second half before drawing a foul from Younes Kaboul that allowed Eden Hazard to score from the penalty spot and earned the Spurs defender a red card.

It was a sweet moment for the Cameroon star, who celebrated his goal by putting his left hand on his back and stooping to mimmick old age before holding the corner flag like a walking stick in a mocking reference to Mourinho’s recent claim that Eto’o may actually be older than 32.

Demba Ba then wrapped up the victory with two goals in the final two minutes of normal time, capitalising on two more defensive errors at Stamford Bridge.

With none of their top four rivals involved in league action this weekend, Chelsea took advantage to consolidate their position.

They now sit seven points clear of Liverpool and Arsenal, who have one game in hand on the leaders, and nine points ahead of Manchester City, who have played three games less than Chelsea. For Tottenham, this defeat came as a harsh blow to their chances of closing the gap on the

top four.

While Mourinho has been reluctant to declare his side to be title contenders, he may find it harder to keep Chelsea from dreaming of another English league crown after winning this game.

Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood knew his side could not afford to lose if they were to retain ambitions of breaking into the top four.

And he responded by springing a major surprise when the starting line-ups were announced. Sherwood opted for four changes to the line-up that started in last week’s victory over Cardiff and shifted a number of key personnel into unfamiliar roles.

Aaron Lennon was moved in from the right flank to operate in a central role behind lone striker Emmanuel Adebayor while regular right-back Kyle Walker was pushed forward into midfield.

Initially though, the changes seemed only to unsettle Tottenham with the visitors’ backline appearing vulnerable to Chelsea’s direct attacking moves.

And Sherwood’s side would have found themselves behind after just four minutes had Hazard not been uncharacteristically wasteful after being sent beyond Younes Kaboul by Eto’o’s pass.

The Belgium winger rounded keeper Hugo Lloris but shot into the side netting after being pushed wide by the recovering Kaboul.

Nabil Bentaleb was guilty of failing to make the most of a good opportunity following Adebayor’s flick on-the Algeria international shot wide instead of squaring to waiting team-mates-while Chelsea keeper Petr Cech reacted well to save from Sandro.

Just as they had against Fulham last week, Chelsea appeared stuttering and disjointed during the first half and it was no surprise when Mourinho made a change at the

comfortably saved by David de Gea. Van Persie’s let-off arrived moments later, when what appeared a bookable offence-a late lunge on Steven Reid that sent the right-back tumbling-went unpunished by Moss.

The Dutchman was replaced soon after and cut a disconsolate figure as he trudged off, reacting to a pat on the back from Moyes with a rueful shake of his head.

The hosts were forced into another change when Brunt had to go off, but the Baggies’ delay in getting Saido Berahino on the field was punished in the 65th minute when a pinpoint Rafael delivery was headed home by the unmarked Rooney at the back post.

Rooney turned provider with eight minutes left when he threaded a pass through to Welbeck, who coolly dispatched a shot beyond the advancing Foster. — AFP

C Palace 0

Southampton 1

STAMFORD BRIDGE: Chelsea’s Belgium midfielder Eden Hazard (left) vies for the ball with Tottenham Hotspurís French defender Younes Kaboul during the English Premier League football match. — AFP break, with Oscar appearing in place of Frank Lampard.

Seven days previously at Craven Cottage, Andre Schurrle had turned things around with a second half hat-trick. The Germany international once again had the chance to turn the game in his side’s direction shortly after the restart but he scuffed a clear shot wide.

Eto’o finally got his chance when

Vertonghen slipped and sent a back-pass into the forward’s path, which the former Barcelona forward finished well.

Three minutes later Kaboul pushed Eto’o and Hazard converted from the spot after the defender had been sent off. Then Ba stepped off the bench to score twice after first Zeki Fryers and then Walker made sloppy mistakes to give the forward a pair of routine finishes. — AFP

LONDON: Crystal Palace remained mired in the relegation battle after Southampton beat them 1-0 at Selhurst Park yesterday.

Jay Rodriguez’ first-half goal was enough to give Southampton only their fifth win in their last 18 Premier League matches and extended their unbeaten record with Palace in Premier League meetings to 10. The result also left the Eagles just two points above the relegation places following a run of one point from the last nine on offer.

Crystal Palace tried to stifle Southampton’s more creative play from the outset, although Rodriguez had an early effort which flashed over the bar.

The visitors suffered a blow midway through the firsthalf when Jack Cork had to go off having fallen badly on his ankle and was replaced by Kenyan international Victor Wanyama.

However, they put the adjustment in their line-up behind them quickly and Rodriguez was on hand to open the scoring. He beat Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni in a race to the ball and poked it home from 30 metres out, the Argentinian goalkeeper having come outside his area lamely tried to tackle him, after former Saints midfielder Jason Puncheon had put the home defence in trouble with an understrength header.

Southampton should have been 2-0 up by the break as Adam Lallana teed up Rickie Lambert but the England striker, with the goal begging, nonchalantly fired his shot against the post.

The hosts worked hard in the second-half to push for the equaliser and also pin back Southampton’s marauding attack, succeeding more with the latter than creating anything of note to trouble Artur Boruc in the Saints goal. —AFP

Business

US plays down role for natural gas in Ukraine Page 22

Speak up, French advisor tells women in business

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

Page 23 Lufthansa reaches for the stars

Low liquidity points to rising speculation

Page 25

Page 26

QINGDAO: Containers waiting to be transported in Qingdao port in Qingdao, east China’s Shandong province. China recorded an unexpected trade deficit of $22.98 billion in February, official figures showed yesterday. — AFP

China’s February exports down 18% Data dents hopes of a trade-driven economic revival BEIJING: China’s exports plunged by an unexpectedly large 18 percent in February, possibly denting hopes trade will help drive the slowing economy while communist leaders push ambitious promised reforms. Exports declined to $114.1 billion while imports rose a stronger-than-expected 10.1 percent to $137.1 billion, customs data showed yesterday.

Weakness in key European and US export markets could raise the risk of politically dangerous job losses in trade-reliant industries that employ millions of workers at a time when communist leaders want to focus on restructuring China’s economy.

China’s official 2014 economic growth target of 7.5 percent, announced this week by Premier Li Keqiang, assumes trade also will grow by 7.5 percent. But customs data show combined imports and exports so far this year have shrunk by

4.8 percent. The ruling Communist Party is trying to reduce reliance on trade and investment to drive growth by promoting domestic consumption and giving market forces a “decisive role” in the economy. A surge in job losses could force them to shore up growth with a stimulus based on state-led investment, setting back their reform effort.

China’s trade data can be distorted by the Lunar New Year holiday, which falls at different times in January and February each year. But even grouping together the first two months of this year still showed exports fell 1.6 percent from a year earlier, while imports rose 10.1 percent.

This year’s data also were expected to be unusually weak because during the comparison period in 2013 exporters were believed to be inflating sales figures as an excuse to evade currency controls and bring extra money into China for

investment. Despite that, the decline in February trade far exceeded forecasters’ expectations of a contraction in low single digits. They also expected imports to grow by a similar small margin.

Ambitious target The official economic growth target looks unusually ambitious after last year’s expansion rate fell to a two-decade low of 7.7 percent. Manufacturing weakened in February and an HSBC Corp survey showed employers cut jobs at the fastest rate in five years.

The finance minister said this week that growth as low as 7.2 percent would be acceptable and Beijing’s priority is creating jobs. Plans call for creation of 11 million jobs but the minister said as many as 13 million might be possible. China’s

global trade balance swung to a deficit of $23 billion. The country often runs a trade deficit for one or months early in the year as factories restock following the Lunar New Year shutdown.

The surplus with the 27-nation European Union, China’s biggest trading partner, narrowed by 22 percent to $4.1 billion. China’s trade surplus with the United States narrowed by 36 percent to $7 billion. A plunge in global demand in mid2013 prompted Beijing to launch a mini-stimulus based on higher spending on railway construction and other public works. Growth accelerated but quickly faded once the government spending ended. Since then, Chinese leaders have said there is little that additional stimulus can do to spur growth and improvements will have to come from longerterm reforms. — AP

Ukrainians feel the pinch as Crimea crisis simmers SMEs bank on international aid

SURABAYA: A group of Indonesian women laborers carry sacks of agricultural produce in Surabaya’s public market in eastern Java island as the world marks the International Women’s Day yesterday. According to 2012 government statistics women makes up 49.65 percent of Indonesia nearly 240 million population. — AFP

KIEV: As world powers and international institutions cobble together aid packages for a debt-laden Ukraine on the brink of default, regular Ukrainians feeling the pinch fear they will see none of the cash.

At an outdoor market north of Kiev’s city centre on Friday, stallholders sold everything from colorful stuffed toys to freshly baked pastries and bouquets of flowers for International Women’s Day. But buyers were few and far between.

“People have started to buy much less, they’re being more economical,” said Sonya, 59, wrapped in a thick coat despite the spring weather and selling jars of honey and beeswax candles outside the Petrivka metro station.

Nikolay, a 23-year-old from Crimea, said: “I think everyone is trying to save their money because they’re getting ready in case the situation changes for the worse” on the tense Black Sea peninsula. He, too, has seen a drop in customers at his tiny shop, where he sells sunglasses and US-style baseball caps. Irina and Sergiy Lutay, a retired couple shopping for household appliances at a nearby chain store, said they had taken their savings out of the bank in January, before pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted. “We fear the situation will escalate so we want our money to

be safe,” said Irina.

The escalation in Ukraine-which began with violent clashes that killed 100 people in three months and has now moved over to Crimeahas added one more headache to a country already struggling with massive debt and a huge fiscal deficit. The European Commission and United States this week pledged billions of euros in aid to shore up the stricken economy after dramatic warnings the country could default within days. A mission of the International Monetary Fund also arrived on Tuesday to assess the situation in view of further aid to Ukraine’s new government, which has said it will need 25 billion euros ($35 billion) over two years.

But regular Ukrainians were distrustful of any deals, even as the national currency-the hryvnia-has tumbled and many have complained of higher prices.

‘Politicians will steal aid’ “The aid will not help Ukrainians,” said Lutay. “The prospects are unclear because sooner or later Ukraine will have to give the money back to the EU,” said his wife Iryna.

“Before this escalation of the situation, Ukraine had lots of debt. Now there will be more.”

Sunglasses salesman Nikolay agreed: “This

money proposed by the EU and other institutions will not reach ordinary people. “There are a lot of fears that politicians will steal this money,” he added, reflecting the widespread notion in Ukraine that most politicians are corrupt-even with a new government in place.

For small and medium-sized companies however, the only hope lay in international aid that would help revive the economy and force the government to carr y out necessar y reforms, said Oleksandra Selina, the executive director of a motor oil importing company.

“Ukraine needs help,” she said. “Only if we have help from outside, the IMF, European countries and the United States, will we have some changes.... Without this help we will not survive.” Russian energy giant Gazprom on Friday warned Ukraine it could cut off gas supplies if Kiev did not pay a bill for debt that now stands at $1.89 billion.

But after meeting with interim prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and his economic team, the IMF’s European Depar tment Director Reza Moghadam sounded an upbeat note. Moghadam said he was “positively impressed with the authorities’ determination, sense of responsibility and commitment to an agenda of economic reform and transparency”. — AFP

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

BUSINESS

US plays down role for natural gas in Ukraine

Bayt.com weekly report

How to be a WOW professional

By Lama Ataya

S

triving for excellence is an important part of professionalism in any job. It involves putting quality into everything you do, and this attitude tends to separate WOW professionals, or those who make rapid strides in their career, from others. But does it truly matter to be a WOW professional? Of course it does. The difference between that A and that A+, is that ‘+’ mark of very outstanding performance, dedication, and ability. It may not be the end of the world by any means, but it sure does make a difference in defining a professional’s commitment to excellence.

So what does it take to be a WOW professional?

Here are five tips from the experienced managers at Bayt.com, the Middle East’s #1 job site: 1.

WOW professionals never stop learning “The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.” This quote by Michel Legrand encapsulates the process of learning as the unending cycle it is. The Bayt.com ‘Career Advancement in the MENA’ poll, July 2011, reveals that the ‘willingness to learn’ is believed to be by 30.5 percent of polled professionals the singular most important factor necessary to succeed in one’s career.

2.

WOW professionals are humble ‘Work hard, stay humble’ is how the age-old adage goes. A true professional lets his/her work speak for itself. A WOW professional accepts that they are human and fallible and are always willing to learn from weaknesses and work hard to overcome them. To step up to be a WOW professional curb that defensive impulse you get when faced with constructive criticism.

Understand and accept that this will help you identify weakness and areas of improvement.

3.

WOW professionals are persistent “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill defines persistence well in this quote. These professionals take failure in their stride; to them roadblocks are an opportunity for learning and creativity not a stumbling block.

Success does not come easily - it takes hard work, a firm resolve, fearless determination, and patience. When aiming to be a WOW professional do not let your initial failures deter you, instead let your failures motivate you to try a different approach until you finally succeed.

4.

WOW professionals respect others “Respect is a two-way street, if you want to get it you’ve got to give it.” This R G Risch quote perfectly summarizes the give-and-take nature of respect. True professionals demonstrate respect at work by being fair, equal to all and getting along well with others.

Showing respect at work does more than just creating an ambiance of civility, it shapes your organization’s corporate culture.

5.

WOW professionals are in it for the outcome not for the show To WOW professionals, true success is beyond awards, accolades, and rewards. These professionals are in it to make a genuine difference and to leave things substantially better than they found them. Here’s a quote that pretty much sums up what many WOW professionals feel: “Real success is finding your lifework in the work that you love.”- David McCullough

ON BOARD AIR FORCE ONE: The White House on Friday appeared to play down the possibility of changing US policy on exporting natural gas to address the situation in Ukraine.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on Air Force One that policy changes would not have an immediate effect and noted that natural gas stocks in Europe were above normal levels because of a mild winter.

“There is no indication currently that there’s much risk of a natural gas shortage in the region,” he said. Europe and Ukraine are key export markets for natural gas from Russia, which has historically shut down pipelines as a pressure tactic. As Russia took control of the Crimean peninsula this week, its state-owned energy company Gazprom said it will stop discounting natural gas for Ukraine.

But widespread shipments of US liquefied natural gas (LNG) are still several years away. The Department of Energy is working its way down a list of more than 20 applications for LNG export licenses. It has approved six licenses since 2011 and the first project is not expected to begin exporting

No terminals Ukraine has no terminals to receive LNG shipments, so even if US cargoes were ready soon it is uncertain when the fuel could be delivered. Washington instead is working to reduce Ukraine’s dependence on any single source of natural gas.

Ukraine and Eastern Europe could get more gas from Northern Africa, including Libya and Algeria, and from East

Africa or the Mediterranean in the next couple of years.

Washington is also hoping Croatia will build an LNG receiving terminal, which could help Hungary, Slovenia and perhaps Ukraine.

Once US LNG exports start they likely will first head to Japan, India and other Asian countries that have little access to gas sent via pipeline and are willing to pay more for the fuel than Europe does.

As more US projects are approved and investors spend billions of dollars to build them, US LNG could play a bigger role after 2017 in reducing global prices for the commodity, analysts said. Earnest noted that Russia prides itself on being a reliable supplier of natural gas to other countries. That reputation would be jeopardized if it turned off the taps during the Ukraine crisis. “Russia currently yields about $50 billion a year in revenue from exporting natural gas, so ending that kind of relationship with Europe would have significant financial consequences for Russia as well,” he said. — Reuters

Gulf Bank announces winners of Al-Danah daily draws KUWAIT: Gulf Bank held its Al-Danah daily draws on March 2, 2014, announcing the names of its winners for the week of February 23 to February 24. The Al Danah daily draws include draws each working day for two prizes of KD1000 per winner.

The winners were (Sunday 23/02): Walid Khaled Hejazi, Ali Mansour Al-Jassem (Monday 24/02): Anwer Hamad Abdulrahman AlThunayan, Qosai Odeh Mohammed Haseen Gulf Bank’s Al Danah 2014 draw lineup includes daily draws (2 winners per working day each receive KD1000), as well as two additional prizes per quarter.

Al-Danah’s 1st Quarterly draw for 2014 will be held on 27 March (KD200,000, KD125,000, and KD25,000), 2nd Quarter - 26 June (KD250,000, KD125,000, and KD25,000), 3rd Quarter - 25 September (KD500,000, KD125,000, and KD25,000) and the final draw held on 8 January, 2015 announcing winners of KD50,000, KD250,000 and the Al-Danah millionaire.

Gulf Bank’s Al-Danah allows customers to win cash prizes and simultaneously encourages them to save money. Chances increase the more money is deposited and the longer it is kept in the account.

Al-Danah also offers a number of unique services including the Al-Danah Deposit Only ATM card which helps account holders deposit their money at their convenience; as well as the Al-Danah calculator to help customers calculate their chances of becoming an Al-Danah winner.

To be part of the Al-Danah draws, customers can visit one of Gulf Bank’s 57 branches, transfer on line, or call the Customer Contact Center on 1805805 for assistance and guidance. Customers can also log on to www.e-gulfbank.com/aldanahwinners, to find out more about Al-Danah and who the winners are.

Moody’s boosts outlook for Netherlands, Belgium WASHINGTON: Moody’s raised its credit outlook for the Netherlands and Belgium on Friday, elevating both to stable from negative as the euro-zone economy improves. The Netherlands kept its top-level Aaa rating, while Belgium was three levels down at Aa3. Moody’s said the Netherlands outlook improved because it was less likely to be called on to help fund rescues of weaker euro-zone countries, including troubled Italy and Spain.

It also said there were signs that the country’s own domestic problems, such as weak growth and high household debt, have peaked “and are likely to evolve in a positive direction.”

In addition, Moody’s said, the country’s fiscal situation has stabilized. “Although the politics of negotiating fiscal consolidation

until late next year. The other five still need approvals from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which can be a lengthy process. “So proposals to try to respond to the situation in Ukraine that are related to our policy on exporting natural gas would not have an immediate effect,” Earnest said.

Several lawmakers, including Rep Cory Gardner, a Republican from natural gas-rich Colorado, introduced bills this week to try to speed up the DOE approvals, but they face an uphill battle in the Senate.

have recently been somewhat more challenging in the Netherlands, this has not prevented the country from implementing significant fiscal consolidation.”

For Belgium, Moody’s said the risk that the government would have to shoulder more liabilities in the weak banking sector had declined. Bank asset quality “should improve going forward as the Belgian economy is expected to recover, especially in light of the banks’ strong re-focus on the domestic market.”

Moody’s also forecast that the government’s fiscal consolidation will continue and that the ratio of government debt to GDP would peak this year or next at 100 percent and then slowly fall.—AFP

DALLAS: Job seekers line up to sign in before meeting prospective employers at a career fair at a hotel in Dallas.

The Labor Department releases employment data for February, on Friday. — AP

MasterCard, Visa plan group to boost security WASHINGTON: Visa and MasterCard want banks and retailers to work together on securing customer data and stop blaming each other after a massive data breach during the holiday season.

The two payment networks announced Friday that they are bringing together large and small banks, credit unions, retailers, makers of card processing equipment and industry trade groups in a group that aims to strengthen the US payment system for credit and debit cards.

The data breaches affecting Target Corp, the No 2 US discounter, and luxury retailer Neiman Marcus have shaken consumers’ confidence. An estimated 40 million credit and debit card accounts were affected by the breach at Target.

Stolen were customers’ names, credit and debit card numbers, card expiration dates, debit-card personal identification numbers and the embedded codes on the cards’ magnetic strips. The theft could be the biggest data breach on record for a US retailer.

About 1.1 million Neiman Marcus customer accounts were also affected in a breach last year. In the wake of the episodes the banking and retailing industries, each armed with lobbying clout, began pointing fingers at each other.

Their trade groups peppered lawmakers with letters arguing why the other industry must do more - and spend more - to protect consumers.

The initial focus of the new group will be on banks’

adoption of embedded digital chips for storing account information on debit and credit cards. Compared with the current magnetic strips, it’s a system that typically makes data theft harder and is common in other countries. While it’s not clear whether the chips would have prevented the Target breach, experts say they make it tougher for thieves to make counterfeit cards using stolen credit and debit card numbers.

Many retailers want the chips, but they also want each debit or credit card transaction to require a personal identification number instead of a signature. Experts say it’s harder for criminals to steal personal identification numbers than to forge signatures. Some retailers are resisting the switch to PINs - planned to take effect by the fall of 2015 - because they’ll be forced to buy newer, more expensive card readers. Both chips and PINs are needed to ensure the security of customer data, said National Retail Federation President and General Counsel Mallory Duncan in a statement.

The new group will also look at other security ideas, such as using one-time numbers to add a layer of security to online sales, and better encryption. MasterCard spokesman Seth Eisen declined Friday to provide the names of banks, retailers and other prospective participants, saying the group’s formation was at an early stage. — AP

Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit Chinese Yuan Renminbi Thai Bhat Turkish Lira

Philippine Peso Sierra Leone Singapore Dollar South African Rand Sri Lankan Rupee Taiwan Thai Baht

EXCHANGE RATES Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.

UAE Exchange Centre WLL

ASIAN COUNTRIES 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

2.737 4.632 2.733 2.162 2.900 223.540 36.409 3.629 6.365 8.768 0.271 0.273 GCC COUNTRIES

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

75.377 77.666 734.280 750.760 76.979

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 256.03 259.12 325.60 392.28 281.55 475.58 2.84 3.624 4.550 2.155 2.850 2.691 76.72 749.37 40.44 400.72 732.21 77.75 75.21

SELL CASH 253.03 260.12 323.60 393.28 284.55 478.58 2.86 3.894 4.850 2.590 3.385 2.790 77.19 751.44 41.04 406.37 739.51 78.30 75.61

2.970 3.835 86.905 46.225 9.635 127.385

Bahrain Exchange Company CURRENCY Belgian Franc British Pound Czech Korune Danish Krone Euro Norwegian Krone Romanian Leu Slovakia Swedish Krona Swiss Franc Turkish Lira

BUY Europe 0.007332 0.465710 0.006015 0.048154 0.384105 0.043072 0.081413 0.008066 0.039989 0.314741 0.124565

SELL 0.008332 0.474710 0.018015 0.053154 0.391605 0.046272 0.81413 0.018066 0.044989 0.324941 0.131565

Australasia 0.243476 0.230277

0.254976 0.239777

America 0.250052 0.278050 0.278550

0.258552 0.282400 0.282400

Asia 0.003314 0.045059 0.034293 0.004302 0.000019 0.002692 0.003346 0.000254 0.082334 0.003064 0.002416

0.003914 0.048559 0.037043 0.004703 0.000025 0.002872 0.003346 0.000269 0.088334 0.003234 0.002696

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash Egyptian Pound - Transfer Yemen Riyal/for 1000 Tunisian Dinar Jordanian Dinar Lebanese Lira/for 1000 Syrian Lira Morocco Dirham

39.250 40.153 1.319 180.660 399.170 1.896 2.015 35.766

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer Euro Sterling Pound Canadian dollar Turkish lira Swiss Franc Australian Dollar US Dollar Buying

282.550 395.570 475.960 256.860 128.170 324.030 258.530 281.350 GOLD

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

240.000 121.000 62.500

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 282.350 256.765 471.690 388.340 318.220 745.540 76.850 78.400 76.160 397.915 40.507 2.153 4.559 2.688 3.627 6.313 693.510 3.770

Australian Dollar New Zealand Dollar Canadian Dollar US Dollars US Dollars Mint Bangladesh Taka Chinese Yuan Hong Kong Dollar Indian Rupee Indonesian Rupiah Japanese Yen Kenyan Shilling Korean Won Malaysian Ringgit Nepalese Rupee Pakistan Rupee

0.006372 0.000069 0.219578 0.020532 0.001865 0.009183 0.008339

0.006652 0.000075 0.225578 0.029032 0.002445 0.009363 0.008889

0.741953 0.036772 0.000078 0.000182 0.393730 1.0000000 0.000138 0.024316 0.001192 0.726824 0.076790 0.074603 0.002162 0.174840 0.124565 0.075837 0.001281

0.749953 0.039872 0.000079 0.000242 0.401230 1.0000000 0.000238 0.048316 0.001827 0.732504 0.078003 0.075303 0.002382 0.182840 0.131565 0.076986 0.001361

Arab 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

Al Mulla Exchange 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) 281.900 394.100 474.200 258.250 4.625 40.150 2.159 3.625 6.342 2.740 750.900 76.750 75.200

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

BUSINESS

Speak up, French advisor tells women in business How strong women propel corporate strategies

OKUMA: Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), workers try to remove radioactive fuel rods from the Unit 4 building at the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan. —AP

Japan sees future business in Fukushima cleanup TOKYO: There is something surprising in the radioactive wreck that is the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant: opportunity.

