29 April 2012

ON IP TI SC R SU B

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

Muslims revive old pilgrimage route via Jerusalem

Newcastle stunned by Wigan’s fab four

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Saudis pull ambassador, shut embassy in Egypt Junta leader working with Riyadh to heal rift

Israelis being fooled on Iran: Ex-intel chief JERUSALEM: Israel’s former security chief Yuval Diskin yesterday accused top ministers of misleading the public about the chances any pre-emptive military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities succeeding. Diskin singled out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak for criticism over their increasingly bellicose comYuval Diskin ments in the standoff with Iran over its nuclear program. “My major problem is that I have no faith in the current leadership, which must lead us in an event on the scale of war with Iran or a regional war,” Diskin said in comments carried by army radio and the Haaretz newspaper.

Diskin went a step further by saying that Netanyahu and Barak were not up to the job of Continued on Page 15

in the

news

SANAD, Bahrain: MP Osama Muhanna Al-Tamimi looks at bullet holes in the windows of a gym he owns yesterday. — AP

Bahrain MP’s business attacked by gunmen MANANA: A Sunni lawmaker who has criticized Bahrain’s harsh tactics against the opposition said gunmen attacked a business he owns in what he called a possible assassination attempt. Osama Muhanna AlTamimi said at least 30 bullets were fired early yesterday at his gym in Sanad, about 10 km south of the capital Manama. He says no one was in the gym at the time and there were no injuries. But he believed he could have been the target because he often stays there after closing. Al-Tamimi is a rare critic within the Sunni political establishment of the Sunni monarchy’s crackdowns against the 14-month-old uprising by Bahrain’s Shiite majority.

CAIRO: An Egyptian protester scuffles with security forces as they arrest a fellow demonstrator outside the Saudi embassy yesterday. — AFP

Tehran police in new dress code crackdown TEHRAN: Police in Tehran are conducting a new crackdown on women wearing mandatory headscarves improperly or in “vulgar” dress, the city’s police chief said, according to media reports yesterday. Such operations, which see police screening foot and vehicle traffic at major junctions and shopping centres, are conducted fairly often in Iran. The police chief, Hossein Sajedinia, said the crackdown was “asked for by the people”, the Fars news agency reported. Women wearing “bad headscarves, bad dress, and model-type women in vulgar dress” would be stopped, he said.

Sajedinia said that companies importing “illegal clothes” that do not comply with Islamic dress standards would be given a warning or closed. The police chief said that “thugs” disrupting public order and men “who bother other people’s daughters and wives” would also be confronted by officers.

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia said yesterday it had recalled its ambassador from Egypt “for consultations” and closed its embassy and consulates in the country for security reasons after protests against the kingdom’s arrest of an Egyptian lawyer. It was the first public rupture between the two major Arab states since last year’s popular uprising in Egypt that forced Hosni Mubarak, a close ally of Riyadh, from power. The head of Egypt’s ruling military council, Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, said in a statement reported by Egypt’s state media he was working to “heal the rift” with Saudi Arabia and had contacted Riyadh over its “surprise decision”. Saudi Arabia’s official SPA news agency said King Abdullah received a call from Tantawi and pledged to examine the issue in the coming days while “trying to take into account the interests of the two countries”.

Demonstrations outside the Saudi embassy in Cairo had grown in recent days over the arrest of Ahmed ElGezawi upon his arrival at Jeddah airport on April 17.

SPA quoted an unidentified source as saying the protests were unjustified and that attempts had been made to storm the embassy, threatening the safety of its employees. On Friday around 1,000 protesters demonstrated outside the mission, demanding the release of Gezawi and other Egyptians held in Saudi jails, witnesses said. “Oh Saudi ambassador, we will respond to every lash with a hundred!” they chanted, some of them showing their anger by removing their shoes and waving them at the building - a gesture deeply insulting in Islamic culture.

Continued on Page 15

China activist under US protection BEIJING: Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng is under US protection in Beijing after an audacious escape from 19 months under house arrest, a US-based group said yesterday, in a drama that threatens to ignite new tensions between the two governments. The United States has not given any public confirmation of reports that Chen, who slipped away from under the noses of guards and bristling surveillance equipment around his village home in Shandong province, fled into the US embassy. China has also declined direct public comment on Chen’s reported escape, which threatens to overshadow a two-day meeting with top Obama administration officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in Beijing from Thursday.

But Texas-based ChinaAid said it “learned from a source close to the Chen Guangcheng situation that Chen is under US protection and high level talks are currently under way between US and Chinese officials regarding Chen’s status”. “Because of Chen’s wide popularity, the Obama Administration must stand firmly with him or risk losing credibility as a defender of freedom and the rule of law,” Bob Fu, president of the religious and political

rights advocacy group that has long campaigned for Chen’s freedom, said in an email.

The reports of Chen’s escape come nearly three months after a Chinese official Wang Lijun fled into a US consulate for over 24 hours on Feb 6, unleashing a scandal that has rattled the ruling Communist Party months before a once-in-a-decade leadership handover. Wang’s brief flight to the U.S. consulate led to the downfall of top official Bo Xilai who had been openly campaigning for a place in the inner circle of power in Beijing.

Pu Zhiqiang, a Beijing lawyer and rights advocate, said reliable contacts also told him Chen took refuge in US embassy grounds. The incident will be another damaging blot on China’s security services, following Wang’s flight, said Pu. “Everyone knew about the suffering of Chen Guangcheng and his family but nobody dared raised his head over this and ignored it,” he told Reuters, referring to Chinese officials. “Chen Guangcheng has been the most typical victim of this lawless, boundless exercise of power,” said Pu. “But the day has finally come when he has escaped from it.” Chen, a self-schooled legal advocate who campaigned against forced abortions, Continued on Page 15

Gunmen hit Syria troops from sea Arms shipment seized in Lebanon

TEHRAN: File picture taken on July 23, 2007 shows an Iranian policeman speaking with a woman sitting in a police car. — AFP

Max 38º Min 22º High Tide 05:51 & 16:08 Low Tide 10:17 & 23:21

BEIRUT: Gunmen in inflatable dinghies killed several security officials in an attack on a militar y unit on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, state media said yesterday, the first seaborne assault reported during the revolt against President Bashar Al-Assad. The night raid, along with the killings of at least 15 people in violence in two areas near the capital, underlined the threadbare state of a UN-brokered ceasefire deal that has Western leaders talking of tougher steps to stop the bloodshed. Russia, Damascus’ most powerful ally, stepped up its criticism of anti-Assad militias, condemning what it called “barbarous” attacks designed to scuttle the two-week-old truce engineered by UN-Arab League mediator Kofi Annan.

Syria’s official SANA news agency said several gunmen and soldiers died in fighting that followed the coastal attack near the northern port of Latakia, 35 km (22 miles) south of the Turkish border.

“The fighting ... resulted in the death and wounding of a number of military personnel while the number of those killed from the terrorist group was not known because they attacked the military unit at night,” SANA said. It did not state the nationality of the attackers. Damascus

has accused Turkey of allowing weapons and funds to flow to insurgents throughout the 13-month-old uprising, the latest in a wave of revolts against rulers across the Arab world. Turkey also plays host to the leadership of the rebel Free Syrian Army.

Lebanese authorities found weapons including rocket-propelled grenades and rifles on board a ship intercepted in the Mediterranean which may have been trying to supply Syrian insurgents, security sources said. In a village north of Damascus where army defectors had taken refuge, activists said Syrian forces killed at least 10 people. And overnight, five members of the security forces were killed in an explosion targeting two vehicles near Damascus, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The United Nations says Syrian forces have killed 9,000 people since the start of the revolt in March 2011. Syrian authorities blame foreign-backed militants for the violence and say 2,600 soldiers and police have been killed.

Annan’s April 12 ceasefire has led to only modest reductions in the level of daily carnage, with both sides accusing each other of multiple breaches of the truce.

Continued on Page 15

BEIJING: A paramilitary guard stands in a booth outside the US embassy yesterday. Fugitive Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng (inset), who pulled off a daring escape from house arrest, was likely holed up inside. — AFP

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SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

LOCAL

BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki pictured with members of the Kuwaiti delegation including Muna Shushtar (centre) and Adnan Al-Rashid (right) yesterday.

Amir participation makes Arab summit in Iraq successful Kuwaiti media delegation meets Al-Maliki BAGHDAD: His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah’s visit to Iraq left a positive mark on Iraqis and his participation in the Arab summit made the event successful, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki affirmed here yesterday. Al-Maliki’s statement came during his reception of a Kuwaiti media delegation visiting Iraq. The Iraqi prime minister said that “His Highness the Amir’s visit to the country and his participation in the Arab summit was a source of joy and pride to Iraqis.”

He also thanked His Highness the Prime Minister of Kuwait Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah for his hospitality and reception during his visit to Kuwait a few weeks back, revealing that there would be a meeting for the two countries’ joint committee today to discuss issues of mutual interest.

Al-Maliki said that the Arab summit’s resolution called for bolstering ties amongst Arab nations on all possible levels, adding that the visit of the

Kuwaiti media delegation was part of such goals.

In regards to relations, Al-Maliki said that ties between Iraq and Kuwait were based on brotherhood and understanding, stressing that what have occurred in the past was a source of discontent to current Iraqi government and people.

The Iraqi top official called on Arab media and business to operate in Iraq, noting that the situation in the country was improving on a day-to-day basis and this could be witnessed in the return of Arab diplomatic missions to the country and the holding of the Arab summit in Iraq.

Maliki also touched on the issue of Iraq’s implementation of UN resolutions in relation with the liberation of Kuwait, affirming that Iraq and Kuwait would be discussing the issue during the joint committee meeting to be held tomorrow in Baghdad.

Asked about the obstacles preventing investors, namely Kuwait, from venturing into Iraq, the prime

minister said that ever since of the Saddam regime times, Iraq had been recovering on a slow basis, indicating that “Iraq has huge oil reserves which enabled the country to increase production gradually.” He indicated that the increase of oil production and other lucrative opportunities in Iraq would help to attract investors from around the global and hopefully from Kuwait.

Kuwaiti private sector could seek to invest in Iraq and especially in the iron, metal, and reconstruction industr y industries, said Al-Maliki and added that Kuwaiti companies should be the first to open investments in Iraq.

On the matter of the closure of the Safwan border checkpoint with Kuwait, the Iraqi Prime Minister said that the action was taken to enable to renovate the facility due to increasing incoming commercial traffic to Iraq.

Attempts by the remnants of Iraqi Baath party to create tension between the two countries should be given no

attention, said Al-Maliki who called on both Iraqi and Kuwaiti media outlets to both refute any allegation aimed at affecting ties.

The Iraqi official also was asked about the Iraqi stance towards the issue of the three UAE Islands occupied by Iran and Tehran’s nuclear file, which he said that Baghdad was keen on finding a solution to the matters at hand, pointing out that the Iraqi capital would be hosting the 5+1 group meeting on the Iranian nuclear file.

As for the Iranian and UAE issue, AlMaliki stressed that the current Iraqi presidency of the current session of the Arab League would aim at defusing the tension between Abu Dhabi and Tehran.

Regarding the priorities in his remaining tenure as prime minister, Al-Maliki hoped that he would reach an agreement in regards to pending issues such as the Iraqi debt to Kuwait, the Algiers’ accord of 1975 on sharing water resources with Iran, as well as the Iranian-Arab relations and reach-

ing a middle ground on issues of dispute. “Iraq does not want to head to war due to issues that could be solved by talks,” said Al-Maliki, adding that any dispute could be solved via dialogue.

Iraq’s foreign relations had been developing tremendously, said AlMaliki, noting that commercial exchange with countries like Turkey had reached $15 billion.

He went on saying that Iraq’s current policy was to evade any attempts to interfere in the issues of other countries but welcome any kind of cooperation with all nations of the world to achieve both the interests of the Iraqi people and others.

Whether Iraq would join the GCC, the prime minister stated that “the GCC countries and Iraq were members of the Arab League and they are working very hard to make the league an institute that would be of economic and political strength,” adding that Iraq would be working with others and maybe join Arab and non-Arab

institutions when the country become ready for such feat.

On the issue of Syria, Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Maliki said that he lived around 16 years in the neighboring Arab country, indicating that the situation there should not be handled via a “military” solution.

He feared that the Syrian crisis would evolve into a situation where the country is divided to those who are loyal to the regime and the opposition. Al-Maliki hoped that the situation would not lead to effecting other nations including Iraq, adding that he was eager to see the situation being resolved for the sake of the Syrian people.

“Iraqi will not prevent relief aid from entering Syria; however, no arms would smuggled into the neighboring through the Iraqi boarders,” stressed the Iraqi prime minister.

He called on parties involved in the crisis to halt any kind of military backup and resort to dialogue to end the Syrian situation. — KUNA

Traffic police launch inspection campaigns

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: The traffic police launched several inspection campaigns all over Kuwait over the weekend which resulted in filing 7,917 tickets and citations and detaining 506 vehicles, said security sources. The sources added that according to statistics, the capital governorate witnessed 1,546 traffic tickets and the detention of 75 vehicles whereas 2,100 tickets were filed in Hawally and 37 vehicles were detained, 885 tickets were filed in Farwaniya and 37 vehicles detained, 871 tickets were filed in Ahamdi and 45 vehicles detained and 104 tickets were filed in Mubarak Al-Kabeer and four vehicles were detained.

Acquittals The criminal cour t recently acquitted a citizen who had been accused of drug abuse. The criminal cour t also acquitted three Egyptians who had been sentenced to a lifetime for allegedly sabotaging electric cables, cutting and stealing them, said security sources noting that the verdict was annulled for lack of evidence.

Expat stabbed A 31-year-old Sri Lankan was stabbed during a fight at the Green Island, said security sources noting that the man was rushed to Mubarak Hospital for treatment.

Fire breaks out A 26-year-old Ethiopian acted hysterically when a fire broke out at a Jabriya house, said security sources noting that the woman was treated and calmed down on site after firemen controlled the flames.

Pregnant woman injured A 32-year-old pregnant Iranian woman sustained abdominal injuries during an accident and was rushed to the Amiri hospital for treatment.

Accidents A 28-year-old Sri Lankan broke his right arm and sustained several bruises all over when he was knocked down by a speeding vehicle while crossing the Gulf Road near Green Island.

A 29-year-old Egyptian sustained a head injury and arm fractures while a 27-year-old companion of his broke his right thigh and frac-

tured his skill when their cars collided along King Fahad Highway.

A 34-year-old citizen sustained a head injury when he lost control of his bike and it slid along the Gulf Road, said security sources noting that the man was rushed to Mubarak hospital for treatment.

An Egyptian was unhurt in an accident along Fahaheel Expressway while his father broke his right arm and his mother sustained some shoulder injuries.

A 9-year-old citizen broke his collar-bone and sustained various wounds all over when he was knocked down by a speeding vehicle in Rumaithiya.

A 23-year-old citizen sustained various bruises all over when he lost control of his bike and it slid near the camping area in Jelai’a.

A 22-year-old epileptic citizen had a seizure while driving his car in Kabed, which caused an accident with another vehicle. Luckily, nobody was hurt and the driver was rushed to Farwaniya hospital for treatment. A 21-year-old citizen bruised his head and a 19-year-old sustained an internal haemorrhage when their vehicles collided along King Faisal Expressway.

BAGHDAD: Members of the Kuwaiti media delegation holding talks with leader of Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq Ammar Al-Hakim yesterday.

ISCI leader lauds Iraq-Kuwait ties BAGHDAD: Leader of Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq Ammar AlHakim hailed yesterday the remarkable development of Iraqi-Kuwaiti ties, urging strategic partnership among Iraq and Gulf nations to defend shared interests.

“Iraq and Kuwait share history, geography and even interests,” AlHakim said during his reception of a visiting Kuwaiti media delegation.

“Both nations are responsible for strengthening these relations and taking it to new heights,” he added.

The Iraqi politician urged Kuwaiti people and leadership not to stop at the strange anti-Kuwait statements made by a handful of Iraqi politicians.

He underlined the importance of countering any attempts and schemes to jeopardize Iraqi-Kuwaiti relations.

Al-Hakim noted the sectarian tension in the Gulf region is totally based on political problems. He also for a real strategic partnership between Arab countries based on shared political, security and economic concerns.

For his part, Kuwaiti Ambassador in

Iraq Ali Al-Moamen applauded the great role played by Al-Hakim and his party in bolstering Iraqi-Kuwaiti relations and solving any dispute that challenges them.

Kuwaiti MP Hassan Johar stressed the importance of dialogue among countries in the region, particularly the major ones, namely Iraq and Saudi Arabia to ease tension and bridge gaps.

The Kuwaiti delegation to Iraq includes MPs, media people, academicians and public figures.— KUNA

Teenager run over in Salmiya KUWAIT: A teenager was killed in Salmiya where he was accidently run over by a driver who was later arrested. Paramedics and police rushed to the scene after the Kuwaiti driver made an emergency call after the accident happened. The young man was pronounced dead at the scene and the body was taken to the forensic department. Meanwhile, a Kuwaiti man died in an accident reported Friday at Al-Salmi Road. Paramedics pronounced the victim dead on the scene after his car lost balance and overturned. A case was opened to determine the circumstances behind the accident.

Hit-and-run A primary student was injured after he was hit by a speeding vehicle in front of his school in Abu Hlaifa recently. The unidentified driver reportedly escaped as soon as the accident happened. The eight-year-old boy was rushed to Al-Adan Hospital where his condition was described as stable. Search is currently on for the driver.

Embassy raid attempt A drunk was arrested Friday when he reportedly tried to force himself inside the Bahraini embassy building. Police officers and embassy security personnel reported to the building following a call about an attempt to break in. The Kuwaiti man was placed in custody as he was found to be heavily intoxicated. He remains in custody pending legal procedures.

8 hurt in fight Eight people were injured in a fight featur-

ing at least 50 young men. The incident was reported at a park in Salmiya where police officers rushed to bring the situation under control. During investigations, the injured indicated that the fight began when a young man confronted someone who harassed his sister. Search is currently on for the other members who escaped before the police arrived.

Search for harasser Search is currently ongoing for a newspaper delivery worker accused of sexually harassing a little girl in Salmiya. The case was reported recently at Al-Rumaithiya police station where a Pakistani man told officers his sevenyear-old daughter was targeted by the suspect while she was playing with her friend at the building’s yard. The suspect reportedly escaped before the victim’s mother rushed outside when she was notified by her daughter’s friends.

‘Immorality’ raids Forty one people were arrested during security operations carried out in Hawally targeting immoral activities. The crackdowns took place late Thursday night and into early hours of Friday morning, and specifically targeted apartments in Salmiya, Al-Nugra and AlShaab suspected of hosting illegal activities.

With warrants in hand, security officers reportedly raided multiple apartments where they arrested a total of 27 Kuwaiti men along with 14 women of different nationalities (Five Kuwaiti, nine Egyptian, Lebanese and Moroccan). The detainees were taken to the authorities to face charges. Meanwhile,

Ahmadi police arrested 36 men and women during similar raids carried out in Al-Mangaf and Abu Al-Hassaniya simultaneously with Hawally police’s operations.

Forger held Criminal investigators managed to arrest a Kuwaiti man who used stolen IDs to issue credit cards he later used for travels and hotel bookings at European cities. Investigations began following reports from businessmen whose bank accounts were hacked while their IDs were used illegally. Investigators were eventually able to identify a prime suspect who was able to steal his victims’ IDs to carry out his crimes. Investigations also revealed that the suspect used his brother’s passport to travel since he is blacklisted for previous fake checks cases. He confessed to all his crimes after being arrested in an ambush.

Peeping Tom A male suspect admitted following his arrest in Salmiya that he was peeping through the window of ground floor apartment to look at a couple in bed. Police reportedly headed to a building in the area after receiving an emergency call from an Egyptian man reporting a stranger he caught looking from outside while he was in bed with his wife. The Lebanese man told police that he decided to take a closer look when he got “curious” by what he accidently saw after passing by the apartment’s window. He was taken to spend the night at the police station.

Suicide attempt A domestic worker sustained multiple

injuries after she jumped off a building in a bid to end her life. Paramedics and police rushed to a house in Saad Al-Abdullah after a Kuwaiti man reported that his housemaid jumped from a second floor window. The 30-year-old Asian woman was rushed to Al-Jahra hospital where she was diagnosed with several broken bones and wounds. An investigation is underway to reveal the circumstances behind the case.

Work mishap An Arab man sustained injuries when he fell inside a manhole in Mubarak Al-Kabeer recently. Fire-fighters from Al-Qurain Fire Station used ropes to help the man out of the deep hole, before he was handed over to paramedics. Investigations revealed that the man was carrying out maintenance work at a nearby house when he accidently fell inside the manhole.

Attempted murder A Syrian man sustained a gun wound on his foot when a male shopper fired four shots at workers of a market in Al-Agailah recently. The injured shopkeeper was rushed to Al-Adan Hospital where his condition was described as stable. During investigations, the man described the suspect as “a man in traditional Kuwaiti dress speaking Kuwaiti dialect”. He explained that the suspect likely got offended when he called his boy a ‘little kid’ as he was buying him a toy car. The suspect reportedly went absent for 30 minutes before returning with a gun in hand. He faces multiple charges including attempted murder as investigations are currently ongoing.

— Al-Anba, Al-Watan, Al-Rai, Al-Qabas

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

LOCAL

KUWAIT: Minister of Information Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah distributing awards at the Second Arab Media Meeting for Youth yesterday.

Information minister affirms leadership concern for youth Arab media meeting opens sought to deprive the young of the media and press freedoms, “putting them behind walls of a single school of thinking.

“They made greater error when they considered the youth as not mature enough to express language of the modern media through the new technological means and depriving them of the means of modern social communications, messaging and tweeting.”

These regime sought to wash brains of the young for decades, belittling their traits and capabilities. But despite these bids, the young mastered exploitation of the modern-time communication sets and tools, practically turning “into self-made journalists although some of them did not graduate from colleges and broadcast events that could have been camouflaged and forgotten,” he said alluding to young activities in some countries who

KUWAIT: Minister of Information Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah indicated yesterday the media proved quite helpful for Arab youth during the Arab Spring events noting they were fruits of efforts of activists who struggled for change through “electronic dialogue.” The minister, in a statement inaugurating the Second Arab Media Meeting for Youth, patronized by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, indicated that His Highness has been known, for a long time, for his personal concern and sponsorship of the youth, whom he considers as the hope of the future.

Media proved to be an entity that can be alive if exploited by the youth. Likening this realm “to an old man in absence of interaction by the youth.”

He criticized some Arab regimes that

19 dead in 1,052 fire incidents in February KUWAIT: At least 19 people lost their lives and 88 others were injured in 1,052 fires reported in February 2012, states a repor t quoting monthly statistics released by the Kuwait Fire Services Directorate (KFSD).

The number of injured include seven firemen hurt while tackling flames, said Lt Col Khalil Al-Amir, KFSD’s Public Relations and Media Manager. He added that firefighters handled 204 rescue missions reported in February.

According to investigation results,

102 fires reported in February were caused by children left unattended near a heat source or flammable material, while short electric circuits triggered 91 fire incidents. Al-Amir added that 35 incidents were categorized as arson cases.

The most number of fire incidents were reported in Farwaniya - 330 cases, followed by Hawally with 181 cases, the Capital with 161 cases, Ahmadi with 159 cases, Jahra with 128 cases and finally Mubarak Al-Kabeer with 81 cases.

expressed opposition to the ruling regimes and transmitted image of their protests and arbitrary action by security forces to the whole world through state-of-art media means, namely smart phones and the internet.

By contrast, Kuwait since its establishment as a modern state, has sought to secure a free and democratic atmosphere, setting basis of an objective and transparent information environment, where “our young citizens can express their views and practice the profession of information without conditions. On the other hand, there should be consideration to the fact that freedom is a full responsibility and there should moralistic commitment toward the society.

For his part, Secretary General of the Arab Information Forum Madi Khamees expressed gratitude to HH the Amir for patronizing the

event and devoting special care for the youth, noting His Highness’ keenness on “opening all doors for them.”

He called for “revising the information practices,” in shadow of the dramatic events that have taken place across the Arab world and the unprecedented global technological innovations. This forum is named after the late great Kuwaiti writer, Mohammad Musaed AlSaleh, who remained a pioneering figure in the national and Arab journalism and a unique literary writer. Moreover, the forum has chosen for this session Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad AlKhalifa, the chairman of the higher youth and sports authority of the UAE, as an exemplary personality.

He indicated that the forum was being granted for the youth, with the aim of encouraging the young Arabs to seek further creativi-

ty for a brighter future of the nation.

Ghalia Bu-Akook, an eminent Libyan media figure, affirmed that youth should play a role amid these drastic and rapid changes and events in the world.

The media in Libya used to serve a single person and with the revolution, it was liberated and turned to serve the homeland, instead, she added, alluding to the ousted dictatorship of the late ruler, Muammar Al-Gaddafi, who lost his life during the popular armed revolt.

Mayar Al-Ghaiti of Egypt called for mapping out new strategies for the Arab media, affirming vital role of the youth for seeking an objective and professional media.

The event witnessed distribution of awards for the best news coverage, article writing and photographing. The minister inaugurated an affiliate exhibition. — KUNA

Government slammed over environmental crises KUWAIT: A lawmaker has announced that he possesses information concerning ‘serious environmental violations’ that could be used to initiate at least one interpellation motion which may result in the Cabinet’s ouster.

Lawmaker Hammad Al-Muttar, Head of the parliament’s environmental committee, said during a recent interview with Al-Rai TV that he plans to use constitutional tools gradually.

Al-Muttar admitted that lawmakers do not have the authority to investigate the reasons behind the fire outbreak that started in a used cars dump yard in Rahiya. He, however, asserted that the blaze was an act of arson started ‘by people who harbor unknown agenda.’ He criticized the “chaos created by the Kuwait Municipality, Environment Public Authority and Public Authority of Industry.” He was the only parliament member to take part in a TV show that also featured two Municipal Council member and an environmental activist to discuss the issue.

Ashwaq Al-Mudhaf, who tendered her resig-

nation from her post in the Municipal Council following the fire, said that her decision is yet to be approved by HH the Amir. “The Municipal Council has the ability to identify problems present in the Kuwait Municipality but cannot take steps to hold officials accountable because of( immunity enjoyed) as per law number 5/2005 of the Municipality law,” Al-Mudhaf said, referring to an article that the Parliament has been repeatedly asked to amend, granting more powers to authorities.

Al-Mudhaf added that she visited the Rahiya site on three different occasions before the blaze was triggered, “but questions she made regarding the topic were ignored.” She further mentioned the Amghara dump yard as a place rife with “environmental, security and social issues.”

Meanwhile, she promised to provide proof to MP Al-Muttar concerning 20 million tires that were buried in Kuwait.

Meanwhile, Jenan Bushehri, Head of the Municipal Council’s environmental committee said that the Municipality ignored recommenda-

tions put forward by the council to secure the Rahiya zone when it was transferred to the Municipality’s authority in 2009. “The problem is that Municipal Council members will pass legislations that the Kuwait Municipality has not been following. However, we do not have the authority to hold them accountable for that,” she said.

Khalid Al-Hajri, Head of the Green Line environmental group asked the Kuwaiti people to take part in a “peaceful civil disobedience campaign to protect our children’s lives from pollution.” Urging Al-Jahra residents to stage strikes, Al-Hajri held HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah responsible for the Rahiya incident, and “the government’s failure to warn Al-Jahra residents from the fire’s repercussions.”

Al-Hajri also mentioned the Amghara scrap area, saying that the problems it suffers from became “catastrophic after the waste dumped

by American and Iraqi armies reached its scrap areas,” warning against “multiple kinds of environmental crises.”

Pearl diving expedition in August KUWAIT: The 24 Annual Pearl Diving Expedition will take place between 23 and 30 August following the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan, the organizers announced in a statement released recently.

The timing was agreed upon as being most suitable, given time constraints due to the short period available between the end of school exams in June and the beginning of Ramadan Ali Al-Qabandi July. Instead, this period will be utilized for registration and training, announced the cultural committee in the Kuwait Sea Sports Club (KSSC).

Registration opens on June 16, while the first training camp will be held on June 30, said Ali Al-Qabandi, Head of the cultural committee. Meanwhile, the diving boats, gifted by late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, as well as HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlSabah, will be docked on July 7, two Khalifa Al-Rashid days before the ‘Habaab and Shuna’ tradition in which they are cleaned and put for maintenance.

The 19th Riqqa Battleship Race, an annual event held before the ‘pearl diving expedition’ to commemorate the historic Riqqa battle, will take place on July 14 this year. Preparations will be put on hold during Ramadan, before they resume after the Eid AlAdha holiday, ahead of the ‘Dasha’ opening day on August 23. AlQabandi announced that the traditional ‘media trip’ in which correspondents of local press and media agencies are taken on cruises is scheduled to be held on Aug 26 and 27.

Al-Qabandi also announced that the 39th Annual Kuwait Fishing Grand Tournament will be held on November 10, 2012.

Meanwhile, KSSC plans to hold a ceremony to welcome consultant Captain Khalifa Al-Rashid, who returned recently to Kuwait after successfully undergoing medical treatment in France.

Teachers’ allowance issue resolved

KUWAIT: The Apostolic Nuncio (Ambassador of the Holy See, Vatican) to Kuwait Archbishop Petar Rajic hosted a reception at Marina Hotel over the weekend to mark the anniversary of the election of Pope Benedict XVI. A number of diplomats and other dignitaries attended the function. — Photos by Joseph Shagra

KUWAIT: Kuwait Teachers’ Society, Civil Service Commission and Fatwa and Legislation have managed to resolve the dispute about the payment of the full teachers’ allowance as mentioned under Law No. 28 for the year 2011, issued last December. The agreement was the outcome of a meeting held in the office of the assistant undersecretary for legal affairs in Civil Service Commission, Nahla Ben Naji.

The means of payment for some allowances was discussed during the meeting which was a conflicting issue between Kuwait Teachers’ Society and the Civil Service Commission.

Marriage loans increased to KD 6,000 KUWAIT: Increasing numbers of Kuwaiti women choose to remain spinsters owing to high cost of living. In order to remedy this situation, the government has decided to raise marriage loans granted to KD 6,000, with the aim of encouraging youths to marry and raise a family.

However, the loan amount becomes a burden instead of a gift for the youth who seek to begin a

family life. This move , many fear, will result in steep increases in the prices of real estate, furniture, clothing, and dowry.

Saad Al-Rashidi, a 27-year-old young man employed with the Ministry of Information said that he welcomes the revised loan amount, as it motivates youth to consider marriage and build a family. He added that wedding arrangements are

costly, so the amount can benefit them.

“It is better that youngsters get married instead of whiling away time at cafes. This will lead youth to the wrong path. He pointed out that marriage will bring knock some sense into the lives of the many youth, makes them more responsible, becoming constructive individuals instead of being dependent,” he said. — Al-Shaheed

KUWAIT: Under the patronage of Sheikha Aida Salem Al-Sabah, Dr Sumah Al-Freih, the head of National Society for Child Protection, opened the annual exhibition of the society in Arraya complex over the weekend to help children. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

LOCAL kuwait digest

In my view

Formulation of a new vision

Expats need labor unions

By Nada Al-Mutawa

D

uring the period of change the Arab world is going through, and the crowding of international effec ts in the “Arab Spring” regions which globalizing issues and political action, there appears to be a need to formulate a new vision. This vision will guarantee the correctness of procedures accompanying the period of change, most notably in the strategic role of the media regarding many issues, including humane intervention and assistance.

The prime example is the situation in Syria and Libya and other countries. They forced the international community to search for a new model to interfere in the affairs of countries undergoing change and needing humanitarian assistance.

Among the changes that requires care are those that tackle internal affairs in the Arab world, like designing election systems in post revolution periods. There should be new administrative methods to review constitutions, which is something that is occupying the Egyptian street nowadays. Citizens face one of two things.

Either the “Islamic” majority changes the constitution in its favor through laws that tickle the citizen. They stiffen punishments during rights initiatives, deprive women from participation and impose more restrictions on half of society.

Or, a neutral entity establishes a corrective example during the transitional period. So. What is the example being followed?

Joseph Nai, who wrote the new liberalism theory along with Robert Cohen, evolved to mixing liberalism with realism of foreign policy in 2008.

He said general diplomacy, or soft power, is the solution. It is the ability to achieve goals without resorting to classical power, i.e. through investment in international relations and following public opinion and the evaluation of public and foreign policy.

The changes Nai pointed to are globalization and technological revolution or, as it is defined today, the “new general diplomacy”. In his opinion, this contributed to revealing the weak points in laying out economic and information strategies which bring about the need to activate economic and information effects in both domestic and foreign policies.

The activation of information effects will be directed to local and foreign affairs through various methods, most clearly shedding the light on executive tools linked to traditional and electronic media, by considering globalization, technological revolution and its tools of communication. — Al-Jarida

By Labeed Abdal

local@kuwaittimes.net

K

kuwait digest

Can we channelize media?

By Khalid Toma

I

began dabbling in journalism during my school years by working on traditional school journals, college periodicals and eventually settling in local dailies where I learnt the art of crafting news.

Experience taught me that it is okay to discuss certain topics I previously hesitated to, given the fact that people usually find them unconvincing.

I also learnt from some of the media theories in the West that a media outlet can be like a tap that can be opened and closed to control the desired amount of water required. Today, I find these theories still applied in the West, in Arab countries and in Kuwait. Unlike in the West, we do not utilize media houses to our advantage.

We have media houses and personalities without the ability to channel it to serve our causes.

Media houses are primarily used today to spread sectarian tension. While issues on the local, Arab and Islamic scenarios are usually addressed, these discussions are often misguided and end up stirring emotions that calm down.

How many times have the Palestinian, Syrian, Sudanese and Egyptian cases been discussed in the media, with the only result that our emotions were temporarily stirred?

The print and electronic media today increasingly resemble the practice of borrowing and returning a book back to the library once you finish reading. While Arab countries have not been shy to introduce technological developments to local media, they have failed to improve on the essence of media work.

Social media is something that was imposed on us. After personally using a social media, I found out that it does not enjoy the level of freedom it claims to have after a subject I mentioned was deleted for being ‘violating the law.’

I have realized that even social media are meant to serve certain interests. This is because while they allow blasphemous material to be publicized, they prevent attempts to expose governments. — Al-Rai

uwait’s revised labor law number 6/2010 lays down the right to establish unions for workers and employers. Kuwaiti workers will have the right to form syndicates to protect their interests, work toward improving their social and financial status as well as represent them in all operations related to them. Employers also have right to form unions for the same purpose. The union should show the objectives and goals established, and spell out rights and duties of members.

The system should show the conditions of membership, specialties of members, budget and regulations in case the system is to be amended. It must also include regulations in case the general assembly is dissolved. Also, money, records and registers of the union should be cleared.

Furthermore, the law stipulates that the employees and employers’ unions, after receiving all the benefits, respect rules and regulations in the country just like other organizations. They should lay down rights and activities as per the law.

We are sure that Kuwait, has several years of experience in regulating labor unions, especially the Kuwaiti ones. Many such unions exist in the private sector, oil sector, expanding its scope to the public sector. Moreover, the new law requires that unions be monitored, as they should show purpose, objectives and funding to make sure that these can perform by following public decorum.

Yet, we should not forget that large numbers of foreign employees, increasingly face major difficulties with some of the employers, mainly in cases where sleeping local partners are involved. They only provide visas and residency stamps, without any other guarantees or obligations. There are hundreds of cases where employees, deprived of their basic rights, are harassed and are even trapped in fabricated absconding and breach of trust cases.

Therefore, addressing these issues are a must, so is forming unions that falls under the jurisdiction of the new labor authority. This should serve as the main focal point for local and foreign workers. As expatriates form a sizeable part of the population, we should not turn a deaf ear on their concerns and difficulties.

5

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

LOCAL

Popular Bloc firm behind constitutional amendments New call for radical reforms

KUWAIT: Construction of the Jahra highway in progress.

Execution of Jahra road project proceeding from two to three with the KUWAIT: Construction of intention of speeding up the key road, the 10kmthe work. long Jahra highway, is proThe project, being exejected to finish by the year cuted along a distance of 10 2016, announced a ranking km, will end by 2016, in five official of the Ministry of phases, he said, indicating Public Works yesterday. that the section between The declaration was the Second Ring Road and made by the Assistant the “United Nations Undersecretary for Road Roundabout,” would be Affairs, Saud Al-Naqi, as he linked by a causeway, inspected construction sites underneath of which there of the mega project, forewould be several roads and cast to cost up to KD 264.76 Saud Al-Naqi intersections. million. He indicated that The venture, aimed at easing flow of pieces for foundations of the bridges and causeways would be imported next traffic and minimizing jams, was launched month. Number of cranes were increased on Sept 13, 2010. — KUNA

KUWAIT: The Popular Action Bloc (PAB), a leading bloc that comprises the Parliament’s majority, plans to coordinate efforts to introduce constitutional amendments aimed at curbing the Cabinet’s powers in the National Assembly, states a report published yesterday. Quoting reliable sources, the report indicates that the proposed amendments suggest revoking ministers’ parliament membership, giving MPs the authority to vote a prime minister out of office in no confidence motion, similar to the one filed against ministers. The Constitution allows MPs to pass a no-confidence motion against the prime minister.

Based on this move, the Amir can either sack the premier or order a parliamentary dissolution. Moreover, the amendments would require that the Parliament approve the Cabinet’s work program that is presented following the Cabinet’s formation.

The sources, who spoke to Al-Rai on condition of anonymity, also indicated that a constitutional amendment should not adopt

a system in which the prime minister is elected, instead of the current tradition in which the premier is appointed by HH the Amir.

The news report does not specify which lawmakers can present the amendment proposals, but the Development and Reform Bloc(DRB) repor tedly plans to submit amendments during the summer that call for changing the mechanism by which the prime minister is selected, basically by adding the condition that he must be voted into office by a parliamentar y majority before assuming duties, as announced by MP, Dr Waleed Al-Tabtabaei last week.

“Constitutional amendments were an old ambition that have became a necessity since it first began almost a year ago,” said DRB member MP Dr Faisal Al-Mislem on Friday, calling for “radical reforms that complete the state of institutions.” Denying that these calls were a coup against the political system, AlMislem insisted on the Amir’s authority to select the prime minister “but we say that the country should reorganize its priorities.”

TEC Chess tournament concludes KUWAIT: The first annual TEC chess tournament organized jointly by the Touristic Enterprises Company(TEC) and the Kuwait Mental Games Club will conclude today at the Yachts Club. It hosted the match earlier this month.

The closing ceremony will begin at 7:00 pm under the patronage of Khalid Al-Ghanim, TEC Vice Chairman and Managing Director. Winners Tahir Khalid from at least one hundred competitors representing fourteen countries; including members of Kuwait’s junior national team will be rewarded. “The tournament lived up to high expectations, given the level of competition displayed by participants and great organizing,” said Tahir Khalid, Vice President of the Kuwait Mental Games Club yesterday. Meanwhile, Hudah Ahmad, TEC Public Relations Manager and Head of the tournament’s organizing committee stated that cash prizes will be given out to members of Kuwait’s junior team.

More surprises from VIVA in ‘Win a Car Every Week’ campaign

Fahad Al Fahad (center) with the lucky winners

KUWAIT: VIVA, Kuwait’s newest and most advanced mobile telecommunications service provider, announced the winner in its hugely successful “Win a Car Every Week” campaign. Meshaiah Tadi Nagiswara and Mohamed Mahmoud Ismail Abdullah were each lucky winners of a new Chevrolet Camaro V6 2012 in the campaign.

The winners expressed their happiness for being the lucky winners of the new Chevrolet Camaro V6 car as it is a dream come true and it has been made possible by VIVA. VIVA congratulated the winners and invited customers to participate in the ongoing campaign in order to be one of the many winners in the upcoming weekly draws.

VIVA also reiterated its commitment to continuously provide unique and tailor made offers designed to better serve and reward its customers.

The offer is only applicable to prepaid customers where they can enter the draw through two options. the first option is to subscribe with 500 Fils per day which gives them infinite minutes and SMS within VIVA network. For every 500 fils spent, the customer is entitled 1 chance to enter the draw.

The second option for prepaid customers includes subscribing to BlackBerry KD7 which gives them full and unlimited BlackBerry Services, where customers will gain 15 points automatically.

For customers who purchase a new prepaid line will enter the draw automatically.

Customers are able to subscribe to both options in order to enter the draw to win a luxurious car, where their points will be accumulated and carried on to the next draw if they did not win. To increase their chances to win a new car every week, prepaid customers can subscribe to the ‘Flavor of the Week’ which will be a ‘special service’ for that week allowing more opportunities to win every week.

To subscribe, to ‘Infinite Calls and SMS’ offer, Send “1” to 535 in an SMS. Prepaid customers interested in the full, unlimited, local KD 7 BlackBerry offer, can send an SMS with the number ‘2’ to ‘535’. For the full menu of the prepaid offers, send an SMS with the word “GO”, to number ‘535’.

“We only demand that the Parliament gain its right to give the Cabinet confidence before ministers assume their duties,” he added.

In other news, rapporteur of the parliament ’s legislative committee, MP Mohammad Al-Dallal said that an anti-corruption project proposed by the government “contains flaws and fails to live up to expectations,” saying that the proposed law places the projected anti-corruption authority under the Minister of Justice’s ambit, instead of being an independent body. The committee will start studying the proposal this week, Al-Dallal told Al-Qabas.

Separately, Al-Anbaa daily reported yesterday that “a political compromise” could be in the horizon to end the multi-million deposits case as well as the Parliament’s storming incident that is currently sub- judice. The report, which quotes “political sources familiar with the subject” gave no further information about the compromise or the manner in which both cases could be wrapped up.

Al-Naqqi denies relations with blasphemer KUWAIT: Kuwaiti attorney and political activist Najla Al-Naqqi denied having “any kind of relations” with a man who faces blasphemy charges and shares a surname.

Al-Naqqi, a state attorney with the Fatwa and Legislation Department, made these statements in a press release issued yesterday, commenting on “baseless rumors” that appeared recently linking her with Hamad Al-Naqqi, who is currently incarcerated at the Central Jail pending legal procedures.

“It is only the common surname that has created confusion,” Al-Naqqi said, expressing regret at the fact that her name was mentioned in a case pertinent with Prophet (PBUH) being offended “which is unacceptable to any Muslim.” Rumors circulated about the accused being a related to Najla Al-Naqqi, something the attorney categorically denied. “The Al-Naqqi family name is not linked to a particular person,” she said, dismissing rumors.

Al-Naqqi runs a local forum in which several activists from Kuwait and the Arab World discuss social and cultural activists.

“The Forum is open to the public, media and press as no activities are held behind

Najla Al-Naqqi closed doors,” she insisted, expressing hope that unconfirmed information be verified first before “spreading baseless accusations.” She ended her statement by asserting that blasphemy should not be tolerated. “This incident motivates me to continue in the Forum’s leading role and support the cultural movement in Kuwait,” Al-Naqqi said.

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

local

Zain launches iCard exclusive mobile payment services KUWAIT: Zain, the leading telecommunications company in Kuwait, launched iCard, a new exclusive mobile payment service that will provide customers with the safest and easiest way to get iTunes and CashU prepaid cards without the use of a credit card or K-Net. Convenience and utmost customer satisfaction are the key features of the new iCard services.

Speaking on the occasion of the service launch, Nadia Al-Saif, Value added services director at Zain, said, “As an undisputed pioneer in innovation Zain is the first operator in Kuwait and in the region at large to offer such a service.”

She added, “We are delighted to provide

Nadia Al-Saif

a new exclusive service to our valued customers demonstrating Zain’s firm commitment to innovation and access to mobile payments that facilitate the communication and lifestyle needs of our customers.”

In addition, Al-Saif explained that the iCard Service, which offers two kinds of cards: iTunes10$ (3.750 KD card) and CashU 10$ (3.750 KD card), requires a card voucher which is ordered by SMS. The payment for the voucher is done via the user ’s mobile account balance.

Customer may simply recharge their mobile credit with 3.750 fils and then send S to the service number 92288.

Customers will then receive a message asking them to make their choice of card type and respond with a “K” for CashU cards or “I” for iTunes cards. Customers will then receive the voucher’s number.

Al-Saif mentioned ,The iCard services will enable them to shop online with the CashU cards on websites ranging from entertainment (Al-Jazeera sports Channel subscription renewal), travelling and gaming (FarmVille and Playstation Network Cards) to communication (Skype) and social-networking (Facebook). CashU, is a secure online payment method, which enables customers to purchase Facebook credits, to book hotels, pay for airfare, provides more secure purchases without the use of a credit card online.

Al-Saif added, “as an undisputed leader in telecommunications technology, we are at the forefront of delivering the best services and cutting edge solutions to all our customers.”

Kuwait, UK discuss health cooperation LONDON: Kuwait Health Ministry Undersecretary for Technical Affairs Khaled Al-Sahlawi met here yesterday with President of the College of Emergenc y M edicine Dr Jim Wardrope, discussing with him means to bolster cooperation between the UK and Kuwait within emergency medicine.

Dr Al-Sahlawi, who is heading a medical delegation on a visit here, said that the meeting also discussed

the possibilit y of signing a M emorandum of Understanding between the two nations, noting that such would provide reorganization to Kuwaiti from the British board of medicine.

The Kuwaiti official affirmed that Minister of Health Nayef Al-Obeidi was keen on developing medicine in Kuwait via cooperating with medical facilities and ministries from around the globe. — KUNA

GUANGZHOU, China: Kuwaiti and Chinese officials pose for a group photograph.

Kuwait, Guangzhou cities sign twinning agreement Consulate inaugurates new office GUANGZHOU, China: Kuwait’s Consulate General in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou inaugurated its new office on the sidelines of the visit by Kuwait Capital Governor Sheikh Ali Al-Jaber AlAhmad Al-Sabah, which coincides with the signing of a twinning agreement between the cities of Kuwait and Guangzhou. In his speech at an opening ceremony, Kuwaiti Consul General in Guangzhou Abdulwahab Al-Sager expressed hope that the governor’s visit here will take excellent relations with China, and Guangzhou in particular, a quantum leap forward, noting the close ties between the peoples of Kuwait and China as well as the two countries’ leadership’s keenness to further boost ties.

“Bilateral trade reached more than $1 billion by the end of last year, and we will spare no effort to achieve the objectives, including the completion of a twinning agreement between the cities of Ahmadi and Zhanjiang in the near

future,” Al-Sager said. The diplomat also said his consulate will be closely following final signing of the joint venture between Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and China’s Sinopec to build an oil refinery and

petrochemical complex in Zhanjiang city.

The opening ceremony was attended by Zhanjiang City Vice Mayor Zhao Zhihui, Head of the Chinese Center for International

GUANGZHOU, China: Sheikh Ali Al-Jaber Al-Ahmad AlSabah inaugurating the new consulate office yesterday.

Trade Wang Jiping, Deputy Director of Foreign Affairs Office of Guangdong Province Caifang and other senior Chinese officials.

Diplomats, a large number of actors and media figures based in Guangzhou were also present.

For his part, Sheikh Ali Al-Jaber said “expansion of our diplomatic representation across the world namely in the Popular Republic of China is in line with the government concern for building bridges of friendship and cooperation with states of the world.

“Such expansion, naturally, reflects on our citizens whose interests are linked with these states and major cities, for the city of Guangzhou is one of the most active Chinese cities and has previous agreements and links with the Kuwaiti government.”

In turn, the Kuwaiti consult general expressed deep gratitude for the eminent attendees, saying this day “constitutes crowning for relations that have lasted for four decades.” —KUNA

Arabs urged to join UN convention against transnational organized crime VIENNA: Mohammad bin Khadra, the legal advisor to the Arab League’s Secretary General, said yesterday the League was trying to convince its member states, which have yet to endorse the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and Protocols Thereto, to do so as early as possible.

The League’s efforts in this regard are making a tangible progress, Bin Khadra said in his address to the 21st session of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, held here on April 23-27.

The Arab countries, realizing the need to scale up regional cooperation to enforce this global legal instrument, singed the Arab treaty against transnational organized crime in Cairo on Dec 22, 2010, he recalled.

A technical commission representing the Arab ministries of justice and interior is debating a draft protocol on the combat of maritime piracy attached to the treaty; the document is expected to be endorsed the coming meeting of the committee in Cairo next week, he revealed.

The League is working closely with the UN

Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to enforce the international crime and drug control treaties.

The League’s Secretariat will host the first meeting of the steering committee on the UN regional program for combating narcotics and criminal justice (2011-15) on May 9-10, Bin Khadra added.

The just-ended session of the UN Commission reviewed the implementation of resolutions and decisions relating to crime prevention and criminal justice adopted during the period 2008-11. —KUNA

Spouse of Kuwaiti diplomat leads charity bazaar for Syrians NEW YORK: The Islamic Heritage Society held a charity bazaar, proceeds of which would be devoted for aiding Syrian refugees in countries neighboring their crisis-stricken nation.

The philanthropic event, organized by the society, headed by Suad Al-Otaibi, spouse of the permanent Kuwaiti delegate at the UN, Mansour Ayyad Al-Otaibi, at the headquarters of the Kuwaiti mission late on Friday, was attended by many UN officials, namely Udo Janz, Director of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Office in New York (UNHCR), ambassadors of Arab, Islamic and Foreign states.

Wives of the diplomats contributed with traditional food and handicrafts.

Al-Otaibi said she opted to allocate sums of this annual gathering for the Syrian refugees, considering enormity of their plight. Al-Otaibi added that she received donations and checks from many donors, noting that she could not grant more two stands for each continent considering lack of sufficient space.

She expressed hope to receive more donations, but stopped short of revealing how much she has received so far. However, some organizers disclosed

that the total sum amounted to $40,000. Al-Otaibi expressed gratitude to the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry for its financial support and Kuwait Airways for granting two tickets for those who helped in organizing the bazaar.

For his part, the ambassador, Mansour Al-Otaibi, expressed satisfaction at success of the bazaar, noting high turn-up of donors.

The society was founded in 1972, with the aim of promoting Islamic civilization. Some of its members represent Islamic and non-Islamic countries.

Meanwhile, Janz thanked Mrs Al-Otaibi for this “extraordinary” bazaar. “I am truly impressed,” he told the gathering. He thanked the participants “profoundly for their extraordinary support” for the Syrian refugees in the region, noting that the situation in Syria is still unfolding and that the number of the Syrian refugees in the region has reached 65,000. “We need your support and we need the support of all governments in the region and beyond,” he urged.

He recalled that the UNHCR launched an appeal for a Syrian Refugee Response Plan in Geneva last month, in which the agency requested USD 84.5 million from

the international community in support of the outpouring refugees in Syria.

Only 19 percent of that appeal has so far been committed and funded, he said disappointedly. He said “your contribution here today, I am absolutely convinced, will be even more appreciated.”

