04 Mar 2012

CR IP TI ON BS SU

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

www.kuwaittimes.net

RABIA ALTHANI 11, 1433 AH

Kuwait National & Liberation Days

40 PAGES

NO: 15377

150 FILS

See Page 4

37 perish as storms wreak havoc in US Twisters crush homes, knock out phones, rip power lines

Ahmadinejad’s faction losing ground in polls TEHRAN: Iran, under intense Western pressure over its disputed nuclear program, yesterday declared an initial turnout of 64 percent in a parliamentary election shunned by most reformists as a sham. Iran’s Islamic clerical leadership is eager to restore the damage to its legitimacy caused by the violent crushing of eight months of street protests after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected in a 2009 vote his opponents said was rigged.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who endorsed the 2009 result, has since turned sharply against Ahmadinejad. Some early results from Friday’s vote suggested the divisive president’s supporters were losing ground in the 290-seat parliament. His sister, Parvin Ahmadinejad, failed to win a seat in their hometown of Garmsar, the semi-official Mehr news agency said. Elsewhere, Khamenei loyalists appeared to be doing well.

Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar put the turnout at 64 percent after more than 26 million votes had been counted, telling state television the Iranian nation had disappointed its enemies by voting in such numbers. The figure was close to the 65 percent predicted for weeks by hardline conservative leaders and media. Najjar said 135 seats had been won outright so far, with 10 going to a run-off.

According to a Reuters tally of the results announced in 126 seats, 81 went to Khamenei supporters, 9 to Ahmadinejad’s faction, 7 to reformists and 7 to independents, with the allegiance of the remaining winners unclear. The results are hard to compare with the outgoing parliament because hardline Khamenei and Ahmadinejad loyalists were united in the 2008 elections, taking about 70 percent of seats. Results declared so far were mostly from rural areas, Ahmadinejad’s traditional strongholds. Khamenei’s candidates were expected to do well in Tehran and other big cities. Khamenei, 72, had called for a high turnout to send a message of Continued on Page 13

HENRYVILLE: A home destroyed by a tornado sits on a hill above the damaged Henryville High School in Henryville, Ind yesterday. — AP

Max 20º Min 06º High Tide 09:25 & 15:42 Low Tide 02:13 & 12:52

HENRYVILLE: A string of violent storms from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes demolished small towns and cut off rural communities as an early season tornado outbreak killed more than 30 people, and the death toll rose as daylight broke yesterday’s search for survivors.

Massive thunderstorms, predicted by forecasters for days, threw off dozens of tornadoes, hitting the states of Kentucky and Indiana particularly hard.

Twisters that crushed entire blocks of homes knocked out cellphones and landlines alike, ripped power lines from broken poles and tossed cars, school buses and tractor-trailers onto roadways made impassable by debris. Weather that put millions of people at risk killed at least 37 in four states - Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio - but both the scale of the devastation and the breadth of the storms made an immediate assessment of the havoc’s full extent all but impossible.

In Kentucky, the National Guard and state police headed out to search wreckage for an unknown number of missing. In Indiana, authorities searched dark county roads connecting rural communities that officials said “are completely gone.” In Henryville, the birthplace of Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Colonel Harland Sanders, volunteers pushed shopping carts full of water and food down littered streets, handing supplies to anyone in need.

Hundreds of firefighters and police zipped around town, where few recognizable structures remained; all of Henryville’s schools were destroyed. Wind had blown out the windows of the Henryville Community Presbyterian Church and gutted the building.

Continued on Page 13

Panic, chaos as sandstorm hits airport Tragedy averted as Kuwait-bound flight lands in Saudi

By Chidi Emmanuel KUWAIT: The Kuwait Airport came to a standstill for some hours yesterday after the airport’s navigation systems stopped working due the sandstorm that hit Kuwait in early hours. It was a chaotic scene at the airport as passengers scrambled for information about their flights. Some flights were cancelled while many were rescheduled. Flights were also diverted to nearby countries due to the problem. According to Directorate

General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), six flights were cancelled and ten others were rescheduled. Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM), German Lufthansa, Jazeera Airways, Gulf Air, Kuwait Airways and Pakistan International Airlines Corporation flights were affected.

Lufthansa Kuwait-bound flight from Frankfurt was diverted to Al-Dammam airport in Saudi Arabia. There was a commotion in the plane when the aircraft failed to land at the Kuwait airport. The environment was tensed as passengers scrambled for information.

“There was a landing system problem at the Kuwait airport. The visibility is very low and the lights were not working. We cannot continue to hover around in the air. Kuwaiti authorities said it may take few hours to fix the problem. We will be diverting to Saudi Arabia for now as we wait for more information from the Kuwait airport authorities,” the Lufthansa pilot said in a radio announcement. He urged everyone not to panic and called for calm.

Continued on Page 13

Study links diesel exhaust to cancer

KUWAIT: Kuwait Air Force jets fly during a parade marking the Kuwait’s 51st National Day and the 21st Liberation Day celebrations yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat (See Page 2)

Kuwait workshop to teach women basic mechanics

5

Suicide bombers hit Yemen army camp, four die

7

WASHINGTON: There’s new evidence that exposure to exhaust from diesel engines increases the risk of lung cancer. Diesel exhaust has long been classified as a probable carcinogen. But the 20-year study from the National Cancer Institute took a closer look by tracking more than 12,000 workers in certain kinds of mines - facilities that mined for potash, lime and other nonmetals.

They breathed varying levels of exhaust from dieselpowered equipment, levels higher than the general population encounters. The most heavily exposed miners had three times the risk of death from lung cancer compared to workers with the lowest exposures, said the study released Friday by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

But even workers with lower exposures had a 50 percent increased risk, wrote lead author Debra Silverman, an NCI epidemiologist. “Our findings are important not only for miners but also for the 1.4 million American workers and the 3 million European workers exposed to diesel exhaust, and for urban populations worldwide,” Silverman wrote.

She pointed to some highly polluted cities in China, Mexico and Portugal that in past years have reported diesel exposure levels that over long periods could be comparable to those experienced by miners with lower exposures.

Litigation from some mining companies had delayed release of the study findings. A separate industry group not involved in that litigation said Friday that the study looked back at mines using decades-old equipment, and there’s far less pollution from diesel engines today.

“Diesel engine and equipment makers, fuel refiners and emissions control technology manufacturers have invested billions of dollars in research to develop and deploy technologies and strategies that reduce engine emissions, now ultimately to near zero levels to meet increasingly stringent clean air standards here in the United States and around the world,” said Allen Schaeffer of the nonprofit Diesel Technology Forum.— AP

Afghan kids dream of musical future

40

IDLIB: Men bury three Free Syrian Army fighters allegedly killed by the Syrian Army during their funeral in Idlib, north Syria yesterday. — AP

Syria troops block aid convoy, pound Homs BEIRUT: Syrian forces bombarded parts of the shattered city of Homs anew yesterday and blocked the first Red Cross aid meant for civilians stranded for weeks without food and fuel in the former rebel stronghold, activists and aid workers said. The renewed government assault came a day after UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon said he had received “grisly reports” that President Bashar Al-Assad’s troops were executing, imprisoning and torturing people in

Syria’s third largest city.

“In an act of pure revenge, Assad’s army has been firing mortar rounds and ... machine guns since this morning at Jobar,” said the Syrian Network for Human Rights, naming a neighborhood adjacent to Baba Amro, from which Free Syrian Army rebels pulled out this week after almost a month of siege and shelling. “We have no immediate reports of casualties because of the difficulty of Continued on Page 13

IFAB approves hijab, goal-line technology

18

2

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

LOCAL

KUWAIT: As part of Kuwait’s 51st National Day and the 21st Liberation Day celebrations, a parade that was scheduled to be organized on Feb 25 and postponed owing to bad weather conditions, was held yesterday along the Gulf Road.

Musical bands of the police, Army and the National Guard took part, along with units from Kuwait Fire Services Directorate, ministries and other public and private sector companies. —Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

NBK attracted more than 900 Kuwaitis in three years KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has recruited more than 900 young Kuwaitis of both genders during the past three years as part of its commitment to providing distinctive career opportunities to ambitious young Kuwaitis.

“NBK maintains its leading position as one of the country’s largest employers in the private sector,” said Emad AlAblani, NBK’s deputy general manager Human Resources Group. “NBK’s recruitment plans are meant to keep pace with the bank’s expansion on both regional and international levels.”

Aiming at developing the skills of young Kuwaitis, NBK also offers several training and developing programs.

More than 1000 NBK employees are annually enrolled in professional training and development programs especially designed and provided by world renowned institutions.

Al-Ablani added: “Investing in our human resources is investing in our future. NBK is committed to supporting talented and qualified Kuwaiti nationals and empowering them to realize their potentials”.

NBK training programs include NBK Academy, the Summer Internship Program and the first of its kind in the region the NBK High Fliers Program in collaboration with the American University of Beirut.

As an acknowledgment for its contribution to Kuwaitisation, NBK was recently awarded “The Localization Award” from the GCC Council of Ministers.

“NBK will continue its efforts to provide career opportunities for nationals and to support the country’s aim to encourage young Kuwaitis to assume roles in the private sector,” concluded Al Ablani.

ICM hails NA’s attitude towards Syrian people

By A Saleh

KUWAIT: The Islamic Constitutional Movement (ICM) praised the attitude displayed by Kuwait’s National Assembly towards the Syrian people, and urged the government to execute all recommendations put forward concerning this issue.

A press statement released by ICM stressed that it was following the massacres in Syria with great concern. The statement added that the recommendations put forward by the Parliament included supporting the Free Syrian Army, joining calls to prosecute the Syrian regime, breaking political and commercial relations with the Syrian regime, dispatching medical missions from Kuwait’s MoH to provide medical treatment, bringing critical cases to be treated in Kuwaiti hospitals and having parliamentary panel contact world and Islamic parliaments to coordinate.

Ashour condemns calls to release Mulaifi MP Saleh Ashour asserted that demands made to release writer Mohammed Al-Mulaifi were considered sheer interference in judicial authorities and powers. He also said that the

Interior Ministry should not withdraw the case filed against Al-Mulaifi as it was meant to protect social security and stop sectarian calls from being made . “I warn the ministry against yielding to any pressure in this case,” he added.

Majority, Justice blocs disagree The parliamentary majority recently asked the Justice Bloc to postpone its request to amend the Second Article of the Constitution until the next parliamentary term so that they can finish preparing a package of bills, said sources. The bloc rejected such a proposal.

Debts to Kuwait not related to Chapter VII The Iraqi Kurdistan Alliance recently said that removing Iraq from the ambit of UN’s Chapter Seven was not related to the Iraq’s debt payment to Kuwait. “We do hope that both countries’ problems can be solved through bilateral dialogue away from the Arab summit,” said MP Rose Mahdi Khoshnow.

‘Approve longer overseas medical treatment trip’ Responding to news about suspending all

overseas treatment for the Defense Ministry employees and military staff except for cancer cases, MP Mubarak Al-Khurainej urged Defense Minister, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Khaled to have mercy on some patients who are currently receiving medical treatment abroad. “I plead with the minister to extend the treatment of those that are already abroad until they undergo surgeries and return home safely,” he said.

Al-Khurainej also urged the minister to allow cancer patients and relatives of retired civilian and military personnel to be sent to receive treatment abroad, following steps taken by the Interior Ministry.

KAC employees syndicate threatens full strike Following steps taken by the Customs Employees’ Syndicate to demand privileges the government had promised long ago, Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC)’s employees syndicate also threatened to take a similar recourse as the government ‘had broken its promises to us,’ said Secretary, Hussein Saleh Al-Habib, accusing the government of failing to respect its promises. “The government only knows the language of strikes ....so be it,” he stressed.

VIVA sponsors environmental initiative KUWAIT: Out of the Kuwait Telecommunication Company’s (VIVA) Corporate Social Responsibility, and its commitment to enhance the environmental awareness within the Kuwaiti society, VIVA has sponsored the first environmental initiative of its kind in Kuwait under the name (Environment in February). The initiative which took place on Feb 27, coincided with the National Day and Liberation Day, was organized in cooperation with the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research.

The initiative, presented by the Institute researcher Dr Noora AlJandaland adapted by Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, aims to create a state, where all

Kuwaitis and residents united for one hour and switched off all lights ,in private and public places, as a symbolic collective gesture to express the desire t o s a v e t h e e nv i ro n m e n t through saving energy and reduce the load on the electric network, and to reflect the people’s awareness of the dangers of pollution caused by the carbon dioxide, methane, carbon compounds and admissions, in addition to presenting many other activities and programs to protect the environm e n t t h a t c o v e r s m a ny aspec ts, with a creative and innovative social participation, the thing that will result in a

much needed environmental awareness.

VIVA would like to take this opportunity to reiterate its commitment towards the development and enrichment of the Kuwaiti community, and hopes that such initiative leads to more public attention and awareness towards protecting Kuwait’s environment and natural resources.

VIVA is the newest, most advanced mobile telecommunications ser vice provider in Kuwait. Launched in December 2008, VIVA makes things Possible for our customers by transforming communication, information and entertainment experiences.

The company has rapidly estab-

lished an unrivalled position in the market through our customer and employee centric approach.

VIVA’s quest is to be the mobile brand of choice for Kuwait by being transparent, engaging, energetic and fulfilling. VIVA continues to take a considerable share of the market by offering an innovative range of best value products, services and content propositions; a state of the art, nationwide network and worldclass service. VIVA offers Internet speed up to 42.2Mbps due to the implementation of the most advanced third generation (3G and HSDPA) network in Kuwait resulting in superior coverage, performance and reliability.

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

LOCAL

Apples, BlackBerrys, tablets form nutritious tech diet Purchasing propelled by passion or prestige?

By Lisa Conrad

Burgan Bank Tower

Burgan Bank sponsors Gulf Traffic Week KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced yesterday that the bank is sponsoring the upcoming Gulf Traffic Week, which will take place between March 11 and 17. The bank’s participation comes as part of its collaboration with the Ministry of Interior’s Traffic Department, to shed light on the importance of promoting a safe traffic culture in Kuwait.

The initiative this year will focus on reducing traffic accidents, where a wide range of interactive programs will take place with an aim at activating the educational role and intensifying efforts to raise appropriate levels of security and traffic awareness amongst citizens and residents.

Gulf Traffic Week is held simultaneously across GCC countries with the support and participation of GCC traffic officials and high ranking delegations.

Cabinet, parliament launch talks on ‘top priorities’ KUWAIT: Shuwaib Al-Muwaizri, the Minister of Housing and State Minister of Parliament Affairs is to meet Parliament Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun today in order to coordinate matters that are to be given top priority during the upcoming phase of political exertion in Kuwait.

In a repor t published yesterday quoting MP Abdullatif Al-Omairi further indicated that the parliament looks to adopt six items on the priority list recently voted to be enforced this month. Al-Muwaizri is expected to express the Cabinet’s point of view regarding these priorities.

On that regard, Al-Omairi added that the parliament’s majority eyes ‘flexibility’ in talks with the government regarding priorities, as they are expected to approve governmental proposals with regard to achieving political, economic and social reform.

In other updates, Al-Omair revealed that the women’s affairs committee will work on its plan during its meeting tomorrow. The panel’s reporter further indicated that addressing draft laws registered in its agenda will be given top priority in the committee’s discussions.

Meanwhile, MP Riyadh Al-Adasani announced that his financial and economic committee will invite lawmakers to its upcoming meeting during which members are set to discuss the development plan with Dr. Fadhel Safar, the Minister of Public Works and State Minister of Development Affairs.

The committee will also give priority to “important regulations” that Al-Adasani listed as the public tenders law, the commercial companies law, as well as activating the competition and monopoly combating law which was enforced in 2007.

In the meantime, the parliament’s legislative and legal affairs committee is widely expected to address proposals which call for making the Fatwa and Legislation Department - the government’s top legislative authority - an independent authority rather than being a governmental body.

On that regard, Minister of Justice and Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Jamaal Al-Shehab, who is invited to the committee’s meeting today, expressed hope in a statement to Al-Rai that “the old debate regarding this issue would be settled within constitutional and professional bases”.

In a related note, reporter of the legislative committee, MP Mohammad Al-Dallal revealed that the Cabinet “is leaning towards replacing an anticorruption draft law it previously presented with an updated version that is more in line with international regulations”.

Moving to another subject, the recommendations MPs made during Thursday’s session with regard to the situation in Syria are expected to be among the topics of discussions during the foreign affairs committee’s meeting today, with many lawmakers hoping that the government would approve most recommendations which include providing financial support to the Syrian opposition.

“The recommendations call for financial support to the free [Syrian] army and unarmed civilians because this is the only option we have” said reporter MP Dr. Hamad Al-Mattar, adding that support in the form of arming rebels is out of the question. In the meantime, MP Al-Adasani said in a recent statement that he doesn’t “rule out the possibility that spies for the Syrian regime” could be among the 150 thousand Syrian minority in Kuwait.

Speaking of Thursday ’s session, the National Democratic Alliance expressed “deep regret” for discussions happened in the parliament last week “which further fuel sectarian tensions in Kuwait”. “Verbal altercation between lawmakers that have sectarian tone will never help the parliament realize development and reform ambitions that Kuwaitis aspire to achieve”, said secretary general of the liberal group in a statement released Friday. “How can we expect lawmakers to pass regulations that criminalize hate speech when the same kind of speech is used in the parliament?” he added. —Al-Qabas, Al-Rai

KUWAIT: “I buy the newest gadgets because they are constantly improving, and I want to stay up to date,” said 24-year-old gadget enthusiast, Rola, her iPhone comfortably propped on top of her BlackBerry.

“The trends here revolve around what is new. If a trend has taken off elsewhere, there’s a limited period where, if you get your hands on that product quick ly enough, you’ll be one of the few trendsetters instead of a follower,” she added. Her colleague, Mustafa, explained, “if you are one of the trendsetters, you’re in a selective group where you claim you had the gadget before it was ‘trendy,’ and how people buy it just because it is popular. It’s a status thing.”

The pair admit to being passionate not only about technology, but also about the status and image being ahead of the game grants them. For tech-addicts or statusseekers alike, the question is: what are the discerning shoppers of Kuwait looking for technology-wise in 2012, and why? Much like everywhere else in the world, trends in Kuwait come and go. The difference, however, is that shoppers in Kuwait often have considerably stronger spending power given the absence of tax and prevalence of higher pay packets. What’s more, image and status are integral factors ingrained into much of the culture, therefore encouraging spending and buying even further.

According to a recent report by Deloitte, 2012 is the year of the multi-tablet owner.

But has the trend come to Kuwait?

According to Khalil Hani Al-Hamar, owner of Edges Media and writer of the blog

‘Q8path’, it hasn’t. “I haven’t noticed anyone following this trend yet. The iPad is extremely popular in Kuwait so I think most people are happy to invest in that and keep it as their only tablet.” Dima, writer of the blog ‘Froyo Nation’ agreed that it hasn’t quite become a trend yet: “Owning more than one tablet is common in families where there is a tablet for each family member. But the average person normally owns just one tablet.” She added that there is an exception, however, “ Tech-lovers sometimes own several tablets, each from a different brand, to compare their performance.” In 2011, Kuwait’s consumers were particularly fond of touch-screen smartphones, said Dima, adding, “Tablets and DSLR cameras have also grown tremendously in popularity among all age groups in Kuwait in the past year.”

But what does 2012 hold for Kuwait’s tech-lovers? According to Dima, 2012 will further fuel the trend of voice-controlled smart phones. “I think they’ll be popular, like the iPhone 4s. Brands other than Apple will be catching-up to this technology and improving on it. 2012 might be the year for voice-control to become practical enough to replace touch-control,” she said. She added that 2012 may see tablets take over notebooks, “Touch computing (tablets) are also becoming more and more dependable than notebooks with every generation of newer, more advanced tablets.”

Khalil agreed that tablets will become increasingly popular in 2012. “Companies are investing more and more in developing apps for iPads, which is an indication of how they are gaining popularity.” He added that the iPhone will keep the trendiness it

garnered in previous years and continue to be a top choice among Kuwait’s consumers.

He added, however, that Android phones are also growing in popularity, which has sparked an increase in customers asking for Android-compatible apps. The phone company showing the least interest in regard app development, he said, is the Blackberry. “Blackberry applications are not as popular. Most people in Kuwait use them for BBM, not for business or apps.”

Does this spell the end of Blackberry’s popularity in Kuwait? Apparently not, “It’s becoming more common for people to have both a Blackberry and an iPhone. They each have their own benefits, and in Kuwait many can afford to have both instead of having to choose one over the other.” While Kuwait’s buyers are not investing in multiple tablets they are, it seems, happy to invest in multiple smart phones.

What’s more, the release of the newest tech items often results in hoards of people rushing to buy on the very first day. “New technology products have the highest priority over other non-essentials, and this is most apparent when a new, highly anticipated gadget hits the Kuwaiti market and sells out on the first day,” said Dima.

She added that the vast popularity such releases enjoy, has prompted retailers to adjust their tactics, “The option to reserve a gadget before its release is even available from several retailers. The sheer popularity of many new gadgets is also why they are sold at extremely high prices on their debut, because people will still buy them regardless of the cost.”

But why are Kuwait’s consumers so keen to get the newest gadgets so quickly, and

willing to pay an inflated price? Is it a genuine passion for technology, or an example of social status and image investment?

According to Khalil, it’s both, “There is the cultural element, where everybody wants the newest and best items regardless of the price. If the item’s in high demand, it will continue to soar in popularity purely because others want it so badly.”

Dima agreed, adding, “There is a group of people who understand the good and bad features of gadgets, and they choose certain products based on that knowledge.

The other group, however, are those who are not very tech-savvy, but would still make sure to own the latest gadgets mainly for self image.” She further elaborated on how products gain such a vast following and fuel such high demand, “ Word of mouth also has an effect on people’s technology-related decisions, as they’re often influenced by the products favored by whatever group they belong to.”

The interesting thing about Kuwait is how these desires develop and evolve, Khalil explained, “Ever yone wanted a BlackBerry, and then everyone wanted an iPhone. Now, many people have both.”

There can only be one leader for 2012’s trend, however. According to both Dima and Khalil, Apple is maintaining its lead as the most desired technology brand in Kuwait overall, “Apple products have been dominant in the Kuwaiti society for the last several years,” said Dima. Khalil added, “Apple is certainly the most popular and it’s only rising in popularity. Their computers, phones and tablets are all incredibly popular here. Apple’s iTV and iCloud also provide their fans with more variety.”

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

local

Three-member gang held for health certificate forgery

Naturalization lists in two weeks KUWAIT: The government will release lists of bedoon (stateless) residents who meet naturalization conditions within two weeks, announced Saleh AlFadhalah, the head of the Central Agency for Illegal Residents. The list of the new naturalized, second in a row, consists of the children of widowed or divorced female citizens, the agency which undertook the naturalization process revealed. “ This step comes as part of the agency’s serious efforts to find solutions to the stateless residents’ problem and grant Kuwaiti citizenship to everyone who meet naturalization conditions”, Al-Fadhalah said in recent statements to Al-Rai, adding that bedoon servicemen in the interior and defense ministries, including retired personnel, are currently being summoned to update their information at the agency’s database.

On Friday, security officers dispersed a demonstration held by dozens of stateless residents in Taima following the weekly Friday Prayer, and ended up arresting three protesters who were referred to face illegal demonstration charges. The demonstration comes after weeks of stability in the area which in turn followed demonstrations held on a weekly basis

and saw dozens of bedoons get arrested.

Stateless residents, given their illegal residence status, who live in majorities in Taima and the nearby Sulaibiya districts of Jahra, demand citizenship as well as civil and social rights they are deprived of. The government in the meantime argues a part of them are Arabs or descendents of Arabs who deliberately disposed their original passports after coming to Kuwait in order to seek citizenship in the oil-rich country.

The central agency was established a couple of years ago with the goal of sorting out the stateless residents’ community and find those who meet conditions of naturalization, including residents whose Bedouin ancestors failed to register for citizenship following Kuwait’s independence more than fifty years ago. Last year, the agency adopted measures to grant bedoons several rights that include obtaining marriage, birth and death certificates.

The agency was given a five-year ultimatum to resolve the decades-long issue. The term ‘bedoon’ is Arabic for ‘without’, and is used as a loose reference to the fact that stateless residents live without a nationality since birth.

— Al-Rai, Al-Qabas

21 women beggars in custody KUWAIT: Police arrested three Arab men who allegedly forged and issued health certificates to restaurant workers. Officers apprehended one of the suspects in an ambush following investigations during which security guards employed at the ministry were identified as prime suspects.

The first suspect was caught after being lured into a decoy laid by police, and two of his accomplices were eventually detained. Police found 700 forged health certificates and confessed to selling each certificate for KD 300.

Illegal hunting A search is currently ongoing for three suspects who infiltrated into a restricted zone in Abdaly for illegal bird hunting. The suspects reportedly fled after physically assaulting a security guard. Police reached the scene after a company official reported the incident. Descriptions of suspects’ Sports Utility Vehicles(SUV) as well as vehicle license plate number were handed over to police.

Food thieves held A supermarket worker was arrested in Sabah Al-Salem recently with three other men for stealing subsidized food and selling it in the black market. A team of police officers raided a cooperative society from where subsidized food items were being stolen. They eventually arrested four suspects, three Asians and one Arab man who were caught opening the store’s door past midnight. Investigations revealed that one of the Asian suspects works in the same store, and

helped the three others steal food items in exchange for a share of stolen items. According to the suspects’ confessions, the total value of food items they stole is estimated to run into thousands of dinars. They remain in custody pending further legal procedures.

Work mishap A construction worker sustained multiple injuries after falling off a height in Al-Egaila.

Paramedics and police reached a construction site after co-workers reported the mishap. The Asian worker was diagnosed with broken bones and other injuries after he was taken in an ambulance to Al-Adan Hospital. An investigation was opened in the case.

Beggars caught Ahmadi police arrested 21 women during a recent crackdown against illegal begging activities at markets in Al-Fahaheel and Abu Halifa. The two-day operation was carried out based on information received about activities where women were used by ‘begging gangs’ to collect money through begging. Following the operation, sixteen Arab women and five Asian nationals were held and deported. The suspects’ named were also blacklisted to be prevent their return to Kuwait. Investigations are ongoing in search for suspects behind the illegal operations.

Angry brother A man was arrested at a coffee shop in Salmiya after he physically assaulted an individ-

KUWAIT: Group photo of the participants at the ACK yesterday.

Engineering design competition held at ACK

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The Australian College of Kuwait (ACK) held an annual engineering design competition for high school students yesterday at its premises in Mishref. The event was held in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Kuwait Petroleum Company(KPC), Energy Center for Engineering Consultancy, supported by Shell Kuwait.

The purpose of this competition was to strengthen engineering ideas of youth who will shortly complete high school and are about to pursue higher studies.

This competition provided a real opportunity to experience some engineering practices by competing with creative projects in a challenging atmosphere.

ACK offers courses in mechanical engineering, civil engineering, communication and electronics, and airplane maintenance engineering, in addition to marketing administration and human resources. Obtaining the diploma takes two years of study at ACK, and another two years of study can result in the student achieving a bachelors degree.

Waleed Al-Khamees, Head of the judging panel said that the competition was open to male and female high school students.

“The College aimed to attract the creative students who have scientific and engineering interests, especially mathematics and physics. The competition allows participants to apply scientific theories by designing an engineering project, where students learn some important ideas and

steps in engineering designing, and executing engineering projects,” he said.

At least 64 teams registered for the competition, 56 teams were accepted, and 46 teams participated in this competition. “The first team will receive a KD 500 prize, while the second winner will receive KD 400, and the third will receive KD 300. Also, a KD 200 prize will be given away to the best creative design. Then other

KUWAIT: One of the participating teams posing with the model of a bridge they designed for the competition.

participants will receive certificates. The awards ceremony will be held on March 7 at the Boubyan Club in Salwa,” he added.

The Chairman of the Industrial Company for Protec ting Environment, Dr Khalid Mahdi stated that the Company was keen on sponsoring this competition by providing all materials free of charge.

This competition has a positive effect on Kuwait and on preparing a new pre-operative generation of creative youth who are able to invent and challenge to serve the country,” he pointed out.

The judging panel included Dr Khlaid Mahdi, Dr Hasan Kamal, Dr Suad Al-Bahar and Dr Khalid AlKhaldi. While the organizing committee include Dr Waleed AlKhamees, Hanan Al-Mazroui, Dr Mohammed Al-Matrook, Omar AlSayid, Abdulaziz Hamada, Raed AlAhmad, Abrar Al-Muzeini, Buthayna Al-Khebezi, Fatma AlAwadhi, Mariyam Al-Qabandi, and Jasim Al-Shimeri. They represent the Faculty of Oil and Engineering at the Kuwait University, Public Authority for Applied Education and Training, and Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research.

Wataniya Telecom sponsors prize ceremony

Abdullah Shuwaib

Messila beach to host barbeque festival KUWAIT: The Messila Beach will host an annual barbeque festival on March 16, 2012, announced a senior Touristic Enterprises Company (TEC) official in a recent press release.

“The management is also preparing a special entertainment program for the occasion, including interactive sketches and competitions for visitors of all ages,” said Abdullah Shuwaib, Messila Beach Supervisor.

He further announced that Kuwait Towers’ chefs have been selected to the judging panel. The Messila Beach welcomes visitors every day between 8 am and 10 pm.

KUWAIT: Wataniya Telecom is proud to announce its recent sponsorship of the late Amir Jaber AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah UNESCO Prize ceremony which took place on Wednesday at Sabah AlSalem Theater in Kuwait University.

The ceremony was under the patronage and attendance of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah, National Assembly Speaker Ahmad AlSaadoun and Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Dr.Nayef Al-Hajrafand senior state officials.

Abdolaziz Al-Balool PR Direc tor of Wataniya Telecom was present on behalf of the companyduring the ceremony where Dr. Douglas Bik len an American distinguished promoter of education for persons with disabilities, was awarded as the winner of the 2011 UNESCO/Amir Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Prize. Established in 2002, The UNESCO/Amir Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Prize recognizes and rewards the outstanding activities of individuals, groups, organizations or centers that promote quality education for persons with intellectual disabilities. The prize is generously funded by the Kuwaiti government where 23 candidates are nominated by Member States and an award is given once every two years.

Regarding Wataniya Telecom’s sponsorship,

Abdolaziz Al-Balool expressed the company’s pleasure in taking part at such an important and influential ceremony and also expressed his pride in the role taken by Kuwaiti government by saying: “The Kuwaiti government has demonstrated its commitment to support significant projects and the people with special needs all over the world.

As a local telecom operator we are always enthusiastic to take par t in events that reflect our belief is promoting communication with other cultures and securing education for all people.”

Dr. Mohammad AlHamami, UNESCO GM deputy, GM of UNESCO Beirut’s office was also present at the ceremony and gave a speech praising Kuwait’s role and suppor t to UNESCO’s projects.

Dr. Biklen is Dean of the School of Education, Professor and founding faculty member of the Center on Human Policy, Law and Disability Studies, Syracuse University (USA). Over the past 40 years, his work has inspired researchers and given hope to many families of persons with disabilities from around the world.

During a gala dinner held in honor of the participating delegations, Wataniya Telecom was honored by the Minister of Education and Higher Education Minister Dr NayefAl-Hajraf in the presence of Public Relations assistant manager Hamad Al-Matar.

ual who shared a table with his sister. According to police, the man entered the cafe with some friends, and shared a table with the woman who is a friend. Upon spotting his sister in the company of a strange man, he physically assaulted him, despite the woman’s asserted that that young man was her friend from college. The victim was taken in an ambulance to the nearest medical facility while the brother was referred to the nearest police station. His sister was administered first aid treatment on site.

Drunk man A drunk man was arrested in West Jleeb AlShuyoukh after he stormed into a diwaniya with a sword in hand seeking revenge against an individual with whom he had long-standing disputes. Police headed to a location where residents reported that a drunk man created a scene with a sword in hand. Police learnt that the suspect was asked to leave from the dewaniya of the house that night. The suspect was taken to the area’s police station where multiple charges were pressed against him.

Sports car fire A sports car burst into flames at the Jaber AlAhmad Al-Sabah Circuit following a gas leak. No injuries were reported as the car’s driver stepped outside as soon as he noticed the engine emitting flames. Firefighters reached the scene minutes after the incident was reported, and quickly extinguished the fire before it could spread.

—Al-Rai, Al-Watan, Al-Anbaa

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

local

Kuwait workshop to teach women basic mechanics Attempt to break gender stereotype

By Lisa Conrad KUWAIT: “ Women need to depend on themselves and stop relying on men to come help them fix their cars,” said Muneera Abdulatif Al-Hendi, creator of a new workshop entitled ‘We Can Handle It.’ Al-Hendi created the workshop, exclusively for women, to provide some basic know-how on how to fix common breakdown problems because she felt it was important that all women learn at least the basics. “Very few women actually know how to fix their cars, and this isn’t an issue exclusive to Kuwait, it’s worldwide,” she said.

The idea came as she noticed stranded women waiting for assistance after facing car trouble.

“I always felt sorry for women I saw waiting for someone to come and fix their car when it broke down, especially when it gets really hot. It’s awful to just have to stand there and wait when it may be a problem that can be easily remedied with the right skills and knowledge,” said Al-Hendi.

She added, “I dreaded the idea of being in that position myself. I decided to learn about mechan-

ics so that if I did end up in that situation, I’d have a better chance of being able to get myself out of it, instead of waiting for help from someone else.”

A 21-year-old student, Hanaa,

said of the workshop, “It would be nice to be able to break the annoying gender stereotype that women know nothing about cars.

I don’t think many men or women are actually properly capable of

fixing their own cars. So it would certainly be nice to have the upper hand.”

Al-Hendi acknowledges, however, that not all women may be keen on trying to fix their own vehicle, but noted that sometimes just knowing what is going on, and if the mechanic is working correctly is also important.

The workshop, which runs from March 19 to April 4, will provide attendees with two hours of tuition a week. The first segment of the workshop, Al-Hendi said, will be a basic introduction to mechanics so as to provide a solid foundation for overall understanding. Attendees will learn about common breakdown problems and how to fix them.

This, said Al-Hendi, is the most important part of the workshop.

She feels that it will strengthen female independence by allowing them to handle simple car troubles without having to ask for help. So far, it appears that women in Kuwait are keen to learn as, Al-Hendi said, she’s getting daily training regarding the course. For further information, contact Muneera at wecanhandleitq8@gmail.com.

Free Kuwait website launched

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: On the occasion of National Day and Liberation Day, Kuwaiti researcher Adel Al-Yousifi launched a website archiving the events and activities that were held in London mostly for the Kuwaiti community during the Iraqi invasion between August 1990 and Februar y 1991. The http://.freekuwait.org.kw website includes more than 800 photographs which have been uploaded so far.

“I think we have enough photographs, so we can add more video records from this period.

More than 99 percent of these photos were shot by me. I do not have many videos, so people who have some records from this time can participate with their addition to the website but I may not use everything which is sent,” AlYousifi told Kuwait Times.

It took Al-Yousifi more than a year to prepare the website.

“It was very exhausting to collect all the photographs, to identify the people in them, and to archive the exact date of each event. I cooperated with an American lady in this project, and she is really very accurate in her work. She contacted different

universities in the United States, Congress and other places to get the exact date of each event in the pictures.

It was also difficult to find the names of all the people, especially the foreigners who helped us and participated in these events in London at that time.

We reached some of them, who are now in the States and Dubai. It was really hard work,” he added.

The photos include demonstrations, symposiums, celebrations, charity bazaars and many other activities held from August 1990 to March 1991 which took

place in London.

“It was hard work as more than 20 years have passed since the events in the photographs. If photographs were not taken by me, I mentioned the source. I started working on this website right after I launched Evidence.com on Feb 26, 2011.

This is also related to the same issue,” Al-Yousifi revealed.

Al-Yousifi invited people to enjoy the website and to participate with their information if they know anybody in the published photographs, or if some photographs belong to them they are welcome to make contact.

Amir visit to focus on investment KUALA LUMPUR: Bilateral relations between Kuwait and the Philippines are continuously improving and HH the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah’s visit to the Philippines later this month is expected to focus on the fields of trade and investment.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries began in 1979,

and this has had a major impact on commercial exchange, which in 2006 reached $50 million, thus, making Kuwait the Philippines’ sixth biggest trade partner in the Middle East.

Kuwait also hosts over 130,000 Filipino expatriates, who work across several sectors in the Gulf country. The last Kuwaiti official to visit the Philippines was former Prime Minister

Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad AlAhmad Al-Sabah, with the visit contributing to the signing of several agreements within the oil, gas, tourism, and health domains. In the field of humanitarian assistance, the Filipino Red Cross Society has on a number of occasions praised Kuwait’s role in aiding the southeastern Asian country during numerous natural disasters, like the recent floods. — KUNA

Kuwait to focus on education sector DUBAI: The National Union of Kuwaiti Students in the United Arab Emirates, NUKS/UAE branch held here late Friday its annual ceremony under the sponsorship of Kuwaiti General Consul in Dubai and the northern Emirates Tareq Al-Hamad.

The Cultural Attache at the Kuwaiti Embassy in the UAE Dr Salah Yaseen said in a keynote speech, on day one of the two-day event, that the UAE has around 66 certified universities that play an integral role in education, expressing hope Kuwait could follow suit and develop its own educational sector.

He called on Kuwaiti students to support one another during their stay in the Gulf country, encouraging them to learn from their counterparts of other nationalities, and to act as good representatives and ambassadors of Kuwait.

On his part, head of NUKS/UAE Khalifa AlYagoot said that the event this year would focus on national unity, under the theme “United We Rise”.

He also congratulated HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah and the Kuwaiti people on the recent national days.

Interior staff plan sit-in KUWAIT: Desk job staff members at the Ministry of Interior plan to stage a sit-in on Wednesday evening to press for financial demands, announced official spokesman of the protests’ organizing committee in a recent statement. “ The sit-in will take place at the Kuwait Trade Union Federation building after all demands were met with deaf ears by senior Ministry of Interior offi-

cials”, said Thafer Al-Hamlan on Friday.

The protesting employees demand salary increase similar to those granted to servicemen last year.

On that regard, Al-Hamlan warned that “further negligence from the government’s part to the employees’ rightful demand” will lead to a mass labor strike featuring ministry’s employees in nonpolice capacity.

6

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

LOCAL kuwait digest

Local Spotlight

Google’s new privacy policy

Oil well

By Faisal Al-Zamel il was nationalized in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in one period within a few years from 1971 and 1975. It is very important for the generations to study the difference in the two styles. Kuwaiti style resulted in the reduction of production from four million barrels a day in 1971 to two million barrels in 1998. Technical ability also faced a setback.

In Saudi Arabia, nationalization was conducted in phases to avoid technical losses. They started by taking a 25 percent share of Aramco, then 60 percent, then 100 percent. During this period, a service agreement was reached by which all foreign technical experts and technology has become under the Saudi party control.

For example, the largest computer in the world named “KARY” can cover the strategic industries.

IBM has manufactured three of these computers; one for the Pentagon, the second for Aramco and the third for Exxon. Their responsibility covered training Saudi national workers from the first step on the educational ladder and those who benefited from this program progressed to a PhD. The current Saudi oil minister rose from an Aramco manager to become Chairman of the huge company. Then he became oil minister. He rose to those positions based on his own efforts and efficiency, and not by sharing.

In Kuwait, the environment was not healthy for a dialogue by specialists. Such a vital and important case was employed for temporary election gains and soon it disappeared. But its traits remain until now. Kuwait delayed producing oil bi-products for almost 30 years, as this required technical matters which were not available in the country. Even oil well safety was affected due to technical retardation. The reason is nationalization by the cut off style and not step by step.

In the northern fields, we lost $70 billion. The unspecialized decision style was repeated in the northern oil fields. If we had developed them, Kuwaitís earning would have increased by $70 billion between 2005 to 2011. This income was not achieved unfortunately, as Ahmad Al-Saadoun was able to stop the project.

There is no immunity before the truth and history. The justification for stopping the project is a cost amounting to $600 million for foreign companies, which will take only after oil wells start production.

If no oil is produced, they take nothing and they are responsible for the cost of digging. Yes, we have lost $70 billion.

You can compare that with the cost of extinguishing the oil well fires after the Liberation, which was $1,100 million. This figure included the value of the equipment used in the fire-fighting. Our losses in the northern fields are equivalent to 63 times our losses from burning oil wells.

Public property was subject to provocation by thieves and by those who claim to be defending it.

Both financial corruption and corrupt opinions competed in harming this state. The harm will increase in the absence of public questioning for those behaviors. We should respect the opinion of specialists, which are based on correct information and are absent of political gains for whoever gives that opinion.

—Al-Anbaa

O

kuwait digest

MPs will be exposed

By Thaar Al-Rashidi he liberal stream in the past elections was the victim of standing in the middle. This is what its members say, after they lost on 3 February. They justify their stance in the middle, or in the politically gray area, because they refuse to be totally loyal to the Government in spite of its great mistake, and they totally refuse to support the youths who went out to the streets and spoke their words and protested against corruption in the well yard.

By this justification, the liberal stream look like those who danced on the stars, as the Egyptian saying goes, neither those below have seen them nor those above have seen them.” Therefore they suffered a great political loss, and they lost seats in Parliament. They are very poorly represented, never so poorly in any previous Parliament.

The mistake of liberals is not only dancing politically on the stairs. Their big mistake, instead of participating in street activities along with the youths, and trying to discover the secrets activities on the street, was when they started theorizing and giving advice and directions.

This is only good for preachers, and is not suitable for a political movement that wants to register a stand close to the public. The liberal stream pictured itself as if they were the only sensible persons in this State, and the rest were waiting for their directions. So they lived the role of leaders, while the public was waiting for those who join their crowd to fight corruption. Liberals were happy with writing theories at luxurious desks, and their MPs found it against their pride to go to the streets. So voters returned the greeting to them in the election boxes, and isolated them from representing the public in Parliament.

Logic says “he who does not feel with the public is not one of them”, and the liberal stream unfortunately and for many years is separated far from the public and their worries. So it was very logical to ignore them and look for those who feel their feelings.

Politics is not pure passion or pure thinking, but in the middle. The Islamists succeeded for two reasons: they felt the public worries, and politics on its passionate side as well as mentally. They spoke the language of the public. The liberal stream spoke in a language not understood by the public and people in the last election wanted those who speak their language, and not the ones who spoke their language only to give advice.

Note 1: The success of Islamists this year will not be repeated in coming years as some of their new members were exposed, and due to irresponsible declarations made by some of them.

Note 2: The number of MPs who will be totally exposed before the summer are six MPs. You will see that they were not good enough for the trust you gave them. Two have already been exposed and four more remain. —Al-Anbaa

Muna Al-Fuzai

muna@kuwaittimes.net e are surrounded by hundreds of machines and man-made technology, overloaded by information from different directions, people and cultures. Thanks to the greatest technological achievement of recent times, the internet; seeking information of any kind is no longer difficult or impossible.

In that world, we are mere users! How many of us really care about who possibly inquires about the products we need and why we need information on them?

Would it be okay with you if the information or products you have been following was sold to a third party?

What limitations do the service provider, Google, suffer from?

Every day millions of people perform Google search, use Gmail and YouTube. You have probably used all of these internet services today. Since March 1, the use of Google search, Gmail and You Tube have fallen into the ambit of a brand new privacy policy! We have been wondering if this is something that we should be concerned about. Most users and even some governments have criticized the decision and expressed concern about this new policy that violates users privacy and personal information!

I do not think I have ever read Google’s privacy policy or have thought about how it could affect me ! I usually click on the ‘Accept’ button. Am I the only one who does that? Possibly not! Now I know that they are important. Like any other contract, it governs users relationship with Google. Without understanding what is in the policy, its terms and conditions , we will never know that Google will use personal information! I think there are two sides to the story here. The person who reads it will know.

Google will now be using your data. For example. If you are looking for the latest fashion trends in Paris, YouTube would suggest some videos related to it. I guess some would think this is as an interference. This is how Google does business; it is not a charitable organization. One thing is for sure - Google will not sell your information to third parties.

I think Google’s new privacy policy is, a move towards greater simplicity and transparency. It may not be ‘invasive’ unless you are ‘googling’ information about mass destruction or making bombs. You could be in trouble If Google tracks these queries and begins investigating that!

Google’s new policy has come under fire in France and Canada. The coming few days will prove to be crucial to users as they are just getting to know what the privacy policy is like.

W

kuwait digest

Education needs more than reactions

By Ibrahim Al-Awadhi any speculate that the new grading sys- changing between grading systems - an issue tem, adopted at the beginning of the cur- very critical to students’ fates - based on a single rent school year, came as a reaction to order from the Minister. What if former Minister the problem the Ministry of Education faced dur- Ahmad Al-Mulaifi - the one who adopted the new ing the previous summer. It had failed to find a system - remained in office?

Either way, all Government attempts to resolve place for thousands of fresh high school graduthe overcrowding problem at KU have so far ates at the overcrowded Kuwait University (KU). been temporary. The minThe ministry presumably istry has been delaying the looked to ‘resolve’ the probproblem year af ter year lem by changing the grading system to make sure that Circumstances existing before Al- instead of coming up with less high school graduates Hajraf ordered the old system to radical solutions, such as would meet the required be restored indicate that his deci- building new public universities, and redistributing Grade Point Average for sion was not carefully studied, high school graduates into enrollment at KU. New Education Minster, and lacked a basis on which a various fields of academic Dr. Nayef Al-Hajraf, reacted mechanism for eliminating the study based on the requireof the local labor to the public outcry created problem completely can be estab- ments market. by the notable drop in the In my opinion, restoring average midterm results, by lished. It is also illogical to see the restoring the grading system ministry changing between grad- the old grading system is back to the previous one. ing systems - an issue very critical going to bring more negative effects to the educaSuch examples are usually to students’ fates - based on a sin- tional sector than it will do used as evidence to support a claim that Government gle order from the Minister. What good.

In recent years, Kuwaiti decisions are made in reac- if former Minister Ahmad Altion to pressure from law- Mulaifi - the one who adopted the students finished behind in international educational makers and the public evaluations, including the regarding situations they new system - remained in office?

Trends in I nternational believe are the result of govMathematics and Science ernmental mismanagement.

In these two examples, we can say that Minister Study (TIMSS) and the Progress in International Al-Hajraf made his decision after being pressured Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS).

In both of these studies, Kuwait finished secby students who demanded solutions to a problem they blamed on the change in the grading ond before last in the world, even with the participation of high school graduates with GPA’s system.

Circumstances existing before Al-Hajraf exceeding 85 percent. Kuwait’s educational sysordered the old system to be restored indicate tem needs radical solutions based on detailed that his decision was not carefully studied, and studies which take into account improving the lacked a basis on which a mechanism for elimi- quality of teaching, curriculum, students’ percepnating the problem completely can be estab- tion of information, and implementation through lished. It is also illogical to see the ministr y short and medium term plans. —Al-Rai

M

kuwait digest

Change ‘banned’

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij Ps currently mull options to legalize formation of political parties followed by steps to amend election regulations, in order to adopt a system where the Government is formed of a Parliament majority.

Such a system will open the door for conservative or religious political groups to dominate the political scene and power - given the financial and public relation assets they already have. Perhaps overlooking this imminent outcome, some democratic political groups actually strongly approve these efforts.

Adopting full democracy today would give a free pass to Islamist parties to dominate the political scene, while at the same time place obstacles in the road of other parties to catch up. Biased as this step might be in favor of Islamist politicians if taken today, it still does not create a problem when political parties have the opportunity for equal competition.

But that is exactly where the problem is: the political scene today does not have the elements to support equal competition between contesting parties, and that is because of regulations that put restrictions on freedom of expression. Democratic competition between political parties requires unlimited free expression by which politicians can voice their different points of view regarding the need for change.

Freedom of opinion today is restricted, while freedom of expression is almost nonexistent, and means of publication are limited. Given this situation, conservatives will have no problem dominating the political scene when their opponents do not have enough space to explain their ideas on why they believe change is required.

Politicians will simply not be able to address matters that are protected by the audiovisual and press laws, and in some cases even the state’s Penal Code, if they pertain to tradition or religious principles. This makes it extremely difficult for politicians who endorse views that contradict general traditions, because even the slightest attempt to analyze a certain tradition could lead them to ‘violate the law’. Conservative parties, on the other hand, would use that for their advantage, giving them an unfair lead in any political race.

While progressive groups seek change by which society can achieve development, conservative groups seek to maintain the current situation as it is today; something they can effectively achieve by controlling the political scene through the political party system they strongly push for.

The current situation offers wide space for politicians to reassert their commitment to traditions, while it restricts the movement of others more open-minded to explore different options.

Without freedom of expression, conservatives will remain ahead in the political race as long as the law practically ‘bans’ moving towards change. —Al-Qabas

M

T

kuwait digest

Courageous opinion

By Hamad Nayef Al-Anezi he rejec tion of a Gulf confederation by They are just an echo of what the authority says, National Assembly Speaker, Ahmad Al- be it good or evil!

The difference is big here between an authority Saadoun, is correct and courageous in my that listens to the people’s opinion and works for it opinion at the present time.

His justification that “it is not possible for a state and protects its interests to another authority, that like Kuwait, which enjoys a certain degree of free- represents the opinion of the ruling family and dom of expression to unite with other countries runs the country for its own interests without that have thousands of opinionated prisoners”, is regard to its people.

