8th May 2012

CR IP TI ON BS SU

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

Putin returns to Kremlin amid protests

Knicks fend off elimination, 76ers push Bulls to brink

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Kuwait finance minister under fire, faces grilling

40 PAGES

150 FILS

A journey through Iraq

Palestinian exiles find family bonds via Facebook

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www.kuwaittimes.net

JAMADI ALTHANI 17, 1433 AH

Opposition MPs file two requests to grill Al-Shamali

Max 40º Min 25º High Tide 01:37 & 12:34 Low Tide 06:31 & 19:34

By B Izzak

Gunmen slay 32 Yemeni soldiers ADEN: Islamist gunmen killed at least 32 soldiers yesterday when they stormed a military position in southern Yemen where militants control broad swathes of territory, a military official said. Yemen has a seen a surge in violence in the south since President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi took office in February. The government has responded with air strikes and the United States has repeatedly used drones to kill militants.

The attack yesterday came hours after a suspected US drone strike killed two men in a neighboring province, including one the government described as a senior member of Al-Qaeda. The military official said that gunmen attacked Yemeni troops outside the city of Zinjibar, capital of Abyan province, killing at least 32 servicemen. He said they captured a number of soldiers and made off with weapons and ammunition.

At least 40 soldiers were wounded in the attack, the official and medical sources said. A spokesman for Ansar Al-Sharia, an Al-Qaeda-linked group that took Zinjibar last year, said his side captured 28 soldiers and a tank in the raid. In a similar attack in March, militants killed about 100 troops in Zinjibar after Hadi took office. Yemen’s government and an Al-Qaeda-linked group active in the south both said the missile strike hours earlier in neighboring Continued on Page 13

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti MPs Khaled Al-Tahous (center), Musallam Al-Barrak (left) and Abdulrahman Al-Anjari (right) are pictured at the National Assembly in Kuwait City yesterday after they filed a request to grill Kuwaiti Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali over alleged financial and administrative irregularities. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

KUWAIT: In a surprising move indicating some differences within the opposition ranks, opposition MPs yesterday filed two requests to grill Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali over allegations of financial and administrative violations in the finance ministry and many state institutions under him. The first grilling was filed by MP Obaid Al-Wasmi and was followed minutes later by another submitted by MPs Musallam Al-Barrak, Abdulrahman Al-Anjari and Khaled Al-Tahous.

Barrak later told reporters that the majority bloc had formed a committee from the four MPs (Barrak, Tahous, Anjari and Wasmi) to prepare the grilling for the finance minister without naming who would file the grilling.

“When the committee began working, Wasmi did not attend and when we inquired, we were told he had travelled to Jordan without providing any documents on the grilling,” Barrak said.

He also added that Wasmi did not consult the committee when he decided to submit the grilling alone and he only informed the National Assembly secretary general Allam Al-Kundari that he was prepared to add his grilling to the other one. The incident indicates some disputes within the ranks of the majority bloc or the opposition but is unlikely to have any impact on the fate of the grilling or save Shamali who is expected to be voted out of office if he does not resign.

A grilling against Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad AlHumoud Al-Sabah filed two weeks ago by MP Mohammad Al-Juwaihel is scheduled to be debated today. The grilling is primarily based on allegations that the government failed to apply the law against holders Continued on Page 13

GCC congratulates Hollande

BLACKBURN: A chicken placed by protesters against the owners of the club walks on the pitch during Blackburn’s English Premier League soccer match against Wigan at Ewood Park Stadium, Blackburn, England yesterday. — AP (See Page 20)

DUBAI: The oil-rich states of the Gulf congratulated Francois Hollande, the newly-elected president of France, which has major economic ties with these countries, their official news agencies said yesterday.

President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahayan, sent a telegram wishing Hollande “success” and “further progress in relations” between the two countries, in a statement carried by WAM news agency. France during Nicolas Sarkozy’s rule, bolstered its military ties with the Gulf state since it set up its first permanent military base in Abu Dhabi, the wealthiest and largest of the UAE’s seven emirates.

But France has so far failed in convincing the UAE to buy its Rafale fighters and in 2009 lost out to a South Korean consortium on a $20.4 billion deal to build nuclear power plants in the Gulf state. Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani also congratulated Hollande in a brief message carried by news agency Continued on Page 13

Syrians vote as violence rages DAMASCUS: Syrians voted in a parliamentary election yesterday touted by authorities as a milestone of political reform but dismissed by the opposition as a facade while people are killed every day in an anti-government uprising. Violence persisted across the country between forces loyal to President Bashar IDLIB: Anti-Syrian regime protesters hold a banner as they Al-Assad and rebels fighting to march during a demonstration against Syrian President Bashar end four decades of dynastic rule Assad, at Al-Habeet village in Idlib province. — AP by his family. “All of this is a the-

atre show. The candidates are businessmen and pawns of strong people in power,” one man, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters near a polling station in the capital.

In northern Idlib province, residents reported gunfire and explosions and in the city of Hama rebels and soldiers clashed early yesterday, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Continued on Page 13

PARIS: President-elect Francois Hollande waves from the balcony of the Socialist Party headquarters in Paris yesterday. — AP

in the

news

Airport Road Bridge closed KUWAIT: The Traffic Department has cordoned off Airport Road Bridge connecting the Third Ring Road (Canada Dry Bridge) at the request of Ministry of Public Works.

Those approaching from Four th R ing Road towards Shuwaikh Port will need to take alternate routes. Traffic to Shuwaikh Port will be diverted to a lane connecting with Airport road toward Shuwaikh Port from 2 pm. The closure is due to a breakage in a sanitary pipe located near the bridge’s base. The Traffic Depar tment KUWAIT: Photo shows a giant hole along the Airport Road announced that necessary steps will be Bridge connecting the Third Ring Road (Canada Dry taken to install police patrol at the site.

Bridge). — Photo Hanan Al-Saadoun

Qaeda chief in Pakistan

Saudi beheads citizen

KOLKATA: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday the United States believed the chief of AlQaeda was in Pakistan and she vowed to keep up pressure on Islamabad to find other “most-wanted” militants. “We want to disable Al-Qaeda and we have made a lot of progress in doing that,” Clinton told an audience in India, a week after the one-year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan by US Special Forces. “There are several significant leaders still on the run. Zawahiri, who inherited the leadership from Bin Laden is somewhere, we believe, in Pakistan,” she added. Ayman Al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian cleric, was second-in-command under bin Laden and was regarded by US intelligence agencies as chief ideologue for the militant group.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia yesterday beheaded one of its citizens accused of killing his wife, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency SPA. Abdullah Adawi suffocated his wife Rihab Harithi, also a Saudi, as she slept, the ministry said. He was executed in Jizan, in the kingdom’s south. His beheading brings the total number of executions in the ultra-conservative kingdom to 24 so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on official reports. Under the AFP count, at least 76 people were beheaded in 2011 in Saudi Arabia, while rights group Amnesty International put the number of executions last year at 79. The death penalty in Saudi Arabia applies to a wide range of offences including rape, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking, as well as murder, as stipulated by Islamic Sharia law.

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TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

LOCAL

Real estate brokers grouse against ‘low commission’ Unfair competition from expatriates

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: Real estate brokers in Kuwait are facing a hard time, voicing out their grouses against the low percentage earned in commission after sealing a deal, which accounts to only one percent.

Sometimes, they lose out on this ‘cut’ when parties involved sell and buy through the Ministry of Justice.

According to Abdulrahman AlHabib, Chairman of the Union for Real Estate Brokers, the Kuwait Clearance Company should be accorded more power to protect the rights of citizens, in terms of real estate brokerage.

“We demand similar competency in clearance as the stock exchange, to decrease the risk on financial payments of the buyer which sometimes comprises 50 percent of the property.

Sometimes, purchasing contracts are canceled and the rights between the seller, buyer and the

broker are undermined because of the time wasted in processing routine paperwork at public institutions. So, there should be a law forcing the parties to conduct deals in complete transparency, especially when finalizing the purchase deal,” he stated during the press conference held yesterday at the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Kuwaiti brokers face some problems owing to high and unfair competition from expatriates. “ The Kuwait real estate broker has to pay fees for official book of registration and only receives once percent of the deal, and we aim to increase this percentage to two. Expatriate brokers, on the other hand, work illegally without any registration and do not pay any fees,” highlighted Al-Habib.

He announced that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor has approved the suggestion to modify the name of the existing Union of

Real Estate Brokers to Union of Real Estate Agents. We will hold an ordinary and extraordinary general assembly at the end of this month to discuss the financial budget and approval of the new name.

The Union’s activities have improved significantly over the past year. “The most significant was the renewal of Union’s identification cards at the Ministry of Justice.

In this way, a member can complete his work of registering, transferring, real estate within a short time,” said Abdulrahman Al-Habib.

“In addition to simplifying the work of the Union’s members at the Ministry of Justice, the Union is keen on completing the buying and selling transaction without delays that may cause conflicts between the two parties,” he added.

The Union, thanks to its membership with the real estate committee at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is able to give sound

KUWAIT: Wqil Al-Sedh, Abdulmuhsin Al-Zamil, Abdulrahman Al-Habib, Saad Beidan, Omar Al-Huweidi during the conference held yesterday at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. —Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

advice. “We hope that these suggestions will be approved to improve the per formance and activity of the real estate market in the future. The suggested solutions also include preventing manipulation during selling and buying the real estate. Furthermore, there are some issues being studied regarding real estate exhibitions owing to some problems that cropped up recently, in addition to other issues,” he pointed out.

The Union is willing to propose a new law for real estate brokers to the Ministry of Commerce. “Also, the Union submitted suggestions to reduce spending (on the budget) of Kuwait Clearance Company.

The executive administration is being revamped by instituting a board of directors. This move aims to review and develop its activity according to the goals for which the real estate clearance was established,” Al-Habib added.

He also stressed that time taken to process paper work at the Savings and Credit Bank should be shortened, especially regarding the possession of individuals to limit the conflicts when the purchase of property is not completed, leading to the contract’s cancellation.

“The Union also founded a website that provides information and services. Furthermore, it has signed a contract with attorney Zeid AlKhabbaz to provide legal services for the members. Then the Union also founded a Public Relation committee and another committee where complaints and activities can be registered. We are also planning to issue a weekly publication on the real estate market,” concluded Al-Habib.

‘Majority’ rushes elections reform laws KUWAIT: The majority coalition in Parliament agreed to urge committees into finalizing four draft laws that will renovate the election process within May and June, a local daily reported yesterday quoting sources with knowledge of the subject.

The sources who preferred to keep their identity anonymous were speaking after a recent meeting for the Majority Bloc, adding that members seek to give these bills priority to precede any potential parliamentary dissolution that many lawmakers have expressed their concern about lately.

MP Dr. Adel Al-Damkhi, member of the Majority Bloc coordinating committee, said Sunday that draft laws which achieve “political reform”, mainly unifying the five electoral constituencies in a single one, allow servicemen to vote, reduce the voting age and allow automatic registration for voting through the civil ID. The bloc also discussed preparations ahead of filing the grilling motion against Minister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shamali. MP Musallam AlBarrak and Khalid Al-Tahous of the Popular Action Bloc, as well as Independent lawmaker Abdurrahman Al-Anjari, filed an interpellation yesterday against Al-Shamali simultaneously with a second motion filed against the same minister by MP Dr. Obaid Al-Wasmi.

Earlier reports pitched Al-Wasmi’s name as

one of the potential presenters of Al-Shamali’s grilling. According to sources with knowledge of the bloc’s thinking, Al-Wasmi was excluded out of the original lineup “for failing to attend a meeting held by the three MPs to coordinate the grilling”.

The meeting also addressed MP Mohammad Al-Juwaihel’s grilling of Minister of Interior Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Sabah. According to the same sources, the lawmakers decided to leave the process of defending Al-Humoud to the minister himself, but “without allowing offense to individuals or families”. The members also decided to reject a potential request to have the grilling debated in a closed session.

Al-Humoud’s grilling is set for debate during today’s session according to news reports yesterday, based on “security preparations” taken outside the parliament building as a precautionary measure to handle the expected crowd.

On Sunday, the minority coalition in Parliament reportedly met in an attempt to secure ten votes necessary to file a request for a vote of confidence after the grilling debate.

According to sources close to the ‘Minority Bloc’, eight lawmakers agreed to support the request, while the bloc were looking to add Ahmad Lari and Adnan Al-Abdulsamad’s votes.

“The bloc looks to ensure that a vote of confidence is filed in order to prove that they can be

an influential party in Parliament”, said an anonymous source.

Meanwhile, other Parliament insiders said MP Al-Juwaihel submitted “short answers” on Sunday to enquiries made by the Interior Minister for clarifications regarding some of the topics the motion addresses. Parliament’s General Secretariat refused to receive AlJuwaihel’s responses and demanded that he files answers to all queeries instead. The clarifications are necessary to keep the grilling motion from becoming disqualified.

MP Abdulhameed Dashti announced on Sunday that Al-Juwaihel decided not to address the death of citizen Nawaf Al-Azmi in his grilling.

According to sources close to the Minority Bloc, they convinced Al-Juwaihel to take that decision “to avoid escalations during the debate” regarding the topic, which involve errors that caused the man’s body to be handed to his family two months after his death.

In other news, MP Mohammad Al-Saqer defended his proposal to amend the Constitutional Court’s law to enable citizens to take legal action in the special tribunal. “The law is unconstitutional because it favors the executive and legislative authorities but neglects the people”, the Liberal lawmaker said during a seminar organized on Sunday by the National Democratic Alliance.

KUWAIT: A fire drill was yesterday conducted in one of the departure lounges at Kuwait International Airport, said security sources noting that firemen from the international and the military airports took part in the drill. Teams were deployed all over the building, evacuating the injured and dealing with the fire. Airport operations, the Ministry of Interior (MOI) and various ambulances participated in the drill. Evacuation was completed in a record time of 30 minutes. —Photos by Hanan Al-Saadoun

Gulf Bank concludes sponsorship of GCC SME Forum KUWAIT: Gulf Bank concluded its silver sponsorship of the second GCC SME Forum, which was held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Amir of Kuwait, with the attendance of Anas AlSaleh, Minister of Commerce and Industry. The event was held over a two day period at the Kuwait

Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The Forum included workshops relating to SME, with experts from the region giving lectures and current best practice examples of the SME market.

Fawzy Al-Thunayan, GM - Board Affairs of Gulf Bank, said : “Gulf Bank has always supported Kuwaiti manpower, and the Bank realizes that

focusing on Kuwait’s future and national economy is of the utmost importance. This can only be achieved by realizing ambitions of youth by offering the highest level of professional support. Our sponsorship of this event, for the second year is also in line with our strategy.