To clean it up, Japan will have to develop technology and expertise that any nation with a nuclear reactor will one day need.

Eyeing dozens of aging reactors at home and hundreds of others worldwide that eventually need to be retired, Japanese industry sees a profitable market for decommissioning expertise.

It may sound surprising, given all the ongoing problems with the coastal Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, including massive leaks of contaminated water and other mishaps that followed its devastation by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

But many experts and industry officials say the experience and technology such as robotics being developed can be used in any decommissioning in the future. That could represent new opportunities for Japan Inc., which has lost some of its global clout to competitors from countries such as South Korea, China and the US. “There is decommissioning business here beyond Fukushima and it’s a worldwide business,” said Lake Barrett, a former US nuclear regulator who headed the Three Mile Island cleanup. “I think it’s an exciting new area,” he said. “Japan can be a world leader again.”

Japan’s government hopes an offshoot will a boom in the country’s nuclear technology exports. Japan on Tuesday marks the third anniversary of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters known as 3.11 that killed 15,884 people and left 2,636 unaccounted for in vast areas of its northern coast. The country has struggled to rebuild tsunami-hit communities and to clean up radiation from the nuclear crisis, and has earmarked 25 trillion yen ($250 billion) for reconstruction through March 2016. About 50,000 people from Fukushima are still unable to return home due to concerns over radiation.

Despite the Fukushima meltdowns that experts say are far more challenging to deal with than the 1979 Three Mile Island meltdown, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is eager to sell Japan’s nuclear plants and technology overseas. He boasts that Japan can offer the world’s highest safety standards that reflect lessons learned from Fukushima. More than 400 nuclear reactors are already in operation in more than 30 countries, with dozens more under construction. More new reactors are expected, including hundreds planned in China alone by 2050.

Tokyo Electric Power Co, the utility that runs Fukushima Dai-ichi, is setting up a separate company in April to clean up the plant.

Tentatively called the Decommissioning Company, it is overseen by the government’s economic ministry and could evolve into a decommissioning organization for other plants at home and abroad. Academics, construction giants, electronics makers and risk management firms are rushing to get on the bus.

Japan also created the governmentfunded International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning, or IRID, last year.

It brings together nuclear plant operators, construction companies and organizations of nuclear experts to promote research and development of nuclear decommissioning technologies, as well as cooperation between international and domestic organizations. IRID has received 780 proposals for funding from around the world for ideas and technologies related to the treatment and management of contaminated water, as well as 220 others about retrieving the three melted cores.

Japanese companies including Toshiba Corp, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Hitachi have been developing robots that can monitor radiation, decontaminate, remove contaminated debris or repair damage, and some of them have been mobilized at the plant. Standard decommissioning has been largely carried out by human workers. IRID Managing Director Kazuhiro Suzuki said the robotics technologies being developed to probe and remove Fukushima’s melted fuel could benefit ordinary decommissioning, not just severely damaged reactors.

“Decommissioning of aging reactors is an imminent task that all nuclear plant operators face,” he said.

Use of robotics and other advanced technologies not only helps to reduce worker radiation exposure but also could make a cleanup faster and cheaper, said Barrett, the Three Mile Island expert who now advises TEPCO and IRID. Experts in Japan are eying a British model, the National Decommissioning Agency, founded in 2005 to be in charge of decommissioning and cleanup of nuclear plants and radioactive waste management.

TEPCO is decommissioning four reactor units crippled by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and will later scrap the remaining two that survived. Three suffered meltdowns and one was damaged by hydrogen explosions. The decommissioning of the four would take about 40 years.

The total cleanup cost for the severely damaged Fukushima reactors could be as high as 10 times a standard decommissioning that normally costs about 70 billion yen ($700 million) per reactor, Suzuki said.

Having completed decommissioning of 10 regular reactors and the Three Mile Island cleanup, the US government and nuclear industry see a profitable market too.

In February, representatives of 26 American companies came to Tokyo for presentation and business talks with 50 Japanese companies during a two-day decommissioning and remediation forum, co-sponsored by the governments of Japan and the US. “We can work together and do so much more,” said Austin Auger, an executive at CB&I, which worked with Toshiba to assemble one of the earliest treatment units for contaminated water at Fukushima. —AP

Boeing reports cracks in Dreamliner wings NEW YORK: Boeing said Friday that hairline cracks have been found in the wings of some of its 787 Dreamliners that are still in production, due to a manufacturing problem. A Boeing spokesman told AFP the cracks were found in the composite wings made by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan, but insisted it was “confident that the condition does not exist in the in-service fleet.”

Boeing had been notified by MHI that “a change in their manufacturing process may have led to hairline cracks in a limited number of shear ties on a wing rib in the 787.”

The tiny cracks may be present in a limited number of airplanes still in production, the Chicago-based aerospace giant said. MHI was not immediately available to comment. Boeing said it was completing inspections of the roughly 40 airplanes that are potentially affected.

Deliveries may be delayed because of inspection and repairs, but the company expected no impact to its overall 787 Dreamliner delivery expectations this year.

The company plans 110 deliveries. “This will have no material impact on revenue,” the Boeing spokesman said. It was the lat-

est in a series of problems that have beset the high-tech 787 put into service two years ago, including a months-long global grounding over battery problems last year.

Lightweight composite materials are used in 50 percent of the all-new jetliner, which uses 20 percent less fuel with fewer emissions than today’s similarly sized airplanes, according to Boeing.

Boeing is using foreign suppliers for many parts of the Dreamliner, which is assembled at plants in Seattle, Washington state, and North Charleston, South Carolina. The company has ramped up production of the twin-aisle plane, which entered service in September 2011 with Japan’s All Nippon Airways.

In January, Boeing rolled out its first 787 built at the rate of 10 airplanes per month, the highest rate ever for a twin-aisle plane.

It was the third production rate hike in just over a year. Boeing has booked more than 1,000 orders for the 787 from 60 customers worldwide. Shares in Dow member Boeing slipped 0.3 percent to $128.54 on the New York Stock Exchange. Boeing was down 0.5 percent at $127.91 in after-market trade. —AFP

LONDON: The first time Anne Meaux met Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal he laughed at her. It was 2005, and she had just walked unannounced into the steel magnate’s office to tell him he needed to change his strategy if his hostile bid for steelmaker Arcelor were to be palatable to the French government. Mittal stopped laughing, and listened. Then he clinched the deal. The incident was an early example of an ability to tell unpalatable truths to powerful people that has since propelled Meaux to the position of France’s top PR advisor.

Mittal still seeks her advice, but is now part of a client list that reads like a who’s who of French business and includes luxury goods tycoon Francois-Henri Pinault and construction-to-telecoms boss Martin Bouygues. Just last month Meaux advised the Peugeot family on a complicated state-backed 3 billion euros capital raising with Chinese partner Dongfeng - again demonstrating an expertise in brokering complicated international deals that has taken her PR business Image 7 from strength to strength.

Meaux - small, blonde and wearing a black leather jacket during her interview with Reuters - attributes her frankness to a stint, when still a teenager, in the press office of French president Valerie Giscard d’Estaing. She spent a further 15 years advising politicians before setting up Image 7 when she was 34 years old. “Once you’ve dared say things to someone as impressive as President Giscard at 19, you can tell anyone anything”, she said.

STRONG WOMEN Meaux is now 59, and alongside her thriving PR business she runs Force Femmes, an association which helps women aged over 45 to find work after years out of the labour force.

The organization is born of her own experience of seeing her mother struggle when her father - a doctor and the family’s sole earner left home when Meaux was a teenager.

“What happened to my mother had a strong impact on me. If Force Femmes had existed at the time.. she could have had a decent life,” Meaux said.

“We are here to help women be realistic about their potential.” Older women are still unfairly stigmatised in the world of business, Meaux believes, but her advice to them is the same as it is to all women in her field: be bold, and be inventive. “People tend to stigmatise (older women). I don’t believe in that... You need to break down the walls and

AVON LAKE: Taken through a mirror, workers at the Ford Ohio Assembly Plant listen as speakers announce the future production at the assembly plant of the F-650 and F-750 medium-duty truck on Friday in Avon Lake, Ohio. —AP come up with tailor-made solutions.”

PEOPLE SKILLS Loyalty, and a sensitivity to people’s feelings has also helped Meaux get ahead in the business arena. Francois Pinault was one of the first clients of Image 7 and as a result Meaux later turned down an offer from his rival Bernard Arnault to work as his communication adviser.

That decision paid off when Pinault’s son Francois-Henri, took over. He still employs Meaux as PR advisor for an empire, now known as Kering, which spans labels as diverse as fashion house Gucci and trendy sneakers Converse.

Working with Mittal, Meaux was able to see why his year-long takeover battle for Arcelor had run into difficulties, where bankers focused on shareholder value could not. “No

one had realized that for the French, Arcelor was still a French company,” said Meaux.

“French people wanted to be treated with respect. They could not believe their eyes when they saw this Indian billionaire standing there in their town.”

She organized dinners to introduce Mittal to France’s top businessmen and politicians and took him to meet officials and workers at each of Arcelor’s plants in France. Relations improved, and the deal was done. Away from the office, Meaux enjoys ancient Greek and Latin - her mother taught both - and has a son and two daughters, the eldest of which has just joined Image 7.

Meaux laughed: “I said, ‘You really want to work with your mother?’ But she thought it would be good fun - and it’s all going very well.” —Reuters

US oil rises $1/bbl on jobs growth, Russia NEW YORK: US oil rose more than $1 a barrel on Friday as Western relations with Russia worsened over the crisis in the Ukraine and US job growth accelerated by more than expected in an upbeat sign for oil demand. US non-farm payrolls rose by 175,000 in February, more than the 149,000 that was anticipated and more than in January and December, data from the US Labor Department showed.

Russia said any US sanctions imposed against Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine would boomerang back on the United States, raising the financial stakes as the military standoff intensified.

In the second tense, high-level exchange between the former Cold War foes in 24 hours, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned US Secretary of State John Kerry in a telephone conversation against “hasty and reckless steps” that could harm Russian-American relations, the foreign ministry said.

US crude rose to an intra-day high of $102.91 a barrel before settling at $102.58 with a $1.02 gain on the day. Global benchmark Brent rose 90 cents to settle at $109.00 a barrel.

In spite of Friday’s price gains, US oil ended lower for the first time in eight weeks. Brent ended lower for the second straight week. Gains were capped by news that China recorded its first domestic bond default, increasing worries that the world’s secondlargest economy is slowing faster than expected.

“The stronger jobs numbers showed stronger demand,” said Phil Flynn of Price Futures Group in Chicago. “But the reason we’re not up dramatically on the Ukraine news is there are real concerns about China.” The strength in crude oil lifted the products markets. New York ultra-low sulfur diesel, or heating fuel, settled nearly 3 cents higher at $3.0121 per gallon, and US gasoline RBOB also ended nearly 3 cents higher at $2.9738 per gallon.

Oil prices had jumped on Monday after military intervention by Russia, one of the world’s top oil exporters, on the Crimean peninsula. But both Brent and US oil gave back gains over the week.

Concerns increased again after Crimea’s Moscow-backed parliament voted to allow the southern Ukrainian region to become part of Russia on Thursday and scheduled a referendum on the split for March 16. Analysts said many traders held long positions in anticipation that Ukraine crisis would intensify. Money managers held the largest net long position in US crude oil futures and options in the week to March 4 since June 2006, US Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed on Friday.

“It is definitely a good idea to have some length ahead of a weekend’s worth of rhetoric about Ukraine,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York. “Any deterioration in the prospect for a reasonable outcome gets rapidly priced into the market.” —Reuters

Shoppers check out the sale at an ALDO store in the Mall at Robinson, in Robinson Township, Pennsylvania. The Federal Reserve released consumer credit data for January on Friday. —AP

Bank told to pay $3.2m for ‘shocking’ foreclosure ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico: A New Mexico judge has issued a $3.2 million judgment against Wells Fargo & Co for foreclosing on a man’s home after his death, even though he had a purchased an insurance policy through the bank that would have paid the remaining balance on his mortgage.

District Judge Beatrice Brickhouse said the bank’s conduct was shocking and so reprehensible that in addition to actual damages, attorney’s fees and court costs, she awarded James Dollens’ estate $2.7 million in punitive damages.

Brickhouse issued the ruling Feb 14. It was reported Friday by the Albuquerque Journal. Jim Hines, a spokesman for San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, said the bank will appeal and it disagrees with several parts of the ruling, including the award of punitive damages.

Katy Duhigg-Kennedy, a lawyer for Dollens’ estate, said Friday that the ruling “protected people over profits. We are confident that the appellate courts will do the same.”

Dollens had purchased an accidental death mortgage insurance policy for his Rio Rancho home that was marketed by Wells Fargo and issued by Minnesota Life. When he died Aug. 18, 2010, in a workplace acci-

dent, he owed $125,000 on his mortgage.

His death was reported immediately to Minnesota Life and to Wells Fargo to make a claim under the policy. But instead of seeking funds from the insurance policy, Wells Fargo sent notices about the loan being in default and referred the loan for foreclosure in December 2010. The foreclosure proceeded despite requests from representatives of the estate to hold off pending the insurance payout.

When the bank received a $133,559 check from the insurance company in May 2011, it collected delinquent payments, late fees, and fees for lawyers and for 18 property inspections, leaving only $4,400 for Dollens’ estate “because of ... misapplication of the insurance proceeds,” the judge said.

Wells Fargo said the family should have continued making payments regardless of the insurance policy. However, Brickhouse said Wells Fargo disregarded the terms of the insurance policy before moving to foreclose.

That, the judge said, was a breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

She said the bank’s “unwillingness and failure” to hold off on the foreclosure even when requested to do so by the insurance company was “shocking.” —AP

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

BUSINESS

Kuwait stocks remain bearish BAYAN WEEKLY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended last week with red zone. The Price Index closed at 7,507.43 points, down by 2.41 percent from the week before closing, the Weighted Index decreased by 1.77 percent after closing at 456.74 points, whereas the KSX-15 Index closed at 1,082.53 points down by 1.68 percent.

Furthermore, last week’s average daily turnover increased by 38.13 percent, compared to the preceding week, reaching KD 25.64 million, whereas trading volume average was 236.25 million shares, recording increase of 61.60 percent.

Kuwait Stock Exchange indicators declined steeply last week affected by the selling pressures that the market witnessed during most of the sessions, especially through the Monday session, which witnessed the biggest decline in almost six months period, as the selling operations were performed on many stocks that were traded during the week, both large-cap and small-cap, and the Price Index declined to its lowest closing level since last September.

On the contrary, the green zone was not absent from the trading scene last week, with a limited effect however, as the stock market was able to realize gain after the traders’ performed random purchasing operations, taking the chance of the price decline, which lightened the market losses.

Moreover, the delay of many listed companies to announce its 2013 financial results had an effect on the stock market activity during the last week, due to the traders’ fear of having some companies banned from trading, if the legal disclosure period have passed, as it will end by the end of the current month, and this in turn increased the watch and cautious state,

and thus influenced the market trading activity.

For the annual performance, the price index ended last week recording 0.56 percent annual loss compared to its closing in 2013, while the weighted index increased by 0.86 percent, and the KSX-15 recorded 1.32 percent growth.

Sectors’ indices All of KSE’s sectors ended last week in the red zone except for one sector. The Consumer Services sector headed the losers list as its

index declined by 4.16 percent to end the week’s activity at 1,092.27 points. The Banks sector was second on the losers’ list, which index declined by 3.19 percent, closing at 1,040.19 points, followed by the Real Estate sector, as its index closed at 1,366.44 points at a loss of 3.05 percent. The Basic Materials sector was the least declining as its index closed at 1,154.32 points with a 0.15 percent decrease.

On the other hand, the Technology sector was last week only gainer, which index grew by

0.004 percent, closing at 1,040.64 points.

Sectors’ activity The Financial Services sector dominated total trade volume during last week with 453.09 million shares changing hands, representing 38.36 percent of the total market trading volume. The Real Estate sector was second in terms of trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 33.93 percent of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of 400.80 million

Stocks may extend rally after strong jobs data WALL STREET WEEKLY OUTLOOK NEW YORK: Friday’s stronger-than-expected payrolls report did more than ease concerns about US economic fundamentals - it also seemed to justify Wall Street’s record levels, suggesting the market’s uptrend could continue. February’s jobs report followed two straight months of payroll reports that were sharply below expectations, and the rebound reinforced the theory that the weakness in December and January had been temporary, related to weather as opposed to worsening fundamentals. That bet has helped equities shrug off bearish data and geopolitical uncertainties in Ukraine, taking the S&P 500 to a series of record highs.

However, it also raised concerns that the market may be vulnerable to pullbacks on any indication that conditions have gotten worse.

“We’re hoping the payroll report means we’re on a stronger footing going ahead and that we can get more robust growth going forward,” said Michael Mullaney, chief investment officer of Fiduciary Trust Co in Boston. “Now we’re trading on fundamentals, which we think are fine. We’re comfortable still being long on the market.”

In a sign of positive trading momentum, the S&P 500 is 1.3 percent above its 14-day moving average, a level that could serve as support in a market decline. In the latest week, the Dow rose 0.8 percent, the S&P 500 climbed 1 percent and the Nasdaq gained 0.7 percent. While the Dow and the S&P 500 rose for their second straight week of gains, the Nasdaq advanced for a fifth straight week, up 5.7 percent over that period.

On Friday, the S&P 500 ended at a record high of 1,878.04. The milestone marked its fifth record closing high in the past seven sessions. Wall Street has marched steadily higher this year, save for a pullback in late January that came on concerns about emerging markets. Those worries will remain prominent after Russian President Vladimir Putin rebuffed a warning from US President Barack Obama over Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine’s Crimea region. Obama has ordered sanctions against Russia in the most serious confrontation since the Cold War. “Weekends are notorious for geopolitical developments, so we might be vulnerable to some kind of shock,” said Terry DuFrene, investment specialist at JPMorgan Private Bank in New Orleans, which has $977 billion in assets under management.

NEW YORK: A board above the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange shows the closing number for the S&P 500 Index on Friday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 managed a small gain, enough to set its latest record high. The index closed 1 point higher, a gain of 0.1 percent, at 1,878. — AP Macro issues may have a large influence on trading next week, with little else that could serve as catalysts. Only two S&P 500 components, Urban Outfitters and Dollar General , are scheduled to report quarterly results. Economic indicators on tap include February retail sales, seen rising 0.2 percent, and a preliminary read on March consumer sentiment from the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers, which is expected to hold flat from February. While any development in Ukraine could overshadow the data, the conflict is not expected to drastically change the market’s fundamentals.

“We’re not as susceptible to a disruption from that part of the globe as we would be to a flare-up in the Middle East,” DuFrene said. “That gives us some breathing room, and though there will be fears of contagion, the market should be able to continue taking things in stride.”

FAVORING LARGE-CAP STOCKS Equities in total may be hard-pressed to post dramatic gains from record levels, but analysts see opportunity in specific areas of the market.

Fiduciary Trust’s Mullaney, who oversees about $11.3 billion in assets, said he was overweight

large-cap stocks and underweight small-caps, which outperformed the S&P 500 for the past two years, as well as so far in 2014.

“While multinationals with a lot of emerging market exposure could be hit by developments in Ukraine, we don’t think the pain will be that outsized, compared to other parts of the market, and in the meantime, small-caps are not favored by their valuation.” The forward price-to-earnings ratio of the small-cap S&P 600 is 20.1, while the Russell 2000’s, which includes more small names, is 24.5. To compare, the S&P 100, which has a higher concentration of large-cap names, has a P/E ratio of 14.3, while the benchmark S&P 500’s is 15.8.

Morgan Stanley analysts wrote that it had been “dismissive” of the idea that emerging market contagion would impact US equities, “as what really matters is that the dream of growth is still alive,” with corporate earnings not slowing. “In this environment,” the firm added in a note to clients, “stock pickers would benefit from exposure to technology as its historical alpha ranks first over all other sectors.” Sunday will mark the five-year anniversary of the closing low that the S&P 500 reached during the financial crisis. The benchmark index has soared almost 180 percent from that level. — Reuters

shares.

On the other hand, the Banks sector’s stocks were the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover of KD 41.74 million or 32.56 percent of last week’s total market trading value. The Financial Services sector took the second place as the sector’s last week turnover was KD 34.36 million represented 26.80 percent of the total market trading value. — Prepared by the Studies & Research Department Bayan Investment Co.

Global stocks drop on rising Ukraine tensions NEW YORK: A surprisingly strong US jobs report on Friday sent bond and gold prices sharply lower and initially lifted equity markets, but mounting tensions over Ukraine led stocks in Europe and elsewhere to retreat, while US shares ended little changed.

Diplomatic efforts to cool the crisis in Ukraine calmed markets earlier in the week, but as tensions rose over Russia’s intervention in Crimea, investors tried to shield themselves before the weekend from any potential confrontation.

European blue chips exposed to Russia and Ukraine came under renewed pressure as Germany’s DAX index, considered the most vulnerable to any fallout, fell 2.0 percent, the biggest drop among major regional indices.

The Euro STOXX Volatility Index, a sign of investor apprehension, jumped 14.9 percent. But its US counterpart, the CBOE Volatility Index, rose less than 1 percent. President Vladimir Putin rebuffed a warning from US President Barack Obama over Moscow’s military intervention in Crimea, saying on Friday that Russia could not ignore calls for help from Russian speakers in Ukraine.

Putin said in a statement after an hour-long telephone call that Moscow and Washington remain far apart, giving investors a reason to take money off the table before the weekend. “People are a little bit nervous to go into the weekend with fully loaded long positions, given the ongoing Ukraine crisis,” said Zeg Choudhry, head of trading at Northland Capital Partners in Ilford, Britain.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares extended losses into the close, finishing down 1.3 percent at 1,326.70. MSCI’s all-country world equity index retreated to trade 0.3 percent lower after trading just off peaks last seen at the end of 2007.