The contradiction will be a convincing to any person who reflection in political stands, is aware of the political situation inside Gulf countries. No Logic has it that any constitu- internally and externally, between those two authoridoubt many reforms are needed to enable the forma- tional country with authorities ties as each one calculates its tion of a beneficial confedera- that believe in freedom of opin- political consideration in a c y in the interest of all ion and political pluralism, and different manner from the The first looks for the regimes and peoples! its government is under popular other. people’s interest first and Those who objected to AlSaadoun’s stand and won- supervision, like the case in reflects its choices, while here dered about the relationship Kuwait, cannot unite in a confed- as the other looks to the between prisons in some Gulf eration with countries that do regime’s interest without regard for any other considcountries that are full of thousands of prisoners with opin- not have a constitution, and erations. It is impossible for ions and creating a confedera- their parliaments are appointed them to agree on one foreign cy that cares about foreign, by the government and do not and economic policy without a compromise from one economic and financial policies without any countr y reflect the opinion of the people. authority to the other. In the inter fering in the internal They are just an echo of what the gulf case the compromise affairs of other member coun- authority says, be it good or evil! will be from the popular constitutional side for the tries were not right at all. They authoritarian regimes due to had a superficial view and see their majority. Kuwait will be things from a narrow angle without looking at the aspects of current situa- the biggest loser on all levels in this confederation. tions in these countries. Logic has it that any con- As we realize the magnitude of risks that surround stitutional country with authorities that believe in those small scattered countries, their union will freedom of opinion and political pluralism, and its bring them power and give them some clout. Yet, government is under popular supervision, like the we say it time and time again with total conviction, case in Kuwait, cannot unite in a confederation it is too early for this confederacy of regimes. A conwith countries that do not have a constitution, and federacy of people will not take place before every their parliaments are appointed by the govern- state reforms its internal situation before thinking ment and do not reflect the opinion of the people. about reforming those around it. —Al-Jarida

T

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

Thousands told to evacuate as heavy rainfall hit Australia Page 12

Putin poised to regain Kremlin; protests likely Page 10

Four dead in south Yemen Blasts Qaeda claims responsibility for attack SANAA: Two suicide bombers drove a car packed with explosives into a Yemeni army base in the southern province of Al-Bayda yesterday, killing one soldier, the Defence Ministry said, in an attack for which al Qaeda claimed responsibility. Another soldier was killed by one of two blasts aimed at a central security forces building in the southern coastal town of Mukalla, where a suicide bombing a week ago killed at least 26 people. Authorities said they had made several arrests.

Militants linked to Al-Qaeda have exploited political upheaval to strengthen their foothold in Yemen, particularly in the south which is also home to rising secessionist sentiment.

Yemen’s south has been mired in violence since protests against former

BAYDA: A Yemeni victim lies on the ground in Bayda, 170 kilometres (105 miles) southwest of the capital Sanaa, after two suicide bombers blew up a vehicle at an elite Republican Guard camp yesterday.—AFP

Suicide bomber attacks Algerian security base ALGIERS: Twenty-three people were wounded yesterday when a suicide bomber drove a four-wheel drive vehicle packed with explosives at a paramilitary police base in a Sahara desert town, local media and security officials said. The attack was the first in the town of Tamanrasset, an oasis about 2,000 km (1,240) miles south of the Algerian capital, and underscored mounting instability in the Sahara desert after the conflict in nearby Libya.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attack, but Al-Qaeda’s north African wing, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), has for years been waging an insurgency in Algeria and neighboring countries.

The wounded people were 15 gendarmes, or paramilitary police, five members of the civil protection service and three civilians who were passing when the attack happened, Algeria’s APS state news agency quoted a gendarme official as saying. One of the wounded gendarmes was in serious condition, the official was quoted as saying. The casualties were caused by a Toyota four-wheel drive which exploded after it was driven at the perimeter of the gendarmes’ base at 7:48 a.m. (0648 GMT), according to the online edition of Algeria’s Ennahar newspaper.

Security officials confirmed to Reuters the newspaper’s account of the attack. Security experts say the conflict in Libya which last year forced out leader Muammar Gaddafi has allowed weapons looted from Gaddafi’s arsenals to fall into the hands of insurgents from neighboring countries. This has provided a boost to the operations of AQIM, analysts say, and also helped fuel a separatist rebellion by Tuareg tribesman in Mali, to the south. Tamanrasset is the site of a joint military staff headquarters intended to coordinate anti-insurgency efforts by states in the Sahara desert region.—Reuters

President Ali Abdullah Saleh took hold early last year, weakening already loose central government control over whole swathes of the country.

Yesterday ’s attack in Al-Bayda, which targeted barracks of the Republican Guard forces, came just days after the interior ministry said it had information about an Al-Qaeda plot to blow up eight cars in the capital Sanaa and the port city of Aden.

“The explosion was very loud and took place in Dar al-Nasr, which is a military site of the Republican Guard,” said an opposition website.

“Residents of the town were frightened by the force of the blast, which was felt more than two kilometres away and damaged dozens of neighboring houses and blew their win-

dows out.” In a text message sent to Reuters, Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack it said was revenge for crimes committed by the Republican Guard. There was no way to verify if the text was from the militants but they have used the method to communicate with media in the past.

The United States, wary of Al-Qaeda entrenchment in Yemen, backed a plan brokered by Yemen’s wealthy Gulf Arab neighbors under which Saleh handed over power to his deputy last month and secured himself immunity from prosecution.

Saleh’s opponents accuse him of exaggerating-even encouraging-the threat of militanc y to scare Washington and Riyadh into backing

him as a bulwark against Al-Qaeda and protecting him from reprisals after 33 years in power. The suicide bombing in Mukalla last week coincided with the swearing in of new President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and also targeted the Republican Guard, which is commanded by Saleh’s son. Al Qaeda’s Yemen-based wing claimed responsibility for that attack as well.

On Friday, gunmen opened fire on a US security team as it trained Yemeni soldiers in the south. In the oil-producing Maarib province east of Sanaa, an oil pipeline already idled by a previous attack was targeted again late on Friday, the interior ministry said on its website. An explosion hit the pipeline in the district of Sirwah and one suspect was arrested, it said.—Reuters

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

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

Iran trumps Palestinians as top US-Israel issue WASHINGTON: Peace talks with the Palestinians dominated President Barack Obama’s meeting last year with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but will barely warrant a mention at their White House session Monday or in speeches to a powerful pro-Israeli lobby. Iran is now the issue commanding urgent attention.

The United States, Israel and much of the world are trying to figure out how to deal with Iran and its nuclear program. While all sides insist a resolution to the long-running IsraeliPalestinian conflict is critical to Israel’s security, the Israelis have come to believe that Iran may be on the threshold of developing atomic weapons and is the primary existential threat to the Jewish state.

The Palestinians probably will not get much more than a passing reference by the US and Israeli officials, lawmakers, GOP presidential hopefuls and others at the America-Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual policy conference,

where Obama was scheduled to speak Sunday, a day before Netanyahu.

Nor is the peace process at the top of the agenda for Netanyahu’s meeting with Obama at the Oval Office on Monday and his talks with congressional leaders on Tuesday. But the IsraeliPalestinian conflict “is not going to just go away,” said Maen Rashid Areikat, the Palestinian envoy in Washington. He said Netanyahu “can focus on Iran, but he can only bring peace to his country by making peace with the Palestinians and his Arab neighbors.”

Shifting focus from the seemingly intractable Mideast conflict has political advantages for both Obama and Netanyahu, even if they also don’t see eye to eye on the preferred tactics to prevent Iran from being a nucleararmed state. For one, no politician in an election year has ever suffered from being tough on Iran. Pressing Israel on the need to make concessions to the Palestinians can be a political minefield. That is what happened last year

when Obama declared that the need for a two-state solution was “more urgent than ever.” He challenged Israel to make concessions on borders and security that have hindered an agreement for six decades. The immediate result was public confrontation with Netanyahu, and fodder for a Republican Party eager to cast Obama as a weak partner to Israel.

Israel is an ally whose wishes are key to the Democratic-leaning Jewish vote and to the evangelical Christians who make up a large chunk of the Republican base. A year of balky peace negotiations, an acrimonious Palestinian campaign to win UN recognition and continued Israeli settlement construction in disputed territories have hardly validated Obama’s public call for a speedy resolution.

But as America’s pro-Israel advocates gather again, the call for peace with the Palestinians has succumbed to fever-pitched talk of military action against Iran. Tehran insists its nuclear

program is for peaceful purposes. The US and Israeli leaders’ differences on Iran are significantly narrower, but no less tense. Israel believes the time to strike is before Iran has a nuclear weapon. The US position is to wait until it is certain Iran has one, and allow more time for sanctions to succeed in pressuring Iran back into negotiations.

“Putting the peace process on the back burner has not solved any of the underlying tension and mistrust between the Obama administration and Netanyahu government,” said Haim Malka, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “If anything, tension over the Palestinian issue has been eclipsed by bilateral tension over how to address Iran’s nuclear program.”

In his most expansive remarks on Iran, Obama on Friday appeared to address Netanyahu’ concern that Iran’s uranium enrichment activity be presented as the world’s problem, not just Israel’s, and that US military options

are expressly on the table. In an interview with The Atlantic magazine, the president said he is not bluffing about attacking Iran if it builds a nuclear weapon, while cautioning Israel against a premature attack.

Netanyahu, too, seems to have little to gain from an open clash with Obama now. Should Israel attack Iran, it will count on the United States to offer maximum diplomatic cover. Israel also will need the US for a coordinated strategy in the event of retaliation by Iran or its proxies Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Relegating the peace process to the background is a coup for Netanyahu.

His government has brushed aside American criticism of Jewish settlement expansion in lands the Palestinians want for their future state, and has insisted on Palestinian concessions, notably their endorsement of Israel’s Jewish character, before any talk of granting Palestinian independence. — AP

Egyptian lawmakers clash over writing constitution Debate focuses on Islamists’ influence on crucial document

TRIPOLI: Mohammed Sawan (R) announces the establishment of the new Justice and Construction party in Libya, in the capital Tripoli yesterday. —AFP

Muslim Brother picked to lead new Libya party TRIPOLI: Libyan Islamists and independents have formed a new political party and elected a representative of the Muslim Brotherhood yesterday as its leader after a three-day conference, an AFP reporter said. Mohammed Sawan, an ex-political prisoner under the regime of dead dictator Muammar Gaddafi who outlawed the formation of political parties as an act of treason, was elected Justice and Construction party leader by 51 percent of those present.

“I have real mixed feelings because I was imprisoned under Gaddafi for my attempts to create a political party, and I am grateful to the people here who have placed their trust in me,” Sawan told AFP. The meeting in the capital brought together hundreds of people keen to take part in the launch of the new party.

Votes were taken on a wide range of issues, including the party’s name, by a show of hands.

The party’s program is still under discussion, but Muslim Brothers, Islamists and independents came together for the conference with the shared aim of forming a “national party with an Islamic frame of reference.” “We aim for diversity and a state of law where differences in opinion are respected,” Sawan said. There may be no law governing the formation of political parties in the new Libya, but political associations and coalitions are forming at a rapid pace.

In a country where political organizations of any kind were banned for decades under the iron-fisted rule of Gaddafi, who was toppled and killed in last year’s popular uprising, these are crucial steps on the path to political

development. “Everything about this party is based on the democratic principle,” said Nizar Kawan, one of the conference’s organizers.

The actual process of voting moved some men present to discreet tears. “We have created a new era in Libya by electing a party leader democratically,” said Khalil Sawalim, a UK-based rights activist.

Since the start of the so-called Arab Spring, elections in the region have benefited Islamists, including in Egypt, Libya’s neighbor to the east, and in Tunisia to the west. Similar outcomes are expected in June when the north African nation, which often emphasizes its allMuslim and moderate identity, is due to elect a constituent assembly. “We are all Islamists and we want Libya to be at the summit of developed nations,” Majida Fallah, a party activist, told a jubilant crowd in which dozens of women were present but who still comprised a clear minority.

Sawan said he expected women to play a prominent role in the Justice and Construction party because women already play an active role in civil society and “more than 100 women’s groups” helped put together the three -day event.”We believe women can run in elections and have all their rights,” he said. Abla Zeinab, part of a Tarhunabased women’s association, said the nascent party appealed to her because of the involvement of well-known personalities such as its elected leader. “These people simply convince me,” she said, adding that women across the country have the same rights and responsibilities as men. —AFP

Egypt court clears tycoon of Islam insult CAIRO: A Cairo court yesterday dismissed a complaint against Christian tycoon Naguib Sawaris accused of insulting Islam with a cartoon of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse in conservative Muslim garb, Egypt’s state media reported.

Hardline Islamist lawyer and MP Mamduh Ismail, who filed the complaint against the head of Orascom Telecom, told AFP he would appeal the decision.

Sawiris, also the founder of a liberal party, reposted on Twitter a cartoon of Mickey Mouse wearing a beard and turban and Minnie Mouse in a niqab, the face veil worn by ultra-conservative Muslim women.

The cartoon was a joking reference to what would happen should Islamists, who now control parliament, take over Egypt, but Sawiris was forced to apologise after calls for a boycott of his cell phone service provider Mobinil. The official MENA news agency said the Cairo

misdemeanor court “rejected the complaint” without giving any grounds for the decision. Last week, another court dismissed a similar complaint against Sawaris, saying the plaintiff had no legal standing to petition the court.

The plaintiff was fined 50 Egyptian pounds (about eight dollars) for filing the case. Islamists dominate both houses of Egypt’s parliament following multiphase elections, and the Muslim Brotherhood’s dominant Freedom and Justice Par ty (FJP) has installed its members as speakers of parliament and the senate. A liberal coalition that included Sawiris’s Free Egyptians party won around 15 percent of the vote.

Sawiris, an outspoken liberal, was forced to take a back seat in politics after his involvement was seen as a hindrance to the party he founded, which had to battle accusations that it opposed the inclusion of Islamic law in the constitution. — AFP

CAIRO: Egyptian lawmakers clashed yesterday over who should have the right to draft the country’s constitution, in a heated debate focusing on the influence of Islamists on the crucial document and how religiously conservative Egypt will be in the future. The first meeting of Egypt’s newly-elected 678-member parliament is supposed to decide how to choose the 100 people who will be responsible for writing the country’s first constitution after the overthrow of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak.

The debate centers on how much role conservative Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood will have in writing the document and essentially how Islamic the country will be. The new constitution is expected to curb presidential powers while giving more authority to the parliament, which would be a drastic change of Egypt’s political system. Part of the debate over the constitution is also about the future political role the military, which took power after Mubarak’s fall and pledged to transfer power to an elected president by the end of June.

The political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood along with the ultraconservative Salafis, both of whom fared well in the parliament elections and dominate its two chambers, are arguing that elected parliamentari-

ans must form between 40 and 60 percent of the panel. That would essentially translate into a constitution written by a panel dominated by conservative Islamists. The speaker of the lower house of parliament, who’s affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, tried to reassure liberals and others that they would not be shut out of the decision-making process.

“There will be no exclusions for anybody,” said Saad El-Katatni, who chaired the meeting. He added that the constitution should not be written by “the majority,” but instead by “consensus and partnership ... to create harmony and stability.” But opponents say the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s oldest and most powerful political organization, often speak of consensus and working with others while actually trying to amass power for themselves. Members of its political wing hold just under half of all seats in the 508-seat lower house and 106 of the Shura Council’s 180 elected seats, giving them a powerful voice in the country’s political process. Ultraconservative Islamists known as Salafis also made strong showings in elections for both chambers, finishing second behind the Muslim Brotherhood’s political wing and giving parliament a distinct Islamic character.

The Salafi Nour party representative

Mustafa Khalifa warned the gathering that the parliament majority should not bow to pressures of the minority. “We should not come under pressure and waste the right of the majority by falling in the trap of giving the minority the right to write the constitution,” said Khalifa, whose comments were met by widespread clapping. He said only 40 members of the panel should come from outside the parliament.

Liberal and secular activists, who spearheaded the mass demonstrations that toppled Mubarak last February, fared poorly in voting for the two parliament chambers. They have pushed for the panel that writes the constitution to be made up of no more than 20 percent of parliament lawmakers, something that would likely give liberals and seculars a greater voice in creating the document. Leftist Abu el-Ezz al-Hariri of the Popular Socialist Alliance criticized the whole process and said that the constitution should have come first before elections.

“The constitution should have been the first step to democracy,” he said. Zeid Bahaa Eldeen, of the Egyptian Social Democratic party, said during the meeting that only a quarter of the panel should be allotted to parliamentarians while the rest should be open to “rich and diverse society.” —AP

Turkey compares Syrian conflict to 1990s Balkans ISTANBUL: Turkey said yesterday that the international failure to agree on action over Syria is emboldening the government crackdown that has killed thousands, calling the violence a crime against humanity on the scale of the 1990s bloodshed in the Balkans. Turkey, which shares a border with Syria, and its allies are struggling for ways to pressure Syria into stopping the violence that focused in past weeks on the rebellious central city of Homs, where forces have blocked a Red Cross convoy from delivering badly needed aid to the neighborhood of Baba Amr. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu described the Syrian regime’s actions as a “crime against humanity,” in a remark that dovetailed with a commitment from the European Union on Friday to document war crimes in Syria. But China and Russia have blocked action against Syria at the UN Security Council, and Iran remains a powerful ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad. “No government, no authority, under no circumstances, can endorse such a total massacre of its own people,” Davutoglu said. “The international community must speak louder.”

“The lack of international consensus is giving Syria the courage to continue,” he said. The Syrian uprising started with peaceful demonstrations, but now also consists of armed groups, including army defectors, that are generally outmatched by Syrian forces equipped with tanks and artillery. The revolt has killed more than 7,500 people, according to the most recent UN estimate. Syria describes its opponents as “terrorists,” but the Turkish foreign minister noted how the crackdown had deteriorated from the shooting of civilians at protests to the indiscriminate shelling of neighborhoods. “ The situation in the field seems to resemble Sarajevo, or Srebrenica. This seems to be the way we are heading,” Davutoglu said at a joint news conference with Giulio Terzi, Italy’s foreign minister. “We believe that diplomatic pressure on the Assad regime must be increased,” Terzi said. — AP

ISTANBUL: Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi (L) gives a press conference with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu during the Economics and Politics across Europe and the Mediterranean meeting in Istanbul yesterday. —AFP

IDLIB: A man takes a picture of a portrait of one of three Free Syrian Army fighters killed allegedly by the Syrian Army in Idlib, north Syria yesterday. —AP

Syrian town struggles under siege, awaits attack QUSAIR: When the fighting stops, Qusair feels empty. An odd motorbike rumbles to life and buzzes away. Men sit by shuttered storefronts, talking in hushed voices. A child laughs and ducks into an alley, gravel crackling under her feet. But when the artillery and rifle fire begins, the din of war consumes the town. The men pack up their chairs. The children disappear indoors. Black smoke rises on the horizon.

For nearly six months, Syrian troops and tanks have blockaded this town of about 40,000 people, cutting its normal supplies of food and fuel. Medicine is smuggled in from neighbouring Lebanon, about 12 km (seven miles) to the south. Qusair provides a glimpse of how what began as a peaceful protest movement in Syria against President Bashar al-Assad has turned more violent, sectarian and costly in human terms.

Bread, a Syrian staple, is becoming ever scarcer in Qusair. Heating oil, needed to ward off the winter cold, is even harder to come by. Government offices are shut, paralysing life in a town where many used to work for the state bureaucracy. “You can say in Qusair now, a rich man and a poor man are the same. They eat the same food and wear the same clothes,” said a well-known businessman who gave his name as Doctor Abbas.

“There’s no banking, no salaries. No hospital, no schools. Everything is stopped,” he said, sitting on the low brown cush-

ions of a traditional mafraj sitting room.

The centre of Qusair is largely off-limits to residents. Hundreds of troops have occupied the main hospital. Snipers are perched on nearby schools, shooting at anyone who wanders too close.

Checkpoints manned by soldiers and tanks ring the town.

Each morning, men line up outside the only bakery still open, huddling under a concrete overhang to escape winter sleet. “We can’t live in these jackets. What are these children going to do?” a 25-year-old car mechanic who gave his name as Wael said, pointing to children in thick wool caps, hands thrust into their coats. “Bashar al-Assad took the petrol and diesel and put in the tanks.

None of it comes to the people.” An older man interrupted him. “I had to burn my old boots in the stove to keep my children warm!” he shouted.

Down the street, most shops were closed. There was nothing much to sell and few people had money to spend.

Abu Ali, a shopkeeper, said the army blockade had cut him off from local suppliers, sending sent his costs soaring.

Rice now costs 75 Syrian pounds a kilo, up from 50.

Prices of goods from lentils to baby diapers have risen at a similar rate.

“Everything used to be made around here,” he said, gesturing around his dark store stocked with biscuits, canned tuna and packets of noodles. — Reuters

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

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

French minister under fire again for ‘racist’ remarks PARIS: French Interior Minister Claude Gueant, a hardliner close to President Nicolas Sarkozy, came under fire again yesterday for the second time in a month for comments deemed racist by liberals. At a meeting late Friday in support of Sarkozy’s bid for a new term as president, Gueant condemned proposals by the president’s socialist opponent Francois Hollande to give the vote in local elections to immigrants. “We don’t want foreign town councillors making halal food obliga-

tory in canteen meals .... or regulating mixed bathing in swimming pools,” Gueant told an audience near Nancy in eastern France. Hollande’s spokesman Manuel Valls yesterday called the comments “nauseating”, while centrist candidate Francois Bayrou accused Gueant of scaremongering. The immigrant aid group France Terre d’Asile condemned “the pathetic quest of a minister who forgets his official duties in the hope of adding the votes of a few extremists to

his side.” Gueant, who is responsible for immigration, sparked a storm a month before when he told a gathering of right-wing students that “for us all civilisations are not of equal value.”

“Those which defend humanity seem to us to be more advanced than those that do not,” he said, stressing the need to “protect our civilisation”. The left denounced his speech as an attempt by President Nicolas Sarkozy to woo supporters of the far-right National Front (FN) ahead of the two-

round presidential election in April and May. Gueant has repeatedly linked immigration with crime in France and in January claimed the delinquency rate among immigrants was “two to three times higher” than the national average. Last April, he declared that an increase in the number of Muslim faithful in France posed a “problem”.

He has also said that he wants to reduce the number of legal immigrants entering France, including

those coming to work legally or to join their families. His latest comments came as the FN’s presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is credited with between 16 and 20 percent support in opinion polls.

An aide to Gueant said yesterday that he had said virtually the same thing in the French Senate last year in a debate on an unsuccessful socialist bill for widening the local vote to foreigners apart from EU expatriates, who already have the right.—AFP

Putin poised to regain Kremlin; protests likely But country far more willing to challenge him

GROSSETO: Costa Cruises lawyer Marco De Luca arrives in Grosseto, Italy yesterday. The Italian prosecutor for the investigation of the Costa Concordia shipwreck says it could take experts three months to analyze the cruise ship’s voice recorder. —AP

Concordia voice recorder analysis may take months GROSSETO: The first evidence hearing into the Jan 13 shipwreck of the luxury cruise liner Costa Concordia began yesterday, with so many people trying to cram into an Italian courthouse it had to be moved to a nearby theater. Lawyers for survivors, the dead and the missing, and some passengers themselves, crowded the closed-door hearing in the Tuscan city of Grosseto where the probe of the captain, several other ship officers and officials of the Costa Crociere Spa cruise company is being conducted.

Prosecutor Francesco Verusio said he expected the daylong hearing to be taken up by procedural battles, as the court formally assigns experts to analyze technical data from the ship’s recorder and other evidence, including crucial recordings of conversations in the ship’s command room. Lawyers for the captain, Francesco Schettino - who is accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship - slipped into the theater through a backdoor. Schettino, who is under house arrest in his home near Naples, denies wrongdoing, and was not in attendance.

Findings would be used to help a judge determine if a trial is warranted.

Thirty-two people either died or are missing and presumed dead after the Concordia rammed into a reef near the island of Giglio during dinner hour on the Mediterranean cruise. The ship - with 4,200 passengers and crew aboard quickly took on water after a rocky reef gashed a hole in the side of its hull, then capsized near Giglio’s port. Prosecutors say the captain steered the ship too close to the island to show off the vessel to islanders in a publicity stunt. Schettino has claimed that the reef, which appears on many tourist maps, wasn’t on his navigational charts.

Italian law allows injured parties to attach civil lawsuits to criminal cases, and they or their lawyers are permitted to attend hearings closed to the general public and media. Among those entering the theater was survivor Sergio Ammarota, who said he was curious to see what would be learned when the socalled “black box ” data recorder is opened and analyzed.

Ammarota said he wanted to know “exactly how it (the crash) happened and why the captain ... could have carried out such a maneuver.” Schettino is accused of abandoning ship while many passengers and crew were still aboard, and struggling to escape. Some of the passengers

and crew jumped into the water and swam to shore after the Concordia’s tilt made it impossible to lower all the life boats. But it could be months before results of analyses, including of the recorded conversations in the command room, are known, cautioned Prosecutor Verusio. He told state radio it could be “a month, two months, three months,” before the findings are ready.

The conversations among Schettino and his officers, and with Italian Coast Guard officials, are crucial in determining what happened, and why the captain initially told the Coast Guard that there was a blackout onboard and didn’t mention the collision. Some conversations have already been made public, including one, played over and over again on Italian TV, in which a Coast Guard official based in Livorno, on the mainland, repeatedly orders a reluctant Schettino to get back on his ship and direct the evacuation and rescue efforts.

Among those present pressing lawsuits at the hearing yesterday was the Italian cruise company itself. “We are an injured party, we lost a ship,” Marco De Luca, a lawyer for Costa Crociere said.

Participants acknowledged as they arrived that the search for truth and justice will be a long one.” Today is just the beginning,” said Francesco Compagna, a lawyer for some passengers and an injured Russian crew member, Irina Nazarova.

“It is the first day. We don’t expect quick things but we think that the investigation must follow in all the directions.”

De Luca added that the legal team is “working hard to show that it was not the first time that the Costa boats used to go very close to the island.” He claimed to have documents to indicate the Concordia, on a previous voyage on the same route in August, was very close to the port. Costa Crociere officials have acknowledged one previous close maneuver, but denied their ships regularly steered close to shore in publicity-drawing maneuvers. Among those attending were relatives of some of the missing in the accident, including a French woman, Mylene Litzler. Costa Crociere again came under the spotlight earlier in the week when a fire broke out in the generator room of the Costa Allegra, leaving the cruise ship without power and adrift in waters known to be prowled by pirates in the Indian Ocean. The ship arrived in the Seychelles after three days under tow.

There were no injuries. — AP

MOSCOW: Vladimir Putin appears all but certain to return to the Kremlin in today’s Russian presidential election, but he’ll find himself in charge of a country far more willing to challenge him. An unprecedented wave of massive protests showed a substantial portion of the population was fed up with the political entrenchment engineered by Putin since he first became president in 2000, and police are already preparing for the possibility of postelection unrest in Moscow.

The Putin system of so-called “managed democracy” put liberal opposition forces under consistent pressure, allowing them only rare permission to hold small rallies and bringing squads of police to harshly break up any unauthorized gathering. The Kremlin gained control of all major television channels and their news reports turned into uncritical recitations of Putin’s programs, often augmented with admiring footage of him riding horseback, scuba-diving or petting wild animals.

But the protests, sparked by allegations of widespread fraud in December ’s parliamentary elections, forced notable changes. Authorities gave permission, however grudgingly, for opposition rallies that attracted vast crowds, upward of 50,000 in Moscow. State television gave them substantial and mostly neutral coverage.

Whether that tolerance will last after the election is unclear.

According to the most recent survey by the independent Levada Center polling agency, Putin is on track to win the election with around two-thirds of the vote against four challengers - enough to bolster his irritable denunciations of the protesters as a small, coddled minority. Putin has repeatedly alleged that the protesters are stooges of the United States and Western European countries that want to undermine Russia and he has insulted them, saying for instance that their white ribbon emblems looked like condoms.

In the past week, the rhetoric became even harsher as Putin publicly suggested the opposition was willing to kill one of its own figures in order to stoke outrage against him. That claim came on the heels of state televi-

MOSCOW: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin delivers a speech at an award presentation ceremony for achievements in culture in Moscow yesterday.—AFP sion reports that a plot by doubt. “Cameras cannot capture successor Dmitry Medvedev, who Chechen rebels to kill Putin right all the details of the voting spoke often of reforms but after the election had been foiled. process, in particular during accomplished little. Putin has Some of Putin’s election rivals dis- counting,” the election observa- promised to appoint Medvedev missed the report as a campaign tion mission of the Organization prime minister if he wins the trick to boost support for him. for Security and Cooperation in presidency in order to pursue his Protests after the election appear Europe noted in a report on elec- reform ideas, but many regard certain. “People in Russia are not tion preparations.

Medvedev as lacking the hardgoing to recognize Putin’s victory Along with the OSCE mission, edge political skills to be an effecin the first round,” Alexei Navalny, tens of thousands of Russians tive reformer. one of the loosely knit opposi- have volunteered to be election In addition, appointing him tion’s most charismatic figures, observers, receiving training for premier could anger the opposideclared flatly last week. activist groups on how to recog- tion by echoing an earlier humiliAnother prominent protest fig- nize vote-rigging and record and ation - the day in September ure, Ilya Ponomarev, a parliament report violations. In the when Putin and Medvedev told member from the opposition A December election, observers an obedient convention of the Just Russia party, said the protest- from the non-governmental ruling United Russia party that ers’ mood has become more truc- group Golos reported being Medvedev would step aside from ulent as authorities consistently threatened and kicked out of seeking a second term in order to brushed off their initial demands polling stations. Hostility to the allow Putin to run. The decision, for nullifying the results of the group among officials remains; in done without public input and December parliament election. “It January, the head of the Federal presented as a fait-accompli, was has evolved from ‘we demand a Security Ser vice in the Komi widely seen as cynical and antirerun’ to ‘go to hell’,” he said. The republic called the group democratic - even an analyst Interior Ministry is calling in 6,000 “extremists” inspired from abroad. close to the Kremlin called it a police reinforcements to the capi- “ The Russian government has “filthy deal” - and contributed tal from other regions, the state done the right thing by allowing strongly to the growing disillunews agency ITAR-Tass reported unprecedented public protests sion with Putin. Despite that disFriday. and proposing some reforms,” may, none of the other candiWhether today’s vote is seen Hugh Williamson of the interna- dates have been able to marshal as honest is likely to be key; a tional watchdog Human Rights a serious challenge to Putin. The count without reports of wide Watch said in a statement. But Communist Party candidate, violations could deprive protest- “despite the positive develop- Gennady Zyuganov, gets support ers of a galvanizing issue. As the ments, the climate for civil society of about 15 percent, according to first protests roiled the country, is as hostile as it ever was.” the Levada center survey, which Putin announced an expensive In his past four years as prime claimed accuracy within 3.4 perprogram to place two web cam- minister - a sojourn he took centage points. The others eras in each of the countr y ’s because of a constitutional limit nationalist firebrand Vladimir 90,000 polling stations, one of two consecutive presidential Zhirinovsky, Sergei Mironov of A showing a general view and one terms - the steely Putin remained Just Russia and billionaire Mikhail focusing on the ballot box. Russia’s dominant political figure, Prokhorov - were in single digHowever, their effectiveness is in overshadowing mild-mannered its.—AP

Three suspected Nigerian Islamists killed in explosion

German minister calls for elected European president BERLIN: Germany’s foreign minister called for a European Union president directly elected by the bloc’s voters and an EU constitution ratified by referendum, in an interview to be published today. “We need political figures with whom people throughout Europe can identify,” Guido Westerwelle told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

“That’s why I’m in favor of a direct election of the European president, who will have to campaign across Europe beforehand,” he said, according to extracts from the interview released yesterday. “It could give a new impetus to Europe.” Westerwelle added, “Europe needs a real constitution on which citi-

zens would decide by referendum”, and suggested a two-chamber European parliament comprising elected representatives and government leaders respectively. The German minister was vague about the timing for such a move, but said, “If we want to do something in the next few years we will have to start now.”

The EU’s constitution is enshrined in the Lisbon Treaty and other pacts, while the president is chosen by member states.

EU leaders on Thursday reappointed Belgium’s Herman Van Rompuy as president for a second 30-month term as well as appointing him chairman of the eurozone. There were no rival candidates for either post.—AFP

MOGADISHU: Somali soldiers help a wounded colleague yesterday after African Union-backed Somali government troops attacked and seized positions of hardline Shebab insurgents in the war-torn capital Mogadishu. —AFP

KANO: Three suspected members of the Boko Haram sect were killed while assembling bombs in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri, considered the group’s stronghold, an army spokesman said yesterday. The explosion in the Kaleri suburb of the northern city on Friday destroyed a house and dismembered the three Islamist sect members, Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Mohammed of the special military unit in Maiduguri said.

“We found some assembled IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and a large amount of bomb-making components. It is certain the victims of the explosion were Boko Haram members who got killed while coupling IEDs in an accidental explosion,” Mohammed said. Other items recovered at the scene included remote control devices, wrist watch timers, metallic drums and copies of the Koran, he said.

The sect converts homes into bomb-making factories for attacks, the spokesman said. As well as in Maiduguri, there have been accidental and fatal explosions in suspected Boko Haram bomb-making factories in the northern cities of Damaturu and Kaduna in recent months. Gunmen shot dead a soldier Friday in the northern city of Kano where members of Boko Haram recently killed 185 people in coordinated bomb and gun attacks, residents said. Violence blamed on the sect, whose goals remain largely unclear, has since mid-2009 claimed more than 1,000 lives, including more than 300 this year alone, according to AFP and rights groups.— AFP

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

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

N Korea urges US to halt military drills in S Korea PYONGYANG: A spokesman for North Korea’s powerful National Defense Commission said yesterday that the United States must halt joint military drills under way in South Korea if it is serious about peace on the Korean peninsula. Military officials convened a rare news conference at the People’s Palace of Culture in Pyongyang to denounce the joint US -South Korean war games as a threat to peace at a time when US and North Korean officials are holding talks aimed at improving relations.

The US and North Korea announced earlier in the week that Washington had agreed to provide 240,000 metric tons of food aid in exchange for a freeze of North Korea’s nuclear activities. A US envoy will meet with North Korean officials in Beijing on Wednesday

to discuss the distribution of food, the State Department said. The deal is seen as a first step toward resuming six-nation nuclear disarmament-foraid talks suspended in 2009, and a tentative move toward improving the tense relationship between the wartime foes.

“Talks and military exercises are contradictory,” Maj. Gen. Kwak Chol Hui, deputy director of the National Defense Commission’s Policy Department, told the news conference in response to a question from The Associated Press. “If the US really stands for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, it should stop the aggression-oriented war rehearsal and revise the hostile policy toward the DPRK.” DPRK stands for North Korea’s formal name, the

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The United States and South Korea say the military drills, which began Monday in the South and are to last through April, are routine exercises. The US keeps more than 28,000 troops in South Korea as a legacy of the threeyear Korean War of the 1950s, which ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. North Korea sees the drills as preparation for war, and considers it an additional affront that they are being staged during the semiofficial 100-day mourning period following late leader Kim Jong Il’s December death.

The Supreme Command of the Korean People’s Army threatened “a merciless sacred war” against South Korea in a statement provided to the AP on Friday. Across Pyongyang, vans mounted with speak-

ers drove through the streets broadcasting the statement denouncing South Korea. The Korean Central News Agency reported that 1.7 million young North Koreans signed up for military service in a 24-hour period and that hundreds of thousands signed petitions calling for revenge. The figures could not be confirmed independently. Meanwhile, Kim Jong Il’s successor, son Kim Jong Un, visited the Strategic Rocket Force Command of the Korean People’s Army, state media reported yesterday.

Kwak accused the US of speaking of peace while preparing for war. “We will not be fooled by the US ‘ two-faced tactic of advocating dialogue on the surface, while aiming at the military overthrow of its dialogue partner from behind,” he said.— AP

Indians vote in final leg of key state elections Results of polls to be announced on Tuesday

YAMAMOTO: This photo taken on February 09, 2012 shows Buddhist monk Ryushin Miyabe offering prayers in front of urns along with late people’s ashes and bones by the March 11 quake-tsunami disaster at the Myokoin temple in Yamamoto, a small town on Japan’s tsunami-wrecked coast. —AFP

Japanese monk guards remains of tsunami unknown YAMAMOTO: Hundreds of the 19,000 people killed by Japan’s horrific quaketsunami remain unmourned, their bodies never claimed because there is no one left to notice they have gone. But one Buddhist monk has lovingly stored the ashes and bones of some of those whose names no one knows in the hope that one day they can be reunited with their families.

Every day for the last year, Ryushin Miyabe has offered prayers and lit incense for the souls in his care at the Myokoin temple in Yamamoto, a small town on Japan’s tsunami-wrecked coast.

In late January he was finally able to hand over the remains of a five-year-old boy, known until then only as “No. 906”, when the child’s grandmother was identified through DNA tests.

The young corpse had been cremated in June after coastguards found it floating in the Pacific without any belongings, washed out to sea by the tsunami of March 11 that tore into the coast. The grandmother told Miyabe that the boy’s mother had also been killed in the catastrophe and she had been searching for her grandson’s body for nearly a year.

With the boy’s remains back with a family member, his spirit can pass into the next world, says Miyabe. “I guess the boy has met his mother in heaven by now,” he said. “She must have told him: ‘Hey, you are late!’”

Buddhist tradition dictates that a body is cremated and the ashes are placed in an urn, along with the bones that remain. The urn is put in a family grave, which Japanese traditionally believe to be the gateway to the next world, one through which souls can return every year during the summer festival of Obon. The grave must be cared for by surviving family, who in return, expect spiritual protection from their deceased relatives.

Nationwide, 500 bodies recovered after the huge waves swept ashore have still not been identified, and more than 3,000 of those who died have never been found. At one point Miyabe was looking after the ashes of 30 people, their

remains entrusted to him by authorities overwhelmed by the number of people who perished. After the five-year-old was reunited with his family, Miyabe’s temple has only one small jar left.

“I will continue holding vigil, praying for the earliest return of the ashes to the victim’s family who must be desperately trying to find the body,” Miyabe said. The majority of those who died in the tsunami were identified before being cremated and their families wanted full funeral rites. Mortician Ruiko Sasahara prepared more than 300 often badly damaged bodies at makeshift morgues in tsunamihit coastal towns, to allow relatives to bid their farewells. As well as making funeral arrangements, morticians in Japan clean, dress and apply cosmetics to bodies in an effort to make them look as much like they did when they were alive as possible.

“My job is to help prepare the dead for their departure to heaven,” Sasahara said at her office in Kitakami, 60 kilometres (35 miles) from the tsunami coast.

The practice, which is fading in bigger cities but remains fairly common in rural areas, came to worldwide attention in 2009 when “Departures” won an Oscar for its depiction of an out of work cellist who becomes a mortician in small town Japan.

Many of the bodies that Sasahara was called upon to patch up were in bad condition. “I’d never seen bodies in such a state-many of them smelled of decay, there was a lot of maggot damage and some of them were partial skeletons,” she said. But she knew that families desperately needed to be able to say their goodbyes and even resorted to using clippings from her own hair to remake eyelashes and eyebrows.

Sasahara said the process of repair is vital to protect the dignity of the dead and to ease the pain of those left behind.

“Many of the bereaved blame themselves for failing to save their loved ones,” she said. “When they once again see the smile of the person they lost, I think many people can feel they have been forgiven.” — AFP

NEW DELHI: India’s most populous state along with one of its smallest went to the polls yesterday in the last leg of local elections that could influence who rules the world’s largest democracy in two years. Voters in vast northern Uttar Pradesh and tiny coastal Goa cast ballots in the elections seen as an important test of popularity for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s scandaltainted Congress party-led national government.

Results of the polls staged over five weeks in five states will be announced next Tuesday and analysts are watching to see whether the embattled Congress fares well enough to remain the powerbroker in the 2014 general elections. The Uttar Pradesh vote is the most important of the five elections which also have been held in the restive state of Manipur, the wheat-bowl heartland of Punjab and the mountainous region of Uttarakhand.

Rahul Gandhi, scion of a family which has dominated post-independence Indian politics, has spearheaded campaigning for the secular left-leaning Congress party in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh. The 41-year-old is widely viewed as a prime minister-in-waiting, but he faces a hard task in resurrecting Congress’s fortunes in a state where the party has been out of power for 22 years and was thrashed in the last elections in 2007. Arrayed against him in the vast, underdeveloped state of 200 million people is the mercurial Chief Minister Mayawati, a low-caste populist who commands a huge following from those at the bottom of India’s strict social ladder.

Gandhi has been accompanied on the hustings by his mother, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and his charismatic sister, Priyanka, who has opted out of seeking office but whose natural affinity with voters makes her a strong campaigner. Rahul Gandhi has made it his key goal to substantially raise Congress’s seat tally from the just 22 out of 403 it won in the last election in Uttar

Pradesh. “If Congress does well in Uttar Pradesh, the clamour for transition (from Singh to Rahul Gandhi) will upgrade into an unmanageable uproar,” veteran political commentator M.J. Akbar said. “It could become almost embarrassing for Prime Minister Singh to continue.” Gandhi has painted Mayawati’s government as a corrupt “money-eating elephant”-an elephant is her party’s symbol-while Mayawati is counting on a booming rural economy to return her to power.

The main contest in Uttar Pradesh is between Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party, another regional caste -based group the Samajwadi Party, Congress and the Hindu

MORADABAD: Indian voters stand in a queue to cast their votes at a polling station near Moradabad, about 158 kilometers (99 miles) from New Delhi, India yesterday.—AP

Afghanistan army says Taleban infiltration very sophisticated KABUL: The Taleban have a sophisticated system in place to infiltrate Afghanistan’s security forces and vetting of recruits must be severely tightened, an Afghan army general said yesterday. Infiltration has come under sharper focus because of a string of fatal attacks by Afghan security forces on US soldiers since the burning of copies of the Muslim holy book at a NATO base last month ignited widespread protests.

“Placing the rogues inside the army is wellplanned by the enemies. The Taleban give them special training,” General Abdul Hameed, top army commander for the southern region of Afghanistan, told Reuters by telephone. “We must enhance intelligence gathering on the movements of recruits, tap their cellphones and we must find out who they are in contact with outside the army.”

Two US soldiers were shot and killed on Thursday in an attack involving at least one Afghan believed to be a soldier and a civilian, Western and Afghan officials said. The killings at a base in Kandahar in southern Afghanistan came less than a week after two senior US officers were gunned down in the Afghan Interior Ministry by what Afghan security officials say was a police intelligence officer.

About 70 members of the NATO-led force were killed in 42 insider attacks from May 2007 through the end of January this year. These attacks have become more frequent as the United States has sent tens of thousands of more soldiers to Afghanistan as part of a surge

to fight in Taleban strongholds. Some of these incidents have been carried out by Afghan security forces reacting to the recent Koran burning, some have been due to private grievances and others have been carried out by Taleban insurgents who infiltrated the security forces. The killings in the Interior Ministry stunned NATO and cast doubt on its strategy of replacing large combat units with advisers as it tries to wind down the war, now in its 11th year. The Taleban claimed responsibility for the double murder but there has been no independent confirmation of that. Such attacks cast doubt on the effectiveness of Afghan government forces, which will be tasked with taking over security in one of the world’s most unstable countries once foreign combat troops head home at the end of 2014.

The Taleban have proven remarkably resilient in the face of far superior Western firepower.

But poor management of the recruiting process for the army and police has also given them an opportunity to infiltrate.

“One of the reasons enemies infiltrated inside the army is because they are not properly identified when they are enrolled,” said Hameed. “The procedure is that new recruits must present birth certificate or any other documents to prove their identity but many present fake documents or don’t have any.” A Ministry of Defence official said the large size of the Afghan army and policeabout 250,000 — made it difficult to stop infiltration. —Reuters

India rejects report of US troops on its soil NEW DELHI: India has denied as “factually incorrect” a report that US special forces were stationed in the country as part of counter-terrorism cooperation. Media reports quoted top Pentagon commander Admiral Robert Willard as telling a Congressional hearing on Thursday that US special forces teams were stationed in five South Asian countries, including India and Sri Lanka.

“The report is factually incorrect in so far as the reference to India is concerned,” Indian defence ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar said in a statement late on Friday. “US special forces teams have never been stationed in India in the past, nor are such teams stationed in the country presently,” Kar added.

The two democracies, however, have a regular military exchange program with cross visits for training and joint drills by soldiers of one country to another. In Colombo, the US embassy yesterday denied stationing special forces in Sri Lanka. “References in the press to US special forces being stationed in Sri Lanka are misleading,” the embassy said in a statement.

However, it said members of the US military were assigned to work in the embassy in Colombo “as part of the bilateral engagement between the United States and Sri Lanka.”

The US admiral had been quoted as saying that the move to station US forces in the South Asian countries was part of the counter-terrorism cooperation with these nations. — AFP

nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. Uttar Pradesh will send 80 members to parliament in the next national elections-the single largest bloc.

Bookies in Uttar Pradesh reported odds were in favour of the opposition Samajwadi Party taking power in the state, backed by Congress and another regional party, according to India’s Mail Today newspaper. A poor performance by Congress could backfire on Gandhi’s fortunes as well as on Prime Minister Singh. Singh’s ruling coalition has been assailed by a string of corruption accusations over the cut-rate sale of telecom licences in 2008 to the graft-plagued 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games. — AFP

HERAT: Captured Taleban fighters are presented to the media in Herat yesterday. Herat security officials claim to have arrested Taleban governor of Kushk district in Herat province. —AFP

China to promote cultural identity to Taiwan’s youth BEIJING: A senior Chinese official pledged yesterday to reach out to the youth of Taiwan to get them to identify more closely with China, as Beijing frets about pro-independence sentiment on the selfruled democratic island it claims as its own. The comments by Jia Qinglin, the Communist Party’s fourth-ranked leader, underscore China’s continuing fears about the future of the island which Beijing has vowed to bring under its control, with the use of force, if necessary.

China will pursue “cultural exchanges, with the goal of ... getting the people of Taiwan, especially young people, to identify more closely with the Chinese nation and culture”, Jia told the opening of the annual full session of a largely ceremonial advisory body to parliament which he heads. China has been using cultural exchanges in the areas of art, opera and religion among others to achieve this goal, Jia said. In doing so, China has “enhanced the sense of identification of people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits with Chinese culture and the Chinese nation”, he added.

China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since defeated Nationalist forces fled to the island at the end of a civil war with the Communists in 1949.

Tensions have eased over the last three decades with trade, investment and tourism booming. Yet since democratic reforms began in Taiwan in the 1980s, the island’s once suppressed native culture and languages have flourished, especially during the 2000-2008 presidency of Chen Shui-bian and his pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party.

The DPP sought to de-emphasize Taiwan’s cultural and historical links with China by promoting the teaching of Taiwan history rather than Chinese history in schools and supporting the public use of dialects rather than the official language Mandarin.

Such moves riled Beijing, which viewed them as part of the DPP’s efforts to promote Taiwan’s formal independence. China maintains Taiwan is merely a renegade Chinese province with no right to nationhood.

However, surveys in Taiwan increasingly show people identify themselves as Taiwanese rather than Chinese.

While the pro-China Ma Ying-jeou won the presidency in 2008 and again this year, China still looks with suspicion at Taiwan’s vibrant democracy and pride in its distinct identity. But Jia said China was committed to developing peaceful relations with Taiwan. “We will firmly grasp the theme of peaceful development of relations across the Taiwan Strait ... and constantly strengthen the political, economic and cultural foundation and public support for the peaceful development of cross-Strait ties.”— Reuters

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

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

Afghans won’t accept US justice for holy Quran blunder KABUL: Afghans will never accept US justice for five American soldiers involved in burning copies of the holy Quran, and could rise up in a “storm of fury” if there is no public trial, a senior cleric said yesterday. The burning of holy Quran at a NATO air base has incensed the Muslim nation and sparked protests, complicating efforts by the United States to forge a longterm security pact with Afghanistan ahead of an end-2014 foreign combat troop pullout.

“The military leaders who ordered

the burning and the offenders should both be tried and punished ... This evil crime has been done inside Afghanistan so the punishment must be according to the country’s law,” Qazi Nazir Ahmad Hanafi, head of an Afghan group comprising clerics and parliamentarians investigating the incident, told Reuters.

“Court martial or any punishment within the circle of US military law will never be accepted ... If our demands are disregarded then a storm of fury will rise and wash away the Americans.”

Protests and condemnation erupted

last month after Afghan workers found charred copies of the Koran at the Bagram base near Kabul. There are three on-going inquiries into the event. A joint investigation, conducted by US military officials and members of Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government, has concluded that five US soldiers were involved, officials said on condition of anonymity on Friday.

US President Barack Obama and other US officials have apologized over the burnings. Muslims consider the Koran the literal word of God and treat each

book with deep reverence. The Taleban movement has urged Afghans to target foreign military bases and kill Westerners in retaliation. The furor came as NATO officials prepare for a summit in Chicago in May, which is expected to shed light on the West’s course out of Afghanistan after more than 10 years of war.

The holy Quran incident is only the latest public relations nightmare for the Pentagon in Afghanistan. The burnings have been a setback to the Western campaign to win over Afghans in order

to weaken the Taleban and could have far-reaching effects for US policy ahead of an exit of most foreign combat troops by the end of 2014.

Afghan parliamentarian Mullah Tarakhil, who is also part of the group investigating the incident, said that delaying the trial and sentencing could create further instability. He said 400 copies of the holy Quran were burned.”We want an immediate punishment of the offenders so we can heal the wounds of the people hurt by the ignorant Americans,” he said. —Reuters

Thousands told to evacuate as heavy rainfall hit Australia 75 percent of state affected by flooding

BEIJING: Hostesses working for hotels serving delegates of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) pose for photos outside the Great Hall of the People where the opening session of CPPCC is held in Beijing, China yesterday. —AP

Chinese village gets rare taste of democracy WUKAN: A Chinese village that rebelled against corrupt Communist leaders went to the polls yesterday in a contested election seen as a landmark for those seeking more democracy in the one-party state. The vote for the committee governing Wukan went ahead with official approval after a long campaign by local people to end what they say was years of abuse of power by their leaders.

Although village elections are common in China’s rural areas, candidates are typically put forward by authorities and often run unopposed, unlike the poll in Wukan, in which 21 contenders stood for seven committee slots.

The vote came months after residents of Wukan, in the southern province of Guangdong, rose up against authorities in a bold revolt, driving out the local officials they said had been stealing their land for years. After a tense stand-off with police in December that lasted over a week, authorities in Guangdong, which borders China’s semi-autonomous region of Hong Kong, granted villagers rare concessions, including pledges to hold free polls.

A carnival atmosphere prevailed in Wukan yesterday with mothers carrying their babies and elderly women tottering to the ballot box to cast their votes.

Villagers formed long lines outside makeshift voting booths in the playground of a local school to write up to seven names on a paper slip before placing it in a metal box.

“They’ve given us a democratic election, I’m so happy,” villager Zhang Bingchang said as he waited to vote. At the end of the election, organisers announced more than 6,800 peopleover 81 percent of registered voterswent to the polls and volunteers began the arduous task of counting ballots, with results expected later yesterday.

They put large orange boards up against the walls of the school, and marked each vote with a small line under the name of

the chosen candidate, occasionally calling for more volunteers to help out as villagers looked on.

Some analysts say the handling of the incident could be a model for how the government can manage local disputes.