He also announced that one UNHCR employee, Talal Hamza, was killed last night in Damascus on his way home. He later said: “I am extremely pleased and positively surprised about this outpouring of solidarity today.” He admitted that he had “no idea what to expect. I thought it was a small bazaar, but I can see everybody is fantastically involved and engaged.” He also said he had “no idea” how much money will be collected at the end of the day. “Frankly, it does not really matter to me what the amount is. What I see today is far more important in terms of the actual solidarity that people are expressing” with the Syrian refugees.

He indicated that the money will go into the Syrian Refugee Response Plan which received only 19 percent of the money required. “That gives you an indication that we have a long way to go, especially that the

number of the refugees keeps increasing by the day,” he said. He recalled that the Kuwaiti government has voluntarily contributed earlier this month an extra one million dollars, which “we really take with deep gratitude and we will make the best use of it in the region wherever the Syrian refugees are.”

He said the refugees’ needs “will have to be met in order to maintain an open-door policy, so that governments in the region continue to host refugees as and when they seek protection, and for me that is the most important aspect at this stage.”

He noted that with the spotlight of the international attention currently on the region, “I am confident that we will meet the benchmarks that we have set for our response there and that we can respond as quickly, as effectively and efficiently as possible.”

The Vice Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia Teuta Arifi said she was “delighted” to participate in the event which shows that the Syrian refugees are “not alone and have the support of brothers and sisters everywhere. I am also delighted that my country is participating” with food and presents.” —- KUNA

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

Scandal highlights lack of women in Secret Service Page 11

Clashes as Malaysians rally for clean elections Page 12

WASHINGTON: This May 1, 2011 official White House photo shows US President Barack Obama (2nd L), Vice President Joe Biden (L), US Secretray of Defense Robert Gates (R), and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (2nd R) with members of the national security team as they receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House, in Washington, DC. Nearly a year after a US raid that killed Osama bin Laden, his core Al-Qaeda network in Pakistan is “essentially gone” but its affiliates remain a threat, US intelligence officials said on Friday. — AFP

Bin Laden an issue in US campaign Video asks whether Romney would have ordered killing WASHINGTON: Osama bin Laden is dead and gone but his demise was trotted out Friday as a campaign issue

by President Barack Obama, whose new ad questions whether his Republican rival would have ordered such a risky military raid.

The video features ex-president Bill Clinton hailing Obama for a brave call to take out the Al-Qaeda leader in a Navy SEALs operation one year ago.

Aides to White House challenger Mitt Romney and a top Republican rapped Democrats for politicizing the raid in the run-up to its May 2 anniversary, saying it was “unbecoming” of Obama to reduce the historic moment to a campaign slogan.

“He had to decide. And that’s what you hire a president to do. You hire the president to make the calls when no one else can do it,” Clinton said in the 90-second video, which sought to contrast Obama with the presumptive Republican nominee.

Entitled “One Chance,” the ad uses images of Obama and his cabinet in the White House Situation Room, and news footage including quotes from Romney during his 2008 failed presidential bid in which the former Massachusetts governor appeared ambivalent about going after the elusive bin Laden.

Clinton saluted Obama for greenlighting the clandestine raid in Pakistan despite knowing that the consequences would be disastrous if it went wrong.

“Suppose the Navy SEALs had gone in there, and it hadn’t been bin Laden,” Clinton said. “Suppose they’d been captured or killed. The downside would have been horrible for him.

“But he reasoned, ‘I cannot in good conscience do nothing.’ He took the harder and the more honorable path, and the one that produced, in my opinion, the best result.”

The operation plunged USPakistani ties to an all-time low but it was seen as a huge strategic and popular success for Obama given the decade-long hunt for the terror mastermind.

The ad’s on-screen text asks: “Which path would Mitt Romney have taken?” and features a screen grab highlighting Romney’s doubts about the merits of searching for bin Laden.

“It’s not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person,” Romney was quoted as saying in a news report shown on CNN from when he was a Republican candidate four years ago.

Vice President Joe Biden had seized on the same remarks Thursday in a foreign policy speech.

“If you’re looking for a bumper sticker to sum up how President Obama has handled what we inherited, it’s pretty simple: Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive,” Biden said.

The White House pushed the narrative even further on Thursday, when Obama gave a US network an extraordinarily rare interview in the Situation Room and discussed the key moments in the dramatic run-up to bin Laden’s demise.

“This is another window into that remarkable day,” National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said. Romney’s campaign argued that while Romney congratulated the president and military on that day last

year, a “desperate” Obama was seizing on the achievement to distract voters “from the failures of his administration.”

“Killing Osama bin Laden was a momentous day for all Americans and we all give the president credit,” former defense secretary Frank Carlucci and former navy secretar y John Lehman, who both served under president Ronald Reagan, said in a Romney campaign statement.

“But we are saddened to see the president of the United States politicize that event, even reducing it to a campaign slogan. This is unbecoming of the commander-in-chief.”

Romney ’s campaign attacked Obama’s “remarkably flailing” reelection bid, saying the president is refusing to run on his record.

So did Senator John McCain, who beat Romney to the Republican nomination in 2008 but lost the election to Obama.

“Shame on Barack Obama for diminishing the memor y of September 11th and the killing of Osama bin Laden by turning it into a cheap political attack ad,” McCain said in a statement.

He listed a litany of administration failures, including not supporting the Iranian opposition that was crushed in 2009, attempting to try 9/11 suspects in New York, pulling out of Iraq and announcing the US departure from Afghanistan.

“With a record like that on national security, it is no wonder why President Obama is shamelessly turning the one decision he got right into a pathetic political act of self-congratulation,” McCain said. — AFP

Pakistan wants apology for US border killings ISLAMABAD: American attempts to rebuild its relationship with Pakistan appear to be stuck on the issue of a US apology for killing 24 Pakistani border troops last November. US officials visited Pakistan on Friday for talks on rebooting the relationship, but left without any agreement. A statement yesterday from the Pakistani president’s office said Asif Ali Zardari told the visiting US officials that Washington needed to help Pakistan reach “closure” over the killings of the soldiers on the Afghan border by following recommendations by the Pakistani parliament.

The parliament has asked Washington to apologize for the incident. The United States has expressed regret, but has declined

to specifically say it is sorry. Pakistan shut US and NATO supply lines to Afghanistan to protest the deadly US air strikes, cut most contacts with Washington and ordered American drone aircraft to leave a base in the south of the country.

The US wants Pakistan to reopen the supply lines, preferably ahead of a May 20 -21 summit of NATO leaders in Chicago.

The Defense Department has said US forces - given what information they had available to them at the time - reacted in self-defense and with appropriate force after being fired upon from the direction of the Pakistani border in the Nov. 26 incident.

The visit by Mark Grossman, who is Washington’s envoy for

Afghanistan and Pakistan, was his first to Pakistan since the November incident. Pakistan used the border incident to try to extract better terms from Washington, which sees Pakistan as an essential - if unreliable - ally against al-Qaida and vital to the sustainability of any peace deal with insurgents fighting in neighboring Afghanistan.

The border deaths were the latest in a series of incidents over the last 18 months that severely damaged US-Pakistani relations. The killing of two alleged Pakistani assailants by CIA security officer Ray Davis in Lahore in January 2011 and the US Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May, without Pakistani permission, also contributed to the decline. — AP

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

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

Muslims revive old pilgrimage route via Jerusalem JERUSALEM: After decades of shying away from an ancient pilgrimage route, Muslims are visiting Jerusalem to pray at Islam’s third-holiest site, the revered Al-Aqsa mosque. In doing so, they find themselves caught in a disagreement between some leading Muslim clerics, who oppose such pilgrimages, and Palestinian leaders who encourage them as evidence of the city’s Muslim credentials.

Palestinians say the only Arab visitors have been officials from Arab countries that have peace treaties with Israel. Recent trips here by a top Egyptian cleric and a Jordanian prince sparked angry backlashes in their home countries.

The vast majority of the pilgrims are from non-Arab countries like South Africa, Malaysia and India, where the stigma of visiting Israeli-controlled areas isn’t as powerful.

“Jerusalem is a beautiful place,” said Ali Akbar, 51, a Shiite Muslim who was visiting recently with a group of 40 pilgrims from Mumbai, India. “All Muslims should try to come to Jerusalem and pray and seek the blessings of Allah,

the almighty,” Akbar said. Muslim pilgrims began trickling back beginning around 2008 as violence between Israel and the Palestinians petered out.

Palestinian tour guides, hotel operators and religious officials also attribute the increasing numbers to easier travel and rising Muslim middle classes in Asia and Western countries that can afford tickets to the Holy Land.

While Islam’s birthplace is in the Arabian peninsula, Jerusalem is intimately tied with Islam’s beginnings.

Muhammad’s (PBUH) first followers prayed toward Al-Aqsa and only later turned their prayers east to Makkah.

For centuries, Muslim pilgrims visited Jerusalem while on their way to the holy cities of Makkah and Madina, now in Saudi Arabia. Many Muslims believe visiting Jerusalem deepens the sanctity of their pilgrimage.

But that pilgrimage route was abruptly halted after Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. East Jerusalem is home to the hilltop compound housing both Al-Aqsa and the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site.

As a result, many Muslims believe visiting the mosque would amount to recognition of Israel’s claim to the area and be inappropriate when Israel prevents many Palestinians from entering.

Those sentiments have recently softened somewhat, and an estimated 2,000 people have come over the past year. That’s a tiny percentage of the roughly 3 million visitors to Jerusalem annually, mostly Jews and Christian pilgrims - but still a sharp contrast to the almost total absence of Muslim pilgrims here for many decades.

In February, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged Muslims to visit Jerusalem. Abbas said it would underscore the city’s importance to the Islamic world and bolster Palestinian claims to east Jerusalem, which they seek as their capital.

“The flow of crowds and congestion in (Jerusalem’s) streets and holy sites will strengthen the steadfastness of its citizens,” Abbas said. Answering the call, Egypt’s leading religious cleric, Ali Gomaa, came to pray last week, saying the two-hour visit was a show of solidarity with the Palestinians. Gomaa

arrived with Jordanian Prince Ghazi bin Mohammed. The Jordanian interior and foreign ministers have made similar visits recently, as has a popular Muslim preacher, Habib al-Jafri, said Palestinian officials.

But other Muslim leaders blasted Abbas’ call as a violation of an Islamic ban on traveling to Jerusalem while it is under Israeli control. “Visiting the state of the Zionist enemy - for nonPalestinians - is forbidden,” Yousef alQaradawi, a widely influential Muslim cleric, wrote on his website. He said Jerusalem needs warriors not tourists.

“Muslims are ordered to liberate (Jerusalem) and save it from (Israel’s) hands.”

Gaza’s Hamas rulers and Islamic parties in Jordan and Egypt all condemned the visits by Gomaa and the Jordanian officials. Israeli spokesman Mark Regev said the visitors were welcome. “The city is open to pilgrims of all faiths,” he said.

The Al-Aqsa compound is a series of sprawling plazas holding the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the golden-topped “Dome of the Rock.” The compound is

sacred to both Jews and Muslims. It is one of the most sensitive religious sites in the world, and control over the area is one of the thorniest issues at the core of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. It is revered as the holiest site in Judaism as home to the two biblical Jewish Temples. Jews today pray at the Western Wall located at the foot of the compound.

Palestinians use the area to worship and rest - one of the few open spaces in the intensely crowded walled Old City of Jerusalem. They sit under the soaring pine trees and walk among the intricately painted turquoise tiles adorning the Dome of the Rock.

Children play football nearby.

During a recent visit, dozens of Muslims from Mauritius and India donned colorful long baggy shirts and pants that the women top with headscarves, the men with skull caps. They reverently prayed near a rock from where Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) rose to heaven.

Several women placed their hands in another shrine believed to hold a hair of the prophet. — AP

ElBaradei returns to Egypt politics with new party ‘New group is necessary to unite Egyptians’

SANAA: Yemeni tribal gunmen loyal to dissident tribal chief Sadiq al-Ahmar share a laugh as they patrol a street in Sanaa yesterday. — AFP

Seven militants killed in Yemen clashes ADEN: At least seven militants linked to al Qaeda were killed in clashes in Yemen’s restive south, a regional tribal spokesman said yesterday, as the impoverished Arab state fights to tame a stubborn insurgency.

Yemen has launched an offensive against Islamist insurgents in the territory who took advantage of the chaos surrounding more than a year of mass protests and fighting that unseated Ali Abdullah Saleh from the presidency.

Ali Aidah, spokesman for an armyallied tribal force, said five militants from Ansar al-Sharia, an al Qaeda-affiliated group, were killed in an ambush by tribesmen in the al-Arkoub area near the southern city of Lawder on Friday night.

Two more militants were killed in an attack by tribesmen in another area outside of Lawder, he said.

Separately, a security official in the

southern province of Lahej said a Yemeni intelligence officer, Colonel Yasser Abdul-Qawi, was shot dead by unknown gunmen on Saturday morning while he was walking near the main city hospital.

More than 250 people have been killed since government forces stepped up attacks on the militants whom it accused of assaulting a military camp near Lawdar earlier this month.

Islamist insurgents have already taken control of a number of cities in the southern territory, which is close to key shipping lanes in the Red Sea. Yemen’s new president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who took office vowing to fight al Qaeda, is also facing challenges from Shi’ite Muslim rebels in the north and secessionists in the south of the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state. — Reuters

S Sudan repels attack JUBA: The South Sudanese army said yesterday that it repelled an attack by rebels backed by neighbouring Sudan outside Malakal, capital of the fledgling country’s Upper Nile State. “It was Sudan-suppor ted militias that attacked SPLA (South Sudan army) positions” around Malakal on Friday, Colonel Philip Aguer told AFP, adding that the South Sudanese army repelled the attack, with an unknown number of casualties.

But the rebels claimed to have surrounded Malakal, saying in a statement: “The magnanimous forces of South Sudan Democratic Army (SSDA) launched Operation Ending Corruption and surrounded Malakal ... and captured its surroundings.”

Aguer said South Sudan’s forces had captured three rebel fighters and one vehicle. “The SPLA is still chasing them and is observing another group this morning that has entered our territory,” he said, adding that the rebels who attacked Friday were under the command of warlord Johnson Olony and came from Sudan’s White Nile State.

“This is part of the war that Sudan has designed. Sudan is promising that if they capture the oil fields it will share them with the (rebel) forces,” Aguer said. “They are coming from Khartoum. Since they (Sudan) cannot bomb us, they are arming and sending militias and mercenaries now”, South Sudan government spokesman Barnaba Marial Benjamin added.

On Wednesday, the African Union (AU) ordered Sudan to stop bombing South Sudan, after weeks of fighting on the borders of the new nation’s second oil-producing state, Unity. The international community has also told both sides to stop funding militias within one another’s territory.

The African Union has given the two neighbours two weeks to return to negotiations, and three months to find a deal on outstanding issues on oil, borders and contested territory following South Sudan’s split from the north in July.

After that, the 54-state body has threatened to decide for its newest member and Sudan, while the UN Security Council is mulling sanctions against both cash-strapped nations fighting over oil, to avert a slide back to decades of war.

Government spokesman Benjamin said Khartoum’s forces and allied militias had also been threatening in South Sudan’s Western-Bahr-el-Ghazal state, while Auguer claimed the Lord’s Resistance Army had become involved with Sudan’s support.

The LRA led by warlord Joseph Kony has terrorised parts of Central African Republic, South Sudan, northern Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo for years.

“They have been attacking villages in Raja County, Western-Bahr-elGhazal- stopping people from farming and abducting women and children”, Auguer said. — AFP

CAIRO: Reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei launched a new political party yesterday that he said aims to unite Egyptians and save the country’s revolution from a messy democratic transition. The Constitution Party marks a return to public life for ElBaradei, who declared in January that he would not run for president and that a fair vote would be impossible during a muddled transition period.

His pullout four months before the start of the presidential vote dealt a blow to the liberal and leftist groups who were behind the Jan. 25 uprising that forced Hosni Mubarak out of office last year.

The groups, many of whom had found in ElBaradei a rallying figure for their calls for democracy in Egypt, had been badly defeated at the ballot box in the first parliamentary elections after Mubarak.

Islamist groups, including the powerful Muslim Brotherhood and the popular ultraconservative Salafi groups, emerged as the biggest winner in those elections, capturing nearly 70 percent of the seats. The young activists were also subjected to an escalating crackdown by the country’s rulers, including referral to military trials, arrests and media smear campaigns.

“The aim of this party is to save the great Jan 25 revolution, which has been derailed, and is almost aborted and to restore our unity,” ElBaradei told a crowd of supporters and journalists. “When this revolution started we never imagined the conditions we are and the tragic transition we are living today.”

ElBaradei, who received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work as head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency, said a new organized political group is necessary to unite Egyptians, and prepare the youth behind the uprising for a political future.

“We hope through this party...to start anew

to build the country on the basis of democracy and justice,” he said. Fourteen months after Mubarak stepped down, the generals who took over are embroiled in a power struggle with the emerging Islamists. They dominate the parliament but complain the generals are obstructing them. Many of their rivals complain the Islamists are overreaching.

The process of writing a new constitution, which would set the authorities of the next president, has been obstructed by fighting among secular and Islamist groups over the makeup of the assembly that will write it.

ElBaradei said his party, which has not yet officially registered, aims to represent a moderate Egypt, and will be ready to work in two

CAIRO: Nobel laureate and top Eygptian dissident Mohamed ElBaradei (L) speaks during a joint press conference with Egyptian writer and political activist Alaa al-Aswany to announce the launch of a new party Al-Dustur (Constitution) at the journalists’ syndicate in Cairo yesterday. —AFP The presidential elections due to start on May 23 have been marred by the disqualification of 10 candidates, including three frontrunners. Supporters of one of the disqualified candidates, ultraconservative Salafi preacher Hazem Abu Ismail, have began a sit-in outside the Ministry of Defense overnight Saturday, demanding an end to military rule.

or three months. ElBaradei has often been blamed by his supporters for being too aloof and for his low key approach to political action. His absence from street protests, his preference for quiet political negotiations, and his pullout from the race has also frustrated many.The crowd during the launch of the party yesterday cheered him on. — AP

Iraq leaders call for solution to crisis BAGHDAD: Leaders from nearly all of Iraq’s top political blocs called yesterday for a solution to the nation’s political crisis that pits the Shiite-led government against Sunnis and Kurds, saying the dispute threatens the country’s national interests.

The statement came after three-days of meetings that brought together senior Sunni, Kurdish and even Shiite politicians disgruntled with Prime Minister Nouri alMaliki - who was not represented at the talks in Irbil, the capital of Iraq’s northern Kurdish region. While no one at the mini-summit demanded that al-Maliki step down, the fact that the discussions brought together key figures from across Iraq’s political spectrum underscored the growing impatience with

the Shiite prime minister.

Al-Maliki’s critics accuse him of consolidating power and sidelining both Sunnis and Kurds, leading to a political impasse that has brought government work to a near standstill and threatens to break up Iraq. A statement issued after the Irbil meeting said the leaders “stressed the need for finding ways to dismantle the crisis, the continuation of which puts the supreme national interests in danger.” They also discussed “ways to strengthen the democratic process.”

The talks were hosted by Massoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdish autonomous region, and included Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, as well as former prime minister Ayad Allawi and hard-

ARBIL: Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr (L) and former premier Iyad Allawi (R) attend a meeting of Iraqi leaders in Arbil, the capital of Kurdistan in northern Iraq, yesterday.

Top Iraqi politicians, many of whom feel marginalised by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s style of governing, called yesterday in Arbil for greater democracy in running the country. — AFP

line cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, both Shiites.

Parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, a Sunni, also took part.

The statement also called for better services for Iraqis in what likely was a promise made at al-Sadr’s request. The backbone of the cleric’s followers are poor, and have been at the forefront of nationwide demands for more jobs and better public utilities like electricity and water - both of which experience deep shortages during Iraq’s searing summers.

Al-Maliki did not mention the government crisis in a speech yesterday to his Dawa Party, and government spokesmen did not respond to calls seeking comment about the Irbil meeting. The monthslong political impasse began when the government issued terrorism charges against the nation’s highest-ranking Sunni, Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, as the final US troops left Iraq in December. Sunni politicians briefly boycotted the government.

At the same time, Barzani butted heads with al-Maliki over a deal for Exxon Mobil Corp. to drill for oil in the Kurdish region without Baghdad’s oversight. Barzani threatened this week to let Kurds vote to secede from Iraq if the government crisis has not been resolved by September regional elections. Also yesterday, five people were killed in Baghdad in a tribal dispute linked to a wedding. Police said the couple got married Friday without permission from the bride’s family, prompting her cousins to attack the groom’s house at dawn Saturday.

The couple escaped unharmed, but three members of the groom’s family and two of the bride’s were killed in the fighting in Baghdad’s Shiite-dominated Zafaraniyah neighborhood. A medic at a nearby hospital confirmed the casualties. Laws in some Iraqi tribes require relatives’ permission before a woman can marry. If any cousins reject the suitor, the woman must refuse the proposal. — AP

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

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

Ukraine delays trial of fasting ex-premier ‘Save my mother’s life before it’s too late’

COURNON D’AUVERGNE: French President and candidate for the 2012 Presidential Elections Nicolas Sarkozy delivers a speech during a meeting in Cournon d’Auvergne, near Clermont Ferrand, central France, yesterday. — AP

Gadhafi regime ‘agreed to fund Sarkozy 2007 campaign’ PARIS: Moamer Gadhafi’s regime agreed to fund French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s 2007 election campaign to the tune of 50 million euros, a news website reported yesterday, publishing what it said was documentary evidence.

The 2006 document in Arabic, which website Mediapart said was signed by Gadhafi’s foreign intelligence chief Mussa Kussa, referred to an “agreement in principle to support the campaign for the candidate for the presidential elections, Nicolas Sarkozy, for a sum equivalent to 50 million euros.”

The left-wing investigative website made similar assertions on March 12, based on testimony by a former doctor of a French arms dealer alleged to have arranged the campaign donation, which Sarkozy slammed as “grotesque.”

It was not stated that any Libyan money was actually handed over. The latest report comes as Sarkozy trails Socialist rival Francois Hollande in opinion polls ahead of the run-off second round of presidential elections on May 6.

His campaign spokeswoman Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet Saturday dismissed the latest report as “ridiculous” and a “clumsy diversion” orchestrated by Hollande’s camp.

In an email to AFP she said Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign funds had been cleared by the Constitutional Council after the elections with no queries. But Hollande spokesman Bernard Cazeneuve called on Sarkozy to “explain himself to the French in the face of such serious elements backed up by new documents emanating from the entourage of the Libyan dictator himself.”

Mediapart said it had obtained the note from “former senior officials now in hiding.” The green-bordered note published and translated by Mediapart said the agreement followed a meeting on October 6, 2006, attended by Kadhafi’s spy chief Abdullah Senussi, the head of Tripoli’s African investment fund Bashir Saleh, close Sarkozy associate Brice Hor tefeux and arms dealer Ziad Takieddine. A lawyer for Takieddine, Samia Maktouf, denied to AFP that her client was present but said, “he believes this document is credible, given the date and the persons named.” Hortefeux, who later served as Sarkozy’s interior minister, told Mediapart he had never met Mussa Kussa or Bashir Saleh.

The latest report by Mediapart, a respected source seen as opposed to

Sarkoz y ’s right-wing government, strengthens long-running allegations that French political camps have benefited financially from kickbacks on arms deals with foreign regimes.

Gadhafi’s son Seif al-Islam last year claimed that Libya financed Sarkozy’s campaign, after Paris abandoned its improving ties with Libya and threw its weight behind the rebellion that eventually deposed and killed the dictator.

“Sarkozy must first give back the money he took from Libya to finance his electoral campaign. We funded it and we have all the details and are ready to reveal ever ything,” Seif told the Euronews network.

When asked about Seif’s comments during a March 12 interview on France’s TF1 television, Sarkozy replied: “I am sorry to see you in the role of a spokeswoman for Kadhafi’s son, frankly I’ve known you in better roles.”

“It’s grotesque and I am sorry that I am being interrogated about declarations of Gadhafi or his son on an important channel like TF1,” Sarkozy said.

“When one quotes Mr. Kadhafi, who is dead, his son, who has blood on his hands, that is a regime of dictators, assassins, whose credibility is zero... frankly, I think we have sunk low enough in the political debate.”

Takieddine is already under investigation for his alleged role in the funding of Edouard Balladur’s failed 1995 presidential campaign for which Sarkozy was spokesman.

Investigators suspect Balladur’s camp collected kickbacks on a deal to sell submarines to Pakistan and that a Karachi bombing that killed 11 French engineers was carried out by Pakistani agents in revenge after promised bribes went unpaid.

Sarkoz y has always denied any wrongdoing in the 1995 campaign finance arrangements. KosciuskoMorizet claimed Saturday that Hollande’s camp had orchestrated the latest disclosures to distract attention from the resur facing of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the disgraced former International Monetary Fund head.

Strauss-Kahn earlier blamed his highly public fall from grace following his sexual encounter with a New York hotel chambermaid on Sarkozy to prevent him from standing as the Socialist candidate in the current presidential election. — AFP

G Bissau junta frees PM, president seized in coup BISSAU: Guinea-Bissau’s coup leaders released the country’s ousted prime minister and interim president on Friday after more than two weeks of captivity, allowing the former leaders to travel to Ivory Coast.

The generals now in charge of the small, unstable west African country also pledged a one-year transition back to democracy, a day after regional bloc ECOWAS decided to send hundreds of troops to the country.

Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony, has a history of coups and other political violence and has in recent years become a major cocaine trafficking hub between South America and Europe. The military launched the latest coup on April 12, in the middle of a two-round presidential election in which outgoing prime minister Carlos Gomes Junior was the frontrunner and the opposition claimed fraud.

Troops then attacked Gomes’ residence with rocketpropelled grenades and detained him, along with interim president Raimundo Pereira, in a power grab that sparked regional and international condemnation.

On Thursday, a summit of the Economic Community of West African States or ECOWAS gave the junta 72 hours to agree to a return to constitutional order and to allow in 500 to 600 troops or face targeted sanctions.

The 15-member bloc, which also condemned a coup in Mali, told both countries to restore democracy and hold elections within a year. France on Friday welcomed the ECOWAS move and said it was ready to help.

“It was a very good decision,” said Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, adding that Paris could give “logistical, material or intelligence support”. On Friday the junta in Guinea-Bissau agreed to a 12-month transition period, having earlier proposed a period twice that long, and agreed to free the detained leaders, military spokesman Daba Na Walna said. Gomes and Pereira were later welcomed at Abidjan airport by Ivory Coast’s Foreign Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan and the African Integration Minister Adama Bictogo, an AFP reporter said. Pereira thanked Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara, current head of ECOWAS, for his role in their liberation, saying that Ivory Coast “is also our country”, without further comment. — AFP

KHARKIV: A Ukrainian court adjourned until May 21 yesterday the new tax evasion trial of the jailed and fasting former premier Yulia Tymoshenko on account of her failing health. The unexpected decision came as Western concern mounted over the fate of the fier y opposition leader after she stretched her hunger strike into a ninth day to protest an alleged beating by three prison guards.

“The court has ruled that it is impossible to hear the case in the absence of Tymoshenko,” Judge Kostiantyn Sadovsky told the hearing after repor ting that Tymoshenko could not attend the trial due to chronic back pain.

Around 1,000 chanting supporters of the 2004 Orange Revolution leader rallied outside the district court building in the eastern city of Kharkiv where she has been serving a seven-year prison term since last year.

About the same number of her opponents held a counter-protest in a sign of how divisive the 51-year-old remains after a spell in government that began with hopes of liberal reform and ended amid complaints of corruption.

The court was about two-thirds full when four state prosecutors prepared to lay out new tax charges that could keep her behind bars until 2023. But the judge’s sudden ruling saw 400 of her most ardent supporters take their rally to Tymoshenko’s prison where they demanded her immediate release.

“The authorities have been forced to officially admit that Yulia Tymoshenko is in a bad state of health,” triumphant defence attorney Serhiy Vlasenko told reporters.

Fellow defence team member Olexander Plakhotnyuk said he would insist that hearings against Tymoshenko could not resume “until her complete recovery.”

He also asked a team of German doctors who have twice examined her in prison to return to Ukraine “and give one more conclusion that the court could use when deciding whether the trial should be resumed.”

The doctors had previously asked Ukraine to let Tymoshenko get medical care in Germany-a call reinforced by a weekend

appeal from her daughter Yevhenia.

“Save my mother’s life before it’s too late,” the 31-year-old said in an appeal to appear Sunday in the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. “My moth-

have also released photographs showing two large bruises on Tymoshenko’s abdomen and several more on her left arm that they say confirm the prison attack.

The scandal has sparked a growing cho-

KHARKIV: A supporter of Ukrainian jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, shouts slogans outside a court building in Kharkiv yesterday. A Ukrainian judge ruled yesterday that jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko could not be tried in absentia and delayed her hearings in a new tax evasion case until May 21. — AFP er’s fate and that of my country are one and the same. If she dies, democracy also dies,” she said while calling her mother’s health “very weak.”

The saga surrounding Tymoshenko’s refusal to be treated by Ukrainian doctors for fear of being infected with a disease or poisoned has raged for months and culminated with her moving to a local clinic last weekend.

Tymoshenko went on hunger strike on April 20 after being allegedly beaten by wardens who took her against her will for treatment at a state hospital.

She had been complaining of chronic back pain since her imprisonment and gave this as the reason for skipping the pre-trial hearings earlier this month. Her supporters

rus from EU officials for Europe’s football authorities to strip Ukraine of the right to co-host with Poland this summer’s Euro 2012 championship-an event held every four years.

European Union Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding on Friday said she could not attend the opening ceremony of the tournament for “institutional reasons.” “You cannot close your eyes on human rights, even during a great sporting celebration,” Reding said.

But UEFA chief Michel Platini countered Friday that the tournament was awarded to Ukraine in 2007 when Tymoshenko was on the verge of taking office as prime minister and could not be moved on account of politics alone. — AFP

New German party battles ‘neo-Nazi’ taint NEUMUENSTER: Germany ’s maverick Pirate Party met yesterday in its national Congress hoping for new electoral successes next month but with an extremeright shadow hanging over it.

Some 1,300 activists of the country ’s newest party, which has made a name for itself by campaigning for Internet freedom and greater transparency in politics, rallied in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, which goes to the polls on May 6.

The Pirates already have seats in the regional parliaments of Berlin and Saarland, and are also aiming at Nor th Rhine Westphalia. But party officials were forced Saturday to deny allegations of far-right influence and neo-Nazi ideas among some of the membership.

“ We are as far from the extreme right as possible,” senior official Marina Weisband told AFP, stressing that the party’s statutes “reject all totalitarian, dictatorial and fascists tendencies.”

She added that she was “very irritated” by the controversy and by posters with the slogan “Don’t vote for the Nazis” that had been plastered around the convention by the Left Party.

But Oliver Hoefinghoff, a party member in the Berlin regional parliament, retorted that the statutes were only “a scrap of paper.” The leadership “has failed to attack this problem of the farright by denying it exists,” he said, calling for Pirates expressing neo-Nazi views to be expelled and taken to court.

Otherwise, “it’s as if they were invited to join us,” he told AFP. The party has been trying without success since 2009 to get rid of one member, Bodo Thiesen, who has publicly supported a Holocaust-denying writer. Party leader Sebastian Nerz, who is seeking re-election at the twoday conference, told AFP, “We don’t need any more statements” against the far-right.

Although several motions condemning extreme right ideology have been proposed at the congress it was not clear yesterday that any would be put to the vote. Some party members in local or national positions have criticised in Facebook postings the level of government subsidies to Jewish organisations, used the Nazi terms of “interna-

tional Jewry” or claimed Hitler was justified in invading Poland.

A senior party leader in Berlin, Martin Delius, also sparked a row by comparing the swift rise of the Pirates to that of the Nazis between 1928 and 1933. The party, set up in 2006, is now the fourth most popular in the country, with nine percent support nationally according to an opinion poll published Friday.

Although they do not campaign for the abolition of intellectual property rights, they do believe in a reduction in the 70year German time limit on copyright.

They also reject state data retention policies even as part of anti-terrorism policies and patents on living organisms such as seeds or genes. — AFP

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

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

Child migrant surge to US stresses support system McALLEN: An unprecedented surge of children caught trudging through South Texas scrublands or crossing at border ports of entry into the US without their families has sent government and nonprofit agencies scrambling to expand their shelter, legal representation and reunification services. On any given day this year, the US Office of Refugee Resettlement has been caring for more than 2,100 unaccompanied child immigrants.

The influx came to light last week when 100 kids were taken to Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio for temporary housing. It was the first time the government has turned to the Defense Department - now, 200 boys and girls younger than 18 stay in a base dormitory.

While the issue of unaccompanied minors arriving in the US isn’t new, the scale of the recent increase is.

From October 2011 through March, 5,252 kids landed in US custody without a parent or guardian - a 93 percent increase from the same period the previous year, according to data released by the Department of Health and Human Services. In March alone,

1,390 kids arrived.

“The whole community right now is in triage mode,” said Wendy Young, executive director of Kids in Need of Defense, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that matches pro bono attorneys with unaccompanied minors navigating the immigration system. “It ’s impor tant that the resources and the capacity meet the need, and we’re not quite there yet.”

The Depar tment of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement facilities in 10 states range from shelters to foster homes and have about 2,500 beds.

Government-contracted shelters were maxing out their emergency bed space, setting up cots in gymnasiums and other extra spaces.

“It’s a much more limited set of services,” said Lauren Fisher of the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project, which helps children and their families navigate the system. “It felt something like a Red Cross shelter, a hurricane shelter.”

Unaccompanied children are first processed by the Depar tment of Homeland Security, and then turned

over to the ORR while the deportation process begins. Once in a shelter, the search begins for their relatives or an acceptable custodian, while nonprofit organizations try to match the children with pro bono attorneys. When a custodian is found, the child can leave the shelter and await immigration proceedings.

Eighty percent of the children referred to the ORR end up in a shelter, according to a report released last month by the Vera Institute of Justice - a nonprofit that developed a program to better provide access to legal services for children. The average shelter stay is 61 days, and the report found that at least 65 percent of the kids end up with a sponsor in the US. The cause of the surge remains a mystery to child migrant advocates and government officials. The kids are coming from the same places as usual Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico - and they offer the same range of explanations: they made the trek to look for parents already in the US.; they’re seeking economic opportunity to send money home; they want to escape violence or abuse. — AP

HIDALGO: In this April 19, 2011, file photo, a member of the National Guard checks on his colleague inside a Border Patrol Skybox near the Hidalgo International Bridge in Hidalgo, Texas. An unprecedented surge of children caught trudging through South Texas scrublands or crossing at border ports of entry without their parents has sent government and nonprofit agencies that handle their shelter, legal representation and reunifications scrambling to expand their services. — AP

Norway Muslims question focus on Breivik’s sanity Anti-Islamic ideology overshadowed killer’s mental state

NORTH BEND: Officers in an armored vehicle head toward the scene of standoff at an underground bunker in the woods in North Bend, Washington, yesterday.

Law officers hunting for Peter Keller, an armed survivalist suspected of killing his wife and daughter, maintained a perimeter early yesterday around an elaborate, underground bunker where he might be hiding in the woods of Washington state. — AP

Police surround bunker in hunt for fugitive NORTH BEND: Law officers hunting for an armed survivalist suspected of killing his wife and daughter maintained a perimeter early yesterday around an elaborate, underground bunker where he might be hiding in the woods of Washington state.

Authorities pumped tear gas into the structure after locating it Friday in the Cascade foothills east of Seattle and heard movement inside. But the dozens of officers were not entering the bunker because they believed its occupant was heavily armed, and that it might be booby-trapped.

Sheriff ’s officials said later they weren’t sure the gas penetrated deep enough to reach the person inside, who they believed was 41-year-old Peter Keller. They also believed the person inside likely has a gas mask.

Seattle SWAT team officers arrived later Friday, relieving a King County SWAT contingent that had surrounded the bunker. “They’re just basically holding positions overnight,” sheriff’s communications supervisor Wayne Wilson said at 3 am PDT. “They’ll decide the next thing to do later this morning.”

Officers reported that photos of the bunker don’t do it justice, sheriff ’s spokeswoman Sgt. Cindi West said. “They said the fort appears to be amazingly fortified,” she said. While officers got one main hatch open, they believe the bunker has multiple levels as well as multiple entrances, West said.

Keller has not been seen since a fire at

his North Bend-area home Sunday led responders to discover the bodies of his wife and daughter. The two had been shot to death. “It’s a very extreme tactical situation,” King County Sheriff Steve Strachan said. “Time is on our side. We’re not going to do anything rash.”

West said evidence found in Keller’s home helped authorities locate the bunker, dug 20 feet into the side of a ridge in an area of dense vegetation, at noon Friday. Officers were able to pinpoint the location after enhancing a blurry photograph found on a hard drive in an open safe in Keller’s house, she said.

The photo included a view from the bunker in which buildings in nearby North Bend were visible, along with a set of power lines.

Detectives triangulated the rough area of the bunker and were confident they had the right location after receiving tips from people who had seen Keller’s faded red pickup truck parked at the trailhead, West said.

Two experienced trackers were sent to the area and found tracks that appeared to have been made by someone carrying a heavy backpack. SWAT teams went into the woods at 5am and could smell wood smoke from the wood stove in the bunker before they could see it, West said.

The bunker was found at about the 1,350-foot level, several hundred yards due east of a trailhead at Rattlesnake Ridge. It had several entryways and ladders. — AP

Lawyers argue over sex tape at Edwards trial GREENSBORO: Opposing lawyers in the John Edwards trial wrangled with a judge over whether to allow testimony about a sex tape of the former presidential candidate and allegations of an affair involving an ex-aide who ended a week on the witness stand Friday.

Edwards is accused of directing a conspiracy to use about $1 million in campaign donors’ payments to help hide the Democrat’s pregnant mistress as he sought the White House in 2008.

He denies knowing about the money and has pleaded not guilty.

Former aide and confidante Andrew Young testified this week that he deposited the payments from a wealthy Texas lawyer who served as Edwards’ campaign finance chairman and an elderly heiress into personal accounts controlled by him and his wife. The money was used to help build a $1.5 million North Carolina home; Young, who is testifying under an immunity agreement, said he did not pay income taxes on the money.

Prosecutors objected Friday when a defense lawyer for Edwards asked

Young whether he had threatened to release a “private video” to expose Edwards’ affair with Rielle Hunter.

US District Court Judge Catherine C. Eagles instructed Edwards lawyer Abbe Lowell to continue his cross-examination of Young without mentioning the tape. After conferring with the judge, Lowell said he would wait to potentially discuss the tape when the defense presents its case.

Hunter sued Young in state court two years ago over ownership of the sex tape and other personal items in Young’s possession. That civil suit was settled earlier this year with an agreement to destroy all copies of the tape, though there are suggestions in court documents that federal investigators may still have a copy.

Defense attorneys had no intention of showing the tape to the jury, but wanted to mention it in the context of the allegation that Young threatened to out Edwards’ affair with Hunter in an August 2008 conversation on a deadend road near Edwards’ Chapel Hill estate. — AP

OSLO: Muslim leaders in Norway say they are concerned that the anti-Islamic ideology of Anders Behring Breivik, the far-right fanatic now on trial for killing 77 people, is being overshadowed by questions about his mental state. The self-described antiMuslim militant shocked Norway on July 22 with a bombing and shooting rampage targeting the government headquarters and the Labor Party’s annual youth camp. Since he has admitted to the attacks, the key issue for the trial is to determine whether Breivik is sane enough to be held criminally responsible.

“I’m not a psychiatrist, but what is important is what he has done. That should be the focus, not how crazy he is,” said Mehtab Afsar, head of the Islamic Council in Norway, an umbrella organization of Muslim groups in the country. “He wants to get rid of Muslims and Islam from Europe. That is his main message. So I don’t see the point of using so much energy on is he normal, is he insane?” Afsar said. Breivik has told the court his victims had betrayed Norway by opening the country to immigration. He called for a “patriotic” revolution aimed at deporting Muslims from Europe.

In a 1,500-page manifesto he posted online before the attacks, Breivik frequently cited anti-Islamic bloggers who say Muslims are gradually colonizing Europe. But so far, much of the trial has focused on his mental health, rather than his ideology. Some Muslims question the validity of pathologizing Breivik, saying the Norwegian is easily comparable to Islamic terrorists. “Nobody questioned Osama bin Laden’s sanity,” said Usman Rana, a doctor and newspaper columnist, following Friday prayers at one of Oslo’s largest mosques, the Sufi-inspired World Islamic Mission.

The mosque, richly decorated inside and out with blue and white tiles and Arabic calligraphy, is open to passers-by, and a reporter was allowed free access as long as shoes were removed. A few hundred men and boys of all ages attended prayers, many arriving in a rush to make it in time for the call to prayer. Switching easily between greeting friends in Urdu and in Oslo-dialect Norwegian, Rana questioned the excessive focus on Breivik’s mental state. “I believe he is sane, definitely. Those who think he is insane don’t know anything about terrorism,” Rana said.

The first of two psychiatric reports concluded that Breivik is psychotic and suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, the second report deemed him sane enough to go to prison for his crimes, which he has admitted. The 33-year-old Norwegian has admitted all his actions and freely explained to

statistics, 13 percent of the 5 million population are either born abroad or children of immigrants. Most of them have European backgrounds, but large groups have also come from Asia and Africa. The government does not register people by faith, but just over 100,000 people, or 2 percent of the

OSLO: Mehtab Afsar, leader of the Islamic Council (right) in Norway seen in the courthouse during Anders Behring Breivik’s court proceedings. — AP prosecutors the planning and execution of his terror attack, only refusing to explain anything concerning other members of Knights Templar, his alleged anti-Islamic militant network. Prosecutors believe the network does not exist. Breivik’s emotionless appearance in court as witnesses give gruesome testimony and bereaved families sob audibly has left many baffled at his state of mind, wondering if he is exercising superhuman self-control or simply feels no emotions.

“The reason we are focusing on him as a crazy person is because we have difficulties accepting that ‘one of us’ could do such a thing. In many ways a natural reaction, but still wrong,” said Shoaib Sultan, an adviser on extremism at the Norwegian Center against Racism. Nor way is becoming increasingly diverse. According to official

population, are members of Islamic communities in Norway.

A report by the government-run Central Statistics Bureau showed attitudes toward immigrants became more positive following the July 22 attacks. Those disagreeing with the statement that “immigrants are a source of insecurity in society” jumped from 48 percent to 70 percent, the agency said.

But just after the bombing, before the perpetrator was known, many Muslims say they were harassed by Norwegians who thought Islamist terrorists were behind the attack. When it became clear that an ethnic Norwegian was to blame, questions were raised about whether the threat of rightwing extremist violence had been underestimated. “There’s nothing new in the hatred of Behring Breivik, except for his gruesome actions,” Sultan said. — AP

Castro warns against bid to topple Chavez HAVANA: Cuban leader Fidel Castro warned yesterday that a US attempt to overthrow ailing President Hugo Chavez would unleash “a river of blood,” and said “the oligarchy” will never rule Venezuela again.

Castro’s strong warning in an article published by the Cuban press comes as Chavez is battling cancer and faces a tough re-election fight in October elections with the opposition united behind a single candidate, Henrique Capriles.

“The oligarchy would never be able to govern this country again,” Castro wrote. “That’s why it is worrying that the United States should decide under those conditions to promote the overthrow of the Bolivarian government.”

“An error by (US President Barack) Obama, under these circumstances, would unleash a river of blood in Venezuela,” he said.

Cuba has an enormous stake in the survival of the Chavez government. Since coming to power in 1999, the leftist Venezuelan leader has become Cuba’s most important ally, providing the communist-ruled island with crucially needed oil and investments

while hosting thousands of Cuban advisers, doctors and technicians.

What happens if Chavez loses his grip on power, either to cancer or to electoral defeat, is a big unknown for Venezuela, where every major institution, from the military to the courts to the

Congress, has long been dominated by the 57-year-old former army paratrooper.

Castro said it was a “dirty lie” that a desperate struggle for power was under way within the Venezuelan leadership over who would lead the government if Chavez dies. He accused

CARACAS: Indigenous people gather for a ritual to pray for the health of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday. Chavez, who returned home Thursday after more than a week of cancer treatment in Cuba, has kept secret some details of his illness, including the type of cancer and the precise location of the tumors. He is seeking re-election in October. — AP

Venezuela’s opposition of “multiplying its efforts to slander and hurt” Chavez, who has been undergoing radiation treatment in Cuba for cancer.

The true state of Chavez ’s health has been uncertain since he underwent surgery in Cuba to remove a cancerous tumor from his pelvic area in July 2011. After five rounds of chemotherapy, the cancer returned and he underwent surgery again on February 26. So far, he has undergone four rounds of radiation therapy in Cuba. Chavez returned home early Thursday after a nine day absence in Cuba for what was to have been his last round of radiation treatment, but the president said he would return to Cuba for yet another round later.

Chavez, who has never disclosed the type or severity of the cancer, telephoned Venezuela’s state-run television on Monday to quell rumors he was dying. Castro said Venezuelans can “have faith” that Chavez has not neglected his obligations despite his illness.

“His obligations are not out of his mind for a single minute, at times to the point of exhaustion,” he wrote. — AFP

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

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

Scandal highlights lack of women in Secret Service WASHINGTON: Secret Service agents are often portrayed in popular culture as disciplined, unflappable, loyal - and male. A spiraling prostitution scandal that has highlighted the dearth of women in the agency that protects the president and dignitaries has many wondering: Would more females in the ranks prevent future dishonor? Only about a tenth of field agents and uniformed officers are women, a shortage some attribute to travel demands that can be especially taxing on women balancing families and careers. A scandal that risks portraying the agency as unfriendly to women, however, could set back efforts to close the gender gap.

“I can’t help but think that there would be some progress if there was more diversity and if there were more women that were there,” said Rep Carolyn Maloney, D-NY, of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. “When you have a diversity of people there, it brings more accountability. What you see is a lack of accountability in this.” Women make up about 25 percent of the agency’s workforce, but only about 11 percent of agents and uniformed officers, said spokesman Ed Donovan. That’s significantly lower than the 19 percent of female special agents in the FBI, though higher than the 9.7 percent of special agents who are women in the Drug Enforcement Administration. The Secret Service does not provide gender breakdowns on the agents assigned to presidential details, though women have been included on those assignments for years.

The agency has aggressively recruited women, targeting female-oriented career fairs and sending brochures to colleges. “We all recognize that we want to get more women into the Secret Service,” Donovan said. But that wasn’t easy even before the prostitution embarrassment in Colombia, which arose the morning of April 12 when a Secret Service officer and a prostitute publicly argued over payment in a hotel hallway. A dozen Secret Service employees and a dozen military personnel have been implicated. Although Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said it appeared to be isolated, the agency has since confirmed it’s investigating if employees hired prostitutes and strippers ahead of President Barack Obama’s visit to El Salvador last year.

Paige Pinson, 45, spent 15 years with the agency and her father, W Ralph Basham, is a former director. She said it wasn’t the culture that encouraged her to forego her agent’s position. After all, male agents were loyal to each other and fiercely protective of her. She’d drink alongside them at bars and laughed at the “groupies” who fawned over their status. It was, instead, the birth of her first child that inspired her to seek a less travel-intensive analyst’s position. She left the agency in 2009. “You do miss

LAS VEGAS: Secret Service agents stand guard as President Barack Obama meets with the neighbors of homeowners Jose and Lissette Bonilla in Las Vegas.

The Secret Service has been tarnished by a prostitution scandal that erupted April 13, 2012 in Colombia involving 12 Secret Service agents, officers and supervisors and 12 more. — AP birthdays, you do miss Christmas, and you miss piano recitals,” Pinson said, “and maybe women are just more sensitive to that than men can be.”

The agency enjoys vaunted prestige in American popular culture, but the rigors of a protective detail - jet-setting the globe at a moment’s notice to protect a dignitary, being on-call around the clock - isn’t for everyone. It’s the type of fullbore commitment that leads to canceled vacations and blown-off family obligations, an occasional workaday drudgery that, former agents say, can distinguish the Secret Service from other law enforcement agencies. “I know they work hard and long hours too, but at the end of the day, they go home at night,” said Barbara Riggs, who spent 31 years with the agency, serving on presidential protective details for Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush - ascending to the role of a supervisor - before retiring as deputy director in 2006. “You can’t say the same for being a Secret Service agent.”

Cavorting with prostitutes on the job isn’t all that different from holding a business meeting in a topless joint: Both are hyper-sexualized activities that some men may condone but are bound to make women uncomfortable, said Donna Milgram, executive director of the National Institute for Women in Trades, Technology and Science.

“Whenever you have a culture in which it’s accepted that sexual activity as has been described is part of that culture - i.e. using local prostitutes - that is

not going to be a culture in which women are going to be want to be in,” said Milgram, who has advised law enforcement agencies on recruiting and retaining women. “Those are generally not cultures that want to have women.”

Other incidents over the past 15 years haven’t helped the Secret Service come off as welcoming to women. Emails filed as part of a race discrimination lawsuit show workers sharing racially and sexually inappropriate jokes. An alcohol-soaked bar brawl involving off-duty agents in 2002 involved allegations that an agent had bitten off part of a man’s ear - though no charges were brought and a jury sided with the agent in a civil trial. A 2002 US News & World Report contained allegations of heavy drinking, pornography viewing at work and security lapses.

Some former agents acknowledge a close-knit atmosphere where employees travel, dine and socialize together - sometimes in the form of socalled “wheels up” parties held in foreign countries after the departure of a president or other person under protection. But they say the prostitution scandal does not represent a cultural problem or reflect a broader disdain for women. The Secret Service began adding women in the early 1970s, as returning Vietnam War veterans signed up in bunches. Just as they do now, agents prided themselves on being physically strong and on a strict selection process for the presidential detail, said

Joseph Petro, who joined in 1971 and is co-author of “Standing Next to History: An Agent’s Life Inside the Secret Service.” New recruits were expected to prove themselves.

“We wanted to look at them - see what kind of shape they were in, how they fit, what their manner was. That goes on - and it should,” said Petro, who after Vietnam spent 23 years with the agency as an agent and manager, helping protect Reagan. Some women had it tough in the early years, he recalled, bumping up against “hard-headed” men who had never worked with women. But some found niches through special skills, like horseback riding, and the atmosphere was comfortable and respectable enough that Petro said he always felt comfortable bringing his wife and daughter on trips to Reagan’s ranch in Santa Barbara.

“There were a couple of guys who brought their wives and kids,” Petro said. “That puts the brake on a lot of things.” In the latest debacle, the Secret Service has forced eight employees from their jobs and was seeking to revoke the security clearance of another employee, which would effectively force him to resign. Three others have been cleared of serious wrongdoing. How much it sets back efforts to recruit women may depend on the pervasiveness of inappropriate behavior, Milgram said. “It’s a way of operating,” she said, “that I think most of us would consider a way that was left behind 30 years ago.”— AP

Gunmen kill two guards in attack on Afghan governor Roadside bomb kills 10 policemen

MUMBAI: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, third from right, and his wife Yoo Soontaek pose with the mascot of India’s National Rural Health Mission at a hospital in Mumbai, India, yesterday. Ban arrived Thursday on a three-day visit. The mascot reads: ‘Save the girl child.’ — AP

Indian democracy can show way to world: Ban Ki-moon NEW DELHI: As the world’s largest democracy, India can share its success in democratization with the countries of the Middle East, North Africa and elsewhere, said visiting United Nations Secretary General Ban Kimoon.

