22 Apr 2012

CR IP TI ON BS SU

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

Trayvon killer gets bail, apologizes to family

Leaders urge investment for poor, new guidelines

40 PAGES

NO: 15426

150 FILS

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www.kuwaittimes.net

JAMADI ALTHANI 1, 1433 AH

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New purple crab species found in Philippines

Ronaldo strike helps Real past Barcelona

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Pension for foreign workers in Kuwait?

Expats hopeful after UAE moves to launch pension scheme

Max 33º Min 18º High Tide 00:46 & 12:03 Low Tide 05:59 & 18:41

By Chidi Emmanuel

Clashes cast pall over Bahrain F1 Protester killed MANAMA: Crowds of masked protesters hurled petrol bombs at police who fired tear gas back in Bahrain yesterday, turning the streets into a battle zone on the eve of a Formula One Grand Prix that demonstrators say glorifies a repressive government.

Protesters were driven by outrage over the death of one of their number, whose body was found sprawled on a village rooftop after overnight clashes with police. Around 7,000 marchers held banners calling for democratic reforms. Some banners depicted Formula One race car drivers as riot police beating up protesters.

Bahrain’s government has spent $40 million to host the global luxury sporting event, hoping to demonstrate that normal life has returned to the Gulf island kingdom after it cracked down harshly on Arab Spring demonstrations last year. But vivid televised images of streets ablaze threaten to embarrass Formula One and the global brands that lavish it with sponsorship. “The government are using the Formula One race to serve their PR campaign,” said rights activist Nabeel Rajab.

“It’s not turning out the way they wanted.”

Reuters journalists in Diraz near the capital Manama said police tried to move protesters off a roundabout by firing tear gas.

Continued on Page 13

MANAMA: Bahraini Shiites protest the killing of protester Salah Abbas Habib, 36, in Bilad al-Qadeem, a suburb of the capital on the eve of Bahrain’s Formula One Grand Prix yesterday. (Inset) In this image made from video, people in uniform stand next to a body found on the roof of a small structure in Shakhura yesterday. — AFP/AP (See Page 17)

KUWAIT: Before leaving Kuwait finally, Charlie Dag was wondering what life is going to look like in his home country Ivory Coast - having spent most of his working years in Kuwait. Without a permanent residence or any pension scheme, the future looked bleak as he navigated through the immigration counters at Kuwait airport on his way back home. “I am glad and sad at the same time. I am happy because I was able to train my two children up to university level - but sad because I spent all my youthful years here only to go home almost empty handed - no Kuwait permanent residence, no passport and no pension. In my country, there is neither a social security nor pension scheme for me and I can’t start looking for a new job at this age. Life is really going to be hard,” Dag, in his late fifties, said in dismay.

Most expatriates in the Gulf region share the same fate of Dag, but the UAE is now trying to reverse the trend with a landmark plan to create a pension scheme for foreign workers and to make the city a more attractive place to do business and live. The Gulf emirate is doing something to put a smile on the faces of the expatriates there. According to a recent report, the Department of Economic Development in Dubai (DED) has announced plans to launch a pension scheme for foreign workers by the end of this year. Sources close to DED said the pension fund will cover foreign workers in both public and private sectors.

The move is aimed at encouraging more expatriates to come to UAE for work as well as ensuring that those who are already present are willing to stay for a longer period of time. Another proposal under consideration is that of converting the end-of-service gratuity system Continued on Page 13

Chip lets phones see through walls, clothes

SANTA FE, New Mexico: Veterinarian Dr Jennifer Steketee holds Meow, a 2-yearold tabby, at the Santa Fe Animal Shelter on April 19, 2012. — AP

US fat cat weighs in at nearly 18 kg ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico: Meow can’t help but waddle. He’s one supersized cat. The 2-year-old orange and white tabby tips the scale at nearly 18 kg, and the Santa Fe Animal Shelter is on a mission to get the feline back into shape. Meow’s 87year-old owner could no longer take care of him, so the pet was turned over to a shelter in southeastern New Mexico that

called the Santa Fe shelter for help. “The thing with this cat is when you look at it, certainly it’s obese. You see that. But it’s a sweet looking cat. His face is very sweet.

It’s just incredibly fat,” shelter spokesman Ben Swan said Friday.

Meow has been placed with a foster family.

Continued on Page 13

SAN FRANCISCO: Researchers at a Texas university have designed a chip that could give smartphones the long-envied ability of comic book her Superman to see through walls, clothes or other objects. A team at University of Texas at Dallas tuned a small, inexpensive microchip to discern a “terahertz” band of the electromagnetic spectrum. The design works with chips made using Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor technology behind processors commonly found in personal computers, smartphones, televisions and videogame consoles. “CMOS is affordable and can be used to make lots of chips,” electrical engineering professor Kenneth O said in a statement Friday. “The combination of CMOS and terahertz means you could put this chip and a transmitter on the back of a cell phone, turning it into a device carried in your pocket that can see through objects.”

To assuage privacy worries, the professor and his team at the Texas Analogue Center of Excellence are limiting their study to what the chips can make visible at distances of 10 cm or less, according to the university. The terahertz band has wavelengths that fall between microwaves used for mobile phone signals and infrared that is employed for night vision goggles. The chip designed by O’s team detects terahertz waves and shows the resulting imagery, perhaps on a smartphone screen.

O’s team highlighted potential medical uses such as enabling doctors to peer easily into patients’ bodies and practical applications along the lines of finding studs in walls. “We’ve created approaches that open a previously untapped portion of the electromagnetic spectrum for consumer use,” O said. “There are all kinds of things you could be able to do that we just haven’t yet thought about.” — AFP

In Gaza zoo, stuffed animals join live ones KHAN YOUNIS: There is an afterlife for animals at the Khan Younis zoo in the impoverished Gaza Strip.

Animals who die in the dilapidated park return to be displayed as stuffed creatures, giving visitors the unusual zoo experience of petting a lion, tiger or crocodile. But because taxidermy in the largely isolated Palestinian territory is not advanced and expertise and materials are in short supply, the experience can be grim. Flies swarm around some of the 10 animals that have been embalmed so far. The makeshift cages housing the exhibits - fashioned from fencing salvaged from Jewish settlements that Israel dis-

mantled in 2005 - are littered with empty soda cans and other trash.

An emaciated-looking stuffed lion, its coat patchy and mangy, lies on an exhibit cobbled together from crates and shipping pallets. A monkey had missing limbs. A porcupine had a hole in its head. The zoo’s 65 live animals, which include ostriches, monkeys, turtles, deer, a llama, a lion and a tiger, don’t fare much better. During a recent visit, children poked chocolate, potato chips and bread through the wire.

There’s no zookeeper on the premises. Gaza has no government body KHAN YOUNIS: Palestinian zoo owner Mohammed Awaida that oversees zoos, and medical holds a mummified monkey at the Khan Younis zoo in Continued on Page 13 southern Gaza Strip on April 18, 2012. — AP

HOMS, Syria: Abdul Razzaq Tlas (left), leader of the opposition Katibat alFarouq, holds the hand of Moroccan UN observer Col Ahmed Himmiche as monitors visit this restive city yesterday. — AFP

UN agrees to send observers to Syria Monitors visit Homs DAMASCUS: The United Nations Security Council unanimously agreed in a vote yesterday to send 300 observers to Syria to monitor a shaky ceasefire as UN monitors visited the restive province of Homs.

The council’s 15 members endorsed Resolution 2043 authorising up to 300 unarmed military observers to go to Syria for an initial 90 days to monitor the truce and implementation of a six-point peace plan. A small advance team of monitors toured several districts of Homs city, including the neighbourhood of Baba Amr where hundreds of people were killed in a month-long bombardment by regime forces, monitors said.

“A team of international observers visited the province of Homs and met the governor,” the state-run news agency SANA reported. The US envoy to the United Nations Susan Rice, current president of the 15-member Security Council, said yesterday’s resolution was passed “unanimously”. According to its text the resolution calls on President Bashar AlAssad “to carry out promises on troop movements and heavy weapons”, in line with a six-point peace plan drawn by international envoy Kofi Annan. Syria

agreed to the plan which also called for the ceasefire that went into effect April 12.

But the new resolution also adds two new calls to complete the pullback of troops and weapons from population centres, where the previous resolution only spoke of beginning the withdrawal.

Yesterday’s resolution does not mention any threat of new sanctions against the Syrian regime but says the council will evaluate the situation and “consider further steps” if Damascus does not allow implementation of the observer mission.

The resolution says Syria must ensure “unhindered deployment” of mission personnel and give them “full, unimpeded freedom of movement and access” including ability to communicate freely and privately with individuals throughout Syria without retaliation against them. It also notes that the cessation of violence is “clearly incomplete” as reports from Syria continue to speak of casualties and violence.

Yesterday, the opposition Syrian National Council claimed that Homs neighbourhoods were being Continued on Page 13

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

local

KUWAIT: British Ambassador Frank Baker hosted a party at the embassy to celebrate the Queen’s birthday. It was attended by Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah, Information Minister Sheikh Mohammed Al-Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah and a number of dignitaries. —Photos by Joseph Shagra

Mentality surrounding eating disorders fuelling problem Purging, starving regarded as accelerated ‘diets’

By Lisa Conrad KUWAIT: “Eating disorders of all kinds are a huge problem in Kuwait, in both men and women and in adolescent boys and girls,” said Dr Vincenza Tiberia, Psychologist at Kuwait’s Al-Razi Clinic. She added, “Generally speaking, Kuwaiti society has yet to address a whole host of life style generated illnesses, of which eating disorders are a prime example. In the absence of a psychological mind-set, eating disorders may go unrecognized and be seen as normal or acceptable, fueling their prevalence even further.”

According to Tiberia, even when cases are noticed and acted upon, sufferers may face difficulty in receiving proper treatment. “Professional mismanagement, misdiagnosis and malpractice in the treatment of eating disorders are serious problems, as it will often deter people from seeking treatment in the future.”

She added, “There needs to be a holistic approach towards understanding eating disorders. Successful treatment requires a trio of Psychologist, Nutritionist and Medical Doctor, which is difficult to assemble and manage on an outpatient basis.”

The key to change, she noted, is awareness. “Professionals from various disciplines must work together to raise public awareness regarding the importance of lifestyle changes for the treatment and

prevention of physical and psychological disorders.”

“There is still the perception that illness is completely physical as opposed to mental, uncontrollable as opposed to something that involves the patient actively contributing to its continuation,” said a Ministry of Health insider, who asked to remain anonymous.

“Eating disorders are often perceived as a choice instead of a disease, which, in reality, they are,” the insider added. This, the insider noted, contributes to notion that eating disorders are not a ‘real’ problem but merely an accelerated form of dieting.

“Many soon-to-be-wed brides verge on starvation to get into their dresses. It’s not normal; this practice can continue for months prior to the wedding and becomes especially dangerous when it becomes a habit,” said 29-year-old fashion designer, Aya. “I’ve seen clients drop half their body weight through extreme measures in their attempts to be slim. Their hair, nails and skin suffer as a consequence, but all they’re concerned about is their dress size,” said Aya. She added, “It’s perceived as normal, as ‘preparation.’ Starving, the excessive use of laxatives and binging and purging are all accepted forms of weight loss and people don’t seem to be worried at all.”

21-year-old Kuwaiti student, Nisreen, saw the danger this mentality can have.

“Severe under eating is often seen as normal, and sometimes even encouraged,” she said. “I was friends with a pair of sisters, one of which appeared to be anorexic.

The other sister would rush off to the bathroom immediately after eating, returning with bloodshot eyes and ready to eat more. So I thought maybe she was bulimic.”

In fear for her friends, she confided in their mother, but was shocked with the response she received. “I told their Mom that I thought her daughters were suffering from eating disorders. She told me that it was ‘normal’ to desire thinness and that their approaches were common among young women.” Nisreen attempted to explain that severe under eating and purging after meals is not normal, but her warnings fell on deaf ears.

“Their mother became so annoyed and angry that I was suggesting something was wrong with her daughters. She told me that I was jealous because they would now get married before me with their slim figures. I was in total shock.”

Classing anorexia and bulimia as ‘diet techniques’ is extremely dangerous as both involve serious underlying issues, said Dr Tiberia. “There is often an underlying depression in anorexics. These depression symptoms manifest themselves in

extreme weight loss as a distorted means of taking control of their lives.”

She added, “Being anorexic allows them to feel that they’re in control of something which, in this case, is their food intake.”

Regarding bulimia, Tiberia revealed “Oftentimes depression will manifest as anger, which is true of bulimics who may be extremely angry and resistant to treatment. There’s a lot of pressure to be slim from society, so bulimia often goes undetected because there isn’t enough information or awareness.”

The lack of awareness makes detection difficult and, as a result, treatment can be severely delayed, “Oftentimes the only way to get an anorexic to agree to treatment is when self-starvation becomes very severe and they literally are close to dying. They’re often dragged in by relatives and, even then, they typically try to evade treatment and continue to lose weight.”

She added, “In severe cases, the patient must be hospitalized or enter a dedicated inpatient treatment facility, the likes of which does not exist here.” Bulimia is extremely difficult to detect, she added, because sufferers tend to be of average weight. Diagnosis, Dr Tiberia noted, can come unexpectedly. “Bulimics often end up rotting their teeth from the acid in their vomit from the constant purging. In such cases the dentist may be the one making the referral to a treatment professional.”

Kuwait minister in Doha for UNCTAD conference DOHA: Kuwait’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Anas AlSaleh arrived in the Qatari yesterday to take part in the 13th ministerial session of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIII). Al-Saleh was received upon arrival by the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Qatar, Ali Al-Haifi. Qatari Amir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani will inaugurate the six-day conference.

Conferees are scheduled to discuss various crucial issues namely; facilitating the flow of products from developing nations to global markets; Aiding less developed countries in trade; Combating poverty and narrowing technological gap among nations. According to experts, it will be an opportunity for strategists to examine ideas and plans for resolving global economic crises, gripping the world since 2007.

The experts, interviewed by Kuwait News Agency, believe that success of the broad gathering would be measured by the conferees’ ability to revive globalization, on bases of more justice and equality in the realm of development.— KUNA

News

in brief

KFAED funds project in Jordan AMMAN: Three Arab funds, including Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) have helped to finance a $191 million electricity project in Jordan, the Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Jaffar Hassan said yesterday. He said that the KFAED had contributed $42 million to fund the project, adding that the steam-powered plant was to produce 150 megawatt of electricity without resorting to gas or fuel, saving up to $50 million on annual basis. The project would increase the electrical capacity in Jordan to 880 megawatts and would cover the growth in demand for power by seven percent. KFAED has provided 25 loans, worth $533 million to Jordan since the fund’s inception in 1962.

Al-Rahma assists Syrian refugees BEIRUT: Up to 55 Syrian families that have taken refuge in Lebanon will be provided with funds to cover their expenses for a year, Kuwaiti Al-Rahma Society for Relief and Development said yesterday. The head of Kuwaiti AlRahma Society Bader Bo-Rhama said that refugees receiving treatment would also be checked upon by the society regularly. He called on Kuwaitis to continue to support their Syrian brethren. Kuwait’s leadership had recently donated $5 million to support the relief aid campaign for the Syrian people. Kuwaiti charitable societies are still providing aid for Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey.

Cancer Center hails Kuwait BEIRUT: Chairman of the Children Cancer Center of Lebanon Paul Edde has praised the unlimited support for Lebanon in various fields - particularly the assistance for the center that treats and cares for children suffering from the deadly diseases. Edde, in remarks to KUNA on occasion of the center 10th anniversary, expressed his deep gratitude to Kuwait, namely His Highness the Amir and the government of Kuwait. He also hailed individual Kuwaiti donors who have given contributions to the center that offers services free of charge for children suffering from deadly diseases. “The establishment of Abdullah House that cares for children of serious illnesses is a source of pride not only for Kuwait but to all nations in the region.”

The center, established in 2002, treats 80 cases per year.

Swimming Pool Complex to hold summer program KUWAIT: The TEC Swimming Pool Complex announced the commencement of its summer program. Various activities will be held throughout the season, in addition to regular swimming and training sessions.

“The complex’s management is currently preparing an entertainment program that includes various activities targeting visitors of all age groups, to be held daily,” said the facility’s supervisor Abdullah Al-Shaheen Abdullah Al-Shaheen, adding that ‘special events’ will be held on Saturday each week.

The complex, which contains multiple swimming and diving pools is open every day except Sunday. The period between 8 pm and 10 pm on Mondays and Wednesday will be exclusively reserved to hold men’s training classes.

The family pool is open every day from 9 am to 9 pm, with a an hour long intermission from 2 pm to 3 pm. Training classes for children take place from 1 pm to 2 pm on Friday and Saturday, while women’s training classes are held between 7:30 am and 8:30 am on Friday and Saturday.

Kuwait hosts surgical pathology conference KUWAIT: The fifth conference for medical laboratories and surgical pathology got underway here yesterday with participation of internationallyrenowned specialists.

Dr Omar Al-Sayed Omar, the assistant undersecretary for medical affairs and equipment, said in a statement, addressed on behalf of Minister that the ministry has been keen on encouraging such medical and scientific activities for experience swap.

This convention is the first of its kind in Kuwait and the whole Middle East, he said, noting that some eminent surgeons including a number of doctors from Toronto University, Canada, will be taking part in the event.

“It constitutes a precious opportunity for exchange of expertise in the realm of surgical pathology,” Dr Omar added.

Up to 28 seminars will be held within framework of the convention. — KUNA

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

LOCAL

Pay disparity drives citizens away from private sector Failure of ‘nationalization’ initiative KUWAIT: The Kuwaiti society has not been ridden of the prevailing mentality that productive work begets profit. Instead, it views the idea of being employed as a means to merely distribute national wealth. This has been cited as one of seven reasons why the government-driven ‘nationalization’ initiative, aimed to encourage citizens to take up jobs, has proven to be a failure.

The seven reasons are listed before a prelude to the draft law for the state budget 2012/2013.

In it, the Cabinet explains that the percentage of Kuwaiti workers in the private sector stands at 6.5 percent although the initiative to employ citi-

GENEVA: Kuwaiti inventor Adel Jumaa Abdine receiving the prize.

Kuwaiti inventor snatches silver medal at Geneva expo GENEVA: Kuwaiti inventor Adel Jumaa Abdine was yesterday declared winner of the silver medal at the prestigious International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva, the most important inventionsrelated event in the world.

Abdine won the silver medal for his invention of a unique system for emergency runway for civil and military aircraft which will help solve many problems which face air planes while landing.

“I dedicate this winning to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah for their support to me,” Abdine said.

Abdine said that his invention provides better communications between the control and rescue rooms in the airport and the plane crew.

It also allows rescue teams to operate fire-extinguish pumps on both sides of and

beneath plane pavements. The invention also includes a system for heating the pavements during cool times.

“This award encourages me to do all in power to help Kuwait become the first country in the world to use this system,” he said.

Abdine revealed that he has received two invitations to participate in Geneva civilian aircraft exhibition to be held next month and the military aircraft exhibition to be held here next year.

“I hope HH the Amir would sponsor my participation in the two exhibitions,” he said.

The 40th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva, the most important in the world, is a special event, with 46 countries, represented by 789 exhibitors who show 1,000 inventions.

The exhibition, which is held between April 18 and 22 in Hall 7 of Palexpo, attracts more than 60,000 visitors. — KUNA

100,000 residency violators in Kuwait KUWAIT: There are nearly 100,000 expatriates living in Kuwait without valid residency according to a news report published yesterday quoting official statistics.

The estimated statistics released by the M igration General Depar tment based on information from the database further indicated that Bangladeshis have the largest number of residency violators

with about 25,000, followed by 23,000 Indians. Ethiopia has the lowest number with about 1,500 violators. Furthermore, the statistics showed that Egypt has the largest number among Arab communities with 9,000 violators, followed by the 4,000 Syrians. Sri Lankan violators are 16,000; 9,100 Indonesians, and Filipinos are 7,300.

NBK offers chance to win one year’s salary KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) launched its new ‘Transfer Your Salary and Win’ campaign. The promotion allows any customer who sets up a salary account a chance to enter a monthly draw to win a year’s salary. One winner will be selected each month.

New NBK account holders who began transferring their salary to NBK starting in February will be entered into the monthly draw which runs from June till December 2012. “We will be rewarding NBK’s salary account clients very generously. Each month, a lucky account holder will win a full year’s salary. We invite new customers to open accounts now for a chance to win a whole year ’s salary,” said Mohammed Khaled Al-Othman, NBK Executive Manager, Consumer Banking Group. “ The great success of our previous ‘ Transfer Your Salary ’ campaigns has encouraged us to establish an even more fabulous offer for our salary account holders. The new contest is very unique and is totally different from other offers in the market,” Al-Othman added.

Entry into the monthly draws is simple, convenient and automatic. No forms or coupons are required. Just transfer your

Mohammed Al-Othman salary to NBK and once you are an account holder you will get automatic enrolment into the seven monthly draws. NBK pioneered many firsts in both the local and regional markets by offering innovative products and value added services.

Fire breaks out in Farwaniya

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: Two Egyptians and a citizen suffered from smoke inhalation after a fire broke out in a Farwaniya building.

They were administered first aid on the site.

Street fights A 14-year-old Egyptian was admitted to Adan Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit(ICU) after being stabbed in his abdomen during a fight that took place in Fintas.

A 27-year-old Indian suffered a case of arterial bleeding to his left arm after being cut by a glass during a fight that took place in Salmiya. He was admitted to Mubarak Hospital.

Road mishap Two Bangladeshis fell from a

Municipality truck and suffered bruises to arms and knees in Qadisiya. One refused to be hospitalized, while the other was admitted to Amiri Hospital.

Man falls into elevator pit A 53-year-old bedoon sustained multiple fractures after falling into an elevator pit in a building under construction in Saad Al-Abdallah. He was admitted to Jahra Hospital.

Drunk arrested A 50-year-old citizen who was found in an inebriated condition after his car met with an accident near Sabah AlSalem, was arrested by police.

Dead body found A 27-year-old Indian’s body was found in Riqqae. It was removed for an autopsy by the coroner.

zens in private firms was enforced in 2002.

The Cabinet also states that citizens believe that the government is responsible for creating job opportunities for Kuwaitis, and that there is no obligation on the part of private firms to hire them. Furthermore, the Cabinet mentions that the educational qualifications of graduates churned out from universities do no match with the labor market’s needs.

This has created high unemployment rates despite the fact that thousands of vacancies are present in the private sector. Moreover, the Cabinet identified that large number of candidates who have registered their names with Civil

Service Commission(CSC), refuse to work in the private sector, especially candidates without university qualifications like housewives. The Cabinet also attributes the failure to the fact that the public sector attracts highly qualified Kuwaiti workers including doctors, engineers and university professors.

The Cabinet did not leave out the fact that the gap between salaries paid in the public sector when compared to private sector, remains the decisive factor in citizens being driven away from private firms. It notes that many unemployed citizens are female (with no qualifications) or senior citizens.

Jazeera Airways launches Kuwait-Najaf flights NAJAF: Award winning Jazeera Airways Group yesterday launched non-stop flights between Kuwait and the Iraqi city of Najaf with a frequency of two flights a week, making it the first airline to introduce scheduled passenger flights between Kuwait and an Iraqi city in over 22 years.

The new route was a result of the successful bilateral discussions between the governments of Kuwait and Iraq over the last few months, particularly the official visit by HH the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah to the Arab Summit in Baghdad earlier this month, and an official visit by the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki to Kuwait last month.

To commemorate the launch, the airline held a reception at Najaf Al-Ashraf International Airport that was attended by the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Iraq Ali Al-Moumen, the Iraqi Ambassador to Kuwait Mohammad Bahr AlUlum, senior members from Kuwait’s Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGCA), Jazeera Airways Chairman Marwan Boodai, and press from Kuwait and Iraq.

Jazeera Airways Group Chairman Marwan Boodai said: “The launch of flights to Najaf is

NAJAF: Officials addressing the press conference. both a milestone for Jazeera Airways and an class routes across the Middle East including important development for the transport sector Dubai, Beirut, Alexandria, Sharm El Sheikh, between the two countries. We thank the Jeddah, Bahrain, and other high-demand destiKuwaiti Government and Kuwait’s DGCA for nations. Jazeera Airways operates one of the their support over the last few months, and we youngest Airbus A320 fleets in the Middle East thank our Iraqi partners for being gracious and the company was recently granted IOSA certification for operation and safety excellence hosts.”

The airline operates business and economy by IATA.

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SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

LOCAL in my view

Local Spotlight

Moderation is key to peaceful living

Democracy ladder

Muna Al-Fuzai

By Labeed Abdal

muna@kuwaittimes.net he case of 33-year-old Norwegian rampage suspect, who claimed in his late trial session that he acted in self defense after allegedly massacring 77, including Muslims and others, should be studied to find the origin and causes that spread hate crimes.

Anders Behring Breivik, is just another example of extremist, who mixes his opposition to government rules and the beliefs of the other parties that are based on moderate grounds. Norway used to welcome immigrants from any country , professing any religion in a society in which they live together .

There is a huge shift in the general social behavior where the open internet and the high pressure of global financial crisis are driving individuals to receive attention. Also, we cannot forget the fact that different types of weapons are widely available.

Sociopaths can easily view footages of scenes of carnage, bombing and shooting easily with the simple click of a button. Channels for expressing dissent in a civilized manner exist everywhere in the world, especially in democratic countries.

If Brevik is a member in an extremist party , then he or his colleagues must get back on track by venting out their feelings through existing legal recourse as laid down by the democratic setup of that country, instead of resorting to mass murder or bombing the innocent.

That incident reminds me of the militants in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. It was important for them to represent themselves legitimately after drafting the Constitution. The new government was obliged to introduce real programs and reforms aimed at all communities to prevent violence.

In north and south Sudan , the two ruling regimes need to do the same, where after announcing Juba as the new capital of south Sudan, they briefly adopted the road map to peace , and abandoned it in favor of war.

Border disputes , which overshadow the need to manage wealth and eliminate poverty, just shows that governments of impoverished countries are inviting more bloodshed by getting into a never-ending dispute based on religious hatred and unfair wealth distribution. There should be a global move toward promoting peaceful co-existence, tolerance and working together to uproot extremism and authoritarian rule.

Democracy must be supported as an alternative for a better living and avoid those who only knew violence and torture.

No doubt, youngsters in Europe, Asia, Africa and elsewhere must be the focus and they must be guaranteed rights to expression to create better future opportunities, regular education and jobs to avoid creating more Anders Breivik clones.

T

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kuwait digest

We lie to ourselves

By Dr Sulaiman Al-Khadhari n Hadith studies [a branch in Islamic studies perti- tutions that run our dear country are utter failures. nent with sayings and acts, otherwise referred to as These not only lack vision that organizes work, but ‘Sunna,’ of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)] It is a have also become a breeding ground for corruption category of hadith known as ‘Mutawatir’ or successive and an arena for people to settle their differences. narration. Conveyed by numerous narrators, they This has become a common fact, in a similar fashion have not agreed upon an untruth that is accepted to the ‘Mutawatir’ hadith. If you don’t believe me, then visit any diwaniya in Kuwait to see that most, if and is unquestionable in its veracity. not all citizens agree In our local culture, with this fact. If you we have a saying that happen to find goes “we are all children I realize that some people will not like someone who actuof a small village, and we what I’m saying, but I’m also aware of the ally disagrees, othknow his brother very ers will probably well.” It is used to refer to reality that the institutions that run our look at him with a a situation where no dear country are utter failures. These not derisive smile on matter how much we try only lack vision that organizes work, but their faces and say: to deny an issue, we “we all are children know the truth behind it have also become a breeding ground for of a small village, in reality. You probably corruption and an arena for people to setand ever yone are confused now about knows his brother the reason behind this tle their differences. This has become a very well.” The main seemingly incoherent common fact, in a similar fashion to the problem in this introduction. Well, it’s ‘Mutawatir’ hadith. If you don’t believe country is that we not as incoherent as it are lying to ourseems. If we see the realme, then visit any diwaniya in Kuwait to selves and we know ity around us, we find see that most, if not all citizens agree with that we are. We lie that Kuwaitis have been when we criticize a living in a big lie. The this fact. situation we helped sad truth however is, create and continue barring a few exceptions, that Kuwait has a basic framework placed to to contribute to its existence. We also lie when we talk about our wiliness to change, only to put our ‘visions distribute its’ enormous wealth granted by God. I realize that some people will not like what I’m of reform’ aside take to corruption whenever we have saying, but I’m also aware of the reality that the insti- the chance. — Al-Rai

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in my view

Ceasefire trembles

in my view

We don’t want more chicken

By Thaar Al-Rashidi don’t doubt the intention of some who suggested that free food be supplied to citizens for a period of four years. They opined that trade surpluses be converted into chicken, rice, milk and sugar. What a marvelous initiative! Only if ground realities were right! The Kuwaiti public has not previously demanded that surplus money be turned into free meals. It is not a priority and never was.

I don’t remember any Kuwaiti making such demands since 1941, the year when the first ration card was issued. During the Second World War, food was distributed depending on a household’s number of family members because there was a food shortage. We need solutions, not more chicken. We want surplus money to be used to build new hospitals in all governorates, and respectable schools for our children. We ought to solve our environment problems and to relocate factories situated in Umm Al-Haiman.

We want universities to be built within two years and not 14 years. The case of Al-Shadadiya University is a prime example. Its budget has evaporated even before the foundation was laid. We want theaters and industrial cities.

We want to use the surplus to develop the country, and not to fill people’s stomachs. It is not logical to demand that the surplus be converted into chicken when it can be used change our lives and that of future generations. Necessary legislations should be passed to curb spending and hold the government accountable. This is so that we can keep tabs on how the money is spent. Please, we don’t want more chicken. We would prefer that you use the surplus money to write off loan interests, a much suggestion than free food supply for four years.

Note: The trade surplus expected in the next four years is KD 60 billion and it is enough to buy 60 billion chicken, which will be distributed free of charge during the next four years, as per the new suggestion. Do you think people are ‘foxes’ that want to feast on chicken? People are dying to see their country develop in health, education, environment sectors. — Al-Anba

I

think Kuwaiti democracy is under threat from those who only understand it partially. So-called politicians run for elections without having any conviction in it. They only staunchly believe in acquiring power and position.

In fact, several statements made by some new MPs were criticized and condemned by the public owing to their detrimental effect on Kuwait. They made a call against churches that have been quietly conducting worship without threatening the country’s way of life.

I really wonder what their concept about democracy is like. It is about accepting others’ choices and freedom of belief. Another MP wants all bedoons out of this country, treating them as aliens. By the way, there are many other countries that have illegal residents like Kuwait. They may not call them ‘bedoon,’ but that is what they are!

Some bedoons fought wars for Kuwait and the government knows that very well. So they will never be forced to leave this country. So why can’t the government take proper steps to legalize their stay out of humanitarian consideration. Another MP warned his colleagues against attempting to ‘perform favors’ for a select few through their office staff. This is an unavoidable situation because for if any constituent falls needs help and cannot reach the concerned minister, he or she will have to seek help from his representative in the National Assembly .

Those are a examples of how politicians climb up the ladder of democracy but fail to act in favor of their constituents once they are at the top! They use the power vested in them by the people to propagate their own ideas.

I think that public awareness is limited in all Arab countries. This is because the Arabs are not introduced to the concept of free thought and ideas since young age in schools. Therefore, they are conditioned to accept what is common and familiar.

We are great consumers - from commercial items to political practices. That is the reason why most MPs remain in their position and get re-elected; not because of their magnificent performance. In my opinion, the recent elections held in Kuwait was not able to make a positive change because we are not capable of accepting it. We end up resorting to the extremes in both ways.

Women can collectively unite and exercise great influence. Their choice of candidate in the third district was hugely influenced by emotions. This is the reason why I think there should be political parties to reshape public thinking in politics , thereby changing our perception of how to vote for the right candidate.

By Hassan Barari n what seems as a last-ditch attempt to avert fearful then the political process starts is an illusion. More than scenarios in Syria, the United Nations Security Council anyone else, the regime realizes that a political dialogue adopted Annan’s six-point plan including sending mon- with the opposition and elections will create political pluitors to oversee the cease-fire, which went into effect on ralism in the country when the regime’s interest is to dominate politics and to have undisputed status in the country.

April 12.

As long as the interBut it was clear from national community is the get-go that the inactive, Assad will concease -fire had a little The American administration is about tinue his policy of crackchance to hold and to introduce some key changes to its curing down on his oppotherefore the UN mission nents. On the other in Syria may be cut short rent Syria policy. Short of an American hand, the international due to the resumption of assertive action, the rest of the countries community is reluctant violence. “Should the viowould not take their hands out of the to declare that the lence persist and the cease -fire has failed cease-fire, or cessation of pockets and join the fray. Analysts and because this will entail violence more aptly, not pundits are watching the American new further steps that a few hold, that ... will call into are ready to take. question the wisdom and move as Clinton said that Syria was at a The irony is that the viability of sending in crucial turning point.

The American delewhile the cease-fire is the full monitoring presgation in the Paris conference is expected not holding, those who ence,” said Susan Rice. have been bearing the The Syrian troops to leave a clearer imprint as to what brunt of Assad’s crackshelled Homs for several should be done in Syria. down believe that days in a row thus killing Annan’s plan holds the more Syrians.

Additionally, the humanitarian situation is deteriorating best chance for them to improve their lives. The failure of according to the UN human rights team. If matters contin- the cease-fire coupled with the continuation of the interue in this direction, soon the international community will national community’s inaction would degenerate Syria into a civil war and the transformation of Syria into a batface a tough question: What’s the next step?

So far, the Syrian regime has been buying time hoping tleground for proxy war.

The American administration is about to introduce to crush the revolution before the international community develops plans for a showdown with a regime that has some key changes to its current Syria policy. Short of an reached the point of no return. When Assad accepted a American assertive action, the rest of the countries would similar mission of the Arab League, his troops never not take their hands out of the pockets and join the fray. stopped pounding cities and killing people in cold blood. Analysts and pundits are watching the American new There is no single reason for Assad not to repeat the same move as Clinton said that Syria was at a crucial turning point. The American delegation in the Paris conference is tactics again and again.

Assad is unlikely to comply with the terms of the inter- expected to leave a clearer imprint as to what should be nationally backed cease-fire. Some 14 ministers of foreign done in Syria. But the American dilemma is still the same: affairs are meeting in Paris to send a tough message to How to show some teeth while avoid repeating the Iraqi Assad who is being accused of torpedoing the cease-fire. scenario. For the international community to succeed in Now the truce is nothing but a fiction and soon the inter- Syrian there is a need for a game changer. While sanctions national community will realize that all international steps are necessary to press hard the regime, they are not enough to compel the regime to fully cooperate with played into the hand of Assad!

It is hard to avoid the feeling that the international Annan’s plan. It is true that oil embargo and sanctions on community is in self-denial. So far, a few leaders are frank the Central Bank hurts the regime’s ability to maneuver and honest in facing the reality that Assad is not expected internally. Yet, the regime can always rely on Tehran in to budge. The time is fast approaching for the internation- such difficult time. Therefore, the Paris conference, which al community to either put up or shut up. If the Syrian aims to coordinate and enhance existing sanctions, will regime gets away with all brutal atrocities against the peo- not make the difference as Assad is adamant to keep fightple, soon the world will have only one player in Syria: The ing and using the procrastinating tactics to finish off the regime! Therefore, waiting for a cease-fire to work and revolution.

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kuwait digest

The river of life

By Iqbal Al-Ahmad Sunni goal scored with a Shiite’s assistance’ was the title of a column I wrote in 2008. It received the most number of responses. It was inspired by a reply received from a previous column in which a reader said that “Kuwait was a pioneer in sports when Faisal Al-Dakheel, a Sunni, scored a goal in the 1982 World Cup with the help of his Shiite teammate, Abdullah Al-Blushi.”

A few days ago, Kuwait lost a good son who protected its national football team’s net for years. Before his death, Sameer Saied remained in a critical condition for days and needed blood transfusion due to the severe bleeding he suffered in a car accident. Once this news broke out, people from all over Kuwait rushed to the Blood Bank to donate blood. They did so in order to save the life of a man disregarding his origin and religious belief. Blood received from Sunni, Shiite, Bedouin and urban citizens mixed in Saied’s veins before he passed away.

Kuwait needs to be saved, and that can only be achieved if it begins to accept each other as Kuwaitis. We can recapture our leading position in politics, economy, sports, literature, theater and music, simply by becoming Kuwaitis.

When the needle was injected into Saied’s veins, the donator’s identity, tribal origin and religious belief were not taken into consideration.

Donators from all segments of Kuwaiti society rushed to help a human being they highly admired. Today, they know such a mixture is necessary to maintain the foundations of Kuwaiti society.

Sameer Saied passed away, but only after his veins were pumped by multicultural Kuwaiti blood. People may die but Kuwait lives on forever thanks to the solidarity of its people. The variations present in Kuwaiti society can come together to form a river from which all the thirsty can drink, and all roots of life on this land can be watered. A river cannot choose the type of tree or living being to which it can reach. — Al-Qabas

‘A

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

local

Opposition MPs struggling to find a common ground Support for Al-Shamali grilling KUWAIT: The opposition lawmakers in the parliament are reportedly struggling to find common ground to push legislative issues including anti-corruption laws.

“The slow process of legislation combined with grilling of Minister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shamali are hindering the lawmakers’ ability to make achievements”, said a parliamentary insider.

He said that the problem will likely be a main topic of discussion during a ‘majority bloc’ meeting today at the diwaniya of MP Shaya Al-Shaya.

“The bloc members are likely going to support AlShamali’s grilling”, said the source. It is believed that a

leading opposition MP Musallam Al-Barrak will file the grilling jointly with MPs Abdurrahman Al-Anjari, Khalid AlTahous, Obaid Al-Wasmi and Falah Al-Sawagh.

Meanwhile, the source added that the bloc members will review a list containing 28 legislative issues to be given priority in the parliament, with recommendations expected to focus on anti-corruption in May sessions.

According to one bloc member, the ‘majority bloc’ has agreed on the need to quiz Al-Shamali and even force him out of office with a no-confidence vote.

“The Ministry of Finance’s file is packed with corruption and leaves little room for anyone to support the minister”,

said MP Adel Al-Damkhi. “Bloc members aren’t disagreeing on the grilling itself, but the timing in which it should be filed”.

In another development, measures are being taken at the Civil Service Commission(CSC) to send Ali Al-Fouzan, Director General of the Public Authority for Housing and Welfare(PAHW) into retirement, based on an official memo issued by Shuaib Al-Muwaizri, Minister of State for Housing and National Assembly Affairs. The CSC is expected to refer a memo to the Cabinet for approval today.

Meanwhile, Al-Muwaizri will prepare a list of candidates who will replace Al-Fouzan.

News

in brief

5 road projects KUWAIT: Official sources at ministry of public works said that the ministry will open for tender 5 road projects next week. The projects include; AlNuwaiseeb road project, 5th Ring Road, 7th Ring Road in addition to other projects. Sources said that there will be bridges, entrance and exits and crossings in those five projects. The costs of those projects amount to KD 120 million which covers all work necessary for those projects.

Al-Fao Port construction KUWAIT: Diplomatic sources have described the construction of Al-Fao Port as an encouraging step adding that it will help to rebuild Iraq. Al-Fao Port will complement Mubarak Port and will encourage transport movement in the area, the sources said. The matter remains an Iraqi internal affair and they have the right to build a port on their land.

Lulu Hypermarket launches food festival KUWAIT: Lulu Hypermarket, the largest retail and lifestyle shopping destination in Kuwait, launched their Food Festival 2012 on Wednesday. Preeti Mehta, the wife of the Indian ambassador to Kuwait, inaugurated the highly anticipated annual food festival promotion at the hypermarket’s Al Rai Branch, by cutting the tallest cake baked in the country. A large gathering of shoppers, well-wishers and the hypermarket’s management were present at the inauguration ceremony.

The food festival, which will run simultaneously at the hypermarket’s Al Rai and Al Qurain outlets till May 5, promises 18 days of attractive promotions, exciting competitions and celebration of great foods from around the

globe. Special cookery contests will be conducted on the following six days, April 22, 23, 24, 29, 30 and May 1 at the Al Rai branch. Other offers and promotions will be advertised through various media during the duration of the festival. Adding to the excitement of the food festival will be the baking of a 50-meter long pizza, in association with Pizza Inn, at the Al Qurain branch of Lulu Hypermarket.

In addition, this year’s food festival will also witness the participation of award-winning chefs, Amrish Sood and Ankur Chakroborty, from Zafran, the quintessential contemporary Indian dining experience. The chefs, along with Zafran’s master-chef, Mohit Dhingra, famous for his cook-

ing schools in Kuwait, will be demonstrating the culinary secrets of and displaying their amazing ability to create unique dishes by combining different food items. Chef Dhingra will also be on the panel of judges at the cooking competition that will take place during the food festival.

On April 25 and 26, renowned Chef Noushad from Kerala will be demonstrating his culinary magic during special live cooking shows at the Al Rai branch of Lulu Hypermarket. More than 600 unique products will be on display during this year’s food festival. Besides displaying niche food products and seasonal food produce from several countries, the Lulu Food Festival is also an annual celebration of the rich cultural, social and culinary diversity

worldwide. The food festival is part of Lulu Hypermarket’s initiative to continuously bring the best of the world to their customers through providing the right products in the right place at the right time. Catering to over 420,000 customers every day across the region, the Lulu Hypermarket chain has grown to become the shopping center of choice among discerning customers looking for quality retailing. This popularity is attested by the fact that the brand enjoys close to 35 percent of the total retail market share in the GCC. With a clear focus on consolidating its retail dominance in the region, the Lulu Hypermarkets chain is rapidly expanding in both existing as well as new markets around the Gulf region.

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SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

LOCAL

Landmine detonated in Failaka island Two held for jailbreak KUWAIT: Bomb disposal units detonated a landmine found on Friday in Failaka Island.

Coastguards rushed to a location following a report about a strange object found half buried in the sand. Officers called bomb squads after identifying the object to be an explosive. The landmine was successfully detonated.

Investigations indicated that the landmine was a remnant from the 1990/91 Iraqi Invasion.

Technicians shot Search is currently underway for two suspects who shot some technicians for no apparent reason. The victims were carrying out maintenance on a light post in Firdous when the suspects reportedly approached them, then fired a number of shots at them and then escaped. The technicians headed to the hospital after the incident and obtained medical reports showing back and leg injuries.

Firdous jailbreak Two brothers were arrested on

Friday for assisting two prisoners to escape from Firdous police station. The suspects further admitted during investigations that they smuggled a tool and helped the prisoners to break free from the jail. The prisoners, a Kuwaiti man and a bedoon, escaped on Thursday through an opening near the cell’s window. The Kuwaiti prisoner, who was held over assault charges, escaped in a car that was waiting outside, while his cellmate, who was detained for arson ran into the populated area.

Police were able to re-arrest the Kuwaiti prisoner and his accomplices ten hours later at a house in Qurain. During investigations, the two brothers also admitted that they smuggled the jack used in the jailbreak. Search is still ongoing for the bedoon fugitive.

Woman jailed A woman has been arrested after she gave birth to a baby. The Ethiopian housemaid arrived at the Sulaibiya polyclinic on Thursday and complained of severe abdominal pain. Medical

staff later notified the woman’s employer that she was in labor.

She was taken to the Maternity Hospital where she had a successful delivery. The employer, a military man, headed to the area’s police station afterwards and pressed adultery charges against the housemaid. The woman was reportedly taken in police’s custody after being discharged from the hospital.

Accountant flees A real estate company owner reported at the Salhiya police station on Thursday that KD20,000 has been stolen from the company’s safe. He filed charges against one of his accountants he said had disappeared simultaneously with the discovery of the theft.

Investigations soon revealed that the suspect left the country shortly after the theft. The case was referred to local Interpol officials for further action.

Trainee assaulted A Police Academy trainee has filed charges against two officers

he accused of breaking his arm.

The man was transferred to Razi Hospital after he complained of lingering pain in his arm following a training session in which he was subjected to physical assault by the two policemen. After he was diagnosed with a fractured arm, the man and his father, who also works as a police officer reported the matter to Shuwaikh police station and filed a case. The accused have been summoned for questioning.

Suicide attempt A domestic worker attempted suicide on Friday after receiving news from home about her brother’s death. The victim, an Asian woman, was found unconscious inside her room in a house in Riggae. She was rushed to Adan Hospital where medical staff confirmed that she took an overdose of medications. After her condition was stabilized, the woman told officers that she attempted suicide after receiving bad news from home. A case was filed at the area’s police station.

ABK participates in Fireman’s Day fest

KUWAIT: On the occasion of International Annual Fireman’s Day, Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait participated in “The 10th Fireman’s Day” festival that was organized by Kuwait’s Fire Department at the Marina Crescent. ABK’s public relations team attended the event and at the end distributed tokens of appreciation to the firemen, their families and the attending well wishers.

Speaking to media Sahar Al-Therban, public relations manager at ABK, stated that ABK’s participation in “The 10th

Fireman’s Day” festival is to express deep gratitude and appreciation for the firemen’s efforts in exposing themselves to grave danger while protecting the lives of others.” She added “They are truly the brave ones, and at ABK we are always keen to walk beside those going the extra long mile for the betterment and in this case, safety of society. This also falls under our ongoing CSR campaign “Our Society, Our Responsibility” reaffirming our role of a partner and support to society and its progress.”

Kuwait, Brazil discuss ties BRASILIA: Ambassador Ahmad Abdulsamad pictured with Ambassador Carlos Elvira yesterday.

BRASILIA: Kuwait Ambassador to Brazil Ahmad Abdulsamad has held talks with Brazilian officials on issues of common interest namely prospects of holding a meeting of the joint commission in a bid to bolster economic ties. Abdulsamad discussed these topics during a meeting with the director of the Middle East of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Carlos Elvira.

The diplomat expressed satisfaction at current level of coordination between the Kuwaiti diplo-

matic mission with Brazilian officials.

Among the issues that were discussed was prospec t of holding a meeting of the joint Kuwaiti-Brazilian Committee very soon.

They emphasized on the necessity of holding such a meeting, during this year, in the Brazilian capital, considering that such activities would help in boosting the bilateral relations between the two countries—particularly in the economic and commercial sectors.

The ambassador and his Brazilian counterparts discussed issues regarding Kuwait’s nomination for membership in the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), during polls, due to be held during the UN General Assembly’s 67th session, as well as re -nomination of Brazil for membership in the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, during election at the international organization, scheduled in June. —KUNA

Shaab Sea Club hosts event for members

KUWAIT: The Shaab Sea Club organized a fun-filled program over the weekend for club members, featuring various activities and competitions including an under-16 football tournament in which eight teams participated. An open day was also held in which visitors took part. A barbeque competition was held, in addition to other competitions and interactive activities. The event is held as part of annual activities organized by the Touristic Enterprises Company.

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

New Brotherhood candidate pitched in to Egypt race Page 8

Weeping relatives want Pakistan crash answers Page 11

Zimmerman sorry for killing Trayvon Judge sets $150,000 bail for shooter SANFORD: A routine bail hearing for a man suspected of killing a black teenager took a surprising turn into remorse and explanation when the neighbourhood watch volunteer got on the witness stand and told the victim’s parents: “I am sorry for the loss of your son.” “I did not know how old he was. I thought he was a little bit younger than I am. I did not know if he was armed or not,” George Zimmerman said Friday, marking the first time he has spoken publicly about the Feb. 26 shooting in a Florida gated community of the unarmed black 17-yearold, Trayvon Martin.

The case has become a national sensation because police waited some 44 days before detaining the watch volunteer. Zimmerman has maintained he shot Martin in self-defence after he says the teen attacked him. Civil rights leaders said if the black teenager had been white, Zimmerman would have been arrested and charged the night of the shooting. Zimmerman’s father is white, and his mother is Hispanic of Peruvian descent.

The judge ruled that Zimmerman can be released on $150,000 bail while he awaits trial. He is pleading not guilty and claims self-defence. In taking the stand, Zimmerman opened himself up to questions from prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda, who grilled him on whether he made an apology to police on the night of the shooting, and why he waited so long to express remorse to Martin’s parents. Zimmerman said he told police he felt sorry for the parents. He also said he didn’t say anything to them sooner

because his former attorneys told him not to.

The parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, had no comment as they left the courtroom. Their attorneys spurned the apology. “This was the most disingenu-

his son’s injuries the morning af ter Martin was shot, saying he had a cut and swollen lip, a protective cover over his nose and gashes on the back of his head.

Zimmerman’s mother, Gladys, said her son worked with two black children as

experts say. Dale Gilbreath testified that he does not know whether Martin or Zimmerman threw the first punch and that there is no evidence to disprove Zimmerman’s contention he was walking back to his vehicle when confronted by

This photo combo shows photos of George Zimmerman that have been released since he shot and killed 17-year-old Trayon Martin on Feb. 26. — AP

ous and unfair thing I’ve seen,” said attorney Natalie Jackson. “This was the most unmeaningful apology.” As part of the bail hearing, Zimmerman’s family testified that he wouldn’t flee if released and would be no threat to the community.

“He is absolutely not a violent person,” said his wife, Shellie Zimmerman.

Zimmerman’s father, Rober t Zimmerman, said that even when confronted, his son was likely to “turn the other cheek.” The father also described

par t of a mentoring program that required him to venture into a dangerous neighborhood. “He said, ‘Mom, if I don’t go, they don’t have nobody,’” she recalled.

His apology came after Zimmerman’s defense attorney, Mark O’Mara, questioned an investigator for the special prosecutor, showing some of the weaknesses in prosecutors’ claims that the neighbourhood watch volunteer committed second-degree murder, legal

Mar tin. But Gilbreath also said Zimmerman’s claim that Mar tin was slamming his head against the sidewalk just before he shot the teenager was “not consistent with the evidence we found.”

He gave no details.

Legal observers said the questioning of Gilbreath was strategically smart for O’Mara since the investigator’s statements can be used at a later date to either contradict other testimony or be used to decide how to question other

witnesses. “I thought it was a really great thing to do,” said Tom Mesereau, a Los Angeles attorney whose clients have included singer Michael Jackson and actor Robert Blake. “He used the hearing to get information that can only help his defense. What was supposed to be strictly a hearing for bail, he used it as a discovery device, and was able to nail the investigator into mak ing ver y, ver y pointed statements about the investigation and about what evidence they have.”

The questioning exposed some of the weak nesses in the state’s case, said Kendall Coffey, a former U.S. Attorney in Miami who is now in private practice.

“There are many miles left in this case but I think O’Mara helped the defense by eliciting those responses,” Coffey said.

“He is going to look for the chance to cross-examine that same investigator and ask him the same questions. If the investigator changes his stor y, he is going to lose credibility with the jury.”

De la Rionda dismissed any notion that the investigator’s testimony chipped away at their case.”You have not heard all of the evidence,” de la Rionda said after the hearing. “Please be patient and wait for the trial.” Prosecutors had asked for $1 million bail, citing two previous scrapes Zimmerman had with the law, neither of which resulted in charges. In 2005, he had to take anger management courses after he was accused of attacking an undercover officer who was trying to arrest Zimmerman’s friend. In another incident, a girlfriend accused him of attacking her. —AP

8

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

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

New Brotherhood candidate pitched in to Egypt race Candidate says will seek hardline Islamist voters CAIRO: The Muslim Brotherhood’s new presidential candidate, pitched into the race after its first choice was disqualified, promised yesterday to govern in coalition and to steady Egypt after more than a year of political turmoil. Mohamed Mursi, 59, the head of the Brotherhood’s political party, said he would seek the votes of ultra-conservative Muslims after a popular hardline Salafi candidate was barred too, but he promised to be a president for all Egyptians. The quietly

has a candidate with a clear programme in this election,” Mursi told Reuters in an interview shortly before his first campaign news conference. “I hope the people will choose me, an Islamist candidate from the FJP and Muslim Brotherhood, and God willing the system will move towards stability and development,” he said.

The election is the final stage in Egypt’s transition to civilian rule.

The army has said it will hand over power by July 1, but the military, which has provided every presi-

said Mursi would not meet Israeli officials as president, though his foreign minister would. Mursi, echoing the position of his party which dominates parliament, promised to reach out and govern in coalition.

“A coalition government led by the majority party is what will achieve the will of the people,” he told a news conference, where his more modest demeanour contrasted with the powerful delivery of the burly Shater when he addressed reporters. Shater’s first

CAIRO: A follower of Egyptian Muslim cleric and former candidate for the presidency Hazem Abu Ismail holds an Islamist flag during a demonstration in Tahrir Square yesterday. —AP spoken engineer is trying to make up ground after Khairat AlShater, a millionaire businessman and top Brotherhood strategist, was blocked from running because of a conviction handed down in President Hosni Mubarak’s era when the Islamist group was banned.

The Brotherhood’s broad grassroots network will help Mursi, but rival Islamists and liberal candidates who served under Mubarak have campaigned longer and can boast better name recognition.

Mursi also needs to prove that as the Brotherhood’s reserve candidate he has the authority to lead the Arab world’s most populous nation after a turbulent transition led by generals who took power after Mubarak was ousted 14 months ago.

“The word ‘reserve’ is over ...

Now the Brotherhood and (its) Freedom and Justice Party (FJP)

dent for six decades and has sprawling business interests, is expected to be a powerful player behind the scenes for years. The outcome of the race is being closely watched around the region, where Egypt has long had an influential role, and in the West, wary of the rise of Islamists in a nation that in 1979 became the first Arab state to make peace with Israel.

Promise to reach out Asked about relations with Israel, Mursi said: “Egypt’s next president can’t be like his predecessor, he can’t be a follower who executes policies put to him from outside,” referring to popular criticism of Mubarak as a man who did US bidding. An aide said Mursi was committed to the Brotherhood’s pledge to uphold international treaties, a reference to the peace deal. But the aide

Yemen air strikes kill 13 militants

SANAA: Yemeni air force strikes killed 13 suspected AlQaeda-linked militants in the south yesterday, local officials said, as the armed forces fought to quell a stubborn Islamist insurgency. Residents said the aircraft had attacked suspected militant strongholds in Jebel Yasuf and Al-Minyasa in the Lawdar area, where officials say more than 200 Islamist fighters have been killed in less than two weeks.

Militants have exploited a year of upheaval that severely weakened central government control over whole swathes of Yemen to strengthen their foothold in the impoverished state, particularly in the south.

Recently elected President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi is also grappling with a southern seccessionist movement and a rebellion by Shi’ite Muslims who have effectively carved out a state within a state in the rugged northern province of Saada, on the border with Saudi Arabia.

An official said eight people were killed near the city of Saada yesterday in a shootout between Shi’ite rebels known as Houthis and Sunni Muslim Salafis who attend a religious school in the area. Fighting broke out when four Salafi students approached a checkpoint manned

by Houthis on the outskirts of the city and shooting broke out, the official said. Four people died on each side and each accused the other of firing the first shot.