Wang Yukai, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance which trains civil servants, said Wukan offered a new possibility for social management. “By channeling rather than checking, a mass outcry could be pacified,” Wang told state media last month. But other analysts dismiss the Wukan outcome as a one-off incident which occurred at a time Guangdong’s head Wang Yang is seeking to raise his profile, as he jockeys to ascend to China’s top decision-making body.

Protests over land grabs in other parts of China, including one in the eastern province of Zhejiang last month, have been meet with detentions of villagers and crackdowns on contacting the media. Villagers in China are by law allowed to vote for a committee to represent them, but many complain of fraud and lack of competition in polls that are often manipulated. Wukan’s leaders had held power for decades without being challenged, and residents say they never allowed village polls to go ahead openly, instead selecting members behind closed doors.

“It’s my first time voting and I don’t understand the whole process of elections. But I hope they (those elected) will make efforts to sort out the land issue and corruption,” said voter Huang Delian. To illustrate the open nature of the polls, organizers showed an empty ballot box to residents before voting began to allay any rigging concerns and pledged “fairness and transparency” through loudspeakers.

The government has struggled to balance its autocratic rule with the aspirations of its increasingly wealthy people, with calls for democratic change snuffed out and activists detained. — AFP

Japan PM: No individual to blame for Fukushima TOKYO: No individual can be held responsible for the nuclear meltdowns at Fukushima, Japan’s prime minister said yesterday, insisting everyone had to “share the pain”. Yoshihiko Noda told foreign journalists in Tokyo that the Japanese establishment had been taken in by the “myth of safety” around nuclear power and was unprepared for a disaster on the scale of last March’s accident.

A week ahead of the anniversary of the disaster, the premier swatted away a question over criminal responsibility for meltdowns that forced tens of thousands of people from their homes and polluted the land and sea. “Of course, the primary responsibility under Japanese law rests with the operator” of the stricken plant, Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), Noda said.

“But the government as well as operators and academia were steeped too deeply in the safety myth and I think that is what we can conclude. “Rather than blaming any individual person I believe everyone has to share the pain of responsibility and learn this lesson.”

Noda’s comments come just days after an independent investigation panel revealed the president of TEPCO had wanted to abandon the plant in the days after the tsunami swamped its reactor cooling systems. A report compiled by private thinktank Rebuild Japan Initiative

Foundation said it was only threats by then prime minister Naoto Kan that had prevented TEPCO from leaving the plant to its fate as the accident spiralled out of control. Noda told reporters lessons had been and were still being learned from Fukushima, including “don’t install power sources outside which are likely to be hit by a tsunami”.

All but two of Japan’s 54 nuclear reactors are presently offline, with local communities unwilling to allow them to restart amid a public backlash over the safety of a once-trusted technology.

Noda said electricity-hungr y Japan would diversify its power sources, but stopped short of pledging to abandon atomic energy. “We have to grow out of our dependence on nuclear and we have to establish in the medium to longer term a society that does not have to rely on nuclear power generation,” he said.

“We need to think about the best mix of energy that will give a sense of reassurance to the Japanese people. Some time in the middle of this year we would like to set the direction for this strategy.”

The prime minister, who came to power almost exactly six months ago, said a year on from the tsunami that claimed 19,000 lives and left hundreds of thousands of people homeless, progress in righting Japan was being made. — AFP

SYDNEY: Thousands of Australians were yesterday ordered to evacuate their homes in Sydney’s northwest and elsewhere in New South Wales state as heavy rainfall flooded rivers and waterways. State Emergency Service Commissioner Murray Kear said that 3,500 people were subject to evacuation orders as 75 percent of the state was affected by flooding. The swollen Hawkesbury-Nepean was threatening areas on Sydney’s semi-rural northwestern outskirts near the town of Richmond, with several towns, caravan parks and low-lying homes evacuated.

“This is a moderate flood but it’s unusual because we haven’t seen water in this river system in a while,” Kear said of the waters, which have swamped bridges and closed roads. Days of heavy rain after a damp summer have seen Sydney’s Warragamba Dam, the main source of the city’s drinking water, reach capacity for the first time in 14 yearscausing the water to flow over its spillways Friday.

Authorities said the rainband stretching across the southern half of New South Wales has produced up to 200 millimetres (eight inches) of rain over a three-day period and the downpour would continue over the weekend. Kear said people needed to be prepared for flash flooding, with the prospect of a further 200 millimetres of rain over the next two days.

“This could lead to homes being isolated or inundated by water,” he said. Across New South Wales, some 2,300 people had been cut off by the surging torrents and more than 1,500 evacuated from areas south of Sydney

and from towns near the national capital Canberra due to rising flood levels. Kear said no homes had been inundated in the past 24 hours, but he said there had been more than 40 flood rescues-including saving people trapped in cars-and warned people against attempting to drive through floodwaters.

Meanwhile the southern state of Victoria

SYDNEY: State emergency workers standing on a bridge in the Sydney suburb of Windsor watch rising waters as it covers a walkway under the Windsor Bridge on the Hawkesbury River after the flood gate of the Warragamba Dam were opened in Sydney, Australia yesterday. —AP

Suu Kyi feels ill at campaign rally MANDALAY: Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi consulted with a doctor at a large campaign rally yesterday after telling the crowd that she felt unwell and dizzy. The doctor and other party members said the 66-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate was feeling tired because of her rigorous campaign tour ahead of April 1 by-elections. Suu Kyi went to a hotel room and was recuperating after the rally, said Nge Nge, a personal aide who is also a physician.

“She is feeling better now. She’s taking a rest,” Nge Nge told The Associated Press.

Suu Kyi flew yesterday from Yangon to Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, and was greeted by what appeared to be the largest crowd so far in her election campaign, which has been hailed as another sign of how dramatically politics has changed in the country since a nominally civilian government took office a year ago and ended decades of military rule.

Many tens of thousands of cheering supporters clogged the roads for several miles (kilometers) starting at Mandalay’s airport, slowing her convoy to a crawl until she reached a vast open field for a rally that was packed with tens of thousands more people. “I haven’t see such a huge crowd since 1988!” a smiling Suu Kyi told her cheering supporters, referring to a pro-democracy uprising that was brutally crushed by the former military regime. “The road ahead is rough and tough,” she said. “Democracy is hard to achieve and even if it is obtained, it will not be easy to sustain. We all have to work hard.” After speaking for a few min-

was also bracing for continued heavy rainfall and more flooding, with several northern towns isolated by the rising waters.

“This extra rain coming, it will be really setting in there this afternoon, continuing overnight and then clearing out tomorrow,” the Bureau of Meteorology’s Phil King told the ABC. —AFP

utes, Suu Kyi took a five-minute rest while senior party member Win Tin spoke to the crowd. Suu Kyi then returned to the podium.

At one point she said, “I am not feeling well,” and also asked the tightly packed crowd to stay calm. “Please don’t push one another,” she said. “As I am feeling a bit dizzy, it looks like a huge wave from the stage when the people are pushing at one another. If you love me, don’t make me dizzy.” Suu Kyi left the stage after speaking for a total of about 15 minutes.

“She is very tired after a more than threehour drive from the airport to the venue.

She felt airsickness during the flight too and was feeling a bit weak,” Nge Nge said.

Suu Kyi was scheduled to speak at another rally near Mandalay today. Suu Kyi has devoted much of her life to a struggle against authoritarian rule. She spent 15 of the past 23 years under house arrest and has never held elected office. If she wins a seat in parliament, she is likely to have limited power because the legislature remains dominated by the military and the ruling party, but victory would be highly symbolic and give her a voice in government for the first time.

The April election is being held to fill 48 seats vacated by lawmakers who were appointed to the Cabinet or other posts last year. The ballot is seen as a test of the government’s commitment to democratic change after nearly half a century of iron-fisted army rule. Suu Kyi had originally planned a trip to Mandalay last month but canceled it after failing to receive permission to hold a political gathering at a football stadium. — AP

MANDALAY: Myanmar Buddhist monks listen to Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi speak as she campaigns in the country’s second largest city of Mandalay in central Myanmar yesterday. —AFP

Pakistan promises high security for Bangladesh ISLAMABAD: Pakistan government officials have promised intense security measures for a ninemember delegation from Bangladesh which will assess the country’s ability to resume hosting international cricket. Pakistan has not hosted a test-playing country since gunmen attacked Sri Lanka’s team bus at Lahore in March 2009, killing six police officers and a van driver.

Pakistan is planning to end that isolation by hosting Bangladesh for a limited-overs tour next month, with the Bangladesh delegation visiting over two days to check on security measures. “We will give the full force which is the requirement,” interior minister Rehman Malik told Bangladesh Cricket Board president Mustafa Kamal.

“From landing to departure and while staying in hotel or any movement within the country and of course the stadiums, they will all stand fully protected.” Kamal is heading the delegation which comprises top ranked officials from Bangladesh police, sports ministry and interior ministry.

The delegation will visit Lahore and Karachi the two tentative venues - to assess security measures before reporting back to their government. “The interior minister has assured us that on the security threat perception whatever is needed will be taken care of if Bangladesh (cricket team) visits,” Kamal told reporters.

“We will have to report to the (Bangladesh) government for their decision. This is the first stage, once the first stage is completed then definitely we will know how things are taking place.”

The International Cricket Council will send its own security delegation if Bangladesh confirmed next month’s proposed tour.

“I am here with a positive mood of mind and hopefully we will be in a position to convince our ICC board members so that they also agree to play in Pakistan as early as possible,” Kamal said.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has planned to host Bangladesh for either three one-dayers or two plus a Twenty20, and the host cities remain negotiable. “What is important is that let them have look at all those arrangements which we are proposing,” Malik said. “I’ve also given him the prerogative that if he wants to add or subtract (a city) we will do it.”

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Zaka Ashraf also attended the meeting at the interior ministry. “I am sure they will be fully satisfied with the security plan and when they go back home, they go back home fully satisfied,” Ashraf said. Since 2009, Pakistan has been forced to hold its ‘home’ series at neutral venues, mainly in the United Arab Emirates.

“Bangladesh recognizes the fact that cricket in Pakistan is adored by everybody from north to south, by young or old, men or women, everybody adores cricket. It is in fact respected here as religion,” Kamal said. “That is very painful for Pakistani cricket lovers that for a long time cricket is not being played here.” —AP

NEWS

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

KUWAIT: Kuwait Air Force jets fly during a parade marking the Kuwait’s 51st National Day and the 21st Liberation Day celebrations yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat (See Page 2)

United Arab Emirates to expel Syrian protesters DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates yesterday defended a decision to expel Syrians who staged a protest against the Damascus regime, saying they had broken a pledge to abide by the country’s laws. “Like any nation the UAE expects all residents to abide by its laws,” an unidentified foreign ministry official said in a statement obtained by AFP. “A small group of Syrians violated these laws but the UAE, in a compassionate decision in view of events in Syria, had decided not to ask this group to leave the country and accepted their pledges to abide by the law in the future.

“Unfortunately some of those who made the pledge to follow regulations repeated the offence, forcing the authorities to implement the law governing such issues,” he said. “The UAE, which has some 200 nationalities residing on its land, has to remain vigilant during these turbulent times.” On Friday, Human Rights Watch urged Emirati authorities to retract a decision to expel dozens of Syrians who demonstrated against the Damascus regime last month.

“Emirati authorities should retract their decision to cancel the residency permits of dozens of Syrians who took part in a peaceful protest against the Syrian government in Dubai,” HRW said in a statement. Nearly 2,000 Syrians demonstrated outside the Syrian consulate in Dubai on February 10, according to opposition activists. HRW said that UAE authorities had revoked the residency permits of about 50 Syrians for joining the protest, even though they “did not accuse the protesters of any acts of violence.”

The watchdog said that Syrian nationals forced out of the UAE feared being returned to their country where their personal safety was significantly at risk. It said 10 had already left with some going to Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The UAE has strict conditions on demonstrations. It has condemned the deadly crackdown on dissent in Syria, recalling its ambassador from Damascus and expelling Syrian envoys along with its other five partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council. — AFP

Syria troops block aid convoy, pound Homs Continued from Page 1 communications,” it said in a statement. Concern was mounting for civilians in freezing conditions in battered Baba Amro, where International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) trucks were still being held up by Assad’s forces.

Anti-government activists said they feared troops were keeping out the ICRC to prevent aid workers witnessing a reported massacre of rebels in Baba Amro, which had become a symbol of a year-long uprising against Assad’s repressive rule. “The ICRC and Syrian Red Crescent are not yet in Baba Amro today. We are still in negotiations with authorities in order to enter Baba Amro. It is important that we enter today,” ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan said in Geneva.

A Damascus-based ICRC spokesman said Syrian authorities had given the convoy permission to enter but that government forces on the ground had stopped the trucks because of what they said were unsafe conditions, including “mines and booby traps”. “There has been fighting there for at least a month. The situation cannot be good. They will need food, it’s cold, they will need blankets. And there are injured there that need to be evacuated immediately,” Saleh Dabbakeh said.

Elsewhere in Syria, anti-Assad activists reported mass arrests and the killing of six soldiers, while the government’s SANA news agency reported a suicide car bombing in the southern town of Deraa, a blast activists denied was a suicide attack. Syrian state television conducted interviews with unnamed civilians in what it said was Baba Amro, against a backdrop of empty streets, some with heavy conflict damage.

“Anyone who went out on the street was kidnapped or slaughtered. We called for the army to come in. God bless the army, they saved us from the armed terrorist gangs,” said one interviewee, referring to the Free Syrian Army rebels. In unusually tough remarks to the 193member UN General Assembly on Friday, Ban explicitly blamed Damascus for the fate of civilians in the conflict.

“The brutal fighting has trapped civilians in their homes, without food, heat or electricity or medical care, without any chance of evacuating the wounded or burying the dead. People have been reduced to melting snow for drinking water,” he said. “This atrocious assault is all the more appalling for having been waged by the government itself, systematically attacking its own people. Syrian UN Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari, said Ban’s comments included “extremely virulent rhetoric which confines itself to slandering a government based on reports, opinions or hearsay.”

SANA said the bomber in Deraa killed two people and wounded 20 others, while residents said seven people had been killed. Rami Abdelrahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said anti-Assad fighters had killed six soldiers and wounded nine in the town of Al-Herak, south of Deraa. In the Damascus suburb of Qudsiya, activists said hundreds of

security forces personnel had arrested at least 30 people, destroyed vehicles and burned at least one home.

A fighter with the rebels, whose ranks include defectors from Assad’s army, said they were planning their next steps after losing Baba Amro. “Our morale, praise God, is high. We do not say we are sorry when someone is martyred, we all hope for this, and for the fall of the regime,” said the rebel fighter who declined to be named. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said his government was again seeking to have the UN Security Council tackle the Syrian crisis. “This means working with other countries such as Russia and China that have blocked previous initiatives,” he said.

“We will go on arguing for ... for the international community to pull together. Because the denial of humanitarian aid on top of all the murder, torture and repression in Syria just underlines what a criminal regime this has become.” Russia and China twice vetoed council resolutions that would have condemned Damascus and demanded it halt the crackdown on antiAssad demonstrators, accusing Western and Arab nations of pushing for Libya-style “regime change” in Syria.

The United States is drafting a legally binding council resolution that would call for aid workers to be allowed into besieged towns and an end to the violence, UN envoys said. Wounded British photographer Paul Conroy, who escaped Homs earlier this week, said on Friday he had witnessed Syrian troops carrying out a massacre in heavily-shelled Baba Amro. “I’ve worked in many war zones - I’ve never seen or been in shelling like this,” the Sunday Times photographer told Sky News from a hospital bed in central London.

“I’m an ex-artillery gunner so I can kind of follow the patterns - they are systematically moving through neighborhoods with munitions that are used for battlefields. “It’s not a war, it’s a massacre, an indiscriminate massacre of men, woman and children.” Western diplomats yesterday received the bodies of American journalist Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik, who were killed on Feb 22 during a shelling of Baba Amro. A Reuters witness said the diplomats, believed to be the French ambassador to Syria and a representative from the Polish embassy, which is managing US affairs in Syria, had taken the bodies from the Al-Assad University Hospital in Damascus.

The Syrian government said on Friday it would like to express its “sadness and sorrow” at the death of Colvin, Conroy’s colleague at London’s Sunday Times. The Paris prosecutor’s office said it had opened a preliminary investigation for murder and attempted murder into the bombing that killed Ochlik and seriously wounded French reporter Edith Bouvier. The United Nations says Syrian security forces have killed more than 7,500 civilians since the revolt began last March. Syria’s government said in December that “armed terrorists” had killed more than 2,000 soldiers and police during the unrest.— Reuters

37 perish as storms wreak havoc in US Continued from Page 1 “It’s all gone,” said Andy Bell, who was guarding a friend’s demolished service garage, not far from where a school bus stuck out from the side of a restaurant and a parking lot where a small classroom chair jutted from a car window.

“It was beautiful,” he said, looking around at the town of about 2,000 north of Louisville, Kentucky. “And now it’s just gone. I mean, gone.” Susie Renner, 54, said she saw two tornadoes barreling down on Henryville within minutes of each other. The first was brown from being filled with debris; the second was black. “I’m a storm chaser,” Renner said, “and I have never been this frightened before.”

Indiana Gov Mitch Daniels spoke to reporters yesterday outside what was left of Henryville High School. He marveled that all the students were safe and credited preparation and people heeding warnings to take shelter for saving lives. “Yet all things that mere mortals can do aren’t enough sometimes,” he said. Daniels said he wanted residents to know “we love you, and we’re with you. We’re going to do everything we can to get you back on your feet in business, in your homes, and bear with us.”

A baby was found in a field in Salem, Indiana, about 10 miles north of New Pekin, where her family lives, said Melissa Richardson, spokeswoman at St Vincent Salem Hospital, where the little girl was initially taken. The child was in critical condition yesterday at a hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, and authorities were still trying to figure out how she ended up alone in the field, Richardson said. She said she couldn’t identify the child or her family.

Friday’s tornado outbreak came two days after an earlier round of storms killed 13 people in the Midwest and South, and forecasters at the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center had said the day would be one of a handful this year that warranted its highest risk level. By 10 pm, the weather service had issued 269 tornado warnings. Only 189 warnings were issued in all of February.

Fourteen people were reported killed in Indiana, including four in Chelsea, where a man, woman and their 4-year-old great-grandchild died in one house. Tony Williams, owner of the Chelsea General Store, said the

child and mother were huddled in a basement when the storm hit and sucked the 4-year-old out her hands. The mother survived, but her 70-year-old grandparents were upstairs; both died.

Two people died further north in Holton, where it appeared a tornado cut a diagonal swath down the town’s tiny main drag, demolishing a cinderblock gas station but leaving a tiny white church intact down the road.

Sixteen people were reported dead in Kentucky, where National Guard troops, Kentucky State Police troopers and rescue workers were still searching counties east and south of Lexington.

In West Liberty, Kentucky, Stephen Burton heard the twister coming and pulled his 23-year-old daughter to safety, just before the tornado destroyed the second story of the family’s home. “I just held onto her and I felt like I was getting sand-blasted on my back,” Burton said. Endre Samu, public affairs officer for the Kentucky State Police in Morehead, said three people died in West Liberty and at least 75 were injured. With the hospital damaged in the storm, some patients were being transferred to area hospitals, he said. “All of the downtown area was just devastated,” Samu said.

Tornadoes were reported in at least six Ohio cities and towns, including the village of Moscow, where a council member found dead in her home was one of at least three people killed in the state. Several dozen homes were damaged, some stripped down to their foundations, and the Clermont County commissioners called a state of emergency for the first time in 15 years. One person was reported dead yesterday in Alabama. Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Yasamie August said an apparent tornado that hit Jackson Gap injured two others as well.

She didn’t have more details. Emergency officials in Lee County, Virginia, said damage from a possible tornado left a two- to three-mile path of destruction that may reach far into Tennessee, and damage reports were expected to increase with daylight. “We don’t know. We can’t get down there,” Emergency Management Director Jason Crabtree said of areas stretching south of the Virginia line. “This thing may be eight to 10 miles long.” — AP

Panic, chaos as sandstorm hits airport Continued from Page 1 The problem became multifaceted at the Dammam airport in Saudi Arabia as the passengers waited for hours. The second announcement came, “the aircraft developed an engine problem due to the sudden jerking movements. One of the engines has developed some problems, and our engineers are trying to fix the problems. Also, we ran out of fuel and needed to refuel urgently,” he added. When asked why the passengers are being kept on the tarmac for hours, he said that the Saudi authorities refused to allow anyone inside the

airport.

There was an uneasy calm in the aircraft as passengers tried to digest the information they received.

“Actually I thought the plane has been hijacked and diverted. I was so scared. It was a horrible experience,” Imma one the passengers in the business class said. “It was a complicated situation. From low visibility to landing system problem and then to engine problem, this was a fright of my life. I think God just saved us from a mishap. The problem was not only navigation system failure, our aircraft had problems in the engine too,” Stan, one of the passengers said.

Ahmadinejad’s faction losing ground...

Continued from Page 1 defiance to “the arrogant powers bullying us”. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Iran’s election was not free or fair. “The regime has presented the vote as a test of loyalty, rather than an opportunity for people freely to choose their own representatives,” he said.

No independent observers were on hand to monitor the voting or check the official turnout figures. An unelected Guardian Council, which vets all candidates, barred 35 sitting MPs from seeking re-election and nearly 2,000 other would-be candidates. The vote took place without the two main opposition leaders. Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, who ran for president in 2009, have been under house arrest for more than a year.

Iran has been hard hit by Western sanctions over its refusal to halt sensitive nuclear activity and be transparent with UN nuclear inspectors. Israel, whose leader meets US President Barack Obama on Monday, has talked of war. Obama also said military action was among the options to prevent Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.

“As president of the United States, I don’t bluff,” he told Atlantic Magazine. But he also argued against a pre-emptive Israeli strike. The dispute over Iran’s uranium enrichment program, which Tehran says is purely peaceful,

barely featured in an election dominated by debates over soaring prices and scarce jobs.

The vote will have scant impact on Iran’s foreign or nuclear policies, in which Khamenei already has the final say, but could strengthen the Supreme Leader’s hand before a presidential vote next year. Ahmadinejad, 56, cannot run for a third term. The outgoing parliament has summoned him to answer questions next week about his handling of the economy in unprecedented hearings that could hamstring him for the rest of his term. But the combative Ahmadinejad may try to turn the tables on his critics, some of whom say he has inflicted higher inflation on Iranians by slashing food and fuel subsidies and replacing them with cash handouts of about $38 a month per person.

Global oil prices have spiked to 10-month highs on tensions between the West and Iran, OPEC’s second biggest crude producer. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday global powers would be falling into a trap if they pursued talks with Iran, saying Tehran would use dialogue to deceive the world and buy time to advance its nuclear program. Netanyahu will press Obama, who is facing a presidential election in November, to stress publicly the nuclear “red lines” that Iran must not cross, Israeli officials say. — Reuters

14

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

opinion

THE LEADING INDEPENDENT DAILY IN THE ARABIAN GULF ESTABLISHED 1961

Founder and Publisher

YOUSUF S. AL-ALYAN Editor-in-Chief

ABD AL-RAHMAN AL-ALYAN EDITORIAL : 24833199-24833358-24833432 ADVERTISING : 24835616/7 FAX : 24835620/1 CIRCULATION : 24833199 Extn. 163 ACCOUNTS : 24835619 COMMERCIAL : 24835618 P.O.Box 1301 Safat,13014 Kuwait.

E MAIL :info@kuwaittimes.net Website: www.kuwaittimes.net

Issues

IAEA gropes for way around Iran impasse

By Simon Sturdee

he UN atomic agency’s board will be looking for a way out of its impasse with Iran after two fruitless visits probing Tehran’s suspected nuclear weapons drive, in a meeting starting tomorrow. In a report sent to International Atomic Energy Agency member states on February 24, watchdog chief Yukiya Amano said that after the two visits, on January 29-31 and February 20-21, “major differences” with Tehran remained. “The agency continues to have serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear program,” Amano said. The report also said Iran had substantially boosted its uranium enrichment capacity.

The Islamic republic denied access to the Parchin military site near Tehran where a major IAEA report in November said suspicious high-explosives tests consistent with developing nuclear warheads were carried out, Amano said. “It is very clear that Iran does not want the agency to go to Parchin because it has something to hide. It is worried about what the agency will find,” a senior Western envoy to the 153-nation IAEA in Vienna said. A senior official familiar with the investigation said last week that the IAEA team was only able to speak to “middle men” and that the Iranians wanted to “constrain the process, and put us in a harness.”

Iranian officials repeated their assertion during the visits that the report, which has prompted Western countries to ramp up sanctions and raised speculation of Israeli plans for air strikes, was based on forgeries, the agency said. What response the 35 nations currently on the board of governors make next week-the meeting is open-ended and could last until Friday-remains to be seen, however. “Since the November report, the IAEA has not obtained enough significant new information about Iranian activities to justify additional pressure on Iran by governors,” said Mark Hibbs from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

In particular, it is unclear whether Russia and China-traditionally more lenient on Iran than their Western UN Security Council partners-will support any resolution passed by the board condemning the Islamic republic. In any case, beyond injecting what a second senior Western diplomat called “a deeper sense of urgency,” it is unclear how useful such a resolution-one in a long list-would be. “The agency doesn’t have any other instruments within its toolbox, it can only operate with the tools it has under its mandate and under its statutes,” the Western envoy said on condition of anonymity.

Instead, what Amano would like is guidance on how to proceed, envoys said. North Korea, meanwhile, alongside a review of progress in improving nuclear safety close to a year since Japan’s Fukushima disaster, will also be a talking point for the IAEA board. On Wednesday, Washington announced that Pyongyang was ready to suspend its uranium enrichment program along with nuclear and long-range missile tests, and that the isolated communist country would let IAEA inspectors monitor the deal.

Details are lacking, but it appears that since North Korea will not, for now anyway, be making a full return to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT), the IAEA will not have complete oversight over Pyongyang’s activities. “Without any details about what Pyongyang and Washington agreed to there’s no confidence that the IAEA could do anything more than monitor a suspension of nuclear activities, including uranium enrichment,” Hibbs said. “Independent of any agreement with the US, North Korea may continue to drive a hidden enrichment program to which the IAEA would have no access.”— AFP

T

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

No end in sight to Sudan war as tensions rise

By Ian Timberlake hidden war affecting hundreds of thousands of people as tensions mount between Sudan and the newly independent South Sudan threatens to erupt into direct conflict, analysts and diplomats say.

Fighting between ethnic Nuba rebels and government troops in oil-rich South Kordofan state began last June, one month before the South’s formal independence.

The Nuba were allies of southern rebels during a 22year civil war which ended in 2005 before an overwhelming southern vote in January 2011 for separation.

But Khartoum alleges that the new southern government continues to support rebels from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) in the Sudanese state of South Kordofan. Khartoum threatened retaliation last Sunday after accusing the South of backing a rebel attack in the disputed border area of Jau. “It is something serious because we fear the conflict by proxies, that today exists between the north and the south, becomes direct conflict,” with the risk of destabilizing the entire region, said a Western diplomat who asked for anonymity.

Khartoum said rebels accompanied by officers from South Sudan’s army launched a “direct attack”, but Juba denied supporting opposition groups in Sudan and said Jau is part of its territory. In an escalation on Thursday, the South alleged Sudanese MiG warplanes bombed oil and water wells 74 kilometers inside its frontier while

A

ground troops moved 17 kilometers into oil-rich Unity State. Khartoum denied the claims, but the United States expressed alarm. It called such incidents “unacceptable” and said they threaten to raise tensions between the two states.

The earlier Jau attack could not have occurred in the absence of direct involvement by South Sudan’s army, said Magdi El Gizouli, a fellow at the Rift Valley Institute.

“Without SPLA proper they can’t do this,” he said. “They can’t just come from South Kordofan.” He sees the fighting as part of the “bargaining process” between two nations which are engaged in a major dispute over oil fees and other issues related to the South’s separation.

When South Sudan gained its independence it took about three-quarters of Sudanese oil production but it has no facilities of its own to export the crude. The two countries have been unable to agree on how much Juba should pay to use the northern pipeline and port.

If they can reach a deal, the insurgency will essentially die out, said Gizouli. The alternative is that it could flare into direct war. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday accused Sudan’s President Omar alBashir of trying to undermine South Sudan. The Western diplomat, however, told AFP that it is currently Juba “playing a dangerous game” by supporting rebel movements and seeking the fall of the Khartoum regime. There is a feeling, he said, that “the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, or the government of Sudan, has not understood that it can no longer act like

an armed movement, but that it has to act from now on as a government.”

John Ashworth, an adviser to Sudanese churches for 29 years, says the South Kordofan rebel movement has its own reasons to fight and probably gets very little support from Juba. It “will continue its struggle with or without external support, using captured weapons and ammunition,” said Ashworth, currently in Juba. “They (and their people) believe that the alternative (continued oppression by Khartoum) is worse than death, and they will fight to the death,” he said in an emailed response to questions. Ashworth said the war is destined to continue “a long time” with Khartoum opposed to meaningful negotiations and the rebels unable alone to overthrow the regime or enforce their own conditions for peace.

The government of Sudan has severely restricted access to the war zone for journalists, diplomats, and aid agencies, but the United Nations says more than 360,000 people have been internally displaced or severely affected by fighting in South Kordofan and nearby Blue Nile state. International concern has risen over malnutrition and food shortages in the area.Neither the UN nor the Red Cross can say how many non-combatants may have died since June in the war which has led to repeated allegations, denied by Khartoum, that civilians have been bombed from the air. “This is probably, in civilian terms, a very costly war,” said Gizouli. “There is no winning here.”— AFP

Is the long primary schedule hurting Republicans? or Republicans, “Super Tuesday” will not be quite as super as it used to be.

In recent presidential campaigns, the wave of state contests on the same day in February or March has been a defining moment, often settling the Republican race. That will not happen this Tuesday, when 10 states hold Super Tuesday contests that could boost Mitt Romney as the clear front-runner but will not hand him the nomination. Rule changes by Republican Party leaders have stretched out the 2012 nomination process, essentially ensuring it will continue at least into April, and possibly to June.

The idea behind the drawn-out schedule of contests, party officials say, was to energize volunteers, attract more voters and capture the type of excitement that surrounded the epic battle in the 2008 Democratic primaries between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. But now, with Republican candidates and their allies spending tens of millions of dollars to attack each other, there are signs the extended primary battle is alienating some voters and exposing Romney’s inability to excite conservatives. Some key party figures warn that the new schedule could hurt the eventual Republican nominee’s ability to take on Obama in the Nov 6 election. Extending the primary schedule “was the dumbest idea anybody ever had,” New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Romney supporter, told Fox News last week. John Ryder disagrees. The Memphis, Tennessee, lawyer and Republican National Committee member helped design this year’s race to kick off with a handful of contests in small states, followed by March contests that award Republican convention delegates according to how well each candidates finishes. The nominee ideally would seal his victory in a series of state contests in April in which the winner gets all the state’s delegates.

So far, things are largely working out as planned, Ryder said. “It’s better to have a discussion about our issues, on our turf, on our terms,” Ryder said. Saul Anuzis, another RNC member who helped draw up the new

F

rules, said Romney had learned how to deal with attacks on his business career and the healthcare overhaul he implemented as Massachusetts governor, which are likely to persist if he wins the Republican nomination. “Mitt Romney is becoming a better candidate because of this primary,” said Anuzis, a Romney supporter.

A DIVIDING LINE, EXPOSED Like Christie, many outside observers are not so complimentary of the new schedule’s impact on the Republican Party or its candidates. This year’s Republican contest is highlighting a sharp divide between the affluent, business-friendly voters who support Romney and the more conservative blue-collar voters who view him with suspicion, they said. Lately, those voters have been suppor ting former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. As Santorum has risen in the polls by appealing to the party’s most conservative voters,

he has injected “culture war” issues into a race that party leaders had hoped to focus on jobs and the economy.

Among other things, Santorum has criticized abortion rights, said that a 1960 speech in which President John F Kennedy praised the separation of church and state made him want to “throw up,” and called Obama a “snob” for encouraging all American youths to go to college. “It’s Mitt voters against the anti-Mitt voters. The longer that kind of fight goes on, the more negative it is,” said Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report newsletter. Terri Bimes, a political science professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said the drawn-out race was forcing Romney to cater to conservatives rather than court the independent voters who will decide the November election.

A long series of Republican debates has provided some insight into the candidates’

OHIO: Republican presidential candidate, former US Senator Rick Santorum speaks to the Lake County Republican Party during their Lincoln Day dinner in Willoughby, ahead of voting on Super Tuesday. — AFP

positions - and provided opportunities for high-profile gaffes. In a December debate, for example, Romney offered to bet thencandidate Rick Perry $10,000 to prove a point - an unintentional reminder of Romney’s vast wealth.

“Having the nomination season go on for so long is definitely not good for Mitt Romney or the Republican Party,” she said.

There are indications the campaign is not broadening the base as much as party leaders had hoped. Voter turnout rose in the New Hampshire, South Carolina, Colorado, Iowa and Michigan contests compared with 2008, but fell in Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, Nevada and Missouri.

National polls show tepid enthusiasm for the Republican candidates among voters at large. The most recent Gallup poll put favorability ratings for Romney and Paul at 39 percent, Santorum at 38 percent and Gingrich at 26 percent. The Republican contenders are also less favorably positioned at this point than the eventual Republican nominees in earlier contests.

John McCain, the party’s 2008 nominee, had a 56 percent favorable rating in February 2008, while George W. Bush had a 58 percent favorable rating in 2000 and Bob Dole had a 49 percent favorable rating in 1996, according to Gallup. All three of those candidates had wrapped up the party’s nomination in March.

Outside money has also weakened the party’s influence on the process. In past elections, losing candidates would quickly see their fundraising efforts dry up. This year, wealthy donors have kept candidates such as Gingrich afloat by giving millions of dollars to Super PACs, independent groups that can raise unlimited amounts to spend on supporting - or attacking - a candidate or cause.

Republican officials expect wealthy donors will not want to harm the party by backing losing candidates indefinitely.

“Sheldon Adelson is a practical guy, too,” Anuzis said, referring to the Las Vegas casino mogul whose family has donated at least $11 million to a pro-Gingrich Super PAC.— Reuters

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

sp orts

Perez fastest in Barcelona BARCELONA: Mexico’s Sergio Perez, in a Sauber, set the fastest time on the third day of Formula One testing yesterday as rain brought an early finish to proceedings at Montmelo. Perez clocked 1min 22.094sec after completing 114 laps, with McLaren’s Jenson Button in second place after just 44 laps while Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo, in a Toro Rosso, was third. Even though bright sunshine returned after the mid-afternoon rain, the 10 teams taking part in the session opted not to return on a slippery surface. The four-day session in Barcelona ends on Sunday with the 2012 season set to kick-off in Melbourne on March 18.

Times 1. Sergio Perez (MEX/Sauber-Ferrari) 1min 22.094sec (114 laps), 2. Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:22.103 (44), 3. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 1:22.155 (131), 4. Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari) 1:22.413 (122), 5.

Paul Di Resta (GBR/Force India-Mercedes) 1:22.446 (108), 6.

Bruno Senna (BRA/Williams-Renault)1:22.480 (111), 7. Heikko Kovalainen (FIN/Caterham-Renault) 1:22.630 (64), 8. Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull-Renault) 1:22.662 (70), 9. Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes-AMG) 1:22.932 (129), 10. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Lotus-Renault) 1:25.379 (43). —AFP

Leyva unfazed by dog bite

Fourcade, Neuner win

NEW YORK: World parallel bars champion Danell Leyva is not letting a gory dog bite that left him with 80 stitches on his face distract him from the lofty goals he has set for the London Olympics. The Cuban-born Leyva was bitten by his dog Pirata (Spanish for pirate) while he was trying to break up a fight between his three American Bulldogs in his backyard in Florida on Feb. 20. “Who tries to stop a dog fight? Only me,” the US allaround champion told reporters before a practice at Madison Square Garden ahead of Saturday’s American Cup. “After it happened, I looked in the mirror and my ear was hanging down and I was like ‘Oh, this is not good at all.’” Leyva was carrying Pirata into the house when one of his other dogs jumped up at him. He turned, and the excited Pirata gave him a bite on the right side of his face. He called an ambulance and had the bite attended to.

“They called in a plastic surgeon and he did an amazing job.

Somewhere around 80 stitches, inside and outside. You can barely tell,” the 20-year-old Leyva said about the bite that ran from the inside of his right ear down to his jaw line. —Reuters

RUHPOLDING: Martin Fourcade of France won gold in the 10-kilometer sprint at the biathlon world championships yesterday, while Magdalena Neuner of Germany defended her sprint title. Fourcade covered the distance in 24 minutes, 18.6 seconds to finish 15.1 seconds ahead of two-time Olympic champion Emil Hegle Svendsen of Norway. Both missed two targets. Carl Johan Bergman of Sweden was 17.7 seconds behind Fourcade in third. Neuner now has two medals from two races after helping Germany win the bronze in the opening mixed relay. The two-time Olympic champion is retiring at the end of the season and this is her final competition at home.

Neuner made no mistakes on the shooting range and covered the 7.5 kilometers in 21:07.0 to claim her 11th goal medal at world championships, an annual competition. Darya Domracheva of Belarus took the silver, finishing 15.2 seconds behind Neuner, and Vita Semerenko of Ukraine was 37.6 seconds back for the bronze. —AP

Lightning stop Rangers

GUST opens Gulf Women’s Football Tournament MISHREF: The Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST ) opens the Gulf Women’s Football Tournament; the first event is a series celebrating its 10th Anniversary. The tournament kicked off with a win by Kuwait Team A over KSA (3-0).

The second match enjoyed a win by Bahrain vs. Kuwait Team B (2-1).

The women’s tournament was a private event with an only women attendance.

GUST ensured the privacy of all the players by providing strictly female security and facility management crew, banning personal cameras and camera phones and covering the entirety of the field. These measures were taken to respect the privacy of the players and their supporters.

The Opening Ceremony started with the Kuwait national anthem and a reading from the Holy Quran. This was followed by a lavish parade of the flags and KSA and Bahrain national anthems. The event speaker,

Anwar Al-Sabah, Head of the Office of Student Life and Head Organizer of the Tournament, noted: “Academic excellence goes hand in hand with social excellence.

GUST after 10 years has honored this ideal through supporting this event and others like it, to promote partnership and growth not only in the classroom, but beyond it.”

The first match was played by Kuwait GUST team against the KSA team. While the second match was between the 2nd Kuwait-GUST team against the Bahrain team. The women played well and exuded sportsmanship. The all-female audience was thrilled to watch the women play the sport they excel in and supported them throughout their matches.

It was a successful start to the tournament, which has 3 more days left ending on March 5th with the final matches of the tournament. GUST wishes all the teams luck in their matches.

TAMPA: Tampa Bay’s Ryan Malone scored in overtime, completing the Lightning’s comeback from a two-goal deficit to beat the NHL Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers 4-3 on Friday. Malone beat the goalie from the slot as his game-winner stopped a personal 10-game goal drought. Brandon Dubinsky had got the Rangers even at 3-3 with 3:27 left in regulation.

Steven Stamkos scored his league-leading 45th goal of the season while Tom Pyatt and Teddy Purcell also scored for the Lightning, who moved within four points of eighth-place Winnipeg in the East. Artem Anisimov and Marian Gaborik had other Rangers’ goals. It was only the fourth time in 33 games that New York had lost after scoring the opening goal.

Red Wings 6, Wild 0 In Detroit, Jimmy Howard made 19 saves for his 11th career shutout as Detroit crushed Minnesota.

Valtteri Filppula had two goals and an assist, and Henrik Zetterberg had a goal and two assists for the Red Wings, with Ian White, Brendan Smith and Darren Helm also finding the net.

Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom missed his second game with a deep bone bruise to his right ankle. He is expected to miss at least two more games.

Blackhawks 2, Senators 1 In Ottawa, Marian Hossa scored the go-ahead goal midway through the second period and Chicago held on to defeat Ottawa.

Bryan Bickell also scored for the Blackhawks in a game that ended in exciting style with both goalies forced to make some key late saves. Milan Michalek scored the lone goal for the Senators.

Devils 5, Capitals 0 In Washington, Zach Parise notched a hat trick before a crunching hit sent him to the locker room as New Jersey won big at Washington and ended a four-game losing skid. Parise raised his total to a team-high 27 goals - including pairing with a somersaulting Dainius Zubrus for two that came 29 seconds apart - but left the game in the second period when he was sandwiched between two Capitals near the boards. He returned briefly on a late power play.

Ducks 3, Flames 2 In Anaheim, Ryan Getzlaf scored the winning goal with 46 seconds left to give Anaheim its 15th straight home win over Calgary. The current streak is the Ducks’ longest against one opponent in franchise history. They outshot the Flames in all three periods while snapping a two-game skid.

Stars 3, Oilers 1 In Edmonton, Kari Lehtonen made 19 saves for his 25th win of the season as Dallas beat Edmonton. Michael Ryder, Radek Dvorak and Tomas Vincour scored for the Stars, who have won five of their past six - with the lone loss coming in a shootout. Sam Gagner scored the only goal for the Oilers. — AP

Reds down Force in Brisbane BRISBANE: Super Rugby champion Queensland Reds needed another perfect kicking performance from flyhalf Mike Harris to overcome Western Force 35-20 in a scrappy encounter in Brisbane yesterday.

The Reds scored first-half tries through Ben Tapuai and Radike Samo in greasy conditions at Lang Park but it was the 25 points from a flawless display of place-kicking from Harris, who has yet to miss a kick in Super Rugby, that proved the difference.

“I’m pleased to win but not pleased with how we got it,” Reds and Wallabies captain James Horwill said in a televised interview. “Ball control was poor again and to allow them the soft tries that we did is just not good enough.”

The Force’s tries came at the start of the second half from David Pocock and James Stannard but the Perth-based outfit never looked like having the cutting edge to convert pressure into enough points to threaten the upset.

Reds winger Tapuai cantered down the sideline breaking tackles for the first try after 20 minutes and number eight Samo added the second 16 minutes later with a 40-metre intercept that had echoes of his try for Australia against New Zealand last year.

All the while Harris, standing in for the injured Quade Cooper, kept kicking points from all parts of the field and the Reds went in for halftime 23-6 up.

Two tries in five minutes in the third quarter of the match brought the Force back into the contest, however. Captain Pocock led the way with his charge over opposite number seven Beau Robinson to score under the posts before a slick sidestep from Stannard sealed a brilliant solo effort and the flyhalf converted both to narrow the lead to 26-20.

Harris extended the Reds’ lead by another three points with a superbly executed kick from the right touchline just before the hour mark and concluded the scoring with two more in the last quarter. Harris has now made 16 kicks from 16 attempts in the first two matches of the season. — Reuters

TAMPA: Lightning left wing Ryan Malone (12) steals the puck from New York Rangers defenseman Marc Staal (18) in front of Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist (30), of Sweden, during the second period of an NHL hockey game. —AP

NHL results/standings New Jersey 5, Washington 0; Chicago 2, Ottawa 1; Tampa Bay 4, NY Rangers 3 (OT); Detroit 6, Minnesota 0; Dallas 3, Edmonton 1; Anaheim 3, Calgary 2. (OT indicates overtime win) Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L OTL GF NY Rangers 41 15 7 175 Pittsburgh 37 21 5 202 Philadelphia 35 21 7 209 New Jersey 36 23 5 180 NY Islanders 26 29 9 151 Northeast Division Boston 38 21 3 204 Ottawa 34 24 8 200 Buffalo 29 27 8 157 Toronto 29 28 7 191 Montreal 25 30 10 169 Southeast Division Florida 30 21 12 158 Winnipeg 31 27 8 173 Washington 32 27 5 172 Tampa Bay 30 28 6 180 Carolina 24 27 13 168

GA 130 166 191 174 193

PTS 89 79 77 77 61

143 194 180 200 181

79 76 66 65 60

179 186 183 216 193

72 70 69 66 61

Western Conference Central Division Detroit 43 19 3 208 St. Louis 40 18 7 166 Nashville 37 20 7 181 Chicago 35 24 7 200 Columbus 19 38 7 148

151 130 165 194 212

89 87 81 77 45

Northwest Division 41 16 8 206 33 28 4 168 29 25 11 157 28 27 10 143 25 33 6 170

156 175 178 178 192

90 70 69 66 56

Vancouver Colorado Calgary Minnesota Edmonton

Pacific Division Phoenix 33 22 9 168 160 75 San Jose 33 23 7 178 160 73 Dallas 34 26 5 171 176 73 Los Angeles 29 23 12 138 137 70 Anaheim 28 27 10 164 182 66 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L).

Barrett lands late winner for Hurricanes JOHANNESBURG: Twenty-year-old flyhalf Beauden Barrett kicked a 78thminute penalty to snatch a 30-28 win for the Wellington Hurricanes over the Gauteng Lions in their Super Rugby match at Ellis Park on Friday.

Barrett, who was man-of-the-match in last weekend’s loss to the Stormers, kicked three other penalties and also played a key role in the Hurricanes’ third and final try.

The 2011 Junior World Championship winner put through a deft grubber, which wing Corey Jane gathered. Jane held off opposite number Deon van Rensburg to score the try and complete a crucial two-try burst in three minutes midway through the second half for the visitors.

Centre Conrad Smith had moments earlier kicked through a dropped pass by the Lions and then rushed on to the bouncing ball and manufactured a brilliant crossfield kick-pass for hooker Dan Coles to complete the try. “I do enjoy my soccer, so it was great to get a chance to show my skills,” Smith said.

“But really, it was more because I couldn’t see myself running another 30 metres with the ball and I heard someone shout outside me. I just didn’t realise it was the hooker.”

The two tries put the Hurricanes in firm control at 27-18 up but, after conceding a penalty to Lions flyhalf Elton Jantjies, they then made a complete hash of defending a rolling maul, allowing the home side to storm back into their territory.

From a ruck close to the tryline, the strength of replacement centre Butch James allowed him to barge over the line. Jantjies conver ted to give the

Lions a 28-27 lead, but with nine minutes still remaining, it was clear the Hurricanes would surge back.

The Lions were unfortunate to lose two props, JC Janse van Rensburg and CJ van der Linde, to injuries in the first half hour which meant uncontested scrums and the loss of one of their main weapons.

The Hurricanes were consequently under no pressure at the set-piece and, having dominated the breakdowns, were able to rumble the ball upfield in the closing minutes, eventually catching the Lions back line offside and allowing Barrett his match-winning kick at goal.

“We were scrumming very well and it made the contest different - we couldn’t add pressure and take energy out of their legs through that route. But we should have finished the contest, we had the opportunity and we just weren’t very smart,” said Lions coach John Mitchell.

Lions fullback Jaco Taute scored the opening try in the ninth minute when he reached over in the left corner, after Hurricanes scrumhalf Chris Eaton had dropped the kickoff following Barrett’s opening penalty.

Barrett added two more penalties in the first half before the Hurricanes went into the break 14-8 up after fullback Andre Taylor had squeezed over in the right corner.

“I’m really pleased, we planned well and we have a very fit team. Playing on the highveld can eat away at you, but I knew the boys would last for the last 25 and they showed great composure too,” Hurricanes coach Mark Hammett said. —Reuters

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s Lions Jaco Taute (center) is tackled by New Zealand’s Hurricanes captain Conrad Smith (right) and teammate Dane Coles (left) during their Super Rugby match. —AP

Highlanders shock Crusaders DUNEDIN: The Otago Highlanders celebrated the first Super Rugby match at their new Dunedin stadium with an impressive 27-24 victory over the Canterbury Crusaders yesterday. Tries from hooker Andrew Hore, centre Phil Burleigh and winger Hosea Gear, as well as 12 points from the boot of flyhalf Lima Sopoaga, held off a Crusaders comeback in front of a passionate crowd under the roof at the Otago Regional Stadium.

A malfunctioning stadium clock added extra drama at the death with the Highlanders twice booting the ball into touch believing the 80 minutes were up, only for the referee to continue play. The relief when the end finally came was palpable.

There has not been much to cheer about in Otago rugby recently with the financial crisis enveloping the provincial rugby union but the Highlanders did their bit to raise morale with an opening week upset of the Auckland Blues. The seven-times champion Crusaders are an altogether different proposition and tries from wing Israel Dagg and Andy Ellis along with flyhalf Tyler Bleyendaal’s 14 point tally meant the Highlanders had to fight every inch of the way for the victory. They grabbed the momentum at the end of the first half when 10 minutes of pressure climaxed with Burleigh squeezing through half a gap and bulldozing his way across the line to send the home side in 20-10 up. —Reuters

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

sp orts

A village becomes a ski resort in Poland POLAND: Just years ago, winter was a dead season for the Kotelnica Mountain, quiet under a quilt of snow. Today Kotelnica vibrates with activity from countless ski fans who flock to the new resort, one of Poland’s most trendy.

The amazing transformation happened in a decade and reflects the inventiveness and spirit of enterprise seen in Poland since a market economy arrived with democracy in 1990.

This 17th-century village at the foot of the Tatra mountains in southern Poland was making a modest living on farming and sheep breeding, with some additional funds coming from relatives who had gone - in a long-standing tradition - to the United States for work.

Then, in 2000, some 50 farmers put their heads together and started up a joint venture to develop a ski resort, similar to the ones that some of them had seen in Austria or Switzerland, when Poles were finally allowed to freely travel abroad in the 1990s. “They thought that we should also do something like that, with equal success,” said Wladyslaw Piszczek, who is both mayor of the village and president of the ski resort venture.

Each member contributed a sum of money, while they also took a 2 million zloty (now $650,000; €480,000) bank loan and bought an

Italian ski lift from another community in Poland that never had it installed.

Ten years on, Bialka Tatrzanska, about an hour and a half drive from the Renaissance city of Krakow, is among Poland’s leading centers for skiers of all ages and levels, a favorite family winter sports venue, though less demanding and more modest compared to many Western European resorts.

A recent ranking of Poland’s ski centers by the Onet.pl Internet portal listed it as the country’s second most popular ski resort based on quality of slopes and other amenities. In first place was Krynica Gorska, which has been around longer and boasts more challenging slopes.

Bialka Tatrzanska has a school employing some 80 instructors who stay busy in their black-andorange jackets from morning until well after dark. It has six large and nine small ski lifts that take some 15,000 skiers per hour to the top of the Kotelnica and Bania mountain slopes. The longest route is 1.4 kilometers (0.9 mile).

A thermal spa - built with a loan of some 80 million zlotys ($26 million; €19 million) - opened this season and a second hotel is under construction.

All of them have created hundreds of jobs.