India is currently a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC). Ban Kimoon also stated that as a diverse, pluralistic society, India can show the way to building inclusive, tolerant societies. It is a perfect example proving the power of unity in diversity, as when it succeeds it shows the way forward for other countries, added the UN’s topmost official in a written statement during his four-day official visit.

He thanked the Indian Government and its people for their “strong support” for the United Nations’ goals and objectives and for their warm welcome and hospitality. “This country is a top contributor to UN peacekeeping, the UN Democracy Fund and is actively

pursuing South-South cooperation,” he said.

Laying stress that India can play even a greater role on the public stage, he said that it has lessons for many other countries. “As a current member of the Security Council of the UN, India is a leading voice on issues of international peace and security,” he added.

Ban Ki-moon met senior leadership on his first day of visit. He called on Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. The two leaders discussed how India could play an increasing role in global affairs and how to further cement strong ties India has with the UN. He also had one-to-one meetings with External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and ruling UPA’s (United Progressive Alliance) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. The leaders delved into various issues ranging from regional security issues to how India could enhance its role in strengthening the work of the UN in South Asia, and around the world too. —KUNA

ISLAMABAD: Activists of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) block a main highway with burning tyres and rocks during a protest against the contempt of court verdict handed to Pakistan prime minister Yousuf Gilani, in Islamabad yesterday. Pakistan’s prime minister refused to step down on April 27, as he made a defiant appearance in parliament a day after his conviction over a corruption investigation into the president. — AFP

KANDAHAR: Two gunmen hiding pistols in their shoes snuck inside a provincial governor’s highsecurity compound in southern Afghanistan yesterday, killing two guards in a fierce gun battle.

The Taleban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying their main target was the provincial Governor Tooryalai Weesa.

“After killing two bodyguards, the attackers seized their rifles and opened fire on other bodyguards, injuring one,” Weesa told AFP, confirming that he was not hurt in the incident. The attackers were eventually killed, Kandahar government spokesman Zalmay Ayobi told AFP. Security forces also found a vehicle laden with explosives abandoned outside the compound.

The insurgents somehow made it through the tight security at the compound with pistols tucked in their sandals, Weesa said, and the gun fight that ensued lasted for about 30 minutes before the attackers were subdued.

Kandahar province is the heartland of hardline Taleban insurgents and has been one of the hardest hit in 10 years of war in which NATO troops are supporting the government of President Hamid Karzai. Condemning the attack, Weesa said the Taleban were resorting to “new ways and tactics to hurt the government and the people” but reiterated that “they will not succeed”.

The Taleban ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until they were toppled in a 2001 US-led invasion for refusing to hand-over Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Since then, remnants of the regime have orchestrated an increasingly deadly insurgency focused on suicide attacks and roadside bombing that frequently miss their military targets and cause civilian casualties. The attack on governor’s compound comes as the interior ministry reported the death of ten Afghan policemen after a roadside bomb ripped through their patrol vehicle in central Afghanistan on Friday.

On April 15, squads of suicide attackers took up positions in the nation’s capital Kabul, firing on embassies, government buildings and foreign military bases for 18 hours before they were all killed.

Afghan officials and US Ambassador in Kabul blamed the Pakistanis-based Haqqani Network, a close ally of the Taleban for the attacks on Kabul, considered to have been the biggest assault on the capital in 10 years of war. Apart from Kabul, the eastern capitals of Paktia, Logar and Nangarhar provinces also came under attack, with a total of 51 people, including 36 militants, killed.

Ten policemen were killed after a roadside bomb ripped through their patrol vehicle in central Afghanistan, an official said yesterday. The bomb struck their pickup truck in the restive Chak district of Maidan Wardak province on Friday, ministry of interior spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told AFP. “Yesterday afternoon a local police vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb that unfortunately left all ten local police dead,” he said. The Taliban immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but put the death toll at seven.

KABUL: Afghan soldiers riding on a vehicle are seen stuck in a heavy traffic in Kabul yesterday. The transfer of responsibility for security to Afghan forces is to be completed by 2014 to coincide with the timetabled foreign troop withdrawal. — AFP

“The roadside bomb was planted by our mujahideen in Chak district of Wardak yesterday,” Taleban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP. The Afghan local police are a government-spon-

sored militia force that works alongside the Afghan army and the national police. Taleban militants have recently increased their attacks on Afghan officials and security forces. — AFP

Talks between US, Pakistan fail: Report WASHINGTON: High-level talks on ending a diplomatic deadlock between the United States and Pakistan have ended in failure over Pakistani demands for an apology from the United States, The New York Times reported yesterday.

The newspaper said US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman left the Pakistani capital Friday night with no agreement. The departure followed two days of discussions aimed at patching up the damage caused by a US air strike last November that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on the Afghanistan border, the report said.

The United States refuses to apologize for the strike. The incident has damaged the precarious US-Pakistani partnership and provoked outrage in Islamabad, which has retaliated by cutting off NATO supply routes to Afghanistan. The United States and Pakistan disagree about the precise sequence of events in the deadliest single cross-border attack of the 10-year war in Afghanistan.

Pakistan denies shooting first, and has accused the Americans of an intentional attack on its troops. The administration of President Barack Obama had been seriously debating whether to say “I’m sorr y ” to Pakistan’s satisfaction-until April 15, when

multiple simultaneous attacks struck Kabul and other Afghan cities, The Times said.

“What changed was the 15th of April,” the paper quotes an unnamed senior administration official as saying. US military and intelligence officials concluded that the attacks were directed by the Haqqani network, a group working from a base in North Waziristan in Pakistan’s tribal belt, the report said.

That swung the raging debate on whether Obama or another senior US official should go beyond the expression of regret that the administration had already given, and apologize, the paper said.

Without the apology, Pakistani officials say they cannot reopen the NATO supply routes into Afghanistan that have been closed since November, the report said. The United States, in turn, is withholding from Pakistan between $1.18 billion and $3 billion (2.26 billion euros) of promised military aid.

The continuing deadlock does not bode well for Pakistan’s attendance at a NATO meeting in Chicago in three weeks, assuming it is even invited, The Times said. US administration officials acknowledged Friday that the stalemate would not be resolved quickly, the paper noted. — AFP

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

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

N Korea leader observes military drill amid threats SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim JongUn has observed a military exercise involving tanks, planes and artillery, official media said yesterday amid continuing threats by Pyongyang against South Korea. Kim, supreme commander of the 1.2 million-strong military, “guided” the drill staged to mark the 80th anniversary of the armed forces, the state news agency reported without giving a date for the exercise.

“He called for mercilessly wiping out the enemies with the arms of justice and revenge if they dare provoke,” it said. The North has threatened “sacred war” against the South’s conservative government in retaliation for perceived insults during Pyongyang’s commemoration this month of the centenary of the birth of founding leader Kim IlSung.

There is also widespread speculation that the North may carry out another nuclear test following international criticism of its failed rocket launch on April 13. South Korean and US defence officials see a “very high” chance of another test, Seoul’s deputy defence minister Lim Kwan-Bin was quoted as saying Friday in Washington.

“The assessment of South Korea and the US is that chances are very high that North Korea will carry out a nuclear experiment,” Yonhap news agency quoted him as saying after two days of meetings with senior Pentagon

officials. “(We) can’t predict the specific timing of it, but it is believed to be possible any time.”

Lim said he had no firm evidence but cited Pyongyang’s record of conducting nuclear tests following criticism of long-range missile launches in 2006 and 2009. “There are many opinions that there is a high possibility that it will go ahead with a nuclear test to make up for the failed missile launch,” he was quoted as saying.

South Korean and US officials reaffirmed they would stage a tough response to any additional provocations by the North, Lim said. The US bases 28,500 troops in the South.

New satellite images show more work under way at North Korea’s nuclear test site but give no indication of when a test may occur, a US-based specialist website reported yesterday.

There is widespread speculation that the North may carry out another atomic weapons test-its third-following international criticism of a failed rocket launch on April 13. The 38 North website carried satellite photos of the Punggye-ri site near the east coast, saying they seem to indicate that “the North Koreans are proceeding as if the test go-ahead decision has already been made.

“The imagery does not, however, give any indication of when that detonation may take place,” said the web-

site, a project of the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. It said the pictures taken by a private company on April 18 are the latest in a series showing continuing preparations for a test.

of tons of rubble have been excavated at the site covering 4,000 square metres (around one acre). The latest imagery shows a train of mining carts on top of the soil piles and random unidentified structures or objects on or

PAJU: North Korean defectors now living in South Korea prepare to release balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets at Imjingak peace park in Paju near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas yesterday.

New satellite images show more work under way at North Korea’s nuclear test site but give no indication of when a test may occur, a US-based specialist website reported. The Korean letters on the balloon read “Let’s terminate Kim Jong-Un’s three-generational dictatorship”. — AFP Photos taken on March 8 showed soil and other material excavated from the test tunnel. Overall, it said, thousands

near the piles, 38 North said. Seoul’s deputy defence minister Lim Kwan-Bin was separately quoted as saying that

South Korean and US defence officials see a “very high” chance of another test. “The assessment of South Korea and the US is that chances are very high that North Korea will carry out a nuclear experiment,” Yonhap news agency quoted him as saying Friday in Washington after two days of meetings with senior Pentagon officials. “(We) can’t predict the specific timing of it, but it is believed to be possible any time.” Lim said he had no firm evidence but cited Pyongyang’s record of conducting nuclear tests following criticism of long-range missile launches in 2006 and 2009.

“There are many opinions that there is a high possibility that it will go ahead with a nuclear test to make up for the failed missile launch,” he was quoted as saying. South Korean and US officials reaffirmed they would stage a tough response to any additional provocations by the North, Lim said.

The US bases 28,500 troops in the South. The North’s official news agency said leader Kim Jong-Un has observed a military exercise involving tanks, planes and artillery, amid continuing threats by Pyongyang against Seoul. Kim, supreme commander of the 1.2 million-strong military, “guided” the drill staged to mark the 80th anniversary of the armed forces, it reported without giving a date for the exercise. —Agencies

Clashes as Malaysians rally for clean elections Protesters march to Independence Square

YANGON: The EU’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton (C), Myint Swe (R) Yangon division chief minister and Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (L) clap during the office opening ceremony of the European Union in Yangon yesterday. The European Union will open an office in Myanmar in the “first step” towards establishing a full delegation, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said. — AFP

EU’s Ashton in Myanmar as stalemate sours reform push YANGON: EU Foreign Policy chief Catherine Ashton was in Myanmar yesterday to open a “new chapter” of relations following an easing of sanctions that could prompt a surge of investor interest in the long-isolated state.

Her visit is the most high-profile by the European Union since the military’s brutal five -decade rule of Myanmar came to an end last year, ushering in a quasi-civilian government with a reform agenda that has stunned the world and convinced the bloc to suspend most of its punitive measures.

Ashton met newly elected lawmaker and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi but made no comment on the tense standoff centred on her National League for Democracy (NLD) party’s much-criticised refusal to take its parliamentary seats, which has left Myanmar in a political quagmire with no clear way out.

The sanctions suspension, which Suu Kyi supports, was intended to allow aid and investment in the resource rich but impoverished country to reward the government for its political and economic concessions, while reserving the right to re-impose them if the reform process stalls.

Ashton acknowledged there was big interest from European investors but said firms were taking a cautious approach.

“We recognise this is a journey that’s not finished. There’s been a lot of interest from the business community, and rightly so,” she told a news conference alongside Suu Kyi at the NLD’s dilapidat-

ed headquarters, shouting over malfunctioning microphones during intermittent power outages typical in the underdeveloped country. “ They won’t make their decisions today, they’ll look at the investment potential and opportunities and that needs to be done properly. I hope we’ll see all the elements come into place and make it an irreversible process that can move forward. Much needs to be done.”

The trip comes at a time when the EU is vying with Western powers to capture influence and strengthen commercial ties with Southeast Asia, a region with a combined economy of more than $2 trillion dollars that plans to establish an EUstyle economic community by 2015.

European firms now have the green light to compete with Asian companies for a share in Myanmar’s vast untapped natural resources and take advantage of its strategic location, sandwiched between heavyweights China and India and a gateway to the fast growing economies of ASEAN. While investment in the former British colony is still seen as risky, it is rich in oil, gas, teak and gemstones, with huge tourism potential and urgent needs for financial services, new roads, hotels and railways and a proper telecoms infrastructure. Suu Kyi was also tight-lipped about the impasse between the NLD, the government and the fledgling parliament over a vow lawmakers must take to “safeguard” the constitution, which also contains amendment provisions. — Reuters

Philippines denounces China for ‘bullying’ tactics MANILA: The Philippines accused Beijing of employing “bullying” tactics yesterday after a speeding Chinese ship allegedly veered dangerously close to two Philippine vessels in the disputed South China Sea. No one was hurt but “these manoeuvres by the Chinese vessel posed a danger to the Philippine vessels”, foreign department spokesman Raul Hernandez said in a statement.

“Our ships did not react to the bullying,” he added.

The incident took place near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea where Chinese fisheries vessels have been facing off against Philippine ships for weeks over which country claims the area.

In yesterday’s incident, the Chinese vessel speeded past two Philippine coast guard ships at more than 20 knots (37 kilometres per hour), creating a high wave that buffeted the ves-

sels. This is the most serious event since the standoff began on April 8 when the Philippines attempted to arrest Chinese fishermen in the shoal for poaching, only to be blocked by Chinese ships.

China has warned the Philippines against internationalising the dispute over the shoal, about 230 kilometres (140 miles) from the Philippines’ main island of Luzon. In a separate development, energy undersecretary Jose Layug said the Philippines was planning more oil and gas exploration in the disputed region despite China’s growing aggressiveness.

“The Chinese are claiming (these areas) but we have said repeatedly that (they are) well within the territorial jurisdiction of the Philippines,” he told ABS-CBN television in an interview.

Experts say the overlapping claims are a potential flashpoint that could destabilise regional security. —AFP

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian police fired teargas and water cannon yesterday as thousands of protesters took to the streets of the capital to demand sweeping electoral reforms ahead of widely expected polls.

Protesters marched to Independence Square in central Kuala Lumpur, defying a lockdown and a ban on gatherings in the area that had raised questions about a pledge by Prime Minister Najib Razak to expand civil liberties.

The otherwise peaceful rally was disrupted when hundreds of protesters angry at being denied access to the square trampled razor wire, pushed aside barricades and were met with teargas and chemical-laced water.

National police spokesman Ramli Yoosuf said at least 222 people were arrested but added that he expected the figure to rise.

The fracas marked the second straight year that police clashed with a pro-democracy rally organised by the election reform pressure group Bersih. A protest march last year was crushed by police with 1,600 people arrested.

Bersih and the political opposition are demanding far-reaching reforms by Prime Minister Najib Razak to end what they say has been decades of manipulation by the ruling coalition aimed at keeping itself in power.

“The message we are sending to Najib is that we must have clean elections!” opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim shouted to a crowd just before the clashes began. Najib denied any electoral bias. “We do not want to be elected through cheating. We are a government chosen by the people,” the official Bernama news agency quoted him as saying.

Bersih demands a thorough vetting of the voter roll following revelations of widespread phantom or duplicate voter registrations, a complete overhaul of the national Election Commission, which it accuses of bias, and other reforms.

Criticism of the harsh response to last year’s rally stung Najib, who shortly afterward implemented a series of political reform steps to shore up voter support. But he faces fresh criticism after the government banned rallying at the square and allegations of harassment of activists in recent days.

“Despite all the talk of ‘reform’ over the past

year, we’re seeing a repeat of repressive actions by a government that does not hesitate to use force when it feels its prerogatives are challenged,” Human Rights Watch said in response to the clashes at the square.

Police estimated at least 30,000 people participated in the rally, while independent

ed by a lockdown that included about 2,000 armed police.

After last year’s rally was crushed, public outrage moved Najib to set up a panel to explore electoral reforms. He also launched the repeal of several repressive laws in a bid to create what he has called “the greatest

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim (2nd R) along with his wife Wan Azizah (R) wave as they march towards the historical Merdeka Square during a mass rally organized by Bersih 3.0 calling for electoral reform in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. — AFP Malaysian media put the number at more than twice that.

As white teargas smoke filled the air and drifted down nearby streets, riot police quickly forced back the protesters who had entered the square and regained control. Nearby, protesters retaliated by throwing empty water bottles at police.

An AFP reporter saw a police car that had been turned on its side and its windshield smashed, with streaks of blood visible on the pavement. “We want peace, we want justice for our country. We don’t want to make any trouble,” said housewife Carmen Yap, 42, her eyes watering and bloodshot from the teargas. The crowd had mostly dispersed by late afternoon. Protesters, many dressed in the yellow of the Bersih clean-election movement-Bersih means “clean” in Malay-had marched toward the square but were thwart-

democracy”.

But Bersih and the opposition say the elections panel’s eventual recommendations fell far short of what was needed, and Najib’s civil liberties push has been dismissed by his critics as an election ploy.

Speculation is rife that Najib could call polls as early as June. He is under pressure to reverse a poor ruling coalition showing in 2008 elections. The government gave the goahead for Saturday’s rally, unlike last year when it was banned entirely.

But it had ruled out use of Independence Square, instead offering venues, but Bersih refused to budge. Bersih said sympathy rallies also were planned in dozens of cities worldwide. About 400 flag-waving Malaysians marched through central Hong Kong calling for electoral reforms and demanding voting rights for Malaysians abroad. —AFP

Underage call girl scandal shakes Singapore elite SINGAPORE: An unfolding scandal over an under-age call girl has shaken Singapore’s political and economic elite after businessmen, civil servants and uniformed officers were charged in the case.

Prostitution is legal in Singapore, but 48 men ranging in age from their early 20s to late 40s have so far been charged under a 2008 law making it a crime to pay for sex with a girl under 18.

Singapore has long been perceived as a conservative, even prudish, city-state but it has a thriving sex industry dating back to its beginnings as a key trading port of the then British empire.

The latest case has shone a spotlight on its pragmatic approach, which instead of seeking to close down the sex industry aims to tightly regulate the trade to protect minors and ward off criminal involvement.

An elementary school principal who pleaded guilty to engaging the under-aged girl’s services

became the first to be punished when a district court on Friday sentenced him to nine weeks in jail for the offence.

Among the remaining accused are five foreigners including Juerg Buergin, a 40-year-old

Swiss expatriate who had worked for banking giant UBS. The most prominent of the Singaporeans charged is Howard Shaw, a highsociety figure and grandson of Runme Shaw, co-founder of cinema and property empire Shaw

SINGAPORE: In this file picture taken on April 18, 2012 Howard Shaw (L in white shirt), a member of a prominent Singaporean family, is seen leaving a courthouse where he was formally charged with having paid sex with a prostitute under 18 years old, an offence in Singapore. The scandal over the underage Singaporean callgirl widened after Shaw and a Swiss former banker were included among 48 men charged in the case. — AFP

Organisation, which is also active in charity causes.

The gossip mill went into overdrive when it was disclosed that Shaw, a 41-year-old with two daughters from his first marriage, had sex with the teenager just a month before tying the knot with his second wife, a former beauty contestant still in her 20s.

The two appeared on a recent cover of high-society magazine Singapore Tatler as the poster couple for an article on “great romances” among the rich and famous in the city-state.

Singapore websites and social media are swirling with speculation that more men will be charged even as the identity of the girl, only 17 when she had dalliances with the accused, is being concealed by court order.

People have also been sharing purported pictures and salacious descriptions of the girl, described by a defence lawyer as a “hardcore prostitute”. — AFP

14

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

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Issues

Lesson in humanity in face of barbarity

By Pierre-Henry Deshayes ith civility in the courtroom and dignity in the streets, Norway has risen to the challenge posed by the trial of Anders Behring Breivik, one of history’s worst mass murderers, observers say. The tone was set on the first day of the trial on April 16 when the prosecutors, psychiatrists and lawyers for the plaintiffs lined up in front of Breivik before proceedings got under way to politely shake his hand. Nine months earlier, that same hand killed 77 people when the 33-year-old right-wing extremist detonated a bomb in the government block in Oslo and then went to the nearby island of Utoeya where he opened fire on hundreds of people, many of them teenagers, attending a Labour Party youth camp.

Courtesy has been the rule throughout the emotional testimony heard so far from survivors and during Breivik’s cross-examination, though it has at times been disconcerting to some: a few journalists have expressed surprise at Prosecutor Inga Bejer Engh’s use of a seemingly friendly tone with Breivik. “We’re going through ‘Breivik hell’ with dignity and upholding the principles of the rule of law and the rights of the individual, the rights of the criminal,” a columnist at tabloid Verdens Gang (VG), Shabana Rehman, wrote.

“We can be proud that there has been no lynch-mob atmosphere,” she added.

Breivik, who is led into the courtroom by unarmed police officers every morning, clad in a suit and tie, has never been assaulted, neither verbally nor physically, though families of his victims sit just a few feet away, their suffering visible but silent. In the absence of shouting or hollering, loud shrieks of grief or anger, there is just soft weeping, the occasional hug between family members, and heads shaking in disgust.

Maren Karlsson, who lost her daughter in the bombing, said she simply caught Breivik’s eye at one point and stared him down until he looked away.

From the witness stand, none of the bomb survivors, some deeply scarred and still on crutches, addressed Breivik directly. Outside the courtroom, Norwegians have responded to the trial with the same spirit of solidarity and unity that marked the tranquil nation in the days following the July 22 attacks, when tens of thousands of people marched quietly in the streets, roses in hand.

“Unlike the United States after 9/11, Norway is not going to place its soul in jeopardy through brutal and passionate revenge following a terrorist attack,” University of Oslo anthropology professor Thomas Hylland Eriksen said. “The slogan is not ‘either you are with us or you are with the terrorists,’ but rather ‘it is our values against theirs’,” he wrote on the site www.openDemocracy.com.

During the trial, Norwegian media have dug up a phrase tweeted by a young Norwegian woman, Helle Gannestad, after July 22: “If one man can create that much hate, you can only imagine how much love we as a togetherness can create.” Her message echoed Labour Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg’s call after the attacks for “more democracy, more openness and more humanity, but without naivety.” On Thursday, some 40,000 people gathered at an Oslo square to sing a popular folk song that children in Norway sing in school and which Breivik had described during the trial as a “Marxist indoctrination method.”

“It’s a pretty typical Norwegian reaction,” Breivik said a few days earlier of the peaceful marches in reaction to his attacks. “You’re not allowed to get angry or furious,” he said, adding that he had expected to be lynched for his massacres. Regardless of whether it’s a sign of naive good nature or a strong attachment to democratic ideals, the Norwegian reactions have been widely reported abroad. “These civilities? Maybe it’s like Breivik says, that in Norway you’re not allowed to get angry,” another VG columnist, Anders Giaever, told AFP. “But it may also be that we’re not accustomed to crimes like this. Mass murderers were in other countries. We’re used to cases of domestic abuse or crimes linked to drugs. So we just keep to our usual reactions,” he said. — AFP

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Mexican women voters back ‘alpha male’

By Anahi Rama

omen shout and jostle to get close to Enrique Pena Nieto, mob him for kisses or a hug, and snap photographs with the kind of excitement more commonly reserved for teenage heartthrobs than Mexican presidential candidates. The 45-year-old Pena Nieto, candidate for the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), is favorite to win Mexico’s July 1 presidential election, which for the first time will feature a woman as one of Mexico’s main contenders. Women make up a majority of eligible voters, but despite being traditionally sidelined in Mexican politics, they have failed to warm to the only female candidate - Josefina Vazquez Mota of President Felipe Calderon’s conservative National Action Party, or PAN. In this strongly Roman Catholic nation, support for the petite 51-year-old mother of three lags far behind that for the telegenic Pena Nieto, who cheated on his first wife and had two children out of wedlock, later marrying a soap-opera star.

Women are more likely to back Pena Nieto than Vazquez Mota by a ratio of eight to five, data from pollster Mitofsky showed this week. Men support the PRI candidate over his female rival by a factor of just over two to one.

Both sexes believe Pena Nieto is more likely to quell the brutal turf wars between drug gangs and the state which have killed more than 50,000 people in five years, and create more jobs for the country’s growing population. And the fact he is good-looking does no harm either. “I like the way he expresses himself, how he talks and the projects he has,” said Margarita Zuniga, a 43-year-old local government worker in Mexico’s second city Guadalajara. “And he is

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so adorable! You can’t deny it,” she added, giggling.

Zuniga’s response is typical of Pena Nieto’s female backers, who have helped him neutralize what analysts agree could be one of Vazquez Mota’s biggest selling points, her gender. Polls show Vazquez Mota has more women supporters than men, but not nearly enough to close the lead Pena Nieto has of more than 20 points, according to pollster BGC’s latest survey.

After winning the governorship of the State of Mexico in 2005, Pena Nieto’s ready smile, boyish complexion and impeccably coiffed hair began beaming into Mexican homes with the aid of the country’s biggest broadcaster Televisa, where his glamorous second wife, whom he married in 2010, was once under contract. That wedding after the death of his first wife in 2007 was marketed as a fairytale event that helped gild the image of a successful young politician destined for greatness. Despite the revelations in January that he had fathered two children behind the back of his first wife, and a string of gaffes, including his widely mocked struggle to name correctly a single book that had influenced him, his popularity is undimmed.

Vazquez Mota, on the other hand, has been damaged by PAN infighting and discontent with the government, as well as by a campaign that has made too many headlines for its flubs and mishaps and not enough for her vision of the future. She has had trouble framing her bid in the mold of Latin American women presidents like Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff and Cristina Fernandez in Argentina who took power as leaders of stature. One poll published on Thursday night even put her in third place behind 2006 runner-up Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

A former minister of social development

during the first PAN administration of President Vicente Fox, Vazquez Mota later served as education minister under his successor Calderon and then led her party in the lower house of congress. But her profile remained low compared to Pena Nieto, whose productive relationship with Televisa helped him forge a reputation for delivering on pledges during his six-year rule in the State of Mexico, the country’s most populous region.

Though women have had few role models to celebrate in Mexican politics, some analysts say Vazquez Mota has been too shy about courting females, who account for 52 percent of total population. She has talked about being a mother and devoted wife and wrote a self-help book called “God, Please Make Me A Widow,” where she encouraged girls to break free of stereotypes. Yet despite trumpeting her as a skirtwearing president who will “wear the pants”, her campaign’s feminist message lacks depth, said Mexican political analyst Fernando Dworak. “She hasn’t talked openly about gender equality, or reproductive rights,” he said. “Images of Pena Nieto hugging all the women in town weigh a lot more for the female vote than empty talk.

The alpha male is preferred over the weak feminist.”

During his State of Mexico campaign, chants of “Enrique! Cutie! We are with you all the way to bed!” used to ring out for Pena Nieto, who has now been immortalized as a toy doll now on sale with plastic pompadour resembling Ken - Barbie’s boyfriend. And he is not afraid to exploit his physical charms in a country where soap operas dominate the TV ratings. “Pena Nieto has the ability to seduce both men and woman,” said Alberto Tavira, author of “The Women of Pena Nieto,” an expose of the candidate’s love life. “He has that gift

which he’s developed and maximized with a lot of coaching.”

Jeers that Pena Nieto is an intellectual lightweight lacking in substance have had little impact. Meanwhile the former columnist Vazquez Mota is still battling social conservatism in Mexico, where women only won the right to vote in 1953. A 2010 national survey on discrimination showed two in five women still ask their husbands permission to go out alone at night and two-thirds suffer from some kind of domestic violence. “Working class Mexican women hardly are liberated,” said Rodolfo de la Garza, a political scientist at Columbia University, noting that opportunities for women are largely limited to those from the top end of society. “(Vazquez Mota’s candidacy) is an important step but her being a woman is not going to be a definitive factor by any means.”

More and more women are coming through the ranks of Mexican politics, where a 2008 rule decreed that 40 percent of congressional lawmakers must be women - even if it has often been skirted.

Two of the three main candidates running for mayor of Mexico City this summer are women, and Calderon recently said his wife Margarita Zavala might make for a potential president in 2018. But women still have a lot of catching up to do. Since the PRI consolidated the Mexican Revolution and began 71 years of unbroken rule in 1929, more than 700 politicians have served as state governors or mayors of Mexico City.

Only six of them have been women. And Vazquez Mota’s lack of experience is a problem, said Sarai Anievas, a 26-year-old officer worker in the capital. “Pena Nieto has been a politician all his life. You know what you’re getting, because the State of Mexico is a big place to govern,” she said. “Josefina hasn’t been a governor.” — Reuters

Hollande plays president, Sarko insurgent

By Paul Taylor

o watch them perform, you would think Francois Hollande was already France’s president and Nicolas Sarkozy was an insurgent frantically battling to dislodge him.

Conventional roles have been reversed in the final 10 days of a marathon election campaign in Europe’s number two economy, a nuclear power and UN Security Council member - greatly to the benefit of Hollande, the Socialist challenger. The conservative Sarkozy, a hyperactive player on the global and European stage for the last five years, is racing around the country frenetically, cajoling far-right voters and escalating a negative campaign against his Socialist opponent.

Hollande, 57, a rank outsider when he declared his candidacy more than a year ago, is acting the statesman, selfconfidently holding international news conferences and setting out in calm, measured tones how he plans to change Europe’s economic course once, rather than if, he wins a May 6 runoff.

Business leaders are schmoozing his potential ministers and aides; ambassadors are courting his policy advisers; his envoys are making discreet calls in Brussels and Berlin to prepare the ground with the senior staff of European leaders who refused to receive the Socialist as a candidate.

Hollande used the stagecraft of the presidency for his news conference on

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Wednesday, speaking in front of a sober blue backdrop with the French and European flags furled behind his right shoulder. Only the slogan “Now is the time for change” on the lectern signalled he was still a candidate for the job. “French citizens do not want to see a president entering the political arena to solve daily problems, he needs to talk about values. Sarkozy has never got into this role,” said sociologist JeanFrancois Chantaraud, founder of the Odissee think-thank. “Hollande, however, is talking about values and taking on the presidential mantle. He is talking about values and vision, justice and equality, but he does not get into the nitty-gritty of how he will solve problems,” he said. Sarkozy is sticking to the playbook of his political guru Patrick Buisson, dividing the French at each rally into “real” workers and the “assisted”, “Parisian elites” versus “the people”, those proud of France’s “Christian roots” and the rest. As part of that strategy, the president cited on prime-time television a purported list of 700 mosques planning to endorse Hollande and said controversial Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan was backing the Socialist.

Muslim community leaders said there was no such list and Ramadan, a Swiss citizen, denied having taken sides in the French poll.

Sarkozy’s lurch to the right, voiced in increasingly virulent rhetoric, is aimed at attracting the 6.4 million voters who cast ballots last Sunday for far-right

anti-immigration campaigner Marine Le Pen, giving her a record 18 percent score. Buisson, a former extreme-right newspaper editor, spelled out the strategy in a remarkably candid interview with the New York Times published last week, saying Sarkozy had to embody “the values of national identity”. “This time, the central theme has been to be the candidate of borders, of the border that protects,” said Buisson.

Dangerously for Sarkozy, the few opinion polls taken since the first round have remained stable, with Hollande holding a 10-point lead over the incumbent, as if Sarkozy’s radicalisation of the campaign was merely confirming voters in their choice. Sarkozy has now managed to alienate centrist candidate Francois Bayrou, whose 9.1 percent of the first-round vote could be vital if Sarkozy is to have any hope of catching up with Hollande. Bayrou distanced himself from the president in an open letter calling for both candidates to reject extremes and put an end to the “violence” of politics, a call that seemed chiefly targeted at the incumbent’s confrontational style.

Courteous, humorous and a little long-winded, Hollande is plodding steadily towards the finishing line, like the tor toise in Aesop’s fable, while Sarkozy dashes like the hare, zig-zagging rather than steering a steady course. The Socialist has brushed off Sarkozy’s challenge to three television debates between the rounds, noting

that the president had accepted only one debate during his 2007 election campaign. Hollande has tried to surmount his lack of ministerial experience by imitating - almost to the point of mimickry - the rhetoric and gestures of his mentor Francois Mitterrand, who governed France from 1981 to 1995.

Mitterrand aroused adulation when he led a united left to power in 1981 after 23 years in the political wilderness.

His free-spending policies triggered a currency crisis and prompted a policy Uturn after two years. He went on to outfox a conservative prime minister in a period of power-sharing and was reelected in 1988, only to leave office reviled by many due to party sleaze scandals and revelations about his ambivalent role during World War Two. Yet the 30th anniversary of Mitterrand’s election last year gave rise to an outpouring of affection for the master tactician, who died in 1996.

Hollande has tapped into that nostalgia among voters who identified with Mitterrand’s provincial roots, his deep culture and his ability to empathise with ordinary people. By contrast, Sarkozy appears to many, even in his own conservative camp, to be impetuous, vulgar and unpresidential in his demeanour. As he approaches the finishing line in an increasingly frenzied campaign, this most divisive of presidents might contemplate the campaign slogan on which Mitterrand cruised to re-election in 1988: “United France”. — Reuters

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

NEWS

This photo provided by NASA shows space shuttle Enterprise, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), flying near the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum on Friday in New York. — AFP

DSK makes a dramatic return to French polls PARIS: Disgraced ex-IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn, once tipped to win France’s presidential vote, made a dramatic incursion into the campaign Saturday with a claim Nicolas Sarkozy orchestrated his downfall. The accusation came as the battle between Sarkozy and Francois Hollande grew ever more bitter, with the incumbent accusing the front-running Socialist of subjecting him to a “Stalinist trial” over his bid to woo the far right.

Strauss-Kahn, in his first major newspaper interview since his disgrace a year ago, told Britain’s The Guardian newspaper that his spectacular fall was orchestrated by opponents to prevent him standing as Socialist candidate. The ex-International Monetary Fund boss had been favoured to win the vote until May last year, when he was arrested in New York and accused of sexually assaulting hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo. The charges were later dropped.

Strauss-Kahn said that although he did not believe the incident was a setup, the subsequent escalation of the event into a criminal investigation was “shaped by those with a political agenda”. “Perhaps I was politically naive, but I simply did not believe that they would go that far - I didn’t think they could find anything that could stop me,” he told the British daily. The Guardian said it was clear that the “they” refers to people working for Sarkozy and his UMP party.

A New York lawyer representing Diallo in an ongoing civil lawsuit against Strauss-Kahn dismissed the claim as “utter nonsense”, while Sarkozy himself flatly rejected the accusation. “Enough is enough! I would tell Mr. Strauss-Kahn to explain himself to the law and spare the French his remarks,” he said in central France while on the campaign trail to get himself re-elected on May 6.

Opinion polls say Hollande will win the run-off against Sarkozy. Strauss-Kahn said he was sure he would now be in Hollande’s shoes had it not been for the events at the Sofitel hotel in Manhattan on May 14 last year. “I planned to make my formal announcement on 15 June and I had no doubt I would be the candidate of the Socialist Party,” said Strauss-Kahn, who refused to discuss with The Guardian a separate sex scandal that has

erupted in France.

Sarkozy said that when he thought of all the “scandalous, shameful episodes” that Strauss-Kahn had allegedly been involved in in the United States and France, he was shocked that the ex-IMF chief should dare to speak out now. “Mr Strauss-Kahn starts giving lessons in morality and saying I am the only one responsible for what happened to him, well, that really is too much!”, he said. Sarkozy was again under pressure yesterday over the financing of his 2007 campaign after a news website reported late Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi’s regime had agreed to fund the election bid to the tune of €50 million.

His campaign spokeswoman Nathalie KosciuskoMorizet dismissed the latest report as “ridiculous” and a “clumsy diversion” orchestrated by Hollande’s camp. She said Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign funds were cleared by the Constitutional Council after the elections with no queries. Sarkozy has previously been accused of getting illegal campaign support from L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt.

Hollande and Sarkozy were expected to call a brief truce later yesterday when both head for a football match at the Stade de France in Paris to watch third-tier outsiders Quevilly battle Lyon for the French Cup. But the gloves have come off in recent days, with Hollande accusing his rival of “transgression” in his bid to secure the votes of the 6.5 million who plumped for far-right leader Marine Le Pen in last Sunday’s first round.

Sarkozy has veered to the right to reach out to the former political pariah Le Pen, insisting her values are not incompatible with France’s republican tradition and vowing to secure Europe’s borders and fight multiculturalism. Le Pen did well in the first round among white working-class voters who might once have backed the left, and Hollande is also scrambling to recruit voters who backed the anti-immigrant, anti-European National Front leader. He said in a concession to the millions worried about France’s national identity that immigration needs to be better regulated and that he will keep a law that Sarkozy passed that bans the full-face veil worn by some Muslim women. —AFP

China activist under US protection Continued from Page 1 had been held under extra-legal confinement in his village home in Linyi in eastern Shandong province since September 2010 when he was released from jail. His confinement under relentless surveillance with his family fanned protests by Chinese sympathisers and criticism from foreign governments and groups. Chen’s escape and the furor it has unleashed could add to the headaches of China’s ruling Communist Party, which is striving to ensure stability and authority before a leadership transition later this year. It also threatens to overshadow a visit by Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who are due in Beijing next week for the annual “strategic and economic dialogue” between the two countries.

Asked whether any issue could force the meeting to be canceled or postponed, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said, “I don’t know why you’d ask the question.”

“Our holding this briefing today shows that the Strategic Economic Dialogue will take place as scheduled,” Cui told a news conference about the China-US dialogue. He said he had “no information” on Chen.

Hu Jia, a Beijing dissident who met Chen several days ago in Beijing, recounted that Chen said he would not seek asylum from within the US embassy. “If they catch him, there will be unprecedented retaliation against him. So in the end we decided there was only one place that could guarantee his safety,” Hu said, referring to the embassy.

“Before making a decision to go there, he said he wanted to stay and fight, and not request asylum,” added Hu. Later yesterday, Hu was escorted away by a group of police, according to his wife Zeng Jinyan. More police were likely to come to take her away as well, she said. “The situation is very complicated. The police are outside right now,” Zeng said in a strained voice before ending the conversation. Washington and other Western governments have criticised Beijing’s jailing and confinement of dissidents, protesters and other citizens who challenge Communist Party power. China says such criticism is unwelcome meddling in domestic affairs.

Two prominent Chen supporters, friend He Peirong and

Beijing researcher Guo Yushan, were out of contact yesterday, suggesting they might have been detained over the incident. There was no sign of any greater than normal security around the US embassy, a fort-like compound of concrete and steel in northeast Beijing. If he is sheltering inside, that could thrust Washington back in the midst of a volatile political moment for China, recalling the case of dissident astrophysicist Fang Lizhi. He hid inside the US ambassador’s resident with his wife after the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, to Beijing’s outrage. Fang settled in the United States and died recently.

Officials in Shandong said yesterday they had no comment on Chen’s escape. State media has made no mention of the saga. “It is the Shandong government that has bungled this by turning a small matter into an international affair,” said Li Datong, a former editor at the China Youth Daily, a party paper, who was pushed aside for denouncing censorship. “It is certainly a loss of face for the central government. It is especially a loss of face if a regular Chinese citizen has gone to another government to seek protection.”

Chen’s hometown of Dongshigu became notorious as a no-go zone for foreign media and other visitors, who were typically chased away and often assaulted by local guards apparently employed by officials. Local people interviewed

by AFP yesterday expressed disbelief that Chen had managed to escape despite the heavy security presence.

“Everyone around here knows about the blind guy. They (authorities) have a lot of local police, traffic police and village security guards watching him,” said one resident, who AFP is not naming for his safety. “Over 60 people watching one blind man day and night. There is no way he can escape.” Fu said Chen’s escape came to light in the early hours of Friday morning, when government officials went to Dongshigu to search his house and that of his elder brother Chen Guangfu. Human rights groups say Chen Guangfu and his son Chen Kegui have been taken into police custody after a violent confrontation early Friday.

He, one of Chen’s supporters who helped transport him to a safe location, was arrested at her home in the eastern city of Nanjing on Friday, Fu said. — Agencies

Gunmen hit Syria troops from sea Continued from Page 1 On Friday, a suicide bomber killed nine people when he detonated an explosives belt outside a Damascus mosque. SANA said six officials killed in that blast were buried yesterday, along with a further 16 army and security personnel killed in separate incidents elsewhere in the country of 23 million. Most independent media have been barred from Syria, making it hard to verify accounts of events on the ground. SANA named all the people it said were buried yesterday.

The Damascus suicide attack was just one of five explosions to hit the capital on Friday, creating the impression insurgents may be changing tactics and embarking on a sustained bombing campaign aimed at the seat of Assad’s power. “The action is picking up and it seems the (rebels) and Assad’s forces are starting to battle it out in Damascus as well,” said one activist based in the capital who uses the name Mar Ram. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has accused Damascus of breaking its pledge to withdraw heavy weapons and troops from towns, and said he is “gravely alarmed by reports of continued violence and killing in Syria”. Syrian media hit back, say Ban was inflaming the conflict by ignoring “crimes and terrorist actions” committed by anti-Assad militiamen. “His focus on shamefully pointing at Syria, as usual, encourages these groups to continue to commit more crimes and terrorist acts,” the state newspaper Tishreen said.

Russia also piled in, saying the disparate rebel groups trying to topple Assad appeared determined to trash what is left of the UN-backed peace initiative. “Attempts by the irreconcilable opposition to increase tension even more and incite violence cause particular alarm,” Moscow said in a statement. “The aim is clear: to ruin a solution in Syria based on Annan’s plan.” UN monitors are trickling in and officials say 30 of a planned 300-strong mission should be in place by Monday to reinforce observers already stationed in anti-Assad hotbeds such as Idlib, Hama, Homs and Deraa.

The slow build-up, more than two weeks after the truce came into effect, has been derided by Assad’s foes and intensified frustration in Western capitals, where leaders want firmer measures imposed on Damascus sooner rather than later. The presence of the monitors has emboldened many thousands of protesters to resume demonstrations after weeks of military crackdown, but activists say Assad’s forces responded swiftly.

Security forces carried out house to house raids in the Damascus suburb of Irbin yesterday, arresting demonstration leaders who welcomed the observers a week ago, two resident activists said. France says that if Assad’s forces do not return to barracks, it will push next month for a “Chapter 7” UN Security Council resolution - which could allow action ranging from economic sanctions to military intervention. Russia and China have made clear that they would veto Libya-style military action and have resisted the idea of sanctions. — Reuters

Saudis pull ambassador, shut embassy...

Continued from Page 1 Egypt’s foreign ministry bemoaned “irresponsible actions” by protesters at the embassy and said they were at odds with “deeply rooted Egyptian-Saudi ties”.

Activists in Cairo, including Gezawi’s wife, said early in the week that the lawyer was detained when he arrived for pilgrimage after being sentenced in absentia to a year in prison and 20 lashes for insulting King Abdullah.

The Saudi embassy on Tuesday denied that version of events and said he had been arrested for possession of more than 21,000 pills of the anxiety drug Xanax, which is banned in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi daily Okaz reported yesterday that he had smuggled the pills inside bottles of infant milk formula and boxes intended to hold the Holy Quran. It said the case had been referred to the kingdom’s prosecution service. Many Egyptians suspect the drug case against Gezawi was forced to cover up his human rights work.

As Arab uprisings have toppled four longtime Middle Eastern rulers, Saudi Arabia has been worried about signs of rebellion within its borders. Authorities have met attempts to advocate for more rights, as Gezawi has done, or question the authority of the monarchy in any way with strong opposition. Egyptian protesters were also resentful of their government’s reaction to the case, raising questions about whether it does enough to protect its citizens. Many activists also claim Egypt curbs its criticism so as not to alienate the wealthy kingdom or endanger Egyptian jobs there. Egyptians also held rallies outside the Foreign Ministry in Cairo, demanding the Egyptian ambassador in Saudi Arabia be questioned

over his handling of Gezawi’s case.

A source in the Egyptian foreign ministry in a statement: “Egypt condemns individual actions undertaken by some citizens towards the embassy of the embassy of sisterly Saudi Arabia, and which do not express anything other than the opinion of the people who undertook them. The Egyptian government has all love and respect for Saudi as a government and people.” It added: “The Egyptian government condemns these irresponsible actions which harm the deeply-rooted Egyptian-Saudi ties.” Al-Ahram daily reported a statement by the Freedom and Justice Party, political arm of Egypt’s powerful Muslim Brotherhood, calling on Saudi Arabia to reconsider. However, the FJP statement also said the protests expressed “Egyptians’ will to preserve the dignity of their citizens”.

The diplomatic dispute also underscored the inherent tensions in the region between Gulf Arab states and Egypt since the ouster of Mubarak last year in the face of popular protests. At one point, the Egyptian government said Arab donors have been reluctant to come up with promised money to help the local economy as it suffered following the uprising. Gulf nations, led by Saudi Arabia, remained publicly supportive of Mubarak even as Western allies called for him to step down. His downfall - and the swift policy shifts in Washington and elsewhere - deeply stunned the Gulf monarchs and sheikhs who considered Western backing as an unshakable pillar for their regimes. In response, Gulf states have increasingly banded together to try to stamp out Arab Spring-inspired opposition and build independent strategies to control key regional rival Iran. — Agencies

Israelis being fooled on Iran: Ex-intel Continued from Page 1 opening an unprecedented front with Iran and, potentially, with its allies on Israel’s borders. Netanyahu is a second-term premier with solid public approval ratings and a broad conservative coalition. Barak, a former prime minister, is Israel’s most decorated soldier.

“I don’t believe in either the prime minister or the defence minister. I don’t believe in a leadership that makes decisions based on messianic feelings,” he said.

“Believe me, I have observed them from up close ... They are not people who I, on a personal level, trust to lead Israel to an event on that scale and carry it off. These are not people who I would want to have holding the wheel in such an event. They are misleading the public on the Iran issue. They tell the public that if Israel acts, Iran won’t have a nuclear bomb. This is misleading.

Actually, many experts say that an Israeli attack would accelerate the Iranian nuclear race.”

Diskin, who stepped down as head of Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security service last year after six years in the post, was addressing a public meeting in Kfar Saba in the Tel Aviv suburbs. In March, former Mossad chief Meir Dagan also spoke out publicly against a military

option on Iran. He told US network CBS an Israeli attack would have “devastating” consequences for Israel and would, in any case, be unlikely to put an end to the Iranian nuclear program.

Foreign Minister Lieberman said questions such as how and if to tackle Iran “are not made by the prime minister and defence minister. They are usually made in the security cabinet or cabinet”. Lieberman suggested to Israel’s Channel Two television that Diskin might be angry at being passed over for the job as head of the Mossad.

On relations between Israeli Jews and other groups, Diskin said: “Over the past 10-15 years, Israel has become more and more racist. All of the studies point to this. This is racism toward Arabs and toward foreigners, and we are also becoming a more belligerent society.” Diskin also said he believed another political assassination, like that of then prime minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 by a Jewish extremist, could occur in the future.

“Today there are extremist Jews, not just in the territories but also inside the Green Line - dozens of them who, in a situation in which settlements are evacuated, would be willing to take up arms against their Jewish brothers,” he said. — Agencies

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

sp orts Lorenzo on pole in Spain

Chelsea sign midfielder Marin

Stacy leads Mobile Bay

JEREZ: Spain’s 2010 world champion Jorge Lorenzo recorded his 46th career pole position here yesterday when he posted the fastest time in qualifying for the Spanish MotoGP. The Yamaha rider-who won the seasonopening Qatar MotoGP-pipped compatriot Dani Pedrosa on a Honda while the 2006 world champion Nicky Hayden of the United States was third fastest on a Ducati.

Lorenzo’s tally of 46 pole positions includes 20 in MotoGP. “We are very happy with this pole position because it was a strange session. There were a lot of water patches and it was very dangerous,” said Lorenzo. “You had to pay a lot of attention, it would have been easy to crash and get injured.

“Anyway we start in first position so let’s see what happens in the race. Thank you to the team for working hard to keep giving the right set up in changing conditions.”

Lorenzo and Pedrosa swapped fastest times throughout a thrilling duel yesterday and were the only two riders to go under 1min 40sec and in doing so Lorenzo also bettered Pedrosa’s fastest lap time set in 2010. — AFP

LONDON: Champions League finalists Chelsea have signed German international midfielder M arko M arin from Bundesliga side Werder Bremen, the Premier League club confirmed yesterday.

The 23-year-old will join Chelsea at the end of the season after agreeing terms and German magazine Sport-Bild report he has signed a five-year deal to keep him at Stamford Bridge until 2017 for an undisclosed fee.

“Chelsea is my dream club,” the winger told Sport-Bild. “I’m happy that I get the chance to play for them. It is a challenge for me. “Tottenham Hotspur were also interested, but I opted for Chelsea, because they suit me well.”

Marin has 16 caps for Germany and played twice at the 2010 World Cup, coming on as a substitute in matches against Australia and Serbia, but has not played for the national team since November 2010.

He is not expected to be included in Joachim Loew’s squad for Euro 2012, set to be named on May 7, with the tournament to start on June 8.

Marin joined Bremen from Borussia Moenchengladbach for 8.5 million euros in 2009. —AFP

MOBILE: Stacy Lewis birdied five of her final nine holes for a 5-under 67 and a one-stroke lead Friday after the second round of the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic, rebounding well after missing the cut in her previous tournament. Lewis, the Kraft Nabisco winner last year, had three straight birdies and a two-stroke lead, but missed a 5-foot par putt on the final hole en route to her first bogey of the week. She had a 9-under 135 total on The Crossings course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail’s Magnolia Grove complex.

She will gladly accept a flawed round that put her atop the leaderboard after an early exit in Hawaii.

“It was really one of those weeks,” Lewis said. “I had a lot of stuff going on. Mentally I was kind of not there. I’m a lot more relaxed this week. I chalked one up to a bad couple of days, and I’m moving on.”