We were proud to be recognized by Banker Middle East for the Best SME

Start-Up Package for 2012, again reiterating our support in this sector.” The SME Forum is the first and largest of its kind in the Gulf region.

The event attracted numerous small and medium-sized companies in Kuwait and GCC countries.

Gulf Bank is will continue to support such events to enhance the national economy.

Fawzy Al-Thunayan, General Manager of Board Affairs standing next to Anas Al-Saleh, Minister of Commerce and Industry (fourth from left) in a group picture with the event organizers during the opening ceremony. (Right) One of the Forum workshops.

Al-Hamra Tower in Kuwait (The image is used for illustrative purpose only).

Public Prosecution awaits ‘Swiss response’ in corruption case KUWAIT: A case pertaining to the corruption charges filed by Fahad Al-Rashid, former Managing Director of Kuwait Investment Authority, against the Public Institution for Social Security “is still in the Public Prosecution’s possession”, said Attorney General Dherar Al-Assousi in a recent statement.

Al-Assousi explained that the case is pending “an assistance request made by Kuwait’s Public Prosecution Department to authorities in Switzerland”. “The Public Prosecution Department will make its deci-

sion based on data and documents provided by the Swiss authorities”, he explained.

Meanwhile, Al-Assousi said on Sunday that the Public Prosecution Department received two cases filed against ministers pertaining to the calcined coke corruption issue, one against Oil Minister Hani Hussain and the other against Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali. He announced that stateless residents held recently for illegal demonstrations remain in custody pending the ongoing investigations. —Al-Rai

Kuwaiti students in US increase by 23% in 2011

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: An increase of 23 percent was recorded in 2011, in the number of Kuwaiti students studying in the United States when compared to the number of students it received from Kuwait in 2010, said a US education consultant.

The coordinator for Middle East and North Africa, currently visiting Kuwait to administer ‘Education Fair’ scheduled today [May 8, from 7pm onwards] at the Kuwait Graduate Society in Bneid Al-Ghar, said that the figures obtained from the Institute of International Education (IIE), a non-governmental organization approved by the US Department of State, appeared to be the most accurate.

Speaking with the reporters yesterday at the Movenpick Hotel, Kristen Cammarata, Regional Education Advising Coordinator said that the number of students from Kuwait could be higher than 3,000. “We do not claim that the number provided by the IIE is 100 percent accurate because it could be higher. However, the survey covered around 4,800 universities and colleges in the US. As of 2011, the number of Kuwaiti students in the United States stood at 2,998,” she said. The increase, according to Cammarata, can be attributed to the attention and extra focus made by Education USA, supported by the US Department of State. She admitted that the international education competition has been tough in the last decade, since many European countries, including some countries in Asia and Australia are offering programs similar to that of the United States. “Students understand that they have more choices.

It’s their responsibility to choose which school to provide their educational needs.

The more research you do, the more you will be able to judge and get acquainted with the university of your choice. One thing to remember, the United States spends 44 billion dollars per year, just for the research. So I advise students to look, examine all factors involved before making a choice,” she advised.

Nearly 3,000 students from Kuwait are taking undergraduate, bachelors and graduate courses. “We have several benefits [categories] offered like the OPT’s [Optional Practical Training]. In this program, students can work up to 24 months to allow them to get practical experience that compliments the degree they earned.

You get your degree, and we give you the opportunity to work,” she added.

Kristen Cammarata

The rise in the number of Kuwaiti students is encouraging, according to Cammarata, but the effort to promote US education will not be stopped. Education USA is a US State Department network of advisers/consultants and all their services are provided free of charge. “Our goal is to help/provide students with the best possible advise fit for them like academically, socially and financially. What we do, we coordinate with the Ministry of Higher Education here in Kuwait because they want to provide their qualified students with the best education institutions in the US. We are coordinating with them with regards to that,” she admitted.

When asked how Education USA is helping international students to cope with cultural differences when a student decides to pursue studies in the United States, Cammarata said, “Education USA, in cooperation with their consular representatives, would usually provide a predeparture-orientation seminar to familiarize new students about their culture. “We advised them with everything they need, from shopping for their personal needs to buying [halal] food to on-campus mosque.

International students office is always there, ready to accommodate and help students succeed. We do not throw students to a completely new environment without proper advice.”

In terms of securing a student visa, according to Cammarata, if students have a clear plan about their studies in the United States, they can be easily provided with the visa. Cammarata also advised Kuwaiti students as well as other nationals to visit their one-day education fair to get the best advice possible from the US Embassy consul general and a host of education experts from the United States.

Interpellation motion contradicts court verdict KUWAIT: The interpellation motion filed by MP Mohammad Al-Juwaihal against Sheikh Ahmad Al-Homoud Al-Sabah, First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, contradicts with the Constitutional Court’s verdict, and the internal memorandum of National Assembly, sources observed.

Sources said that the Council of Ministers is studying two alternatives at present. The first being, allowing the minister to seek postponement for two weeks with the approval of the majority as per Article 135 of the Council’s Memorandum.

Secondly, the minister can file a clarification request about the content of the interpellation motion, if it is unanswered or unexplained. About the period of postponement, sources said that it will be only counted from the date the minister

receives answers on his clarification request.

He said that the motion did not include any actual details or even the names of those who were naturalized illegally.

Therefore, the motion contradicts the orders of the Constitutional Court and the text of Article 134 of the internal memorandum of the Council.They added that regarding the incident where the National Assembly was stormed, the Minister of Interior cannot responsible as per Article 179 of the memorandum. This is the regulation guarding the NA Speaker’s responsibility, in addition that the motion mentions incidents before Sheikh Ahmad took over the post of interior minister. Sources said that such contradictions are mere examples only. — Al-Anbaa

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

local

Tech advances ease expatriate transition

By Lisa Conrad KUWAIT: “I could barely afford to speak with my family before; maybe I’d get a card once every two weeks, but that was it,” said an Indian expatriate working in the food service sector. After 25 years in Kuwait, he said he’s finally able to stay up-to-date with his family and feel closer to home, thanks to advances in technology, “Now, I can speak with them whenever I want. I go to an Internet cafe and talk to them online for free. I’m finally involved in their daily lives again.”

Advances in technology are changing the dynamics of being an expatriate, as it’s suddenly easier and, most importantly, cheaper to stay connected with relatives and friends

across the world. Whereas being an expatriate used to involve occasional, expensive phone calls home, therefore creating considerable distance between expats and their families, expats can now stay updated on what their friends and family are doing on a daily basis.

It’s not just impacting on those with limited incomes, either. “There is no way I’d call the states on a daily basis,” said Joy, a 34-year-old engineer. “It’s not just a matter of whether or not you have the money, it’s also a matter of if you can justify spending so much on a single call.”

The vast array of cheap, if not free, ways to stay in touch have totally changed the lives of expats and, Joy says, made it easier to make the decision to move. “My son is in the States,

so I needed to know I’d have a way to be in touch with him daily.” She added, “I speak with him online using our webcams every night; I even teach him and help him with his homework. I’d rather be there in person, of course, but in this way I’m still a part of his everyday life and I’m able to build his college fund.”

The trend has also impacted on Kuwaiti society as many now feel encouraged to study abroad given the ease of keeping in touch. “My three children stayed in Kuwait while I went to pursue my Masters program in London,” said 32-year-old Nada. “I would never have gone, and my husband would never had agreed to go with me, if we didn’t have a solid way to see and talk to our children ourselves whilst also furthering our

education,” she added. “These advances have provided us a way to maintain our close family structure whilst also benefitting from opportunities abroad,” she said.

The advances, however, have negatively impacted on some sectors, “The whole market for calling cards has been turned upside down. Many expats realized that it was cheaper for them to go to internet cafes, or even pool their incomes together to try and get a laptop,” said a telecoms insider, who asked to remain anonymous. “It’s not a matter of being tech-savvy at all, it’s a matter of recognizing how communication can be improved and where money can be saved, which many expats are extremely good at,” he added.

News

in brief

Health ministry appointment KUWAIT: The Ministry of Health (MoH) decision to appoint an employee as a department director, although the court ruled against it, then appoint him as an advisor in the office of the Assistant Undersecretary for services, raised several questions about the advisor’s job at the ministry. Health sources said the MoH is used to transferring its employees to advisor jobs, although this position is not included in the ministry organizational structure. Sources said the MoH reappoints employees who were stripped of their ‘director’ job in courts to by-pass the law.

Haidar’s citizenship inquiry KUWAIT: MP Abdullah Al-Turaiji filed an interpellation motion against Sheikh Ahmed Al-Homoud Al-Sabah, First Deputy Premier and Interior Minister, inquiring about the credentials of businessman Mahmoud Haidar who was naturalized. The motion also questioned if Haidar had any Kuwaiti siblings and relatives and if they were naturalized too.

Plans for legal battle KUWAIT: A source close the Parliament minority denied information that it seeks to meet His Highness the Amir and appeal to him to return the law that makes a stiffer punishment for those who insult God, His Messengers and the wives of the Prophet (PBUH).

The source said the best solution is to resort to the constitutional court to contest the law, as a group of lawyers is studying the matter, and a memo will be submitted to the court.

(Left) The audience and VIPs seen at Dasma Theater. (Right) Part of the Zokhana traditional sport performance. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Kuwait hosts Iranian Cultural Week

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The Cultural Attache at The Iranian Embassy in Kuwait launched on Sunday a Cultural Week of the Islamic Republic of Iran organized in cooperation with the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL).

The activities of this cultural week were inaugurated on Sunday evening at the Dasma Theatre with the first concert folklore musical band and with the first performance of the traditional sport, Zorkhana. The theatre was completely full, as hundreds of people attended the show including the Iranian Ambassador Ruhallah Qahramani, representatives from the Iranian embassy, the NCCAL

and local celebrities. The activities during this week are being held in different places and end on May 12. An arts and handcrafts exhibition is being held at the Modern Art Museum opposite Sharq Mall for the whole week.

Today two activities start at 8:00pm: a symposium at the Kuwait National Library, and the second concert by a folklore musical band at Dasma Theatre.

Tomorrow a cultural symposium will be held at 8:00pm at Kuwait National Library. On Thursday there are two activities. Both start at 8:00pm. The second performance of the traditional sport, Zorkhana, is at Sharq Mall, and a third concert by the folklore musical band is at the Dasma Theatre. Finally on Friday, May

11, the audience can enjoy a fourth concert by the folklore musical band at Dasma Theatre. Attending all activities is free of charge.

Groups of popular Iranian artists, musicians, intellectuals and others are participating in this week. “Holding this week represents a step towards returning the glory to the great Islamic civilization, which includes the Persian culture along with the Arabic culture. The Iranian artists came from different cities such as Tehran, Tabriz, and Mashhad to present a panoramic picture of the development of arts and culture in Iran since the Islamic Revolution,” Dr. Abbas Khamyar, the Iranian Cultural Consultant, said during the

Cabinet holds weekly meeting KUWAIT: The Kuwaiti Cabinet held yesterday its routine weekly meeting at Seif Palace led by His Highness the Prime Minister, Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.

Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, Sheikh Sabah Khalid AlSabah said the Cabinet was apprised of a recent letter to His Highness the Amir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah, from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, on bilateral relations and within the consultations between the two brotherly countries.

The Cabinet was also briefed on a letter to HH the Amir from UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, in which the latter expressed content over the

advanced level of cooperation reached between Kuwait and the international body at all levels.

The Cabinet welcomed Somali President, Sharif Sheikh Ahmad, who is currently on an official visit to the country. It also congratulated newly-elected French President, Francois Hollande, wishing him and the friendly people of France all the best, and affirming Kuwait’s keenness on further strengthening bilateral relations.

First Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud AlJaber Al-Sabah, briefed the Cabinet with the outcome of the 13th consultative meeting of GCC interior ministers, recently concluded in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“Security cooperation between the Interior Ministry and its GCC counter-

Flaws behind Rahaiya fire uncovered KUWAIT: A fact finding committee investigating the Rahaiya fire has reportedly obtained documents through which they are close to determining the flaws which allowed the incident to occur, says a report quoting sources close to the committee.

“One document shows that in 2005 the Public Authority for Industry (PAI) licensed a 5,000 square meter area in Rahaiya for one out of nine companies that bid on a tire recycling project”, said a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.

They also mentioned a second document, which indicates that the company failed to carry out the project under the pretext that the land allocated was not enough. Despite the fact that an additional 5,000 square meter area was allocated, the same document shows that the company refused to start the project on time “because of a shortage of equipment”.

The PAI reportedly rejected new offers made by three companies during that period to license land to establish a tire recycling factory, the report says. In addition to the PAI, the committee reportedly obtained documents from the Environment Public Authority and the Kuwait Municipality used in their ongoing investigation.

EPA insiders said air pollution detectors at Amghara registered an increase of ammonia to 6,000 parts per million (ppm) during the fire reported recently in the area. The average allowable rate of ammonia concentration in the air is 800 ppm. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, explain that the increase occurred due to the nature of substances burned as well as equipment used by firefighters. The average dropped to 50 ppm on Sunday, the sources said.

Abdullah Al-Enizi, Municipal Council member, joined a group of Jahra and Saad Al-Abdullah residents who staged a gathering near the Sixth Ring Road on Sunday, calling on the Government to relocate the Amghara scrap yard where the fire took place.

parts is serious and deep-seated in order to sustain mutual understanding among Member States, so as to achieve shared goals,” Minister Ahmad AlHumoud said during the meeting.He also informed the Cabinet with the grilling motion filed against him, covering all its legal angles and addressing its constitutional viability.

The Cabinet also tasked representatives from the ministries of Defense, Communications, Information and Interior, along with the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research and the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training, with conducting a feasibility study for the project of launching a satellite and then forwarding it to the Cabinet. Finally, the ministers looked into reports on the latest Arab and international political situations. —KUNA

MoI denies massive special forces resignation report KUWAIT: The Interior ministry’s security media department strongly denied newspaper reports about massive resignations amongst its special forces. Notably, earlier newspaper reports said that at least 150 special forces personnel submitted their resignation collectively in protest at their monthly pay being “inadequate with the duties and nature of their job”, said the report that allegedly quoted a security source with knowledge of the case.

The ministry stressed that the whole story had been made up and that only one agent resigned due to special personal circumstances that prevent him from carr ying on with the force.

“Anything else is sheer allegations”, added a ministry statement noting that special force agents were getting all their allowances and payments on time and that more incentives were being discussed in accordance to the nature of their job.

According to the newspaper report, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) is suffering from a “severe shortage” in police officers and noncommissioned officers, especially those assigned in field operations.