At the foot of the Kotelnica peak, the village of

less than 2,000 residents now thrives on visitors who mostly lodge in private houses, eat at the inns and shop in newly-built supermarkets. Some 10,000 tourists can be accommodated at a time.

“Now all of Bialka and the entire county live off” the ski resort, said Piszczek.

Bialka’s reputation has spread across Poland’s borders, with Russian, Ukrainian, German and even English heard on the slopes, although not much foreign publicity has been done. Vasyl Grib and his friends drove 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine.

“It has everything you need: many ski routes, good ski service, restaurants, good accommodation for every pocket and it is cheaper than in Ukraine or in western Europe,” he said, standing in line to buy a ski pass. Getting it all to work smoothly was a challenge.

In 2000, Piszczek had to travel to Chicago to track down and get 10 of the Kotelnica land owners living there to sign lease agreements. Some of the other elderly owners did not trust the new business and it took some coaxing and persuading from their grandchildren to get them to lease their land for building the lifts, Piszczek said.

Doubts thawed after the local vicar of the time, the Rev. Stanislaw Maslanka, announced from the

altar that he was contributing money to the venture because he saw it as a chance for Bialka to thrive.

The venture’s own capital wasn’t sufficient, so the managers started taking bank loans, cautiously at first, but recently drawing some 30 million zlotys ($9.7 million, €7 million).

This season, a heated and canopied chairlift and two new routes were added. The plan is to soon connect the slopes of Bialka with those of Bukowina Tatrzanska, some 5 kilometers (3 miles) away, through routes and lifts.

This year’s cold and snowy winter, which made countries in southern Europe grind to a halt, turned Bialka into a skier’s dream destination.

In January and February, which is high season, prices are around 770 zlotys (S250; €180) for a 14day pass for adults. By contrast, a 14-day pass in Austria’s Salzburg region runs higher at around €360 ($475), although that buys access to hundreds of kilometers (miles) of local ski routes.

“Bialka is much smaller and less varied than the centers in Austria or Italy, but it’s cheaper and closer to home,” said Ewa Cicha, 37, from Piaseczno, near Warsaw, skiing with her 8- and 6-year-old children. “For the price of a week there I can spend two weeks in Bialka.” — AP

Rebensburg wins giant slalom

AUCKLAND: South Africa’s JP Duminy (right) is bowled by New Zealand’s Rob Nicol for 25 in front of New Zealand’s keeper Brendon McCullum in the third one day International Cricket match at Eden Park. — AP

South Africa sweep N Zealand ODI series AUCKLAND: Paceman Marchant de Lange picked up four wickets on his one-day international debut as South Africa completed a 3-0 clean sweep against New Zealand with a five-wicket victory in the third and final ODI in Auckland yesterday.

South Africa’s bowlers bundled out New Zealand for 206 in 47 overs after the visitors had won the toss and opted to bowl in wet and windy conditions at Eden Park.

Hashim Amla, who made 92 in the last ODI in Napier on Wednesday, continued his impressive form by scoring 76 as South Africa reached their target with 40 deliveries to spare. The stylish right-hander, who was dropped on 30 by Nathan McCullum off Kyle Mills, added 80 runs for the first wicket with makeshift opener Wayne Parnell (27) and 58 runs with Albie Morkel (41) for the second to anchor the chase.

Amla hit seven sublime boundaries in his knock before he mistimed a pull shot to be caught by New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, giving seamer Kyle Mills his 200th wicket in ODIs. The visitors, who had also won the preceding three-match Twenty20 series 2-1, lost some wickets after Amla’s dismissal but it was not enough for New Zealand to post an unlikely win.

South Africa pacemen Dale Steyn and Lonwabo Tsotsobe pegged New Zealand back with some hostile fast bowling at the start and the hosts struggled for momentum from there on.

The 21-year-old de Lange, who made his test debut last December against Sri Lanka, also extracted good pace and bounce from the track as New Zealand lost wickets at regular intervals to be bundled out with three overs left in their innings.

The 55-run stand between James Franklin (36) and debutant Colin de Grandhomme (36) for the fifth wicket was the only half-century partnership in the New Zealand innings.

De Grandhomme, who hit three sixes and a four in his 36-ball knock, and Kane Williamson were run after some athletic fielding by South Africa while left-arm spinner Robin Peterson lopped off the tail with two wickets at the end. The three-test series between the two sides begin in Dunedin on Wednesday. — Reuters

SCOREBOARD Scoreboard after South Africa defeated New Zealand by five wickets in their third one-day international at Eden Park in Auckland yesterday.

South Africa won the toss and chose to bowl.

New Zealand innings R. Nicol c de Villiers b Botha 12 M. Guptill c du Plessis b Tsotsobe 7 B. McCullum c du Plessis b de Lange 47 K. Williamson run out 22 J. Franklin c Amla b de Lange 36 C. de Grandhomme run out 36 N. McCullum c Amla b de Lange 10 A. Ellis c Amla b de Lange 2 K. Mills lbw b Peterson 5 M. Bates lbw b Peterson 13 A. McKay not out 2 Extras (lb-3, w-10, nb-1) 14 Total (all out, 47 overs) 206 Fall of wickets: 1-13 2-45 3-74 4-105 5-159 6-169 7-171 8-189 9-195 Bowling: Tsotsobe 9-2-36-1 (1w), Steyn 7-228-0, de Lange 9-1-46-4 (1w), Peterson 101-36-2 (1w), Botha 7-0-28-1 (2w), Parnell 40-18-0 (1nb), Duminy 1-0-11-0 South Africa innings H. Amla c B. McCullum b Mills 76 W. Parnell b Ellis 27 A. Morkel c de Grandhomme b Bates 41 F. du Plessis lbw b Nicol 19 JP Duminy b Nicol 25 AB de Villiers not out 9 J. Botha not out 5 Extras (lb-2, w-3, nb-1) 6 Total (five wickets; 43.2 overs) 208 Did not bat: R. Peterson, D. Steyn, L. Tsotsobe, M. de Lange Fall of wickets: 1-80 2-138 3-155 4-188 5195 Bowling: Mills 8-1-41-1 (1nb, 1w), Bates 60-28-1, N. McCullum 10-0-35-0, McKay 8-040-0 (1w), Ellis 6-0-35-1, Nicol 3.2-0-14-2, Grandhomme 1-0-9-0 (1w), Williamson 1-04-0 South Africa won by five wickets.

South Africa won the three-match series 30.

GERMANY: Olympic champion Viktoria Rebensburg delighted home fans with her second World Cup giant slalom victory in two days in the Bavarian resort of Ofterschwang yesterday. The German’s third victory of the season was all the more spectacular as she had to beat the best skier of her generation, American Lindsey Vonn, and Slovenia’s world champion Tina Maze.

Impressive in the morning’s first leg, Rebensburg struggled slightly on the final stretch of the second run but retained enough strength to beat Vonn by 0.26 seconds.

“Two wins in two days, it’s superb. It was pretty tight in the second run; it was not so easy to ski and I was not really on track.

But it was enough,” she said. Winner of the first giant slalom of her career in the season opener in Soelden, Vonn showed how much she had improved in the discipline by clocking the fastest time in the afternoon run.

The American, runaway overall World Cup leader, remained in contention for the giant slalom championship, even though Rebensburg leads her by 135 points with two races left. Maze grabbed another podium placing, 0.39 behind Rebensburg, but has yet to win a race this season. “It’s disappointing as a world champion not to have won a race yet but there are still quite a few up for grabs,” she said.

There was an end-of-the season feel to the race, held in warm and sunny weather, with Vonn and her fellow-Americans Julia Mancuso and Resi Stiegler training for the second run in bikini tops. Vonn, who flew to New York and back on promotion duty earlier in the week, was definitely not in vacation mood in the afternoon as she outclassed the rest of the field to fight back from sixth to second.

“I’m delighted. I was really looking for another podium place in the GS,” she said. “Rebensburg was unbeatable today but this second run boosts my motivation for the end of the season.”

France’s Tessa Worley, winner of two giant slaloms this winter and another rival for Rebensburg in the World Cup, made a huge mistake in the first leg that left her out of the second. A slalom is scheduled on the same piste today. — Reuters

GERMANY: Viktoria Rebensburg competes on her way to win an alpine ski, women’s World Cup giant slalom. — AP

Kroell speeds to victory KVITFJELL: Austria’s Klaus Kroell boosted his downhill World Cup chances by beating two Norwegians on their home snow to win yesterday’s race in Kvitfjell.

Joint winner with Switzerland’s Beat Feuz in Friday ’s Super-G on the same course, Kroell maintained his brilliant end of season form to triumph alone this time in one minute and 45.76 seconds.

Norwegian Kjetil Jansrud, who dominated the practice and finished third in the Super-G, missed his first victory in a World Cup speed event by 0.02 seconds.

Compatriot Aksel Lund Svindal was third, 0.48 off the pace.

Kroell said he felt almost as much at home as the local favourites in Kvitfjell, the course on which he won his first World Cup downhill three years ago. “I’m in love with this mountain. I love the area, it really feels like home,” he said.

In the downhill standings, Kroell now leads Swiss Didier Cuche by 48 points with only one race remaining at the World Cup finals in Schladming, Austria, later this month. “Winning the downhill World Cup has always been my biggest goal. It was my objective at the start of the season and to achieve such a performance under such

pressure is a huge satisfaction,” he said.

“Luck was also on my side, 0.02 seconds is nothing but the hundredths of a second used to go the wrong way in the past,” added the Austrian.

Cuche, who is chasing his fifth crystal globe in the discipline, was a disappointing 10th on the Olympiabakken piste on which he won two downhills in 2007 and 2010.

“To be in the lead with just a race left at home in Schladming is a huge advantage even though nobody knows the Schladming piste,” Kroell continued. Feuz finished just outside the medal placings in fourth, adding 50 points to his overall total.

In the race for the overall championship globe, Feuz now leads Austria’s Marcel Hirscher by 55 points and can collect more points in Sunday’s Super-G, also in Kvitfjell.

Slalom and giant slalom specialist Hirscher is shunning the Norwegian weekend to focus on next weekend’s technical events in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.

Feuz said he had been hampered by pain in the knee, a resurgence of an injury sustained in Sochi last month. “I hope I can recover enough tomorrow to score more points. I could not do any better today,” said the Swiss. — Reuters

KVITFJELL: Austria’s Klaus Kroell is airborne on his way to win an alpine ski, men’s World Cup downhill. — AP

Pakistan retain Misbah as captain for Asia Cup KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has retained Misbah-ul-Haq as captain for this month’s Asia Cup while Shoaib Malik, Imran Farhat and Adnan Akmal did not make the 15-man squad for the tournament.

Pakistan’s defeats in the One-Day International and Twenty20 series to England prompted calls for a change in team management and captaincy, but the PCB opted to retain Misbah for the Asia Cup, which also features Sri Lanka, India

and hosts Bangladesh.

Chief selector Iqbal Qasim said opener Nasir Jamshed and wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed had been recalled for the tournament.

“We feel that since Nasir has done well in domestic cricket and in the recent Bangladesh Premier League he deserves a chance to play for the national team,” Qasim said.

The PCB is also expected to announce the appointment of

Australian Dav Whatmore as head coach later yesterday.

Mohsin Khan has been acting as interim coach for the England series.

Squad Misbah-ul-Haq (cpt), Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Hammad Azam, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Aizaz Cheema. — Reuters

Pearson sizzles on a wet night MELBOURNE: World champion Sally Pearson has declared her Olympic intentions early, running the fastest 100-meter hurdles ever on Australian soil on a drizzly night in Melbourne.

Pearson won 19 hurdles races in a row last year, including her world championship win at Daegu, South Korea, before she tumbled over a hurdle at Brussels in her last race of the season. She was voted the IAAF’s female World Athlete of the Year.

Three races into her 2012 season, Pearson flew out of the blocks and pulled away from the field to win in 12.49 seconds at the Australian Olympic trials, her fourthfastest time. American Yvette Lewis was second in 13.22.

Given the cool, damp conditions and how she was feeling during the race, the time shocked the 25-year-old Australian runner five months before the first of the 100meter hurdles heats begin on Aug. 6 at the London Olympics.

“I thought I was going really badly actually,” she said after the race. “I got halfway through the race and I thought, ‘Oh no, my rhythm is really off ... this could be a 12.9.’ But I came back and it was so much better than I thought it was going to be. Got to the finish line with an amazing time. “It’s just really fantastic. And it’s really exciting. But at the same time I have to keep grounded. I have to focus on the London Olympics, that’s still a fair way to go. A lot more training to go.”

In other events, world record-holder David Rushida of Kenya won the 800 meters in 1 minute, 44.33 from Australian Jeff Riseley, who finished in 1:45.62.

Henry Frayne won the long jump in 8.09 meters, edging 2010 world indoor champion Fabrice Lapierre (8.00), to complete a double in the horizontal jumps after his win in qualifying-standard win in the triple jump on Friday night. Jarrod Bannister won the javelin at 82.97 meters and will be on the initial Australian Olympic squad announced on Tuesday.

It rained all day yesterday in Melbourne, part of a weather system that is drenching southeastern Australia, but it cleared to a light drizzle when Pearson lined up for the start of the hurdles. She was the main draw at the IAAF’s Melbourne Track Classic, doubling as the national Olympic trials, with more than 3,000 fans ignoring the wet to witness what will be Pearson’s last meet in Australia before London 2012.

Hundreds of people hung over the advertising hoardings along the straight, only a few meters from the outside lane, to get a close-up view of Australia’s best chance for a track gold in London. She bounded halfway back up the track, slapping hands with fans and celebrating her time. “At the moment I’m in good shape and I’m loving it,” Pearson said, “and I’m just going to look after myself.

That’s all I can do.” Her future plans revolve more around medals than times.

“Just keep thinking of the gold medal. As long as I win it, I don’t care,” she said. “The bonus is a time. I’ve got to win it first.” She later won the 200 in a personal best 23.02 and said she’s well set up for the World Indoors at Istanbul next weekend, where she’s aiming for a time of 7.70 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles.

After that, she’ll head back to her home base on the Gold Coast to train before starting her European season at Oslo in June. — AP

17

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

SPORTS

Brazil to cut ties with Valcke after criticism SAO PAULO: Brazil’s government announced yesterday it will refuse to deal with FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke following his “unacceptable” criticism over the country’s preparations for the 2014 World Cup. Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo called for FIFA to assign another official to work with the government. Valcke responded by calling the move “puerile”.

Ahead of a visit to Brazil in a week, Valcke sparked the exchange by sending a blunt message to organizers on Friday: “You have to push yourself, kick your (backside).”

Valcke said that “things are not working in Brazil” and that “not a lot is moving” with just two years left before the tournament and barely a year before the Confederations Cup. Rebelo said the government would not accept the criticism from FIFA’s top administrator.

“We have always had a cordial attitude toward everyone from FIFA here in Brazil,”

Rebelo said. “We can’t accept to hear such an offensive comment. He (Valcke) can’t say something like that about a country. It’s unacceptable.”

Rebelo said he understands Valcke will keep his duties as FIFA’s secretary general and will continue to work closely with local organizers, but from now on the Brazilian government will not welcome him when he comes to the country.

“We will continue to have a relationship with FIFA and we will continue receiving them well,” Rebelo said. “We are just expressing the position of the Brazilian government (in relation to Valcke).

“His comments interfere in the relationship of understanding that we have always had between Brazil and FIFA.” But Valcke yesterday accused Rebelo of making excuses and ignoring the problems facing organizers.

“Why doesn’t he deal with the issue?”

Valcke told reporters at a meeting of football

Jazz cool Heat SALT LAKE CITY: Utah’s Devin Harris converted a three-point play with 4.5 seconds left as the Jazz snapped Miami Heat’s nine-game NBA winning streak with a 99-98 victory on Friday.

LeBron James had 35 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots for Miami, but passed on the final possession to Udonis Haslem, who missed a long jumper at the buzzer.

Dwyane Wade chipped in 31 points and six rebounds for the Heat, who were without AllStar Chris Bosh. Al Jefferson came up with 20 points and six rebounds for the Jazz, who had six players in double figures.

Bulls 112, Cavaliers 91 In Cleveland, Luol Deng scored a seasonhigh 24 points as Chicago won its fifth straight by beating Cleveland. Derrick Rose added 19 for the Bulls, who built a 24-point lead in the third quarter and moved a game ahead of Miami for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Antawn Jamison scored 22 for Cleveland, which missed injured leading scorer Kyrie

76ers 105, Warriors 83 In Philadelphia, Lou Williams scored 25 points to lead Philadelphia over Golden State.

Elton Brand had 14 points and 14 rebounds as the Sixers topped 100 points for the first time in 20 games, perhaps inspired by a halftime ceremony to honor the 50th anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game.

Hawks 99, Bucks 94 In Atlanta, Vladimir Radmanovic made the go-ahead 3-pointer with 11.9 seconds remaining to complete Atlanta’s final quarter rally against Milwaukee.

Jannero Pargo scored 11 points, all in the fourth quarter for the Hawks, who were without leading scoring Joe Johnson but got plenty out of their reserves.

The Bucks, led by Brandon Jennings’ 34 points, led by 15 in the third quarter but Atlanta pulled ahead with a 15-3 run to open the final period.

Lakers 115, Kings 107 In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored 38 points in his second straight big game in a protective mask as Los Angeles blew most of a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter before holding on to beat Sacramento.

Andrew Bynum had 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers, who improved to 16-1 at home since losing their season opener on Christmas. Francisco Garcia scored 18 points to lead seven Kings in double figures.

Grizzlies 102, Raptors 99 In Toronto, Memphis beat Toronto for the sixth straight time. Rudy Gay had 23 points and 12 rebounds, while Mike Conley and Marc Gasol each scored 21 for the Grizzlies, who have won seven of their past eight overall. Jerryd Bayless had 18 points for the Raptors.

PHOENIX: Suns’ Markieff Morris (11) pulls down a rebound over Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin (32) during the second half of an NBA basketball game. —AP Irving and slipped to a seventh straight defeat

by Chicago.

Nuggets 117, Rockets 105 In Houston, Ty Lawson had 22 points and a career-high 15 assists to help Denver beat Houston. Arron Afflalo scored 16 of his 17 points in the second half for the Nuggets, who shook off a dismal shooting start and ended up with seven players scoring in double figures.

Kevin Martin scored a season-high 35 points for the Rockets, who were outrebounded 49-35 and gave up a season-worst 33 second-chance points.

Suns 81, Clippers 78 In Phoenix, Jared Dudley scored 22 points and made two crucial free throws in the final minute as Phoenix rallied from an 11-point deficit to beat Los Angeles.

Marcin Gortat had 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Suns, who won despite shooting 35 percent from the floor. Blake Griffin scored 17 points for the Clippers.

Hornets 97, Mavericks 92 In New Orleans, Chris Kaman had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead New Orleans over Dallas. The Hornets led for the entire second half but did not secure the win until Jarrett Jack hit a leaning jumper with 17.9 seconds left, giving them a 93-89 lead. Jack finished with 15 points and six assists.

Dirk Nowitzki added 19 points, but was only 7 of 19 from the floor as Dallas lost a seasonworst fourth in a row.

Celtics 107, Nets 94 In Boston, Paul Pierce had 27 points and eight assists as Boston downed New Jersey and got back above .500 with its third straight win.

Kevin Garnett added 20 points and 10 rebounds for his second straight double-double.

The Celtics were playing without an ill Ray Allen but still controlled nearly the game and had five players score in double figures.

Spurs 102, Bobcats 72 In San Antonio, Tony Parker scored 15 points as San Antonio overwhelmed lowly Charlotte in the second half.

Richard Jefferson scored 14 points and hit four 3-pointers for the Spurs, who bounced back from a rare home loss earlier in the week against Chicago to win for the 13th time in their past 15 games.

Corey Maggette and Boris Diaw each scored 14 points for the Bobcats, who were playing San Antonio for the only time this season, have lost 20 of their past 21. —AP

NBA results/standings Memphis 102, Toronto 99; Atlanta 99, Milwaukee 94; Chicago 112, Cleveland 91; Boston 107, New Jersey 94; Philadelphia 105, Golden State 83; New Orleans 97, Dallas 92; Denver 117, Houston 105; San Antonio 102, Charlotte 72; Utah 99, Miami 98; LA Lakers 115, Sacramento 107; Phoenix 81, LA Clippers 78.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT Philadelphia 22 15 .595 Boston 18 17 .514 NY Knicks 18 18 .500 Toronto 11 25 .306 New Jersey 11 26 .297

GB 3 3.6 10.5 11

Western Conference Northwest Division Oklahoma City 29 7 .806 Denver 20 17 .541 Portland 18 18 .500 Minnesota 18 19 .486 Utah 17 18 .486

9.5 11 11.5 11.5

6 6.5 10

4 4.5 4.5 16

Central Division Chicago 30 8 .789 Indiana 22 12 .647 Milwaukee 14 22 .389 Cleveland 13 21 .382 Detroit 12 25 .324

6 15 15 17.5

Pacific Division LA Clippers 21 13 .618 LA Lakers 22 14 .611 Phoenix 16 20 .444 Golden State 14 19 .424 Sacramento 12 24 .333

Southeast Division Miami 28 8 .778 Orlando 23 14 .622 Atlanta 21 15 .583 Washington 7 28 .200 Charlotte 4 30 .118

5.5 7 20.5 23

Southwest Division San Antonio 25 11 .694 Memphis 21 15 .583 Houston 21 16 .568 Dallas 21 16 .568 New Orleans 9 27 .250

rule-makers in England. “If (I’m) the problem because nothing has happened over the five years ... because I made, wow, one comment saying things are not working well and I for once said exactly what is happening in Brazil - if the result is they don’t want to talk to me any more, I’m not the guy they want to work with, that’s a bit puerile.”

Rebelo had said Valcke’s comments contradict FIFA’s own evaluation of the country’s preparations after a visit in January.

“The secretary general made an evaluation that does not correspond to the facts or the reality,” Rebelo said. “We have to remember that the World Cup will be in Brazil because Brazil was chosen to host it.

We didn’t impose this nor were we drawn (in a lottery) for this.”

The minister said Brazil will inform FIFA president Sepp Blatter of the decision to have Valcke replaced as the person responsible for working with the government in the country’s preparations. Rebelo said he

will not suggest a replacement, however, adding that FIFA will likely make that decision. Valcke’s comments on Friday came just a few days after a congressional commission in Brazil delayed voting on a key bill regulating the World Cup and setting the legal framework that gives FIFA the necessary guarantees to organize football’s showcase event in 2014. Valcke said he was frustrated with the “endless discussions” in Congress about the proposed law.

The bill had already been delayed last month as congressmen remained divided on a few issues, including the sale of alcoholic beverages inside stadiums, something that currently is against the law in Brazil.

FIFA demands the country changes its law as Budweiser is a major World Cup sponsor.

FIFA said Brazil agreed to its demands when it was awarded the 2014 tournament in 2007, but the proposed law has been generating controversy as critics say it gives too much power to football’s governing body.

Rebelo said the bill is likely to be approved next week, keeping the country’s preparations on track. “The government is doing a lot to have the law approved,” Rebelo said. “We will comply with all of our commitments.”

The minister guaranteed that the country will be ready to host the World Cup. He said 42 of the 51 infrastructure projects will be delivered by 2013, and said most of the stadium construction was on schedule.

Valcke’s criticism also came ahead of next week’s visit of a team of nearly 40 people from FIFA and the local organizing committee to inspect six of the 12 host cities. The other six will host the Confederations Cup in 2013 and were inspected last year.

One of the cities visited next week will be Porto Alegre, which is in danger of being dropped as a host because its Beira-Rio stadium had renovation work halted more than eight months ago because of a lack of financial guarantees. —AP

Federer beats Murray for fifth Dubai crown DUBAI: Roger Federer underlined his status as an enduring front line contender with the 72nd title of his career which extended his record of Dubai Open trophies to five with victory over Andy Murray yesterday.

The 16-time former Grand Slam champion from Switzerland overcame the triple Grand Slam finalist from Britain 7-5, 6-4 in a tightly-contested final in which Federer escaped an early mini-crisis and then resisted a Murray mini-comeback.

During that period, Federer’s sequence of 66 unbroken service games came to an end, but he was slightly the more assertive player and his success brought him his 33rd win in 35 matches and his second title in succession.

“It’s beautiful winning this,” Federer said. “It’s such a difficult tournament with so many top ten players, and Andy having such a huge victory getting to the final,” he added, referring to Murray’s semi-final victory over world number one Novak Djokovic.

“It was a quick court and a there was a bit of breeze and I though we both played pretty well. I got a bit lucky and played really well on the big points, and I had a wonderful tournament.

“I’ve had a great start to the season, and a great finish to last season, so I hope I can keep it up. But there are a lot of guys who are going to play tremendous as well.”

Murray missed a decent chance to make a decisive thrust when he had Federer at 15-40 in the sixth game. The first of these break points offered Murray a decent chance of converting, but unaccountably he replied to Federer’s threequarter length slightly sliced ball by over-hitting a flat backhand drive.

Murray was also at the focus of the game’s most unusual incident, appealing for a Hawkeye replay twice on the same point, when his first serves were called faults - and both times proving the line judge wrong. He followed it with a slightly caustic aside to umpire Mohamed Lahyani, in which he appeared to refer to the Hawkeye controversy two days previously when Tomas Berdych’s failed return of serve stood after an incorrect service line judge call.

And Murray followed that with an ace as if to justify himself. But by allowing Federer to escape from his early crisis, he had stored up trouble.

The four-times former champion continued with his unblemished serving record — standing at 58 unbroken games before this matchand then broke Murray for 6-5.

It happened with the help of a mis-hit return

of serve, which set up a comfortable passing opportunity for Federer, but by then much of the damage had been done because Federer had been allowed to rebuild his momentum.

This continued in a slightly higher, smoother gear in the second set, in which Federer this time broke much earlier, in the third game, getting him to 2-1 and then 3-1 when he consolidated it.

Again a Hawkeye decision played an important role. Murray thought he had got to 30-40 with an ace, but the replay showed it as a fault and Federer capitalised with a rally in which he

hopeful high backhand overhead volley and saw it fall into the net.

That got Murray back to 3-3 and when he then escaped from break point down to reach 43 a long match seemed possible.

But Federer took advantage of a moderate Murray service game at 4-4, producing one delightful approach and stop-volley combination, and on his second break point forcing Murray to drive into the net. At 5-4 there was rarely much doubt that Federer would close it out.

DUBAI: Roger Federer of Switzerland, left, holds the winning trophy after defeating Andy Murray of Britain in the men’s singles final at the Emirates Dubai ATP Tennis Championships. —AP lured the Scot into angling a backhand drive wide.

Murray then brought Federer’s great serving run came to an end-after 66 unbroken games. It happened when Federer made one slightly arrogant and another rather optimistic approach to the net, and found Murray lobbing him both times.

On one the great man was forced to turn and run, only for Murray to punish him with a deftly angled drop volley; on the other Federer tried a

“I had a couple of wins,” said Murray, referring to his successes against Djokovic and Tomas Berdych. “It was always going to be a challenge against Federer.

“I was happy to reach the final, though I would like to have gone one better. I think most of the crowd wanted him to win, but it was a great atmosphere.” Federer concluded: “It is wonderful to win five. It’s only happened at a handful of tournaments maybe in my career.” —AFP

ABU DHABI: Rasmus Henning, center, is flanked here with Faris Al-Sultan, left and The champions: Rasmus Henning and Eneko Llanos after the presentation of winners yesterday. —Photos by Ben Garcia Nikki Butterfield

Denmark, Australia bagged 2012 triathlon title, UAE finish second 42 Kuwaitis participate

By Ben Garcia ABU DHABI: Rasmus Henning [male] from Denmark and Australian Nikki Butterfield [female] were crowned champions respectively for the recently concluded 2012 Abu Dhabi International Triathlon competition yesterday.

The two bagged the US$50,000 cash each plus trophies and medals courtesy of organizer, the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority. Henning was third in inaugural event in 2010 and did not finish last year. “I started to doubt at the beginning but with the email I received last night from my wife was amazing; I found strength and encouragement. I told myself I can do this,” Henning told Kuwait

Times. Henning was ahead of Faris Al Sultan, the second placer and pride of the UAE, with just few yards. AlSultan was followed by Eneko Llanos of Spain to capture the third place. “I got crams in-between. It was hard, but I agree that Henning’s speed was quite incredible. I was winning at first, but on the last kilometer or two, Henning attacked and took over,” he said.

Almost 2,000 athletes from 62 countries participated in the tournament, including 42 Kuwaitis, and over 50 world’s elite professionals.

Spectators packed the venue as early as 5am to witness the biggest event ever and probably the most luxurious one to take place in Abu Dhabi. Triathlon is an adventurous

sport which involves a unique combination of swimming, cycling, and running.

The race offered selection of distances to accommodate athletes of all abilities. The 223km long course boasts a 3km swim, a 200km cycle, and 20km closing run — the same distance as the world class elite.

Newcomers preferred to tackle the short course at half the length, with a 1.5 km swim, a 100km cycle and 10 km run. The sprint course offered a 750m swim, a 50km bike and 5km run. Both the short and sprint distance also offer the option of the relay entry, encouraging like-minded friends, families and colleagues to take up the Abu Dhabi International triathlon challenge.

The prestigious event, which sees a 27 per cent participant increase from the GCC from the 2011 event, starts in the beautiful turquoise waters of the Abu Dhabi Corniche, biking up to the famous Yas Marina Circuit, home to the Etihad Airways Formula 1(tm) Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and then ending with a run back on the sweeping shores of the Corniche. “I’m happy to finish ahead of other Kuwaitis particpating in this year’s tournament. But I dont know yet the final stand. I am thrilled to be in Abu Dhabi and race alongside some of the world’s best triathletes in the world. It’s an achievement already,” said Kuwaiti triathlete Wadha AlBader.

18

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

sp orts

IFAB approve goal-line technology and hijab BAGSHOT: Goal-line technology was approved in principle by the soccer’s lawmakers yesterday and could be used for the first time at FIFA’s Club World Cup finals in Japan at the end of the year.

The eight-man International Football Association Board said that the technologies of two companies, Hawk-Eye from Britain and GoalRef, a German-Danish company, would be subject to further tests until a final decision was taken at a special IFAB meeting in Kiev on July 2.

IFAB, which comprises four representatives from the world governing body FIFA and four from the British associations, also agreed in principle to overturn the decision they took in 2007 and will now allow Islamic women footballers to wear a hijab, or headscarf, when they play.

The hijab decision, taken after a

presentation to the Board by FIFA executive committee member Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, was agreed by all eight members and will also be subject to further testing with a view to a final decision on July 2.

“I am deeply grateful that the proposal to allow women to wear the headscarf was unanimously endorsed by all members of IFAB,” Prince Ali said.

“I welcome their decision for an accelerated process to further test the current design and I’m confident that once the final ratification at the sepcial meeting of IFAB takes place, we will see many delighted and happy players returning to the field and playing the game they love.”

In other decisions, a proposal from FIFA to allow a fourth substitute in extra time in Cup matches was withdrawn while further discussions will be taken regarding the “triple punish-

Hearts deepen Rangers gloom GLASGOW: A makeshift Rangers side failed to clear the ever-darkening storm clouds gathering over Ibrox as they lost 2-1 to Hearts in what was their third successive home defeat yesterday.

With player cuts looming large at the crisis-stricken club, Rangers manager Ally McCoist fielded an unfamiliar side, with youngster Rhys McCabe handed his debut and Andy Little and Salim Kerkar keeping their places in the starting lineup. Despite this, the new players seemed to gel well together, with Steven Davis firing the home side into the lead in firsthalf stoppage time.

However, the mood darkened when Ian Black’s dipping shot hauled Hearts level before Jamie Hammill put Hearts in front in the 79th minute as he slotted home the rebound after Allan McGregor had saved his initial effort from the penalty spot.

The defeat could prove to be the final appearance for several Rangers players, with administrators likely to announce job cuts on Monday.

It means rivals Celtic’s lead at the top has widened to 21 points, despite their 17-game winning run in the Scottish Premier League coming to an end after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

Third-placed Motherwell are now within three points of Rangers following their 2-0 win over Dunfermline.

At Ibrox, the visitors were the first to threaten when McGregor could only clear Danny Grainger’s cross to Andy Driver, but the Hearts forward’s shot from the edge of the box was wildly off-target.

Rangers looked lively going forward and Black had to be alert to clear Sone Aluko’s deflected corner off the line before Dorin Goian sent a header

straight at Jamie MacDonald from a Davis pass.

McCabe then came close to marking his debut with a goal when his 30-yard strike forced MacDonald into a superb save. Rangers finally made the breakthrough via a fortuitous goal from their captain, Davis. The Northern Ireland international got on the end of his fellow countryman Little’s cut-back from the byline to send in a low shot that MacDonald somehow allowed to sneak under his body and into the net.

Hearts got on level terms in the 58th minute. Carlos Bocanegra headed Scott Robinson’s initial header off the line but the ball broke to Black, who spotted McGregor off his line and sent a superb shot over his head from 25 yards.

Aluko saw his curling shot held by MacDonald before Little’s fierce angled drive was tipped round the post as Rangers pressed forward in search of a winner.

However, it was Hearts who took the lead when they were awarded a controversial penalty after Goian was adjudged to have pulled the shirt of James Beattie.

Hammill’s spot-kick was brilliantly saved by McGregor but the rebound broke back to him and he tucked the follow-up under the keeper’s body.

At Pittodrie, Celtic took a 28th-minute lead when Charlie Mulgrew picked out Kris Commons and his pass allowed Anthony Stokes to dance around the onrushing Jason Brown and slot the ball home for his 19th goal of the season.

However, the Dons were level a minute before the break when Scott Vernon found Gavin Rae and the midfielder’s shot deflected off Celtic debutant Andre Blackman and looped over Fraser Forster into the net. —AFP Preview

Ferguson backs Spurs to fire for Redknapp LONDON: Sir Alex Ferguson believes Tottenham’s players will be unaffected by the links between manager Harry Redknapp and the England vacancy.

Ever since Fabio Capello stood down last month, Redknapp has been the overwhelming favourite to take over as national coach.

And ahead of Manchester United’s trip to White Hart Lane today, Ferguson agrees that Redknapp should be given the opportunity.

“I think the people who will be more concerned are the directors, they’ll be worried,” said Ferguson. “I’m sure they’ll be wondering what the next step is in relation to the contact the FA make and when they make it because I don’t think you can dismiss that eventuality. It’s going to happen and they’ll be more worried than the actual players.

“The thing about judging any manager is his longevity-Harry’s survived all the different types of challenges, “I think experience helps too, he never seems to panic. Harry seems to be calm about the various parts of games, he never seems to get in a tizzy about things unlike myself.”

Ferguson has identified the game at Spurs as vital to United’s hopes. The champions visit Manchester City in the third last game of the season but after their match at Tottenham, they have a run of games that could pile the pressure on Roberto Mancini’s men.

Ahead of that game at the Etihad Stadium at the end of April, they face West Brom, Wolves, Fulham, Blackburn, QPR, Wigan, Aston Villa and Everton.

Tottenham were beaten 5-2 by neighbours Arsenal last weekend and are now eight points adrift of a United team that has won five of its last six Premier League games. But Ferguson is in no doubt about Tottenham’s quality despite their recent slump. “Up

until about three weeks ago they were playing the best football in the league.

They’ve hit a little bit of a plateau at the moment but we know that going down there on Sunday is a big game for us and it’s the most important game for us so far.”

Chris Smalling is a doubt for the game after suffering a head knock during England’s 3-2 defeat to Holland in midweek. Wayne Rooney returns after a throat infection but Tom Cleverley and Antonio Valencia are still out, while the match is likely to come too soon for Michael Owen, who has been out for five months with a thigh problem. Tottenham will go into the game without the suspended Scott Parker, but Redknapp is hopeful Gareth Bale will have shrugged off a hamstring problem in time to feature.

Bale was at the centre of controversy in last weekend’s 5-2 defeat to Arsenal when he was accused of diving to win a first half penalty.

But Redknapp defended the Wales international and said: “I don’t think he dives. He takes some rough treatment because he runs so quick and he changes direction so quick and he gets chopped down an awful lot. I don’t think he dives. He does genuinely gets kicked.” Spurs are seeking a first league victory over Ferguson’s side since 2001 as they attempt to consolidate their hold on third place. — AFP

Sir Alex Ferguson

ment” sanction when a player concedes a penalty, is sent off and faces a suspension for preventing a goal-scoring opportunity.

IFAB also approved the use of “vanishing spray”, the temporory marker sprayed on to the pitch by the referee so defenders stand 10 yards (9.15 metres) from free-kicks, can also be used in matches, It also allowed rolling substitutes in amateur and veterans matches.

The issue of goal-line technology has been on and off IFAB’s agenda over the last decade, but FIFA president Sepp Blatter, once a staunch opponet, changed his mind after Frank Lampard’s infamous phantom goal for England against Germany in the 2010 World Cup finals was disallowed when it was clearly over the line. Blatter said before the meeting he “would rather die” than witness anoth-

er blunder like that in a future World Cup and with his support, the introduction of the system became more likely. Alex Horne, the general secretary of the English FA who hosted the meeting south of London, told a news conference: “Eight goal-line technology systems were tested, and now two are going forward to final testing Hawk-Eye and GoalRef. They will go into phase two of testing and be tested to ‘destruction’.

“We expect, following the conclusion of those tests by EMPA (the Swiss testing laboratory), that one or more of the companies will fulfil the criteria, amd that we will be passing that into the laws on July 2.”

Jerome Valcke, FIFA’s general secretary, added: “If it is approved on July 2, then there is nothing to stop it being used on July 3, but in reality, the first FIFA competition it might be used at

would be the Club World Cup finals in Japan in December. It should also be used at the Confederations Cup in Brazil next year before the World Cup in 2014.”

The Confederations Cup is used as a rehearsal for the finals and between four and six World Cup stadiums should feature in that tournament.

A number of issues remain to be settled regarding technology including future licensing agreements, the costs involved and to what playing level the systems can be used.

Both systems, and future ones yet to be developed, could eventually be licensed with costs expected to reduce over time. The system used by HawkEye, which is used in tennis and cricket, is based on optical recognition with cameras while GoalRef uses a magnetic field with a special ball to identify a goal situation. —Reuters

Leverkusen warm up for Barca by beating Bayern BERLIN: Bayer Leverkusen warmed up for their Champions League clash at Barcelona with a 2-0 home win against Bayern Munich yesterday, as the Bavarians’ poor form continued.

The hosts took the lead on 79 minutes when ex-Germany striker Stefan Kiessling tapped the ball home from two yards after Swiss forward Eren Derdiyok’s overhead kick took Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer out of the game.

Midfielder Karim Bellarabi, 21, had been on the pitch just eight minutes when he supported Gonzalo Castro’s break to slot home Leverkusen’s second and claim his first goal for Bayer.

“My team demonstrated a great attitude, they really wanted to win and we earned it because of the second-half performance,” said Leverkusen coach Robin Dutt.

Leverkusen are at Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium on Wednesday, needing to overturn a 3-1 deficit from the first leg of their Champions League last 16 clash.

Victory keeps Leverkusen fifth in the league, but with leaders Borussia Dortmund hosting mid-table Mainz on Saturday night, the defending champions can open a sevenpoint gap if they pick up their eighth straight win.

Third-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach can usurp Bayern from second place in the league if they win at Nuremberg today.

Bayern’s form has deserted them since Christmas and this was their sixth defeat in the league in total, while they have won only four of their last nine games this year.

They face a make-or-break few weeks and have to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg of their last-16 tie against FC Basel on March 13 in the Champions League, before a German Cup semi-final at Gladbach on March 21.

“We played really well in the first half and created lots of good scoring chances, which we didn’t take,” said Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes. “That’s the crux of our problems at the moment. It was the same for us in Basel.

“It can also happen that the chances go in against you when you don’t take your own, which is a real pity for my team. “The result is very disappointing for us all, but we only have ourselves to blame.”

his first win in only his second game in charge.

Schalke’s ambitions of winning a first Bundesliga title suffered a dent as they fell 2-1 at Freiburg, which lifted the hosts off the bot-

GERMANY: Dortmund’s Shinji Kagawa (left) and Mainz’s Sami Allagui challenge for the ball during the German first division Bundesliga soccer match. —AP The Bavarians are bidding to avoid a repeat of last season, when they finished in the rare position of having won no silverware.

There is also evidence of disharmony in the team as defender Jerome Boateng and midfielder Thomas Mueller engaged in a secondhalf shouting match on the pitch. Stuttgart are eighth in the table after they earned a 4-0 win at Hamburg.

Hertha Berlin finally broke their sevenmatch losing streak with a 1-0 win over Werder Bremen as coach Otto Rehhagel, who steered Greece to the Euro 2004 title, enjoyed

tom of the table. The Royal Blues finished with 10 men as Greece defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos was sent off after earning a second yellow card towards the end of the second half. Kaiserslautern are now bottom of the table after their goalless draw with VfL Wolfsburg, while Augsburg are 16th after their 2-2 draw at Hanover.

Coach Marco Kurz has been given a vote of confidence by Kaiserslautern boss Stefan Kuntz, but his team’s situation is becoming increasingly precarious and only four points separate the league’s bottom four teams. —AFP

Preview

O’Neill ready for ‘massive’ Tyne-Wear derby clash NEWCASTLE: Sunderland will look to dent Newcastle’s Europa League hopes and boost their own outside chances of playing in Europe next season when they travel to meet their local Premier League rivals today.

The Black Cats make the short trip to the renamed St. James Park aiming to avoid falling victim to a league double by their North-East neighbours, who won by the only goal at the Stadium of Light at the start of the campaign.

A 52,000 sell-out, the TyneWear derby is new ground for Martin O’Neill, the Sunderland manager, who has presided over a remarkable up-turn in fortunes since taking over from Steve Bruce in December.

Despite the 4-0 reverse at West Brom last time out, the Wearside club have won 10 of the Irishman’s 16 games in charge. It’s seen them through to the last eight of the FA Cup while climbing out of the Premier League bottom three to sit ninth, 10 points behind Newcastle, who are sixth. Both clubs have 12 fixtures left to play.

Former Celtic manager O’Neill tasted the unique atmosphere of Glasgow’s Old Firm derby on several occasions and said: “I’ve never experienced a North-East derby in terms of Sunderland versus Newcastle.

By reputation, this one is right up there with the biggest in

Britain. For generations, this area has been a hotbed of football this is a massive game, one I’m looking forward to.

“It’s a ferocious derby which I’m sure will be played at a great

this term to see them greatly over-achieve in their continued bid to return to European competition for the first time since 2006.

Alan Pardew is keen to atone

Papiss Cisse of Newcastle pace. We’ll be be ready for it, and if we perform to our capabilities we can win.” Sunderland haven’t won at their arch rivals’ for the last six visits, stretching back to November 2000. O’Neill added: “It’s a big occasion and a big game and we’ve got to be ready for it by applying the same approach which has seen us do relatively well over the last couple of months.”

Newcastle, written-off by many before the start of the campaign for a season of struggle, have lost just twice at home

for the disappointing 2-2 home draw with struggling Wolves last time out, and the Newcastle manager said: “We just want to get four points from the two home games, and on the back of the run we’ve had at home, that would constitute a success.”

Sunderland have emerged victorious just once in the last 14 meetings with their local rivals, and were humiliated 5-1 on their most recent visit to Tyneside 16 months ago.

Pardew warned his side not to rest on their laurels, and he

added: “It doesn’t matter what’s gone on before, that’s irrelevant.

What it will be about is the day itself and how we play.”

Newcastle will make a late check on the forward Papiss Cisse, who pulled out of international action with Senegal in midweek with a groin problem.

The recent arrival, who has scored twice in three games since a £9m move from German side Freiburg, is expected to be passed fit to take his place up front alongside compatriot and 16-goal top scorer Demba Ba. Sunderland are set for a defensive reshuffle due to the absence of Phil Bardsley, the Scotland international who is ruled out by a calf muscle problem.

Egyptian Ahmed Elmohamady could come in at right-back, or O’Neill could opt to switch John O’Shea there, with recent loan arrival Sotirios Kyrgiakos slotting into central defence.

Fraizer Campbell, the forward who made his senior England debut in the 3-2 friendly defeat to Holland at Wembley in midweek, is pushing for a recall to the Sunderland starting line-up.

Reserve goalkeeper Keiren Westwood is out with a wrist problem, so Craig Gordon, who hasn’t played in the Premier League for more than a year owing to injury, returns to the bench as back up to Simon Mignolet. —AFP

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

S P ORT S

Soccer results/standings Blackburn 1 (Dunn 85) Aston Villa 1 (N’Zogbia 24); Liverpool 1 (Koscielny 23-og) Arsenal 2 ( Van Persie 31, 90); Manchester City 2 (Steinsson 23-og, Balotelli 69) Bolton 0; QPR 1 (Zamora 36) Everton 1 (Drenthe 31); Stoke 1 (Etherington 72) Norwich 0; West Brom 1 (McAuley 82) Chelsea 0; Wigan 0 Swansea 2 (Sigurdsson 45, 54).

Playing today Newcastle v Sunderland; Fulham v Wolves; Tottenham v Manchester Utd. English Football League results Championship Barnsley 1 Nottingham Forest 1; Birmingham 2 Derby 2; Crystal Palace 1 Peterborough 0; Doncaster 1 Brighton 1; Ipswich 3 Bristol City 0; Leicester 2 Coventry 0; Millwall 1 Reading 2; Portsmouth 1 Middlesbrough 3; Watford 3 Burnley 2.

Playing later Leeds v Southampton Playing today Cardiff v West Ham

and Redbridge 1 Bradford 0; Hereford 2 AFC Wimbledon 1; Oxford 2 Swindon 0; Plymouth 0 Gillingham 1.

Scottish Premier League results Aberdeen 1 (Blackman 44-og) Celtic 1 (Stokes 28); Dunfermline 0 Motherwell 2 (Higdon 64, Ojamaa 70); Hibernian 0 St Mirren 0; Kilmarnock 0 St Johnstone 0; Rangers 1 (Davis 45) Hearts 2 (Black 58, Hamill 79).

Playing tomorrow Dundee United v Inverness CT Scottish Football League results First Division Ayr 1 Falkirk 0; Livingston 2 Dundee 3; Partick 2 Hamilton 0; Raith 5 Morton 0; Ross County 2 Queen Of The South 1.

Second Division Airdrie 1 Cowdenbeath 1; Arbroath 2 East Fife 2; Brechin 2 Dumbarton 2; For far 1 Stenhousemuir 2; Stirling 3 Albion 0.

Third Division Annan Athletic 1 Alloa 2; Clyde 1 Montrose 2; East Stirling 6 Peterhead 3; Elgin City 1 Queen’s Park 1; Stranraer 1 Berwick 3.

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

Division Two Accrington 2 Port Vale 2; Aldershot 1 Morecambe 0; Barnet 1 Rotherham 1; Bristol Rovers 0 Macclesfield 0; Burton 0 Southend 2; Cheltenham 2 Northampton 2; Crawley 0 Torquay 1; Crewe 1 Shrewsbury 1; Dagenham

German League results Bayer Leverkusen 2 (Kiessling 79, Bellarabi 90) Bayern Munich 0; Freiburg 2 (Freis 18, Caligiuri 66) Schalke 04 1 (Pukki 72); Hertha Berlin 1 (Rukavytsya 62) Werder Bremen 0; Hamburg 0 VfB Stuttgart 4 (Ibisevic 23, Kuzmanovic 31pen, 47-pen, Harnik 90); Kaiserslautern 0 VfL Wolfsburg 0; Hanover 96 2 (Haggui 33, Diouf 69) Augsburg 2 (Bellinghausen 12, CallsenBracker 89-pen).

Playing later: Borussia Dortmund v Mainz 05 Playing today: Nuremberg v Borussia Moenchengladbach; Hoffenheim v Cologne

English Premier League table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Man City 27 21 3 3 69 19 66 AFC Wimbledon 33 10 8 15 44 60 38 Man Utd 26 19 4 3 63 26 61 Bradford 32 8 11 13 40 42 35 Tottenham 26 16 5 5 51 30 53 Barnet 33 9 7 17 39 59 34 Arsenal 27 15 4 8 55 38 49 Macclesfield 34 8 9 17 30 41 33 Chelsea 27 13 7 7 47 32 46 Hereford 34 7 10 17 36 56 31 Newcastle 26 12 7 7 38 38 43 Dagenham 33 9 4 20 33 57 31 Liverpool 26 10 9 7 30 25 39 Plymouth 34 6 11 17 36 54 29 Stoke 27 10 6 11 27 38 36 Northampton 32 7 7 18 40 63 28 West Brom 27 10 5 12 34 35 35 Norwich 27 9 8 10 38 44 35 Scottish Premier League table Everton 26 9 7 10 27 28 34 Celtic 30 24 3 3 62 17 75 Sunderland 26 9 6 11 34 30 33 Rangers 29 20 4 5 56 19 54 Fulham 26 8 9 9 32 36 33 Motherwell 29 15 6 8 40 33 51 Swansea 27 8 9 10 30 34 33 St Johnstone 28 11 7 10 36 33 40 Aston Villa 27 6 12 9 30 35 30 Hearts 29 11 6 12 33 29 39 QPR 27 5 7 15 28 46 22 Dundee Utd 28 9 10 9 44 39 37 W’hampton 26 5 7 14 30 51 22 Aberdeen 29 7 12 10 29 32 33 Blackburn 27 5 7 15 38 60 22 Kilmarnock 29 7 12 10 31 43 33 Bolton 27 6 2 19 29 56 20 St Mirren 29 6 13 10 26 37 31 Wigan 27 4 8 15 23 52 20 Inverness CT 27 7 6 14 32 46 27 Hibernian 29 5 8 16 30 55 23 English Football League tables Dunfermline 30 4 7 19 30 66 19 Championship Note: Rangers deducted 10 points for going Southampton 33 18 8 7 61 32 62 into administration West Ham 32 18 7 7 51 32 61 Reading 33 18 6 9 43 28 60 German League table Blackpool 34 15 11 8 57 44 56 Dortmund 23 16 4 3 50 15 52 M’brough 33 15 11 7 41 35 56 Bayern Munich 24 15 3 6 51 16 48 Birmingham 33 15 10 8 53 32 55 Borussia 23 14 5 4 37 14 47 Brighton 34 15 9 10 40 34 54 Schalke 24 14 2 8 51 32 44 Cardiff 32 14 11 7 50 39 53 Leverkusen 24 11 7 6 36 29 40 Hull 32 15 7 10 32 26 52 Werder Bremen 24 10 6 8 37 38 36 Leeds 33 14 7 12 52 48 49 Hanover 24 8 11 5 30 32 35 Leicester 33 13 9 11 45 37 48 Stuttgart 24 9 5 10 41 33 32 Burnley 34 14 5 15 47 43 47 Hoffenheim 23 7 8 8 26 27 29 Crystal Palace 33 12 11 10 34 30 47 Nuremberg 23 8 4 11 22 32 28 Ipswich 33 13 4 16 53 60 43 Wolfsburg 24 8 4 12 28 44 28 Barnsley 34 12 7 15 46 53 43 Mainz 23 6 9 8 34 36 27 Derby 33 12 7 14 35 44 43 Hamburg 24 6 9 9 28 42 27 Watford 34 11 10 13 39 52 43 Cologne 23 7 3 13 30 45 24 Peterborough 33 10 8 15 51 53 38 Hertha Berlin 24 5 8 11 26 40 23 Millwall 34 8 10 16 35 47 34 Augsburg 24 4 10 10 25 39 22 Nottingham 33 9 5 19 29 51 32 Bristol City 34 8 7 19 28 55 31 Freiburg 24 5 6 13 30 52 21 Coventry 34 7 7 20 29 48 28 Kaiserslautern 24 3 10 11 16 32 19 Portsmouth 33 9 9 15 34 37 26 Doncaster 32 6 8 18 28 53 26\ Note: Portsmouth deducted 10 points for entering administration

Matches on TV

Van Persie shatters Reds Euro dream Liverpool 1

Arsenal 2

LIVERPOOL: Robin van Persie delivered a huge blow to Liverpool’s Champions League prospects as Arsenal secured a dramatic 2-1 win at Anfield yesterday.