Karin Sjodin tied the tournament course record with a 64 to finish a stroke back along with Lindsey Wright (69), S o Ye o n R y u ( 6 7 ) a n d ro o k i e Syd n e e Michaels (68). — AP

Dodger defeat Nationals

MLB results/standings Oakland 5, Baltimore 2; NY Yankees 7, Detroit 6; Cleveland 3, LA Angels 2; Chicago Cubs 5, Philadelphia 1; Seattle 9, Toronto 5 (10 Innings); Arizona 5, Miami 0; Houston 6, Cincinnati 4; Atlanta 6, Pittsburgh 1; Tampa Bay 8, Texas 4; Boston 10, Chicago White Sox 3; Kansas City 7, Minnesota 6; St Louis 13, Milwaukee 1; Colorado 18, NY Mets 9; LA Dodgers 3, Washington 2; San Diego 5, San Francisco 3.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT Tampa Bay 13 7 .650 Baltimore 12 8 .600 NY Yankees 11 8 .579 Toronto 10 10 .500 Boston 9 10 .474 Central Division Cleveland 10 8 .556 Detroit 10 10 .500 C White Sox 10 10 .500 Kansas City 6 14 .300 Minnesota 5 15 .250 Western Division Texas 15 5 .750 Oakland 11 10 .524 Seattle 11 10 .524 LA Angels 6 14 .300

GB 1 1.5 3 3.5 1 1 5 6 4.5 4.5 9

National League Eastern Division Washington 14 6 .700 Atlanta 13 7 .650 NY Mets 11 9 .550 Philadelphia 9 11 .450 Miami 7 12 .368 Central Division St. Louis 13 7 .650 Milwaukee 9 11 .450 Cincinnati 9 11 .450 Pittsburgh 8 11 .421 Houston 8 12 .400 Chicago Cubs 7 13 .350 Western Division LA Dodgers 14 6 700 Colorado 10 9 .526 Arizona 10 10 .500 San Francisco 10 10 .500 San Diego 7 14 .333

1 3 5 6.5 4 4 4.5 5 6 3.5 4 4 7.5

McCarthy steers A’s past Orioles ARLINGTON: Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria homered and drove in four runs to power the Athletic Rays past the Texas Rangers and to their sixth straight victory.

Longoria hit a three-run homer in the first inning and added an RBI single in the fourth for the Rays, who had a season-high 16 hits.

Tampa Bay ace James Shields (4-0) became the first starter in the American League to win four games this season.

Shields struck out eight and allowed four runs in six innings. Rangers starter Matt Harrison (3-1) gave up a career-worst 14 hits in five innings.

Athletics 5, Orioles 2 In Baltimore, Brandon McCarthy pitched seven strong innings for his first win this season, leading Oakland past Baltimore.

McCarthy (1-3) has received very little run support this season but had more to work with this time thanks chiefly to Eric Sogard’s two-run homer in a three-run second inning.

Jake Arrieta (1-2) allowed four runs in 5 2-3 for Baltimore, which had a fourgame winning streak snapped.

Yankees 7, Tigers 6 In New York, Derek Jeter scored on a passed ball in the ninth inning, giving New York a tight victory over Detroit, which suffered its fifth straight loss.

Jeter drew a one -out walk from Brayan Villarreal (0-1) and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Villarreal’s 2-0 pitch to the next batter glanced off the catcher’s glove and Jeter barely beat the toss back to Villarreal at home plate.

Mariano Rivera (1-1), the fourth Yankees reliever, worked a perfect ninth for the win. The bullpen pitched 3 2-3 scoreless innings.

The Tigers were without Delmon Young, who was arrested in the early hours of Friday for a fight at the team hotel during which he allegedly yelled anti-Semitic epithets.

The White Sox led 3-2 after five innings but the Red Sox responded with a five-run sixth inning, highlighted by McDonald’s bases-clearing double.

Boston starter Daniel Bard (2-2) threw seven strong innings for the win.

Chicago starter John Danks (2-3) allowed seven runs in 5 2-3 innings.

Indians 3, Angels 2 In Cleveland, Asdrubal Cabrera singled home the winning run with one out in the ninth inning to lift Cleveland over struggling Los Angeles.

Aaron Cunningham opened the ninth against David Carpenter (0-1) by doubling over the left fielder. After a lineout, Jason Kipnis singled and Cabrera then sent a 2-0 pitch into the right field seats.

Vinnie Pestano (1-0) struck out the only two batters he faced for the win.

The Angels’ big-money signing Albert Pujols saw his homerless streak to start the season reach 20 games - the longest of his career - as Los Angeles lost its fifth straight.

Royals 7, Twins 6 In Minneapolis, Alex Gordon and Billy Butler each hit a two-run homer as Kansas City beat Minnesota for its third straight win.

Mike Moustakas delivered the goahead single in the eighth inning and Alcides Escobar added an RBI single three batters later for the Royals.

Kansas City’s Jose Mijares (1-1) got the win and Jonathan Broxton worked the ninth for the save. Minnesota’s Brian Duensing (0-2) allowed two runs in relief of Carl Pavano, who gave up five runs in 6 1-3 innings. —AP

Mariners 9, Blue Jays 5 In Toronto, Michael Saunders hit two home runs, including a grand slam in the 10th inning as Seattle rallied to beat Toronto and extend its winning streak to four games.

Saunders started a two-run rally in the ninth with a homer, then hit the winning long shot off Luis Perez (2-1) in the 10th.

Mariners reliever Charlie Furbush (2-1) got two outs for the win. The Blue Jays were undone by three errors as their losing streak reached four games.

Red Sox 10, White Sox 3 In Chicago, Darnell McDonald hit a tiebreaking three-run double and homered to help Boston rally past Chicago and notch a fifth straight win.

ARLINGTON: Tampa Bay Rays’ Evan Longoria follows through on his three-run home run off Texas Rangers pitcher Matt Harrison in the first inning of a baseball game. —AP

LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles pitcher Clayton Kershaw won his 10th straight decision as the Dodgers beat the Washington Nationals 3-2 on Friday in a clash of the early pacesetters in the National League.

Kershaw (2-0) allowed three hits over eight innings with six strikeouts and only one walk. He became the first Dodgers pitcher to win 10 consecutive decisions since Ramon Martinez across the 1995 and 1996 seasons.

Kershaw also joined Ed Roebuck and Orel Hershiser as the only Dodgers to win 12 decisions in a row at home since the franchise moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958. Kershaw’s home streak has spanned 16 starts, with a 1.22 ERA. Andre Ethier hit a two-run homer for the Dodgers while Kenley Jansen pitched a hitless ninth for his first save of the season. Washington starter Ross Detwiler (2-1) allowed three runs over six innings.

Cardinals 13, Brewers 1 In St. Louis, the hosts scored eight runs in the third inning to set up a rout of Milwaukee. Matt Holliday had three hits for the Cardinals, who set season highs for an inning and a game.

St. Louis starting pitcher Jake Westbrook (3-1) gave up one run over seven innings. He has allowed two earned runs or less in all four of his starts this season.

The Cardinals sent 12 batters to the plate in the third to prematurely end the night for Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo (1-2), who gave up eight earned runs in twoplus innings. He lost for the ninth time in 10 regular-season starts against St. Louis.

Braves 6, Pirates 1 In Atlanta, Tommy Hanson (32) allowed one run in six innings to steer Atlanta past Pittsburgh.

Dan Uggla and Chipper Jones

but it wasn’t enough on a night when pitching was an afterthought and the ball was flying all over the place in the Mile High City’s thin air.

LOS ANGELES: Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw throws to the plate during the second inning of their baseball game against the Washington Nationals. —AP came through in a four-run seventh.

AJ Burnett (1-1) went six innings for the Pirates, pitching well but not enough to prevent his eighth loss in nine career decisions at Turner Field.

New York committed six errors, one shy of the team worst. The 11 runs the Mets allowed in the fifth matched a club mark for one inning. Matt Reynolds (3-0) picked up the win. Manny Acosta (0-1) took the loss.

Rockies 18, Mets 9 In Denver, Carlos Gonzalez was at the center of an 11-run fifth inning, hitting a homer and a single to drive in five of his six RBIs, as Colorado punished New York.

Ramon Hernandez hit his sixth career grand slam - and first for the Rockies this season - as Colorado set a season high for runs.

The Mets lost heavily despite Scott Hairston becoming the 10th player in Mets history and first in the majors this season to hit for the cycle. He drove in four runs

D’backs 5, Marlins 0 In Miami, Joe Saunders pitched a shutout in Arizona’s win over Miami, which suffered a sixth straight loss. Saunders (2-1) notched the third shutout of his career and dropped his ERA from 1.29 to 0.90.

Jason Kubel tied a career best with four hits for the Diamondbacks, extending his hitting streak to 10 games. Miami starter Carlos Zambrano (0-2) pitched six innings, giving up 10 hits. The Marlins failed to get a runner past first base, and have

scored only six runs in their six straight defeats.

Astros 6, Reds 4 In Cincinnati, Jose Altuve drove in two runs with a triple and a double, lifting Houston over Cincinnati. Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez (2-2) gave up two runs in six innings. He has allowed only one earned run over 14 innings across his past two starts.

Astros first baseman Carlos Lee left in the first because of a sprained left ankle and is expected to miss a couple of games.

Houston chased Reds starter Mike Leake (0-3) with a four-run fourth inning.

Padres 5, Giants 3 In San Francisco, Nick Hundley matched his career high with four hits to help San Diego beat San Francisco. Cory Luebke (3-1) pitched six strong innings giving up two runs to win his third consecutive start. Giants pitcher Eric Hacker (0-1) took the loss in his first major league start, allowing three runs over six innings.

Cubs 5, Phillies 1 In Philadelphia, Paul Maholm outpitched Roy Halladay to lead Chicago past Philadelphia.

Maholm (2-2) allowed one run in 6 1-3 innings, dropping his still high ERA from 8.36 to 6.20.

Halladay (3-2) was unhittable at the start, retiring 10 straight batters with four strikeouts, but gave up three runs in a threeinning stretch to fall to 1-5 lifetime against Chicago.

There was little chance of the Phillies bats making up for it, as they have scored two runs or less in the majority of their games this season. —AP

Ford Focus Rabaa Rally teams arrive in Kuwait KUWAIT: The six competing teams in the Ford Focus Rabaa Rally are expected to arrive in Kuwait today for the second leg of the first ever interactive inter-GCC challenge, following a successful start in Riyadh, where they took part in their first challenge.

Hosted by DJ, music producer and radio presenter Danny Neville, the Ford Focus Rabaa Rally [referring to a gang of friends in Khaleeji dialect] takes six GCC teams to each of the Gulf countries to compete in a series of tasks and challenges. Teams score based on their skills and performances rather than speed, as well as the level of online and offline participation and support of their country’s fans.

Before the teams headed to Kuwait, all six teams completed a series of challenges in Riyadh’s Al Reem International Circuit with the support of their captains and the teams’ online fans and followers on Ford’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/FordMiddleEast. Fans can help their favourite team win additional points by taking part in the online team challenges on Facebook, similar to the pit crews in a real race. In the Kuwait leg, team coordination will be put to test as each member has a special task to perform successfully in order to garner the most points. The actual challenges are kept secret and only revealed just before start, which adds to the excitement factor both for the teams and their fans.

Paul Anderson, Marketing director of Ford Middle East said: “It’s a test of will and wit for all six teams, the captains and the fans for the Ford Focus Rabaa. And the all-new 2012 Ford Focus is revved up to perform. With its new technologies, teams find an additional member taking them through all the challenges they will face in this first ever interactive rally.

Online fan support is absolutely crucial to the teams’ success as they will not only help make a difference in their favourite team’s score, but they will be engaged throughout the rally as they are given various online challenges that could also help them win an all-new 2012 Ford Focus!”

Fans will be able to follow the action on the Ford Middle East Facebook page and support their favourite team by serving as virtual pit

crew, and gain points for their team by taking the online challenges. Ford is also producing an on-line video diary documenting the rally activities, with a new enter taining video episode produced and posted each day of the rally.

The final country teams participating in the Ford Focus Rabaa are: Team Bahrain “Bahrain Youth Lions” Captain: Ismaeel Abdulatif, Football Striker and Winger, Al Muharraq Club Driver 1: Fadhel Khaled Mustafa Ghuloom Ali Driver 2: Mahmood Habib Mohamed Guloom Baqer Driver 3: Isa Abdulwahid Isa Hasan Ali Team Kuwait “Tornado Racing Team” Captain: Barakat Al Wegyan, TV presenter, Al Watan TV Driver 1: Nasser M M A H Almutairi Driver 2: Ali H I H Y Almulla Driver 3: Thamer A S A Almutairi Team Oman “Qadiroon” Captain: Nabil Al Busaidi, Arab Adventurer Driver 1: Azzan Abdul Amir Hameed Driver 2: Faisal Fadhil Mahmood Al Bakri Driver 3: Issam Abdullah Said Al-Kharusi Team Qatar “I.C.T.” Captain: Abdul Aziz Hasan, Vice President Qatar Club

Driver 1: Awfa Ghasab S K Aladawi Driver 2: Rabay Ghasab S K Aladawi Driver 3: Ali Essa S A Al-Suwaidi Team Saudi Arabia “KSA Bura Bura” Captain: Khalid Khalifa, Comedian Driver 1: Yazan Munzer A Bader Driver 2: Ali Hussain A Al Nezir Driver 3: Abdulrhman Mohammed A Binmohana Team United Arab Emirates “Dubai Rayo” Captain: Anas Bukhash, CEO and Managing Partner - Ahdaaf Sports Club Driver 1: Ghaith Ahmad Mohd Obaid Bin Medeya Alfalasi Driver 2: Humaid Abdulla Ali Ahmed Alnuaimi Driver 3: Mana Saleh Mohammed Obaid Bin Medaya From Kuwait, teams will go on to complete various tasks in the remaining Gulf States. The next challenges will take place in Manama, Bahrain (April 28), Doha, Qatar (April 29), Abu Dhabi, UAE (May 1), Muscat, Oman (May 2) with the final held at the iconic Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE (May 3).

The successful team to finish all seven challenges and earn the most points overall will win an all-new 2012 Ford Focus for each team member. A lucky online fan who has supported the challenges will also win a brand new 2012 Ford Focus.

17

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

SPORTS

Nadal and Ferrer to meet in fourth Barcelona final

STUTTGART: Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka hits a forehand against Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska during their semifinal match at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. —AP

Azarenka scrapes into semis STUTTGART: World number one Victoria Azarenka had to dig deep to overcome the hugely talented Mona Barthel of Germany 6-4 6-7 7-5 to reach the Stuttgart indoor tournament semi-finals on Friday.

The Australian Open champion, who now faces Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska, won a hard-fought first set but had to fight off a sustained challenge from Barthel.

The German eliminated former world number one Ana Ivanovic and number seven Mario Bartoli of France in previous rounds.

Russian world number two Maria Sharapova needed three hours to get past Australia’s Sam Stosur 6-7 7-6 7-5 and will now take on Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova after the third-seeded Czech enjoyed a 6-4 6-4 win over Germany’s Angelique Kerber.

Earlier, fourth seed Radwanska recovered from a poor start to beat China’s Li Na 3-6 6-2 6-3. “She showed some great tennis today,” Azarenka said of Barthel in a courtside interview. “I always said since the start of the year she is the one to watch.”

Belarussian Azarenka has lost only once this season after going 26 matches without defeat. “I am trying to become better and better. This is new for me (being number one) but I feel good and confident being there,” she said.

The pair traded punishing blows in the second set with Barthel twice moving within two points of winning it, at 5-4 and 6-5, before Azarenka briefly got herself out of trouble.

Big-serving world number 35 Barthel, who won her maiden WTA tour event in Hobart in January, was fired up by a local crowd mesmerised by her mix of raw power and intelligent play. That helped the German grab the second set on her first set point.

A huge backhand winner down the line brought up the first break opportunity at the start of the third set and Azarenka cracked under pressure to send the next point long.

But she recovered to twice break back and, after squandering a match point at 54, finished her opponent off two games later. —Reuters

Gambhir stars in Kolkata victory, Punjab also win CHENNAI: Captain Gautam Gambhir slammed a superb 93 to help Kolkata Knight Riders beat Royal Challengers Bangalore while Kings XI Punjab beat Chennai Super Kings by seven runs in the Indian Premier League yesterday.

KOLKATA: Kolkata Knight Riders’ Gautam Gambhir plays a shot during their Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. —AP Gambhir smashed five sixes and nine fours off 51 balls as Kolkata posted an intimidating 190-4 and then restricted Bangalore to 143-6 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

New Zealander Brendon McCullum (43) and South African Jacques Kallis (41) also came up with useful knocks for the home side.

For Bangalore, swashbuckling West Indies opener Chris Gayle waged a lone battle, bludgeoning 86 off 58 balls with six sixes and seven fours but the team was never in the chase after Kallis removed Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers off successive deliveries in the sixth over.

Kolkata was second overall behind

Delhi Daredevils with five wins, three losses and a no-result from nine games.

Bangalore has four wins, four losses and a no-result from nine games and was fourth.

At Chennai, Pakistan allrounder Azhar Mahmood struck vital blows with his accurate seam bowling in Punjab’s hardfought win.

Mahmood shone with the ball in grabbing 3-25 after chipping in with a useful 18 runs as Punjab scored 156-8 and then restricted Chennai to 149-8 on a slow Chidambaram Stadium pitch.

Mahmood removed openers Faf du Plessis (29) and Subramaniam Badrinath (25) in successive overs and came back to dismiss the dangerous Albie Morkel in the final over to clinch the game for Punjab.

Mahmood’s effort was backed up by legspinner Piyush Chawla, who accounted for Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja to destabilize the mid-innings.

West Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo, who bagged two wickets earlier, gave a glimmer of hope with a knock of 30 but holed out in the deep off Praveen Kumar.

Earlier, South African Morkel helped restrict Punjab despite a strong start by the visiting team. Morkel took 3-29 including the important wickets of compatriot David Miller (19) and Australian David Hussey (7) as Punjab slipped from 127-2 in the 16th over.

Opener Mandeep Singh was the highest scorer with 56 off 50 balls with one six and five fours. Australian Shaun Marsh chipped in with a crisp 32 off 22 before he was run out backing up too far as a straight drive from Singh went on to the stumps off Ashwin’s shoe.

Punjab was only above bottom-place Deccan Chargers in the nine-team league with four wins and five losses.

Chennai was third with four wins, four losses and an abandoned game.

Scores: Kings XI Punjab 156-8 (Mandeep Singh 56, Shaun Marsh 32; Albie Morkel 3-29, Dwayne Bravo 2-28) def. Chennai Super Kings 149-8 (Dwayne Bravo 30, Faf du Plessis 29; Azhar Mahmood 3-25, Piyush Chawla 2-20).

Ko l kat a Kn igh t Rider s 1 9 0 -4 (Gaut am Gambh ir 9 3 , Br en don McCullum 43, Jacques Kallis 41; Vinay Ku mar 2-31 ) def. Ban galor e Roy al Challengers 143-6 (Chris Gayle 86; Jacques Kallis 2-31). —AP

BARCELONA: Rafael Nadal crushed Fernando Verdasco for the 13th time in his career yesterday to set up a fourth Barcelona Open final with long-time rival David Ferrer.

The showdown will be a repeat of the 2008, 2009 and 2011 finals which were all won by Nadal.

French Open champion Nadal, who is fresh from winning an unprecedented eighth straight title at Monte Carlo last weekend, overwhelmed Verdasco 6-0, 6-4 in just 85 minutes with four breaks of serve. Third seed Ferrer had a tougher afternoon, requiring just over two hours in defeating hugeserving Canadian Milos Raonic 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/5).

“I’m very happy to reach a fourth final. It’s a very special relationship I have with this tournament,” said Ferrer, who had said this week it would be the culmination of his career to lift the trophy.

“I hope I can finally fulfil my dream of finally winning here.”

Nadal has dominated the Barcelona event, winning six titles in seven previous appearances.

On the one occasion he didn’t play-he missed 2010 with knee problems-Verdasco took the honors. Nadal’s victory was his 38th winning semi-final in a row on clay, with his last loss coming against Carlos Moya in August 2003.

Raonic had turned in a breakthrough week on the clay of the Real Club de Tenis, winning all of

his matches in straight sets. He defeated Spaniard Nicolas Almagro and upset second-seeded, world number four Andy Murray in the quarter-finals.

“It was very tough to beat Raonic,” said Ferrer. “We each had chances but it came down to win-

KUWAIT: The second Olympic Shooting Training Course for members of the National Guard started Wednesday at the Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Shooting Complex in the presence of President of the Arab Shooting Federation, Vice President of Kuwait Shooting Federation, Member of ISSF Administrative Council and

Member of the Asian Shooting Federation Executive Council Engineer Duaij Al-Otaibi and National Guard Shooting Ranges Commander Colonel Mansoor Muhail, KSF Treasurer Essa Butaiban, Assistant Treasurer Adnan Al-Ibrahim, Technical Director Jasni Shaari and Coordination and Follow Up Director Mohammad Salmeen.

Engineer Duaij Khalaf Al-Otaibi welcomed the National Guard

advanced on his second opportunity from a Raonic error.

“I felt I played very well on the clay this week. I had some very good sensations,” said Raonic. “I’m ready for my next objective, Madrid (from next weekend).

“But he was too good when it

SPAIN: David Ferrer of Spain returns the ball to Milos Raonic of Canada during their semifinal match in the Barcelona Open. —AP ning on the key points. He has a huge forehand and he’s very difficult to break.”

The 21-year-old, ranked 25th, threatened early in the opening

break points of the set in the 11th game.

In the tie-breaker, Raonic salvaged a match point as a return caught the line. But Ferrer

mattered, that’s what makes him a great player who has beaten me every time we’ve played.” Ferrer improved to 28-4 this season with three titles. —AFP

Dufner soars with late eagle in New Orleans AVONDALE: American journeyman Jason Dufner coolly rolled in a curling 30-foot eagle putt on his final hole to grab a one-shot lead in Friday’s second round of the New Orleans Classic in Avondale, Louisiana. Seeking his first victory on the PGA Tour after twice losing out in playoffs last season, Dufner carded a flawless sevenunder-par 65 at the TPC Louisiana to post a 12-under total of 132.

Scotland’s Russell Knox, a rookie on the US circuit this year who has made only two cuts in eight starts, fired a superb 64 to tie the course record and share second place with Americans Ken Duke (68) and John Rollins (66).

Australian left-hander Greg Chalmers also shot a 64 and was a further stroke back at 10 under, level with three-times major winner Ernie Els (68) and American world number seven Steve Stricker (68). Masters champion Bubba Watson, who clinched last year’s New Orleans Classic in a playoff but has struggled with fatigue this week, birdied his penultimate hole on the way to a second successive 71 and made the cut right on the number.

“I’m very happy about it, I’m going to play two more days and re-evaluate my situation,” Watson told reporters. “I’m exhausted. After the Masters win we really haven’t had time to celebrate. I’m not really focused on golf.” The 35-year-old Dufner, with his distinctive pre-shot waggle, was among several players who took advantage of relatively calm morning conditions before the breeze began to pick up.

He birdied four of his first seven holes and picked up another shot at the par-five 11th before setting up his spectacular eagle at the par-five last with a five-wood from 236 yards.

“I had just a really good number for my five-wood to get somewhere on that green,” a smiling Dufner told reporters. “Then I had a putt that was down-grain and breaking to the left with the grain so that was a nice way to finish the day.”

Dufner, beaten in playoffs for last year’s Phoenix Open and also the PGA Championship in Atlanta, believes he is becoming much more comfortable when in contention.

“Maybe, this will be the week,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of really nice finishes here on this golf course and feel pretty comfortable playing this golf course.”

British world number two Luke Donald rebounded from his opening 73 with a bogey-free 65, covering four holes around the turn in five under to finish six strokes off the lead. “It was certainly not quite as breezy as it was yesterday afternoon,” the Englishman said.

“The wind didn’t really pick up until 16 ... so I had a good six holes without any breeze and made a couple of birdies. “It’s nice to post a low number and get back into the mix.” The cut fell at two under with former major champions Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman and PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley among those failing to advance. —Reuters

Olympic Shooting Training Course

By Abdellatif Sharaa

set against Ferrer but could not convert on four break chances.

Raonic saved six set points before Ferrer finally clinched it in the tiebreaker from the Canadian’s netted forehand. In the second set, the pair stayed on level-pegging, with Raonic saving the lone

members at Sheikh Sabah AlAhmad Olympic Shooting Complex. He said “we are honored to cooperate with one important establishment in Kuwait and we are proud to have Colonel Mansour Muhail along with his colleagues with us during this second shooting training course under the supervision of specialized officials in the field of shooting.

Al-Otaibi conveyed the greet-

ings of the President of Asian and Kuwait Shooting Federations and ISSF Vice President Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Humoud AlSabah, as he gave special thanks to HH President of National Guard Sheikh Salem Al-Ali and Vice President Sheikh Mishaal AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. The current course includes thirty guardsmen, which will become a regular event in the training programs of the National Guard.

GLENDALE: Phoenix Coyotes’ Mikkel Boedker, of Denmark, celebrates his goal against the Predators as he skates on one knee. —AP

Coyotes win over Predators GLENDALE: Phoenix’s Ray Whitney scored in overtime as the Coyotes survived conceding a late goal in regulation and beat the Nashville Predators 4-3 on Friday to open the Western Conference semifinals.

Phoenix was 33-1 when leading after two periods during the regular season, but has struggled to close out playoff games. The Coyotes allowed four tying third-period goals against Chicago in the first round of the playoffs and did it again, giving up Martin Erat’s goal on a power play with 4:42 left.

Despite spending most of the third period and overtime in their own zone, the Coyotes won their first-ever secondround playoff game when Whitney slipped a backhander between Pekka Rinne’s pads after Martin Hanzal won a faceoff in Nashville’s zone.

Mike Smith made 39 saves, Rostislav Klesla had a goal and an assist, Radim Vrbata and Mikkel Boedker also scored, and Phoenix won despite being outshot 25-7 after the second period.

Nashville’s Brandon Yip had his first goal of the playoffs, Andrei Kostitsyn also scored and Erat got the tying goal late but the Predators couldn’t finish it off, despite controlling the play after the second period.

Both teams have superb goaltenders, smart coaches and a defense-first style attributes they used to get by moreskilled opponents in the first round. This mirror-image matchup was expected to come down to which team could play the same style best.

Sluggish and out of synch, Nashville was on its heels early, leading to a power play midway through the first period.

Vrbata capitalized, flipping a wrister from the left circle that skipped off Rinne’s mask and over his stick shoulder.

The Predators snapped into action after that and had better puck control, tying it late in the period thanks to an awkward bounce. Francis Bouillon sent a pass along the left boards that shot almost 90 degrees to the right. With Smith in back anticipating the pass, Yip had it easy, flipping into an empty net.

Phoenix went back up early in the second period on a good bounce of its own.

This one came off the back of Predators defenseman Roman Josi, who dived to block a pass and knocked it down right in front of Klesla at the edge of the crease.

Nashville again had an answer, using a turnover in Phoenix’s zone midway through to set up a goal by Andrei Kostitsyn, who poked the puck under a sprawled out Smith after he couldn’t cover a rebound.

Boedker scored his goal late in the period, waiting and waiting on a 2-on-1 before ripping a wrister past Rinne. That made it 3-2 - not quite what was expected between two of the NHL’s best defensive teams.

Nashville turned up the pressure in the third period, outshooting Phoenix 16-1.

The flurry led to Erat’s tying goal on a rebound. Phoenix somehow pulled it out, playing its rope-a-dope game to perfection again to steal a game from the Predators. —AP

18

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

S P ORT S Soccer results/standings English Premier League results Everton 4 (Jelavic 7-pen, 40, Fellaini 16, Cahill 60) Fulham 0; Stoke 1 (Crouch 9) Arsenal 1 (Van Persie 15); Sunderland 2 (Bendtner 36, McClean 55) Bolton 2 (K. Davies 26, 70); Swansea 4 (Orlandi 1, Allen 4, Dyer 15, Graham 31) Wolves 4 (Fletcher 28, Jarvis 33, 69, Edwards 54); West Brom 0 Aston Villa 0; Wigan 4 (Moses 13, 15, Maloney 36, Di Santo 45) Newcastle 0; Norwich 0 Liverpool 3 (Suarez 24, 28, 82).

Playing today Chelsea v QPR, Tottenham v Blackburn

English Football League results Championship Barnsley 0 Brighton 0; Birmingham 2 Reading 0; Burnley 1 Bristol City 1; Crystal Palace 1 Cardiff 2; Derby 1 Peterborough 1; Doncaster 2 Ipswich 3; Leeds 1 Leicester 2; Millwall 2 Blackpool 2; Nottingham Forest 2 Portsmouth 0; Southampton 4 Coventry 0; Watford 2 Middlesbrough 1; West Ham 2 Hull 1.

Division One Brentford 1 Sheffield Wednesday 2; Bury 0 Oldham 0; Carlisle 4 Exeter 1; Colchester 4 Tranmere 2; Hartlepool 2 Leyton Orient 1; Preston 2 Charlton 2; Rochdale 1 Milton Keynes Dons 2; Scunthorpe 1 Bournemouth 1; Walsall 1 Huddersfield 1; Wycombe 3 Notts County 4; Yeovil 3 Chesterfield 2.

Playing later Sheffield Utd v Stevenage Division Two Aldershot 2 Rotherham 2; Barnet 4 AFC Wimbledon 0; Bristol Rovers 5 Accrington 1; Cheltenham 3 Bradford 1; Crawley 0 Hereford 3; Macclesfield 0 Burton 2; Morecambe 2 Plymouth 2; Northampton 1 Gillingham 1; Oxford 0 Southend 2; Shrewsbury 1 Dagenham and Redbridge 0; Swindon English Premier League table English Premier League table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): 35 35 36 35 34 34 35 35 35 36 36 36 36 35 36 36 35 35 35 36

26 25 20 18 17 16 14 13 12 13 11 11 11 11 7 9 9 10 8 5

5 5 6 8 8 10 9 10 10 7 12 11 10 10 16 10 7 4 7 9

4 5 10 9 9 8 12 12 13 16 13 14 15 14 13 17 19 21 20 22

86 32 83 87 27 80 68 44 66 53 46 62 57 39 59 56 38 58 46 38 51 43 37 49 45 48 46 41 47 46 44 43 45 43 49 44 47 63 43 33 49 43 36 50 37 38 60 37 39 57 34 41 69 34 47 73 31 38 79 24 — relegated

English Football League table Championship Reading 46 27 8 Southampton

46

26

West Ham

46

24

Birmingham

46

20

Blackpool

46

20

Cardiff

46

19

M’brough Hull Leicester Brighton Watford Derby Burnley Leeds Ipswich Millwall Crystal Peterborough Nottingham Bristol City Barnsley Portsmouth

46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46 46

18 19 18 17 16 18 17 17 17 15 13 13 14 12 13 13

Coventry

46

9

Doncaster

46

8

Note: Portsmouth deducted administration

11 69 41 89 — champions 10 10 85 46 88 — promoted 14 8 81 48 86 — play-offs 16 10 78 51 76 — play-offs 15 11 79 59 75 — play-offs 18 9 66 53 75 — play-offs 16 12 52 51 70 11 16 47 44 68 12 16 66 55 66 15 14 52 52 66 16 14 56 64 64 10 18 50 58 64 11 18 61 58 62 10 19 65 68 61 10 19 69 77 61 12 19 55 57 57 17 16 46 51 56 11 22 67 77 50 8 24 48 63 50 13 21 44 68 49 9 24 49 74 48 11 22 50 59 40 — relegated 13 24 41 65 40 — relegated 12 26 43 80 36 — relegated 10 points for entering

Division One Charlton

45

29 11

5

Sheffield Sheffield Utd Milton Keynes Huddersfield Notts County Stevenage Carlisle Brentford Colchester Hartlepool Bury Tranmere Bournemouth Preston Yeovil Scunthorpe Oldham Walsall Leyton Orient Wycombe

45 44 45 45 45 44 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45

27 27 22 20 20 17 18 17 13 14 15 14 14 13 14 10 13 9 12 11

9 7 14 18 10 18 15 13 20 14 11 13 13 15 12 21 12 20 11 10

9 10 9 7 15 9 12 15 12 17 19 18 18 17 19 14 20 16 22 24

Chesterfield

45

10 12

23

Exeter

45

10 11

24

Rochdale

45

8

23

Division Two Swindon

45

29 5

Shrewsbury

45

26 10

Crawley Town Torquay Southend Cheltenham Crewe Oxford Utd Gillingham Rotherham Aldershot Bristol Rovers Accrington

45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45

22 23 24 22 20 17 19 18 19 15 14

14

15 12 8 8 11 17 10 12 8 12 15

Scottish Premier League results Dundee Utd 2 (Flood 32, Mackay-Steven 65) Hearts 2 (Skacel 35, Novikovas 83); Dunfermline 3 (Cardle 56, Kirk 68, 77) Aberdeen 0; Kilmarnock 4 (Fowler 14, Nelson 66, Shiels 80, 85) Inverness CT 3 (McKay 29, 35, Williams 90); Motherwell 5 (Higdon 17-pen, Law 20, Murphy 52, Ojamaa 83, 87) St Johnstone 1 (Craig 59-pen).

Playing today Celtic v Rangers; St Mirren v Hibernian.

Playing tomorrow Manchester City v Manchester United

Man Utd Man City Arsenal Newcastle Tottenham Chelsea Everton Liverpool Fulham West Brom Sunderland Swansea Norwich Stoke Aston Villa Wigan QPR Bolton Blackburn Wolves

Wolves stage stunning fightback

5 Port Vale 0; Torquay 1 Crewe 1.

79 34 98 — champions 79 48 90 88 47 88 84 46 80 77 47 78 71 62 70 64 42 69 64 64 69 60 50 64 60 62 59 48 52 56 60 76 56 48 52 55 47 52 55 54 67 54 59 78 54 54 58 51 48 65 51 50 57 47 46 74 47 65 86 43 — relegated 54 78 42 — relegated 44 73 41 — relegated 46 79 38 — relegated

11 75 32 92 — champions 9 65 38 88 — promoted 8 75 54 81 10 61 47 81 13 75 48 80 15 64 49 74 14 65 57 71 11 59 45 68 16 77 62 67 15 66 62 66 18 52 50 65 18 60 66 57 16 54 65 57

Scottish Football League results First Division Ayr 3 Dundee 2; Livingston 0 Morton 0; Partick 1 Falkirk 1; Raith 3 Queen of the South 1; Ross County 5 Hamilton 1.

Second Division Airdrie 2 East Fife 0; Arbroath 0 Stenhousemuir 2; Brechin 2 Cowdenbeath 2; Forfar 4 Albion 0; Stirling 1 Dumbarton 2.

Third Division Annan Athletic 0 Peterhead 3; Clyde 1 Alloa 1; East Stirling 2 Berwick 1; Elgin City 2 Montrose 1; Stranraer 2 Queen’s Park 3.

German League results Kaiserslautern 2 (Felipe Santana 16-og, De Wit 49) Borussia Dortmund 5 (Barrios 18, 26, 55, Goetze 33, Perisic 78); Wolfsburg 3 (Salihamidzic 40, Helmes 66, 89) Werder Bremen 1 (Rosenberg 45+1); Bayer Leverkusen 1 (Kiessling 75) Hanover 96 0; Hamburg 0 Mainz 05 0; Hoffenheim 2 (Beck 22, Braafheid 88) Nuremberg 3 (Pekhart 9, 71, Didavi 45); Bayern Munich 2 (Gomez 32, Mueller 90+2) VfB Stuttgart 0; Freiburg 4 (Mujdza 36, Guede 54, Caligiuri 84, Freis 90+1) Cologne 1 (Podolski 47); Borussia M’gladbach 0 Augsburg 0; Schalke 04 4 (Huntelaar 32, 87, Holtby 73, Raul 84) Hertha Berlin 0.

Morecambe Port Vale Burton Albion Wimbledon Bradford Northampton Dagenham & R’bridge Plymouth Barnet Hereford Macclesfield

45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45

14 19 14 14 12 12 13 10 11 9 8

14 9 12 9 13 11 8 16 10 14 13

63 55 56 65 60 56 53 79 54 59 77 51 54 59 49 55 78 47 46 72 47 46 62 46 50 78 43 47 68 41 39 62 37 — relegated Note: Port Vale deducted 10 points for entering administration Scottish Premier League table Celtic 34 27 3 Rangers 34 24 Motherwell 35 17 Dundee Utd 35 14 St Johnstone 35 14 Hearts 35 14 Kilmarnock 35 10 Aberdeen 35 9 St Mirren 34 7 Inverness 35 8 Hibernian 34 6 Dunfermline 35 5 Note: Rangers deducted 10 administration

17 17 19 22 20 22 24 19 24 22 24

SWANSEA: Relegated Wolves finally showed some belated fight as they recovered from 4-1 down to earn a remarkable 4-4 draw at Swansea yesterday.

Terry Connor’s side were officially relegated last weekend after Manchester City condemned them to their eighth defeat in nine matches and they could have been forgiven for throwing in the towel after falling 3-0 down and then trailing 4-1 at the Liberty Stadium.

But somehow they summoned up the kind of spirited comeback that has been sorely missing for most of a miserable campaign.

Andrea Orlandi struck in the first minute before Joe Allen and Nathan Dyer extended Swansea’s lead within 15 minutes.

But Wolves rallied as Steven Fletcher and Matt Jarvis pulled goals back either side of Danny Graham scoring Swansea’s fourth, before second-half strikes from David Edwards and Jarvis secured a point.

Swansea had made the perfect start thanks to Orlandi’s header from Scott Sinclair’s cross just 25 seconds into the match.

early in the second half.

They did just that in the 54th minute as Edwards held off Garry Monk to steer the ball past Vorm.

11 10 13 15 13 13 14 15 17

10 13 9 6 10 12 11 11 11

Sunderland 2

67 29 76 — champions 52 43 52 50 46 49 56 53 48 53 54 48 48 37 46 39 52 42 43 48 41 42 64 38 35 59 32 — relegated

Davies double but Bolton frustrated

LONDON: West Bromwich Albion’s Peter Odemwingie (left) is challenged by Aston Villa’s Richard Dunne during the English Premier League soccer match. —AP

Villa, West Brom in drab draw West Brom 0

Second Division Cowdenbeath

35

20 10

5

Arbroath Dumbarton Airdrie Utd Stenhousemuir East Fife Brechin Forfar Albion Stirling

35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35

16 16 14 15 14 10 10 10 8

7 12 12 14 15 14 16 18 20

Third Division Alloa

35

23 7

5

Queens Park Stranraer Elgin Athletic Peterhead Berwick Clyde Montrose East Stirling

35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35

19 17 15 13 14 11 8 10 6

10 11 11 13 15 12 16 20 23

12 7 9 6 6 11 9 7 7

6 7 9 9 6 12 11 5 6

German League table Dortmund 33

24 6

3

Bayern Munich Schalke Borussia Leverkusen Stuttgart Hanover Wolfsburg Werder Bremen Nuremberg Hoffenheim Freiburg Mainz Hamburg Augsburg Cologne Hertha Berlin Kaiserslautern

22 19 16 14 14 11 13 11 12 10 10 9 8 7 8 6 4

7 10 8 10 11 10 15 13 15 12 13 12 13 12 19 17 18

4 4 9 9 8 12 5 9 6 11 10 12 12 14 6 10 11

And a stunning fightback was completed in the 69th minute when Jarvis slid in to convert Fletcher’s cross. —AFP

Bolton 2

Dundee Falkirk Livingston Hamilton Partick Morton Raith Ayr Q of South

33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33 33

LONDON: Swansea City’s Danny Graham and Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Richard Stearman (top) battle for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match. —AP

75 20 84 — champions 4 6 68 25 66 7 11 48 42 58 11 10 59 45 53 8 13 43 43 50 7 14 43 37 49 13 12 41 57 43 12 14 34 41 39 15 12 36 50 36 8 19 39 60 32 9 19 34 63 27 9 21 39 76 24 points for going into

1

14 12 13 14 12 10 10 9 7

Wolves 4

4

Scottish Football League tables First Division Ross County 35 21 13 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35 35

Swansea 4

Brendan Rodgers’ team increased their advantage after four minutes when Graham and Gylfi Sigurdsson linked well to free Allen and the midfielder’s shot deflected in off Richard Stearman.

It got even worse for Connor’s side as Swansea bagged a third goal in the 15th minute.

Orlandi tricked his way between Kevin Foley and Michael Kightly and his deflected cross was headed in at the far post by Dyer.

Wolves got a goal back when Kevin Doyle found space down the left and delivered a pinpoint cross for Fletcher to direct a free header over Michel Vorm in the 28th minute.

But that only proved brief respite as Swansea notched their fourth after 31 minutes.

When Dyer ’s initial shot rebounded back to him, the winger lofted a lovely ball for Graham to coolly slot his 13th goal of the season.

That should have been game over for Wolves, but the visitors punished poor defending to snatch a lifeline in the 33rd minute.

Doyle’s cross should have been cleared but it reached Jarvis, whose shot somehow got past Ashley Williams’ poor attempted clearance on the line.

Wolves had enough momentum now to believe a comeback was on if they could get a goal

68 29 70 — champions 73 50 60 57 59 55 68 60 51 53 47 51 54 54 48 45 58 41 57 71 39 42 64 37 44 69 31 — relegated

69 38 76 — champions 69 45 63 77 56 58 65 59 54 52 52 48 49 53 48 60 58 45 35 45 35 53 75 35 38 86 24

76 25 78 — champions 73 21 70 71 42 61 46 24 57 48 43 51 60 44 50 39 44 45 45 57 44 47 55 42 37 45 42 40 44 41 45 57 40 47 48 39 35 56 36 35 49 35 38 71 30 35 63 28 23 52 23 — relegated

Matches on TV (Local Timings) English Premier League Chelsea v QPR Abu Dhabi Sports HD

15:30

Tottenham v Blackburn Abu Dhabi Sports HD

18:00

Aston Villa 0

BIRMINGHAM: Aston Villa missed the opportunity to extricate themselves from the relegation dogfight yesterday after scrapping their way to a 0-0 draw at West Bromwich Albion.

With relegation rivals Bolton being held to a 2-2 draw at Sunderland, Villa could have eased their fears of demotion by going five points clear of the bottom three had they won at the Hawthorns.

However Alex McLeish’s side were forced to settle for a goal-less draw which leaves Villa perched just three points clear of the bottom three with two games remaining.

But McLeish’s side rode their luck on

their way to what could be a vital point, benefitting from a controversial refereeing decision by Mark Clattenburg during the second half.

Clattenburg failed to spot a blatant handball on the goal-line by Alan Hutton which blocked a goal-bound Liam Ridgewell header.

However Villa recovered well from that scare to create the better of the chances over the remainder of the afternoon, and Ben Foster needed to be on top form to keep Gabriel Agbonlahor, Chris Herd and Charles N’Zogbia at bay.

Villa were also grateful for the return of defender Richard Dunne after a twoand-a-half month injury lay-off with a broken collarbone.

Dunne’s reassuring presence helped Villa to only their second clean sheet in nine games. However Villa had goalkeeper Shay Given to thank for a superb last minute save that denied Albion a winner, the Irishman blocking Peter Odemwingie’s late volley. —AFP

Everton extend unbeaten streak Everton 4

Fulham 0 LIVERPOOL: A double from in-form Croatian striker Nikica Jelavic inspired Everton to a 4-0 walloping of Fulham here yesterday and extend their unbeaten streak in the Premier League to six.

Jelavic’s goals plus one apiece from Marouane Fellaini and Tim Cahill bolstered their hopes of finishing above city rivals Liverpool for the first time since 2005 and was the third successive match they had scored four goals.

Defeat leaves Fulham safely in midtable but still without a win at Everton in their history — they last took a point there in 1959 19 matches ago.

The hosts broke the deadlock in the seventh minute when Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak was somewhat harshly judged to have handled the ball deliberately when he was trying to protect him-

self getting hit in the face.

However, despite their protests the referee Phil Dowd pointed to the spot and Jelavic stepped up to convert it.

Jelavic — one of the signings of the season when he was snapped up by David Moyes in the January transfer window from cash-strapped Rangers — almost doubled his tally 10 minutes later after some fine approach work by him.

However, he saw his shot cannon back off a post with Fulham ‘keeper Mark Schwarzer beaten. The Australian veteran, though, was picking the ball out of the net soon afterwards as Fellaini headed home, though, Damien Duff should have done better to hack it off the line.

It was one way traffic and Everton were 3-0 up before half-time as Jelavic pounced on Stephen Pienaar’s fine pass which split the visitors’ defence and he slotted past Schwarzer for his 10th goal since joining from Rangers.

The hosts strolled through the second-half and added another as Australian star Cahill converted another fine pass by Pienaar to put the game well beyond a flat and disappointing Fulham outfit. —AFP

SUNDERLAND: Two goals from Kevin Davies earned Bolton a vital point in a 2-2 Premier League draw at Sunderland - but it wasn’t enough to help them climb out of the bottom three.

Recalled to the starting line-up, Davies took his tally to seven for the season with goals in each half as Owen Coyle’s side came from behind to earn a valuable share of the spoils, extending their mini unbeaten run to three games.

It sees them remain third-bottom, level on points with QPR, after Davies beat his marker Matthew Kilgallon to head home a Sam Ricketts cross from close range with 20 minutes left of an open encounter played out before a 40,000 Stadium of Light crowd.

James McClean looked to have sealed only Sunderland’s third win in 12 games with a memorable long-range free-kick after a clumsy foul by Davies on Stephane Sessegnon just after the interval.

But after opening the scoring midway through the first-half, Davies hauled Bolton level late on to snap a five-game losing streak against the Wearside club, in the process making it five points from the last nine in their efforts to beat the drop.

Wigan’s thumping victory over Newcastle however means Wanderers’ 11-year stay in the top flight remains under threat with just three games left to climb out of danger, star ting with the visit by Champions League-chasing Tottenham Hostpur on May 2.

Davies showed why Sunderland manager Martin O’Neill tabled a failed bid for his services in January with a calm finish to break the deadlock on 25 minutes.

But Sunderland were soon on level terms with Nicklas Bendtner claiming their first goal on home soil since March 24 to boost the bid to seal back-to-back top 10 finishes.

In a first-half short on excitement and chances, Nigel Reo-Coker burst through from halfway past three challengers to fire narrowly wide from 20 yards past Craig Gordon.

The injury-plagued Sunderland keeper made his first start for more than 14 months, and was called into action soon after to save a low long-distance effort from midfielder Mark Davies as Bolton made the early running.

They were rewarded when Davies deservedly put them ahead midway through the half. Influential midfielder Martin Petrov used all his know-how to find a way past Jack Colback down Bolton’s left, sending over an inviting cross which skipper Davies, lurking at the far post, needed no second invitation to confidently volley past Gordon from six yards.

In front of the club’s billionaire owner Ellis Short, Sunderland - who host title-chasing Manchester United in their final home game on May 13 - almost immediately drew level as Kilgallon’s glancing header flew inches wide from McClean’s free-kick.

Sunderland weren’t behind for long and levelled nine minutes before the break courtesy of an eighth goal of the season from Bendtner, the forward on loan from Arsenal, who ended Sunderland’s seven-hour goal drought.

The equaliser owed much to the tenacity of Colback, who atoned for his role in Bolton’s opener by engineering space 30 yards from goal to thread an inch-per fect pass through to meet the run of Bendtner.

The Denmark international easily beat Adam Bogdan with a low finish from 12 yards into the bottom corner to make it 13 games since the visitors last kept a clean sheet.

Sunderland took the lead 10 minutes with a McClean free-kick before Davies levelled with a back post header on 70 minutes. —AFP

19

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

SPORTS

Saints seal promotion to Premier League LONDON: Southampton clinched promotion to the Premier League with a 4-0 victory over Coventry on the final day of the Championship campaign yesterday. The Saints return to the top flight for the first time since 2005 after goals from Billy Sharp, Jose Fonte, Jos Hooiveld and Adam Lallana crushed relegated Coventry in front of a jubilant capacity crowd at St Mary’s.

Nigel Adkins’ side needed the win to hold off the threat from third-placed West Ham, who would have snatched the second automatic promotion spot with their 2-1 win victory over Hull if Southampton had lost. Just two years ago, the south-coast club were facing an uncertain future in League One, but Adkins has

masterminded a remarkable transformation and they can now look forward to locking horns with Manchester United, Chelsea and company after back to back promotions.

“A lot of people have put a lot of hard work in here, the players deserve all the plaudits they’ll get as everyone at this club has worked their socks off since I’ve been here,” Adkins told BBC television.

“Southampton are back in the Premier League and I’m a happy man. I’m proud and honored.”

Saints goalkeeper Kelvin Davis added: “The Premier League is a top division where we all want to play. “I feel like I’ve got unfinished business here, so my message to the lads will be to grab

the opportunity with both hands.” After blowing a chance to seal promotion at Middlesbrough last Saturday, when a 2-1 defeat left Southampton sweating on their fate for one more week, there might have been a few jitters in the Saints dressing room before kick-off. But any nerves quickly disappeared as two goals in three minutes killed off Coventry before half-time.

Former Doncaster striker Sharp struck first when he turned in Lallana’s shot in the 16th minute and Portuguese defender Fonte headed the second from Daniel Fox’s 19th minute corner.

Hooiveld netted the third in the 59th minute and highly-rated midfielder Lallana sealed the rout

four minutes later.

Southampton finished two points ahead of West Ham and one point behind champions Reading, who sealed their promotion earlier this month and ended their campaign with a 2-0 loss at Birmingham.

The Saints’ victory meant West Ham’s 2-1 win over Hull at Upton Park was rendered meaningless.

Carlton Cole scored twice either side of half-time to put West Ham in control before Corry Evans got one back for the Tigers.

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce insists his side will rebound from their disappointment to go up via the play-offs.

“I stuck my neck out when I arrived and said we wanted promotion in the first season. We still

have three games to win, and we will do it,” Allardyce said. “We have to lick our wounds, get over our disappointment and get ready for the vital games ahead of us.” Aside from Southampton’s promotion, the only other issue to be resolved on the last day was the final play-off place and it was Cardiff who booked their place in the end of season lottery after a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.

Cardiff will take on West Ham in the play-offs, with the first leg in south Wales on Thursday, while fifth placed Blackpool, who drew 2-2 at Millwall on Saturday, host the first leg of their play-off clash against fourth placed Birmingham on Friday.

Bluebirds manager Malky

Mackay believes Cardiff’s run to this season’s League Cup final, where they were beaten by Liverpool, will stand them in good stead for the play-offs.

“We are 10 games unbeaten going into the play-offs so there is real momentum there,” he said.”This group of players have already been through big matches this season, with the League Cup semi-final and final. That will benefit us.”

Elsewhere, Watford beat Middlesbrough 2-1, Leicester won 2-1 at Leeds and Ipswich beat relegated Doncaster 3-2.

Nottingham Forest defeated relegated Portsmouth 2-0, while Burnley drew 1-1 with Bristol City and Barnsley shared a goalless draw with Brighton.—AFP

Racing relegated after 3-0 defeat at Sociedad

ROME: AS Roma’s Rodrigo Taddei (left) of Brazil and Napoli’s Cristian Maggio vie for the ball during their Serie A soccer match. —AP

Napoli held, CL race heats up ROME: Napoli moved into third place in Serie A yesterday after a 2-2 draw at Roma, but their hopes of making the Champions League next season were left on a knifeedge. Napoli have 55 points, but will slip back to fourth today if Lazio avoid defeat against Udinese with three games left to play. Juventus and AC Milan already have the top two automatic qualifying places for the Champions League wrapped-up.

Napoli had to settle for a point when Brazilian Simplicio struck three minutes from time for Roma who remain seventh in the table, four points off the crucial third place.