Wall Street was mostly flat, with the better-than-expected US nonfarm payrolls report pushing the benchmark S&P 500 index to a fresh intra-day record high before paring gains. The index closed slightly higher, setting a new record close. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 30.83 points, or 0.19

percent, at 16,452.72. The S&P 500 gained 1.01 points, or 0.05 percent, to 1,878.04 while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 15.903 points, or 0.37 percent, to 4,336.223.

For the week, the Dow rose 0.8 percent, the S&P 1.0 percent and the Nasdaq 0.7 percent. US Treasuries yields rose to their highest in six weeks after the February jobs report eased fears of an abrupt slowdown in economic growth and kept the Federal Reserve on track in reducing its monetary stimulus.

US employers added 175,000 jobs to payrolls after creating 129,000 positions in January, the US Labor Department said. However, even as job growth accelerated sharply, the unemployment rate rose to 6.7 percent from a five-year low of 6.6 percent. Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes dropped 18/32 in price, the yield rising to 2.82 percent, the highest since Jan. 23. It was last down almost 15/32 in price to yield 2.7915 percent.

German Bund futures rose 6 ticks to settle at 142.24, clawing back some ground after suffering their biggest one-day fall since late December on Thursday after the European Central Bank refrained from new stimulus measures. The dollar rose from a four-month low. The dollar index , a composite of six currency pairs, traded 0.07 percent higher at 79.717. It earlier hit a bottom of 79.433 last seen on Oct 29.

The dollar was up 0.24 percent against the yen at 103.31 yen, while the euro rose 0.1 percent to $1.3872.

US COMEX gold futures for April delivery fell $13.60 to settle at $1,338.20 an ounce, Crude oil rose on the US jobs report and Ukraine, offsetting a seasonal slowdown in demand, and analysts expected more traders to take net long positions. “It is definitely a good idea to have some length ahead of a weekend’s worth of rhetoric about Ukraine,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York. “Any deterioration in the prospect for a reasonable outcome gets rapidly priced into the market.” Global benchmark Brent crude oil settled up 90 cents at $109.00 a barrel. US crude rose $1.02 to settle at $102.58. — Reuters

BUSINESS

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

Low liquidity points to rising speculation AL-SHALL WEEKLY KSE MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Market liquidity during Februar y 2014 achieved a daily trading average value by KD 31.475 million, a drop by -16.7 percent from the average daily trading value in January 2014, but higher by 40.2 percent than the average daily trading value during December 2013. The market added liquidity by KD 535.1 million during February 2014 putting the market liquidity in two months at KD 1.253 billion. The price index lost in February about -0.8 percent compared with January 2014 closing while the weighted index gained 1.1 percent during the same period. This may be an indicator to the beginning of the market’s liquidity bias towards big corporations though there is still deviation towards unhealthy speculation.

As usual, we monitored the share of the top 30 companies in terms of their trading value, which captured KD 872.743 million from that value, or about 69.7 percent of the total value of market trading, while the market value of these 30 companies scored about KD 15.292 billion, which represented about 48.5 percent of the total market value. But scrutinizing the components of this sample, despite the low concentration rate, shows that 22 of them captured high trading value despite their low market value, which indicates sustained deviation in liquidity directions and indicates dominance of speculative activity in the market. Nearly 22 companies captured 41.7 percent of the total value of market trading, i.e. around KD 522.505 million while their market value is no more than 3.7 percent of the total market value of listed companies.

The per share turnover index may provide us with a different perspective to look at the severity or obsession with that speculation as it measures the percentage of the company trading to its market value. The turnover average of the total market stocks scored 4 percent (about 24 percent on an annual basis) compared with 5.7 percent (34.2 percent on annual basis) for the 30 company sample. Within these, the turnover average of the 22 speculation companies scores about 44.5 percent (about 267.2 percent on annual basis). The highest turnover average of one of the companies within these 22 speculation companies scored around 158.6 percent in two months, about 149.2 percent for the second highest, and 129.8 percent for the third highest. It is worth noting that the turnover average index assumes that all shares of a company are available for trading, while in reality only some shares are available for trading because of what is withheld due to mortgages and strategic equities, which means that the actual turnover average, or speculation severity, is likely much higher than our estimates. We shall continue to monitor if the index of declining speculation severity in February is genuine shift or just a temporary one.

The comparative performance February ended with positive performance for most of the 14 markets of the sample with 10 of them in the positive area (they were 7 in the end of January). This means three markets moved from the negative zone.

The 7 Gulf markets remained in the positive zone. While the other six Gulf stock markets doubled their gains in February, Kuwait weight and price indexes lost, i.e. reduced January gains and retained their positions at the bottom of the Gulf markets list.

Four mature and emerging markets remained in the negative zone, with three achieving gains in February by reducing losses in January recording slight losses.

The Japanese market alone increased its losses within a deserved correction movement though it gained 56.7 percent in 2013.

The strongest per formance in February was achieved by Dubai market and added 11.9 percent to its index putting up its gains in two months to 25.2 percent in addition to 107.7 percent in 2013. It remained leading the positive performance in the first two months of the year as in 2013. Abu Dhabi came second by adding 6.1 percent making its gains since the end of last year to 15.6 percent. It was also second in gains in 2013 when it added 63.1 percent. The Bahraini market came also second by adding 6.1 percent to its index in February. It gained 9.9 percent in two months of the year. However, it came fourth in the two months gains coming next to the Qatari market which rose by 13.4 percent in the two months.

In the negative zone, the American and Indian markets gained 4 percent and 3 percent respectively in February. However, they were not adequate enough to make up for all January losses and remained at the edge of the negative zone. While the high losses of the Japanese market in two months remained high (-8.9 percent) because they are within a deserved correction movement, the Chinese market remained losing though it reduced slightly its January losses. The Chinese market losses came as a continuation to 2013 losses by -6.7 percent in what is believed to be a deliberate measure to avoid assets bubble risks.

For the first time, some rationality returns to the Kuwaiti market trading despite its weakness. During February, the weight and price indexes of the market exchanged positions. The weight index gains became higher than the price index gains which implies a likely sound change in traders’ preferences towards heavy

companies. February month however, with official holidays, is not fit to issue judgments.

We were not completely successful in our forecasts to February in our former report, particularly with the sustained strong performance in Dubai and Abu Dhabi markets although we believed then that a correction process therein became due. We believe that the support factors for Dubai market are still high. We however remain holding to our estimate that a due correction process will occur after 14 months of sustained positive performance. While our expectation that the gap between the Gulf markets and other markets will decrease remains valid, achieved partially in February, we remain unable to forecast the right timing for this due correction in some GCC markets. It may be March or later but it is inevitable.

Lessons of Ukrainian crisis Our region does not seem to be much concerned with the Ukrainian case; however, if affairs develop to military confrontation, which is extremely unlikely, then certainly the Russian oil and gas supplies will be affected. This might lead to a temporary disturbance in the oil market. Even without this confrontation, the psychological impact remains effective. Oil prices went up; indexes of all global stock markets and the region plunged early last week then they fluctuated between up and down according to the reading of the crisis development. In the short term, Russia seems in the stronger position in this conflict compared with the West. The quick authorization that Putin obtained from his parliament for using the military force in Ukraine is nothing more than addition to the strong cards originally available to President Putin.

Russia is superior to the West in most terms of the probable conflict. Ukraine is in the backyard of Russia, which gives geographical advantage. Ukraine is also divided and slightly more than half of its population are from Russian origins and speak the Russian language in the east adjacent to Russia, which provides Russia with the intervention excuse, or even provides an ethnic excuse with the Ukrainians asking the Russians to interfere to save them. Russia has a naval base and a fleet in the Black Sea thus giving it military superiority. As such, it does not need to mobilize forces across borders but move or the threaten to move its forces inside the borders. It also has the economy card. Ukraine owes it about $15 billion and cannot pay them. It seems Ukraine requested about $4 billion in quick and urgent aid from the West and while Putin’s decision to grant such aid is quick, the decision remains hesitant and long for the Western Troika including the IMF. Besides, they do not seem ready to give more than about 50 percent of the required urgent aid. Most of Ukraine’s trade is with Russia which has a lot of Ukrainian labor and their money transfers come from Russia. Russia supplies Ukraine with its energy and specifically gas. If such aid is suspended or prevented in its extremely cold winter, Ukraine will freeze. Finally, Russia is utilizing a ready experience in managing this kind of conflict. In addition to its isolating the West from the Syrian crisis, it succeeded in 2008 in separating two provinces from Georgia despite the Western outcry. The European Commission on March 5th made promises to provide about $15 billion to Ukraine in grants and loans. These promises are contingent on political developments in Ukraine.

The foregoing tells that Russia will out maneuver the West in the short term but on the medium to the long terms it will not be a success without tough and painful costs. The West will clone the tools of the cold war, with modernization according to the Iranian case. Putin has many potential enemies inside and within Russia are some provinces that yearn for separation. Further, Russia is not remote from pressures on its foreign sources of income from oil and gas. Its economy is still primitive and those who are close to power are wealthy and fear for their personal interests from likely sanctions. In other words, the worst case scenario is accepting the division of Ukraine. The West will try to provide a model similar to that of West Germany or South Korea in West Ukraine. Which means it may lose a battle in the short term. It however bets on the medium-to-long term to harm Putin’s ambitions to build the Soviet Empire again by destabilizing internal stability; or perhaps betting on the conviction of the Ukrainian East to

adopt the successful Western Ukraine example, i.e. thwarting the division scheme. As the split or separation option will not be without cost that may lead to Russia’s loss of the war, the crisis may end by an amended agreement to the February 21st agreement between the Opposition and the ex-President, an agreement that preserves a fragile unity to Ukraine to overcome its choking economic problems by a joint Western-Russian assistance.

In this report, we are not concerned directly with what is happening in Ukraine. Neither are we among the best who analyze its conditions. But what is happening there is indirectly and strongly related to what is happening here in our region or even in Kuwait. The unfortunate fate awaiting Ukraine happens for two reasons. The first is that Ukraine like Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, for instance, exited its spring only to return to its corrupt past contrary to what happened in Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, etc. This development in our region resembles only the Tunisian

case apart from all Arab Spring countries. The second is Ukraine’s absolute failure in its economic policy, which led to the explosion of its Independence Square after its ex-president killed a glimpse of hope in its people in connecting it to the cooperation program with the European Union under the Russian pressure. Some rich countries of the region, Kuwait among them, adopt miserable economic policies and bet on time which may not come to their rescue.

Weekly performance of KSE The performance of Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) for the last week was mixed, as the traded value index, the traded volume index and the transactions index showed an increase, while the general index showed a decrease. AlShall Index (value index) closed at 457.9 points at the closing of last Thursday, showing a decrease of about 8.5 points or about 1.8 percent comparing to last week and an increase of 3.2 points or about 0.7 percent compared with the end of 2013.

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

BUSINESS

Lufthansa reaches for the stars More service and comfort

Haneen Al-Rumaihi, head of marketing management, Retail Banking Group

Burgan Bank announces winner of National Day photography contest KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced Awatef Khayra Saurajan as the winner of its National Day Photography Competition for BuBa Kids account holders. The winner took home a cash prize of KD 200 for capturing the best photo during Kuwait’s national celebrations.

The selection criteria for the winning photo was based on the creative elements it captured and how they reflected the National Day spirit and love of Kuwait in addition to the creative capacity of BuBa kids account age group. The bank’s judging panel reviewed all entries of the competition carefully to give the best entry the chance of winning. Burgan Bank continues to present its diverse customers with innovative opportunities to win through specially designed competitions and promotions for BuBa kids account holders.

For young potential customers looking to participate in future offers, they can now open a ‘BuBa’ Kids account with minimum opening balance of KD10, with no required minimum balance or interest earning or charges fee.

To find out more about Burgan Bank’s “BuBa” Kids Account, customers are urged to visit any of Burgan Bank’s conveniently located branches, or call the bank’s call center on 1804080, or log on to Burgan Bank’s website at www.burgan.com.

KUWAIT: Lufthansa’s new First Class is enjoying strong recognition worldwide. Not only has there been excellent feedback from top customers in the few months since it was introduced, it has also received major awards.

Lufthansa’s First Class and its range of services were awarded five stars in the Skytrax star ranking, while the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences (AAHS) presented its International 5 Star Diamond Award to Europe’s leading airline. These awards promise passengers an outstanding travel experience, since five stars are synonymous with top quality, first-class comfort and personal service.

And this will soon be the case not just in First Class, but throughout the Lufthansa range.

“We have set ourselves a number of objectives for 2014 - it will be Lufthansa’s biggest service initiative in recent years. As well as installing the latest cabins in all classes of our aircraft, which is already proceeding apace, we will also be demonstrating to an even greater degree our qualities as a dedicated host with a keen understanding of service and hospitality,” said Jens Bischof, the member of the Lufthansa German Airlines Board in charge of Sales, Product and Marketing, at the ITB in Berlin.

Business Class with a more individualized restaurant service Key improvements in 2014 will focus on Business Class in particular. A more personal touch in the service provided and greater flexibility in terms of processes as a whole should make passengers feel even more pampered than before. The current in-flight service on long-haul routes will be enhanced, with the introduction of a signature service.

The aim is to provide a service that reminds passengers of being in a top restaurant. The new aspects will be tested this summer and, if successful, will be implemented on the entire long-haul network from 2015. The process of refitting the long-haul fleet with the new Business Class will also be complete by summer 2015. A total of 7,000 full-flat seats are being installed on the 106 long-haul aircraft.

From as early as August 2014, the amenity kits provided in Business Class will also be upgraded. A new kit has been developed with Samsonite and will include high-quality personal care products from the Greek premium brand Korres. The new personal care products are made exclusively from active plant ingredients of the highest quality -

Korres’ roots lie in the oldest homoeopathic pharmacy in Athens. The items already introduced in the aircraft toilets will also be upgraded.

New premium economy class For its new Premium Economy Class, Lufthansa has designed a high-quality seat that offers much greater comfort and up to 50 per cent more room in this class. The quality of food on offer will also be higher than in

Economy Class. The use of porcelain tableware in particular will make a noticeable difference. Passengers in Premium Economy will also be able to take a second item of luggage with them at no extra charge. Tickets will be available for sale in May, and the first flight is planned for October. The first aircraft to feature the new travel class will be the Boeing 747-8. The installation of Premium Economy should be complete by the end of 2015, at which point there will be a total of 3,600 seats in the cabins of the long-haul fleet.

Fast lane for status and premium customers From this summer, HON Circle members, Senators and First and Business Class passengers will always have access to the fast lane at all intercontinental destinations and at select-

ed destinations in Europe. This means that premium passengers will always be able to pass through security control more quickly.

By the end of this quarter, Lufthansa will be providing visitors to its Business Lounges with higher quality and greater diversity as regards the food and beverages on offer. The new range of food and drinks will include more fresh choices and healthy options, and there will always be a vegetarian alternative available. The breakfast menu will also be

expanded, while ready-to-eat options, such as filled sandwiches, will be available at peak times to ensure that the buffet is less crowded. Food will also be labelled more clearly in the future to assist guests who have food allergies and intolerances.

‘Meet and assist’ service Improvements will be made to the passenger transfer services at the Frankfurt and Munich hubs. In order to make the travel experience more relaxed, staff will meet and assist passengers when arriving by bus and entering the arrival areas, while special arrival services will also be provided for premium passengers. Visual enhancements will also be made to the arrival areas to make it easier for passengers to find their way when transferring to another flight.

In-flight entertainment From 1 April 2014, passengers in every travel class will have a much greater choice of entertainment. There will be twice as many films to choose from. As well as offering even more of the latest blockbusters and popular classics, there will be a wider range of modern classics - the cinema hits of recent years. This is all thanks to the installation of a new in-flight entertainment system, which is setting standards in terms of performance and reliability. More than 100 films in eight languages, more regional films for passengers from Arabicspeaking countries, and from India, China and Japan - these are just some of the highlights of the new in-flight entertainment system.

In terms of television content, Lufthansa now has a range of more than 200 programs, offering the most exciting cinema documentaries and even more international television box set series. The expanded music collection consists of more than 300 CDs and focuses on the most popular categories of rock/pop, greatest hits and classical, as requested by passengers.

Medium-haul routes Luf thansa will soon be offering its guests on medium-haul flights a wide range of films, TV series, music, games and information. Products from the Lufthansa WorldShop can also be ordered via the free portal right from the seat for home delivery. Typical destinations in the Lufthansa route network for the new offering include the CIS states, the Middle East and North Africa. To use the services, passengers simply connect to the in-flight infotainment server via Wi-Fi using their own laptop, tablet or smartphone. From summer, the airline will be fitting 20 Airbus A321s with the BoardConnect in-flight entertainment solution developed by Lufthansa Systems.

“As well as the service enhancements and the improvements in how our product is actually experienced, our staff members will clearly play a key role in the quality of our passengers’ travel experience. To further improve the quality of our service and hospitality, we are building on the skill, creativity and good ideas of all our staff members. This will ensure that our passengers have an even more enjoyable travel experience,” concludes Bischof.

DHL will continue to grow local talent: Suliman Interview with Nour Suliman, CEO of DHL Express, MENA

Arabian Motors snatches ‘Best Technician’ title KUWAIT: Arabian Motors Group (AMG), the Ford and Lincoln importer-dealer in Kuwait, emerged a winner as it competed in Ford Middle East’s Service Excellence World Cup, securing the title for Best Technician in a tough challenge that brought together some of the best talents from Ford dealerships around the region. This is the second consecutive year where AMG wins the Best Technician title for the region.

“The Service Excellence competition is a great opportunity not only to get our dealer after-sales teams to compete for the title, but also to ensure they all have the best skills in the industry across the Middle East,” said Chris Noel, Ford Middle East’s director of Customer Service.

“We congratulate the AMG team for this outstanding achievement. They have done a great job and stood out among the region’s top technicians thanks to their commitment to providing some of the highest levels of after-sales services in the region. We commend them for demonstrating their expertise and skills acquired through the Ford Motor Company certification program. The Ford Service Excellence Cup is an

incentive to help sharpen the skills of service advisors, technicians as well as parts counter clerks and help them better serve their customers and achieve higher levels of satisfaction.

And taking part in this regional challenge is quite challenging, where all participants must be certified through the Ford Motor Company Certification program and go through a series of internal challenges where only the best would be chosen to represent their dealership in the regional finals. Regional finalists initially would demonstrate their skills at the dealership level, and advance to the regional contest to compete among the best of the Ford dealerships in the Middle East.

“We are very proud of this achievement and winning the Best Technician title,” said Martin Aherne, AMG’s general manager for After Sales.

“AMG takes after sales and customer satisfaction very seriously, and our teams undergo continued training and development as we work to deliver some of the best after sales experiences in Kuwait. This shows our efforts are well on track.”

A: Nurturing leaders and awakening our people’s talents and potential is one of our key drivers to building a performance management culture. For that we have our CIS program: CIS is not a traditional training platform. It was designed first and foremost as an engagement tool. To underscore its importance, it has been delivered not only by professional trainers, but by our own management, to every one of our 100 000 employees. The content of the program was focused on revisiting the history and entrepreneurial roots of the company, introducing employees to the fundamentals of international shipping and, perhaps most importantly, showcasing the role that every individual plays within our global network. Our business, like most others, is still operated and managed by human beings, and the benefits of multi-million dollar investments in transportation infrastructure and technology will be rendered meaningless if a courier who’s delivering a shipment decides to take a bad day at home out on a customer. In the case of a courier who is enthused and passionate about the work they do, however, it goes without saying that the benefits will be amplified.

Question: Today, you have spent more than 30 years at DHL International, how would you impersonate and define the core vision of DHL and the people related values at its heart?

Answer: For 30 years I have proudly served this company and I hope to serve it for as long as I can. I say this because I see the changes, I feel the innovation, the potential is limitless and we know it, and we are going after it.

I can sum up the company in 2 words; Team work. When you have the right systems in place, and a clear vision ahead of you, all you need is the right people to push the boundaries. These people however need a clear vision and guidance to understand where we are heading and how we all work together to get there and that is the role played by our training program CIS. CIS or Certified International Specialists is a training program that is top of its class; it is a vision for the future. When you are a company as big as DHL you need to get all your staff aligned together towards the vision and goal of this family and that program is designed to serve that purpose.

Q: What are the key motivational drivers of DHL as an Employer of Choice?

A: As part of the ‘focus strategy’ in which the importance of motivated people is valued, Rewards and Recognition schemes make a significant contribution.

Recognition does not lean on one initiative, and it is widely recognized that successful recognition of employees relies on a wide and multidimensional approach. For this reason, it is important to create the awareness that the Employee of the Year Event will from this point on, be positioned as the Rewards & Recognition flagship program in the region and globally.

The intention is to seize the opportunity to utilize the EOY program as a way to further fuel the values of CIS (Certified International Specialist). This practice will continue, and the intention is to align all regions across the globe and ensure a solid cohesion with CIS Themes and flavor. After all, our people and our perform-

ance work best when the CIS behaviors are displayed. These behaviors should surely then be encouraged and rewarded.

The EOY is set to recognize our top performers and customer-focus people who live and show the fore-mentioned CIS attitudes with pride and commitment.

Q: Based on the 3 awards you received as the best employer in Middle East what would you say are the strongest human capital assets of DHL out of the 4 main study criteria’s.

A: Engaged employees, a compelling employer brand, effective leadership, a high performance culture.

Q: At DHL, do you believe in growing your own leaders from within? What type of management/leadership style do you groom and follow?

Q: From a CEO perspec tive, what would be your next challenge/objective to push DHL to its limits and flourish its culture on a global level?

A: Our culture is based on transparency, and that is our global mission. We will keep investing in our people and growing local talent in every country. We want to learn from their expertise and local insights. They are our main asset and we have a proven and award winning track record of keeping our people happy.

We are a company built by its people and we are very proud of this fact. No one knows every country better than DHL. We know the roads; we know the people and we share their rich cultures. As the MENA region keeps making its mark on the world, and we as the most international company in the world are helping businesses grown and reach global targets.

Nikon launches next generation digital SLR camera D4S KUWAIT: Nikon Corporation is pleased to announce the release of the D4S, its latest flagship FX-format digital SLR camera. Based on the D4, the D4S responds more completely to the demands of professional photographers with revisions to a number of features and functions, including AF performance, image quality, workflow and operation, and movie recording, adopted after running a variety of simulations of the functions required by professional photographers who sometimes find themselves working under quite severe conditions.

Algorithms used by the AF system have been refined for greater accuracy and versatility demanded by professional photographers. Autofocus is initiated faster and is better able to acquire and track the intended subject, whether it enters the frame suddenly or takes up the entire frame for a more powerful composition. In addition to the four time-tested modes available with the D4 (Single-point AF, Dynamic-area AF, 3D-tracking, and Auto-area AF), the D4S offers a fifth AFarea mode known as Group-area AF (uses 5 focus points: one

specified by the user, as well as one each above, below, to the left, and to the right of the selected focus point). This mode enables not only smoother autofocusing, but also a faster workflow with continuous shooting at approximately 11 fps*1 with AF and AE tracking.