Dirk Kuyt missed a penalty for Kenny Dalglish’s side before Laurent Koscielny’s own goal gave the hosts the lead.

But Arsenal skipper Van Persie equalised before half-time and then hit a stunning stoppage time winner - his 31st in all competitions - to secure a fourth straight league win for the Gunners.

Liverpool’s first home defeat of the campaign leaves them 10 points adrift of fourth-placed Arsenal and in need of a miracle to qualify for the Champions League.

On a bitterly frustrating day for the new League Cup winners, Liverpool twice hit the woodwork.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard showed off the club’s first silverware for six years before kick-off when he paraded the League Cup, secured after a penalty shoot-out win over Cardiff last Sunday, in front of a sellout crowd. Unfortunately for home fans, that was the last they saw of Gerrard. The inspirational midfielder’s hamstring injury while on England duty against the Netherlands in midweek meant he was unable to take part in a match his team had to win to stay in contention for a Champions League spot next season.

Victory at Wembley last week guaranteed the club a place in next season’s Europa League but Dalglish wants his side to end the season with a flourish and secure a

LONDON: Arsenal’s Dutch striker Robin van Persie (center) jumps for the ball during the English Premier League football match.—AFP return to the Champions League stage for the first time since 2009.

Arsenal arrived on Merseyside with confidence sky high following their incredible 5-2 north London derby win over Tottenham, having trailed 2-0. Arsene Wenger’s side started from where they finished against Spurs as Pepe Reina was forced to produce a fine save to prevent Theo Walcott from firing the visitors into an eighth minute lead following Mikel Arteta’s 50-yard pass. Liverpool responded with Suarez almost capitalising on an error by Koscielny before the Uruguay striker earned his side an 18th minute penalty after being fouled by Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny. But Szczesny, who escaped a yellow card, made amends by keeping out Kuyt’s spot

34 33 34 33 33 34 32 32 34 32 32 34 31 34 32 32 33 33 33 34 33 34 34 34

23 20 18 15 16 15 13 13 12 11 11 12 11 11 11 10 9 7 8 8 6 7 6 8

9 5 7 15 11 7 11 10 9 11 11 8 9 8 7 10 9 14 10 10 15 9 12 5

2 8 9 3 6 12 8 9 13 10 10 14 11 15 14 12 15 12 15 16 12 18 16 21

64 62 55 64 63 50 47 46 42 44 45 38 39 45 43 35 43 43 31 31 31 37 29 45

23 34 41 35 36 44 31 52 44 39 46 40 46 57 53 45 56 48 39 50 37 57 52 67

78 65 61 60 59 52 50 49 45 44 44 44 42 41 40 40 36 35 34 34 33 30 30 29

Division Two Swindon Cheltenham Southend Shrewsbury Torquay Crawley Oxford Utd Gillingham Port Vale Crewe Rotherham Aldershot Morecambe Accrington Burton Albion Bristol Rovers

33 34 34 33 33 31 33 33 33 34 33 32 34 33 33 33

21 19 19 18 17 16 14 15 14 14 12 14 11 11 11 11

4 7 5 7 8 8 12 6 8 6 10 4 11 11 10 8

8 8 10 8 8 7 7 12 11 14 11 14 12 11 12 14

56 54 59 48 46 54 46 57 53 47 49 35 49 40 44 39

25 32 40 31 36 39 31 47 45 48 45 36 41 43 52 51

67 64 62 61 59 56 54 51 50 48 46 46 44 44 43 41

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE Newcastle v Sunderland 15:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 3 Fulham FC v Wolves 17:05 Abu Dhabi Sports HD Tottenham v Man United 19:10 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 3 SPANISH LEAGUE Zaragoza v Villarreal 14:00 Aljazeera Sport +2 Granada CF v Valencia 20:00 Aljazeera Sport +2 Real Madrid v Espanyol 23:30 Aljazeera Sport +2 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD ITALIAN LEAGUE Parma v Napoli 14:30 Aljazeera Sport +1 Udinese v Atalanta 17:00 Aljazeera Sport +5 Siena v Cagliari 17:00 Aljazeera Sport +9 Lecce v Genoa 17:00 Aljazeera Sport +8 Fiorentina v Cesena 17:00 Aljazeera Sport +7 Bologna v Novara 20:30 Aljazeera Sport +1 Inter v Catania 22:45 Aljazeera Sport +1

stroke of half-time after connecting with Charlie Adam’s cross from the left. Arsenal’s cause was not helped by the untimely departure of midfielder Arteta on a stretcher in the 53rd minute after running into Jordan Henderson.

Defender Martin Kelly, starting in place of the injured Glen Johnson, missed a glorious chance from inide the six-yard to earn Liverpool victory after Henderson delivered a fine 70th minute cross into the six-yard area. At the other end, Reina’s outstretched leg prevented Walcott from winning it for Arsenal. An entertaining match looked set to end in stalemate before Van Persie unleashed a terrific volley from an acute angle following a great ball from Alex Song deep into eight minutes of stoppage time.—AFP

Dunn earns point for Blackburn

LONDON: Swansea City’s Luke Moore (left) and Wigan Athletic’s Gary Caldwell battle for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match.—AP

Swans deepen former boss Martinez’s gloom Wigan 0

(Local Timings)

Division One Charlton Sheffield Utd Sheffield Huddersfield Milton Keynes Notts County Stevenage Carlisle Hartlepool Brentford Colchester Bournemouth Oldham Bury Preston Leyton Orient Yeovil Scunthorpe Tranmere Exeter Walsall Chesterfield Rochdale Wycombe

kick before the Polish keeper produced a second stop to deny the Dutchman’s follow-up.

Liverpool had failed to score in their previous two Premier League home games but they took a 23rd minute lead when Koscielny sliced Jordan Henderson’s low cross from the right into his own net at the near post.

Suarez was denied by the woodwork before Arsenal conjured up an equaliser out of nothing in the 31st minute after sloppy defending by the hosts. A fine cross by Bacary Sagna found Van Persie who nodded home from five yards out.

The drama continued as Suarez was denied by another fine Szczesny save after a brilliant solo run by the former Ajax man, while Kuyt hit the woodwork on the

Swansea 2

WIGAN: Wigan edged closer to relegation yesterday as Roberto Martinez’s side were beaten 2-0 by his former club Swansea which also ended a three-game unbeaten run. A double by on-loan Icelandic midfielder Glyfi Sigurdsson was enough for the visitors to put an end to a losing run of two matches and ensure Wigan stay bottom of the table, two points from safety.

More worryingly for Martinez is that his side failed to break down a Swansea side reduced to 10 men on the hour mark when Nathan Dyer was sent-off.

Brendan Rodgers, meanwhile, became the first Swansea manager to win at Wigan since Jan Molby ’s outfit did in 1996.

Sigurdsson ran the show in the opening 45 minutes as Wigan tried stoically to at least go in on level terms.

However, Sigurdsson’s efforts looked set to go unrewarded after first former Wigan star Scott Sinclair and then Dyer spurned relatively easy chances created by lovely

deft balls by the Icelandic international.

Wigan had little to offer in the form of attack, unsurprisingly as they are the lowest scorers in the league with just 23 goals, and Franco de Santo showed their lack of sharpness as he headed tamely wide from Chilean Jean Beausejour’s cross.

Wigan’s James McCarthy then came to his side’s rescue as he cleared a Sinclair effort off the line after he had rounded Omani ‘keeper Ali Al Habsi but eventually the visitors’ pressure told and they broke the deadlock. Sigurdsson scored with a beautiful right-footed shot which beat Al Habsi all hands up on the stroke of halftime. Swansea dominated the early stages of the second-half and it took a superb save from Al Habsi to deny them a second as he tipped over Joe Allen’s fierce shot in the 53rd minute. However, he could do little to prevent Sigurdsson’s long range effort a minute later as he curled in their second from a 25-yard freekick to do his chances of a permanent move from Bundesliga side Hoffenheim no harm.

The hosts’ chances took a turn for the better with half-an-hour remaining as Dyer earned a straight red for a high challenge on Jordi Gomez. This at least prompted Wigan into pouring forward in search of a goal, but Graham blocked Mohamed Diame’s shot on the line and Di Santo also went close.—AFP

BLACKBURN: Blackburn substitute David Dunn Blackburn 1 boosted his side’s survival hopes with a crucial late equaliser in the 1-1 draw with Aston Villa at Aston Villa 1 Ewood Park yesterday.

Dunn conver ted a Bradley Orr cross five minutes from full-time to keep Steve Kean’s strugglers within touching distance of climbing out of the Premier League relegation zone.

Rovers, who fell behind to Charles N’Zogbia’s first half strike, remain third bottom, but they are behind Wolves and QPR only on goal difference.

Alex McLeish’s Villa stay eight points clear of the bottom three, but this was another frustrating result for the under-fire boss.

Villa almost grabbed a fourth minute lead through Marc Albrighton. N’Zogbia picked up the ball deep the Rovers box and laid the ball back to Albrighton, who lashed his shot over the bar from eight yards.

The visitors kept up the pressure and took the lead in the 24th minute when Carlos Cuellar threaded the ball to N’Zogbia in the box and he slammed a leftfoot shot past Paul Robinson.

N’Zogbia almost grabbed his second in the 44th minute as his close-range shot was superbly tipped away by Robinson.

For all Villa’s dominance, Kean’s men almost grabbed an equaliser with the last kick of the first half when Junior Hoilett met a M or ten G amst Pedersen cross but shot over from six yards.

Robinson had to block a low shot from Stephen Ireland and then smothered an attempted follow-up from Alan Hutton as Villa made a lively start to the second half.

Villa goalkeeper Shay Given denied Rovers in the 70th minute by reacting superbly to block a Pedersen shot after Orr’s initial ball into the box had only been half-cleared.

Villa came close to extending their lead in the 79th minute when Robinson got down well to palm away Gabriel Agbonlahor’s header.

But Rovers grabbed the equaliser their second half performance deserved in the 85th minute when Orr floated in a ball from the right and Dunn headed past Given from close-range.—AFP

QPR hold Everton QPR 1

Everton 1

LONDON: Queens Park Rangers’ dismal home record continued as the

Londoners were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against Everton at Loftus Road yesterday. Mark Hughes’ side have now won just two of their 14 matches at home this season and the club is hovering just outside the relegation zone with a demanding run-in looming.

Rangers, beaten in six of their past eight matches, were on the back foot almost from the kick-off after Tim Cahill rattled the wood-

work for the visitors. The Merseysiders, unbeaten in seven games coming into the game, duly took the lead after the half-hour mark when Royston Drenthe punished slack play by QPR playmaker Adel Taarabt.

Moroccan international Taarabt gave away possession cheaply near halfway and on-loan Royston Drenthe pounced before rifling a low shot from 30 yards past Paddy

Kenny in the QPR goal.

However QPR drew level within five minutes after January transfer window signing Bobby Zamora bundled in an Akos Buzsaky free-kick.

The afternoon took a surreal turn after the appearance of a squirrel on the pitch for several minutes but QPR were soon back on the attack and should have taken the lead near half-time after hitting the woodwork twice within seconds.—AFP

Van Persie shatters Reds Euro dream

Federer beats Murray for fifth Dubai crown

19

17

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

Ferguson backs Spurs to fire for Redknapp

Page 18

LONDON: Manchester City’s English defender Joleon Lescott (left) vies with Bolton Wanderers’ French striker David Ngog (right) during English Premier League football match.—AFP

City five clear as Bolton woe continues Man City 2

Bolton 0

MANCHESTER: Leaders Manchester City coasted to an 18th straight home league win after Gretar Steinsson’s own goal and a Mario Balotelli effort helped them to a 2-0 success over Bolton Wanderers yesterday.

City move five points clear at the top of the Premier League table, with second-placed Manchester United

facing Tottenham Hotspur, who sit third, today.

Roberto Mancini’s team were a long way from their best but their win was never in doubt after Gael Clichy’s drive flew in off Steinsson mid-way through the first half.

They had to wait another 46 minutes to double their advantage when Balotelli, who was left out of the Italy squad for the mid-week friendly with the United States, slammed in from close range.

Mancini’s side now entertain Chelsea and head to Arsenal in the next run of seven games before they host United, who have a simple run after Sunday’s game at Spurs.

City may have won each of their 13 home league games this season but Bolton at least became only the third team to leave Eastlands without conceding at least three goals.

Although Bolton lined up with American defender Tim Ream as a holding midfielder in a system aimed at containment, City wasted no time in cutting their visitors apart.

With just a minute gone, some quick passes created space for Adam Johnson to send Pablo Zabaleta through and the defender’s low cross saw Samir Nasri kept out by a fine block from David Wheater.

Moments later, Yaya Toure fed Balotelli, whose effort come back off

the post, before Nasri was twice denied by Bolton goalkeeper Adam Bogdan. Vincent Kompany almost had an anxious moment at the other end when his header from a Mark Davies free-kick nearly found the corner of his own net.

But City, with the likes of Sergio Aguero and David Silva starting on the bench, maintained their intense pressure. Balotelli wasted another great opportunity when he missed from close range after more fine work from Johnson.

But the breakthrough came midway through the first half when Clichy was given plenty of room to hit a shot from 25 yards that glanced off

Steinsson and past Bogdan.

David Ngog was denied by Joe Hart as Bolton looked for a quick response and Ryo Miyaichi also troubled the City goalkeeper twice, going closest after robbing Kolo Toure.

But City almost added a second just before the interval when Yaya Toure tore forward and clipped a pass across to Kompany, whose fine pass on the turn found Balotelli, only for the Italian to be denied by Bogdan’s save. City were totally in control and Bogdan did well to rush off his line to block from Balotelli within seconds of the restart.

Gareth Barry also lifted a shot well over the bar from distance as City

Stoke edge Norwich

McAuley piles pressure on Chelsea West Brom 1

Chelsea 0

BIRMINGHAM: Gareth McAuley struck a dramatic late winner as West Bromwich Albion defeated Chelsea 1-0 to heap the pressure on Blues boss Andre Villas-Boas yesterday.

Northern Ireland international McAuley slid in to convert from close range with just eight minutes remaining at The Hawthorns to leave Chelsea three points adrift of the fourth and final Champions League spot following Arsenal’s victory over Liverpool in the day’s early game.

While it was a third straight victory for West Brom, Chelsea have now won just one of their last seven matches and the defeat will only add to the uncertainty over VillasBoas’ future, who conceded this week he fears for his job at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea return to the midlands in midweek for an FA Cup fifth round replay against Birmingham and a defeat at the hands of the Championship club could prompt Blues owner Roman Abramovich to sack Villas-Boas.

Once again, there was no place for Fernando Torres in Chelsea’s starting lineup, yet Frank Lampard kept his place despite last week’s admission that his relationship with his manager was “not ideal”.

Roy Hodgson’s side dominated the early stages and threatened in the eighth minute when James Morrison forced Petr Cech to tip a swerving 25-yard effort bound for the top corner over his crossbar after Jerome Thomas’ lay-off.

Chelsea’s stuttering start was summed up when the unmarked Juan Mata completely fluffed his lines 15 yards out from Daniel Sturridge’s cross, however the Spaniard did better in the 14th minute

when Didier Drogba’s flick gave him sight of goal from a tight angle only for him to be foiled by Ben Foster.

On-loan Foster’s recent form has prompted Hodgson to admit it could price them out of a permanent deal in the summer and the goalkeeper demonstrated he is at the top of his game with a fine fingertip save to keep Sturridge’s volley from the top corner after 39 minutes.

However, the England forward spurned an excellent chance a minute later when he was sent through by Drogba’s threaded pass only to drag a shot past the post.

Albion threatened again shortly before the interval, though, and it took a fortunate deflection off Gary Cahill to stop Youssouf Mulumbu’s curling effort giving the Baggies the lead.

Foster excelled once more when he darted off his line and emerged victorious from a one-on-one confrontation with Sturridge outside of his own area eight minutes after the restart.

Mata capitalised when Steven Reid pulled up with an injury and the Spaniard set Sturridge clean through on the counter-attack, however Foster read the former Manchester City player’s dummy and the danger was averted.

Reid was forced off, with Gabriel Tamas replacing him, and he was soon followed onto the field by Baggies captain Chris Brunt for his first appearance since a lengthy absence through injury.

Mulumbu and Marc-Antoine Fortune both forced smart saves from Cech, while Brunt let fly with a low drive as the Baggies continued to knock on the door.

Villas-Boas finally responded to Chelsea fans’ calls for Torres by introducing him in the 76th minute in one last throw of the dice.

Yet it was the Baggies who were to eventually prosper. Cech could only punch Brunt’s deep corner out to Keith Andrews, wide on the left. Andrews’ cross was fired back across goal by Liam Ridgewell and McAuley slid in to spark wild celebrations among the Albion fans.—AFP

struggled to maintain their early pace.

Just after the hour, Kolo Toure went close to adding a second when he thumped a drive past the far post after a fine burst down the right wing.

Darren Pratley almost gifted City a two-goal cushion with what would have been a memorable own goal.

The Bolton midfielder closed down Edin Dzeko just outside his own area and saw his interception bounce away off the bar to safety.

Balotelli finally got his goal midway through the second half after Johnson’s direct run into the area culminated in a neat back-heel to Balotelli, who drilled in at the near post.—AFP

Stoke 1

Norwich 0

LONDON: Chelsea’s Ashley Cole (top) jumps over West Bromwich Albion’s Chris Brunt as they battle for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match.—AP

LONDON: Stoke City kept up their unlikely challenge for a top-six finish in the English Premier League yesterday with a 1-0 win that took them above gutsy visitors Norwich City.

Paul Lambert’s Norwich have spend most of the campaign in the top half of the table but Stoke edged a point above them into provisional eighth place with 36 points from 27 games-seven points behind sixth-placed Newcastle United.

Matthew Etherington scored the only goal mid-way through the second half at the Britannia Stadium after the hosts, buoyed by three wins in their last four away matches, had shaded a poor opening period.

Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy excelled himself with a point-blank firsthalf save from England striker Peter Crouch, while at the other end, Norwich’s in-form forward Grant Holt nodded a farpost header too close to Asmir Begovic.

But Etherington made his chance count as he drilled in a low shot from inside the box. Ruddy then made a brave block to deny Kenwyne Jones as the Potters sought to press home their advantage.

The Canaries included their new signing from Leeds United, Jonny Howson, while Stoke welcomed back centre-back Robert Huth from suspension. Huth was in the thick of things in the closing stages as he blocked a shot from Simeon Jackson.

Cameron Jerome, whose initial headed pass had found Etherington for the goal, had two chances charged down as Stoke pressed to consolidate in the final 10 minutes Stoke had not lost to the East Anglians on home turf since 1997 at the old Victoria Ground and this success was their seventh on a roll against yesterday’s rivals at their current ground.—AFP

India business team to visit Iran next week Page 22

Who is afraid of Dow 13,000?

Page 25 SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

All-new BMW 3 Series arrives in Kuwait Page 26

BP reaches $7.8bn deal over Gulf of Mexico spill Page 23

ATHENS: A protester covers a ticket machine with plastic tape allowing passengers to enter without validating their ticket as a banner that reads “Occupation” is placed on a ticket machine at the Syntagma Metro station during a protest against austerity measures in Athens yesterday.—AP

Moody’s downgrades Greece after debt swap Private creditors face hefty economic losses NEW YORK: Moody’s Investors Service cut Greece’s sovereign debt rating to the lowest possible level after a debtrestructuring deal that imposes hefty economic losses for private creditors.

Moody’s lowered Greece’s local and foreign-currency bond ratings a notch to C from Ca, becoming the third credit rating agency to downgrade the country following the announcement of the swap deal to lighten its debt burden. Moody’s says that bonds rated C “are the lowest rated class and are typically in default, with little prospect for recovery of principal or interest.” The rating agency added that it did not assign any future outlook.

“The announced debt exchange proposal,” the credit rating agency said in a statement, “implies that private creditors that participate will incur substantial economic losses on

their holdings of the Greek government debt.” On Monday, Standard & Poor’s cut Greece’s long-term ratings to “selective default,” the second ratings agency to proceed with a widely expected downgrade after the country announced the bond swap. Fitch had announced a cut to its lowest rating above default last week.

Greece formally launched the bond swap a week ago. Under the deal, which is part of a second 130-billion-euro rescue package to claw Greece back from the brink of a disorderly default, bondholders will take losses of 53.5 percent on the nominal value of their Greek holdings, with actual losses put at around 74 percent. According to Moody’s, “the announced proposal for private sector involvement, a precondition for the provision of further financial assistance from the euro area, would con-

stitute a distressed exchange, and hence a default, on Greek government bonds.” The rating agency makes a distinction between a distressed exchange - where investors are losing money - and an outright default that is likely to happen when the exchange does not take place.

“Both these conditions are met in this case,” Moody’s said. When the Eurogroup’s assessment has been finalized and debt exchanges have been completed, Moody’s will reassess the credit risk profile and ratings of any outstanding or new securities issued by the Greek government.

Moodys’ concludes that “the risk of default even after the debt exchange has been completed remains high,” and any upward movements in Greece’s sovereign ratings after the debt exchange are likely to be small. —Reuters

New jolt for debt-hit Kingfisher Airlines NEW DELHI: India’s Kingfisher Airlines received a fresh jolt after federal revenue officials froze 40 bank accounts of the debt-crippled carrier, a report said yesterday.

The Press Trust of India said Indian authorities had sealed the accounts because of non-payment of taxes. “Over Thursday and Friday, we froze 40 bank accounts of Kingfisher Airlines. They failed to meet the February 29 deadline to make the (tax) payments,” service tax department commissioner S.K. Solanki told the news agency.

“The airline owes 400 million rupees ($8.16 million) to the department,” Solanki added. The move comes after federal income tax authorities earlier froze other accounts of the struggling carrier after it failed to pay tax arrears. In addition to back taxes, Kingfisher owes suppliers, lenders and staff millions of dollars and has scrapped scores of scheduled flights with only 28 of its fleet of 64 aircraft in operation. Many of its planes have been reclaimed by lessors or are awaiting spare parts. The airline was the country’s second-largest until earlier this year when its cash woes

deepened. Industry body the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation has estimated that Kingfisher requires an injection of at least $400 million to keep in business.

The company’s net loss widened sharply to 4.44 billion rupees ($88 million) in the three months to December from a loss of 2.54 billion rupees a year earlier while its debt totals at least $1.3 billion.

Company chairman and brewer baron Vijay Mallya has said closing Kingfisher “is not an option” and is seeking fresh capital infusions to avert collapse.

Late last month, media reports said Mallya told employees in an email that the airline had raised money to pay back salaries. Mallya has told The Times newspaper in London that Kingfisher is in discussions with two unnamed foreign airlines about a tie-up that could save the carrier.

Analysts have mentioned IAG, parent company of British Airways, and Etihad Airways, flagship carrier of the United Arab Emirates, as firms that might be interested in a Kingfisher stake. — AFP

Kuwait Energy makes new oil find in Egypt KUWAIT: Kuwait Energy plc and their main partner, the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), announced yesterday a new oil discovery, the El Salmiya-1 well, in the Abu Sennan concession located in the Western Desert in Egypt.

In a press release, the company said that this is the fourth exploration success in the Abu Sennan concession following the GPZZ-4 and Al Ahmadi-

1 gas and condensate wells discovered in August 2011, and the AlJahraa-1X oil well discovered in January 2012. The El Salmiya-1 well initial testing showed commercial flow rates at the Abu Roash “E” Member and Abu Roash “C” Member levels. The well showed rates of 400 barrels of oil per day (bopd) at the level of the Abu Roash “E” Member, while the Abu Roash “C” Member level

showed rates of 2,500 bopd and 17 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscfd).The total tested flow rate from both Abu Roash “C” Member and Abu Roash “E” Member is equivalent to approximately 5,600 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd).

Kuwait Energy is one of the fastest growing independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in the Middle East. —KUNA

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

BUSINESS

India business team to visit Iran next week US sanctions create ‘huge opportunities’ NEW DELHI: An Indian trade delegation will travel to Iran next week to explore “huge opportunities” created by USled sanctions over the Islamic republic’s disputed nuclear program, an export group says. The group will visit Iran from March 10-14, the Federation of Indian Export Organizations said late Friday, adding exporters had settled a major problem on how to receive payments from Tehran in the face of sanctions on dollar deals.

“We are expecting to get a lot of business from this trip,” Anand Seth, spokesman for the Federation of Indian Export Organizations, an Indian government partner in promoting trade, told AFP. The top trade organization, set up by the government, said Indian exporters would be paid for goods sent to Iran using a rupee payment system.

Iran’s Parsian Bank has opened an account with India’s UCO Bank and Indian exporters now are receiving rupee payments from Iran, Seth said. The method gives New Delhi a way to circumvent Western sanctions that are drying up banking routes.

Iran is India’s second-largest oil supplier after Saudi Arabia, providing around 12 percent of the fast-growing country’s crude needs. India has been examining ways to step up trade with Iran amid problems in settling its oil bills from Iran as a result of the intensifying sanctions campaign aimed at forcing Tehran to abandon its nuclear program.

India’s Congress party-led government says it will abide only by UN sanctions on the Islamic republic, and will not implement those by individual nations.

Indian Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar last month said New Delhi would send a delegation to Iran to “promote our own exports” and investigate business opportunities spawned by the sanctions.

He said there were “huge opportunities” to be reaped

by India. The two countries, which have long historic ties, hope to be able to settle around 45 percent of their oil trade in rupees by increasing exports, Indian media reports say. India has said that the visit by the Indian business del-

egation to Iran will go ahead despite a bomb attack in New Delhi last month that severely wounded an Israeli diplomat.

While Israel has blamed the attack on Tehran, India has said the identity of the perpetrators was yet to be established. “Why should we let long historic and cultural ties between the two countries be overshadowed by recent events?” said a senior government official, who could not be named, yesterday. Bilateral trade between India and Iran is around $13.7 billion, of which Indian exports account for just $2.74 billion.

But the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India says Iran offers wide potential for export of Indian products and commodities. It estimates the potential of trade and economic relations between the two countries can touch $30 billion annually by 2015.

India believes large export opportunities are available in the food sector, including tea, wheat and rice; pharmaceuticals; iron and steel and infrastructure projects. — AFP

Kuoni not interested in Thomas Cook assets FRANKFURT: Swiss travel group Kuoni is not interested in buying up parts of struggling British rival Thomas Cook, its chief executive told a German paper. “For us, the German, Scandinavian and British operations of Thomas Cook would not make any sense,” Peter Rothwell told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. He said that either there would be too few cost benefits or the regulatory hurdles would be too high.

Thomas Cook is working on a restructuring after turning to its banks twice for a rescue last year and has already announced

plans to sell its Indian subsidiary to reduce its debt pile.

There has been speculation the group will also seek to sell airline Condor, with German businessman Hans Rudolf Woehrl already saying he would be interested.

Rothwell told the paper in an interview published yesterday that buying up Condor would contravene the group’s strategy of having few fixed assets.

Rothwell also confirmed the group’s forecast for 2011 turnover of around 5 billion Swiss francs. — Reuters KANDAHAR: Afghan laborers sort raisins in Kandahar. Three out of four Afghans are involved in agriculture, but the mountainous and largely barren country is almost totally dependent on erratic winter snows and spring rains for water. — AFP

ECB’s Orphanides says EU debt crisis easing NICOSIA: The euro-zone sovereign debt crisis has eased in recent weeks, ECB Governing Council member Athanasios Orphanides said yesterday, adding more is needed to be done to convince markets the euro zone had an effective crisis handling mechanism in place.

“We have seen a very substantial improvement if you look at where we were in November and where we are now in terms of risk for example of France, Belgium, Italy and Spain,” Orphanides told a conference in Cyprus. “But you realize we have not solved the problem yet, because the risk is a lot greater than the risk we started off with two years ago.”

He said a defining moment for the euro zone was when Europe’s leaders abandoned the concept of private sector involvement (PSI) as a means of handling debt crises, leaving it in place only in the case of indebted Greece.

Orphanides, governor of the Central

Bank of Cyprus, has frequently argued that the PSI, which imposed a writedown in the value of Greek sovereign debt held by creditors, triggered contagion throughout the euro-zone. “By abandoning the PSI (concept) in December, essentially we improved the framework up to a point,” he said. “Unfortunately it didn’t reverse the haircut on Greece, so we had them (European leaders) on the one hand saying “we won’t do it again” but on Greece, imposing a loss. “We had a situation where declarations were not consistent with deeds and that is one reason why, in my view, European leaders did not manage to fully restore the confidence of the markets,” he said.

A “fiscal compact” enforcing more financial discipline on euro-zone states which was agreed to by Europe’s leaders in December was an important step forward in building a mechanism to fight future crises, Orphanides said. — Reuters

Markaz sponsors differentiation lecture by Dr Karel entiators, exploring the kinds of differentiation strategies that can lead to business success amidst the ongoing overcapacity and economic crisis. He also highlighted that over differentiation can lead to unfavorable outcome due to lack of market acceptance, and unjustifiable cost associated with such strategy.

Dr Cool is the BP Chaired Professor in European Competitiveness and Professor of Strategic Management at INSEAD; his research, teaching, and consulting focuses on problems of industry and competitive analysis. He has also published his work in many reputable specialized journals.

The lecture was attended by Ali H Khalil, Chief Operating Officer at “Markaz”, INSEAD Alumni, as well as a large number of executives from institutions representing a wide range of public and private sectors.

KUWAIT: Markaz recently sponsored a lecture titled “Strategic Alternatives: In Search of Differentiation” presented by Dr. Karel Cool, BP Chaired Professor in European Competitiveness and Professor of Strategic Management at INSEAD. The event was organized by the Global Centre for Leadership Development and AlKout Industrial Projects Company in cooperation with Kuwait INSEAD Alumni Association.

In his lecture, Dr. Cool addressed differentiation as the key to business growth and value creation. He explained how truly differentiated companies had been performing in tough economic environment, pinpointing different kinds of differentiation that would lead to market success. Dr. Cool also highlighted the factors eroding the success and rewards of differ-

Bayt.com report

Do you have the right communication skills to be a marketer?

In the present job market, where the availability of talented jobseekers is far greater than the jobs available, it becomes all the more important for a seasoned professional to be able to stand out from the competition and leave a lasting impression.

How do you go about doing that? Of course by marketing yourself effectively!

It takes sharp communication skills to determine an outstanding marketer from an average one.

Whether it’s for a networking event, or a pre-requisite on your job, good communication skills are well worth learning. Contrary to what is popularly believed good communications skills are not innate; with the right effort you can always develop them and take them up a notch. Career experts from Bayt.com, the Middle East’s #1 Job Site, have compiled a few pointers to help you sharpen your self-marketing skills.

Listening Ever ybody likes a smooth talker - they are impressionable people - but nobody really likes a smooth talker who doesn’t listen. One of the most important traits, also the most difficult to master, is to be a good listener first.

You might walk into a meeting with a client with the perfect thing to say but if it’s not relevant to the context or the setting, it’s useless. To get people excited about you and your business you need to do more listening and less talking. Also practice active listening, instead of passive listening, by asking the right questions to keep the conversation going.

Culturally conscious Successful multicultural communication requires awareness of principles and viewpoints of others with whom you are carrying out the communication. This doesn’t just apply to differences across languages and regions but also organizational cultural differences. While you may be accustomed to a laidback, unrestricted environment, not all your clients will tolerate the same.

Also nonverbal communication makes up about two-thirds of all fact-to-face communication, so be mindful of what your gestures and facial cues say.

Aim to reflect passion and empathy with the listener by using gentle and aware facial expressions and avoiding the negative ones, such as frowns or raised eyebrows.

People skills A good communicator is able to adapt his or her approach depending on the listener. In today’s challenging market, people skills are critical for maintaining a good client base (if you are in sales or marketing) or even keeping a job. Good people skills can help you stand out from the crowd and build a successful business if you are into entrepreneurship.

Clarity Being assertive and concise in your communication makes all the difference. People naturally have a limited attention span and the true challenge is to be mindful of this fact and not over-exer t it.

Successful communication is not getting hold of a top executive at an important networking event and talking to him for 15 minutes straight, it’s making sure that you have managed to keep him interested and engaged 5 minutes into the conversation.

Additionally, a good marketer needs to choose his or her words and tone carefully, without leaving too much room for interpretation.

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

.2730000 .4380000 .3700000 .3070000 .2760000 .2960000 .0040000 .0020000 .0750110 .7308100 .3830000 .0710000 .7164270 .0040000 .0430000 CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2763000 .4402010 .3725080 .3090600 .2781780 .0500970 .0422220 .2987490 .0356300 .2215360 .0034390 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0752550 .7331830 .0000000 .0737000 .7179420 .0000000

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

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash

ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.598 5.667 3.154 2.436 3.341 213.250 35.672 3.580 6.336 8.873 0.271 0.273

.2800000 .4480000 .3790000 .3160000 .2850000 .3050000 .0070000 .0035000 .0757650 .7381550 .4000000 .0760000 .7236280 .0072000 .0500000 .2784000 .4435470 .3753390 .3114090 .2802920 .0504780 .0425420 .3010200 .0359010 .2232200 .0034650 .0057180 .0022880 .0030750 .0034210 .0758270 .7387550 .3937770 .0742600 .7233990 .0065640

GCC COUNTRIES 74.150 76.402 722.230 738.540 75.715

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

Egyptian Pound - Cash Egyptian Pound - Transfer Yemen Riyal/for 1000 Tunisian Dinar Jordanian Dinar Lebanese Lira/for 1000 Syrian Lier Morocco Dirham

US Dollar Transfer Euro Sterling Pound Canadian dollar Turkish lire Swiss Franc Australian dollar US Dollar Buying

ARAB COUNTRIES 47.500 46.282 1.272 189.860 392.670 1.865 6.003 33.814

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES 277.950 370.650 431.930 268.420 153.940 300.620 277.000 277.750

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

235.400 1.804 50.800 723.280 3.130 6.760 77.030 74.350 224.180 39.650 2.653 445.100 42.800 308.500 4.000 9.480 198.263 75.920 278.800 1.350

233.900 723.100 3.060 6.515 76.600 74.350 224.180 39.650 2.300 443.100 307.000 4.000 9.320 75.820 278.400

1,784.730

Sterling Pound US Dollar

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 443.100 278.400

GOLD 20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

UAE Exchange Centre WLL

315.500 159.000 81.500

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka 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

SELL CASH 302.400 740.540 3.580 285.600 546.900 45.400 50.400 167.800 47.440 372.500 36.600 5.820 0.032 0.161 0.242 3.500 394.620 0.188 94.940 45.700 4.280

SELL DRAFT 300.900 740.540 3.385 284.100

224.200 46.183 371.000 36.450 5.630 0.031

COUNTRY Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

SELL DRAFT 304.36 283.63 308.72 372.95 446.86 3.49 3.395 5.618 2.298 3.530 3.065 75.67 739.73 46.13 395.65 722.76 76.69 74.26

SELL CASH 304.00 284.00 315.00 379.00 447.00 3.70 3.550 5.800 2.625 4.250 3.200 76.25 738.15 47.70 393.00 728.00 77.25 74.50

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd 393.570 0.187 94.940 3.550

Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro

Selling Rate 277.450 281.250 442.960 374.745

310.790 734.715 75.515 76.155 73.945 390.545 45.968 2.271 5.672 3.057 3.370 6.492 680.570 3.550 9.225 5.840 3.635 91.805

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co.

GOLD 10 Tola

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

Currency US Dollar Pak Rupees 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

Rate per 1000 (Tran) 277.500 3.051 5.680 2.277 3.380 6.530 75.655 74.155 737.700 45.980 447.600 3.190 1.550 379.900 285.100 3.690

Al Mulla Exchange Currency US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 277.750 373.500 444.600 283.200 3.425 5.623 46.080 2.311 3.370 6.508 3.055 739.650 75.650 74.150

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

business

Effects of export-led growth model on Singapore KCIC weekly analysis on Asia

By Dana Al-Fakir

Singapore is home to the world’s busiest port and like many of its Asian counterparts, its economy is almost purely based on an export-ledgrowth model. Thus, a slowdown in exports can have serious economic repercussions on the countr y ’s domestic economy. Expor ts in Singapore have been on a downward trend for the past two years, due mainly to the slowdown in economic activity in the G2 countries (US and European countries). However, it is important to bear in mind that the US and EU together are only a relatively small share of Singapore’s market: Asia takes up over 60% of the market. Both oil and non-oil exports have been falling; in fact, non-oil exports contracted by 2.1% year-on-year in January compared to the relatively robust 9% growth it logged year-on-year the month before.

The dominant drag on non-oil exports was the electronics sector. Electronic goods that make up 60% of total non-oil exports are strongly sensitive to changes in demand. It comes as no surprise that it is one of the first sectors to get hit when global demand slows down and is an indicator of upcoming weakness in the world’s economy.

The trade balance is the difference in value between a country’s total exports and imports.

When a country is in a trade surplus, then it is a net exporter: its exports are outweighing its imports in value. For over a decade Singapore

has been a net exporter of goods, thanks to its strategic geographical location. Its economy is highly dependent on the ‘Asian model’ of exportled growth, a model that was born in Japan.

Asian economies, particularly Asia’s four ‘tiger economies’ (Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea) were inspired by Japan’s economic lead after the second world war, and after implementing the model back in the 1960s, saw their

economies boom, per capita income grow and poverty levels fall. Over the past decade, tiger economies’ exports as a share of GDP grew from 68% to 98%. But becoming such a highly export dependent economy does not come without its consequences: the on-going global economic slowdown is having serious economic repercussions on Singapore’s economy. The fall in export demand is dragging the country’s GDP growth to

dangerously low levels, from a high of almost 20% back in May 2010 down to about 3.6% in December of 2011.

Singapore’s trade balance can act as a barometer for global economic activity. A rising trade surplus is correlated with high levels of GDP growth in Asia. The pick-up in the import sector in Singapore’s case, may not necessarily point to a weak trade balance ahead, instead it may be somewhat indicative of a potential improvement in export figures. As a major export hub, a large proportion of Singapore’s exports are re-exported products or intermediate products i.e. products that have been impor ted and then processed and/or re-distributed or re-exported.

For example, the GCC countries like Saudi Arabia, would sell oil to Singapore which would then be re-exported to neighboring Asian countries. So the recent rise in imports may be illustrative of some recovery in export demand. Factories in Thailand are almost fully operational again after their flash floods at the end of 2011. As a major supplier to Japan and Taiwan, Thailand would in turn help boost production in those respective countries too. In addition, as Japan scrambles to fill in its energy consumption gap by importing oil after it shut down its nuclear reactors, we should expect oil exports in Singapore to pickup. Furthermore, as Asia which covers over 60% of Singapore’s export market, keeps on focusing on stimulating domestic demand, we should expect exports to recover.

BP reaches $7.8bn deal over Gulf of Mexico spill Oil giant still faces claims by US govt

LITTLETON: Prius sedans at a Toyota dealership in the south Denver suburb of Littleton. Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc said its US sales rose more than 12 percent February on higher demand for fuel efficient vehicles. —AP

Obama: Fuel-efficient cars an answer to gas prices WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama says vehicle fuel economy standards set under his administration and better cars built by a resurgent US auto industry will save money at the gas pump over the long term, a counterpoint to Republican criticism of his energy policy.

In his weekly radio and online address Saturday, Obama said Detroit automakers are on track to build cars that average nearly 55 miles per gallon by 2025, doubling current mileage standards.

“That means folks will be able to fill up every two weeks instead of every week, saving the typical family more than $8,000 at the pump over time,” he said. “That’s a big deal, especially as families are yet again feeling the pinch from rising gas prices.”

During the past several weeks, Obama has been eager to appear aggressive in the face of rising gasoline prices even as he reminds audiences that there is no simple, immediate solution that will reverse the current spike in prices.

“What’s happening in Detroit will make a difference. But it won’t solve everything,” Obama said. “There’s no silver bullet for avoiding spikes in gas prices every year.”

By drawing attention to the auto industry, Obama looked to highlight both his efforts to improve fuel efficiency as well as his role in helping rescue General Motors and Chrysler. He also reiterated his call to end oil and gas company tax breaks and government subsidies that average about

$4 billion a year.

Rising oil prices have become a concern at the White House, where Obama aides worry they could hurt an economic recovery that has been improving and also harm the president’s re-election prospects.

Oil prices typical rise in the spring, but they have spiked to heights unseen at this this time of year, hastened by increased tensions over Iran’s nuclear program.

Gasoline prices reached $3.74 a gallon on Friday, a record at this point in the calendar but still shy of the high point of $4.11 hit in July 2008.

In Saturday’s Republican address, Rep. Doc Hastings of Washington said a meeting this week among Obama and House and Senate leaders from both parties “provided a glimmer of new hope that the president and the Democratic-controlled Senate may finally act on some bipartisan energy bills” already passed by the Republican-controlled House.

Still, Hastings, the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, faulted Obama for not doing more to increase domestic oil and gas production, for opposing drilling on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, for blocking a Canada-toTexas oil pipeline and for imposing regulations on energy producers.

“The president, who campaigned on a promise to address rising gas prices, now talks as if they’re largely beyond his control,” Hastings said. —AP

Abdullah Dashti Co wins CBK grand prize KUWAIT: The Abdullah Yousuf Dashti Trading Company became the winner of the KD100,000 grand prize in the AlNajma Account draw held by the Commercial Bank of Kuwait in celebration of the National Days.

Mohammad Dashti arrived at the CBK building to receive the prize check on behalf of the winning company. CBK Managing Director for the Banking Services Department Simon Clements presented the check. The Al-Najma (Star) account allows its holders to enter a daily draw for a KD7000 prize in addition to draws for KD100,000 grand prizes held four times a year.

The first prize winner received the prize

NEW YORK: BP Plc has reached an estimated $7.8 billion deal with businesses suing over the massive 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the company said on Friday, but the oil giant still faces claims by the US government, Gulf states and drilling partners.

US District Judge Carl Barbier, in an order made three days before the case had been due to go to trial, said the proposed terms of the class settlement would be submitted to court for approval.

He had already delayed the start of the trial to allow the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, representing fisherman and businesses whose livelihoods they said were damaged by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig and massive oil spill from the Macondo well, to negotiate.

Lawyers for the committee, Stephen Herman and James Roy, said the settlement would compensate hundreds of thousands of victims. “It does the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people,” they said.

BP said the cost of the proposed settlement would be around $7.8 billion, including a commitment of $2.3 billion to help resolve loss claims related to the Gulf seafood industry. It said the proposed settlement was not an admission of liability and that BP would assign to the plaintiffs some of its claims against Transocean and Halliburton.

Apart from BP, which owned 65 percent of the Macondo well, the main corporate defendants are Switzerland-based Transocean Ltd, which owned the Deepwater Horizon, and Houston-based Halliburton Co, which provided cementing services for the well. They are also suing each other. Several other companies are involved in the trial. Eleven people were killed in the explosion on April 20, 2010, and 4.9 million barrels of oil spewed from the mile-deep well in by far the worst offshore US oil spill.

A settlement would remove a significant portion of the complex case, but it would not put an end to BP’s exposure. The oil giant still faces claims by the US government, which is pursuing violations of the Clean Water Act and other laws, which could result in fines

totaling billions of dollars. BP also faces claims from Gulf states as well as its drilling partners. “Delays or deals made by other players do not change the facts of this case and we are fully prepared to argue the merits of our case based on those facts,” said a spokesman for Transocean.

The US Justice Department said it was prepared to go to trial to hold those responsible accountable for outstanding federal claims.

“The United States will continue to work closely with all five Gulf states to ensure that any resolution of the federal law enforcement and damage claims, including natural resources damages, arising out of this

unprecedented environmental disaster is just, fair and restores the Gulf for the benefit of the people of the Gulf states,” department spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle said.

David Uhlmann, a University of Michigan law professor and former chief of the Justice Department’s environmental crimes section, said the settlement was good news for the victims of the Gulf oil spill “who will see their losses compensated much more quickly than the victims of the Exxon Valdez oil spill”.

“It also paves the way for BP to negotiate agreements with the federal and state governments and begin the process of moving beyond the Gulf oil spill,” he said. — Reuters

The US Coast Guard fire boat response crews spray water on the blazing remnants of BP’s Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig. BP agreed late on Friday to settle lawsuits brought by more than 100,000 fishermen who lost work, cleanup workers who got sick and others who claimed harm from the oil giant’s 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster, the worst offshore oil spill in the nation’s history. — AP

US economist Sachs seeks job heading World Bank WASHINGTON: American economist Jeffrey Sachs threw his name into the ring for the presidency of the World Bank on Friday in an unusual public campaign for the top global development job.

In an opinion piece in The Washington Post, Sachs argued his credentials made him a better candidate than the bankers and politicians usually put forward by Washington. “Unlike previous World Bank presidents, I don’t come from Wall Street or US politics. I am a practitioner of economic development, a scholar and a writer,” he wrote. He was more blunt in an interview.

“I don’t believe that this is a job for amateurs,” Sachs said by telephone.

A long-time adviser to the United Nations and to many governments on poverty issues, Sachs runs a research institute on development at Columbia University in New York.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick, a former Goldman Sachs executive who held senior posts in the U.S. government, steps down in June. The World Bank provides loans and grants to emerging and developing countries to fight poverty and develop their economies.

Sachs says he would bring the institution closer to cutting edge scientific research. He also says he would focus more on using technology to improve health, education and access to electricity in poor countries. Under a decadesold gentleman’s agreement, Americans have always run the World Bank, while the International Monetary Fund - its sister institution - has always been led by Europeans.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice are frequently mentioned as possible candidates to succeed Zoellick.

Developing nations, however, are clamoring for a bigger voice. Sachs said he has won the trust of many developing nations after advising them on how to fight poverty. He expects several to nominate him formally by letter soon.

The World Bank would not comment. It has said it will only make public the names of the candidates that make its “short list” ahead of a final decision due

by April. Member countries have until March 23 to submit names.—Reuters

US economic outlook is brighter: Fed’s Bullard VANCOUVER: St Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said on Friday the US economic outlook is brighter and household confidence has improved , suggesting he sees no need for further steps to ease financial conditions.

“I think the data is coming stronger on the US economy. I think it’s a good time to wait and see and gather more data, get a better read on what’s going on in Europe, and see what is going to happen next,” he told reporters after a speech at Simon Fraser University. Bond buying would be a potent tool, and it would have important effects on the economy, Bullard said.

“But we already have a lot of things on the table,” he said. However, Bullard said he would have reservations about any further Fed bond buying because it could accelerate an already sharp recent climb in energy prices.

Some Fed officials believe high unemployment and sluggish growth demand another round of quantitative easing to kick the recovery into higher gear, while others, including Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, have suggested renewed bond buying remains an option should the recovery lose steam.

“I would be concerned that we not undertake a policy move like QE that would possibly feed into a global increase in oil prices,” he told reporters after a speech at Simon Fraser University.

After the Fed announced its second round of quantitative easing in November 2010, commodity prices around the world rose, in part because as the dollar’s value fell, other assets rose in price.

Bernanke told Congress this week there are reasons to question whether recent steep declines in the unemployment rate, which has tumbled from 9.1 percent in August to 8.3 percent in January, will continue because growth is slow and incomes have increased only modestly.But Bullard said he expects unemployment to continue to edge lower, and sees no inconsistency with modest growth and steady labor market gains.

“I think unemployment will continue to get better,” he said, in response to questions after a speech at Simon Fraser University. —Reuters

BUSINESS

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

Kuwait stocks rally on renewed optimism BAYAN WEEKLY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended last week in the green zone. The price index ended last week with an increase amounted to 0.69%, while the weighted index raised by 0.48% compared to the closings of the week before. Furthermore, last week’s average daily turnover decreased by 19.77%, compared to the preceding week, reaching KD 49.59 million, whereas trading volume average was 635.17 million shares, recording decrease of 25.68%.

Kuwait Stock Market was able to realize some gains throughout last week supported by the quick and speculative buying operations, which was executed on many stocks in most of the sectors especially the Investment, as it continued to lead the market’s upward trend, through its acquisition to a large percentage of the pumped liquidity into the market. Also, the return of activity on a number of the listed investment groups, gave a strong support to the market.

On the other hand, it was noticed throughout last week’s trading, a continued pressure by the Banking sector on the market indices performance, as it witnessed steep declines due to the stocks selling actions, which negatively impacted

both indices performance, especially the weighted index that realized less weekly gains than the price index.

Moreover, the stock market outperformed last week in spite of its current watch state, as the traders are waiting for the listed companies 2011 financial results; noting that the declared companies reached only 28% so far, however more than two thirds of the legal notice period (given 3 months) have already passed. The total number of declared companies reached 58 out of 205 listed companies, realizing approximately KD 1.54 billion, with a decline of 20.94% compared to same companies’ results for 2010.