According to the insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the number of men enrolling in the noncommissioned officers academy is declining and many policemen are resigning to seek more lucrative jobs in the private sector and oil companies.

The source believes the shortage might cause problems in the MoI security planning process and put more pressure on officers working in field operations. “The ministry needs to come up with plans such as increasing financial privileges to encourage young men to enroll in police work”, the source said.

launching ceremony. “I think that holding a cultural week once every 10 years is not enough to express the joint relation between Kuwait and Iran,” he added.

Ali Al-Youha, Secretary General of the NCCAL, said this cultural activity is a part of the joint cultural activities between the two Islamic countries. “This Week reflects the cooperation and cultural relations between Kuwait and Iran, which go back many years due to the neighboring location and religious similarity. I believe that culture is the bridge bringing nations close together. Both nations are sharing joint values, and the bilateral deals are for the good and prosperity of both nations,” he pointed out.

Housing loan for women KUWAIT: The Government intends to increase the housing loan for Kuwaiti women from KD 45,000 to KD 70,000 as the current amount is not sufficient due to the high price of real estate, sources said. State Minister for Housing Affairs, Shuaib Al-Muwaizri, received a number of citizens and listened to their cases and demands, which included several subjects. It varied between housing demands to job oppression against some employees, but 90 percent of the cases who met the minister demanded housing care, especially as rent is very high and consumes two thirds of a salary.

Border employees ‘rest’ for over 3 hours KUWAIT: Due to a technical fault in the Ministry of Interior central computer, all administration in the ministry was blacked out, including at sea and air border outlets. Kuwait International Airport witnessed a heavy rush of departures and arrivals due to the computer fault, which made airport officials deal manually with the problem in checking the information of travelers. No delay of departing planes was noticed. At the Nuwaiseeb and Salmi border vehicles lined up in both directions, those coming into Kuwait and leaving into Saudi Arabia. The line was more than 1 kilometer long. Employees at the immigration department and service centers took a forceful rest due to the stoppage of computers, which lasted from about 9:30 am to 1 pm.

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TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

LOCAL Local Spotlight

kuwait digest

How racist we are...

Shelter for abandoned wives

By Thaar Al-Rashidi

muna@kuwaittimes.net

week ago, I brought up the topic of establishing a shelter for abandoned expat wives.

This was well-received by many readers, expressing their interest and support for the idea.

I believe any woman who is abused by a husband, a father or any other individual should have a second place to stay at as an alternative until she leaves the country or resolves her issues. It is better than being imprisoned at a police station, taking refuge at a friend’s house or the street. She can be in real danger of being kidnapped or raped!

These are all scary scenarios that pose a real danger because a lonely, disturbed woman in a strange land could land in trouble. That is why I think there is the need for women’s shelter! Those women are not housemaids but expats’ wives or a daughter.

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I believe any woman who is abused by a husband, a father or any other individual should have a second place to stay at as an alternative until she leaves the country or resolves her issues. It is better than being imprisoned at a police station, taking refuge at a friend’s house or the street. She can be in real danger of being kidnapped or raped!

There are two categories of abused women who can benefit from these shelters-those who are abused by a husband or a father and would want to run away but, and then those that get involved in relationships and have children out of wedlock.

They are trapped here and may end up in jail. We should not be bothered about the circumstances that caused the children’s birth. Most of the time, they are sent with their mothers to home countries. Such children must not be allowed to live in Kuwait or be granted Kuwaiti citizenship. I believe that any child born out of an illegal relationship must be repatriated to the native country of the parents.

I also received an email suggesting that a shelter be set up for Kuwaiti women as well. I think this issue can affect women and we also have to bear in mind our priorities towards those who do not have friends or families. This issue will not die down and I’m collecting all information and statistics so as to present it as a proposal to the National Assembly.

kuwait digest

Democracy cannot be divided

By Abdulaziz Al-Duaij P Faisal Al-Yahya put out an impressive show memories of our forefathers who laid the cornerduring a recent interview with Al-Youm TV stone of a full civil democratic rule in Kuwait. I am with his smart approach and maneuvering not talking about the ‘constitution’ that Dr Waleed Alskills. Too bad we already know about what Al- Tabtabaei, Khalid Al-Sultan, the ‘iconic’ Ahmad AlYahya’s true intention is like after he strongly sup- Saadoun or even Faisal Al-Yahya want it to be like. I ported the draft law to introduce death penalty for am talking about the Constitution outlined by figures including Abdullatif blasphemy.

Thunaiyan, Yaqoub AlWhen someone talks about democracy, justice When someone talks about democra- Humaidhi and Ahmad Alfully maintain,equality and suggests cy, justice, equality and suggests that Khateeb, ing the principles of that the country adopt a complete parliamentary the country adopt a complete parlia- democracy that protects system, that person mentary system, that person needs to equality among citizens.

MP Al-Saqr chose to needs to avoid taking an avoid taking an action that contradicts defend this Constitution action that contradicts with these principles, as with these principles, as well as stay and stand as the only well as stay away from away from anything that could be inter- lawmaker who opposed regulation that contraanything that could be preted as violating democratic stan- adicts with his principles. interpreted as violating democratic standards. It dards. It is, therefore, unacceptable for Even the five Shiite MPs is, therefore, unaccept- Al-Yahya to claim that he promotes full who refused to vote on draft bill did so for able for Al-Yahya to claim democracy when he also sided with the the ‘sectarian’ reasons, not that he promotes full democracy when he also one-sided point of view expressed by from civil or democratic points of view. sided with the one-sided religious groups.

It is interesting that point of view expressed since the beginning of by religious groups.

When Al-Yahya, the torch bearer of ‘political sys- their approach, or attack, to be more specific, the tem adjustment’ through full constitutional amend- religious majority bloc never referred constitutional ments, voted in favor of the law that penalizes articles that organize political or economic manageoffenders of the Salafists beliefs with death, his ment. All their attacks focused on curbing personal action proved that the new youth opposition is actu- freedoms and rights. And now that they cannot hide their sectarian approach anymore, they use someally taking Kuwait several steps backwards.

On the other hand, MP Mohammad Al-Saqr was one else’s help to pretend that they seek to improve the only one to vote against the law, bringing back the political system. —- Al-Qabas

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in my view

Why Kuwait should use solar energy

By Hiba Al-Homaizi

kuwait digest

The rational political regime

By Shereedah Al-Mousharji n a political setting, the rational individual is he who takes time to make a decision, places public interest ahead of vested interest. He is on a constant quest for the greater benefit. The rational politicians are the safety valve for the state and serves as a great fortress especially during times of crises.

The closest example of this is the move taken

by Egypt’s wise rulers to oppose strife between the country and Saudi Arabia. There were attempts made to weaken the relationship shared between both countries. However, the wise rulers visited Saudi Arabia to affirm the respect shared between Egyptians and the Saudi people.

The reaction was generous and reciprocated the initiative. The decision was to return the ambassador to his office. The rational politicians put out a fire that almost ravaged everything, weakening the nation and threatening its existence.

We find, in every crises, people looking left and right in search of the rational people, their initiatives and efforts. Sometimes, emotions are on a high, minds get distracted , voices are raised and movements accelerate. The individual can no longer think with his brain, and does not calculate with his intellect. So if those who are wise do not take the initiative and intervene at the right time, the repercussions will be disastrous.

The rational government is the one that can benefit from its wise leaders, encouraging them to participate in complicated things before turning into a crisis that is difficult to solve. — Al-Jarida

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ow racist we are! For 50 years and they are working with us and shared building our state and we never told them thank you. Half a century, and most of them wasted their youth working. They go to work in the morning the benefit of which, regardless of its size, goes in the end to the circle of the country growth. They got married here and brought up their children here. Even their children thought that they are Kuwaitis and they in fact are Kuwaitis by birth. We would not have made these great jumps during the past 50 years without them having come to our countr y and shared with us building, founding and construction.

For 50 years, and they are in all government organizations as well as the private sector.

Engineers, doctors, pharmacists, lawyers, laborers, mechanics, university professors, teachers, typists, builders, contractors, salesmen for fruits, vegetables and clothing, technicians and consultants, even singers and saleswomen at “Souq Wajef”.

For 50 years they suffered what we have suffered and maybe more.

When the Government woke up one day and wanted to amend the population structure, it did not hammer the hands of residency traders but went straight to the expatriates and put conditions on them and on their residency, and imposed medical insurance on them. Even the insurance is of no use.

In order for one of them to live with his wife and three children, he has to bear their medical insurance and the cost of their residence which exceeds his minimum wage, although there are no limited wages for Kuwaitis and they are never limited for one day.

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By Muna Al-Fuzai

witching to solar power will end Kuwait’s The next time you find yourself at The Avenues, dependence on oil. No one knows for certain head to IKEA for some solar powered garden lights. when our oil supply will run out, but waiting Or if you are more serious about solar energy, visit for that answer until we start taking action is just Solarity, a new store in Shuwaikh specializing in irresponsible. solar-powered products. Even Ace Hardware has a What is responsible is solar energy! It’s just radi- whole section dedicated to power saving. And for ant light and heat from the sun, which in Kuwait is those of you who say electricity is cheap in Kuwait, it abundantly available for us throughout the year. The still comes at a price and the sun doesn’t. Just conswitch to solar energy will have huge long-term ben- sider how installing solar panels in your villa will efits. It will increase Kuwait’s energy security after oil, eventually pay for itself with the amount of sunlight enhance sustainability, and reduce pollution. So why we have throughout the year. aren’t we using it?

It’s understandable In fact, we are late in that countries dependjoining the worldwide ent on foreign oil sources It’s understandable that countries will switch to solar enersolar power movement.

Using solar products in dependent on foreign oil sources will gy, but why then is oileveryday life is the new switch to solar energy, but why then is rich Saudi Arabia switchfad. With everything from The Kingdom is oil-rich Saudi Arabia switching? The ing? solar vehicles to solar shifting most of its mobile phone chargers, Kingdom is shifting most of its domestic domestic energy use to the need for oil and elec- energy use to solar power. Our neigh- solar power. Our neightricity is declining. bors obviously see the need for it. Even bors obviously see the Drive around Kuwait Abu Dhabi has a head start, thanks to its need for it. Even Abu and you will find solar Dhabi has a head start, panels hanging on lamp plan to build a city for 50,000 people thanks to its plan to posts. Those panels tell us with no cars and no pollution. build a city for 50,000 how the Ministry of people with no cars and Electricity and Water feels no pollution. about renewable energy, Come on, people of or else they wouldn’t have put them up in the first Kuwait! Why not keep up? Other countries are hard place. at work trying to solve one of the world’s most Even the Kuwait Institute for Science and urgent problems! Think for the future, not just the Research (KISR) strongly believes in renewable ener- present. Solar powered garden lights and solar pangy sources. KISR launched numerous programs in els on your rooftop mean years and years of renewrecent years for resource diversification and energy able energy for your children, grandchildren and conservation. even their grandchildren. The tiniest effort today can Our power demand is forecasted to exceed make a considerable contribution for tomorrow. capacity. The available electric power capacity in We all agree that oil is cheap and effortlessly 2009 was 11,000MW and the demand in 2020 is fore- available here, but just how long until our good casted to be 22,000MW. Yes, the Government is try- luck-code-named “oil”-runs out? ing to develop solutions for sustainable energy supply and demand, but why shouldn’t the people of (Hiba Tareq Al-Homaizi is a 24-year-old Kuwaiti Kuwait, both citizens and residents, try to do some- entrepreneur currently pursuing her MBA at Gulf thing about it too?

University for Science and Technology.)

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For 50 years expatriates have come and gone. They build and construct and share the work and building with us, and the general public of citizens has no idea about them except that they came looking for a dinar —as if the citizen is an angel coming from heaven and doesn’t eat or drink or look for a dinar. Didn’t we make a big fuss and our last National Assembly was dissolved over KD 50?

The Government put make-up on the eyes of the population structure, and blinded the eyes of the expatriates, who carry the full responsibility for all the mistakes of the population structure since 1980 until now.

If the government instead hammered the hands of residency traders, as it has hammered expatriates with decisions that have made the country like a nation of expatriate bachelors.

For 50 years expatriates have come and gone. They build and construct and share the work and building with us, and the general public of citizens has no idea about them except that they came looking for a dinar —as if the citizen is an angel coming from heaven and doesn’t eat or drink or look for a dinar.

Didn’t we make a big fuss and our last National Assembly was dissolved over KD 50?

When we look at expatriates we say they came to eat our food and take our jobs. In spite of our Constitution guaranteeing us education and health and employment, they are those who can hardly find a job to make enough money to live until the end of the month.

For 50 years most of them heard this sentence “I am Kuwaiti...you are an expatriate...this is my country.” Racial breath.

We forget that the one with the red flag in the road doing repairs for our safety and warning of dangers is an expatriate standing in the middle of the day in the sun, while we enjoy our air conditioned cars.

We forget who taught us - expats, and who started our art movement - expats, and who founded our media - expats, and who treated us - expats, and who built the high rise buildings - expats.

For 50 years, and we find it too much to tell them ‘thank you’ from the heart, thanks to every expatriate who lived in this country or who came to it, even if he did nothing except put a nail in a placard at the side of a dark road.

Note: This article was published on 20th August 2008 in Al-Anbaa and I repeat it for two reasons. First it is due and still valid for publishing. The second is that it has been published lately in the social media claimed to be by a Saudi writer named Saud Al-Baqmi.

— Al-Anbaa

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

local

KUWAIT: His Highness the Crown Prince, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, ministers, sheikhs and other dignitaries at the Zakat House celebrations.

Zakat House celebrates 30 years of accomplishments Top priority to humanitarian efforts KUWAIT: The Zakat House celebrated its 30th anniversary yesterday, under the patronage of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah at the Alms House headquarters in South Surra. His Highness the Crown Prince, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, attended the celebration on behalf of His Highness the Amir.

His Highness the Crown Prince was received at the venue by the Minister of Justice and Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs and Board of Directors of Alms House, Jamal Ahmad Al-Shehab, and Director-General of Alms House, Abdulqader Al-Ajail, as well as members of the board.

National Assembly Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun, Deputy Chief of National Security Apparatus Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah, His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-

Kuwait marks Arab Traffic Week with campaign KUWAIT: Kuwait marks Arab Traffic Week for it is a significant event for promoting coordination with other Arab countries in face of irregular acts on roads, said a ranking official of the Ministry of Interior yesterday.

The event, themed “Till When?” falling on May 4-10, is a significant occasion for authorities to exert fresh efforts for raising awareness of traffic rules, through exchange of experience with “brothers in the Arab states and getting acquainted with more information in this field with support of the senior leadership, for sake of finding scientific and practical solutions to the traffic problems,” said Col Adel Al-Hashash, the director of the public relations, morale guidance of the MoI, in a statement.