The Houthis have fought regularly with Salafis in Saada, accusing Riyadh of smuggling weapons to the Salafis because the two follow a similar creed. Salafis view Shi’ites as heretics. Saudi Arabia briefly fought the Houthis in north Yemen after the Houthis grabbed a piece of Saudi territory in 2009. The US envoy to Yemen said earlier this year there were signs that Shi’ite Iran was becoming more active in Yemen. Iran denies interfering there, but Saudi Arabia says Iran is fomenting unrest among Shi’ites in eastern Saudi Arabia and in neighbouring Bahrain.

Separately, the defence ministry said an infantry brigade commanded by rebel General Ali Mohsen AlAhmar had withdrawn from the capital, in line with a plan to demilitarise the streets of Sanaa. Loyalist troops, tribal militiamen and soldiers who defected with Ali Mohsen last year divided Sanaa into warring zones of influence. Previous efforts to clear them from the streets have failed.

UNICEF expressed alarm at the number of children that had recently fallen victim to landmines in Yemen, identifying Abyan, Aden and Lahej in the south, Hajja in the north, and Sanaa in the centre as the worst affected provinces. It said 13 children were reported killed and 12 maimed by mines or unexploded ordnance in the first three months of 2012 alone. —Reuters

news conference was accompanied by carefully choreographed videos and music, absent from yesterday’s event. Though the Brotherhood has pledged to be inclusive, liberals and other rivals have accused it of hogging power by securing the biggest bloc in parliament and dominating an assembly to draw up the constitution, prompting rivals to walk out.

That assembly has now been suspended.

It also broke its initial vow not to run for the presidency. Rivals also question the independence of any Brotherhood candidate, saying he would take orders from the group’s top authority, the supreme guide, and this would push Egypt towards a theocracy.

Mursi dismissed this, saying “there is no room for talk about decisions coming from outside the presidency.”

Mursi’s main rivals in the race

are Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister, Mubarak’s last prime minister and ex-air force commander Ahmed Shafiq, and Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh, a moderate Islamist expelled from the Brotherhood for announcing his presidential bid last year against the group’s wishes.

The competition was reduced by the disqualification of one Islamist contender, Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, whose Salafi views are much stricter than the Brotherhood’s. Mursi said he would try to pick up the Salafi vote. “The vote of the Salafis and the (Salafi) Al-Nour party is of course targeted, as are other votes of Egyptians,” he said, adding the Brotherhood was coordinating with Nour and Salafi figures but they had yet to announce who they would back.

Consultation The next president’s handling of the army will be closely scrutinised at home and abroad. The army sparked violent protests last year when its cabinet presented proposals for the new constitution that would have permanently shielded the military from civilian oversight. Mursi said no “entity will be above the constitution” but did not spell out his vision for the army’s status. He said the army’s budget should be overseen by parliament but there would be a need for secrecy in specific areas.

He also said he would consult the army over who would be defence minister in a new cabinet.

The Brotherhood opposed the army’s constitutional proposals but has become less confrontational. Analysts say it wants to avoid a conflict that could jeopardise the huge political strides it has made after years of repression under Mubarak.

Mursi served one term in parliament under Mubarak, notionally as an independent to skirt a ban on the Brotherhood, but lost his seat in the 2005 race, which was widely seen as rigged. The Brotherhood’s gains now have brought it closer to power than at any time in its 84-year history.

Outlining measures for improving the battered economy, Mursi identified security, Egypt’s heaving traffic and the health hazards of street garbage as priority areas, issues that worry the public and are often raised in parliamentary campaigns. Economists say Egypt needs swift action to bring back investors and tourists to stave off a balance of payments crisis. —Reuters

KHARTOUM: People cheer during President Omar Al-Bashir’s speech, Friday, April 20, 2012. —AP

Obama calls for talks between Sudan, S Sudan S Sudan pullout continues JUBA: South Sudanese forces were pulling out from Sudan’s main Heglig oilfield yesterday, an official said, as US President Barack Obama called on both states to resume talks. “Our troops are still withdrawing; it will take three days,” Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin told AFP. “We are responding to the request of the UN Security Council and others, as a member of the UN and the African Union.” Sudanese army spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad told AFP yesterday afternoon: “Now the fighting in Heglig is finished.” While the 10-day occupation, which UN chief Ban Ki-moon branded illegal, appeared to be coming to an end, each side had its own version of events.

On Friday, Sudan said its soldiers had “liberated” the oil field by force, speaking after South Sudanese President Salva Kiir had already announced that “an orderly withdrawal will commence immediately.”

Border clashes between Sudan and South Sudan escalated last week with waves of air strikes hitting the South, and Juba seizing the Heglig oil hub on April 10, sparking fears of a wider war. Obama said late Friday that “the presidents of Sudan and South Sudan must have the courage to return to the table and negotiate and resolve these issues peacefully.”

“We know what needs to happen-the government of Sudan must stop its military actions, including aerial bombardments,” he said in a videotaped message to the people of the two countries.

“Likewise, the government of South Sudan must end its support for armed groups inside Sudan and it must cease its military actions across the border,” the president added in the address, released by the State Department. South Sudan has denied supporting opposition groups in the north. Ban urged both governments “to resume negotiations immediately” under a mediation effort led by African Union envoy Thabo Mbeki, the former South African president. Sudan

Tunisian town’s outrage shows anxiety for work OM LARAYES: Southwest Tunisia has some of the world’s richest phosphate deposits, but a recent series of violent protests by jobless residents highlights the region’s desperate unemployment problem. Applying for a job at the Gafsa Phosphates Company (CPG), long the area’s main employer has become so fraught with economic angst that police sent reinforcements for the company’s latest hiring round, after the last sparked three days of violence. Some 28,000 unemployed residents had applied for the 4,000 openings advertised by CPG and its parent company, the Tunisian Chemical Group (GCT).

When the companies released the list of successful applicants for the town of Om Larayes last Saturday, it exploded in protest as angry young residents set fire to a police station and threw stones at police, drawing teargas grenades in

return. The protests, which erupted Sunday, lasted until Wednesday. Calm has now returned, but the dejection remains. “ They ’ve killed me,” said Mohamed Issaoui, an unsuccessful applicant and father of two. “I’m already past 45, I’m invisible, I’m buried.”

Om Larayes, a town of 35,000 that sits 60 kilometres (37 miles) from the Algerian border, got just 605 job offers out of 3,000 applications to CPG. The town was one of two that erupted into similar violence after an earlier hiring round in November that was later annulled because of the protests.

“CPG does billions in business,” said Mohamed Naceri, who spent years looking for a better life in Europe before coming back to Tunisia. “They could give a billion and hire all the unemployed people in the south and they would still have money left.” Tunisia’s

TUNIS: Unemployed people and miners of Oum Larayes block the access to the Labor Ministry headquarters in Tunis on April 20, 2012, to protest against the results of a recruitment exam. —AFP

southwest mining basin has been the scene of unemployment protests since 2008, a precursor to the uprising that ousted former president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali and sparked the Arab Spring.

The region’s unemployment rate sometimes crosses 50 percent, well above the national rate of 18.3 percent posted last year. Tunisia is the world’s number five exporter of phosphates, mined for use in agriculture and industry. And CPG is considered one of the country’s best employers, with salaries far higher than the 280dinar (140-euro, $180) monthly minimum wage, health insurance for the whole family, free transportation and bonuses.

But in Om Larayes, the phosphate washing plant has ground to a halt, with production and shipping suspended. “For a year now the company has been paying us to do nothing,” said Abdelhay Saoud, a middle manager who shows up every day to guard the facility. CPG’s directors fled the town during the violence, as protesters set fire to the company’s administrative buildings.

Files were scattered on the ground, walls smashed in and windows broken as angry residents attacked the company that is seen as both the region’s lifeblood and its enemy. The lucky few who have just been hired by the company do not know when they will start work, or for what salary. “The situation is catastrophic,” said CPG engineer Ammar Seidi. “ There needs to be investment in other industries, there needs to be infrastructure.” But other firms are closing one after another, driven away by strikes and social strife.

This week , Om Larayes residents learned the brand new buildings at Japanese auto parts manufacturer Yazaki, closed since the revolution, would not re-open their doors. The firm is relocating to the larger city of Gafsa, taking 450 jobs with it. —AFP

pulled out of those talks after the Heglig invasion. Although South Sudan disputes it, Heglig is internationally regarded as part of Sudan.

Juba, which claimed Heglig was being used by Khartoum as a base to attack the South’s oil-producing Unity state, argues Heglig is its territory and has asked for international arbitration. At the UN, South Sudanese Ambassador Agnes Oswaha said Juba decided to withdraw from Heglig “because it does not wish to see a return to war and seeks an immediate resumption of negotiations between the two parties.”

“Instability could reoccur” if international action for a full solution to territorial disputes is not carried out, she said.

Sudanese Ambassador Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman said: “We will not aggress and cross the international border. We hope that they learned their lesson and do not repeat such an aggression.”

Sudan released no casualty figures from the fighting and did not allow journalists or other observers into the Heglig area, so the situation on the ground has been difficult to verify. The government on Friday night said it had organised a trip to Heglig for journalists. But an AFP correspondent who went to the airport in Khartoum early yesterday was told the trip was cancelled because Heglig’s airport could not yet receive planes.

Juba’s UN envoy said “journalists and international monitors are highly welcomed” to go to Heglig to see who is in control. Since the invasion, production at Heglig has been shut and facilities there are leaking. Each side accused the other of damaging the oil infrastructure, which accounted for about half of the north’s production. The Heglig violence was the worst since South Sudan won independence in July after a 1983-2005 civil war in which about two million people died.

Tensions have gradually mounted over the disputed border and other unresolved issues. —AFP

Libya building case against Gaddafi son TRIPOLI: Libya says it is building its case against Muammar Gaddafi’s detained son, gathering witnesses and documents, according to the Hague-based war crimes prosecutor, as it seeks to persuade the International Criminal Court to allow for a local trial. The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Saif Al-Islam last year after prosecutors accused him and others of involvement in the killing of protesters during the revolt that eventually toppled his father, who ruled with an iron fist for 42 years.

It has called on Libya to hand Saif Al-Islam over but Tripoli has insisted he will be tried in his home country after his capture in the southern desert in November. ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo travelled to Libya this week as part of ICC investigations into crimes committed during Libya’s war, meeting the head of the ruling National Transitional Council and chief prosecutor.

“I understand he has more than 30 witnesses, he’s got documents, he has interceptions, so I understand he has a strong case but I don’t know the details,” Moreno-Ocampo told a news conference yesterday, adding he had not seen the information as it remains confidential at this stage of the investigation.

“Libya has to present the argument to the judges.” Tripoli is to outline its case to the ICC on April 30 as to why it should put Saif-Al Islam on trial. Libya has the right to try him on its soil following his arrest there. The ICC will only act if a country is deemed unable or unwilling to investigate or prosecute, for instance when its legal system has collapsed. MorenoOcampo said it seemed unlikely any trial would transpire before Libya’s first free elections in June. “There is no deadline for the judges. I suppose two, three months but in the meantime I don’t see a trial in Libya before that because the process requires first an accusation.”

Doubts about Libyan justice Several human rights groups have questioned whether the Libyan justice system can meet the standards of international law as the interim national government struggles to impose its authority on a myriad of armed groups. The Libyan government has yet to convince the former Zintan rebel fighters who captured Saif Al-Islam to turn him over to its custody.

Moreno-Ocampo said he was told that Gaddafi’s son had not been mistreated. “(Saif’s location) is a matter for the national authorities. Respecting Saif’s well-being is also matter for the national authorities,” he said. Moreno-Ocampo added that it was critical for Libyans who fought against the injustices of the Gaddafi regime to now show they could “respect justice for a person like Saif.”

The ICC is also investigating rapes committed during Libya’s conflict. Moreno-Ocampo, who travelled to Misrata scene of some of the bloodiest fighting last year, said his mission was considering how to tackle the taboo subject, looking at gathering evidence against top officials of the old regime, some of whom are outside Libya. —Reuters

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

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

Jailed Tymoshenko hospitalised in Ukraine KHARKIV: Ukraine’s jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko shunned doctors yesterday after being moved to hospital for back pain that stopped her attending a new trial for tax fraud. Witnesses cited by local media said two ambulances and four police cars arrived at the women’s penal colony in the eastern city of Kharkiv where she is serving a seven-year sentence and took her away late Friday.

Her supporters immediately claimed that she had been moved under duress while Deputy Health Minister Raisa Moiseyenko confirmed that Tymoshenko was refusing to be touched by doctors until the arrival of her lawyer.

“She is refraining from a medical examination,” Moiseyenko told reporters. “She is refusing to have any detailed medical discussion... until she meets her attorney.” The flamboyant but divisive 2004 Orange Revolution leader was convicted of abuse of office for negotiating a gas deal with Russia

while prime minister in 2009 that the new administration says was disadvantageous for Ukraine. She was sentenced last October at the end of a highprofile trial that was watched closely by strongly critical diplomats from Europe and the United States.

The case cast a shadow over Ukraine’s nascent relations with the European Union and prevented the signing of a partnership agreement the exSoviet nation hopes to secure before eventually winning membership in the bloc. Western officials criticised the trial as selective justice while Tymoshenko has branded her prosecution as the result of a political vendetta being waged by her triumphant presidential rival Viktor Yanukovych.

But prosecutors have brushed aside the complaints and have since launched several new cases against Tymoshenko relating to her tenure in the 1990s as head of a private natural gas trading firm.

She went on trial again Thursday on tax evasion charges that may extend her sentence by five years.

The 51-year-old sent a formal letter to the authorities saying she was in too much pain to attend. The controversy surrounding her move to the clinic underscores the level of mistrust running between Tymoshenko’s supporters and the authorities.

Ukraine’s prison service has persistently denied the seriousness of her condition while members of the ruling party accuse of her of feigning pain to draw more Western sympathy and avoid the new trial. Tymoshenko for her part had previously refused treatment in a Ukrainian hospital until it had been cleared by a team of visiting German doctors who examined her earlier this year.

A German doctor formally approved the clinic this week. But he also noted Tymoshenko’s “deep mistrust” of Ukrainian doctors as a complicating factor. “It seems highly unlikely that the trust

required between a patient and therapists for treating chronic pain can be established at the Kharkiv hospital,” he wrote in a recommendation posted online by Tymosheno’s party.

Her attorney also expressed “serious doubts” about whether Tymoshenko had actually agreed to be moved. “She was moved at night, suddenly and right before the start of the weekend, when she will not be able to meet with her defence,” court representative Serhiy Vlasenko told AFP. “In the meantime, (Ukrainian health officials) can say anything they want.” Kharkiv prison service chief Yevgen Barash conceded that Tymoshenko had never given her written permission to be moved to hospital for treatment by Ukrainian doctors. But he added that “an agreement was reached” with Tymoshenko and argued that no written permission was required from the inmate under Ukrainian law. — AFP

Campaigns on hold as France ready to vote Voters disillusioned, high abstention rate seen

PRAGUE: A protester dressed as a Hussite takes part in a protest by trade unions, pensioners, and student associations against the centre-right government’s planned budget cuts and austerity measures yesterday. — AFP

thousands of Czechs against government PRAGUE: Tens of thousands of Czechs yesterday staged one of the biggest protests since the fall of communism, marching in Prague against spending cuts, tax rises and corruption and calling for the end of a centre-right government already close to collapse. Police estimated that 80-90,000 workers, students and pensioners snaked through the capital to rally in Wenceslas Square. Chanting and whistling, the crowd held banners proclaiming “Away with the government” and “Stop thieves”. Rallies of such a scale are rare in the country of 10.5 million people.

The demonstration against Prime Minister Petr Necas’s government is the third such trade union-led protest in 12 months against austerity measures, and the turnout underscored rising public frustration after a series of graft scandals. “This government is devastating state structures and is demeaning the unprotected with its asocial reforms,” Jaroslav Zavadil, the head of the Confederation of Trade Unions, told the crowd.

The protest comes as the government is working to reaffirm its majority in parliament ahead of a deadline tomorrow. The turmoil was triggered by the defection of Deputy Prime Minister Karolina Peake and her allies from the scandal-ridden junior ruling party Public Affairs. Peake has pledged her faction will continue to support the cabinet, but yesterday it remained uncertain whether she could muster the 10 votes the government needs for the “safe majority” that Necas wants from her to avoid early elections.

Early election?

An early election, two years after the last vote, would be likely to hand power to the opposition Social Democrats, who have a nearly 20 point poll lead over Necas’s Civic Democrats. The Social Democrats have pledged to undo some of the government’s reforms of the pensions, healthcare and welfare sectors, and to tax companies and the rich to keep the budget under control. “The

reforms are not thought-out. The reforms are chaotic,” party leader Bohuslav Sobotka said before marching yesterday.

“It is essential that at this moment, Necas’s government, which lost legitimacy with the breakup of Public Affairs, hand in its resignation and open the way to new elections.”

Public Affairs has been riven by infighting and influential leader, Vit Barta, was given an 18month suspended prison sentence this month for bribing party colleagues to stay loyal.

A March survey by the Public Opinion Research Centre (CVVM) found that people think official corruption is worst among political parties and in government ministries. The issue, along with the nature of reforms, is why many people took to the streets. “Corruption is quite bad and they are fighting it very little,” said a protester, 30-year-old toolmaker Jaromir Tobias.

“I agree with some of the reforms, but not with how they are explaining it and feeding it to the public. Reforms are necessary but not in this style.” The government survived another crisis earlier this month by agreeing to new hikes in sales and income tax as well as spending cuts worth 57 billion crowns ($3.02 billion) next year. It says the measures are necessary to bring the deficit below 3 percent of gross domestic product in order to meet EU budget rules.

Unions said on Thursday the measures would cost the average wage earner 11,230 crowns a year - the gross average salary in the Czech Republic is 26,067 crowns ($1,400) a month. With debate growing in Europe about how effective austerity measures are at reviving debt-choked economies, the Czechs are well-placed with a state debt load about half the European Union average, at 41.2 percent of annual economic output. However, austerity and reform have hit domestic consumption, and unemployment hovers at around 8.9 percent. The $202 billion economy fell into a mild recession last year despite a record year for exports. — Reuters

PARIS: France’s presidential candidates observed a one-day truce yesterday on the eve of a first-round vote expected to send President Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist challenger Francois Hollande through to next month’s runoff. Final polls before a mandatory media blackout on campaigning from midnight on Friday showed Hollande narrowly ahead of the conservative leader for today’s first-round vote but the comfortable winner of the second round on May 6.

Voting began yesterday in French overseas territories, including the north Atlantic islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon just off the coast of Canada.

Many of the 44.5 million registered voters have complained about a lacklustre campaign, and the prospect of a record abstention looms over today’s vote in mainland France. On the streets of Paris, disappointed voters said the main candidates had ignored the pressing challenges facing their country, including unemployment running at a 12-year high and gloomy economic prospects. “The campaign has not been serious enough. The important issues have not been discussed,” said Frederic Le Fevre, a self-employed businessman. “They’ve focused on childish arguments, throwing blame at each other.”

Candidates argued for weeks about halal meat and the cost of a driving licence. Even the leading contenders tried to win the limelight with largely symbolic proposals, like Hollande’s plan to scrap the word “race” from the constitution and Sarkozy’s offer to bring monthly pension payments forward by eight days. An Ifop poll in early April suggested that 32 percent of registered voters might not bother to vote in the first round.

Hollande, mindful of an upset in 2002 when far-right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen knocked out Socialist Lionel Jospin in the first round amid the highest-ever abstention rate, warned supporters against complacency at a closing rally on Friday. “It’s the sixth of May when we will have a president but April 22 will decide the dynamic one way or another,” he said.

After trailing Hollande for months, Sarkozy edged ahead in first-round voting intention polls for a few weeks, helped by his strong response to a shooting spree by an al Qaedainspired gunman who killed seven people in southwest France last month. He lost that lead in

PARIS: A picture shows a sticker representing France’s incumbent President and right-wing ruling party Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) candidate for the French 2012 presidential election Nicolas Sarkozy, on an UMP campaign poster yesterday. — AFP

the last week before the election, and polls on Friday showed Hollande winning the first round by 28 percent to 27, and taking the second by 55 percent to 45. It would be the first time in France’s Fifth Republic, founded in 1958, that an incumbent president has not finished top of the first round.

Radical candidates flourish Hollande, who has promised to raise taxes on large corporations and people earning more than 1 million euros a year, would be France’s first left-wing president in 17 years. With the euro zone in crisis, that prospect has placed the strained finances of the bloc’s No. 2 economy in the spotlight.

The risk premium investors charge for holding French 10-year bonds over German Bunds rose above 1.50 percentage points on Friday in a possible foretaste of market jitters over a Hollande victory. Traders think he may face pressure to go beyond his centre-left programme if a resurgent hard left makes gains in June parliamentary elections and holds the balance of

Murdoch mocks UK government

Reports cast doubt on missile defence WASHINGTON: One of President Barack Obama’s signature defence programs, a missile defence shield designed to protect the United States and Europe from an Iranian missile attack, faces major delays, cost overruns and critical technological problems, according to two recent government reports. The reports by the Defence Department and congressional investigators cast doubt on a program that is at the core of American plans to defend Europe and a sensitive political issue both domestically and in relations with Russia. They say missile interceptors are running into production glitches, the systems’ radars are underpowered and the sensors cannot distinguish between warheads and other objects.

The first report, by the Defence Science Board, an advisory group to the Defence Department, was released late last year but has received little notice. While it concludes there are “no fundamental roadblocks” to the European system, it points out major problems while not saying how they can be fixed. Board members declined repeated requests for comment. Outside experts, including the Pentagon’s former chief weapons tester, Philip Coyle, say the issues raised in the report would require substantial, costly changes if they can all be sur-

mounted at all. The second, by Congress’ nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, was released Friday. Some Republicans have seized on the reports, saying they back their view that the program was hastily designed to ease the concerns of Russia, which had strongly objected to previous plans by the Bush administration, with less regard to whether it would actually work. Ahead of the November election, Republicans are casting Obama as a weak leader, quick to capitulate to the demands of other nations. “There is a political timeline and agenda that doesn’t meet a scientific, development and security timeline,” said Republican Rep. Michael Turner, chairman of a panel that oversees missile defence. “It does not appear that it can deliver the protection for US homeland that this administration promised.”

The administration insists the plans are on track. Missile defence in Europe has been a nettlesome issue since the middle of last decade when President George W. Bush announced plans to base long-range interceptors in central Europe as a defence against missiles from Iran. That infuriated Russia, which believed the program was really intended to counter its intercontinental ballistic missiles and undermine its nuclear deterrent. —AP

power.

Hollande was catapulted to the Socialist candidacy by the arrest of former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn in New York in May on charges of sexually assaulting a hotel maid.

Strauss-Kahn was cleared of criminal wrongdoing but remains mired in an investigation into a prostitution ring in France.

Frustration with Hollande’s bland manner and Sarkozy’s flashy style has allowed more radical candidates to flourish. National Front leader Marine Le Pen is running third on 16 percent, a fraction below the vote achieved by her father Jean-Marie when he shocked France by reaching the second round in 2002.

Far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, a Communist-backed firebrand, has stormed into fourth place with around 14 percent, capitalising on frustration at economic stagnation and an anti-capitalist backlash against the world of finance. Under the banner “They do not represent us”, left-leaning protesters from towns across France were due to hold a march in central Paris later yesterday. — Reuters

In this photo, Ugandan soldiers hunting for fugitive warlord Joseph Kony relax after a 14kilometer patrol near the River Vovodo, Central African Republic. — AP

US drive to bring Kony to justice gets hotter LOS ANGELES: Starting with grassroots service projects to create buzz and public support, activists out to stop notorious Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony spread out in US cities on Friday in a campaign aimed at justice half way around the world. In Los Angeles, three dozen high school girls removed weeds, trash and graffiti from their campus. The girls were among small groups of activists who, inspired by the viral “Kony 2012” video, worked to attract media before a bid to paper cities from New York to San Diego overnight with anti-Kony art and posters.

Kony, who proclaims himself the spokesman of God and a spirit medium, has been accused

by African governments and the African Union of ordering his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to abduct more than 65,000 children over the last quarter century to become child soldiers and

sex slaves. The group behind the US project, Invisible Children, is seeking to generate public support to arrest Kony despite recent setbacks including criticism of its portrayal of the complex conflict in Uganda, the Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo and the mental breakdown of its key filmmaker.

The “Cover the Night” event is the first major test of Invisible Children’s reach since filmmaker Jason Russell’s public breakdown. Officials say it could set the stage for a major rally at the United Nations in mid-June. But they also stressed that turnout could be limited. “We’ve been encouraging people to keep it very small and intimate, so you can actually have a conversation. It’s not about just rallying with other people who agree with you,” said Jedidiah Jenkins, 29, the director of ideology for the group.—Reuters

LONDON: Rupert Murdoch yesterday mocked the UK government’s “mad” plans to lend more money to the International Monetary Fund and criticised its energy, education and tax policies after arriving in London ahead of his appearance at a media inquiry next week. The 81year-old News Corp boss will appear before a senior judge in London’s High Court on Wednesday and Thursday as part of an inquiry ordered by Prime Minister David Cameron to investigate standards in the British press. Famous for his at times controversial outbursts, Murdoch wasted little time in criticising Cameron’s coalition government in a series of messages sent via the Twitter website yesterday.

His first target was Britain’s pledge of nearly 10 billion pounds to help the IMF tackle any fallout from the euro zone crisis , as well as a new tax on hot takeaway snacks put forward by finance minister George Osborne. “Back in Britain,” Murdoch said in one message. “Govt sending IMF another ten bn to the euro. Must be mad. Not even US or China chipping in. Same time taxing hot food.”

The government has been criticised for its proposed “pasty tax”, a new levy that means freshly baked hot food sold in any shop will for the first time incur the VAT sales tax. There was no sign of Murdoch at his London flat, however. A News Corp spokeswoman had no comment on his arrival or messages. In another comment, Murdoch waded into the political debate over whether the British government should support the building of wind turbines to generate greener energy.

“English spring countryside as beautiful as ever if and when sun appears! About to be wrecked by uneconomic ugly bird killing windmills. Mad.” He went on to criticise the state of publicly-funded education as a “crime against the young”. “Only one answer, really fix public education and give everyone equal opportunity,” he Tweeted.

Cameron, Osborne and many other government ministers were educated at fee-charging private schools.

Britain’s Leveson inquiry into press standards has taken evidence from celebrities, politicians and crime victims whose phones were hacked to provide stories for Murdoch’s newspapers. The investigation is now turning its attention to the relationships between Britain’s press and politicians. — Reuters

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

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

Escorts’ scandal challenges US Secret Service’s proud culture WASHINGTON: They are screened so carefully that their families are interviewed before they are hired. They hold top-secret security clearances, are trained to use lethal force and stand inches from the leader of the world’s most powerful nation. US Secret Service agents are also drilled almost from Day One on the need for probity, discretion and solid morals. “You will be exposed to so many new experiences, challenges and, yes, temptations - a Secret Service agent can sometimes be perceived as celebrity. We are not,” a top official warned a 2002 graduating class of agents.

The self-image of the Secret Service’s proud, but insular, culture has been challenged like at no time in modern history by allegations that agents took prostitutes back to their hotel rooms in Cartagena, Colombia, last week on the eve of President Barack Obama’s arrival for a hemispheric summit. Six employees, including two supervisors, have either resigned, retired, or been pro-

posed for firing. On Friday, the Secret Service said a 12th employee had been implicated, placed on administrative leave and stripped of his security clearance. The question now is whether what happened in Cartagena was an isolated incident, the actions of agents who failed the Service’s high standards or something more systemic in a 146year-old agency first founded to combat counterfeiting.

‘Not a systemic sort of thing’ Former top Secret Service officials, and the agency’s many defenders, insist that the scandal is both unprecedented and no reflection of the Secret Service as a whole. There have been individual instances of Secret Service employees caught in “difficult” situations in the past, but nothing on this scale, said Ralph Basham, a former Secret Service director.

“But it’s not a systemic sort of thing.

It’s not a fibre that’s woven through the fabric of the organization. Generally it’s

individuals who just do something stupid and get themselves in trouble,” he said. The Colombia incident was an anomaly, Basham said. “The sheer number of people who decided to engage in this, that’s what is shocking.” Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan, a 29-year veteran, has so far won plaudits from US lawmakers for quickly launching an investigation and being transparent about the agency’s handling of the scandal.

And, so far, no recent incidents of similar misbehaviour have surfaced publicly, reinforcing those like Basham who say Cartagena was extremely unusual. The Service’s defenders are quick to point out that the employees under investigation were not members of the presidential protective detail.

Those are the agents considered the cream of the agency who stick close to the president when he travels, watch crowds from behind dark sunglasses, and have suits fitted so they hide their weapons. Those in Cartagena, which

included members of the less-elite Uniformed Division-who operate metal detectors and stand guard at various posts on site-were support personnel who came over on the plane to Colombia that brought the president’s armoured vehicles. And yet, two of them were not rank-and-file employees, but supervisors.

Image tarnished?

But to critics and the public such distinctions may be too fine a point, and the image of government agents gone wild in a foreign land threatens to tarnish the agency, with Secret Service already turning into a double meaning for racy jokes. The 2002 graduates were lectured by a top agency official that “your daily conduct must be better than that which is technically legal - your compass must point to that which is right with a clarity and precision that reflects your commitment to this new responsibility.” The statement, from a document released in 2007 under the

Freedom of Information Act, provides a glimpse into how the agency’s newest members start their careers.

Secret Service agents at work in public are generally seen but not heard.

Their physical presence is quite visible around the president ready to shield him from any threat, but they tend not to draw attention to themselves as individuals. The Colombia incident has revealed that after hours, not all Secret Service employees practice discretion.

A woman in Cartagena said she met American men in a salsa bar the night of the incident who bragged “we’re the bodyguards of the most powerful man in the world.” She said she did not accompany them back to a hotel. David Chaney, a Secret Service supervisor who was allowed to retire over the incident, posted photos of himself protecting former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on his personal Facebook page. He included this comment: “I was really checking her out, if you know what i mean?” — Reuters

Obama enjoys 10-1 edge over Romney Primary stumbles warnings for Romney vs Obama

ALAMO: View of the bus wreckage that crashed into a truck in the PotreroAlamo road stretch, in Veracruz state, Mexico, on April 20, 2012. — AFP

43 dead in Mexico after truck and bus collide XALAPA: Forty three people were killed and 20 were injured Friday after a truck crashed into a bus carrying agricultural workers in Mexico’s eastern Veracruz state, officials said. “In total, 43 people died in this accident” near the town of Alamo, Veracruz, on the Gulf of Mexico, government spokeswoman Gina Dominguez told Milenio television. The bus was travelling from the port of Coatzacoalcos to the northern border state of Coahuila when the crash happened at around 4:30 am (0930 GMT ) in the north of Veracruz state.

Dominguez could not say how many people had been on board the bus but she said the rescue operation had ended. Forensic teams were seen unloading blood-stained bodies at the morgue of Alamo later Friday.

“The first report we have, which we need to confirm with investigators, is that the truck’s trailer came loose and hit the bus,” Dominguez said. The truck’s driver drove away and the trailer also hit another cargo vehicle, according to Maria Elena, a government worker in the town of Alamo. The injured were taken to hospitals in the nearby port city of Tuxpan. President Felipe Calderon gave his condolences in a message posted on his Twitter account.

“My deepest condolences for the families of those who died in the terrible accident this morning in Veracruz,” he wrote.

Road accidents are one of the main causes of violent death in Mexico. Another collision between a passenger bus and a truck on a road in Jalisco state, western Mexico, left 36 hurt and one dead Friday, a state civil protection official told AFP. The truck involved had been stationary on the Mexico-Morelia road, near Mexico’s second city of Guadajalara, at the time of the accident, he added. On April 5, 14 sugar cane workers died and nine were hurt when the bus they were travelling in crashed into a tree and overturned, also in Jalisco.

Around 24,000 people die from road accidents in Mexico each year, according to

insurance companies-a figure almost double the annual drug violence death toll.

Opposition deputy Arturo Zamora, from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), told AFP that around 5,000 annual road deaths occurred in collisions with trucks with double trailers, which are only permitted in Mexico. Many of the trucks travelling in Mexico are overloaded and larger than the size permitted by international norms, he added.

Meanwhile, a retired general who was convicted and later cleared of aiding one of Mexico’s most powerful drug lords was shot and killed Friday in the capital, authorities said. Former Brig. Gen. Mario Arturo Acosta Chaparro was attacked while at an auto shop in the Anahuac neighbourhood and died at a hospital, Mexico City Attorney General Jesus Rodriguez Almeida said.

Witnesses told police that Acosta had just arrived at the auto shop to drop off a car when a lone gunmen approached him and shot him three times in the head, Rodriguez said. The assailant used a 9 mm handgun and got away on a waiting motorcycle driven by an accomplice, the spokesman said. The former soldier had survived a 2010 attack in the Mexico City neighbourhood of La Roma where gunmen shot him in the abdomen. Acosta was incarcerated in 2000 on charges of protecting Amado Carillo Fuentes, a leader of the Juarez drug cartel who had died three years earlier after botched plastic surgery.

But in 2007 a panel of judges overturned Acosta’s drug-trafficking conviction and ordered him released, ruling that prosecutors failed to prove the alleged links to Carillo Fuentes. In 2002, Acosta was accused of homicide in the disappearance of leftist activists and revolutionaries during the government’s “dirty war” against dissent during the 1970s and 1980s. A judge determined Acosta was not responsible for the disappearances and the charges were dismissed. — Agencies

In ’72, EPA battled pollution, now its focus is on politics WASHINGTON: A polluted drainage ditch that once flowed with industrial waste from Lake Charles, La., petrochemical plants teems with overgrown, wild plants today. A light-rail line zips past the spot where a now-defunct Portland, Ore., gasoline station advertised in 1972 that it had run out of gas. A smoking Jersey City, N.J., dump piled with twisted, rusty metal has disappeared, along with the twin towers of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan that were its backdrop. Forty years after the Environmental Protection Agency sent an army of nearly 100 photographers across the country to capture images at the dawn of environmental regulation, The Associated Press went back for Earth Day this year to see how things have changed. It is something the agency never got to do because the Documerica program, as it was called, died in 1978, the victim of budget cuts.

AP photographers returned to more than a dozen of those locations in recent weeks, from Portland to Cleveland and Corpus Christi, Texas. Of the 20,000 photos in the archive, the AP selected those that focused on environmental issues, rather

than the more general shots of everyday life in the 1970s. Gone are the many obvious signs of pollution - clouds of smoke billowing from industrial chimneys, raw sewage flowing into rivers, garbage strewn over beaches and roadsides - that heightened environmental awareness in the 1970s, and led to the first Earth Day and the EPA’s creation in 1970. Such environmental consciousness caused Congress to pass almost unanimously some of the country’s bedrock environmental laws in the years that followed.

Today’s pollution problems aren’t as easy to see or to photograph. Some in industry and politics question whether environmental regulation has gone too far and whether the risks are worth addressing, given their costs.

Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney has called for the firing of EPA chief Lisa Jackson, while GOP rival Newt Gingrich has said the EPA should be replaced altogether. Jackson has faced tough questioning on Capitol Hill so often the in past two years that a top Republican quipped that she needs her own parking spot. —AP

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama’s re-election effort enjoyed a 10-to-1 financial edge over Republican rival Mitt Romney last month, out-raising the former Massachusetts governor by millions as Obama stuffed more than $104 million into his campaign war chest. A nasty primary battle between Romney and his GOP rivals took a financial toll on his presidential campaign, which raised $12.6 million in March and left Romney with about $10 million in the bank by month’s end. All told, Obama and the Democratic Party raised a combined $53 million in donations during that period, while Romney with his party pulled in about half of that.

Still, an anticipated fire hose of cash from major Republican “super” political committees and the Republican Party is likely to bring some financial parity to the general election, for which Romney only recently started collecting donations. Super PACs like American Crossroads and its nonprofit arm, Crossroads GPS, raised $100 million this election cycle, and the groups plan to flood the airwaves in coming months with ads critical of Obama.

Also helping Romney is the Restore Our Future super PAC, which reported an $8.6 million last month, largely from a handful of wealthy donors and some continued supporters. The group, for its part, spent more than $11 million on T V spots during the month, coming off a successful track record of battering Romney’s GOP primary opponents with attack ads. For the first time since Super Tuesday, voters got a look at just how much money presidential candidates and their supporters have been raking in. Friday marks nearly three months since Obama’s campaign changed course and asked supporters to pony up cash to a favourable super PAC, although its fundraising figures weren’t yet available late Friday.

Financial reports due Friday to

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama speaks as Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki (left) looks on, as they welcome the Wounded Warrior Project’s Soldier Ride to the White House Friday, April 20, 2012, in celebration of the sixth annual Soldier Ride. — AP the Federal Election Commission were expected to show much red ink struggling campaigns are bleeding - or how much money some groups have been stuffing into their war chests.

The Republican National Committee reported a March fundraising haul of $13.7 million, which will boost the eventual GOP nominee during the general election. Obama’s fundraising advantage puts him at a less-than-solid position when compared with the tens of millions of dollars the sister Crossroads groups have amassed so far. During the last six months of 2011 alone, GPS brought in $28 million from only a few dozen major donors, recent tax filings show. Crossroads has said it plans to raise more than $300 million to beat Obama.

Countering Crossroads’ millions in ad spending is Priorities USA Action, a super PAC founded by former Obama advisers. From early 2011 through the end of February, however, the group and its nonprofit arm raised about $10 million.

Priorities USA Action, like other super PACs supporting GOP candidates, has counted on major financial support from a handful of wealthy donors. But Obama, for his part, is facing the prospect of being swamped by outside Republican groups in fundraising. That’s why he decided to reverse course and give his blessing to super PACs, which can accept unlimited donations from corporations, labour unions and wealthy individuals.

On the Republican side, those outsized donations come from generous donors like Las Vegas casino

magnate Sheldon Adelson and his wife, who have given more than $10 million combined to a super PAC supporting Newt Gingrich. In March, however, only his wife, Miriam, contributed to the Gingrich-supportive Winning Our Future PAC; she gave $5 million.

The largest March contribution to Restore Our Future was $1 million from Huron Carbon LLC, a firm based in West Palm Beach, Fla. The company’s owner is not revealed in the super PAC files, but it shares a street and suite address with Oxbow Carbon LLC, a fossil-fuel processor and mining firm headed by energy magnate William Koch.

Regulatory filings also show a similarly named Canadian firm, Huron Carbon, with ties to Great Lakes Carbon, a company bought by Oxbow in 2007. — AP

Edwards’ lawyers to follow the trail of ‘Bunny money’ GREENSBORO: Defence lawyers for John Edwards will argue at his trial that much of the nearly $1 million in secret payments at issue in the criminal case against their client were actually siphoned off by a trusted aide to build an expansive dream home. The former aide, Andrew Young, is potentially the prosecution’s most important witness: He was once so loyal to Edwards he falsely claimed paternity of the baby fathered by his married boss in an attempt to avoid a sex scandal. Young’s testimony, along with a cache of voicemails he received from Edwards, will be vital to making the government’s case that the North Carolina Democrat masterminded the effort to hide his pregnant mistress as he sought the White House in 2008.

Destroying Young’s credibility with the jury, therefore, will be essential for the defence team’s strategy to keep their client out of prison. Opening arguments are set for Monday, with the trial expected to last at least six weeks. Edwards, 58, has pleaded not guilty to six criminal counts related to campaign finance violations. The indictment filed by the US Justice

Department last year recounts more than $933,000 in unreported payments from two campaign donors who had already given the maximum contributions allowed by law.

contributions because they were not meant to influence the election. Instead, they say, the payments were gifts meant to hide Edwards’ affair from his wife, not voters. The bulk of the cash was

GREENSBORO: Former presidential candidate and US Sen. John Edwards (right) arrives outside federal court with his daughter Cate. — AP Edwards denies knowing about the money. Defense attorneys say even if he did, the payments don’t fit the legal definition of political

provided by Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, a 101-year-old heiress who lives on a secluded Virginia estate so massive it contains a landing strip for

her private jet. A friend of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, prosecutors say Mellon offered under-the -table cash to cover Edwards’ personal expenses after the candidate was embarrassed by media reports that campaign funds were used to pay for $400 haircuts.

“From now on, all haircuts, etc., that are necessary and important for his campaign, please send the bills to me,” Mellon wrote to Young in April 2007. The following month, Edwards’ mistress, Rielle Hunter, informed the candidate she was pregnant. According to the account in Young’s 2010 tell-all book about the affair, Edwards was unable to access his own money to support Hunter without his wife, Elizabeth, finding out.

So, Young says, Edwards decided to take Mellon up on her offer.

“Edwards called her, and the ‘Bunny money’ began to flow,” Young wrote in his book, “The Politician.” In the following months, Mellon sent $750,000 in checks for Edwards through her interior designer in Charlotte. Young wrote that he deposited the checks in a joint bank account controlled by him and his wife, Cheri. — AP

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

i n t e r n at i o n a l

Afghanistan forces seize 10 tonnes of explosives Pakistan militants suspected

ISLAMABAD: A man comforts a woman who cries over a coffin of her family member who was killed in Friday’s passenger plane crash, at a local hospital yesterday. — AP

Weeping relatives want Pakistan crash answers ISLAMABAD: Dozens of coffins lined a hallway at Islamabad’s main hospital yesterday as weeping relatives of the victims of the Bhoja Air plane crash slammed the authorities for the disaster.

All 127 people on board perished when the Boeing 737 from Karachi crashed and burst into flames as it attempted to land at Islamabad airport in bad weather on Friday evening. The plane was smashed to pieces by the impact of the crash, with wreckage and human limbs strewn over a wide area of farmland on the outskirts of the Pakistani capital.

Staff at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), their faces covered with masks, sprayed air freshener to mask the smell of burnt flesh in the room where the remains lay. Some remains were no more than body parts, kept on stretchers and covered by white sheets. The disaster is the city’s second major plane crash in less than two years an Airblue plane came down in bad weather in July 2010, killing 152 — and victims’ families voiced fury at the authorities. A visibly dejected woman identifying herself as Mrs Hassan, 45, said she had come to collect the body of her 45-year old cousin Mohammad Yunus, a Muslim scholar who had been running a madrassa (Islamic seminary) in Karachi.

“We could not get the full body. We recognised his hand and hair along with his jacket,” she said.

“It’s sheer incompetence of the government. This is the second major accident here in less than two years but the president and the prime minister remain unmoved. “If the weather was bad why they did not warn the pilot. Why did

they allow the plane to land?” Abdul Raoof, 55, said he had come for the body of his cousin Ghulam Farooq, 45, who worked for the State Life Insurance Corporation in Islamabad.

“We have been roaming here since early morning. We go inside the mortuary and return in depression after seeing body parts and severed limbs lying there. “We wait, get impatient and then go inside again only to return disappointed. We are traumatised. We want to get the body and leave this place as early as possible.” Raoof blamed the airport control tower for negligence. “If the weather was bad the plane should have been turned away,” he said.

“It is also a mistake of the airline. They sacrificed 127 lives just to save some fuel.” Many of the family members flown from Karachi on a special Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight were inconsolable, too overwhelmed with grief to speak. One young man wept bitterly for the cousin and aunt he lost in the crash, who were returning from pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

“I don’t want to talk, please leave us alone,” he told journalists. Hospital staff sprinkled rose petals on some of the coffins as a gesture of compassion, while police and soldiers consoled relatives. At the scene of the crash, sniffer dogs joined rescue workers as they resumed the operation to recover odies. Debris was scattered over a two-kilometre (one-mile) area, with torn fragments of the fuselage, including a large section bearing the Bhoja Air logo, littering the fields around the village of Hussain Abad. —AFP

KABUL: An old taxi transporting sacks of vegetables navigates a flooded street after heavy rains yesterday. — AP

Indian MPs press Lanka to share power COLOMBO: Indian legislators yesterday asked neighbouring Sri Lanka to de-militarise former war zones and share political power with minority Tamils to ensure lasting peace. Indian national opposition leader Sushma Swaraj, leading a 12member multi-party delegation, said they urged President Mahinda Rajapakse to deliver on promises to devolve “meaningful power” to the island’s ethnic Tamil minority. Swaraj’s delegation also included five lawmakers from India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu whose 60 million population share close cultural and religious links with Sri Lanka’s Tamils.

Swaraj said Sri Lanka should implement the recommendations from its own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) which Rajapakse had set up to deflect international calls for an independent war probe. The LLRC did not apportion blame, but called for a wider probe of the 2009 military drive that defeated Tamil Tiger rebels who had been fighting since 1972 for independence from the majority Sinhalese nation.

Sri Lanka’s military success in crushing the Tigers, known for their use of suicide bombings, has also led to widespread

condemnation of Sri Lanka’s human rights record. India last month voted for a US-initiated resolution at the UN Human Rights Council calling for a war crimes probe in Sri Lanka where international rights group say up to 40,000 civilians perished during 2009’s military action.

Colombo was upset when New Delhi voted with the United States at the UNHRC meeting in Geneva, but Swaraj defended India’s action, saying the motion had only urged Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations of its own LLRC war probe. Swaraj told reporters at the end of her four-day visit that her delegation wanted Sri Lanka to also implement a 1987 constitutional provision that promised limited political autonomy to Tamils in Sri Lanka’s northeast. The United Nations has estimated up to 100,000 people were killed in ethnic bloodshed between 1972 and 2009.

“While there has been substantial progress in the area of rehabilitation and reconstruction, a lot remains to be done,” Swaraj said, adding she personally saw 6,000 civilians still languishing in a refugee camp in the island’s north.— AFP

KABUL: Afghanistan security forces have detained five insurgents with massive quantities of explosives intended for use in attacks on crowded areas of Kabul and linked them to Pakistan-based militants, an intelligence spokesman said yesterday. The alleged connection to militants in Pakistan will likely step up the pressure on Islamabad, after a recent coordinated assault by insurgents on diplomatic and government areas in Kabul and elsewhere put the spotlight on the South Asian nation.

“It could have caused large-scale bloodshed,” National Directorate of Security (NDS) spokesman Shafiqullah Tahiri told a news conference. “Three Pakistani terrorists and two of their Afghan collaborators who placed the explosives under bags of potatoes in a truck were caught.”

The 10 tonnes (22,046 lbs) of explosives were stuffed into 400 bags and hidden under piles of potatoes in the back of a Pakistan-registered truck on Kabul’s outskirts, said Tahiri.

The US ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan Crocker, said there was “no question” that the Haqqani network, which Washington believes is based in Pakistan’s North Waziristan region, mounted last weekend’s 18- hour rocket and

gunfire operation in Kabul. Crocker called on Pakistan to crack down on the Haqqanis and said the response to that demand would influence future ties between the strategic allies.

Relations have been heavily strained by a series of events, including the unilateral US special forces raid that killed Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil in May of last year. Pakistan has denied accusations that its military spy agency sees the Haqqanis as a counterweight to the growing influence of rival India in Afghanistan.

Tahiri said the five men confessed to receiving training from Noor Afzal and Mohammad Omar, who he identified as key commanders of the Pakistani Taleban and Pakistan intelligence.

Video footage released by NDS to media showed the detained men, including the alleged Pakistanis, talking about where they came from while sitting against a blank white wall.

A Pakistani intelligence official declined comment on the accusations, while Afghan officials were not immediately available to give additional information.

While the Pakistani Taleban cooperate with the Afghan Taleban, they are sworn enemies of the US-backed Islamabad government and have

mounted suicide bombings against Pakistani intelligence officials and security forces. It’s still not clear whether the confessions will create a new crisis in relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Cross border ties went into a freeze last year after Kabul accused Pakistani agents of playing a role in the September assassination by insurgents of the head of the country’s High Peace Council. Afghanistan has long been suspicious of Pakistani intentions, accusing Islamabad of backing insurgent groups to further its interests.

Pakistan’s government denies supporting or giving sanctuary to insurgents on its territory and has said it would do what it can to advance the Afghan reconciliation process. Afghan officials say privately that Pakistan has not delivered on its promises, despite upbeat official assessments of cooperation from both sides in recent months. The Taleban in March said they were suspending peace talks with the United States and a plan to open an office in the Gulf state of Qatar to smooth negotiations, accusing Washington of double-dealing over confidence-building measures including the release of insurgents from a US military prison in Cuba. — Reuters

Pakistan promises full probe into plane crash ISLAMABAD: Pakistani officials yesterday promised a full investigation into the crash of a domestic flight that killed 127 people, saying they were examining all possibilities, from a technical fault to the age of the Boeing 737. Grieving relatives claiming the remains of loved ones at a hospital expressed grief and anger over the crash in a storm as the plane approached Islamabad on a flight from Karachi, Pakistan’s commercial hub. Armed police kept media out of the Institute of Medical Sciences in the capital where the remains were stored.

With wreckage scattered over a square km of wheat fields, officials said there were no survivors.

At a press conference yesterday, Nadeem Khan Yousafzai, director-general of Pakistan’s Civil Air Authority, said the plane was locked into the instrument landing system, an approach system that provides precision guidance for aircraft, when it suddenly dropped from 2,900 feet (883 metres) to 2,000 feet.

“It just went down, into a dive,” he said. “Then contact was lost and the blip disappeared from the radar.” “What happened in this period that has to be investigated. Was there a downdraft, was there an engine failure?” The Boeing 737-200 was more than 27 years old, according to AviationSafety.net. Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, speaking outside the hospital e arlier, said: “Until investigations are completed, we cannot jump to any conclusions.”

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the owner of Bhoja Air, Farooq Bhoja, had been barred from leaving the country to ensure his cooperation with the investigation. “Action will be taken, and will be seen to have been taken, I promise you,” he said. Bhoja Air started flights in 1993 but suspended operations eight years later because of financial problems. It resumed domestic flights only last month.

The plane’s “black box”, which records flight data, was recovered last night, rescue authorities said.

Bhoja officials were not immediately available for comment. Many of the relatives gathered at the hospital had flown up from Karachi yesterday morning for the task of identifying victims. Women and men sobbed openly and pushed reporters away.

“My brothers are gone! My brothers are gone!” wailed Mohammad Shahzad, slumping to the ground by the hospital entrance. One brother had been identified, he said, the other remained missing. Both had been on a day-long business trip linked to the transport company run by the three siblings. “We don’t know what to tell the kids, we don’t know what to tell my mother,” Shahzad said.

“They keep calling. I told them there was an accident and we don’t know anything yet.” Ayesha Ishaque pressed her face against a light brown wooden coffin labelled “Body 140”. Her brother, Mohammad Saud Ishaque, had been returning home from studies in Karachi. “Why has God done this to my brother,” she wailed.

Body parts Some gurneys with body parts in bags were taken inside. Also visible were clear plastic containers with bone fragments with labels like “bone from foot”, “bone from arm” and “rib”. Three men from the national database agency were taking a cigarette break from identifying the bodies from fingerprints.

“We’ve identified at least 73 bodies so far, and at least 25 will have to be sent for DNA testing because their hands and digits could not be read,” said one man, clearly exhausted, his latex gloves and blue overalls covered with blood stains.

A coffin periodically passed through the crowd with a piece of paper on top bearing the victim’s name and identification number. Bystanders threw rose petals over the grim procession. Security was intensified at Islamabad’s Benazir Bhutto International Airport. Some women had their bags emptied and each item checked. “I’m feeling okay to fly,” said Mohammad Ehsan, 47, an engineer who had been scheduled to travel on the plane on the return flight to Karachi that it never made.

“I was in shock last night. When I saw the pain and grief the relatives were feeling I just couldn’t think of taking a flight last night. I am grateful for being alive.” Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed condolences to Pakistan over the crash.

In July 2010, an AirBlue jet slammed into the mountains ringing Islamabad on a foggy morning, killing all 152 aboard. Two other crashes that year killed 33 people. Pakistan is rated a category 1 by the US Federal Aviation Authority, which means it meets international standards for air safety. — Reuters

NEW DELHI: Indian milkmen from Delhi and Western Uttar Pradesh pour milk into a drain during a protest yesterday. The milkmen were protesting against the decision of milk products producing companies to reduce the purchase price of milk by 37 percent. —AFP

Army looks into drug abuse by soldiers in Afghanistan WASHINGTON: The US Army has investigated 56 soldiers in Afghanistan on suspicion of using or distributing heroin, morphine or other opiates during 2010 and 2011, newly obtained data shows. Eight soldiers died of drug overdoses during that time. While the cases represent just a slice of possible drug use by US troops in Afghanistan, they provide a sombre snapshot of the illicit trade in the war zone, including young Afghans peddling heroin, soldiers dying after mixing cocktails of opiates, troops stealing from medical bags and Afghan soldiers and police dealing drugs to their US comrades.

In a country awash with poppy fields that provide up to 90 percent of the world’s opium, the US military struggles to keep an eye on its far-flung troops and monitor for substance abuse. But US Army officials say that while the presence of such readily available opium - the raw ingredient for heroin - is a concern, opiate abuse has not been a pervasive problem for troops in Afghanistan. “We have seen sporadic cases of it, but we do not see it as a widespread problem, and we have the means to check,” said Col. Tom Collins, an Army spokesman.

The data represents only the criminal investigations done by Army Criminal Investigation Command involving soldiers in Afghanistan during those two years. The cases, therefore, are just a piece of the broader drug use statistics released by the Army earlier this year reporting nearly 70,000 drug offens-

es by roughly 36,000 soldiers between 20062011. The number of offenses increased from about 9,400 in 2010 to about 11,200 in 2011.

The overdose totals for the two years, however, are double the number that the Defence Department has reported as drug-related deaths in Afghanistan for the last decade.

Defence officials suggested that additional deaths may have been categorized as “other” or were still under investigation when the statistics were submitted.

The data was requested by conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch and obtained

by The Associated Press. The Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps have not yet responded to the request for similar information. The Army reports blacked out the names of the soldiers who were under investigation as well any resolution of their cases or punishments they may have received.

Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, said the numbers signal the need for the military leadership to be more vigilant about watching and warning troops in Afghanistan about drug abuse. He said the worry is that “the danger, including the danger of dying, hasn’t been fully acknowledged by the military and it needs to be.” Army officials say they do random drug testing through the service and the goal is that every soldier is tested at least once a year. Top Army leaders have said they have not met that goal, but have been working steadily to substantially increase the number of those tested each year.—AP

Dalai Lama laments latest Tibetan self-immolations LONG BEACH: The Dalai Lama voiced sadness Friday at the reported self-immolation of two more Tibetans, the latest in a wave of such protests against Beijing’s rule. But the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader-blamed by Beijing for fomenting the burning protestswas cautious of further comment since the issue was “very political”-and also said he signs of Chinese political leaders. “It is very very sad,” he said, when asked about the latest two self-immolations in a restive southwestern region of China, reported by human rights in groups.