By the end of the week, the price index closed at 6,133.6 points, up by 0.69% from the week before closing, whereas the weighted index registered a 0.48% weekly gain after closing at 410.59 points.

Sectors’ Indices All of KSE’s sectors ended last week in the green zone.

Last week’s highest gainer was the Insurance sector, achieving 2.97% growth rate as its index closed at 2,705.3 points. Whereas, in the second place, the Investment sector’s index closed at 3,952.2 points recording 1.41%

increase. The Food sector came in third as its index achieved 0.99% growth, ending the week at 4,457.0 points.

The Services sector was the least growing as its index closed at 13,540.6 points with a 0.24% increase.

Sectors’ Activity The Investment sector dominated total trade volume during last week with 581.14 million shares changing hands, representing 30.50% of the total market trading volume. The Services sector was second in terms trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 30.07% of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of 572.93 million shares.

On the other hand, the Services sector’s stocks where the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover of KD 45.75 million or 30.75% of last week’s total market trading value. The Investment sector took the second place as the sector’s last week turnover of KD 38.73 million represented 26.03% of the total market trading value.

Market Capitalization KSE total market capitalization grew by 0.46% during

last week to reach KD 28.73 billion, as six of KSE’s sectors recorded an increase in their respective market capitalization, whereas the other two recorded declines. The Insurance sector headed the growing sectors as its total market capitalization reached KD 311.25 million, increasing by 2.94%. The Real estate sector was the second in terms of recorded growth with 2.59% increase after the total value of its listed companies reached KD 1.85 billion.

The third place was for the Investment sector, which total market capitalization reached KD 2.14 billion by the end of the week, recording an increase of 1.21%. The Food sector was the least growing with 0.34% recorded growth after its market capitalization amounted to KD 722.96 million.

On the other hand, the Non Kuwaiti Company sector headed the decliners list as its total market capitalization decreased by 0.37% to reach, by the end of the week, KD 1.85 million. The Banks sector was second on this list, which market value of its listed companies declined by 0.03%, reaching KD 12.60 million.

— Prepared by the Studies & Research Department, Bayan Investment Co.

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

BUSINESS

Stocks, the little engine that could drive growth WALL STREET WEEKLY OUTLOOK NEW YORK: Stocks have proven the naysayers wrong so far in 2012. And the February jobs report could be just the ticket to keep the bulls going next week.

The five-month stock rally has been built on a string of improving economic data that suggests US corporate profit growth will remain intact, according to some analysts. Job growth is a big part of that picture. It has lagged most other parts of the US economy, a point frequently raised by Republican presidential hopefuls.

But strategists have been calling for a pullback, especially since indexes are hitting new milestones and the fourth-quarter reporting period is winding down. The Standard & Poor’s 500 is up for eight of the last nine weeks. This week, the Dow closed above the 13,000 mark for the first time since May 2008, and the S&P 500 twice closed above 1,370, a closely watched technical resistance level. The Nasdaq at one point crossed the 3,000 level this week and is trading at its highest since 2000. Some say staying on this path may be possible with further supportive news on the economy.

“The rally will continue as long as better economic information continues. The question is, ‘Are we seeing some sustainable improvement in the economy?’ I think the answer is ‘yes,’ so I think there is going to be some continuation in the rally,” said Bryant Evans, investment advisor and portfolio manager at Cozad Asset Management, in Champaign, Illinois.

The government’s jobs report for February, due on Friday, is expected to show non-farm payrolls added 210,000 jobs last month, according to economists polled by Reuters, after gaining 243,000 in January.

That would mark three straight months of solid job gains. The US unemployment rate is seen steady at a three-year low of 8.3 percent.

It would also be further proof the economy is on the upswing. Among recent upbeat data was this week’s report showing gross domestic product expanded in last year’s fourth quarter at an annual

NEW YORK: NYSE Executive Vice President Scott Cutler (right) uses his mobile phone to photograph Jeremy Stoppelman (center) Yelp co-founder and CEO, flanked by Yelp’s COO Geoff Donaker (left) and CFO Rob Krolik (right center), during the company’s IPO on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Friday. Yelp’s stock is soaring in its stock market debut Friday. The shares are up 61 percent to $24.15 in the first minutes of trading, after pricing at $15 on Thursday night. —AP rate of 3 percent - the quickest pace since the second quarter of 2010.

Investors are focusing more on economic data lately, with a bailout package for Greece in the works and US earnings news winding down.

But rising oil prices could create some anxiety.

Concern about supply disruptions from Middle Eastern oil producers has kept Brent crude oil above $120 a barrel, and analysts said that could affect the longevity of the stock market’s rally.

“The economy has a pretty good head of steam, and a few data points here or there isn’t going to derail that. But if you have some exogenous shock

from oil, all bets are off. Things can and do change in the short run,” said Doug Foreman, director of equities at Kayne Anderson Rudnick in Los Angeles.

Higher oil prices mean higher costs for consumers and businesses, and an even tougher time for Europe, which appears headed for a recession.

Greece’s second bailout from the euro-zone countries will be in place once conditions are finalized.

The first of the money can be paid out after the completion of a bond swap between Athens and private investors, which is to be concluded by March 9. Those concerns aside, stocks’ gains year

to date could be reason enough for investors to pull back. The S&P 500 has risen 9 percent for the year so far. “Once you start hitting targets, that tells you something,” said John Kosar, director of research with Asbury Research in Chicago.

“From a pure money-management standpoint, the S&P didn’t make any money last year. If you’re a manager and sitting on almost 10 percent profit as of March 1st, wouldn’t you want to take a little bit off the table?”

The S&P 500 ended 2011 virtually unchanged.

But it’s hard to argue with economic data. A stronger US economy will create jobs and improve profits. That is seen as the key driver for the stock market’s gains. Even though the percentage of companies beating analysts’ profit expectations is down from recent quarters, earnings growth for the fourth quarter is still at 9.4 percent, above a Jan. 3 growth estimate of 7.9 percent.

Earnings growth is down from recent quarters as well, but analysts said an improving economy will keep that growth from slowing too quickly, and will help offset any negative effects from Europe’s fiscal troubles. “In our view, so long as the employment situation continues to improve, we’re on the right trajectory,” said Thomas Villalta, portfolio manager for Jones Villalta Asset Management in Austin, Texas.

Besides Friday’s jobs report, next week brings a private-sector employment report from ADP on Wednesday.

On Monday, Wall Street will get a snapshot of the US services sector for February from the Institute for Supply Management. The US international trade deficit for January will be released on Friday, at the same time as the non-farm payrolls report. Economists polled by Reuters expect the country’s international trade deficit to have edged up to $49 billion for January from December’s $48.8 billion.

Among the remaining S&P 500 companies to report results, tax preparation company H & R Block Inc is on next week’s agenda as well as filtration equipment maker Pall Corp. — Reuters

Who is afraid of Dow 13,000?

‘There’s a risk that stocks could slide’

Citigroup new Chairman Michael O’Neill

Citigroup taps O’Neill to replace chairman Parsons NEW YORK: Citigroup named Michael O’Neill as its chairman, succeeding Richard Parsons who is not seeking reelection after helping guide the major US bank through the global financial crisis. O’Neill, who headed the Bank of Hawaii from 2000 to 2004, is a Citi board member. Parsons, chairman since 2009, will remain in his post through the April 17 annual meeting of stockholders, Citigroup said in a statement. His departure, after 16 years on the board, marks the end of a tumultuous era at Citigroup, which took a $45 billion taxpayer rescue to survive the US-centered global financial meltdown.

“He has been a terrific partner as we embarked on transforming Citi and returning to our core capabilities of providing banking services to our clients around the world,” said Citigroup chief executive Vikram Pandit.—AP

NEW YORK: What’s not to like about Dow 13,000? While most investors cheered when the blue-chip index closed above that level Tuesday for the first time since May 2008, some were wringing their hands. The Dow Jones industrial average has left the Dow transportation average behind, and that could mean trouble. “There’s a risk that stocks could slide,” says Bruce McCain, chief strategist at Key Private Bank. Adds Dennis Slothower, editor of the investor newsletter Stealth Stock Daily: “When the Dow leads everything else, that’s not a healthy sign.”

The rap on the Dow is that it tracks the biggest, most financially stable companies. Technical analysts, who study previous stock movements to anticipate future ones, say you have to look at other indexes, too. Take the Dow Jones transportation average, the granddaddy of indexes, which traces its origins to 1884. It tracks railroads, shipping companies and airlines - the businesses that move people and goods through the economy. This collection of 20 stocks fell 3 percent in February, counting reinvested dividends, while the better-known Dow Jones industrial average rose 2.5 percent.

Since last April, the high for most indexes last year, the transports have dropped 6 percent, compared with a 1.2 percent gain for the Dow. Technical analysts say that if one index reaches a high and the other doesn’t, that means the rally could falter. They say that’s what happened before stocks tanked in 1929, 1937 and 2000. The analysts disagree over how much to worry now.

And the Dow is not the only index climbing fast. A day after the Dow closed at 13,005, the Nasdaq composite index of technology stocks briefly broke through 3,000 for the first time in 11 years. Still, there are worrisome signs besides transportation stocks that the rally may not last: The price of gas is up, too. The average for a gallon of unleaded is $3.74,

the highest on record this time of year. Some investors believe gas prices are the biggest threat to the rally because when people pay more at the pump, they often spend less elsewhere.

The Russell 2,000 is still off its high. The popular index of smaller stocks, the kind of iffy outfits that surge when investors feel like taking big risks, has rallied 8 percent this year but is still 6 percent below its high of April 29.

Traders are scarce. About 4 billion shares are trading every day on the New York Stock Exchange, compared with about 4.4 billion last year. That suggests investors aren’t buying with much conviction. Main Street still isn’t bullish. Investors pulled $137 billion from US stock mutual funds from last June through January, according to Strategic Insight, an industry consulting group.

Technical analysts watching the transportation average for signals to buy or sell can make your head spin with their talk of “head and shoulders patterns,” “Fibonacci retracements” and “resistance areas.” But even investors who usually talk in normal English have taken note of the lagging index lately and lapsed into techno-speak.

A day after the Dow hit 13,000, David Rosenberg, the normally lucid chief economist at Gluskin Sheff & Associates, put out a report noting the recent “nonconfirmation” signal from the transportation average. A few days earlier, the folks at research group Bespoke Investment wrote a note to clients pointing out the “negative divergence” themselves.

Investors trying to guess where stocks are heading like to follow the transports because if consumers and businesses are buying more, then all those goods have to be trucked, shipped and flown somewhere, and stocks should be rising.

Technical analysts like to see them rising together with the Dow industrials, and the two hitting highs together. When one

hits a high, and the other lags, the technical crowd sees trouble. That’s the gist of the so-called Dow theory, a venerated gauge of when to buy and sell named after Charles Dow, cofounder of The Wall Street Journal. He came up with the first average of 11 railroad and shipping companies, including the once mighty Pacific Mail Steamship Co. You’d think a measure devised when Chester A. Arthur was president and men walked around with mutton-chop sideburns would have lost its appeal by now. But the index has provided a clue to some big turning points in the market, or so its fans say. Not everyone is not convinced that we’re at a turning point now, and that the rally could falter.

Fred Meissner, the writer of the Fred Report, an advisory service for technical investors, doesn’t think so. He says the transports, far from lagging the Dow in hitting a high, are actually leading the Dow. It depends, he says, on how you define lagging and leading. He thinks the two indexes are basically hitting highs together. The transports just hit their high earlier an all-time record of 5,618.25 last July.

“I would be buying stocks here,” he says. If you find this a bit confusing, there are plenty more straightforward reasons to be optimistic. For starters, stocks are trading at 13 times their estimated per-share earnings for the coming year, cheap compared with the typical 15 times.

Then there’s the strengthening US economy. Layoffs are at a four-year low. On Thursday, retailers supplied more good news: Sales in February compared with a year earlier were up a surprising 6.7 percent. Still, it doesn’t hurt to keep an eye on transports. Slothower of the Stealth Stock Daily say he’ll hold on to his stocks, but if the index drops below its average close over the past 200 days of 4,954, just 4 percent lower than Friday’s close, all bets are off. “People are being more defensive,” he says. “That’s not a good sign.” — AP

Republican Fed bill could restrict bond investments Consumer Financial Protection Bureau funding targeted WASHINGTON: Republican legislation to limit the Federal Reserve’s mandate to fighting inflation would restrict the types of bonds the US central bank could buy and potentially force sooner-than-expected sales of mortgagebacked securities.

Aides to Representative Kevin Brady said his reform bill would allow the Fed to invest only in US Treasury debt and repurchase and reverserepurchase transactions used to add or drain banking system reserves except during emergencies. Brady, a long-time Fed critic and chairman of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, plans to formally introduce his “Sound Dollar Act” tomorrow.

The Brady bill brings together a series of reforms that address congressional Republicans’ complaints that the Fed emerged from the financial crisis with too much power, and has strayed into fiscal policy and credit allocation while perpetuating expectations it will bail out the largest financial institutions.

The bill is unlikely to clear Congress, where Democrats who control the Senate will be reluctant to drop the Fed’s mandate to focus on full employment. Still, the measure represents an important marker that could set the tone for legislation on the Fed if Republican political power grows in November elections.

Democrats have also sought changes to the Fed system, which came under harsh criticism during the financial crisis over Wall Street bailouts and lax supervision of lending practices. The leading Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Barney Frank, is considering legislation that would take the votes away from five regional Fed bank presidents in policy decisions and give them to

five officials appointed by the president.

Democrats have long raised concern about the accountability of regional Fed bank presidents, who are appointed by banks and business people in their regions and not subject to Senate confirmation. Frank’s measure is also unlikely to gain traction because of a divided Congress and because the Massachusetts lawmaker is not seeking reelection in the fall.

Under the bond-purchase provision of Brady’s bill, aimed at keeping the Fed from “picking winners and losers through the allocation of credit among households, firms and sectors,” the Fed would be able to buy other types of assets during a crisis, but would have to liquidate these within five years, aides said.

The Fed took increasingly aggressive, emergency measures to stimulate the economy as the financial crisis weighed, including the purchase of around $1.25 trillion in mortgagebacked securities as part of its purchase of $2.3 trillion in assets. The Fed has been reinvesting the proceeds of maturing mortgage bonds into that market to try to ignite home purchases and refinancings. Financial markets recently have been scrutinizing remarks by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke for any signs that he may be looking more seriously at another major round of bond purchases, which could include mortgage-backed securities.

The Fed, which has had a long-standing dual mandate to promote maximum employment and fight inflation, under the Brady bill would be stripped of the jobs mandate.

The Brady bill, if it became law, would refocus the Fed on controlling inflation and maintaining the purchasing power of the dollar. Last month, the Fed announced an explicit target of

2 percent inflation. While an inflation target has been a long-standing goal of Bernanke’s, the move was timed to underscore the bank’s commitment to keeping inflation at bay even as it reaches for additional ways to loosen financial conditions.

In setting a target for inflation, the Fed acknowledged that it could not set a similar goal for employment because the maximum level of employment is determined by a range of factors affecting labor markets that can change over time. According to a summary of Brady’s bill released on Friday, the inflation-only mandate would require the Fed to monitor a broad range of asset prices, such as the dollar’s value, gold prices and real estate, in order to avoid the kind of bubble that led to the 20072009 financial crisis.

The Fed would also have to report to Congress on the impact that its monetary policy decisions have on the dollar’s value. Other details of the bill released on Friday included a provision to subject the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to the normal congressional appropriations process. Currently, the CFPB gets its funding from the Federal Reserve. If the change were enacted, it could make the agency, widely despised by Republican lawmakers, more vulnerable to efforts to limit its regulatory scope by de-funding it. The bill also would liquidate any assets in the Exchange Stabilization Fund that are not made up of special drawing rights from the International Monetary Fund. The $50 billion Exchange Stabilization Fund, launched during the Great Depression in the 1930s, is seldom used today. Brady’s aides called it a “slush fund” for the US Treasury secretary.—Reuters

MADRID: A woman holds a banner reading “ Stop frauds to the people’s saving “ during a protest against the alleged abuse of power by banks and frauds committed by savings banks in Madrid yesterday.

Protesters gathered in seven other Spanish cities under the slogan “Against bank abuse”. So far the Bank of Spain has had to bail out three failed savings banks. Yesterday, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Spain’s government deficit will reach 5.8 percent of economic output this year, much higher than the 4.4 percent Madrid had promised to the other states in the 27-nation bloc. — AP

American Express CEOs pay up 38% in 2011 LOS ANGELES: The chairman and chief executive of American Express Co received a compensation package valued at $22.5 million for 2011, a 38 percent increase from a year earlier, according to an Associated Press analysis of a regulatory filing. The company credited Kenneth Chenault and his management team for delivering revenue and profit growth, and gaining market share over the past two years.

The executive, who has been chairman and CEO since 2001, received $16.3 million in compensation in 2010. Chenault, 60, received a base salary of $2 million, up 3 percent from the previous year, according to documents filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The executive also received a cash bonus of $2 million, unchanged from 2010. But the bulk of Chenault’s compensation hike came in the form of stock awards, which were worth about $15.3 million at the time they were granted - a sevenfold increase from $2.1 million worth of stock awards the year before.

Chenault also received option awards valued at about $2.2 million on the day they were granted, down 76 percent from $9.2 million a year earlier. His other compensation declined 7 percent to about $1.02 million, and included $570,000 in company contributions to Chenault’s defined contribution plans; $395,439 for perks and other personal benefits; $53,458 in dividends and equivalents; and, $3,939 in life insurance. —AP

26

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

business

The all-new BMW 3 Series arrives at Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive showroom New sixth generation BMW 3 Series expected to strengthen its position KUWAIT: Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive, the exclusive importer of BMW Group vehicles in Kuwait, announces the arrival of the sixth generation BMW 3 Series to its showroom in Kuwait.

Having sold 12.5 million cars since the first 3 Series was launched in 1975, the BMW 3 Series continues to be BMW Group’s best-selling model series consistently accounting for more than a quarter of the company’s global sales. In 2010, every third BMW sold was a 3 Series, and the success story of the 3 Series over the past 37 years has made it the world’s best-selling premium car.

Commenting on the launch of the new model, Yousef Al-Qatami, General Manager, Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive said: “We are excited to start the year with the launch of such an important BMW model. The new car is bigger, sportier and more dynamic, and the first BMW model to be available with three different lines: Modern, Sport and Luxury - three distinctive design personalities for the exterior and interior. Within each line, customers can choose a number of exclusive finishes equipment variants to suit their taste. The car is beautiful not only to look at but

also to drive with an eight-speed automatic transmission. We are certain the car will prove popular among car enthusiasts in Kuwait.”

The new powerful design elements include a new BMW face, with flat headlights reaching along as far as the BMW kidney grille. This emphasizes the elegantly dynamic design of the new BMW 3 Series, which has increased in length (+93mm), width (front +37mm, rear +47mm) and wheelbase (+50mm) compared to the predecessor model, giving the car an elegant and athletic silhouette.

Inside the new BMW 3 Series, the noticeable increase in space means significant benefit for the rear passengers. The classic BMW interior surfaces and lines flow over the instrument panel towards the front passenger side of the cabin, where they form a smooth and protective border.

The cockpit wraps around the driver and ensures that all important functions are within easy reach.

Drive and chassis technology have always been key areas of expertise for the brand, and agility and driving dynamics remain outstanding

Elliott Wave principles in action applied to the euro

By Kamel Mansour n my last article in January 2012, a Perfect Call in both price and time was made on the euro using Elliott Wave Principles. Currently, the euro made a temporary top on February 29, 2012, to reverse to lower levels. The Second Intermediate (I2) or the bigger wave we are in since January 2012 is a very intriguing one that will fool many investors, not at this turn, but at lower prices since investors will presume that the downtrend will continue and the euro is no longer with an appetite to buy.

This is where the Elliott Principles come in to say that there is strength in the euro and the Second Intermediate (I2) is expected to consolidate in a big range between 1.2600 and 1.4200 for at least 14 weeks when counted from the beginning of January 2012. I have previously pointed out that the readers should expect updates whenever a wave is about to form or a major change in trend is to occur. In this article, there was a need to give an update since the market sentiments are bearish on the Euro, but as per Elliott Wave Principles, not for long before the trend changes again to the upside.

In my previous article on the Euro on January 10th, 2012, and I quote: “....The market is currently hovering around 1.27 marks on the euro, down 20 full points or 13.6 % in circa seven months. .... Minute 5 (m5) of Minor 5 (M5) of Intermediate 1 (I1) was expected to bottom around second week of January 2012 to pave a safe entry for the euro during its upcoming move...”

The market bottomed on January 12, 2012 at a level 1.2623. This was a Perfect call using Elliott Wave Principles.

I

Terminology Recap For those readers that have been following my “Elliott Wave Principles in Action” series should be aware of the terminologies used hereafter. For those that have just started to develop interest, a Wave is a movement in the market upward or downward until it is interrupted by another movement in the opposite direction. Each completed wave becomes a sub wave of a larger wave of the next higher degree. It can range from tick by tick intervals up to centuries long. Elliott classified, with ingenuity, the degrees as follows, in an ascending order: Subminuette, Minuette, Minute, Minor, Intermediate, Primary, Cycle, Super Cycle and finally, Grand Super Cycle.

Analysis of Waves The First Intermediate Wave (I1) started on May 3, 2011 and ended on January 12, 2012, finishing the Fifth Minute (m5) of Fifth Minor (M5) of First Intermediate (I1). It spanned 37 weeks in time.

The wave that commenced since January 12, 2012 started forming the Second Intermediate (I2) which can be delineated as follows: Minor 1 (M1) - is still in the process of formation and constituted three Minute

Waves as follows: Minute 1 (m1) - February 9, 2012 @ 1.3321 (Composed of 5 Minuette Waves) Wave A of Minute 2 (m2) - February 16, 2012 @ 1.2973 Wave B of Minute 2 (m2) - February 29, 2012 @ 1.3484.

Wave C of Minute 2 (m2) - is in the making and is expected to go to levels around 1.29 on the Euro in 5 sub waves which remain to be seen.

The upper channel that defined the Second Minor (M2) and Fourth Minor (M4) of the previous Intermediate 1 (I1) had a weekly resistance at around 1.36 marks level on the Euro end of February 2012.

The lower channel that connected daily lows of both January 12, 2012 and February 16, 2012, when extended from the top of Minute 1 at 1.3321 on February 9, 2012, gave a potential resistance on February 29, 2012 at 1.3526 making 1.35-1.36 a good selling range.

I want to re -iterate that I have expanded on one of Elliott Wave Principles, the only additional approach I devised and invented outside the original Elliott parameters. It was the re-plotting of full data series in a new graphical methodology that discounted the inflation factor embedded throughout the price history. The reason for reminding the reader is that the channels, when applied on the actual data, may not give the same results as when they are plotted over the re-calculated data.

Intermediate Wave 2 (I2) in Motion The market took 37 weeks to finish Intermediate Wave 1 (I1) and hence, by the law of Elliott Principles, two months from beginning of January 2012 till end of February 2012 are surely too short a period to assume that the market has topped at 1.35 levels.

During its move from January 2012, the market has built up potential by the truncated corrections. The irregular correction of Wave B (where the top of the wave exceeds the top of the preceding 5 waves - Minute 1 in this case) would surely give the market a boost for the subsequent movement.

Intermediate Wave 2 (I2) is expected to consolidate at least 14 weeks with a possibility to move upwards to around 1.4200 marks on the euro, the levels reached in October 2011. This is a daring estimation knowing that the current sentiments are quite bearish on the Euro.

The market, since January 2012, is making a Double Zig Zag (5-3-5 formation). We are currently in the middle 3 wave-formation whose final c sub-wave is expected to go to around the levels of 1.2900 on the Euro before a reversal may take place to complete the final part of the Zig Zag. After all, waves are culmination of sentiments of the majority of the market players. Trends can change and waves can be recounted if the Rules are broken.

The Wave Principles has proven itself to be a good investment guide to alert the investors to change the investment position in time to avoid riding erroneous trends.

attributes of the new BMW 3 Series. A choice of three powerful engines is available: the 335i 6cylinder, the 328i and the 320i 4-cylinder with an eight-speed automatic gearbox. The TwinPower Turbo technology is available on all three engines options in the new BMW 3 Series. BMW is the first carmaker to offer an eight-speed automatic gearbox in the premium mid-size segment, offering more EfficientDynamics technology which makes the new 3 Series more economical and lower in pollutant emissions compared to

the predecessor model.

BMW EfficientDynamics technology includes the new Driving Experience Control switch which comes with four driving programs allowing the driver to choose between sporty, ultra sporty, comfortable and extremely economical driving.

ECO PRO mode, a new feature on the 3 Series, helps drivers maximize fuel economy through their driving style, thereby enabling them to increase the distance they can travel on each tank of fuel. Under the umbrella of BMW ConnectedDrive, features that give the driver and passengers information and services to help make their driving experience safer and more comfortable, the new BMW 3 Series offers the latest-generation full-colour Head-Up Display, which projects key information in 3D onto the windscreen so it appears directly in the driver’s field of view. Also available is Surround View with Side View and Top View, which gives a bird’s-eye perspective of the vehicle and the area around it.

The all new BMW 3 Series is available for sale at Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive showroom in Kuwait.

Gulf Bank offers customers discounts at all MultiTrend international brands KUWAIT: Gulf Bank announced yesterday its exclusive par tnership with MultiTrend International. This promotion offers all Gulf Bank credit card holders instant discounts when purchasing items at any of MultiTrend International outlets using their Gulf Bank Credit Cards.

The Bank ’s credit card holders will instantly receive a 10% discount on their purchases when purchasing with their credit cards from Go Spor t, Destination Maternity, Courir, Franklin & Marshal, and Joe’s. This offer is valid until December 31, 2012.

Commenting on the new partnership with MultiTrend International, Ebtihaj AlRoumi, Assistant General M anager, Marketing at Gulf Bank, said: “We are very pleased to be able to announce this latest offer for our customers. Our exciting tie-up with MultiTrend International extends the

range of rewarding promotions that Gulf Bank is able to provide its customers, helping them to save money by receiving instant discounts on their purchases and enhancing their shopping experience.”

This new promotion continues the development of our successful customer satisfaction strategy and our commitment to providing convenience for customers by adding to the number of outlets which accept Gulf Bank’s cards and providing special discounts, promotions and other customer benefits when Gulf Bank credit cards are used for purchases.

To find out more about Gulf Bank’s latest most recent programs and promotions, customers can either visit the bank’s website at www.e-gulfbank.com, or call the Customer Contact Center on 1805805, or visit one of Gulf Bank’s 55 branches for assistance and guidance.

Ebtihaj Al-Roumi, Assistant General Manager, Marketing at Gulf Bank

Gulf Bank announces winners of 8th Al-Danah weekly draw KUWAIT: Gulf Bank held its eighth Al-Danah weekly draw on February 28, 2012, announcing a total number of ten Al-Danah weekly prize draw winners, each awarded with prizes of KD 1,000.

The 8th Al-Danah weekly winners are: Abdulaziz Ashraf Labib, Hammad Foaad Abdulsalam, Yousef Essa Haidar, Jamal Mohammed Jamal, Awatef Abduljabar Lateef, Khalaf Nayef Menahim, Wafaa Suliman Al-Azmi, Zainab Ali Jawelee,

Jawad Said Saidhashem and Hoor Hesham Al-Haddad.

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 (KD1,000 each for 10 winners). Gulf Bank’s AlDanah allows customers to win cash prizes and encourages them to save money.

Chances increase the more money is deposited and the longer it is kept in the account.

Al-Danah also offers a number of unique services including the Al Danah Deposit Only

ATM card which helps account holders deposit their money at their convenience; as well as the Al-Danah calculator to help customers calculate their chances of becoming an Al-Danah winner.

To be part of the Al-Danah draws, customers can visit one of Gulf Bank’s 55 branches, transfer on line, or call the Customer Contact Center on 1805805 for assistance and guidance. Customers can also log on to www.e-gulfbank.com, Gulf Bank’s website, to find all the information regarding Al Danah or any of the Bank’s products and services or log on www.e-gulfbank.com/aldanahwinners, to

Fahima Ahmad wins a 2012 Mercedes Benz in ‘Win A Car Every Week’ campaign from VIVA KUWAIT: Kuwait Telecommunications Company VIVA has announced the weekly winner of its successful and ongoing “Win a Car Every Week” campaign, the first of its kind in Kuwait for its prepaid customers, whereby Fahima Ahmad was the lucky winner of a new 2012 Mercedes Benz C180.

VIVA congratulated the winner and urged customers to follow suit and participate in the ongoing campaign in order to be one of the winners in the upcoming weekly draws. VIVA also reiterated its commitment to continuously provide unique and exclusive offers designed to better serve and reward its subscribers in Kuwait.

The “Win a Car Every Week” campaign will continue for several weeks to enable customers as many opportunities as possible to enter a draw for the chance to win a new car ever y week, whereby every month will bring with it a joyful surprise to our customers with the chance to win a brand new 2012 car. 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 KD 7 which gives them full and unlimited BlackBerr y Ser vices, where customers will gain fif teen points .

In addition to the two options, every customer will enter the draw upon purchasing a VIVA prepaid line. 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 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’.

Fahad Al-Fahad with the winner

27

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

TECHNOLOGY

Flying robots swoop and swarm as a team LONG BEACH: Tech-savvy TED-goers watched in wonder as flying robots darted through tossed hoops, worked together in swarms and even formed a band to play trademark “James Bond” film theme music.

A video of University of Pennsylvania professor Vijay Kumar showing off palm-sized “agile aerial robots” from the college lab logged more than 200,000 views online at ted.com by the time the prestigious gathering ended on Friday.

“Robots like this have many applications,” Kumar said. “They can be sent in buildings as first responders to look for intruders or check for biochemical leaks..into collapsed buildings after disasters or into reactor buildings to check radiation levels,” he continued.

Kumar held in one hand a small robot resembling a miniature helicopter with four rotors. It was fitted with gyroscopes and other sensors to feed information about its position and

things around it to an on-board processor, which operated as a brain letting it react autonomously and instantly to situations. “There is no GPS,” Kumar explained. “The coordinate system is defined by the robot, where it is and what it is looking at.”

He showed groups of flying robots working as teams to carry heavy objects or build block structures based on blueprints alone. The professor likened the robots’ behavior to desert ants naturally working together to

haul a piece of fig back to their nest.

“Once you know how to fly in formation, you can actually pick up objects cooperatively,” Kumar said.

“We can double, triple, quadruple the robots strength by getting them to team with neighbors.” His presentation finished with nine flying robots banding together to play the James Bond spy film on musical instruments.

“Magnificent,” a person writing under the name Kimani Burton said in a chat forum beneath Kumar’s video at

ted.com. “Its technological breakthroughs like these that remind me daily of the limitless creative capacity of humans.”

Meanwhile, some in the forum lamented the potential military uses of what they saw as self-guided minidrones.

TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) is a series of conferences designed to present cutting-edge ideas. Speakers are given only 18 minutes to give deliver their pitch. — AFP

NASA was hacked 13 times last year Air Force scraps plans to purchase Apple iPads

TOKYO: Visitors inspect a mini-electric vehicle T-10 attached with solar panels made of spherical micro solar cells, developed by Japan’s Kyosemi Corp., on the hood during the International Photovoltaic Power Generation Expo in Tokyo Thursday. With Kyosemi’s micro solar cells that can catch sun rays from all directions drivers of the one-seater EV, built by hand by Japan’s Takeoka Jidosha Kogei, can put on head and side lamps and operate wipers with energy generated by the panels and stored in a sub battery pack. — AP

Fight for the future starts in the mobile phone market BARCELONA: The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona again showed the dominance of Google’s Android platform, although its rivals made a better impression than they did a year ago.

As things stand, Android has half of market share, and Apple’s iPhone has a quarter. The rest is shared between platforms like RIM’s Blackberry, Samsung’s Bada, Microsoft’s Windows Phone and Nokia’s Symbian.

At first the Mobile World Congress looked like an Android show, such was the supremacy of new phones using Google’s operating system, but the battle is just starting. Smartphones make up about a third of mobile phone sales, implying that seven of 10 cellphones are still of the simpler kind, representing a huge market in the short term.

Some analysts estimate that annual smartphone sales could triple by 2015 to reach 1.5 billion units. Recent mobile phone industry history shows a large market share guarantees nothing in a high-growth sector. Only a few years ago Nokia held a comfortable two-thirds of the then-young smartphone market.

Then came the iPhone, and then Android raced to the top.

In the two-year-old tablet computer market, Apple’s iPad continues to dominate, while the many Android devices that are available and Amazon’s simple Kindle Fire still leave customers cold. The most significant challenge to the current world order came from former champions turned underdogs, Nokia and Microsoft.

By offering a smartphone for less than 200 euros (266 dollars), the Finnish firm promised to put up a fight in developing countries, where it remains the leader in the simple cellphone business. Google’s executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, even prophesied there would be Android smartphones for 70 dollars.

Nokia built a supercamera with a 41megapixel sensor into one of its cellphones. The message is that it is too early to write off the former mobile phone superpower. Microsoft made the most of the cellphone fair to present a test version of its next operating system, Windows 8. The upcoming Windows is for use on tablet computers as well and is expected to run even on devices using the chips made by Microsoft’s British competitor ARM, currently to be found on almost all smartphones and tablets.

In order to make this possible, Windows is effectively to be re-invented, according to Microsoft’s Windows president, Steven Sinofsky, whom many bill as the heir apparent to Microsoft’s CEO

Steve Ballmer. With this new operating system, Microsoft embraces the longdenied “post-PC era,” which the late Apple founder Steve Jobs once proclaimed. The idea at the core was that the personal computer is no longer the measure of all things but just one of many devices.

Sales figures have long proved Jobs right. “Microsoft has only just released the handbrake on time,” said Nvidia’s vice president for Europe Bernhard Gleissner. As usual, Apple skipped the Mobile World Congress, but still managed to cause disruption.

Just as Google’s Schmidt presented his vision in Barcelona of a connected future, invitations were sent out for the presentation of the next iPad generation, and the tech world again turned its eyes towards California.

The timing of greetings from Cupertino can hardly have been a coincidence: Google and Apple, once partners, are now bitter rivals to the point of being engaged in a global patents war. And Apple boss Tim Cook has already made it clear that he plans to sell many more iPhones in the future than he does today.

Internal conflict is also apparent within the Android camp. There is a problem with the presence in the market of several versions of this operating system, which upsets app developers in particular and is a consequence of the great diversity of Android devices.

Besides, Samsung, currently Android’s main pillar, is annoyed with Google’s takeover of its rival Motorola. The South Korean giant made clear its own product, Bada, is also fit for smartphones across the board.

Andy Rubin, Google’s Mobile vice president, tried to calm things down by saying that Google plans to build “a firewall” between Android and Motorola Mobility after the takeover, so that manufacturers of other Android devices are not at a disadvantage.

Constructing the fast LTE network to fix the bottlenecks in the current UMTS system is to play a crucial role in the future. Mobile phone manufacturers again complained about having to contribute billions to build the new network, while much of the income will go to Google, Apple and other online service providers. They moaned yet again about Brussels’ overly-strict regulations, but European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes, responsible for the European Union’s digital agenda, struck right back. “I call your bluff, and indeed do not respond well to threats,” she said. — dpa

NEW YORK: NASA said hackers stole employee credentials and gained access to missioncritical projects last year in 13 major network breaches that could compromise US national security. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Inspector General Paul Martin testified before Congress this week on the breaches, which appear to be among the more significant in a string of security problems for federal agencies.

The space agency discovered in November that hackers working through an Internet Protocol address in China broke into the -network of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Martin said in testimony released on Wednesday. One of NASA’s key labs, JPL manages 23 spacecraft conducting active space missions, including missions to Jupiter, Mars and Saturn.

He said the hackers gained full system access, which allowed them to modify, copy, or delete sensitive files, create new user accounts and upload hacking tools to steal user credentials and compromise other NASA systems. They were also able to modify system logs to conceal their actions.

“Our review disclosed that the intruders had compromised the accounts of the most privileged JPL users, giving the intruders access to most of JPL’s networks,” he said. (http://bit.ly/yQFSB8) In another attack last year, intruders stole credentials for accessing NASA systems from more than 150 employees. Martin said the his office identified thousands of computer security lapses at the agency in 2010 and 2011. He also said NASA has moved too slowly to encrypt or scramble the data on its laptop computers to protect information from falling into the wrong hands.

Unencrypted notebook computers that have been lost or stolen include ones containing codes for controlling the International Space Station, as well as sensitive data on NASA’s Constellation and Orion programs, Martin said. A NASA spokesman told Reuters yesterday the agency was implementing recommendations made by the Inspector General’s Office.

“NASA takes the issue of IT security very seriously, and at no point in time have opera-

tions of the International Space Station been in jeopardy due to a data breach,” said NASA spokesman Michael Cabbagehe.

In a separate development, the U.S. Air Force said on Friday it had scrapped a plan to outfit thousands of personnel with secondgeneration iPad tablet computers from Apple Inc, but denied the reversal was because

In this Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012 image made from video provided by NASA, commander of the International Space Station, Daniel Burbank, shakes hands with Robonaut aboard the station in orbit around the earth. It’s the first handshake ever between a human and a humanoid in space. NASA’s Robonaut was launched aboard space shuttle Discovery last February. Crews have been testing it to see how it one day might help astronauts perform space station chores. — AP some of the software it wanted on the devices software and other components have not had been written in Russia. been tampered with by other nations.

Two days ago, news website Nextgov This has proved challenging because so raised questions about a requirement that the many parts come from overseas. Even 2,861 iPad2s come equipped with American companies often contract for proGoodReader, an electronic document display gramming work abroad. program written by an independent Russian Mike Jacobs, who headed the National developer.

Security Agency’s program for defending US The devices were to be used to store and equipment, said in an interview he had killed update flight information, regulations and a major procurement of encryption software orders, according to procurement documents. within seconds after learning that a US suppli“The cancellation was not the result of any er had included a small amount of Russianconcern about GoodReader,” said Matt made code. — Reuters Durham, a spokesman at the Air Force Special

Microsoft releases first public version of Windows 8 SEATTLE: Microsoft on Wednesday released the first public version of its next generation operating system Windows 8, a cornerstone of its plan to halt the encroachment of Apple and Google on its once dominant market position. The new system was hailed by the Seattle software giant as the most far-reaching redesign of its core product since it introduced Windows 95. Until now the software was only available to registered developers, who downloaded some 3 million copies of the software.

Featuring a mosaic of activity tiles that radically alter the way Windows users interact with computers, the new software is designed to operate both traditional PCs and tablet computers with a choice of touch gestures or traditional mouse and keyboard controls.

Microsoft is years behind Apple and Google in tapping the fast-growing market for tablet computers, which is drawing millions of users away from traditional laptops. It also badly lags behind the company in the smartphone space and has been widely criticized for failing to

Operations Command.

He said the cancellation of the six-weekold order followed a decision that the procurement should not have been reserved for small businesses. The military and other branches of government have been putting an increased emphasis on “supply-chain security” as they try to make sure that hardware,

prepare itself for the post-PC era.

“With Windows 8, we reimagined the different ways people interact with their PC and how to make everything feel like a natural extension of the device, whether using a Windows 8 tablet, laptop or all-in-one,” said Steven Sinofsky, president of the Windows Division at Microsoft. “The Windows 8 Consumer Preview brings a no-compromises approach to using your PC.” Those changes include ditching Windows’ traditional Start button with a sliding menu, integrated web-based storage and activity tiles that group together related functions and present new information in real time without having to open individual applications.

Windows 8 is also the first Microsoft operating system designed to run on ARM-based chips that dominated mobile devices, rather that the Intel chips that are ubiquitous in PCs. It features a faster boot time, and uses less energy and processing power than Windows 7. It is expected to hit the market in September of October. — dpa

HANOVER: Picture taken on March 3, 2011 shows visitors crowding in a hall of the world’s biggest IT fair CeBIT in Hanover, central Germany. Brazil is the partner country of the CeBIT 2012, which is running from March 6 to 10, 2012. — AFP

News

in brief

850,000 Android devices activated BARCELONA: Google said Monday in Barcelona that 850,000 Android devices - mobile phones and tablet computers - were being activated every day as the software continued to dominate the smartphone market. The US search giant, which created the Android operating system, issued the figures at the Mobile World Congress phone trade fair in Barcelona. It said daily activations, in which new devices connect online to Google’s servers, were up 250 per cent from a year ago. There were now more than 300 million Android devices in use worldwide, the company added. Its download platform, which offers application programs for the Android smartphones and tablets at prices starting from zero, had increased its product range from 150,000 to 450,000 apps in the last year. Google allows a range of mobile phone manufacturers to commercialize the Android operating system, but critics complain that there are too many versions of Android on the market. Some brand new products unveiled at Mobile World in Barcelona even run on Android 2.3, also known as Gingerbread, rather than the newest version, Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich.

Facebook to allow mobile ads Facebook is priming the revenue pump in the run-up to its hotly anticipated initial public stock offering (IPO). On Wednesday it announced that it would for the first time allow advertising on its mobile platform. The ads will appear in the mobile news feeds of the more than 425 million Facebook users who access the social networking site through their mobile devices, Facebook said at a New York marketing conference.

Facebook’s announcement came a day after rival Twitter announced its plans for advertising on mobile devices. Facebook has not specified a date for its upcoming IPO, which is likely to be one of the biggest in history, valuing the company at between 75 billion dollars and 100 billion dollars. — dpa

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

Annual US pet spending passes $50 billion mark LOS ANGELES: Americans spent $50.96 billion on their pets in 2011. That’s an alltime high and the first time in history more than $50 billion has gone to the dogs, cats, canaries, guppies and the like, the American Pet Products Association said in a report issued Friday.

Food and vet costs accounted for about 65 percent of the spending. But it was a service category - one that includes grooming, boarding, pet hotels, pet-sitting and day care - that grew more than any other, surging 7.9 percent from $3.51 billion in 2010 to $3.79 billion in 2011.

APPA President Bob Vetere said 2012 should be another banner year for serv-

ices, predicting it would grow 8.4 percent to an estimated $4.11 billion in 2012. Owners are taking care of their pets, said Dr. Jessica Vogelsang, a San Diego veterinarian and author of pawcurious.com. “They are planning ahead.

When they go on vacation, they want to make sure their pets are well cared for,” she said.

Spending in 2011 was up 5.3 percent from 2010, when it totaled $48.35 billion, Vetere said. He estimated 2012 sales would total $53 billion. In 2011, people spent $19.85 billion on food, $13.41 billion on vet care, $11.77 billion on supplies and over-the-counter medicines, $3.79 billion on other services and $2.14

billion on live animal purchases.

In 2010, they spent $18.76 billion on food, $13.01 billion on vet care, $10.94 billion on supplies and over-the-counter medicines, $3.51 billion on other services and $2.13 billion on live animal purchases. Food sales did slow down, Vetere said, even though the 5.8 percent growth exceeded projections of 4.1 percent growth.

APPA numbers indicate that animal sales and adoptions are flattening out and the number of people who switched over to high-end food products is topping out. Pet ownership is becoming less of an impulse decision, Vogelsang said. “I am seeing a lot of peo-

ple saying, ‘This isn’t the time for us.’

People are more interested in pets than ever before but they are taking their time, once they make the commitment, to do it right.”

“I don’t think this is a bad thing. I am proud of the owners,” she said. Pet insurance is another area that is expected to grow briskly, Vetere said. Included in the veterinary care category, insurance was estimated to be $450 million in 2011 and expected to grow to more than $500 million in 2012.

“Insurance makes such a difference in the health of an animal,” Vogelsang said.

“I can’t tell you how many times I have had a pet come in and the only reason

(the owners) were able to afford catastrophic care is because they had insurance. It’s literally a life-saver and I’m really glad people are embracing the concept,” the veterinarian said.

The pet industr y is also a major attraction for entrepreneurs and investors looking for creative and innovative products, Vetere said. Vogelsang believes the trend is toward “very specific items geared to the specific needs of pets. We are seeing a lot of puzzle feeders for dogs - not just toys but ones that are geared toward the mental needs of the animal. Then there are bionic toys for destructive chewers, a lot of very niche items,” she said. — AFP

Mirrors ease Cambodian amputees’ phantom pain ‘It’s a new sensation, It’s strange but in a good way’

PITTSBURG: Dr. David Okonkwo of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center examining Daniel Stunkard. The soldier on the fringes of an explosion. The survivor of a car wreck. The football player who took yet another skull-rattling hit. Too often, only time can tell when a traumatic brain injury will leave lasting harm — there’s no good way to diagnose the damage. Now scientists are testing a tool that promises to light up breaks that these injuries leave in the brain’s wiring, much like X-rays show broken bones. Stunkard suffered a traumatic brain injury that left him with limited use of his left arm and hand. — AP

Old flu drug speeds brain injury recovery NEW YORK: Researchers are reporting the first treatment to speed recovery from severe brain injuries caused by falls and car crashes: a cheap flu medicine whose side benefits were discovered by accident decades ago.

Severely injured patients who were given amantadine got better faster than those who received a dummy medicine.

After four weeks, more people in the flu drug group could give reliable yes-and-no answers, follow commands or use a spoon or hairbrush - things that few of them could do at the start. Far fewer patients who got amantadine remained in a vegetative state, 17 percent versus 32 percent.

“This drug moved the needle in terms of speeding patient recovery, and that’s not been shown before,” said neuropsychologist Joseph Giacino of Boston’s Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, coleader of the study. He added: “It really does provide hope for a population that is viewed in many places as hopeless.”

Many doctors began using amantadine for brain injuries years ago, but until now there’s never been a big study to show that it works. The results of the federally funded study appear in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine. A neurologist who wasn’t involved in the research called it an important step. But many questions remain, including whether people less severely injured would benefit, and whether amantadine actually improves patients’ long-term outcome or just speeds up their recovery.

Each year, an estimated 1.7 million Americans suffer a traumatic brain injury.

Falls, car crashes, colliding with or getting hit by an object, and assaults are the leading causes. About three-quarters are concussions or other mild forms that heal over time. But about 52,000 people with brain injuries die each year and 275,000 are hospitalized, many with persistent, debilitating injuries, according to government figures.

With no proven remedies to rely on, doctors have used a variety of medicines approved for other ailments in the hopes that they would help brain injury patients.

Those decisions are based on “hunches and logic rather than data,” said Dr. John Whyte, of the Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute in suburban Philadelphia. He led the study along with Giacino.

Amantadine (uh-MAN’-tah-deen), an inexpensive generic, was approved for the flu in the mid 1960s. The first inkling that it might have other uses came a few years later when it appeared to improve Parkinson’s symptoms in nursing home patients who got it. It was found to have an effect on the brain’s dopamine system, whose many functions include movement and alertness, and it was later approved for Parkinson’s.

It ’s now commonly used for brain injuries, and the researchers felt it was important to find out “whether we’re treating patients with a useful drug, a harmful drug or a useless drug,” Whyte

said.

The study was done in the US, Denmark and Germany and involved 184 severely disabled patients, about 36 years old on average. About a third were in a vegetative state, meaning unconscious but with periods of wakefulness. The rest were minimally conscious, showing some signs of awareness. They were treated one to four months after getting injured, a period when a lot of patients get better on their own, Giacino noted.

They were randomly assigned to receive amantadine or a dummy drug daily for four weeks. Both groups made small but significant improvement, but the rate of recovery was faster in the group getting amantadine. When treatment stopped, recovery in the drug group slowed. Two weeks later, the level of recovery in the two groups was about the same.

There was no group difference in side effects, which included seizure, insomnia and rigid muscles. The study was short, and the effect on long-term outcome is unknown. But Giacino said the drug still has value even if it only hastens recovery.

“What condition would we not jump for joy if we could have it over with faster?” he said. The study didn’t include those with penetrating head injuries, like the gunshot wound former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords suffered, but Giacino said the drug should have similar effects in those patients.

Whether it would work in patients with brain injuries not caused by trauma, such as a stroke, isn’t known. Whyte said the researchers want to test the drug for longer periods. Dr. Ramon Diaz-Arrastia said the results were welcome news in a field that has seen many failed efforts. He is director of clinical research at the government’s Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine, which works with the military and government scientists on brain injury research.

“It’s an important step toward developing better therapies,” he said. Since amantadine is so commonly used, he said U.S. troops with severe brain injuries in Iraq or Afghanistan probably get it, or should get it now. ince 2000, some 233,000 troops have suffered traumatic brain injuries, including about 6,100 serious cases, many of them from bomb blasts or shrapnel.

Laura Bacon said amantadine seems to be helping her brother recover from a car accident in Vermont last October. Nicholas Gnazzo, 47, of Rochester, N.H., was in a coma for weeks before he was taken for rehabilitation to Spaulding, where doctors put him on amantadine in January.

Since then he has been more alert, able to communicate with nods or gestures like pointing to his eyes when he wants his glasses, his sister said. Giacino agreed her brother has gotten better, but whether it is because of the drug can’t be determined. Gnazzo wasn’t part of the study. “It’s been four months now, and we know we still have a long way to go,” Bacon said. — AP

KAMPONG CHHNANG: Pov Sopheak lost his left leg in a landmine blast in 1990. Yet some nights the pain in his “left foot” is so bad he cannot sleep. Like many amputees, he suffers from phantom pain. Now, after two decades of agony, the Cambodian is embracing an innovative technique that promises relief simply by using a mirror to trick the brain into “moving” the missing limb, allowing the pain to subside.

Sitting in a chair and holding a full-length mirror against his leg, Sopheak, 50, smiles selfconsciously as some two dozen physical therapists gather around him. It is their first mirror therapy training session at the Cambodia Trust, a rehabilitation charity for amputees in the central province of Kampong Chhnang.

But Sopheak visibly relaxes as he follows the instructions of visiting Canadian trainer Stephen Sumner to wriggle his right toes and keep his eyes on his foot ’s reflected image, superimposed on the missing one.

“It’s a new sensation. It’s strange but in a good way,” the former soldier, who now works as a security guard, told AFP. “I see my leg in the mirror and I feel happy, like my mind is at ease.”

Sumner explains that the reflection of the intact limb can fool the brain into “seeing” two healthy legs, allowing it to once again send command signals to the phantom leg-signals that would previously come back distressed because the limb was missing.

“Looking in the mirror, the brain suddenly enables you to move your phantom foot and do everything the real foot is doing,” said Sumner, 51, who lost his left leg in a hit-and-run motorbike accident eight years ago.