Affirming that abidance by the traffic law is a responsibility that must be shouldered by all segments of the society, the security

official said that the relevant legislations and rules had been enacted for sake of sparing souls.

Elaborating, Col Al-Hashash said up to 35,311,791 traffic violations were registered, in the past months of the current year. Bulk of these breaches was excessive speed, amounting to 1,526,436.

In 2011, number of traffic accidents reached 75,194, with 493 deaths, majority of whom were males, 89 percent, compared to 11 percent among females.

He indicated a current campaign marking the occasion and renewed warning against wrong acts on the roads, such as usage of mobile telephones and reading SMSs, noting that up to 13,860 accidents were related to such distractions. Up to 30 children, aged between one month and 10 years, died because of sitting in front seat. — KUNA

KUWAIT: The Kuwait-UN Conference for Municipal Management and Urban Development for Sustainability in Arab Cities in progress.

Kuwait hosts municipal management conference KUWAIT: Minister of Electricity and Water, Abdulaziz Al-Ibrahim, inaugurated here yesterday the Kuwait-UN Conference for Municipal Management and Urban Development for Sustainability in Arab Cities.

The three-day conference, held under the patronage of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, is co-organized by Kuwait Municipality and the United Nations Human Settlements Program, UN-HABITAT. “This conference will debate solutions to the challenges facing Arab countries at the forefront of which are the growing unemployment rates among youth, social justice, hiking food and energy prices,” Minister AlIbrahim said in the opening speech.

He added that the conferees will tackle a wide array of key issues related to the development of Arab cities. The Minister said the conference is considered a preparatory meeting for Arab states for the World Urban Forum 6 (WUF6) that will take place in Naples, Italy, September 1-7,2012.

It will also discuss the stances of Arab States towards sustainable urban development prior to the United Nations Conference for Sustainable Urban

Development scheduled for June, 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“The conference will mark the launch of the first report on the State of Arab Cities 2012,” Al-Ibrahim said.

The report is the first attempt by UNHABITAT and Arab Towns Organization with support from the Kuwaiti Government to document urban trends in Arab cities and present a snapshot of Arab cities demographic, social, economic, environmental, physical, and housing conditions.

The Minister said the report put GCC countries on the list of the most developed urban communities in the world. He also underscored Kuwait eagerness to continue cooperation with the UN-HABITAT to address challenges and catch up with latest developments related to urban development of Kuwaiti and Arab cities.

Minister Al-Ibrahim said that Kuwait has hosted the regional office UN-HABITAT and offered it all support to help its mission prove successful. Kuwait government has also signed a letter for intention with the UN-HABITAT to set up urban observatories as well as to develop the skills of urban development and municipal bodies personnel, he noted.—KUNA

Sabah were present at the event.

The ceremony was also attended by the First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Deputy Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs, Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah and top state officials.

The ceremony began with a per-

formance of the national anthem and a recitation of a few verses from the Holy Quran. Minister Al-Shehab then delivered his opening speech, highlighting 30 years of achievements since the establishment of Alms House in 1982 by an Amiri decree. These accomplishments led to an overall solidarity among indi-

viduals inside and outside the country.

Al-Shehab noted that the Zakat House spent KD 250,000 on local charity projects inside the state of Kuwait that included financial aid to the needy, education and health projects. Alms House has also given full support to the various charity bodies in the country.

As for projects outside the country, the Minister said a total of KD 140 million was spent building mosques, schools, health centers and orphanages in many Arab and Islamic countries. The number of projects by Alms House reached 4,627 in 74 countries. Furthermore, the Minister emphasized that more than 30,000 orphans in 37 countries are sponsored by Alms House.

The benefactors’ speech was delivered by Adnan Abdullah AlOthman who said the aid-givers’ support has greatly impacted the charity body’s humanitarian mission. — KUNA

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

local

KUWAIT: The visiting Somali President Sharif Shaikh Ahmad receiving ambassadors for a reception yesterday.

‘Y Gen Expo’ aims to showcase Kuwaiti youth’s ambitions KUWAIT: A group of four young Kuwaiti high school students have decided to launch an exhibition named ‘Y Gen Expo.’ Along with this venture, they are also participating in another exhibition, ‘Get2Gether.’ The four friends Haya AlSabah, Hessa Al-Sebaie, Shaikha Al-Sayer and Lulwua Al-Ayadhi want to change the perception about Generation Y — commonly believed to be a category of irresponsible youthful consumers. They want to usher in change to make Kuwait’s people appear positive and hard working with constructive aspirations.

With the aim of proving to their beloved country that their aspirations are high, and that their work is worth trusting, the young girls decided to participate in the ‘Get2Gether’ exhibition. The girls believe that it will serve as a platform for this generation to express opinions and ideas for business and stakeholders, while they learn about their role in becoming active members of Kuwait economy; Y Gen Expo is where the youth of Kuwait lend a voice to their needs to achieve future dreams. Following is an excerpt from an interview with the students: Q: Why is ‘Y Gen Expo’ being held at another venue, while Get2Gether is ongoing at Kuwait University Stadium?

A: When the idea of Y Gen Expo was conceived, we decided to work at it the right way because we believe that everything that is built on solid ground will last. By God’s will, we extend our gratitude to all our sponsors, and all those who supported us by providing not only financial support but also advice and consultation, which is more important than financial support itself. During the process, we learned that marketing a product is an art and a science.

We are marketing our product ‘Y Gen Expo.’

Since we belong to Generation Y who are loyal consumers of products/services, we appreciate the feeling of satisfaction and happiness it grants us. Therefore, we want to build a Kuwaiti brand that makes our customers satisfied and happy. The exhibition will not only showcase products and initiatives, but will also show the aspirations of our clients from Generation Y. Q: How was the idea conceived and what does it offer?

A: We are a team of young girls that belong to the world of Gen Y. We believe that dreams are the essential element of success. Sometimes, dreams may take a long time to be realized.

Thank God and thanks to the concern of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah who believes in the power of the youth. He has spoken about the issue in many of his speeches, most recently in the opening speech of a regular session at the legislative term of the National Assembly in February 2012, in addition to the support of our families who believe in our abilities, as well as companies that comply with the directives of His Highness to support our ambition.

From here, we decided that the ‘Generation Y’ should work under these guidelines, and turn productive by working to deliver the ideas of young people who are included in ‘Generation Y’ that belong to 15 to 25 year age group. The expo plans to deliver such thoughts and aspirations to authorities and companies in both the government and private sectors, and to act as a platform for Gen Y. This will enable us to voice our needs and ambitions in order to become a productive member of Kuwait’s future economy.

Q: Why was ‘Y Gen Expo’ named so?

A: ‘Generation Y’ phrase was first coined in the United States, and was defined in Wikipedia.

It first appeared in an August 1993 Ad Age editorial to describe teenagers of the day, which they defined, at that time, as separate from Generation X, then aged 12 or younger (born after 1981), as well as the teenagers of coming 10 years. Since then, the company has sometimes used 1982 as the starting birth year for this generation. ‘Generation Y’ alludes to a succession from ‘Generation X.’ While in most of the developed world, a person born in 1985 and a person born in 1990 are considered belonging to the same generation, the name ‘Echo Boomers’ refers to the size of the generation and its relation to the Baby Boomer generation.

Authors William Strauss and Neil Howe have been influential in defining American generations in their book ‘Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069.’ Their generational theory is frequently cited in books and articles on the subject. Howe and Strauss maintain that they use the term ‘millennials’ in place of Generation Y because the members of the generation themselves coined the term, not wanting to be associated with Generation X. Almost a decade later, they followed their large study of the history of American demographics with a book devoted to the new generation, titled ‘Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation.’

In both the books, William Strauss and Neil Howe use 1982 and 2001 as the start and end years of the generation, respectively. They believe that the coming of age of year 2000 high school graduates sharply contrasts with those born before them and after them due to the attention they receive from the media and what influences them. Y Gen generation’s ‘echo boom’ was due to the cause of high birth rate during this period, which corresponds roughly with the boom period after World War II. This generation also came during the digital revolution.

Q: What message does Y Gen Expo convey?

A: Despite the existence of ‘Generation Y’ in the era of technological development and

expansion of immediate communication through the use of computer and varied communication platforms like SMS, e-mail, video, chat, blogs and social networking sites, many are widely available in Kuwait today. We still need to give our needs and ideas a voice and image gallery through the activities of Y Gen. Today, many members of ‘Generation Y’ have merged into the labour force. This generation should remove all barriers. For example, the millennials are sometimes called “Children of Trophies” seeking appreciation, a term that reflects the trend in the competitive sporting world internationally where everyone is a winner and ‘no one loses.’ This generation desires that everybody appreciate them.

It was reported that the corporate environments around the world, especially decisionmakers in companies and institutions were complaining that they are concerned about employing members of Generation Y, as their expectations are very high, impacting negatively on the work flow. They desire to change working conditions to suit their lifestyle rather than adapt to the ongoing situation. To better understand this thinking, large training and consulting companies are currently studying this conflict, trying to develop new programs to help staff members understand the millennials.

Q: What do you think about Generation Y’s status in Kuwait?

A: In fact, we hope that such measures are applied in areas of work in Kuwait, following the lead of international companies mentioned above. Here, new programs are developed to help staff members understand and embrace ‘Generation Y.’ We believe that the global training companies are developing programs that rely on analysis of the performance of staff, they research and discuss the differences between generations and dwell on the analysis while understanding the activities of millennials who seek to participate in the decision-making process. For example, based on studies and findings, there are three (proposals) basic aspirations of Y generation that drives them in the workplace: Incentives: Motivation is the first factor that affects the productivity of ‘Generation Y,’ other than salaries and benefits.

Communication: In the world of instant communication, as computers are used on a large scale, more feedback is needed; much more than the previous generations. Instant communication platforms such as SMS, e-mail and video chat and blogs necessitated the continuing need to communicate with others.

Flexibility: The gap between work and the lifestyle and tools available to ‘Generation Y’ is increasing constantly, and that calls for the need to find how to assimilate and integrate ‘Generation Y’ into the world of business with flexibility, to exploit their resources and innovations.

Q: With youth-oriented exhibitions booming, what do you think is the future of your exhibition?

A: We are the new face of the young world.

The young people today are facing challenges not known to previous generations, in the world of communication, innovation, creativity and mobility. We want to find a meeting point and a rapprochement with the world of business to enable the ‘Generation Y’ to find the keys to success in this era. Therefore, creativity may be the best way to pass on the message, and discuss the obstacles in the way. We aspire to be positive players in the journey down the path of success - to contact the pulse of this new world and discover what motivates today’s youth.

Also, we strive to be the individuals that contribute to our country’s economy through constructive ideas mimicking the culture of Generation Y, as we all know that evolution is measured by the evolution of cultures and ideas as well as economic development and urbanization.

This is our first exhibition. We consider it to be an opportunity for a long relationship between ‘Generation Y’ and the world of business in Kuwait. We hope to succeed in repeating it each year, and get to expand and touch upon the concerns and issues of our generation. We also wish to raise awareness on issues related to the environment and learn how to deal with the problems of waste, saving energy.

We are about to find ways to overcome challenges to help the disabled. We also hope that we can have our own show on television or radio or maybe have our own special channel Y Gen TV. We are Y Gen, our aspirations and expectations are pretty high.

Q: What can you say about the quality of exhibits on display at ‘Y Gen Expo’?

A: We support youth initiatives, and we get to showcase their thoughts and the many challenges they are facing to bring small projects forward. Accordingly, the aim of this is to gather youth where we get to have them on a one-toone basis with the business world. This is to share our visions and make clear to those companies that progress and development of societies are developed not only at a technological and scientific level, but on the cultural level as well. They take into account the evolution taking place and the need for solutions. Our culture has to be turned from a culture of consumption to a culture of production and creativity. Today’s global business trends calls for local innovations to be made.

Owner plots to kick renters out with false charges Man held for tire burning KUWAIT: A building owner pressed fake charges against four tenants in an attempt to drive them out of their apartments when they refused to cooperate with his plans to raise the rent. Police were first approached by a Kuwaiti man who owns a residential complex in Salmiya. He reported four men who he said were hosting par ties in their apar tments, where they were serving alcohol and other illegal practices were taking place. The man demanded legal action to kick the renters out of his building because ‘their immoral behaviour is causing trouble to other renters’. When summoned for investigations, the four categorically denied the accusations and insisted they abide strictly by the law. Their story was supported by neighbours, who were called to give their evidence in the case. Investigations eventually revealed that the owner made false accusations because he plans to double the rent, in violation of the contracts with the renters. The case remains under further investigations to confirm the true circumstances.

Swimmer saved A 10-year-old girl was saved from drowning after clinging to her life jacket until she was found by coastguards. Several patrol boats went in search for the girl after her brother reported her lost at sea while swimming at the Gulf beach. Coastguards eventually found the girl extremely exhausted while holding on to her life jacket.

Fatal accidents Two people were killed and eight others were injured in two separate accidents report-

ed recently in Kuwait. The first accident was reported in Abdali where a vehicle carrying five persons over turned. A man was pro nounced dead at the scene while the others were taken by ambulance to Jahra Hospital. In the meantime, a similar accident was reported in Jahra where a man was pronounced dead at the crash site while four companions were taken out of the overturned car and hospitalized.

Investigations were opened into both cases.

Indian held Jahra police arrested a man in Sulaibiya recently when he was caught setting a number of tires ablaze. The I ndian suspec t attempted to escape when he was approached by patrol officers carrying out a campaign in the early hours of Saturday morning. The man explained during investigations that he burned the tires to help him extract steel cables from inside in order to sell them.

He remains in custody pending further legal procedures.

Suicide attempt A domestic worker was hospitalized in critical condition recently following a suicide attempt carried out inside an Ali Sabah AlSalem house. Paramedics and police rushed to the scene at a late hour of night after a middle-aged Kuwaiti man reported finding his housemaid writhing in pain. The Filipina woman was taken to Adan Hospital where tests revealed that she consumed large amounts of kerosene that left her semi-conscious and suffering from low blood pressure.

Her condition later stabilized inside the inten-

sive care unit. A case was filed for investigations.

Failaka missiles Bomb disposal units deactivated three missiles found recently at Failaka Island and go back to the 1990-91 Iraqi Invasion era according to investigations. The ammo was found half buried in the sand by people spending the weekend at the island. Bomb squads immediately headed to the scene and handled the situation after securing the area.

Teen hurt in fight A teenager was hospitalized with a stab wound following a fight reported recently in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh. The brawl reportedly happened when the victim ran into a 21-year-old man with whom he had unsettled disputes.