The new EXPEED 4 image-processing engine, a new Nikon FX-format CMOS image sensor, and an effective pixel count of 16.2-million pixels enable capture of images that exhibit stunning sharpness, enhanced depth, and natural skin tones. A range of standard sensitivities from ISO 100 to ISO 25600 achieves images exhibiting sharper edges and smoother, more beautiful colors. The D4S also supports extended sensitivities as low as the equivalent of ISO 50 and as high as the equivalent of ISO 409600. What’s more, the accuracy of auto white balance has been increased for clear color reproduction, even with shooting under difficult artificial lighting.

A number of other improvements have been adopted without compromise in consideration of the advanced demands of professional photographers. Among these are

improved viewfinder visibility with a more stable viewfinder image during continuous shooting and a shorter viewfinder blackout time, as well as smoother operation with less stress from a redesigned grip and refined layout of operational buttons and controls. Communication speed has also been increased with 1000BASE-T support for wired LAN communication, making extremely fast image transfer possible. A RAW S Small (12-bit uncompressed RAW) setting has also been added for faster post-capture editing on a computer.

The D4S supports movie recording at a frame size of 1920 ◊ 1080 with a frame rate of 50p or 60p. EXPEED 4 enables rich tone reproduction, with very little noise, throughout the entire range of standard sensitivities (ISO 200-25600). Movies recorded at a 1920 ◊ 1080 crop setting exhibit especially sharp and clear picture quality. Changes in exposure are also better controlled for smoother transition between frames with recording of scenes in which brightness changes greatly, even with timelapse movies. The Nikon D4S will available in March at all major retailers in the UAE.

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

technology

Candy Crush sweetens gaming for women LONDON: With three young children and a fulltime job, Emma Martini has little time for computer games. But every night she sits quietly at the end of her son’s bed to reassure him while he falls asleep and plays Candy Crush. “It stops me sitting there in the dark for 15 minutes staring at the wall!” the 32year-old told AFP, laughing. Martini is one of the legion of fans of the addictive online game, many of whom can be seen playing it at every spare minute on their tablets and smartphones.

Unlike conventional console games that can take hours, Candy Crush Saga is one of the most popular of the new “casual games” that can be played in short bursts and on the move. It has seeped into every day life - and attracted new audiences, with women making up two-thirds of Candy Crush players, according to its British developer King. “I’m not into computers and what little time I’ve got I’m inclined to spend reading a book,” said Martini, a teaching assistant from Spilsby in eastern England.

But she was persuaded to download Candy Crush by her mother, 52, who was “driving me crackers” sending requests to join the game on Facebook and help her pass the next level. Now Martini plays every evening as her four-year-old dozes off, saying: “I’m filling a void of time.” “Casual

gaming has really taken off in the female population,” said Mark Griffiths, director of the International Gaming Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University. “Most of it is fitting in between the baby having a sleep, or on the commute on the way home, but it’s not something that takes over from the important things in your life. “It’s there as a quick fix for boredom.”

‘100 PERCENT CONCENTRATION’ Candy Crush is a simple game. There are hundreds of levels but they all involve moving brightly coloured sweets around a grid to get three of a kind in a row. Yet it is utterly absorbing, causing travellers to miss their stop, workers to over-run their lunch hours and kids to stay up late into the night trying to get to the next level. A gaming expert, Griffiths is a fan of traditional consoles but he plays Candy Crush on long journeys to distract himself from the pain of a long-term spinal problem. “It’s a game that requires 100 percent concentration - you basically forget about everything around you,” he told AFP. Sophie Clayton, a 23-year-old from London who works for a jewellery company, says she is most definitely “not a gamer” but plays Candy Crush as “a boredom killer”, mainly on her commute into work.

“I suppose the game is simple, unlike other electronic games. Although my sister thinks I’m an idiot for playing, especially when I’m stuck on a level,” Clayton told AFP. Candy Crush is free but players can pay for extras to help them move forward, a feature which nets King $850,000 in daily sales, according to the IDATE consultancy firm. While a few people may find themselves racking up huge bills, experts say so-called “freemium” games depend on lots of people paying just a little. Candy Crush records 700 million sessions a day, making it King’s most successful product and driving the company’s pursuit of a listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

For people like Tom, a 22-year-old engineer from London, the payment feature adds another challenge to the game - to play it as much as they can without forking out a penny. Players are given five chances to pass a level, after which they must wait for 24 hours or pay a small amount - about $1 - to buy back into the game immediately. But if you set the clock on your smartphone a day ahead, the game thinks the time has passed, Tom explains. “I did this so many times that on a Monday morning my phone clock thought it was Saturday. My alarm didn’t go off and I was late for work,” he admitted sheepishly. — AFP

Undated file screenshot of “Candy Crush Saga”. — AP

Global ho-hum over creator of bitcoin Enthusiasts downplay frenzy

LONDON: In this Dec. 20, 2012 file photo, Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, speaks to the media and members of the public from a balcony at the Ecuadorian Embassy. Assange (over live video) was to make an appearance at the South By Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin. — AP

Snowden, Assange top bill at tech gathering AUSTIN: Surveillance. Online privacy. Robots.

Food processing. Wearable computers. To get a sense of what’s on the minds of the tech industry’s thinkers, leaders and tinkerers, it’s a good idea to head to Austin, Texas, rather than Silicon Valley this time of the year. More than 30,000 people descend on this eccentric city for the South By Southwest Interactive Festival each March. This year, NSA leaker Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks founder and secret spiller Julian Assange are topping the bill, alongside Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone and Anne Wojcicki, CEO of genetics testing company 23andMe. Snowden and Assange won’t be making the trip to Texas, however. They’ll appear on live video, since both are living as fugitives, in Moscow and the Ecuadorian embassy in London, respectively. Their inclusion illustrates how the festival is trying to balance holding on to its independent roots even as it’s flooded by a barrage of corporate sponsors and threatens to grow too big for its hometown. “We have always said that South By Southwest is a very big tent and we have all different types of people,” said Hugh Forrest, director of the interactive festival. “This is a feature and not a flaw.”

Still, it’s clear that online privacy and government surveillance is on top of the technology set’s mind this year. Snowden, the former NSA contractor who appears Monday, faces felony charges in the US after revealing the agency’s mass surveillance program by leaking thousands of classified documents to media outlets.

He is living under temporary asylum in Russia, which has no extradition treaty with the US. Snowden is unlikely to talk about the case against him during the session and will focus instead on “how technology enables surveillance and how technology can protect us from surveillance,” said Christopher Soghoian,

principal technologist at the American Civil Liberties Union. Soghoian will be speaking to Snowden along with Snowden’s legal adviser, the ACLU’s Ben Wizner. Snowden is being represented by the ACLU in the US government’s case against him.

Speaking at South By Southwest - rather than in front of Congress or at a conference of lawyers - gives Snowden a chance to talk to the technology community, “his peers,” Soghoian said. “The reason the NSAs collected as much information as it did is because of technology,” he said. “Technology got us into this mess and technology will get us out of it.”

PROVOCATION Assange, meanwhile, was to speak yesterday with Benjamin Palmer, the co-founder of The Barbarian Group, a marketing agency whose clients range from Pepsi to Samsung to New York City. As to why a marketing executive is interviewing a figure as controversial as Assange? A hint: Visitors to the group’s website are greeted with the message “We create ideas that provoke a reaction.”

Part of the larger South By Southwest festival that also includes music, film and recently education segments, SXSWi, as it’s dubbed, became a separate event in 1994, when it was still called “SXSW Multimedia.” Past speakers have ranged from the computer scientist and virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier in 1997 to investor Mark Cuban in 1999 and Friendster founder Jonathan Abrams in 2004. This is where Twitter soared from obscurity to the world stage in 2007, where Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg appeared on stage in 2008 when his site was still the No. 2 online social network behind MySpace and where the location-sharing app Foursquare emerged a year later. — AP

US aviation agency to appeal drone ruling WASHINGTON: The US aviation agency said Friday it will appeal the dismissal of a $10,000 fine it imposed on a Swiss entrepreneur who flew a drone over a college campus to make a commercial. Enthusiasts of the unmanned aircraft are closely following Raphael Pirker’s case, which they say could shape the development of small drones for civilian use - for instance in newsgathering or for wildlife protection. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had fined Pirker, known in drone circles as Trappy, in 2011 after he flew a small drone over the University of Virginia, shooting video to be used in an advertisement for its medical school.

It alleged that Pirker - who now runs a drone business in Hong Kong - had operated a drone without a pilot’s license and in a “careless or reckless manner” in violation of a ban on using drones for money-making purposes.

But in a ruling Thursday, a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) judge granted Pirker’s request for the civil penalty to be dismissed, saying the FAA lacks the legal authority to regulate small drones. In a statement confirming it would appeal to the full NTSB, the FAA said: “The agency is concerned that this decision could impact the safe operation of the national airspace system and the safety of people and property on the ground.”

‘HELD BACK’ Pirker’s lawyer Brendan Schulman told AFP

the case was having far-reaching consequences for the controversial but fast-growing drone industry. “Various companies have been held back for seven years as a result of the FAA’s purported ban on the commercial use of drone technology,” Schulman said. Timothy Reuter, founder of the Drone User Group Network, which brings together small-drone enthusiasts, said other nations have allowed drone entrepreneurship “for a number of years” already.

“We see commercial use as key to allowing this technology to reach its maximum potential to benefit our society,” he told AFP. In the run-up to Christmas last year, online retailer Amazon said it was looking into the use of drones to deliver packages. Later, a brewer in Minnesota posted a YouTube video of a drone delivering a case of lager to a fishing hut on an icebound lake. Campaigners for civil liberties have voiced concerns, however, that drones fitted with cameras or other surveillance gear could be used to infringe on individuals’ right to privacy.

Pending the formulation of a clear set of regulations for drones, the FAA has advised that drones, like model aircraft, be flown no higher than 400 feet above the ground and away from populated areas. The drone that Pirker used at the University of Virginia was a remote-controlled RiteWingRC Zephyr II “electric flying wing” with a 56-inch (1.42-m) wingspan that weighed less than five pounds (2.3 kg). — AFP

LOS ANGELES: Who is bitcoin’s real creator? The bitcoin community is reacting to that burning question with a collective ho-hum. Developers and bitcoin enthusiasts from Finland to Texas are downplaying the media frenzy that occurred Thursday after Newsweek identified the digital currency’s creator as a Japanese American living in Southern California, only to have the man vehemently deny it to AP. The furor, they say, means little to bitcoin’s future as a viable form of money.

The computer code that underpins bitcoin has changed dramatically since its inception in 2009, spawning a generation of entrepreneurs seeking to ride its growing popularity to newfound wealth, outside of government controls.

And while most bitcoin users and investors maintain a healthy interest in learning the true identity of the person known for years only as “Satoshi Nakamoto,” they say the financial platform’s maintenance and growth depends on the many creators who are working on it now.

“From an engineering perspective, Satoshi gave up control on Jan 5, 2009 when he birthed the first bitcoin transaction,” said Jeff Garzik, a member of the seven member Bitcoin Core Development Team that controls what happens to the currency’s central code today. “He created an organism and he gave it life and he released it into the wild for it to do as it does.”

Garzik says he doesn’t believe Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto - the man who denied the Newsweek story - is the same Satoshi Nakamoto who posted the original written bitcoin proposal in 2008 and followed it up with computer code that made it possible the following year. Gregory Maxwell, another bitcoin core developer based in Mountain View, California, said he has “immense respect” for the bitcoin creator, but doesn’t care who it is, or what the person’s motivation was. The genius of bitcoin is it doesn’t require trusting anyone at all, he said. “If the creator of bitcoin mattered to our ability to use it, then bitcoin has failed in its technological goals,” he said.

At the Texas Bitcoin Conference in Austin, Texas, with around 1,000 attendees, almost no panelists were talking about the founding father of the currency on Thursday, despite the disputed story breaking that morning. “Everybody was talking about what’s next, not what was or who’s behind it,” said Bruce Fenton, a founding mem-

purported creator needed to escape the media whirlwind outside his home, a private plane could be readied within hours to whisk him and his family to a secret location. “For me, Satoshi Nakamoto represents the crossroads of Thomas Jefferson and George Washington,” Mondrus said.

“My first concern was for his safety.”

Following Dorian Nakamoto’s denial, and hours after he left the AP’s downtown Los Angeles headquarters, an attention-grabbing post was sent from a Satoshi Nakamoto account that had been dormant for three years, stating “I am not Dorian Nakamoto.” The posting only fueled further speculation, because it was not verifiable, despite the website founder confirming that the account was linked to satoshin@gmx.com, the email address printed on the original bitcoin proposal from 2008.

LOS ANGELES: Dorian S Nakamoto listens during an interview with AP on March 6, 2014.— AP ber of the Bitcoin Financial Association, an advocacy group that promotes its spread.

PROOF Ultimately, diehard bitcoin developers won’t be convinced of the creator’s identity until the proof is embedded in code. That can be done by transferring bitcoins from an account linked to the Satoshi Nakamoto who uploaded the original code. Another way would be to send an encrypted message using the so-called “PGP” key that is publicly listed on The Bitcoin Foundation website and is linked to a private key that only the real Satoshi Nakamoto knows. “If he wanted to identify himself, he would do so in a manner that would end speculation,” Garzik said.

Still, some people in the bitcoin community jumped into action at the prospect that the father (or mother) of the currency might finally come out of hiding. David Mondrus, another founding member of the Bitcoin Financial Association, contacted the AP to pass on the message that if the

SIGNATURE Bitcoin developer Shawn Wilkinson, 22, of Atlanta said that unless the addresses for Satoshi Nakamoto’s bitcoins move or he’s able to produce some kind of cryptographic signature proving his identity, there’s no way to be sure.

But in the grand scheme of things, Wilkinson said, it doesn’t really matter. “It’s not so much about the person, it’s about the technology,” he said. Some bitcoin supporters were upset by the quest to identify the currency’s creator. They said the sleuthing represented a blatant invasion into the privacy of the person, or group, who clearly wants to remain anonymous. “ They always intended bitcoin to be something that transcended them,” said Will Yager, 18, a bitcoin developer who attends the University of Texas in Austin. “I think a lot of people are miffed about it because we are sort of violating this person’s wishes.”

Others gave into curiosity. Bitcoin developer Janne Pulkkinen, who lives in Finland, said she’d be very interested to learn the identity of the man behind bitcoin, especially since he tried so hard to conceal it. “He used an anonymous email provider, used (privacy software) Tor to hide his tracks, digitally signed most of his messages to prevent anyone from impersonating him and basically used every trick in the book to keep his identity a secret,” she said. “If he were to make a reappearance, it would be easily the most notable thing to happen to bitcoin since its inception.” — AP

‘League of Legends’ players becoming stars of eSport LOS ANGELES: In front of a rapt audience in a Los Angeles film lot, Krepo hooks an enemy with his scythe and harvests virtual souls with a signature move called a “death sentence”. The grim scene played out time and again as Krepo and his Evil Geniuses team battled to victory in a “League of Legends” computer game match broadcast to viewers around the world. After the triumph, Krepo - a 23-year-old Belgian whose real name is Mitch Voorspoels and plays the game as the dreaded character Thresh - was swarmed by fans hungry for autographs and photos.

Welcome to the booming world of “eSports”, where seemingly sun-starved players compete with their wits and a few mouse clicks.

“Professional gaming has been trying for years and years to catch on and now it is suddenly spreading like wildfire,” said long-time game analyst Scott Steinberg, now general manager of Phoenix Online Publishing. “League of Legends draws a die-hard crowd, constantly hungry to learn more.” League play with characters such as mages, assassins, and marksmen is so visually compelling and action-packed that it is a natural for online viewing, according to Steinberg.

CELEBRITY STATUS League of Legends is the king of the hot trend in videogame play as a spectator sport, complete with sold-out stadiums and fans camping all night for tickets to matches. “Playing League has earned us a bit of celebrity status,” Voorspoels said after stepping away from a sea of adorers. “I don’t think that is something any pro player dreamed of at the start.” Voorspoels began playing League while at university in Belgium because it is free, and online bouts - in which teams of five players each battle to capture oppo-

MANHATTAN BEACH, California: Team Curse players prepare for the start of a match as two broadcast technicians (background) prepare the live video feed during the League of Legends North American Championship Series Spring round robin competition at the MBS Media Campus on Feb 22, 2014. — AFP nents’ bases - last about as long as a decent study break.

“Basically, it is a 30- to 40-minute slaughter of people trying to kill each other to get to the other base,” Voorspoels said. “On the best level, it becomes a chess match - you want to outsmart your opponents.” The diversion from studying engineering became a priority. Voorspoels quit school to play League for a living.

His team’s sponsors include Monster Energy drinks and high-performance computer gear maker Razer. Coca-Cola recently became a backer of the League championship series run by Riot Games, the company behind the eSport sensation. “Some games are like movies, and some are like amusement parks,” Riot Games co-founder and chief Brandon Beck said in a statement.

“League of Legends is like a sport.” — AFP

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Residents frustrated at lack of nuke dump details CARLSBAD: It’s been three weeks since the radiation sensors were triggered and the exhaust dampers at the federal government’s only underground nuclear waste dump slammed shut, putting the repository’s massive salt caverns off-limits and the nation’s cleanup efforts on hold. The U.S. Department of Energy says low levels of radiation made it past the ventilation system’s air filters and exposed 13 workers. Agency officials describe the amount as minuscule, saying the workers aren’t likely to face any serious effects and there’s no public health threat.

But residents and officials voiced frustration at a town hall Thursday night, saying the DOE and managers at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant are leaving them in the dark about what’s happening at the repository.

“Nobody knows what the plans look like. Nobody knows what the agenda looks like. We just hear a lot of surmises about what might happen and what might not happen,” John Heaton, a former state representative and head of Mayor Dale Janway’s nuclear task force, told a panel of officials at the town hall.

“We think that we should be the No. 1 partner and know everything that is going on, from A to Z,” he said, explain-

ing that the community feels as if it’s being sidestepped, with action being orchestrated in Washington, D.C., instead of locally.

Energy Department officials said there is no intent to hide anything and some information is simply unknown.

Questions about what caused the leak at the repository, the extent of the contamination and the future of the federal government’s cleanup efforts have been swirling for days.

Work is ongoing to get air-monitoring equipment underground that will pave the way for specially trained crews to enter. A probe could be sent underground as soon as Friday, but Jose Franco, manager of the DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office, said the timing of cleanup, and the resources and costs involved, won’t be known until crews can actually enter.

People anxious Carlsbad resident Karen Armendariz said her first concern after hearing about the leak was the extent of contamination and whether her children and grandchildren would be affected. Despite the assurances from the DOE, she’s still anxious. “I hear what they’re saying and I want to believe it, but it’s just so much

uncertainty,” she said. “We do feel poorly informed.”

New Mexico Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn also pleaded with federal officials during the meeting to make the recovery effort transparent.

Officials promised to host public meetings each week. Another community meeting was planned Friday by US Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M. Some of the uncertainty was quelled this week when officials announced that the level of radioactive particles being captured by monitoring equipment in the Carlsbad area had decreased significantly and was close to normal.

Janway told the audience of several dozen people that the systems at the plant worked, with filters capturing most of the radiation that escaped from the underground dump. Still, he said the investigation needs to be swift and efficient. “The longer it takes to get to the bottom of this incident, the more damaging it is to Carlsbad and this project,” Janway said.

David Klaus, the DOE’s deputy undersecretary for management and performance, drew a round of applause from the crowd when he said there was no doubt WIPP would eventually continue with its mission of cleaning up Cold War-era

CARLSBAD: Empty nuclear waste shipping containers sit in front of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad over the weekend. Operations at the nation’s only underground nuclear waste repository were halted in February following a truck fire and a release of radiation nine days later. —AP waste. He said he was surprised employees questioned whether they would continue to have a job.

“WIPP is essential,” he told the crowd.

The repository stopped taking shipments after a truck hauling salt through the facility’s tunnels caught fire Feb. 5.

Several workers were treated for smoke inhalation.

Nine days later, sensors alerted officials to a release of radiation. Monitors as far as half a mile away later detected elevated levels of plutonium and americium in the air. — AP

Potent new painkiller stokes alarm in US Decision made ‘after careful consideration’

CHICAGO: Jessica Palys, an enrollment counselor with Campaign for Better Health Care in Chicago, works with a new free online tool developed by a nonprofit group that uses actuarial data to estimate total annual costs for each health plan tailored to a consumer’s profile. — AP

Tool to compare health plans tested with consumers CHICAGO: A website that offers Illinois consumers more information about insurance costs could help address widespread confusion about choosing a plan on the government sites that are a cornerstone of President Barack Obama’s health care law.

It can be frustrating now to try to compare health plans on the government online marketplaces. For instance, the federal website that serves Illinois and 35 other states has no central directory to easily show which plans include which doctors in their networks.

What’s more, it’s nearly impossible to compare the out-of-pocket costs of different policies. Picking the wrong plan could mean paying extra - in some cases, up to thousands of dollars a year more. A nonprofit group is offering a free online tool that provides more information, with the goal of turning the new insurance exchanges into truly functional competitive markets.

HealthPlanRatings.org uses actuarial data to estimate total annual costs for each plan tailored to a consumer’s profile. It offers a doctor directory so people can see immediately which plans include their favorite doctors in their network. And it includes a fivestar scoring system based on an independent group’s quality ratings of health plans.

Wrong answers So far, it’s being tested only in Illinois, but the software may someday be used to improve the official exchanges run by states and the federal government.

As envisioned, the exchanges were supposed to help keep health care costs in check as insurers competed for the business of informed customers. But the government sites aren’t giving consumers the data they need to make the best choices, said Robert Krughoff, president of Consumers’ Checkbook, the nonprofit group that developed the tool and would like to persuade governments to use its features.

“It’s much too complicated for people and they end up with the wrong answers,” Krughoff said. Consumers’ Checkbook has a track record: More than 50 federal agencies subscribe to the group’s online guide for employees choosing health plans available to them. John and Alfiya Lambert recently used the new tool to choose a health plan in

Illinois. “We were impressed how easy it was to compare the various plans,” said John Lambert. He’s covered by Medicare, but his 56-year-old wife was uninsured. The Chicagoans were looking for a plan for her that would include their favorite doctor.

From 65 health plans available to them on the marketplace, they narrowed their choices to 42 that included their doctor. Then, based on one composite number for their estimated yearly costs, they selected a highly rated bronze plan.

The single-cost number “gives consumers a fighting chance to make a good decision,” said Joel Ario, who oversaw initial planning for the insurance marketplaces in the Obama administration and is now a consultant with Manatt Health Solutions. He predicts other innovations will be developed by private industry. “We’ll have tools that go way beyond this,” Ario said. “I’d bet on Amazon and Google to create the tools rather than a state exchange.”

List of complaints The list of complaints about the government websites, even from supporters of the law, is not limited to the technical glitches that plagued the sites initially, Krughoff said.

The federal site, HealthCare.gov, lists health plans in order of monthly premium price, starting with the least costly. But, for some people, the policy with the cheapest monthly premium isn’t the least expensive option in the long run because of other costs such as copays and deductibles.

Depending on a person’s health and income, picking the lowest premium could wind up costing up to $4,000 a year more than the best option.