“Indeed, very sad. But at the same time it is currently (a) very very political issue. I prefer (to) remain silent,” he added, during a visit to California. A total of 34 Tibetans, many of them Buddhist monks and nuns, are now reported to have attempted to kill themselves in the same way since the start of 2011 over what they see as Chinese repression of their culture. The latest self-immolations by a pair of young Tibetan men occurred Thursday in the prefecture of Aba, in a rugged area of Sichuan province, overseas Tibetan rights groups said.

Beijing last month blamed the Dalai Lama for a violent incident in India that saw one Tibetan exile set himself on fire in protest against a trip by Chinese President Hu Jintao to New Delhi. “Recently, the Dalai group has been sparing no efforts to incite Tibet independence activities and deliberately create

various disturbances,” foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters on March 27. “These conducts and deeds clearly show that the Dalai group is single-handedly masterminding relevant self-immolation actions.”

The Dalai Lama, who began a US trip in Hawaii before travelling to California this week and then on to Chicago and Canada, meanwhile repeated Friday his view that there were positive signs of political reform.

He cited comments by outgoing Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, that China has no way forward but through economic and political structural reform, as well as the sidelining of a key hardliner. “ These things show (that) the more open-minded leaders... are gaining the upper hand. So that’s a hopeful sign,” he told reporters in Long Beach, California.

China has imposed tight security to contain simmering discontent in Tibetan regions since 2008, when deadly rioting against Chinese rule broke out in Tibet’s capital Lhasa and spread to neighbouring Tibetaninhabited regions. Many Tibetans in China complain of religious repression and a gradual erosion of their culture blamed on a growing influx of majority Han Chinese to their homeland. China denies any repression and says it has improved the lives of Tibetans with investment in infrastructure, schools and housing and by spurring economic growth. —AFP

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

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

Aboriginal teens shot by Sydney police SYDNEY: Two Aboriginal teenagers were shot by police in central Sydney yesterday after mounting a crowded footpath in a stolen car and hitting a bystander, stoking race tensions in the city. The 14-year-old driver was hit in the chest and arm and his passenger, 18, took a bullet to the neck after police opened fire on the windscreen of their car as it sped onto a busy pavement in the city’s Kings Cross nightclub zone. Assistant police commissioner Mark Murdoch said onlookers “literally jumped for their lives” as the stolen vehicle mounted the kerb at around 4am, mowing down a 29-year-old woman who was hospitalised with chest injuries.

Murdoch said police had recognised the driver and passenger as

youths from the impoverished Aboriginal district of Redfern, and the pair had sped the car onto the footpath “to avoid apprehension” as officers had approached them. “That vehicle struck a female pedestrian.

That female pedestrian was pushed under the front of the vehicle,’ Murdoch told repor ters. “At that point police, in an attempt to protect that person, discharged a number of shots into the vehicle.”

Whether “that decision turned out to be the right decision” would be determined by an internal investigation but Murdoch said his advice was “that the police had little other option” to protect onlookers. “We have a vehicle being driven on the footpath... when there are many tens, if not potentially hundreds of people.

That to me presents a significant risk of harm to the community,” Murdoch said.

Both teenagers were in hospital and the driver was in a “serious but stable” condition. Murdoch said they were expected to recover from their injuries. Police had met with Redfern’s Aboriginal elders to discuss the incident, Murdoch added, urging calm in the inner-city community where deaths linked to police pursuits have been a flashpoint for riots in the past. “I would hope (the community) understands that we need to investigate exactly what happened and why it happened,” he said.

“As soon as we know something, they’ll know.” Scores of police were injured in a wild nine-hour standoff in Redfern in 2004 following the

death of 17-year-old TJ Hickey, who was impaled on a fence as-according to his family-officers chased him on his bicycle. An inquir y ultimately cleared the police over H ickey ’s death, but the violence, which saw the riot squad pelted with bricks, rocks and petrol bombs, shook the city.

Redfern Aboriginal leader Mick Mundine said yesterday’s meeting between the police and about 30 family had gone well and he was hopeful of the peace holding, with race relations in the community greatly improved since 2004. “The family don’t want this issue and Redfern tied in with it, it’s got nothing to do with Redfern and it’s just a one-off thing,” Mundine told AFP. “Even the family and the grandmoth-

er have just told people ‘just butt out, it’s nothing to do with you, nothing to do with Redfern’ so that’s good.”

Mundine said there would be “one or two who will stir the police just for the sake of trouble” but it was “very quiet here at the moment” and he expected it to stay that way. “( The family) are angry, would be angry at the police of course, police shooting a 14-year-old boy, shooting at kids in other words. The police have got a lot to answer for,” he said. “On the other hand, what’s a 14-year-old doing in a hot car in the Cross? At least he’s not dead, that’s the main thing I suppose.” Aborigines are Australia’s most disadvantaged minority, with shorter life expectancy and much higher rates of imprisonment and disease than the broader population. — AFP

China military warns of confrontation over seas China releases Vietnamese after maritime row

BEIJING: In this photo, Kim Lee, wife of “Crazy English” founder Li Yang, leaves a court building after a session for her divorce trial. — AP

woman becomes hero for battered wives in China BEIJING: Her head was ringing from the blows. Once, twice, three times, her husband slammed her face into the living room floor. Kim Lee tried to twist her tall but skinny frame out from under his 91kilogram (200-pound) body, scraping her elbows and knees on the carpet. He kept on pounding. Eight, nine, 10 times - she thought she might black out. Then, close to the floor, she glimpsed the neon pinkpainted toenails of her 3-year-old daughter, Lydia. “Stop!” the child cried. “What are you doing? Stop, Daddy, stop!” She jumped on her father and scratched his arm. “Damn it!” he yelled. He loosened his grip on his wife, and she crawled away.

It wasn’t the first time in their relationship that Li Yang, a Chinese celebrity entrepreneur, had struck her - but for his American wife, it was going to be the last.

She scooped up her wailing child, grabbed their passports and a wad of cash, and walked out of their Beijing apartment. And in doing so, she opened the door to a torrent of anguish about domestic violence in her adopted country, inadvertently becoming a folk hero for Chinese battered women.

Domestic violence everywhere lives in the shadows, and in China it thrives in a secrecy instilled by tradition that holds family conflicts to be private. It is also hard to go public in a country where many still consider women subservient to their husbands, and there is no specific national law against domestic violence. At least one in four women in China is estimated to have been a victim of domestic violence at some point in her life, surveys show, with the rate in rural areas as high as two out of every three women. The violence takes many forms, from physical and sexual assault to emotional abuse or economic deprivation.

Lee’s case has spawned tens of thousands of postings on Chinese Twitter-like sites, along with protests and talk show debates. It is especially explosive because she is a foreigner, at a time when China is particularly sensitive about how it is understood and treated by the world. “A lot of people said, ‘Oh, is it because Kim is an American and so she’s too strong-willed, or her personality is too strong?’... Some others have asked whether she is making a big fuss over a small issue,” says Feng Yuan, founder and chair of the Anti-Domestic Violence Network in Beijing. “This shows that in terms of the public perception of domestic violence, we still have a long way to go.”

The story of Li Yang and Kim Lee is documented in photographs, letters, text messages, police documents and hospital records seen by The Associated Press, as well as extensive interviews with her in Beijing. Li refused repeated requests for interviews, but in past interviews on TV and on his microblog, he has confessed to beating his wife. They met on the first day of her first trip to China in 1999, in what Lee has come to see as “yuanfen,” or fate.

Then a teacher in Miami, she was visiting a Chinese school to learn about bilingual education. He was there to speak about his popular program, “Crazy English,” a radical approach to learning the language that involved hand gestures and slogans such as “Conquer English to Make China Stronger!” Li sold more than English lessons - he sold a life philosophy of shedding inhibitions, with a patriotism that resonated with many in today’s China. Li persuaded her to move to China to work for him. Inspired by a Chinese folktale called

Journey to the West, he called himself the “Hopeless Master” and Kim his “Monkey Queen,” to the delight of colleagues. In private, he wrote to her that “a hopeless master can’t sur vive without his monkey queen.”

They married in a Las Vegas chapel in 2005, a few years after their first daughter Lily was born. But with Li away at workshops much of the time, the relationship grew strained. One day, during an argument over money, he slapped her hard, she says. She blamed herself. “Just drop it, just don’t make him angry,” she thought.

Another time, arguing about work, he pushed her in front of their colleagues. In February 2006, while Lee was seven months’ pregnant with their second child, her husband promised to accompany her to the hospital for a test. He did not show up. Lee went home and deleted four chapters of a textbook she had written for him.

When he called, she told him, “I want you to understand what it feels like when you count on someone to do something and they don’t.”

He hung up. The next day, while she was baking cupcakes with their daughter, he flew into the kitchen and knocked a hot pan out of her hand. He grabbed her by the hair, threw her on the floor and choked her.

She reached up and pushed a clothes rack at him. He managed to land a few kicks on her stomach, but she turned on her side to protect the unborn child. Despite bruises on her legs and body, a sonogram showed the baby was all right. Li said later he “could not tolerate” threats to his work.

Lee did not tell her family or friends about the beating. She thought it was her fault for provoking him, and he seemed sorry. She mentioned it to her sister-in-law, who dismissed her concerns, saying: “It’s nothing. All men are like that.” The expectation that all men are violent - or at least have the right to be violent - is common in parts of China. As with many countries, men historically ruled the family, with authority over women and girls. Women were supposed to obey their fathers when young, their husbands when married and their sons when widowed, according to advice attributed to the ancient sage Confucius. Those who broke family laws could be beaten, with no questions asked.

Communism brought new laws that gave women the right to work alongside men, and decades of economic growth have created dramatic shifts in Chinese society. But inequities persist, particularly in rural areas. There is no official data on domestic violence in China today, and underreporting is common. However, a recent nationwide survey by the All-China Women’s Federation found that 25 percent of women reported domestic violence from their spouses, almost the same as in the United States. Smaller-scale studies report a rate in Chinese rural areas of up to 65 percent. “What it shows is the tip of the iceberg,” says Feng, the advocate against domestic violence. “How big the iceberg really is, we actually don’t know.”

Wei Tingting is one of about 10 activists who staged a protest over Lee’s plight on Valentine’s Day on a busy pedestrian shopping street in Beijing. She and two other women wore bridal gowns splashed with fake blood and makeup that looked like bruises on their faces. Wei, who grew up in the Chinese countr yside in southern Guangxi province, often saw her father beating her mother. Her grandfather hit her grandmother too.— AP

BEIJING: China’s military warned the United States yesterday that US-Philippine military exercises have raised risks of armed confrontation over the disputed South China Sea in the toughest high-level warning yet after weeks of tensions. China’s official Liberation Army Daily warned that recent jostling with the Philippines over disputed seas where both countries have sent ships could boil over into outright conflict, and laid much of the blame at Washington’s door.

This week American and Filipino troops launched a fortnight of annual naval drills amid the standoff between Beijing and Manila, who have accused each other of encroaching on sovereign seas near the Scarborough Shoal, west of a former US navy base at Subic Bay. The joint exercises are held in different seas around the Philippines; the leg that takes place in the South China Sea area starts tomorrow. “Anyone with clear eyes saw long ago that behind these drills is reflected a mentality that will lead the South China Sea issue down a fork in the road towards military confrontation and resolution through armed force,” said the commentary in the Chinese paper, which is the chief mouthpiece of the People’s Liberation Army.

“Through this kind of meddling and intervention, the United States will only stir up the entire South China Sea situation towards increasing chaos, and this will inevitably have a massive impact on regional peace and stability.” Up to now, China has chided the Philippines over the dispute about the uninhabited shoal known in the Philippines as the Panatag Shoal and which China calls Huangyan, about 124 nautical miles off the main Philippine island of Luzon.

China has territorial disputes with the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan across the South China Sea, which could be rich in oil and gas and is spanned by busy shipping lanes.

Major General Luo Yuan, a retired PLA researcher well-known for his hawkish views, amplified the warnings from Beijing issued through state media.

“China has already shown enough restraint and patience over this incident,” Luo said of the friction with Manila, according to an inter view published on Chinese state television’s website (http://news.cntv.cn).

If the Philippines “takes irrational actions, then the current confrontation could intensify, and the Chinese navy will certainly not

stand idly by,” he added.

Regional tensions Beijing has sought to resolve the disputes one -on-one with the countries involved but there is worry among its neighbours over what some see as growing Chinese assertiveness in staking claims over the seas and various islands, reefs and shoals. In past patches of tension over disputed seas, hawkish Chinese military voices have also risen, only to be later reined in by the government. The same could be true this time.

Since late 2010, China has sought to cool tensions with the United States. Especially with the ruling Chinese Party preoccupied with a leadership succession late in 2012, Beijing has stressed hopes for steady relations throughout this year. Nonetheless, experts have said that China remains wary of US military intentions across the AsiaPacific, especially in the wake of the Obama administration’s vows to “pivot” to the region, reinvigorating diplomatic and security ties with allies. The Liberation Army Daily commentary echoed that wariness.

“The United States’ intention of trying to draw more countries into stirring up the situation in the South China Sea is being bran-

dished to the full,” said the newspaper. Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have released 21 Vietnamese fishermen who were detained seven weeks ago near disputed islands in the South China Sea, drawing strong protests from Hanoi. The incident was the latest in a string of diplomatic rows between the two nations over territorial issues and the releases came as Beijing is locked in a stand-off with the Philippines in another disputed area of the South China Sea. The Vietnamese nationals-accused by China of illegal fishing-were released Friday “after they signed a written guarantee,” the South China Sea Fishery Bureau said in a statement late Friday.

The official Xinhua news agency said the guarantee was a pledge “not to infringe on China’s maritime rights, especially fishing, in its territorial waters.” According to the bureau statement, the fishermen’s two boats were loaded with 25 kilograms of explosives and other tools for dynamite fishing when they were found near the Paracel Islands-Hoang Sa in Vietnamese and Xisha in Chinese-on March 4.

One of the fishing boats has been returned, while another has been confiscated by Chinese authorities, Xinhua said. — Agencies

Indonesia detains Afghan asylum seekers

YANGON: In this file photo, British Prime Minister David Cameron (left) and Myanmar pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi speak to journalists during their joint press conference following their meeting. — AP

Myanmar activists say go slow on easing sanctions BANGKOK: The increasingly enthusiastic love affair between Myanmar and the West is about to heat up further with the European Union’s expected announcement that it is easing sanctions on the Southeast Asian nation. But not everyone is caught up in the euphoria. Many human rights groups are urging the West to move slowly as it reengages with Myanmar, saying the country’s partial return to democracy is not cause for celebration. Myanmar’s elected rulers today are the same men who just two years ago led a military government condemned as tyrannical by much of the world for jailing more than 2,000 political prisoners, conducting brutal counterinsurgency wars against ethnic minorities and failing to hand over power to a democratically elected government.

The United States and the European Union ostracized the junta with sanctions, barring much investment, blocking international financial transactions and rejecting imports from Myanmar - all of which served to stunt economic development. A dodgy 2010 election giving the army and its allies about 85 percent of the seats in parliament promised more of the same. But an unexpected reform campaign started last year by President Thein Sein - formerly the junta’s prime minister - signaled a shift in the wind. It became a hurricane of change when the long-embattled prodemocracy party of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi endorsed Thein Sein’s reform

campaign.

When Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won 43 of the 45 parliamentary seats at stake in by-elections this month, the shift toward democracy seemed confirmed. Her party had won a 1990 general election, only to have the military refuse to hand over power, and boycotted the 2010 polls as unfair and undemocratic. In return for actions such as freeing many political prisoners and engaging with Suu Kyi’s movement, minor restrictions by the West against Myanmar - among them, travel bans on some relatives of former junta leaders - have already been lifted. A return to economic normalcy, after all, is in the interest not only of Myanmar’s government, but also Western companies, shut out of the country’s underdeveloped market for so many years.

On Monday, the biggest rollback yet will take place, when European Union foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg are expected to temporarily lift most sanctions against Myanmar, which is also called Burma. The United States is under pressure to follow suit. Norway last Sunday decided to remove all limits on foreign aid, financing and visas. “We’re doing this to send a positive signal to those behind the reforms of the last year,” Nor wegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told reporters.

“The changes we’ve seen in the country during this period are more than anyone could expect.” —AP

MALANG: Indonesia was questioning more than 70 mostly Afghan asylum seekers bound for Australia yesterday after their boat was hit by a powerful wave, forcing them to swim to shore, officials said. Residents in Wonogoro beach on the eastern coast of Java island reported seeing scores of people wash up onto the shore late Friday night, some beginning to run away, Malang police chief Rinto Djatmono told AFP. “We found 43 last night including three children and one woman. They are being questioned by the Malang city immigration office and they are all in a healthy condition,” Djatmono said.

Police detained another 30 late yesterday morning and are still looking for more believed to be missing. There was no search operation at sea.

Jahmadi Ahkhalik, 55, was making the journey with his wife and four children.

“I paid $5,000 for my family to get out of Afghanistan and get on this boat. I sold everything I had of any value to do it,” he told AFP. He said he had waited in Indonesia for eight months before getting on the boat bound for Australia’s Christmas Island, which is closer to Java than mainland Australia. Ali Ahmad, 17, said he travelled through Malaysia and the Indonesian capital Jakarta, which cost him around $5,000, including the boat journey.

“I didn’t even tell my family. They don’t know I was trying to go to Australia,” he said. Some of the asylum seekers had already been processed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Djatmono said. Officials were told by different asylum seekers that there were between 83 and 100 on the boat. “From what they’ve told us, we know their engine had broken down two days earlier, and a strong wave hit the boat and destroyed the vessel,” Djatmono said, adding it was unclear how far they had swum. Last week, Indonesian authorities said they believed dozens of mostly Afghan asylum seekers had fled a leaky boat with malfunctioning engines found on Lombok Island, near the resort island of Bali.

Those asylum seekers have not been found, and police have made no connection between the two cases. Indonesia is a common transit point for asylum seekers trying to reach Australia, but many of the overloaded rickety boats do not make it. In December, a boat carrying around 250 mostly Afghan and Iranian asylum seekers sank in Indonesian waters on its way to Christmas Island, with only 47 surviving. —AFP

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

NEWS Teams from the Kings Troop of the Royal artillery fire a 41-gun salute in London’s Hyde Park in honour of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II’s 86th birthday in central London yesterday. — AFP

In Gaza zoo, stuffed animals join live ones Continued from Page 1 treatment is done by consulting over the phone with zoo veterinarians in Egypt.

Still, the zoo is one of the few places of entertainment here in Khan Younis, a city of 200,000 people at the southern end of the Gaza Strip. It’s one of five zoos in the Gaza Strip, a densely populated coastal enclave of 1.7 million people ruled by Islamic Hamas militants. Owner Mohammed Awaida said he opened the “South Forest Park” in 2007, only to lose a number of animals during Israel’s military offensive against Hamas that began in Dec 2008. During the three-week offensive, launched in response to rocket attacks on Israel, Awaida said he could not reach the zoo, and many animals died of neglect and starvation. “The idea to mummify animals started after the Gaza war because a number of animals like the lion, the tiger, monkeys and crocodiles died,” he said. “So we asked around and we learned from the Web how to start.”

Formaldehyde and sawdust provided the basic tools, though Awaida acknowledges he is no expert. Gaza’s zoos are used to resorting to odd ways to get by amid the territory’s multiple woes. In 2009, a zoo in Gaza City exhibited white donkeys painted with black stripes to look like zebras because it was too expensive to replace two zebras who were neglected during the Israeli offensive.

Since Hamas violently took control of Gaza in 2007, Israel has blocked Gaza’s ports, waters and all but one border crossing into Israel. Egypt has also restricted movement through its border crossing, meaning new animals must be smuggled at great expense through an elaborate network of underground tunnels on the Gazan-Egyptian border. Awaida said all of his animals except the birds came through the tunnels. Preserving dead zoo animals is not new to Palestinians. In the West Bank city of Qalqilya, zoo

veterinarian Sami Khader turned to taxidermy nine years ago when a giraffe named Brownie died during the second Palestinian uprising against Israel.

Khader, who had extensive training and experience in taxidermy from years working in Saudi Arabia, stuffed Brownie and moved him to the zoo’s museum. Today that museum includes a hyena, wolf, birds, camel, raccoons and a tiger. Fighting with Israel has since subsided and the zoo maintains close connections with the Ramat Gan Safari outside Tel Aviv. But administrators say that Israeli restrictions still make it cumbersome to get new animals. “We have more variations and different species as preserved animals than we have living,” said Amjad Al-Haj, the zoo’s financial director. “If there will be more restrictions we may end up calling it preserved animals zoo.”

Conditions in Khan Younis - and its zoo - are far worse.

Whereas Khader is a veterinarian and professional taxidermist, Awaida is untrained. “I use many ingredients for the embalming, not one or two, and the ingredients and method will vary from animal to animal,” Khader said. “It’s not enough to just go read on the Internet.” And Awaida does not have the contacts with Israeli zoos that Qalqilya has, a reflection of Gaza’s near-complete separation from Israel. Like the other zoos in Gaza, the Khan Younis facility is virtually unsupervised. There is no animal rights movement in the territory. Hassan Azzam, director of the veterinary services department in Gaza’s ministry of agriculture, said, “We have humble capabilities,” but the ministry encourages zoos. However somber the Khan Younis zoo, it does offer entertainment to children. Samir Amer, 14, snapped pictures of the animals with his mobile phone. “I have been to this place before years ago but this is my first time seeing mummified animals,” he said. “They look like they are asleep. I will print out the pictures of me standing next to the lion and put it on my wall. It will be fun to show it to my younger brothers.” — AP

UN agrees to send observers to Syria Continued from Page 1 pounded, although an activist there said the situation was calm. But in the town of Qusayr, near the Lebanese border in Homs province, a sniper shot dead a woman yesterday, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Also in the run-up to the UN vote, state media reported the release 30 people detained for their alleged role in Syria’s anti-regime uprising, but who have “no blood on their hands”. The move takes to nearly 4,000 the number of people the authorities have freed since November, SANA said.

Ahead of the vote, many Western nations, including the United States, had strong doubts that the resolution would be passed, and several Western envoys highlighted the risks of sending monitors to Syria. “The deployment of the first 10 observers in Syria

has not changed the murderous behaviour of the regime,” said France’s UN ambassador Gerard Araud, who added that Assad had shown “contempt” for UN action.

However, Russia’s UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin, whose country played a leading role in drawing up the resolution, told the council: “This resolution is of fundamental importance to push forward the process of the peaceful settlement in Syria.” On top of the military observers, civilian experts will go to Syria to advise on political and public security developments. The council approved an advanced mission of 30 observers and seven are already in Syria where the UN says more than 9,000 people have been killed in the 13-month crackdown on dissent against Assad’s rule.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory reported that “a loud explosion was

heard yesterday at the Mazzeh military airport in Damascus,” but provided no further details. Activists however told AFP that the army blocked the road leading to the base while snipers took position on rooftops in the area.

Sporadic clashes between government troops and army deserters have rocked Damascus in recent weeks, ahead of the April 12 ceasefire.

Elsewhere, an “armed terrorist group” yesterday blew up a section of an oil pipeline in the Deir Ezzor region of northeast Syria, SANA said.

On Friday, violence persisted on the ground, with at least 46 people killed as thousands of Syrians protested against Assad’s regime, according to monitors and activists. Monitors say more than 200 people have been killed in Syria since the shaky ceasefire to which the government and rebels committed themselves went into effect. — AFP

Pension for foreign workers in Kuwait?

Continued from Page 1 into a pension system. The scheme will make the emirate the first in the region to offer a pension fund to expatriates who don’t pay income tax. “Once we complete negotiations with other departments, we will seek government approval so the project can be launched by the end of the year, the deputy director general for planning and development at DED, Ali Ibrahim was quoted as saying in the report.

For foreign workers in Kuwait, this is a welcome development. “The UAE has always been the pacesetter in the region. When it changed the weekend holidays from Thursday-Friday to Friday-Saturday, Kuwait and other GCC countries followed. I hope they will follow UAE’s style this time around,” Layal Fahad, a Lebanese expat said. “A pension scheme in Kuwait? I think it will be possible if the government wants to do it. Although there may be some hitches, Kuwait is equal to the task.

If Dubai can do it why can’t we? The workers in Kuwait deserve a better system,” Jamel Haqi, a Kuwait businessman said in optimism. “This is a welcome development.

I wish Kuwait can assist the foreign workers here who are working tirelessly to build this country,” Thomas

Ferdinand, an Indian civil engineer said.

“It is possible to have a pension scheme in Kuwait even though expats don’t pay income taxes. All they need to do is to create a ‘pension fund’ whereby a small fraction of the expat’s income will be deposited for a number of years. This fund will be invested and the profits accrued will be saved and paid as pension after your years of service,” Lilit Sargsyan, an Armenian economist explained.

According to a senior banker at an investment banks in Kuwait who preferred to remain anonymous, the pension scheme is workable even without governmental financial contributions. “A portion of the employee’s monthly salary (about 10 percent) and maybe another 10-15 percent from the employer could be deposited in form of a yielding fund and put in a safe investment like government securities, bonds, treasury bills etc. At the end of service, the employee’s contribution, the employer’s contribution and the accrued interests will sum up to be the employee’s pension,” he explained. “In this case the government can only serve as a regulatory body without making any contribution. Also, the government can assist the companies by reducing their corporate taxes,” he added.

US fat cat weighs in at nearly 18 kg Continued from Page 1 He’ll be on a special diet so he can start shedding some pounds. The goal is for him to lose at least 10 pounds so he can be put up for adoption. The shelter plans to post updates on Meow’s weight loss on its Facebook page. It’s not clear how the feline was able to gain so much weight in just two years. Adult cats typically weigh between 3 and 6 kg. “If you go online, you’ll see a lot of fat cats and these are people who have fed them just one thing, like meat or something that’s not nutritionally balanced,” Swan said. “Then the cat refuses to eat anything else and then they just get fatter and fatter and fatter.”

Meow has one thing going for him. He’s not the fattest cat out there. That record belongs to Himmy, a tabby from Australia that weighed almost 21 kg. The shelter said Guinness World Records has since stopped accept-

ing applications for the record over concerns it would encourage people to overfeed their animals. In Meow’s case, the shelter is awaiting blood test results to make sure he doesn’t have any additional health problems.

Shelter veterinarian Jennifer Steketee said the idea is for Meow to gradually lose weight by eating a special diet.

He has already lost a couple of pounds since being turned in.

Steketee said the dangers of feline obesity are not much different than they are for humans - extra pressure on the heart and joints. Swan said all the extra weight makes it tough for Meow to play. He had little interest in the supersized toy mouse the shelter gave him when he first arrived and he couldn’t squeeze much more than his head into the carpeted ring attached to the shelter’s scratching post. “He’s very sweet. He’s doing everything a normal cat would do except he loses his breath and tires easily,” Swan said. “We’re seeing what we can to do help him.” — AP

Clashes cast pall over Bahrain F1 Continued from Page 1 Demonstrators hurled Molotov cocktails back.

Activists described clashes in several districts.

Mohammed Al-Maskati of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights said police used tear gas, rubber bullets and sound bombs on a crowd of several hundred protesters trying to reach a main road in Al-Bilad al-Qadeem, a Shiite neighbourhood of Manama.

The neighbourhood was home to Salah Abbas Habib, 37, whose body was found splayed on a corrugated iron rooftop. Opposition party Wefaq said he was among a group of protesters who had been beaten by police after fierce clashes on Friday night. Habib’s death infuriates members of Bahrain’s Shiite majority, who complain they have long been marginalised by the Sunni ruling family and have been treated brutally since the crackdown on protests last year.

A funeral march for Habib will probably take place today, once his body has been released to his family, setting the stage for riots during the big race itself. Activists say his death takes the total dead since the uprising began on Feb 14, 2011 to 81, including police killed last year, a figure the government disputes. “We are calling for the regime to fall, we can’t live with this regime, they abused our youth, our honour, they destroyed our mosques,” said marcher Ahmed Madani. “Our initial demands were to elect a new government but after the disgusting abuse we received, all the people are asking for is for the regime to fall.”

The uprising forced the cancellation of last year’s Grand Prix, but this year the authorities were determined to stage it. Organisers and sponsors have ignored calls from human rights groups for a boycott. The head of Formula One’s governing body said the sport would suffer no long-lasting damage from the Bahrain event, despite the images of streets ablaze. “I am not sure that all that has been reported corresponds to the reality of what is happening in this country,” International Automobile Federation president Jean Todt told reporters at the Bahrain circuit. While sports journalists have been invited to cover the race, non-sports reporters from Reuters and some other news organisations have been denied visas.

But around 20 protesters gathered outside F1’s London offices yesterday, with human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell calling for British drivers to pull out of boycott the race. “There can be no normal sporting relations with an abnormal regime that is killing its own people,” Tatchell said.

Overnight battles late on Friday saw police fire teargas at masked youths throwing petrol bombs who tried to reach a traffic roundabout that was the main rallying point during last year’s uprising. Hundreds of protesters took refuge from teargas in a shopping mall. The protests have so far been kept away from the Bahrain International Circuit, where qualifying races were held yesterday in advance of today’s main race. Armoured vehicles and security forces in riot gear guarded the highway during Friday’s clashes. The protesters, mostly from the majority Shiite community, blame the Sunni ruling elite for shutting them out of opportunities, jobs and housing. They have made it clear they will use the international attention the motor race has focused on Bahrain to air their grievances.

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry issued a statement saying it was launching an investigation into Habib’s killing. It confirmed that “the body of a deceased person was found in

Shakhura today” and said it had “a wound to his left side”.

It added that police have begun an investigation” into the death, which was being considered murder. “The government condemns all acts of violence and will ensure the perpetrators of this crime, whoever they may be, will be brought to justice,” the ministry quoted Public Security Chief Major General Tariq Al-Hassan as saying.

According to Maskati, three witnesses who took part with Habib in Friday night’s clash said he had been hit by birdshot while running away from police. “They said they don’t know if he died from the birdshot or from being beaten up by security forces,” Maskati said, adding police appeared to know where his body was when they went to the village of Shakhura early yesterday morning.

Bahrain, a financial hub and modest oil producer, is an important US military ally and host to the Fifth Fleet, the US Navy’s main outpost in the region. It is the only one of the Gulf’s Arab monarchies with a Shiite majority, and the only one that was seriously threatened by last year’s Arab Spring, which swept away the long-serving rulers of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen. During last year’s crackdown, Bahrain brought in troops from neighbouring Saudi Arabia. Security forces cleared the streets and bulldozed the landmark Pearl Roundabout. Thirty-five people, including security personnel, were killed.

Since then, with protests and clashes continuing, Bahrain has invited in an independent commission to prescribe reforms and has enacted some, but human rights groups say there is still more work to be done. They say the kingdom’s rulers are using the motor race to improve their international image. “We are committed to our program of reforms, but this week’s unbalanced coverage does little to help the progress we are already making,” a Bahrain Information Affairs Authority official said in a statement.

Hackers brought down the F1 website intermittently on Friday and defaced another site, f1-racers.net, to support what they described as the Bahraini people’s struggle against oppression. At stake is a race that has drawn more than 100,000 visitors and generated more than $500 million in spending. It has been a symbol of pride for the ruling royal family since Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa brought the first Formula One Grand Prix to the region in 2004.

Some members of the 12 teams have witnessed clashes. Two members of the Force India team went home to Britain. Force India returned to the track after skipping a Friday practice. Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone described general security fears as “nonsense”. Team principals say they are confident in security measures, which they describe as similar to arrangements at other Formula One races across the globe. Opposition leaders say more than 100 protest organisers have been arrested in night raids in the past week and dozens have been wounded in clashes in which police have fired birdshot directly and live rounds into the air.

Also of concern is the health of hunger striker Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, one of 14 men jailed for leading last year’s uprising. Khawaja’s family said he stopped drinking water on Friday, after being on hunger strike for more than 70 days. His death would be a major blow to the government, which is trying to make the case that reforms are under way. His release, however, would also be a loss of face and could energise the opposition.

Denmark, where Khawaja also holds citizenship, has offered to take him. “His situation is very dangerous,” said activist Rajab. “If he dies that will make people very angry.” — Agencies

14

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Issues

America’s decline: Myth or reality?

By Bernd Debusmann ake note of a new phrase in the seemingly endless debate over whether the days of the United States as the world’s pre-eminent power are numbered: those who doubt the country’s economic decline are said to be holding an “intellectual ostrich position”. The expression was coined by Edward Luce, author of a deeply-researched new book entitled “Time to Start Thinking: America in the Age of Descent”. It notes that the United States accounted for 31 percent of the global economy in 2000 and 23.5 percent in 2010. By 2020, he estimates, it will shrink to around 16 percent.

Luce’s diagnosis of America’s decline descent, published in April, was the latest addition to a steadily growing library of books, academic papers and opinion pieces for or against the idea that the United States can maintain its status as the world’s only superpower. If we adopt Luce’s phrase, it’s a discussion between declinists and ostriches. The latter include President Barack Obama and his presumptive Republican rival in next November’s presidential elections. “It means that we’re going to have a 2012 election where... both candidates will start on a false premise: that relative economic decline is simply to be ignored or dismissed,” Luce said in an interview with Foreign Policy magazine.

“And I’d describe that as a kind of intellectual ostrich position.”

The false premise, in this view, was set out by Robert Kagan, a scholar at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank, in a lengthy analysis entitled “Not Fade Away: Against the Myth of American Decline”. One of the points Kagan made to support his argument was that the US share of world gross domestic product (GDP) has held steady over the past four decades. Plain wrong, says Luce. The Kagan article, now expanded into a book (“The World America Made”), is reported to have so impressed Obama that it influenced his State of the Union Speech in January, when he said “Anyone who tells you that America is in decline or that our influence has waned doesn’t know what they are talking about.”

They don’t? Here’s the view of Clyde Prestowitz, a labour economist and veteran declinist, weighing into the debate in April: “You’d have to be blind not to see the deterioration of our infrastructure. We used to have trade surpluses. Now we have chronic deficits. We used to tell ourselves that didn’t matter because we had surpluses in high tech items. But now we have deficits there, too. We used to be the world’s biggest creditor.

Now we are its biggest debtor How can anybody claim we are not suffering decline?”

Washington’s loss of influence has been evident in many regions of the world, most recently at a summit that brought together leaders of North and Latin America in the Colombian city of Cartagena. There, in Uncle Sam’s traditional backyard, Obama’s assertion that US influence had not waned highlighted a particularly wide gap between rhetoric and reality. The backyard showed itself so united in opposition to decadesold US policies - the trade embargo on Cuba, the war on drugs - that the summit ended without the usual final communique. “There was no consensus,” said the summit’s host, Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos, an important US ally in the region.

Apart from disagreements over two of Washington’s oldest and most obviously failed policies - 50 years of Cuba embargo, 40 years of drug war - the meeting showed that the United States is no longer seen as the single most dominant force in the region. As an analysis by the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue put it on the eve of the Cartagena meeting: “US-Latin American relations have grown more distant. The quality and intensity of ties have diminished. Most countries of the region view the United States as less and less relevant for their needs - and with declining capacity to propose and carry out strategies to deal with the issues that most concern them.” Why less and less relevant? For one, US economic dominance in Latin America is no longer what it used to be. A decade ago, 55 percent of the region’s imports came from the United States. That has shrunk to less than a third.

China’s share of trade with Brazil, Latin America’s economic and political powerhouse, has overtaken that of the United States. The same goes for Chile and Peru. To what extent US influence in the backyard will continue to slide depends largely on how clear-eyed US leaders see their country’s global position. The ostrich view would hasten the decline. —Reuters

T

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.

Assad foes doubt truce but have few options

By Dominic Evans arely had the first UN ceasefire monitors set foot on Syrian soil this week than Bashar al-Assad’s enemies were discussing the likelihood of the mission failing and warning of punitive measures against the Syrian president. The emir of Qatar gave Syria’s flawed truce a three percent chance of holding while US officials, pointing to continued army shelling of rebel strongholds, questioned whether there was any point adding to the handful of international monitors in place. France said it put no faith in the ceasefire because Assad was not sincere and even UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Syria had yet to show it is committed to peace.

But behind doubts and scepticism over the partial ceasefire and the protracted wrangling to establish a credible monitoring mission, Assad’s critics know they have few other levers to end the violence in Syria. Still reluctant to consider military force and facing Russian and Chinese opposition to UN sanctions on Damascus, they have little diplomatic muscle to back up their noisy rhetoric against the Syrian leader. The truce, brokered by international mediator Kofi Annan, came into effect last week. Activists say Syria has violated it by shelling Homs and other opposition strongholds and failing to withdraw heavy weapons from cities.

The government says rebels have carried out at least three major bombings and killed dozens of people.

“Although they are pessimistic about the potential for success, there is a growing consensus that the only other way to depose Assad in the short term is military intervention, which most sides are firmly opposed to,” said Julien Barnes-Dacey of the European Council on Foreign Relations. “I am not convinced that US and Europe would

B

be willing to call this mission off and announce failure of the Annan plan entirely without an alternative track.”

A “Friends of Syria” meeting in Paris on Thursday described Annan’s peace plan as a “last hope” to avert full-scale civil war after 13 months of turmoil in which the United Nations says Assad’s forces have killed at least 9,000 people. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for the UN Security Council to prepare a sanctions resolution tightening pressure on Assad to comply with the ceasefire and agree to an adequate monitoring mission.

But she acknowledged that any proposed sanctions resolution at this stage would probably be blocked by Moscow, which has close military ties with Assad’s government and has vetoed two earlier draft resolutions against Damascus along with China. “I am sceptical whether there is a viable Plan B in terms of taking this to the Security Council,” said Barnes-Dacey. “Russian opposition is going to be an obstacle to that.” While the Western and Arab warnings aim to keep pressure on Assad to comply with the ceasefire, the barrage of downbeat statements may simply undermine the mission before it is fully up and running. “It’s unfortunate that some countries have not fully supported the plan,” said one Western diplomat in the region. “If you say it’s got a 3 percent chance, it further decreases the likelihood of success.”

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, who along with Qatar has called for arming and funding the anti-Assad rebels, said in Paris that as long as the violence continued, foreign powers should “at the very least ... help the Syrians defend themselves”.

But, like other powers caught up in Syria’s crisis which also include neighbouring Turkey, the Gulf states may fail to follow up their strong words with actions, leaving Annan’s ceasefire plan as the only viable option. “Given

the absolute lack of any stomach for US intervention, Turkey’s unwillingness to intervene unless it is under US and European leadership, and the clear signs of posturing from Saudi Arabia but lack of any real follow-up, I don’t see the strategic purpose of collapsing the Annan agreement,” said Shashank Joshi of the military thinktank RUSI. From Syria’s perspective, Assad may also have a strong interest in ensuring the ceasefire stays in place. An agreement reached between the United Nations and Syria this week makes specific demands on Syrian rebels as well as the government, effectively assigning joint responsibility for a cessation of the bloodshed. That marks a diplomatic achievement for authorities in Damascus which have said since the outset of the uprising against Assad that they are battling foreign-backed militants.

The truce also offers a chance for Assad to regroup his army and security forces after weeks of offensives against rebel strongholds in Damascus, Homs, Idlib and Deraa.

While inflicting great suffering on targeted populations, these may also have psychologically drained all but his elite units. “It’s demoralising conducting counter-insurgency operations, shelling urban areas and having troops deploy away from home,” Joshi said. “These place enormous strains on armed forces. And he has very limited numbers of elite units that are available, so there are benefits to his military strategy from the ceasefire.”

But a pause in the bloodshed would also provide an opportunity for Assad’s opponents, allowing armed groups to consolidate and encouraging protesters back on to the streets. “I think (Assad) has every interest in having the observer mission, but he also has an interest in making sure the mission does not become overly large, overly mobile or overly effective,” Joshi said.—Reuters

Did US fumble chance to peer inside?

By Mark Hosenball nformation about a Chinese policeman who implicated the wife of a top Chinese official in a British businessman’s murder was not circulated widely in Washington as he was considered of marginal intelligence value, current and former US officials said. In the weeks since Wang Lijun’s visit to the US consulate in Chengdu and his subsequent detention, some critics of the Obama administration have accused it of fumbling what could have been one of the highest-level defectors ever from inside China’s clannish leadership class.

Part of that criticism is based on a storyline that upon reaching the consulate in Chengdu on Feb 6, Wang requested political asylum. The administration’s public line has been that Wang did not request asylum and left the consulate of his own accord. However, some officials suggest that at some point, Wang at least may have hinted at a desire for asylum. And some US officials say consultations were held at a high level in Washington before Wang left the consulate and surrendered to what he believed were friendly central government officials.

US diplomats and intelligence officials said US agencies were initially skeptical of Wang’s stories and that one of his most sensational claims, involving an alleged murder, was not circulated in Washington to officials normally briefed on such information. “We were not told about the murder (allegations) until much later,” after stories describing Wang Lijun’s visit to the consulate surfaced in the media, one US official told Reuters. This official and others said agencies in Washington dealing with the Wang case concluded that while intriguing, it was primarily a local sideshow involving individuals, including Wang himself, of questionable character and credibility.

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Less Than a ‘Treasure Trove’ Their bottom-line assessment was that the revelations from Wang, who had served as police chief and deputy mayor of Chongqing, another major provincial metropolis about 300 km from Chengdu, were less than the “treasure trove” media reports have described. And while Wang’s scandalous allegations surfaced just as China’s Communist Party was preparing to anoint a new generation of leaders - including one of the principal targets of his claims - Washington concluded that they did not seriously threaten the party’s control over the country. Hence little consideration was given during Wang’s 24-hour visit to the consulate to offering him US government protection or secreting him out of the

country. Wang’s allegations, directed principally against populist Chongqing party leader Bo Xilai and his wife, Gu Kailai, ruined Bo’s hopes of ascending to the party’s highest ruling body, a subcommittee of the Politburo.

However, according to US intelligence assessments, while China’s Communist Party faces traditional factional tensions, the long-term political fallout of Bo’s downfall will be limited and there is little similarity with the upheaval that shook China during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. “From the US government’s point of view, what is the upside of getting involved in this?” said Brookings Institution scholar Kenneth Lieberthal, a former senior adviser on Asia to former Democratic President Bill Clinton.

US officials said there were other reasons officers at the consulate ultimately arranged for, or persuaded, Wang to leave of his own accord and surrender to what Wang believed were sympathetic Chinese central government officials. Wang believed that his life might be in jeopardy if he was taken into custody by his enemies from Chongqing, whom he believed to have traveled to Chengdu and surrounded the US Consulate, current and former US officials said. However, he also believed that representatives of the Beijing central government would protect him because Beijing and Wang shared antagonists in Chongqing, the sources said.

Consular Officials Wary of Wang The US officials who spoke to Reuters said consular officials were also wary of Wang as for some time they had been hearing reports about alleged infighting and corruption among officials in Chongqing and Wang’s personal reputation was not blemish-free. They said that while US agencies and diplomatic outposts maintain procedures for arranging asylum, and even clandestine escapes for dissidents in mortal danger, the bar is set extremely high for such extreme measures. Wang’s case did not come close to meeting that standard, officials said, because he was not regarded by US officials as a target for, or a victim of, human rights abuses.

The US officials said that when he arrived unexpectedly at the consulate, Wang told tales of political and financial intrigue involving Bo Xilai and his wife, Gu. His most sensational disclosure was his claim that Gu had been involved in the alleged murder of Neil Heywood, a British businessman who had helped the couple’s son, Bo Guagua, into Britain’s elite Harrow boarding school.

Heywood died in a Chongqing hotel room in November; his body was cremated three days later. Gu is in custody and Bo has not been seen in public since March, when

he was dismissed as boss of Chongqing. He was stripped of his Politburo seat last week.

The White House has kept a very tight lid on what transpired during Wang’s visit to the consulate and it is still unclear how much detailed information he offered about the alleged murder. William Hague, Britain’s foreign secretary, confirmed in a statement to Parliament this week that Wang had divulged the alleged murder.

The British government was briefed early on by US officials about Wang’s description of the alleged murder, US and European officials said.

US Government Guarding Details Tightly Current and former US officials said Wang provided detailed allegations of corruption involving Bo and his wife. But the US government is guarding these details tightly, with access to cable traffic about the matter blocked, even for top officials who would normally get to see such material. The Republican-led House Foreign Affairs Committee has requested briefings and access to official documents on the case, but officials say the administration has provided Congress with only minimal information.

Some officials who have been briefed on Wang’s disclosures said his material had been characterized as dense, arcane and confusing. One official said the material did not fall high on the scale of priorities for US intelligence agencies’ collection efforts on China, which appear to relate to the stability of the Communist government. Several US officials indicated Wang’s hint at asylum was never treated with much enthusiasm by the Obama administration.

Michael Pillsbur y, a former adviser on China to Republican presidents, said the US administration’s handling of the case would send a bad signal to human rights activists. “I fear President Obama has sent the wrong message, and this decision will have a chilling effect on those who want to fight corruption, have important evidence, or have a well-founded fear of persecution,” he said. But Lieberthal said the Obama administration was correct to treat the whole affair with kid gloves - if not tongs. “This is a Chinese on Chinese affair,” with some British involvement, Lieber thal said.

Lieberthal said officials of the consulate allowed Wang to make calls to people he trusted, presumably in the central government, which resulted in him leaving and “walk(ing) out escor ted by someone he trusted.”

Lieberthal also said that as a police chief and city official under Bo in Chongqing, Wang was known as “not a lovable character”. — Reuters

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

sp orts Semenya qualifies for London Olympics

Russian wrestler Saitiev abandons comeback

PRETORIA: Former world 800 metres champion Caster Semenya qualified for the London Olympics on Friday when she eased to victory in one minute 59.58 seconds at a Yellow Pages Series meeting.

Semenya, 21, underwent gender tests at the 2009 Berlin world championships where she won the 800 gold medal. She did not compete for almost a year until the International Association of Athletics Federations cleared her to run again after accepting the conclusions of an expert medical panel. The South African Olympic committee requires athletes to meet the qualifying time twice, one at a local meeting and once in an international competition.

Semenya reached her first qualifying mark when she finished second in last year’s world championships in Daegu, South Korea.

“It’s a weight off my shoulders and I’m very happy with my time,” Semenya told reporters. “I just ran my own race and it went okay, it’s best that way and I enjoyed it, that’s why I qualified.”—Reuters

MOSCOW: Russian Buvaisar Saitiev, one of only three wrestlers to have won three Olympic gold medals, has abandoned his plans to make a comeback and attempt to win a record fourth in London this year.

“I’ve decided against returning to competitive wrestling,” the Chechen, who turned 37 last month, was quoted as saying by local media yesterday. “I may go to London as a fan to support my team mates.” Saitiev announced his retirement soon after claiming his third Olympic title in freestyle wrestling in Beijing in 2008, but then changed his mind and decided to make a comeback.

But he found it hard to make the Russian team for London with several former world and Olympic champions vying for a single spot in the 84 kg weight class.

In addition to three Olympic (1996 Atlanta, 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing) Saitiev has also won six world titles. Only fellow-Russian Alexander Karelin and Alexander Medved of the Soviet Union have also won three Olympic titles in wrestling.

Saitiev and Karelin were voted the best wrestlers in the history of the sport by the International Wrestling Federation in 2007. — Reuters

Injured Dan withdraws QINGDAO: China’s badminton superstar Lin Dan withdrew from his men’s singles semi-final at the Asian Championships yesterday, in a surprise move blamed on a recurring waist injury, state media said. Organisers of the tournament said the top seed’s injury recurred in morning training, forcing the four-time world champion, five-time All England winner and reigning Asian champion to pull out, according to the Xinhua news agency.

His withdrawal sends third seed Chen Jin straight to the final where he will face fifth seed Du Pengyu. Du fought back against second seed Chen Long to win 17-21, 21-16, 21-12.

The finals in the eastern city of Qingdao take place today. The Asian Championships are one of the last major tournaments before the London Olympics.

But the forfeit will not affect Lin’s Olympic ambitions, as the 28-year-old has already qualified for the Games.

China’s dominance of the tournament saw four Chinese semi-finalists in both the men’s and women’s draw. And they are also guaranteed victory in the women’s doubles and mixed doubles, where Chinese team-mates will face off against each other for the title.—AFP

Indians power past Athletics OAKLAND: Cleveland’s Jack Hannahan drove in three runs against his former team to power the Indians to a 4-3 win over the Oakland Athletics on Friday.

Shin-Soo Choo added two hits and an RBI for the Indians who have won six of their past seven, all on the road. Cleveland starter Ubaldo Jimenez (2-0) gave up two runs over six innings while Chris Perez pitched the ninth for his fifth save in six chances.

The A’s had their three-game winning run ended, with starter Graham Godfrey (0-3) lasting only five innings, allowing four runs and giving up five walks and two hit batters.

WASHINGTON: Nationals starting pitcher Ross Detwiler delivers against the Miami Marlins during the second inning of a baseball game. — AP

Nationals shut out Marlins WASHINGTON: Washington pitcher Ross Detwiler and three relievers combined to shut out Miami, as the in-form Nationals beat the Marlins 2-0 on Friday.

Detwiler (2-0) went six innings and struck out seven, equaling a career high. The Nationals relievers allowed two men on base in both the eighth and the ninth but both times escaped with no scoreboard damage.

Rick Ankiel homered leading off the third, putting a pitch from Carlos Zambrano (0-1) far over the center-field wall for his first home run of the year. He had three hits for the game.

Braves 9, D’backs 1 In Phoenix, Brian McCann hit a two-run homer as Atlanta comfortably beat Arizona for the second straight game.

Freddie Freeman had a pair of RBI doubles for the Braves, who have won 9 of 10. Atlanta starter Brandon Beachy (2-1) pitched 7 13 scoreless innings, striking out five and walking none.

Arizona starter Trevor Cahill (11) gave up seven runs over 5 2-3 innings in his home debut for his new team. The Diamondbacks have lost four in a row, all at home.

Dodgers 3, Astros 1 In Houston, Matt Kemp homered again, one of his three hits, and drove in two runs to lead Los Angeles over Houston.

Kemp’s eighth home run of the season was a two-run shot off J.A. Happ (1-1) that put Los Angeles up 2-0 in the first inning and gave him 20 RBIs this season. Ted Lilly (2-0) had another solid start for Los Angeles, allowing one run in six innings.

Cardinals 4, Pirates 1 In Pittsburgh, Lance Lynn allowed only an inside-the-park homer in seven innings, leading St. Louis to victory over Pittsburgh. Filling in nicely for injured ace Chris Carpenter, Lynn (3-0) walked only one and struck out four.

Lynn also scored the go-ahead run on Carlos Beltran’s two-out single in the fifth inning off Charlie Morton (0-1).

Pittsburgh’s Alex Presley led off the bottom of the first with a drive off the top of the center field fence, the ball just eluding a leaping fielder. It was just the Pirates’ second inside-the-park homer since PNC Park opened in 2001.

Giants 4, Mets 3 In New York, Hector Sanchez hit a go-ahead single in the 10th inning as San Francisco recovered

from blowing the lead in the ninth inning and beat New York in ten.

San Francisco built a 3-0 lead in the third, but solo home runs in the fourth and fifth started New York’s comeback. With Giants closer Brian Wilson out for the year following elbow surgery, two fill-ins could not prevent the Mets tying the game in the bottom of the ninth with Josh Thole single. But Sanchez got the winning hit in the 10th off Frank Francisco.

Rockies 4, Brewers 3 In Milwaukee, Michael Cuddyer hit a tiebreaking RBI single off closer John Axford (0-1) in the ninth inning, and Colorado held on to beat Milwaukee.

Norichika Aoki hit an insidethe-park home run for Milwaukee in the fourth, the first major league homer for the former Japanese baseball batting champion. Aoki added a double and scored a run in the sixth.

Rockies closer Rafael Betancourt pitched the ninth for the save, leaving a runner on third base. Matt Belisle (1-0) earned the win.

Phillies 4, Padres 1 In San Diego, Juan Pierre hit a go-ahead, two-run single in the seventh inning as Philadelphia won away to San Diego for the 13th straight time.

Padres starter Edinson Volquez (0-2) held Philadelphia pitched scoreless innings before allowing three straight singles to open the seventh. Andrew Cashner relieved and allowed Brian Schneider’s tying RBI single. With one out, Pierre singled to score Ty Wigginton and Freddy Galvis.

Phillies starter Cole Hamels (21) gave up one run in six innings.

In his past four starts against San Diego, he’s 4-0 with a 0.60 ERA. Reds 9, Cubs 4 In Chicago, Cincinnati batted through its entire lineup in the first inning and cruised to win over Chicago that brought up the team’s 10,000th win.

Drew Stubbs droved in three runs on a chilly night as the Reds became the sixth franchise to reach 10,000 wins, joining the Cubs, Giants, Dodgers, Braves and Cardinals.

The Cubs dropped their sixth straight and fell to 3-11. Starter Chris Volstad (0-2) labored through a four-run, 41-pitch first inning and gave up six runs over five innings. Cincinnati starter Homer Bailey (1-2) pitched seven solid innings, allowing only one earned run. — AP

White Sox 7, Mariners 3 In Seattle, Adam Dunn hit two homers and drove in five runs as Chicago defeated Seattle. Dunn connected for a three-run shot off Hector Noesi (1-2) in the second inning to make it 6-0. He hit his third of the season in the eighth, giving him 31 multihomer games and his first since joining the White Sox last season. Noesi lasted just 1 1-3 innings. He gave up six runs. The Mariners were 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position. Chicago starter Chris Sale (2-1) struck out 11 in 6-1/3 innings, giving up seven hits.

Angels 6, Orioles 3 In Anaheim, Howie Kendrick had three hits and three RBIs as Los Angeles won its first game in four, downing Baltimore.

Angels starter Jerome Williams (1-1) allowed seven hits in 6 2-3 innings, striking out six and walking one.

Orioles starter Brian Matusz (0-3) suffered his 12th straight loss, charged with six runs in five-plus innings. His losing streak is the longest by any active major leaguer, and one shy of the Orioles record set

by Mike Boddicker across 1987 and 1988. Matusz has an 11.64 ERA in 13 starts since his last victory.

Yankees 6, Red Sox 2 In Boston, Alex Rodriguez took over fifth place on the career list with his 631st home run as New York spoiled Boston’s 100th anniversary celebrations for Fenway Park.

Rodriguez’s shot in the fifth inning broke a tie with Ken Griffey Jr. and left him 29 homers behind Willie Mays. Eric Chavez hit two homers while Nick Swisher and Russell Martin also went long for New York, and Derek Jeter moved into 18th place with his 3,111th career hit, passing childhood idol Dave Winfield.

Boston starter Clay Buchholz (1-1) allowed all five homers in losing for the first time in 12 starts. Yankees starter Ivan Nova (3-0) won his 15th consecutive regular-season decision, allowing two runs in six innings.