Napoli thought they had the game won when Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani struck a superb 67th-minute free-kick from 25 metres which beat Roma’s Romanian goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont.

Roma had dominated large parts of the first half with Fernando Gago almost beating Napoli keeper Morgan De Sanctis who

had saved from Francesco Totti in the 27th minute.

But they took a deserved lead in the 41st minute when Brazilian Marquinho hit the target from a cross by Aleandro Rosi.

Napoli levelled four minutes into the second period through Colombian star Juan Zuniga.

Despite Simplicio’s late equaliser for Roma, the Olympic Stadium crowd jeered their team off the pitch as their Champions League hopes disappeared.

Catania’s outside hopes of playing in the Europa League next season suffered a setback when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Palermo in the Sicilian derby. The draw kept Catania in eighth place, five points off their sixth-place target.

Catania opened the scoring in the 25th minute through defender Nicola Legrottaglie but Palermo levelled just after half-time when skipper Fabrizio Miccoli found the target.—AFP

Italian League results/standings Palermo 1 (Miccoli 47) Catania 1 (Legrottaglie 25); Cagliari 0 Chievo 0; Roma 2 (Marquinho 41, Fabio Simplicio 88) Napoli 2 (Zuniga 49, Cavani 67) Italian League table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Juventus 34 20 14 0 58 18 74 Siena 34 11 10 13 42 36 43 AC Milan 34 21 8 5 64 27 71 Atalanta 34 12 13 9 38 36 43 Napoli 35 14 13 8 62 43 55 Bologna 34 10 12 12 35 40 42 Lazio 34 16 7 11 50 43 55 Palermo 35 11 9 15 48 54 42 Udinese 34 14 10 10 45 35 52 Cagliari 35 10 12 13 36 42 42 Inter Milan 34 15 7 12 50 46 52 Fiorentina 34 10 11 13 34 39 41 Roma 35 15 6 14 55 50 51 Genoa 34 9 9 16 44 63 36 Catania 35 11 14 10 45 47 47 Lecce 34 8 11 15 38 51 35 Parma 34 11 11 12 46 51 44 Novara 34 6 10 18 29 57 28 Chievo 35 11 11 13 30 41 44 Cesena 34 4 10 20 21 51 22

Preview

Di Matteo: Forget Barca and focus on league LONDON: Roberto Di Matteo has warned his Chelsea players not to dwell on their epic triumph against Barcelona as the Blues bid to keep their top four challenge alive in a potentially explosive clash with west London rivals QPR today.

Di Matteo’s side are still coming back to down to earth in the aftermath of arguably the greatest night in Chelsea’s history, but the Blues interim boss is determined to refocus his players’ minds on a potentially decisive fixture in their Premier League campaign.

Chelsea’s astonishing fightback from 2-0 down with 10 men in Wednesday’s semi-final second leg in the Camp Nou has booked a place in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich and made heroes of Di Matteo and his squad.

But overcoming Lionel Messi and company will be nothing but a pleasant memory if Chelsea aren’t competing in the Champions League next season.

To do that they must either beat Bayern at the German club’s own Allianz Arena, which looks a daunting proposition given they will be without the suspended John Terry, Ramires, Raul Meireles and Branislav Ivanovic, or qualify via a top four placing in the Premier League.

Their hopes of finishing fourth or bet-

MADRID: Bottom club Racing Santander were relegated after Antoine Griezmann scored twice and set up the third goal in Real Sociedad’s 3-0 home La Liga win over their north-coast rivals yesterday.

Racing, who are in administration, have failed to register a victory in 17 matches. They have 26 points, 11 from safety with three games left.

Sporting Gijon boosted their survival chances with a 3-0 victory at Espanyol that moved them above Real Zaragoza to third from bottom on 34 points, three short of Villarreal and safety.

Villarreal host Osasuna in yesterday’s late game. At the other end of the table, surprise packages Levante were led to victory by Arouna Kone who opened the scoring in their 3-1 home win over Granada. It was the Ivorian’s 15th league goal of the season.

Levante, bidding to secure a first venture into European competition next season, climbed into the last Champions League qualification berth in fourth spot with 52 points but the teams around them have a game in hand.

In yesterday’s other match, Real Mallorca were 3-1 winners in a mid-table affair at Getafe.

Antoine Griezmann of Real Sociedad celebrates in this file photo Real Madrid (88 points) will wrap up their 32nd La Liga title with a victory at home to Sevilla today as long as Barcelona then lose their match at Rayo Vallecano.

Jose Mourinho’s Real, chasing their first league title in four years, hold a seven-point lead over second-placed Barca with four matches to play. —Reuters

Dortmund rout Kaiserslautern STUTTGART: German champions Borussia Dortmund closed in on another record yesterday as their 5-2 win over relegated Kaiserslautern took their unbeaten run to 27 league games.

Having broken the Bundesliga record for the longest unbeaten run in a season, Dortmund are now just one behind Bayern Munich’s record of 79 points collected in a single Bundesliga season, which they managed twice in the 1970s.

Having been confirmed league champions for the second season last weekend, Dortmund picked up their fifth straight win with Paraguay striker Lucas Barrios hitting a hat-trick against the league’s bottom team.

“It wasn’t so easy to play high-level sport in this weather,” said Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp with warm temperatures across southern Germany. “In attack, we were very good, but we didn’t concentrate very well in defence. “At the end, everything worked well and I am very pleased with the result.”

Dortmund got off to an inauspicious start at Kaiserslautern as Brazilian defender Felipe Santana scored an own goal after only 16 minutes to put the hosts ahead.

But the champions roared back just two minutes later as Barrios scored two goals in eight minutes to put the guests into a 2-1 lead.

Germany’s teenage star Mario Goetze netted his first league goal for five months, following a groin problem, on 33 minutes to make it 3-1 at the break.

Although Kaiserslautern pulled another goal back just after the break, it was one-way traffic from then on as Barrios completed his hat-trick on 55 minutes before Croatia midfielder Ivan Perisic scored Dortmund’s fifth on 78.

Fresh from their penalty shoot-out victory heroics at Real Madrid on Wednesday to reach the Champions League final against Chelsea, Bayern enjoyed a 2-0 win at home to Stuttgart.

Germany stars Mario Gomez and Thomas Mueller scored for the Bavarians at Munich’s Allianz Arena, their last game at home before the Champions League final.

Bayern goalkeeper Hans-Joerg Butt played his final home game before retiring, while striker

Ivica Olic made a rare start ahead of his transfer to Wolfsburg next season. “For the players, it wasn’t easy to switch back to the Bundesliga, although I must say, they have behaved very professionally and demonstrated a good attitude,” said Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes.

“Joerg pulled off some good saves in his farewell match, but if Olic had taken his chances in the second-half, it would have been a bit quieter at the end.”

Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored twice in Schalke’s 4-0 win over Hertha Berlin to

for 16th place which means an end-of-season play-off to stay in Germany’s top flight against the team which finishes third in the second league.

Moenchengladbach’s goalless draw at Augsburg confirms their fourth-placed finish which means they have to win a play-off to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Bayer Leverkusen’s ex-Germany striker Stefan Kiessling hit the winner in their 1-0 win over Hanover 96 which means they finish fifth and gives them a Europa League place for next sea-

GERMANY: Schalke’s Raul of Spain waves goodbye to his fans with his little daughter Maria after the German First Division Bundesliga soccer match. Raul leaves the club, where he became the most favored player.—AP make him the league’s top scorer with 27 goals in 32 games.

The win means Schalke will finish third and claim the league’s final direct qualification place for the Champions League.

Hertha remain second from bottom and are battling with Cologne, who lost 4-1 at Freiburg,

son. Stuttgart will finish sixth, which means a Europa League qualification play-off. Wolfsburg, who enjoyed a 3-1 win over Werder Bremen with ex-Germany striker Patrick Helmes scoring twice, are vying with Hanover for seventh spot and the final chance to claim a European place.—AFP

Without Pep, Barca can’t become immortal

Chelsea’s Didier Drogba from Ivory Coast celebrates in this file photo ter could be all over if they lose to QPR at Stamford Bridge as they are already four points behind fourth-placed Newcastle, who travel to Wigan on Saturday, with only four games to play.

With that in mind, Di Matteo insists there is no time to rest on the laurels earned in Catalonia. “We’ll try to win on Sunday to keep our hopes alive to finish in fourth spot,” Di Matteo said. “Our priority is to try our best against QPR.—AFP

SPAIN: Led by Pep Guardiola and inspired by Lionel Messi, this Barcelona team could have gone down in football history as the best club team ever, unequivocally and definitively surpassing Real Madrid’s stars from the 1950s, Johan Cruyff’s Ajax, AC Milan coached by Arrigo Sacchi, Bayern Munich’s triple European champions in the 1970s and perhaps a few others.

But now we might never know. Or, at least, we may never be 100 percent sure. By deserting Barcelona, Guardiola is robbing himself and his players of a chance for football immortality.

Barcelona’s most successful manager leaves an artwork more than half complete, already beautiful, a masterpiece in the making even, but not all that it could have been had Guardiola persevered for a few more seasons and finished the job.

History’s judgment will be this: Guardiola produced one of football’s best teams, but perhaps not its greatest, because he did not stick around quite long enough to end that debate once and for all. In short, he is leaving too early.

The reasons - burnout, dwindling motivation, the fact that there are many rewarding things for a 41-year-old to do in life other than obsess

24/7 about football - are understandable.

Guardiola is a deep thinker, an indefatigable worker and a sensitive soul. It’s easy and not very pleasant to see how the burden of leading a club so successful and so demanding of success has worn him down, thinned out his hair and added to the gray flecks in his designer stubble.

Guardiola’s consistent refusal to commit long-term to Barcelona, opting instead for oneyear contract extensions, always suggested that the day he walked away would come sooner rather than later.

If Alex Ferguson is the bramble of football, a hardy and unshakable thorn in everyone’s side for a quarter-century at Manchester United, then Guardiola has been the brilliant flower who drew admiring gasps before withering, exhausted from creating such beauty.

Managers who jump instead of being pushed aren’t the norm. More common are those axed when their teams underperform. So Guardiola looked enigmatic for turning his back on success. But human, too, for acknowledging that the job has taken its toll.

Some credit for that should go to Jose

Mourinho, Real Madrid’s manager who has crafted such a stern challenge to Barcelona this year and now seems certain to wrest away the Spanish league crown.

“Four years are long and they wear you down,” Guardiola told a news conference on Friday, which his glum-looking players - but not Messi - attended. “I need to rest and move away.” Still, Guardiola left us that most annoying of questions - “what if?” If Guardiola had Ferguson’s staying power, what further wonders might Barcelona have performed? The mind boggles.

So, a crying shame for football. But wonderful for Barca’s rivals. Because even with the genius Messi, midfielders Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta supplying passes and brains and captain Carles Puyol electrifying everyone with his warrior mentality, Barcelona won’t be the same - cannot be the same - without Guardiola.

Thirteen trophies - 14 if Barcelona wins the Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao on May 25 - since the former ball boy turned player and club captain took over as Barcelona manager on June 17, 2008, with words that now seem ludicrous: “I can’t promise you silverware.” —AP

Wolves stage stunning fightback

Nadal and Ferrer to meet in fourth Barcelona final

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SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

Gambhir stars in Kolkata victory, Punjab also win

Page 17

LONDON: Newcastle United’s French midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa (second right) vies with Wigan Athletic’s Honduran defender Maynor Figueroa (second left) during the English Premier League football match. —AFP

Magpies blown away by Wigan Wigan 4

Newcastle 0 WIGAN: Newcastle’s Champions League aspirations suffered a hammer blow as Wigan eased their relegation fears with a stunning first-half performance in a 4-0 win at the DW Stadium yesterday.

Two goals from Victor Moses plus one apiece from Shaun Maloney and Franco Di

Santo saw Wigan claim another high-profile scalp to add to recent victories over Manchester United and Arsenal. Alan Pardew’s Newcastle side had not conceded a goal in 411 minutes until Moses opened the floodgates at the start of a 32minute period which saw them concede four times. Moses started the rout after 13 minutes following a right-wing cross from Emmerson Boyce which saw him outjump defender Mike Williamson easily, despite giving up several inches in height to the Newcastle man, and guide the ball past Tim Krul with an expertly-judged backheader. Two minutes later, Moses and Wigan doubled the lead when Jean

Beausejour played in a dangerous ball from the left wing, which Fabricio Coloccini only half cleared, straight into the path of Moses. The Wigan forward, who is attracting the interest of a number of the division’s wealthier clubs after recently declining a contract extension, did the rest, side-footing the ball superbly past the dive of Krul. After 35 minutes, Newcastle’s fading hopes of somehow fighting back and challenging for the third spot in the table were extinguished.

Beausejour’s pass was neatly helped on by Di Santo with Maloney racing inside full-back Danny Simpson to produce another inch-perfect finish that allowed

the Newcastle keeper no chance.

Pardew’s team managed to hold out until first-half injury-time before letting in another. This time it was a wonderful solo goal from Di Santo who took a short pass from Maloney and curled a dipping shot over Krul’s head into the top left-hand corner. It was a stunning half of football but, after the recent wins over Manchester United and Arsenal, it merely continued Wigan’s unexpected recovery, which has now seen them collect 15 points from the last available 21. In response, the visitors failed to test Ali Al-Habsi in the lopsided first half - Yohan Cabaye’s promising cross for Demba Ba was too hard for the for-

Van Persie rescues Arsenal Stoke 1

Arsenal 1 STOKE: Robin van Persie’s 35th goal of the season cancelled out Peter Crouch’s opener as Arsenal picked up a 1-1 draw at Stoke.

While Arsenal knew a victory would have tightened their grip on third place in the Premier League and they controlled the game throughout, a draw does their hopes of Champions League football next season little harm.

At a venue they have rarely enjoyed, they fell behind early on through Crouch’s header. But Van Persie, who faces speculation about his future with only one year remaining on his contract, touched in for his second goal in eight games.

Although Arsenal have endured a miserable record at the Britannia Stadium in recent years, they began with real purpose and Yossi Benayoun should have opened the scoring when he was sent through by Van Persie after robbing Ryan Shotton.

But the Israeli midfielder, who is on loan from Chelsea, could only manage a scuffed finish from a good position.

Van Persie went closer when he was picked out by a neat cross from Tomas Rosicky but Asmir Begovic turned the Dutchman’s header around the post.

The hosts had barely threatened

but they took the lead with only eight minutes gone. The ball was played out to Matthew Etherington on the left flank and the winger sent over a cross that was guided into the corner by Crouch.

But the visitors continued to dominate and Aaron Ramsey, who had his leg broken in a challenge with Ryan Shawcross here 26 months ago, just missed with a shot from the edge of the area.

Arsene Wenger’s side pulled level with under a quarter of an hour gone when Benayoun once again stole the ball from Shotton and Tomas Rosicky crossed to the far post for Van Persie to prod in.

French defender Laurent Koscielny headed over from a Van Persie freekick and Gervinho also lifted an effort well over the bar after racing clear of the Stoke defence.

Just before the break, former Arsenal winger Jermaine Pennant’s free-kick picked out Shawcross but the Stoke captain’s header was deflected wide of goal before Robert Huth’s long-range effort also flew off-target.

Arsenal continued to press after the interval and worked space on the right through Alex Song but Van Persie’s diving header flew straight at Begovic from Bacary Sagna’s cross.

Shawcross had to be alert to block Benayoun as the Israel midfielder was about to shoot after a fine run into the area.

The Stoke defender was also wellplaced to pull off another important block after Kieran Gibbs had burst into the area and hit a shot. Dean Whitehead had a powerful shot

ward and, late in the half, Ba sent a shot bouncing wide from the edge of the box.

The one-way flow continued after the break with Moses flashing a shot just wide before forcing Krul into his first real save of the game, via a 58th minute close-range shot which the over-worked goalkeeper did well to keep out, one-handed.

Newcastle responded in kind, with AlHabsi making his first save of the game, from Papiss Cisse’s powerful shot which the keeper did well to parry, and the same Newcastle forward clipping the crossbar after 64 minutes from a similar position 15 yards out. The pressure was maintained as Gary Caldwell was required to head

behind, on his own line, from a dangerous Cisse cross and Hatem Ben Arfa skilfully carved out space for himself just inside a crowded penalty area only to see his low shot pass wide of the mark.

Cisse again came close to putting Newcastle on the scoresheet, after 71 minutes, when he connected with a Ben Arfa cross only for his effort to again strike the woodwork, a sure indication that this was not to be their day.

Indeed, it required a goal line clearance from Coloccini in the closing minutes to deny substitute Connor Sammon after he powered through Williamson’s weak challenge.—AFP

Liverpool down Norwich Norwich 0

Liverpool 3

LONDON: Stoke’s Jonathan Walters (left) fights for the ball against Arsenal’s Alexandre Song during their English Premier League soccer match.—AP deflected over as the hosts enjoyed a rare spell of second-half pressure.

Van Persie thumped a free-kick against the wall and when the rebound fell for Thomas Vermaelen, the Belgian defender saw his follow-up blocked by Shawcross, with the visitors appealing for a handball.

Ramsey missed with another drive from just outside the area as Arsenal failed to turn their control into a lead.

Arsenal also called for a penalty when Benayoun went down in the area under a challenge from Glenn Whelan.

Wojciech Szezesny had very little to

do in the second period but was still able to produce a fine save, clawing Cameron Jerome’s powerful effort away from the top corner, to keep the scores level.

At the other end, Sagna broke forward and had a thumping drive that flew through a crowd of bodies held

by Begovic before Vermaelen thumped an effort wide from a freekick just outside the area.

There was still a late scare for the visitors, when Rory Delap’s long throw reached Crouch in the area but Sagna hacked the ball to safety.—AFP

NORWICH: Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick as Liverpool warmed up for next week’s FA Cup final with a comfortable 3-0 victory at Norwich City yesterday.

The Uruguay international netted twice in the space of four first half minutes before brilliantly chipping goalkeeper John Ruddy from just inside the Norwich half late on.

A home game with Fulham on Tuesday night represents Liverpool’s final dress rehearsal for Saturday’s Wembley date with Chelsea.

And with Suarez in such fine form Liverpool will have every chance of adding to their League Cup success earlier in the season.

Beforehand, there had been no sign of Andy Carroll on the Liverpool team-sheet as Craig Bellamy returned to the starting line-up. Carroll had been left behind as a precautionary measure to get treatment on a groin injury that is not expected to rule him out of the FA Cup final.

The opening exchanges were of poor quality until Suarez fired Liverpool ahead in the 24th minute. David Fox, the Norwich midfielder, was dispossessed in his own half by Steven Gerrard, who played the Uruguay international in behind the home defence for an emphatic leftfoot finish.

Suarez set Gerrard up soon afterwards but the England midfielder’s goal-bound shot was deflected behind off Ryan Bennett. The reprieve was short-lived for Norwich however as Suarez found the net again in the 28th minute.

This time it was all his own work as he evaded Elliott Ward’s weak challenge before firing a low drive across Ruddy into the bottom corner.

Suarez then appeared to dive in the hope of

winning a penalty before Ward was booked for a poor challenge. Jonny Howson became the second Norwich man to be cautioned before half time when he needlessly brought down Gerrard.

Norwich, having managed zero shots in the first 45 minutes, sent on a second forward in the shape of James Vaughan at the break, with Fox the man coming off.

Pepe Reina, the Liverpool goalkeeper, was at last called into action to tip round a well-struck effort from Elliott Bennett, and Bradley Johnson headed wide from the resulting corner.

But Liverpool were still the better side and almost extended their lead from their next attack. Suarez’s shot looped up off Ryan Bennett to Jonjo Shelvey, who headed against the bar.

The young midfielder should have scored soon afterwards as well when he ballooned Jose Enrique’s cross over the bar from all of two yards out.

Liverpool were on top as the game passed the hour mark and Ruddy did well to palm a shot from Stewart Downing, who had neatly turned his marker, round a post.

Suarez passed up a great opportunity to claim a hat-trick when he pushed the ball through Ryan Bennett’s legs to go clear but chipped over the crossbar as well as Ruddy.

Daniel Agger saw a header cleared off the Norwich line by Howson before Vaughan was booked for a late challenge on Reina. Bennett was booked for an elbow in Suarez’s face before Vaughan headed a chance wide for Norwich, who then brought Grant Holt on for the final 15 minutes.

It was Suarez’s day however and he completed his hat-trick in the 82nd minute in the most audacious way possible.

Again Ward came off second best in a challenge just inside the Norwich half and Suarez, having taken a touch, saw Ruddy was off his line and lobbed him from all of 50 yards for a goal of the season contender.—AFP

India’s ‘Motor City’ rises from the dust Page 22

US growth slowed at year’s start but some see rebound Page 25

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

Positive sentiment buoys KSE equities Page 24

Air India’s Boeing 787 rolls out of South Carolina plant Page 23

DUBAI: An avenue leading to the Atlantis hotel on Palm Jumeira Island in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dubai says it now has full control over the Atlantis resort hotel perched at the top of its palm-shaped island. State-run investment firm Istithmar World said late Friday. — AP

Dubai takes full control of Atlantis Istithmar pays $250m to buy out 50% resort stake DUBAI: Dubai says it now has full control of the Atlantis resort hotel perched atop its palm-shaped island. State-run investment firm Istithmar World said late Friday it paid $250 million to buy out financially troubled business partner Kerzner International Holdings Ltd, which had held a 50 percent stake in the coral-colored hotel. Istithmar already owned half of the property.

Kerzner will continue to operate

the resort, which includes a waterpark and 18 restaurants, Istithmar said. It agreed to give up its stake in the Dubai property and a similar resort in the Bahamas after struggling to restructure $2.6 billion in debt. Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management acquired the Bahamas property in a previously announced deal by agreeing to waive $175 million in debt owed by Kerzner.

Kerzner said it plans to use proceeds from the Dubai sale to reduce its debt load. Istithmar is part of Dubai state conglomerate Dubai World, which has struggled with high-profile debt troubles of its own. It owns upscale retailer Barneys New York and has a stake in performance company Cirque du Soleil.

“This acquisition is in line with our strategy of managing our assets

for value and investing selectively where growth opportunities exist,” Dubai World’s chairman, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, said in a statement. Istithmar’s parent Dubai World was at the heart of Dubai’s financial meltdown in 2009.

It signed an agreement to restructure some $25 billion in debt last March.

The Atlantis is one of Dubai’s better-known tourist destinations.

It is a mainstay of city tours, vying for attention with the world’s tallest tower, Burj Khalifa, and more traditional offerings such as the old gold and spice markets. Ads for the hotel greet Dubai airport passengers on arrival. Atlantis opened for business in September 2008, shortly after a construction fire damaged part of the brightly painted lobby. A lavish coming-out party for the resort two months later cost $20 million and

featured a celebrity guest list that included Rober t DeNiro and Lindsay Lohan. Australian pop star Kylie Minogue provided the entertainment.

The 1,537-room hotel is at the top of the Palm Jumeirah, the first of Dubai’s palm-shaped manmade islands and the only one that is developed. Visitors arrive by monorail or by traveling through an underwater tunnel. —AP

India, Japan to hold first ‘economic dialogue’

Russia, China announce progress on $4bn fund

NEW DELHI: India and Japan will hold their first ever “economic dialogue’ on Monday, a move reflecting closer trading ties between two of Asia’s biggest democracies, the Indian government said.

The meeting in New Delhi comes after Japan and India last year signed a free trade pact under which the high-tech nation and the South Asian emerging market giant will scrap tariffs on 94 percent of goods within a decade. The first India-Japan Ministerial-level Economic Dialogue will focus on boosting trade and economic ties, India’s foreign affairs ministry said in a statement yesterday.

“A number of senior ministers and officials from both India and Japan will participate in the ministeriallevel economic dialogue,” the ministry said. Japan has warming commercial and political ties with India, although its activities in South Asia are only a fraction of its investment in China. It is also keen to forge regional partnerships to offset Beijing’s growing might.

The meetings will be chaired jointly by External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and his Japanese counterpart Koichiro Gemba, who is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi today, the external affairs ministry said.

Japanese automakers have launched a series of new investments in India, mostly around the southern city of Chennai, with the South Asian country an attractive market for Japan due to its growing middle class.

The two sides will also hold a “strategic dialogue” to review issues such as civilian nuclear cooperation and maritime and regional security. Japan and India launched talks in 2010 on a nuclear cooperation pact that would allow Tokyo to export its cutting-edge technology to the energy-hungry South Asian nation.

Japan is worried that nuclear-armed India has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty but has said as “a matter of basic policy” it is interested in promoting use of Japanese civilian nuclear technology in India. — AFP

MOSCOW: Russia and China yesterday firmed up plans to raise capital for a joint $4 billion investment fund as a top Chinese official, who is set to be the next premier, visited for talks. Progress on a joint investment fund was announced at an economic forum attended by Chinese Vice Prime Minister Li Keqiang and Igor Shuvalov, the influential first deputy of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who will return to the Kremlin for a third term as president on May 7.

“The creation of the Russian-Chinese investment fund by the Russian Direct Investment Fund and China Investment Corporation will become an example of effective cooperation in the economic sphere between Russia and China,” said Kirill Dmitriyev, general director of Russia’s investment fund. The Russian fund and the Chinese sovereign wealth fund will each contribute $1 billion (755 million euros) to the joint venture, while the rest is expec ted to come from Chinese investors, Dmitriyev said in a statement, adding the fund would become operational by the end of June. Machine-building, agriculture, transportation, and timber processing are among the sectors to be targeted for investment, with 70 percent of the resources directed to Russia and 30 percent to China. Plans to establish the fund were first announced late last year.

Li, who is tagged to take over as premier from Wen Jiabao, on Friday held separate talks with outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev and Putin. Russia’s economy is heavily dependent on oil and gas, and analysts say that Medvedev’s heavily-publicized modernization drive during his four years in office has had limited success.

During the economic forum Russian and Chinese companies signed a total of 27 commercial agreements and contracts, the Russian economic ministry said.

China’s official Xinhua news agency, quoting Li, said the deals were worth $15 billion. Representatives from the Russian economic ministry could not immediate confirm the figure or provide their own estimates. — AFP

BEIJING: Visitors check BMW concept cars at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition in Beijing yesterday.— AP

Emaar Q1 net rises 44%, beats forecast DUBAI: Dubai’s Emaar Properties reported a 44 percent rise in firstquarter profit yesterday, beating analysts’ forecasts, as the developer shifted away from the battered property market and booked gains in its retail and hospitality operations. The builder of the world’s tallest tower made a profit of 606 million dirhams ($165 million), compared to 421 million dirhams during the same period last year, it said in an emailed statement. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast an average profit for the quarter of 496.75 million dirhams.

Revenue was 1.8 billion dirhams, with malls and retail businesses con-

tributing 651 million dirhams and hospitality contributing 403 million dirhams, the company said in its statement. Revenues from the firm’s malls and hospitality segments grew 25 per cent compared to the same period in 2011.

Emaar, which saw sales of apartments plunge 85 percent last year, is gradually shifting its focus from the bleak Dubai property market towards the more profitable hospitality and retail sectors. Dubai’s largest developer by market value sold 158 residential units during the period, of which 117 were in Dubai and 41 units in the international markets. New unit sales

in Dubai exceeded 620 million dirhams in the quarter, the company said. House prices in Dubai have tumbled about 60 percent from a 2008 peak and no turnaround is expected this year, with supply continuing to outstrip demand. Emaar’s 2011 earnings report showed it was owed 595 million dirhams by troubled mortgage affiliate Amlak, in which it has a 48 percent stake. Emaar claimed the amount was fully recoverable.

The federal government cut Amlak’s debt burden by $1.1 billion, in a renewed effort to revive the lender, whose stock has been halted since 2008. — Reuters

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

BUSINESS

India’s ‘Motor City’ rises from the dust Hallmark of modern manufacturing SANAND, India: The first sight of India’s newest “Motor City” is a collection of giant blue-and-grey structures, windowless boxes in corporate colors that are the hallmark of modern manufacturing.

The warehouses and machining plants, walled in on an enormous site of more than 1,000 acres (400 hectares), are owned by Tata Motors which moved to the western state of Gujarat in 2008 to start producing its Nano small car. A short distance up the road in Sanand, an hour’s drive from the state’s biggest city Ahmedabad, teams of laborers, drilling rigs and trucks are preparing the foundations for a new $1.0-billion Ford facility.

Rising from the dust opposite fields of swaying wheat is a new global car-manufacturing hub, the sort of industrial project which politicians in India often talk about creating but have seldom delivered. Michael Boneham, an Australian who heads Ford in India, lists the reasons for investing in Gujarat and in the process highlights some of the failings of other states.

The easy availability of land was “critical”-Ford did not want to risk the sort of protests that have blighted industrial projects elsewhere-and he has nothing but praise for the local government.

“I’d call them business-like. We’ve set up a twoweekly and now monthly meeting with key project leaders,” the India managing director told AFP during a recent visit to the site. “There are assignments, timings, and there are commitments that are met, which is what impresses me. The government also has transparency which is important for us, and accessibility.”

Reliable power supplies, decent infrastructure and ports by Indian standards, and the availability of educated labor were the other factors that tipped the decision on where to locate Ford’s second Indian plant, which will open in 2014.

Accompanying the Detroit-based group will be 19 automotive suppliers who are set to build factories and train workers, in the process creat-

ing the sort of corporate ecosystem that looks set to attract other manufacturers. Further up the road, French car manufacturer Peugeot has chosen a plot of land for its first factory in India-a proposed $850 million investment-but its plans are on hold due to the debt crisis in the euro-zone.

Maruti Suzuki, India’s biggest car manufacturer, is pressing ahead with a factory elsewhere in Gujarat-in Mehsana, close to the Mundra portwhile motorcycle group Hero has also picked the state for its fourth factory. “Power was a big consideration (in choosing Gujarat),” Shinzo Nakanishi, Maruti Suzuki chief executive, told AFP in an interview at the India auto show earlier this year.

Manpower is good-“Other than Gujarat, states have a problem of power supply,” he added. “Also the quality of the manpower is good... and it was close to the port, our own port.”

Maruti’s operations have traditionally been focused in northern Haryana state, while the other main Indian car-making hub is in southern Tamil Nadu where Ford, Hyundai, Renault-Nissan and Michelin already have factories.

The arrival of global car manufacturers has been a boon for Gujarat’s ambitious chief minister Narendra Modi, a right-wing Hindu nationalist who holds a much-hyped annual “Vibrant Gujarat” summit to attract investors. His record as a no-nonsense business-friendly leader is expected to be part of his eventual pitch to become prime minister-a task made difficult by his association with religious riots in 2002 that left more than 2,000 dead.

Gujarat will soon have Asia’s biggest solar park and a state-sponsored scheme to build a banking and finance hub with more office space than the financial districts of Paris, Tokyo, London and Shanghai is underway. Economic growth in Gujarat has consistently outpaced India’s as a whole

UAE’s Aldar Q1 profit soars, beats forecast ABU DHABI: Aldar Properties, Abu Dhabi’s struggling developer currently in merger talks with rival Sorouh Real Estate, more than doubled its first quarter net profit on land and residential unit sales to the government. The builder of the Yas Marina Formula One Circuit said in a statement yesterday that it made a net profit of 478.2 million dirhams ($130.2 million) compared to 189.1 million dirhams in the same period in 2011.

Analyst estimates for the company ranged from a net loss of 91 million dirhams by SICO Bahrain to a net profit of 193.2 million dirhams by Global Investment House. Revenue for the quarter was 3.58 billion dirhams, compared to 784.7 million dirhams in the same quarter last year, the company said.

The revenue boost was due to a 2.2 billion dirhams related to sale contracts signed in 2011 with the government of Abu Dhabi and other related entities, the company said.

“The results reflect the significant deliveries of residential units and land plots at Al-Raha Beach that began in the quarter and will continue through the year, supported by strong recurring revenues from our operating businesses,” Ali

Eid AlMheiri, chairman of Aldar said in the statement.

Aldar’s total cash and bank balance was 5.8 billion dirhams at the end of the first quarter of 2012. The company signed a 4 billion dirhams revolving credit facility with National Bank of Abu Dhabi earlier this month. Aldar, rescued twice by Abu Dhabi with funds amounting to nearly $10 billion, said last month that it may merge with Sorouh in what would be a government-backed tie-up.

Abu Dhabi’s largest developer by market value has been at the front of a property market slump in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, which is facing challenges amid a huge supply of high-end homes entering the market.

Property prices in Abu Dhabi are expected to fall another 11 percent from here, a Reuters poll showed in January. State investment fund Mubadala, which earlier owned a 49 percent stake in Aldar, transferred a 14-percent stake to Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank in return for a loan facility. Abu Dhabi has held talks to offload all or part of the 49-percent government stake in struggling Aldar in an attempt to stop its falling asset value from dragging down Mubadala. — Reuters

over the past decade, hitting 10.5 percent in 2010-2011 compared with 8.4 percent for the country, official figures show. Critics say Modi’s achievements during his 11-year rule are not what they seem, however, relying too heavily on undisclosed and over-generous inducements to attract companies.

The Caravan current affairs magazine reported in March that Tata will retain the money it owes in taxes from its factory and only start paying it back after 20 years-at an interest rate of 0.1 percent.

But if the chief minister’s economic record and methods remain contentious, few doubt his vision. An estimated two thirds of India’s vast 1.2billion population continue to scratch out an existence on small family farms.

Creating a thriving manufacturing sector is vital if the country is to raise incomes and offer job opportunities to its increasingly numerous and young workforce whose aspirations are changing, economists and government planners say.

“We need to create eight to 10 million jobs every year over the next decade to absorb the expected growth in the labor force,” Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reminded delegates at a recent emerging markets summit. On the other side of the road that leads to the Sanand motor hub lies a vision of traditional India: fields where men and women, skins creased by a lifetime of toil under the baking sun, cut the harvest by hand.

Babubhai Patel, who estimates his age at about 50, owns a parcel of farm land just on the edge of the new industrial park. As an illiterate farmer, he has little prospect of a job in the factories and he blames the construction work for water shortages over the last four months.

His 19-year-old son Mahindra, who has just completed school, is more enthusiastic. “I’d prefer to work in the factory,” he says. — AFP

Indonesia delays $7.3bn DBS-Danamon deal JAKARTA: Indonesia’s central bank said yesterday it would not approve a $7.3 billion acquisition of Bank Danamon Indonesia

by Singapore’s DBS until new rules covering foreign ownership were in place.

Bank Indonesia said it would re-evaluate a current rule that allows private investors-both foreign and Indonesian-to own stakes as high as 99 percent in Indonesian banks before assessing DBS’s planned acquisition.

“It’s not that we’re delaying approval for the DBS deal, we will just start evaluating DBS’s plan after we issue our new bank ownership rules,” Bank Indonesia spokesman Difi A. Johansyah told AFP. “Hopefully, the regulation will be issued by the end of May or early June.”

He said the new rules will apply equally to local and foreign investors, saying the regulation was for the “sake of prudence” and was not aimed at blocking foreigners. Johansyah declined to say how the 99 percent ownership cap would be affected, but said financial institutions “with a proven track record” will be able to own “a majority”. “Non-financial institutions will only be able to own a minority stake,” he added. The new rules will also oblige banks to acquire several new licenses for different services such as taking deposits, setting up ATMs and opening branches, the Jakarta Globe daily quoted Bank Indonesia Governor Darmin Nasution as saying.

The DBS-Danamon deal announced earlier this month triggered a rash of nationalistic complaints by politicians and banking executives that the 99 percent allowance for foreign ownership was too high. The backlash echoes nationalistic comments made recently over the country’s mining industry, which prompted parliament in February to strip foreigners of a controlling stake in mining assets after 10 years of production.

Danamon is already controlled by a subsidiary of Singapore’s state investment firm Temasek Holdings’ Fullerton Financial Holdings but the deal would still require the approval of Indonesia’s central bank. — AFP

BARAMATI: Indian Union Minister for Agriculture Sharad Pawar poses on a Vespa scooter as Chairman and Managing Director of Piaggio Vehicles Limited India Ravi Chopra cheers him and Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public enterprise Praful Patel looks on during the inauguration of their plant in Baramati some 150 kilometers (93 miles) from Pune yesterday. —AP

Bayt.com report

Evaluating your job offer You have impressed the interview panel, aced your assignments and a week down the line, in the midst of excitement and anticipation, your job offer letter is ready.

Based on a recent Bayt.com HR research, the average tenure of a Middle Eastern professional at a job is 5.2 years, and you should know that signing a job offer letter without scrutinizing each and every detail entailed is not a wise move. Below are a few pointers from the career experts at Bayt.com, the Middle East’s #1 Jobsite, on how to evaluate your job offer.

1. Assess the basics: Not only does the salary classify as an “essential” component of the job offer but other areas are also very important to look at such as the type of contract (open, 2 year, temporary, etc..), the probation period (and what it entails), the working hours, the working days, the reporting hierarchy, the job responsibilities etc.

All of these variables in addition to your salary and benefits should be clearly specified in your contract.

2. Assess the salary offered: How does the salary offered weigh compared to salaries of other professionals with your same qualifications and experience in your country of residence? Ask around, get information from professionals in your same position in other companies, network in relevant circles and resort to online Salary calculators.

3. Assess the travel quota: Does your job require constant or occasional traveling? How occasional? Are you the type of person who doesn’t mind packing and unpacking 2 to 3 times a month?

Do your personal responsibilities allow you such flexibility? It is very important for you to inquire about the traveling quota associated with your

potential job in order for you to manage your own expectations (and perhaps your family’s expectations) and make a wise decision.

4. Assess the career trajectory: Have you had a talk with your potential direct manager/ recruiter about the future prospects of the position offered to you? Do they and do you foresee future growth in this position within the company? If you are looking for stability and continuous development, ensure early on that should you take the role and prove yourself, you would have room for career growth.

5. Assess the working conditions: Bayt.com recently ran an online poll about Good working Conditions in the Middle East, to shed light on the importance of a healthy working environment at the workplace and its impact on the productivity and loyalty of employees. An overwhelming 64.3% of professionals surveyed stated that improved working conditions would result in more organizational loyalty, more productivity and more job involvement, but they are yet to be provided by employers as per 45% of poll respondents. The top constituents of good working conditions as per the Bayt.com poll respondents are: proper training and professional development schemes, generous incentives (such as vacation days, parking and education allowance), room for personal job authority and decision making and good office setting (such as lighting, seating, lunch rooms and gyms. Look closely at these factors and assess where your potential employer stands in their regard before committing to the job offered to you.

Kuwait’s balance of public debt stands at KD 1.9bn KUWAIT: Kuwait’s balance of the total public debt instruments, at the end of March 2012, maintained its same level of KD 1.9 billion since August 2011, a special economic report showed yesterday.

The report, by Al-Shall Economic Consultants, added that the public debt instruments consist of longer-term treasury bonds, with a balance of KD 1.8 billion (since August 2011), and treasury bills worth KD 125 million (since July 2011).

The report, based on the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) Monthly Monetary Statistical Overview, pointed out average interest rate on treasury bonds for one year was 1.25% (since March 2010) and on treasury bills for 3 months was 0. 722% (since January 2012).

Local banks account for 96.6% of the total public debt instruments (approximately 95.6% at the end of December 2011). Thus, the total domestic public debt is about KD 1973 million, representing 4.4%, the size of the nominal GDP for 2011, estimated at KD 45.2 billion.

The Central Bank of Kuwait bulletin states that total credit facilities for residents, provided by local banks, scored approximately KD 25.995 billion (57.3% of total assets of local banks), with a slight rise of about KD 383.8 million over its amount in the end of December 2011, a quarterly growth rate of approximately 1.5%, reflecting continued reluctance of local banks in granting credit facilities due to the financial crisis. — KUNA

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 .4460000 .3640000 .3030000 .2800000 .2860000 .0040000 .0020000 .0752140 .7327900 .3830000 .0710000 .7188860 .0040000 .0430000 CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2770500 .4479900 .3663290 .3048360 .2820280 .0492440 .0412310 .2873560 .0357070 .2231390 .0034140 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0754600 .7351730 .0000000 .0739000 .7198910 .0000000

.2805000 .4540000 .3710000 .3100000 .2860000 .2930000 .0070000 .0035000 .0759700 .7401550 .4000000 .0760000 .7255880 .0072000 .0500000 .2791500 .4513860 .3691060 .3071460 .2841660 .0496170 .0415440 .2895340 .0359780 .2248310 .0034400 .0053460 .0021520 .0030860 .0034270 .0760320 .7407460 .3948370 .0744600 .7253480 .0065960

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Currency US Dollar Pak Rupees

Rate per 1000 (Tran) 278.400 3.063

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

5.310 2.100 3.405 6.560 75.895 74.395 740.100 45.010 454.800 3.090 1.550 373.100 287.700 3.350

Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 277.850 371.100 452.500 285.200 3.475 5.285 45.970 2.115 3.390 6.548 3.060 740.000 75.700 74.200

UAE Exchange Centre WLL COUNTRY Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka

SELL DRAFT 293.81 287.09 310.99 371.00 454.48 3.52 3.397

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

5.279 2.123 3.319 3.061 75.71 740.13 46.96 395.86 723.15 76.73 74.30

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 292.200 740.140 3.660

SELL DRAFT 290.700 740.140 3.399

286.900 546.600 45.400 49.600 167.800 47.690 372.000 36.540 5.580 0.032 0.159 0.233 3.520 394.410 0.188 92.920 45.400 4.260 230.600 1.803 49.800 722.890 3.150 6.830 76.690 74.310 225.490 38.150 2.652 453.800 42.500 309.700 4.300 9.370 198.263 75.880 278.700 1.340

Sterling Pound US Dollar

1,721.340 TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 451.800 278.300

285.400

225.500 46.043 370.500 36.390 5.300 0.031

394.380 0.187 92.920 3.340 229.100

722.710 3.075 6.535 76.580 74.310 225.490 38.150 2.137 451.800 308.200 4.300 9.220 75.780 278.300

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

BUSINESS

Asia’s promise lures French from euro-zone woes HONG KONG: Whether it’s for business, study or an exotic retirement, the French are flocking to Asia like never before, drawn by economic opportunities that contrast with debt-ridden Europe.

While Asia has never been as popular a destination for French expatriates as London, their numbers in the East have been growing faster than anywhere else: 11 percent last year including 22 percent in Indonesia and 11.4 percent in China, according to French government figures. There are now officially 110,000 French expatriates living in the Asia-Pacific region, out of 1.6 million worldwide.

The debt crisis in Europe, average growth in emerging Asian economies of around six percent, and a greater interest in Asian affairs on behalf of students-associated with their stronger command of English-are the main drivers of the shift, analysts said. “Companies have been coming to Asia for several months or a year looking for the profits that they can no longer find-or not to the extent they did before-in France,” said Mattieu Lefort, director of the French government’s export assistance office,

Ubifrance, in Hong Kong. The French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China has offices in Beijing and Shanghai and recently opened a branch in the southwestern city of Chengdu where foreign companies benefit from tax breaks and lower labor costs. Thomas Portolano, 31, and Michael Amiot, 30, recently moved to Hong Kong from Paris to develop their start-up company, geekasia.com, which offers online imports of Chinese electronic gadgets such as DVDs and video games-”geekeries” in anglicised French slang.

Explaining their move, they cite “fees and taxes” and “legal procedures that take an incredible amount of time” in France, versus China’s free economic zones where business is made easy.

Hong Kong, for example, is a semi-autonomous Chinese territory with its own financial system based on a simple, low-tax regime. There is no capital gains tax, no death duties, no sales tax, salaries are taxed at no more than 15 percent and profits tax is capped at 16.5 percent.

Foreign enterprises can invest freely with no

restrictions on ownership or the movement of goods and capital. The former British colony recently signed an agreement with France to prevent double taxation. “Here there is a general optimism in contrast to the gloomy atmosphere in France,” Amiot said.

‘Less expensive than France’Lefort said French entrepreneurs were playing “catch-up” with those from other European countries who were already heavily invested in Asia. “We’re getting closer to 100,000 French exporters in the world, against 200,000 Italian and 400,000 German.

We have been self-centered for a long time,” he said.

After Britain, France’s biggest trade surplus is with Hong Kong, amounting to 3.8 billion euros ($4.95 billion) last year, according to the French consulate.

Around 700 French-owned companies operate in Hong Kong, employing more than 30,000 people and generating annual revenue of more than seven billion euros. India is another emerging economic power but its notoriously slow bureaucracy and pro-

tectionist policies have proven unsavory for the French, whose population there grew 6.6 percent to a meager 9,600 last year, mostly in the former French colony of Pondicherry on India’s east coast. Thailand and Indonesia have other attractions for the French besides business-namely the pleasures of an easy lifestyle in the tropics.

“People come for personal reasons,” said Boudet Lucas, executive director of the Franco-Thai Chamber of Commerce in Bangkok. The French population of Thailand was 28,550 last year, a rise of 15 percent since 2007. The Indonesian resort island of Bali has recorded an influx of retirees seeking a life “less expensive than in France,” Consul Raphael Devianne told AFP. “The cost of living is nothing like that of France,” said Claudie Courot, 63, who has lived on the island for three years with her 65-year-old husband, Guy. “There is no property tax, no local taxes.

We have a big spacious house surrounded by rice fields, in peace and quiet. And you can have domestic staff.” — AFP

Air India’s Boeing 787 rolls out of South Carolina plant US aircraft maker breaks ground with new plant

ATHENS: Greek Socialist PASOK Party’s leader Evangelos Venizelos delivers a speech during a pre-election rally in Athens yesterday. — AFP

Venizelos promises Greeks no new taxes come June ATHENS: Greek socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos pledged yesterday there will be no new taxes in June and that the country will shake off its emergency loan agreement by 2015. “Our program foresees the gradual and safe exit from the memorandum in three years, by 2015 as I have suggested,” the former finance minister told an audience in Athens ahead of the May 6 general elections.

Presenting his Pasok party’s manifesto, Venizelos pledged there will be no new taxes imposed in June, and that temporary emergency taxes will gradually be removed. He also promised that low income earners and pensioners in the debt-ravaged country will not be affected by new cuts.

Greece heads for general elections after an interim coalition government including Pasok and the conservative New Democracy party completed its task of pushing through tough austerity measures in return for massive aid from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

Both the conservatives and the socialists, who have alternated in power in the last three decades, have lost support to left-wing and splinter parties, many of which oppose the austerity drive brought on by Greece’s nearbankruptcy. Neither of the main parties is expected to win 50 percent of the vote, with Pasok predicted to finish a distant second behind New Democracy. — AP

NORTH CHARLESTON, South Carolina: US aerospace giant Boeing on Friday rolled out the first 787 Dreamliner built at its new plant in South Carolina and destined for Air India. The rollout marked the first time the Chicago-based Boeing has produced a twin-aisle commercial airplane outside of Puget Sound, near Seattle in Washington state.

Boeing broke ground on the massive campus in North Charleston more than two years ago in a bid to ramp up production of its 787. Production began last June. Boeing delivered the first 787, built at its Seattle area facilities, to launch customer All Nippon Airways last September, three years behind schedule. The South Carolina-built 787 remains on schedule for delivery to Air India in mid-2012, Boeing said.

The new aircraft is largely built with lightweight composite materials. Boeing says the Dreamliner is about 20 percent more fuel efficient than similarly sized aircraft and is the first midsize airplane capable of flying long-range routes.

On Friday, the freshly minted 787 emerged from Boeing’s final assembly plant in clouds billowing from a smoke machine and fireworks overhead, to a crowd of several thousand Boeing employees and guests. “This is a proud moment for Boeing as we roll out an airplane from our third final assembly site,” said Jim Albaugh, president and chief executive of Commercial Airplanes.

“Today I welcome the South Carolina team into a small and elite fraternity a fraternity of workers who have built one of the most complex machines in the world-a commercial airplane.”

Boeing has booked orders for more than 800 787s from 60 customers, in what it touts as its most successful launch of a twin-aisle commercial airplane in the company’s history.

“It’s the fastest-selling plane going into production that Boeing has ever had,” Jack Jones, the vice president and general manager of the plant told reporters earlier Friday. He said the company already has 854 orders from 59 customers.

It took about 30 months from groundbreaking until the first 787 was rolled out. The engines still need to be tested and the plane needs to be flown. It will be two months before delivery. The first four of the South Carolina aircraft are being sold to Air India, but Jones said it has nothing to do with Gov. Nikki Haley, who is of Indian descent and is a strong advocate of the industry and strong opponent of unions.

“That was just the way it worked out,” Jones said. The plant was a source of political controversy after the National Labor Relations Board brought a complaint against the aircraft manufacturer alleging the nonunion South Carolina plant was built in retaliation for past union strikes in Washington state. The complaint was dropped late last year after the Machinists Union approved a contract extension and Boeing promised to build a new version of the 787 in Washington.

Jones said the complaint had no effect on relations between Boeing staff in Washington State and in South Carolina. “They are right there with

us. They are our partners,” Jones said. “The NLRB could not be here with us today,” Graham told the crowd to hoots and cheers. “That means a good decision on their part. The only one I can remember lately.”He told the workers: “You have made the state shine. You have put us on the map of the world economy.”

“Let’s make this very clear. It has been a long two and a half years,” Haley told the crowd.

“Everybody is going to be talking about Boeing.

They are going to be talking about it across the country. They are going to be talking about it across the world. They are going to be talking about how we built the most efficient plane in the state of South Carolina.”

Michael Hargrove, a fabrication specialist who works on the composites building the aft end of the 787s, was working with an automotive manufacturer when he got laid off and started working for Boeing. He went to school and got his associate’s degree in aircraft technology at Trident Technical College. The plant, he said, “is a great thing. It’s good for our economy.” — Agencies

NORTH CHARLESTON: Boeing workers gather around a 787 at the company’s assembly plant in North Charleston, SC, rolled out Friday, is the first 787 manufactured at the company’s South Carolina plant that opened last year. —AP

UK lawmakers to probe how big banks are run

NEW DELHI: Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee (centre) holds up a plaque bearing the logo of the forthcoming Asian Development Bank’s Delhi 2013 46th annual meeting of the Board of Governors, at the Ministry of Finance in New Delhi yesterday.

Mukherjee announced that Delhi would be hosting the 46th annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank in May 2013, to be attended by finance ministers from some 67 countries. — AFP

India must hike fuel prices: PM NEW DELHI: India must hike fuel prices to offset spiralling oil import bills, Premier Manmohan Singh said yesterday after refiners threatened to raise petrol prices to curb growing losses.

“We need to rationalize prices and at the same time ensure that the poor and needy are shielded from the effects of such a rationalization,” Singh said in a speech at the opening of a refinery in the northern state of Punjab.

“With imports accounting for 80 percent of our crude supplies, the spiralling prices of crude in the international market have put a severe strain on our import bill,” he added, without offering details on the hike. In the speech, posted on his website, he said India needs to conserve energy and there is “no room for inefficient and wasteful usage of fuel” in the country, where blackouts are frequent.