The 17-year-old bedoon boy was taken in an ambulance to Farwaniya Hospital with a serious shoulder wound inflicted by a knife strike.

An investigation is underway in search for the suspect.

Child molester A Salwa resident was taken into custody after molesting his neighbour’s child inside his apartment. The Filipino suspect reportedly lured the 10-year-old Filipina girl to his apartment when she was standing outside her familyís apartment. Despite giving her money so that she wouldn’t tell anyone about what happened, the girl told her father as soon as the suspect let her go. The father reported the case directly afterwards. The police summoned the suspect to face charges. —Al-Rai, Al-Watan

GCC society keen on integration of the disabled

KUWAIT: The ambassador of Mexico Luis Alberto Parrera Stahl and his wife cut the cake at the embassy during a flag-hoisting ceremony for Mexican community in Kuwait over the weekend. — Photos by Joseph Shagra

Kuwait adopts contemporary knowledge economy concepts KUWAIT: The state that started reaping fruits of development of human resources’ schemes would press ahead on development path, nudged with strong support of the political leadership, said the Minister of Public Works.

Dr Fadhel Safar, also the minister of state for development and planning, said in a statement on fringes of the second meeting of the board of trustees of Kuwait Award for Knowledge Economy, held late on Sunday, that the civil servants have shown capacity of absorbing requirements and terms of the strategy. “Now we are altering the plan and preparing for presentation of the fourth scheme,” he said.

On the award, Safar indicated that it was in line with the contemporary concept of knowledge economy, applied in advanced nations, with emphasis on training and human personnel aspects.

The knowledge economy, according to the online service, Wikipedia, is a term that

refers either to an economy of knowledge focused on the production and management of knowledge in the frame of economic constraints, or to a knowledge-based economy.

In the second meaning, more frequently used, it refers to the use of knowledge technologies (such as knowledge engineering and knowledge management) to produce economic benefits as well as job creation.

Elaborating, the minister said members of the board visited HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, for deliberating this newly-introduced concept for development, adding that they would hold an identical meeting with HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, soon.

For his part, the secretary general of the award, Khaled Al-Hashash, affirmed that it was intended to boost adoption of this new approach, indicating necessity of this field for economic program and transfer of international know-how to the country. — KUNA

MUSCAT: The State of Kuwait is in the forefront of legislating laws that enable integration of people with special needs in mainstream society and workforce, said Kuwait’s representative to the 12th Gulf Disability Society (GDS) Forum.

The forum began here yesterday under the title “Comprehensive Social Interaction in the Light of International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’, and Sheikha Sheikhah AlAbdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah said in sideline remarks that the Kuwaiti law on those with disability is a vital contribution and the state is keen on offering all forms of assistance required by this segment of society.

Kuwait is a state of law, and its laws grant the disabled great incentives to interact with society, and the benefits granted include special exemptions when it comes to housing, traffic laws, social benefits, and more, she said.

The forum is being attended by people with special needs, families and care providers, those in the field of teaching and rehabilitation of the disabled, and experts from the host state and Gulf countries. It is organized by the Ministry of Social Development in cooperation with the GDS. The forum, the Kuwaiti official pointed out, aims to review the current state of affairs where integration is concerned, with reference to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It also aims to review the latest in related technology and education and training programs. She said the GCC is processing many documents and draft laws to benefit the disabled, and the states had actually come “a long way” in this field. The GDS is currently chaired by Jassim Bin Mohammed Siyadi. —KUNA

NA housing issues recommendations on prefab homes KUWAIT: The Housing Affairs Committee of the National Assembly (NA) held a meeting yesterday and issued several recommendations concerning state housing units built according to prefabricated (prefab) building methods.

Speaking to the press after the meeting, Committee Chairman Dr Ahmad Mutay Al-Azmi said that the committee approved a sum of KD 70,000 that will be extended to owners of state-awarded prefab homes to be used in reconstruction.

“The committee approved a monthly rent allowance of KD 1,000 for two years or till electricity is connected to their finished homes, whichever can take place at the earliest.” The committee’s report also recommended that the government abandon pre-fabricated home schemes to avoid a repetition of the current problems in the future. — KUNA

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

Pakistan not taking necessary action against terror: Clinton Page 11

Israeli court rules against Palestinian hunger strikers Page 8

MOSCOW: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila walk at the Sobornaya (Cathedral) Square in Moscow’s Kremlin yesterday after Putinís inauguration ceremony. — AFP

Putin returns to Kremlin Police detain 436 activists in protest MOSCOW: Vladimir Putin began a historic third term as Russian president yesterday in an opulent Kremlin ceremony shadowed by a second day of arrests of activists protesting his 12-year domination of Russia.

Putin, head of state from 20002008 and then prime minister, took over from outgoing president Dmitry Medvedev swearing to protect the rights of Russian citizens and also pledging a “new stage” in Russia’s development.

The Kremlin bells echoed across Moscow and the presidential guard donned Tsarist-era uniforms for the spectacular inauguration whose guests included old friends of Putin including Italian ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi and Germany’s former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

Placing his right hand on a copy of the constitution, Putin swore to “respect and protect the rights and freedoms of the people” and defend Russia’s security as he officially took over from Medvedev for a six-year term.

Among his first acts as president was to propose Medvedev to parliament as his prime minister, in line with a job swap scheme first announced in September that incensed the opposition. The eve of the ceremony saw the worst clashes yet between police and anti-Putin protestors when a mass opposition demonstration descended into chaos and security forces wielded their batons to arrest hundreds of people.

Police said 436 people were detained in Sunday’s protest, including the anti-Putin leaders Alexei Navalny and Sergei Udaltsov. Both were later released with fines after spending the night in jail.

Yesterday, Moscow police had arrested at least another 120 people, including liberal opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, as protestors sought to hold unsanctioned rallies in defiance of a heavy riot police lockdown of the city.

Riot police in full “cosmonaut” gear-so called because of their spaceage helmets-stalked the city at potential protest meeting points, AFP correspondents said. Police also made arrests in a swoop at Jean-Jacques, a French-style Moscow bistro popular with the opposition, knocking down pavement tables, witnesses said.

Activists accuse Putin of systematically sacrificing rights in the pursuit of stability and lacking legitimacy after his knockout March 4 election victory with 63.6 percent of the vote, which was marred by claims of fraud. Putin said in a brief speech after his swearing-in that Russia was now “reborn” and vowed to take it to a “new stage” of development during his six-year Kremlin mandate.

“The coming years will be decisive for Russia’s fate for decades to come,” he said. Committing to project a strong Russia in foreign policy, Putin said Moscow would be a “reliable, open, honest and predictable partner” but also “the centre of gravity for

the entire Eurasia”.

The inauguration was marked by needle-sharp choreography, with Putin driven from the government headquarters through eerily deserted Moscow streets blocked off by police and then into the Kremlin itself.

In a hugely popular Live Journal entry, blogger Makhk posted pictures of the vast, deserted Moscow streets with the sarcastic title: “The joyful crowds of Muscovites greet the new cleanly-elected president!” Minutes after the Kremlin ceremony, Medvedev passed Putin the black “nuclear suitcase” with the codes that control the country’s vast nuclear arsenal, official images showed.

Putin also embraced his rarely seen wife Lyudmila and attended a church ser vice with her led by Or thodox Patriarch Kirill. Within hours, Putin also signed a raft of decrees reiterating Russian policy on ever ything from keeping queues at state services down to 15-minute waiting times and raising life expectancy of the average Russian to 74.

Medvedev, expected to remain largely in the shadows after his fouryear presidency failed to deliver promises of political and economic modernisation, moments ahead of Putin’s swearing-in thanked his allies for their support. “I thank you for the huge confidence you had in me, your help, your empathy,” he said in an emotional speech. “ Thank you for being together with me.” —AFP

Sectarianism turns neighbors into enemies in troubled Syria AZZARA: The uprising against Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, and the subsequent killings and reprisals, has fractured the village of Azzara along sectarian lines, turning peaceful neighbors into sworn enemies. Sunni Turkmen living in the hills of Azzara, in central Homs province, and Alawite residents of the village below, had seemingly coexisted since Ottoman times. Today, a wall of fear separates the two sects.

While Sunnis have appealed to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to save them from the Syrian regime, Alawites have appealed to Syrian President Assad to protect them from “terrorists” they claim are infiltrating from Lebanon. “We are Turkmen and Erdogan must protect us. Otherwise we will be massacred by Bashar,” said former lieutenant Basil Ain, who deserted on March 26 after witnessing the shelling of Baba Amr, a rebel district of Homs taken by the army a month earlier.

Both communities expressed their

fears and suffering to United Nations observers who visited the area on Friday. The UN observers were greeted by residents displaying shell casings and mortars, while reporting that 12 residents had been killed and 150 wounded in the violence. Showing photos of their loved ones, they tried to grab hold of the UN officers, hoping for news on the fate of 50 residents arrested by the army or kidnapped by unknown persons.

Azzara is controlled by the Free Syrian Army (FSA), comprising deserters who continue to wear their former uniforms. “It’s not a matter of revolution or liberty. It is a religious and sectarian war prompted by a regime that wants to kill all Sunnis in Syria and establish a ‘Rafida’ state,” says a bearded former lieutenant-colonel, using a derogatory term for Shiites. A young man, dressed in black with AlQaeda insignia on his shirt, agrees but declines to say anything further.

In Syria, the Turk men number about 300,000, according to Syria

expert Fabrice Balanche. The majority of Sunnis support the protest movement against the regime of Assad, who belongs to the ruling Alawite community, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. In this area, the opposition flies Syria’s post-independence flag of 1946. Residents chant, “The people want the fall of the regime” and “God Save the Free Syrian Army.” Two kilometers) down the hill, Syria’s current flag is brandished by people shouting “God, Syria, Bashar”, as they hold the president’s photograph aloft.

“Anti-regime residents killed several officers on the road. They stop passing trucks and steal their goods.

They kidnap our relatives, asking for ransom,” says Mustafa Abdel Karim Mahmoud, a 23-year-old Alawite student at Al-Baath University in Homs.

“At night, they cross the river, set fire to shops, shoot at us, and then flee when the army arrives. They say we are gangs of Assad. Yes, we are all soldiers of Assad,” he says.—AFP

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

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Iraq court orders Hezbollah commander freed BAGHDAD: An Iraqi court yesterday ruled that a Hezbollah commander accused of plotting the killing of five US soldiers in January 2007 should be released from custody over a lack of evidence, his lawyer said.

Ali Musa Daqduq, an alleged fighter in Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, was handed over to Iraqi authorities in December as US forces completed their withdrawal from the country nearly nine years after the invasion of

Iraq. “The Central Criminal Court of Iraq issued a ruling to release Ali Daqduq today, because of a lack of evidence,” his lawyer Abdulmahdi alMutairi told AFP. “No document was provided that indicates the guilt of Daqduq, and all of what was shown to the court were copies and not originals. There was no testimony and the charges had no foundation.”

It was unclear when precisely Daqduq would be freed. The US

embassy in Baghdad did not immediately comment on the ruling. Daqduq was captured by US-led forces and held by American troops until he was handed over to Iraqi officials in December, though the latter period of his detention in US custody was under Iraqi government authority as part of an agreement between Baghdad and Washington. Some members of the US Republican Party had called for leaving US forces to simply bring Daqduq,

a Lebanese national, with them as they left Iraq. But officials said that would be illegal, under security agreements between the two governments, and would have fractured the new and “enduring” relationship with Iraq that President Barack Obama has sought to build.

At the time of Daqduq’s capture, the United States accused Iranian special forces of using the Shiite militant group Hezbollah to train Iraqi extrem-

ists and of planning the 2007 attack.

The US military said the Quds Force, a unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, and Hezbollah were jointly operating camps near Tehran in which they trained Iraqi fighters before sending them back to carry out attacks in Iraq. It said Daqduq, captured in Iraq’s southern city of Basra in March 2007, had confessed to training Iraqi extremists in Iran. Iran dismissed the US accusations as “ridiculous.” — AFP

EU tells defiant Iran to suspend atom activity Tehran refuses to halt nuclear work

RAMALLAH: A Palestinian uses a sling to lob a stone during clashes with Israeli soldiers outside the Ofer Prison close to the West Bank city of Ramallah, following a march in support of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike while being held in Israeli prisons yesterday. Israel’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal by two Palestinian prisoners who have been on hunger strike for 69 days in protest at being held without charge, their lawyer said. — AFP

Israeli court rules against Palestinian hunger strikers RAMALLAH: Israel’s Supreme Court turned down yesterday an appeal by two Palestinians, who have been on hunger strike for the past 70 days, to free them from detention without trial. But in its decision, released by the Justice Ministry, the court said security authorities should consider freeing them for medical reasons. Thaer Halahla and Bilal Diab, described by the court as active members of the Islamic Jihad militant group, have been refusing food in protest at their “administrative detention”, a policy Israel applies in many security-related cases. Around 1,550 Palestinian prisoners have forsworn food in Israeli jails for three weeks in a protest against the detentions, wide denial of family visits and solitary confinement.

Qaddoura Fares, chairman of the main Palestinian prisoners’ organisation, decried the ruling as a “death sentence” and accused the court of being politically motivated. “The court knows the gravity of their status and health, but it has decided to reject the petition. This court is a tool of the [Israeli intelligence services],” Fares said.

The scope of the hunger strike has posed a new challenge to Israel, which has come under international criticism over detention without trial and could face a violent Palestinian backlash if any of the protesters die. Looking frail, Halahla and Diab had appealed against their detention on Thursday, appearing in court in wheelchairs. Their lawyers and human rights groups said their lives were in jeopardy, and Diab was taken back to an Israeli hospital after he fainted.

In its ruling, the court said “administrative detention causes unease to every

judge” but was a “necessary evil” because Israel is “constantly fighting terror”. But it drew authorities’ attention to a law under which a prisoner can be released conditionally “if as a result of his illness, his days are numbered or if keeping him in prison significantly endangers his life”.

Many Palestinians have family members in prison or experienced detention first-hand during decades of Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Solidarity tents have been pitched in main squares from Gaza to Ramallah.

Demonstrations outside the main Israeli prison in the West Bank are held almost daily, repeatedly descending into confrontations stone-throwing Palestinians and Israeli soldiers who respond with teargas and stun grenades.

“We will teach the Zionist enemy a tough lesson should any of the striking prisoners die,” Islamic Jihad leader Mohammed al-Hindi said in Gaza. Three weeks ago, Israel released hunger striker Khader Adnan, a member of Islamic Jihad, amid concern he would die. He agreed to end his 66-day-long strike in exchange for a promise not to renew his detention.