Twins 5, Rays 4 In St. Petersburg, Josh Willingham extended his season-opening hitting streak to 14 games with a goahead, three-run double that lifted Minnesota over Tampa Bay. Willingham’s hit in the seventh left him one game shy of tying Kirby Puckett’s team mark of hitting safely in 15 straight to start the 1994 season.

Tampa Bay’s Brandon Gomes (0-1) replaced starter Matt Moore in the seventh and took the loss.

Minnesota’s Matt Maloney (1-0) retired all three batters he faced for the win and Matt Capps pitched the ninth for the save.

OAKLAND: Cleveland Indians’ Jack Hannahan drives in a run with a sacrifice fly against the Oakland Athletics during the second inning of a baseball game. — AP

Blue Jays 4, Royals 3 In Kansas City, Toronto turned its first triple play in 33 years, helping hand Kansas City its eighth straight defeat. The Royals had runners on first and second in the third inning when a line out went to Toronto first baseman Adam Lind, who stepped on the bag to record the second out then fired to shortstop Yunel Escobar to retire the runner who had strayed off sec-

ond. Jose Bautista singled home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning while Luis Perez (2-0) worked 1 2-3 scoreless innings for the win and Sergio Santos got three outs for the save. Santos gave up an RBI single with two outs but retired the last batter on a grounder with a runner on second to end it. Royals reliever Greg Holland (0-2) gave up three runs in the eighth, blowing a 2-1 lead. — AP

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

American League Eastern Division W L PCT NY Yankees 8 6 .571 8 6 .571 Baltimore Toronto 7 6 .538 Tampa Bay 7 7 .500 Boston 4 9 .308 Central Division Detroit 9 4 .692 7 5 .583 Cleveland Chicago White Sox 7 6 .538 Minnesota 5 9 .357 Kansas City 3 10 .231 Western Division Texas 11 2 .846 7 8 .467 Oakland Seattle 7 8 .467 LA Angels 5 9 .357

GB .5 1 3.5

Washington Atlanta NY Mets Philadelphia Miami

1.5 2 4.5 6

St. Louis Milwaukee Cincinnati Pittsburgh Houston Chicago Cubs

5 5 6.5

LA Dodgers San Francisco Colorado Arizona

National League Eastern Division 11 4 .733 9 5 .643 7 6 .538 7 7 .500 7 7 .500 Central Division 10 4 .714 6 8 .429 6 8 .429 5 8 .385 5 9 .357 3 11 .214 Western Division 11 3 .786 7 6 .538 7 6 .538 7 7 .500

1.5 3 3.5 3.5 4 4 4.5 5 7 3.5 3.5 4

Penguins defeat Flyers

Kuwaitis dominate UAE Drag Race AU DHABI: Kuwaiti racers dominated four out of six categories in the 2012 UAE Drag Race Championship which concluded on Friday at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.

Twenty five teams representing the Kuwait Quarter Mile Motorsports Club competed in six classes during round two of the competition, in which they dominated the top three spots in two motorbike classes, as well as the top three positions in the Superstreet V8 automobiles class.

Round two competitions were preceded by continuation of round one races which were postponed due to bad weather, and during which Kuwaiti racers won two motorbike and one automobile categories.

PITTSBURGH: The Pittsburgh Penguins fended off playoff elimination with a 3-2 comeback victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday, cutting the deficit in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series to 3-2.

Steve Sullivan, Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy scored and Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves - including a series of big stops in the third period - to keep Pittsburgh alive.

Matt Carle and Scott Hartnell scored power-play goals in the first period for Philadelphia, but the Flyers failed to close out Pittsburgh for the second straight game. Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 20 shots.

Following four wild games that featured a record 45 goals, the teams played something more closely resembling playoff hockey. Game 6 is today in Philadelphia.

Predators 2, Red Wings 1 In Nashville, the hosts became the first team through to the second round of the playoffs, completing a 4-1 series victory over Detroit.

David Legwand scored the go-ahead goal 13 seconds into the third period, and the Predators held on for a win that meant they finished ahead of the Red Wings for the first time.

Nashville made it even sweeter by handing its Central Division rival its earliest postseason departure since 2006. Alexander Radulov opened the scoring for the Predators, while Jiri Hudler scored for Detroit. — AP

NASHVILLE: Predators players knock the net loose as they swarm goalie Pekka Rinne, of Finland, after they beat the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 in Game 5 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series. — AP

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

sp orts

Young wrestling stars on display at Olympic Trials CORALVILLE: The US Olympic Team Trials could have been a final showcase for the elder statesmen of American wrestling. Instead, this weekend’s meet in Iowa City is shaping up to be a celebration and validation of the nation’s vibrant young talent.

Former champions Cael Sanderson, Kurt Angle and Rulon Gardner are out. Youngsters Jordan Burroughs and Jake Varner are in - and even 2008 gold medalist Henry Cejudo is a relative comeback kid at just 25.

The US is hoping for a strong showing from its youngsters as it eyes a better performance at the London Games than the lone gold medal it earned in Beijing four years ago.

“We’ve got a great group of young guys that are going to be around not just this cycle, the next cycle too. We’re not an aging team by any means. We’ve put a lot of energy into our pipeline,” U.S. men’s freestyle coach Zeke Jones said.

Angle and Sanderson pulled out in recent weeks, and the 40-year-old Gardner ended his quest by declining to weigh in on Friday.

The brightest young star the US has to offer is Burroughs, the 23-year-old native of New Jersey who broke through by winning last year’s world crown at 74 kilograms in freestyle. Burroughs, who has already

advanced to the best-of-three-championship series, is barely a year removed from winning his second NCAA title for Nebraska. Burroughs made the transition from college to freestyle as quickly as possible, winning the US Open just three weeks after his last match for the Huskers.

Burroughs hasn’t lost a tournament since he hit the international scene. He and Varner, by virtue of the world medals they earned in 2011, get a free pass to a best-of-three championship series. Even if they lose this weekend, Burroughs and Varner can still earn the bid to London if they finish higher than the trials champion at an overseas tournament in the near future.

Cejudo used to be the nation’s next big thing, but he’s barely competed since winning America’s only gold medal in 2008. Cejudo could very well be the best America has to offer at freestyle 55 kg, but it’s just impossible to know his fitness level until he hits the mat at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Nick Simmons has since emerged as the leading American in Cejudo’s weight class, finishing a respectable fifth at last year’s worlds.

Sanderson cut his comeback short after realizing his duties as head coach at Penn State overrode his

desire to win a second gold medal. One of Sanderson’s top pupils has been Varner, who looks like the clear favorite at 96 kg freestyle and a serious medal contender.

Varner, 26, won an NCAA title for Sanderson when the two were at Iowa State. Varner stayed with the Cyclones and won another collegiate crown before moving to Happy Valley to train under Sanderson.

Varner won bronze at the 2011 world championships in Istanbul. He and heavyweight Tervel Dlagnev are among the best hopes for freestyle medals in London, but they have to get there first.

“Veterans are veterans for a reason. They’re crafty, so we could see some of our veterans stepping up this weekend too. But regardless, we’re going to have a good American wrestling team. We’re going to work hard at it,” Jones said.

Gardner declined to discuss why he didn’t weigh in on Friday. But he was always a longshot to get past longtime friend and rival, Dremiel Byers, who like Burroughs and Varner has a free pass to the best-ofthree championship series.

On the women’s side, Clarissa Chun and Ali Bernard will attempt to become the first two-time U.S. Olympians after both finished fifth in Beijing. Chun is

the top lightweight at 48 kg, while Bernard is the favorite at 72 kg.

There doesn’t appear to be much room for drama in women’s freestyle. Chun, Bernard, Helen Maroulis (55 kg) and Elena Pirozhkova (63 kg) have all earned spots in a best-of-three championship series and will be fresher than whoever earns the chance to face them.

Still, it promises to be a showcase for women’s wrestling. With an Olympic Trials record of over 12,000 tickets sold, this weekend will likely mark the biggest crowd ever to see women’s wrestling.

“Our goals are pretty simple. We want to go home to London and bring home four pieces of hardware,” US women’s freestyle coach Terry Steiner said. “I believe we have the team that can do that, and this weekend hopefully those people most capable of bringing back medals are the ones standing at the end of the day.”

The US has already qualified for a spot in London in all but two of the 18 weight classes - men’s 60 kg freestyle and 96 kg Greco-Roman. USA Wrestling is holding out its brightest hopes for those classes this weekend so they can prepare for international Olympic qualifying events.— AP

Spurs rout Lakers

Atlanta 97, Boston 92; Memphis 85, Charlotte 80; Cleveland 98, NY Knicks 90; Dallas 104, Golden State 94; San Antonio 121, LA Lakers 97; Oklahoma City 103, Sacramento 92.

SAN ANTONIO: The San Antonio Spurs routed Los Angeles 121-97 in the NBA on Friday, with the Lakers receiving no boost from the return of Kobe Bryant from injury.

Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili all scored at least 20 points for the Spurs, who stayed top of the Western Conference with their sixth straight victory.

Bryant had missed the previous seven games with a bruised left shin, and the Lakers went 5-2 without the NBA’s scoring leader. Los Angeles missed a chance to clinch home court advantage in the first round of playoffs.

San Antonio has given Los Angeles its two worst losses of the season, the worst Friday night and 112-91 on Tuesday.

*Boston *NY Knicks Philadelphia New Jersey Toronto *Chicago *Indiana Milwaukee Detroit Cleveland

Hawks 97, Celtics 92 In Atlanta, the hosts took a stride toward securing homecourt advantage in the playoffs by beating undermanned Boston. Joe Johnson scored 30 points while Josh Smith had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Hawks, who are in line to be the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, with Celtics No. 5.

This game, however, looked nothing like a playoff game early. Both teams shot over 50 percent and Atlanta took a 58-49 halftime lead while Boston guard Avery Bradley scored 17 of his career-high 28 points.

Boston left Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen and Mickael Pietrus at home with injuries, and perennial All-Stars Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce were rested, having played 11 games in 15 days.

Thunder 103, Kings 92 In Sacramento, Kevin Durant had 29 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists to lead Oklahoma City over Sacramento.

Oklahoma City remained half a game behind San Antonio in the race for top spot in the West, with three games remaining. James Harden had 20 points for the Thunder. DeMarcus Cousins had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Kings, who have lost nine of 10.

Mavericks 104, Warriors 94 In Dallas, Vince Carter had 19 points, including eight straight early in the fourth quarter that propelled Dallas to victory over Golden State.

It was the last regular season home game for the defending NBA champions, who clinched a playoff spot the previous night without even playing. The Mavericks were guaranteed their 12th straight playoff appearance after Houston’s sixth consecutive loss.

Brandan Wright had 17 points for Dallas, which finished

NBA results/standings

*Miami *Atlanta *Orlando Washington Charlotte

ATLANTA: Boston Celtics forward Marquis Daniels (left) and Atlanta Hawks guard Willie Green (33) lose control of a ball during the second half of an NBA basketball game. — AP

23-10 at home and is sixth in the Western Conference. Klay Thompson, one of four rookie starters for Golden State, led the Warriors with 26 points.

Cavaliers 98, Knicks 90 In Cleveland, Amare Stoudemire’s return from a back injury didn’t help playoff-bound New York, which was beaten by Cleveland.

Stoudemire had missed the previous 13 games with a bulging disk, but even with him in the lineup, the Knicks couldn’t handle the Cavs, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Stoudemire finished with 15 points and Carmelo Anthony had 12 before sitting out the fourth quarter.

Manny Harris had 19 points and a career-high 12

rebounds to lead the Cavs, and rookie Kyrie Irving scored 21 points in his second game back from a shoulder injury.

Grizzlies 85, Bobcats 80 In Charlotte, Memphis rallied to beat Charlotte and extend the Bobcats’ franchise-worst losing streak to 19 games. Mike Conley had 18 points and seven assists as the Grizzlies overcame an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter and then held on to get an important victory in terms of playoff seeding in the Western Conference.

If the Bobcats (7-55) lose their final four games they will finish with the worst winning percentage in league history. Gerald Henderson tied a career high with 32 points for the Bobcats. Zach Randolph added 14 points for Memphis. — AP

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT 37 27 .578 33 30 .524 32 30 .516 22 41 .349 22 41 .349 Central Division 47 16 .746 41 22 .651 29 33 .468 23 40 .365 21 41 .339 Southeast Division 45 17 .726 38 25 .603 36 26 .581 16 46 .258 7 55 .113

Western Conference Northwest Division *Oklahoma City 46 17 .730 34 28 .548 Denver Utah 33 30 .524 Portland 28 35 .444 Minnesota 26 38 .406 Pacific Division *LA Lakers 40 24 .625 39 24 .619 *LA Clippers Phoenix 33 30 .524 Golden State 22 40 .355 Sacramento 20 43 .317 Southwest Division *San Antonio 46 16 .742 38 25 .603 *Memphis *Dallas 36 28 .563 Houston 32 31 .508 New Orleans 20 43 .317 * indicates clinched playoff berth

GB 3.5 4 14.5 14.5 6 17.5 24 25.5 7.5 9 29 38

11.5 13 18 20.5 .5 6.5 17 19.5 8.5 11 14.5 26.5

Waratahs win over Rebels

Red Bull Street Style kicks-off today KUWAIT: The Worldwide Freestyle Football competition “Red Bull Street Style” kicks-off today at 6:30pm from the Marina Crescent.

The top 16 freestylers in Kuwait will compete but only one winner will qualify to the World Final that will take place in Rome, Italy In September 2012.

Control, Creativity and Style are the name of the game at Red Bull Street Style.

The Judging panel in the final will feature of Ahmad Al Mutairi (Kazma football club star) who will evaluate the Control category.

Marzouk Al Ajmi, head of sports in Annahar newspaper and Media Coordinator of the 2006 FIFA World Cup will evaluate the style category while Khris Njokwana the Freestyle Champion from South Africa will handle the

creativity category.

The Red Bull Street Style final will see the best 16 freestyle footballers compete against each other in head-to-head battles for a ticket to the World Final. Each battle follows the same format: 3 minutes, 2 players, 1 ball, with each freestyler having 30 seconds to impress the judges before passing the ball back to his competitor.

The 16 finalists are as follows: Qays Hatoum, Abdulwahab Al Otaibi, Karam Humaidani, Fahed Shahed, Askar El Shemary, Mohamed Ashraf, Daniel Atieh, Ali Khan, Mohamed El Essar, Saoud Al Failakwai, Arman Kurji, Jonathan Finn, Salah Shemary, Mohamed Kansour, Basel Mohamed and Tala Wael.

SINGAPORE: Former Australia captain Rocky Elsom made his long-awaited return to the New South Wales Waratahs side in a 30-21 home win over the Melbourne Rebels yesterday.

Elsom came off the bench in the 65th minute to make his first appearance for the Waratahs in his second spell after missing the start of the season with a hamstring injury.

However, the powerful flanker’s appearance came as the Waratahs fell into defensive mode to protect a lead, a common fault this year, as they squandered a 30-7 advantage to make it a nervous last few minutes as the Rebels sniffed an unlikely win. The home side clung on to record their fourth win from eight games this year and move top of the Australian Conference.

“We started very well and strung a few good phases together but I think in that second half we let it get away from us, too many penalties again,” Waratahs captain Benn Robinson said in a pitchside interview. The Waratahs were quick out of the blocks and opened the scoring with a try after 26 seconds. Having recovered their kickoff, they progressed forward and a neat handling move involving several backs and forwards set fullback Bernard Foley clear to cross the line Scrumhalf Brendan McKibbin converted and added another three penalties in the first half as the Waratahs bossed the game against a Rebels side who were guilty of numerous handling errors.

The Rebels did show some positive signs in the first period and they came up with a 23rd-minute try when hooker Ged Robinson completed the easy job of touching down after his forwards had caught a lineout and driven over the line.

Wallaby utility back James O’Connor kicked the tricky conversion from the touchline as the Rebels went in 16-7 down at halftime.

The Rebels were again slow to start the second period and Waratahs hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau scored a clever try in the corner in the 47th minute after exchanging close-range passes with number eight Wycliff Palu off a lineout for the home side.

Another try came 10 minutes later after a period of heavy Waratahs pressure with centre Rob Horne crashing over after 13 phases. Horne was sent to the sin bin shortly after for a clumsy spear tackle.

The Rebels exploited the space created by Horne’s absence to score their second try through replacement Tim Davidson, which fullback Kurtley Beale converted after taking over the kicking when O’Connor was forced from the field with injury. Beale then sucked in two defenders before feeding a pass to winger Lachlan Mitchell to cross for the Rebels’ third try with six minutes left but that was as close as the visitors would get as they slumped to their sixth loss in eight games this year.—Reuters

FRANCE: Bordeaux-Begles’s flanker Justin Purll (left) and Agen’s flanker Adriaan Badenhorst (right) fight for the ball in a line-out during the French Top 14 rugby Union match. — AFP

Crusaders see off Hurricanes WELLINGTON: All Blacks star Dan Carter marked his 100th match for the Canterbury Crusaders with a try as the seven-time champions beat the Wellington Hurricanes 42-14 in Super 15 rugby yesterday.

The 30-year-old Carter made his milestone appearance at inside center rather than in his usual position at flyhalf, but was still influential in a match which mirrored his first for the Crusaders nine years ago.

Carter scored two tries on debut for the Crusaders in 2003 in a match which also resulted in a win over the Hurricanes. He scored his 30th Super rugby try on Saturday, one of five tries for Canterbury, which led 32-7 at halftime.

Carter’s All Blacks teammate, fullback Israel Dagg, scored two tries, including the only second-half try for the Crusaders who had a fourtry bonus point before the end of the first half.

Wellington fell behind 32-0 after 36 minutes but rallied from that point, scoring tries on either side of halftime to cut the Crusaders’ lead to 32-14. Canterbury then used its substantial advantages of territory and possession to pull away again with a penalty to flyhalf Tom Taylor, who kicked seven goals from nine attempts,

and with Dagg’s second try. Taylor, who started in the No. 10 jersey ahead of Carter, finished with four conversions and three penalties for 17 points, to follow his 31-point haul in last week’s 31-24 win over the Stormers.

Canterbury has a 5-3 record and remains in third place in the New Zealand conference, behind the Waikato Chiefs and Otago Highlanders. But the Crusaders are improving ahead of next week’s match against the New South Wales Waratahs.

“It’s great fun playing footy when the boys start like that,” Canterbury captain and man of the match Keiran Read said. “It was a really tough game to be honest, but I guess when we start that well it’s hard to contain us.

“We thought if we could put some pressure on them at their end of the field we’d get some opportunities to turn the ball over and then attack, which kind of worked out that way in the first half.”

The Hurricanes lost for the fourth time in eight matches. They seemed unable to break out of their half for most of the first half and they helped the Crusaders with a series of aimless kicks that led to tries.—AP

17

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

SPORTS

13-year-old drawing comparisons to Phelps NEW YORK: Michael Andrew wants to make one thing clear: He’s not trying to be another Michael Phelps. The just-turned-13-year-old is eager to leave his own wake at the pool. “I love breaking new barriers in swimming,” Andrew said.

Keep an eye on this kid. While too young to have a realistic shot at making it to the London Olympics, he could be on the verge of stardom when the Rio Games come around in four years.

Already 6-foot-2 with size 15 feet and massive hands, Andrew has set numerous US age-group records and is eager to test his limits against a top-level swimmer Saturday, boldly taking on world championship medalist Tyler McGill in a couple of just-for-fun match races at Fishers, Ind. Naturally, Andrew already is getting comparisons to Phelps, who made his first Olympic team at age 15 and has gone on to win more gold medals (14) than any other athlete.

“When I hear that, I have to correct it,” the youngster said. “I would be more than happy to be as great as Michael Phelps, but I’d like to be the first Michael Andrew.”

McGill, who won a bronze medal in the 100-meter butterfly at last year’s world championships, isn’t too concerned about losing to a kid who celebrated his 13th birthday this week. That’s not the point of racing the 50 fly and 25 free during a stop of the Fitter & Faster Tour.

“Every kid, including myself, had a moment when they were young that they had an opportunity to learn from or speak to or engage with a world champion or Olympic-level athlete,” McGill said Friday.

“This is more about the experience he’ll have to hold on to further down the road.”

Andrew isn’t conceding anything. He never goes into an event expecting to lose, even when racing a swimmer who figures to be a medal contender at the London Olympics this

summer. “Michael thought he might have a really good chance of taking him in the 25 free,” his mother, Tina Andrew, said with a chuckle. In just the past five months, Michael has set 11 short-court and five long-course records, many of them in different events on the same day. His exploits have been posted on YouTube, which drew the attention of McGill and Olympian Mark Gangloff. They congratulated Andrew on his accomplishments - and noted that McGill would at the clinic in Fishers where the youngster set a pair of records in December.

That led to a good-natured offer for a match race, which Andrew readily accepted.

McGill is definitely impressed by what he’s seen on video, though he’s quick to remind everyone that setting age-group records does not guarantee Olympic stardom.

“Obviously, he’s a tremendous talent, but that’s the only part I’ve been able to see,” McGill said. “There’s so many other driving

factors that come into the success of an athlete. I’ll get a little bit of a taste of that this weekend when I get a chance to communicate with him. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell what an athlete is going to be like as a freshman in college. To say that a (13-year-old) has an opportunity ahead of him, yeah, he does.

“But,” McGill added, “we don’t always know how it’s going to work out.” Andrew definitely has genetics on his side. His father and coach, Peter, was a Navy diver in his native South Africa. Tina competed for several years as Laser on the British version of “Gladiators,” a show that was popular on this side of the Atlantic during the early 1990s.

The couple eventually settled in the US, where their two children were born. They now live in Kansas.

Michael has the classic swimming frame, with a body that has blossomed much earlier than other kids his age. “We’ve always

known that Michael has enormous potential,” Tina Andrew said. “I remember the first day Peter watched him at practice, he called me and said, ‘Drop whatever you’re doing and come watch this.’ He was just amazing.

At the first meet he competed in, the very, very first race, he qualified for state. He’s always doing something amazing and extraordinary.”

Of course, winning requires more than just the best physical skills. Michael matches up well in the mental game, too.

“We always felt like he has a God-given gift and talent,” Tina said. “Obviously, there’s a lot of kids who have talent but there’s other things they are missing. It just seems like everything has come together for Michael.

He loves swimming. He’s very passionate about it. He loves to compete. He’s got the size. But he also hates to lose, and he doesn’t mind putting the work in. He’s just got an incredible feel for the water.” —AP

Vettel on pole in Bahrain

TOKYO: Members of the Japanese team celebrate with confetti in the air after winning the International Skating Union’s World Team Trophy. —AP

Japan edges US to win World Team Trophy TOKYO: Akiko Suzuki finished second in the free skate and first overall in the women’s program yesterday as host Japan won the International Skating Union’s World Team Trophy.

Ashley Wagner of the United States won the free skate with 122.29 points but Japan held a solid eight-point lead after Daisuke Takahashi won the men’s free skate on Friday and finished the competition with 55 points, two ahead of the Americans. Canada was third with 42 points.

Suzuki, who was also second in the short program, had 120.28 points in the free skate and finished first overall with 187.79 points. Her only major mistake came when she under-rotated a double loop in a combination jump.

“The results for Japan were great but I felt the content of my program needs some work heading to next season,” Suzuki said. “It was a tough competition to prepare for coming so close after the worlds but I’m happy we won.” The United States won the inaugural World Team Trophy in 2009 in Tokyo.

Wagner, who was fifth after the short

program, turned in one of her best performances of the season in a free skate that got a standing ovation from the crowd at Yoyogi Arena.

“That performance was just the way I wanted to end my ‘Black Swan’ program,” Wagner said. “It’s one of my favorite programs by far and to skate it clean is quite extraordinary. To top it off, I had a great double axel-triple toe.

Overall, it was a solid program.”

World champion Carolina Kostner of Italy was third in the free skate with 116.24 points. Kostner fell on a tripletoeloop, double toeloop combination and singled a double axel.

Russians Vera Bazarova and Yuri Larionov finished first in the pairs event with 180.70 points. Canadians Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford were second with 177.62 points followed by the Japanese pair of Narumi Takahashi and Mervin Tran, who had 177.56 points.

Figure skating’s team event will make its Olympic debut in 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Each team consists of two women, two men, one pair and one ice dancing couple.—AP

SAN ANTONIO: Ben Curtis watches his drive on the 17th tee during the second round of the Texas Open golf tournament. —AP

Curtis leads Texas Open TEXAS: American Ben Curtis held the clubhouse lead at the Texas Open after rain effected Friday’s second round, with more than 20 players unable to complete their round.

Curtis carded his second successive bogey free five-under par round of 67 at the TPC San Antonio to stand at 10-under for the tournament, two strokes clear of David Mathis, who also shot 67.

“I’m playing obviously really well,” Curtis said. “The key around here is if you can drive it straight, keep it in the fairway, give yourself a chance to get at some of these pins, with the slope of the greens and stuff like that, it makes it a lot easier from the fairway. I did that.

“I hit a lot of good iron shots. Left them, for the most part, on the right level and made a few putts and, you know, it was a pretty easy round two.”

The 34-year-old Curtis, winner of the 2003 British Open, is searching for his first

PGA Tour win in almost six years. Matt Every, who set a new course record with his bogey-free 63 on Thursday, had a very different round on Friday.

He failed to make a single birdie and gave up four bogeys through 12 holes, but grabbed back two strokes with birdies on the 14th and 16th before his round was halted due to bad light. He will finish the round early yesterday.

Cameron Tringale made a strong move with an impressive seven-under 65, avoiding any bogeys as he took advantage of the better early conditions with less wind.

The projected cut is at four over and among those expected to miss out includes Australian Stuart Appleby, who shot 81 on Friday, 10 strokes more than he shot in the first round. American Boo Weekley withdrew after seven holes of his second round with an illness, joining Kevin Na and Kevin Chappell on the withdrawal list. —Reuters

MANAMA: Red Bull’s Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel took his first pole position of the season in qualifying for the controversial Bahrain Grand Prix yesterday.

The 24-year-old German will have McLaren’s championship leader Lewis Hamilton alongside him on the front row for today’s race, the fourth round of the season, which will go ahead against a backdrop of anti-government protests elsewhere on the island.

Vettel’s Australian team mate Mark Webber was third quickest and shares the second row with McLaren’s Jenson Button. The pole was the 31st for Vettel, who took a record 15 last season but had failed to get on the front row in the first three races of this year.

He celebrated his achievement at the desert track, even if there appeared to be few paying spectators present to witness it, with his familiar single finger in the air — a gesture absent so far this season.

“This one I completely owe it to the team,” said the champion, who had a scare in the first phase when he dropped dangerously close to the cut-off point after assuming he had done enough.

“The boys, I don’t think had much sleep the last four races. It was a tough weekend in China and now here they seriously have a lack of sleep.”

The first three races have seen three different winners, without

a Red Bull driver on the top step, and Vettel has a good chance of making it four in a race that is going ahead despite worldwide condemnation and calls for it to be cancelled.

“I am very happy with the job that we’ve done,” said Hamilton,

caught up in incidents on the highway involving youths throwing petrol bombs and Force India decided to miss second practice on Friday to ensure staff were back in hotels before nightfall.

In what may have been more than a coincidence, the Force

at the Chinese Grand Prix last weekend, qualified fifth for Mercedes.

His team mate Michael Schumacher, the seven-times world champion, will start 17th after being slowed by a rear wing problem that allowed Caterham’s

BAHRAIN: Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany gestures after setting the pole position (center) as second fastest time McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain (left) and Red Bull driver Mark Webber of Australia look on after the qualifying session ahead of the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix. —AP who has finished third for three races in a row after poles in Australia and Malaysia. “Probably one of my best qualifying sessions.”

Members of the Force India and Sauber teams have been

India cars were almost invisible on the feed provided by Formula One Management yesterday, despite Britain’s Paul Di Resta qualifying 10th.

Germany’s Nico Rosberg, who took his first win after 111 starts

Heikki Kovalainen to leapfrog him and get into the second session.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo put his Toro Rosso in sixth place, the best qualifying of his fledgling career. —Reuters

Preview

Gilbert climbing to form in time for Liege defence LIEGE: The form of Philippe Gilbert might be on the up but the Belgian champion would welcome adverse weather conditions dampening his rivals’ victory hopes in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege this weekend.

The oldest one-day classic on the calendar will be held over 257.5 km today with a total of 11 short but punishing climbs set to play a key role in deciding who wins ‘La Doyenne’, first held in 1892.

In 2011 Gilbert claimed his maiden Liege victory to seal a hat-trick of ‘Ardennes Classic’ wins-the Amstel Gold Race, Fleche Wallonne and Liege-and thus set his stall out for a season which has been his best to date.

Having since moved from OmegaPharma to the BMC team, Gilbert is still looking for his first big win this year having finished sixth at Amstel last week and third at Fleche on Wednesday.

And despite appearing to hit form in time, he is quietly hoping the cold and wet conditions forecast for Sunday give him the edge over rivals like Fleche winner Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) and his fellow Spaniard Alejandro Valverde (Movistar).

“I think that the weather plays into my favour. I can stand the cold, maybe more than the Italian or Spanish riders. So that can be an advantage for me,” he said.

At Fleche on Wednesday Gilbert finished four seconds behind Rodriguez after the Spaniard left everyone in his wake with an incisive acceleration late on the steep Mur de Huy climb.

Gilbert admitted Rodriguez deserved the win, but hinted that his podium finish could be a sign of better things to come.

“I’ve come from a long ways down so I am satisfied to be back at this level,” added Gilbert. “Being on the podium is nice, but most important is a victory.”

All challengers meanwhile will be hoping to capitalise on the fact Gilbert will be

racing without key helper Cadel Evans of Australia, the Tour de France champion who pulled out earlier this week with a

Philippe Gilbert celebrates in this file photo

sinus problem. A former two-time Liege champion, Valverde returned to the peloton in January following a ban for his implication in a Spanish doping affair.

Valverde finished 51sec off the pace at Fleche but the lure of a third victory at Liege could inspire the Spanish climbing specialist.

Czech rider Romain Kreuziger (Astana), reigning Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez of Spain (Euskaltel), Italian Damiano Cunego (Lampre), Australian Simon Gerrans (GreenEdge) and Luxembourg’s Frank Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan) will all have their eyes fixed on the Belgian.

Gilbert last year pulled off the impressive feat of sprinting to victory despite a tense finale in which he was accompanied by the Schleck brothers Andy and Franck.

Less than two weeks after Flemishspeaking compatriot Tom Boonen grabbed his own slice of glory by winning a record equalling fourth Paris-Roubaix, fans of French-speaking Gilbert are expecting big things.

On Friday afternoon thousands of his fans began lining the two-kilometre long Cote de la Redoute climb, the third last in the race but considered by some as the most strategic.

Gilbert grew up in the nearby village of Remouchamps and although that will afford him no extra advantage it will give his older brother Christian and his parents Jeannot and Anita an easier job of organising the party.

“We’ll have 120 kegs of beer and hundreds of bottls of special brew and 120 litres of (local alcohol) peket, 350 litres of strawberry vodka and 150 litres of wine,” Christian told La Derniere Heure newspaper. The proceeds will go to local cycling clubs in the hope the next Gilbert is on the way. —AFP

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

S P ORT S

Chelsea, Arsenal fire blanks Arsenal 0

Chelsea 0

LONDON: Bolton Wanderers’ Ryo Miyaichi (left) competes with Swansea City’s Neil Taylor during the English Premier League soccer match at the Reebok Stadium.—AP

Bolton edge towards drop zone Bolton 1

Swansea 1 BOLTON: Bolton Wanderers slipped to secondbottom in the Premier League after being held to a 1-1 draw by visiting Swansea City yesterday.

Scott Sinclair gave Swansea an early lead at the Reebok Stadium but his fine strike was quickly cancelled out by Chris Eagles.

The result leaves Bolton in 19th place, but they are only a point from safety and have two games in hand on the sides immediately above them - Blackburn Rovers, QPR and Wigan Athletic.

Swansea, meanwhile, climbed one place to 11th in the table and with a 13-point lead over Bolton-the only team in the bottom three who can catch them-they can begin to plan for another season in the English elite.

The Welsh side broke the deadlock from their very first attack in the sixth minute, with Sinclair cutting in from the left flank and bending an excellent strike into Adam Bogdan’s top-left corner with his right foot. The hosts’ response was swift, however, as Martin Petrov delivered an enticing cross from which Eagles swept a crisp half-volley past Michel Vorm to equalise in the 14th minute.

Gretar Steinsson had been easily beaten by Sinclair in the build-up to Swansea’s opener but the Icelandic full-back made partial amends when he produced a timely block to prevent countryman Gylfi Sigurdsson from restoring the visitors’ lead.

The action went from end to end in an open first half, with Vorm forced into a sharp save to repel a low free-kick from Petrov on the half hour. Swansea centre-back Steven Caulker then spurned a good opportunity to put Swansea ahead when he lifted the ball over the bar after Bogdan had parried a free-kick from Sigurdsson.

Brendan Rodgers’ side began the second period strongly and Bogdan was called into action once again to save a low effort from Swansea striker Danny Graham, who curled wide from a Sigurdsson pass shortly afterwards.

Bolton coach Owen Coyle reacted by introducing French striker David Ngog from the bench but the pressure continued to mount on Bogdan’s goal.

The Bolton goalkeeper saved from Graham at the near post and saw Sinclair’s follow-up effort blocked, before Graham rattled the crossbar with a curling effort.

Having narrowly avoided falling behind for a second time, Bolton threatened to take all three points in the last 10 minutes.

David Wheater had a shot deflected wide after a strong run from centre-back, while Eagles bent a shot fractionally wide from the edge of the penalty area after being teed up by Ivan Klasnic.—AFP

LONDON: Chelsea failed in their efforts to break into the top four before they head out to face Barcelona in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final after Roberto Di Matteo’s side played out a 0-0 draw with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium here yesterday.

A solitary point for Arsene Wenger’s side, meanwhile, meant the Gunners missed out on the opportunity to tighten their grip on third place.

Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie - who denied before the game he had met with Barcelona officials to discuss a possible transfer - was unable to break the deadlock with two late opportunities.

Chelsea, though, can take heart from a resolute defensive display that they must repeat next week of they are to protect their slender 1-0 first leg lead and progress into the Champions League final.

And the draw means they have lost just once in 14 games since Di Matteo took temporary charge of the side. The team sheet confirmed where Chelsea’s priorities lay with Di Matteo making eight changes to the line-up that stunned Barcelona midweek.

After two challenging games — the Blues beat Tottenham in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley just three days before they faced Barca — it was inevitable Di Matteo would seek to freshen up his side.

But with keeper Petr Cech and centre back pairing Gary Cahill and John Terry the only players to retain their places, it was clear the manager’s thoughts were already on the trip to Spain.

It was no surprise then that the visitors took time to settle although Arsenal were similarly unconvincing. The first meeting between these sides this season last October produced eight goals as Arsenal pulled off a remarkable 5-3 victory at Stamford Bridge.

By those standards, however, this was a surprisingly tame encounter with both keepers surviving the first half largely untested.

Robin Van Persie was inevitably Arsenal’s biggest threat and the Dutch striker struck the post from Theo Walcott’s free kick although the effort may well have

LONDON: Arsenal’s Robin van Persie (left) fights for the ball with Chelsea’s John Terry during their English Premier League soccer match.—AP been ruled out for offside had Van Persie found the target. Van Persie’s future had once again been the subject of debate before kick-off following Arsene Wenger’s insistence a decision on the forward’s next contract would be resolved before he joins up with Holland for the Euro 2012 finals.

The Arsenal captain has one year left on his current deal and has so far resisted the club’s efforts to open negotiations about extending his stay.

He did, however, use his column in the matchday programme to explain his midweek visit to the Barcelona team hotel was to meet friend and Holland team-mate Ibrahim Afellay, and not to meet officials from the Spanish club.

Three minutes before the interval Van Persie demonstrated his qualities as a provider of chances when his floated free kick should have brought a goal for Laurent Koscielny.

The Arsenal centre-back was allowed to drift clear

Formica and Hoilett give Blackburn hope Blackburn 2

Norwich 0 BLACKBURN: Mauro Formica and David Hoilett gave Blackburn Rovers a Premier League lifeline with two memorable goals in a 2-0 win over Norwich City at Ewood Park yesterday.

Formica lashed home a 40th-minute volley, while Hoilett added a second just after the restart with a 25-yard thunderbolt as Rovers ended a run of five consecutive defeats in style.

The win was not enough to lift Rovers out of the relegation zone, but Steve Kean’s men are now level on points with 17th-placed Queens Park Rangers, who face Tottenham Hotspur later

Fulham down Wigan Fulham 2

Wigan 1 LONDON: A last minute goal from Philippe Senderos earned Fulham a come-from-behind 2-1 win and deny Wigan a precious point in their bid for Premier League survival at Craven Cottage yesterday.

Fulham made two changes from the side that drew with Chelsea last time out Pavel Pogrebnyak returning after an ankle injury up front with Swiss defender Senderos coming in for injured Stephen Kelly. Wigan manager Roberto Martinez lined up the same XI that inflicted Monday’s impressive 2-1 defeat on Arsenal. The Latics had raced to a two-goal lead within the first eight minutes at the Emirates, but there were no such heroics here, with their first attack of any note coming on the stroke of half-time.

Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer kept the visitors at bay though, doing well to deny Jordi Gomez who had cut in from the right to shoot low at the near post.

Five minutes earlier, down at the other end, Schwarzer’s opposite number Ali Al Habsi, casti-

gated by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger for time wasting at the start of the week, had to look sharp to pick up Clint Dempsey’s dangerous cross from the left to Senderos.

With Wigan hovering only three points above the relegation zone before the trip to west London the half-time stalemate would have satisfied Martinez, but all three points were in the offing when they took the lead on 57 minutes.

The Latics broke the deadlock when Emmerson Boyce struck from just outside the penalty area, sending the ball low past Schwarzer and into the bottom left corner of the Australian’s net.

But their lead lasted only 60 seconds, as Fulham responded when Al Habsi was unable to deny a low shot from Pogrebnyak on the edge of the box after the Russian was set up by Moussa Dembele.

On 63 minutes Progrebnyak went desperately close to putting Fulham in front when his close range shot bounced off the underside of the cross bar, hitting the line.

Then, with one minute left on the clock and Wigan eyeing a welcome draw, Senderos bagged the winner when he nodded in John Arne Riise’s free-kick past the hapless Al Habsi.

It was a cruel end for Wigan after their heroics against Arsenal, the defeat leaving Martinez’s men on 34 points, while Fulham moved up one place into ninth.—AFP

Spurs woe deepens after QPR ambush QPR 1

Tottenham 0 LONDON: Tottenham dropped out of the Premier League top four after their failure to win at 10-man Queens Park Rangers yesterday evening followed an earlier Newcastle United victory.

A goal from Adel Taarabt-a former Tottenham player-ended up giving Rangers their fourth straight home victory and renewed hopes of avoiding relegation.

Taarabt was later sent off for a second bookable offence but Rangers held on to the lead he had given them. Tottenham now trail Newcastle, who had beaten Stoke City 3-0 earlier, by three points and are in fifth place, which would qualify them for the Europa

League, not the Champions League.

The defeat was the latest setback suffered by Harry Redknapp’s side, who had a 10-point advantage over Arsenal, who are now above them in third, in February.

Rangers moved above Wigan to 16th and are three points above Blackburn Rovers, the third bottom team, with three games remaining.

Jamie Mackie fired an early Rangers chance across goal and wide as the home side started strongly.

Tottenham goalkeeper Brad Friedel, making his 300th consecutive Premier League appearance, was then involved in a communications breakdown with team-mate Kyle Walker.

That resulted in a corner, which was cleared, but Rangers kept the pressure on until Samba Diakite fired wide from the edge of the box.

Gareth Bale was also off target with a Tottenham reply and a sustained spell of pressure saw two corners won. The second, delivered

by Rafael van der Vaart was met by the head of Bale and Paddy Kenny, the Rangers goalkeeper, did well to tip it over.—AFP

of his marker and should have done better than loop a header against the bar.

Then sixty seconds later Van Persie got the chance to test Cech with a left foot angled shot but found the Chelsea keeper alert despite a long period of inactivity. Chelsea had been restricted to a handful of opportunities on the break but had been unable to produce the final ball to create a notable first half chance.

And they fared little better during the second period when Arsenal again dominated possession without finding a way past Cech.

The two best opportunities came late on, and both fell to Van Persie. With seven minutes remaining Alex Song’s long ball released the striker behind the Chelsea back four but Van Persie was unable to direct his right foot shot on target.

Then two minutes later the forward turned Cahill but was again denied when Cech moved quickly off his line to smother the shot.—AFP

yesterday. Under-pressure Rovers coach Steve Kean was a relieved man after seeing his side take all three points in what he had billed as a must-win game.

“I said to the lads we had to win this game,” Kean said. “I felt we played positively because we wanted to make sure that we could ask questions of Norwich’s back four and that paid off.

“We’ve seen Norwich a lot this season and we felt that if we could match them in midfield we could ask questions of them later in the pitch.”

Kean also praised the contribution of goalscorer Hoilett but said several of his side had distinguished themselves. “He gives great quality-he’s actually playing with a bit of an injury,” Kean said of Hoilett.

“But it was difficult to pick out an individual for man of the match because there were six or seven candidates. If we keep doing that, we’re going to make a good go of it.”—AFP

Newcastle outclass Stoke LONDON: Sunderland’s Nicklas Bendtner (right) holds off a challenge from Aston Villa’s Marc Albrighton during the English Premier League soccer match.—AP

Relegation still haunts Villa BIRMINGHAM: Aston Villa remain on the fringes of the relegation dog-fight after a Aston Villa 0 dour 0-0 draw against 10man Sunderland yesterday.

Alex McLeish’s side could Sunderland 0 have moved to within touching distance of Premier League survival with a win at Villa Park, but instead they face a nervous finale to a troubled season.

The Midlands outfit are five points clear of the bottom three with four games remaining after failing to break down a stubborn Sunderland team, who had former Villa midfielder Craig Gardner sent off in second-half stoppage-time.

It was a disappointing afternoon for Sunderland coach Martin O’Neill, who was greeted with boos from Villa fans after walking out on their club on the eve of last season.

With survival on the agenda, it was Villa who set the early tempo and the hosts came close to taking the lead inside the first 60 seconds.

Gabriel Agbonlahor charged down a clearance from Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet and he fed Andreas Weimann, who forced a fine save from the visiting shot-stopper.

Mignolet was the busier of the two keepers in the early stages and he tipped a low drive from Charles N’Zogbia around the post.

Sunderland’s on-loan Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner squandered a good chance to put the Black Cats ahead seven minutes before half-time. James Collins lost possession and allowed James McClean to make a clear run into the Villa area.

His cross picked out the unmarked Bendtner but the Danish international headed over the bar. Gardner became the first player to be booked for bringing down Chris Herd early in the second half.

Moments later, McClean missed the best chance of the game when he hooked over from Seb Larsson’s cross. Stephen Ireland then came to Villa’s rescue when he cleared a shot on the turn from Bendtner off the line.

Bendtner did have the ball in the net after 76 minutes but was judged to have strayed fractionally offside before converting Larsson’s cross. Gardner was dismissed for his second yellow card after a foul on Marc Albrighton in the final moments.—AFP

Newcastle 3

Stoke 0 NEWCASTLE: Newcastle United moved into pole position in the race for a Champions League place by thrashing hapless Stoke 3-0 in a one-sided encounter at St James’ Park.

Alan Pardew’s side were rank outsiders for a top four slot at the start of the spring but in-form and scoring freely, they now look like the team to beat in the scramble for a place among Europe’s elite. The identity of their goalscorers in this three-goal battering of the Potters carried a familiar ring to it. After Yohan Cabaye opened the scoring by nipping in front of a dawdling Stoke defence to nod home from close range it was Papiss Demba Cisse who doubled the advantage with his eleventh goal since a January switch from Freiburg.

Cabaye added a third in the second half with a crisp drive from the edge of the penalty area to put the result beyond doubt and accurately reflect Newcastle’s total dominance of the game.

In this sort of form, their capital rivals for the Champions League should be very worried of Newcastle’s challenge for the top four.

Stoke are no pushovers but Newcastle never allowed them time to settle, and in Hatem Ben Arfa they possessed the game’s most potent

attacking threat.

He punctured a cagey opening by waltzing past Marc Wilson with a delightful shimmy before chipping into the box for Cisse.

The Senegal striker uncharacteristically clipped the bar with his looping header but Cabaye was on hand to give the home side a 14th minute lead.

The advantage was doubled just four minutes later and Cabaye was again in the thick of things, dissecting the Potters defence with a wonderful pass to tee up Cisse - who struck with a first time shot past Asmir Begovic.

Stoke looked shell-shocked, and their resistance was limited to a Peter Crouch pot shot that Tim Krul watched glide harmlessly over the bar.

Newcastle, by contrast, were enjoying themselves and thanks to the excellent Ben Arfa they were enjoying the best of the possession and chances.

Left-back Davide Santon took on three red and white shirts before seeing Begovic stoop low to prevent him from a memorable first Premier League goal.

If an animated Tony Pulis had hoped for a reaction from his side in the second half, he was to be disappointed.

Newcastle began the second period on the front foot and Demba Ba was denied in the first minute of the half by a brave Begovic save. It was merely a case of delaying the inevitable, though. Ba combined brilliantly with Cisse but when the ball bobbled out towards Cabaye, the France midfielder reacted superbly to sweep a majestic dipping shot over Begovic.—AFP

EPL results/standings Arsenal 0, Chelsea 0; Aston Villa 0, Sunderland 0; Blackburn 2 (Formica 41, Hoilett 49) Norwich 0; Bolton 1 (Eagles 14) Swansea 1 (Sinclair 6);

Fulham 2 (Pogrebnyak 58, Senderos 89) Wigan 1 (Boyce 57); Newcastle 3 (Cabaye 14, 57, Cisse 18) Stoke 0; QPR 1 (Taarabt 24) Tottenham 0.

English Premier League table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Man Utd Man City Arsenal Newcastle Tottenham Chelsea Everton Liverpool Fulham Sunderland

34 34 35 34 34 34 33 33 34 35

26 24 20 18 17 16 13 12 12 11

4 5 5 8 8 10 8 10 10 11

4 5 10 8 9 8 12 11 12 13

82 85 67 53 57 56 38 40 45 42

28 27 43 42 39 38 34 36 44 41

82 77 65 62 59 58 47 46 46 44

Swansea Norwich West Brom Stoke Aston Villa QPR Wigan Blackburn Bolton Wolves

35 35 34 34 34 35 35 35 33 34

11 11 12 11 7 9 8 8 9 5

10 10 6 9 15 7 10 7 3 8

14 14 16 14 12 19 17 20 21 21

39 47 40 32 35 39 34 47 37 34

45 60 47 48 48 57 60 73 66 73

43 43 42 42 36 34 34 31 30 23

19

SUNDAY APRIL 22, 2012

SPORTS

Dortmund clinch German title

ITALY: Atalanta midfielder Carlos Carmona of Chile (left) challenges for the ball with Catania forward Gonzalo Bergessio of Argentina during a Serie A soccer match.—AP

Udinese struggle as Napoli bounce back ROME: Udinese failed to boost their Champions League hopes as they were held to an uneventful 0-0 draw at mid-table Chievo yesterday.

But fifth-placed Napoli bounced back from their own terrible run to beat secondfrom-bottom Novara 2-0 and keep themselves in the race for third.

Francesco Guidolin’s Udinese remain fourth in Serie A, closing the gap on thirdplaced Lazio in the final Champions League spot to two points, but having played a game more. It continued the northerners’ late-season meltdown, as they have won only one of their last eight games. And yet they could have snatched the points if emblematic captain Antonio Di Natale had been more precise in his finishing.

Udinese may be in dire form but Guidolin says he is not worried. “I’m satisfied because I see this as a very positive result,” he said.

“Not least because we earned it against a frightening opponent like Chievo, who can put anyone in difficulty when they play at home.” Chievo enjoyed much the better of the first period and should really have gone into the break a goal to the good. In a crazy 60-second period, Alberto Paloschi turned Danilo but then slotted his shot wide.

American international Michael Bradley then burst in behind the defence but got no purchase on his effort before Udinese goalkeeper Samir Handanovic had to turn Rinaldo Cruzero’s low strike around the post.

As the first period drew to a close, Mehdi Benatia lost possession to Paloschi and Bradley sent Cyril Thereau running clear, only to be brought down by Handanovic in the box. But the goalkeeper plunged low to his right to save the Frenchman’s resulting spot-kick. Di Natale had three clear chances

in the second period, including the last one deep into injury time. His first he curled high and wide, while goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino stopped the second at his near post. But he failed to hit the target with the last of those and the game ended goalless.

In Naples the hosts were home and dry by half-time in a match delayed almost 20 minutes by a freak injury to referee Daniele Doveri. The referee stopped the game after just two minutes after dislocating his shoulder while awarding a free-kick. Following a trip back to the changing rooms and a painkilling injection, he managed to continue.

Edinson Cavani gave Napoli the lead after a comedy of errors by Novara. Midfielder Filippo Porcari’s high, looping back-pass put goalkeeper Alberto Fontana under pressure and he scuffed his clearance straight to Blerim Dzemaili, who teed up Cavani to slot into the empty net.

The Uruguay forward then beat the offside trap and although Fontana saved his curling effort, Paolo Cannavaro was on hand to crash home the rebound.

Napoli moved up a place and are now just one point behind Udinese. Seventhplaced Catania kept up their hunt for European football next season with a 2-0 win over Atalanta, goals from Alejandro Gomez and Felipe Seymour doing the damage.

Parma boosted their survival hopes while keeping Cagliari looking over their shoulders with a 3-0 victory over the Sardinians.

Sebastian Giovinco opened the scoring in the first half before Sergio Floccari and Stefano Okaka added penalties late on.

Parma now have 41 points, passing the theoretical safety mark of 40 points, but Cagliari, on 38 points, are just three above the drop zone.—AFP

Catania 2, (Gomez 30, Seymour 85) Atalanta 0; Chievo 0, Udinese 0; Napoli 2 (Cavani 21, Cannavaro 37) Novara 0; Parma 3 (Giovinco 24, Floccari 73-pen, Okaka 90-pen) Cagliari 0.

Italian Serie A table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): 32 32 32 33 33 32 32 33 33 33 33

18 20 16 14 13 15 14 11 11 10 11

14 7 6 10 12 5 6 13 10 11 13

0 5 10 9 8 12 12 9 12 12 9

53 62 48 44 58 52 47 44 30 44 37

18 26 40 32 41 42 45 43 40 50 35

68 67 54 52 51 50 48 46 43 41 40

Palermo 32 11 7 Bologna 32 10 10 Siena 32 10 9 Cagliari 33 9 11 Fiorentina 32 9 10 Genoa 32 9 9 Lecce 32 8 10 Novara 33 5 10 Cesena 32 4 9 Note: Atalanta deducted season for match-fixing

14 44 49 12 33 38 13 37 34 13 33 42 13 32 38 14 43 58 14 37 48 18 27 56 19 19 48 six points at

40 40 39 38 37 36 34 25 21 start of

Preview

Ferguson fears Everton backlash MANCHESTER: Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson fears an Everton backlash following the Merseyside club’s heartbreaking FA Cup semi-final loss to Liverpool last weekend. League leaders United face David Moyes’ side today looking to maintain a five-point lead over second placed Manchester City as they close in on a 20th English league title.

Ferguson, a big admirer of Moyes, was always expecting a tough game against the Toffees but believes Everton will be all the more dangerous at Old Trafford after the defeat against their old enemy at Wembley last weekend.

“It was a bad one for Everton, they went into that game with good form,” said Ferguson of Everton’s semi-final defeat. “It was a disappointment for them, losing a semi-final in a derby. “It’s always a blow to you and I’m sure David and the rest of them will have suffered from that. I think no matter whatever the circumstances of last week it was always going to be a hard game anyway.

That’s the way I view it.

“We expect hard games, we’re ready for hard games, that’s the good thing about us.” Ferguson will be hoping a former Evertonian - centre-forward Wayne Rooney - continues his remarkable goalscoring form this season after the number nine took his season’s tally to 31 goals in the 4-0 victory over Aston Villa last weekend.

Rooney now stands just one goal short of equalling Dennis Viollet and George Best in fourth-place on the alltime United goalscoring tables with 179 goals. However, Ferguson knows that Moyes will ensure that Everton provide

GERMANY: Dortmund players celebrate winning the German soccer championship after winning 2-0 in the German First Division Bundesliga soccer match against Borussia Moenchengladbach. —AP With Bayern due to visit Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday with a 2-1 lead, coach Jupp Heynckes decided to rest a host of stars.

Striker Mario Gomez and wingers Ribery and Arjen Robben were among those who started on the bench. But the build-up to the Bremen game was over-shadowed by reports in the German media that Ribery had been fined 50,000 euros ($66,000) for a dressing-room bust-up with Robben during half-time in Tuesday’s win over Madrid.

German daily Bild reported

that the France international lashed out at Robben after an argument over a first-half freekick.

Bayer Leverkusen remained on course for a Europa League place with a 1-0 win over Hoffenheim with Germany midfielder Andre Shuerrle hitting the a late winner.

Former Germany captain Michael Ballack made a rare appearance from the bench. At the other end of the table, Kaiserslautern had their relegation confirmed even though they managed a 2-1 win at Hertha Berlin. Kaiserslautern raced into a 2-0 lead before Hertha pulled a

goal back with 60 minutes gone.

Berlin look set to join Kaiserslautern in the second division next season and are locked in a battle with Cologne for 16th place in the league, which gives the chance of survival via a relegation play-off at the season’s end.

The side finishing third from bottom faces the third-best team in the second division in a twolegged play-off.

Cologne were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Stuttgart, while Hamburg look to have avoided relegation after their 1-1 draw at Nuremberg.—AFP

German League results/standings Nuremberg 1 (Didavi 64) Hamburg 1 (Son 59); Hoffenheim 0 Bayer Leverkusen 1 (Schuerrle 79); Cologne 1 (Peszko 50) VfB Stuttgart 1 (Cacau 71); Werder Bremen 1 (Naldo 51) Bayern Munich 2 (Naldo 75-og, Ribery 90); Hertha Berlin 1 (Niemeyer 60) Kaiserslautern 2 (Kirch 27, Wooten 38); Borussia Dortmund 2 (Perisic 23, Kagawa 59) Borussia Moenchengladbach 0.

Played Friday: Mainz 05 0, VfL Wolfsburg 0.