The nonprofit’s site includes a simple estimate of what a consumer’s costs would be in a particularly bad year with high medical needs. And it allows consumers who know they’re due for a specific medical procedure like a hip replacement - to factor that into the equation. Jessica Palys, an enrollment counselor for the Campaign for Better Health Care in Chicago, showed the Lamberts the new tool. “When I first saw it I thought it was kind of stupendous, actually,” Palys said. “I wish I had this at my fingertips before. It would have been so helpful.” — AP

California establishes center for coffee study DAVIS, California: University of California students who drink coffee to get through the day will soon be able to study the science behind the beverage: Next week the University of California, Davis will host a research conference run by its recently founded Coffee Center.

The center is currently without a dedicated home, but the university hopes to formalize the research in coming years and eventually offer a major in coffee science, The Sacramento Bee reported Friday.

Bruce German, director of the university’s Foods for Health Institute, says the conference is first step toward establishing a dedicated coffee research study center - similar to

the school’s Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science.

“We think there is sufficient interest given the fact that so many people have consumed coffee so regularly across the world, for so long,” German said. “Coffee is not an insignificant contributor to the agricultural footprint.”

The March 11 conference will cover topics such as the genetics of coffee, sustainability in coffee growing and the sensory perception of coffee drinkers.

Coffee production and consumption have been growing in recent years, and the US Department of Agriculture forecasts global production will reach 150.5 million bags this year. —AP

WASHINGTON: A potent new painkiller hit the US market this week, despite warnings from top experts that the drug may deliver a deadly setback in America’s battle with opioid addiction.

Zohydro ER can contain 10 times the amount of hydrocodone as the most popular prescription painkiller, Vicodin, and is easily crushable so it could be snorted, bearing none of the recent safeguards added to pills like OxyContin (oxycodone).

In a nation where some 15,000 people die annually from prescription painkiller use, the drug’s approval has raised alarm among doctors, lawmakers and relatives of those lost to overdose. Two senators have launched an investigation into practices by the US Food and Drug Administration, amid allegations that pharmaceutical companies eager for a chunk of the $9 billion painkiller market may have paid to influence regulators’ decisions.

“It’s almost unheard of,” said Andrew Kolodny, president of the group Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing.

“For FDA to approve a drug that is going to make a serious problem worse, it is pretty shocking.” Zohydro was approved in October 2013, even though a panel of FDA-convened experts voted against 11-2. The FDA is not obligated to follow the advice of its advisory committees, but it typically does. An FDA spokesman said the decision was made “after careful consideration,” and “the product’s benefits outweigh its risks when used as intended.”

Zohydro contains pure hydrocodone in a range of doses, including time-release options

that are much stronger than competitor products. It does not contain acetaminophen, which can cause liver damage and death in high doses and is included in most other prescription opioids. The drugmaker, California-based Zogenix, said in a statement that the “acetaminophenfree formulation of extended release hydrocodone is an important therapeutic option for certain chronic pain patients.”

A mother’s story Musician and financial adviser Steve Rummler was one of the 100 million people in the United States who suffer from chronic pain.

He was prescribed narcotic painkillers in 2005 for a lingering back injury. “The doctor kept increasing the amounts that he would give to Steve,” his mother, Judy Rummler, told AFP. By 2009, Steve’s family learned he was seeking painkillers from multiple sources. He tried to learn other ways of coping. He tried rehab for addiction. “He seemed great for a very short period of time, then he relapsed because of his pain,” said Rummler. When his last refills ran out, he scored some heroin, and overdosed on July 1, 2011, at the age of 43. “He was a totally different person the last few years of his life,” said his mother, who now chairs a coalition of activists called Fed Up. The group has held rallies and met with lawmakers in an effort to curb the prescription painkiller epidemic, which public health experts say is also fueling a rise in heroin and street drug use. One hundred people in the United States die each day from drug overdose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention. Regulators have introduced some tighter rules, and drugs like Zohydro fall under Schedule II, which means the pills can only be dispensed with a written prescription.

But plenty of people, including kids as young as 10, find ways to get opioids, said Janina Kean, president and CEO of High Watch Recovery Center in Connecticut.

“They are being overly prescribed. They end up in people’s medicine cabinets,” she said in an interview. “We have a huge crisis in our country.”

Pay to play?

The Washington Post and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported in October that hundreds of emails released in a public records request showed pharmaceutical companies paid tens of thousands of dollars to attend FDA advisory panel meetings. The FDA denied any impropriety, but US lawmakers have launched a probe into whether the payments influenced regulators’ decisions to approve drugs like Zohydro.

“If these allegations are true, there is a clear, illegal conflict of interest between the FDA and these pharmaceutical companies that puts consumer safety at risk,” said Louisiana Senator David Vitter in a letter to the FDA last week.

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York has urged the Department of Health and Human Ser vices to override the FDA and remove Zohydro from the market until protections to prevent abuse are added.

But that seems unlikely. The drug is already available in select US pharmacies, a spokeswoman for Zogenix said. — AFP

Outsized reaction on Chevron pizza ‘scandal’ BOBTOWN: Critics are raging after an energy giant offered pizza coupons to a community near a natural gas well that exploded last month, killing a worker.

News stories, TV shows and blogs - many sarcastic or outright scornful - spread the word far and wide. “Shame on you,” one person wrote about the offer by Chevron Corp. “How insulting!” said another. Comedy Central’s satirical “The Colbert Report” skewered it.

But the 750 or so residents of the hamlet of Bobtown? Not one has signed an online petition demanding an apology for the pizza offer. In fact, during a recent visit, The Associated Press found the talk of the town is more the furious response by outsiders. “We feel it was something outside groups generated,” said Pete Novak, a co-director of the Polish American Club, a local gathering spot. None of the patrons has voiced outrage, he said, and residents laughed about how people who have never set foot in Bobtown claim to speak for its citizens.

Several people noted that Chevron’s pizza offer was made to apologize for traffic after the fire, not to downplay the loss of life.

“I thought it was pretty decent of them,” said Ray Elli, 54, who noted that the fire was about a mile outside town, on a ridge, and that people in town didn’t feel threatened.

Bill Sowden, co-owner of Bobtown Pizza, the area’s only restaurant, says 12 people have redeemed the coupons distributed by Chevron.

The whole issue, he said, was blown out of proportion. “We’re just a food place,” he said.

High moral ground The outsized reaction from people not directly affected by the accident illustrates the larger passions surrounding the fracking debate. Many critics seek stricter regulations or bans to protect air and water from pollution, while supporters speak of the economic benefits for an energyhungry nation. Each side claims the high moral ground. About 12,000 people have signed an online petition demanding Chevron apologize, according to petition organizer Karen Feridun.

“There are a few from nearby communities, but none right from Bobtown,” Feridun wrote in emails this week to the AP. She lives about 250

BOBTOWN: Brian Scritchfield adds mushrooms to a small pizza ordered at Bobtown Pizza in Bobtown. The little pizza shop in the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania was placed in the spotlight when energy giant Chevron offered coupons for free pizza from their shop to people who live near the area where a natural gas well that exploded. —AP miles away, at the other end of Pennsylvania.

The petition isn’t even on public display in Bobtown, about 2 miles from the West Virginia border. One petition signer from New York City mentioned “Chevron’s cavalier arrogance.” Other signers came from Alaska, Florida and many other states, as well as Australia, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Germany and Italy.

Chevron hasn’t responded to the petition, Feridun said. Company spokesman Kent Robertson said in an email that Chevron works to be a good partner in communities, that it has been “overwhelmed by the support” from residents and that it appreciates their understanding. For more than a century, the region around Bobtown has been coal country, and there’s still an active mine nearby. But in the past five years, natural gas locked in shale deep underground became newly accessible because of the advent of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

Statistics suggest major fires are relatively

rare. Houston-based Wild Well Control, which specializes in control of oil and gas well accidents, says it responded to five surface well blowouts last year accompanied by fires and 25 other surface blowouts with no fires.

On Feb. 11, a Chevron well outside of Bobtown exploded, killing Ian McKee, 27, who lived about a half-hour away in Morgantown, W.Va., and worked for a contractor. The fire burned for a week, and emergency responders, state regulators and crews with special equipment clogged or blocked narrow roads in the area. State regulators and police and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating the Pennsylvania fire. Chevron could face fines if it broke any rules.

Chevron representatives visited about 100 people five days after the fire, seeking concerns or questions and leaving a gift certificate for a large pizza and 2-liter drink at Bobtown Pizza, which had just opened.—AP

H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

W H AT ’ S O N

Kuwait Writers Association holds book signing ceremony

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n March 3, 2014, the Kuwait Writers Association held a signing ceremony of the Slovak translation of the book Candles in the Basement by Kuwaiti novelist Thuraya Baqsami. The book was translated into Slovak language by Dr Alzbeta Lancaricova and it was the author’s first book to be translated into Slovak language. The event was also attended by Dr Ivan Lancaric, Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to Kuwait.

Middle School students perform a traditional Kuwaiti dance.

Middle School students represent Jordan.

Al-Bayan Bilingual School celebrates Kuwait’s National and Liberation Days

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iddle School students at Al-Bayan Bilingual School (BBS), celebrated on February 20, Kuwait’s National and Liberation Day with a show comprising of various plays, traditional songs, folkloric dances and speeches about Kuwait. The show was held at the BBS Hawally campus, and was attended by parents, students and members of the school community.

Celebrations commenced at the Dalal Waleed AlHumaidhi Theater with a play that depicted four major periods in the history of Kuwait: Kuwait’s Past, The Discovery of Oil, The Independence from Great Britain and Kuwait Today. The play was written and produced by two 7th grade teachers: Buthayna Al-Suleiman and Randel D’Souza, and was directed by Middle School Music

Teacher, Sandra Stipic.

Middle school students also celebrated with an International Day theme by dressing up in cultural attire from different countries, and showcasing some of their renowned songs and dances. The festivities also included a flag parade representing each country. Among these countries were Japan, Korea, Italy, Greece, Spain, Jordan, India, and Egypt. The celebrations concluded with a grand finale performance featuring a traditional Kuwaiti dance and musical piece. The International Day celebration aimed to highlight Kuwait’s prominent role among other local, regional, and international countries.

In her opening speech, Debbie McIntosh, Middle School Principal at BBS, said: “Today is a very special day

for our Middle School students and school community as we celebrate the independence and freedom of our beloved Kuwait. We call this National/International Day, because we recognize Kuwait’s National Day along with its important place in the world. It is a day where countries whether big or small, rich or poor are honored by our dedicated students, as it is very important in today’s society that we learn about other countries and their customs.”

Deputy Director at BBS, Maha Kaddoura, said: “We are proud to celebrate Kuwait’s National and Liberation Day, as we get to witness the creativity and tremendous effort set forth by both our students and teachers every year while they showcase some of what Kuwait is most proud of.”

“I hope everyone enjoyed what our students have prepared for us today, and I wish that this country continues to prosper and grow for generations to come.”

A total of six Middle School classes represented Kuwait while 12 others represented countries from around the world. The National and International Day activities were led by the Middle School students, while teachers helped the brainstorm, design and implementation aspect of their country’s projects and performances. Each student group also transformed their classrooms into monuments and famous landscapes of the countries that they represented. The day concluded with a luncheon which presented a variety of international dishes provided by the students.

A famous dance from Hawaii by a group of Middle School girls.

A group of Middle School students perform Zorba, a traditional and renowned Greek dance.

Middle School students represent Japan.

Middle School students wave Kuwaiti flags as part of their celebrations.

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

W H AT ’ S O N

Chevrolet Alghanim sponsors ‘Best Looking Camaro Competition’ All-new 2014 Camaro wows the crowd

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usuf Ahmad Alghanim & Sons Automotive, the exclusive distributor of Chevrolet vehicles in Kuwait, has always been committed to giving the Kuwaiti youth the appropriate platform and support needed and desired especially when it comes to one of their truest passion: Sports cars. As Such, Yusuf Ahmad Alghanim & Sons Automotive sponsored the Camaro Club “2014 Best Looking Camaro competition” in the Sirrb Circuit, attracting a large crowd and a variety of Camaro cars. Kuwaiti youth were eager to attend the event so as to observe the most beautiful Camaro and witness the competition which was held between two categories: fourth generation and fifth generation where a winner was chosen for each.

The event included over 35 camaros where old met the new Camaro, an element that showcased the long and rich history of the iconic nameplate. All the cars that were included in the event were evaluated by a panel of judges - Camaro enthusiasts and experts from the Kuwait Camaro Club - who chose the best-looking Camaro based on looks, appearance and performance. Alghanim Automotive awarded the five winners of each category with trophies and vouchers for vehicle service and spare parts.

Apart from having a long and rich histo-

ry, the Camaro has been the ultimate drive that won over the hearts of thrill-seeking youth ever since it was introduced in the world. From deep-set eyes to sculpted rear shoulders, the shape of Camaro is pure emotion. This is the Camaro New 2014 in cool, classic form with a refined look that enhances this iconic shape. A redesigned front fascia with a wider, lower opening offers improved cooling and reduced aerodynamic lift. The new 2014 revamped Camaro models feature a revised exterior design that integrates high-performance aerodynamics .The Exterior Appearance Package takes Camaro temptation to an even hotter level. High intensity discharge headlamps with LED halo rings and the new chrome-accented grille add a mysterious allure while restyled LED tail lamps are a brilliant tribute to the 1969 Camaro.

With exact instrumentation and carefully tailored bolstered seats made with sports cloth or leather, the Camaro is designed to make every drive as rewarding and instinctive as possible. 3.6L, 323HP,LT, 6.2L, 426 HP SS and the 6.2L,580 HP ZL1 models include a 6-way power driver and front passenger seats. The 2014 Camaro is available with Chevrolet MyLink, 7-inch diagonal color touch-screen display that is compatible for smartphone connections.

With standard Bluetooth wireless technol-

ogy, the 2014 Camaro allows the driver to access information while keeping his/her eyes stay on the road. The Camaro’s performance and precision continues to reign supreme with Magnetic Ride Control, world-class braking and a 4-wheel independent suspension.

Raw horsepower With supercar levels of performance and technology, the 580-horsepower Camaro ZL1 is the fastest Camaro to ever be built. Once you get over the rush of the all-aluminum 6.2L supercharged V8 engine and its 580 horsepower and 556 lb.-ft. of torque, you will realize that this Camaro goes beyond raw power. The Camaro’s performance and precision continues with Magnetic Ride Control, world-class braking and 4-wheel independent suspension. The Camaro ZL1 is the kind of vehicle that engineers dream of designing and speed lovers crave to drive behind its wheel. The new Camaro ZL1 steals the spotlight with its revolutionizing design that exudes a powerful and sleek exterior, an element that decreases friction so as to augment the level of intense pressure that firmly and solidly fixes the car’s wheels to the ground, amplifying the driver’s experience at top speeds.

Although the Camaro ZL1 is one of the fastest rides on earth, it is equipped with a fuel-efficient engine that brings the comfort of convenience to every driver. Unlike many of its competitors, ZL1 comes fully equipped with factoryintegrated auxiliary fluid coolers including a liquid-to-liquid engine cooler typically found on high-end sports cars.

Both the manual and automatic transmissions are equipped with high-capacity oil coolers, consisting of a liquid-toliquid and air-to-oil heat exchanger plumbed in series. The Camaro ZL1’s stunning features makes it more of a piece of art that thrills the youth and allows them to explore the infinite realm of enticing freedom.

If you are a Camaro fan, drop by the nearest Yusuf Ahmed Alghanim & Sons Automotive’s showroom today to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime experience that brings you the car of your dreams, the superb 2014 Camaro.

Yusuf A. Alghanim & Sons Automotive adds the finishing touch to the ownership experience with high-quality aftersales services. With the world’s largest and most advanced automotive service center, customers will never worry about their car’s service and maintenance needs.

GUST participates in Fire and Safety Exhibition and Expo

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he Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) participated in the 3rd International Fire and Safety Exhibition and Expo under the patronage of Kuwait Prime Minister Al-Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, organized by the Kuwait Fire Service Directorate. The event was held at Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Kuwait.

The opening was held on March 4, with the attendance of Prof Donald

Bates, GUST President, Dr Salah Al-Sharhan, VP for Planning & Development, Dr Osama Al-Hares, Director of the Center of Business Development & Corporate Relations (BDCR), Maher Barzaq, Quality Assurance Advisor and Nehal El-Shafai, Dalia Al-Hajj, Esraa Moussa, PACE Team as well as the Fire & Emergency Services Training Institute (FESTI) team: Dwayne Macintosh, Deputy Fire Chief, Stephen Hall, Acting Deputy Fire Chief and Director of

Marketing (Middle East), Mohammed Hettini.

The purpose of the FESTI team visit was to finalize their partnership with Professional Advancement & Continuing Education Center (PACE) who visited GUST and met with Dr Abdulrahman Al-Muhailan, Chairman of BOT at GUST and Prof Ghassan Aouad, Vice President of Academic Affairs. The visit and expo was a great success and GUST looks forward to its continuing partnership with FESTI.

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

TV PROGRAMS

00:30 The Weakest Link 01:15 Live At The Apollo 02:00 Alan Carr: Chatty Man 02:45 Pramface 03:15 Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle 03:45 The Vicar Of Dibley 04:15 The Weakest Link 05:00 Mr Bloom’s Nursery 05:20 Balamory 05:40 Nina And The Neurons 05:55 Bobinogs 06:05 The Large Family 06:15 Mr Bloom’s Nursery 06:35 Balamory 06:55 Nina And The Neurons 07:10 Bobinogs 07:20 The Large Family 07:30 3rd & Bird 07:40 Tough Guy Or Chicken?

08:30 A Farmer’s Life For Me 09:20 The Weakest Link 10:05 My Family 10:35 The Vicar Of Dibley 11:05 One Foot In The Grave 11:35 The Weakest Link 12:20 Tough Guy Or Chicken?

13:10 A Farmer’s Life For Me 14:00 Doctors 14:30 Doctors 15:00 Doctors 15:30 Doctors 16:00 Doctors 16:30 The Weakest Link 17:15 Monty Halls’ Island Escapes 18:05 Call The Midwife 19:00 The Vicar Of Dibley 19:30 My Family 20:00 Stella 20:45 New Tricks 21:35 Friday Night Dinner 22:00 Extras 22:30 The Omid Djalili Show 23:00 Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle 23:30 The Vicar Of Dibley

00:15 Cash In The Attic 01:00 Phil Spencer: Secret Agent 01:50 Phil Spencer: Secret Agent 02:40 Come Dine With Me: Supersized 04:10 Fantasy Homes Down Under 04:55 Fantasy Homes Down Under 05:40 Fantasy Homes Down Under 06:30 Fantasy Homes Down Under 07:15 Fantasy Homes Down Under 08:00 Cash In The Attic 08:45 Cash In The Attic 09:30 Bargain Hunt: Famous Finds 10:20 Rhodes Across Italy 11:05 Rhodes Across Italy 11:50 The Hairy Bikers Ride Again 12:20 The Restaurant UK 13:15 Raymond Blanc’s Kitchen Secrets 13:45 Raymond Blanc’s Kitchen Secrets 14:15 Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen Notebook: London 14:40 The Hairy Bikers: Mums Know Best 15:30 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 16:15 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 17:00 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 17:45 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 18:30 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 19:15 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition 20:00 The Hairy Bikers: Mums Know Best 20:50 Come Dine With Me: Supersized 22:25 The Planners 23:15 Bargain Hunt: Famous Finds

00:05 Curiosity: Can We Survive An Alien...

00:55 Uncovering Aliens 01:45 Weird Or What?

02:35 How It’s Made 03:00 How It’s Made 03:25 How It’s Made 03:50 How It’s Made 04:15 How It’s Made 04:40 How Do They Do It? 05:05 How Do They Do It? 05:30 How Do They Do It? 06:00 How Do They Do It? 06:30 How Do They Do It? 07:00 Fast N’ Loud 07:50 World’s Top 5 08:40 Overhaulin’ 2013 09:30 Gold Rush 10:20 Alaska Gold Diggers 11:10 Gold Divers: Under The Ice 12:00 Destroyed In Seconds 12:25 Destroyed In Seconds 12:50 Destroyed In Seconds 13:15 Destroyed In Seconds 13:40 How It’s Made 14:05 How It’s Made 14:30 How It’s Made 14:55 How It’s Made 15:20 How It’s Made 15:45 Auction Kings 16:10 Auction Kings 16:35 Auction Kings 17:00 Auction Kings 17:25 Auction Kings 17:50 Border Security 18:15 Border Security 18:40 Border Security 19:05 Border Security 19:30 Border Security 19:55 Mythbusters 20:45 Dynamo: Magician Impossible 21:35 The Big Brain Theory 22:25 Gold Rush 23:15 Alaska Gold Diggers

00:40 Oddities 01:05 Oddities 01:30 Weird Connections 02:00 Building The Biggest 02:50 Building The Biggest 03:45 Building The Biggest 04:35 Building The Biggest 05:25 Engineering Thrills 06:15 The Gadget Show 06:40 Tech Toys 360 07:05 Weird Connections 07:30 Weird Connections 08:00 How Tech Works 08:25 How Tech Works 08:50 Joe Rogan Questions Everything 09:40 The Gadget Show 10:05 Tech Toys 360 10:30 Da Vinci’s Machines 11:25 Da Vinci’s Machines 12:20 Da Vinci’s Machines 13:10 Da Vinci’s Machines 14:00 Da Vinci’s Machines 14:50 Weird Connections 15:20 The Gadget Show 15:45 Tech Toys 360 16:10 Building The Future 17:00 Bang Goes The Theory 17:55 Punkin Chunkin 2010 18:45 Unchained Reaction 19:35 Alien Encounters 20:30 Joe Rogan Questions Everything 21:20 How Tech Works 21:45 How Tech Works 22:10 The Gadget Show 22:35 Tech Toys 360 23:00 Joe Rogan Questions Everything 23:50 How Tech Works

00:00 The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody 00:20 The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody 00:45 Jonas Los Angeles

01:05 Jonas Los Angeles 01:30 Suite Life On Deck 01:50 Suite Life On Deck 02:15 Wizards Of Waverly Place 02:35 Wizards Of Waverly Place 03:00 The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody 03:20 The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody 03:45 Jonas Los Angeles 04:05 Jonas Los Angeles 04:30 Suite Life On Deck 04:50 Suite Life On Deck 05:15 Wizards Of Waverly Place 05:35 Wizards Of Waverly Place 06:00 Austin & Ally 06:25 Dog With A Blog 06:45 Suite Life On Deck 07:10 A.N.T. Farm 07:35 That’s So Raven 07:55 Shake It Up 08:20 Good Luck Charlie 08:45 Dog With A Blog 09:05 Mako Mermaids 09:30 Jessie 09:55 Austin & Ally 10:15 A.N.T. Farm 10:40 Kronk’s New Groove 11:50 Mako Mermaids 12:15 That’s So Raven 12:35 Dog With A Blog 13:00 Phineas And Ferb 13:10 Phineas And Ferb 13:25 Phineas And Ferb 13:35 Phineas And Ferb 13:45 Phineas And Ferb 13:55 Phineas And Ferb 14:10 Phineas And Ferb 14:20 Phineas And Ferb 14:35 Phineas And Ferb 14:45 Phineas And Ferb 15:00 Phineas And Ferb 15:25 Phineas & Ferb: Across The Second Dimension 16:35 Phineas And Ferb 17:00 Phineas And Ferb 17:20 Phineas And Ferb 17:45 Phineas And Ferb 18:00 Phineas And Ferb 18:10 Phineas And Ferb 18:30 Prank Stars 18:55 Good Luck Charlie 19:20 Mako Mermaids 19:40 Jessie 20:05 Austin & Ally 20:30 Good Luck Charlie 20:50 Dog With A Blog 21:15 Gravity Falls 21:40 Shake It Up 22:00 Austin & Ally 22:25 A.N.T. Farm 22:50 Good Luck Charlie 23:10 Wizards Of Waverly Place 23:35 Wizards Of Waverly Place