“The brain just wants to be tricked. It’s dying for release.” The theory, which also works to ease phantom arms out of painful or cramped positions, was developed in 1995 by neuroscientist Vilayanur S. Ramachandran from the University of California, San Diego, named as one of the world’s most influential people by Time magazine in 2011.

But it only started taking off in the United States, Canada and Europe in the last few yearsits use boosted by soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with missing limbs, neuroscientist Eric Altschuler, a mirror therapy expert who works with Ramachandran, told AFP. At the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, mirror therapy is now routinely offered to amputees. The neurological trickery also reached a wider audience after it featured in a 2009 episode of “House”, a popular US medical drama.

But it is still largely unknown in Cambodia, a

small countr y with tens of thousands of amputees as a result of traffic accidents, disease and, in most cases, landmines left over from decades of civil war.

Sumner, who says his own bouts of phantom pain felt like “lightning bolts through my foot”, is determined to spread the message. Backed by the Canadian non-profit End The Pain Project, he is training dozens of physicians and amputees across Cambodia and, crucially in this impoverished nation, handing out free mirrorsfull-length ones for legs, half-length ones for arms.

Phantom pain is thought to affect around 80 percent of all amputees and there are no drugs that can cure it, but Sumner stressed that the mirror method was not a quick fix.

“Mirror therapy won’t cure you immediately.

You have to keep at it for at least four weeks,” he told the Cambodia Trust therapists, recommending two 10-minute sessions a day of flexing one’s hand or foot. It could even help double amputees.

“Even a simple prosthesis on one limb can work in the mirror. Even that’s enough. The brain wants to be healed so much,” Sumner said.

Sopheak said he hoped to keep up the routine and finally ease his suffering, which he said “feels like my leg is shaking” followed by a sharp pain in his phantom little toe and big toe.

Until now, he has tried to deal with his pain with diversions such as drumming or singing, by massaging his stump or by taking the occasional pain killer, to little effect. While experts say mirror therapy can be a useful tool for many amputees, Altschuler, an associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the New Jersey Medical School, said it was important not to give “false hope”.

“Nothing works for everybody,” he said by telephone from the United States. “The mirror is very helpful for movement-type problems like spasms or a clenched fist. It does not work for burning pain, for instance.”

Still, Altschuler, who has just returned from training physical therapists in Haiti, said he was pleased the technique had reached Cambodia.

“It has the potential to have tremendous utility,” he said. “Mirror therapy is inexpensive and easy.

Patients can do it by themselves, allowing them to take control of their own health. Any mirror will do.” — AFP

KAMPANG CHHNANG: Canadian trainer Stephen Sumner (right) assists a Cambodian amputee to use a mirror during the first mirror therapy training session at the Cambodia Trust, a rehabilitation charity for amputees in Kampong Chhnang province. — AFP

FDA approves first 4-in-1 flu vaccine WASHINGTON: Federal health officials have approved the first vaccine that protects against four strains of the common flu, offering one additional layer of protec t i o n agai nst t he i nf luenza virus that affects millions each year.

The FluMist Quadrivalent vaccine from AstraZenecaís M edI m m une unit p ro tec ts

against two strains of influenza A and two strains of influenza B. The Food and Dru g Administration approved the spray-based vaccine for people ages 2 to 49. Previously all vaccines contained two strains of influenza A and one strain of influenza B, chosen annually by medical experts based on their potential to spread the virus.

Having an extra strain of influenza B increases the likelihood that the vaccine will protect against illness, the FDA said in a statement. Similar to the previously approved FluMist, the new vaccine is a nasal spray that delivers weakened strains of the virus. ìI llness caused by I nfluenza B virus affects children, particularly young and school-aged, more

than any other population,î said Dr. Karen Midthun, M.D., director of the FDAís biologics center.

Th e s e ve r i t y o f i l l n e s s a n d death due to flu varies widely from season to season. Between 1976 and 2007, flu-related deaths have ranged from an estimated low of about 3,000 to a high of about 49,000 people, according to the FDA. — AP

Outbreak of kidney failure in Wyoming linked to ‘Spice’ drug

TEXAS: Kayla Dreis, 16, who has Down’s Syndrome, feeds her 6-month out-of-pouch kangaroo named Mike at her parents home Feb. 29, 2012, in Spring, Texas. The Estates of Legends Ranch Homeowners Association sent the Dreis family a letter stating they are violating the deed restrictions by having the kangaroo, a non-domestic animal at their home and are requesting it be removed from the property. — AP

WYOMING: Three young people have been hospitalized with kidney failure and a dozen others sickened in Casper, Wyoming, in an outbreak linked to a batch of the designer drug Spice, authorities said on Friday.

State medical officials said the cause of the outbreak was under investigation but that Casper residents who sought medical treatment for vomiting and back pain had recently smoked or ingested a chemical-laced herbal product packaged as “blueberry spice.”

The illnesses reported by physicians and hospitals in the Wyoming city beginning last Sunday added up to a cluster that alarmed health officials by the end of the week. “At this point, we are viewing use of this drug as a potentially life-threatening situation,” Tracy Murphy, Wyoming state epidemiologist, said in a statement.

Those who have fallen ill range in age from the late teens to early 20s and all used blueberry-flavored spice, said Bob Herrington, director of the Casper-Natrona County Health Department. Harrington said the outbreak was causing concern among health and law enforcement officials in the city of 55,000 residents.

“Based on our information from the doctors, the three people with kidney failure are in pretty serious shape; they’re very sick,” he said. Spice is sometimes sold as “legal marijuana” because of the high that users experience from plant material coated with chemicals that claim to mimic THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration. —Reuters

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

H E A LT H

US slashes birth control subsidies Federal debate rages

SURABAYA: This photo taken on March 1, 2012 shows Indonesian zoo personnel attending to a 30-year-old ailing giraffe named Kliwon at the Surabaya zoo in Surabaya. Kliwon, the last remaining giraffe at the zoo, died in the evening of March 1 with 20 kilograms of plastic found in its stomach, the latest in a string of unusual animal deaths at the country’s biggest zoo.— AFP

20 kgs of plastic in dead giraffe SURABAYA: A male giraffe that died in an Indonesian zoo was found to have 20 kilograms of plastic in its stomach, officials said yesterday, the latest suspicious animal death at the facility. Kliwon, 30, was born at Surabaya Zoo, the biggest in the country, and was its last remaining giraffe, living alone in its pen for 13 years. It died on Thursday. “ We got the autopsy results last night. They found a plastic lump weighing around 20 kilograms and 60 centimetres in diameter in his stomach,” zoo spokesman Anthan Warsito told AFP. The giraffe was also found to be infected with tuberculosis. “We have a staff of around 180, and seven of them have tuberculosis, so it’s possible one of them transmitted it to the giraffe. At this point we don’t really know the cause of death,” Warsito said.

The plastic probably came from food

wrappers the animal ingested after visitors tossed them into its pen over several years, Warsito said. The incident comes after a spate of suspicious animal deaths at the zoo, including a critically endangered Sumatran tiger, and the disappearance of three baby Komodo dragons believed to have been stolen for the black market.

Warsito said that around 500 animals had died between 2010 and 2011. The zoo was criticised in 2010 when its then management attributed hundreds of animal deaths to treatable ailments, including pneumonia, diarrhoea and malnutrition.

Last year, the Forestr y Ministr y revoked the former management ’s licence. “We have plans to buy two or three new giraffes from America, but we have to see what management says after this incident,” Warsito said. — AFP

NEW JERSEY: Even as a national debate rages over contraception insurance, tens of thousands of low-income women and teenagers across the United States have lost access to subsidized birth control as states slash and restructure family planning funds.

Montana and New Jersey have eliminated altogether their state family planning programs. New Hampshire cut its funding by 57 percent and five other states made more modest program trims.

But the biggest impact, by far, has been in Texas. State lawmakers last fall cut family-planning funds by two-thirds, or nearly $74 million over two years.

Within months, half the statesupported family planning clinics in Texas had closed. The state network, which once provided 220,000 women a year free and low-cost birth control, cervical cancer tests and diabetes screenings, will now serve just 40,000 to 60,000, officials said. Another 130,000 low-income Texas women who get free exams and contraceptives through Medicaid could lose those benefits by month’s end, due to a dispute between the state and federal governments over whether Planned Parenthood should be allowed to serve women on that program.

At the People’s Community Clinic in Austin, the cuts mean that many low-income patients, except the very poorest, are now charged for contraception that used to be free: $5 for a dozen condoms; $10 for a month of birth control pills; $225 for an IUD. “I have no clue what I’m going to do,” said Rhetta Pope, 22, of Austin. A stay-at-home mother of two, she lives off disability pay-

ments of less than $1,500 a month. Pope said after paying basic living expenses, she has so little left she scrimps on electricity by keeping the lights off and takes her laundry to an aunt’s house. She can’t imagine how she would pay for birth control.

“I guess I’m going to have to stop using it because I don’t have the money,” Pope said. “I’m pretty shook up. I really am.”

Texas legislators who backed the 66-percent family planning cuts say they had no choice - the state budget was in crisis and many worthy programs suffered.

But a budget board analysis concluded the cut would actually cost Texas taxpayers more than it saved. The board projected that women unable to get low-cost bir th control would deliver 20,500 additional babies - costing state and federal taxpayers $231 million in prenatal, maternity and infant care. The state’s share would be close to $98 million - significantly more than the family planning cut savings.

State Representative Wayne Christian, a Republican, acknowledged that the cuts might be counterproductive “if you look at it from a financial cost, perhaps.”

But he disputed the notion that additional babies were a cost burden. “We value a human life more than just the cost,” he said.

In general, he said, the state should not try to deter births by widely distributing free contraception. If women who want birth control cannot afford it, he said, they should first seek help from families or communities.

“I’m sorry,” Christian said, “but there’s this thing called individual responsibility.”

Some women have found ways to pay for the care they once received free, but many have not. After losing much of its

state family-planning grant, the Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas in Januar y began charging most patients a flat $25-per-visit fee.

In the first two weeks of the policy, 362 women cancelled appointments because they could not make the co-pay. Only 20 percent found the money to get care within a week or two, hospital officials said.

Another 20 percent were referred to one of the two Parkland locations still providing free services. Those sites are now so busy, the first available appointment at the Ir ving Women’s Health Center is Aug. 21. Most of the remaining women never came back for care after learning about the co-pay, said Paula Turicchi, a Parkland senior vice president.

In several states, including Texas, questions about birth control access are now entangled with the politically explosive abor tion debate. Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest abortion provider, with about 330,000 procedures a year. It also runs a network of urban and suburban clinics offering birth control, gynecological exams and care for sexually transmitted diseases.

The organization gets about a third of its revenue, $360 million in 2009, from government grants to provide those services to poor women. In the past year, Wisconsin, Nor th Carolina, Tennessee, Indiana and Texas all have moved to block Planned Parenthood from receiving taxpayer money. Several other states, including Ohio, Oklahoma and New Hampshire, are considering similar moves.

While public funds don’t pay for abortions, critics of Planned Parenthood argue that hiring the

organization to provide family planning to poor women helps the organization stay afloat and thus indirectly supports abortion services.

The Texas funding cut prompted Planned Parenthood to shut down 11 clinics. It also has jeopardized a $40 million family-planning program run as a Medicaid extension.

The program provides free birth control and annual exams to 130,000 low-income women of reproductive age who don’t qualify for regular Medicaid. The federal government pays 90 percent of the cost; Texas puts up just $4 million a year.

About 40 percent of women in the Texas program get subsidized care from Planned Parenthood clinics, but a new state law blocks those clinics from participating.

The Obama administration has said that violates federal Medicaid rules. If neither side compromises, the program will likely close by the end of March.

That infuriates Jonee Longoria, a single mother in Houston who relied on the program for free services for several years as she put herself through college. “I had one child living in poverty and I didn’t want another,” Longoria said.

She now works for a social service agency and refers many clients to the program for contraception. Without it, she said, “where would they go?”

Advocates of defunding Planned Parenthood say they regret any ser vice disruptions for poor women. But they call it a necessary price to pay to take a moral stance on abortion. “ We’re just doing what we think is best,” said Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, which opposes abortion. — Reuters

30

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

W H AT ’ S O N Greetings

C

andles, cake, song, and presents... Lots of birthday wishes for the lovely princess Malu from Acha, Amma and Chaee.

Mais Al-Ghanim announces new hotline

M

ais Al-Ghaim launched a new hotline for delivery orders as part of efforts to provide better and faster services to the customers around Kuwait, the restaurant announced in a recent statement. Mais Al-Ghanim offers customers a variety of options through its ‘To Go’ service as orders can be placed via the new hotline 1821155, or through the website:www.6alabat.com. Mais Al-Ghanim assures that all orders are delivered to any preferred destination as fast as possible while maintaining top quality service standards. The high sense of hospitality which enabled Mais Al-Ghanim to maintain costumers’ trust for 59 years insures that all meals ordered through take away and delivery orders are packed and sealed on par with best quality and Hygienestandards. Mais Al-Ghanim ‘To Go’ service is covered around Kuwait through outlets in Sharq, Salmiya, Al-Fintas and Soon in Shuwikh.

Access IKEA Kuwait on the go!

T

oday, IKEA Kuwait launched their first microsite dedicated to enabling customers to view updated offers and promotions while on the go. Exploring the world of IKEA Kuwait is now simpler, faster and clearer for smartphone holders.

By visiting www.ikea.com.kw, homeowners can easily browse through the best offers in furnishing and home products at IKEA Kuwait for bedrooms, kitchens, living rooms, textiles and more.

It is not all shopping and no play, the IKEA Kuwait in-store restaurant also guarantees the most irresistible offers on its iconic family-friendly menu.

The official website was created to suit viewers from laptop and computer screens, and can be challenging for smartphone browsers to sift through the options. By launching this microsite, IKEA Kuwait brings together the latest sales and reduction on the items from the latest products available at the store.

The microsite also provides an immediate display of the contact numbers, address, and working hours of the store and restaurant.

KBC organises Spring Camp

T

he Kuwait Banks Club (KBC) organized an open day recently at the Jlaiah camp, attended by more than 1,500 banking sector staff members and their families. The event featured various activities and competitions supervised by KBC officials’ assistant general manager Abbas Al-Blushi and head of the social committee Reem Al-Wuqaiyan.

Announcements Kuwait Improv Fun lovers of Kuwait unite. A get together by people who love to surprise, be surprised and just be about at anything are welcome to Kuwait Improv, a gathering, reminiscent of the famous American TV program Whose Line is it Anyway, informally organized by American School of Kuwait teacher Brad Manker. No histrionic talent required, but a willingness to share. Please contact: mankerb@ask.edu Tulu speaking classes Here’s a great opportunity for parents who always wished their children could learn Tulu. Tulu Koota Kuwait, in its objective towards promoting Tulu language and culture, is pleased to announce the opening of Tutu Speaking Classes “Tulu Siri” at Indian Public School Salmiya @ 11:30 am. For more details kindly contact Ramesh Kidiyoor97204716/99596457,Shalini Vijay 66502369,Tharendra P. Shettigar 66757979,Jayalaxmi Karkal - 66958848, Sathyanarayana Salian - 66585077,Vanitha Dias94996459. And our Website: www.tulukootakuwait.org Email: info@tulukootakuwait.org Free Arabic language course IPC and all its branches are opening free Arabic language course for ladies accessible in beginners and advanced levels. Class will commence on March 2, 2012. Islamic and Quran courses are also presented in different languages. Registration is on! Call the nearest IPC branch: Rawdah: 22512257 / 97290278; Salmiyah: 25733263 / 97533263; Mangaf: 23723002 ext. 124/123; Jahra: 24558830 / 97533948; Khaithan: 24730137.

Balakrishna to visit Kuwait Prominent Telugu film Hero Nandamuri Balakrishna coming to Kuwait on 5th April 2012 for 2 days upon the invitation of Pravasaandhra Telugu Desam, NBK seva samithi. Nadamuri Balakrishna is popularly known as “Balayya” and “NBK” by his fans and admirers. He is the son of the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and Telugu film legend Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao. He then starred in many critical and commercial films and established himself as one of the leading contemporary actors of Telugu Cinema. In addition to films, Balakrishna is associated with several philanthropic and social organizations activities.

BSK students visit Oman

O

n Wednesday, February 8, sixty intrepid students from The British School of Kuwait set off from Kuwait airport for the International Award Bronze Final Expedition to the Eastern Hajar mountains of Oman. After arriving in Muscat, everyone enjoyed one last night of comfortable beds and hot showers in a local hotel before a quick stop to stock up on food and water and it was then off through stunning scenery to arrive at the top of the mountain peak.

After making the descent into the

wadi, it was time to set up camp in the lush surroundings of palm trees, cool streams and sheer rock face. Then followed the planning of the route for the next morning and cooking dinner over gas stoves before it was time to get a good night’s sleep to prepare for the next day of trekking. On Friday morning everybody took down camp and set off in groups, making their way back up the winding road towards the top of the mountain. A challenging climb was lightened by getting to know each other bet-

ter and taking in the picturesque surroundings, making full use of the many incredible photo opportunities around every hairpin bend. Staff and helpers were on hand to encourage and advise the students, reminding everyone to work as a team and to top up water supplies and sun block. All groups arrived safely and on time into the second camp at the top of the mountain as a magnificent sunset was the reward for an exciting day’s climb. The final morning entailed dropping camp and setting off, a

bit tired and sore, for the final walk across the escarpment. From there it was off to the Sultan’s school of Oman, where students were able to get a brief insight into what school life is like for Omani students of a similar age. Muscat airport beckoned with time for a short shop for souvenirs before heading back home with lots of memories of the beautiful scenery, fun with our friends, and a real sense of achievement for the physical and mental challenges we had overcome together over the last three days.

31

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

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. nnnnnnn

ICSK bids farewell to class XII

“M

ay the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields.

And until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of his hand.”

The auditorium of the Indian Community School, Kuwait, auditorium echoed with this prayer on the evening of 18th February, 2012 when the ICSK family came together to bid farewell to the outgoing 2012 batch of Class XII Students.

Satish C.Mehta the Ambassador of India to Kuwait, added splendor to the occasion as the Chief Guest.

The luminaries who graced the evening’s function were Honorary Chairman Ashok Kalra, Honorary Vice Chairman Archiebald Menezes, Honorary Secretary Rajan Daniel, Honorary Treasurer Dinesh Kamath, Francis Machado and all the other respected members of the BOT, PAC, Principals and Vice-Principals of the differ-

ent branches.

The evening’s program began with the customary invocation of the Almighty, seeking for His blessings, following which true to the motto of the ICSK family, “Asatamo Jyothir Gamaya”, the ceremonial lamp of knowledge was lighted by the esteemed Chief Guest, the revered members of the Board, the illustrious principals and the able Vice Principals of all ICSK branch schools.

Dr Binumon Vasudevan, the Principal of ICSK Senior, Salmiya rolled out the red carpet in his excellent welcome address.

Ashok Kalra in his presidential address urged the students to set high goals and strive continuously to achieve them. His message highlighting the importance of self confidence and idealism was well received by the outgoing batch of students.

The chief guest bowled over one and all present in the auditorium by his brief but elegant speech. When he said, “If you look into the mirror everyday

and feel good about yourself, it means you are doing great,” the auditorium was rocked by a thunderous round of applause.

He also gave away the mementoes to the graduates and con-

Sridevi Pradeep, the Principal of Amman Branch, in her inimitable style executed the exhortation, making the graduates understand the importance of the pledge that

gratulated them on their successful completion of their schooling.

Ilango, Principal ICSK Khaitan, rendered the farewell address focusing on the importance of a value based responsible future generation on whom the entire country banks upon.

they were talking, promising to be responsible citizens and to bring glory to their alma mater and the great country of ours.

The evening was also punctuated by inspirational songs.

The reminiscences by the Presidents of the School

Senate of Senior, Amman and Khaitan took everyone on a trip down memory lane evoking a lot of fond memories that will be cherished forever by both the students as well as teachers.

The light from the lamp of knowledge was then passed on to the students by the dignitaries through the teachers to the students. It was a sight to behold - the shining faces of the students holding the candles in their hands and the future of our country in their hearts.

All the outgoing students then walked through the Corridor of Blessings carrying not just fond memories of their school life but also the dreams and ambitions that they would live up to. The Vote of Thanks was presented by the President of Senior School who thanked each and everyone for the successful conduct of the evening’s programe. It was a grand evening of solemnity and splendor, true to the great tradition of ICSK.

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 A.M until 12:00 P.M on Sunday through Wednesday. Canada offers a registration service for all Canadians travelling or living abroad.

This service is provided so that Consular Officials can contact and assist Canadians in an emergency in a foreign country, such as a natural disaster or civil unrest, or inform Canadians of a family emergency at home. The Embassy of Canada encourages all Canadian Citizens to register online through the Government of Canada Travel Website at www.voyage.gc.ca.

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. nnnnnnn

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). nnnnnnn

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: Saturdays 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 nnnnnnn

Telugu Kala Samithi mega musical nite

T

elugu Kala Samithi Kuwait, organized a grand successful mega musical nite on 24th February at Marina Hall, Abbasiya. TKS has invited Sri Koti (the famous and legendary music director, of many Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam films to his credit) and his troupe of 11 talented artists from India consists of 3 Female singers Geeta Madhuri, Malavika, Sravana Bhargavi and 3 male singers Krishna & Deepu and Koti himself and other 4 musicians and one keyboard player and sound engineer to perform our program.

More than 1,500 Telugu and other music lovers attended and it was a dazzling evening with colourful lights and rocking sound. The audience enjoyed the mixture of old and latest super hit songs of Telugu films and delighted to witness the wonderful show and greeted TKS committee.

Welcome speech was given by program coordinator YSKN Swamy& Vice President N. Akhilesh Kumar and the other program coordinator Anand Kumar has invited Indian Embassy First Secretary H.K Mohan, Rishi Kumar Reddy, Sridhar, John Simon, Dinu Chandran and Talamanchi Srinivas.

TKS committee felicitated all artists, main sponsors & co-sponsors and presented mementos. TKS befittingly honoured Koti, with a title Swara Samraat.

TKS released the Souvenir Telegu Velugu-8 consisting of advertisements of sponsors, literary articles, details about TKS Welfare Committee activities and support to TKS Cricket team etc.

After felicitation ceremony, committee has handed over the stage to Koti and his troupe and the well known singer Krishna began the show with a song on Telugu Language. The program contin-

EMBASSY OF MYANMAR Embassy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar would like to inform the general public that the Embassy has move 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 nnnnnnn

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 nnnnnnn

ued till 11pm with popular and versatile songs sung by all singers including Koti.

Dedicated efforts of TKS executive committee members, volunteers, sup-

porters, well wishers resulted to give a stunning mega show to all our members and made the evening truly memorable and cherishable.

‘Go Green, Go Clean’ at Safir Hotel & Residences Kuwait

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. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF VENEZUELA Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, request Venezuelan citizens living in Kuwait to register with the Embassy, This registration service is provided so that the Embassy can update its contact list and assist Venezuelan citizens in cases os emergencies. Registration Information 25324367 or by email: embavenez@gmail.com. Our time is from Sunday to Thursday from 8.30am till 2 pm. nnnnnnn

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.

I

t’s a fact: Many beaches are polluted enough to the extent where it’s a threat to the public health. The good news is that Safir Hotel & Residences’ associates were active enough to leave nothing but footprints; luckily, they succeeded!

The beach clean-up was scheduled on the 15th of February from 3-5pm, followed by a BBQ celebration, awarding and appreciating all participants of the accomplishment they made in volunteering for such a good cause. Once the mission has been accomplished, all the participants shouted out ‘Go Clean, Go Green!”

Our participants worked hard to clean the beach, but they can’t do it alone.

Let’s all take care of the environment and create a better place to live in for our future generations. Get involved.

Participate and keep the beach beautiful.. today, tomorrow and forever. Let’s all give back to mother earth and instill that awareness by leaving a positive footprint. Let’s all think global and act local!

On a side note, Vera decided to skip her off day and join for that meaningful environmental cause instead of celebrating her birthday relaxing. Happy Birthday Vera!

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

TV PROGRAMS

00:20 Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer 00:50 Animal Cops Houston 01:45 Untamed & Uncut 02:40 Into The Lion’s Den 03:35 Karina: Wild On Safari 04:30 Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer 04:55 Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer 05:25 The Animals’ Guide To Survival 06:20 Escape To Chimp Eden 06:45 Dolphin Days 07:10 Animal Cops Houston 08:00 Monkey Life 08:25 New Breed Vets With Steve Irwin 09:15 Crocodile Hunter 10:10 Pandamonium 11:05 The Really Wild Show 12:00 Gorilla School 12:25 Project Puppy 12:55 Corwin’s Quest 13:50 A Kingdom For The Dzanga Gorillas 14:45 There’s A Rhino In My House!

15:40 Wildlife SOS 16:05 Wildlife SOS 16:35 Ned Bruha: Skunk Whisperer 17:30 Must Love Cats 18:25 Venom Hunter With Donald Schultz 19:20 Big Five Challenge 20:15 World Wild Vet 21:10 Nick Baker’s Beautiful Freaks 22:05 Austin Stevens: Most Dangerous...

23:00 Wild France 23:55 Killer Crocs Of Costa Rica

00:10 00:40 01:35 02:00 02:30 03:15 04:00 04:20 04:30 04:45 05:00 05:05 05:25 05:36 05:50 06:10 06:20 06:35 06:45 06:50 07:10 07:20 07:35 08:10 08:55 09:40 10:15 11:10 12:00 12:45 13:35 16:05 16:50 17:25 18:20 19:10 20:00 20:50 21:40 22:30 23:25

00:05 00:55 01:40 02:25 04:05 05:45 08:00 11:10 14:30 15:20

The Impressions Show Born and Bred Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show Supernova Doctor Who The Weakest Link Me Too! Charlie and Lola Gigglebiz Boogie Beebies Poetry Pie Fimbles 3rd & Bird Forget Me Not Farm Me Too! Charlie and Lola Gigglebiz Boogie Beebies Poetry Pie Fimbles 3rd & Bird Forget Me Not Farm Allo ‘Allo!

The Weakest Link Doctor Who dinnerladies Casualty The Orang-Utan King The Weakest Link Lark Rise to Candleford Doctors Doctor Who Allo ‘Allo!

Monarch Of The Glen The Orang-Utan King Lark Rise to Candleford Jekyll Waking The Dead Last Woman Standing Red Cap The Weakest Link

Gok’s Fashion Fix Bargain Hunt House Swap What Not To Wear Gok’s Fashion Fix Cash In The Attic USA MasterChef Australia Come Dine With Me 10 Years Younger Gok’s Fashion Fix

16:10 17:00 17:55 18:45 19:35 20:20 22:00 23:50

Gok’s Fashion Fix Diy SOS Holmes On Homes What Not To Wear Coleen’s Real Women Gok’s Fashion Fix The Restaurant UK Gok’s Fashion Fix

00:00 00:20 00:45 01:10 01:35 02:00 02:25 02:50 03:15 03:40 04:00 04:25 04:50 05:15 05:40 06:00 06:25 06:50 07:00 07:10 08:00 08:25 08:55 09:20 09:50 10:40 11:05 11:30

Pink Panther And Pals Dastardly And Muttley New Yogi Bear Show Duck Dodgers The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop Tom & Jerry Kids A Pup Named Scooby-Doo The Jetsons Puppy In My Pocket Popeye Tom & Jerry Looney Tunes Scooby Doo Where Are You! Droopy: Master Detective Wacky Races The Flintstones A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Popeye Classics Wacky Races Pink Panther And Pals Gerald McBoing Boing Bananas In Pyjamas Baby Looney Tunes Jelly Jamm The Garfield Show Scooby Doo Where Are You! Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries Pink Panther And Pals

00:00 KSA 07:00 07:10 07:35 08:30 09:00 09:30 10:00 10:30 10:55 11:20 11:45 12:10 12:35 13:00 14:35 15:00 15:25 16:15 16:40 17:05 17:30 17:55 18:20 18:45 19:10 19:35 20:00 20:25 20:50 21:15 21:40

00:00 00:30 01:00 01:30 02:00 02:30 03:00 03:30 04:00 04:15 04:30 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 08:30 09:00 09:15

Programmes Start At 7:00am Kid vs Kat Pokemon: Black And White Phineas And Ferb Rekkit Rabbit Rated A For Awesome Pair Of Kings Kickin It Scaredy Squirrel Zeke & Luther I’m In The Band Phineas And Ferb Pokemon: Black And White Pair Of Kings Avalon High Kickin It Pair Of Kings Phineas And Ferb Rekkit Rabbit Zeke & Luther Pair Of Kings I’m In The Band Rated A For Awesome Kickin It Phineas And Ferb Scaredy Squirrel Pokemon: Black And White Kick Buttowski Zeke & Luther I’m In The Band Pair Of Kings Phineas And Ferb

World Report News Special News Special World Sport World Report Talk Asia World Report World Report This Week CNN Marketplace Europe CNN Marketplace Africa The Brief CNN Presents CNN Newsroom News Special Inside Africa World Sport News Special World Report CNN Marketplace Middle East

09:30 10:00 10:15 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 15:00 15:30 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:15 19:30 19:45 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 22:30 23:00

Talk Asia World Report CNN Marketplace Europe News Special World Sport News Special African Voices The Brief World Report News Special CNN Presents World Report News Special Fareed Zakaria Gps State Of The Union International Desk Inside Africa Global Exchange CNN Marketplace Africa Global Exchange CNN Marketplace Middle East World Sport News Special International Desk African Voices International Desk News Special Fareed Zakaria Gps

01:30 03:05 04:50 06:25 08:00 09:35 PG 11:45 13:30 15:10 15:30 17:55 20:30 22:00

The Ranch The End-PG In The Arms Of A Killer-PG Lord Of The Flies-PG K-9000-PG Charge Of The Light Brigade-

00:15 01:05 01:55 02:45 03:10 03:35 04:25 05:15 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 11:50 12:05 12:25 12:30 12:55 13:20 13:45 14:10 14:35 15:00 15:25 15:50 16:12 17:30 18:50 19:01 19:10 19:35 20:00 20:25 20:50 21:15 22:45 22:55 23:20 Cody 23:45

High Tide-PG Delirious-PG Mgm’s Big Screen-FAM Irma LA Douce-PG It’s A Mad Mad World-FAM Women vs. Men-PG The Birdcage-18

Replacements Fairly Odd Parents A Kind Of Magic Stitch Stitch Replacements Fairly Odd Parents A Kind Of Magic Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates The Suite Life Of Zack And So Random Fish Hooks Timon And Pumbaa Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Phineas And Ferb Shake It Up A.N.T. Farm Twitches Phineas And Ferb Fish Hooks Have A Laugh Shake It Up Good Luck Charlie A.N.T. Farm Recess Timon And Pumbaa Wizards Of Waverly Place So Random Phineas And Ferb Shake It Up So Random Twitches Too Phineas And Ferb Have A Laugh So Random A.N.T. Farm Wizards Of Waverly Place Good Luck Charlie Recess Double Teamed Have A Laugh Fish Hooks The Suite Life Of Zack And Sonny With A Chance

THE LAST AIRBENDER ON OSN MOVIES HD

00:40 I Escaped: Real Prison Breaks 01:35 Ross Kemp On Gangs 02:30 How It’s Made 03:00 How Does It Work 03:25 How It’s Made 03:55 How Does It Work 04:20 How It’s Made 04:50 How Does It Work 05:15 How It’s Made 05:40 How Does It Work 06:05 How It’s Made 06:35 How Does It Work 07:25 American Chopper: Senior vs Junior 08:15 Fifth Gear 09:10 Street Customs 10:05 Auction Kings 11:25 Dirty Money 12:20 Border Security 14:35 Cash Cab Us 16:25 Cash Cab Us 16:55 Cake Boss 19:10 Nextworld 20:05 The Future Of...

21:00 Mythbusters

00:40 Meteorite Men 01:35 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 02:25 The Tech Show 02:50 Catch It Keep It 07:10 Future Weapons 08:00 Future Weapons 08:55 Head Rush 08:58 Sci-Fi Science 09:25 Weird Connections 09:55 Smash Lab 10:45 Scrapheap Challenge 11:35 Catch It Keep It 15:45 Head Rush 15:48 Sci-Fi Science 16:15 Weird Connections 16:45 The Tech Show 17:10 Future Weapons 18:00 Sci-Trek 18:50 Bang Goes The Theory 19:40 Meteorite Men 20:30 Killer Outbreaks 21:20 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 22:10 Tech Toys 360 23:00 Meteorite Men 23:50 Killer Outbreaks

00:15 Bobby Chinn Cooks Asia 00:40 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 01:05 Reza, Spice Prince Of India 01:30 Good Eats 01:55 A Culinary Coup: The Launch Of Ku De Ta 02:45 Food Network Challenge 03:35 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 04:25 Bobby Chinn Cooks Asia 05:15 Unique Sweets 05:40 Good Eats 06:05 Aarti Party 06:30 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 06:50 Food Network Challenge 07:35 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 08:00 Food Network Challenge 08:50 Reza, Spice Prince Of India 09:15 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 09:40 Good Eats 10:05 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 10:30 Paula’s Best Dishes 10:55 Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam 11:20 Lidia’s Italy 11:45 30 Minute Meals 12:10 Unwrapped 12:35 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 13:00 Good Eats 13:25 Guy’s Big Bite 13:50 Aarti Party 14:15 Bobby Chinn Cooks Asia 14:40 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 15:05 Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger 15:30 Unwrapped 15:55 Paula’s Best Dishes 16:20 Andy Bates Street Feasts 16:45 Chopped 17:35 Guy’s Big Bite 18:00 Barefoot Contessa - Back To Basics 18:25 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 18:50 Aarti Party 19:15 Good Eats 19:40 Chef vs Britain 20:05 Reza, Spice Prince Of India 20:30 Food Network Challenge 21:20 Restaurant: Impossible

00:20 Special Agent Oso 00:50 Lazytown 01:15 Little Einsteins 01:40 Jungle Junction 02:10 Little Einsteins 02:30 Special Agent Oso 03:00 Lazytown 03:25 Little Einsteins 03:50 Jungle Junction 04:20 Little Einsteins 04:40 Special Agent Oso 05:10 Lazytown 05:35 Little Einsteins 06:00 Jungle Junction 06:30 Little Einsteins 06:50 Lazytown 07:15 Jungle Junction 07:45 Handy Manny 08:00 Special Agent Oso 08:15 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 08:40 Jungle Junction 08:55 Little Einsteins 09:20 The Hive 09:30 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 10:00 Handy Manny 10:15 Jungle Junction 10:45 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 10:50 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 11:15 Mouk 11:45 Art Attack 12:10 Imagination Movers 12:30 The Hive 12:40 Lazytown 13:05 The Hive 13:15 Mouk 13:45 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 14:15 Jungle Junction 14:30 Special Agent Oso 14:45 Handy Manny 15:00 Handy Manny 15:15 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 16:05 Mouk

16:35 Handy Manny 16:50 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 17:05 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 17:20 Lazytown 17:45 Art Attack 18:10 Imagination Movers 18:35 Little Einsteins 19:00 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 19:15 Handy Manny 19:45 Jungle Junction 20:00 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 20:05 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 20:25 101 Dalmatians 20:50 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 21:05 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 21:20 The Hive 21:30 Mini Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh 21:35 A Poem Is...

21:40 Animated Stories 21:45 Mouk 22:00 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 22:25 Jake & The Neverland Pirates 22:40 Special Agent Oso 22:55 Little Einsteins 23:20 Timmy Time 23:30 Jungle Junction 23:45 Handy Manny 23:55 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

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 Wildest TV Show Moments 06:00 THS 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Extreme Close-Up 10:15 THS 11:10 Ice Loves Coco 12:05 E! News 13:05 Style Star 14:05 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 16:55 Behind The Scenes 17:25 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 22:25 E! News 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians

00:00 X Games Heroes 00:25 X Games Heroes 00:50 Aiya TV 02:05 Kick Ass Miracles 02:30 M1 Selection 2010 03:20 Dragrace High 05:00 Carpocalypse 05:50 AMA Motocross 2011 07:30 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2008 09:00 Ticket To Ride 2010/11 09:25 Kenny Belaey’s Big Time 10:40 X Games 16 2010 11:30 Summer Dew Tour 2010 12:20 AMA Motocross 2011 13:10 AMA Motocross 2011 14:00 Mantracker 14:50 Pinks: Lose The Race, Lose Your Ride 15:15 Pinks: Lose The Race, Lose Your Ride 15:40 Fantasy Factory 18:10 Cowboy U 19:00 Pinks: Lose The Race, Lose Your Ride 19:25 Pinks: Lose The Race, Lose Your Ride 19:50 AMA Motocross 2011 20:40 AMA Motocross 2011 21:30 Mantracker 22:20 Ed’s Up 22:45 Ed’s Up 23:10 Pinks: Lose The Race, Lose Your Ride 23:35 Pinks: Lose The Race, Lose Your Ride

00:40 A Haunting 01:30 Mysterious Journeys 02:15 The Haunted 03:05 Ghost Lab 03:50 A Haunting 04:40 Mysterious Journeys 05:25 True Crime With Aphrodite Jones 06:15 Disappeared 07:10 Mystery ER 08:00 FBI Files 08:50 Forensic Detectives 09:40 Murder Shift 10:25 Mystery ER 11:10 Real Emergency Calls 11:35 Who On Earth Did I Marry?

11:55 On The Case With Paula Zahn 12:40 Disappeared 13:25 Murder Shift 14:15 Mystery ER 15:00 Real Emergency Calls 15:25 Who On Earth Did I Marry?

15:50 True Crime With Aphrodite Jones 16:35 Disappeared 17:20 FBI Files 18:10 Forensic Detectives 19:00 Murder Shift 19:45 Real Emergency Calls 20:10 Mystery ER 20:55 Who On Earth Did I Marry?

21:20 True Crime With Aphrodite Jones 22:10 Disappeared 23:00 The Will: Family Secrets Revealed 23:50 Kidnap And Rescue

00:00 01:00 01:30 02:00 03:00 04:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 15:30 16:30 17:30

Departures The Ride: Alaska To Patagonia First Ascent Departures Word Travels Don’t Tell My Mother Departures The Ride: Alaska To Patagonia First Ascent Departures Word Travels Don’t Tell My Mother Departures Meet The Natives: USA Young Global Hotshots Bondi Rescue Endurance Traveller Long Way Down The Best Job In The World

KING ARTHUR ON OSN ACTION HD

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:15 18:15 20:00 22:00 PG15

Jackass 3.5-R Rollerball-18 Ronin-18 The Losers-PG15 King Arthur-PG15 Secret Window-PG15 Legion-18 King Arthur-PG15 Collateral-PG15 Legion-18 Deadline-18 Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost-

01:00 Goodbye Baby-18 03:00 Crazy Heart-PG15 05:00 The Tempest-PG15 07:00 Alabama Moon-PG15 09:00 Swansong: Story Of Occi Byrne-PG15 11:00 Ice Dreams-PG15 13:00 Miles From Nowhere-PG15 15:00 Flipped-PG 17:00 Swansong: Story Of Occi Byrne-PG15 19:00 The Answer Man-PG15 21:00 Death Race 2-18 23:00 Love And Other Drugs-R

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 Saturday Night Live 02:30 The Cleveland Show 03:00 Parks And Recreation 03:30 2 Broke Girls 04:00 Dharma And Greg 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Seinfeld 06:00 Just Shoot Me 06:30 Til Death 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Dharma And Greg 08:30 Parks And Recreation 09:00 Seinfeld 09:30 The Office 10:00 Man Up! 10:30 Til Death 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Just Shoot Me 12:30 Dharma And Greg 13:00 Seinfeld 13:30 Til Death 14:00 2 Broke Girls 14:30 Man Up! 15:00 The Office 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Just Shoot Me 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Friends With Benefits 19:00 Two And A Half Men 19:30 Hot In Cleveland 20:00 Whitney 20:30 Wilfred 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:15 17:15 19:00 21:00 PG15 23:00

Fade To Black-18 Ronin-18 4.3.2.1.-18 Fast Lane-PG15 Set It Off-PG15 I, Robot-PG15 The Karate Kid I-PG15 Set It Off-PG15 Freight-PG15 30 Days Of Night: Dark Days Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost-

00:00 02:00 03:45 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:15

A Guy Thing-PG15 Coldblooded-PG15 The Parent Trap-PG Double Wedding-PG15 Head Of State-PG15 12 Men Of Christmas-PG15 Renaissance Man-PG15 Napoleon Dynamite-PG

Dark Moon Rising-PG15

16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

A Guy Thing-PG15 Return To Sleepaway Camp Palo Alto-18 Barry Munday-18

01:00 Frenemy-18 03:00 On Strike For Christmas-PG15 05:00 50 First Dates-PG15 07:00 The Last Airbender-PG 09:00 Another Year-PG15 11:30 Don’t Fade Away-PG15 13:00 The Open Road-PG15 14:30 Nanny Mcphee And The Big Bang-PG 16:30 Another Year-PG15 19:00 The Last House On The Left18 21:00 Megamind-FAM 23:00 A Single Man-R

00:00 How The Grinch Stole Christmas-PG 02:00 Pocahontas & The Spider Woman-PG 04:00 The Adventures Of Elmo In Grouchland-PG 06:00 How The Grinch Stole Christmas-PG 08:00 Zorro’s Secrets-PG 10:00 Despicable Me-FAM 12:00 Winner & The Golden Child: Part I-FAM 14:00 Legend Of The Guardians-PG 16:00 The Borrowers-PG

00:00 Super Rugby 04:00 Live NRL Premiership 06:00 Live Cricket One Day International 13:30 Super Rugby 17:30 Futbol Mundial 18:00 ODI Cricket Highlights 18:30 Volvo Ocean Race Highlights 19:00 Trans World Sport 20:00 UFC 22:00 WWE SmackDown

01:00 03:00 03:30 05:30 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 15:30 17:30 19:30 20:00 22:00

NRL Premiership Futbol Mundial Scottish Premier League ODI Cricket Highlights Live NRL Premiership NRL Premiership Super League Premier League Darts NRL Premiership NRL Premiership Futbol Mundial Scottish Premier League Pro 12 Celtic League

01:30 03:30 04:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 12:30 14:30 15:00 18:00 21:30 22:00

Super Rugby European Tour Weekly Top 14 Super Rugby Super Rugby Trans World Sports Scottish Premier League Futbol Mundial Top 14 Premier League Darts Cricket ODI Highlights Trans World Sport

00:00 02:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:15 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 15:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

WWE SmackDown WWE Bottom Line UFC V8 Supercars Live V8 Supercars WWE SmackDown WWE Experience WWE This Week V8 Supercars Extra V8 Supercars WWE SmackDown WWE Experience WWE Bottom Line V8 Supercars UFC WWE SmackDown

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 21:30 22:00 23:00

Engineering An Empire Ancient Discoveries Lost Worlds America: The Story Of The Us Monumental Challenge Modern Marvels Engineering An Empire Ancient Discoveries Lost Worlds America: The Story Of The Us Monumental Challenge Modern Marvels Engineering An Empire Ancient Discoveries Lost Worlds America: The Story Of The Us Monumental Challenge Modern Marvels Engineering An Empire Ancient Discoveries Mud Men Pawn Stars Pawn Stars Ancient Aliens The Universe

00:05 01:00 02:00 02:25 02:55 03:50 04:20 05:15 06:10 07:05 08:00 09:00 10:00 10:55 11:20 11:50 12:20 12:50 13:50 21:20 22:15 23:10

Clean House: New York Wicked Fit Fashion Classics Open House Videofashion Daily Videofashion News How Do I Look?

Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

Married Away Clean House Big Boutique Videofashion Daily Homes With Style Open House Open House Videofashion News Videofashion News Elements Of Style How Do I Look?

Fashion Police Tia And Tamera Giuliana & Bill

00:00 Globe Trekker 01:00 Planet Sports 02:00 Inside Luxury Travel-Varun Sharma 03:00 Tokyo Revealed 04:00 Indian Times 05:00 Globe Trekker 06:00 Glutton For Punishment 07:00 Planet Food 08:00 Globe Trekker 09:00 Indian Times 10:00 Tall Ship Explorers 11:00 Third Class Traveller 12:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides 13:00 Globe Trekker 14:00 Cruising The South China Sea 15:00 Inside Luxury Travel-Varun Sharma 16:00 Spring 17:00 Globe Trekker 18:00 Planet Sports 19:00 Cruising The South China Sea 20:00 Globe Trekker 21:00 Cruise Today 21:30 4real 22:00 Australia’s Great Wildlife Islands 23:00 World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides

00:45 02:25 04:40 07:30 08:00 10:00 12:05 13:55 FAM 16:00 18:00 21:00 23:00

Dead Calm The Fixer Quo Vadis-PG TCM Presents Under...-U Now, Voyager-PG The Journey-FAM Les Girls-PG The Unsinkable Molly BrownWhite Hunter, Black Heart-PG A Star Is Born-FAM Ten Thousand Bedrooms-PG Grand Prix-PG

Classifieds SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines AFR QTR JZR KAC JZR JZR ETH THY UAE DHX QTR MSR FDB RJA ETD GFA KAC DHX FAH JZR CLX JZR BAW KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR ETD FDB IRA GFA FCX IRC JZR RBG IRA MEA SYR MSR JZR RKM KAC GFA KAC KAC FDB UAL QTR SVA RJA ABY KAC JZR KAC QTR JZR JZR JZR ETD UAE GFA SVA ABY JZR ALK JZR RBG FDB KAC KAC JZR KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC FDB JAI OMA AXB AFG MLR KAC DHX GRF MEA GFA QTR UAE KAC JZR AIC KAC JZR UAL DLH

Arrival Flights on Sunday 4/3/2012 Flt Route 6708 PARIS 138 DOHA 185 DUBAI 154 ISTANBUL 267 BEIRUT 539 CAIRO 620 ADDIS ABABA 772 ISTANBUL 853 DUBAI 370 BAHRAIN 148 DOHA 612 CAIRO 67 DUBAI 642 AMMAN 305 ABU DHABI 211 BAHRAIN 544 CAIRO 170 BAHRAIN 201 DUBAI 555 ALEXANDRIA 792 LUXEMBOURG 529 ASSIUT 157 LONDON 412 MANILA 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 382 DELHI 352 COCHIN 302 MUMBAI 332 TRIVANDRUM 676 DUBAI 284 DHAKA 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 301 ABU DHABI 55 DUBAI 603 SHIRAZ 213 BAHRAIN 203 DUBAI 6801 AHWAZ 165 DUBAI 3553 ALEXANDRIA 615 SHAHRE KORD 404 BEIRUT 341 DAMASCUS 610 CAIRO 201 DAMASCUS 310 RAS ALKHAIMAH 672 DUBAI 219 BAHRAIN 744 DAMMAM 774 RIYADH 57 DUBAI 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 140 DOHA 500 JEDDAH 640 AMMAN 123 SHARJAH 788 JEDDAH 257 BEIRUT 550 SOHAG 134 DOHA 561 SOHAG 535 CAIRO 213 DEIREZZOR 303 ABU DHABI 857 DUBAI 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 127 SHARJAH 777 JEDDAH 227 COLOMBO 177 DUBAI 3557 ALEXANDRIA 63 DUBAI 502 BEIRUT 542 CAIRO 787 RIYADH 786 JEDDAH 618 DOHA 674 DUBAI 166 PARIS 102 NEW YORK 562 AMMAN 61 DUBAI 572 MUMBAI 647 MUSCAT 389 KOZHIKODE 405 KABUL 1407 COLOMBO 512 TEHRAN 372 BAHRAIN 81 BAGHDAD 402 BEIRUT 217 BAHRAIN 136 DOHA 859 DUBAI 172 FRANKFURT 135 BAHRAIN 981 CHENNAI 678 MUSCAT 239 AMMAN 981 BAHRAIN 636 FRANKFURT

Time 0:10 0:20 0:20 0:35 0:45 0:50 1:45 2:15 2:35 2:55 2:55 3:00 3:05 3:10 3:10 3:15 4:40 5:15 5:30 6:00 6:00 6:20 6:40 6:45 7:40 7:45 7:50 7:50 7:55 8:05 8:10 8:15 8:30 9:00 9:05 9:15 9:20 9:40 9:55 10:30 11:10 11:20 11:35 11:35 11:55 12:35 12:55 13:00 13:10 13:20 13:25 13:25 13:45 13:50 14:05 14:20 14:30 14:40 14:45 14:50 15:00 15:15 15:25 16:10 16:25 16:45 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:40 17:45 18:10 18:15 18:25 18:40 18:45 18:50 19:05 19:10 19:15 19:25 19:30 19:35 19:50 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:30 20:30 20:50 20:55 21:00 21:15 21:20 21:25 21:35 21:40 21:45 21:55 22:05 22:05 22:45 23:00 23:50

Airlines AXB UAL AIC BBC DLH AFR ETH THY GRF FDB UAE DHX MSR ETD QTR QTR JZR GFA RJA JZR CLX FDB BAW KAC KAC JZR KAC JZR KAC JZR JZR UAE ABY ETD KAC ETD FDB QTR KAC GFA IRA KAC FCX KAC IRC RBG JZR KAC IRA MEA KAC SYR KAC JZR MSR RKM GFA FDB KAC KAC UAL ABY KAC RJA SVA JZR KAC JZR KAC QTR JZR QTR ETD JZR UAE GFA ABY SVA JZR JZR RBG JZR ALK FDB JZR KAC KAC FDB FDB DHX KAC JAI OMA MLR KAC DHX MEA GFA FAH QTR KAC JZR UAE KAC KAC JZR KAC KAC AFG

Departure Flights on Sunday 4/3/2012 Flt Route 394 KOCHI 981 WASHINGTON DC 976 GOA 44 CHITTAGONG 637 FRANKFURT 6708 DUBAI 621 ADDIS ABABA 773 ISTANBUL 94 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 854 DUBAI 371 BAHRAIN 613 CAIRO 306 ABU DHABI 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 643 AMMAN 200 DAMASCUS 792 GIALAM 54 DUBAI 156 LONDON 549 SOHAG 671 DUBAI 256 BEIRUT 171 FRANKFURT 534 CAIRO 787 JEDDAH 560 SOHAG 212 ALEPPO 856 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 302 ABU DHABI 117 NEW YORK 302 ABU DHABI 56 DUBAI 133 DOHA 773 RIYADH 214 BAHRAIN 602 SHIRAZ 743 DAMMAM 204 DUBAI 541 CAIRO 6802 AHWAZ 3558 ALEXANDRIA 776 JEDDAH 103 LONDON 614 SHAHRE-KORD 405 BEIRUT 501 BEIRUT 342 ALEPPO 785 JEDDAH 176 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 311 RAS ALKHAIMAH 220 BAHRAIN 58 DUBAI 561 AMMAN 673 DUBAI 982 BAHRAIN 124 SHARJAH 677 MUSCAT 641 AMMAN 503 MADINAH 786 RIYADH 617 DOHA 786 RIYADH 511 IMAM KHOMEINI 141 DOHA 238 AMMAN 135 DOHA 304 ABU DHABI 538 CAIRO 858 DUBAI 216 BAHRAIN 128 SHARJAH 511 RIYADH 266 BEIRUT 134 BAHRAIN 3554 ALEXANDRIA 134 BAHRAIN 228 DUBAI 64 DUBAI 184 DUBAI 283 DHAKA 361 COLOMBO 62 DUBAI 62 DUBAI 171 BAHRAIN 351 KOCHI 571 MUMBAI 648 MUSCAT 1407 COLOMBO 543 CAIRO 373 BAHRAIN 403 BEIRUT 218 BAHRAIN 102 DUBAI 137 DOHA 301 MUMBAI 554 ALEXANDRIA 860 DUBAI 205 ISLAMABAD 343 CHENNAI 502 LUXOR 415 KUALA LUMPUR 411 BANGKOK 406 DUBAI

Time 0:05 0:45 0:50 1:00 1:20 1:55 2:45 3:15 3:30 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:00 4:00 4:40 5:40 6:55 7:00 7:10 7:30 8:00 8:25 8:40 8:55 9:00 9:00 9:05 9:15 9:25 9:30 9:35 9:40 9:45 10:00 10:00 10:00 10:05 10:10 10:25 10:40 10:40 10:45 11:45 12:00 12:10 12:15 12:15 12:30 12:35 12:55 13:00 13:35 13:40 13:50 13:55 14:10 14:20 14:35 14:45 15:05 15:20 15:25 15:25 15:35 15:45 15:50 15:50 15:50 16:25 16:30 17:15 17:25 17:35 17:40 18:10 18:15 18:25 18:35 18:45 19:05 19:05 19:05 19:10 19:20 19:55 20:15 20:20 20:40 20:40 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:50 21:55 22:00 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:45 22:50 23:00 23:30 23:35 23:45 23:55 23:59

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

ACCOMMODATION Need executive bachelors with clean habits male/female or issueless couples to share accommodation with S Indian family, near 6th Ring Road, petrol pump, Touristic park, Indian Central School. Contact: 97534176 / 24312943.