German league table after yesterday evening’s match (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Dortmund Munich Schalke 04 M’chengladbach VfB Stuttgart Leverkusen Hanover 96 Werder Bremen Hoffenheim

32 32 31 32 32 32 31 32 32

23 6 3 71 23 75 - Champions 21 4 7 71 21 67 18 3 10 66 41 57 16 8 8 46 24 56 14 8 10 60 42 50 13 9 10 474348 11 11 9 39 43 44 11 9 12 46 52 42 10 11 11 3841 41

VfL Wolfsburg Nuremberg Mainz 05 Freiburg Hamburg Augsburg Cologne Hertha Berlin Kaiserslautern

32 12 5 15 4256 41 32 11 6 15 344339 32 9 11 12 4748 38 31 9 9 13 41 56 36 32 8 11 13 35 5635 31 7 12 12 34 4833 32 8 6 18 37 6730 32 6 10 16 3559 28 32 4 11 17 2147 23 - relegated

Montpellier extend lead

Italian Serie A results/standings

Juventus AC Milan Lazio Udinese Napoli Roma Milan Catania Chievo Parma Atalanta

BERLIN: Borussia Dortmund clinched a second successive German league title yesterday as Japan star Shinji Kagawa’s second-half goal helped secure a 2-0 win at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Kagawa’s 59th-minute strike put the result beyond doubt after midfelder Ivan Perisic’s first-half header had put the hosts ahead at their sold out Signal Iduna Park stadium in front of 80,720 fans.

The victory leaves Dortmund eight points clear of secondplaced Bayern Munich with just two games left. “If there was ever a team who deserved to be champions, they are celebrating right over there,” said coach Jurgen Klopp, as his team poured giant glasses of beer over each other on the pitch as is customary for the German champions.

“The boys have showed their character.” Klopp sprinted down the pitch to celebrate with Kagawa after the Japan star scored and admitted he nearly ended up on the turf. “It was very, very slippery, but I had to celebrate with him,” said Klopp.

“Shinji is so cool. He took it all in his stride.”

This is the eighth time that Dortmund have won the German league and the fifth time they have won the Bundesliga title since it was founded in 1963.

Victory also extended the record for the German league’s longest unbeaten run in a single season to 26 matches. There was more good news for Klopp as Germany’s teenage star Mario Goetze came off the bench. It was the 19-year-old’s first appearance since December having suffered with a groin injury since January.

Earlier, France star Franck Ribery hit a 90th-minute winner as Bayern poached a 2-1 win at Werder Bremen to briefly delay Dortmund’s title celebrations.

Bremen’s Brazil defender Naldo was both hero and villain as his 51st-minute strike from a Claudio Pizarro header put the hosts ahead before an own goal just 14 minutes later allowed Bayern back in the game. Ribery came off the bench with 25 minutes left to hit the winner with time almost up.

stiff opposition to Rooney and United’s progress.

Moyes marked his 10th anniversary at Goodison Park this season and, although Ferguson does not hold a view on whether his fellow Scotsman has taken the club as far as he can, he is full of admiration for the job performed by the Everton boss. “He’s been there 10 years, I can’t judge that, only David can sense that,” said Ferguson. “But what he’s achieved in 10 years has been phenomenal. “He’s not got the financial resources of other clubs with the same type of history but he’s managed to do it time and time again.

“He defies the logic of the squad he’s had to deal with and still got decent results and always keeps his team in the top half of the league, amazing.”

Moyes’s side are set to be without full-back Leighton Baines who picked up a hamstring injury in the FA Cup semifinal defeat, but one man who may feature is former United midfielder Darron Gibson. Gibson could make his first appearance back at Old Trafford today since his January move to the Toffees from United and the Republic of Ireland international does not believe he was a failure with the Reds.

“Some people would say I failed at United and towards the end, I wasn’t playing my best,” claimed Gibson. “I wouldn’t say I failed, I’d say I never got the chance I wanted. “It is nice to know you’re in with a more-than-likely chance of playing every week, rather than not.

“As a footballer you want to play and when it came down to it, I wasn’t playing as much as I would have liked. That meant I had to move.”—AFP

PARIS: Montpellier pulled five points clear of second-placed Paris Saint-Germain in the Ligue 1 title race with a narrow 1-0 victory at home to Valenciennes yesterday.

With PSG not in action until they tackle Sochaux at Parc des Princes today, Rene Girard’s side took full advantage by strengthening their grip on top spot ahead of their final five games of the season.

Montpellier took the lead after just five minutes at Stade de la Mosson, with Souleymane Camara kneeing home Younes Belhanda’s drilled cross from the right following a short corner.

Belhanda thought he had doubled his side’s advantage early in the second half but after he tapped home the rebound from John Utaka’s shot, his celebrations were cut short by the assistant referee’s offside flag.

There was a sizeable let-off for Montpellier in the 85th minute, as Valenciennes midfielder Renaud Cohade struck the crossbar with a 20yard shot that very nearly breathed new hope into PSG’s title hopes.

Defending champions Lille closed to within two points of PSG and increased their cushion in third place to eight points by winning 2-0 at Dijon.

Lille were reduced to 10 men in the 35th minute when Idrissa Gueye was shown a straight red card for a foul on Brice Jovial but four minutes later Eden Hazard squared for Rio Mavuba to put the visitors into the lead. It was Hazard’s 13th assist of the campaign and he took his goal tally to 16 in first-half injury time,

coolly rolling the ball past Dijon goalkeeper Baptiste Reynet from Nolan Roux’s carefully weighted square pass.

Dijon lost their numerical advantage when Abdoulaye Meite was sent off shortly after the interval and a 77th-minute red card for Bennard Kumordzi meant the hosts finished the game with nine men.

Rennes surged above Lyon and Toulouse into fourth place by winning 1-0 at Brest through a first-half Julien Feret penalty, while Toulouse lost 2-1 at in-form Evian, who climbed to eighth.

Saint-Etienne drew level on points with Lyon and Toulouse by cruising to a 4-1 success at relegation-threatened Caen, with Gabonese forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring twice to take his total for the season to 13.

Beaten 3-0 at Toulouse in mid-week, Lyon will bid to get their fading challenge for a topthree finish back on track at home to Lorient today.

Bottom club Auxerre remain five points adrift of safety after losing 1-0 at Nice and seeing both Dennis Oliech and Willy Boly sent off.

Fabian Monzon’s seventh penalty of the season put the hosts ahead in the 36th minute, with Kenyan forward Oliech red-carded for dissent a minute later and Boly dismissed after receiving a second yellow card in the 77th minute. yesterday’s late game is something of an under-achievers’ summit, with ninth facing 10th as Bordeaux host Marseille at Stade Chaban Delmas.—AFP

Matches on TV (Local Timings)

English Premier League Man United v Everton Abu Dhabi Sports HD 3 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 5 Wolves v Man City Abu Dhabi Sports HD 3 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 5 Liverpool v West Brom Abu Dhabi Sports HD 6

14:30 18:00 18:00

Spanish League Granada v Getafe Aljazeera Sport +9 Sociedad v Villarreal Aljazeera Sport +2 Racing v Bilbao Aljazeera Sport +7 Atletico v Espanyol Aljazeera Sport +2 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD Valencia v Betis Aljazeera Sport +2

13:00 13:00 17:00 19:00 22:30

Italian League Fiorentina v Inter Aljazeera Sport +1 Aljazeera Sport 1 HD Ac Milan v Bologna Aljazeera Sport +1 Aljazeera Sport 1 HD Juventus v Roma Aljazeera Sport +1 Aljazeera Sport 1 HD

13:30 16:00 21:45

Preview

Mancini insists title race over MANCHESTER: Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini still insists the Premier League title race is over despite several of his players believing otherwise as they prepare to face Wolves today.

City could find themselves eight points behind leaders Manchester United before they take to the pitch at Molineux should Sir Alex Ferguson’s men overcome Everton at Old Trafford earlier in the day.

A number of City players have come out this week to claim the race for the title is still very much on ahead of their trip to Wolves, including England goalkeeper Joe Hart, but Mancini continues with his stance that United have already secured their 20th English league crown. Mancini puts City’s title bid apparently failing down to the recent injury of Sergio Aguero who missed their draws with Sunderland and Stoke last month - two games which allowed United to open up a five point gap on their rivals. “I meant it (that the title race is over), I think that for me I think it will be

very difficult. The situations that have happened in the last three or four games have made it very difficult for us,” Mancini said.

“We should go for our way only, I’m staying with my opinion about the title for the next few weeks, that it has gone.

“There were some mistakes, but when we lost Sergio for those two games that was a key moment. We drew those games, if we had had Sergio we would have a better chance.”

Former Wolves defender Joleon Lescott returns to Molineux today knowing victory for City could relegate his old team.

And while the England international, who joined Everton from Wolves before moving to City, has a lot to thank his mentor Terry Connor for, Lescott won’t be looking to do his struggling former team any favours as City hope to keep the pressure up on United.

He said: “I owe a lot to everyone connected with Wolves, none more so than Terry Connor the manager. When Terry first arrived, I was just coming out of the youth team and was

just going into the reserves.

“He was the development coach at the time and I still believe he has been the single biggest influence on my career so I hope he does well and has the chance to turn the club’s fortunes around.

“Once the whistle goes on Sunday, of course, it’s all down to being professional and we need to go there and take three points and keep the pressure on United with the derby coming up.

“We can’t afford any slip-ups and obviously I wish we were going there and a win for us didn’t affect their status, but that’s just how it is.” Wolves could be relegated this weekend if they are condemned to a ninth home defeat in a row and QPR beat Tottenham, with interim manager Connor still without a victory since replacing Mick McCarthy in February.

And the problems piled up for Connor this week after Wayne Hennessey, the Wales international goalkeeper, was ruled out for six months with a serious knee injury.—AFP

Chelsea, Arsenal fire blanks

Vettel on pole in Bahrain

18

17

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

Young wrestling stars on display at Olympic Trials

Page 16

SPAIN: Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, from Portugal (left) scores against Barcelona during Spanish La Liga soccer match a at the Camp Nou stadium. —AP

Real down Barca, sight Spanish crown BARCELONA: Cristiano Ronaldo’s late goal dealt Barcelona its first loss in 55 home games and put Real Madrid on the cusp of breaking the Catalan giants’ three-year hold on the Spanish league crown with a record-setting 2-1 win yesterday.

Sami Khedira opened with Madrid’s league-record 108th goal of the season and Ronaldo sealed the victory with his own league-record 42nd goal moments after Alexis Sanchez leveled for Barcelona.

Madrid’s 19th league game without a loss lifted it seven points clear of Barcelona at the top of the standings with just four rounds to go.

“This was a crucial step forward, now we have to finish it off,” Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso said. “We barely suffered.

We controlled the game to perfection.”

After managing only a single win in nine previous games against Barcelona since joining Madrid, coach Jose Mourinho finally guided his team to a long-coveted victory over its fierce rivals

on their ground. It was Madrid’s first victory at Camp Nou since 2007 and Mourinho’s first ever career win here in 10 visits with three different teams.

The game had been hyped as a duel between Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Madrid’s Ronaldo, but this time the Portugal forward came out on top and moved one goal ahead of his Argentine rival in their own personal scoring duel to see who is the top all-time scorer in a single Spanish league season.

With the score suddenly even and the Camp Nou crowd roaring for a comeback, Ronaldo showed once again that Madrid is one of the best counterattacking sides in Europe when he used his pace to race free and his aim to beat goalkeeper Victor Valdes with little angle from the right flank to seal the win that practically wraps up the title race.

Despite needing only a draw, Mourinho still deployed a balanced starting 11‚” the same that lost 1-0 at Bayern Munich in the Champions League semifinals midweek‚” with his

sole defensive-minded concession of Fabio Coentrao getting the nod over Marcelo at right back. Guardiola, however, made two changes to the side that fell 1-0 at Chelsea with young winger Cristian Tello and Thiago Alcantara starting in place of Alexis Sanchez and Cesc Fabregas.

But just like at Stamford Bridge, Barcelona was frustrated again and again in attack and proved porous in defense when in mattered.

Ronaldo forced Valdes to swat his header over the bar four minutes in as Madrid almost took advantage of Barcelona’s early nerves and uncharacteristic erring in its passes.

Versatile right back Dani Alves began the match playing up the pitch, leaving Barcelona with a three-man defensive line, and the Brazilian international almost beat goalkeeper Iker Casillas on a breakaway in the sixth.

Otherwise, Madrid’s disciplined defense bottled up Messi’s incursions through the middle and Barcelona’s

passing game by making Sergio Busquets cue its attack. Madrid went ahead in the 18th after a pair of defensive errors by Barcelona. Goalkeeper Victor Valdes failed to hold on to a corner headed down by Karim Benzema and Carles Puyol was slow to clear, allowing the German midfielder Khedira to poke the ball across the goalline to silence the home crowd.

It was Madrid’s 108th goal of the season, breaking a league record the club had set with 107 goals in the 1989-90 season. Xavi Hernandez, starting in a Barcelona record 32nd clasico, almost leveled for the hosts in the 27th after Messi drew in the defense before setting up the playmaker alone in the area, but Casillas got just enough of a touch to send his shot wide. Barcelona tried to rediscover its verve after halftime and Tello had a nice look on goal after Thiago played him through, only for the youth prospect fire well high. Guardiola sent on Alexis in the 69th and one minute later the Chile striker tapped in a rebound

Djokovic, Nadal in final MONTE CARLO: World number one Novak Djokovic is the last man standing between king of clay Rafael Nadal and an incredible eighth straight title at the Monte Carlo Masters.

The top-ranked Serb, playing this week despite his beloved grandfather’s death, has won the last seven matches with the Spanish ace-all of them finals at major events-but trails 14-16 in their head-to-head series.

Djokovic reached his second Monte Carlo final, having lost one to Nadal in 2009, when he overcame Tomas Berdych 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the semi-finals yesterday. Nadal kept a victory run at Monte Carlo dating to 2005 alive as he won a 41st match on the trot at the event, defeating French ninth-seeded crowd favorite Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-4.

Djokovic has improved his form after playing three matches while grieving, but is fully prepared for a battle today in the principality. “It will be the most difficult match for me in this tournament,” said Djokovic, who beat Nadal six times in 2011 and won their six-hour Australian Open final in January. “He’s the player to beat here. “He’s the player to beat on clay courts. He’s the best ever in history of the sport on this surface.

“It’s an ultimate challenge. I need to play well from the first to the last point. I cannot have ups and downs. I cannot afford that against Rafa. I’m aware of that. But why not believe that I can win?” Nadal, the winner of the last seven editions, and who last lost a Monte Carlo match in 2003, has gone through the week without dropping a set, even as he tested a left knee that required a fortnight of treatment earlier this month.

Spanish League results/standings Sporting Gijon 2 (Sangoy 18, Bilic 78) Rayo Vallecano 1 (Labaka 51); Real Mallorca 1 (Victor 33) Real Zaragoza 0; Barcelona 1 (Sanchez 70) Real Madrid 2 (Khedira 17, Cristiano Ronaldo 73).

Spanish league table after yesterday’s 1800GMT match (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Real Madrid 34 28 4 2 109 30 88 Getafe 33 12 9 12 38 44 45 Barcelona 34 25 6 3 97 26 81 Mallorca 34 11 10 13 36 41 43 Valencia 33 14 10 9 50 42 52 Real Betis 33 12 6 15 40 45 42 Malaga 33 15 6 12 49 46 51 Rayo 34 12 4 18 50 60 40 Levante 33 14 6 13 47 46 48 Sociedad 33 10 9 14 40 49 39 Osasuna 33 11 13 9 37 53 46 Villarreal 33 8 12 13 34 47 36 Bilbao 33 11 12 10 48 44 45 Granada 33 10 6 17 30 49 36 Atletico 33 12 9 12 44 41 45 Gijon 34 8 7 19 35 64 31 Sevilla 33 12 9 12 40 38 45 Zaragoza 34 8 7 19 29 60 31 Espanyol 33 12 9 12 43 43 45 Racing 33 4 14 15 24 52 26

of a shot by Adriano to give Barcelona some hope. But Ronaldo quickly crushed any thoughts of a Barcelona fightback when he galloped behind the defense to latch onto Mesut Oezil’s pass and fire by Valdes in the 73rd to put a fitting final touch to Madrid’s stout performance with his career-best 54th goal in all com-

petitions this season. Barcelona’s last loss at home came in September 2010.

Earlier, relegation-threatened Sporting Gijon beat nine-man Rayo Vallecano 2-1, while Zaragoza’s already slim hopes of escaping the drop took a blow with a 1-0 loss at Mallorca. Sevilla host Levante later.—AP

Du Plessis, Ryder among runs as Chennai, Pune win

MONACO: Spain’s Rafael Nadal serves to France’s Gilles Simon during their Monte Carlo ATP Masters Series tournament tennis match. —AFP “We are evenly matched. We’ve played many, many matches against each other,” said Djokovic.

“We’ve played many finals against each other in the last 15 months. “It’s going to be an interesting matchup. I’ve never won this tournament. And he’s won 41 matches here. “He’s definitely motivated to win another one. You always know that Rafa is going to come up with his best fight and his best tennis when he needs to.

“That’s why he makes another player who plays against him come up with the best tennis, too. So

that’s something that I have to keep in mind.” Nadal is just pleased to be contending after his two weeks of left knee injury treatment this month. “I have much less to lose than him, I have everything to win,” said the optimistic holder. “That’s the most important thing.” Nadal called his eighth concecutive final in the principality “a perfect way to start the clay court season.” “To be in the final without losing a set, it means a lot to start another clay season with a final.

Now remains the most difficult thing. I am here to try.”—AFP

CHENNAI: Jesse Ryder starred in Pune Warriors’ impressive 20-run victory over Delhi Daredevils while Faf du Plessis helped Chennai Super Kings carve out a last-ball win over Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League yesterday.

Ryder struck four sixes and seven fours in his 86, adding 93 for the second wicket with captain Sourav Ganguly (41) as Pune scored an intimidating 192-3 at Ferozeshah Kotla Ground. Delhi could reply with only 172-7.

Ryder got two lucky top-edged sixes early in his innings and maintained the flow with some fine shots even after Ganguly’s departure. Steven Smith then produced a 13-ball cameo of 34 not out in which he bludgeoned two sixes and four fours and showed his ability to switch-hit.

Delhi captain Virender Sehwag topscored with 57 off 32 balls with four sixes and five fours and Kevin Pietersen chipped in with a neat 32 but the home side could not put up a fight even as Ganguly completed a good allround effort by taking the important wickets of Pietersen and Irfan Pathan. Delhi remains on top of the league table with four wins from six games while Pune has four from seven.

At Chennai, opener Du Plessis smashed a brisk 73 off 52 balls with two sixes and six fours, but it took a scampered double by captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni off pace bowler Stuart Binny to complete the win as Chennai scored 147-3 after restricting Rajasthan to 146-4.

Du Plessis got off to a fine start by striking three fours off the second over bowled

by Binny, son of India’s 1983 World Cup hero Roger Binny, and featured in useful half-century stands with Subramaniam Badrinath (15) and Suresh Raina (26).

Du Plessis was dismissed by West Indian allrounder Kevon Cooper when he tried to come down the pitch to the seam bowler, only to edge the ball and give wicketkeeper Sreevats Goswami a low catch.

It was left to Dhoni (15) and Dwayne Bravo (16) to complete the win by scoring eight off the last over. For Rajasthan, England batsman Owais Shah was the standout performer with his effort of 52, smashing three sixes and four fours off 43 balls.

Shah, who is the second highest runscorer in this year’s IPL with 268 in seven games, added 92 for the third wicket with Ashok Menaria (36). It was the fourth win in seven games for Chennai. Rajasthan also has four wins from seven outings.

Scores: Chennai Super Kings 147-3 (Faf du Plessis 73, Suresh Raina 26; Kevon Cooper 2-23) def. Rajasthan Royals 146-4 (Owais Shah 52, Ashok Menaria 36, Rahul Dravid 26). Pune Warriors 192-3 (Jesse Ryder 86, Sourav Ganguly 41, Steven Smith 34 not out; Morne Morkel 3-50) def. Delhi Daredevils 172-7 (Virender Sehwag 57, Kevin Pietersen 32; Alfonso Thomas 3-22, Sourav Ganguly 2-27).—AP

Abu Dhabi’s GHC plans $1.58bn investment Page 22

Earnings, Fed to prove skeptics wrong Page 25

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

KSE equities remain in green zone Page 24

Blast-hit Qantas A380 back in service after repairs Page 23

WASHINGTON: Finance ministers and central bank governors pose for a family photo of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) at the IMF/World Bank Annual Spring Meetings in Washington yesterday. — AFP

Globalization must be inclusive: Ban WIF leaders urge more investment for poor DOHA: Globalization must be reformed to achieve social equality for the poor nations in the wake of the world financial crisis, high-level speakers said at the opening of a UN trade conference.

“Globalization must be inclusive ...

Failure at this stage undermines the legitimacy of globalization,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said at the opening of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Qatar.

“Economic recovery (after the crisis) has been fragile at best ...

Inequality has reached a new high,” Ban said in a speech delivered on his behalf by his deputy, Asha-Rose Migiro. Ban said protests in the Arab world, that have so far toppled four regimes, show that “the lack of economic equality and political freedom is not sustainable.”

Globalization has been frequently criticized as being favorable to the rich nations and corporations, especially in the United States and Europe.

Held under the theme “development-centered globalization: towards inclusive and sustainable growth and development,” the UNCTAD meeting is attended by hundreds of delegates from mostly developing countries.

As a result of the ongoing impact of the global financial crisis, “200 million people remained unemployed,” at present, said Ban who urged UNCTAD to examine the causes of the crisis to prevent it from happening again.

UNCTAD ministers will hold several roundtable debates on enhancing development, investment, global partnerships and addressing development challenges in the wake of

widening income equality among nations.

Ruler of the host nation, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, said dealing with the global financial crisis “represents the biggest challenge facing globalization.”

“Fundamental reforms must be introduced to the world’s financial system which triggered the crisis,” in 2008, said Sheikh Hamad, who said that the crisis has started to affect economies of emerging countries like Brazil. UNCTAD was created in 1964 as the focal point of the United Nations system responsible for trade and interrelated development issues. It makes policy recommendations on trade, finance, investment and technology.

Leaders and officials attending the third World Investment Forum meanwhile yesterday called for channeling more investments to poor nations and for introducing regulatory guidelines to help foster investments. “ The structure of world investments and its distribution has not witnessed a fundamental change after the global financial crisis,” Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki told the forum, which opened in Doha.

“The main driving force for investment flows remain the country’s size and its resources, so poor nations are ignored,” said Marzouki, who called for more investments in Africa, which now attracts just 4.4 percent of world outflows. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged “international regulations to avoid investment protectionism,” and insisted that “stabilization of capital flow is a challenge.”

She called on the international

business community to think about development when deciding on investments, instead of focusing only on profits. The forum is being held in conjunction with the 13th ministerial meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the first major meeting of the agency since the 2008 global financial crisis.

UNC TAD Secretar y General Supachai Panitchpakdi criticized the G20 nations for their “restrictive policies” with regard to trade and investment, saying this amounted to a key challenge to the outflow of foreign direct investment (FDI). “Another challenge is that we need investments to be responsible ... we need investments in poor countries, in fo o d,” he said. Acco rding to UNCTAD’s latest report last week, global FDI outflows rose by 16 percent in 2011 to an estimated $1.66 trillion (1.26 trillion euros) to surpass the pre -crisis level, but still remain 25 percent below its peak reached in 2007. However, that growth has failed to translate into expanding productive capacity, as it was largely used for cross-border acquisitions and to increase cash reserves kept in foreign affiliates.

Prospects for FDI outflows in 2012 are still improving, but they remain guarded due to the fragility of the global economic recovery, said the report. Panitchpakdi said the reason for the failure of investments to fully recover is because the “capital formation has not taken place,” and called for a “collective global governance for the investments to prosper.” — Agencies

IMF moves to calm market fears over European debt WASHINGTON: Finance ministers and central bank governors hope a more than $430 billion increase in resources of the International Monetary Fund will be enough to handle any fresh crisis in the eurozone.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde announced the new figure at the conclusion of discussions of the G20 major economic powers Friday.

She said that some countries, including Russia, India, China and Brazil, had made private pledges but did not want to issue public commitments until they had conferred with officials in their home capitals. But she said when the public and private commitments were combined, the total raised would exceed $430 billion, nearly doubling the IMF’s available resources to make loans to nations in

trouble. Lagarde called the fundraising a “huge effort” that would increase the current $485 billion available for loans to more than $1 trillion. “We have the necessary tools in the toolbox and we will use this wisely,” she told reporters at a news conference wrapping up discussions of the G-20, which includes traditional economic powers such as the United States and Germany and emerging powers such as China and Brazil. Talks continued yesterday as the policy-setting committees of the IMF and its sister institution, the World Bank, meet. The IMF helps countries with financial crises and the bank provides loans for development projects in many poor nations. Both 188-nation organizations are based in Washington.

Lagarde said the extra resources would help support global economic

stability. Finance officials hope the new lending power will be a backstop should another, larger European country get into trouble in repaying government debts. Already three European nations - Greece, Ireland and Portugal - have been forced to accept IMF rescue packages along with sizable bailout support from other nations using the euro currency. But the concern is that Spain and Italy, much larger economies, are now facing financial difficulties. If either of those nations needed rescue packages, the costs would be far higher than what has been raised so far. Showing there was not unanimity on boosting the IMF crisis arsenal, two major members, the US and Canada, refused to participate in boosting its resources. They believe European countries are wealthy enough to do more. —AP

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

BUSINESS

Abu Dhabi’s GHC plans $1.58bn investment BNP Paribas appointed to arrange $600m loan ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi government-owned General Holding Corporation (GHC) plans to invest 5.8 billion dirhams ($1.58 billion) in the short-term in three industries to boost manufacturing as the oil-rich emirate tries to diversify its economy, its chairman said yesterday.

The plans include 3 billion dirhams to expand capacity at Emirates Steel, 800 million dirhams in downstream aluminium extrusion and 2 billion dirhams in manufacturing seamless pipes for the oil and gas industry. GHC, which has industrial assets totaling 23.7 billion dirhams, has interests in sectors including steel, oil and gas fabrication, cables, food and building materials. It is eyeing new industries such as aluminium and copper.

“Our strategy is to help speed industrial growth in Abu Dhabi which is targeting a 25 percent contribution from industry to the emirate’s GDP by 2030. Today, it is below 15 per cent,” Hussain Al-Nowais told reporters. Financing for the investments will be a combination of debt and equity, he said, adding GHC plans to raise $600 million in project finance over two years. It has appointed BNP Paribas as financial advisor.

Last year GHC borrowed 660 million dirhams ($180 million) from banks and invested 2.7 billion dirhams in various industries. “Our debt-equity ratio is 1:1 and we have cash generated from profit. Debt could include bank borrowing, export credit agencies or even bonds,” he said. GHC also

said it made a net profit of 1.5 billion dirhams in 2011, up 15 percent on the previous year, driven by sales and cost control. The profit came largely from two of its flagship firms, Emirates Steel and National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC). GHC, set up in 2004, owns a total of eight companies in the industrial sector, two others of which are listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Market (ADX).

It may consider one or two more companies for a public offering in the short-term, once they achieve their targets, said Al-Nowais. Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates an OPEC member, is investing billions of dollars in industry, tourism and real estate as it diversifies its economy away from oil. — Reuters

India remains attractive place to invest: Minister

TOKYO: Yoshihiko Noda, Thein Sein, Takashi Saito, Khin Maung Ting Japan’s Ambassador to Myanmar Takashi Saito (seated left) and Myanmar’s Ambassador to Japan Khin Maung Ting sign documents on their accord as Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (third left) and Myanmar President Thein Sein (third right) stand behind after their meeting held on the sidelines of the Mekong-Japan Summit at the State Guest House in Tokyo yesterday. — AP

Japan pledges $7.4bn for Mekong projects TOKYO: Japan yesterday pledged $7.4 billion in aid over three years to help five Mekong states, in an attempt at fostering development in a resource-rich region also being courted by China. “The stability and prosperity of East Asia will not be possible without the stability and prosperity of the Mekong region,” Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told a press conference following a summit in Tokyo.

“The Japanese government will recognize the Mekong region as a significant destination of assistance and continue its cooperation strongly.” Noda met leaders of the five Mekong region countriesCambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam-as Japan’s export-dependent economy seeks cheap labor and investment to power growth. In addition to 600 billion yen ($7.4 billion) in development assistance over three years to 2015, Tokyo presented a list of 57 infrastructure projects planned in the region, estimated to cost around 2.3 trillion yen.

“Japan will strengthen its support for hard and soft infrastructure projects, especially projects which develop the East-West Economic Corridor and Southern Economic Corridor,” an official statement said. The corridors will link the Mekong region states in a bid to improve connectivity and trade.

The projects also include a roadway connecting

Myanmar to Thailand. “A well-connected Mekong region requires actions and measures to facilitate economic development,” the statement said. The region along the lower reaches of the 4,800-kilometre (2,980-mile) Mekong River has historically been isolated by war and political turmoil and remains poorer than other parts of Southeast Asia.

Rivals Japan and China have for years poured aid and investment into the Mekong region, home to more than 220 million people, and are seen increasingly as competitors for influence. All the five Mekong states belong to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has raised an ambitious plan to build a common, barrier-free market by 2015. The Saturday morning summit was the fourth of its kind and also provided the latest stage for Myanmar as it journeys back to international respectability. During its years of isolation, Japan-unlike its Western alliesmaintained trade ties and dialogue with Myanmar, warning that a hard line on the then-ruling junta could push it closer to China, its key ally and commercial partner. Noda later met Myanmar President Thein Sein for bilateral talks, in which the Japanese leader announced it would waive Myanmar’s 300 billion yen ($3.7 billion) debt and resume suspended assistance to the country. — AFP

NEW DELHI: India’s Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has defended the South Asian country as an attractive place to invest, despite controversial plans to make foreign companies retroactively liable for taxes. Mukherjee sought to calm the row over proposed legislation to chase overseas firms for taxes on mergers involving Indian assets, saying investment decisions are not made solely on the basis of “tax concessions”.

Deciding whether to put money into an economy is “based on what’s the size of the market, whether the systems are transparent and what’s the purchasing power of people”, Mukherjee was quoted yesterday by the Indian media as saying.

India, with its increasingly affluent population of 1.2 billion people, remains an attractive country in which to invest, he told an audience on the sidelines of meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Washington on Friday.

“From all these standpoints, India appears to be a good investment destination,” he said.

India’s cash-strapped government had been widely expected to plug merger tax loopholes in its budget last month. But the retrospective nature of the legislation has stirred an international outcry at a time when India urgently needs big-ticket foreign investments to upgrade its dilapidated infrastructure and spur slowing economic growth.

Vodafone-India’s biggest foreign investor-faces a $2.2 billion tax bill over its 2007 purchase of the Indian unit of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa. It has threatened to take India to international arbitration. The changes would allow India to tax the sale of Indian assets, even if both seller and buyer are foreign and the deal is concluded abroad, and has left firms facing prospects of massive bills they had not anticipated. Mukherjee said no tax case over six years old would be reopened under the legislation expected to be passed in coming weeks and promised “transparent” discussions with companies that object to the measure.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told his Indian counterpart this week US businesses are worried about changes in India’s tax rules and that they had “dampened enthusiasm about India’s investment climate”. Mukherjee also insisted India has “an unwavering commitment to reforms” after media reports quoted a top government advisor as saying there would be no liberalization measures before the 2014 elections due to political disarray.

Reforms have been stalled by a string of corruption scandals and a slowing economy that have weakened the Congress-led government.

But Mukherjee said the government hopes to pass changes widening foreign investment possibilities in the banking, pension and insurance fields by the next parliamentary session at the latest. — AFP

Abu Dhabi airport posts 21% growth in passenger traffic ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi International Airport said yesterday passenger traffic grew 21 percent in the first quarter of 2012 compared with the same period a year ago, as the Gulf emirate pushes ahead with its expansion in tourism and industry. The airport saw 3.4 million passengers pass through it in the first three months of this year, a statement

from the operating company said.

“The double digit growth in number of passengers reflects the level of attraction the emirate holds as a business and tourism destination,” said Harib Al-Hameli, vice president of operations at Abu Dhabi Airports Company, in the statement. The Far East ranked as the top region

generating 39 percent of airport traffic, followed by the Middle East with 25 percent and Europe with 22 percent, the statement said. Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates is investing billions of dollars in industry, tourism and infrastructure as it diversifies its economy away from oil. — Reuters

Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Yemeni Riyal Euro Canadian Dollars Nepali rupee

Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

DOHA: Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaks during the opening ceremony of the 13th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD13) in the Qatari capital Doha yesterday.— AFP

Turkey to sign LNG deal with Qatargas DOHA: Turkey expects to sign an agreement for 2.5 to 3 billion cubic metres(bcm) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar, though no agreement was made on price, Turkey’s energy minister said yesterday.

“We would like to make two agreements with Qatar: one short-term and one long-term. If we can agree on the price, we will make an agreement through Bota ,” Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told a news conference in the Qatari capital.

Bota is Turkey’s state-owned crude and natural gas pipelines and trading company. “Some of Turkey’s natural gas needs will be filled by Qatar. We don’t only want to talk to one country. We have also talked to Saudi Arabia and Libya,” he said.

Yildiz said a preliminary agreement between Bota and Qatari LNG supplier Qatargas would be signed yesterday.

In November Turkey’s finance minister said the country is interested in a setting up an LNG plant Turkey in order to facilitate the delivery of gas from Qatar to Europe.

Qatar is the world’s largest LNG exporter but mainly sells to Asian markets. — Reuters

US presses China on yuan reforms WASHINGTON: The United States pressed China yesterday to make progress on its recently announced currency reform to make the yuan more flexible, calling it key to healthy global economic growth.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that despite global trade imbalances being lower than levels before the 2008 financial crisis, further action was needed to guard against renewed unsustainable imbalances.

“China’s recent decision to widen the daily trading band for its exchange rate, if implemented in a way that allows the value of the exchange rate to reflect market forces, could contribute to this rebalancing,” Geithner said in a statement. “While we welcome the progress to date, the process of correcting the misalignment of China’s exchange rate remains incomplete and further appreciation is necessary, and in China’s interest.”

Geithner said that while countries with trade deficits have worked to raise domestic savings, those with trade surpluses, such as China, still lacked sufficient domestic consumption. “The global economy and job creation are being hindered by insufficient aggregate demand growth. We therefore need to see stronger acceleration of growth in domestic demand in current account surplus economies, as well as greater exchange rate flexibility in countries such as China,” he said. Beijing’s trading partners have long criticized the yuan exchange rate, saying it is kept artificially low to fuel a flow of cheap Chinese exports, triggering huge trade deficits in the United States and Europe.

The Chinese central bank recently announced it would allow the yuan to fluctuate against the dollar by 1.0 percent on either side of a trading band. The yuan was previously allowed to move just 0.5 percent either side, which helped keep it closely tied to the movements of the US greenback. — AFP

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Philippine peso Egyptian pounds US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian dollars Danish Kroner Swedish Kroner Australian dlr Hong Kong dlr Singapore dlr Japanese yen Indian Rs/KD Sri Lanka rupee Pakistan rupee Bangladesh taka UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi Riyal/KD Omani riyals Philippine Peso

.2730000 .4430000 .3620000 .3010000 .2780000 .2860000 .0040000 .0020000 .0753770 .7343730 .3830000 .0710000 .7199210 .0040000 .0430000 CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2776500 .4450310 .3642770 .3029960 .2802280 .0489730 .0411720 .2877430 .0357760 .2217650 .0034100 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0756230 .7367650 .0000000 .0740600 .7214500 .0000000

.2810000 .4510000 .3700000 .3100000 .2860000 .2960000 .0070000 .0035000 .0761340 .7417540 .4000000 .0760000 .7271560 .0072000 .0500000 .2797500 .4483970 .3670320 .3052870 .2823480 .0493430 .0414830 .2899190 .0360470 .2234420 .0034360 .0054290 .0021790 .0030950 .0034340 .0761950 .7423380 .3956860 .0746200 .7269070 .0066030

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Currency US Dollar Pak Rupees

Rate per 1000 (Tran) 278.000 3.073

5.422 2.185 3.409 6.580 75.995 74.495 741.200 46.135 449.400 3.190 1.550 371.400 287.700 3.510

Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 278.450 371.000 451.700 283.000 3.450 5.352 46.095 2.135 3.404 6.522 3.070 741.600 75.850 74.350

UAE Exchange Centre WLL COUNTRY Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka

SELL DRAFT 293.57 285.84 311.42 371.56 452.76 3.49 3.404

5.700 2.550 4.000 3.250 76.50 741.00 47.25 394.50 726.00 77.75 74.25

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd

Al Mulla Exchange Currency US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

5.352 2.144 3.362 3.078 75.87 741.73 46.09 396.71 724.71 76.89 74.46

SELL CASH 292.00 284.50 307.50 369.00 447.00 3.65 3.550

Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

Selling Rate 278.950 281.210 444.240 365.770 303.830 738.695 75.925 76.570 74.345 392.660 46.178 2.189 5.426 3.082 3.411 6.549 684.255 4.440 9.120 5.875 3.480 92.305

Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

Bahrain Exchange Company

GOLD 10 Tola

COUNTRY Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka

SELL CASH 292.400 741.730 3.670

SELL DRAFT 290.900 741.730 3.406

284.900 547.800 45.500 50.100 167.800 47.790 370.200 36.620 5.710 0.032 0.159 0.236 3.530 395.250 0.189 93.960 45.400 4.290 231.300 1.807 49.600 724.450 3.170 6.860 77.150 74.470 224.380 39.130 2.657 451.200 42.200 307.500 4.200 9.420 198.263 76.040 279.300 1.340

Sterling Pound US Dollar

1,714.630 TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 449.200 278.900

283.400

224.400 46.200 368.700 36.470 5.385 0.031

395.210 0.188 92.960 3.380 229.800

724.270 3.082 6.540 76.720 74.470 224.360 39.130 2.163 449.200 306.000 4.200 9.240 75.940 278.900

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

business

China’s quarterly growth will pick up KCIS WEEKLY ANALYSIS

By Fatema Akashah KUWAIT: China’s economic activity for the first quarter of 2012 grew 8.1% since the same quarter last year, a pace that is slower than the 8.3% to 8.5% range economists had expected. In 2011, the fourth quarter GDP grew 8.9% year-over-year (YoY), and before that China grew 9.1% YoY in the third quarter.

Despite missing economists’ estimates, the growth in China’s economic output, as represented by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is still robust and not suggestive of an upcoming sharp slowdown; in fact, the first quarter growth may be the lowest this year. In the first two months of the year, China experienced major political changes and the worst winter in 27 years. The severe cold held back construction, which delayed the consumption of raw materials and investments, and the change in party leadership and policymakers limited the attention of the government to the economy. In March the weather improved and the political transition was smooth, enabling the economy to rebound. Cumulative industrial production improved from 11.4% YoY in the Jan-Feb period to 11.6% YoY in Jan-Mar. The official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), a gauge of manufacturing activity, rose to 53.1 in March from 51.0 in February. Exports growth improved to 8.9% in March compared to the Jan-Feb average of 6.9%.

The steadfast support to China’s GDP is domestic demand; consumption, as represented by retail sales, showed a strong growth of 15.2% YoY, higher than the Jan-Feb average of 14.7%. Therefore, accounting for the one-off factors and grim global

macro economy, China’s domestic economy remains vigorous and supportive of sustainable economic growth. Real GDP is a measure of the economic output or of the size of the economy - adjusted for inflation or deflation. It is the sum of the adjusted values

value (the base date) for all items and services. Then these values are used to calculate GDP for years prior to the base year and subsequent years. GDP can be measured in several ways, and the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the government

of all final goods and services produced by that country or region over a given time period. The values depend on the quantities (volume) of the goods produced and their prices. Real GDP is a measure that holds prices constant by using a given year’s

body responsible for national accounts data, tends to publish GDP by sector output. The three main sectors are the primary (raw materials and basic foods such as agriculture, mining, etc); secondary (manufacturing, processing, construction, etc.); and

finally tertiary (the services industry such as retail, transportation, entertainment, tourism, etc.).

China’s growth has been gradually easing over the past two years; 2012 GDP growth is expected to be in the range of 8.4-8.6%, slower than 2011’s 9.1%.

Although the first quarter came as a surprise (and we expect that it will be the lowest quarterly result this year), the fears over a hard landing, or a sudden and rapid decline in growth, are still unjustified because domestic demand will continue to improve.

Domestic demand will grow because of fundamentals, like strong population dynamics and rising income, plus the role of consumption-focused government policy will become more prevalent. Driven by slowing growth concerns, global investors expect the government to take action and quickly ease its tight monetary policy in order to encourage growth.

Chinese regulators had been tightening the monetary policy in order to cool surging inflation and a booming property market. Inflation has eased below the central bank’s target of 4.0% and property markets have recorded an annual contraction; this, combined with easing economic growth, allows room to maneuver in terms of the monetary policy.

The focus of the new policymakers will be stable growth but not with interest rates cuts and a massive stimulus package. We believe that the government will stick to its prudent monetary policy, as China’s strong domestic demand can withstand some of the headwinds from the external economy.

The financial markets are expected to witness positive results from China as it has passed the trough in economic growth this year.

Canvas new ‘safe-haven’ for Hong Kong investors Market crisis, property price volatility unnerve investors

SINGAPORE: Richard de Crespigny, the pilot who was responsible for safely landing the Qantas Airbus A380 plane on Nov 4, 2010, stands in front of the engine (left) which disintegrated on the day, causing an emergency landing at Singapore’s Changi International Airport with 459 people on board, yesterday at the airport during a media preview. —AP

Blast-hit Qantas A380 back in service after repairs SINGAPORE: A Qantas Airbus A380 jet that dramatically lost an engine in a mid-air blast off Singapore in November 2010 was formally handed back to the Australian flag carrier yesterday after extensive repairs. The near-disaster led to the temporary grounding of the Australian flag carrier’s entire fleet of A380 super jumbos, the world’s largest commercial passenger plane, for inspection. Pilots managed to guide the plane back to Singapore’s Changi airport, where it landed with a plume of smoke in its wake, after the engine exploded over the Indonesian island of Batam. Qantas dubbed the repaired plane Nancy Bird Walton, in honor of Australia’s first female commercial pilot, and said bringing it back into service was “one of the biggest repair jobs in aviation”.

“Qantas is proud to reintroduce Nancy Bird Walton back into service,” said Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce. “After 18 months, Aus$139 million ($144.30 million) and nearly 100,000 man hours of work, the aircraft is now going back into service. Joyce said Qantas’ insurer paid for the cost of repairs and engine-maker Rolls-Royce compensated the carrier Aus$95 million for the grounding of the aircraft. Joyce was speaking to

reporters before Airbus handed the plane back to Qantas in a ceremony at Changi, which was held under the left wing of the hulking aircraft.

Captain Richard de Crespigny, who was piloting the aircraft when the blast happened, received the flight log book from Airbus engineers.

Australian safety investigators have said that an oil leak in a turbine may have caused the explosion. All four engines were replaced as advised

by Rolls-Royce. The repairs, which involved 170 Airbus staff from eight nations, were carried out at the hangar of SIA Engineering, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines.

“It was a very complex operation that required six weeks of planning before we even got started,” said Alan Milne, head of Qantas’ integrated operations centre. Components had to be shipped to Singapore from various parts of the world, Milne told AFP. The aircraft will leave Singapore on Saturday evening for Sydney with de Crespigny at the helm. The plane will make its first commercial flight on April 28 from Sydney to Hong Kong. “I have absolute, complete confidence in this aircraft and I am very pleased that my CEO is going back on the flight tonight,” de Crespigny said.—AFP

HYDERABAD: Managing Director of Indian cellular network operator Uninor Sigve Brekke gestures as he addresses a press conference in Hyderabad yesterday. Uninor is owned by a combination of Norwegian mobile services provider Telenor group and India’s second largest diversified real estate major Unitech Limited.The Telenor Group has invested a 67.25 percent majority stake in the company. —AFP

Air France mulls German angle in Etihad talks FRANKFURT: Air France-KLM is considering a partnership with Abu Dhabi-based carrier Etihad that includes the German domestic routes of Air Berlin, a German newspaper quoted the chief executive of the Franco-Dutch airline as saying.

Etihad owns just under 30 percent of Air Berlin, which is Germany’s second biggest carrier but is struggling to return to profit. Air FranceKLM has already said that the Abu Dhabi carrier had proposed a partnership on some routes.

“A partnership with Etihad would only make sense for us on the Paris-Abu Dhabi route and to other hubs,” Jean-Cyril Spinetta was quoted as saying in Die Welt yesterday. “On the other hand,

a wider partnership would be possible, if it included Air Berlin and its network in the German market.”

Air France-KLM, which made a net loss of 809 million euros in 2011, is currently undergoing a restructuring program that includes lower aircraft investments and an overhaul of the European passenger network at its French arm.

Spinetta told the paper the group was keen to expand on routes to China to serve Chinese tourists who want to come to Europe, but wanted to give a new route to Wuhan a chance to settle in before looking at more destinations in the country.— Reuters

HONG KONG: Unnerved by a febrile stock exchange and persistent rumblings of a potential dip in property prices, Hong Kong investors are seeking refuge in art and the lure of both financial and cultural rewards.

Hong Kong, already the world’s third largest auction hub, has seen a slew of big name galleries open their doors, including White Cube and the Gagosian, to tap the pockets of the region’s new rich, and the studios of its ever-deepening talent pool of artists. In turn new investors, wealthy but not super-rich, are taking a punt on art many for the first time.

For seed money of $180,000 HKD ($23,300), Levenza Toh bought a painting by a Chinese contemporary artist Liu Chunhai, which she hopes will rise in value by 20 percent each year-a strong return compared with last year’s stock market slump of 25 percent.

The city’s bourse has rebounded so far in 2012 after the euro-zonedriven losses of 2011, but Toh-who confesses to being green to the art

scene before buying-says her investment also brings an aesthetic bounty. “If the painting loses value I still have something beautiful to pass on to my children,” she explains.

“Of course I saw the numbers... but I also saw the art work, the story behind it, and it connected with me so I am happy to own it.” Art brokerage The Art Futures group says its client base has grown in step with Hong Kong’s burgeoning reputation as the heart of Asia’s art market. Art investment has become a relative “safe haven” in stormy markets, says AFG’s Jonathan Macey, adding that the fundamentals of artists’ work can be analysed in much the same way as a stock, with “mid-career” artists favored over total newcomers or the top-priced favorites. “It is also enjoyable for people in a way that buying proper ty for purely investment purposes isn’t,” said Macey.

“We explain who the artists are and most people very quickly start to enjoy gaining that knowledge.

The process is recreational and they

carry on deepening their knowledge and enjoyment of art.”

While Macey stresses art is not a “get-rich-quick ” scheme he says clients can expect 12-18 percent gains over a three to five year period. In the interim they can lease their paintings to hang in company and hotels lobbies providing a dividend of around seven percent that outstrips most bank interest rates.

Eye-popping sales at Hong Kong’s big auction houses underpin the city’s surge to the heart of Asia’s art scene. Buyers are particularly enamored by Chinese contemporary art, reflecting China’s rising economic and cultural power, with artists such as Liu Wei, Luo Zhongli and Zhang Xiaogang attracting multi-million US dollar price tags.

In 2011 Christie’s Asian arm in Hong Kong saw total sales of Chinese modern ar t nudging HK$650 million, out of total sales of HK$7.04 billion. Not to be outdone rival auctioneers Sotheby ’s this month hosted an Asian contemporary art sale that achieved HK$211

million-the house’s second-highest total for such a sale in Hong Kong.

The money is also cascading into Hong Kong’s galleries as the profile of art buyers shifts from the highend collectors who dominated a decade or so ago many of them European.

“We’ve seen collectors from Asia, south- east Asia, Indonesia, and Taiwan come into the market,” says Nicole Schoeni of the Schoeni Art Gallery, who says her client base has widened over recent years from purely big European collectors. “ They are passionate about ar t.

Investment is an added bonus of course, but they don’t tend to ‘flip’ paintings ever y two or three months for profit.” As with any investment, art buying carries a risks as markets fluctuate, but Schoeni says the future looks good for Asian art. “Asia’s getting richer and there’s also great creativity coming from the region. On top of that people here tend to be hard-working, positive and resilient... the long-term is positive.” —AFP

US resolves debate on investment terms WASHINGTON: The US government said it has resolved a three-year internal debate on how strongly to press countries like China to protect workers’ rights and the environment in negotiations on treaties to protect US foreign investment.

The US State Department and the US Trade Representative’s office issued a joint statement outlining a so-called “model BIT” (Bilateral Investment Treaty) that will be used as a template in future negotiations. The new terms of the treaty include demands foreign governments not relax environmental or labor laws to draw investment by US companies. The debate over the terms followed the changeover in government from the administration of former President George W Bush.

US business groups applauded the long-awaited decision but worried the stronger demands could make investment pacts too hard to negotiate. Labor groups acknowledged a step forward, but said the provisions were little more than “paper commitments” because they could not be enforced.

The government’s statement said new language will “US companies benefit from a level playing field in foreign markets, providing effective mechanisms for enforcing the international obligations of our economic partners, and creating stronger labor and environmental protections.”

The United States and other countries negotiate bilateral investment treaties to protect their companies against potentially unfair foreign government actions. There are some 3,000 BITS in force around the world, of which the United States is party to 40. “We need to do everything we can to break down barriers to America’s world-class goods and help US companies compete in markets around the world. The new model BIT will help us do that,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, said.

The Emergency Committee for American Trade, a US business group, welcomed the administration’s announcement and called for quick resumption of investment talks with China, India, Vietnam and Mauritius that have been on hold. But the group, whose members range from heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar to publisher McGraw-Hill , said stronger US labor and environment demands in the model BIT “could be counterproductive” because they go further than what other developed countries demand. A spokeswoman for Senator Orrin Hatch, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, echoed that concern.

The new labor and environment obligations “are unjustified on trade policy grounds and could inhibit countries like China, Brazil and India from actually concluding bilateral investment treaties with the United States,” Hatch aide Julia Lawless said.

Critics say the treaties, which must be approved by the Senate, encourage US companies to move production overseas and allow them too easily to challenge government regulations that could hurt the value of their investments.

One of the most outspoken critics, Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, said the new model BIT was basically the same as “the deeply flawed ‘old’ model.”

“At a time when multinationals like Chevron are using BITs to evade justice and get out of environmental remediation obligations, it is unthinkable that an Obama administration - post-BP oil spill, post-Wall Street crash - would privilege the rich at the expense of the 99 percent,” Wallach said.

Thea Lee, deputy chief of staff for the 12-million-member AFL-CIO labor federation, said her group appreciated the stronger labor and environmental provisions but was “deeply disappointed” they could not be enforced through dispute settlement mechanisms of the BITs. “On balance, the new model BIT remains lopsided in terms of granting overly broad rights and protections to multinational corporations - threatening democratic decisionmaking processes and outcomes - without requiring even the most basic minimum standards of responsible behavior with respect to labor and the environment,” Lee said.

The Bush administration launched BIT negotiations with China and Vietnam in its waning months. Responding to concerns raised by Democrats and labor groups, the incoming Obama administration put talks on hold and instituted a review of the US model BIT in February 2009.

The US Trade Representative’s office, in a Fact Sheet, said the 2012 model BIT expands labor and environmental obligations in “four important ways.”

It requires governments not to “waive or derogate” from their own labor and environmental laws to attract investment or to fail to effectively enforce those laws to attract investment.

US BIT partners also must reaffirm their commitment to core International Labor Organization principles, such as the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively, and recognize the importance of international environmental agreements, such as those protecting endangered species.

The new BIT model also contains “more detailed and extensive consultation procedures (on labor and environment) than those applicable under the 2004 model BIT,” USTR said.

The Obama administration also responded to growing concerns about the role of foreign “stateowned enterprises” in international trade by including provisions in the model BIT to help level the playing field for US companies. — Reuters

SEOUL: A man walks past near the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at Korea Exchange in Seoul on Friday. As South Koreans await a presidential election in December, many investors are winning and losing small fortunes by speculating on stocks they believe are linked to possible candidates for president. — AP

24

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

BUSINESS

KSE equities remain in green zone BAYAN WEEKLY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended last week in the green zone. The price index ended last week with an increase amounted to 1.22% while the weighted index advanced by 1.06% compared to the closings of the week before.

Furthermore, last week’s average daily turnover increased by 0.95%, compared to the preceding week, reaching KD 35.37 million, whereas trading volume average was 406.12 million shares, recording increase of 31.57%.

The market managed to end the week in the green zone for the second week, supported by the buying trend on some Investment groups, in addition to the collection deals on some small stocks, especially on

Services sector. Moreover, trading on the leading stocks during last week, especially the Banking sector, in response to the good first quarter financial results, increased the optimistic and confidence levels among dealers.

On the other hand, the profit taking operations were present, as a response to the market good performance. Those operations slowed the market growth, and even managed to push KSE main indices to close in the red zone twice.

By the end of the week, the price index closed at 6,264.6 points, up by 1.22% from the week before closing, whereas the weighted index registered a 1.06% weekly gain after closing at 416.81 points.

Sectors’ Indices Six of KSE’s sectors ended last week in the green zone, while the other two recorded declines. Last week’s highest gainer was the Industry sector, achieving 3.97% growth rate as its index closed at 4,428.3 points. Whereas, in the second place, the Services sector’s index closed at 14,430.4 points recording 1.26% increase. The Banks sector came in third as its index achieved 1.01% growth, ending the week at 11,621.8 points. The Investment sector was the least growing as its index closed at 3,987.1 points with a 0.57% increase.

On the other hand, the Insurance sector headed the losers list as its index declined by 0.53% to end the week’s activity at 2,673.8 points. The

food sector was second on the losers’ list, which index declined by 0.05%, closing at 4,221.5 points.

Sectors’ activity The Services sector dominated total trade volume during last week with 692.50 million shares changing hands, representing 34.10% of the total market trading volume. The real estate sector was second in terms trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 28.84% of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of 585.60 million shares. On the other hand, the services sector’s stocks where the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover of KD 56.72 million or 32.07% of last week’s total market trading value. The Investment sector took the

second place as the sector’s last week turnover of KD 33.81 million represented 19.12% of the total market trading value.

Market capitalization KSE total market capitalization grew by 1.05% during last week to reach KD 28.46 billion, as six of KSE’s sectors recorded an increase in their respective market capitalization, whereas the other two recorded declines. The services sector headed the growing sectors as its total market capitalization reached KD 6.85 billion, increasing by 2.32%. The Industry sector was the second in terms of recorded growth with 1.85% increase after the total value of its listed companies reached KD 2.18 billion. The third

place was for the Real estate sector, which total market capitalization reached KD 1.97 billion by the end of the week, recording an increase of 1.27%. The Non Kuwaiti Companies sector was the least growing with 0.33% recorded growth after its market capitalization amounted to KD 1.69 billion.

On the other hand, the Insurance sector headed the decliners list as its total market capitalization decreased by 0.57% to reach, by the end of the week, KD 299.78 million. The Food sector was second on this list, which market value of its listed companies declined by 0.13%, reaching KD 665.23 million.

—Prepared by the Studies & Research Department, Bayan Investment Co.