India’s Congress-led government in June 2010 deregulated petrol prices in a reform aimed at reducing the massive subsidies it pays to state-run fuel refiners which rely on imported energy.

Refiners have not raised petrol prices since December 2011 but say they must

unless the cash-strapped government offsets their costs. A sharp fall in the value of the rupee against the dollar has exacerbated the companies’ losses. When the government freed up prices for petrol, seen as a fuel mainly used by middle-class Indians, it kept control of cooking gas and kerosene prices to protect the poorCongress’s key supporters-against price shocks.

It also kept diesel fuel at below-market prices. Singh’s warning that fuel prices need to rise comes as the government battles stubborn inflation, running at nearly seven percent, and a slew of corruption scandals that have badly undermined its popularity.

The high cost of imported fuel is partly blamed for the ballooning of India’s current account deficit-the gap between exports and goods and services importsto its widest level in eight years.

Earlier last week, Standard and Poor’s cut India’s credit rating outlook to negative from stable, citing the country’s high deficits as partly to blame, and warned of a one-in-three chance it would lose its investment grade status. — AFP

LONDON: British lawmakers will probe how to improve the way big banks are run and set top pay after past attempts to strengthen corporate governance have had mixed results in constraining bonuses or controlling excessive risk taking. Andrew Tyrie, Conservative chairman of the UK Parliament’s treasury select committee, said there had been progress in improving the running of banks but there was “still work to do” when it came to the boards of the country’s systemically important lenders.

He said in a statement the Treasury committee would launch an inquiry and would take evidence from the financial sector. “Have you met anybody who thinks we have cracked this problem? Why was it that so many experienced and technically competent non-executives - the cream of British corporate life - appeared to be asleep in some of the boardrooms of our major financial firms,” Tyrie said.

He wants to encourage shareholders to engage

on issues such as risk and bonuses.

Britain is still counting the costs of risk taking by the banking sector, having been forced to nationalise Northern Rock, buy most of RBS and a large stake in Lloyds. Yet Tyrie is not the first to raise the issue of corporate governance in the financial sector.

In one sign of increased investor activism, over a quarter of Barclays Plc shareholders voted against a remuneration plan including a 17 million pounds pay package for CEO Bob Diamond.

Tyrie wants the inquiry’s findings to shape the work of new regulators being set up next year when the Financial Services Authority (FSA) will be scrapped. He declined to say if new laws would be needed to beef up supervision of the sector.

Hector Sants, who is stepping down as CEO of the FSA in June, said in his final speech on Tuesday that banks should improve their governance and “do the right thing” rather than be driven solely by the size of their pay packets. — Reuters

DUBLIN: Shoppers pass by the many discount shops of North Earl Street in Dublin. Ireland’s economy has suffered four straight years of falling property prices and consumer spending in the face of rising taxes, unemployment and emigration. — AP

Barcelona cordoned off ahead of ECB meet BARCELONA: An exceptional police presence was in place in Barcelona yesterday ahead of next week’s key ECB meeting, with authorities fearing violence in Spain’s climate of social unrest.

It is “one of the biggest ever deployments by the Mossos d’Esquadra, the Catalan regional police, with 4,500 police mobilised until May 4, a spokesman told AFP, saying that security was on the same level as for the visit by Pope Benedict XVI in November 2010. They may also be reinforced by 2,000 members of the Civil Guard, the interior ministry said.

Authorities fear fresh violence as the city hosts a meeting of the European Central Bank’s governing council beginning Thursday to discuss monetary policy at a time when Spain is a major focus of concern.

With unemployment running at a record 24.4 percent of the work force and the country officially back in recession, pressure for Spain to stabilize its public finances is driving spending cuts and unpopular austerity measures that are fuelling social unrest.

Trade unions have called a nationwide demonstration today to protest against the austerity cuts ahead of a Labor Day march on Tuesday and a mass demonstration by students against raising university fees. Spain, a member of Europe’s free-movement Schengen treaty, has also temporarily restored border checkpoints with France this month ahead of the ECB meeting. “Reports by the state security forces have detected the possibility that anti-establishment organizations or movements could come for this meeting,” an interior ministry official told AFP. “This measure has been adopted as a precaution in case of disturbances by any anti-establishment group,” the official added. “We are talking about acts of violence.” — AFP

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

BUSINESS

Positive sentiment buoys KSE equities BAYAN WEEKLY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended last week in the green zone. The price index closed last week with an increase amounted to 1.16%, while the weighted index advanced by 0.25% compared to the closings of the week before. Furthermore, last week’s average daily turnover increased by 3.37%, compared to the preceding week, reaching KD 36.57 million whereas trading volume average was 496.75 million shares, recording increase of 22.32%.

The market managed to end the week in the green zone for the third week supported by the positive speculations, which concentrated on small stocks, especially on Real Estate sector. Moreover, selective buying on some leading stocks also supported the market, despite some profit taking operations, which limited its effect. On the other hand, many traders are in caution state, waiting for the listed companies’ first quarter results.

By the end of the week, the price index closed at 6,337.0 points, up by 1.16% from the week before clos-

ing, whereas the weighted index registered a 0.25% weekly gain after closing at 417.87 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 real estate sector, achieving 4.43% growth rate as its index closed at 2,363.2 points.

Whereas, in the second place, the Industry sector’s index closed at 4,540.2 points recording 2.53% increase.

The Non-Kuwaiti companies sector came in third as its index achieved 1.11% growth, ending the week at 5,855.5 points. The Services sector was the least growing as its index closed at 14,442.2 points with a 0.08% increase.

On the other hand, the Banks sector headed the losers list as its index declined by 0.36% to end the week’s activity at 11,580.1 points. The Insurance sector was second on the losers’ list, which index declined by 0.11%, closing at 2,670.9 points.

Sectors’ activity The Real estate sector dominated total trade volume during last week with 1.02 billion shares changing hands, representing 41.08% of the total market trading volume. The Services sector was second in terms trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 23.80% of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of 591.06 million shares. On the other hand, the Services sector’s stocks where the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover of KD 49.39 million or 27.01% of last week’s total market trading value. The Real estate sector took the second place as the sector’s last week turnover of KD 46.40 million represented 25.38% of the total market trading value.

Market capitalization KSE total market capitalization grew by 0.25% during last week to reach KD 28.50 billion, as five of KSE’s sectors recorded an increase in their respective market capitalization, tow recorded declines, whereas the

Insurance sector’s market capitalization remained the same from the week before. The Non Kuwaiti Companies sector headed the growing sectors as its total market capitalization reached KD 1.74 billion, increasing by 2.77%. The Real estate sector was the second in terms of recorded growth with 1.47% increase after the total value of its listed companies reached KD 1.99 billion. The third place was for the Services sector, which total market capitalization reached KD 6.91 billion by the end of the week, recording an increase of 0.93%. The Food sector was the least growing with 0.42% recorded growth after its market capitalization amounted to KD 665.84 million.

On the other hand, the Industry sector headed the decliners list as its total market capitalization decreased by 0.56% to reach, by the end of the week, KD 2.16 billion. The Banks sector was second on this list, which market value of its listed companies declined by 0.54%, reaching KD 12.60 billion. —Prepared by the Studies & Research Department, Bayan Investment Co.

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In battle of the S&P, can bulls gain the edge?

NEW YORK: It will be another battleground for S&P 500 index next week.

Will the bears finally give up and let the bulls have their way? The S&P 500, the market’s broadest measure, managed to close out the week above the psychologically important 1,400 mark for the first time since early April. But the index is still down 0.4 percent for the month so far even after gaining 1.8 percent for the week, with only one trading day left in April.

Brian Lazorishak, senior quantitative analyst and portfolio manager at Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia, said a close above 1,400 is positive, but the recent high, near 1,422, is a more important technical level. “That’s what we’re looking for on the upside as confirmation there’s room to move higher,” Lazorishak said.

“A close above that would open the window to testing highs back to early 2008. The next natural area you’d see is a run to at least 1,440, the May 2008 high.”

Next week’s release of a slew of economic data on the U.S. labor market and the beginning of the latter half of corporate earnings will be keenly

WALL STREET WEEKLY OUTLOOK watched to see if they are enough to allow stocks to break above the recent trading range. The S&P 500, up 11.6 percent for the year, jumped 4.4 percent in Januar y, 4.1 percent in February and 3.1 percent in March, but is down 0.4 percent so far this month.

“The sideways action we have seen over the past few weeks was enough to alleviate any overbought conditions that existed in the market a month ago,” said Larry McMillan, president of options research firm McMillan Analysis Corp in a report on Friday.

“Thus, the market has the potential for another leg higher in this longer term uptrend, one that began early October 2011,” he said.

At the top of investors’ radar screen next week will be the government’s closely watched monthly jobs report for April, to be released on Friday. Jobs growth in March slowed to 120,000, the smallest increase since October, disappointing investors even though the unemployment rate fell to a threeyear low of 8.2 percent. Ahead of the government’s payrolls report,

investors will be watching the ADP Employment Report due on Wednesday and weekly jobless claims data due on Thursday for indications of whether the labor market is gaining momentum.

Corporate earnings, which drove gains in stocks last week, will also be in focus.

As of Friday, 57 percent of the S&P 500 companies had reported firstquarter results. Of those 287 in the S&P 500 that had reported earnings, 72.8 percent posted results that topped analysts’ expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Companies due to report earnings next week include Chesapeake Energy and Pfizer Inc on Tuesday; Prudential Financial, Time Warner and Visa Inc on Wednesday; and Kraft Foods and Viacom Inc on Thursday.

Also on agenda next week, Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co, has organized a meeting of major bank chief executives with Federal Reser ve Governor Daniel Tarullo, the central bank’s point man

NEW YORK: Specialist Peter Giacchi (right) works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Apple’s stock shot up more than $50 a share Wednesday after its quarterly profit blew away WallStreet expectations. —AP on regulation, according to The Wall Street Journal on Friday.

The meeting, slated for Wednesday in New York, is expected to focus on a

Fed proposal to limit banks’ exposure to other firms and governments, though other regulatory concerns likely will be discussed. —Reuters

US growth slowed at year’s start but some see rebound Repeat of near-standstill growth unlikely

ORLANDO: Kellogg’s cereal products, in Orlando, Florida. Kellogg Co said, its first-quarter net income fell 2 percent, hurt by declining demand in Europe and higher raw material costs. For the three months ended March 31, Kellogg says net income fell to $358 million, or $1 per share, from $366 million, or $1 per share last year. —AP

Procter & Gamble Q3 net income slips NEW YORK: Procter & Gamble Co said that it is rolling back some price increases and focusing on introducing new products in developed markets as the world’s largest consumer product maker seeks to reignite market share growth.

The maker of products ranging from Bounty paper towels to Luvs diapers also lowered its guidance below expectations for the fiscal year as it its third-quarter net income dropped 16 percent, hurt by restructuring charges and continued high costs for items like diesel fuel and packaging. Shares fell nearly 4 percent Friday.

Consumer product companies across the board have been raising prices to deal with higher costs for materials like pulp, fuel and packaging. P&G’s rival Kimberly-Clark said last week that higher prices helped boost its quarterly earnings 34 percent. But results for P&G, which has an arsenal of products that include Tide detergent and Olay skin cream, illustrate that even big companies that sell trusted brands can lose customers to lower-priced rivals when they raise prices. The Cincinnati-based company said its overall market share slipped 0.2 points, including a decline of 0.6 points in North America, which has seen stagnant growth. About 55 percent of its categories lost market share. P&G has focused on emerging markets for more growth - it says emerging markets will account for 37 percent of its annual sales by the end of the fiscal year.

P&G said it is rolling back prices in six categories: Powdered laundry detergent in the US, laundry products in Mexico and the UK, and North American oral care, dish care and blades and razors.

In addition, price controls introduced in Venezuela by Hugo Chavez to fight inflation sent prices down in that region about 25 percent, hurting net income by

about 3 cents per share. Still, most price increases have stuck. While the company gained $3.5 billion in revenue through the increases, the rollbacks are worth about $100 million to $200 million, the company said in a call with reporters.

“We do not currently expect a broad scale reversal of the price increases we implemented over the past five quarters or those we’re implementing right now,” said chief financial officer Jon Moeller in a call with investors. The company said net income fell 16 percent to $2.41 billion or 82 cents per share during the January to March quarter. That compares with $2.87 billion or 96 cents per share last year.

Results were impacted by a restructuring plan by P&G that involves cutting 5,700 jobs and saving $10 billion by the end of the fiscal year ending 2016.

Excluding costs related to a cost-cutting plan, earnings amounted to 94 cents per share. That was a penny per share higher than analysts expected, according to a FactSet poll. Revenue rose 2 percent to $20.19 billion. Analysts expected $20.35 billion. One bright spot during the quarter was P&G’s North American laundry business. Its new Tide pods single-dose laundry detergent has captured 67 percent on the unit-dose market in one month, P&G says. The company hopes the pods will eventually account for 30 percent of the US laundry business.

Executives told analysts in a call that they plan to drive growth in North America with more new products across a range of brands. “Innovation as we’ve many times is the best antidote to sluggish growth in developed markets,” said Moeller. “We’re upgrading existing products with innovations like the Crest and Oral-b Pro(equals)Health Clinical lineup and a significant performance improvement across the Bounty franchise.” — AP

CINCINNATI: The Procter & Gamble Co headquarters building in Cincinnati.

Procter & Gamble Co said on Friday its third-quarter net income slipped 16 percent as price increases and an uptick in revenue did not offset high costs for raw material and others related to a restructuring. —AP

WASHINGTON: Don’t panic yet. The government reported Friday that the economy got off to a tepid start this year, but that doesn’t foreshadow a repeat of the near-standstill that happened in 2011. “The economy is firmly on a growth trajectory,” said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at California State University’s Smith School of Business.

“The first-quarter slowdown will be temporary.”

Still, the January-March report was discouraging. Economists had expected gross domestic product - the broadest gauge of economic output to expand at a 2.5 percent annual rate for the first three months of the year. Instead, the Commerce Department said it was 2.2 percent, mainly because of government budget-cutting and a slowdown in business investment.

And some of the January-March growth, meager as it was, probably came at the expense of the current quarter. An unseasonably warm winter pulled car buyers into showrooms earlier than usual. The same was true for housing construction. That’s one reason it jumped at a 19 percent pace from January through March.

Economists doubt consumers can keep spending as freely as they did in the first three months of this year: an annual pace that was 2.9 percent faster than in the previous quarter and the fastest in more than a year. They probably can’t afford to.

Americans’ after-tax income rose just 0.6 percent in the first three months compared with a year earlier. That was the puniest pay increase in two years.

People spent more in part because they socked away less. The savings rate fell to 3.9 percent of after-tax income. That was down from 4.5 percent. Economists worry that people won’t keep spending more unless their

income grows. Stock prices rose Friday despite the report of weaker growth. David Rosenberg, chief economist at Gluskin Sheff, said investors might have bid up stocks because they think the Federal Reserve is more likely to pursue another round of bond buying to stimulate the economy. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke “has created the impression that if the economy stumbles, he’ll be there to hold your hand,” Rosenberg said.

The lackluster first-quarter growth follows government repor ts that hiring slowed sharply in March and the number of people seeking unemployment benefits reached a three-month high. With 12.7 million people unemployed, today’s economy needs much faster growth to boost hiring. Growth would have to be roughly 4 percent for a full year to lower the unemployment rate, now 8.2 percent, by 1 percentage point.

In 2011, a series of setbacks struck the economy. Gas prices rose sharply. An earthquake in Japan shuttered factories there and cut off supplies to U.S. manufacturers. A standoff in Washington brought the federal government to the brink of default, rattling investors and consumer confidence. And Europe’s debt crisis threatened to diminish U.S. exports and further spook investors.

The economy slowed to an annual rate of just 0.4 percent in the first quarter of 2011.

Unemployment, which had been falling, rose again last summer. But most economists think the U.S. economy is more resilient this year. The job market, household finances and businesses are all in better shape than they were a year ago. Supplies are flowing freely.

Political bickering has eased. And the fears about Europe have subsided at least temporarily.

“People are less concerned that the euro-

zone crisis could engulf the whole world,” says Nigel Gault, an economist with IHS Global Insight. A 55-cent run-up in gasoline prices (to an average $3.83 a gallon) isn’t hurting as much this year. In part, that’s because drivers are getting used to paying more. And families’ finances are sturdier after another year of paying down debts.

In addition, some factors that held back growth in the first quarter aren’t expected to last. Businesses splurged on software and equipment at the end of 2011 because of an expiring tax break.

That stole economic activity, in effect, from the first quarter. Companies will probably resume spending again later this year.

And economists say government spending will probably rebound - or at least stop falling - because state and local governments are collecting more tax revenue as their economies slowly recover.

“Their budget holes are getting a lot smaller,” says Jay Bryson, global economist for Wells Fargo. Most of all, the job market is stronger than it was last year. Unemployment has fallen from 9.1 percent in August to 8.2 percent in March. The economy has added nearly 1.9 million jobs over the past year.

More hiring is creating more pay and more spending - a cycle in which hiring and consumer spending reinforce each other and grow.

Economists note that Friday’s report isn’t the final word on first-quarter growth. It is just an initial estimate. The government will revise the figures in May and again in June.

Then in July, the growth figures will be tweaked yet again. That’s when the government will revise its estimates of growth from 2009 through the first quarter of this year.

The picture could look brighter after the revisions. — AP

Crude ends up; weak GDP ups hopes for Fed easing NEW YORK: US crude futures ended higher on Friday, up for the sixth session in a row, on hopes that weaker-thanexpected growth data will spur the US Fed to initiate more monetary-easing.

An initial estimate showed the first quarter US gross domestic product expanded at a 2.2 percent annual rate, slowing from 3 percent in the fourth quarter. That was below economists’ expectations for a 2.5 percent pace, but stronger than the 1.5 percent or less they forecast at the beginning of the quarter. Trading was light but perked up a bit about an hour before the close of floor trading as traders attempted to test resistance at $105, which was hit just minutes before the close. Prices then receded again. Oil futures got support from Wall Street, which advanced for a fourth straight day, as stronger earnings from bellwether stocks overshadowed the weaker-than-expected GDP data. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for June delivery settled at $104.93 a barrel, gaining 38 cents, or 0.36 percent, after trading between $103.74 and $105, where it encountered resistance.

For the week, front-month crude gained $1.88, or 1.82 percent, rising for the second straight week. US crude’s trading volume was 304,511 contracts, 43.9 percent below its 30-day average and the lowest since March 26, according to Reuters data.

Implied volatility of US crude futures dropped to a record low of 24.12, surpassing the previous low of 24.60 hit on Thursday, according to the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s Oil Volatility Index. In London, ICE June Brent crude settled at $119.83, down 9 cents, or 0.08 percent, paring losses late in the day,

and narrowing its premium against US crude to $14.90, from $15.37 on Thursday. NYMEX May heating oil closed down 1.37 cents, or 0.43 percent, at $3.1807 a gallon. For the week, it rose 5.68 cents, or 1.8 percent, rebounding from a 1.17 percent loss in the week April 20.

NYMEX May RBOB gasoline settled up 2.29 cents, or 0.72 percent, at $3.2062 a gallon. For the week, it gained 6.35 cents, or 2 percent, after sustaining a 6 percent loss last week.

Hedge funds and other large investors reduced their net long positions on US crude futures and options for the week to April 24 by 2,878 to 196,426, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in a weekly report.

Global oil inventories grew in March and April by 500,000 barrels per day despite the loss of further supplies from Iran, according to a U.S. government report, giving the Obama administration leeway to press ahead with sanctions against the OPEC producer.

US exports of refined petroleum products beat imports by more than a million barrels per day in February as high prices crimped domestic gasoline demand while the country’s refiners shipped record volumes of diesel abroad, government data showed.

Mexican oil production rose to 2.55 million bpd in March, up from 2.543 million bpd in February, Mexico’s state oil monopoly PEMEX said.

South Sudan, embroiled in border fighting with its northern neighbor Sudan, said that Sudanese-backed rebel militia attacked a town in the South’s oil-producing Upper Nile state, broadening the conflict. — Reuters

CLEVELAND: United Continental Airlines jets sit on the tarmac at Cleveland Hopkins Airport in Cleveland. The parent of United Continental Holdings Inc. said on Thursday, that it lost $448 million in the first quarter as it dealt with higher fuel prices and hiccups in its integration with Continental Airlines. — AP

United Airlines CEO paid more than $13m DALLAS: Jeffery Smisek helped put together the world’s largest airline with the merger of United and Continental, and the company rewarded him by more than tripling his compensation last year to $13.4 million.

More than half the compensation for the airline’s CEO came from stock awards, including incentives for the merger that created United Continental Holdings Inc. Smisek’s 2011 compensation was disclosed in a proxy statement that the Chicago-based company filed Friday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. An analysis by The Associated Press calculates the value that the company put on compensation awarded to the CEO in that year and excludes changes in pension value, so it differs from the total that the company reports to the SEC. Smisek, 57, was the CEO of Houston-based Continental Airlines and helped negotiate the combination with United. He was paid compensation valued at nearly $4.4 million in 2010. Last year, Smisek was given stock awards that were valued at $7.53 million when they were granted in February 2011, including $4.4 million in merger incentives. Smisek was paid a salary of $975,000, up from $791,250 in 2010; $4.41 million in separate incentive payments, up from $3.56 million in 2010; and $454,918 in other compensation, up from $9,766 the year before. —AP

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Rolls-Royce glitters at the Gold and Jewellery Exhibition KUWAIT: Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive, the sole dealer of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in Kuwait, announced its sponsorship of the Gold and Jewellery exhibition, currently held at the Kuwait International Fair Ground under the patronage of Sheikh Ibrahim Duaji Al-Ibrahim Al-Sabah, Al-Ahmadi Governor.

The company’s sponsorship is part of its ongoing commitment to being present in events involving the elite of Kuwait society, in order to reach out to its existing customer base and interact with potential new ones.

Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive is displaying the latest Rolls-Royce vehicles at the event, including the Rolls-Royce Ghost and Rolls-Royce Ghost Extended Wheelbase that both present outstanding design and unrivalled luxury, with ride and handling credentials underpinned by the highest standards of engineering expertise.

The 10th edition of the Gold and Jewellery exhibition kicked off on Monday 23rd of April, with the aim of helping to further develop the burgeoning gold and jewellery industry in Kuwait, and presenting a unique platform for the participation of 75 local and international companies within the field of fine jewellery and jewellery designs to display their latest products.

Yousef Al-Qatami, General Manager, Ali Alghanim & Sons

Automotive said: “The synergies between the Rolls-Royce brand and the world of gold and jewellery are hard to ignore, as fine jewellery is based on unique aesthetics, designs and precious stones, just as Rolls-Royce is synonymous with exquisite design and flawless performance. This also gives us

the opportunity to reach out to the right customers in a setting that is suited to the ultra-luxury positioning of RollsRoyce Motor Cars.”

Rolls-Royce had already celebrated this synergy on a regional level through its collaboration with Mouawad

Jewellery last year with the production of a diamondencrusted Spirit of Ecstasy, the world’s most recognizable motoring mascot, which was created to celebrate the icon’s centenary. The ‘Flying Lady’ featured 2,300 diamonds with an estimated value of KD 90,000 and was displayed at the Rolls-Royce Showroom opening in Kuwait in December of last year.

Rolls-Royce Ghost The first cars to wear the Ghost name in the early 20th century were famed not only for their durability, but also for refinement, flair and style, where passengers enjoyed the trappings of the best in coach-built luxury. In developing a Ghost for the 21st century, the Rolls-Royce design team retained these guiding principles. The Ghost Extended Wheelbase, maintains this powerful Rolls-Royce profile, while featuring significant additional space in the backseat, offering the passenger enhanced comfort while maintaining the powerful and dynamics presence of the car on the road.

The 10th Gold and Jewellery Exhibition is sponsored by Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive, the sole dealer of RollsRoyce Motor Cars, and the exclusive importer of BMW Group vehicles in Kuwait, Hassan Jewellery, La Marquise Jewellery, Burgan Bank, and Top Real Estate.

Role of corporate governance in rise and fall of companies Dr Al-Abdulgader analyses impact in Mideast firms

Dr. Abdullah Al-Abdulgader

KUWAIT: On the sidelines of the fourth regional meeting of the task force on Corporate Governance of State Owned Enterprises in the Middle East and North Africa, held on the 09 and 10 April 2012 in Kuwait, Dr Abdullah AlAbdulgader, the former commissioner of the Saudi Capital Market Authority and Executive Founding Director of the GCC Board Directors Institute (BDI), participated in an interesting discussion on disclosure and transparency and how corporate governance is no longer a matter of choice.

Dr Al-Abdulgader began the discussion by pointing out that what many Gulf companies are lacking is the conviction of implementing Corporate Governance processes as a systematic policy. He said:”Corporate Governance application often is a result of general market trend or an obligatory function imposed by the market.”

Dr Al-Abdulgader attributed part of the financial crisis in the United States and some European countries in 2008 to the lack of governance; in application and practical procedures. He said: “Corporate governance is the good administration between all stakeholders that safeguards the company from risks, to a large extent...The application of good [Corporate Governance] framework requires structural analysis of the company and thorough knowledge of the effective imple-

Gulf Bank to announce Al-Danah KD125,000 winner on April 30 KUWAIT: Gulf Bank will announce the Al-Danah KD125,000 winner at a live draw event held on April 30, 2012 at the Bank’s Khaldiya branch. The draw event will be hosted by Talal Al-Yagout and Mike from the 103.7 FM radio station during the Al-Gayla show from 1-3pm. The draw will be held in the presence of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry representative.

Gulf Bank encourages everyone 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 (KD1000 for 10 winners), quarterly (KD250,000 and KD500,000) and the annual draw (KD1 million). The last date to enter the KD250,000 draw or to deposit more to increase chances of winning is April 30. Gulf Bank’s Al-Danah allows customers to win cash prizes and encourages them to save money.

Chances increase the more money is maintained 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 AlDanah 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.egulfbank.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.

mentation, from administration to financial, as well as the specifics pertaining to the nature of each sector whether industrial, financial or otherwise.”

He added: “There are five regulations administrating the Corporate Governance framework, which include the regulations of listing and registration, the regulation for the trading bodies, as well as the regulations governing merger and acquisition, and the policies of disclosure and transparency and the mechanism of application, review and control by the regulatory authorities.”

He concluded by saying: “The most importance point here is that the policies of disclosure and transparency should include what is called nonfinancial disclosure which denotes the social and environmental responsibility of a company.”

BDI was launched in 2007 with the support from Emirates NBD, Investcorp, SABIC and Saudi Aramco. It is the result of an initiative led by four leading advisory institutions: Allen & Overy, Heidrick & Struggles, McKinsey & Company, and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Since its inception, BDI has been working with the support of the regional regulatory authorities including the Central Bank of Bahrain, the Capital Market Authorities of Saudi Arabia and Oman, the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority and the Securities and Commodities Authority of the UAE.

Gas prices may be easier on the wallet this summer After a recent drop in gas prices, experts say people may be paying less at the pump this summer than originally predicted. “On a national level, it is coming down,” Neil Gamson, economist with the US Energy Information Administration said. “It has surprised a lot of people, including us.”

According to the short-term energy outlook published by the EIA on April 10, prices were predicted to peak at a monthly average of $4.01 in May, averaging $3.95 through the summer driving season from April through September. That would have been a 6.3 percent increase from $3.71 per gallon last summer. According to GasBuddy.com, gasoline prices in the Pottsville area Friday ranged from $3.75 to $3.83. The national average price was $3.832 while the state average was $3.893, according to the EIA on Monday. The EIA releases weekly averages every Monday.

“It is interesting to note that prices last year were higher than today,” Gamson said.

In 2011, the average price throughout the year was $3.53. According to the latest EIA report, households were expected to spend about $250 more this summer on travel due to higher gas prices. The report was based on a 2009 National Household Travel Survey that said citizens drove an average of 19,850 miles in a vehicle with an average fuel efficiency of 22.5 miles per gallon.

Based on the average fuel price increase from $2.83 per gallon in 2010 to $3.58 per gallon in 2011, the average annual household expenditure on gasoline in the summer jumped from $2,501 in 2010 to $3,159 in 2011. With a projection of $3.87 per gallon, drivers were projected to spend $3,410 this summer. “We don’t see prices coming down significantly this summer,” Gamson said.

“They might hover around where they are more or less, assuming that there aren’t any

local problems.”

Bob Wachter, chief executive officer of AAA Schuylkill County, said there has already been a significant decrease in summer travel this year due to high gas prices.

“March and April have really fallen off,” Wachter said. If prices increase again during the summer, Wachter said more people will be traveling less. “I’m sure if it does continue to rise we will see a decline in long travel,” Wachter said. “I think many people will stay very close to home.”

Mike Micko, executive director of the Schuylkill Transportation System, also said more people use public transportation in the summer. “There has been no negative impact with gas as of now, but I’m sure if prices continue to rise, we will start to feel its effect.”

Micko said STS has already seen an increase in riders from last year. “I think that one of the other things that has been influencing our ridership is our monthly pass,” Micko said. “For someone that depends on public transportation, it is a good investment.” For bus schedules or information on monthly passes, visit www.go-sts.com.

According to the EIA’s report, tax and retail distribution costs have generally been stable.

The EIA said the average cost of crude oil for refiners this summer will average about $114 per barrel, or $2.71 per gallon. Last summer, refineries paid an average of $104 per barrel, or $2.48 per gallon.

According to the EIA, the price of crude oil makes up 67 percent of retail prices.

Refining makes up 16 percent, distribution and marketing is 6 percent and taxes are 11 percent. The report also states that each dollar of change in crude oil prices relates to a change of approximately 2.4 cents per gallon in product price.—MCT

Irfan Ahmed receiving prize from NBK Head Office Branch Manager Saleh AlShimmari

Irfan Ahmed wins NBK’s Jawhara prize KD 125,000 KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), announced the winner for April’s KD 125,000 Al-Jawhara monthly prize, Irfan Ahmed Noor Ahmed. The draw was held at NBK Head Office under the supervision of the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

NBK recently re-launched Al-Jawhara account, by offering customers more chances to win bigger prizes. By offering a KD 5,000 weekly, KD 125,000 monthly and a grand prize of KD 250,000 quarterly draw.

Irfan Ahmed, the winner of April’s KD 125,000 draw expressed his delight stating, “Winning KD 125,000 came as a complete surprise. I truly want to thank NBK for its great service and offers and for always being number one in the market.”

Al-Jawhara account offers numerous

benefits to NBK customers. Not only is it an interest-free account with regular deposit and withdrawal privileges, but also entitles account holders to enter the weekly, monthly and quarterly Al-Jawhara draws.

Each KD 50 in an Al-Jawhara account entitles the customer to one chance in any of the draws.

All prizes are automatically credited to the winners’ accounts the day after the draw. The more money held in your AlJawhara account, the greater your chances of winning. Al-Jawhara accounts are available to both Kuwaitis and Expats and can be opened at any one of NBK’s branches around Kuwait. For further information kindly visit www.nbk.com, or call Hala Watani at 1801801.

ABK launches ‘Win a million miles with ABK’ KUWAIT: Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait is pleased to announce this summer’s travel promotion “Win a Million Miles with ABK”. In cooperation with Emirates Airline, ABK is planning on giving out an amazing one million Skywards Miles this summer. All cardholders have to do is use their ABK Emirates credit card for all their cash or purchases transactions both locally and abroad.

The promotion starts on the 1st of May and runs until 31st of August 2012.

Draws for up to 125,000 Skywards Miles will be held each month, with a Grand Prize draw of 500,000 Skywards Miles which will be held at the end of the promotion. The lucky winners can use their Miles to travel to more than 120 Emirates destinations across six continents, or redeem them for products or services at www.emirateshighstreet.com.

Stewart Lockie, General Manager of the Retail Division has called this campaign “ABK’s most rewarding summer campaign ever and we are thrilled to give our ABK customers this opportunity to win a million Miles, which they can use to literally travel the world”.

Lockie added, “this is in addition to the Skywards Miles that each ABK

Emirates Credit Cardholder will already receive when they use their card locally or abroad”.

So go ahead and shop with your ABK Emirates Card this summer and you could be a Miles Millionaire.

For more details, and to apply for ABK Emirates Credit Cards, please visit any ABK branch or call Ahlan Ahli 1899 899, alternatively you could also chat live with ABK’s customer service representative on Ahli Chat at www.eahli.com.

Stewart Lockie, General Manager of the Retail Division

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

TECHNOLOGY

Regulators eye Google in Argentina, S Korea SAN FRANCISCO: Google’s online search and advertising services are under scrutiny by regulators in Argentina and South Korea, the company has confirmed. Word of the probes came a day after the US Federal Trade Commission revealed it hired former Justice Department prosecutor Beth Wilkinson to head an investigation into whether Google abused its dominance in online search. “We are delighted to have someone of her caliber helping us on such an important matter for the Commission,” FTC bureau of competition director Richard Feinstein told AFP. Wilkinson’s formidable legal track record includes being a lead prosecutor on the team that convicted Timothy

McVeigh in connection with the 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City. Last year, US regulators launched a probe into Google’s lucrative search and advertising business in a move that could pose the most serious legal challenge yet to the Internet giant.

The Mountain View, California-based company confirmed the FTC inquiry in a blog post at the time and expressed confidence it could withstand the scrutiny. A line in Google’s most recent quarterly report stated that Argentina’s National Commission for the Defense of Competition and South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission have opened investigations “into certain business practices”.

The inquiry focused on Google in South

Korea started last year, the company said, adding that it continues to cooperate with regulators there. “ The Argentinian Competition Commission notified us that they are conducting a preliminary inquiry into our search and search advertising services, and we are of course happy to answer their questions,” Google said. “Because competition on the Internet is just one click away and since using Google is a choice, we work hard to put our users’ interests first.”

As it has grown from a scrappy startup into an Internet titan, Google has branched out into various businesses, including online mapping, shopping, travel and providing operating systems

for mobile phones and tablet computers. But Google makes most of its money from search-related advertising and that is why investigations targeting its core business are seen by analysts as a potentially serious risk to the company.

Google has drawn increasing scrutiny from US and European regulators as it has grown over the years into an Internet powerhouse. Earlier this month, US government telecom regulators ended an investigation into Google’s “Street View” online mapping service gathering data from private wireless hotspots. The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) enforcement bureau called for Google to pay a $25,000 penalty for stalling the probe but said that it could

not accuse the Internet giant of breaking US law. “We worked in good faith to answer the FCC’s questions throughout the inquiry, and we’re pleased that they have concluded that we complied with the law,” Google spokesperson Niki Fenwick said.

The FCC began the investigation in late 2010 after Google announced that Street View cars taking photographs of cities in more than 30 countries had inadvertently gathered data sent over unsecured Wi-Fi systems. Information sucked up by passing Street View cars included passwords, emails, and other data that was being transmitted wirelessly over unprotected routers, according to the FCC. — AFP

High-tech graft-busting helps feed hungry Indians

NEW YORK: In this Dec 16, 2010 file photo, the Google logo is displayed in the company’s office. — AP

Hubbub over Google Drive content rights SAN FRANCISCO: Google CEO Larry Page recently wrote that he hopes to show the company is “deserving of great love”. But the Internet search leader may need to win more trust, based on the suspicions swirling around Google Drive, a new online storage service for personal documents, photos and other content. Within a few hours of Google Drive’s Tuesday debut, technology blogs and Twitter users were pouncing on a legal clause in the “terms of service” that could be interpreted to mean that any content stored in Google Drive automatically becomes Google Inc’s intellectual property.

The confusion centered on a passage advising that anyone uploading or submitting content to Google Drive will grant Google “a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content”.

As those words circulated on the Internet, fears about Google Drive undermining intellectual property rights mounted. Some interpreted the legalese to mean that if an author stores a novel on the service, Google suddenly owns the work and can do whatever it likes with it. The new service’s policy was troubling enough for The New York Times, the third-largest US newspaper, to send out a note discouraging the roughly 1,000 newsroom employees from storing files on Google Drive until there’s a better understanding of the intellectual property issues and how the service works.

As it turns out, the worries are proba-

bly unfounded. Google says the language is actually standard legalese that gives the company the licensing rights it needs to deliver on services that users’ request. The way Google keeps documents in its data centers requires the company to obtain a license to “host, store (and) reproduce” the files. If, say, a screenwriter in China uses Google’s services to collaborate on a movie script written in Mandarin with a script editor in Hollywood who only reads English, Google needs the rights for “translations, adaptations or other changes” to allow the two writers to work on the document in different languages and make revisions.

Even everyday occurrences such as someone watching a video or pulling up a text file at an Internet cafe requires Google to retain permission to “publicly perform” or “publicly display” such content. That doesn’t mean Google will take a screenwriter’s work-in-progress and produce a movie from it, the company says. “Our terms of service enable us to give you the services you want - so if you decide to share a document with someone, or open it on a different device, you can,” Google said in a statement.

The hubbub may do some good, possibly prodding more people to read the rules governing Internet services such as Google Drive more carefully before signing up, says Corynne McSherry, an intellectual property lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital-rights group in San Francisco. McSherry says she also hopes the publicity causes more people to ponder other potential pitfalls, such as privacy abuses and security breaches, before deciding to keep their digital content in a storage locker at Google Drive or similar online services.— AP

US bomb-complex search urged over China fears WASHINGTON: A congressional panel has approved a measure designed to search and clear the US nuclear-weapons complex of technology produced by Chinese telecommunications companies that have been accused of working closely with China’s government and military. If passed into law, the measure adopted Thursday could be a fresh blow to Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp in their efforts to overcome national security concerns that have stymied them in the lucrative US market. Huawei and ZTE were singled out by name in the measure, adopted by the Republican-led House of Representatives’ Armed Services Strategic Forces subcommittee, as part of the 2013 defense authorization bill.

The full House Armed Services Committee is to consider the legislation on May 9. It will have to be reconciled with a companion bill expected to be taken up next month by the Armed Services Committee in the Democraticled Senate. The Senate panel is not known to be mulling a similar provision.

It was not immediately clear whether the Obama administration would support the proposed action. The Energy Department will “continue to work with Congress and other federal agencies on this important national security issue,” said a department official who asked not to be named.

The House panel’s measure would order the secretary of energy, in consultation with US counter-intelligence, to report to congressional committees that

oversee defense issues by August 31 on risks to the department’s informationtechnology supply chain. The measure calls for special attention to the department’s bomb-building enterprise and a determination whether the department, or any of its big contractors, has “a supply chain that includes technology produced

by Huawei or ZTE Corp.”

It also calls for procedures to curb supply-chain risks, as recommended last month by the Government Accountability Office, Congress’s investigative and audit arm. The panel cited work by the congressionally created USChina Economic and Security Review Commission that raised concerns about such threats in a report last month.

Huawei is the world’s largest maker of telecommunications equipment after Sweden’s Ericsson. ZTE, a Shenzhen, China-based crosstown rival, is the fifthranking provider.

A document drafted for the House panel maintained that Huawei and ZTE had been, and would likely continue to be, provided “billions of dollars in Chinese government support,” a charge the companies deny. Huawei spokesman William Plummer said the measure’s intent was “unclear”. Virtually all major information-technology venders including Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia Siemens and Cisco Systems Inc rely on common global supply chains and globalized operations, he said by email.This entails significant research and development, software-coding and manufacturing in China.— Reuters

RAYAGADA, India: The dreams of modern India rarely make it to Rayagada. The Indians of these eastern forests forage for sago leaves and wild mango to survive. Barely a third can sign their names. Most live without electricity. Many have joined a Maoist insurgency fighting to overthrow the system. Now, modernity is creeping in. Smart cards, fingerprint scanners and biometric identity software are transforming Rayagada into a laboratory to test a thesis with deep implications for the future of India: Can technology fix a nation?

The target here is the disastrously corrupt Public Distribution System, a $15 billion food subsidy program frozen in a pre-digital world, where bound journals hold falsified records scrawled in handwriting so illegible one reformer lamented “even God could not read it.” In just the initial stages of the pilot program in the state of Orissa, 1,200 km from New Delhi, officials have already saved millions of dollars and appear to be getting food to villagers barely clinging to this side of starvation. The once rare sight of women walking home with sacks of rice on their head on ration days is now routine. The once routine sight of children with bellies distended from hunger is now rare.

The early success has inspired a cascade of new ideas for using technology to seal yet more of the program’s enormous leaks - “an attempt to make the system foolproof,” said Nitin Jawale, the chief administrator of the Rayagada district. Just as the quandary of how to lay telephone lines to remote outposts disappeared with the arrival of cheap cellphones, Indian officials are hoping new technologies some yet to be discovered - will tackle some of the country’s most intractable problems: corruption, collapsing health and education systems, a dearth of opportunity for the poor.

“We see innovation as truly a game-changer, to move from incremental change to radical change,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said last year in announcing plans for a $1 billion venture capital fund to seed revolutionary new technologies. The government is setting up innovation bodies in every state and has approved plans to bring broadband Internet to India’s 250,000 villages. It is also recording retina scans, fingerprints and photographs of all 1.2 billion Indians.

The monumental endeavor to give everyone an identity record and number for the first time worries privacy experts but has sent reformers into a brainstorming frenzy over ideas for using the new database.

“There is great opportunity over the next decade to redesign the nation,” said Sam Pitroda, head of the government’s National Innovation Council.

For a country repeatedly jolted by screaming corruption scandals,

the fraud and theft tainting the Public Distribution System is the ever-present white noise in the background, losing an estimated 58 percent of its subsidized grain, sugar and kerosene to so-called “leakages” - the scams that infest every part of the system. Ration shop workers will claim the month’s shipment never arrived, then sell it on the open market at as much as 10 times the subsidized price. They’ll give confused and poorly educated recipients less than their full entitlement or substitute lower quality grain. Since beneficiaries are registered at specific shops, they are subservient to the shopkeeper.

Even the more honest workers sell off whatever rations are left at the end of the month. Or the grain may be diverted to the markets by the truckload before even reaching the shops. Then, there are ghost ration cards given out under fake names, shadow cards in the hands of people other than the intended beneficiaries, and duplicate cards held by

the hills and whatever part of her 30-kg rice ration she manages to get. Without that, she said, “I would have no food at all.”

The food program has its roots in a rationing system which was created in Bombay by India’s British colonial rulers in 1939 and quickly spread nationwide as a weapon against famine. While it has become a national embarrassment, it is considered irreplaceable for what food it does manage to deliver. As lawmakers debate Right to Food legislation that would expand the program, government officials, under orders from the Supreme Court, have started a series of reform experiments across the country.

Rayagada, where nearly every family qualifies for some sort of food aid, was an ideal location for a pilot project by the government and the UN World Food Program.

Despite the risk of Maoist kidnapping, teams were sent into villages with fingerprint scanners and digital cameras to reregister everyone

with barcodes, to replace tattered, handwritten ration books. At a store in Rayagada, under a creaking fan, a woman named Chandramma in a ragged pink sari and a necklace adorned with safety pins slid her microchip-embedded card into a device and put her thumb on its glass fingerprint scanner. The shopkeeper used a stylus on the touchscreen to register her rice order. She paid 2 rupees a kilogram as two barefoot men dumped rice on a digital scale with a tall display, easily visible to a customer. Periodically, the machine uploads the day’s data to a central server, ensuring that only the honestly distributed grain would be replenished the next month. Chandramma had at first been wary of the technology. “I am an illiterate lady, I didn’t trust whether this would work or not,” she said. But officials patiently explained it, and, more important, she is getting her rice every month.

“At least we now know whoever should be getting (food) is getting

RAYAGADA, India: In this March 20, 2012 photo, a woman living below the poverty line places her finger on a biometric card reader before buying her quota of subsidized rice from a fair price shop in the Public Distribution System in the eastern state of Orissa. — AP families registered at more than one shop. Sometimes, village thugs hold the cards as collateral for loan sharks, or collect the food themselves, distributing aid to the rightful recipients at their whim.

The system is meant to serve 400 million people, yet more than 250 million Indians are undernourished and 43 percent of children under 5 are stunted. The program’s failure is a symptom of the government dysfunction that has disillusioned many who were left out of India’s economic growth and driven some to join the Maoists, branded the country’s top internal security threat. Sukhbasi Mandani, a bonethin widow who guesses she’s about 50, says her life hangs on the 280 rupees ($5.60) she earned last month, the food she forages from

enrolled in the program, record their biometric data and create a database. In Rayagada, the district’s main town, only 13,000 of the 23,000 enrolled families showed up, said Himanshu Bal, a World Food Program official. The others were either shadow cards or fakes. Clerks scouring the photos and fingerprints dropped thousands who tried to enroll twice using names spelled slightly differently.

The 210,000 families across the entire district who previously had been registered - and who had been recorded as taking food every month - fell to 180,000. The $1 million invested in the pilot program saved the government $4 million a year, Bal said. The remaining recipients were given plastic or laminated cards, some with microchips, some

it,” said Orissa Food Secretary Madhu Sudan Padhy. “Without technology, how do we really keep track.”

Other subsidies also need reform, such as those on kerosene, so cheap that many run their motorbikes on it, according to Jawale. Its smell pervades the streets of Rayagada. Nandan Nilekani, the former head of outsourcing giant Infosys, heads the giant identification project as well as a panel tasked with fixing the ration system. He believes the reforms can go further. Once everyone has an ID number, they won’t need ration cards. Their information, stored on secure servers, can be verified by a cell phone hooked up to a retina- or fingerprint-scanner, he said. — AP

Facebook, Yahoo! patent battle heats up SAN FRANCISCO: A legal battle between Yahoo! and Facebook heated up Friday with the floundering Internet pioneer accusing the rising social network star of buying patents just to retaliate in court. The accusation came in a 37page response filed by Yahoo! to a countersuit Facebook filed charging that the Sunnyvale, California-based company is violating the social network’s patents - and not the other way around. “In retaliation for Yahoo!’s good faith allegations of patent infringement, Facebook alleges infringement of 10 patents as counterclaims,” Yahoo! attorney Kevin Smith said in a reply filed in federal court. “Facebook lacks a good faith basis for most, if not all, of its counterclaims, particularly those patents that it purchased from others.”

Along with asking a judge to rule immediately in its favor on all claims in the cases, Yahoo! wants Facebook to be made to pay its legal costs. “We remain perplexed by Yahoo’s erratic actions,” a Facebook spokesman told AFP. “We disagree with these latest claims and we will continue to defend ourselves vigorously.” In March, Yahoo! filed suit against Facebook in US District Court in San Francisco, accusing the social networking giant of infringing on 10

patents. The Yahoo! suit accused Facebook of infringing on patents in areas including advertising, privacy and messaging and contended that Facebook’s growth “has been based in large part on Facebook’s use of Yahoo!’s patented technology.”

Yahoo! asked the court to order Facebook to halt its alleged patent-infringing activities and to assess unspecified damages.Facebook, which is shifting operations to a former Sun Microsystems campus in the northern California city of Menlo Park, denied violating any valid Yahoo! patents. Facebook went on to accuse Yahoo! of infringing on its patented technology in a broad array of products including online venues for news, games, cars, travel and photosharing service Flickr.

The social networking service asked the court to dismiss Yahoo!’s complaint entirely and make the Internet veteran pay damages as well as the social network’s legal costs. In its legal response, Yahoo! argued that Facebook essentially cheated by buying patents to use as legal ammunition in their fight. “Facebook purchased and asserted patents tainted by inequitable conduct,” Smith said in the filing. “Furthermore, Facebook asserted its newly-acquired patents against aspects of

Yahoo!’s products for which there is little to no publicly-available information,” he continued.

“Facebook’s infringement assertions appear to be based on nothing more than conjecture, assumptions, and unsupported inferences about how Yahoo!’s products may possibly operate.”

Yahoo! also added a few more patents to the list of intellectual property it claims Facebook is abusing. The legal brawl is taking place as Facebook prepares to go public on Wall Street with a valuation of up to $100 billion. Facebook recently amended paperwork filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to warn potential investors that Yahoo!’s patent lawsuit could deliver a significant blow to its business.

“This litigation is still in its early stages and the final outcome, including our liability, if any, with respect to these claims, is uncertain,” Facebook said in the updated SEC filing. “If an unfavorable outcome were to occur in this litigation, the impact could be material to our business, financial condition or results of operations.” Patent suits are a frequent occurrence among smartphone and tablet computer makers, and the world’s best known brands are ensnared in a complex web of legal claims, but such suits are relatively rare among social media companies. —AFP

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

Study finds early signs of malaria drug resistance

CALI: A veterinarian examines a monkey in a laboratory at the Center for Scientific Research Caucaseco on the outskirts of Cali, Colombia, during the World Day for the fight against malaria. — AFP

A new glimpse into an ancient human history LOS ANGELES: Analyzing DNA from four ancient skeletons and comparing it with thousands of genetic samples from living humans, a group of Scandinavian scientists reported that agriculture initially spread through Europe because farmers expanded their territory northward, not because the more primitive foragers already living there adopted it on their own.

The genetic profiles of three Neolithic hunter-gatherers and one farmer who lived in the same region of modern-day Sweden about 5,000 years ago were quite different - a fact that could help resolve a decades-old battle among archaeologists over the origins of European agriculture, said study leader Mattias Jakobsson, a population geneticist at Uppsala University in Sweden. The hunter-gatherers, from the island of Gotland, bore a distinct genetic resemblance to people alive today in Europe’s extreme north, said Jakobsson, who reported his findings in Friday’s edition of the journal Science. The farmer, excavated from a large stone burial structure in the mainland parish of Gokhem, about 250 miles away, had DNA more like that of modern people in southern Europe.

“People have known for some time that agriculture spread from the Middle East to Eastern Europe and northward and westward,” Jakobsson said. “But it’s been difficult to determine if people migrated and brought farming with them, or if local hunter-gatherers changed their practices.” The study joins a growing body of work, assembled over the last decade, that aims to settle lingering debates over early human history by examining ancient DNA. One such controversy is how agriculture, which emerged 11,000 years ago in the Middle East, spread through Europe over the course of several thousand years.

It’s a subject that has fascinated archaeologists for decades because the shift to farming fueled “the storing of goods and the beginning of money and all of that stuff,” said population geneticist Joachim Burger of the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, who wasn’t involved in the new study. “It’s the origin of our civilization.” While artifacts like pottery and stone tools make clear that some ancient people were hunter-gatherers and some were farmers, scientists haven’t been able to say with certainty whether the migration of people or the spread of ideas pushed farming practices north.

To figure that out, Jakobsson said, “you really need to get into the genetics of those human remains.” The first wave of studies of ancient genes focused on mitochondrial DNA, the 13 genes that control the energy sources of cells and are passed directly from mother to child.

Jakobsson and his colleagues examined a wider selection of so-called nuclear DNA, the kind inherited from both parents that contains instructions to build and control all aspects of an organism. They were able to read nearly 500 million of the As, Cs, Gs and Ts extracted from the ancient cells.