(C 3890) 3-3-2012 Sharing accommodation available in 2BHK fully furnished, luxury flat, for decent couples or two working ladies near Hadi Hospital, backside to fire station, Bugaira Bin-Shada St., Salmiya. Contact: 25618576/ 66373409 after 2 pm.

1-3-2012 Immediate sharing accommodation available for a decent Indian Christian couple or bachelor near Salmiya Garden. Contact: 25657832/ 66884273.

(C 3888) 29-2-2012

CHANGE OF NAME I, Viliana Isabella Lorena, holder of Indian Passport No. J 3503777 hereby change my name to WILIANA ISABETH LORENA. (C 3889) 1-3-2012 I, Eshfak Esmailbhai Huseiny, holder of Indian Passport No. U009826, have changed my name to MUSTAFA ESMAILBHAI HUSEINY. (C 3884) 28-2-2012

LOST Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya near United Indian School, new building/ separate room/ toilet/ balcony for decent executive bachelor. Contact: 97208351.

(C 3885) Sharing accommodation available in Khaitan, behind old Pakistani School, big room with separate bathroom for small family or two working ladies. Contact: 55847242.

28-2-2012 Required sharing accommodation with separate toilet for a small Sri Lankan family, within Abbassiya or near Indian Central School.

Contact: 66552905.

(C 3883) 26-2-2012 Accommodation available with separate attached bathroom for couple, decent lady or decent bachelor with kitchen, drawing satellite facilities in C-A/C flat new building in Salmiya, Amman Street. Contact: 99678634.

(C 3878) Room available in Salmiya near City Center for a decent bachelor. Rent KD 75/-.

Contact: 99959140.

(C 3881) 25-2-2012

I lost my State Life Insurance paper, with policy number 633000205 of M. Younas. Anyone who has found it, call: 60741774. (C 3882) 25-2-2012

SITUATION VACANT Professional cook for house good experience all kind of food, hard work, good salary, good accommodation, full time or part time. Call 66519719 / 23901053.

(C 3891) 3-3-2012

MATRIMONIAL Proposals invited for a Keralite Marthoma boy 27/179, MCA, working in Kuwait as Software Engineer, seeks alliance from God fearing, well educated / Kuwait employed girls. Contact: proposal84kwt@gmail.com 29-2-2012

English teacher (3) years experience, looking for a job and ready to start with all educational stages. 55963993 Mathematics teacher for Universities, Institutions, Foreign Schools, Administrative, American, English, Australian, Bahrain, Electric and Gulf Sciences, Algbra Prel, Mathematics, intermediate, gmat, sat college, math98, 110 pre calculus geometry.

97619261 A Syrian Arabic language teacher. Masters in methods of teaching and follow up of 10th grade and 11th grade students. 97934291 Islamic education teacher for elementary and intermediate stages. Experienced in Kuwait curricula. Easy explanation, and summary of the subject, training for exams. 66292985 Syrian Arabic language teacher for elementary and intermediate stages.

Experienced in following learning difficulties, and those weak in reading and writing. 97264100 Female senior Mathematics teacher with more that 30 years experience in Kuwait, to teach secondary, intermediate and elementary stages.

Religious and applied, communications and navigation institutions, special courses and secretariat institution.

97926737 Computer teacher for secondary and intermediate.

Practical on laptop, power point projects, front page, visual basic data, universities and applied institutions.

50603063

TUITION MISCELLANEOUS

FOR SALE Furniture for sale in good condition, sofa set (3+1+1), dining table, table 2 no, shoe rack, gas stove, fridge, washing machine, etc at very good price. Contact: 99172842. (C 3892) 4-3-2012 Furniture for sale in good condition, sofa set (3+1+1), dining table, table 2 no, shoe rack, gas stove, fridge, washing machine, etc at very good price. Contact: 99172842.

(C 3892) 3-3-2012 Toyota Prado 2006, golden color, 4 doors, 6 cylinder, 101000km done, full options, Price KD 5,250/-.

Contact: 66729295.

(C 3886) Mitsubishi Lancer 2009, golden color, GLX, 75000km, Price KD 1,900/-.

Contact: 50699345.

(C 3887) 28-2-2012

Business management teacher with doctoral degree for universities, institutions, corporate & all student levels.

Over 10 years experience. Call 66495951. (C 3817) Mathematics teacher, Intermediate and secondary Exams models, Easy method, Exams from past years with solutions. 97301901

Original guaranteed Palestinian virgin olive oil, large black and green olives for sale. Tel: 66517417 Whole Floor or small villa needed for rent in Shaab, Mansoriya, Nozha, Abdullah Al-Salem or Shamiya. Direct contact with owner. Tel: 9989018-99169016 A camp for rent in Kabed

No: 15377

including five tents with all services. Complete privacy + game arcade. Tel: 97177714 Size 36 air pressure gun for sale in addition to a scope, safety lock. Shooting range 350 meters +bag+25 shots.

Price KD 70. Tel: 97790478 A 3700 watt, 2012 model ASTRA generator for sale.

Japanese parts assembled in China with pressure and gas meters. Price KD 85. Tel: 60066891 For rent in Hawalli a one bedroom (4x4m) and a 7x3.5 m reception+ terrace, fully equipped kitchen and bathroom. Tunis street, behind Al-Andalus pharmacy. Tel: 99683200 For rent a two storey villa and a basement in Mangaf including 8 rooms, laundry room, yard, parking. Rent value KD 1000. Tel: 97996900 A storey and half for rent in Mangaf including two 3 bedroom apartments with 2 baths, reception, kitchen, driver room each. Tel: 66989887 For rent a ground floor in Qurain comprising of four rooms, large reception, 5 baths, maid room, courtyard, parking. Rent value KD 550. Tel: 66989887 A fully central air-conditioned two room annex in Mangaf with separate exit and shaded car parking for rent to expatriates. Tel: 67753557 For rent in Ashbelia: two apartments with 3 bedrooms, bath, kitchen and maid room each plus a yard in between. Tel: 90001594 A 2005 Mini Cooper for sale. Tel: 99224855 A 2006 Lumina for sale with genuine factory paint.

Price KD 2100. Tel: 69945429 A 2009 Touareg for sale.

Price 6350. Tel: 96670777 Senior English teacher for Pakistani, bilingual schools, T.M.A., Ielts, Toefl, IBT K.S.S., social studies and math. Tel: 99577430

34

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

stars CROSSWORD 606

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) You will enjoy just about everything you do today, whether in work or play. It is just that kind of day. Most things will come easily.

Enjoy your family and friends and absorb what they have to say. Good fortune will come from your writing skills; you may find that your family and friends, with their permission, have things to say that would make for good reading material. You may be interested in making money more through rational, intellectual processes than with brute, physical actions. Your next best day for money is the twenty-first—until then, careful! Shift your attention to the home now. It is time to relax the pressures that have been an ongoing business-first attitude. You are in a mood of self-enjoyment and can appreciate your own better qualities.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You may find it difficult to get things off to a good start this morning. Careful, criticism may not be warranted or appropriate.

Your finances are in good shape now and you feel generous. Be wise in your purchases by checking around for the best price. Practical thought must be given to the use of money. You may even be thinking about your next moneymaking venture today— obtain guidance and review your options. You may find this afternoon a good time to initiate a romantic encounter. The good life and all that is fine and luxurious, may be what you value just now. You enjoy making your own way and finding solutions to any problems you may find. A long-term plan for an ongoing creative change in your life is underway, or about to get underway.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. Rate of revolution of a motor.

4. Lower in esteem.

9. Among the largest bony fish.

13. A self-funded retirement plan that allows you to contribute a limited yearly sum toward your retirement.

14. Any monetary aid.

15. A river that rises in northeastern Turkey (near the source of the Euphrates) and flows generally eastward through Armenia to the Caspian Sea. 16. American political cartoonist (1840-1902).

18. An elaborate song for solo voice.

19. (the feminine of raja) A Hindu princess or the wife of a raja.

20. Title for the former hereditary monarch of Iran.

21. Remaining after all deductions.

23. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

24. A doctor's degree in education.

29. Foul with waste matter.

35. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

39. A small cake leavened with yeast.

41. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

42. A large fleet.

44. A flat-bottomed volcanic crater that was formed by an explosion.

46. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

47. Any tropical gymnosperm of the order Cycadales.

50. A small pellet fired from an air rifle or BB gun.

53. Not only so, but.

56. Any of various spiny trees or shrubs of the genus Acacia.

59. (informal) Roused to anger.

62. American prizefighter who won the world heavyweight championship three times (born in 1942).

63. A unit of surface area equal to 100 square meters.

64. African tree having an exceedingly thick trunk and fruit that resembles a gourd and has an edible pulp called monkey bread.

65. An informal term for a father.

DOWN 1. A liquid preparation used on wet hair to it a tint.

2. Capital and largest city of the Czech Republic.

3. An independent group of closely related Chadic languages spoken in the area between the Biu-Mandara and East Chadic languages.

4. A soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal.

5. German states who as chancellor of West Germany worked to reduce tensions with eastern Europe (1913-1992).

6. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

7. A state of agitated irritation.

8. The 7th letter of the Greek alphabet.

9. A percussion instrument consisting of a pair of hollow pieces of wood or bone (usually held between the thumb and fingers) that are made to click together (as by Spanish dancers) in rhythm with the dance.

10. Any of various herbaceous plants of the genus Atriplex that thrive in deserts and salt marshes.

11. A long pointed rod used as a weapon.

12. Of or relating to or characteristic of Asia or the peoples of Asia or their languages or culture.

17. A case or sheath especially a pollen sac or moss capsule.

22. Small European freshwater fish with a slender bluish-green body.

25. A metric unit of volume or capacity equal to 10 liters.

26. A silvery ductile metallic element found primarily in bauxite.

27. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

28. (informal) Of the highest quality.

30. A period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event.

31. South American armadillo with three bands of bony plates.

32. Tropical woody herb with showy yellow flowers and flat pods.

33. A resource.

34. A long thin fluffy scarf of feathers or fur.

36. South American wood sorrel cultivated for its edible tubers.

37. An esoteric or occult matter that is traditionally secret.

38. A member of the Siouan people formerly living in the Missouri river valley in NE Nebraska.

40. A woman hired to suckle a child of someone else.

43. An intensely radioactive metallic element that occurs in minute amounts in uranium ores.

45. A public promotion of some product or service.

48. A period of time containing 365 (or 366) days.

49. (of a young animal) Abandoned by its mother and raised by hand.

51. A river that rises in western New Mexico and flows westward through southern Arizona to become a tributary of the Colorado River.

52. A female domestic.

54. The cry made by sheep.

55. A dark-skinned member of a race of people living in Australia when Europeans arrived.

57. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

58. Someone who is morally reprehensible.

60. A unit of information equal to 1024 bytes.

61. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) It could be a favorable day to do a little work, but you might not be in the mood. Rest seems far more inviting. Generosity, warmth and a desire to be at peace with the world go hand in hand for now. Obtaining and exchanging information takes on more emotional significance. Being more involved with neighbors or siblings satisfies a deep emotional need. Communicating feelings may be the goal but it would be better to express the facts. This will help clear any confusion. You may be sought after for your advice and guidance regarding some very personal issues. Everything conspires to reveal you at your most elegant, particularly in social situations. Your current relationship is making positive progress. You are in a good place this evening.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

Plan today—execute tomorrow. At home today, just clean up the small stuff. Your mind is clear and fertile and you will want to spend much of your time away from work doing creative things. Tomorrow may be a good day to drive to the country or visit friends—today is your day to create, invent, write, sing, etc. Making your home situation more pleasant and attractive plays a part in this, and the sale or purchase of real estate could bring you much gain before this cycle is complete. Some get-together tonight with friends, immediate family or both may find you deeply involved in board games or games of chance. You may enjoy having everyone together in these little game time evenings and a secret to continuing the fun and harmony is setting an end time.

Leo (July 23-August 22) You seem happy to add a little extra money to the monthly earnings by working today. You feel very good about yourself and others tend to support your self-confidence. If you enjoy your work, this is a good day to expand your horizons, however; if you consider your job a little more than drudgery, this is a good time to begin or plan a vacation. You should be able to accomplish quite a lot during this time. Gathering information becomes a more important part of your time . . . a very educational experience—research perhaps. The more you understand the better you can deal with a challenge you consider worth your efforts. You may find that you are appreciated by the people around you; they express their appreciation freely.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) There are many chores—with a tendency to overextend yourself. Take a nice lunch break or you could be dealing with some physical problems—like headaches. You may shoulder your responsibilities better now, than in the past—but be careful of extremes. Let intuition guide you while dealing with a hard-headed individual today. Time in reflection of issues is important throughout this month and it will help you gain insight into solving problems. Life should seem richer these days. There is more satisfaction and more fun because you are relaxed and feel a special bond with your friends and loved ones. Invite your friends over this evening—you will make them all feel good, including yourself. An impromptu comedy club may be fun

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Today you may think you are playing the lead in a medieval love drama. Friendships are uppermost, love relationships may be intense and any sexual encounter could possibly be transcendental. Every emotion is larger than life. In this state you could make great things happen. As with Romeo and Juliet, if a new relationship begins now, it could be wild—and may seem like fate. You may feel that there is a need for change, a desire to break with outmoded patterns of the past and a longing for the new, the different—the unique. Patience! You are truly relaxed when it comes time to taking it easy with friends. You are compassionate and giving to all around you. Your devotion and selflessness will reap unexpected rewards.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) The currents of love—giving and receiving and nurturing— flow easily today. For the unattached, this could spill over to the desire to find a new relationship—even if it is an unwise decision to do so, save those intense discussions for another time and just go with the flow. Watch the extra expenses and you will still be able to take that trip you wanted to take. The time is ripe for some sudden and unexpected changes in the normal routine of family life. It could be that a vacation is in order, a family member moves in or leaves home or a move happens. Your devotion and selflessness will reap unexpected rewards. You and your friends find pleasure in making a difference this evening—perhaps a volunteer group.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

Yesterday’s Solution

Courage and confidence reign today. This could mean some sports competition or some performance or just work in general.

Others will follow your lead in any group effort. Your energy is high—perfect for getting some exercise or chopping that cord of wood. Just make sure any new project is short-term. An outgoing and very expressive cycle of experience has begun for you.

Now more than ever, you want to be admired and appreciated by others, to do and create things that stir the heart. This is child’s play; this is romance; this is taking a chance. Changing chaos into order may be the ticket for a successful afternoon.

Everything conspires to reveal you at your most elegant while socializing this evening.

There is time for romance this evening.

Everything works well today! Your self-confidence enables you to pursue any objective with spirit; you can finish anything you start.

You can work equally well alone or with others, who find your enthusiasm contagious.

This is a perfect day for charting a new course of action and following through— accomplish all you can today. People around you should find you most spontaneous and alive. A strong need for nurturing this evening is a bigger than usual element in your life now. You may feel the need to care for others or to have them care for you— perhaps on a public level. You have needs and you sense the needs of others: fitting the two together well is one of the many secrets to your success. Enjoy the company of a loved one tonight.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Relationships are the order of the day. You should enjoy being around people in general, but the rapport between you and your significant other should be especially strong. With this understanding, you both will be nurturing without being pushy. Unfortunately, your rapport with food and drink could also be strong. Work is definitely on the back burner, although you could be inspired to do or plan a little decorating around your living quarters. This afternoon you may find yourself gathering and exchanging information with neighbors.

Neighbors may have a big impact on your goals and make a big impression. You may also find a change in your financial status. There are new spending patterns, perhaps focused on high tech interests.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

If you are looking for a job, this is the perfect day to shake hands with your new boss! New ideas and an independent or pioneering mental orientation take on more importance in your life at this time. The ides of March will bring positive changes your way. Be careful that you do not overspend or indulge too much for now. Do not forget to be kind to your body with the appropriate vitamins, water, nutritious meals, exercise and plenty of rest. Teaching, learning, communicating and social contact have a way of outlining new directions in your life—there is much activity. In your present love relationship, the old routines are wearing a bit thin and you are ready to try something new. You may find out just how flexible your relationship is today.

A

y

e niv rsar n

Years

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

i n f o r m at i o n

FIRE BRIGADE

112

Al-Madena

22418714

Al-Shohada’a

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Fayhaa

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

24812000

Al-Jahra

25610011

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Al-Salmiya

25616368

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

Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128

Hospitals Sabah Hospital

POLICE STATION Al-Madena Police Station Al-Murqab Police Station Al-Daiya Police Station Al-Fayha’a Police Station Al-Qadissiya Police Station Al-Nugra Police Station Al-Salmiya Police Station Al-Dasma Police Station

Clinics Rabiya

4732263

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Al-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

Al-Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Al-Omariya

24719048

N.Kheitan

24710044

Fintas

3900322

22434064 22435865 22544200 22547133 22515277 22616662 25714406 22530801

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988

PHARMACIES

AIRLINES

ON 24 HRS DUTY GOVERNORATE

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

Ahmadi

Sama Safwan Abu Halaifa Danat Al-Sultan

Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

23915883 23715414 23726558

Jahra

Modern Jahra Madina Munawara

Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 Jahra-Block 92

24575518 24566622

Capital

Ahlam Khaldiya Coop

Fahad Al-Salem St Khaldiya Coop

22436184 24833967

Farwaniya

New Shifa Ferdous Coop Modern Safwan

Farwaniya Block 40 Ferdous Coop Old Kheitan Block 11

24734000 24881201 24726638

Hawally

Tariq Hana Ikhlas Hawally & Rawdha Ghadeer Kindy Ibn Al-Nafis Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Salmiya-Amman St Hawally-Beirut St Hawally & Rawdha Coop Jabriya-Block 1A Jabriya-Block 3B Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St Mishrif Coop Salwa Coop

25726265 25647075 22625999 22564549 25340559 25326554 25721264 25380581 25628241

Kuwait Airways Jazeera Airways Jet Airways FlyDubai Qatar Airways KLM Air Slovakia Olympic Airways Royal Jordanian Reservation British Airways Air France Emirates Air India Sri Lanka Airlines Egypt Air Swiss Air Saudia Middle East Airlines Lufthansa PIA Alitalia Balkan Airlines Bangladesh Airlines Czech Airlines Indian Airlines Oman Air Turkish Airlines Aeroflot

171 177 22924455 22414400 22423888 22425747 22434940 22420002/9 22418064/5/6 22433388 22425635 22430224 22921555 22438184 22424444 22421578 22421516 22426306 22423073 22422493 22421044 22414427 22416474 22452977/8 22417901/ 2433141 22456700 22958787 22453820/1 22404838/9

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

INTERNATIONAL CALLS

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar

22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof

25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare

23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew

24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535

Dentists

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

22655539

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

22618787

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer

22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan

22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash

22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan

25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari

25620111

General Surgeons Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer

22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher

25327148

Internists, Chest & Heart Dr. Adnan Ebil Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

22666300 25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

Neurologists

22639939

Dr. Mousa Khadada

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

3729596/3729581

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri

25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

25345875

Gastrologists Dr. Sami Aman

22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly

25322030

Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, Ph.D. 2290-1677 Susannah-Joy Schuilenberg, M.A. 2290-1677

25339330

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari 25658888 Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr 25329924 Physiotherapists & VD Dr. Deyaa Shehab

25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees

22666288

Rheumatologists: Dr. Adel Al-Awadi

Dr Anil Thomas

Dr. Salem soso

Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman

25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah

25722290

Internist, Chest & Heart DR.Mohammes Akkad

24555050 Ext 210

Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

2611555-2622555

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Anguilla Antiga Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands

0093 00355 00213 00376 00244 001264 001268 0054 00374 0061 0043 001242 00973 00880 001246 00375 0032 00501 00229 001441 00975 00591 00387 00267 0055 00673 00359 00226 00257 00855 00237 001 00238 001345

Central African Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Cyprus (Northern) Czech Republic Denmark Diego Garcia Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador England (UK) Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia

00236 00235 0056 0086 0057 00269 00242 00682 00506 00385 0053 00357 0090392 00420 0045 00246 00253 001767 001809 00593 0020 00503 0044 00240 00291 00372 00251 00500 00298 00679 00358 0033 00594 00689

36

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

LIFESTYLE G o s s i p

Kardashians named in $5 million QuickTrim lawsuit eality TV star Kim Kardashian and two of her sisters have been slapped with a $5 million lawsuit alleging they and the makers of QuickTrim diet pills falsely touted the product’s effectiveness for losing weight. The proposed class action lawsuit takes aim at the sisters’ endorsement deal with the weight loss company. It was filed on Thursday in federal court in New York on behalf of four plaintiffs who used the product. The plaintiffs, who live in New York, California and Florida, stated in their lawsuit that the claims made by QuickTrim and by the Kardashians marketing it were “false, misleading, and unsubstantiated.” They added there was “no competent and reliable scientific evidence supporting any of these claims.” The main ingredient in the pills is a large dose of caffeine, mixed with herbal ingredients never clinically proven as effective, the lawsuit stated. The lawsuit, which was filed by the law firm of Bursor & Fisher, must be certified by a judge as a class action complaint before it can cover a wider field of consumers than the four plaintiffs. The suit seeks over $5 million in

R

damages. A representative for the Kardashians and officials from QuickTrim could not be reached for comment about the lawsuit. This is not the first time the stars of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” on cable network E! have been at the center of litigation over their marketing endorsements. Those deals account for a substantial chunk of the family’s net worth, last estimated at $65 million in 2010 by industry trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter. Kim Kardashian, 31, is one of the highest paid reality stars on US television, with her 2010 earnings estimated at $6 million from her TV show, clothing line and numerous fitness, beauty and other product endorsements. Her sisters, Khloe and Kourtney, have also gained fame alongside Kim, who first caught public attention when she appeared in a 2007 sex tape. Early last year, all three Kardashian sisters and their mother Kris Jenner successfully fended off a $75 million lawsuit from a credit card company after they walked away from a debit card endorsement, “Kardashian Kard,” amid complaints about high consumer fees.

Philippines denies Hollywood star

Kitsch’s airport tale Philippine official denied claims by Hollywood star Taylor Kitsch that he got rough treatment from a customs official in the country, saying the actor was apparently actually in Indonesia at the time. Bureau of Customs commissioner Ruffy Biazon said he investigated claims an airport customs officer threatened to send the “Friday Night Lights” star back to Japan, his port of origin, because his passport had run out of pages. On the Late Show with David Letterman, Canada-born Kitsch, 30, had also alleged the unidentified officer demanded that he be given an iPhone. “I feel confident that Mr. Kitsch was mistaken in saying that his bad experience during his travel was in the Philippines,” Biazon said in his report, published on the website of local television station ABS-CBN. Authorities had found no customs or immigration records of Kitsch’s visit, Biazon said.

Also, the Philippine government had not given any permits for location shooting for the Oliver Stone-directed “Savages”, contrary to the actor’s suggestion. Biazon said he learnt some scenes in the upcoming

A

Sandra Bullock sues

film, also starring John Travolta and Uma Thurman, were actually recently filmed in Indonesia, the Philippines’ neighbour to the south. “Unfortunately, the damage was done.... In the meantime, Mr. Kitsch, perhaps you can help us redeem our lost pride,” Biazon wrote. The Philippines has been going to great lengths to promote its tourism, tarnished by kidnappings of Western tourists, corruption and the ageing Manila airport, named by a travel website last year as the world’s worst gateway. A clip of the Kitsch interview on CBS.com shows Letterman asking about the supposed Philippine film shoot. Kitsch, who is best known for his portrayal of American football star Tim Riggins in the television series “Friday Night Lights,” did not dispute the name of the country. Kitsch said he was finally allowed in after proving he was an actor by showing the customs officer on his iPhone the trailer for his recently completed film “John Carter,” in which he plays a Civil War veteran transplanted to Mars.

watch company he 47-year-old actress has filed a lawsuit in Santa Monica, California, against ToyWatch USA for using her name to promote a diamond-encrusted white-band watch - and she alleges it is being advertised as the same gadget she wore in her Oscar-winning role in 2009 movie ‘The Blind Side’. Sandra also claims her publicity rights have been infringed as a result, and she’s asking a California judge for financial compensation, as well as an injunction, according to The Hollywood Reporter. According to the lawsuit, which has been obtained by the website, Sandra “will not voluntarily appear in print or other media for a company or product unless she carefully selects and believes in the company and product, and unless the compensation she receives is commensurate with the value of the exploitation of her name, image, identity, and persona.” The brunette beauty - who has a two-year-old son, Louis - also says her name has a substantial commercial value, and details her credits in the documents. But she is not said to be asserting any claims on false advertising under the Lanham Act or trademark infringement, as some stars have done in similar cases in the past.

T

Dujardin’s accidental success ean Dujardin believes his career is a “happy accident”. The French star - who won the Best Actor Oscar for his role in silent film ‘The Artist’ - admits he never considered working in movies after a career as a stand-up comic and on the television.

He said: “I didn’t think about cinema. It could’ve ended at the cabaret stage. But I crossed over, and happy accidents kept happening. I never stopped working. But it was never a career plan.”

However, the 39-year-old hunk is keen to stick to his French roots despite his success because to ask for more success would be “indecent”. He added to Britain’s Marie Claire magazine: “I’ve always been put into boxes with labels on them. What’s funny is to make fools out of people. And not to stagnate in just one role that’s the essential thing. If there was a nice project I will star in an American film, but I don’t have the fantasy, that dream. “To make movies in France is huge enough. It would be indecent to ask for more.”

J

Jolie says Brad is a tougher parent ngelina Jolie says Brad Pitt has had to become tougher on their children. The Oscar-winning actress raises six children with the actor - Maddox, 10, Pax, eight, Zahara, seven, Shiloh, five, and three-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne - and while she has always been the stricter parent in the past, Brad has now had to be more involved with the discipline. She said: “I used to be the tougher parent but since the birth of the twins, Brad’s had to play bad cop more often. It also

A

depends on which of the children we are talking about. Brad has always had this incredible bond with Mad, who’s very smart, and Brad loves teaching him about history and art and culture - it’s an amazing thing to watch them together. I think I’m a little closer to the girls, maybe, but he’s always making them laugh. The children are usually very well-behaved though.” Angelina says she and Brad love having a big family and like to spend quality time together before they all go to bed.She told

Minnelli wants to

Britain’s OK! magazine: “Our happiest moments are probably in the evening before the kids go to bed.

We often play together in our pyjamas after dinner and it’s like having a party sometimes where we’re all dancing and jumping around and being silly.

That’s when you really feel the beauty of having a family. It’s our little world.”

babysit Blue Ivy iza Minnelli has offered to babysit Blue Ivy Carter. The 65-year-old entertainer has formed a strong friendship with the baby’s mother Beyonce Knowles since it was announced she would appear in the remake of ‘A Star Is Born’ - which originally stared Liza’s mother Judy Garland - and wants to help out with her one-month-old daughter however she can. A source said: “Liza’s been giving Beyonce tips for the film and they’ve become very close lately. “Liza has also grown attached to Blue Ivy and offered to look after the little girl any time. Beyonce politely told Liza she may take her up on the offer, although that’s unlikely to happen because she’s hired several nannies but hardly ever leaves her daughter’s side.” Liza has been showering Blue Ivy with gifts and Beyonce and her husband Jay-Z have been left astonished by her generosity. The source added to National Enquirer magazine: “Generous Liza bought Blue Ivy a decorative solid gold bottle and a bunch of other presents that blew her parents away. “Liza always wanted to adopt, but sadly that never happened so she lives vicariously through other people’s kids.”

L

Pixie Lott would never take drugs he ‘All About Tonight’ singer says she has no desire to experiment with illegal substances and just wants to concentrate on having fun when she goes out with her friends. She told LOOK magazine: “I’m not going to pretend I’m some crazy reckless person.

I’m just a normal 21-year-old, who likes to go out and have fun. “People say it’s easy to get into drugs in this industry, but I don’t think that’s the case. Every kid sees it growing up but I think if I was going to do it, I would have by now. All my friends are the same as me.” Pixie also revealed she has no plans to marry boyfriend Oliver Cheshire in the near future even though she’s very happy with him. She said: “I don’t know if he’s ‘The One’, we’re so young. We’ve been together for a yearand-a-half, which isn’t that long in the grand scheme of things, but it is for me. It’s the longest I’ve ever been with someone.” —Agencies

T

37

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

LIFESTYLE F e a t u r e s

British singer Roger Waters, bassist and founding member of former rock band Pink Floyd, performs on stage in Santiago on March 2, 2012, during his “The Wall Live” tour. —AFP

last Inca emperor s tomb

Ecuador may have found t has been sought for centuries but remained a mystery, still out of reach. Now an expert has pinpointed a site that could be Atahualpa’s resting place: the last Inca emperor’s tomb. “This is an absolutely important find for the history of Ecuador’s archeology and for the (Andean) region,” said Patrimony Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa, speaking of the ruins found by Ecuadoran historian Tamara Estupinan. The Inca empire, in the 1400s and early 1500s, spanned much of South America’s Andean region, over 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers), from modern-day Bolivia and Peru to Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and Colombia. It included dozens of ethnic groups with different languages, cities, temples, farming terraces and fortresses.

Atahualpa was the last of his dynasty. During the Spanish conquest he was taken captive in what is now Cajamarca, Peru. He had been pressed to convert to Christianity and then the Spanish executed him by strangulation, then after his death in 1533, the empire began to fall apart. This year Ecuador’s state Cultural Patrimony Institute will start work on a promising archeological site, and Estupinan

I

will be front and center to raise the curtain on a massive complex sprawling over a ridge at 1,020 meters. It was back in June 2010 that Estupinan,

facility for raising fighting cocks.

But in the area called Sigchos, about 45 miles south of Quito, up on a hill dotted with brush, there is

Funerary stones can be seen at a site in Ecuador that could be Atahualpa’s resting place: the last Inca emperor’s tomb. now a researcher with the French Institute for Andean Studies (IFEA), found what she describes as an “Inca archeological site” high on the Andes’ eastern flank amid plunging canyons.

Nearby are a small local farm and a

more-much more: she found a complex of walls, aqueducts and stonework that lie inside the Machay rural retreat. Machay means burial in the Quechua language. “This is a late imperial design Inca monument that

leads to several rectangular rooms that were built with cut polished stone set around a trapezoidal plaza,” Estupinan explained to AFP.

served and quite important scientifically.” Inside the facility, a walled walkway starts at the Machay River and one can see the shape of an “ush-

The main stone square at a site in Ecuador that could be the tomb of the last Inca emperor, Atahualpa. —AFP photos ‘Phenomenally well preserved’ Archeologist Tamara Bray, of Wayne State University in Michigan, and a colleague of Estupinan, confirmed that the site boasts “an Inca edifice that is phenomenally well pre-

no”, essentially stairs that form a pyramid believed to be the (capac’s) emperor’s throne. Meanwhile a tiny cut channel of water would spout out a small waterfall nicknamed “the Inca’s bath”. The director at the Lima-

based IFEA, Georges Lomne, said the find appears to confirm that the Incas were active and present in a lowland area well outside what their bestknown area of operations were: Andean highlands.

“Malqui-Machay is part of a broader complex that also would have included the Quilotoa lagoon and the area called Pujili (Cotopaxi),” he explained. “All of this belonged to Atahualpa. It was his personal fiefdom in the way that French (and other) kings had royal domains,” Lomne added. Bray also stressed that “very few such Inca sites have been found in this type of tropical lowland. I think that the Incas used it as a sort of getaway.”

Estupinan has some more specific ideas. She believes Malqui-Machay is Atahualpa’s final resting place. The tomb of the last capac (emperor) of Tahuantinsuyo, the trans-Andean empire. While many experts have other theories, Estupinan believes that when Atahualpa was killed his remains could have been brought by his most loyal man, Ruminahui, to Sigchos for burial, to a place where Ruminahui based his fight for survival against the European intruders. —AFP

Disney closes controversial fat-fighting exhibit besity experts on Friday applauded Walt Disney World for shuttering a new attraction that drew fierce criticism for its potential to shame overweight children and misrepresent the causes of the global obesity crisis. “I think they (Disney) likely subscribed to that common misconception that this is something we should just be able to push away from the table and cure,” said Ottawa bariatric surgeon Yoni Freedhoff, whose blog post sparked a public outcry over the attraction at Walt Disney Co’s worldfamous Florida theme park.

“The truth is, if it was that simple to manage weight, I’m pretty confident we wouldn’t have a problem,” said Freedhoff. Disney last month unofficially opened the interactive exhibit called “Habit Heroes” at Epcot, one of the sites at the park , and introduced a companion online game.

In both, svelte heroes, “Callie Stenics” and “Will Power,” combat fat and misshapen villains with names like “Lead Bottom” and “The Snacker.”

“Here, they (children) are in Disney, the happiest place on earth, and basically Disney is being the schoolyard bully that’s been making fun of them for years at home,” Freedhoff said. Freedhoff blogged on Feb. 23 about what he called the “horrifying” exhibit . Disney closed the exhibit two days later following complaints and petition drives by other advocates for the overweight and people with eating disorders. Disney spokeswoman Kathleen Prihoda told Reuters no date has been set for Habit Heroes to reopen. “We’ve closed it for the time being to further improve and refine the experience,” Prihoda said. “We’ve received feedback from a variety of sources and we’re taking it all into consideration at this time.”

O

Many causes The exhibit was sponsored by two independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield organizations.

Spokesman John Herbkersman of Blue Cross and

Blue Shield of Florida told Reuters that initial reaction from Disney guests was positive. He said the Disney Imagineers created the exhibit, and that he did not know how much input his organization had in crafting its message. The World Health Organization, which calls childhood obesity one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century, cites many causes, including a global shift in food processing, food marketing, the fat and sugar content of food, increased urbanization and changes in the way people get around.

“Kids have not suddenly suffered an epidemic loss of will power. I think the world in which children are growing up has changed very dramatically,” Freedhoff said. In January researchers with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that in 2009 and 2010, about one in three American adults and one in six children and teenagers were obese. Laura Discipio said her organization, the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, was one of several that urged its supporters to put public pressure on Disney to rethink Habit Heroes.

“They (Disney officials) said the goal is really to teach people how to be healthy. I said I get that, but you can’t be villainizing children of size,” Discipio said. A petition started by the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance logged more than 300 signatures before the exhibit was closed, according to spokeswoman Peggy Howell. “The attraction and game feature negative stereotypical characters, traditionally used to torment overweight kids, will potentially reinforce and strengthen a cycle of bullying, depression, disease, eating disorders and even suicidal thoughts,” the petition stated. Howell said members of her board of directors have received personal letters and phone calls from Disney asking for their input. —Reuters

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

lifestyle F A S H I O N

Dior

hems plunge, Lanvin celebrates at Paris shows

T

he buzz at Paris’ ready-to-wear shows on Friday wasn’t just about the clothes. Bill Gaytten, former designer John Galliano’s temporar y replacement, was again at the helm of Christian Dior’s fashion collection, directing a demure, play-it-safe show that channeled the powerhouse’s bread-and-butter New Look-inspired gowns with cinched 1950s waists. But the collection was almost overshadowed by chatter that Gaytten, who was supposed to continue for only a few seasons, may be kept on longer.

Will he become the longest-serving interim designer in fashion history? Day four of the frantic nine days of the Paris fashion calendar was also colored by the celebrity-filled, energetic spectacle offered by Lanvin. Israeli creative director Alber Elbaz was toasting 10 successful years at the company, with a strong and creative array of dresses that revisited several eras of the house’s clothes rail all the way back to the Art Deco days of Jeanne Lanvin. There is reason for the company to celebrate with an impressive 24 percent increase in sales last year alone. A second celebration is planned for April in Beijing.

In other shows, Sonia Rykiel presented a comfy but high-collared journey through different looks and eras of the Parisienne gamine. On Saturday shows include Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf and Paris’ enfant terrible Jean Paul Gaultier.

CHRISTIAN DIOR To slightly underwhelming applause it was, again, “interim” designer Bill Gaytten who closed Dior’s ready-to-wear show in a balletic display of lowered 1950s hemlines that missed the exuberance of January’s couture offering. With reports his contract would end in May, the fallwinter collection was meant to be the designer’s last. But the talk of the front row was whether Dior might keep him on for another year. Swan song or no, “Swan Lake” could have characterized the show: Balletic-high waistlines topped a new, longer-length skirt with knife-edged pleats and a more structured silhouette.

Some of the looks got it just right, like a skintight eggplant silk sweater that resembled a dancer ’s leotard, on an embroidered silk skirt in violet that fluttered past like tulip petals. The sex appeal was also turned up in the odd play of sheer paneling on the house’s signature 1950s gowns, in blushed nudes and inky jewel tones, that are shaping this fall’s look.

That Gaytten chose Karlie Kloss - the 6foot (1.8-meter) ballet-dancer-turnedsupermodel - to close the show was a playful touch. However, given this is ready-to-wear, the ground-bound hemlines - mid-calf or floor-length on the catwalks - would likely drown out the a normal woman’s body.

GLENN MARTENS Wearable is the name of the game at Belgian designer Glenn Martens’ gothictinged off- calendar debut in Paris. “I like to break up, dissect beauty,” mused Martens, a 28-year-old who graduated from Antwerp’s famed fashion institute in 2008. It was clear he aimed to break up styles, mixing clean, ecclesiastical forms with sneakers and in-vogue sporty zippers. Next to a projection of Belgian masterpiece “The Passion of Saint John” by Hans Memling, clerical column dresses and coats slinked by hanging like cassocks in speckled gray knit. An oversized coat in ethical recycled wool looked papal with a vertical slit tapering out from the

round collar. Another knitwear piece revealed an intricate crisscross on the back that the designer said were “shards of church stained-glass.”

Martens certainly ticks the on-trend box for the gothic. But overall it was a simple collection by a designer prioritizing comfortable clothes, kind to womenin keeping with the minimalist vibe peppering some fall-winter ready-to-wear shows. Like many up-and-coming designers, Martens is not on Paris fashion week’s official calendar but is showing his collection at the same time to garner the attention of the fashion world.

SONIA RYKIEL Octogenarian Sonia Rykiel looked on from the front row Friday at her show that the program notes said went back to the “effervescent seventies.” But the collection, designed by the new creative director April Crichton, seemed more timeless than anything else. A black-and-white skirt suit opened the show, followed by trompe l’oeil shirtdresses with revamped 1950s headbands and a showcasing of tight Edwardian-era collars-a new feature in the house’s normally more casual style. Stricter than previous shows it may have been, but the sageness of higher necklines and lower hems was shot down in many pieces with cheeky flesh-baring cutouts-a wink from a house that prides itself on nonchalance. One thick knit oyster skirt and jumper in

Glenn Martens

Lanvin

LANVIN “Dreams, history and the past,” Alber Elbaz said of his extravaganza show that celebrated and retraced his 10-year journey as creative director of Lanvin. Every inch of the couture, ruffles and shimmer that revitalized the house over the last few years was on display Friday, including Models present creations by reinterpretations of 1960s vintage pieces British designer Bill Gaytten for from the iconic archives. Celebrities, like Christian Dior. —AFP/AP photos singer Mika and actress Tilda Swinton sat in the front row, behind whom some 2,000 revelers applauded exquisite cocktail gowns that included patches of the Art Deco fur of Jeanne Lanvin’s 1920s heyday. Spotlighting dappled the colors of scuba-like neoprene dresses with peplums and inflated arms in canary yellow, emerald green and royal blue. Reading like a Lanvin fashion encyclopedia, the theme switched to a leather-infused take on sportswear jackets with a dazzling array of reworked parkas, perfectos and bombers. The next chapter revisited archive pieces such as a duchesse satin insert - replicated from the 1960s - on a black and gold brocade gown with matching knee-high boots. Another vault piece, a black bustier dress with calico ruffles, got whoops from the crowd, perhaps

mohair and alpaca looked sumptuous.

But maybe a little hard to wear?

“Oh no, don’t worry,” said Nathalie Rykiel, 81-year-old Sonia’s daughter and company president. “It’s thin wool, we would never make something too hot.

Fashion is about awareness, complicity among women.” It’s a philosophy that clearly instructed the models, who, laughing and skipping, took the final curtain call holding hands. —AP

still giddy from the flowing pre-show champagne.

The collection closed with a celebratory, postmodern twist: sheaths printed with Elbaz’s own hand-drawn sketches of dresses over the years, including twodimensional ruffles and slashes. Instead of bowing, a joyful Elbaz took a microphone to the stage and, admitting he couldn’t sing, attempted a rendition of “Que sera sera.” The future is not ours to see: But with this, one of the strongest shows of the season so far, it looks shiny bright.

Models present creations by French designer Nathalie Rykiel for Sonia Rykiel.

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

lifestyle F A S H I O N

Veteran

Yamamoto turns to ‘baby designer’ once more

T

wisting hooded dresses from a single length of jersey, or draping woollen capecoats on bare shoulders, Yohji Yamamoto broke a few rules with the autumn-winter collection he showcased in Paris on Friday. “I’ve been making clothes for a very long time,” the 68-year-old Japanese designer explained after the Fashion Week show in the courtyard of a Paris high school. I wanted to come back to being a baby designer.” “I have been called ‘Mr Cut’-so this time I wanted to not cut at all,” he smiled.

Poppy red or black dresses were wrapped from a single length of fabric, fine slashes cut for the arms and neck, some with hoods and

scarves extending out of the same weave. Also all of one piece, ornately draped dark coats were balanced on the shoulders or wound and looped around the body, over fine silk dresses, while long round-hemmed navy capes had wide lapels flipped up at the back. Worn over black lace boots, or flat dancer pumps, there were also more structured pieces like a safari jacket and wide pants with layers of asymmetric drapes and folds, or a series of voluminous angular-pleated skirts.

As the music morphed from Spanish guitar to 1920s jazz at the show’s end, half a dozen models returned to lean against the red poles of the set, their capes folded back to reveal the fine-strapped tops of their dresses beneath.

Japanese fashion design, Yamamoto said, “is governed by very strict philosophical intellectual rules. I got bored with the rules”. The designer said he found a new kind of “body conscious”, sexy aesthetic working on the collection-although he stressed, “beautiful girls will be beautiful wearing a rag-fashion designers just help”. —AFP

Lakme

Models display creations by designer Vikram Phadnis on the first day of Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) summer resort 2012 in Mumbai on March 2, 2012. —AFP photos

Fashion Week

Bollywood actresses Amrita Arora and Malaika Arora Khan display creations by designer Vikram Phadnis.

Bhairavi Jaikishan

Dior hems plunge, Lanvin celebrates at Paris shows

38

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012

This picture taken on February 2, 2012 shows young Afghan musicians performing during a stage performance at the second annual Afghanistan Winter Music Academy in Kabul. —AFP photos

Afghan children dream of musical future S

ayed Elham sits at the piano lost in Chopin as he dreams of becoming Afghanistan’s first famous concer t pianist and one of the original graduates of the country’s only musical academy. Inspired by his singer father, the 14-year-old hopeful practices for five hours each day to emulate his musical heroes: from famed 1970s Afghan singer Ahmad Zahir, to American heavy metal band System Of A Down. “I like Chopinbecause it has a lot of feeling,” he says, swinging his red school rucksack onto the floor as he takes to the ivories again to play a typical Afghan folk song filled with bittersweet emotion.

The Afghanistan National Institute of Music, revived with the fall of the Taliban who banned the playing of instruments under their strict interpretation of Islamic law, has operated for two years at its current site in west Kabul. Filled with talented youngsters from among the country’s tiny elite, it also takes children working on the streets of the capital to provide them with an education and create a lasting beacon of hope in the war-torn land. Elham’s dreams are modest: “I want to be very kind and very good teacher... and play in a big concert.”

The school operates under the education

ministry with large contributions from Britain, Germany and Denmark. Teachers from Russia and the United States encourage the city’s precocious talent. “We had a Russian pianist here who left behind her music and within three months Elham had learned to play what usually takes three years,” said the school’s director Ahmad Sarmast, who said the country’s fledgling film industry and music scene could offer job opportunities for the most talented. Speculation of a Taliban return amid ongoing efforts to end a decade of war have not deterred Sarmast and the young students-girls and boys alike-whose music wafts along the academy’s refurbished corridors.

The school, which also teaches the children a standard curriculum of English and sciences, encourages personal expression never allowed under Islamist rule. All 140 students fill a room for orchestra practice, performing a “Prayer for Peace”-the brass, woodwind, voice, strings, percussion and traditional Afghan music sections chiming together with a harmonious message of hope. Sarmast, who trained in Moscow and spent time in Australia before returning to Afghanistan in 2008, is ignoring talk of a Taliban return and working on two ambitious projects.

He wants to take the youth orchestra to

14-year-old Afghan Fakria posing with her cello at National Institiute for Music.

Photo shows young Afghan musicians performing during a stage performance at the second annual Afghanistan Winter Music Academy in Kabul. perform at New York’s Carnegie Hall and Washington’s Kennedy Center next year, and to build a symphony orchestra from scratch to

Young Afghan musicians performing.

international standards. “It’s going to send a clear message to the international community that there have been a lot of changes and

hopes for this nation,” said Sarmast. “Hope has not died in Afghanistan and the inspiration is there, dedication is there and people are working.

This is a positive change in the 10 years.”

One of the institute’s success stories is 14year-old Fakria, who like many Afghans goes by just one name and is among the one third of students at the school who are girls-a quota set to redress the plight of Afghan women who still struggle for an education in the largely conservative Muslim nation.

Discovered living in a shelter for street children two years ago, she left behind a life selling chewing gum and polishing boots for a new home and education, and the chance to learn her favorite instrument: the cello.

Now the schools gives her a stipend of $25 per month for her family, along with a full scholarship for clothes, food, and her beloved instrument.

Staring intensely at the score, she exhibits a tough beauty born from her difficult start in life as she plays.

“I love the cello and I hope that I become a really successful player and work for my country,” she said. “If I do well I can go to other countries and play something and learn something and share some music.” —AFP

Fakria playing the cello.

Photo show captures Bob Dylan, rock star in the making R

are photographs of Bob Dylan, shot over a yearlong period in the mid-1960s, go on show in Paris next week in an exhibit that captures the moment the protest folk singer morphed into cult rock star. From 1961 to 1966, Dylan wrote seven albums that marked the history of pop, but also underwent a radical transformation between the first, “Bob Dylan”, and the last, “Blonde on Blonde”. Entitled “Bob Dylan: The Rock Explosion 1961-66,” the Paris show centres on 60 rare shots by the New York photographer Daniel Kramer, captured at the precise moment Dylan was making the switch from folk to rock.

Speaking in Paris ahead of the opening next Tuesday at the capital’s Cite de la Musique, Kramer, now 80, told AFP how he came to spend a year onand-off with the singer. He first approached Dylanwhose real name is Robert Zimmerman-after seeing the young man in his 20s on television, performing a song called “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll.” “I didn’t know much about this music but when I heard this song, and this young guy with a guitar, and no other musicians, it was overwhelming,” recalled the photographer.

“The lyrics were so strong, and he was so young, and willing to say things that people didn’t say on

Old LPs (vinyl discs) of US singer and songwriter Bob Dylan are displayed on March 1, 2012 at the Cite de la Musique (City of Music). — AFP

public entertainment... So I thought he would be a very good subject for a portrait for my portfolio.” After six months of badgering, Dylan’s agent finally agreed to grant Kramer an hour with the singer. “So I ran up the following week, and I met Bob and my hour turned into five hours.” For exactly a year the pair continued to meet and take pictures, from a bucolic shot of Dylan perched up a tree, taken in Woodstock on August 27th, 1964, to the singer tuning up his electric guitar for a concert in New York’s Forest Hills stadium, on August 28th the following year.

Over the course of those crucial 12 months, Kramer captured Dylan in concentration, joking around and sharing private moments with Joan Baez, or conversations with Allen Ginsberg or Johnny Cash. “When I began he was a folk singer with one guitar and no back-up guys, no electrics, and one year later he’s at a huge stadium with huge speakers all over. He had a band, and he was electric with a whole new music.”

The 1965 album “Bringing It All Back Home” epitomized the transformation. “Dylan moved away from folk with songs that were a lot less militant, more introspective-and of course by going electric,” said Julie Benet, curator of the show organized jointly with the Los Angeles Grammy Museum. —AFP