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

BUSINESS

Earnings, Fed to prove skeptics wrong WALL STREET WEEKLY OUTLOOK NEW YORK: After a strong first quarter, Wall Street has gotten a case of the jitters. A spike in bond yields has brought Europe’s debt crisis back to the forefront. US economic figures point to steady-but-uninspired growth, and stocks have backed off the sharp gains that recently pushed indexes to near four-year highs. Stocks returned a bit to their winning track this week after strong earnings reports, and investors are waiting to see if more positive surprises from US companies are in store.

Nearly 180 of the S&P 500’s components will report earnings next week, and heading into a seasonally weak period, the market will need strong reports to offset the perception that there’s no more room to rally. “It is very encouraging that the majority of the news flow is about earnings rather than Europe,” said Leo Grohowski, who oversees about $171 billion in client assets as chief investment officer at BNY Mellon Wealth Management in New York.

Earnings are “alleviating our concerns about economic growth and making us feel more comfortable about our estimates for the year.” Next week will see earnings releases from several bellwethers. The most important will likely be Apple Inc , which reports after the market close on Tuesday.

While the largest US company by market capital-

ization has a history of blowout quarters, many say the company’s meteoric rise so far this year has created unrealistic expectations. For the first time since December 2008, the stock fell more than 4 percent in back-to-back weeks.

Analysts see double-digit earnings growth for the S&P’s financial and consumer discretionary sectors in 2012, with industrials close behind. All three are cyclical growth sectors, while sectors that tend to lead at the end of a growth cycle and before corrections are expected to slow.

Still, worries remain about Europe, where bond yields have been rising to ominous levels. And with investors skeptical of the S&P’s nearly 30-percent surge since its October low, the “sell in May, go away” adage could prove prophetic.

A trend of buying into the market’s weakness was recently broken, indicating investors might be ready to capitulate. The S&P has closed near its lows on recent down days, while positive sessions have ended well below their highs.

“We don’t see the type of buying that will cause the market to slow its pullback,” said Joseph Greco, managing director at Meridian Equity Partners in New York. “There’s no conviction buying.”

Chart watchers are starting to bet the S&P 500 is

about to pull a repeat performance of 2010 and 2011, when a mid-year pullback followed an April peak, and that smart investors are selling US stocks after highs reached earlier in the month.

“Seasonality is important, and it does make a discernable pattern. You can follow it, but it can also make you look foolish if you hew to it too closely,” said David Joy, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial in Boston, where he helps oversee $571 billion in assets.

“The economy is on a better footing now than last year or at any time since the start of the recovery,” he said. The early 2011 market rally faded after a massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which has the world’s third-largest economy. And after a large drop triggered by the downgrade of the U.S. credit rating, the S&P rallied to close the year flat.

“It isn’t a stretch to say the downgrade won’t happen again this year, or that the number of exogenous shocks will be fewer,” said Andrew Slimmon, managing director of global investment solutions at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Chicago.

“In addition, the result of those shocks was a fear that the economy was going to slip back into recession. I don’t believe that’s the case this year.” Kenneth Fisher, the billionaire investor who oversees $43 bil-

lion at Woodside, California-based Fisher Investments Inc, said the current economic environment was “as beautiful as I have ever seen it,” and that 2012 would be “a super big year” for equities.

So far, with 23 percent of S&P 500 companies having reported results, more than four-fifths have beaten expectations, topping consensus forecasts with an average surprise factor of 8.8 percent. Profit growth in this quarter has been up 6.2 percent, according to Thomson Reuters Proprietary Research.

Tuesday will see the start of another policy-setting meeting of the US central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee. A slowly improving US jobs market and reasonably solid growth at the start of the year brightened the economic outlook and cut chances the Fed will conduct another round of bond purchases, according to a Reuters poll last week.

With the Fed monitoring a healing but still fragile economy, the statement expected on Wednesday will be closely watched by investors.

“When you have a market dominated by what central bankers are doing and saying, it is risky to be out,” said Quincy Krosby, market strategist with Prudential Financial in Newark New Jersey.

“Nobody wants to wake up to learn that there was a big move.” — Reuters

IMF’s bid for funds just part of Europe struggle For Europe, confidence a wild goose chase

NEW YROK: Gerard Farco (center) works with fellow traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. — AP

First positive week in April for US stocks NEW YORK: Strong corporate earnings gave Wall Street its first positive week for April with a gain on Friday, while the euro and oil prices rose as worries about Europe ebbed. Reduced concerns about Spain’s debt worries and a surprisingly strong reading on German business sentiment supported government debt prices as investors looked to the outcome of policymakers’ meetings this weekend and early next week.

However, some wariness over Chinese manufacturing crept into the market late in the session to curtail stocks’ gains.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 finished up 0.1 percent, its first higher close in three days. The index rose 0.6 percent on the week, after losses in the two previous weeks.

The 10-year Treasury note was little changed as caution prevailed ahead of Sunday’s French elections and the gatherings of IMF and World Bank policymakers, as well as those of the US Federal Reserve on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The euro had its strongest week since February after a reading on German business sentiment rose unexpectedly for a sixth straight month.

The better US stocks performance came after stellar first-quarter results from fast-food chain McDonald’s, software giant Microsoft and top US conglomerate General Electric Co. About 81 percent of the S&P 500 companies that have reported so far have beat expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Although the impressive rate of beats came on reduced profit expectations, it helped stocks regain their footing after a recent pullback on less-than-inspiring US economic figures and renewed worry about Europe’s debt crisis.

Analysts said the weakness heading into the close was due in part to wariness ahead of an early reading on China’s industrial activity, expected late today.

“We already know earnings are coming in better and the market has been up quite a bit,” said Doreen Mogavero, president and CEO of Mogavero Lee & Company in New York.

“The private sector manufacturing data from China will be setting the pace for next week, so people are taking some profits off the table,” she said. A weak reading in China’s HSBC flash pur-

chasing managers index late in March sent equity and other risk markets lower.

At the close, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 65.16 points, or 0.50 percent, at 13,029.26. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 1.61 points, or 0.12 percent, at 1,378.53. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 7.11 points, or 0.24 percent, at 3,000.45.

Some analysts cautioned that there had been no clear break in the push-and-pull exerted on markets by recent macroeconomic factors. While Spain was not the foremost thing on investors’ minds as in the previous two days, underlying concerns about Madrid’s budget deficit, banking sector and poor growth outlook were real and constant, analysts said.

Many worry that if Spain’s bond yields rise to 7 percent and beyond, it could make the country’s borrowing costs unaffordable. Spanish 10year government bond yields topped 6 percent for a third time this week after a debt auction on Thursday fell short of market expectations.

“Some of the macroeconomic pressures (are) really fighting back what corporate earnings are doing and indicating in terms of the status of the recovery,” said Michael Gault, senior portfolio strategist at WeiserMazars Wealth Advisory in New York.

The euro was last at $1.3215 in New York trading, having hit a session high of $1.3224 after the Ifo reading on German business confidence gave some respite to concerns over the euro zone. The euro rose 1.1 percent on the week, its best performance since the week of Feb. 26. The benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was down 1/32, its yield at 1.97 percent.

Demand for US government bonds softened on position-squaring ahead of the first round of French elections on Sunday, the semiannual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington and the Fed’s policy meeting next week. European stocks closed up 0.5 percent, while world equities climbed 0.3 percent. On the commodities side, benchmark Brent crude oil in London settled up 0.6 percent at $118.76 a barrel, paring gains from an earlier high above $119. — Reuters

WASHINGTON: When the International Monetary Fund meets this weekend, its top goal will be as simple as it is difficult: Get member nations to pledge many more billions in aid - in case the IMF needs to rescue more European economies.

Yet even success would hardly inspire confidence in Europe’s economy. It is, by all accounts, already in recession. And slowing economies elsewhere - from China to Brazil to India - may reduce the exports the continent needs to grow. European nations need faster growth to help lighten their debt loads.

All that is out of the IMF’s control - whether or not it receives pledges of further aid this weekend.

“The extra IMF resources will serve as a backstop that will provide reassurance to financial markets,” said David Wyss, former chief economist at Standard & Poor’s. “But it doesn’t address the issue of how you get growth started in countries that are in deep recessions.” What makes stronger growth so hard to achieve is that Europe’s most troubled economies are under orders to cut - not boost spending. That’s part of the fiscal austerity deal under which many European Union members must curb spending to help combat the continent’s debt crisis.

The IMF’s policy meetings Saturday in Washington will focus on the more immediate task of raising more money. Its sister lending agency, the World Bank, will also hold policy meetings.

Before they do, finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of 20 nations meet Friday to discuss Europe’s debt crisis. The G-20 comprises traditional economic powers such as the United States, Germany and Japan and faster-growing emerging nations such as China, Brazil and India.

The IMF’s managing director, Christine Lagarde, has scaled back her target for how much more aid the IMF needs member countries to contribute. The 188-nation IMF already has about $385 billion it can lend to troubled countries. In January, Lagarde had mentioned seeking up to $500 billion more in commitments. Last week, she said less money might be needed because of stronger global growth. She didn’t specify a figure. But she said Thursday that she’s received about $320 billion in pledges and is seeking more.

Japan said this week it’s prepared to contribute $60 billion. And three European countries that don’t use the euro - Denmark, Norway and Sweden - pledged a combined $26 billion. The 17 euro countries already said in December that they would send an extra €150 billion ($200 billion) to the Washington-based fund.

Pressure on the IMF to support the most ailing economies could escalate. Investors are demanding higher interest rates to buy Spanish and Italian debt. Those increased borrowing costs for Spain and Italy have renewed fears that Europe’s crisis could worsen after weeks of relative calm.

The United States has declined to provide more funding for the IMF. Congress would likely resist it.

And the administration wants Europe to provide most of the additional lending resources.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner noted this week that the Federal Reserve and other cen-

WASHINGTON: Mexico’s Central Bank Gov Agustin Carstens, standing at rear, Mexico’s Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade (left), International Monetary and Finance Committee (IMFC) chairman Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde finish a G20 news conference at the IMF and World Bank Group Spring Meetings in Washington Friday. — AP tral banks have made it easier for European banks to get US dollars to provide loans. Many banks lend in dollars because so much trade and investment is denominated in the US currency.

“Europe is a rich continent,” Geithner said at the Brookings Institution. “It has to play the dominant financial role.” But Geithner also said Europe must strike the right balance “between growth and austerity.” Countries squeezed by debt must avoid cutting spending so much that it stifles growth, Geithner said.

Slower growth would shrink tax revenue and worsen deficits, he said. That point was sounded by the IMF in its latest World Economic Outlook. It forecast that the global economy will grow 3.5 percent this year, down from 3.9 percent last year. The IMF warned of an even worse outcome if Europe can’t defuse its debt crisis. It said global growth could drop 2 percentage points if Europe’s problems escalate.

“Things have quieted down ... but an uneasy calm remains,” said Olivier Blanchard, the IMF’s chief economist. “One has the feeling that any moment, things could well get very bad again.”

Europe’s overall economy is expected to shrink 0.3 percent this year, according to the IMF forecast, before growing an anemic 0.9 percent next year.

Still, sharp differences divide the nations. Thanks to exports of cars and machinery to the United States and Asia, for example, Germany’s economy is picking up. Low unemployment (5.7 percent) has given Germans money to spend.

By contrast, output in Spain and Italy is slumping as their governments cut spending to ease debt loads. Three smaller nations - Greece, Ireland and Portugal - are worse off. They’re able to pay their debts only because they received bailout loans. The most effective way for them to shrink their debts is to grow faster. But the usual tools to

fuel production and hiring - cutting interest rates and boosting spending - are unlikely. The European Central Bank won’t cut rates from their record low of 1 percent. Inflation is 2.7 percent, above the central bank’s goal of just under 2 percent. Rate cuts might help revive weak economies by making borrowing cheaper. But they could also ignite inflation.

In the meantime, governments are being caught between the need to cut deficits and the need to grow. The 17 nations that use the euro have backed a treaty that limits their budget deficits. Analysts say that the push for austerity has led to slower output and higher unemployment in the most struggling countries. Italy’s economy is expected to shrink 1.9 percent this year, according to the IMF’s forecast. Spain’s economy shrank 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter. Spain’s unemployment rate is 23.6 percent. For those under 25, it’s 50 percent.

Spain’s latest austerity budget lops €27 billion ($35 billion) off spending this year and raises corporate taxes. Pay for civil servants is frozen.

Government departments must cut spending by an average 17 percent. Governments likely have to improve their financial health to persuade bond investors to lend enough to roll over debt loads. Otherwise, high interest rates could force governments to seek bailouts to avoid disastrous defaults.

Greece, Portugal and Ireland have already needed such bailouts. Some fear Spain could be next.

Italy is considered too big to rescue. Spanish bond rates topped 6 percent this week, raising fears that they might near the 7 percent level that’s forced some countries to receive bailouts. The three bailed-out countries are still suffering. Greece must make deep cuts under the terms of its bailout loans. Yet it’s in the fifth year of a severe recession, with 21 percent unemployment. — AP

McDonald’s meets expectations as profit jumps NEW YORK: McDonald’s ever-evolving mix of affordable menu items and new offerings like the Chicken McBites is helping the chain solidify its dominance in the fast-food industry. The world’s biggest hamburger chain said Friday that its net income rose 5 percent in the first quarter, in line with Wall Street expectations. McDonald’s Corp. said global sales rose 7.3 percent at stores open at least 13 months, driven by gains from all regions. The figure is key metric because it excludes the impact of newly opened stores. In April, the fast food chain expects the figure to increase another 4 percent. A big part of the McDonald’s success story in recent years has been the company’s emphasis on affordability, combined with the rollout of popular items such coffee frappes and fruit smoothies that have high profit margins and attract diners throughout the day. Customers squeezed by the economic downturn also love them because it’s a way to have a treat for a couple of bucks. In the coming weeks, Chief Operating Officer Don Thompson said McDonald’s plans to add to its lineup of specialty drinks with a new “Cherry Berry Chiller” iced drink. Although McDonald’s has consistently outperformed its rivals, the chain is facing the same pressures from rising commodity costs that are hitting the entire industry.

Costs for labor and rent are also increasing in some overseas markets. McDonald’s expects costs for ingredients to increase 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent this year, which would be roughly in line with last year’s increases. But rather than passing on those costs outright to customers, McDonald’s is adjusting its pricing in a more nuanced way. Last month, for example, McDonald’s removed items like small soft drinks from its popular Dollar Menu in the US. To continue its emphasis on affordability, it introduced an Extra Value Menu with items that have higher profit margins, such as the chicken snack wraps.

Overall, McDonald’s also nudged up prices by 1 percent in February. That’s on top of the 3 percent price hike last year.

Chief Financial Officer Peter Bensen said in a conference call with investors that the company would have to proceed cautiously with any additional price hikes. Outgoing CEO Jim Skinner, who will be replaced by Thompson in July, noted that the company’s mantra of providing value has been the foundation for its success since the Dollar Menu was introduced a decade ago.

“We always have to have everyday affordability,” Skinner said. The strategy has paid off; McDonald’s share of the market among hamburger chains was 49.6 percent last year, up from

about 41.6 percent a decade ago, according to food industry researcher Technomic Inc. Smaller rivals Burger King and Wendy’s meanwhile have had declining market share. Both are now trying to revive their brands. Burger King, for example, introduced 10 new menu items earlier this month, many of which mimic offerings at McDonald’s. Without naming specific chains, Skinner dismissed the latest efforts from competitors. “It’s not our first rodeo regarding this. They have spurts of enthusiasm for their brand, typically when there’s a change in ownership,” he said.

For the first three months of the year, McDonald’s reported a profit of $1.27 billion, or $1.23 per share. That compares with a profit of $1.21 billion, or $1.15 per share, in the year-ago period.

The total guest count, which is based on total transactions, rose 4.8 percent in the quarter, even as the broader industry has seen limited growth. In the US, sales rose 8.9 percent at restaurants open at least 13 months, as new items like Chicken McBites, updated restaurants and warm weather drew customers. The results also benefitted from an extra day in the Leap Year.—AP McDonald’s said sales in Europe, its biggest market, rose 5

PALO ALTO: A McDonald’s sign is displayed at a McDonald’s restaurant in East Palo Alto, California.

McDonald’s mix of old menu standbys and new items like Chicken McBites lured in more diners, who helped boost its first-quarter profit. — AP

26

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

BUSINESS

Ford, Lincoln vehicles see GCC Q1 sales soar by 40% Automaker bags brand image honors KUWAIT: Ford’s drive in the Middle East continued accelerating during the first quarter of 2012, reporting a 37 per cent growth in GCC retail sales compared to the same period last year. Increasing retail sales across the Ford and Lincoln lineups in the region further confirm continued increase in consumer preference for the latest models from

both brands.

The rise in retail sales was seen across passenger cars, which grew by more than 25 per cent, as well as the utility vehicles range, which registered a 50 per cent growth, with the main performers being Ford Fusion, Taurus, as well as the Ford Edge, Escape, Explorer, Expedition and F-150.

This upbeat Q1 growth follows the best ever year for Ford in the region, with full year sales for 2011 up by 50 per cent on 2010.

“This is a remarkable start to

the year for Ford, with more and more customers looking to Ford and Lincoln products for more value and more car for their money,” said Hussein Murad, Ford Middle East’s director of Sales.

“Our sales reflect the growing recognition and demand for our vehicles as customers see the great design and segment leading fuel-efficiencies together with

industry-leading safety and convenience technologies brought to them in an affordable package with outstanding quality.”

Retail sales in Saudi Arabia shot up by 50 per cent while Kuwait remained vibrant during the first quar ter, thanks to Expedition and Explorer. Total Q1 sales in the United Arab Emirates increased by 60 per cent over the same period last year, while Bahrain noted a 55 per cent boost in total sales, Qatar and Oman each posted a

growth of about 40 per cent.

“Our new models continue to deliver great results as clearly they touch upon what the GCC customer really wants: quality, great looks, outstanding interior space and comfort and unique technologies that are affordable.

These results prove that Ford’s efforts in delivering these elements are truly appreciated by

our growing customer base,” added Murad.

With combined global success, Ford Motor Company posted its best March US sales month since 2007 - with the Ford Fusion recording its best month ever, Ford Focus and Ford Edge achieving their best March ever and the F-Series showing the strongest March sales in five years.

Total US company sales totaled 223,418 vehicles for March, a 5 per cent gain over year-ago levels. Retail sales

higher standard of training was introduced last year to increase workshop performance and the use of marketing assets designed to capture all retail opportunities.

The company began its relationship with Land Rover in 1998 and over the years the company has expanded its reach in the luxury market with the opening of a multi-million dollar showroom in Shuwaikh adjacent to the Airport Road.

Yousef Al-Qatami, General Manager, Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive, said, “ We are extremely proud of this accolade presented to us by Land Rover MENAP. The Land Rover product portfolio is the strongest in the brand’s history. Our state-of-art showroom, strong emphasis on after sales service, coupled with

the fact that customers are demanding more luxur y and performance, have resulted in this achievement.

2011 has been an exhilarating and challenging year but the experts in our after sales department have broken records by capitalizing every opportunity for superior servicing to enhance the customer’s vehicle ownership experience and we will continue to do so for this year as well.”

Robin Colgan, Managing Director for Land Rover in the MENAP region, said, “We congratulate Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive on their remarkable performance and commitment to the Land Rover brand. This further reiterates the strong positioning the brand enjoys in the region and shows more than ever that customers in Kuwait want

Brand image awards The successes for the Ford brand and its product are being recognized not just by consumers, but also across the industry. Earlier this month Ford took top honors, dominating the 2012 Kelly Blue Book Brand Image Awards, as Most Family-Friendly Brand; Best Exterior Design Brand, Non-Luxury; Best Interior Design Brand, Non-Luxury; and, for the fourth year in a row, Most Rugged Truck Brand.

Ford’s F-Series won the “Most Rugged Truck Brand” and “Best Exterior Design Brand, NonLuxury” for 2012 for its durability and everyday versatility with its bold, and dynamic exterior design.

“Ford has been working tirelessly to provide vehicles that respond to consumers’ lifestyle by bringing innovations that not only simplify their driving needs but provide them with technologies that are technologicallyadvanced and class-leading. To us, the awards only mean we are on the right track,” said Murad.

The Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards recognize automakers’ outstanding achievements in creating and maintaining brand attributes that capture the attention and enthusiasm of the new-vehicle buying public.

The key research vehicle for the Brand Image Awards is Kelley Blue Book Market Intelligence’s Brand Watch study, which taps into more than 12,000 shoppers.

the breadth of capability that only a Land Rover car can provide. It is an asset to have a very successful and capable partner like Ali Alghanim by our side who are dedicated to serving only the best to their customers”.

As one of the oldest premium car importers in the region, Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive also recently unveiled the Range Rover Evoque followed by a gala dinner for its VIP customers, prospects and media.

The company began its experience in the premium automotive market in 1986 and the company offers a full range of Customer Suppor t Facilities including a state -of-the -ar t Workshop, Quick Service, Body Shop, Parts & Accessories, a used car division, Vehicle Financing and 24 hrs Road-side Assistance.

Burgan Bank wins ‘Best Corporate Bank in Kuwait 2012’ award

Raed Al-Haqhaq

KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced yesterday that it has received the coveted “Best Corporate Bank in Kuwait 2012” award by Global Banking & Finance Review, one of the world’s leading global banking and finance online publications.

The bank’s most recent achievement comes in recognition of the Corporate Banking Group’s superior performance and expanding on its strategic objectives of maintaining growth levels.

Raed Al-Haqhaq, Chief Banking Officer Senior General Manager at Burgan Bank said: “We are pleased to have been recognized as Kuwait’s “Best Corporate Bank” in 2012. The award demonstrates our continuous pursuit of offering innovative products and services

KUWAIT: ALAFCO’s Chairman and CEO, Ahmad A Al-Zabin, announced the company’s first half financial result for the

increased 11 per cent for the month. For the first quarter, Ford Motor Company’s sales were up 9 per cent versus year-ago levels, totaling 539,247 vehicles sold.

The increases were driven by the popularity of Ford’s most fuel-efficient models posting record sales months.

Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive wins ‘2011 Customer Service Performance Program’ award KUWAIT: Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive, the exclusive impor ter for Land Rover in Kuwait, has recently won the Award for the 2011 Customer Service Performance Program by Land Rover MENAP in the region for the months of Januar y September. Aimed at turning existing and potential customers into satisfied and loyal customers and achieving constant higher ratings in the Customer Satisfaction Program, this award is being handed over to Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive for the second time in a span of two years, last one being in 2009 for the full year.

The core indicators for this program were awareness and appeal for customer satisfaction with an increased focus on training and marketing activities. A

ALAFCO earns net profit of KD 18.3m for H1 2012

that meet the various needs of our clients while also supporting them at every stage of their business cycles.”

In 2011, Burgan Bank’s Corporate Banking Group enjoyed new growth levels. It successfully acquired new clients and fostered further growth across its customer base, through launching a range of products and services that include Kuwait’s first onlinecash management service, while also completing a range of financing deals in different industry sectors such as construction, infrastructure, oil & gas, trading and services.

“This achievement reiterates the strong level of commitment to develop and provide the best financial solutions to our clients and their businesses,” added Al-Haqhaq.

Ahmad Al-Zabin

period ended March 31, 2012. He said the company achieved a net profit of KD 18.3 million, and earnings per share of fils 23.4 during the first half. Al-Zabin explained that the net profit included exceptional profit realized through the adjustment of some purchase agreements with aircraft manufacturers.

During the first half, ALAFCO firmed up the transaction to purchase 85 A32Oneo aircraft from Airbus valued at $7.65 billion at list prices, thus positioning itself to reach its target of a 100 aircraft portfolio by the end of the decade.

Also during the period, the company leased 3 Airbus P320-200 aircraft to Vietjet Air in Vietnam for a period of 8 years. ALAFCO is a Kuwait-based aircraft leasing company. Its stock trades on the Kuwait Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ALAFCO. The company’s owned aircraft portfolio consists of 48 Boeing and Airbus aircraft leased to airlines globally. In addition, ALAFCO manages another 12 aircraft for investors.

FASTtelco wins Bizz Arab Award of 2012 KUWAIT: FASTtelco Telecommunication Company, the leading communication service provider acquiring a leading position in the telecommunicaiton market in Kuwait with its state of the art infrastructure and continuous dedication to providing innovative communication solutions to both the consumer and corporate markets, has recently won The Bizz Arab Award of 2012, an International Recognition award of Business Excellence.

The World Confederation of Businesses (WORLDCOB), the leading international organization that encourages worldwide business development awarded this prize for the first time to a Kuwaiti company. Therefore, it considers that business excellence should be recognized to stimulate growth among local companies and thus exemplify business leaders in order to motivate others. FASTtelco was nominated to this award by third party recommendations, statistical information provided by public and private information firms, as well as surveys conducted by the WORLDCOB who works by selecting one nominee per category for each country.

By gaining this valuable award, Fasttelco has proved being capable of moving forward in achieving its strategic business plans and meeting its pledged responsibilities towards the internet and communication industries, the company’s customers, and Kuwait in general. The company has also met the criteria set by the WORLDCOB by displaying Managerial Leadership, efficient Management Systems, Product and Service Quality, Managerial Creativity, Managerial Innovation, Social Support and Beneficial Results obtained after combining managerial excellence, leadership attributes and demonstrating market superiority.

“This prestigious award is a confirmation of all the positive work being done at FASTtelco by the employees and underscores FASTtelco’s commitment to continual excellence at all levels.” The trophy and associated certificates were presented to FASTtelco COO Sahand Pouladi during a gala event in honor of all global winners in Barcelona, Spain.

Pouladi was quoted as saying during the ceremony.

Speaking on behalf of the company,

Abdulwahab Ahmad Al-Nakib, Chairman of the Board and Managing Director of Al-Deera Holding, and CEO of FASTtelco said: “We congratulate our company for winning the Bizz Arab Award of 2012, in addition to thanking our loyal customers for putting their trust in FASTtelco , and I would also like to take this opportunity to praise our ambitious working team for their best practices and continuous efforts”. He also added that this honorable award will encourage the company to continuously develop its performance and pursue its main goals.

FASTtelco COO Sahand Pouladi At the end, Fasttelco is always looking forward to gaining such prestigious awards, by efficiently executing its strategic plans to drive growth, and taking the necessary steps to overcome the everlasting challenges, which has also granted the company the ISO 9001:2008 certificate for its outstanding achievements in quality management in accordance to the international standards of the telecommunication sector. Fasttelco is committed to continuously introduce cutting edge technologies in the field of communication technology and help improve knowledge and awareness on the latest technological innovations, by maintaining constant growth, customer satisfaction and profitability.

Canon tops 5 US patent holder for 26th year LONDON: Canon Europe, world-leader in imaging solutions, announced its parent company, Canon Inc, registered 2,813 new patents during 2011, surpassing the company record of 2,543 new patents in 2010. Based on weekly patent counts issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for 2011, Canon placed third overall marking a new milestone in the company’s history as one of the top five patent holders worldwide for more than a quarter of a century.

Patents granted in 2011 continue to drive innovation for Canon well into the future. To date, Canon has created core product technologies in fields such as

image capture, electrophotography, inkjet printing, lithography, and display as well as common platform technologies including digital processing, production engineering, quality management and environmental technologies.

In addition to strengthening and expanding existing businesses, Canon is committed to the future with a focus on promoting research and development in areas such as medical imaging, intelligent manufacturing and mixed reality. Achieving new advancements throughout a variety of technologies helps to bring for ward innovation, delivering new value and solutions to customers.

Gulf Bank winners of Al-Danah weekly draw KUWAIT: Gulf Bank held its fifteenth AlDanah weekly draw on April 15th, 2012, announcing a total number of ten Al Danah weekly prize draw winners, each awarded with prizes of KD 1,000.

The 15th Al Danah weekly winners are: Essam Abdulaziz Al-Quod, Mohammad Rawdan Lazem, Hayat Mohammed Arab, Ali Khaled Al-Fadhely, Awaad Mobark Ali Mobark, Waheed J K Ahmad, Deng Hong, Khaled Abdullah Al-Shamri, Alanoud Awadh Al-Dosari and Mohammed Arshad Husain.

Gulf Bank encourages ever yone in Kuwait to open an Al Danah account and/or increase their deposits to maximize their chances of becoming a winner in the upcoming weekly (KD1,000 each for 10 winners). Gulf Bank’s Al-Danah allows customers to win cash prizes and encourages them to save money.

Chances increase the more money is deposited and the longer it is kept in the account. Al-Danah also offers a number of unique services including the Al-Danah Deposit Only ATM card which helps account holders deposit their money at their convenience; as well as the Al-Danah calculator to help customers calculate their chances of becoming an Al-Danah winner. To be part of the Al-Danah draws, customers can visit one of Gulf Bank’s 56 branches, transfer on line, or call the Customer Contact Center on 1805805 for assistance and guidance. Customers can also log on to www.e-gulfbank.com, Gulf Bank’s website, to find all the information regarding Al-Danah or any of the Bank’s products and services or log on www.egulfbank.com/aldanahwinners, to find out more about Al-Danah and who the winners are.

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

TECHNOLOGY

Newspaper probing Pentagon alleges online harassment WASHINGTON: The newspaper USA Today said Friday an editor and reporter probing Pentagon propaganda efforts have been targeted by an online “misinformation campaign.”

Fake Twitter and Facebook accounts have been created under the names of the reporter and editor with postings denigrating their professional reputations, according to the daily. The timing of the online harassment coincided with stories by Pentagon correspondent Tom Vanden Brook, who

has written about the military’s “information operations” program that spent large sums on marketing campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The program has faced criticism in and outside the Defense Department as “ineffective and poorly monitored,” the paper said. The false online accounts, including a fake Wikipedia entry, started appearing only days after the reporter first contacted Pentagon contractors for the story, the newspaper wrote.

Two weeks after enterprise editor Ray Locker’s byline appeared on a story on the same subject, a fake website under his name-RayLocker.compopped up, the paper said. A US official confirmed to AFP that the Defense Department had made inquiries to contractors doing public relations work to ask them about the false online accounts.

The contractors denied any such activity, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

But the websites were taken down following the

Pentagon’s inquiry. Some other accounts were removed for violating Internet providers’ terms of service, USA Today said.

The Pentagon said Friday it had not launched a formal investigation of the case. “We’re aware of the allegations and are not dismissing them outright to be sure,” press secretary George Little told reporters. “We’ll take a look at this story, and if appropriate, we’ll take steps.” — AFP

Rebates to cut price of LED bulb $60 price tag raises eyebrows NEVADA: This artist’s rendering provided by DesterXpress shows the proposed DesertXpress highspeed train. The Obama administration is on the verge of loaning a Nevada company linked to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as much as $4.9 billion to build a high-speed train from Victorville, California, to the gambling palaces of Las Vegas. The project is anchored to the untested idea that car-loving Californians will pull off busy Interstate 15 on the edge of the Mojave Desert after driving about 100 miles from the Los Angeles area, then board a train for a 150 mph ride to the famous Strip. — AP

Keys to good webcam chats MUNICH: Thanks to webcams and microphones, the dream of videophones has long since become reality. Sometimes even in HD. But to make it really work, you need a good camera, a decent microphone and the right software. Then you can join the thousands of others who are regularly making voice over internet protocol (VoIP) calls all over the world.

A recent study by German technology industry association Bitkom showed that more than a quarter - 28 per cent - of European Union residents had experience with the technology.

What’s more, flat rates for DSL and mobile internet options mean the technology is no longer limited to PCs, but can now be accessed on mobiles, tablets and TVs. All you need is a webcam and some kind of messaging program.

A lot of manufacturers of computer cameras try to draw attention to their high rates of resolution.

Customers tend to be drawn in by the letters HD. But that only means the camera can record images with a resolution of 1,280 X 720 pixels. True HD achieves resolutions of 1,920 X 1,080 pixels and requires a label reading FullHD. Theoretically, these cameras provide a more

detailed image, so long as the internet connection holds. If the transmission rate sinks, image quality fades.

That means other criteria are more critical, says Thorsten Eggeling of the German computer magazine PC Welt. “What you need is a good autofocus, so that the video doesn’t get fuzzy with small movements.” Also vital are the quality of the recording technology and the lens.

“Despite similar resolutions, more affordable cameras, in the 20- to 30-euro (26- to 39-dollar) range always deliver a worse picture than the more expensive devices for 60 to 90 euros,” says Eggeling. Integrated webcams in notebooks or internet-ready televisions can usually only provide poor to mediocre quality resolution. However, that’s often enough for casual users or people with slow internet connections.

Whether you opt to have a picture or not, the quality of the sound will determine the quality of the communications on internet telephony. Audio quality rarely reaches the level of a landline connection, but is usually no worse than a mobile telephone conversation, says Eggeling.Key is checking how far the speaker is from the microphone.—dpa

NEW YORK: How much would you pay for an amazing, state-of-the-art light bulb?

Shoppers will be asking themselves that very question at Home Depot and other outlets starting today - Earth Day - when the bulb that won a $10 million government contest goes on sale. The bulb is the most energy-efficient yet, lasts about 20 years and is supposed to give off a pleasing, natural-looking light. But what separates it from the pack most is the price: $60.

That price reflects the cost of the components, especially the top-notch chips, or diodes, that give off the light, and is the price commercial customers will pay. But the manufacturer, Netherlands-based Philips, is discounting it right away to $50 for consumers, and working on deals with electric utilities to discount it even further, by as much as $20 to $30.

This means the bulb will cost anywhere from $20 to $60, depending on where it’s found. Online, consumers will be paying $50 for each bulb, because utilities don’t subsidize online sales. Congress launched the L Prize contest in 2007, with the goal of creating a bulb to replace the standard, energy-wasting “incandescent” 60-watt bulb. The requirements were rigorous, and Philips was the only entrant. Its bulb was declared the winner last year, after a year and a half of testing. The contest stipulated that the winning bulb be sold for $22 in its first year on the market.

In that context, the $60 price tag has raised some eyebrows. Ed Crawford, the head of Philips’ US lighting division, said it was always part of the plan to have utility rebates bring the price down to the $22 range. Utilities already offer rebates on energy-saving products such as compactfluorescent bulbs, or CFLs. In return for efforts to curb energy use, regulators allow utilities to raise their rates. The discounts are invisible to consumers - the utilities pay the stores directly.

For $25, or even $35, the bulb looks like a good investment compared to an incandescent bulb. It uses only 10 watts of power, meaning saves about $8 per year in electricity if it’s used four hours a day. It’s expected to last at least 30,000 hours, or 30 times longer than an incandescent. At four hours per day, that’s 20 years.

But the Philips bulb is not only up against $1 incandescent bulbs. CFL are nearly as energy efficient. They use about

Google dumps publisher payment platform GENEVA: Yu Gao of China presents her invention, an emergency landing system of multi-layer parachutes for airplanes, seen at the 40th International Exhibition of Inventions, New Techniques and Products, in Geneva, Switzerland. 789 exhibitors from around the world are presenting around 1,000 products hoping to catch the eye at the 40th International Exhibition of Inventions, which runs from April 18-22. — AP

As websites go mobile, Instagram deal look cheap SAN FRANCISCO: When Facebook paid a cool 1 billion dollars for photo-sharing app Instagram recently, there was plenty of eye-rolling about such a young company using its overvalued stock to pay too much for an even younger player. By some measures it was a bargain.

Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom initially demanded 2 billion dollars for his fledgling, 14-employee company, the Wall Street Journal reported this week.

Nevertheless, coming just days after social game maker Zynga paid 200 million for OMGPop, the maker of the hit game DrawSomething, the deal seemed to many to signify that the dreaded froth of the dot com bubble was once again fizzing to the surface. But to understand the reasons for these deals it can be just as helpful to put yourself in the flip flops of a typical American teenager as the loafers worn by a Silicon Valley executive.

Fifteen-year-old Mason Tate, the proud owner of an iPhone 4, often checks her Facebook page on her smartphone, but is even more enchanted with the tricked-out photos her friends send her on Instagram. One of the more than 30 million users of the app which launched less than two years ago, she says the photo-sharing app fits her mobile style far better than Facebook.

“It’s fun, it’s simple and it’s quick,” she says. “What more could we ask for?”

That kind of sentiment is what probably persuaded Facebook founder and chief Mark Zuckerberg to reach deep into his investors’ pockets for the company. Of course the purchase price represents just 1 per cent of Facebook’s predicted value at its imminent initial public stock offering, but it nevertheless underscores what could be the most significant shift in digital lifestyle since the internet went mainstream - the superceding of the trusty

PC by mobile computers and the rise of the app economy.

Instagram commanded a billion-dollar price purely on the strength of its apps for Android and Apple’s iOS devices, which according to analysts are much better than Facebook’s own apps. Its website is just an afterthought that merely links users to the download sites for the app.

“People are living in the moment and they want to share in the moment,” Professor Shyam Sundar of the Media Effects Research Lab told The New York Times.

“Mobile gives you that immediacy and convenience.”

While Apple’s iPad is often hailed as the harbinger of the post-PC world for the way it has cut into laptop sales, the more important shift is the number of smartphones that are used to access the web - and not just to read the latest news or status updates.

“I watch TV shows and movies the whole time on my phone,” says Tate. “The screen may be small but that’s why I prefer to watch videos than read something. According to Credit Suisse, smartphone sales will grow 46 per cent this year to 688 million units, far more than the 335 million PC’s that experts expect to be shipped this year. By 2016 smartphone sales are predicted to reach 1.5 billion compared to just 350 million PCs. If only a few of those smartphone buyers share the enthusiasm of today’s early adopters, Instagram’s billion-buck price tag may soon seem like a bargain, noted the Los Angeles Times in an editorial.

“It’s easy to see why ... Zuckerberg would regard Instagram as a threat,” it noted. “Spending 1 billion dollars to take out that competitor and absorb its superior technology makes a certain amount of sense for his company, which has an estimated market value 100 times as great.” — dpa

SAN FRANCISCO: The One Pass payment platform for Internet news websites was shut down on Friday as Google continued house cleaning launched when co-founder Larry Page took charge last year. One Pass, which failed to catch on since it launched in February of 2011, was swept out with Google Talk free voice or text conversation Web applications for smartphones other than Android-powered handsets with the software built in.

“Over the last six months we’ve done a lot of spring cleaning-although it’s all happened out of season,” cloud services director Matthias Schwab said in a blog post at the Californiabased company’s website.

“Spring has now arrived and we’re ready to close or combine another round of products.”

One Pass let publishers set prices for online articles, with Google getting a 10 percent cut of revenue as opposed to the 30 percent bite that iPhone and iPad maker Apple takes out of transactions in gadget applications.

One Pass features, and users, were being shifted to a Google Consumer Surveys service, according to Schwab. Page has made it a priority to get rid of products that are performing poorly so resources can be focused on more promising offerings.The latest house cleaning included moving an online service providing maps to where flu vaccinations are available in the United States being moved to HealthMap Flu Vaccine Finder. Support for Google Sync for Blackberry smartphones was eliminated.

A Patent Search homepage devoted to intellectual property registered with US regulators was being re-directed to the main query engine at google.com. “The new experience loads twice as fast as the old Patent Search homepage, contributes to a unified search experience across Google, and sports Google Doodles as well,” Schwab said.

“The team looks forward to including patents from other countries soon, and will be rolling out additional features to Patent Search on google.com in the future.” — AFP

15 watts for 60 watts worth of light. They’re much cheaper too, typically costing around $5. The Philips bulb looks odd too -the light-emitting surfaces are yellow when the bulb isn’t lit, yet shine white when it is.

The Philips bulb has some advantages over a CFL: It lasts three times longer and gives off a more natural-looking light. It doesn’t contain the toxic mercury vapor inside CFLs, which creates a minor hazard when they break.

Philips has been selling a cheaper, less efficient version of the L Prize bulb since 2010, and Crawford says it’s done well LEDs now account for about 20 percent of Philips’ U.S. lighting sales, up from nearly zero three years ago.

Crawford credits the L Prize with pushing the company to focus research efforts on LED bulbs. The finished product may be expensive, but the technology the company developed for the prize submission has already been used successfully in its cheap-

er AmbientLED lights.

“It’s the question we always receive: ‘Well gee, wouldn’t the technology have developed this way without the L Prize?’ I think it absolutely would have. The real question is: ‘How quickly would it have happened?’” Crawford said.

The company is three to five years ahead of where it would have been without the goading of the prize, he said. The race is now on to produce LED bulbs that produce 100 watts worth of light. The incandescent equivalents are no longer made or imported, victims of a federal ban that kicked in at the beginning of the year.

They’re now starting to disappear from store shelves. Squeezing enough LEDs into a bulb-sized space to produce that much light is a big technical challenge - LEDs generate heat, which destroys them over time unless they’re well-cooled.

Incandescent bulbs of 40 watts and above will be banned in 2014. — AP

LED bulbs are energy savings, gives pleasing and natural-looking light.

Hollywood studios lose landmark download case SYDNEY: Top Hollywood film studios failed in their attempt to stem the flow of illegal downloads when they lost a landmark appeal against an Australian Internet provider.

A group of international and Australian companies, including Warner Bros, Disney and 20th Century Fox, alleged that iiNet authorised the infringement of their copyright when its customers downloaded movies and television programmes.

In a world-first judgement in 2010, Australia’s Federal Court ruled iiNet did not authorise the downloads or have the power to stop them, thwarting the studios’ attempt to staunch losses they say run into billions of dollars. The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT), made up of 34 film, television and music companies, appealed, claiming it set a dangerous precedent that allowed Internet companies to ignore copyright theft.

But in a serious blow to their fight against piracy it was thrown out by Australia’s highest court Friday. “The High Court held that the respondent, an Internet service provider (ISP), had not authorised the infringement by its customers of the appellants’ copyright in commercially released films and television programmes,” the unanimous ruling said.

It added that iiNet had no direct technical power to prevent its customers from using the BitTorrent file sharing system to infringe copyright, by downloading content to watch on their laptops and PCs. “Rather, the extent of iiNet’s power to prevent its customers from infringing... copyright was limited to an indirect power to terminate its contractual relationship with its customers,” the court said.

The case was seen as an ambitious attempt to force ISPs to act against piracy.

It hinged on thousands of downloads over

the Perth-based iiNet network over 59 weeks from June 2008 involving nearly 90 films and TV series including “Batman Begins”, “Transformers” and “Heroes”.

The movie studios had hoped to set a worldwide precedent forcing ISPs to act against offenders, while Internet rights groups feared it would compel the firms to cut customers’ web access without having to take them to court.

AFACT managing director Neil Gane said the judgement exposed the failure of copyright law to keep pace with the online environment. “Both judgements in this case recognise that copyright law is no longer equipped to deal with the rate of technological change we have seen since the law of authorisation was last tested,” he said.

Gane added that the global film and television industry, represented by the Los Angeles-based Motion Picture Association, was pursuing other avenues including targeting the software developers behind BitTorrent technology. iiNet chief executive Michael Malone said the best way for the film industry to protect copyright was to boost the availability of lawful, online content in a more timely and affordable way.

He added that there was strong evidence that content partnerships and agreements between ISPs, legal websites and copyright holders was the best way to reduce piracy, rather than costly legal battles.

“Increasing the availability of licensed digital content is the best, most practical approach to meet consumer demand and protect copyright,” Malone said. “We have consistently said we are eager to work with the studios to make their very desirable material legitimately available to a waiting customer base and that offer remains the same today.” — AFP

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

Planned Parenthood suspends pill abortions MADISON: Planned Parenthood ended nonsurgical abortions at its Wisconsin clinics because of a new state law that subjects doctors who perform abortions but don’t follow certain procedures to criminal penalties.

The law, signed by Gov. Scott Walker two weeks ago after the Republicancontrolled state Legislature passed it earlier this year, took effect Friday.

It mandates that women having nonsurgical abortions visit the same doctor three times and that doctors ensure the woman is having the procedure voluntarily and without coercion. Failure to follow those requirements could result

in felony charges against the doctor.

The law does not affect emergency contraception, known as the morningafter pill. Planned Parenthood president and chief executive officer Teri Huyck said because of confusion over the new law, nonsurgical abortions are being suspended. Planned Parenthood will continue to provide surgical abortions at its clinics in Madison, Milwaukee and the Appleton area, its leaders said.

“The added risks of felony penalties for physicians who provide medication abortion are unnecessary and intended to threaten a physician’s ability to provide women with medication abortion,”

Huyck said. “The decision to end a pregnancy is a complex one, specific to each woman and her individual circumstances. Decisions about childbearing should be made by a woman in consultation with her family and doctor - not by politicians.” Four other states Arizona, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota - have similar laws to Wisconsin’s new law, according to the New Yorkbased Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research organization that supports abortion rights. There is also a similar law set to take effect in Tennessee in July, and legislatures in Alabama, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri

and Oklahoma were considering likeminded proposals, according to the Institute.

In Wisconsin on Friday, Planned Parenthood supporters denounced the new law, while abortion opponents praised the development.

Lisa Subeck, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, said the law adds unnecessary and intrusive restrictions for abortion providers.

And Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who is one of four Democrats running against Walker in a recall election, said he would work to overturn the law if elected. Abortion opponents, however,

praised the development.

Barbara Lyons, executive director of Wisconsin Right to Life, called Planned Parenthood’s decision a “true victory for Wisconsin women.”

“This common sense law protects women at a time when it is most needed and provides help if she is a potential or real victim of domestic abuse,” Lyons said in a statement.

Planned Parenthood said about 25 percent of women who terminate pregnancies use the pill-induced abortion method, which requires a woman to take two drugs within the first nine weeks of pregnancy. — AP

Does giving antibiotics to animals hurt humans?

35-year debate over antibiotics

BROOKFIELD: This photo taken April 18, 2012, provided April 19 by the Chicago Zoological Society shows veterinary staff preparing a Mexican gray wolf for a CT scan at Brookfield Zoo’s Animal Hospital in Brookfield, Ill. Through a study of Mexican gray wolves using CT (CAT) scans, researchers hope to aid in conservation efforts of the endangered species, and determine whether a type of nasal tumor is more prevalent in wolves or domestic dogs. Brookfield Zoo is the second zoo in the US to own an onsite CT scanner and is the only zoo animal hospital in North America to combine digital radiology and CT technology at its facility. — AP

Computer therapy helps young out of depression PARIS: A computer game designed to lift teenagers out of depression is as effective as one-on-one counselling, New Zealand doctors reported in the British Medical Journal (BMJ). Researchers at the University of Auckland tested an interactive 3-D fantasy game called SPARX on a 94 youngsters diagnosed with depression whose average age was 15 and a half. SPARX invites a user to take on a series of seven challenges over four to seven weeks in which an avatar has to learn to deal with anger and hurt feelings and swap negative thoughts for helpful ones.

Used for three months, SPARX was at least as effective as face-to-face conventional counselling, according to several depression rating scales. In addition, 44

percent of the SPARX group who carried out at least four of the seven challenges recovered completely. In the conventional treatment group, only 26 percent recovered fully.

“Use of the programme resulted in a clinically significant reduction in depression, anxiety and hopelessness, and an improvement in quality of life,” according to the study led by Sally Merry, an associate professor at the Department of Psychological Medicine. The adolescents also gave a high rating to SPARX, saying they liked being able to use it at home and to learn at their own pace. Eighty percent said they would recommend the computer therapy to others, although the treatment-as-usual group had similarly high approval ratings.— AFP

Blind California sea lion will go home to Utah LOS ANGELES: It took a few months to treat a blind sea lion found injured on a Southern California Beach. It took two years to find the Big Guy a home. The 700-plus-pound sea lion will be flown FedEx from Los Angeles to Hogle Zoo in Utah on May 3.

A weekend truck move was scuttled Friday when zoo officials determined that crates they’d planned to use for the trip were too big for the truck, said Erica Hansen, communi-

LOS ANGELES: Lori Olson, Husbandry Manager at Marine Mammal Care Center, feeds herring fish to Big Guy, a blind sea lion in Los Angeles, on Friday. Big Guy is headed to the Hogle Zoo in Utah, where he will share a new $18 million habitat called Rocky Shores with sealife, bears and eagles. Officials have spent a few months patching him up and two years trying to find a home for Big Guy. The 750-pound sea lion has spent more time and eaten more food than any other animal ever treated at the center. — AP

ty relations coordinator at the 81-year-old zoo. Big Guy, a partially blind female companion and a third sea lion from the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito will share an $18 million habitat called Rocky Shores with other sea creatures, bears and bald eagles.

Big Guy has been taking up room needed for other animals, but caretakers repeatedly put off euthanasia as they searched for a home. Big Guy is gentle and graceful, likes people and animals and deserved a home, said David Bard, director of the Marine Mammal Care Center in Pedro, 25 miles south of downtown Los Angeles.

So watching him leave is bittersweet, he said. “Our mission is to treat and release as many animals as we can. We are not equipped for long-term housing. Euthanasia is a reality at our facility for animals that can’t be placed or released. But we were really committed to giving him a good home because he was such a good placement candidate,” Bard said.

Big Guy’s fans weren’t limited to staff and volunteers at the center. The public rallied around him too. Some of the animal’s $100-aday food bill was paid by donors who made it clear the money was to be used to feed Big Guy, Bard said.

Big Guy was found on the beach in Santa Monica on Feb. 6, 2010, with wounded eyes and cuts on his mouth. No one knows if he was in a fight with another animal or attacked by a human. He weighed about 450 pounds back then.

Because he can’t see to find food, returning him to the ocean was not an option. As an adult around 5 years old, Big Guy will need a home for 15 or 20 years, Bard said. Workers helped Big Guy with some basic voice commands during his stay at the center and he’s used to being hand fed, so he should thrive in Utah, Bard said.

“All you needed to do was stand at the fence and watch him hurl himself out of the water and onto the deck. The grace with which he moved 700 pounds around was awe-inspiring,” he said, as was his willingness to share the pool with other injured animals.

One of those other animals is a year-old female who was nicknamed Little One because she is so much smaller than her poolmate. Big Guy will probably keep his name, but Little One will probably get a new one, Hansen said.—AP

WASHINGTON: The bacon you had for breakfast is at the center of a 35-year debate over antibiotics.

That’s because the same life-saving drugs that are prescribed to treat everything from ear infections to tuberculosis in humans also are used to fatten the animals that supply the chicken and beef we eat every day.

Farmers say they have to feed the drugs to animals to keep them healthy and meet America’s growing appetite for cheap meat. But public health advocates argue that the practice breeds antibioticresistant germs in animals that can cause deadly diseases in humans.

The US government moved to ban the use of some of the drugs in animals in the 1970s, but the rule was never enforced. Then last week, the Food and Drug Administration outlined plans to phase out the use of antibiotics in farm animals for nonmedical purposes over three years.

The US, the biggest global consumer of meat by far, follows Europe and other developed nations in restricting the use of penicillin and other antibiotics in animals. The issue has moved to the front burner as documentaries such as “Meet Your Meat” and “Food Inc.” have led Americans to focus more on what goes into their food. Sales of antibiotic-free meat, for instance, are up 25 percent to $175 million in the past three years.

“Consumers are beginning to understand the cost of eating cheap meat,” said Stephen McDonnell, CEO of Applegate Farms, which markets antibiotic-free meats and cheeses. “As people really understand what it takes to create a healthy animal they will probably eat less meat, but they are going to eat better meat.”

Antibiotics have been hailed as one of the greatest medical discoveries of the 20th century since their first use in humans in the 1940s. They’ve enabled doctors to cure deadly bacterial diseases like tuberculosis, typhoid fever and meningitis.

The FDA approved the use of antibiotics in livestock in the 1950s after studies showed that animals that got the drugs in their feed put on more weight in less time than animals on a traditional diet. For example, pigs that got an antibiotic were shown to need 10 to 15 percent less feed to reach the same weight as pigs on regular diets.

Since feed can account for as much as 70 percent of total animal production costs, the discovery was a windfall for farmers. It meant they could produce more meat for less money, resulting in fatter profits. But by the 1970s, researchers began warning regulators that routine use of antibiotics was contributing to a surge in drug-resistant germs, or superbugs, that render antibiotics powerless against deadly infections. Professor Stuart Levy of Tufts University conducted the first study in 1976 showing highly-resistant e. coli E. coli bacteria could pass from chickens to farm workers who worked with the animals in just a few weeks.

The study contributed to the FDA’s decision to ban nonmedical use of penicillin and tetracycline in farm animals a year later. But farmers and drugmakers pushed back, and the FDA rule was never enforced.

“Why did no one act on it? Because there was a strong lobby,” said Levy, who is co-founder and president of the Alliance for Prudent Use of Antibiotics, a nonprofit advocacy group that favors restrictions on the drugs. “They said, ‘Well, show us the deaths. Show us the real problem. Otherwise, this isn’t so terrible.”

But it’s difficult to link the overuse of antibiotics to deaths. It’s tough to find the source of bacteriaresistant germs, which can spread from animals to humans through a number of ways, including undercooked meat and drinking water contaminated by animal waste. And bacteria mutate when passing between species, meaning that the same strain of drug-resistant bacteria in chicken can take on a different form once it enters the human body.

While the issue mostly was tabled in the US, it was gaining momentum elsewhere in the world.

In 1999, the European Union backed a ban on penicillin and other human antibiotics for growth in farm animals. Within four years, the use of antibiotics on animals fell 36 percent in Denmark, 45 per-

cent in Norway and 69 percent in Sweden.

Levy, the Tufts University professor, and his colleagues had hoped that the EU’s ban would bolster the case for restricting the use of antibiotics in the US But instead, the data has been used to argue both sides of the issue.

US farmers have seized on reports that cases of diarrhea among young pigs increased in the first year after the EU ban, suggesting that animal health had declined. But public health advocates say that the outbreaks among pigs decreased once farmers improved the sanitary conditions by cleaning feedlots more frequently and giving animals more space.

US groups like the National Chicken Council warn that restricting use of antibiotics will result in

studies that conclude the risk to humans is extremely low. One 2004 estimate conducted by scientists consulting for the meat industry, for instance, placed the likelihood that antibiotic would not work in a human due to animal use at 1 in 82 million.

And, they argue, it’s the overuse of antibiotics in humans - not animals - that’s causing a rise in drugresistant bacteria. Indeed, for decades, doctors have prescribed antibiotics for common ailments like the flu and sinus infections that are not caused by bacteria. Studies show doctors often feel pressured to prescribe the drugs.

“The problem is not an animal or human issue per se,” said Dr. Tom Chiller, associate director for epidemiologic science at the Centers for Disease

David Martin walks with his turkeys raised without the use of antibiotics at his farm, in Lebanon, Pa. The same life-saving drugs that are prescribed to treat everything from ear infections to tuberculosis in humans also are used to fatten the animals that supply the chicken and beef we eat every day. Farmers say they have to feed the drugs to animals to keep them healthy and meet America’s growing appetite for cheap meat. —AP sicker animals, increasing costs for farmers - and the price of meat and poultry for consumers. Some industry groups have projected costs for farmers would rise by $1 billion over 10 years, though those estimates have not been backed by outside groups.