00:00 Chelsea Lately 00:30 The Spin Crowd 00:55 The Dance Scene 01:25 THS 03:15 E! Investigates 04:10 The E! True Hollywood Story 05:05 Extreme Close-Up 05:30 Extreme Close-Up 06:00 THS 07:50 Style Star 08:20 E! News 09:15 Scouted 10:15 Eric And Jessie: Game On 10:40 Eric And Jessie: Game On 11:10 Married To Jonas 11:35 Married To Jonas 12:05 E! News 13:05 The Wanted Life 13:35 The Wanted Life 14:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 15:00 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 16:00 Giuliana & Bill 17:00 Fashion Police 18:00 E! News 19:00 Giuliana & Bill 20:00 THS 21:00 E!ES 22:00 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills 22:30 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills 23:30 THS

BREAKING POINT ON OSN MOVIES HD ACTION

19:00 Super Rugby 21:00 Live PGA Tour

00:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 12:30 13:00 15:00 16:00 20:00 22:00

Live NHL Super Rugby Super Rugby PGA Tour Inside The PGA Tour Super Rugby Trans World Sport Live Snooker NHL Live Snooker

00:00 Champions League T20 Highlights 00:30 ICC Under 19 World Cup 2014 Highlights 01:30 Asia Cup Highlights 02:30 Asia Cup Highlights 03:30 ICC Cricket 360 04:00 ICC Under 19 World Cup 2014 Highlights 05:00 ICC Under 19 World Cup 2014 Highlights 06:00 ICC Under 19 World Cup 2014 Highlights 07:00 Big Bash League Highlights 08:00 Big Bash League Highlights 09:00 Big Bash League Highlights 10:00 Asia Cup Highlights 10:45 Live Asia Cup 19:00 Australia v England T20I 20:00 ICC Under 19 World Cup 2014 Highlights 21:00 ICC Under 19 World Cup 2014 Highlights 22:00 ICC Under 19 World Cup 2014 Highlights 23:00 Asia Cup Highlights

THE RUNWAY ON OSN MOVIES COMEDY HD

01:15 Ant And Decs Saturday Night Takeaway 02:25 White Van Man 02:55 Emmerdale 05:00 The Hungry Sailors 05:55 Paul Ogrady: For The Love Of Dogs 06:50 Ant And Decs Saturday Night Takeaway 08:00 The Jonathan Ross Show 08:55 Dancing On Ice 10:40 How To Find Love Online 11:35 Please Marry My Boy 12:25 The Chase 14:10 Four Weddings UK 15:00 Dancing On Ice 16:50 The Jonathan Ross Show 17:45 Paul Ogrady: For The Love Of Dogs 18:10 Please Marry My Boy 19:00 Dancing On Ice 20:50 The Jonathan Ross Show 21:45 Four Weddings UK 22:40 How To Find Love Online 23:35 How To Find Love Online

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 Saturday Night Live 02:30 Enlightened 03:00 1600 Penn 03:30 1600 Penn 04:00 Seinfeld 04:30 The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon 05:30 Seinfeld 06:00 The War At Home 06:30 Friends 07:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers 08:00 Seinfeld 08:30 Seinfeld 09:00 1600 Penn 09:30 Cougar Town 10:00 Two And A Half Men 10:30 Friends 11:00 The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon 12:00 The War At Home 12:30 Seinfeld 13:00 Seinfeld 13:30 Friends 14:00 1600 Penn 14:30 Cougar Town 15:00 Two And A Half Men 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 The War At Home 17:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers 18:00 1600 Penn 18:30 1600 Penn 19:00 2 Broke Girls 19:30 Two And A Half Men 20:00 Whitney 20:30 The Goodwin Games 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Saturday Night Live 23:00 Enlightened 23:30 Whitney

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 12:30 13:00 14:00

Warehouse 13 Helix Banshee The Americans Bones Almost Human Warehouse 13 Parenthood Switched At Birth Almost Human Helix Bones Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Switched At Birth

15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:10 22:00 23:00

Warehouse 13 Emmerdale Coronation Street American Idol Switched At Birth Franklin & Bash Top Gear (UK) Suits Supernatural The Americans

07:15 09:00 11:00 13:00 PG15 15:00 PG15 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

School Ties-PG15 Dark Horse-PG15 Firelight-18 Flatliners-18

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 09:00 10:00 10:30 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Fairly Legal C.S.I. New York Good Morning America Nip/Tuck Rescue Me C.S.I. New York Good Morning America Emmerdale Coronation Street 24 Emmerdale Coronation Street Castle 24 Fairly Legal C.S.I. New York Live Good Morning America Castle Fairly Legal 24 Castle Fairly Legal Rescue Me Nip/Tuck

01:00 03:00 05:00 06:45 09:00 11:15 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:15 21:00 23:00

Dark Tide-PG15 Here Comes The Boom-PG15 Moonrise Kingdom-PG15 Anna Karenina-PG15 Oz The Great And Powerful-PG Here Comes The Boom-PG15 Phil Spector-PG15 The Lucky One-PG15 Oz The Great And Powerful-PG The Cold Light Of Day-PG15 Total Recall-18 Silent Hill: Revelation-18

00:00 Three Kings-18 02:00 Breaking Point-18 03:45 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol-PG15 06:00 Lords Of Dogtown-PG15 08:00 The Blood Bond-PG15 10:00 The Saint-PG15 12:00 Alien Tornado-PG15 14:00 The Blood Bond-PG15 16:00 Absolute Fear-PG15 18:00 Alien Tornado-PG15 20:00 Body Count-PG15 22:00 Absolute Fear-PG15

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Tin Men-PG15 Ted-18 Beauty Shop-PG15 Brewster’s Millions-PG A Thousand Words-PG15 Spy Hard-PG15 Beauty Shop-PG15 Never Been Kissed-PG15 Spy Hard-PG15 The Runway-PG15 2 Days In New York-18 Tin Men-PG15

01:00 Love And Honor-PG15 03:00 The Impossible-PG15 05:00 The Music Never StoppedPG15 07:00 Too Late To Say GoodbyePG15 09:00 Love And Honor-PG15 10:45 The Flowers Of War-PG15 13:15 Web Of Lies-PG15 15:00 Carnage-PG15 17:00 Flower Girl-PG15 19:00 Cheerful Weather For The Wedding-PG15 21:00 Side Effects-18 23:00 Maniac-R

01:15 Trishna-18 03:15 Margot At The WeddingPG15 04:45 Memoirs Of A Geisha-18

The Perfect Man-PG Kathmandu Lullaby-PG15 School Ties-PG15 Love Will Keep Us TogetherMy Kid Could Paint That-

01:15 Wheelers 02:45 Dino Time 04:30 Everyone’s Hero 06:00 Wheelers 07:45 Luke And Lucy: The Texas Rangers 09:45 Tinker Bell And The Secret Of The Wings 11:15 Charlotte’s Web 13:00 Dino Time 14:45 Open Season 16:15 Quest For A Heart 18:00 Tinker Bell And The Secret Of The Wings 20:00 Problem Child 2 22:00 Open Season 23:30 Quest For A Heart

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 Age Of Heroes-PG15 02:00 You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger-PG15 04:00 The Legend Of Sarila-PG 06:00 Interview With A HitmanPG15 08:00 Rewind-PG15 10:00 3 Holiday Tails-PG 12:00 You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger-PG15 14:00 Love Birds-PG15 16:00 Rewind-PG15 18:00 Olympus Has Fallen-PG15 20:00 Ruby Sparks-18 22:00 The Haunting In Connecticut 2: Ghosts Of Georgia-18

02:00 02:30 07:00 09:00 12:00 13:00 13:30 17:30 18:00

Inside The PGA Tour PGA European Tour Super Rugby Live LPGA Tour Trans World Sport PGA European Tour Weekly Live PGA European Tour Futbol Mundial Trans World Sport

00:00 Pawn Stars 00:30 Pawn Stars 01:00 Storage Wars Texas 01:30 Storage Wars Texas 02:00 Shipping Wars 02:30 Shipping Wars 03:00 The Legend Of Shelby The Swamp Man 03:30 The Legend Of Shelby The Swamp Man 04:00 Duck Dynasty 04:30 Duck Dynasty 05:00 Counting Cars 05:30 Counting Cars 06:00 Storage Wars Texas 07:30 Storage Wars Texas 08:00 Ancient Aliens 09:00 Heroes Of War: Poland 10:00 The Legend Of Shelby The Swamp Man 10:30 The Legend Of Shelby The Swamp Man 11:00 Pawn Stars 11:30 Pawn Stars 12:00 Storage Wars Texas 12:30 Storage Wars Texas 13:00 Storage Wars Texas 13:30 Storage Wars Texas 14:00 Heroes Of War: Poland 15:00 Counting Cars 15:30 Counting Cars 16:00 Pawn Stars 16:30 Pawn Stars 17:00 Storage Wars Texas 17:30 Storage Wars Texas 18:00 Shipping Wars 18:30 Shipping Wars 19:00 Duck Dynasty 19:30 Duck Dynasty 20:00 Storage Wars Texas 20:30 Storage Wars Texas 21:00 Ancient Aliens 22:00 Heroes Of War: Poland 23:00 Heroes Of War: Poland

Which state is the movie making capital of the world?

W

hen it comes to major movies, California is no longer the world’s production capital - that would be Louisiana, according to a new study released Thursday. Eighteen of the 108 films released last year that were produced by the major studios and the five biggest independents were shot in the Bayou State, according to the 2013 Feature Film Production Study from Film LA, the region’s non-profit permitting agency. Paramount’s “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” Focus Features’ “Dallas Buyers Club” and Warner Bros’ “Grudge Match” were among the movies shot in Louisiana.

California and Canada were next with 15, followed by the UK with 12 and the state of Georgia with nine.

Surprisingly, New York was the primary filming location for just four films in the study, but was used as a secondary location for seven. California served as a secondary site for 10 films. The surveyed films represent $7.6 billion in direct spending and tens of thousands of jobs in an array of professions, the report found.

The United States is still the No. 1 nation for film production, with 70 features shot here. But California is now sharing its former wealth with a number of other states that offer more lucrative tax credits and film incentives. Twenty different states and foreign countries were used as primary production locations.

And things would look even more bleak for California were it not for animated movies like “Monsters University,” “The Croods” and “Frozen.” In terms of just live-action, California now ranks fourth behind Louisiana, the UK and Canada in feature projects, spending and jobs. The numbers confirm what most people in California’s film and TV industry feared.

The state’s share of projects has been steadily eroding since 1997, when Canadian provinces began offering significant tax credits for TV producers and filmmakers.

Now, more than 40 US states and a dozen foreign countries offer incentives and it’s taken a serious toll on the state.

California produced 68 percent of the top 25 movies at the worldwide box office in 1997. In 2013, it was down to eight percent. Of the 26 live-action films with production budgets over $100 million, just two - “The Hangover Part III” and “Star Trek: Into Darkness” - were filmed primarily in California. The state hosted only nine other live-action movies in the study, and they had a combined budget value of $194 million in spending. Five of these films (accounting for $161 million in spending) were only able to film in California because of the state’s tax credit program.

(It won’t get any better this year. Only two films with budgets over $100 million that are set for release in 2014 - “Captain America: Winter Soldier” and “Interstellar” - were shot in the state.) There’s a solution to the state’s runaway production problem, according to Film LA president Paul Audley.

“Considering California’s vast filmmaking talent, the state should be exporting films for global audiences, not jobs to global competitors,” he said. “State policymakers have the opportunity to make a difference this year by expanding California’s film and television tax credit. We hope they give the strongest possible signal to the film industry that they want to keep film jobs in California.”

The state Legislature is considering a bill introduced last month that would expand the state’s incentive program that was launched in 2009 to make big budget movies and network TV shows eligible for the tax breaks for the first time. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, a proponent of the legislation, said the survey made clear how important the industry was to the region and state. “The film and entertainment industries are absolutely essential to California’s middle class, and this underscores the importance of our work to level the playing field against the other states and countries who are luring our jobs away,” said Garcetti.

“These jobs not only support California families, they generate revenues that pay for schools, infrastructure, and other state services.”

The Film LA study focused on films that were produced by the six major studios in Southern California Disney, Warner Bros., Universal, Paramount. Sony and 20th Century Fox - and five of the best-known independent studios: DreamWorks, Lionsgate, the Weinstein Company, Film District and Relativity. The 108 films sampled included 10 animated films and 98 live-action features, most of which were filmed in 2012 and 2013, though 23 were shot in 2011 or earlier. The production budgets ranged from $1.25 million to $225 million, and the average was $71 million. — Reuters

Classifieds SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

Kuwait KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (06/03/2014 TO 12/03/2014) SHARQIA-1 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) POMPEII (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) REASONABLE DOUBT (DIG) REASONABLE DOUBT (DIG) POMPEII (DIG) SHARQIA-2 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE DIG-3D) MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN (DIG-3D) MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN (DIG-3D) 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE DIG-3D) 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE DIG-3D) 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE DIG-3D) 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE DIG-3D)

2:00 PM 4:15 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM 12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:30 PM 10:30 PM 12:30 AM

SHARQIA-3 NON-STOP (DIG) WER (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG) WER (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG)

1:15 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM

MUHALAB-1 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE (DIG) 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE (DIG) 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE (DIG)

1:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:45 PM 9:45 PM

MUHALAB-2 MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN (DIG) MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN (DIG) WER (DIG) REASONABLE DOUBT (DIG) REASONABLE DOUBT (DIG) MUHALAB-3 Seats-419 POMPEII (DIG-3D) NON-STOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG)

2:00 PM 4:00 PM 6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 12:30 PM 2:45 PM 5:00 PM 7:15 PM 9:30 PM

FANAR-1 NON-STOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG) PATRICK (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG)

1:45 PM 4:00 PM 6:15 PM 8:15 PM 10:30 PM 12:45 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) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:45 PM 5:45 PM 8:15 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM

FANAR-3 MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN (DIG) MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN (DIG) MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN (DIG) MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN (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

FANAR-4 NON-STOP (DIG) 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE DIG-3D)

1:30 PM 4:00 PM

300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE DIG-3D) 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE DIG-3D) 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE DIG-3D) 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE DIG-3D) NO SUN+TUE+WED

6:00 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 12:05 AM

MARINA-1 REASONABLE DOUBT (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) REASONABLE DOUBT (DIG) 3 DAYS TO KILL (DIG) REASONABLE DOUBT (DIG) REASONABLE DOUBT (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:30 PM 3:45 PM :00 PM 8:00 PM 10:15 PM 12:30 AM

MARINA-2 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE (DIG) PATRICK (DIG) 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE (DIG) POMPEII (DIG) 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE (DIG) 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE (DIG) 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

12:30 PM 2:30 PM 4:30 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 10:45 PM 12:45 AM

MARINA-3 MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN (DIG-3D) FRI NON-STOP (DIG) MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN (DIG-3D) MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN (DIG-3D) NON-STOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG) NON-STOP (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

1:00 PM 3:30 PM 5:30 PM 7:30 PM 9:45 PM 12:05 AM

AVENUES-1 POMPEII (DIG) POMPEII (DIG) PATRICK (DIG) POMPEII (DIG) POMPEII (DIG) POMPEII (DIG) NO SUN+TUE+WED

2:00 PM 4:15 PM 6:30 PM 8:45 PM 11:00 PM 1:15 AM

AVENUES-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

1:15 PM 3:45 PM 6:15 PM 8:45 PM 11:15 PM

AVENUES-3 REASONABLE DOUBT (DIG) REASONABLE DOUBT (DIG) REASONABLE DOUBT (DIG) REASONABLE DOUBT (DIG) REASONABLE DOUBT (DIG)

TEACHERS REQUIRED URGENTLY

FOR RENT 1:30 PM

2:30 PM 4:45 PM 7:00 PM 9:15 PM 11:30 PM

AVENUES-4 NON-STOP (DIG) 1:45 PM NON-STOP (DIG) 4:00 PM NON-STOP (DIG) 6:15 PM NON-STOP (DIG) 8:30 PM NO THU Special Show “300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE (DIG)�

8:30 PM THU NON-STOP (DIG) 10:45 PM NON-STOP (DIG) 1:00 AM NO SUN+TUE+WED

A\S ĸ]]` O\R O VOZT Rc^ZSf W\ C]`bcPO PSR`]][a [OabS` [OWR `]][ eWbV PObV`]][ ;\ T`]\b ]T aS`dWQSa

English, Maths, Social Studies, Accountancy with Business studies and Physical Education (female).

99167716

Phone: 23728702 / 23728724 Fax: 23720866 WWW.IISKWT.COM

MATRIMONIAL Marthomite parents invite marriage proposal for their daughter 26 years, fair (MD Radiology) studying in a reputed Medical college in India. Looking for a suitable proposal from God fearing family of professionally qualified doctors/medical student (preferably MD).

Interested may contact at: Email: sphilip88@gmail.com (C 4654) 4-3-2014 Christian Orthodox parents from Central Travancore, residing at Tiruvalla invite proposals for their daughter 25 years, 5’7� (M.Tech Structural Engineering from NIT Calicut) from well to do and settled boys having M.Tech/B.Tech/CA/MBA.

We are in the process of recruiting following teachers for new academic year:

Interested candidates can mail their CV immediately.

iismangaf@gmail.com

Preferably from Orthodox/Jacobite family.

Interested may contact email at bejoycphilip@gmail.com.

2-3-2014

Passport No. F5608432 reverted to Islam, do hereby change my name to Yousef Vijaykumar Painginkar. (C 4657) 6-3-2014

CHANGE OF NAME

FOR SALE

Saravanan Subramaniyan S/O Subramaniyan, holder of Indian Passport No. G9950267 born on 2nd March 1976 (native district Thiruvarur), residing at no.

112/219, Mariamman Kovil street, Maruthanga - vali, Muthupet 614704.

Thiruvarur District, has embraced Islam shall henceforth be known as Sameer Mohamed.

(C 4658) 9-3-2014 I, Vijaykumar B. Painginkar R/O Goa, India, holder of

Cooker Indesit gas 4 ring with oven, Linen box, ironing board, cloths hang rail with shelf, dining table and 4 chairs, sofa 3 seats, office desk, office chair, bookcase.

Personal trainer CPS with heart monitor, dock station for iPod, printer HP photosmart, safe. Tel: 94400865.

(C 4656) 6-3-2014 LOST Original document Policy 633001470/633001464/633 002341/633000763/633000

828 of Muhammad Afzal Mughal by the State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan, Gulf Zone is reported to have been lost.

Anyone finding the same or claiming any interest in it should communicate with State Life Office Kuwait Tel: 22452208. (C 4655) 4-3-2014

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry aboutthe Civil ID card is

1889988 112

Prayer timings Fajr: Shorook Duhr: Asr: Maghrib: Isha:

04:47 06:05 11:59 15:21 17:52 19:09

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

Airlines JAI JZR THY QTR RJA DLH PGT ETH GFA THY JZR UAE ETD JAI MSR CLX QTR FDB KAC THY DHX QTR FDB JZR BAW KAC KAC QTR FDB KAC KAC KAC SVA KAC UAE KAC KAC ABY ETD FDB QTR IRA GFA JZR MEA IRC SYR UAE JZR MSR KAC KAC

Flt 574 539 772 1084 642 637 858 620 211 764 267 853 305 576 612 792 1076 067 544 770 170 8524 069 553 157 412 206 1086 053 302 382 352 512 332 855 362 284 125 301 055 1070 603 213 165 404 6507 341 871 561 610 774 742

Arrival Flights on Sunday 9/3/2014 Route Mumbai Cairo Istanbul Doha Amman Dammam Istanbul Addis Ababa Bahrain Istanbul Beirut Dubai Abu Dhabi Kochi/Abu Dhabi Cairo Luxembourg Doha Dubai Cairo Istanbul Bahrain Doha Dubai Alexandria London Manila/Bangkok Islamabad Doha Dubai Mumbai Delhi Kochi Riyadh Trivandrum Dubai Colombo Dhaka Sharjah Abu Dhabi Dubai Doha Shiraz Bahrain Dubai Beirut Shiraz Latakia Dubai Sohag Cairo Riyadh Dammam

Time 00:10 00:40 00:45 00:55 01:05 01:10 01:30 01:45 02:10 02:15 02:30 02:35 02:45 02:50 03:10 03:40 03:45 04:00 04:20 05:35 05:40 05:45 05:50 06:05 06:40 06:45 07:40 07:50 07:50 07:55 07:55 08:10 08:15 08:15 08:40 08:45 08:50 09:00 09:20 09:40 09:55 10:35 10:40 11:30 11:55 12:05 12:10 12:50 12:55 13:00 13:30 13:30

IRC FDB QTR KAC SVA KNE GFA KAC QTR UAE ETD RJA SVA ABY GFA AFG JZR KAC RBG JZR QTR KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC AXB KAC GFA KAC OMA KAC FDB JAI ABY MSR KAC DLH ALK FDB MEA ETD UAE GFA KAC FDB QTR JZR KLM JZR AIC FDB UAL JZR PIA

6666 057 1078 672 500 472 221 788 1072 857 303 640 510 127 215 415 777 542 553 177 1080 786 063 502 618 166 393 674 217 102 647 562 061 572 129 606 514 634 229 071 402 307 859 219 172 059 1074 135 417 239 981 061 981 185 205

Ahwaz Dubai Doha Dubai Jeddah Jeddah Bahrain Jeddah Doha Dubai Abu Dhabi Amman Riyadh Sharjah Bahrain Kabul Jeddah Cairo Alexandria Dubai Doha Jeddah Dubai Beirut Doha Paris/Rome Kozhikode Dubai Bahrain New York/London Muscat Amman Dubai Mumbai Sharjah Luxor Tehran Frankfurt Colombo Dubai Beirut Abu Dhabi Dubai Bahrain Frankfurt Dubai Doha Bahrain Amsterdam Amman Chennai/Hyderabad/Ahmedabad Dubai Bahrain Dubai Lahore

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

Airlines AIC AXB JAI DLH ETH THY PGT UAE ETD MSR QTR FDB QTR CLX JZR FDB JAI JZR RJA THY GFA QTR THY FDB BAW QTR KAC SVA KAC KAC ABY UAE KAC ETD KAC FDB KAC QTR KAC GFA KAC IRA KAC JZR MEA KAC IRC SYR JZR MSR UAE FDB

Departure Flights on Sunday 9/3/2014 Flt Route 976 Goa/Chennai 490 Mangalore/Kochi 573 Mumbai 637 Frankfurt 621 Addis Ababa 773 Istanbul 859 Istanbul 854 Dubai 306 Abu Dhabi 613 Cairo 1085 Doha 068 Dubai 1077 Doha 792 Hong Kong 560 Sohag 070 Dubai 575 Abu Dhabi/Kochi 164 Dubai 643 Amman 765 Istanbul 212 Bahrain 8525 Doha 771 Istanbul 054 Dubai 156 London 1087 Doha 171 Frankfurt 513 Riyadh 787 Jeddah 671 Dubai 126 Sharjah 856 Dubai 117 New York 302 Abu Dhabi 773 Riyadh 056 Dubai 741 Dammam 1071 Doha 501 Beirut 214 Bahrain 541 Cairo 602 Shiraz 103 London 776 Jeddah 405 Beirut 785 Jeddah 6508 Shiraz 342 Latakia 176 Dubai 611 Cairo 872 Dubai 058 Dubai

DIAL161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Time 00:05 00:15 01:10 02:10 02:45 02:55 03:20 03:50 04:00 04:10 04:15 04:40 05:15 05:45 06:20 06:30 06:45 06:55 07:05 07:05 07:15 07:15 07:30 08:30 08:45 08:50 09:10 09:15 09:25 09:30 09:40 09:55 10:00 10:05 10:05 10:20 10:30 10:55 11:10 11:25 11:30 11:35 12:20 12:25 12:55 13:00 13:05 13:10 13:45 14:00 14:15 14:30

KAC IRC QTR KAC KAC KNE SVA JZR UAL FDB QTR AXB GFA KAC FDB OMA ABY KAC JAI MSR DHX FDB GFA KAC JZR ETD QTR UAE JZR RJA ABY SVA GFA JZR AFG JZR RBG ALK MEA ETD GFA KAC FDB UAE KAC KAC KAC KLM QTR KAC JZR FDB KAC KAC

561 6667 1079 673 617 473 503 134 982 064 1081 3944 218 283 062 648 120 361 571 619 171 072 222 513 238 304 1073 858 538 641 128 511 216 184 415 266 554 230 403 308 220 301 060 860 381 205 351 417 1075 343 502 062 415 411

Amman Ahwaz Doha Dubai Doha Jeddah Madinah/Jeddah Bahrain Bahrain Dubai Doha Kozhikode Bahrain Dhaka Dubai Muscat Sharjah Colombo Mumbai Alexandria Bahrain Dubai Bahrain Tehran Amman Abu Dhabi Doha Dubai Cairo Amman Sharjah Riyadh Bahrain Dubai Jeddah Beirut Alexandria Colombo Beirut Abu Dhabi Bahrain Mumbai Dubai Dubai Delhi Islamabad Kochi Dammam/Amsterdam Doha Chennai Luxor Dubai Kuala Lumpur/Jakarta Bangkok/Manila

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

34

stars CROSSWORD 481

STAR TRACK Aries (March 21-April 19) One of the best things about not having to work today is that you can enjoy the celebrations of spring around your city. You attach more importance to friendships and taking part in group activities. Having been so busy with a heavy workload, you may now move fun and frivolity to a better position on your list of activities. If you are tempted to buy pretty things today, remember that all that glitters is not necessarily gold. Readjust your priorities without delay. You and your loved one may decide to have a party for your friends this evening. This is a favorable time to repair any broken relationships. There is good news among your friends this evening. Romantic feelings are deepened, encouraging you to bestow tokens of your affection upon your loved one.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You are unusually talkative today. You have a zeal to sample the new and unique that is all around you. Visiting with friends that have come while playing a competitive game in your yard is the glue that keeps your friends outgoing and in touch.