Palestinian officials and rights groups said prisoners belonging to the mainstream Fatah movement were studying an Israeli offer to satisfy their demands.

Concessions include a measured increase in family visitors to prisoners from Gaza, which is subject to broad Israeli travel restrictions, and an agreement to reduce the number of prisoners in solitary confinement. Other representatives have said the Fatah committee does not represent the whole movement. — Reuters

Algeria Islamists dream of Arab Spring factor ALGIERS: Algeria’s Islamists are hoping they can surf the post-Arab Spring “green wave” and win Thursday’s polls, but divisions and dark memories of their previous electoral victor y could hamper their chances.

After previously banned Islamist movements seized upon the wind of change sweeping the region to win polls in neighbouring Tunisia and Morocco, Algeria’s Islamists were bristling with confidence ahead of the legislative election. “Our alliance will be the top political force in the next national popular assembly,” Kamel Mida, a spokesman for the Green Algeria movement, which groups three of the seven Islamist parties contesting the May 10 vote. Several factors set Algeria apart however, not least among them the fact that the Islamists are already in power. Mida belongs to the Movement of Society for Peace (MSP), the Algerian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which until January had a three-way alliance with the parties of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia.

But the party, which has 51 out of 389 seats in the outgoing assembly, left the alliance to join forces for the election campaign with Islamist par ties Ennahda (Renaissance) and El-Islah (Reform). It nevertheless kept its four ministers in the government. Mida told AFP he could see Green Algeria sweeping “at least 120 seats” in the enlarged 462-strong house.

“Islamist voters will take part in the ballot,” he said. “During the election campaign, they turned out en masse, while our opponents struggled for numbers at their

rallies and will suffer from voter disaffection.”

Abdallah Djaballah, the founder of the more radical Justice and Development Front, was equally optimistic, “because the Algerian people is Muslim.” Many analysts and politicians however, including some in the Islamist camp, doubt the Islamists can record a major breakthrough.

“The likelihood of a crushing victory in the upcoming legislative vote is almost non-existent,” Nacer Djabi, a sociologist and political pundit, said. “They are too divided,” he argued. Abdelaziz Belkhadem, chairman of the president ’s National Liberation Front (FLN) party, also argued there was no risk of a “Green landslide”.

“Islamist parties will muster no more than 35 to 40 percent,” he predicted. The Algeria scenario also differs from so-called Arab Spring countries because the Islamists here have already had their revolution. It was two decades ago-but the scars are still raw. When Algeria held its first multi-party elections in December 1991, the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) won the first round handily.

That prompted the army to halt the electoral process in January of the following year and launch a crackdown. The FIS was disbanded, various Islamist groups emerged-Al Qaeda’s North African branch is the latest incarnation of one of themand the ensuing civil war killed up to 200,000 people, bringing the country to its knees.

“Algeria has already been through this experience in 1991 and history will not repeat itself,” Belkhadem said.—AFP

VIENNA: The European Union told Iran yesterday it must suspend uranium enrichment, a few days after the Islamic state ruled out doing just that, as Tehran and the West engaged in diplomatic shadow-boxing ahead of nuclear talks this month. The United States called on Iran to take “urgent practical steps” to build confidence during negotiations with world powers on Tehran’s nuclear program, which Washington and its allies suspect is a bid to develop an atomic bomb capability.

Iran, attending an international conference in Vienna alongside its Western foes, for its part accused the United States of supporting Israel’s atomic activities. The Jewish state is widely assumed to hold the Middle East’s only nuclear arsenal. Iran and the six major powers resumed discussions last month in Istanbul after a gap of more than a year - a chance to ease escalating tension and avert the threat of a new Middle East war - and both sides described the atmosphere as positive.

The next meeting between the powers - the United States, France, Britain, China, Russia and Germany - and Iran is to take place on May 23 in the Iraqi capital. Iranian officials say they are “optimistic” about making progress. But with Iran seeking an end to sanctions and Western states reluctant to prematurely ease the pressure they credit with bringing Tehran to the negotiating table, diplomats are already playing down the chances of a settlement in Baghdad.

“A lot of people are talking the Baghdad talks up. We are also hopeful. But it is important to remain realistic,” one European diplomat said.

“This will be a start, not an end.”

Western officials fear Iran may be hardening its demand for relief from sanctions which have been tightened over the past year to target its oil exports, and say this round of talks will at best serve as a stepping stone towards a final deal. They want to see Iran take firm action to allay their concerns over its nuclear program and curb its processing of uranium before considering relaxing punitive steps on Tehran. With an EU embargo on Iranian crude due to start in full on July 1, Tehran is likely to push hard on the sanctions issue. But, a diplomat said: “I fear the Iranians misunderstand the nature of European decision-making. The embargo is a decision that’s already taken.”

At the meeting in Vienna to discuss the 189nation nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), US envoy Robert Wood expressed concern over what he called “Iran’s persistent failure” to comply with its obligations under the pact. “We seek a sustained process that produces concrete results, and call on Iran to take urgent practical steps to build confidence and lead to compliance with all its international obligations,” Wood told delegates. The West wants verifiable assurances from Tehran that it is not seeking to

develop atomic arms - for example, by accepting much more intrusive UN inspections and limiting its enrichment capacity.

IRAN STONEWALLING Israel and the United States have not ruled out military action to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons if diplomacy fails to resolve the long-running row. Iran denies having a weapons agenda, saying it is enriching uranium solely for peaceful energy purposes, not for bombs. Iran “is strongly committed to the objective of preventing proliferation of nuclear weapons under its NPT obligations,” Iranian Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh said in a speech. Soltanieh said last week that Iran would “never” suspend enrichment, which can have both civilian and military purposes, and saw no reason to close the Fordow underground site which it has used to expand higher-grade nuclear activity.

The UN Security Council has demanded in a series of resolutions since 2006 that Iran suspend all enrichment. Many analysts say a negotiated solution will require compromises on both sides: Iran would be allowed to continue some lower-level enrichment if it accepts much more intrusive UN nuclear inspections to make sure it has no weapons aims. But the EU, which includes European heav y weights

France, Germany and Britain, showed no sign of backing down on the suspension demand in its statement to the Vienna meeting.

“Iran must suspend its enrichment activities and heavy water related projects, including research and development,” Gyorgyi Martin Zanathy, head of the EU delegation, said.

Daniel Keohane of FRIDE, a European thinktank, said the best outcome in Baghdad would be a “fleshing out of issues” that would be a par t of a deal but the “danger is that the Iranian position can harden” in the meantime.

The week before the broader political negotiations take place in Baghdad, the UN nuclear agency and Iran will hold a new round of discussions in Vienna on May 14-15 after two meetings earlier this year failed to make any headway.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) wants Iran to address quest i o n s r a i s e d i n a re p o r t i t i s s u e d l a s t November detailing what it said were suspected Iranian research and development a c t i v i t i e s re l e v a n t to m a k i n g n u c l e a r weapons. Iran has dismissed the allegations as fabricated. Wood, the US envoy to the UN agency, said: “We are concerned that Iran has not agreed to grant the IAEA access to all relevant sites, information, documents and persons necessary to resolve questions about its nuclear program.”— Reuters

LODER: Yemeni anti-Qaeda local committees fighters gather atop an army tank during a lull in fighting against militant positions near the southern town of Loder, in the restive Abiyan province. Al-Qaeda gunmen launched spectacular attacks on two army posts in the south, killing at least 22 soldiers, apparently to avenge the death of a top militant in an air raid, a military official said yesterday. — AFP

Netanyahu wants election on Sept 4 JERUSALEM: Prime M inister Benjamin Netanyahu called yesterday for an early general election on September 4, a vote opinion polls say will renew his leadership mandate as Israel confronts Iran’s nuclear ambitions. “My intention is to form as wide a coalition as possible in order to bring about stability and lead Israel in the face of the great challenges still ahead of us,” Netanyahu told his cabinet in public remarks.

The next national vote was not due until October 2013, but new legislation that might force ultraOrthodox Jews to serve in the military and an upcoming budget debate have threatened to unravel a governing coalition of religious and nationalist parties once seen as one of the most stable in Israel’s history.

“We are in a country that needs political stability. I would be very happy if we could complete our term and that was my goal, too,” Netanyahu said. “Regretfully this instability has put a question mark

on this and so I think the right thing to do is to go for a short election. We propose September 4, and afterward, God willing, the voters will give us a mandate.”

On Sunday, Netanyahu said in a speech to a convention of his right-wing Likud party that he would seek an early vote in four months’ time but did not disclose an exact date. Israeli leaders have insisted the election campaign would have no impact on their decision-making with regard to Iran, which includes the possibility of launching an Israeli strike against its nuclear installations.

A Netanyahu vic tor y two months before the US election could give him leverage over Barack Obama on the Iranian and Palestinian issues while the president is still engaged in his own campaign and wary of alienating pro-Israel US voters. While the cabinet met, the governing coalition submitted a motion of dissolution to parliament. Once parliament votes to dissolve, the current administration will remain in

office until a new elected government is sworn in.

Opinion polls show Likud will easily come out on top of the national ballot, giving a Netanyahu-led government a new four-year term to tackle what he has described as the most impor-

tant challenge facing Israel - the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran.

Political commentators have said Netanyahu is likely to end up with a similar coalition after the vote and had decided to pre-empt the ballot to capitalise on his strong poll showing. — Reuters

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, speaks to Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.— AP

Bedouins briefly abduct 10 peacekeepers in Egypt CAIRO: Bedouin tribesmen in the Sinai peninsula yesterday briefly detained 10 Fijians from the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO), which is charged with monitoring peace between Egypt and Israel. One of the tribesmen said they had seized the men because they were seeking the release of Bedouin prisoners held by Egypt. “They were patrolling and we seized them by firing in the air,” he told AFP by telephone on condition of anonymity. “They are with us now, and we want the liberation of all Bedouin prisoners.”

He later said the captives were released following assurances their demand would be met. An Egyptian security source confirmed the 10 had been detained and then released around an hour later. The MFO is an independent international organization with peacekeeping responsibilities in the Sinai. Its origins lie in the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty. In March, Bedouins briefly abducted two Brazilian women tourists in the Sinai before releasing them hours later, in the third kidnapping of foreign tourists in two months as they pressed

their demands. In February, Bedouins also demanding the release of jailed tribesmen kidnapped three South Koreans in the same area, shortly after the abduction of two American women and their Egyptian tour guide. The tourists and the guide were all released quickly and unharmed in that case also, as were 25 Chinese workers seized at the end of January.

The sparsely populated region is where Egypt’s most lucrative tourist resorts are located, as well as being home to a mostly poor and disaffected Bedouin population. —AFP

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

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Church burnt as protest hits Nigerian town POTISKUM: Crowds of protesters took to the streets of the Nigerian city of Potiskum yesterday over a deadly market attack last week, with a church and classrooms burnt and police firing tear gas. More than a thousand protesters, including traders and clerics, took part in the demonstration in the northeastern city hit by a bomb-and-gun attack Wednesday night at a busy cattle market that killed at least 34 people.

Bonfires were set amid the protests and a crowd of youths also vandalised military checkpoints while heckling soldiers manning them in anger over troops’ failure to foil the attack, an AFP

correspondent reported.

At least one church and a number of classrooms were burnt by what police described as “miscreants” who took advantage of the protest. Police fired tear gas and shot into the air as demonstrators sought to march to the palace of the town’s traditional ruler and moved closer to regional police headquarters, witnesses said. No one was reported wounded.

“Some miscreants took advantage of the peaceful demonstration to go on a rampage,” said Moses Onireti, police commissioner for Yobe state, where Potiskum is located. “ They burnt a

church and three blocks of classrooms in a primary school nearby. We have arrested three suspects in the attacks.

The police have succeeded in restoring normalcy.”

Protesters expressed frustration with authorities’ inability to stop violence in the city. “The government must as a matter of urgency fish out the perpetrators of this crime and ensure that they are appropriately punished. This is our demand,” a protester told AFP. Demonstrators also held prayers at the scene of the killings. “We call on God to expose the criminals that attacked this market and killed people

in cold blood and destroyed means of livelihood,” said Muslim cleric Goni Yahuza, who led the prayers. Frustration has been growing over violence in Nigeria, hit by scores of deadly attacks blamed on Islamist group Boko Haram.

Potiskum has been among the areas hard hit by attacks attributed to the group, and it was included in a state of emergency declaration by President Goodluck Jonathan on December 31.

The attack Wednesday night said to be the work of armed robbers was in reprisal for an incident earlier in the day, when a gang sought to rob the market but were fought off by traders

who caught one of the attackers.

The man who was caught was doused in petrol and a tyre was placed around his neck before he was burnt to death, according to police and residents. Gunmen armed with explosives returned later in the day, burning the market to the ground and killing at least 34 people, whose bodies were taken to a local hospital.

Authorities have said the death toll is likely more than 50 because the families of some victims buried them without taking their bodies to the hospital, but firm numbers have not been established. — AFP

World leaders reach out to France’s Hollande Obama invites Hollande to White House

ATHENS: Greek President Karolos Papoulias, right, welcomes conservative election winner Antonis Samaras, to formally give him the mandate to form a coalition government, in Athens yesterday. —AP

Greek leftists reject government offer ATHENS: A first round of government talks in Greece ended in stalemate yesterday after the top-seeded conservative party failed to entice parties opposed to the country’s EU-IMF bailout deal to join a coalition.

Conservative New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras still has two days to find allies but so far only the third-ranked socialist Pasok party has conditionally agreed to join efforts to pursue tough economic reforms in return for loans. The two parties lack the combined strength for an absolute majority in the 300-seat parliament.

Samaras was rebuffed by the secondplace leftist Syriza party and the small Democratic Left group, while the nationalist Independent Greeks and the Communist party refused even to meet with him. Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras said he would seek to form a left-wing coalition to reject the loan agreement’s “barbaric” measures.

The anti-austerity parties can muster 151 votes between them but cooperation

between them is almost impossible. Syriza and the Communists have been at daggers drawn for years and both are unlikely to cooperate with the nationalists, let alone the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party that also secured parliamentary entry on an antiimmigration ticket.

Greece’s stock market plunged 6.67 percent yesterday. The country, in its fifth year of recession with unemployment at 20 percent, has to find in June another 11.5 billion euros ($15 billion) in savings over the next two years. New Democracy and Pasok-the sole parties committed to applying the loan agreement-saw their combined share of the vote collapsing to 32.1 percent, compared to 77.4 percent in the 2009 election, and their number of seats to 149.