Liz Wagstrom, chief veterinarian of the National Pork Producers Council, said the modern farming system is designed to keep animals healthy and produce large quantities of meat.

“The bottom line is that if these products go away, it may result in sicker aninals, more expensive food, and we don’t think it will improve public health,” Wagstrom said. Meat prices in Europe have not risen dramatically since the EU’s ban. Danish authorities estimate the total costs for farmers increased by just 1 percent, or about $1.35 for every pig slaughtered - far below food industry estimates.

US health experts suggest the increase here would be modest, too. The Institute of Medicine, a non-partisan nonpartisan group of medical experts who advise the federal government on public health issues, estimates the average US consumer would spend between $5 and $10 more per year on meat if antibiotics were restricted.

Farmers continue to argue that antibiotics are necessary to have a steady supply of low-cost, disease-free meat for Americans, who eat about threequarters of a pound per day - roughly twice the global average. They acknowledge that antibioticfree animals can be raised by small, organic farms but say large-scale meat production requires antibiotics to keep animals healthy.

“We’re pretty darn committed to our cattle, and our goal is to not have them get sick,” said Mike Apley, a cattle farmer and professor of veterinary medicine at Kansas State University.

Farmers like Apley also point to a handful of

Control and Prevention. “It’s about using the antibiotics as judiciously as we possibly can in situations where they are needed.”

Some Americans are becoming more aware of the issue. Liza Greenfield, 33, said she will only buy organic, antibiotic-free meat at farmers markets because she doesn’t think animals should be given antibiotics for growth.

“A cow is supposed to eat grass,” said Greenfield, an administrator at the New York University. “I want to know it was out on the pasture eating grass.” As Americans show more interest, so are companies.

Some of the largest restaurant and grocery chains including Kroger and Safeway now offer antibioticfree meat. And last month, executives from companies such as Chipotle Mexican Grill and Bon Appetit food services that offer antibiotic-free meat and poultry gathered in Washington to lobby for restrictions on the use of antibiotics in animals.

The FDA last week said it would ask drugmakers to voluntarily stop marketing antibiotics for nonmedical uses on their labels with a goal of completely stopping the practice in a few years. Animal drugs can only be legally prescribed for uses listed on the label, so the change is expected to have a major impact on how farmers use them.

Some public safety advocates complained that the FDA, which worked with drugmakers on the proposal, should have mandated the change. But the FDA said a formal ban would have required individual hearings for each drug, which could have taken decades.

“We think the science is very solid in showing that largely indiscriminate use of antibiotics contributes to resistance,” said FDA Deputy Commissioner MichaeI Taylor. “I don’t think there’s really any question about it.” — AP

FDA proposes rules for nanotechnology in food WASHINGTON: Regulators are proposing that food companies that want to use tiny engineered particles in their packaging may have to provide extra testing data to show the products are safe.

The Food and Drug Administration issued tentative guidelines Friday for food and cosmetic companies interested in using nanoparticles, which are measured in billionths of a meter. Nanoscale materials are generally less than 100 nanometers in diameter. A sheet of paper, in comparison, is 100,000 nanometers thick. A human hair is 80,000 nanometers thick.

The submicroscopic particles are increasingly showing up in FDA-regulated products like sunscreens, skin lotions and glare-reducing eyeglass coatings. Some scientists believe the technology will one day be used in medicine, but the FDA’s announcement did not address that use.

The draft guidance suggests the FDA may

require food companies to provide data establishing the safety of any packaging using nanotechnology. Under longstanding regulations, companies aren’t required to seek regulatory approval before launching products containing established ingredients and materials, such as caffeine, spices and various preservatives. But FDA officials said Friday that foods and packaging containing nanoparticles may require more scrutiny. “At this point, in terms of the science, we think it’s likely the exemption does not apply and we would encourage folks to come in and talk to us,” said Dennis Keefe, director of FDA’s office of food additive safety.

Keefe said companies are studying whether nanoparticles can reduce the risk of bacterial contamination in certain foods. He said the agency is aware of just one food package currently on the market that uses nanoparticles but did not identify it. He said more are expected in coming years.

The FDA has previously stated its position that nanotechnology is not inherently unsafe; however, materials at the nano scale can pose different safety issues than do things that are far larger.

“This is an emerging, evolving technology and we’re trying to get ahead of the curb to ensure the ingredients and substances are safe,” Keefe said. In a separate guidance, the FDA laid out suggestions for the use of nanotechnology in cosmetics, a practice which has been in use since the 1990s.

Nanoparticles are used in skin moisturizer, mineral make up and other cosmetics.

The FDA has less authority over cosmetics than food additives. Generally, the FDA does not review cosmetics before they launch, and companies are responsible for assuring the safety of their products. The FDA will take comments on both proposals for 90 days. There is no deadline for finalizing the documents. — AP

H E A LT H

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

Marijuana rally in trouble at Colorado university BOULDER: The pungent smell of pot that blankets a popular quadrangle at the University of Colorado-Boulder every April 20 was replaced by the stench of fish-based fertilizer as administrators tried to stamp out one of the nation’s largest annual campus celebrations of marijuana.

After more than 10,000 people - students and non-students - attended last year’s marijuana rally on Norlin Quadrangle, university officials this year applied the stinky fertilizer to the quad to deter pot-smokers.

Three people were arrested for trespassing when they walked onto the quad, sat down and refused to leave.

“Clearly they wanted to get arrested,” campus police spokesman Ryan Huff said. One of the three protesters, Johnathan Ducombe, told reporters the crackdown is more disruptive than the any of the previous years’ rallies.

Huff estimates that the university will spend about $110,000 on law-enforcement Friday, about double the amount spent last year. Huff said another person was ticketed for marijuana possession on campus.

University officials also closed the campus Friday to all unauthorized visitors and were offering a free campus concert by Haitian-born hip-hop star Wyclef Jean timed to coincide with the traditional 4:20 p.m. pot gathering. His contract bars him from making any direct references to marijuana, other drugs or to 4/20.

The measures pit Colorado’s flagship university, which has tired of its reputation as a top party school, against thousands who have assembled, flash mob-style, each year to demand marijuana’s legalization or simply to have a good time. With more than 30,000 students, Colorado was named the nation’s top party school in 2011 by Playboy magazine. The campus also repeatedly ranks among the top schools for marijuana use, according to a “Reefer Madness” list conducted by The Princeton Review.

“We don’t consider this a protest. We consider this people smoking pot in the sunshine,” said university spokesman Bronson Hilliard. “This is a gathering of people engaging in an illegal activity.”

“I do not see any justification for the university shutting it down,” said student organizer Daniel Ellis Schwartz, who contends the measures infringe on First Amendment rights to protest. Schwartz, a physics major, and other supporters of the 4/20 smoke out plan to move it to a nearby park off-campus.

He suggests there also will be some form of off-campus protest against the measures. “We do have to play a game of chess with the authorities,” Schwartz said.

Cynthia Hardey, who works in the library on the quad, said she thinks the university was overreacting and that the event would go by largely unnoticed if not for the crackdown.

“You know, I go home, they got the pot in the air, big deal. Next day everything is forgotten. But now they’re

making a big thing about it, and this is going down in history. So we’re having police state tactics here for what?

Because a couple of people want to protest the laws, these pot laws? I don’t get it,” said Hardey, a library technician. Hilliard expressed admiration Friday for the fertilizer’s odiferous impact.

“We’re able to enrich the grounds here, which are lovely, and then we can also create an extra deterrent for people to show up today,” he said. “You know, to be very candid, the goal of all of this was to make it kind of an unpleasant experience to be here today for anyone who planned to come for 4/20.”

Many students at the University of Colorado and other campuses across the country have long observed 4/20.

The counterculture observation is shared by marijuana users from San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park to New York’s Greenwich Village. In Austin, Texas, country music legend

Willie Nelson, who’s open about his marijuana use, was expected to help unveil an 8-foot statue of himself in downtown Austin at 4:20 p.m. local time on Friday. In Southern California, the San Bernardino County Fairgrounds will host “The 420 Festival” with bands and disc jockeys last yesterday.

The number 420 has been associated with marijuana use for decades, though its origins are murky. Its use as code for marijuana spread among California pot users in the 1960s and spread nationwide among followers of the Grateful Dead. Like most counterculture slang, theories abound on its origin. Some say it was once police code in Southern California to denote marijuana use (probably an urban legend). It was a title number for a 2003 California bill about medical marijuana, an irony fully intended.

Others trace it to a group of California teenagers who would meet at 4:20 p.m. to search for weed (a theory as

CALIFORNIA: In this April 20, 2012, photo, Joe DeRobbio, founder of Aliso Viejo’s Dispense Labs, demonstrates the purchase menu of the Autospense, an automated machine his company developed to dispense medical marijuana, in Santa Ana, Calif.

The first automated dispensary, which looks like a vending machine, has been installed at The Dispensary, in Santa Ana. — AP

elusive as the outdoor cannabis crop they were seeking).

Yet the code stuck for obvious reasons: Authorities and nosy parents didn’t know what it meant.

In Colorado, recent 4/20 observations have blossomed alongside the state’s medical marijuana industry.

Approved by Colorado voters in 2000, medical marijuana boomed after federal authorities signaled in 2009 they would pursue higher-level drug crimes. All marijuana is illegal under federal law, though Colorado voters this November will consider a ballot measure to legalize it for recreational use by adults over 21.

At least 3,000 people gathered Friday afternoon near the Colorado state capitol in Denver for the start of a twoday marijuana rally, police said. Officers were ticketing people they saw smoking marijuana if they did not have a medical marijuana card, Detective Raquel Lopez said. Less than a handful of tickets were issued by mid-afternoon, she said. A fair-like atmosphere prevailed, with vendors selling munchies from food carts and one person peddling glass pipes from a suitcase. Organizers planned to entertain the Denver revelers with musical performances and contests for joint rolling and best varieties of pot.

Others are rebelling against the gatherings.The University of Colorado’s student government supports the university’s anti-4/20 actions this year. And other Colorado students created a Facebook campaign urging their colleagues to wear formal clothing to school on Friday to repudiate the party-school reputation.

At dawn, campus police officers positioned themselves at school entrances, allowing in only those with university IDs or permission. They also posted “no trespassing” signs on utility poles. Anyone on campus without proper ID could be ticketed for trespassing, which carries a maximum $750 fine and up to six months in jail, said campus police spokesman Ryan Huff. By mid-day, no one had been ticketed, Huff said.

Anyone caught smoking on campus will be ticketed, just as they would any other day, Huff said. That includes anyone with a medical marijuana card, which requires that consumption be in private.

As ground crews applied the fertilizer early Friday, philosophy major Julian Hirschbaum said it smelled like “somebody cut up a bunch of fish” and watered it. “It’s pretty gross,” he said. “I mean, it disrupts a lot of people who wouldn’t otherwise be disrupted by this event.”

Off campus, Boulder police could also issue tickets for people smoking pot, and the Colorado State Patrol will be watching for any motorists under the influence, Huff said.

“This is not about the war on drugs. It isn’t even about marijuana per se,” insisted Hilliard, the university spokesman. “Ten thousand to 12,000 (people) doing anything in the academic heart of the campus would be a problem.” — AP

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SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

W H AT ’ S O N Greetings

American musicians visit ABS

B

irthday greetings to dear Adityadev Sudheer. Wish you all the best in life.

Greetings come from your parents and your loved ones.

O

n April 11, the Embassy of the Unites States of America provided Mike del Ferro, a very accomplished jazz and blues musician, to perform for the American Baccalaureate School. During the week the embassy arranged a number of events and workshops at various venues throughout Kuwait and last Wednesday, ABS hosted the event. Del Ferro performed for over thirty minutes using a keyboard

Announcements

and improvisation with jazz. The highlight of the event was when selected students performed with del Ferro. “I really liked the music and I liked clapping my hands” was the response from several elementary students. ABS is appreciative of the opportunity to host such an event.

Ambassadors of Comedy Dean-Obeidallah (The Axis of Evil Comedy Tour), Nitin Mirani (King Of UAE Comedy), Aron Kader (The Axis of Evil Comedy Tour). All of the proceeds from the event will be donated to the St. John Ambulance Brigade (India) and the Fazlani Foundation (India). Go out and have fun while supporting a wonderful cause When: April 27, 2012 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm at the American International School (Hamood Al-Naser Street, Dr. Kamil Al-Rayes Auditorium, Meidan Hawalli) Contact: Mohamed Kagdi or Minhaj Shikari 99788692 or 99710242 Iranian Contemporary Art Date: 23rd April to 10th May, 2012 These are images of conflations and juxtapositions.

Sabzi’s paintings signify the crossroad of cultures and evoke one of the most pertinent signs of the multiculturalism that has been the hallmark of the arts in late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. His art represents that humanized perspective where in memory persists across cultural zones, even when and where it has no relevance. So many of his works speak of conditions where values and perspectives seep through the chinks of any culture’s shield of protection. They are about the kind of interconnectedness that can no longer be undone; they are about the end of purity and the end of searching for origins and essence.

Nigerian students celebrate ‘Student Day’

T

he Nigerian students in Kuwait recently celebrated their Student Day at PAAET academic staff Hall in Adiliya. The event showcased the Nigeria-Kuwait cultural ties and featured cultural displays, lectures and seminars. Prof Abayomi Akanji of the Kuwait University delivered a lecture on diabetics. The occasion attracted host of dignitaries including a senior diplomat from the Nigerian Embassy Dr Ibrahim M.

The Event-Art & Fashion Date: April 28-May 1 The Event will be sponsored by Goji Boutique and Qumarl4 and will be filled with an eclectic mix of designers who compliment each other, providing the visitors with an inspiring and unique shopping experience. To add to excitement Join them and feast your eyes! Dar Al Funoon is located In Al-Watiah, Behbehani Compound, House No.28. For more Information please call 22433738 or log onto www.daralfunoon-kw.com SADU HOUSE Opening: 7 May 2012 5pm-8pm Exhibition Hours: 8 May, 9am - 1pm & 48pm, 9 May, 9am - 1pm For its launch exhibition, Zen Crafts presents the richness of Gulf handicrafts, blending traditional and modern design to create unique and expertly crafted contemporary pieces. An exquisite limited collection of hand-woven textiles inspired by the bedouin art of Sadu weaving, and award-winning designer/ silversmith Nedda El-Asmar’s take on the modern mabkhar, the Gulf’s iconic incense burner, will be unveiled. Join us on this cultural journey from Kuwait to Laos and Brussels in the brand’s quest for new interpretations of our Gulf heritage. Sodu House is located in Kuwait City, on Gulf Street, next to the Kuwait National Museum. For more Information please call 99402406 or email info@zericrafts.com Visit www.zericrafts.com Golf Tourney American Business Council of Kuwait invites you to its 11th Annual 4-man 18 hole Golf tournament at the Sahara Club on Friday, May 4th. If interested to participate, register now, individually or a team off our at americanbusinesscouncil@abckuwait2012 NonGolfers are welcome to enjoy the day-out at the Sahara club and experience the delicious luncheon at the tournaments prize distribution ceremony.

Palestinian Cultural Exhibition

IDAK organizes football tourney

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aking use of the favorable spring weather, the Indian Dentists’ Alliance in Kuwait (IDAK) organized a football tournament on April 13th, 2012 in Salmiya. The one-day tournament comprised of 6 teams: Amiri Commandos, Adan Royals, Bneid Al Ghar Super Kings, (Farwaniya/Jahra) FJ Tigers, Private Warriors and the Polyclinic Avengers. All the teams showed their skills in the true spirit of sportsmanship. The court was filled with an enthusiastic crowd of colleagues and their families. The Private Warriors were crowned as champions and FJ Tigers were the runners-up. IDAK would like to thank all those who contributed in making this tournament a success and a special thanks to our main sponsor Ashraf & Co., Medical System.

Memorable weddings start at Kuwait Marriott Hotels

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uxurious ballrooms, an international selection of culinary offerings coupled with personalized services, is Kuwait Marriott Hotels’ formula for successful weddings this season. Guests can host their wedding celebrations at the JW Marriott Kuwait City hotel or the prestigious Arraya Ballroom, both of which are venues renowned for some of the country’s most memorable social events.

To celebrate the wedding season and maintain its position as the host of

H

andicrafts reaffirm the Palestinian national identity and support needy children and families. The Palestinian Culture Center in collaboration with the Women’s Cultural Society invite you to its spring exhibition.

The exhibition aims to preserve Palestinian handicrafts in order to reaffirm the Palestinian national identify by adapting it harmoniously to the 21st century demands.

We display classic designs intertwined with modern uses, colors, and motifs, to showcase some of the creativity of the Palestinian women. Items on sale include: cushions, runners, scarves, shawls, long traditional dresses as well as smaller items. We also have handmade ceramics from Palestine, books, music, and movies.

Today evening there will be a folklore dance and a bake sale of traditional foods as well as children’s activities at The Kuwaiti Women Cultural Soceity, Khaldiya, Block 2, Al Qurouba Street Date: Monday April 23 to Thursday 26th 2012 from 10 am to 1:30 pm and 4:30 pm to 8:30pm. Call 25755866, 25727388, 99376608.

Charity evening for ‘Palestine’s Children’

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he ‘Kuwaitis for Jerusalem’ committee; a joint committee between the Women’s Cultural and Social Society and the Kuwait Graduates’ Society, organizes a charity evening today, April 22, 2012, to support a planned project for the ‘Relief for Palestine’s Children Society’ to establish a cancer treatment pediatric hospital in Bait Jala, Palestine. The event, titled ‘We Deserve to Live’, takes part at the Movenpick Hotel at the Free Trade Zone.

For reservations or other inquiries, please call: 99714347 99723474 - 67676167.

choice for festive celebrations, Kuwait Marriott Hotels has launched an exclusive wedding package that is sure to delight any prospective bride and groom. The special package includes accommodation in a luxurious suite, in-room breakfast, in-room special decorations, a relaxing massage ses-

sion and an enchanting four layer wedding cake. Additionally, couples are also entitled to an invitation at the premier La Brasserie restaurant valid for one.

“With the wedding season in full gear this month and the next, we wanted to transform every eager brides’ and grooms’ most anticipated occasion into an everlasting memory by ensuring an unparalleled service .Our dedicated associates are trained to attend to the most intricate details, so that the wedding couple and their families can focus on the big picture.” said Rita Saadeh, Director of Event Management at the JW Marriott.

Renowned for its majestic elegance, Arraya Ballroom is one of the largest event spaces in Kuwait and a preferred location for events - from weddings to gala dinners - with over 1,400 square meters of space and valet parking for over 1,000 vehicles. Located in the Sharq downtown business district and adjacent to the Arraya shopping mall and Courtyard by Marriott hotel makes it the ideal location to host the perfect wedding celebration.

Adjacent to the prestigious Salhia shopping mall and opposite the landmark Muthanna commercial complex, the JW Marriott hotel is truly a symbol of prestige and luxury, housing two major ballrooms that are designed to entertain the most elaborate weddings. The 16th floor panoramic Al Thuraya ballroom can accommodate 450 guests and massive first floor Al Jahra ballrooms can accommodate 500 guests respectively in a comfortable theatre style set up accompanied by a professional team to personalize every last detail .An award-winning culinary team of international chefs offer custom-made menus to ensure every valued guest’s individual preference is reflected in the enchanting buffet setups and live cooking stations.

Omrah trip for FAWSEC company Staff

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AWSEC Educational Company organized a Omrah trip to Makkah for its staff.

Chairman and managing director of the company Tariq Sabah Al Samerraie declared that organizing this kind of trip promotes spiritual and religious guidance and enrichment which reflects positively on staff morals and performance at work.

NSS Vanitha team for 2012-13

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air Service Society (NSS Kuwait) Vanitha Samajam conducted its annual general body meeting in Salmiya on 7th April 2012 and unanimously elected the following Office Bearers for the year 2012 - 2013.

President: Smitha Sumod, General Program Convener: Smitha Saji, Arts Convener: Maneesha Menon and Advisory Board Chairperson: Shanti Anil Kumar, Vice President: Chandrika Prasad; Joint program conveners: Preetha

Krishna Kumar, Lakshmi Ajaykumar, Latha Manoj Kumar and Priya Manoj, Joint Arts Conveners: Krishna Madhav Chandran, Nidhi Nair and Nisha Suresh, Advisory Committee members: Kamalamma and Sharada Kaimal.

Area Coordinators: Reshmi Raveendran (Abuhalifa/Mehboula), Sony Maneesh (Mangaf/ Fahaheel/Ahmadi), Rajani Ajith (Riggai/Farwaniya), AnithA Santhosh (Abbasiya/Hasawi) & Beena Anish (Salmiya/Sharq).

31

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

W H AT ’ S O N

Embassy Information

Maryam Al Qatami

Meshari Al Abduljalil

Manar Al Fahad

Noor Al Saif

EMBASSY OF BRAZIL The Embassy of Brazil requests all Brazilian citizens in Kuwait to proceed to the website www.brazil.org.kw (Contact Us Form / Fale Conosco) in order to register or update contact information. The Embassy encourages all citizens to do so, including the ones who have already registered in person at the Embassy.

The registration process helps the Brazilian Government to contact and assist Brazilians living abroad in case of any emergency.

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Maha Al Faraj

Fay Al Mutawah

Bashar Al Qattan

Abdullah Al Sharrad

NBK Academy graduates ‘proud to work for ME’s safest bank’

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Group picture

he National Bank of Kuwait welcomes the first batch of trainees in 2012 at the NBK Academy, and that as part of the bank’s strategy of human investment in Kuwaiti qualified labor forces. Four batches have so far been graduates since the inception of this program a couple of years ago, and the trainees are now working in different NBK sections. Quoted in a statement released recently to the press, a number of

graduates said that the knowledge obtained in the NBK Academy gave them enough competency and ability to adapt with various tasks. The graduates said they were ‘proud to work for Middle Eeat’s safest bank’. They further describe their experience in the NBK as a step in the right direction towards having a successful career.

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakel St., Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is closed from 12:30 to 01:00 pm for lunch break.

Consular Services for Canadian Citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00 on Sunday through Wednesday. The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration services to residents of Kuwait. Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.uae.gc.ca.

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EMBASSY OF CYPRUS The Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus requests Cypriot citizens living in Kuwait to register with the Embassy has moved. This registration service is provided so that the Embassy can update its contact list and assist Cypriot citizens in cases of emergencies. Registration information can be emailed to cyprusembassykwt@gmail.com or faxed to 22253227 or given by phone to 65906048 (Mrs Christine).

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EMBASSY OF FRANCE For the first round of voting for the French presidential election, the French Embassy in Kuwait will be closed to the public on Sunday April 22, 2012.

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EMBASSY OF KOREA The Embassy of the Republic of Korea wishes to inform that it has moved to Mishref. New Address: Embassy of the Republic of Korea Mishref, Block 7A, Diplomatic Area 2, Plot 6 The Embassy also wishes to inform that it will be opened to the public on the following office hours: Saturday to Thursday Morning: 8:00 am to 12:30 pm Lunch Break: 12:30 pm to 1:00 pm Afternoon: 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF MYANMAR Embassy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar would like to inform the general public that the Embassy has moved its office to new location at Villa 35, Road 203, Block 2, AlSalaam Area in South Surra. The Embassy wishes to advice Myanmar citizens and travellers to Myanmar to contact Myanmar Embassy at its new location.

Tel. 25240736, 25240290, Fax: 25240749, email:myankuwait11@gmai1.com ■■■■■■■

SKELPS FC brings Sunderland AFC coaches to Kuwait

S

KELPS FC in association with Green Circle, powered by Audi Kuwait and Fouad Alghanim and Sons, invited coaching staff from English Premier League club Sunderland AFC to visit Kuwait last weekend.

Kevin Ball is the Assistant Academy Manager, as well as the Under 18’s Manager. Having played for Sunderland

in the Premier League for over 8 years, Kevin has the top qualification in football - a Uefa Pro License. He was joined by Carlton Fairweather, who coaches all academy players aged from 5-16 years.

Kevin and Carlton visited SKELPS FC as part of their role to develop strong working relationships with clubs worldwide.

They focused on key elements such as

coach education, player development and talent identification. In addition to leading coaching sessions at SKELPS FC Academy, Nick Henderson, Academy Director, also arranged for the coaches to visit Kuwait English School and give a football lesson to over 60 teenaged male and female Year 6 students.

The students gathered around in

excitement as the coaches began the session with skills and techniques being introduced from the official Sunderland Way training programme. The students had an enjoyable session, which was rounded off by small sided games and a big group picture.

EMBASSY OF NEPAL The Embassy of Nepal will be moving from its current location to a new place in Jabriya, Block 8, St. 13, House No. 514, effective from yesterday, 15th April, 2012. Till the new telephone connections are installed, the Embassy may be contacted by email: info@nepembku.org ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has its new office in Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax25387719. Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF ROMANIA The Embassy of Romania to the State of Kuwait would like to inform that the Consular Section of the Embassy will be closed for construction works beginning with 18 April 2012, till 10 May 2012. During this period of time the Consular Section will not issue any type of visas for Romania and will not issue any Romanian passports or travel documents. The Consular Section will only be able to assist with notary deeds. We would like to apologize for any inconvenience.

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EMBASSY OF THAILAND The Royal Thai Embassy in Kuwait, wishes to invite the Kuwaiti companies that deal business with Thai companies or those agencies of Thai commercial companies to visit the Embassy’s Commercial Office to register their relevant information to be part of the embassy’s business and trade database. The Royal Thai Embassy is located in Jabriya, Block 6, Street 8, Villa No. 1, Telephone No. 25317530 -25317531, Ext: 14.

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EMBASSY OF UKRAINE We’d like to inform you that in response to the increasing number of our citizens who work in the state and the need for 24-hour operational telephone in case of emergency the Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait has opened “hotline telephone number” (+ 965) 972-79-206.

Kuwaiti artist takes part in GCC gallery

K

uwaiti artist Thuraiya Al-Baqsami joined three other artists from GCC countries in a gallery titled ‘What is behind the story!’, held recently at the Muttar Studio in Dubai. The event, which featured 85 paintings, was inaugurated by President of the Federal National Council in the United Arab Emirates, Mohammad Al-Murr on April 7, 2012.

Al-Baqsami’s paintings reflect the artist’s vision of demonstrating the modern experience dominated by the oriental influence. Meanwhile, artist Sameera BuKhamseen from Kuwait presented paintings inspired by “women’s mysterious world”. Paintings presented by Artist

Hessa Al Maktoum from the UAE reflected her love for tradition and were inspired by her country’s nature, while artist Asma AlGhareer from the UAE presented paintings inspired by the oriental culture.

The event, which lasts until the end of the month, has so far attracted a large number of art enthusiasts, critics and media outlets, as well as VIPs from the UAE including minister Sheikh Nahiyan bin Mubarak Al Nahiyan. The gallery, described as ‘the first UAE - Kuwaiti women only gallery’, lasts until the end of this month.

UIS organises 14th CBSE Kuwait Cluster Volleyball tournament

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IS organised 14th CBSE Kuwait Cluster Volleyball Tournament last week at Bayan Sports Club.

CBSE Kuwait Cluster Chapter Convener and Principal of FAIPS Mrs Anju Dheman inaugurated the tournament. Five Indian schools took part in this three day tournament. Matches were conducted in league basis and ICSK became the winner of this year’s cluster tournament and last year’s

champion team UIS finished with Runner up. Vishnu A.P of ICSK selected as Best player of the tournament and Jerin Thomas selected as best promising player of the tournament.

Mrs Susan Roy Principal of UIS give away the awards to the players.

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

Classifieds SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JZR QTR JZR JZR ETH RJA GFA UAE ETD DHX FDB MSR QTR KAC THY CLX KAC DHX FAH JZR KAC BAW KAC KAC IRA FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR FDB IRA ETD GFA IRC FCX MEA JZR MSR RKM JZR AFR SYR KAC MSR GFA KAC FDB KAC KNE KAC QTR SVA RJA KAC JZR QTR JZR JZR ETD UAE GFA SVA UAL JZR JZR ABY ALK KAC KAC KAC FDB MSR JZR KAC KAC JAI KAC KAC AXB FDB OMA MEA QTR GFA KAC JZR KLM UAE JZR ETD KAC ABY QTR DHX KAC AIC RBG GFA UAL JZR DLH THY PIA

Arrival Flights on Sunday 22/4/2012 Flt Route 185 DUBAI 148 DOHA 539 CAIRO 267 BEIRUT 620 ADDIS ABABA 642 AMMAN 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 370 BAHRAIN 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 138 DOHA 544 CAIRO 770 ISTANBUL 792 LUXEMBOURG 154 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 201 DUBAI 555 ALEXANDRIA 412 MANILA 157 LONDON 206 ISLAMABAD 382 DELHI 615 SHAHRE KORD 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 332 TRIVANDRUM 352 COCHIN 676 DUBAI 284 DHAKA 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 603 SHIRAZ 301 ABU DHABI 213 BAHRAIN 6801 AHWAZ 203 DUBAI 404 BEIRUT 165 DUBAI 618 ALEXANDRIA 310 RAS ALKHAIMAH 561 SOHAG 6708 PARIS 341 DAMASCUS 742 DAMMAM 610 CAIRO 219 BAHRAIN 672 DUBAI 57 DUBAI 774 RIYADH 472 JEDDAH 538 SOHAG 140 DOHA 500 JEDDAH 640 AMMAN 788 JEDDAH 257 BEIRUT 134 DOHA 213 DEIREZZOR 535 CAIRO 303 ABU DHABI 857 DUBAI 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 177 DUBAI 777 JEDDAH 127 SHARJAH 227 COLOMBO 542 CAIRO 786 JEDDAH 166 PARIS 63 DUBAI 624 SOHAG 787 RIYADH 618 DOHA 674 DUBAI 572 MUMBAI 102 NEW YORK 562 AMMAN 389 KOZHIKODE 61 DUBAI 647 MUSCAT 402 BEIRUT 146 DOHA 221 BAHRAIN 514 TEHRAN 481 SABIHA 417 AMSTERDAM 859 DUBAI 135 BAHRAIN 307 ABU DHABI 172 FRANKFURT 129 SHARJAH 136 DOHA 372 BAHRAIN 678 MUSCAT 981 CHENNAI 3553 ALEXANDRIA 217 BAHRAIN 981 BAHRAIN 239 AMMAN 636 FRANKFURT 772 ISTANBUL 205 LAHORE

Time 0:15 0:20 0:30 0:50 1:45 2:10 2:20 2:25 2:30 2:55 3:10 3:20 3:25 4:10 4:35 4:55 4:55 5:00 5:30 6:00 6:15 6:30 7:15 7:30 7:35 7:45 7:50 7:55 8:05 8:05 8:15 8:25 8:30 9:00 9:20 9:25 9:30 10:00 10:15 10:30 10:55 11:05 11:25 11:55 12:25 12:35 12:35 13:25 13:30 13:35 13:40 13:45 13:45 14:15 14:20 14:25 14:30 14:55 15:00 15:00 15:15 15:30 16:00 16:35 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:25 17:30 17:40 17:45 18:00 18:15 18:40 18:40 18:45 18:55 19:10 19:20 19:25 19:35 19:35 19:50 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:25 20:35 20:55 20:55 21:05 21:15 21:15 21:20 21:25 21:30 21:35 22:00 22:05 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:55 23:10 23:40 23:55

Airlines AIC UAL DLH THY ETH UAE FDB DHX ETD MSR QTR QTR JZR RJA JZR GFA THY KAC CLX BAW FDB IRA KAC JZR ABY JZR KAC KAC UAE JZR QTR KAC FDB ETD IRA KAC KAC GFA IRC KAC FCX MEA JZR MSR KAC RKM KAC JZR JZR SYR GFA AFR FDB MSR KAC KAC KNE KAC KAC SVA RJA JZR QTR KAC ETD JZR JZR QTR UAE GFA JZR ABY SVA UAL JZR ALK FDB MSR JZR KAC JAI FDB KAC KAC OMA MEA KAC GFA JZR DHX KLM ABY ETD UAE FAH KAC QTR KAC KAC JZR DHX QTR AXB RBG GFA KAC KAC JZR

Departure Flights on Sunday 22/4/2012 Flt Route 976 GOA 981 WASHINGTON DC 637 FRANKFURT 773 ISTANBUL 621 ADDIS ABABA 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 371 BAHRAIN 306 ABU DHABI 613 CAIRO 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 560 SOHAG 643 AMMAN 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 537 SOHAG 792 GIALAM 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 614 SHAHRE 171 FRANKFURT 256 BEIRUT 126 SHARJAH 534 CAIRO 671 DUBAI 787 JEDDAH 856 DUBAI 212 DEIREZZOR 133 DOHA 117 NEW YORK 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 602 SHIRAZ 773 RIYADH 741 DAMMAM 214 BAHRAIN 6802 AHWAZ 541 CAIRO 204 DUBAI 405 BEIRUT 776 JEDDAH 623 SOHAG 103 LONDON 311 RAS ALKHAIMAH 785 JEDDAH 480 ISTANBUL 176 DUBAI 342 ALEPPO 220 BAHRAIN 6708 DUBAI 58 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 561 AMMAN 673 DUBAI 473 JEDDAH 677 MUSCAT 617 DOHA 503 MADINAH 641 AMMAN 786 RIYADH 135 DOHA 513 MAM KHOMEINI 304 ABU DHABI 238 AMMAN 538 CAIRO 141 DOHA 858 DUBAI 216 BAHRAIN 134 BAHRAIN 128 SHARJAH 511 RIYADH 982 BAHRAIN 266 BEIRUT 228 DUBAI 64 DUBAI 621 ALEXANDRIA 184 DUBAI 361 COLOMBO 571 MUMBAI 62 DUBAI 283 DHAKA 351 KOCHI 648 MUSCAT 403 BEIRUT 543 CAIRO 222 BAHRAIN 502 LUXOR 171 BAHRAIN 417 DAMMAM 120 SHARJAH 308 ABU DHABI 860 DUBAI 102 DUBAI 343 CHENNAI 137 DOHA 301 MUMBAI 205 ISLAMABAD 554 ALEXANDRIA 373 BAHRAIN 147 DOHA 390 MANGALORE 3554 ALEXANDRIA 218 BAHRAIN 411 BANGKOK 415 KUALA LUMPUR 528 ASSIUT

Time 0:05 0:25 0:30 2:15 2:45 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:05 4:20 4:50 5:40 6:00 6:50 6:55 7:05 7:10 8:05 8:15 8:25 8:25 8:35 8:55 9:00 9:05 9:10 9:20 9:35 9:40 9:45 10:00 10:00 10:05 10:15 10:25 10:25 10:25 10:45 11:15 11:30 11:45 11:55 12:15 12:25 12:30 12:55 13:10 13:15 13:20 13:35 14:20 14:20 14:25 14:30 14:40 15:05 15:15 15:25 15:45 15:45 15:50 15:50 16:15 16:25 17:20 17:30 17:40 17:45 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:25 18:35 18:40 18:50 19:10 19:25 19:55 20:05 20:20 20:35 20:40 20:45 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:30 21:35 21:45 21:50 22:05 22:10 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:00 23:10 23:10 23:15 23:30 23:40 23:50 23:50

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw) Prayer timings

112 Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128

Fajr: Duhr: Asr: Maghrib: Isha:

03:50 11:47 15:22 18:20 19:41

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988

ACCOMMODATION Two bedroom, drawing room flat with air conditioners ready for occupancy from next month in Abbassiya, near Learners’ Own Academy School.

Contact: 66619705.

(C 3963) Sharing accommodation available for Indian bachelors in old Riggae, block-1, Street-1, Jada-3, building43. Contact: 97525930 21-4-2012 Sharing accommodation or studio apartment wanted in Salmiya or Hawally (preferably near Hawally Al Shaya, Hassan Abul or Sana) for a decent South Indian bachelor. Please contact: 60316101. (C 3959) Immediate sharing accommodation available in Farwaniya behind Crowne Plaza separate room - fully furnished with telephone.

For decent Indian Christian couple or decent working ladies. Contact: 66099611/ 66027044. (C 3962) 19-4-2012

I, Afzalur Rahman, son of Fazlur Rahman, holder of Bangladeshi passport No. E0982724 hereby change my date of birth from 0301-1968 to 03-01-1967.

(C 3960) 19-4-2012

MATRIMONIAL Marriage proposals are invited from parents of well educated boys preferably employed abroad for an ezhava girl, 24 years, height 159cm, fair good looking, star: Ailyam-Shudham, MSc (biotechnology) employed as JRF doing Ph.D at Central Govt. Institute in Kerala.

Contact Email: padmasree52@hotmail.com (C 3964) 21-4-2012

SITUATION WANTED Engineer need any work in any field, but I need good salary and I have experience in Secretary, Customer Ser vice and Call Center.

Contact: 66606789.

(C 3961) 19-42012 CHANGE OF NAME I, Penigalapati Chinnanarsaiah, holder of Indian passport No. G9940624, residence of Venkatanarayanampalli, Chakrampeta post, Rajampeta, Kadapa District, Andhra Pradesh, have changed my name to Polarapu Babu Naidu.

(C 3967) 22-4-2012 I, Ajruddin holder of Indian passport No. F5493179 issued in Jaipur on 22-112005. I have changed my name to Azharuddin Saiyed, s/o Saiyed Mohiuddin. (C 3958) 18-4-2012 I, Purushothaman, son of Nagarajan, holder of Indian passport No. G1674605 have converted to Islam on 21st October 2009 and do now here after be known by my new name Abu Bakkar. (C 3956) 17-4-2012

Hospitals

CHANGE OF DOB

TUITION Teacher available to teach Mathematics B.Maths, Algebra, Calculus, Geography, Science and Statistics for British, American and bilingual school and university students. Contact: 97170935.

(C 3954) 18-4-2012 Math teacher for secondary stage, language schools, bilingual schools and intermediate stage: Algebra, Gmath, Geometry, Statistics for arts and science branches. Tel: 66974020.

English language teacher specialized in starting elementary and intermediate, 10th and 11th experienced in starting functions, grammar, set book, vocabulary, notes and model exams available. Tel: 65791555.

Arabic language teacher, masters in methods of teaching for secondary and intermediate students. Tel: 50644685.

Senior Arabic language teacher, elementary and intermediate, long experience in Kuwait curricula, explaining grammar rules and starting those weak in reading and writing. Tel: 99262948.

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

Clinics Rabiya

24732263

Rawdha

22517733

Adailiya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Khaifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Qadisiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

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

Ardiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Al-Omariya

24719048

N.Khaitan

24710044

Fintas

3900322

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

New purple crab species found in Philippines MANILA: Four new species of freshwater crab, bright purple in colour, have been discovered in the biologically diverse but ecologically-threatened Philippines, the man who found them said yesterday. The tiny crustaceans burrow under boulders and roots in streams, feeding on dead plants, fruits, carrion and small animals in the water at night, said Hendrik Freitag of Germany’s Senckenberg Museum of Zoology. Found only in small, lowlandforest ecosystems in the Palawan island group, most have purple shells, with claws and legs tipped red.

“It is known that crabs can discriminate colours. Therefore, it seems likely that the colouration has a signal function for the social behaviour, eg mating,” Freitag told AFP by email yesterday. “This could explain why large males of various Insulamon species are more reddish compared to the generally violet females and immature males.”

Scientists began extensive investigations of similar freshwater crabs in the area in the late 1980s, when one new species was found - the Insulamon unicorn, Freitag said. More field work led Freitag to conclude there were four other unique species. “Based on available new material, a total of five species are recognised...four of which are new to science,” Freitag wrote in the latest edition of the National University of Singapore’s Raffles Bulletin of Zoology.

The carapace of the biggest, Insulamon magnum, is just 53 millimetres by 41.8 millimetres while the smallest, Insulamon porculum, measures 33.1 by 25.1 millimetres. The two other new species were called Insulamon palawense and Insulamon johannchristiani. The four slightly differ from the first find, and from each other, in the shapes of their body shells, legs, and sex organs. US-based Conservation International lists the Philippines as one of 17 countries that harbours most of Earth’s plant and animal life. Reptiles, birds or mammals likely prey on the crabs, and it is possible people in remote areas also collect them for food, Freitag said. However, the main threats are the ongoing forest clearing for farming, mining or home building, since this risks drying up their small habitats and causes water pollution, he said. “Even if the habitats are not entirely destroyed, the smaller the remaining habitats, the higher the risk of extinction for a species,” he said. — AFP

This undated handout photo released by Hendrik Freitag of Germany’s Senckenberg Museum of Zoology yesterday shows one of the four new species of freshwater crab found in remote areas of the Palawan island group. Four new species of freshwater crab, bright purple in colour, have been discovered in the biologically diverse Philippines, according to a scientific paper. — AFP

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 Untamed & Uncut 01:40 Feeding Off Nature’s Giant 02:35 Baboons With Bill Bailey 03:00 Baboons With Bill Bailey 03:30 Animal Planet’s Most Outrageous 04:25 Great Ocean Adventures 05:20 Escape To Chimp Eden 05:45 In Too Deep 06:10 Animal Cops Philadelphia 07:00 Gorilla School 07:25 Crocodile Hunter 08:15 The Jeff Corwin Experience 09:10 Baby Planet 10:05 The Really Wild Show 10:30 The Really Wild Show 11:00 Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife 11:25 Bondi Vet 11:55 Dogs 101 12:50 Speed Of Life 13:45 Mutant Planet 14:40 Wildlife SOS 15:35 Must Love Cats 16:30 Wild Animal Orphans 16:55 Safari Sisters 17:25 Big Five Challenge 18:20 Wild Britain With Ray Mears 18:45 Wild Britain With Ray Mears 19:15 Panda Adventures With Nigel Marven 20:10 Weird Creatures With Nick Baker 21:05 Austin Stevens Adventures 22:00 Planet Earth 22:55 Seven Deadly Strikes 23:50 Animal Cops Philadelphia

00:05 00:30 01:20 02:05 02:55 03:45 04:30 06:45 07:30 12:45 13:30 14:20 15:10 16:00 16:25 16:50 17:40 18:30 19:20 20:10 21:00 21:50 22:35 23:25

00:00 00:10 01:00 01:30 02:00 02:10 02:30 03:00 03:10 03:30 04:00 04:30 05:00 05:10 06:00 06:30 07:00 07:30 08:00 08:30 09:00 09:30 10:00 10:10 10:30 11:00 11:10 11:30 12:00 12:10

Diy SOS Holmes On Homes Holmes On Homes What Not To Wear What Not To Wear Coleen’s Real Women Bargain Hunt Bargain Hunt MasterChef Australia MasterChef Australia 10 Years Younger Gok’s Fashion Fix Gok’s Fashion Fix Diy SOS Diy SOS Holmes On Homes Holmes On Homes What Not To Wear Gok’s Fashion Fix Gok’s Fashion Fix Holmes On Homes Holmes On Homes 10 Years Younger Gok’s Fashion Fix

BBC World News BBC World News BBC World News Middle East Business Report BBC World News World Features Our World BBC World News World Features Equestrian World BBC World News Dateline London BBC World News BBC World News BBC World News Click BBC World News Newsnight BBC World News India Business Report BBC World News Fast Track BBC World News World Features Equestrian World BBC World News World Features Dateline London BBC World News My Country

13:00 13:10 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:10 15:30 16:00 16:15 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:00 18:10 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 22:30 23:00 23:10 23:30

BBC World News World Features Working Lives BBC World News Newsnight BBC World News World Features One Square Mile BBC World News Sport Today Click BBC World News Horizons BBC World News BBC World News BBC World News India Business Report BBC World News One Square Mile Sports World Have Your Say Sports World Have Your Say BBC World News Equestrian World BBC World News World Features Horizons

00:00 Aiming For Gold 00:30 World Sport 01:00 World Report 01:30 Talk Asia 02:00 World Report 02:30 World Report This Week 03:00 CNN Marketplace Europe 03:15 CNN Marketplace Africa 03:30 The Brief 04:00 CNN Presents 05:00 CNN Newsroom 06:00 I Report For CNN 06:30 Inside Africa 07:00 World Sport 07:30 Leading Women 07:45 Future Cities 08:00 World Report 08:15 CNN Marketplace Middle East 08:30 Talk Asia 09:00 World Report 09:15 CNN Marketplace Europe 09:30 The CNN Freedom Project 10:00 World Sport 10:30 Open Court 11:00 African Voices 11:30 The Brief 12:00 World Report 12:30 Going Green 13:00 CNN Presents 14:00 World Report 14:30 Road To Rio: A Green City Journey 15:00 Fareed Zakaria Gps 16:00 State Of The Union 17:00 International Desk 17:30 Inside Africa 18:00 Global Exchange 18:15 CNN Marketplace Africa 18:30 Global Exchange 18:45 CNN Marketplace Middle East 19:00 World Sport 19:30 Aiming For Gold 20:00 International Desk 20:30 African Voices 21:00 International Desk 21:30 Leading Women 21:45 Future Cities 22:00 Fareed Zakaria Gps 23:00 World Report 23:30 Going Green

00:40 First Week In 01:35 Mobster Confessions 02:05 Destroyed In Seconds 02:30 How It’s Made 03:00 How Stuff’s Made 03:25 How It’s Made 03:55 How Stuff’s Made 04:20 How It’s Made 04:50 How Stuff’s Made 05:15 How It’s Made 05:40 How Stuff’s Made 06:05 How It’s Made 06:35 How Stuff’s Made 07:00 How Stuff’s Made 07:25 American Chopper: Senior vs Junior 08:15 Desert Car Kings 09:10 World’s Toughest Tools 10:05 How It’s Made

10:30 10:55 11:25 11:50 12:20 12:45 13:15 13:40 14:10 14:35 15:05 15:30 16:00 16:25 16:55 17:20 17:50 18:15 18:45 19:10 20:05 21:00 21:55 22:50 23:45

How It’s Made How It’s Made How It’s Made How It’s Made Border Security Border Security Border Security Border Security Border Security Auction Kings Auction Kings Auction Kings Auction Kings Auction Kings Cake Boss Cake Boss Cake Boss Cake Boss Cake Boss Sweetie Pies Dynamo: Magician Impossible Mythbusters Protecting Washington DC Swords: Life On The Line Swords: Life On The Line

00:35 Bad Universe 01:25 The Tech Show 01:50 Wallace & Gromit’s World Of Invention 02:15 Wallace & Gromit’s World Of Invention 02:40 Wallace & Gromit’s World Of Invention 04:25 Bang Goes The Theory 04:55 Bang Goes The Theory 06:10 Eco-Tech 07:00 Head Rush 07:03 Sci-Fi Science 07:30 Weird Connections 08:00 Mean Green Machines 08:25 Mean Green Machines 08:55 Smash Lab 09:45 Catch It Keep It 10:35 Bang Goes The Theory 11:00 Bang Goes The Theory 11:25 Bang Goes The Theory 11:50 Bang Goes The Theory 12:15 Wallace & Gromit’s World Of Invention 12:40 Wallace & Gromit’s World Of Invention 13:05 Wallace & Gromit’s World Of Invention 14:45 Head Rush 14:48 Sci-Fi Science 15:15 Weird Connections 15:45 The Tech Show 16:10 Mean Green Machines 16:35 Mean Green Machines 17:00 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 17:50 Sci-Fi Saved My Life 18:40 Robocar 19:30 Robocar 20:20 Mega World 21:10 Futurecar 22:00 Robocar 22:50 Robocar 23:40 Weird Or What?