Companionship with close family and friends is important now and you will want to take every opportunity to keep this network of loved ones close to you. An instinctive urge to get serious about taking care of you at many levels is emphasized as well. This could mean a new exercise program. A loved one is supportive. Refinement and relationships are the keys to emotional satisfaction. Your base of security, which is your home and loved ones, is the place you want to be this evening.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

ACROSS 1. Primitive predaceous North American fish covered with hard scales and having long jaws with needle-like teeth.

4. Small genus of deciduous trees of tropical America and Asia.

12. A person active in party politics.

15. A sweetened beverage of diluted fruit juice.

16. An organism (especially a bacterium) that does not require air or free oxygen to live.

17. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

18. Resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects.

19. Deserving a curse.

20. Any of various fissiped mammals with nonretractile claws and typically long muzzles.

22. Any of several cultivated sour cherry trees bearing pale red fruit with colorless juice.

24. A soft yellow malleable ductile (trivalent and univalent) metallic element.

26. An underground enclosure with access from the surface of the ground or from the sea v 1.

27. Of or relating to or functioning as a phrase.

29. Become taut or tauter.

31. The presence of an unwanted signal via an accidental coupling.

33. Deserving blame or censure as being wrong or evil or injurious.

35. Bulky grayish-brown eagle with a short wedge-shaped white tail.

37. An official prosecutor for a judicial district.

38. A colorless odorless gaseous element that give a red glow in a vacuum tube.

39. Herbs and subshrubs.

42. A domain in which something is dominant.

45. An informal term for a father.

47. A barrier consisting of a horizontal bar and supports.

48. A narcotic drug that contains opium or an opium derivative.

49. A long pointed rod used as a weapon.

52. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

53. A flat-bottomed volcanic crater that was formed by an explosion.

55. A complex inorganic compound that contains ammonia molecules.

58. Brown or blackish Alpine mosses having a dehiscent capsule with 4 longitudinal slits.

62. Beads threaded on a string.

63. A person who acts as host at formal occasions (makes an introductory speech and introduces other speakers).

64. Large European dormouse.

66. The capital and largest city of Equatorial Guinea on the island of Bioko in the Gulf of Guinea.

73. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

74. Small depression under the shoulder joint where the arm joins the shoulder.

77. The deep vascular inner layer of the skin.

78. Flower arrangement consisting of a circular band of foliage or flowers for ornamental purposes.

79. Red breed of domestic rabbits.

81. A resource.

82. A condition (mostly in boys) characterized by behavioral and learning disorders.

83. A great raja.

84. An undergarment worn by women to support their breasts.

DOWN 1. Offering fun and gaiety.

2. (Old Testament) In Judeo-Christian mythology.

3. A summary that repeats the substance of a longer discussion.

4. A horse used to set the pace in racing.

5. Any plant of the genus Inula.

6. A town in southeastern New Mexico on the Pecos River near the Mexican border.

7. Seal again.

8. A unit of surface area equal to 100 square meters.

9. A sodium salt of carbonic acid.

10. A unit of information equal to one million (1,048,576) bytes.

11. A former agency (from 1946 to 1974) that was responsible for research into atomic energy and its peacetime uses in the United States.

12. A long slender cigar.

13. Front consisting of the conical head of a missile or rocket that protects the payload from heat during its passage through the atmosphere.

14. Filled with a great quantity.

21. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (trade names Acular and Toradol) that is administered only intramuscularly.

23. The 17th letter of the Greek alphabet.

25. A reptile genus of Iguanidae.

28. Soviet physicist who worked on low temperature physics (1908-1968).

30. A defensive missile designed to shoot down incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles.

32. A surgical instrument used to remove sections of bone from the skull.

34. (statistics) Approximating the statistical norm or average or expected value.

36. Submerged aquatic plant having narrow leaves and small flowers.

40. A choice or delicious dish.

41. Elk or moose.

43. Xerophytic evergreen shrubs.

44. A unit of weight equivalent to 1000 kilograms.

46. Primitive chlorophyll-containing mainly aquatic eukaryotic organisms lacking true stems and roots and leaves.

50. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

51. Web spinners.

54. (meaning literally `born') Used to indicate the maiden or family name of a married woman.

56. Common black European thrush.

57. A state in midwestern United States.

59. Preserve a dead body.

60. Absence of the pupil in an eye.

61. Any of various orchids of the genus Bletia having pseudo-bulbs and erect leafless racemes of large purple or pink flowers.

65. A midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region.

67. In bed.

68. Set down according to a plan.

69. The basic unit of money in Ethiopia.

70. Lacking in liveliness or charm or surprise.

71. An independent ruler or chieftain (especially in Africa or Arabia).

72. A quantity of no importance.

75. The ratio of the distance traveled (in miles) to the time spent traveling (in hours).

76. Chiefly perennial grasses of cool temperate regions.

80. A person who announces and plays popular recorded music.

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

If your friends could read auras, yours would be shining gold and green today. Curiosity and good feelings promote new ideas and healing results in your body. Your inner resources and emotions are emphasized. Good relationships are the keys to emotional satisfaction. Travel could be available, if you wish. Enlightenment in many areas of your life gives you a greater understanding of many life matters. Look well groomed-you may be more pleased with the results than you thought. An insight about your support system, your mother or other females, may be as interesting as it is important just now. This can be a far-reaching, creative and even romantic phase of your life. A love relationship can flourish this evening.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) There are opportunities to be expressive and sociable today. There are things you have always wanted to try and never had the time-you are curious. The exchange of ideas becomes a focal point of your day. This could involve a trip to a new computer store or a day at a new exhibit at your local museum or an invention idea that someone is willing to help you create. Learning, knowing a little about a lot of things, staying in touch and on top of the latest developments are the things that satisfy a need for mental stimulation. Neighbors and brothers or sisters may play a role in this; young people figure more prominently in your life these days.

Leo (July 23-August 22) Helping your friends, even in the subtlest manner, should prove successful today. Remember your friends and family at this time and try to include them in your good fortune. Use your time as wisely as possible so as not to overtax yourself. Look at a particular project before you begin and decide how you can best accomplish what you want to accomplish. This is a great time to reflect and understand your own situation, just how you feel about yourself. Emotions in particular, or the feelings of those around you, may be very clear. Your inner resources and emotions are accented. Fasten your seat belt; your luck is about to improve in many areas of your life. Sweet music and a light meal create the perfect atmosphere for romance.

Virgo (August 23-September 22) A wedding or some other reason that brings family and friends together has you eager to lend a helpful hand. You could be preparing to sing at the wedding.

Refinement and relationships are the keys to emotional satisfaction now. Harmony and beauty are deeply satisfying-and the lack of them can be emotionally unsettling. You are learning to put the supersensitive you in the past. You are also learning to look past the emotional or manipulative comments of another with compassion. Smiles and frowns do not exist at the same time and you have the power to choose. Good for you-you are the ruler of your own emotions and you will be good at teaching others. Close personal ties to people are a strong pull today. Celebrations are wonderful!

Challenging Mazes

Libra (September 23-October 22) Keep your diary updated with simply a log of your activities with outstanding experiences noted. In no time at all you will see a book emerging from your daily doodles. A conversation with old friends may bring up old memories and give you plenty to write about in your diary or rather, daily doodles. A fun gathering is inevitable and perhaps a game of chance will bring many opportunities to laugh and join in the art of deepening your friendships. Coming to grips with the past or getting in touch with the mystical and the spiritual things gives a sense of satisfaction and completeness.

Romance and such creative pursuits as hobbies are outlets for much of your energy later today. This evening is a good time to express yourself to a loved one.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) You may find yourself feeling more private and in a stay-at-home mood today. Now is a time to spend with loved ones. Everything you see or do this day deepens your compassion and brings out your unique and unusual qualities. You could come up with new solutions to something as simple as an easy can opener or shoe polish. Family, home, relatives and real estate have your attention. You may enjoy looking at new houses later today. The layout of other homes and the smell of fresh wood are creatively stimulating as well as physically relaxing. Good feelings and a sense of support and harmony make this a happy time. Real insight into your own inner workings and future possibilities is fun and enjoyable to ponder.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) A garage sale may be the order of this day. Your spring-cleaning brings monetary rewards. Don’t be too surprised when unexpected friends drop over this afternoon. They may want to buy your stuff. This may be the boost you need as the short time that they visit with you brings good news. Communicating is at a high just now as there are phone calls, catching up with the newest happenings of neighbors, etc.

Others find you full of energy. You may be sought after for your advice and counsel regarding very personal and emotional issues. Your psychic abilities are high and not one person would dare to try and fool you today. Keep up with your physical exercise! You will want to build your stamina and get in shape for the good things that are ahead.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) This whole day is exciting in that you complete your chores early and you are helpful to those around you; you have time for a hobby moment. This may mean you know just where to shop for a particular part or you finish building a special project. If you wish, you will be able to show off your hobby to others. If you are with a religious group later today you may decide to enjoy each other’s company with a meal together after your meeting. There are good conversations and the group melds together into future possibilities. Later today is a good time to just relax and enjoy yourself, perhaps in reading or enjoying a movie, music or strolling through the neighborhood. You may find an animal relaxing this evening. There is a bit of cheerful laughter.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Early morning quandaries set the tone for a somewhat strange day. You may busy yourself with these thoughts for a short while-then you go about looking for ways to create and accomplish your goals. Now may be the best time to consider a move. Perhaps the apartment you live in is beginning to feel a little small. This is a good day to go hunting for something new. Later today you will find yourself trying to catch up on chores: writing letters and getting caught up on paying the bills, which is a good idea. This will also give you time to focus and plan. This is not a wildly romantic time but one where small endeavors will meet with success. This is a good time to express your affections. Don’t wait until it is too late to become better organized.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) Early morning time is yours and it may be the only time today that you will experience a quiet time, so enjoy. This is a great time for memories and phone calls and gatherings with friends, especially to follow through on plans previously made. A guest in your home today may play a joke on you to get you to think he or she has forgotten about your special day. Never fear, before the day is over there will be celebrations and music and lovely people with all sorts of good wishes. Somehow today you will also be put in a position of helping others. This is highly recommended and highly rewarding but may not be anything other than sharing with others your optimistic, buoyant and lighthearted attitude; smile, it is contagious. Happy birthday!

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution Daily SuDoku

Yesterday’s Solution

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 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

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

lifestyle G O S S I P

Jessica Simpson has reached her target weight

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he reality star and mother to daughter Maxwell, 21 months, and son Ace, eight months, has shed 50lbs of her baby weight and celebrated by posting shots of herself in a white dress on Instagram. Under one picture she wrote: “First time rocking a white dress this year... but not the last!! Thanks @weightwatchers! (sic)” Alongside another picture of her wearing a T-shirt, she added: “...AND a white T-shirt!!#goalreached thx (sic)” Jessica - who is engaged to be married to Eric Johnson - also posted a picture of Maxwell, showing how she has inherited her famous blonde hair color. She captioned it: “The most beautiful girl in the world.” She also posted a picture of her holding Ace, saying he was the “most handsome boy in the world”. Jessica - who is a spokesperson for Weight Watchers - has previously said she has set a date for her wedding to former NFL star Eric, 34, and is planning to stay in shape for her big day. She said: “I think it’s about time!

Knowing that I have the wedding coming up is an incentive to stay on Weight Watchers, count my points and stay in the gym. I mean, when you see my dress, you’ll know.”

Justin Bieber back with Selena Gomez

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he ‘Never Say Never’ singer has been spotted looking close with his ex in the city of McAllen in Texas a day after he stormed out of a legal deposition when he was quizzed about her. The pair - who were first linked in 2010 but split in January 2013, only to get back together again briefly at the beginning of this year - were seen having breakfast at local restaurant Don Pepe’s but refused to take photos during their meal. Selena had beef chops with salsa, while the Justin opted for traditional Mexican dish Huevos Rancheros, according to E! news. The pair then headed to flower shop LA Imports, where spies say they were hugging and talking about flowers. They then made their way to Perfumeria La Versailles to look around. Selena is in her home state ahead of

a show at Hidalgo State Farm which will be her first since she completed a stint in rehab in January. Earlier this week Justin raised eyebrows when he posted a picture of his former love in an elegant Emilio Pucci dress for the Vanity Fair party after The Oscars with the caption: “The most elegant princess in the world.” Justin, 20, has recently found himself in a number of legal troubles due to his behavior in the US and his native Canada, and his uncle, Brad Bieber, thinks his actions were down to him missing Selena. He said: “How would you feel if your first love didn’t work out? How would you feel if that relationship went sour and then it became public and you had no chance to heal or sort out your own emotions and feelings?

He is just a brokenhearted, lost little boy.”

Lindsay Lohan has Oprah Winfrey on speed dial

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he recovering actress has been mentored by the talk show star since she completed a 90-day court ordered stint in rehab last year, and says she feels blessed to have such a strong bond with her. She told Extra TV: “I love that I can call Oprah on the phone, and be like, ‘Oprah, can we talk right now?’ and she calls me within two minutes. I have to trick her into leaving voicemails, so I can just have Oprah’s voicemails ... she’s the coolest person ever.” Lindsay, 27, has also filmed a docu-

series for Oprah’s OWN network which she is keen to stress isn’t a reality show, and she says she had no control over what made the final cut. She added: “I did it because it’s not a reality show, it’s pretty raw. Obviously it’s TV, so things will be edited in certain ways to get ratings, which I can’t control, but I do know that my intentions going into it were really pure and really honest. I appreciate all that’s happened and all that [Oprah has] done for me.”

U2 won’t release a new album until next year

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Lea Michele thinks people should relax

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ea Michele doesn’t think people should “strive for fame”. The 27-year-old star - who recently released her first solo album ‘Louder’ - thinks too many young people aspire to be a star rather than looking to do something they are really passionate about. She told Bliss magazine: “A lot of people strive for fame and don’t focus on finding something they’re passionate about.

“There becomes this idea of a system where someone is better than you because they’re famous, so you want to strive to be where they are, when the most important thing is to be the best

Mary-Kate Olsen’s engagement ring costs $81,250

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he actress-turned-designer is set to marry her partner of two years, Olivier Sarkozy - who is the half-brother of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy - after she was spotted flaunting a massive sparkler last week, and it has now emerged the vintage Cartier ring was bought at a Sotheby’s auction on February 6. According StyleCaster, the band boasts a four-carat European-cut diamond surrounded by 16 calibré-cut sapphires and 1.5 carats of diamonds. It dates back to 1953 and was apparently previously owned by “a Tennessee collector”. Mary-Kate flaunted her new accessory for the second time at the Louis Vuitton show at Paris Fashion Week. The marriage will be Mary-Kate’s first and Oliver’s second, after his union to Charlotte Bernard, with whom he has two teenage children, Julien and Margot. The fashionista and the banker live in New York where they have a $6.25 million townhouse, but their union has caused some controversy due to their 17-year age gap. Mary-Kate previously commented: “Everyone has an opinion. I find it’s better to focus on what’s in front of you and to keep putting one foot in front of the other.”

you, and be your own personal motivator.” The ‘Glee’ actress has always been interested in singing and acting and says being famous is just an unfortunate part of the job rather than something she’s always aspired to. When asked if the intrusions into her personal life are worth it for being able to do the job that you love, she said: “That is a very weird part of this business. It’s very strange that men sit outside my house in cars and wait to take a photo of me at the grocery store. “Some days it’s harder to deal with than others, but I try not to let it get the best of me.”

lthough the band have performed live appearing at The Oscars, The Golden Globes and on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ - and debuted two new tracks, ‘Ordinary Love’ and ‘Invisible’, they are still trying to perfect songs for their new album. A source told Billboard magazine: “It seems to be taking longer for them to finish an album as they get older, but the great thing about U2 is that the whole of a record is always better than the sum of its parts. “That magic that the band always seems to capture... they have yet to capture it.” The album is being helmed by executive producer Danger Mouse and U2 - Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen - have scheduled further sessions with producers Ryan Tedder and Paul Epworth to complete the as-yet-untitled record. Bono, 53, has previously said he is conscious of the band’s age and having something to say on their 13th studio album. He explained: “We’re on the verge of irrelevance. You have to make stuff relevant to you and where you’re at, make an honest account of what you’re going through. If that’s relevant to other people, great. But we don’t know.” The singer also spoke about the inspiration behind the album, saying it goes back to when the group first got together in 1976. He added: “We went back to why we wanted to be in a band in the first place. We were listening to the Ramones and Kraftwerk - you can hear both on ‘Invisible’. It opened up a whole valve for me writing, it was like a damburst of sorts.”

Jourdan Dunn is in complete awe of Beyoncé

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he model of the moment has been a fan of the R&B superstar ever since she was nine years old and embarrassed herself when she first met her idol at the Met Ball in New York City last May by asking if she could “hold” her. She told Miss VOGUE magazine: “I used to pretend I was the fifth member of Destiny’s Child. She saw us, smiled and began walking over. We both turned to see if Jay Z or someone was nearby. She said, ‘Hi,’ and told us that she thought we were beautiful. I think I said, ‘Can I just hold you?’“Jourdan achieved her life’s dream this year by starring in the video for her track ‘YoncÈ’ alongside Chanel Iman and Joan Smalls but she was nervous about the singer judging her performance. She gushed: “I was the first one up, and Beyoncé came in and sat behind the screen to watch. It was like, ‘Oh my god, no pressure!’“ The beauty - who also hosts a cookery series, ‘Well Dunn’ for BeyoncÈ’s husband Jay Z’s YouTube channel - was amazed to receive a personal invitation to the showbiz power couple’s New Year’s Eve party this year. Jourdan enthused: “There were only about 45 people there. I walked down the stairs and saw Beyoncé on the dance-floor. She came right over and gave me a big hug. I love her!”

lifestyle

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

G O S S I P

Lena Headey used to fight a lot

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he actress was well-equipped for her role as Spartan Queen Gorgo in ‘300: Rise of an Empire’ because she has plenty of experience of scrapping when she was younger, though she is unsure why she came to blows so often. She said: “I did a lot of training, which I love. I’m a tomboy. I used to get into a lot of fights. Don’t know why, self-expression I guess.

I got into boxing.” The 40-year-old actress has a three-year-old son, Wylie, from her marriage to musician Peter Loughran and she enjoyed bringing the little boy to the set of the movie because he was impressed by her sword-fighting skills. She added in an interview with People magazine: “He was on set during a fight scene. He stood up and said, ‘Ninjas, be gentle!”

Lena - who also plays Queen Cersei in ‘Games of Thrones’ - also finds it funny how she’s picked for regal roles because she isn’t like that in real life. She said: “I’m covered [in tattoos]. That’s what’s hilarious. You couldn’t get less royal than me.”

Ke$ha feeling healthy after leaving rehab

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he ‘Timber’ hitmaker has finished her treatment for an eating disorder at the Timberline Knolls clinic near Chicago and claims she’s “happy” to be working on new music. She took to Twitter last night to update her fans on her progress, writing: “Happy to be back!

Feeling healthy & working on tons of new music, I can’t thank my fans enough for all the love & support u have given me. (sic)” She later added: “Life is beautiful. I’m so blessed to have u all. (sic)”. The 27-year-old singer recently postponed her upcoming ‘Warrior’ world tour, which would see her perform in Hammond, Indiana, on March 15 and Green Bay, Wisconsin, on April 13, following doctor’s orders to overcome her issues before focusing on her career again.

She said last month: “I was so looking forward to performing at these dates but I need to follow my doctor’s advice and get my health back on track... I couldn’t have done this without you all. I look forward to coming back stronger than ever on the next tour.” Ke$ha checked into rehab on January 3 after admitting she was suffering with anorexia and bulimia.

Brangelina don’t want their kids to be actors

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he couple raise six kids together Maddox, 12, Pax, 10, Zahara, nine, Shiloh, seven, and twins Vivienne and Knox, five and despite letting Vivienne have a cameo in her new film ‘Maleficent’, Angelina is not encouraging them to become screen stars. She told Entertainment Weekly magazine: “We think it’s fun for our kids to have cameos and join us on set, but not to be actors. That’s not the goal for Brad and me at all. I think we would both prefer that they didn’t become actors. “But she was four at the time and other three and four year old [actors] really wouldn’t come near me. Big kids thought I was cool but little kids didn’t really like me. So, in order to have a child that wants to play with [Maleficent]... it had to be a child that really liked me and wasn’t afraid of my horns and my eyes and claws, so it had to be Viv.” Angelina added Pax was incredibly scared when he first saw her in full make-up as the titular wicked witch, he ran away. She added: “When Pax saw me for the first time he ran away and got upset.