The scientists took care to confirm that their samples weren’t contaminated by DNA from the people working on the study or other modern sources. After the ancient genomes were assembled, they compared the sequences with those in public databases that document genetic variants in modern populations. What they found was “a clear signal” that the huntergatherers shared more DNA variants with people alive today in Finland than the farmers did, and that the farmer shared more with modern inhabitants of Italy, Greece and other Mediterranean countries than did the huntergatherers.

The apparent kinship with southern Europeans and genetic differences from the hunter-gatherers - suggested to the researchers that the farmer’s people had traveled from afar.

“We think this individual is representative of the farming group that moved northward into Scandinavia,” Jakobsson said. The mitochondrial DNA studies also identified stark differences between hunter-gatherers and farmers, and concluded that migration pushed farming north. “This whole genome approach is much more powerful,” said Colin Renfrew, an archaeologist at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at Cambridge University in England. But he added that scientists would have to examine more nuclear DNA to establish a pattern and prove that the earliest European farmers were migrants. “That’s what’s going to tell us about the population history of Europe,” added John Hawks, an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Wisconsin who was not involved in the study. “It’s direct evidence.” Jakobsson said his team would like to attempt to sequence the entire genomes of the Swedish skeletons to establish exactly how they’re related to modern humans.— MCT

PARIS: Africa’s deadliest malaria parasite has shown resistance in lab tests to one of the most powerful drugs on the market-a warning of possible resistance to follow in patients, scientists said Friday. Researchers in London found resistance to artemether in test tube analysis of blood from 11 of 28 patients who had fallen ill after travelling in countries mainly in sub-Saharan Africawhat they said was a “statistically significant” result. Artemether is one of the most effective drugs in the artemisinin group most commonly used in malaria cocktails known as ACTs. “Resistance in a test tube usually leads to resistance at some stage down the line in patients,” study leader Sanjeev Krishna said of the findings published in BioMed Central publishers’ Malaria Journal.

“The question is how far down the line.” The study did not look at the patients’ actual response to drugs, and “what that might mean in terms of treatment failure, we have yet to assess. We don’t know.” A statement said the resistance was caused by genetic mutations in a parasite transmitted by infected mosquitoes, and meant that “the best weapons against malaria could become obsolete.” The laboratory tests on the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, which causes the deadliest form of malaria and is responsible

for 90 percent of deaths, showed artemether ’s effectiveness reduced by about half in the

infected samples.

“This study confirms our fears of how the parasite is mutating to

CALI: A scientist prepares a blood sample in a laboratory at the Center for Scientific Research Caucaseco in the outskirts of Cali, Colombia. —AFP

develop resistance,” said Krishna, adding the genetic changes “occurred relatively recently”.

“Drug resistance could eventually become a devastating problem in Africa, and not just in east Asia where most of the world is watching for resistance.” SubSaharan Africa is home to 90 percent of people killed by malaria every year.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday it was optimistic drug-resistant malaria that has emerged along Thailand’s borders with Cambodia and Myanmar could be contained within the region.

While global campaigning and wide distributions of mosquito nets have helped curb malaria, it is still regarded as the worst parasitic disease in the world. The WHO says 655,000 people died of malaria in 2010, making it the world’s fifth biggest killer in lowincome countries.

“What we should be doing is to use the drugs we have as effectively as we can, to make sure they are working and to stop using combinations that are not working,” said Krishna. And the focus should be on monitoring and further research. “We must be very alert to the risk of there being increased treatment failures,” the scientist warned. “We need to know more, we need to know it fairly quickly.”— AFP

Drought-resistant Argentine soy raises hopes, concerns South American powerhouse grapples with global warming SANTA FE: Researchers in Argentina have isolated a drought-resistant sunflower gene and spliced it into soy, bolstering hopes for improved yields as the South American agricultural powerhouse grapples with global warming. Raquel Chan’s team identified the HAHB4 gene that makes sunflowers resist dry conditions and implanted it in rockcress flowering plants known as arabidopsis, whose resistance to drought increased considerably. Her team has signed an agreement with Argentine firm Bioceres, which is co-owned by over 230 agricultural producers, to use and exploit the gene. The firm has conducted tests on soy, wheat and corn crops.

Soy is the biggest cash crop in Argentina, a major exporter of byproducts like soybean oil and flour, but the prospect of creating a transgenic soy plant has some experts concerned about the potential for environmental harm. Supporters of the technology say the boost in productivity could mean as much as $10 billion in added profits each year, particularly after a severe drought recently slashed Argentina’s soy output by more than a third. But the environmental advocacy group Greenpeace said the transgenic seeds would promote deforestation and the expansion of soy crops into new regions such as Patagonia, as well as cause a “significant loss” in biodiversity and force thousands of farmers and native people to relocate. And because it is genetically modified, the new soy seed would have little to no prospects of being

sold in markets where such crops are opposed or outlawed, as in Europe.

Transgenic crops are far more widespread in South America, where environmentalists worry they could rush the shift to single-crop farming and denounce the encroachment of soy crops and the increased use of pesticides. With an eye on feeding a world population set to rise from seven billion to 9.5 billion by 2050 and predictions of the worsening impact from climate change, scientists in many parts of the world are working on pinpointing genes that could help crops cope with harsher weather or marginal soils.

In separate projects reported this year, scientists in Australia developed strains of wheat and rice resistant to salt, enabling the crops to be grown in saline soils damaged by excessive irrigation or tsunami waves.

Argentina is the world’s secondbiggest exporter of corn, the largest international supplier of soybean oil and soymeal, and the third biggest for soy seeds. But these crops are located in regions often hit by drought. A lack of rain has hit Argentina hard during the Southern hemisphere summer, which is now coming to an end. The country’s most severe drought in a century saw agricultural output drop some 37 percent in 2008-2009.

Once HAHB4 was artificially inserted in soy, wheat or corn, yields increased between 10 and 100 percent, depending on the crop’s quality and local conditions. “The tougher the environment, the more advantageous the transgenic plant,” said

Chan, who heads the Agrobiotechnology Institute at the National University of the Coast. She said the genetically modified crops also performed better in salty soil and, she suspected, in other arduous conditions.

The seeds do need some water, but only about 500 millimeters per year. The most productive areas receive an average 950 millimeters of rain per year. ‘Revolutionary for agriculture’-Bioceres formed a joint venture named Verdeca with the USbased agricultural technology company Arcadia Biosciences to invest as much as $30 million to further develop the technology. The deal, announced with great fanfare in February by President Cristina Kirchner, promises to increase productivity and profit in Argentina. But the government has not yet licensed the seeds, setting a 2015 target date to do so. Over the next three years, officials will first have to prove that the seeds are at least as nutritious as conventional ones, that they are neither toxic for animals or humans and that they do not have a negative impact on the environment and other crops. “Biotechnology can provide answers, help produce more food, but hunger is solved by political decisions,” said Chan, who studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and lived in Israel during Argentina’s 1976-1983 dictatorship. “The idea is not to reduce the amount of arable land. Rather, (biotech advances) allow producers to have the same return using less land.” Her findings have encouraged farmers, but

Greenpeace coordinator Hernan Giardini warmed that the transgenic seed could “spell the end of native forests in the Gran Chaco.”

Genetically modified soy has also “exponentially increased the use of chemicals causing adverse effects to human health and the environment,” he said. Carlos Manessi, vice president of the center for environmental protection in Santa Fe, said soy crops can influence rural communities, where fewer and fewer people are living. “Why? Because soy crops require very little labor, but also because of the huge amount of chemicals used, which forces people to leave,” he said, pointing to a field once full of clementine trees and now covered with soy. But Rural Society of Santa Fe president Hugo Iturraspe hailed the HAHB4 gene-which boosts both drought resistance and resistance to saline soils-as nothing short of “revolutionary for agriculture.”

The 62-year-old farmer and former polo player, who owns 300 hectares planted with soybeans, hopes to make early purchases of the genetically modified soybeans.

Standing in the middle of a field about 80 kilometers outside Santa Fe, Iturraspe showed soybean plants hit hard by a drought in December and January. “The drought has taken its toll on the size of the beans; they’re smaller, and scrawnier, and overall lead to fewer kilos harvested. But if we use this new development, we would have far bigger beans like before, and that would of course hugely increase the value and our yield,” he said.—AFP

Many older men still get prostate screening NAIROBI: A photo shows two male rhinoceros lock horns playfully while pasturing in the savanah at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. Some 300 kilometers north of Nairobi, Mugie, like other private sanctuaries, struggled for years to secure its rhinos, and eventually it had to transfer them in parks more equipped to protect them from poaching, which is a steadily increasing.— AFP

Smokey Bear becomes next space crew’s mascot STAR CITY: An American astronaut heading to the International Space Station has chosen Smokey Bear as his crew’s mascot. NASA astronaut Joseph Acaba said Wednesday that he hopes Smokey, the mascot of the United States Forest Service, would help raise public awareness about the dangers posed by forest fires. He added that Smokey “makes people aware of human-caused fires and how important the natural environment is.”

Acaba and his Russian crewmates Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin plan to blast off to the space station on May 15 from the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The retirement of the US shuttle fleet has left Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft as the only means to deliver crews to the space outpost. Acaba said the Soyuz spacecraft “has a great history of being reliable.” “Of course, the landing will be a little bit different than we used to on the Shuttle, but I think we are

mentally prepared for that,” Acaba told a news conference at the Star City cosmonaut training center outside Moscow before leaving for Baikonur.

Several private US companies are competing for the right to carry astronauts into orbit.

One of them, Space Exploration Technologies Corp, or SpaceX, is on track to launch the first commercial ship to the International Space Station. The Dragon spacecraft is set to be launched next month atop the company’s Falcon rocket from Cape Canaveral. It will carry nonessential cargo of clothing, food, computers and science equipment to the station.

The capsule is designed to return to Earth with a full load as well, something none of the other visiting cargo ships - from Russia, Europe and Japan - can do. NASA wants to save money by bringing back old equipment that can be refurbished and then launched back up into space.— AP

NEW YORK: Most elderly men still get tested for prostate cancer despite US recommendations not to screen men aged 75 and older, according to a US study. Prostate cancer screening policies have been the topic of much debate in the United States recently, trying to find a balance between potentially harmful interventions for many who develop slow-growing cancer that might never hurt them, against hunting down and treating a cancer that kills 32,000 a year. “I think there is a lot of push from patients to get (the test),” said Edward Messing from the University of Rochester Medical Center, who worked on the study. “Eighty-year-olds don’t think they’re that old anymore, and maybe they’re not. They think they still have a life ahead of them.”

In 2008, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), a federally-funded panel, issued guidelines advising against screening older men for prostate cancer. “In this age group we have no evidence of benefit. We have ample evidence of harm,” said Michael LeFevre, a co-chair of the task force.

Prostate cancer is common in the elderly. LeFevre said some studies have estimated that as many as half of men over age 75 have the cancer - but it’s typically slow-growing, and often doesn’t pose a serious threat compared to other chronic conditions.

In some cases, biopsies and treat-

ment can do more damage to men’s bodies than the cancer itself, he added. So in weighing the risks and benefits, the USPSTF decided that older men are better off without routine screening, and new draft outlines not covered in the study argue against routine screening in all men, regardless of age. To determine whether the 2008 recommendations have had any impact on the number of men who get tested, Messing and his colleagues looked to surveys given before and after the guidelines were released. In 2006, 9,000 older men responded to questions about whether they had been given a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test, which looks for a protein that is elevated in men who have cancer.

Sixty percent of them reported that they had received a PSA test within the last year, according to findings published in the urology journal BJU International. That compared to 63 percent of 12,000 men surveyed in 2008 and 60 percent of 14,800 survey participants in 2010 who said they’d had a PSA test. The findings jibe with those from another study released this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which found no change in the number of older men who reported a recent PSA test between 2005 and 2010 based on other survey data.

The benefits of screening are

thought to be lower in older men because they have a shorter life expectancy. But Messing told Reuters Health that he disagrees with a blanket policy against testing elderly men for prostate cancer. He pointed out that the disease kills older men in greater numbers than younger men, and screening them might catch

those cancers early. In addition, some men in their 70s and 80s can live another 10 to 20 years. Prostate cancer screening decisions should be made based on whether they are likely to live long enough to see the benefits of that screening, rather than solely based on their age, Messing added.— Reuters

COLORADO: Photo shows a bear that wandered into the University of Colorado Boulder dorm complex Williams Village falling from a tree after being tranquilized by Colorado wildlife officials. Colorado University police spokesman Ryan Huff said the bear was likely 1-3 years old and weighed somewhere between 150-200 pounds. — AP

H E A LT H

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

MASSACHUSETTS: (Left) Kathy Deady holds up a tube of Naloxone Hydrochloride, also known as Narcan, in her Quincy, Mass., home. Narcan is a nasal spray used as an antidote for opiate drug overdoses. (Right) An inmate Steve Wohlen displays heroin needle tracks in his arm during an inspection in a state prison, in Bridgewater, Mass. Wohlen was saved from a life-threatening heroin overdose in 2010 by his mother when she applied two quick sprays of Narcan. — AP

Drug-overdose antidote in addicts’ hands WEST BRIDGEWATER: Steve Wohlen lay on his front lawn, blue, unconscious and barely breathing, overdosing on heroin. His mother ran outside, frantically assembling a pen-like canister. Her heart pounding, she dropped to her knees and used the device to deliver two squirts up her son’s nostrils. Within minutes, his eyes opened, color returned to his face, and he sat up - brought back from a potentially lethal overdose by a drug commonly known by its old brand name, Narcan. The drug, widely sold under its generic name, naloxone, counteracts the effects of heroin, OxyContin and other powerful painkillers and has been routinely used by ambulance crews and emergency rooms in the US for decades. But in the past few years, public health officials across the nation have been distributing it free to addicts and their loved ones, as well as to some police and firefighters.

Such giveaways may have saved more than 10,000 lives since the first program was started in 1996 in Chicago, according to a survey by the Harm Reduction Coalition, a national group that works to reduce the consequences of drug use.

Opponents say that making the antidote so easily available is an accommodation to drug use that could make addicts less likely to seek treatment. The objections are not unlike those raised decades ago when addicts were first issued clean needles to curb the spread of AIDS. But Wohlen and his mother see things differently. “I just didn’t want to be that mother standing next to that casket,” Linda Wohlen said.

Supporters of the distribution programs say getting naloxone into drug users’ homes saves lives that might otherwise be lost waiting for an ambulance. “The question has always been: How can we get people treated before they die?

If an overdose of the drug is taken at home, you won’t have enough time to get that patient to the emergency room before respiratory depression leads to death,” said Dr Russell Portenoy, chairman of pain medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York. The problem has become more urgent: Heroin overdose deaths in the US nearly doubled over the last decade, from 1,725 in 1999 to 3,278 in 2009, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During the same period, deadly overdoses from opiate-like drugs, including painkillers, have nearly quadrupled, from 4,030 to 15,597.

Naloxone works by blocking certain drug receptors in the brain. It has no effect on alcohol or cocaine overdoses but can be used against such painkillers as OxyContin, Percocet and Vicodin. Normally available only by prescription, it is issued to people like Linda Wohlen through 50 programs in more than 188 locations around the countr y, including Baltimore, New York and San Francisco, according to the survey, published in February by the CDC. Thousands of people have been trained to use injectable and nasal spray forms of the drug. Other countries are also distributing the drug to the public, including Britain, Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan. Most of the US programs are run by state or local health departments and addiction support groups. “If you’ve ever talked to a parent who watched their kid overdose, you wouldn’t wonder why we are doing this,” said Hilary Jacobs, deputy director of the Bureau of Substance Abuse Services in Massachusetts, where state officials began a distribution program in 2007 that they say has saved about 1,300 lives. The state has spent

about $841,000 issuing free naloxone, each dose costing the Public Health Department $16.

In New Mexico, which has one of the highest drug overdose death rates in the countr y, health officials estimate the statewide naloxone distribution program that began in 2001 has counteracted 3,000 overdoses. In Wilkes County, NC, an Appalachian area with an alarmingly high rate of prescription drug deaths, a nonprofit organization called Project Lazarus has taken a slightly different approach: It persuaded doctors to prescribe naloxone in tandem with painkillers to certain patients. The practice, along with an all-out education campaign, has been credited by the organization with reducing overdose deaths 69 percent between 2009 and 2011.

Fred Wells Brason II, chief executive of Project Lazarus, said he had never heard of naloxone when the group began to develop its overdose prevention plan. “Then I found out it was used in emergency rooms to reverse opiate overdoses,” he recalled. “My first question was, ‘Well, that’s great, but not one person from Wilkes County who overdoses made it that far. They were all found at home dead.’” William Breault, a neighborhood activist in Worcester, Mass., opposed the distribution site set up in his city. “I just feel that the focus and our dollars should be getting people off drugs, into recovery and treatment,” he said. “This policy is one of accommodation to anti-social behavior. Absolutely, it sends a false message that this is the silver bullet, this will take care of you if you overdose.”

Police in Quincy, Mass., began carr ying naloxone in late 2010, courtesy of the state, after grappling with one of the highest nonfatal overdose rates in Massachusetts. Since

then, officers have used it to reverse 69 overdoses. Patrolman Michael Brandolini said he once saved two people in a single day: a man whose mother found him unconscious in his bedroom, and a man lying in a snowbank. “I think it’s fine in the hands of first responders police, fire and paramedics,” Brandolini said.

“Personally, I have reservations about giving it to the addicts themselves. I think it may give them a false sense of security.”

He said he worries addicts will think they can administer naloxone to themselves, when it is almost always given by someone else - a friend or loved one - because the drug user loses consciousness. The Food and Drug Administration, together with the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the CDC, held a workshop earlier this month to gather public opinion on making naloxone more widely available. Among those testifying were advocates for distribution programs, those who believe the antidote should be made available over the counter, and those opposed to its use by anyone but doctors and emergency workers. In Massachusetts, Wohlen said he was angry rather than grateful when he woke up that night two years ago, his high suddenly gone, replaced by withdrawal symptoms that he described as feeling like a terrible case of the flu. Wohlen was out on bail for robbing a fast-food restaurant when he overdosed, and was sent back to prison because of his drug use.

Now serving five to seven years behind bars in Massachusetts, the 28-year-old said in a recent prison interview that he is clean and has signed up for a prison training program to learn the heating and ventilation trade. He said the naloxone that his mother used made it possible: “I might be dead if she hadn’t done it.”— AP

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W H AT ’ S O N

Announcements Frontliners function Frontliners Association, Kuwait is conducting a star-studded “National Integration and Grand Cultural Show’ on May 4, 2012 (Friday) at 6pm at Al-Jeel Jadeed, School, Hawally. The highlight of the function will be the release of “Frontliners Book - series 16” by writer NC Mohandoss. Three eminent persons with illustrious career will grace the occasion of the Book release.

Gopalaswami, Former Chief Election Commissioner will be the Chief Guest. V. Ponraj, Scientist & Advisor to former President Dr Abdul Kalam, is a key public figure whose recent tasks included the preparataion of “Koodankulam Report” and conducting special training session for the MLAs after the Assembly election last year and Vivek, the special guest for the evening - is a ‘Padma Shri’ awardee and a popular Tamil film comedian known to south with a string of awards for his hilarious and stylish performances. For details contacy 99816937, 55483266.

‘Arangetram 2012’ Nandhanam School of Dance, an institute to promote India’s rich culture and values in Kuwait, is conducting its first “Arangetram 2012”, a student’s debut on stage dance performance, at the American International School, Maidan Hawalli Kuwait on Friday, May 4, 2012. The program will start by 05:45 pm and the guests are requested to be seated 15 minutes before the program. For information contact 97895754, 99129611, 67057758.

CBK hosts lecture

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he Commercial Bank of Kuwait hosted a lecture discussing the evolution of the Kuwaiti dialect during a recent visit to the Omama bint Bishr High School for girls. The visit comes as part of CBK’s cultural campaign which has been ongoing since February.

Intensive Free Arabic Course in IPC IPC is opening an intensive Basic Arabic Course for ladies commencing from June 3-July 8, 2012. The class will be from 5 -7 pm and 3 days a week. Registration is on! For information, call: 22512257.

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.

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 & 4- 8pm, 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 Public speaking “Speech Craft” Public Speaking course vy Bright Horizons Toastmasters Club. May 4, 2012 - May 26, 2012 (all-day). Weekly on Friday and Saturday until May 26, 2012 at Better Books & Cafe (Located behind Rashid Hospital, right around the corner from the Titanic building and Sanbouk Supermarket, Salmiya).

Contact: Anil Lobo or Mariam Othman 9928-3020 or 6640-5018.

Kala-Kuwait, Balakalamela-2012 KALA-Kuwait is pleased to announce the registration for the Balakalamela-2012, the art & literary completions for Indian school children, to be held on two consecutive Fridays 27 April 2012 & 4 May 2012 at Carmel School, Khaitan, to provide maximum opportunity for the students to participate. Based on the repeated requests from the community, KALA have included instrument music also in addition to the existing list of items.

Competitions on dance and performing arts are scheduled to 27 April 2012 while Literary & instrument music competitions will be held on 4 May. The registration is free and forms are already distributed to Indian schools in Kuwait as well as available in our website www.kalaonweb.com The filled form may be sent to kalabalakalamela@gmail.com or fax to 24317875. The completions shall be for the 3 categories Sub-Junior, Junior & Seniors and are open to students from Class-I to XII. The prize distribution will be on June 1, the KALA mega event for the year ‘Thathwamasi’ at Central School Auditorium Abbassiya. For further information/ clarification contact 66180229, 66863957, 97817100, 67765810

KVGCE Alumni Kuwait conducts 8th AGM

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he 8th annual general body meeting of KVG College of Engineering Alumni Association Kuwait (KVGCE) was conducted at the Kuwait Continental Hotel, Kuwait City and the new office bearers for 2012-13 were elected. KVGCE is one of the vibrant Engineer’s association recognized in Kuwait, engaged in socio-cultural activities of the society. Engineering graduates from KVG College of Engineering residing in Kuwait gathered at Darbar Hall of Kuwait Continental Hotel on January 20, 2005 for the 1st AGM meet and since then have been active and successful in all endeavors of this alumni association.

The 8th AGM meeting started with a prayer song followed by a welcome speech by Biju Chacko, the Ex-President. George Joseph, the ExGeneral Secretary submitted the annual report for the year 2011. The treasurer Geev K. Mathai submitted the accounts/financial report for the year 2011-12 which was approved by all the members.

Association members offered their best wishes and a memento to member Baiju and his family as they are leaving Kuwait for good.

Ajayraj K. R., the election officer for the year 2012 conducted the election and announced the new executive committee members for the year

KKIC to hold Islamic Conference for Indian Students Kuwait Kerala Islahi Centre (KKIC) will conduct an Islamic Students Conference (ISCON 2012, Kuwait) for Indian teenage students on May 4-5 at the Kuwait Grand Masjid premises. The conference, adopting the phrase ‘Knowledge for Salvation’ as its slogan, is aiming at invigorating the moral conscience of the student community. The core events will include workshops on value based character building, scientific personality assessment and self management techniques. Ashraf Ekarul, Education Secretary to KKIC informed that experienced trainers, academics, Islamic scholars and other dignitaries will attend the two day conference.

Open House for Indian Citizens The Ambassador of India will be holding an Open House for Indian citizens to address their problems/grievances on Wednesdays of the second and the fourth week of every month between 1500 hrs and 1600 hrs at the embassy. In case Wednesday is an Embassy holiday, the meeting will be held on the next working day. To ensure timely action/follow-up by the Embassy, it is requested that, wherever possible, Indian citizens should exhaust the existing channels of interaction/grievance redressal and bring their problems/issues in writing with supporting documents. It may be mentioned that Embassy of India’s Consular Wing is providing daily service of Open House to Indian citizen on all workings days from 1000 hrs to 1100 hrs and from 1430 hrs to 1530 hrs by the consular officer in the Meeting Room of the Consular Hall. For any unaddressed issues, Second Secretary (Consular) could be contacted. Furthermore, the head of the Consular Wing is also available to redress grievances. Similarly, a labor wing Help Desk functions from 0830 hrs to 1300 hrs and 1400 hrs to 1630 hrs in the Labor Hall to address the labor related issue. There is also a 24X7 Help Line (Tel No. 25674163) to assist labors in distress. For any unaddressed issues, the concerned Attaches in the labor section and the head of the labor wing could be contacted.

ples by our own members, followed by relishing and delicious dinner.

2012 - 2013. The entire event was lively and well organized. The main attraction of the evening was a surprise magic show by Baiju Thomas. The evening was memorable and delightful with various interactive games organized for kids and cou-

Imam Malek wins big in Story Writing Competition

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ICSK wins CBSE Kuwait Cluster VolleyBall Championship

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CSK won CBSE Kuwait Cluster VolleyBall Championship. The Indian Community School emerged as champions in the 14th CBSE Kuwait Cluster Volleyball Championship 2012 for Under 19 Boys which was organized at Bayan Grounds on April 15, 16, and 17.

Other than the champions, host school and the last year’s winners United Indian School, Carmel School, India International School and Al-Amal Indian School participated in the championship on a round robin league basis. On the inaugural day itself, ICSK took the top gear by defeating the defending champions United Indian School in a

nail biting match as it went to the fifth set with ICSK clinching 3 against 2 thus making one step closer to the title.

ICSK started the second day by thrashing AlAmal Indian School and scoring a very comfortable win over the Indian International School, Mangaf later on. On the final day, the opponent was Carmel School but ICSK proved to be the best in the Kuwait Cluster by prevailing over them in straight sets, with the scoreline 3-0. Congrats to the champions.

tudents Ali Al-Haddad and Hassan Ashkanani, of Imam Malek Secondary School for Boys, respectively won the first and third places in Mubarak Al-Kabeer Educational Area’s Short Story Writing Competition that recently included competitors from seven other boys’ secondary schools in the area. Along with the activity supervisor, English teacher, Mohammed Ali, the two winners were received by Imam Malek school director, Abdullah Ahmed Al-Jassim who honoured and thanked them for their sincere effort.

Golf Tourney

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merican 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 as a team at americanbusinesscouncil@abckuwait2012 Non-Golfers are welcome to enjoy the day-out at the Sahara club and experience the delicious luncheon at the tournaments prize distribution ceremony.

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W H AT ’ S O N

Embassy Information 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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Box Hill College participates in Reuse 5.0 2012

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s part of their graphic design diploma Box Hill students participated in the Reuse exhibition 2012 by initiating different projects through using trashed materials. They have created lamps out of recycled materials where the only part that students were allowed to purchase was the bulb (energy saving of course!) but all other materials must be scavenged.

As Lisa Winstanley, commented on this occasion: “As a design educator I believe it is important for the Box Hill students to address the impact that a designer’s decisions may have on the environment and how they can poten-

tially contribute to sustainability within their own design practice.

The project gleaned some amazing results with some creations made from sea shells, match boxes and even retro cassette tapes! Our students managed to successfully merge ethical design and practical utility without compromising their creativity. I am proud of what they have achieved and am delighted that they are able to represent the graphic design department at Box Hill College at a fantastic exhibition like Reuse.”

Roma, interior design instructor who was supervising the students’ project declared: “One of the prime objectives of

our Interior Design major students at Box Hill College Kuwait is to keep in mind the lifestyle and environmental preferences, to create the best possible interior. Using the least amount of resources and leaving a minimal carbon footprint we need to accomplish our goal of creating a functional, cost worthy and aesthetically pleasing design solution. We believe that waste can be reduced and consumerism kept low by using non-renewable materials. In our concept materials used are non toxic and usually organic to keep the environment safe and healthy. Restoring and renovating products using innovative design and being creative with recy-

clable content materials helps us move towards a positive and ecologically friendly direction.

We work with energy efficient appliances and include the use of solar power as a resource and try to maintain the balance with the natural environment in our design. Use of durable materials that can facilitate renovation and alteration of style and design encourages a sustainable lifestyle and turns away from all things disposable, low quality and with a short lifespan.” Box Hill College is always keen to participate in such events to help them in developing their study into practical field.

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 INDIA The Embassy of India will remain closed on Sunday, May 6, 2012 on account of ‘Buddha Purnima’.

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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 ■■■■■■■

Caribou Coffee introduces wholesome breakfast

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n line with its commitment to innovation and in appreciation of the ever growing customer confidence, Caribou Coffee is serving now the first wholesome breakfast of its kind in all of its branches in Kuwait. Caribou Coffee, a regional market leader in serving unique coffee beverages and snacks, is now serving a breakfast first of its kind in Kuwait.

The “I a.m. breakfast” menu features a sandwich range of special wholesome and nutritious ingredients as part of its rigid commitment to continuous new product development and ever increasing customer confidence.

The new “I a.m. breakfast” menu features five kinds of sandwiches and croissant, including egg white and turkey, smoked turkey and cheese, cheese omelette and veggie, egg, beef and cheese croissant and turkey and labneh croissant, along with Caribou’s traditional menu and best quality coffee beverages very well known to all Caribou customers in Kuwait.

Out of Caribou’s appreciation to customers’ views and comments before the final launch of its products, Caribou invited a number of university students to try the new breakfast for their valuable feed-

back on the new “I a.m. breakfast” menu.

Students in the course of sharing their views and discussions with Caribou team were very impressed with the new distinct range and variety of Caribou “I a.m. breakfast” menu in meeting various customer tastes and needs. They also expressed their gratitude to Caribou for being interested in their views and feedback on new products launched by the company in the market.

Caribou is committed to continuously provide new and distinct products through its various locations keeping up with the expectations of its customers by

providing an exquisite blend of foods and beverages meeting the latest food trends, all in a cosy and relaxing atmosphere.

In 2005, Al-Sayer Franchising Company successfully opened in the State of Kuwait the first ever Caribou Coffee store outside of the USA, with one goal in mind: provide Caribou Coffee customers with an unprecedented experience. Caribou successes quickly spiralled across GCC, Middle East, Turkey, with plans for more outlets in other locations and new markets in the upcoming years.

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 ■■■■■■■

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 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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IKEA recalls units

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KEA asks customers who have an IKEA 365+ SANDA track 70 and/or 114 from supplier 21338, date stamp 1134 - 1208, to stop using the track immediately and bring it back to any IKEA store to receive a replacement unit or a full refund. The recall is being conducted due to a defective earth connection in the track which could present a risk of electric shock upon contact with the track or connected lamps. IKEA has received no reports of any incidents involving SANDA track. The affected tracks were sold between September 2011 and March 2012. Only IKEA 365+ SANDA track 70 and 114 from supplier 21338, date stamp 1134 - 1208 are affected by this recall. For your safety disconnect the power connection before dismantling the track. IKEA apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause.

KIB organizes dynamic program for retail banking department

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uwait International Bank has recently organized a dynamic program for the employees of Retail Banking Department (RBD), with the attendance and participation of Acting Chief Executive Loay Maqams and N.G.R. Nair Executive Manager of RBD and the department’s employees. The program was designed to reinforce the communication between the employees and review the latest and upcoming plans of the department. On the occasion, and due to the achievement of the desired goal, Loay Maqams announced the approval of the senior management of the bank to give out a special bonus of half a salary to all departments’ employees to recognize and appreciate their successful efforts in accomplish the bank’s strategy.

Maqams said during his introductory speech to the program: “You are

an integral element of the bank’s success and due to your professionalism and hard work, the bank has witnessed substantial growth in recent years and has been achieving its objectives and surpassing our expectations.” Acting CEO added: “I believe many elements contribute to the success of an organization; however the most integral of them all, lies in the exceptional qualities of its people and the cohesiveness of its teams. A team built on values of trust, transparency and responsibility is the one that advances ahead of its competitors and peers. At KIB I am proud to say that the bank’s senior management highly values and appreciate the efforts exerted by its team and is willing to invest in its resources and the development of its staff.”

During the ceremony Regional Manager Amer Najm expressed his

delight for being part of KIB’s family and said: “Working at KIB gives me a sense that I have been part of the team for a long time due the great support I have received from my colleagues. I highly appreciate the team work that always leads to productive and valuable outcomes and the senior management’s focus on the developing and training its staff which has ultimately prepared the bank to face any challenges in the Kuwaiti market.”

Mater Al-Shimari Regional Manager gave a presentation on the history of RBD at the bank adding that the program was organized based on instructions of upper management to the employees of RBD to ensure the readiness of the team in the application of the procedures and quality standards while maintaining a positive banking image.

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.

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

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Contact: 99396335.

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 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 29/4/2012 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 502 BEIRUT 542 CAIRO 166 PARIS 786 JEDDAH 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 18:00 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 KAC QTR FDB ETD IRA KAC KAC GFA IRC KAC FCX MEA KAC 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 29/4/2012 Flt Route 976 GOA 981 WASHINGTON 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 HONG KONG 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 614 SHAHRE-KORD 171 FRANKFURT 256 BEIRUT 126 SHARJAH 534 CAIRO 671 DUBAI 787 JEDDAH 856 DUBAI 212 DEIREZZOR 117 NEW YORK 133 DOHA 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 602 SHIRAZ 741 DAMMAM 773 RIYADH 214 BAHRAIN 6802 AHWAZ 541 CAIRO 204 DUBAI 405 BEIRUT 501 BEIRUT 776 JEDDAH 623 SOHAG 103 LONDON 311 RAS ALKHAIMAH 785 JEDDAH 480 ISTANBUL-SABIHA 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 IMAM 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 12:00 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:

03:42 11:45 15:21 18:24 19:47

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available with Pakistani family in Kheitan, bachelor or couple. Please contact: 99868113. (C 3972) Sharing accommodation for decent bachelor (non smoking) or working ladies.

Location: Amman street, opposite to Al Rashid Hospital, Salmiya, building no: 44 2nd floor, room no: 10. Contact: 66232356, 50223132. (C 3976) 26-4-2012 Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya, single bachelor accommodation, double bedroom flat, rent KD 40/-, from May 1st.

Contact: 99162583 (C 3968) 23-4-2012

FOR SALE PC Desktop Siemens, Core2 Duo, Ram 2GB, HD 160GB, DVD Writer, multi card reader, CPU in small shape, Windows-7 Ultimate, Multimedia, LCD Screen 17”, excellent condition.

Contact: 50505120.

(C 3973) Mitsubishi Colt model 1993, white color, engine & transmission (gear), external (body) all in good condition, insurance till 25th Januar y 2013, price KD 220/-. Contact: 99337034.

(C 3974) 26-4-2012

LOST Policy No: 633002951-7 Mohd Naeem policy no: 633003318-4 Manzar Ali Khan of State Life Insurance has been lost if anybody found please contact: 22452208-9 Mirqab Kwt. (C 3975) 26-4-2012 CHANGE OF NAME Name: Vir Niqel A. Tagongtong has filed with Phil Embassy Kuwait for change of first name from Abel C to Vir Niqel who was born on May 31, 1993 at Al Jahra Kuwait. Any person affected by said publication his/her written opposition w/ Phil Embassy Kuwait not later than May 21, 2012.

(C 3977) 29-4-2012 I, Nazia Begum, D/o Syed Aziz, R/o 18-8-134, Dargah Barhaneh Shah, Santoshnagar, Hyderabad, having passport No. E8384809, have changed my name, henceforth I shall be known and called as “Nazia Syed Aziz”. (C 3969) I, Sajna Kunhi Mohamed, holder of Indian passport No. E2271200 hereby change my name to Ayesha Mohammed hereafter.

(C 3970) 24-4-2012 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

TUITION An experienced M.Sc lady teacher is organizing home private tuition only for class 10 students in Abbassiya.

(C 3978) 28-4-2012 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) 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.

Senior chemistr y and physics teacher. Long experience for 10th, 11th and 12th stages. Intermediate science and applied institutions. Highly competent.

Tel: 99542922.

Mathematics and statistics female teacher for female students in the secondary, intermediate, university and applied institutions female students. Tel: 99410370.

Female Syrian Arabic language teacher for elementary and intermediate, and starting the weak using Halaby method in her house located in Abdallah Al-Mubarak area. Tel: 50513699.

Senior biology and science teacher for 12th, 11th and 10th grades, and science for all intermediate classes, religious institutes, nursing, educational experience, simple explanation for fast

SITUATION WANTED Accountant, MBA Finance has 5 years experience looking for part time job, can prepare your all business accounting reports and financial statements independently.

Call 55829223. (C 3979) 29-4-2012

No: 15433

Hospitals 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 29, 2012

Gas-guzzling SUVs take off in China BEIJING: Fuel-efficient vehicles are the rage in the United States, but in China gas-guzzling SUVs are looming large. Automakers including Ford Motor Co, Chrysler Group, Daimler and Land Rover are seizing on soaring popularity for the vehicles here, tailoring new models for Chinese consumers, and in some cases shifting manufacturing to China.

Chinese drivers purchased about 2.1 million SUVs last year, according to LMC Automotive, a figure that’s expected to double by 2014. That would put China neck-and-neck with the US, the world’s top SUV market, despite steep import duties and luxury taxes that can drive prices for some models well above $100,000. “The luxury buyers cannot get enough,” said Michael Dunne, the Indonesia-based head of auto consulting firm Dunne & Co. “It’s ironic.

Ten years ago, no one wanted to touch an SUV in China. They were considered construction or farming vehicles. They were associated with labor or hard work.”

No more. High-end SUVs have emerged as the stars of this week’s Beijing auto show, dazzling crowds with their massive engines, spacious cockpits and frills such as heated leather seats, virtual assistants and retina displays. Maserati showed off the crossover Kubang, the Italian brand’s first SUV. Scheduled to begin production in 2013, the vehicle is expected to retail for more than $100,000.

Lamborghini showcased a concept car called the Urus, its first stab at a sport utility vehicle in nearly

two decades. The Italian automaker has no firm production plans for the car, much less a suggested sticker price. But that hasn’t stopped some Chinese buyers from trying to purchase one.

“People are calling me already to ask when they can get it and if they can put a deposit down,” said Wilson Ho, who sells Lamborghinis and Bugattis in central Beijing. Wealthy Chinese covet SUVs for the status that their size and luxury convey. Some are also looking for safety in a nation where deadly auto accidents are soaring. “The view of the road is better in an SUV and it’s more comfortable to drive,” said Beijing motorist Deng Nan, 28. A manager at a logistics company, he recently paid about $65,000 for a gray Land Rover Freelander.

Consumers’ infatuation with super-sized vehicles comes despite obvious drawbacks. China’s biggest cities are notoriously congested, and many streets and parking spaces are impossibly narrow. Gasoline costs $4.43 a gallon. China’s one-child policy means that families are small and have less need for rolling cargo haulers. Air quality in the nation’s mega cities is putrid. “It’s hard to think of a more regressive type of vehicle in a dense urban setting than a SUV,” said Karl Fjellstrom, a regional director for the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, based in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. “They take up more space in parking and when moving demand a wider berth from other road users, consume more fuel and emit more pollution.”

The world’s largest automobile market, with 18 million vehicles sold last year, China has pledged billions of dollars to research development of cleaner cars and trucks. But the fruits of those efforts are still years away. Meanwhile, SUVs, with their spacious interiors and muscular frames, have overtaken most other vehicle segments in sales growth. Sales grew 18 percent to 441,600 units in the first quarter compared with the first three months of 2011, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, even as total vehicle sales declined 3.4 percent over the same period because of the nation’s sluggish economy.

“This is the only segment with double-digit growth,” said Namrita Chow, a Shanghai-based analyst at IHS Automotive. She said SUVs have significantly higher profit margins than sedans, giving manufacturers every incentive to push the segment here at a time when global sales remain slow.

“Everyone wants growth, and that’s why they’re in China, and everyone wants volume sales, so that’s why they’re targeting SUVs,” Chow said. Porsche has been aggressively marketing its Cayenne luxury SUV in China while opening dealerships on a nearly monthly basis. The German carmaker sold 13,283 of the vehicles last year in China, more than anywhere else in the world; the fanciest Cayennes fetch more than $300,000.

China’s SUV market started gaining traction

about five years ago when Japanese automakers began marketing compact SUVs such as Toyota’s RAV4 and Honda’s CR-V. That whetted consumers’ appetites for bigger and more expensive models such as the BMW X5 and Audi Q5. The vehicles resonated with car buyers in their 30s who shunned the stodgy black sedans favored by older businesspeople and government officials. To sate demand more quickly, foreign automakers are looking to build more of their SUVs in China with their government-mandated local joint venture partners.

Mercedes-Benz now manufactures its compact GLK sport utility vehicle in Beijing. Last month, BMW announced it would make the X1 with its Chinese partner in the northeastern city of Shenyang.

At the Beijing show, Auto China, which kicked off Monday under a dreary polluted haze, crowds flocked to see Chrysler’s Jeep Wrangler Dragon concept vehicle - a menacing-looking black-andgold SUV with the mythical Chinese creature airbrushed along its body. Ford, which is playing catch-up to other foreign automakers in China, continued its aggressive expansion by introducing four SUVs to its lineup here: the Edge, Explorer, EcoSport and Kuga. The latter two compact SUVs will be built in China. “With the fastest expanding market that we have here in China, to be present with really attractive SUV models is absolutely crucial,” said Martin Smith, Ford’s executive director of design. — MCT

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 Untamed & Uncut 01:40 Into The Dragon’s Lair 02:35 Baboons With Bill Bailey 03:00 Baboons With Bill Bailey 03:30 Into The Lion’s Den 04:25 Great Ocean Adventures 05:20 Escape To Chimp Eden 05:45 Safari Sisters 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 Mutant Planet 13:45 Mutant Planet 14:40 Wildlife SOS 15:35 Must Love Cats 16:30 Safari Sisters 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 Wildest Arctic 22:55 Bite Of The Living Dead 23:50 Animal Cops Philadelphia

00:15 00:45 01:35 02:20 03:15 04:00 04:45 05:30 06:15 07:00 07:20 13:05 13:30 14:20 15:10 16:00 16:25 16:50 17:40 18:30 19:20 20:10 21:00 21:50 22:40 23:30

Diy SOS Holmes On Homes Holmes On Homes What Not To Wear Coleen’s Real Women Bargain Hunt Bargain Hunt Bargain Hunt Bargain Hunt Cash In The Attic USA 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

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

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 Talking Movies 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 Talking Movies BBC World News World Features

11:30 12:00 12:10 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

Dateline London BBC World News My Country BBC World News World Features Africa Business Report BBC World News Newsnight BBC World News World Features Tim Marlow On...

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 Tim Marlow On...

Sports World Have Your Say Sports World Have Your Say BBC World News Talking Movies BBC World News World Features Horizons

00:00 Open Court 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 The CNN Freedom Project 06:30 Inside Africa 07:00 World Sport 07:30 Road To Rio: A Green City Journey 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 I Report For CNN 10:00 World Sport 10:30 Aiming For Gold 11:00 African Voices 11:30 The Brief 12:00 World Report 12:30 World’s Untold Stories 13:00 CNN Presents 14:00 World Report 14:30 Leading Women 14:45 Future Cities 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 Open Court 20:00 International Desk 20:30 African Voices 21:00 International Desk 21:30 Road To Rio: A Green City Journey 22:00 Fareed Zakaria Gps 23:00 World Report 23:30 World’s Untold Stories

00:40 First Week In 01:35 Kidnap And Rescue 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 10:05 11:50 12:20 14:10 14:35 15:05 16:25 16:55 18:45 19:10 20:05 21:00 21:55 22:50 23:20 23:45

X-Machines How It’s Made How It’s Made Border Security Border Security Auction Kings Auction Hunters Auction Hunters How Stuff’s Made How Stuff’s Made Sweetie Pies Dynamo: Magician Impossible Mythbusters Nasa: UFO Or No? I Escaped: Real Prison Breaks I Escaped: Real Prison Breaks I Escaped: Real Prison Breaks

00:35 Bad Universe 01:25 The Tech Show 01:50 Tech Toys 360 05:45 Tech Toys 360 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 Tech Toys 360 11:00 Tech Toys 360 11:25 Tech Toys 360 11:50 Cool Stuff & How It Works 14:20 Cool Stuff & How It Works 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 Large Dangerous Rocket Ships 2011 19:30 Punkin Chunkin 2010 20:20 Mega Builders 21:10 Futurecar 22:00 Large Dangerous Rocket Ships 2011 22:50 Punkin Chunkin 2010 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 09:35 10:00 10:25 10:50 11:15 12:45 12:55 13:20 13:45 14:10 14:35 14:45 16:15 16:40 17:05 17:30 19:10

LEGION ON OSN ACTION HD

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 Austin & Ally Jessie Shake It Up Austin & Ally Austin & Ally Austin & Ally Frenemies Phineas And Ferb Good Luck Charlie Austin & Ally Austin & Ally Austin & Ally Phineas And Ferb Frenemies So Random So Random So Random Cadet Kelly So Random

19:35 20:00 20:25 20:50 21:15 22:40 22:55 23:06 23:20 Cody 23:45

Wizards Of Waverly Place Jessie Austin & Ally Austin & Ally Frenemies Phineas And Ferb Fish Hooks Fish Hooks The Suite Life Of Zack And 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 Lemonade Mouth 14:50 Mr. Young 17:10 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 E!es 02:20 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 Style Star 14:05 Keeping Up With Kardashians 15:00 Kourtney & Kim Take York 15:55 Kourtney & Kim Take York 16:55 Behind The Scenes 17:25 Behind The Scenes 17:55 E! News 18:55 Scouted 19:55 Kendra 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 Kardashians

00:15 00:40 01:05 01:30 02:20 03:10 03:35 04:00 04:50 05:40 06:30 2009 07:00 2009 07:30 2009 08:00 08:25 08:50 09:15 09:40 10:30 11:20 12:10 13:00 13:50 14:15 14:40 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

The New New

The

Wrestling With Reality Wrestling With Reality Wrestling With Reality M1 Selection 2010 Cowboy U Cowboy U Cowboy U Carpocalypse Eddie’s Day Simpel Session 2011 Ride Guide Mountainbike Ride Guide Mountainbike Ride Guide Mountainbike Best Of The Streets Best Of The Streets Best Of The Streets Parcour Winter Dew Tour 09/10 Winter Dew Tour 09/10 Alli Best Trick Competition Eurodip I’ll Do Anything Dragrace High Dragrace High Final Fu Final Fu Man’s Work Man’s Work Dragrace High Dragrace High Alli Best Trick Competition Eurodip I’ll Do Anything Gotta Grudge Gotta Grudge Dragrace High Dragrace High Man’s Work Man’s Work Wrestling With Reality

00:05 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 00:30 Kid In A Candy Store 00:55 Iron Chef America 01:45 Food Network Challenge 02:35 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 Staten Island Cakes 06:35 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics

07:00 Staten Island Cakes 07:50 World Cafe Asia 08:15 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 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 Staten Island Cakes 12:50 Aarti Party 13:15 Cooking For Real 13:40 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 14:05 Dessert First With Anne Thornton 14:30 Have Cake, Will Travel 14:55 Paula’s Best Dishes 15:20 Meat & Potatoes 15:45 Iron Chef America 16:35 Cooking For Real 17:00 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 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 Have Cake, Will Travel 19:30 Staten Island Cakes 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

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

01:25 Knightriders-18 03:25 Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia 05:15 Angel Of Desire-18 06:50 The Believers-PG 08:44 Hercules-PG 10:24 Electra Glide In Blue-PG 12:15 Danielle Steel’s Remembrance-PG 13:45 Hornet’s Nest-PG 15:34 Dust Factory-PG 17:14 Mgm’s Big Screen-FAM 17:29 Mannequin-PG 19:00 Radio Days-PG 20:30 Countdown To Chaos-PG 22:00 The Manhattan Project 23:50 Flesh And Blood-18

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

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

Solo The Best Job In The World Madventures Departures Nomads Extreme Expeditions Don’t Tell My Mother Solo The Best Job In The World Madventures Departures Nomads Extreme Expeditions Don’t Tell My Mother Solo Meet The Natives Food School One Man & His Campervan Bondi Rescue Extreme Tourist Afghanistan

Solo The Best Job In The World Madventures Departures Nomads Extreme Expeditions Don’t Tell My Mother Solo The Best Job In The World Madventures Departures Nomads Extreme Expeditions Don’t Tell My Mother Solo Meet The Natives Food School One Man & His Campervan Bondi Rescue Extreme Tourist Afghanistan Danger Men Pressure Cook

By Any Means Meet The Natives Food School One Man & His Campervan Bondi Rescue Extreme Tourist Afghanistan Danger Men Pressure Cook

TRIAGE ON OSN CINEMA

00:00 The Running Man-18 02:00 Legion-18 04:00 The Reunion-PG15 06:00 Rocky IV-PG15 08:00 Jesse Stone: Innocents LostPG15 10:00 Largo Winch 2-PG15 12:00 Warriors Of Heaven And Earth-PG15 14:00 Jesse Stone: Innocents LostPG15 16:00 Time Machine: Rise Of The Morlocks-PG15 18:00 Warriors Of Heaven And Earth-PG15 20:00 The Eagle-PG15 22:00 Jason X-18

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 14:45 16:45 18:45 21:00 23:00 PG15

Triage-18 Brotherhood-PG15 Mars Needs Moms-PG Oceans-PG15 My Dog Tulip-PG15 Mars Needs Moms-PG Yogi Bear-FAM My Dog Tulip-PG15 A Trace Of Danger-PG15 The Way Back-PG15 Dinner For Schmucks-PG15 It’s Kind Of A Funny Story-

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 King Of The Hill 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 06:00 Weird Science 08:00 King Of The Hill 08:30 Parks And Recreation 09:30 The Office 10:00 Man Up! 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Weird Science 12:30 King Of The Hill 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 23:30 Whitney

00:00 01:00 03:00 04:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 12:00 13:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 21:00 23:00

Criminal Minds Sons Of Anarchy Warehouse 13 Boardwalk Empire Live Good Morning America Switched At Birth Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Martha Stewart Show Criminal Minds Warehouse 13 Live Good Morning America Switched At Birth The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Coronation Street Missing Boardwalk Empire

00:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 10:00 11:00 12:00

Parenthood Criminal Minds Sons Of Anarchy Warehouse 13 Burn Notice Parenthood Emmerdale Coronation Street Surface Criminal Minds Warehouse 13 Emmerdale

12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Surface Parenthood Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Surface Body Of Proof Missing The Tudors

01:00 Talento De Barrio-PG15 03:00 The Reunion-PG15 05:00 Paranormal Activity: Tokyo Night-PG15 07:00 Long Weekend-PG15 09:00 True Justice: BrotherhoodPG15 11:00 The Bannen Way-PG15 12:45 In The Line Of Fire-PG15 15:00 True Justice: BrotherhoodPG15 16:45 Alive-PG15 19:00 Kalifornia-18 21:00 Assassination Tango-18 23:00 The Rig-18

00:00 02:00 03:45 PG15 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Whatever Works-PG15 Spud-PG15 The Fighting Temptations-

01:00 03:00 05:00 06:45 09:00 11:00 13:15 14:45 16:45 19:00 21:00 23:00

The Burning Plain-18 American History X-18 The Headless Woman-PG15 The Remains Of The Day-PG15 Paws-PG Mammoth-PG15 MacHEADS-PG15 9-PG Remember Me-PG15 Guilty As Sin-PG15 Me And Orson Welles-PG Confidences Trop Intimes-18

Tom And Huck-PG15 How To Train Your Dragon-PG A Lot Like Love-PG15 Leap Year-PG15 Flubber-PG Whatever Works-PG15 The Dukes-PG15 Threesome-18 Tucker Max-R

01:00 Moulin Rouge!-PG15 03:15 Lottery Ticket-PG15 05:00 Get Low-PG15 06:45 The Lovely Bones-PG15 09:00 Despicable Me-FAM 11:00 Glitter-PG15 13:00 Don’t Fade Away-PG15 15:00 Everybody Wants To Be Italian-PG15 17:00 Despicable Me-FAM 19:00 Call Of The Wild-PG15 21:00 Just Go With It-PG15 23:00 Jackass 3-R

00:00 Happiness Is A Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown-PG 01:45 Mia And The Migoo-PG 04:00 Adventures Of A Teenage Dragonslayer-PG 06:00 Emilie Jolie-PG15 08:00 Supertramps-FAM 10:00 Winnie The Pooh-FAM 12:00 Free Birds-FAM 14:00 Adventures Of A Teenage Dragonslayer-PG 16:00 Gladiators: The Conspiracy-PG 18:00 Winnie The Pooh-FAM 20:00 Snow Dogs-PG 22:00 Free Birds-FAM

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 07:00 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 13:00 Live ABC 20/20 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

00:00 Don’t Look Up-18 02:00 Senna-PG15 04:00 Chronicles Of Narnia: Voyage Of The Dawn Treader-PG 06:15 Quest For Zhu-PG 07:45 The Great Debaters-PG15 10:00 Flash Of Genius-PG15 12:00 Senna-PG15 14:00 The Great Debaters-PG15 16:15 Flash Of Genius-PG15 18:15 The Fourth Kind-PG15 20:00 Call Of The Wild-PG15 22:00 The Men Who Stare At Goats18

01:00 07:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 16:00 16:30 20:00 21:00

Super Rugby Trans World Sport Live Super Rugby Super Rugby Live Snooker Volvo Ocean Race Highlights Live Snooker Trans World Sport Live Snooker

01:00 01:30 03:30 05:30 06:00 07:00 09:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Volvo Ocean Race Highlights NRL Premiership European Challenge Cup Futbol Mundial Trans World Sport Live NRL Premiership Live AFL Premiership Super Rugby Live European Challenge Cup Scottish Premier League Super Rugby NRL Premiership

01:30 02:30 05:30 06:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:30 17:30 22:00

Trans World Sport Snooker Volvo Ocean Race Highlights Live European PGA Tour Super Rugby NRL Premiership AFL Premiership Trans World Sport European PGA Tour European Challenge Cup

00:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:30 14:30 15:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 22:00 23:00

WWE SmackDown WWE Bottom Line WWE Vintage Collection UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC Unleashed WWE Bottom Line Live NRL Premiership WWE Vintage Collection WWE Experience WWE This Week V8 Supercars Highlights V8 Supercars Highlights Mobil 1 The Grid WWE SmackDown WWE Experience WWE Bottom Line Prizefighter UFC The Ultimate Fighter WWE SmackDown

35

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

stars CROSSWORD 661

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) Good communication is the goal today. Do not be afraid to ask questions or share requests. Many people express themselves in vague ways but you are good at bringing out the facts in most positive ways. You feel a love of order and law—an appreciation for responsibilities and duty. Inconsistency may be the issue with one particular person today but with patience you will help that person to follow your lead on some project or task. You are good at fine-tuning and updating professional techniques. Your personal life is moving in the direction of improvement and becoming updated. This may mean you take steps to update your tools or your presentation. You also do a good job to secure your financial situation.