00:15 00:40 01:05 01:30 01:55 02:20 02:45 03:10 03:35 04:00 04:25 04:50 05:15 05:35 06:00 06:25 06:40 Cody 07:05 07:30 07:55 08:20 08:45 09:10

Replacements Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents A Kind Of Magic A Kind Of Magic Stitch Stitch Replacements Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents A Kind Of Magic A Kind Of Magic Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Suite Life Of Zack And So Random Phineas And Ferb Wizards Of Waverly Place Good Luck Charlie So Random Jessie

09:35 10:00 10:25 12:00 12:25 12:30 15:25 15:50 16:15 16:40 17:05 17:30 19:10 20:50 21:15 22:45 22:55 23:20 Cody 23:45

Sonny With A Chance

06:00 Kid vs Kat 06:20 American Dragon 06:45 Rekkit Rabbit 07:10 Pokemon: Black And White 07:35 Phineas And Ferb 07:45 Phineas And Ferb 08:00 Kick Buttowski 08:30 Rated A For Awesome 09:00 Mr. Young 09:30 Pair Of Kings 10:00 Kickin It 10:30 Scaredy Squirrel 10:55 Zeke & Luther 11:20 I’m In The Band 11:45 Phineas And Ferb 12:10 Fort Boyard - Ultimate Challenge 12:35 Pair Of Kings 13:00 Hatching Pete 14:35 Kickin It 15:00 Phineas And Ferb 15:25 Timon And Pumbaa 15:50 Pair Of Kings 16:15 The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes 16:40 Zeke & Luther 17:05 Mr. Young 17:30 I’m In The Band 17:55 Rated A For Awesome 18:20 Kickin It 18:45 Phineas And Ferb 19:10 Scaredy Squirrel 19:35 Pokemon: Black And White 20:00 Rekkit Rabbit 20:25 Zeke & Luther 20:50 I’m In The Band 21:15 Pair Of Kings 21:40 Phineas And Ferb 22:05 The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes 22:30 Kid vs Kat 23:00 Programmes Start At 6:00am KSA

00:25 Kendra 00:55 Style Star 01:25 20 Acts Of Love Gone Wrong 03:15 E! Investigates 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Then And Now 05:30 Then And Now 06:00 THS 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Extreme Close-Up 09:45 Extreme Close-Up 10:15 THS 11:10 Ice Loves Coco 11:40 Ice Loves Coco 12:05 E! News 13:05 Style Star 13:35 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 14:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 16:55 Behind The Scenes 17:25 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 18:25 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 20:25 Ice Loves Coco 20:55 Khloe And Lamar 21:25 Khloe And Lamar 21:55 Ice Loves Coco 22:25 Fashion Police 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians

00:15 00:40 01:05 01:30 02:20 02:45 03:10 04:00 04:50 05:40 06:30 2008 07:00 2008 07:30 2008 08:00 09:15 09:40 10:30 11:20 12:10 13:00 13:50 14:15 14:40 15:05 16:45 17:10 17:35 18:00 18:25 18:50 19:40 20:30 21:20 21:45 22:10 22:35 23:00 23:25 23:50

ARLINGTON ROAD ON OSN ACTION HD

Shake It Up A.N.T. Farm 16 Wishes Jessie Have A Laugh Jessie Jessie Shake It Up So Random So Random So Random Lemonade Mouth Jessie Jessie 16 Wishes Have A Laugh Fish Hooks The Suite Life Of Zack And

00:05 00:30 00:55 01:45 02:35

Aiya TV Aiya TV Aiya TV M1 Selection 2010 Cowboy U Cowboy U Cowboy U Carpocalypse Summer Dew Tour 2011 Summer Dew Tour 2011 Ride Guide Mountainbike Ride Guide Mountainbike Ride Guide Mountainbike Ticket To Ride 2010/11 Best Of The Streets Winter Dew Tour 09/10 Winter Dew Tour 09/10 Salad Days Core I’ll Do Anything Dragrace High Dragrace High Featured Final Fu Final Fu Man’s Work Man’s Work Dragrace High Dragrace High Salad Days Core I’ll Do Anything Ed’s Up Gotta Grudge Dragrace High Dragrace High Man’s Work Man’s Work Aiya TV

Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Kid In A Candy Store Iron Chef America Food Network Challenge Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives

03:00 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 03:25 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 03:50 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 04:15 Dessert First With Anne Thornton 04:40 Good Eats 05:05 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 05:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 05:50 Food Network Challenge 06:35 Barefoot Contessa 07:00 Food Network Challenge 07:50 World Cafe Asia 08:15 Barefoot Contessa 08:40 Good Eats 09:05 Dessert First With Anne Thornton 09:30 Paula’s Best Dishes 09:55 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 10:20 Lidia’s Italy 10:45 Reza, Spice Prince Of India 11:10 Unwrapped 11:35 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 12:00 Food Network Challenge 12:50 Aarti Party 13:15 Cooking For Real 13:40 Barefoot Contessa 14:05 Dessert First With Anne Thornton 14:30 Kid In A Candy Store 14:55 Paula’s Best Dishes 15:20 Meat & Potatoes 15:45 Iron Chef America 16:35 Cooking For Real 17:00 Barefoot Contessa 17:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 17:50 Aarti Party 18:15 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 18:40 Dessert First With Anne Thornton 19:05 Kid In A Candy Store 19:30 Food Network Challenge 20:20 Iron Chef America 21:10 Restaurant: Impossible 22:00 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 22:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 22:50 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 23:15 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 23:40 Meat & Potatoes

GOING THE DISTANCE ON OSN CINEMA 00:30 01:20 02:05 02:55 03:45 04:30 05:20 06:10 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:30 09:55 10:20 11:10 12:00 12:50 13:40 14:30 14:55 15:20 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:05 19:55 20:20 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40

A Haunting Ghost Lab The Haunted A Haunting A Haunting On The Case With Paula Zahn Mystery ER Disappeared FBI Files Murder Shift Mystery ER Real Emergency Calls Mall Cops – Mall Of America On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared FBI Files Murder Shift Mystery ER Real Emergency Calls Mall Cops – Mall Of America On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared FBI Files Murder Shift Real Emergency Calls Mystery ER Mall Cops – Mall Of America On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Behind Mansion Walls LA: City Of Demons Scorned: Crimes Of Passion

01:40 Thunderbolt And LightfootPG 03:30 Eureka 05:35 Seduced By Madness-18 07:05 Blood Games 08:34 Strictly Business-PG 09:55 Kidnapped-PG 11:35 One Summer Love-PG 13:10 Dirty Dozen: Deadly MissionPG 14:45 Carrie (2002) 16:55 Mgm’s Big Screen-FAM 17:10 In His Life: The John Lennon Story-PG 18:40 The Spree-PG 20:15 Two Moon Junction 22:00 The Initiation Of Sarah (2006)-18 23:30 Longtime Companion

00:00 01:00 01:30 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:30 17:30 18:00 19:00 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:30 23:30

00:00 01:00 01:30 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00

Departures The Best Job In The World Madventures Departures Nomads City Chase: Argentina Don’t Tell My Mother Departures The Best Job In The World Madventures Departures Nomads City Chase: Argentina Don’t Tell My Mother Departures Meet The Natives Food School One Man & His Campervan Bondi Rescue Extreme Tourist Afghanistan Danger Men Naked Lentil

By Any Means Meet The Natives Food School One Man & His Campervan Bondi Rescue Extreme Tourist Afghanistan Danger Men Naked Lentil

Departures The Best Job In The World Madventures Departures Nomads City Chase: Argentina Don’t Tell My Mother Departures The Best Job In The World Madventures Departures Nomads

10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:30 17:30 18:00 19:00 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:30 23:30

City Chase: Argentina Don’t Tell My Mother Departures Meet The Natives Food School One Man & His Campervan Bondi Rescue Extreme Tourist Afghanistan Danger Men Naked Lentil

By Any Means Meet The Natives Food School One Man & His Campervan Bondi Rescue Extreme Tourist Afghanistan Danger Men Naked Lentil

00:00 Gridlock’d-18 02:00 Fade To Black-18 04:00 Ladder 49-PG15 06:00 True Justice: Dark Vengeance18 08:00 Odysseus: Voyage To The Underworld-PG15 10:00 Arlington Road-PG15 12:00 Little Big Soldier-PG15 14:00 Odysseus: Voyage To The Underworld-PG15 16:00 Riddles Of The Sphinx-PG15 18:00 Little Big Soldier-PG15 20:00 Let Me In-R 22:00 Death Race 2-18

01:00 Sanctum-18 03:00 Eat Pray Love-PG15 05:30 Calvin Marshall-PG15 07:15 Make It Happen-PG15 09:00 The Nanny Express-PG15 11:00 Adventures Of A Teenage Dragonslayer-PG 13:00 St. Trinian’s 2: The Legend Of Fritton’s Gold-PG15 15:00 The Nanny Express-PG15 17:00 Adventures Of A Teenage Dragonslayer-PG 19:00 Love And Other Impossible Pursuits-PG15 21:00 Going The Distance-18 23:00 Roadie-PG15

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 03:00 Parks And Recreation 03:30 2 Broke Girls 04:00 The Simpsons 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 06:00 Weird Science 08:00 The Simpsons 08:30 Parks And Recreation 09:00 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 09:30 The Office 10:00 Man Up! 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Weird Science 12:30 The Simpsons 13:00 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 14:00 2 Broke Girls 14:30 Man Up! 15:00 The Office 16:30 Weird Science 18:00 The Simpsons 18:30 Last Man Standing 19:00 Raising Hope 20:00 Whitney 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Saturday Night Live Syndicated 23:00 It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia 23:30 Whitney

00:00 01:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00

Criminal Minds Sons Of Anarchy Warehouse 13 True Blood The View Live Good Morning America The Protector Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show

10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 21:00 23:00

The Martha Stewart Show The View Criminal Minds Warehouse 13 Live Good Morning America The Protector The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Coronation Street Body Of Proof Missing True Blood

00:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Parenthood Criminal Minds Sons Of Anarchy Warehouse 13 Burn Notice Parenthood Emmerdale Coronation Street Surface Criminal Minds Warehouse 13 Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Surface Parenthood Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Surface Body Of Proof Missing The Tudors

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 PG15 19:00 21:30 23:00

The Alphabet Killer-18 Ladder 49-PG15 Jake’s Closet-PG15 The Craigslist Killer-PG15 Shanghai Knights-PG15 Hurricane Season-PG15 Bangkok Adrenaline-PG15 Shanghai Knights-PG15 A Lonely Place For DyingRobin Hood (2010)-PG15 Survival Of The Dead-18 Julia’s Eyes-18

00:00 All Night Long-PG15 02:00 Out Cold-PG15 04:00 Inspector Gadget (1999)PG15 06:00 Charlie & Boots-PG15 08:00 Big Fat Liar-PG 10:00 You Again-PG15 12:00 The Prince And Me 4: The Elephant Adventure-PG15 14:00 Mr. Wrong-PG15 16:00 All Night Long-PG15 18:00 She’s Out Of My League-18 20:00 Cemetery Junction-PG15 22:00 Youth In Revolt-18

01:00 Kings And Queen-18 03:30 Speed-PG15 05:45 Nine-PG15 08:00 Oceans - Into The Deep-PG 09:30 The Wronged Man-PG15 11:30 Across The Sea Of Time-FAM 12:45 Stone Of Destiny-PG15 14:45 Who Is Clark Rockefeller-PG 16:45 A Simple Twist Of Fate-PG15 19:00 No Escape-PG15 21:00 Elizabethtown-PG15 23:00 Les Miserables 25th Anniversary-PG15

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:15 13:00 15:00 PG15 16:45 19:00 21:00 23:00

Legion-18 Sundays At Tiffany’s-PG15 Rango-FAM Shanghai-PG15 Iron Man 2-PG15 Alabama Moon-PG15 Bad News Bears-PG Justice For Natalee HollowayIron Man 2-PG15 The Winning Season-PG15 The American-18 True Grit-PG15

01:45 PG 04:00 06:00 08:15 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Gladiators: The TournamentPaws-PG The Spy Next Door-PG The Thief Of Baghdad-PG Tangled-FAM Scooby-Doo-PG Paws-PG Quest For Zhu-PG Tangled-FAM Rango-FAM Scooby-Doo-PG

00:00 Live PBS Newshour 01:00 ABC World News Now With David Muir 02:00 ABC World News Now With David Muir 03:00 Live NBC Saturday Today Show 05:00 Live ABC 20/20 06:00 ABC World News Now With David Muir 08:00 Live PBS Newshour 09:00 ABC World News Now With David Muir 10:00 MSNBC The Dylan Ratigan Show 11:00 MSNBC Hardball W/ Chris Matthews 12:00 MSNBC The Ed Show 14:00 MSNBC Hardball Weekend 14:30 MSNBC Your Business 15:00 Live NBC Sunday Today Show 16:00 Live NBC Meet The Press 17:00 ABC This Week With G Stephanopoulos 18:00 MSNBC Melissa Harris-Perry 19:00 Live NBC Meet The Press 20:00 ABC This Week With G Stephanopoulos 21:00 MSNBC Hardball W/ Chris Matthews 22:00 MSNBC The Ed Show 23:00 MSNBC The Rachel Maddow Show

01:00 02:00 03:00 05:00 08:00 12:00 16:00 16:30 20:00 21:00

WWE Bottom Line UFC 145 Countdown Live UFC 145 Prelims Live UFC 145 Live European PGA Tour Live London Marathon Futbol Mundial Live Snooker Trans World Sport Live Snooker

01:00 03:00 04:00 06:00 07:00 09:00 09:30 11:30 12:00 15:30 17:15 18:15 19:45 21:30 23:30

Top 14 Ironman Live NRL Premiership Trans World Sport Live NRL Premiership Total Rugby Scottish Premier League Futbol Mundial Live Snooker Championship Scottish Premier League Trans World Sport Volvo Ocean Race Live Volvo Ocean Race NRL Premiership Scottish Premier League

00:00 04:00 04:30 08:00 10:00 12:00 15:00 17:00 18:00 21:30

Scottish Premier League Futbol Mundial Live V8 Supercars Live NRL Premiership NRL Premiership Live AFL Premiership NRL Premiership Ironman London Marathon AFL Premiership

00:00 01:00 02:30 03:00 05:00 08:00 15:00 16:30 18:00 20:00 23:00

UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC 145 Primetime UFC 145 Countdown Live UFC 145 Prelims Live UFC 145 Live Asian Tour Golf V8 Supercars Championship UFC 145 Primetime UFC 145 Prelims UFC 145 WWE Smackdown

35

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

stars CROSSWORD 655

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19)

Use the power of words as an artistic medium to express yourself, Aries. You have a magic way with words that often goes unrecognized. Your sensual nature is poetic. You shouldn’t deprive others of this talent, so show it off to the world. Perhaps you’re moved to write a love poem to a partner who means a great deal to you. As trite as this may sound, it’s actually very romantic.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

Whatever you’re working on at this time can be expanded tremendously with the help of a partner, especially a creative project or written work, Taurus. Watch as one seed of an idea blossoms into a whole field of creativity. There is more than meets the eye as you find yourself soaring higher and higher.

Remember that you’re only restricted by your own imagination, so dream big.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. The act of scanning.

5. Protective outer layer of seeds of flowering plants.

10. An ester of adenosine that is converted to ATP for energy storage.

13. Having nine hinged bands of bony plates.

14. Any tropical gymnosperm of the order Cycadales.

15. Step on it.

16. Wild sheep of northern Africa.

17. Heal or recover.

19. Valuable timber tree of New Zealand yielding hard reddish wood used for furniture and bridges and wharves.

21. A canvas or leather bag for carrying game (especially birds) killed by a hunter.

23. An informal term for a father.

25. A colorless and odorless inert gas.

26. Extinct flightless bird of New Zealand.

33. In the Arabian Nights a hero who tells of the fantastic adventures he had in his voyages.

36. The cry made by sheep.

37. A boy or man.

38. Divulge information or secrets.

39. A bachelor's degree in religion.

41. A rapid escape (as by criminals).

45. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

48. A very poisonous metallic element that has three allotropic forms.

50. An imaginary elephant that appears in a series of French books for children.

56. Type genus of the Anatidae.

59. Money in the form of bills or coins.

60. A narrow elongated opening or fissure between two symmetrical parts.

61. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

62. Swiss painter influenced by Kandinsky (1879-1940).

63. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

64. By bad luck.

DOWN 1. Petty quarrel.

2. Large edible mackerel of temperate United States coastal Atlantic waters.

3. Lie adjacent to another.

4. Submerged aquatic plant having narrow leaves and small flowers.

5. A landlocked desert republic in north-central Africa.

6. The organ of sight (`peeper' is an informal term for `eye').

7. A narcotic that is considered a hard drug.

8. The basic unit of money in Western Samoa.

9. A public promotion of some product or service.

10. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

11. African tree with edible yellow fruit resembling mangos.

12. Small beads made from polished shells and formerly used as money by native Americans.

18. A three-tone Chadic language.

20. A Hindu prince or king in India.

22. A member of the Siouan people formerly living in the Missouri river valley in NE Nebraska.

24. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

27. A slippery or viscous liquid or liquefiable substance not miscible with water.

28. (Irish) Mother of the ancient Irish gods.

29. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

30. Showing or causing joy and pleasure.

31. (Greek mythology) Goddess of the earth and mother of Cronus and the Titans in ancient mythology.

32. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.

34. Any of various units of capacity.

35. A software system that facilitates the creation and maintenance and use of an electronic database.

40. One of the five major classes of immunoglobulins.

42. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

43. African tree having an exceedingly thick trunk and fruit that resembles a gourd and has an edible pulp called monkey bread.

44. (Judaism) Sacred chest where the ancient Hebrews kept the two tablets containing the Ten Commandments.

46. Obvious and dull.

47. Lower in esteem.

49. A punctuation mark (,) used to indicate the separation of elements within the grammatical structure of a sentence.

50. A white soft metallic element that tarnishes readily.

51. United States tennis player who was the first Black to win United States and English singles championships (19431993).

52. The Tibeto-Burman language spoken in the Dali region of Yunnan.

53. The food served and eaten at one time.

54. A small cake leavened with yeast.

55. A river that rises in northeastern Turkey (near the source of the Euphrates) and flows generally eastward through Armenia to the Caspian Sea. 57. The bureau of the Treasury Department responsible for tax collections.

58. A federal agency established to regulate the release of new foods and health-related products.

Yesterday’s Solution

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

Take advantage of the lighthearted, flighty feeling of the day instead of getting annoyed by it, Gemini. You can’t hide in your bedroom forever. Well, you could, but you’d end up wasting away and no one would even notice. This is a good day to get out and have fun with friends. Make wishes for people instead of cursing them. Make connections. Remember to laugh as often as possible.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

The more you talk to people, the more successful you’ll be, Cancer. Everyone is a valuable resource, so tap in to this boundless well. Your agility with words and facts is impressive, so use it to your advantage. Friends are a source of great joy, and this is a wonderful time to be with them. For the most part, it doesn’t matter what you’re doing. The person you’re with is what is important.

Leo (July 23-August 22)

Be careful of people who talk a great deal and promise the world but have a difficult time delivering the goods, Leo. You might get trapped today if you rely on people who simply don’t come through the way they said they would. Feel free to engage in social activities with partners, but don’t sign any major business deals with them at this time.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22)

Your positive strength is especially noticeable today. You may find that you’re radiating gloriously to the people around you, Virgo. This is due to your polite, gentle, and peaceful nature. You’re the jewel that isn’t always noticed or appreciated as much as it should be. More than likely, you leave it up to others to make the first move. Consider being the instigator today. The world is in your hands.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

Libra, instead of digging deep into the barrel looking only for the misshapen, bruised, and rotten apples, concentrate on bringing up the shiny, bright red ones. This way you’ll bring laughter and smiles to the company around you rather than miserable frowns.

Whatever you bring to the surface will be distributed far and wide, so make sure you reach for the good times instead of the sour ones.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

Today there are many areas in which you can shine, Scorpio. You need only be yourself to win over the hearts of others. There is a graciousness to your manner that draws people close to you, whether or not you’ve ever noticed it before. Realize this, and know that it isn’t a fluke. You need not take much action. It will come to you.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

If you’re feeling needy today, you might consider seeking counsel from others, Sagittarius. Close partners might make light of the situation, so if you’re looking for deep metaphysical advice, you might want to look elsewhere. Most of all, pamper yourself with some relaxing downtime. This day is well suited for playing board games, watching a movie, or reading the latest edition of your favorite magazine.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

Get out in the fresh air today in whatever way suits your fancy, Capricorn. It’s important to exercise your body with some brisk physical activity, or at least refresh your spirit with a ride in a convertible. This is a terrific time for you. You feel alive and joyous about your life. Join with others to recognize all that you have, and give thanks for your meal tonight.

To

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18)

Making decisions today is apt to be nearly impossible for you, Aquarius. That’s why you should leave them up to someone else. Walk with your partner so you don’t have to really think about where you’re going. Your job is to focus on the emotional side of things and make it safe for everyone to dream. Your loving, caring nature is a valuable commodity these days.

Protect and cherish this gift.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

This is going to be one of those days when you get annoyed if someone takes too long to make up his or her mind about something, Pisces. You aren’t going to have the patience to abide anyone who continues to go over every single detail of an issue.

You’re more likely to want to simply make a decision, for better or worse.

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SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

Jack Black wants an invitation to Brad and Angelina’s wedding he Hollywood actor co-starred with Angelina in ‘Kung Fu Panda’ and its sequel and while he would love to go to the wedding, he isn’t splashing out on a gift until they officially ask him to go. He joked to E! News: “That’s a ways down the road. I haven’t received any invite, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves ... I don’t have to get a present until I’m invited, right? And then I’ve got a whole year - isn’t that the rule?” The couple announced their engagement and have now jetted off on holiday to the Galapagos Islands with their six children to celebrate. Brad, Angelina, Maddox, 10, Pax, nine, Zahara, seven, Shiloh, five, and three-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne, arrived by private plane in Baltra, Ecuador, before boarding a luxury yacht to the exclusive Royal Palm Hotel. A source in the local mayor’s office said: “We were informed that they arrived at the airport in Baltra yesterday. Then they made their way over to a villa in the Galopagos Islands.”

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Bieber splashes out $20,000 Zac Efron found watching

on a limited edition motorcycle he 18-year-old singer - who doesn’t have a motorcycle license - chose the arctic white silk Ducati Superbike 848 EVO from a Los Angeles dealership a few weeks ago on the recommendation of his friend and mentor Usher, who has the same model in black, and took delivery of the vehicle on Thursday, TMZ.com reports.

Justin - who is dating Selena Gomez - already has a fleet of expensive cars, with the most recent addition being an 18th birthday gift from Usher and his manager Scooter Braun. During an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Justin was presented with the luxury sports hybrid vehicle, a Fisker Karma, and was stunned by the $100,000 gift. He said: “What? That’s for me? ... Wow. Is it all electric? This is

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amazing.” He also owns a $160,000 Range Rover, a Batman-themed customised Cadillac and a Ferrari.

However, the star has previously admitted he has always wanted a motorcycle. Speaking in 2010, he said: “I got a car for my birthday, Usher helped buy it. Maybe he will get me another car for Christmas. “My mom is trying to figure out something to get me. I want a motorcycle. Not a big one, a little pocket one, a small miniature one which is really cool. I do like fast cars.”

his love scenes ‘awkward’ he 24-year-old actor shares intimate moments with Taylor Schilling in his new film ‘The Lucky One’ and admits he was very uncomfortable during a screening of the movie because his family were also in attendance.

He said: “We saw the film together and I was kind of squirming. Even though she was a couple of seats down from me, I tried to duck out during those scenes because it was too embarrassing. Obviously I’m acting, but knowing that my mom and my family were watching is kind of awkward. There’s really no way around it.” While Zac admits his mother, Starla, also found the scenes “weird” to watch, he insists she is always very proud of his work. He told People magazine: “She was just laughing about it in a good way.

She said, ‘That’s my boy!’ I think she was proud of me at the end of it, even if it was weird for her to watch. My mom is my biggest supporter.” While Zac - who has been single since splitting from ‘High School Musical’ co-star Vanessa Hudgens in December 2010 - was embarrassed to watch love scenes with his mother, he is never afraid to turn to her for advice about relationships. He said: “She’s always giving me tips. My mom is the number one person who has taught me to be courteous towards women, to always be respectful and polite to them, and to always lead with your heart.”

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Nick Cannon doesn’t want his children to become famous he ‘America’s Got Talent’ host has 11month-old twins, Moroccan Scott and Monroe, with wife Mariah Carey and while the singer would be happy for them to be child stars, Nick wants them to concentrate on their education. When asked if he would like the adorable tots to audition on the talent show he presents, Nick said: “Absolutely not. That‘s my personal feeling. If you asked my wife, she would say, ‘Yes! Let’s sign them up next year!’

“The thing that is great about this show is that you’re giving people who would never have an opportunity at stardom an opportunity. As a parent, and maybe because I’m a new parent, I am so protective and so sensitive and would never want anyone to judge my child.” However, Nick admits if getting into showbiz is something they really want to do when they’re older, he wouldn’t stand in their way. He said: “You catch me in 10 years and my child is an amazing singer or drummer and says, ‘Dad, I want to do it,’ of course I am going to support whatever they want.”

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Anjelica Huston has always been attracted to ‘bad boys’ he 60-year-old actress - who was married to sculptor Robert Graham for 16 years until his sudden death in December 2008 - dated photographer Bob Richardson, who was 23 years her senior, when she was a teenage model, and then had a 17-year tempestuous romance with Jack Nicholson and says the actor’s edginess was his main appeal when they first met in 1973.

Recalling meeting lothario Jack at a party, she said: “I was invited by my thenstepmother Cici. The door opened and Jack’s grinning face presented itself to me and I thought, ‘Ah, I like you.’ “I was always attracted to bad boys, cool boys.

Actors, musicians, those kinds of guys.” Anjelica split with Jack for good in 1989 when he fathered a child with actress Rebecca Broussard but insists they are still friends and he even came to Robert’s funeral to support her. She added to the Daily Mail newspaper: “There’s too much water under the bridge now. I love and respect Jack, we remain friends. “There have been some lonely moments since my husband died.

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Sylvester Stallone is selling his desert mansion for $4.5m he ‘Expendables’ star has listed his Coachella Valley Spanish-style home - which is located within The Madison Club, one of the most exclusive private golf courses in the US - for the same price as he bought it for in January 2010. The 5,173 square foot, four bedroom, five bathroom property features a chef’s kitchen and a master suite with various open-air terraces and patios, including a fully equipped outdoor kitchen area. The backyard contains a heated gas pool and an in ground pool, private spa and an adjacent fire pit with spectacular views of the surrounding mountains and golf course. According to the listing on www.realtor.com, the home is situated on 45 acres in a gated community with a guard and is tended to by a maintenance and landscaping association.

Public records show the property was bought in the name of Sylvester’s real estate agent, Lester J. Knispel in January 2010 for $4.5 million with no loan, which suggests a cash purchase. The 65-year-old actor’s principal residence is in a Los Angeles gated community.

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Cheryl Cole is being lined up for a role in ‘Modern Family’ he 28-year-old singer - who premiered her new single ‘Call My Name’ - has been approached by bosses of the multi-award winning ABC comedy to take on a guest part. A source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “They really want to get Cheryl involved. And it’s a coveted slot. Everyone from Britney Spears to Lady Gaga have made it known that they would love to appear in it. It’s a real honor to be asked to do it and it would be a great next step after Cheryl’s appearance in the movie ‘What To Expect When You’re Expecting’.” ‘Modern Family’ is one of the most successful sitcoms in the US and a role would boost her profile in America where she is trying to replicate the pop success she has enjoyed in Britain. Cheryl - who divorced her soccer player husband Ashley Cole after it was

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revealed he had repeatedly cheated on her now plans to drop her surname and will be known professionally only by her first name. A source said recently: “Cheryl is beginning a new chapter in her life so she doesn’t want to be associated with negative stuff from the past.

“She’s not removing Cole legally, it’s just a career statement. She’s in a really good place at the moment and wants to take life by the balls. “She can’t wait to start performing live again and her new stage name has given her comeback an extra bit of spice.”

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

lifestyle

California eatery known for ‘rudest waiter’ closes

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World Gourmet Summit 2012 presents an epicurean adventure with a heritage of flavors

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n epicurean adventure awaits the discerning gourmand at the 16th World Gourmet Summit. The smorgasbord of delights will include a stellar cast of Michelin-starred chefs to internationally acclaimed vintners and a host of enthralling activities. The festival is organized by A la Carte Productions, proudly presented by Citibank and supported by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB). The World Gourmet Summit will be held from 23 April to 3 May 2012.

Embracing the theme, A Heritage Of Flavors, the World Gourmet Summit’s festival program pays homage to a tradition of tastes from across the globe while celebrating contemporary culinary methods and techniques with some events hosted at Singapore’s top heritage sites such as the historical Alkaff Mansion, Bukit Timah Fire Station, Hotel Fort Canning and National Museum of Singapore.

“Singapore’s rich culinary heritage which draws on our cultural diversity provides the perfect backdrop for the guest chefs of the World Gourmet Summit 2012 to share their own culinary traditions with us. In this way, the World Gourmet Summit provides an authentic platform for cultural and culinary exchange between the festival’s participating chefs and the Singapore public,” says Peter A Knipp, Principal, A La Carte Productions Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Peter Knipp Holdings Pte Ltd, and organizer of World Gourmet Series.

In line with the heritage theme, the festival’s participating international chefs will not only feature contemporary cuisine but will also present traditional recipes refreshed with a modern twist, while staying true to the ingredients from their very own culinary heritage.

“Since its inception, the World Gourmet Summit, has contributed to Singapore’s

prominence and development as a leading culinary hub in the region. The festival’s theme this year, A Heritage Of Flavors, is a nod to Singapore’s very own diverse culinary heritage while embracing the culinary heritage and traditions from around the world. The festival’s choice of selected heritage venues completes the World Gourmet Summit experience.” says Ranita Sundra, Director of Attractions, Dining & Retail, Singapore Tourism Board.

Singapore’s leading gastronomic event, the World Gourmet Summit 2012 will present an international star-studded ensemble of chefs, each with distinctive culinary styles, colorful personalities and of course, exceptional cuisine. Headlining the cast of culinary luminaries is British celebrity chef Marco Pierre White. As Knorr brand ambassador and the celebrity chef of this year’s gastronomic extravaganza, Marco Pierre White will present his peerless cuisine at

the Marco Pierre White Celebrity Chef Dinner on 27 April at Grand Hyatt Singapore. Marco Pierre White will also present a course at World Gourmet Summit Charity Dinner on 25 April to be held at Resorts World Sentosa.

If there is one man working in Russia today who could put the country on the world culinary map, it is special guest chef Anatoly Komm who has revitalized Russian cuisine through his combination of traditional Russian flavors with his unique molecular culinary methods. In 2011, his Moscow restaurant, VARVARY, earned a position in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

Anatoly Komm will be presenting a full Russian menu which will be paired with wines, including a special Russian sparkling wine, and of course, vodka, at the Indoguna Gala Dinner featuring Anatoly Komm on 28 April at Resorts World Sentosa.

Rare Egyptian scrolls found in Australian collection

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British historian said yesterday he had unearthed a trove of Egyptian Book of the Dead fragments by a top ancient official after chancing upon a scrap on show in an Australian museum. John Taylor, a world-famous Egyptologist from the British Museum, said his discovery began with a shred of papyrus on display at Queensland Museum’s new mummies exhibition bearing the distinctive hieroglyphs of Amenhotep. The 15th century figure, son of Hapu, was Egypt’s chief architect and is among those credited with designing and constructing the Great Temple of

Amun at Karnak, near Luxor-one of modern Egypt’s most visited landmarks.

Excited and intrigued, Taylor said he asked if there were any more such fragments in the museum’s archives and was shown into the conservation lab. “After a very short period of time it became apparent that we did indeed have many fragments of the Book of the Dead of this extremely important man,” he told The Weekend Australian newspaper. “This is not the papyrus of just anybody, this is one of the top officials in Egypt at the peak of Egyptian prosperity,” added Taylor, describ-

ing it as a “once in a lifetime” find.

The fragments were donated to the museum by a private citizen in 1913 and are not normally on public display, but had been brought out to accompany the British Museum’s touring mummies exhibition, which Taylor was here to open. He said there were pieces of Amenhotep’s scroll scattered across global institutions including the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, British Museum and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Australian specimens would be photographed to try and determine where

they fit in the scroll, which Taylor said could be up to 20 metres long-among the largest and most significant Egyptian burial scripts recorded. “In Egypt in the 1890s people were collecting and digging up antiquities at a very fast rate and often it wasn’t documented where these things were going,” he said. “Private individuals would go on holidays to Egypt and buy things like this and take them home, so there’s still a lot of material out there that people haven’t seen.”—AFP

Malabar Gold & Diamonds

announces exciting offers for this AkshayaTritiya A

kshayaTritiya is round the corner and Malabar Gold & Diamonds choose to celebrate this festival with their customers by offering them assured gift coins with their ravishing collection of gold and diamond jewelry. The jewelry chain launched its new AkshayaTritiya collection, a special edition Era uncut diamond set and an exclusive diamond pendant set to add more gleam to this occasion.

Jewelry shopping during festivals is inevitable and the auspicious occasion of AkshayaTritiya adds more fervor to it. Akshaya means ‘imperishable’ or “eternal” and valuables, especially gold and diamonds, purchased on this day is believed to bring immense wealth and good fortune throughout the year. The festival falls on 24th April this year.

This AkshayaTritiya, Malabar Gold & Diamondshas come up with exciting gold coin offers to bring home more prosperity and fortune. With this offer, customers can win 5 gold coins with their newly launched collections, which will be available at their outlets for an exceptional price of KD 550 and KD 440 respectively. This offer is valid till 25th April, 2012. Apart from this, the customers can avail a gold coin free with every gold jewelry purchase of KD 250 and above. Those who purchase diamond ornaments worth KD 400 and above also have an opportunity to grab 4 gold coins free. Furthermore, customers can buy gold coins from their outlets, with absolutely no making charge, during this period. Starting from 22nd April, these offers can be availed at all Malabar Gold & Diamond outlets in the entire GCC except KSA till 25th April 2012.

Having surpassed 66 retail outlets in India and the Middle East, Malabar Gold has recently undergone a makeover as a part of their rebranding process and has been renamed asMalabar Gold & Diamonds to blend with its future business vision. With their ambitious expansion plan, they are planning to raise the company’s retail network to 220 outlets from the existing 66 within the next 4 years.

While keeping the essence of Indian jewelry heritage, Malabar Gold & Diamonds also offers international designs in gold, diamond and platinum to suit every occasion of a woman’s life.Their showroom also exhibits their branded collections, Era, Ethnix, Starlet, Divine and Mine, which are renowned globally for the perfect craftsmanship and the impeccable beauty of its creations.

eartbroken customers lined up for meal at a closing San Francisco institution - a 100-year-old Chinese restaurant once known for having “the world’s rudest waiter.” Diners of decades past say he would verbally abuse patrons, slam down dishes, and chastise complainers. Sam Wo, a Chinatown hole-in-the-wall that typified the kind of ethnic eateries for which the city’s culinary scene was lauded before it became a trendy haven for foodies, planned to serve its last customers early yesterday.

David Ho, a descendent of one of the restaurant’s original owners, decided to shut down after officials demanded extensive health and safety upgrades. On Friday, saddened patrons lined down the block to get a seat at one of the eight lunch tables and to mourn the loss of another San Francisco institution over bowls of won ton soup. “I know change is good, but sometimes you want to hold onto the happy memories,” said customer Darlene Lee, 71, who had been coming to the restaurant for 60 years and said its inexpensive fare was comfort food that reminded her of going home.

For those who did not grow up dining at Sam Wo, it became a cultural mainstay in the 1970s through reports by the late San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen and the “Tales of the City” novels of Armistead Maupin.

Both men immortalized the restaurant by writing about the antics of Edsel Ford Fung, the waiter who was known for verbally abusing patrons and slamming dishes on tables. Fung died in 1984 at age 57, but for a long time a sign listing the restaurant’s house rules maintained his gruff demeanor. Among its warnings: “No Booze ... No Jive, No Coffee, Milk, Soft Drinks, Fortune Cookies.” Sam Begler, a caterer who had been dining at Sam Wo since 1976, recalled how Fung would refuse to serve people he didn’t like the looks of and chastise customers who dared to complain when they were brought the wrong dishes. It was never quite clear whether his crustiness was genuine or an act, but it was always an experience, especially for locals who wandered in to take advantage of the restaurant’s 3 a.m. closing time.

Another devoted customer who showed up to savor the last-day atmosphere, Michael Lyons, said it seemed odd for city inspectors to crack down on Sam Wo’s managers now for failing to institute modern food safety techniques, when the restaurant’s old-fashioned methods, such as chopping and preparing meat dishes on a wood table near the front door, was part of its charm. —AP

Tourists flock to South Korea surgeons seeking celebrity looks

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was in the mid-2000s when South Korean plastic surgeon Joo Kwon noticed a trickle of Chinese women walking into his clinic, even though he hadn’t advertised overseas. “They somehow found a way to the clinic... and nearly all of them said they want the face of Lee Young-Ae,” Joo said, referring to a top South Korean actress who starred in the pan-Asian hit drama “Jewel in the Palace”. The trickle has now turned into a flood of Chinese packing Joo’s JK Plastic Surgery Centre-one of the country’s largestand many other clinics, lured by the looks of South Korean entertainers who have taken Asia by storm.

A Hallyu (Korean wave) of pop culture over the past decade has won a devoted fan base in China, Southeast Asia and Japan. The South’s TV dramas dominate prime-time airwaves and K-pop bands sell out concerts and top the charts. Legendary TV hits like “Winter Sonata” and “Autumn Fairy Tale” help draw tens of thousands of foreign fans to filming locations in South Korea every year, boosting the tourism industry.

Now skilled plastic surgeons in the looks-obsessed South-who often helped beautify Korean stars in the first place-are enjoying an unexpected boom as they do the same for their foreign fans. According to government data, overall medical spending by foreign visitors hit a record $116 million last year. Fourteen percent sought plastic surgery or skin treatments such as botox.

Almost a half of all foreigners seeking a nose job, a facelift, a jawbone reduction or a tummy tuck were from China. Their number nearly tripled from 1,657 in 2009 to 4,400 in 2010. “The Hallyu boom has definitely played a key role in drawing new patients from abroad,” said Hong Jeong-Geun, spokesman for the Korea Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons.

Hong said many star-struck foreigners visit clinics with photos of celebrities like Kim Hee-Sun, a popular actress in Asia, and ask surgeons to emulate her nose angle or eyes. “They understand that some stars, rather than born beautiful, were made beautiful with a little bit of help from plastic surgeons,” Hong told AFP. Cutthroat competition among the country’s growing number of plastic surgeons-who now number some 1,700 — made them even more aggressive in trying to lure new clients, he said. South Korea’s new export industry- Joo’s clinic in Seoul’s affluent Gangnam district-home to more than 400 plastic surgery and skintreatment clinics-is at the forefront of such efforts.

About a half of its customers are non-Koreans, from China, Japan, the Middle East and even Africa. Patients picked up at the airport by limousines are greeted by staffers who speak English, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese or Mongolian. Joo declined to give the total number of patients at his clinic but said 10 doctors perform dozens of surgeries every day. The clinic recently opened its own hotel to better serve deeppocketed foreigners who spend an average of about 20 million won ($17,675) to get multiple surgery during a single visit. “I think there’s a good chance that plastic surgery can become South Korea’s new major export industry,” said Joo. Customers like Anny Guo are highly sought after.

The daughter of a construction firm CEO in the northeastern Chinese city of Jilin, she flew to Seoul to get a nose job and make her high cheekbones less prominent. Her parents gave her 100,000 yuan ($15,860) after she begged them for months. “I want to have a face and skin like Song Hye-Gyo...or nose like Han Ga-In,” the 24-year-old college student told AFP, referring to popular South Korean actresses. Many South Korean TV shows are aired with subtitles on Chinese websites only a day after being screened in Seoul. “Most of my friends who watch South Korean dramas want to come here to get surgery. They think plastic surgeons here are the best in Asia,” said Guo. Policymakers have eased regulations, allocated a greater budget, staged presentations overseas and given awards to successful clinics to promote all kinds of medical tourism. —AFP

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SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

LIFESTYLE

Unauthorized biography spills Simon Cowell secrets

e gets colonic irrigations, Botox injections and vitamin drips, and insists on black toilet paper in his home. A revealing new biography offers intimate - some might say too intimate - details about Simon Cowell, along with a portrait of the entertainment mogul’s savvy business side. “Sweet Revenge: The Intimate Life of Simon Cowell” is written by British journalist and biographer Tom Bower, whose previous subjects include former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, jailed media mogul Conrad Black and exHarrods owner Mohammad al-Fayed. His latest portrait of power centers on the tanned and brush-cut Cowell, 52, who has gained fame in both Britain and North America as producer and an acerbic judge on T V talent shows including “The X Factor” and “America’s Got Talent.”

Bower says he became fascinated by the story of a middle-aged music producer who struck gold by turning the old-fashioned talent contest into a slick 21st-century phenomenon - and in the process earned a fortune estimated at 200 million pounds ($320 million) by the Sunday Times Rich List. The book paints a picture of a man who struggled for years in the music business, spurred on to success out of a desire to prove his detractors wrong. “He had 20 years - more than 20 years - of humiliation,” Bower said. “At school he was a total failure and as a music producer he was a total failure.

“But what he did have was charm and an ability to understand the music business because of all this failure.” “Sweet Revenge,” published in the US by Ballantine Books on Tuesday, is billed as the first book about Cowell written with the mogul’s participation though not his authorization. Bower spent many hours with Cowell aboard his private jet, at his Los Angeles home and on his yacht in the south of France and the Caribbean.

But he says Cowell told some friends and associates not to talk to him. Writing the book became “a cat and mouse game” between him and his subject. “He clearly wanted his story told properly, but there are parts he didn’t want told and it was up to me to find out about them,” Bower said. Cowell has stressed that the book was not written with his approval, tweeting: “This book is not written by me. It is unauthorized. The writer is Tom Bower.”

Cowell can’t have enjoyed the revelations in The Sun tabloid, which has been serializing the more salacious bits of Bower ’s book.

Among the details: Cowell gets regular colonic irrigations because “it’s so cleansing - and it makes my eyes shine brighter.” He is put on a drip of vitamins and nutrients for a half hour each week. He’s not gay, despite long-standing rumors. The book reveals bedroom secrets including a brief affair with former “X Factor” judge Danii Minogue. But Bower says that Cowell isn’t interested in serious relationships.

“He is only interested in women who are uninhibited and uncomplicated,” Bower said.

“He is not interested in relationships. He’s a schoolboy.” He is, however, generous. Bower says Cowell gave his ex-fiance Mezhgan Hussainy, a makeup artist on “American Idol,” a $5 million Beverly Hills house as a parting gift.

Most of his exes have refrained from spilling the beans in the media. While Britain’s tabloids have focused on Cowell’s sex life, Bower is more interested in the story of money and power, of “business rivalry and the skullduggery.”

At the heart of the book is Cowell’s feud with fellow svengali and former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller. The pair fell out over the 2001 British musical talent-show, “Pop Idol,” progenitor of “American Idol.” Fuller was listed as creator of the show despite what Cowell said was a verbal agreement to split the credit. A legal battle between the two men was settled out of court, with Fuller getting the creator credit for “Idol” - though Bower says he found “overwhelming” evidence that Cowell played a vital role.

Bower said Cowell was “naive and humiliated by Fuller’s dexterity.” “He didn’t understand the importance of owning a format,” Bower said. “He learnt his lesson.” He said Cowell became “incensed” by the “created by Simon Fuller” credit on “Pop Idol” and “American Idol,” and vowed to create his own rival show. The result was singing competition “X Factor,” which had its debut in Britain in 2004 and in the US last fall. Cowell also created “Britain’s Got Talent” and executive produces its US spinoff, “America’s got Talent.”

Cowell’s response to the book, published in Britain on Friday, is so far unknown. Publicist Max Clifford - who says Cowell pays him hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to keep stories out of the press - said he had advised Cowell not to speak to Bower, because it would undo years of carefully protected privacy. “He knows it was a mistake,” Clifford said.

“For Simon, who has protected his privacy and never, ever spoken about his relationships with anybody, to suddenly be quoted about this, that and the other is to me very damaging. “Having created an image that’s been hugely successful, to see him damage it like that is sad and disappointing,” Clifford said.

Bower, though, thinks the book’s portrait of Cowell is fairly positive. While Bower has been openly hostile to some of his previous subjects - he called Gordon Brown a ruthless bully and Conrad Black a crook - he has a soft spot for Cowell.

“He’s not a crook,” Bower said. “So far he hasn’t sued me. And it was good fun. “He d o e s n’t s i t o n h i s l a u re l s. T h a t ’s w h a t ’s endearing about him. Although he is vain, he is a perfectionist and a professional - and he understands the business better than most.” —AP

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SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

lifestyle

Kravitz adds

designer to his creative credentials enny Kravitz has taken a childhood compunction to decorate his bedroom and turned it into another creative endeavor. To rocker, songwriter and actor, add designer. Kravitz created a series of chairs for Kartell based on Philippe Starck’s iconic “Mademoiselle” armchair, clad, like, at times the rocker himself, in python, leather or fur.

And he designed black and white tiles inspired by water drops and waves for Lea Ceramiche.

Both projects were unveiled this week against the squealing backdrop of adoring fans during Milan Furniture Fair, which runs through Sunday.

For Kravitz, it all goes back to childhood, to his drive to create an environment where he felt comfortable to create, to write songs. “Since I was a kid, it was always important how my room was put together. I would buy all these posters, fabrics and lighting, and I would make the room the way I wanted it to be,” Kravitz said in an interview late Tuesday night as he perched on a leather version of his chair in a Kartell store window made to look like a stage.

Outside, fans held back by barriers snapped photos with smart phones, the eager hoard blocking traffic. The attention at a design event seemed to surprise Kravitz - despite his status as a rock venue veteran fresh off tour in Korea, whose most recent film appearance was in the box office hit “The Hunger Games.” “The most important thing was to create a vibe,” he said. And once that vibe was achieved, “my world was set.” Kravitz exercised his designer spirit decorating his home, and his first creation, an L-shaped sofa upholstered in crocodile, still adorns his New Orleans home.

“When I started getting my own homes, I found myself making pieces maybe I couldn’t find, or making pieces I couldn’t afford and copying them,” Kravitz said. “It was always about creating an atmosphere.” Along the way, he drew the favorable attention of Starck, who got to know Kravitz through his musician daughter, Ara Starck, half of the band, “The Two.” Kartell’s unofficial designer emeritus introduced the rock star to the design house, and “Kartell goes Rock,” was born.

“It is just a beginning. But he did it well,” Starck said. “He is very, very smart guy. And like all musicians, with a very strong intuition. And also he can bring the air of the night, the fresh air of the night, in design. Design is creative, but always a little bit sleeping. We are cool guys, but we are not from the night.” Kravitz said his aim was to give the chairs “feel, texture and plushness.” “It is just about reinterpreting it and putting my spin on it. For me, it was about feel, texture and plushness,” he said.

Kravitz arrived in Milan with design credentials of his own. He founded his own design company Kravitz Design Inc., in 2003, and has previously worked with Swarovski on a series of crystal chandeliers, designed a luxury recording studio in Miami Beach and conceived the Florida Room lounge at the Delano hotel in Miami, among other projects.

The two Milan debuts represent a step toward larger scale production. His tile collection for Lea is called “Goccia,” Italian for drop. The tiles - in smooth anthracite black or sleekest white - create an undulating impression along a wall. Kravitz said he was able to realize the concept through trial and error creating prototypes, getting samples and making improvements - until he achieved the effect he sought.

“They are really fluid,” Kravitz said. Kravitz seems to be hitting his creative stride, and yet finding time for it all. He said he brings his design team on tour, and they work after shows, one endeavor fueling the other. “I love that I am maturing. I am glad to be doing what it is that I love. I appreciate it now more than ever. When you are younger ... I think I was running so fast, I didn’t get to take it all in,” Kravitz said. “I am really savoring being creative, I am really savoring each moment.”—AP

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A Nepalese man prepares to take a holy bath during tha Aunshi, or Mother’s atir Mat Day, at Matatirtha temple on the outskirts of Katmandu, Nepal yesterday. Nepalese, whose her mot s are deceased, pay hom a ing form per by l age to her sou holy bathing ritual at the temple. —AP

Willie Nelson

unveils statue of himself

ountry music legend Willie Nelson helped unveil a statue honoring him in downtown Austin by singing his new song “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die” on Friday, a date long reserved to celebrate marijuana use.

The faint smell of marijuana smoke wafted through a crowd of about 2,000 people as Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell accepted on the privately funded statue as a gift from a private arts group. Organizers said they didn’t intentionally choose April 20 for the event, but once they found out, they scheduled the unveiling at 4:20 pm as a tongue-in-cheek reference to Nelson’s openness about his marijuana use and advocacy for its legalization.

The statute stands in front of the Moody Theater, where the Austin City Limits Studio is now located. Nelson, a 10time Grammy Award winner who has sold more than 40 million copies of his 150 albums, appeared on the first episode of the public television show in 1974. “He is the man who more than other made Austin the live music capital of the world,” Leffingwell said. Nelson was born in Abbott, a tiny town about 120 miles north of Austin, but he has lived in Texas’ capital city since 1971.

Longtime friend and fellow singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson congratulated Nelson, saying he couldn’t have imagined the city honoring Nelson during the early days of what became known as the Cosmic Cowboy movement in music. Nelson, who wore black jeans, a black Tshirt and a black cowboy hat, is notoriously shy about such honors. Before he began performing, with his sister Bobbie Nelson on piano, he thanked the organizers and joked with the crowd that had gathered to watch the ceremony.

“What time is it?” he joked as the clock approach 4:20 pm “I feel it’s getting close to something.” Nelson’s career was built on not conforming to country music norms. He fused country music with jazz and rock in the early 1970s to create the “outlaw country” movement in Austin and helped give the city a reputation as a music city. His first major hit came when Patsy Cline recorded his song “Crazy”

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in 1961. The monument shows Nelson in a relaxed, standing pose and holding his guitar to the side as if in conversation. Philadelphia sculptor Clete Shields said the leaning pose and heroic scale are intended to show Nelson’s openness and whimsical side while honoring his tremendous influence on music and the city.

“We wanted to get a timeless Willie, an ageless Willie,” Shields said. Nelson was also a founder of the Farm Aid movement to help family farmers and has appeared in 37 films and television shows, ranging from a starring role in the 1982 western “Barbarosa” to making a cameo in the 1998 Dave Chappelle stoner comedy “Half Baked.” The unveiling was fitting on April 20 - or 4/20, which is slang for smoking marijuana - a day pro-marijuana legalization forces have used for annual gatherings to demonstrate in support of the cause. Nelson is a well-known advocate of legalizing marijuana and has been arrested several times for possessing it.

The Willie Monument is the third statue put up by Capital Area Statues Inc., a group of prominent Texas writers, film producers and musicians. One of the others honors three Texas writers and is located at Barton Springs and the other honors the woman who fired a cannon to prevent the removal of the state archives from Austin. Capital Area Statues was formed to add more statues in Austin’s public places and raises money for them by selling scale models of the work. Lawrence Wright, one of the group’s founders, said April 20 was chosen because Nelson was scheduled to perform at a tribute to Johnny Cash in Austin that night, not because of the counterculture significance.

“We didn’t know anything about it; it seems everyone else knew the story on this,” Wright said, laughing. He said he didn’t think Nelson was doing it intentionally either, but said the group decided to embrace the city’s unofficial motto of “Keep Austin Weird” by scheduling the unveiling at 4:20 pm.—AP

Disney studio chief quits

Fashion’s Vogue makes first foray into festivals here is a moment of calm amidst the excited chatter that fills the ordinarily stuffy halls of London’s Royal Geographical Society where those attending fashion magazine Vogue’s first festival grab a bite to eat and a brief opportunity to tweet about who they’ve seen so far. Industry luminaries like Dolce & Gabbana, Burberry, Tom Ford and Stella McCartney are all descending upon Vogue’s inaugural event, which is being held over two days, to give their views on the industry to the general public.

Waiting to give their talk are design duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, who think the festival is a wonderful chance to talk to open up the fashion industry to more people. “It’s nice to be able to be available to people, to talk to people, it’s like Twitter or Facebook in real life,” Gabbana told Reuters. The Vogue Festival offers a sense of community about fashion and the chance to explain to people what the concept of fashion is, he added.

“It’s not just a magazine, it is a lot of work. There are a lot of people employed, so it’s a huge industry.” British Vogue Editor Alexandra Shulman, dressed in a black top, patterned skirt and gold necklace, is an authoritative presence surveying each aspect of the event to ensure her first festival is running smoothly. Shulman said she had been thinking about the idea of holding a festival for a long time and wanted to involve a sociological element into the program, and analyze where fashion intersects with the world we live in.

A group of girls, dressed in black

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leather jackets and brightly colored skirts, pose in front of a huge white wall emblazoned with copies of Vogue magazine covers as two students wait patiently to approach Shulman about a possible internship at Vogue, showing precisely the sort of openness the festival is aimed at promoting. Fashion students Katie Bovington, Sophie Baker and Lucy Turner said the festival was an opportunity that they wouldn’t normally get to see designers like Christopher Bailey speak.

“It’s really motivating. Afterwards you feel like you want to go out and get a job with them” said Bovington. “It gives you more of an aim, something to work towards when you’re hearing what they do and how they got there. It makes you want to get there and makes you want to work harder,” Turner added. The festival also includes the chance to find the perfect shade of red lipstick for yourself, or have your hair styled with temporary extensions or washable dyes. Attendees can also have a makeover by make-up artist Mary Greenwell and the opportunity to be photographed by the magazine’s photographers for their own “cover shoot”.

PR Manager Samantha Fogden said the festival was a great way to open up the industry to the public. “It’s kind of exclusive, so it’s great that they do open it up and give something back to their readers and anyone that’s looking for a career in fashion.” “I think that it’s definitely a positive message they are sending out and I think that this probably will be the first of many.”—Reuters

Country singer Willie Nelson looks at his statue during the unveiling of an eight-foot statue of himself, Friday, April 20, 2012 in Austin, Texas.—AP

after ‘John Carter’ bomb isney movie studio boss Rich Ross stepped down on Friday, taking the fall for at least a couple of over-budgeted bombs as Hollywood shies away from taking risks on big blockbusters. His resignation comes after two years in a row of nasty March surprises, ironically both having to do with the Red Planet. Last year it was “Mars Needs Moms,” a creepy animated movie that lost $70 million.

This year, it was “John Carter,” a sci-fi action movie set on Mars that resulted in a $200 million loss for Disney.

Ross, 50, said in a memo to staff that he no longer believed his role as chairman of Walt Disney Studios was “the right professional fit.”

The move was not surprising to analysts, coming a few months after studio marketing chief MT Carney also departed because of a string of lackluster releases. Disney CEO Bob Iger, who said last summer that big-budget movies were getting “increasingly more risky,” thanked Ross for his years of service.

The Walt Disney Co.’s stock rose 27 cents to close Friday at $42.35. Disney’s most successful movies recently have been made by studios it has bought, including “Toy Story” maker Pixar, which releases “Brave” in June, and Marvel, which will release the much-buzzed “The Avengers” overseas next week. Under the Touchstone brand, Disney also distributes movies made by Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks production company, including “War Horse.”

Fixing problems at the studio is seen as crucial for the company, because movies launch characters that are developed into Disney toys, theme park rides, books and video games. For

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example, “Cars Land,” an attraction based on the Pixar movies, will open at Disney California Adventure in June. “For Disney, it feeds a lot bigger value chain,” Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Todd Juenger said. “This is a more significant move for investors of Disney than it would be at other companies.”

Although some of Ross’s troubles stemmed from films put into production by his predecessor, Dick Cook, analysts said his inability to prevent big losses was what led to his exit. “At some level he takes responsibility for not fixing them or shutting them This March 30, 2012 file photo Rich Ross, chairman of the down,” Needham & Co. equity Walt Disney Studios poses with the Muppets during a Walk analyst Laura Martin said. “They of Fame star ceremony for The Muppets in the Hollywood need to lower the risk of entry section of Los Angeles. Rich Ross stepped down as the and build franchise films from Disney movie studio boss on Friday.—AP that base. Not go all in, hoping it works out.” expenses, Disney has said “John Carter” would Part of the estimated $250 million budget on cause a studio-wide loss of $80 million to $120 “John Carter” can be attributed to the notion million in the January-March quarter. that the movie could become a multi-part Ross had taken the job just two and a half series, as it was based on a trove of books by the years ago with a mission to cut costs and devellate Edgar Rice Burroughs. The series began op new hits. He had brought “High School with “A Princess of Mars” in 1917 and carried Musical” and “Hannah Montana” to TV audiences through to the posthumously published “John when he headed Disney Channels Worldwide.

Carter of Mars” in 1964. The movie starring Ross spent much of his early tenure at the stuTaylor Kitsch had a budget that rivaled what dio cutting costs and canceling projects that 20th Century Fox spent on “Avatar.” But “John weren’t seen as important to the Disney Carter” made only $269 million at box offices brand.—AP worldwide while “Avatar” took in $2.8 billion.

After splits with theater owners and marketing

Willie Nelson unveils statue of himself

SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012

39 A giant puppet, part of a street theatre production entitled Sea Odyssey, is ‘woken’ and transferred to a boat in Liverpool in north-west England yesterday. —AFP

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ocker and wildlife hunter Ted Nugent has agreed to plead guilty to transporting a black bear he illegally killed in southeast Alaska.

Nugent made the admission in signing a plea agreement with federal prosecutors that was filed Friday in US District Court. Calls seeking comment from Nugent, his Anchorage attorney, Wayne Anthony Ross, and assistant US Attorney Jack Schmidt were not immediately returned.

The plea agreement says Nugent illegally shot and killed the bear in May 2009 on Sukkwan Island days after wounding a bear in a bow hunt, which counted toward a state seasonal limit of one bear.

According to the agreement, first reported by the Anchorage Daily News, the six-day hunt was filmed for his Outdoor Channel television show, “Spirit of the Wild.” In the hunt, Nugent used a number of bear-baiting sites on US Forest Service property, according to the agreement.

The document says Nugent knowingly possessed and transported the bear in misdemeanor violation of the federal Lacey Act. Nugent, identified in the agreement as Theodore A. Nugent, agreed to pay a $10,000 fine, according to the agreement, which says he also agreed with a twoyear probation, including a special condition that he not hunt or fish in Alaska or Forest Service properties for one year. He also agreed to create a public service announcement that would be broadcast on his show every second week for one year, the document states.

“This PSA will discuss the importance of a hunter’s responsibility in knowing the rules and regulations of the hunting activities that they

engage in, which is subject to the review and final approval, prior to any broadcast, by a representative of the United States Attorney’s Office in the District of Alaska,” the agreement says. Nugent, who signed the document April 14, also agreed to pay the state $600 for the bear that was taken illegally, according to the agreement. He would still need to enter the plea in court and have the plea be approved by a judge.

Nugent - a conservative activist famed for his 1977 hit “Cat Scratch Fever” - drew the attention of the Secret Service after he rallied support last weekend for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and said of the Obama administration: “We need to ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off in November.” His comments were made during a National Rifle Association meeting in St. Louis. Nugent said on his website Thursday that he discussed the matter with two agents on Thursday while in Oklahoma.

“The meeting could not have gone better,” he said. “I thanked them for their service, we shook hands and went about our business. God bless the good federal agents wherever they may be.”

Nugent said he was just speaking figuratively and that he didn’t threaten anyone’s life or advocate violence. “Metaphors needn’t be explained to educated people,” he said. A Secret Service spokesman has said the issue has been resolved. With hunting, Nugent has run afoul of the law before. In August 2010, California revoked Nugent’s deer hunting license after he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of deer-baiting and not having a properly signed tag.

Nugent’s loss of that deer hunting license through June 2012 allows 34 other states to revoke the same privilege under the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact. Each state, however, can interpret and enforce the agreement differently.— AP

In this May 1, 2011 file photo, musician and gun rights activist Ted Nugent addresses a seminar at the National Rifle Association’s convention in Pittsburgh. —AP

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49-year old Russian with a big spoon in hand swallowed a pound (500 grams) of caviar in about 90 seconds to win what was billed as the world’s first eating contest featuring the pricey fish roe. “In Texas, people organise hot dog and hamburger eating championships and contests,” the swanky Apartment restaurant said in a press release for the event. “In Moscow, people eat black caviar instead,” it said. The contestants were drawn from 12 winners of a lottery who were each handed a bowl of caviar lined up on a lacquered table while a man in black tie played lounge music on a white grand piano. Muscovite Alexander Lavrov did not disclose his profession after swallowing about $5,000 worth of the stuff in a minute and 26 seconds and then raising his arms up to applause. He was awarded 10,000 rubles ($340) and several more glass jars of the salty delicacy. The Moscow River embankment house said it spent around two million rubles ($70,000) on the promotional event. — AFP

Alexander Valov, the winner of the competition, eats caviar during a competition which requires participants to eat half-kilogram of caviar in the fastest time in Moscow. —AFP

aylor Swift may be tuning up to play another blonde music legend on the big screen: Joni Mitchell. The country superstar is eyeing a part in “Girls Like Us,” Sony Pictures and Di Bonaventura Pictures’ take on Sheila Weller’s biography of Mitchell and two other big voices of her generation: Carole King and Carly Simon.

Swift is attached to the project, but there is no deal on the table at this point, and the feature hasn’t yet been approved, according to an individual familiar with the situation. “House” executive producer Katie Jacobs optioned

Weller’s 2008 book about the trio of singer-songwriters and is slated to direct from John Sayles’ script. Lorenzo di Bonaventura is producing. If Swift signs on, it’ll mark her debut in a feature drama - and the first time an actress has played Mitchell in a major movie.

The other two musical roles are still open as well, although “Midnight in Paris” actress Alison Pill has reportedly tried out to play King. Depending on the availability of the three leads, production could start later in the year, according to Variety.— (TheWrap.com)