Samaras had pledged to try piecing together a “national salvation government” committed to the euro but with easier bailout terms. “In the effort to form a government of national salvation, we will talk to everyone except Golden Dawn,” a party official said. — AFP

GENOA: Italian police carry out investigations at the site where Roberto Adinolfi, a 53-year-old nuclear engineer, was shot in Genoa yesterday. Adinolfi, head of Ansaldo Nuclear an Italian nuclear energy company part of aerospace and defence giant Finmeccanica, has been shot and wounded, in the leg by two men on a motorbike. —AFP

Armenia parliament win strengthens president’s grip YEREVAN: Armenia’s governing party yesterday won parliamentary elections that strengthened President Serzh Sarkisian but again highlighted problems with the exSoviet state’s fragile democracy. European observers from the OSCE praised the election process as competitive but said it had been undermined by a series of democratic failings including pressure on voters, while opposition leaders vowed street protests.

Sarkisian’s Republican party took 44.05 percent of the vote after all ballots from Sunday’s contest were counted, the Central Election Commission said. The victory puts the party in a commanding position in parliament and boosts Sarkisian ahead of presidential polls next year.

A former coalition partner turned electoral rival, the Prosperous Armenia party led by a millionaire former arm wrestling champion, came second with 30.20 per cent, according to final preliminary results. The authorities had promised Armenia’s fairest ever polls as they sought to avoid a repeat of protests which ended in clashes between riot police and opposition supporters after disputed presidential elections in 2008 that left 10 people dead.

“Armenia deserves recognition for its electoral reforms and its open and peaceful campaign environment but, in this race, several stakeholders too often failed to comply with the law and election commissions too often failed to enforce it,” the OSCE observer mis-

sion to Armenia said in a statement.

“As a result, the international commitments to which Armenia has freely subscribed were not always respected,” the statement said. Local media also reported allegations of polling-day violations including parties bribing voters, although it was not clear how widespread such incidents were.

Despite five years of economic hardship under Sarkisian’s administration, anti-government forces were trounced, with the main opposition Armenian National Congress bloc scraping into parliament in third place with just 7.10 percent. A monitoring alliance including Prosperous Armenia and the Armenian National Congress opposition bloc led by former president Levon Ter-Petrosian expressed “doubts about the legitimacy of the electoral process”.

Ter-Petrosian’s bloc, which led the demonstrations against the alleged 2008 vote-rigging that ended in violence, said it would stage a mass protest in Yerevan today. Some local commentators suggested that the results could help to neuter the political threats from Ter-Petrosian and the Prosperous Armenia party, whose musclebound leader Gagik Tsarukian failed to break Sarkisian’s grip. “If (the Republican party) was obliged to play well with others in the tinder-box aftermath of Armenia’s 2008 election, the party now owns the playground, the toys and the lock to the gates,” said an editorial on news website ArmeniaNow.— AFP

PARIS: European and world leaders reached out yesterday to president-elect Francois Hollande, France’s first Socialist head of state in 17 years, amid jitters about his pledge to renegotiate Europe’s austerity pact.

The euro dropped though stock markets were mixed as the presidential vote in France and Greece’s general election stoked anxiety about the fate of austerity policies designed to end the eurozone’s crippling debt crisis. While Asian economic giants Japan and China said they were monitoring reaction to Hollande’s win, German Chancellor Angela Merkel wasted no time in contacting the victor, even though she had made no secret of her support for outgoing right-wing leader Nicolas Sarkozy.

Merkel, whose government has ruled out any renegotiation of the EU fiscal pact, nevertheless said she would welcome Hollande “with open arms” when he visits Berlin after he takes office on May 15.

She said they agreed during a telephone call Sunday to work “well and intensively” together, adding: “Franco-German cooperation is essential for Europe and we all want Europe to succeed.”

US President Barack Obama also telephoned Hollande to congratulate him and invite him to the White House this month, after Sarkozy became the latest European leader to be ousted by the eurozone crisis.

Obama “indicated that he looks forward to working closely with Mr Hollande and his government on a range of shared economic and security challenges,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

Russia’s newly-inaugurated President Vladimir Putin also vowed to work with Hollande to further strengthen the partnership between the two countries. “The citizens of France have entrusted you with heading the country in this difficult and rather important period when not only Europe but also the entire global community are facing the pressing tasks of overcoming the consequences of the financial and economic crisis and building new models of cooperation,” he said in a congratulatory message.

Hollande has raised concerns on financial markets with his call for the eurozone to broaden its focus from austerity to incorporate growth, declaring in his victor y speech: “Austerity can no longer be the only option.” But European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso declared that he shared Hollande’s goal of generating durable growth, adding: “We must now transform these aspirations into concrete actions.”

Hollande’s win was “good for Poland, for France and for Europe,” a senior advisor to Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski said, describing Hollande as a “very centrist socialist and a resolute European”. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti voiced hope for close cooperation aimed “at an increasingly efficient and growth-oriented union”.

But Spain’s conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, whose own spending cuts have

sparked street protests in a country suffering recession and a 24-percent jobless rate, was more circumspect. Rajoy said bluntly he had an “obligation to get along with him and try to work together for the benefit of Spain, France and Europe”.

British conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, who had backed Sarkozy at the beginning of the election campaign, also vowed to work with Hollande to boost ties, a spokesman said. Cameron’s domestic austerity drive is, however, at odds with the incoming French president’s belief in government-driven growth.

In Asia, Chinese President Hu Jintao sent a message of congratulations and Bejing said it was ready to work with France to develop relations “from a strategic and long term perspective”. Both Japan and China hold huge amounts of euro-denominated debt, while Europe is China’s top export market.

While congratulating Hollande, Japan said it

of Iran’s nuclear drive, calling for Hollande to “correct past wrong approaches”.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also said he was keen to establish better relations, which have been dogged by French opposition to Ankara’s efforts to join the EU and a row over legislation on Armenian genocide.

“I hope the attitude of France will be much more positive, much more constructive, this is our expectation,” he said on a visit to Slovenia. In Damascus, a pro-government newspaper gave a jubilant welcome to the defeat of Sarkozy, whose foreign minister Alain Juppe had raised the prospect of military intervention to end the regime’s bloody crackdown on protests.

“The Sarkozy-Juppe duo in the dustbin of history,” gloated Al-Watan’s front-page headline.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he looked forward to meeting Hollande to “continue this important relationship-important bilaterally and internationally”.

PARIS: French president-elect Francois Hollande reacts to supporters with his companion Valerie Trierweiler while celebrating his election victory in Bastille Square in Paris, France on Sunday. — AP will “carefully monitor” how Europe reacts to his election, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura noting the health of the European economy “greatly affects” the fate of the ailing Asian giant.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Hollande also discussed joint approaches to the EU’s economic woes and the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programmes in a telephone call, an official in Tokyo said. Tehran, meanwhile, said it hoped for a “new era” in ties with France, where Sarkozy was one of the most vocal critics

Latin American nations also sent congratulations, led by economic powerhouse Brazil, while other left-leaning leaders including Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hailed Hollande’s “clear victor y ” over Sarkozy. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan urged France under Hollande to “remain a strong supporter of global action to promote democracy, good governance and rapid socio-economic development in Africa”. The leaders of former French colonies including Tunisia and Ivory Coast also congratulated Hollande. —AFP

Socialists hold key after inconclusive Serb vote BELGRADE: The Socialist Party of late strongman Slobodan Milosevic held the key to power in Serbia yesterday, after an inconclusive election in which voters punished the ruling Democratic Party for their economic woes. The Democrats, part of a reformist bloc that ousted Milosevic in 2000 and turned Serbia westwards, saw their support crumble to 23 percent from 38 percent in 2008, hurt by a downturn that has left a quarter of the workforce jobless.

In contrast to the last election, all the main parties now share a central goal of EU membership, and the Socialists might choose to switch from their existing alliance with the Democrats and ally themselves with the election victors, the right-wing Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), which won around 24.7 percent.

With the Socialists in the driving seat, the horse-trading to build a government may take up much of the available 90 days, though most analysts ultimately expect them to renew what was a largely effective coalition with President Boris Tadic’s Democrats.

“They have a happy marriage behind them and after all, better

the devil you know than the angel you don’t,” said Nenad Sebek, the executive director of the Centre for Reconciliation and Democracy think-tank. The SNS, led by former ultranationalists under Tomislav Nikolic who say they now share the goal of EU accession, look likely to command around 72 of parliament’s 250 seats once all the votes are in, while the Democrats are set for 67-70 seats.

Even with the Socialists’ 48 or so, either of the main parties would need other allies to get to a majority, 126 seats. The Liberals, on about 19, would sit more easily with the Democrats, while the far-right Democratic Party of Serbia, on 20, would be more natural allies for the SNS. Other minority groups might go either way.

Any new government will have to tackle the economy, which is suffering from the crisis in the euro zone, the Balkans’ main trading partner. The average Serbian earns 380 euros a month.

Political analyst Zoran Stojilkovic said the Socialists had “huge blackmailing potential”, and Politika, the oldest Serbian daily, said their outgoing interior minister, Milosevic’s former spokesman Ivica Dacic,

would demand the post of prime minister. “Whoever wants to talk to us ... will have to understand that we have risen from the ashes,” Dacic told jubilant supporters in the capital, Belgrade.

Dacic has reformed the Socialists but does not apologise for Milosevic’s role in fomenting war in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s, conflicts that killed over 100,000 people and drove his own country into poverty and international isolation.

He favours EU membership for Serbia, but is hostile towards the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the prospect of Serbia seeking new funds from the lender. He has also pledged to protect Serbia’s state assets from privatisation.

Stojilkovic said the Socialists were closer to the Democrats, an unwieldy reformist alliance that has brought the country of 7.3 million people to within a whisker of talks on joining the EU. After the Socialists exact a large price, he said the likeliest outcome was that “the (existing) pro-European coalition will continue”.

The Democrats are also favourites to retain the less important presidency after Nikolic edged

out Tadic with around 25 percent in Sunday’s presidential first round.

Analysts expect Tadic to pick up more votes from defeated candidates in the second round on May 20.

The Serbian dinar shrugged off the results and opened unchanged at 111.85/112.10 per euro. “We do not think the elections will be a factor until the full start of government talks and the second round,” said a dealer at a Belgrade bank.

After years of teetering between pro-Western reformers and proRussian nationalists, all Serbia’s main parties now agree on the goal of joining the EU, and the EU is weighing whether to open accession talks next year. “We can say that pro-European parties had a significant result ... The result makes a good environment for Serbia’s future advance towards the EU,” Vincent Degert, head of the EU mission in Belgrade, told the Tanjug news agency.

Nikolic was formerly part of the ultranationalist Radical Party, which shared power with Milosevic in 1999 when Serbia was bombed by NATO to halt the massacre and expulsion of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.— Reuters

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TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

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

Alleged kidnapper of mom, three girls was no stranger WHITEVILLE: A man accused of abducting a mother and her three daughters has been described as being like an uncle to the girls.

Now Adam Mayes, 35, is the subject of an Amber Alert and faces charges in the disappearance of Jo Ann Bain and her daughters 14year- old Adrienne, 12-year- old Alexandria and 8 -year-old Kyliyah.

Meanwhile, FBI spokesman Joel Siskovic said Sunday that authorities were trying to identify two bodies found at a Mississippi home Mayes has been linked to. He would not say if they were children.

Authorities have described Mayes as being armed and extremely dangerous.

Jo Ann Bain’s husband Gary and Mayes knew each other, Tennessee authorities said. Mayes “thought the world of those little girls,” observed Melvin Herron, 42, who lives next door to the Bain family in western Tennessee and recalled seeing the girls playing outside, running and going down water slides.

On Sunday, forensic scientists

with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation searched the garage and backyard at the Hardeman County, Tenn., home where Bain, her husband and the three girls live. Gary Bain declined to comment Sunday to an Associated Press reporter.

“Jo Ann and the kids, everyone loves them. We’re just hoping to hear that they’re safe,” said Linda Kirkland, a family friend and cook at the Country Cafe in Whiteville, Tenn. Kirkland said Sunday that the woman and her daughters were moving to Arizona because two of the girls had asthma. Other than dealing with a recent death in the family, Bain, who had frequented the restaurant, never indicated anything was wrong.

“She seemed so happy,” Kirkland said. Jo Ann Bain and her daughters were last seen in their home early April 27, according to Kristin Helm, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Mayes and Gar y Bain had long been acquainted, having once been married to sisters. Helm said

he was viewed as an uncle. “Mayes is a family friend who was staying there that night to help the family pack and drive a U-Haul to Arizona

Adam Mayes the next day with Gary because the family was planning on moving there within the month,” Helm said.

“Gary was asleep at the home that night and woke to find them gone in the morning and the car gone.

Mayes was gone too.” Gary Bain

woke up after the kids typically went to school so he didn’t expect to see them, Helm said. But then he tried calling his wife on her cell phone during the day and couldn’t reach her. When the girls didn’t get off the school bus, he reported them missing to the sheriff’s office that evening.

Helm said Gar y Bain’s adult daughter and his granddaughter had also spent the night at the family’s home, but that the grown daughter didn’t see Jo Ann or the girls the next morning. And the car was missing.

On April 30, the vehicle was found abandoned in Hardeman County, which is about 70 miles east of Memphis. Jo Ann Bain and her daughters had left most of their personal belongings at the house, Helm said.

On Friday, the TBI reported that the girls were with Mayes in Mississippi, but there was no evidence that a crime had been committed. Mayes was last seen Tuesday in Guntown, Miss., about 80 miles southeast of the Bains’

Tennessee home. Siskovic said authorities talked to Mayes early on in the investigation, but that he fled when they tried to contact him again. Authorities said Mayes did not appear to have a criminal record.

Police had been trying to determine whether Jo Ann Bain went with Mayes willingly. By Friday, Mayes had a warrant on file in Hardeman County for false report stemming from information he gave investigators about the case.

Siskovic said Saturday that the bodies were found late Friday or early Saturday in a Mississippi home. He wasn’t sure if the home belonged to Mayes or an acquaintance. The Mississippi Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert on Saturday morning for the girls, and Tennessee authorities have also issued an alert.

The Mississippi Department of Public Safety said Saturday it believed “the children may be in extreme danger,” and that warrants for kidnapping had been issued for Mayes. The FBI and US Marshals

Service also announced a reward of up to $50,000 for information that leads to the location of the missing victims and the arrest of Mayes.

Authorities had said over the weekend that Mayes could be in Mississippi but that he has ties to Arizona, Texas, Nor th Carolina, South Carolina and Florida.

Authorities described Adrienne as having brown hair and eyes. She’s 5 feet 4 inches tall and 129 pounds.

Alexandria has brown hair and hazel eyes and is 5 feet tall and 105 pounds. Kyliyah has blonde hair and brown eyes and is 4 feet tall and 57 pounds.