Optimism is a positive.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) There is a need to communicate and enjoy a change of ideas this morning. This is also a good time to reorganize. New ideas and an independent or pioneering mental orientation take on more importance in your life. Teaching, learning, communicating and social contacts have a way of outlining new directions for you. There is much activity and involvement with these kinds of issues. You may be able to face some personal challenges this afternoon. Something you did not think you could do is achieved easily now—did you write down the process? Perhaps you are a runner and you finally ran the four minute mile! Give yourself credit for your hard work and enjoy the evening—perhaps some form of music or other type of entertainment.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. (computer science) A computer that is running software that allows users to leave messages and access information of general interest.

4. Plaything consisting of a toy gun that makes a popping sound.

10. The syllable naming the fifth (dominant) note of any musical scale in solmization.

13. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

14. (Greek mythology) One of the three Gorgons.

15. Any of various primates with short tails or no tail at all.

16. The bill in a restaurant.

17. A republic in southern Europe on the Italian Peninsula.

18. God of the earth.

19. Title for the former hereditary monarch of Iran.

21. A soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal.

22. Of superior grade.

24. A very light brown.

26. An African river that flows northwest into Lake Chad.

29. Goddess of love and fecundity.

33. A state in southeastern India on the Bay of Bengal (south of Andhra Pradesh).

36. A collection of objects laid on top of each other.

37. A reptile genus of Iguanidae.

38. Weight to be borne or conveyed.

40. The elementary stages of any subject (usually plural).

41. A three-tone Chadic language.

43. A defensive missile designed to shoot down incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles.

46. Type genus of the Gavidae.

48. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

51. A member of a Turkic people of Uzbekistan and neighboring areas.

56. Of or relating to or characteristic of Thailand of its people.

57. A city in southern Turkey on the Seyhan River.

61. A small cake leavened with yeast.

62. A benevolent aspect of Devi.

63. United States writer of poems and plays about racial conflict (born in 1934).

65. Preserve of crushed fruit.

66. The state of matter distinguished from the solid and liquid states by.

67. A port city in southwestern Iran.

68. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

DOWN 1. Informal or slang terms for mentally irregular.

2. Pompous or pretentious talk or writing.

3. A island in the Netherlands Antilles that is the top of an extinct volcano.

4. A unit of pressure.

5. Essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers.

6. The twelfth month of the Hindu calendar.

7. A colloid in a more solid form than a sol.

8. An agency of the United Nations responsible for programs to aid education and the health of children and mothers in developing countries.

9. The Hebrew patriarch who saved himself and his family and the animals by building an ark in which they survived 40 days and 40 nights of rain.

10. British writer of short stories (1870-1916).

11. An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the sale of petroleum.

12. (Greek mythology) The goddess of youth and spring.

20. A German man.

23. An endorsement.

25. An independent agency of the United States government responsible for collecting and coordinating intelligence and counterintelligence activities abroad in the national interest.

27. The emotion of hate.

28. The sixth month of the civil year.

30. Not only so, but.

31. A sharp hand gesture (resembling a blow).

32. A drug combination found in some over-the-counter headache remedies (Aspirin and Phenacetin and Caffeine).

34. Speaking a Slavic language.

35. A Tibetan or Mongolian priest of Lamaism.

39. A religious belief of African origin involving witchcraft and sorcery.

42. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

44. The 19th letter of the Greek alphabet.

45. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

47. Jordan's port.

48. Any of various dark heavy viscid substances obtained as a residue.

49. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

50. Small terrestrial lizard of warm regions of the Old World.

52. The battle in 202 BC in which Scipio decisively defeated Hannibal at the end of the second Punic War. 53. Slanting diagonally across the grain of a fabric.

54. The basic unit of money in Bangladesh.

55. A Hindu prince or king in India.

58. A light touch or stroke.

59. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

60. A coenzyme derived from the B vitamin nicotinic acid.

64. An associate degree in nursing.

Yesterday’s Solution

Gemini (May 21-June 20) You are encouraged by competition today. You may be besting others in the heat of competition and taking on a leadership role that means more to you now than in the past. You could find that you are appreciated or valued for your feelings or your ability to act and get things done—perhaps you are organizing a group. Be sensible regarding credit use on this day—you could be tempted to be extravagant. You make your way by using practical vision and common sense. Your artistic sensibilities are heightened this afternoon. Make plans to enjoy a special entertainment or begin work on a creative endeavor. Tonight should bring some fun times. Your social graces will be needed today. You will be making new friendships. Romance is happily accented.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) There is a need for change, a desire to break with outmoded patterns from the past . . . a longing for the new, the different, the unique. This yearning could be focused in, perhaps, some political involvement. You are wise to increase your association with others who share your ideals. In relating your goals to others, you will be feeling better and better about your own future.

Allowing yourself patience enough to go through the stumbling blocks and the lessons—you will set up opportunities for future growth—stay focused. The stumbling blocks you or a loved one finds now will prepare, teach and help the both of you to accomplish your dreams. By carefully balancing your activities, you will find the difficulties of your chosen path will ease.

NON SEQUITUR

Leo (July 23-August 22) Work is demanding and may find you working late into the evening this Saturday. This could create some misunderstandings on the home front so do not hesitate to call home and advise others of your whereabouts, especially if it begins to get late. Fresh challenges light your fires now, as a new cycle begins in your life. There is lots of drive and enthusiasm to achieve. To keep a balance in your life, plan some creative venture—especially with family. You can encourage yourself and others to become expressive, or to relieve stress through art. You are inspired by the magic of life and enjoy being part of the magic. Teaching others your art will teach you as well—about life. You may be able to enjoy your place in life today.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Steer away from romantic arguments before and after leaving or upon returning to your residence today—the negative will pass.

Circumstances may conspire to limit and hinder your sense of independence and originality. This will pass but perhaps not as quickly as you would like. When you come out the other side of this type of energy, note the lessons learned and the changes that were created. You may spend a great deal of time communicating with co-workers away from the workplace—perhaps a party or sports contest. There is a good feeling when people work in cooperation with each other and today you may celebrate the successful completion of some long-term project—take no solo bows. Enjoy dinner outside this evening.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

This is a great time to be with others in a cooperative venture.

Family members may search you out for a particular job. Put your mind to work and take care of any details that will make the day flow easily. Problems and obstacles that have previously been confounding should find easy explanations under your keen examination. This afternoon you can expect a little boost, some sort of extra support or recognition from those around you. You may feel that you are in harmony with others; the lines of communication are open. The support you need is available. Be firm but patient when responding to an elderly person this evening. Any pessimism comes from fear. Your phone rings a lot this evening—enjoy good conversations with old friends.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) You will set up success for yourself by making plans now for next week’s conferences, speeches, interviews. Building successful communication skills will bring many benefits from the professional world. At home you will find a new direction, or new possibilities come to your attention. Perhaps this means travel, education, technical guidance or romance. You are just plain witty today and the ideas roll off your tongue. This is a real time for communication—by phone, by letter or in person. A community organization would benefit from having you on their team. With your outgoing personality, it will be a cinch to make a positive difference in a charity drive. Be sensible this evening, regarding credit use—you may be tempted to extravagance.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Quick answers, great wit and a surplus of insights and solutions are at the ready. This would be a good time to write and communicate with real originality. Inventions and breakthroughs are possible. This is a successful and busy day at home; much is accomplished. You can be easily influenced by your surroundings or other people’s attitudes. Practice using your powerful intuition to help you make the right move at the right time. This evening there will be some time to think and study—you have a real appreciation for ideas and thoughts. You may find yourself enjoying a long conversation, writing a letter, or making a special phone call.

There is a chance to understand those around you and to have a special time with someone you love.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) You have an inborn ability to see the sunny side of life. Although your concentration is not up to par today, you manage to make this a fairly successful day—whether you are working or not. You may want to break the routine of the day and try something new or different for a time. You may discover insights into day-to-day problems that will be of great value. Tonight your feelings are more inward and you may feel more like sharing some time with only your loved ones. Perhaps this is not a time to present yourself to the world. You are feeling reflective rather than expressive just now. Close relationships take on more emotional depth, power and importance. Compliment your family for their part in helping with a budget or budget plans.

To

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Your attitude toward decision-making rules has been and will be going through some transformations. Today you could be tested by the negative attitude of an authority figure. Perhaps this person is in a stressful place and hoping that you will help them out of the mess. You may want to delegate your regular job to others for some time to help this person; give this plenty of forethought. Every action carefully planned will be successful for all. Be confident in expressing your viewpoints. Good news about a legal matter may boost your confidence. This evening may be the best time to enjoy an unexpected get-together with friends. You will see a change for the positive between you and a loved one soon.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

There are keys and techniques to solving problems. Rummage through some of the self-help books in the library; finding tools that will help you to help others—or to help you make any changes that are helpful to you—is a plus. Lately, you may have felt you were working in an unpleasant environment but there are wonderful, clever ways to change that situation. Working in an environment that is unpleasant can leave you feeling drained by the weekend and after you read a few ideas on changes that can be made and words that can be said, you are feeling enthusiastic. This afternoon you and a friend may decide to join in some outdoor games. This could be tennis, golf or a game of basketball. Good for you—positive results are forecasted!

36

SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

Scarlett Johansson

Snooki’s

appreciates her curvy figure

castmates can’t wait to welcome new baby

he ‘Avengers Assemble’ actress - who plays spy Black Widow the superhero movie - finds her own beauty “boring” and she tries not to think about it. When asked how she feels about her looks, the blonde beauty - who has been dating advertising creative director Nate Taylor for six months - said: “I think that’s just a by-product of being curvy. I never think about it, except when I get constant questions in interviews about it. I really have nothing to say about any of that stuff because it’s so boring.” Scarlett had to wear a skin-tight catsuit to portray Black Widow role in the Marvel film - in which she stars alongside Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans - but she preferred to explore her character’s “dark past”. She added to the Daily Mirror newspaper: “A lot of the time these superheroine characters are relying on their looks and being posy and attractive as opposed to being a badass. Those characters are so silly and I don’t have anything to contribute to that. But my character, Black Widow, has this dark past, so why not celebrate that?” She added, “When I met with Marvel they agreed that there’s not really been a good female superhero movie and they wanted to get away from that overly hot superheroine thing.”

T

Robert Redford says Hollywood wasn’t ‘risky’ enough for him

Tom Cruise’s daughter moves to tough LA area he 19 year old has left the actor’s £17.5million seven-bedroom mansion in Beverly Hills to the Los Angeles wholesale district, dubbed ‘Skid Row’, to be with musician Eddie Frencher. In the past six months there have reportedly been dozens of assaults, robberies and two rapes in an area close to where they are living.

However, Isabelle - who, along with her 17year-old brother, Connor, was adopted by Tom with his ex-wife Nicole Kidman - is set on living with Eddie and they are even said to be considering marriage. A source said earlier this year: “Eddie and Bella have been dating for some time but have deliberately

T

kept their romance under wraps. The couple decided to go public at Connor’s birthday party recently because Eddie and Bella have discussed marriage. “They won’t be getting married anytime soon but they are getting pretty serious very quickly.” ‘Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol’ star Tom - who is now married to Katie Holmes, 33, with whom he has another daughter, Suri - is said to have taken to Eddie, who is also a Scientologist like himself. The source added: “Tom and Nicole think Eddie is a great kid, and couldn’t be happier. The fact that he is a Scientologist is obviously a boon, too they’ll be Scientology royalty.”

Gwyneth Paltrow approached to star in musical he Oscar winner is wanted to play Sylvia Llewelyn Davies whose four sons befriended author J.M. Barrie and inspired him to write ‘Peter Pan’ - in ‘Finding Neverland’, which is based on the 2004 film of the same name.

According to the Daily Mail newspaper, the production is due to open in Leicester, England, in September before moving to London’s West End in 2013. If Gwyneth agrees to tread the boards then she will appear opposite actor Julian Ovenden. In the movie version Johnny Depp portrayed the writer and Kate Winslet played Sylvia. Although Gwyneth has never appeared in a musical before she has been showcasing her singing talents in recent months. The 39-year-old actress performed several songs in her recurring guest role as supply teacher Holly Holiday in ‘Glee’, and she showcased her voice in movie ‘Country Strong’, in which she played a troubled country singer.

T

T

he ‘Horse Whisperer’ star admits the majority of his big blockbusters were “fun”, but they “didn’t totally satisfy” his acting needs, which is why he set up the annual Sundance Film Festival in the US to showcase new low-budget projects from independent filmmakers. He told BANG Showbiz: “You could say I’ve been fortunate enough to work both sides of the aisle, starting early on in my career working in large Hollywood films. Most of which were fun and great. “But it didn’t totally satisfy what need I had, which was something more risky, more low budget, which is why I started Sundance, to include those people that may be shut out by the mainstream thinking. That would increase the respect for film.

That’s how it all began.”

The 75-year-old actor believes there is a “hunger ” for low-budget movies and he thought his home nation was the ideal location to establish such an event because of its “independence and diversity”. Speaking at the Sundance London Film & Music Festival at London’s The O2 on Thursday, he added: “My country is known for its diversity, and independence and diversity would come together.

This diversity was not available in the mainstream. That’s entertainment, but not at the expense of the more humanistic side of cinema. That’s where we are. It’s basically enlarging, it’s not to deny those films because they’re satisfying on a worldwide basis, I just feel that there’s a hunger for these kind of films, and that’s what we represent.”

Harry Styles calls Angelina Jolie

‘ultimate cougar’

he 18-year-old One Direction singer - who briefly dated TV presenter Caroline Flack, who is 15 years his senior - has listed his favourite older ladies as Angelina Jolie, 36, Kate Moss, 38, and Kate Winslet, 36. Although he doesn’t seem to be as keen on female pop singers, adding: “Sorry - it’s a no on Madonna and Kylie Minogue.” Harry has been called the most flirty of One Direction - which also includes Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson - but he never uses chat up lines on girls. He added: “I’m not really a pick-up line guy. I don’t know what I do.” Harry was rumored to be dating American Victoria’s Secrets model Emma Ostilly after he was pictured with her in New Zealand after a night out, but he quickly denied any romance, saying she was just his friend after starring in the video to One Direction’s ‘Gotta Be You’.

T

Alexandra Burke’s

boyfriend accused of cheating ottenham Hotspur footballer Jermain Defoe, 29, reportedly had an affair in a Newcastle hotel last month with nursing assistant and model Laura Brown, who he met on social networking site Facebook. Laura told The Sun newspaper: “I never planned on it, it just happened. He texted me and said, ‘I’m in your hometown’. He told me he wanted to see me and message his room number. “The next day I felt dreadful about it. I asked him about Alexandra Burke and he said it was ‘early days’.”However, Laura, 23, was shocked to see pictures in the newspapers of Alex, 23 and Jermain on a series of dates recently and admitted she has been left “very upset” by the sportsman’s duplicitous actions. She said: “It now appears they really are an item. I was shocked when I saw pictures of them together in the paper last week. And Alexandra has apparently said she is in love. I’m very upset.”

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he diminutive reality TV star - real name Nicole Polizzi - is expecting her first child with fiance Jionni LaValle and although she and the other stars of the MT V show are more renowned for their partying and fighting than quiet nights in, they have vowed to help her look after the baby when it arrives. Snooki’s ‘Jersey Shore’ spin-off co-star Jenni ‘JWoww’ Farley said: “I was ver y excited [when we found out]. I don’t know if I was more excited for what’s to come or the fact that we finally moved in together. But it’s not a dull moment. All of us, all eight of us [are going to help out]. It’s gonna have a lot of aunts and uncles.” Pauly D added: “We will take care of this baby with her.” Although Snooki’s pregnancy was a surprise, it was a welcome one and she promised viewers will see her deal with the shock on new spin-off show ‘Snooki & JWoww’. Snooki told MTV: “When we film, it’s all about reality and what’s going on in our life. So it’s not like we’re going in there and staging things. It’s what’s really going on in our life. It just so happens that I got pregnant while [we were filming]. “I mean, obviously, it wasn’t planned, so it was a surprise. But you’ll see on the spin-off, my first trimester, me telling all my friends and just everything that’s going on with the first trimester.”

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Jessica Simpson shares footage of lavish baby shower

he 31-year-old singer who is due to give birth to her first baby with fiance Eric Johnson imminently - uploaded a video and pictures of last month’s lavish baby shower to her website Jessicasimpson.com, which showed her receiving gifts from family and celebrity friends. Guests at the party included mother-of-two Jessica Alba, who brought her youngest daughter Haven, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ star Ellen Pompeo and Jessica’s sister Ashlee, who was accompanied by her son Bronx, three.

Captioning a picture of herself with her adorable nephew, Jessica - who is expecting a girl - wrote: “I can’t wait until Bronx meets his new cousin.” A source Us Weekly magazine: “It was a kid friendly shower with many of her friends bringing babies. She received tons of gifts mostly wrapped in pink gift wrap and boxes.

There were several books, stuffed toys and clothes among other items.”

The 50 guests were treated to an extravagant buffet featuring Jessica’s favorite Southern foods - including fried Oreos and Twinkies at the event which was organized by celebrity event planner Mindy Weiss and inspired by the children’s story ‘Charlotte’s Web’. Singer, actress and fashiondesigner Jessica also revealed creating a family is her greatest achievement.

She wrote:”Creating a family is the best thing I’ve done in my life, I really hope I can be half as good of a mom as my mom has been to me.”

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SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

lifestyle

‘Band of Misfits’:

A jolly roger good time

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trip and naked naturists. They do manage to capture Charles Darwin (Dr. Who’s David Tennant), who persuades them to return with him to London after he notices that Polly, the mascot the pirates think is a big-boned parrot, is actually a dodo bird, a creature thought to be extinct.

Some of the funniest gags involve Bobo, Darwin’s monkey butler, who he dubs a “manpanzee.” Bobo communicates via single words on flashcards.

When Darwin hatches a secret plot to take Polly, he confides in the monkey, then urges him to be quiet.

The monkey obliges by holding up a card with a word written on it in tiny typeface. The low-key lunacy and droll wit that infuse the film are a refreshing change from animated films that rely mostly on bathroom humor. It’s hard not to be charmed by the absurd antics of the bumbling buccaneers.

Appropriate for all ages, this delightfully daffy romp has action adventure for younger audiences, as well as enough quintessentially British wit to keep adults smiling. — MCT

he buccaneers in The Pirates! Band of Misfits may be far more ragtag than swashbuckling, but the film is sure-footed, witty and zany fun. Deftly written (by Gideon Defoe), this stopmotion animated tale features pirates tangling with a fiendish Queen Victoria and a double-crossing Charles Darwin.

Who can resist a rollicking blend of British history and contemporary culture

by Wallace & Gromit creators Aardman Animations? Especially one that works in appearances by Jane Austen and the Elephant Man and plays the Clash’s London Calling as the Victorian-era pirates set sail for London?

The actors who lend their voices to the characters could not be more spoton. Hugh Grant is hilarious as Pirate Captain, a buffoon hellbent on winning the coveted pirate-of-the-year prize. But he is stung when he’s laughed at by rivals Cutlass (Salma Hayek) and Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven). Dejected, he and his crew return to their ship and attempt to plunder passing vessels. But there’s no booty to be had as they raid ghost ships, schoolchildren on a field

Unwanted: Studio chief job at Disney

O A young performer participates in the Bun Festival parade in Hong Kong’s Cheung Chau Island yesterday. — AFP

‘Anonymous,’ ‘Stopped on Track’ win big at German film awards A

film by Hollywood director Roland Emmerich portraying William Shakespeare as a fraud won six German Film Prize trophies on Friday at the world’s most lucrative movie honors with total prize money of around $4 million. But the top award, best film, went to Andreas Dresen’s “Stopped on Track” (“Halt auf freier Strecke”), a portrait of a man dying from a brain tumor. It won in four categories overall, including director, actor and supporting actor. The six wins by “Anonymous,” starring Welsh actor Rhys Ifans and filmed at Berlin’s Babelsberg Studios, came mostly in technical categories such as production design, costumes, cinematography and editing.

The English-language film theorizes that Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, penned works such as “King Lear” and “Macbeth,” and it depicts William Shakespeare as a drunken buffoon who could barely write his own name. When “Anonymous” was released in theatres last year, it was criticized by some Shakespeare scholars who said the theory was nonsense. It failed to earn major revenues at worldwide box offices, but did play well in Germany

and even picked up an Oscar nomination in the United States for costume design.

Emmerich, better known for directing disaster movies such as “Independence Day” and “2012,” told Reuters he was surprised to win so many awards, but they had not altered the way he thought about the film. “Yes, we got some criticism in Britain, but the film was taken up really well in Germany and in the United States too,” he said after the ceremony.

“The fact that the film is getting good recognition again hasn’t changed things for me.” The German-born director praised working in his homeland and his local crew, saying “it’s unbelievable how good it can be.”

Dresen scooped up his second German Film Prize, also called a “Lola,” for director, sealing his reputation as a filmmaker who is not afraid of putting difficult topics on the big screen. He previously won in 2009 for “Cloud 9”, a romantic - and at times graphic - comedy about the love lives of senior citizens.

“Stopped on Track” also earned Milan Peschel a Lola for best actor and Otto Meillies claimed one for best supporting actor. The biggest snub of the night

belonged to “Barbara,” a film dealing with the repressive world of Communist East Germany in 1980, which only took home the silver prize for best film despite having been nominated for eight awards. The film follows a German doctor, played by Nina Hoss, who is banished to the East German provinces after requesting to leave the country to be with her West German lover, making her a target of Stasi persecution.

“Barbara” also narrowly missed out on top honors at the Berlin film festival, where the Golden Bear was awarded to Italian prison docu-drama “Caesar Must Die,” directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani. The German government underwrites the 3 million euros ($3.97 million) in prize money, which is distributed among dozens of nominated films as an indirect subsidy for future projects.

More than 1,000 industry professionals who make up the German Film Academy cast votes for the 16 categories. The Lolas are intended to reward cultural achievement rather than box office success. Presented every year since 1951, the awards are Germany’s answer to Hollywood’s Oscars and Britain’s BAFTA prizes. — Reuters

A new shuttle called “Le Passeur” transports tourists from the mainland’s new car park to the Mont-Saint-Michel, a French landmark and UNESCO world heritage, northwestern France, on April 27, 2012. The Mont Saint-Michel’s car park is to be closed, a first step of a restructuration of the Mont, to return at its original state of island. In 2015, the site will be connected to the mainland by a bridge, dedicated to pedestrians, shuttles and horse-drawn carriages. — AFP

nce considered one of the most powerful and sought-after positions in Hollywood, running Walt Disney Studios - the 89-year-old Burbank institution behind “Snow White,” “Mary Poppins” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” now seems about as desirable as playing Goofy on a hot day at Disneyland. But since Walt Disney Co Chief Executive Bob Iger fired studio head Rich Ross last week, the buzz in Hollywood has been less about who’s angling for the studio chairman job and more about who would want it.

The reason: Iger’s strategy of turning Disney into a collection of brands means that most of the films it releases are not overseen or greenlighted by the movie studio chief, as they are at rival companies. Next year, for example, Disney will release five movies, including two 3-D re-releases, from its Pixar and Disney animation units, both headed by John Lasseter and Ed Catmull; two superhero films from Marvel, a subsidiary run by Chief Executive Ike Perlmutter and President Kevin Feige; and at least one from DreamWorks, the independent studio run by Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider that has a distribution deal with Disney.

Ross’ successor must be someone all of those partners trust and with whom they are willing to work. And a big part of the job will be managing their egos.

Only two films on Disney’s 2013 slate were approved and overseen by Ross: “Oz: The Great and Powerful,” based on the classic book series and movie, and a new version of “The Lone Ranger” starring Johnny Depp. And both have powerful producers who are themselves forces to be reckoned with: Jerr y Bruckheimer on “The Lone Ranger” and former Disney studio Chairman Joe Roth on “Oz.” The studio is responsible, however, for advertising and releasing the movies from all of its brands and par tners, meaning Ross’ successor would be an easy target for blame if those pictures didn’t work. People close to Disney but not authorized to speak publicly say Lasseter, Feige and Snider are all intimately involved in marketing plans and were bitter about having their films promoted by inexperienced outsider M T Carney, whom Ross hired in 2010 and dismissed early this year.

Though Ross’ departure came soon after the failure of “John Carter,” for which Disney is taking a $200-million write-down, people close to the studio said it had more to do with his inability to win the support of allies inside and outside Disney. Lasseter, Perlmutter, Snider and Spielberg were said to have been unhappy with his leadership, and numerous lower-level employees at the studio, plus agents and producers around Hollywood, complained that Ross did not clearly articulate the types of projects he wanted or his vision to transform the studio.

In addition, Ross replaced nearly all of the seasoned movie executives at Disney with less experienced hands. Some newcomers, such as production president Sean Bailey, are well liked, but others, such as Carney, were spectacular failures. Thus, less than three years after Iger stunned Hollywood by replacing veteran Dick Cook with Ross, who had a successful tenure running Disney Channels Worldwide but had never worked in the movie business, the Disney CEO must go back to the drawing board - again.

He is faced with the humbling task of finding a chairman capable of endearing himself or herself to colleagues and Hollywood’s creative community and who also possesses the skills to update the studio for the digital age - one of the ostensible reasons Cook was fired. “All of this drama shows the changes at the studio are very much a work in progress,” said Tony Wible, a media analyst at

Janney Montgomer y Scott. “But it’s important they figure it out because the studio is a launching pad for the brands that make money in theme parks, in consumer products and on television.”

Walt Disney Studios is now being run by several executives previously under Ross who now report directly to Iger, including Bailey and President Alan Bergman, who oversees distribution and business operations. It’s an unusual situation in Hollywood, where top executives usually aren’t fired without a replacement lined up to prevent the kind of instability and uncertainty now present on the Disney lot. Already, many of the names that first popped up as potential successors for Ross have quietly made clear that they’re not interested or are unavailable.

Feige, who has produced Marvel’s string of hits including two “Iron Man” films, “Thor” and “Captain America: The First Avenger,” along with next week’s hugely anticipated “The Avengers,” is telling associates that he’d prefer to stay in his current job, according to two people familiar with the executive’s thinking.

Lasseter, who lives near the headquarters of Pixar Animation Studios in

LAS VEGAS: Actor James Franco (left) and actress Mila Kunis speak at a Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures presentation to promote their upcoming film, “Oz: The Great and Powerful” at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace during CinemaCon, the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Ownersin Las Vegas, Nevada. — AFP Northern California’s Emeryville, is said to be happy staying in charge of Disney’s fabled animation operation. Snider, who ran Universal Pictures before moving to DreamWorks, is obliged to sign a multiyear contract extension as part of a $200-million refinancing with backer Reliance Entertainment, making her unavailable even if she wanted the job.

Roth, who ran Disney Studios from 1994 to 2000 and has headed 20th Century Fox and Revolution Studios, is not interested in the position as he is busy producing three coming movies for Disney: “Oz,” a sequel to the 2010 blockbuster “Alice in Wonderland” and the “Sleeping Beauty” spinoff “Maleficent,” as well as the FX/Lionsgate television show “Anger Management” starring Charlie Sheen. He also owns Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders.

At a presentation of Disney’s coming movies at the CinemaCon gathering of theater owners in Las Vegas this week, things appeared to go smoothly despite the instability in Burbank. The studio brought out stars including Depp, James Franco and Mila Kunis and had executives including Bailey, Feige and Lasseter discuss the slate, along with Bruckheimer and Roth. —MCT

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SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

LIFESTYLE F e a t u r e s

Giordano launches finale of 2012 spring series collection iordano, one of the world’s leading international apparel retailers, yesterday launched the finale of its 2012 spring collection series, featuring new style wrinkle-free shirts for men and on trend Shoulder Ball Tops for ladies. The modern man takes centre stage with the new wrinkle-free shirt range, ideal for the fellow who lives a busy high-energy life. A demanding lifestyle calls for a high performance shirt that comes with a clean, crisp finish that’s soft to the touch.

Giordano’s wrinkle-free shirt, made of 100% cotton remains impeccable all day making it ideal for the active and busy man. The collection comes in plain Oxford fabric with different color options - white, sky blue, grey, black, deep red and navy, as well as in stripes and plaids, offering men more choices to personalize their style. The new Giordano shirt range can be easily paired with Giordano’s stretched khakis and wrinkle-free trousers for a well-coordinated look.

Giordano’s women’s collection brings out the energetic female persona especially with the introductions of new Shoulder Ball Tops.

The over-sized tops with a wide neckline come in a variety of fresh and bright colors in lively shades of pink, yellow, green, and, purple and black and white striped combination. The Shoulder Ball Tops are part of the Mix & Media trend which is the centerpiece of the women’s spring 2012 collection. The women’s range is characterized by different natural fabrics, vibrant colors and long and asymmetrical cuts. For a complete outfit, these tops are perfect to wear with Giordano’s skinny pants and Audrey Fit Capri’s in both denim and khakis.

“At Giordano, we continue to spice up our offerings with stylish clothes with an uncompromising commitment to quality and look,” said Ishwar Chungani, Executive Director of Giordano Middle East, India and Africa. “Our customer is always our focus and we want to make sure that every time they visits any of Giordano’s 226 stores across the region, they will find something that meets their needs.” The Giordano’s final phase of spring collection is available in all Giordano stores across the Middle East starting May, 1st. For UAE residents, Giordano’s products are also available for purchase on www.giordano-me.com, the brand’s newlylaunched shopping portal.

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Stillman returns with

Damsels in Distress First film in 13 years here have you been? Whit Stillman has been getting that question a lot lately. His last film, “The Last Days of Disco,” came out a whopping 13 years ago.

During that time, Stillman (“Metropolitan,”“Barcelona”) moved to Paris and worked on several scripts, none of which were produced. Eventually, he returned to the US and his low-budget indie roots, securing the money to make “Damsels in Distress,” a comedy about a group of young women (led by Greta Gerwig) who try to make life better and more pleasant for their fellow students at a not-quiteIvy-League university.

The movie, like Stillman’s three previous pictures, once again centers on chatty 20-somethings at a formative juncture in their lives, trying to make sense of their romantic and social dilemmas. But “Damsels” is not a case of a director trying to jumpstart his career by reprising proven hits. Stillman, 60, says the inspiration for the film was as accidental and personal as all the others.

“The idea for ‘Last Days of Disco’ was almost an accident,” he says via telephone from New York. “We were in Spain shooting ‘Barcelona.’

We had a great day when we shot at this disco called Up and Down. We could shoot nighttime scenes during the day there, because the club didn’t have any windows. So it was very comfortable. We didn’t have to rush, and we had a fun time with the crew. In between scenes, we played ‘Boogie Oogie Oogie’ five thousand times. And it occurred to me that pretty girls at a disco with the flashing lights and music would be really cinematic.”

The nugget for “Damsels in Distress” came while Stillman was reflecting on his decade of artistic frustration and stalled projects. “This was a case of something good coming out of bleakness that stands out in your memory,” Stillman says. “I went to college (Harvard) from 1969 to 1973, and I remember the first year being very bleak.

Everything in Cambridge was so political and radical and sort of joyless. And some people were talking about this group of incredible girls who went by this specific name - I don’t want to say what it was, because I don’t want to tie my fictional characters to them - that consisted of a French perfume tied to a numeral.

“These girls went around wearing this very strong perfume. I found it in France; it was very expensive and hard to believe it existed, because the bottle was so tiny. I bought one for my daughter, and it had such a godawful smell!

Anyways, these girls created a kind of space at the university for people to have a good time. They had parties and did fun things for students. They had a production of the play Marat/ Sade where the French revolution took place in the audience at the same time as on the stage.”

In Stillman’s movie, the heroines have the best intentions and do everything they can to improve the lives of their

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peers, even though they don’t always fare as well with their personal relationships. Looser, funnier and broader than any of Stillman’s previous films, “Damsels in Distress” eschews a traditional plot structure in favor of wry, absurdist escapades and observations about the ways in which we start creating personas for ourselves before we’ve truly figured out who we are.

Even more than “Last Days of Disco,” the movie uses songs and dancing as punctuation, culminating with a onetwo punch of musical numbers that tickle the funny bone and send your spirits soaring. Gerwig’s performance as Violet, the self-assured optimist who lapses into an emotional tailspin when the world doesn’t operate exactly the way she expected, is the anchor that keeps the movie from drifting away on its frothy undercurrents.

“Greta embraced the role with both hands,” Stillman says.

“She does a kind of similar thing on the screen that Chloe Sevigny did in ‘Disco’ - they both have this kind of lovely quality - but they get to that place using very different techniques. Chloe was dragged into films by her boyfriend (filmmaker Harmony Korine). She was drafted into acting. Greta is more of a trouper. At Columbia, she worked on a variety of shows and musicals the students would put on. She was in the Sacramento Ballet when she was a little girl and danced in a production of ‘The Nutcracker.’”

Stillman’s protracted absence from the screen means there’s practically a new generation of film buffs unfamiliar with his work. Recent DVD releases of “Metropolitan” and “Last Days of Disco” by the Criterion Collection (who are also putting them out on Blu-ray this summer) have helped bring new fans into the fold. But despite the tony airs and sophisticated palette of his pictures, Stillman remains a thoroughly accessible, friendly and chatty fellow, completely devoid of any airs or pretension.

“I find arrogance so offensive,” he says. “There’s a filmmaker who made a film last year that I loved. I saw him at one of these luncheons where they’re trying to get people votes for the Oscars. I went up to him and said hi, and he was so rude and full of himself. I was going to vote for his movie after the lunch, and then I thought ‘You know?

He’s such a stuck-up guy, and he’s going to get nominated anyway. I just won’t bother.’ And I didn’t.

“I never want to strike people that way. One time at the Toronto Film Festival, I heard Kevin Smith was really offended I hadn’t talked to him at some party. I didn’t even notice!

Later that day, I was talking to a journalist, and there were these two filmmakers standing there. I was really nice to them. Because you don’t want to offend the next Kevin Smith!”—MCT

The American Queen steamboat rests at the boat ramp on the northern tip of Mud Island as dawn breaks over Memphis, Tenn. The refurbished steamboat will be offering river cruises up and down the Mississippi and its tributaries. —AP

Steamboat resumes travel on Mississippi

riscilla Presley smashed a champagne bottle against a steamboat Friday, christening the American Queen as it resumed voyages along the Mississippi River. “Just floating down the river brings back a lot of nostalgia for the heartland,” said Presley, the former wife of the late rock ‘n’ roll icon Elvis Presley, who lived in Memphis before his death in 1977.

The American Queen is the largest steamboat in the world, carrying 436 passengers. The 418-foot (127.41meter)-long vessel is taking tourists on long-distance trips on the Mississippi for the first time since 2008, when its previous owner ceased

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operations. The christening took place just before the boat left its home port of Memphis on a seven-day river cruise to Cincinnati. The boat was purchased in August and has been refurbished and re-commissioned by Great American Steamboat Company.

Presley thanked the boat’s owners for naming her godmother of the boat.

“She’ll be bringing fun to families and friends from all over the world,” she said, adding that the American Queen represents a city her husband loved.

She also praised the company for creating more than 170 jobs with the relaunching of the cruises. The cruises are expected to have an $89 million

impact on the area economy, with travelers spending on flights and hotel rooms before and after trips, and during shore excursions. The boat will be traveling along the Mississippi and its tributaries to cities such as Vicksburg, Mississippi, Louisville, Kentucky, St Louis, New Orleans and Pittsburgh. Riverboats on the Mississippi represent a storied chapter in American history and folklore, harking back to the 19th century and the writings of Mark Twain. —AP

Eric Church breaks country traditions

o tweak an old saying, Eric Church is singing in tall cotton. The New York Times last month highlighted the country singer-songwriter as one of the brightest lights in country’s latest “outlaw” movement. This year, his third and latest album, “Chief,” was nominated for a Grammy as best country album and earned glowing reviews from Rolling Stone, Spin, Entertainment Weekly and National Public Radio. And after years of opening for other artists, he is headlining a national tour, “Blood, Sweat & Beers.” “It’s been crazy, exceeding any expectations we had,” Church said. “We spent a lot of time playing clubs, bars, dives. And now, we’re filling up arenas of ten, fifteen thousand. And believe me, it’s not lost on us, how rare and special that is.”

Church’s live performances are noted for their rockconcert energy, something in which the North Carolinian takes pride. “We aim to empty the tank every night,” said Church, 34. “We made our mark by playing like that in those bars and clubs. And when we’d come back to a town, we’d need a bigger venue because of word of mouth about our last show.” While Church’s songs are country at the core, danger lurks for those waiting to pigeonhole his work. Church, who has a marketing degree from Appalachian State and a Southerner’s love

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for college football and William Faulkner, embraces rock ‘n’ roll with a tight grip. “When I was a teen driving around listening to music, it was AC/DC and Iron Maiden,” he said.

“It was (AC/DC guitarist) Angus Young and three-chord rock.” Church said he’s interested to see how rap and hiphop will influence country music in the next few years.

“Country music is more than yee-hahs and hay bales,” he said, noting that the genre is drawing more young people. “Now, it’s cool to be a country artist and roll onto a college campus. ... That used to be a place where kids wouldn’t be caught dead listening to country music.”

Getting that mind-set past the country establishment was tough. He said some executives and radio stations “hit me pretty hard” for a song from his second album, “Carolina,” that speaks of marijuana: “Smoke a Little Smoke.” “Some stations wouldn’t play it, and some said it was career suicide,” Church said. “But then I’d play the song in concert, and the crowds would tear the place down. I’m glad I stuck to my guns, because that’s what led us to where we are. And I think that’s why ‘Chief’ has been so successful. “I never talk to the label. We send in the songs and, if they don’t like it, I don’t really care. That’s the album we’re making.” —MCT

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LIFESTYLE F a s h i o n

Models wear creations by Peru’s Grethel Gonzales during the second edition of Lima Fashion Week in Lima. —AP/AFP photos

Christian Women’s Job Corps

A model wears a creation by Peru’s Yanira Cardenas during the second edition of Lima Fashion Week in Lima.

helps locals with fashion show A model wears a creation by Peru's Grethel Gonzales during the second edition of Lima Fashion Week in Lima, Peru.

A model presents a creation by a Peruvian designer during the 2012 Peru Moda Fashion Week in Lima.

Models wear creations by Argentina’s Laura Novik during the second edition of Lima Fashion Week in Lima, Peru on Friday, April 27, 2012.

omen in Calhoun County have a friend if they are ever in needthe Christian Women’s Job Corps (CWJC), a ministry of the Calhoun Baptist Association. The corps raises money to help women who find themselves in difficult circumstances, whether their needs include finding a job, housing, referrals, medical assistance, transportation to vital places or other assistance, such as how to obtain a G.E.D., a birth certificate or identification.

The CWJC’s annual fundraiser, a fashion show/brunch, will be held May 5 at Classic on Noble in downtown Anniston. It is the CWJC’s fourth fundraiser, although they have been helping women for about seven years.

During the fashion show, guests may purchase the clothing that the modelsarea professional women-wear on the runway. Guests may either keep the outfits or donate them back to the program for needy women to wear on job searches.

For those who wish to donate clothing to the CWJC’s professional-style clothes closet, call 256-237-5171. There will also be a silent auction and a temporary boutique where guests can shop for discounted fashion accessories. Gena Vinyard, a singer and pianist, will perform, and Candace McIntosh, executive director of the Alabama Baptist Women’s Missions and Ministries, will speak on the theme of women helping each other face-to-face. “The face-to-face theme this year means women in need have someone to be their friend, help them find a job, refer them to special agencies, help them find a doctor or offer them transportation,” said volunteer Becky Nelson.

One volunteer who has been especially helpful to the program this year is Mary Stinson, a retired professor of social work from Jacksonville State University. Stinson has worked to develop curriculum and train volunteers.

“Also, she gives the women the face-toface assistance they often need. Some of these women who are assisted by the program start out with nothing,” said Nelson. Even though the Calhoun Baptist Association is the sponsoring agency for the CWJC, churches from all denominations take part in helping needy women through the program.

Several women who are now self-sufficient because of assistance through the program will be in attendance at the fundraiser. —MCT

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A model wears a creation by Peru’s Varignia Garcia during the second edition of Lima Fashion Week in Lima.

Models wear creations by Peru’s Yanira Cardenas during the second edition of Lima Fashion Week in Lima. —AP

Giordano launches finale of 2012 spring series collection

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SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2012

Mariah Carey M ariah Carey and Nick Cannon say “I do” again. A publicist for the pair says they renewed their vows Friday at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. Spokeswoman Cindi Berger said the couple celebrated with an “intimate ceremony after a romantic dinner at the beautiful Jules Verne restaurant” just after midnight local time. Carey, 42, and Cannon, 31, married in the Bahamas in 2008 after a whirlwind romance that began just months earlier. Carey gave birth to their twins, son and daughter Moroccan and Monroe, last April. Cannon was hospitalized in January and later diagnosed with inflammation of the kidneys. He resigned from his New York City radio show in February to help his recovery. Earlier this month, he said he’d document his return to health on his website in a show called “NCredible Health Hustle.” — AP

and

Nick

renew wedding vows

US singer Mariah Carey and her husband Nick Cannon pose in Paris, for the renewal of their wedding vows.

Guitars, fiddles greet Jazz Fest early birds M

usic fans poured through the gates at Friday’s start of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, staking out spots to catch performances

by The Beach Boys, Steel Pulse and Irma Thomas, who is performing a tribute to gospel great Mahalia Jackson. At the Fais-Do-Do stage, the air filled with sounds of Cajun fiddles and spoons scraping across washboards as Goldman Thibodeaux & the Lawtell Playboys entertained the early-birds. His traditional Creole songs, some performed in French, kept Leona Gard of Metairie, La., dancing with a wide smile. “They’re a nice warm-up, before the faster music comes,” said Gard, 65, as she danced a slowzydeco step to Thibodeaux’s engaging tunes. Gard, who’s

Mike Love and The Beach Boys sing at the Acura Stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on Friday, April 27, 2012. — AP been a fest-junkie since 1976, said Thibodeaux and the Playboys are one of the few groups that still offer an oldschool sound not often heard. “They set the pace for others like Geno Delafose,” she said. “Come back and see the crowd when he plays. Everyone will be on their feet dancing.” The festival known simply as Jazz Fest spans two weekends, Friday through Sunday and May 3-6. This year’s lineup includes mostly Louisiana acts accented with national headliners such as Bon Iver, the Beach Boys, the Eagles, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Cee Lo Green, Ne-Yo, Bruce Springsteen and Jimmy Buffett.

Though Jazz Fest has boomed in diversity and popularity in its 40-plus year history, Cajun fiddler and singer Michael Doucet says it’s still the best festival for homegrown Louisiana music like his. “The festival has evolved, but it’s a great thing that The Boss is playing here,” said Doucet, front man for BeauSoliel, which performs Friday.

“It’s an opportunity to catch music that’s familiar, music that you’re used to hearing at Jazz Fest, but then have the opportunity to hear something new and different.”

Doucet, who has performed at almost every Jazz Fest since the mid-1970s, said it was one of the first major festivals to showcase Cajun and zydeco music. Before the 1970s, music fans often had to travel to small Cajun towns like Eunice, La., or to the city of Lafayette to hear such music, he said. Jesse Simon and Moira Foehr, both of New York, said the Creole music is what drew them to the festival. “It’s not something we normally hear or are used to hearing,” said Simon, who’s been to New Orleans

before but not to the festival.

Foehr, another festival newbie, said Simon was in charge of their trip’s music itinerary, when asked which acts they were interested in seeing. On their agenda, he said, were Bon Iver, “anybody in the Blues Tent,” Trombone Shorty and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, whose performance closed the festival yesterday. “The fest is absolutely a draw for music lovers,” he said. As a brass band played on the Jazz and Heritage stage, some in the crowd were dancing with hula-hoops and waving flags and umbrellas.

Trombone Shorty, whose real name is Troy Andrews, is the subject of this year’s official Jazz Fest poster. He said the festival showcases New Orleans’ music scene beyond the stage with Mardi Gras Indian performances and second-line parades. “It’s a great situation for people to enjoy the New Orleans culture,” Andrews said. “Sometimes when a tourist comes to town, they may not have a Sunday afternoon where they can go check out Rebirth at a parade but they can still check out some brass bands here. We try to bring everything into the festival, and it’s just a great opportunity for everyone.”

Elizabeth Hart, attending the festival with her husband Doug, watched Thibodeaux’s performance and the couples dancing as she tapped and swayed to the beat.

“It’s just so unique,” said Hart, of High Park, NY, of the songs. “We’ve been to New Orleans often, but never to the festival. It’s a great event, very well organized.”

Proceeds from the festival benefit the nonprofit New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, which works to fulfill the festival’s grass-roots mission to stimulate the music culture in Louisiana and reinvest in the community with music education programs, said Don Marshall, the foundation’s director.

In its humble beginnings, the festival featured only a handful of acts and drew only about 350 people to Congo Square. Now, more than 40 years later, a festival horde packs the Fair Grounds Race Course. There are 12 music stages and countless other presentation areas for cultural demonstrations, including exhibitions by Native Americans and cooking demonstrations by some of the area’s renowned chefs. In recent years, the festival has drawn nearly 400,000 visitors over the course of the two weekends.

The festival’s growth has allowed the foundation to provide $500,000 in grants each year to other nonprofit organizations supporting the arts, as well as to writers, artists, photographers, filmmakers and education programs. “I haven’t seen another model like this anywhere,” Marshall said. “This festival has grown to the point where we’re able to generate revenue that allows us to establish free music education programs, housing initiatives and lecture series. One of the best things we do is the grant program.”

Before Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Marshall said, the foundation offered roughly $100,000 in grant money every other year. But with the need for music and cultural redevelopment so strong after the storm, the foundation restructured its grant program to make more money available. “We’re really committed to keeping the culture alive, and we believe helping musicians and all artists is pivotal in making that happen,” Marshall said.— AP

Brian Wilson plays on the Acura Stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. — AP photos

Multi-award winning

Hareem Al Sultan T

his May sees the return of the multi-award winning hit series Hareem Al Sultan to OSN screens with a brand new second season. The lavish Turkish drama chronicling the life of Suleiman the Magnificent premieres on Tuesday, 15th May at 21:00 KSA on OSN Yahala! HD and will screen every Saturday through to Tuesday. The most talked about series of the year is guaranteed to satisfy fans with passion, power struggles, battle scenes and new characters in a season that promises to be even more epic than the first.

The steamy television period drama revolves around Sultan Suleiman who at the age of 26 began his reign with the aim to make the Ottomans invincible, building a realm more powerful and extensive than that of Alexander the Great. He ruled for 46 years, and during this time Sultan Suleiman became the greatest warrior and ruler of both East and West.

In the highly anticipated second season, the struggles for power and games of intrigue in the harem gain strong momentum. New characters appear such as Isabella, a cousin of King Ferdinand of Spain who is kidnapped and sold in the slave market of Istanbul. Tensions between the European kingdoms and the Ottoman Empire increase with the plight of the captured aristocrat. Meanwhile, Suleiman presses on with his plans to extend his empire.

Khulud Abu. Homos, Senior Vice President of Programming added: “The first season of Hareem Al Sultan was a huge hit with our viewers across the region so we are delighted to be bringing the second season to OSN screens before it airs anywhere else in the region. This bold and brilliant series is one of the most ambitious series in TV history and the second season

returns with a bang

is set to be one of the televisual events of the year. We will also have lots of competitions, interviews and behind the scenes action from the series that will delight fans. The series will be dubbed in Arabic, sub-titled in English and screened in stunning high definition 1080i.”