I thought he was kidding, so I was pretending to chase him until I actually found him crying. I had to take off pieces [of the make-up] in front of him to show him it was all fake and not freak him out so much.”

Emily VanCamp is ‘excited’ to have kids

Jared Leto was ‘surrounded by hippies’ growing up

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he 27-year-old star can’t wait to start a family of her own with her boyfriend, her ‘Revenge’ co-star Josh Bowman, and admits her desire to have a baby has gotten stronger with age. When asked what has surprised her about herself, she said: “How excited I am to have children! It never seemed tangible, but my sister just had a baby - beautiful little Ivy - and my sister Alison is having a baby boy. Suddenly, it’s like that part of my life is real.”She added: “I find myself dreaming about it all the time. In your late 20s, you start to realize you can’t call yourself a baby anymore.” Although she is in a very happy relationship, Emily has remained tight-lipped on her relationship with 26-year-old Josh - whom she has been dating since 2011 - because she likes to keep her private life separate from her work. She explained in the April edition of ELLE Canada magazine: “Josh and I keep it all very separate. I barely talk about him in interviews, to be honest.“ However, the blonde beauty - who plays Emily Thorne in the US TV show - admits her family find it odd watching her onscreen with Josh, who plays aggressive Daniel Grayson, because they are entangled in a bitter and abusive relationship on-screen. She said: “It’s hard for my family to watch - it’s also hard for them to see me in that light. But we’re actors. None of that lives in any of us. Thank God!”

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he Oscar-winning actor - who paid an emotional tribute to his mother in his Best Supporting Actor acceptance speech on Sunday has revealed much of his childhood involved foraging in forests and sleeping in tents, which is a world away from his recent success in movie ‘Dallas Buyers Club’. He said: “As a kid I was surrounded by hippies in a tepee in a commune in the forest. We certainly weren’t thinking of awards shows!” Jared, 42, was heavily influenced by the arts growing up but never imagined he’d have a career in movies or in rock music with his band Thirty Seconds to Mars. He explained: “I was more interested in art... I’m an art school dropout. But really, I just wanted to be a creative person who could make things.” While he has earned numerous accolades for his role as HIV positive transgender woman Rayon in ‘Dallas Buyers Club’, the star was reluctant to return to movies as he was so passionate about music. Jared told The Guardian newspaper: “I was busy and fulfilled with Thirty Seconds to Mars. I wasn’t looking to make a film. I hadn’t made one in years and I was beginning to think maybe I’d never make another one. But they were persistent and I thought the character was astounding.”

Scarlett Johansson’s pregnancy was a ‘welcome surprise’ Ireland Baldwin splits from her boyfriend

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he 18-year-old model - the daughter of actor Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger - has called time on her relationship with Slater Trout in order to focus on her career and her schooling. She told People magazine: “I love him more than anything but I need to focus on myself right now.” The couple were introduced to each other in 2012 and by May 2013, Ireland was gushes about how close she had become to the surfer. She said at the time: “I would say he is my best friend. We have our moments but that’s rare. We can act stupid in public, private or wherever and we are always laughing.” The pair even sparked engagement rumors last year after Ireland was spotted wearing a silver band on her ring finger. Ireland isn’t only making changes in her love life at the moment as she ditched her platinum locks on Wednesday and dyed her hair lilac. She told E! News: “I just really wanted to go lavender and it’s going to fade out. I wanted change! I love my platinum hair and that’s who I am, but this is fun. Why not? It’s temporary and fun.”

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he ‘Avengers Assemble’ star announced she is having with her first child with fiancé Romain Dauriac earlier this week but a friend says they have known about it for some time. The source told UsMagazine.com: “She’s about four months along. The baby was a welcome surprise.” The insider says Scarlett has been looking forward to telling people of her happiness, adding: “She’s just excited to share the news.” The actress had previously talked about her desire to start a family at the end of last year, saying in December: “I would like to have my own family, that would be nice. “They say it’s never the right time and I am sure that’s true, but I think you have to plan it like anything else. “At some point it is something I look forward to.” Scarlett, 29, and Romaine, 31, got engaged in August last year after he proposed with a vintage Art Deco ring. The ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ star has previously said she and Romain don’t want to “rush through” tying the knot, as “being engaged is an exciting time to enjoy and to really savor.” The marriage will be Scarlett’s second after she was previously wed to actor Ryan Reynolds between 2008 and 2011. —Bangshowbiz

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

lifestyle

Shakira opens charity school in Colombia shanty L

omas de Peye residents used to fear that a strong gust of wind from the Caribbean would be enough to knock down their school. Then Shakira came to their aid. The pop superstar recently traveled to this shanty town in Cartagena, on Colombia’s northern coastline, to inaugurate a new 8,000 square meter brick school paid for through her charity foundation.

The $10 million school, built with funds from local and international donors Shakira’s own money, includes a football field and enough classrooms for 1,700 students. “Besides being a school, it is a center for community development, where we dream that at least 5,000 people can come for informal programs, sports, art, or just a gathering space,” said Patricia Sierra, director of Shakira’s charity the Shoeless Foundation.

Colombian Singer Shakira and her son Milan attend a press conference. — AFP

‘Education is not a luxury’ Shakira, born Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll in 1977 in the Caribbean city of Barranquilla, now lives abroad with Spanish football star Gerard Pique and rarely visits Colombia. The new school is the sixth built by Shakira’s foundation in Colombia, a country wracked by drug violence and a lengthy civil war. Children lined the neighborhood’s unpaved roads and stood in front of their humble wooden homes as they welcomed the singer, who arrived with her year-old son Milan in her arms. “It gives me great joy to know that in this space you will have the necessary tools to become good citizens,” Shakira told the

future students. Then, in a nod to the government officials at the event, she said: “Education is not a luxury, it’s a right that society should protect and the state has a definite obligation to protect.”

Wearing the school uniform, 14 year-old Jorge Eliecer Garrido welcoming the singer and thanked her for the new school. “Now that she’s made it big, she has the heart of a child because she feels what we feel,” he said. Lady Zuniga, an elderly woman deeply tanned from years working in the blasting Caribbean sun, told AFP locals worried about the children’s safety in the old school, where her grandchildren studied.”A strong wind would hit it, and we were afraid that it would knock over the building,” Zuniga said.

A childhood dream Shakira has long been interested in helping young people. “At the age of six she told her mother, ‘I know that I came into the world for a mission,’” Shakira’s father William Mebarak told AFP. “Two, three, four years went by and then she said: ‘I know what my mission is: the children,’” Mebarak said.

In 1997 Shakira began the Shoeless Foundation charity, and she has since taken a hands-on role in the group. “She is proposing projects every day,” said Sierra. For some residents, the new school not only represents hope for social improvement, but also an urban renewal project that will help cut down on crime. “This neighborhood used to have a bad reputation.

Very few people would dare to visit,” said Eduis Coneo Vergara, who lives in front of the new school. “The access routes have been improved.

There is now an increase in people who come here because they see that it’s easier to come up and is a lot safer,” Vergara said. — AFP

A girl kisses Colombian Singer Shakira during the inauguration of a school funded by her foundation “Barefeet” in the neighborhood of Loma del Peye in Cartagena. — AFP

Sheila MacRae of ‘Honeymooners’ fame dies at 92

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heila MacRae starred on the Broadway stage and in films, yet it was her small-screen role as the tolerant and brassy wife of a Brooklyn bus driver for which she is most remembered. MacRae, best known for playing Alice Kramden to Jackie Gleason’s Ralph in the 1960s re-creation of “The Honeymooners,” died Thursday. She was 92. The actress died at the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, N.J., MacRae’s granddaughter, Allison Mullavey, told The Associated Press on Friday.

In the 1950s version of “The Honeymooners,” Audrey Meadows starred with Gleason as the lovebirds and sparring partners Ralph and Alice. Sheila MacRae replaced Meadows as Alice in a later version from 1966-70 on “The Jackie Gleason Show.” MacRae was the last survivor from the ‘60s edition of the Gleason show. Jane Kean, who played Trixie Norton, died last fall. “My mother referred to herself as the last Mrs. Kramden,” said her daughter, actress Heather MacRae. “She had a great life, my mom, she really did. She was quite a broad,” Heather MacRae said. “Fascinating, almost like an Autie Mame character.” MacRae, who suffered from dementia

but was otherwise in good health, had been hospitalized for a minor surgical procedure. Her death came suddenly Thursday night, apparently the result of old age, said Heather MacRae. A singer, dancer and actress, MacRae was married to “Oklahoma!” and “Carousel” star Gordon MacRae for 26 years, and they appeared together in 1964 on “The Ed Sullivan Show” when the Beatles were featured.

She had put her career on hold while she devoted herself to MacRae and their four children, Heather MacRae said. After helping her husband with his nightclub act, she decided to join him and her career took off, her daughter said. The couple appeared together in musicals including “Guys and Dolls,” with Sheila MacRae taking her performance as Miss Adelaide to Broadway in 1965.

The couple divorced in 1967. Actress Shirley Jones, in a statement released by MacRae’s family, called Sheila MacRae “a great lady” with extraordinary talent who “helped me to be a better mother.” After her divorce from Gordon MacRae, she was married to Ronald Wayne, who produced Gleason’s show, her daughter said. They later divorced.

Sheila MacRae played the role of Madelyn Richmond on the soap opera “General Hospital” and was host of “The Sheila MacRae Show.” “She lived a good life and a long life,” Mullavey said. “We’ll miss her.” A native of London, England, Sheila MacRae emigrated to America with her parents during World War II. Survivors include children Heather and William “Gar” MacRae, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Daughter Meredith died in 2000 and son Robert in 2010, Heather MacRae said. Funeral services for her mother were pending, she said. — AP

This photo shows actress Sheila MacRae arriving at the 16th Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Los Angeles. — AP

Crufts Dog Show

A man sits with his komondor dogs.

A boxer looks on as its owner eats her lunch during the first day of the Crufts dog show in Birmingham central England. — AFP photos

Maltese dogs named America (left) and Raphael are ready for competition.

People and dogs arrive at the Crufts dog show.

A poodle named Ryder Cup awaits judging.

lifestyle

SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

Different brick factory workers are pictured in Rawalpidi, Pakistan. — AP photos

Another brick in the wall: Women

brick-makers in debt in Pakistan

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mna Bhatti has spent half a century shaping mud into bricks in a huge kiln south of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. She started by paying off her parents’ debt and now she’s on to her late husband’s.

She’ll probably spend the rest of her life here. Bhatti was 10 when she started working at the kiln to pay off her parents’ debt. Now, at 60, she is paying off the 250,000 rupees (approximately $2,500) in debt her husband left behind when he died 12 years ago. She has managed to cut 1,000 dollars off that original loan, but has taken more loans from her employer - so it is doubtful she will ever emerge from debt in her lifetime.

“We are poor, and we will always stay poor. When you enter this road the only way out of it is death,” Bhatti said, speaking next to the clay she was shaping into bricks. Tens of thousands of other poor Pakistanis work hard in brick kilns, agriculture fields and other hard labor across Pakistan in what is called “bonded labor” to pay off family loans often passed down

through generations. They often have no proper living facilities or basic amenities like running water or bathrooms. They generally make about 350 rupees a day (approximately $3.50) for their hard work.

There are no reliable statistics about the number of Pakistanis living and working as bonded laborers. But they can be found across the country working in agriculture, the carpet-making industry, brick kilns and other industries, according to the National Coalition Against Bonded Labor, a joint platform of different rights organizations. International Women’s Day was observed yesterday. This gallery of 14 images of Pakistani women working in brick factories demonstrates the difficult conditions under which many Pakistani women labor. — AP

Beat the crowd: MENA hotspots for tourists

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THE One’s Spring collection - A fashion frenzy!

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eco Divas rejoice! THE One’s Spring collection is now on show and it’s a full-on Fashion Frenzy. After dominating the catwalks, thanks to fashion luminaries like Marc Jacobs, Carolina Herrera and Celine, this season’s obsession with all things monochrome is now hitting our homes. In this sleek and stylish decor style from THE One, black and white gets a modern makeover with the addition of powder pink, chrome and black metal - thoroughly contemporary and tailormade for today’s tuned-in fashionista.

To put together this trendy ‘mad about mono’ living room look, dress up a feature wall in striking black and white magazine cover wallpaper - a fashion-forward backdrop for a clean-lined sofa in crisp white cotton-

linen, a graphic black metal bookcase and a fun zebra-print leather footstool. Now we all know that a mirror is a diva’s best friend, so don’t be shy. Prop an oversized pair against the wall to reflect your fabulousness and add a stunning mirrored coffee table just for good measure! Next, take a leaf out of Balmain’s Spring 2014 book and shine with shimmering silver in the form of a funky chrome ball pendant lamp. Complete the look with a velvet armchair in pretty powder pink, matching scatter cushions and a stack of your favourite fashion magazines. ‘Et voila’, your living room is bang up-to-date and runway ready!

ancy a holiday in Yemen? What about Libya? Iraq, perhaps? It’s a tough sell, but tour operators from locations considered among the world’s most dangerous have been trying to drum up interest at the world’s biggest travel fair, the ITB Berlin in the German capital. Their brochures offer tantalizing views of exotic souks, ancient ruins and breathtaking natural scenery, but curious visitors usually end up asking about the latest footage of violence and unrest they’ve seen on the television news.

“OK, you cannot visit all places in Yemen,” conceded Ibrahim Mohamed Al-Attab, deputy marketing manager of the Yemen Tourism Promotion Board. Tourists were generally not at risk in cities, but westerners should avoid crowds, he advised. AlAttab, like his counterparts from Iraq and Libya, tried to stress the cultural and natural attractions of his country, ravaged by conflicts in the past half century and well off the beaten track for most travelers.

“But you can visit the city of Sanaa, Socotra island and the famous ‘skyscraper city’ Shibam, so the most important sites in Yemen are secure,” he said, referring to the 16th century mudbrick towers of Shibam. Among Yemen’s visitors are nature buffs and scientists who go to Socotra island, home to unique plants and birds, and archaeologists interested in sites like Sanaa’s Old City, tourist board marketing officer Ahmed Y AlWashali said.

Most come from China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea: “Those governments don’t give such a high alert.” He said about a million tourists visited Yemen in 2013, including Arabs from nearby states. At Yemen’s stand, tour operators seated under photos of rugged mountains, exotic trees and a deserted beach handed out brochures showcasing their country’s cultural heritage.

Travel advice from countries like Britain and the United States warning citizens to avoid Yemen because of the risk of terrorism has hurt business, said Al-Attab. Yemen should persuade such governments to change their advice, he added. The impoverished Arabian Peninsula state is battling southern separatists, Al-Qaeda-linked militants and rebels from the Shiite Muslim Houthi movement. “We have to change the negative image to a really positive image of Arab generosity and hospitality,” Al-Attab said.

Libyan “daydream” Libya hopes photos of camels and Roman ruins will persuade visitors to forget about the lawlessness still gripping much of the country three years after Muammar Gaddafi was toppled. One brochure promoted Libya as a “daydream” of desert lakes surrounded by lush greenery and crystal-clear seawater lapping isolated, palm-fringed beaches. But officials acknowledged visitors were still put off by conflict between the militias who helped to overthrow Gaddafi and his allies.

“The number of tourists coming plummeted after the revolution as the security situation wasn’t clear and the government didn’t give out permits for tourists to visit because it wasn’t sure if they’d come back,” said Abdussamea Almahbob, undersecretary for tourism, through an interpreter. “Now it’s trying to make everything better,” he said.

Britain and the United States advise against travel to Libya.

A Briton and a New Zealander were killed in an execution-style shooting on a beach near Sabratha in January. Most visitors to Libya are archaeologists drawn by the Roman ruins or adventurers who take tours of sand dunes.

Abdurrazag Guerwash, head of Winzrik Group which offers tours to Tripoli and the oasis town of Ghadames, said the eastern city of Benghazi and southern Libya remained “very dangerous” but some pockets of the country were safe for holidays. “Leptis Magna, Sabratha and Ghadames are very safe, very nice and very controlled areas and there’s a lot of things to see,” he said, adding most clients were Spaniards or Italians. In 2013 he took 400 people on tours compared with up to 6,000 per month before the war. “We hope it gets better next year,” he said.

Iraqi shrines Iraqi travel firms and hotels were also seeking business with posters of Islamic shrines and marsh landscapes. While insisting the north of the country was safe for tourists, they found it hard to change people’s image of a country where nearly 8,000 civilians were killed in political violence in 2013. The United States warns against all but essential travel. Britain makes an exception for the Kurdistan region in the north.

“It’s difficult to persuade people to go as there is still a war going on - a civil war,” said Lora El-Jamal from the Iraqi travel firm Raihana Universal. “People are a bit scared even though they’d like to go when they see the brochures.” Iraq is home to some of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam, such as the Imam Ali mosque in Najaf and the Imam Hussein shrine in Kerbala and other sites around the country. Many mosques, both Shiite and Sunni, have been bombed in recent years. Much of the demand to visit Iraq comes from Muslims going on pilgrimages. — Reuters

Shakira opens charity school in Colombia shanty

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SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014

Two horse-drawn carriages are ridden on Central Park West in New York. —AFP

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any US cities have quintessential sights and sounds: San Francisco’s clanging cable cars, New Orleans and its raucous Mardi Gras, and Washington’s political mudslinging. New York has an abundance of them too, and the new mayor has ignited a firestorm by announcing plans to nix one that is a century old-the horse-drawn carriages in Central Park-calling them inhumane. In their place, if he gets his way, get ready to kick back in electric cars. “We are going to get rid of the horse carriages. Period,” Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio said in December, one month after being elected.

“We are going to quickly and aggressively move to make horse carriages no longer a part of the landscape in New York City. They are not humane. They are not appropriate to the year 2014. It’s over.” This month he hammered away further, calling his idea non-negotiable. He did however promise to discuss things with the people who make a living from this very Big Apple tourist attraction, which involves 220 horses, 170 drivers and 68 carriages. NYClass is

one of the groups pressing to get rid of the carriages. “New York is one of the most congested cities in the entire world. These horses are working in midtown traffic with their noses against the tail pipes,” said the group’s Chelsie Schadt.

“Horses don’t belong in traffic,” she added.

The group donated $1.3 million to the campaigns of de Blasio and other mayoral candidates opposed to this attraction-which has been immortalized in romantic fashion in many movies. “It is absolutely about defending animals,” said Schadt, adding that the carriages had been involved in around 20 accidents in recent years.

‘Not like people’ “Horses are not like people. They need daily turning out, time every day to behave like a horse, pasture-grazing and socializing with other horses,” she added. “They go from the confines of their stalls to the streets of New York City, back to their stalls.” So nerves are on edge at the stables housing the horses. Conor

McHugh, the husky manager of the Clinton Park Stables on 52nd Street, gladly opens up the facility, built in 1860, for a tour. On the ground floor are the carriages themselves, adorned with plastic flowers and American flags. In the basement, pedi-cabs are lined up.

And upstairs are the horses, 79 of them, each in its own stall measuring three meters (10 feet) by 2.4 meters.

McHugh shows off the water troughs, the hay, and the sprinkler system in case there is a fire. He explains that all the horses that take people for rides in Central Park must spend at least five weeks a year on a farm and cannot work more than nine hours a day, from the time they leave the stable until they get back.

Nor can they toil in temperatures above 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit) or below -7 degrees Celsius.

“People who are against our business keep insisting that our horses never see time on the farm, or never get to run in the fields and never get to be, according to them, a horse,” McHugh said. But “by law, they have to do all

of those things,” he added. Schadt counters that even if there are rules to protect the horses, “there is simply no way you can regulate that industry to make it truly humane.”

So NYClass wants to replace the carriages with electric-powered copies of early 20th century cars to offer that same “nostalgic feel”.

The horses would be retired to ‘sanctuaries’ and looked after by the people who drove the carriages, calling this a very fair alternative.

Happy horses The first prototype of the cars, at a cost of $450,000, could be ready in the spring. The project needs the approval of the city council but is not yet on the agenda. The carriages would be phased out and the electric cars phased in over a period of three years.

Carriage driver Christina Hansen, a member and spokeswoman for the Horse and Carriage Association of New York City, is livid.

“You have this weird combination of real estate and animal rights, where special interest groups got to spend a lot of time and mon-

he “holy grail of guitars” is among the hundreds of rare and vintage acoustic guitars going on the auction block in New York next month. California collector Hank Risan is offering some of his musical instruments for auction by Guernsey’s on April 2 and April 3. The 265 pieces from his collection are considered among the finest of vintage guitars to come to auction in terms of rarity, original construction and condition, the auction house says. A wide range of makers are represented, including Gibson, Gretsch, Washburn, Stromberg and D’Angelico.

The earliest instrument in Risan’s collection dates to 1840; the newest is a 2000 re-creation of a 1930 Martin masterpiece, an OM-45 Deluxe. Both the re-creation and

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the original will be in the auction. “The OM-45 Deluxe is the holy grail of guitars,” Guernsey’s President Arlan Ettinger said. Only 14 were ever made.

Among other highlights are a 1900 Manuel Ramirez Flamenco and a 1939 D’Angelico New Yorker. John D’Angelico was a guitar maker with a studio in Greenwich Village during the first half of the 20th century; his guitars have been described by some “as the Stradivarius of guitars,” Ettinger said. Pre-sale estimates of the instruments were still being worked out Friday.

Several previously celebrity-owned guitars also will be auctioned off: a 1941 Gibson SJ-200 played by Stephen Stills of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; a 1967 Gibson SJN

A 1936 Epiphone Emperor guitar is seen.

A 1893 Martin guitar in a “coffin” case is unveiled during a press preview in New York. —AP photos

ey on getting Bill de Blasio elected mayor because he promised to ban the carriage horses,” Hansen said. “On one hand, the animal rights people, they just think that anybody holding any animal for any reason is wrong,” she said, glancing at a carriage parked near the Plaza Hotel on the southeast end of Central Park.

“They just think it is wrong for them to work.” “The real estate people, our stables on the west side of Manhattan, are very valuable real estate, and we’re not going to sell so long as we have our horses.” Like McHugh, she is up for a fight. “We’re in it because of the horses,” Hansen said. “We are taking care of our horses.

They are healthy and happy.” If the project passes, she says, the carriage association will sue the city on grounds it is unconstitutional for the government to tell people what they can or cannot do for a living. “This is New York.

This is Central Park. It’s like getting rid of the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building.”

— AP

Country Western used by Mick Jagger on his 1987 album “Primitive Cool”; and a 1959 Gibson J-200 that Eric Clapton once owned. The sale also includes a handful of mandolins, including a late 1920s Style 2221 Regal Superior crafted from Brazilian Rosewood with inlaid pearl vine inserts.

“These are not simply handsome-looking, finely crafted objects. They are, first and foremost, musical instruments and were created to be played,” Risan, of Santa Cruz, is founder of the virtual Museum of Musical Instruments and CEO of Media Rights Technologies Inc. According to his website, his first guitar was a vintage Martin purchased when he was 16. —AP

A 1920’s Regal Superior Mandolin guitar is seen.