Mayes has brown hair and blue eyes and is 6 feet 3 inches tall a n d we i g h s 1 7 5 p o u n d s.

However, authorities said Mayes may have cut his hair, as well as cut and dyed the girls’ hair to disguise their identities. Back in the Bains’ neighborhood, neighbor Herron said he hoped the bodies found in Mississippi were not the girls or their mother. “I’m praying to God it’s not those little girls,” he said. —AP

Romney, Obama nearly tied in swing states: Poll Romney dominates on economic front

CAQUETA: This undated file photo provided by France 24 television shows Romeo Langlois, the French journalist who went missing on April 29, 2012 along with five Colombian security force members, following combat with leftist rebels. Langlois, 35, was a freelancer on assignment for France 24 television while accompanying troops on a counter-drug mission in the southern state of Caqueta. —AP

Colombia’s FARC rebels say hold French reporter BOGOTA: Colombia’s main rebel group said Sunday that it is holding a French journalist missing since disappearing a week ago during combat. The ruling secretariat of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, did not say if or when the insurgency plans to release Romeo Langlois.

It noted, however, in a communique published online that Langlois “was dressed in military clothing of the regular army” on April 28 when security forces he was accompanying on a cocaine lab destruction mission were attacked by the FARC. Accompanying the military on such missions serves the government’s propaganda purposes, the statement said. “We think the minimum that can be expected for the recuperation of (Langlois’) full mobility is the opening of a national and international debate over the freedom to inform,” it continued. “Journalists that Colombia’s armed forces take with it on military operations don’t adhere to the impartial purpose of informing about reality.”

Colombia’s defense minister has said that during the combat Langlois removed the helmet and flak jacket that the army had provided and identified himself as a civilian. In the statement, published by the sympathetic ANNCOL news agency, the FARC leadership warned Colombia’s military not to try to rescue Langlois, referring to previous instances when it has killed “prisoners” during perceived government rescue attempts.

Earlier Sunday, in a video released by independent journalist Karl Penhaul, a man

who identifies himself as a rebel squadron leader said Langlois was lightly wounded in an arm but was out of danger.

It shows armed men and women in fatigues in a jungle area. The rebel says they are from the 15th Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and that it captured Langlois in a 7-hour firefight. He said that now that the rebels know Langlois is a journalist “we hope to quickly overcome this impasse.”

Langlois, 35, was on assignment for France24 television and has also done work for the newspaper Le Figaro. He has been working in Colombia for more than a decade. Penhaul said the video, released on YouTube, was recorded Saturday. In its statement, the FARC’s secretariat complained about its own Web site being “attacked and permanently blocked.”

Indeed, the FARC periodically changes Web addresses, whether because of cyberattacks or removals ordered by foreign governments where they are hosted. The FARC took up arms in 1964 and is estimated to have about 8,000 fighters. It has in recent years suffered a series of major setbacks, including the killing last year of its top commander, Alfonso Cano, and has been urging the government to enter into a peace dialogue. President Juan Manuel Santos says the FARC has not met his conditions for talks, and insists it must honor its February pledge to halt ransom kidnappings. The rebels released last month what they said were their last “political prisoners,” 10 soldiers and police they had held for as much as 14 years. —AP

92-year-old woman to be sentenced in suicide case SAN DIEGO: A 92-year-old US woman who sold $40 kits for people to kill themselves faces sentencing for failing to file federal tax returns.

Sharlotte Hydorn faces a maximum term of one year in prison when she is sentenced.

Both the prosecution and defense agree she should be spared prison and sentenced to five years’ probation. The retired teacher told authorities she knew the helium kits were intended to be used to kill themselves but she said she thought they would be used by the terminally ill.

She pleaded guilty to the tax charge, but under an agreement with prosecutors she will not be charged with involvement in six suicides. Hydorn began assisting physicians with patient suicides after her husband, Rex, died of colon cancer, said Charles Goldberg, her attorney. Her husband was in “agonizing pain” and did not want to die “filled with tubes in a hospital.”

Hydorn felt she could design a helium hood that would be more comfortable for patients than the ones she saw doctors using. She received “thousands” of orders for her hoods and began charging for her time and materials.

Court documents say she sold more than 1,300

kits to people across the United States and abroad. “To Ms. Hydorn, her involvement in the suicide kits was an act of compassion and not based on greed,” Goldberg wrote. Agents who raided her home in California last year found checks that were not cashed and thousands of dollars in cash from buyers, her attorney said.

Prosecutors said she took no steps to verify the physical condition, age, identity or mental state of her customers and therefore had no idea whether her kits were being bought by people suffering from depression or by minors acting without the consent of an adult.

After her home was raided last year, Hydorn told The Associated Press that she wasn’t responsible for who uses the kit and was only trying to help people in pain. She said she had been in business for three years and sold up to 60 kits a month.

Hydorn’s kits included tubing, material for the hood and a user diagram. A needed helium source was not included. Investigators determined that the kits were sold to at least 50 people in San Diego County since 2007 and that four of those people last year used the kits to kill themselves. None was terminally ill, according to investigators. —AP

WASHINGTON: Republican Mitt Romney has evened it up with President Barack Obama in swing states six months ahead of the US election, with the challenger seen as a better economic steward but Obama more likeable, a new poll showed yesterday.

In the 12 battleground states likely to determine the outcome on November 6, the president led Romney 47-45 percent among registered voters, according to the USA Today/Gallup Swing States poll.

That represents a substantial tightening from the nine-point lead Obama enjoyed in late March.

The poll-USA Today’s first since Romney became the de facto Republican nominee last monthalso showed a widening gender gap. Women now support Obama 52-40 percent, while men support Romney 50-42 percent.

That 20 percent gap is up from 12 points in February and 17 points in March, when Democrats hit out against a “war on women” that they said was being waged by Republicans through policies on contraception and proposed health care cuts.

Romney, a former venture capitalist who touts his business experience on the campaign trail, dominated on the economic front, with six in 10 respondents saying he would do well or very well handling the economy, compared with 52 percent for Obama.

In a direct comparison of who would do better on the economy, Romney nipped Obama 47-44 percent. “You’ve got a candidate who has just been through the bruising Republican primary and came out somewhat bloodied, so it’s pretty remarkable that in these target

states governor Romney is doing better than Obama on the biggest issue, the economy,” Romney pollster Neil Newhouse told USA Today.

Despite Romney’s gains, the survey shows a potentially worrying

astic about voting, a major shift from the 14-point Republican advantage from late last year.

And Obama, by a 27-percent margin, is seen as more likable, according to the survey, which not-

Romney by contrast is seen as an “efficient manager” who is “less interested in feeling your pain than telling you how to fix your pain by... doing something about it.”

BOSTON: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney shows a fan towel to his wife Ann before the start of a game between the Boston Celtics and the Atlanta Hawks in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2012 NBA Playoffs yetsreday at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. —AFP trend for the ex-governor of Massachusetts: a reversal of voter enthusiasm which had been a Republican asset in recent months.

It said that for the first time, Democrats by 11 percent are more likely to say they are more enthusi-

ed that the more likable candidate has won every election since 1980.

“Obama has the softer image dimensions tied up: He’s likable, compassionate, feels your pain, relates, understands,” said Gallup editor in chief Frank Newport.

The poll focused on the states of Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin, and had a margin of error of four percentage points. —AFP

No bullet wound found in soldier Skype death WASHINGTON: US Army investigators said yesterday they found no bullet wound nor evidence of foul play in the death of a soldier in Afghanistan who died during a Skype video chat with his wife. Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark collapsed while speaking to his wife on May 1 from his base in Tarin Kot, Afghanistan, southwest of Kabul. His wife, Susan Orellana-Clark, has suggested that Clark was shot, citing a hole visible in the closet behind him that she believed was a bullet hole. Investigators said an initial probe showed no trauma to the body except that Clark broke his nose when he fell forward. OrellanaClark said he didn’t seem alarmed before he col-

lapsed. Christopher Grey, a spokesman for the Army Criminal Investigation Command, said Monday that the investigation is still under way.

“But the important thing is that there was no bullet wound, no trauma,” except that Clark’s nose was possibly broken when he fell on his desk, Grey said in a telephone interview. “We can positively say that Captain Clark was not shot,” Grey later said in a statement.

An autopsy took place Friday but it could take several weeks to get results of toxicology and tissue testing done at that time, Paul Stone, a spokesman for the Armed Forces Medical Examiner, said yesterday. Clark’s family released

MEXICO CITY: Handout photo realeased by the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) press office, showing presidential candidates (L-R) Enrique Pena Nieto for the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Josefina Vasquez Mota, for the National Action Party (PAN), Gabriel Cuadri for the Alliance Party (PANAL) and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for the leftist coalition Progressive Movement of Mexico, as they pose before the first electoral debate promoted by the IFE yesterday in Mexico City. —AFP

a statement Sunday describing what his wife saw in the video feed recording her husband’s death. “The closet behind him had a bullet hole in it,” the statement said, adding that others, including a member of the military who came to Orellana-Clark’s Texas home, also believed it was a bullet hole.

The statement says the Skype link remained open for two hours after Clark collapsed as family and friends in the US and Afghanistan tried to get Clark help. Although it was the night of Monday, April 30, at his El Paso, Texas, home, Clark’s time of death is officially listed as May 1, the date in Afghanistan at the time.

“After two hours and many frantic phone calls

by Mrs. Clark, two military personnel arrived in the room and appeared to check his pulse, but provided no details about his condition to his wife,” the statement said.

Despite the trauma of witnessing her husband’s death from thousands of miles (kilometers) away, Orellana-Clark said last week through a statement issued by the family that she and her extended family were thankful that husband and wife “were together in his last moments.”

Orellana-Clark said the reason for the family statement Sunday on the bullet hole was to provide details of what she saw “to honor my husband and dispel the inaccurate information and supposition promulgated by other parties.”

Grey’s statement yesterday expressed condolences to Clark’s family, friends, and fellow soldiers, saying “we know this is a very traumatic and difficult time for all involved.” Reached yesterday after the Army issued its statement, Bradley Taber-Thomas, a brother-in-law who has been acting as a spokesman for Clark’s family, said the family had not been officially informed by the Army that a bullet wound had not been found in the captain’s body and had no immediate comment. —AP

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TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

international

Afghan woman sets sights on presidency in a man’s land KABUL: Leading Afghan women’s rights champion, author, lawmaker and presidential hopeful, Fawzia Koofi, has a revealing anecdote about life as a woman in a man’s land. As she walked out of the Presidential Palace in Kabul recently, a conservative male parliamentary colleague approached her and said: “‘Ms Koofi, if you would really like to live in a palace-because you are running for the presidency-why don’t you get married to a president’?”

Even now, weeks later, Koofi’s steady brown eyes flash at the memory. “It really made me feel angry, because that’s how they see it,” Koofi told AFP in an interview in her Kabul home. “If a woman would like to become a president it’s not because she’s qualified for it, it’s because she would like to live in a palace!”

In a riposte, she told her colleague pointedly that, unlike some men with dubious pasts in Afghanistan’s 30 years of conflict, she had no need to hide in the security of a palace. “I’m happy sometimes when they oppose me because it means I’m something to them, they feel I am strong-and I also give them the required punch, I think.”

Named this year as one of the world’s “150 Fearless Women” by US website The Daily Beast, Koofi, 36, is a widow with two young girls who are addressed in her memoir

“Letters to my Daughters”.

It is a tale of courage and passion in the face of the overwhelming challenges faced by a girl growing up in a country sometimes called the worst place in the world to be a woman. She was left in the sun to die immediately after her birth by her exhausted and depressed mother-one of seven wives in a family of 23 children-who knew that another girl would not win her husband’s approval, she writes.

The baby Koofi lay alone, screaming and sunburned, for almost a day until pity prevailed and she was returned to her repentant motherto start a close and loving relationship.

The sunburn scars lasted into her teens, but they-and any psychological scars-are undetectable in this elegant and confident woman in a pale pink headscarf and cream tunic over matching trousers.

Pictures of two men find space on the walls of Koofi’s rented home near parliament: one a portrait of a stern-faced father, the other shows her and President Hamid Karzai. Her father-a politician murdered when Koofi was just three-spoke directly to her only once, and that was to tell her to go away, she writes in her memoir.

And she is not a fan of Karzai. She accuses the president-who is backed by 130,000 NATO troops-of being prepared to compromise on

women’s rights for political gain among conservatives, including Taleban insurgents.

The Taleban, ousted from power in a US-led invasion in 2001, banned girls from going to school, whipped women in the street if they wore anything other than the all-envelop-

says the past 10 years have provided “golden opportunities” for women. Her biggest fear is that these gains will be the first to be sacrificed in efforts to bring the Taleban into reconciliation talks, and perhaps even a sharing of power after NATO troops pull out in

KABUL: Leading Afghan women’s rights champion, author, lawmaker and presidential hopeful Fawzia Koofi (C) poses with her two daughters in Kabul on May 3, 2012. —AFP ing burqa and stoned to death those accused of adultery. Even now there are more guns than women on the streets of Kabul.

But Koofi-who managed to get a good education against the odds-

2014.

“Compromise is happening already. Talebanisation is a process, people within government are already promoting Taleban ideology and Taleban thinking,” she said.

“There is great uncertainty and confusion about the future, and worry and concern among women.”

In March, Karzai indicated support for an edict by the Ulema Council, the nation’s highest Islamic authority, saying “men are fundamental and women are secondary”.

The edict went on to list a series of prohibitions against women, including working in the same offices as men and travelling without a male companion, and suggested that in some circumstances wife-beating was appropriate.

Karzai “openly supported this, he said this is what the people of Afghanistan want”, said Koofi, who chairs parliament’s women and human rights committee. “I don’t think this is what they want. It is true we are all Muslims, but our understanding of Islam is different from the understanding of the Taliban.

“Lots of things have changed for the good for women. There has been lots of progress for women in the political arena, girls in school and higher education, laws providing protection for women.

“Having said that, Afghanistan is still the worst place in the world to be a mother, and there are still a lot of women suffering from domestic violence and torture even.” Koofi urges the West to continue its support for Afghan women’s rights even after the withdrawal-and is

committed to doing all she can herself, even if it means risking her life.

“Being a woman in politics in Afghanistan and a woman who stands for what she believes in, there is always risk, it is always dangerous,” she said. “I have already been so many times a target for assassination and even kidnapping.

But I think somebody has to take the risk.”

Koofi said she is determined to run for president in the 2014 elections, when Karzai is due to complete his limit of two five-year terms, if there is a chance that they will be free and fair. She dismisses forecasts that she would be trounced in such a male-dominated country, saying there is a strong desire for change among young people, women, the educated elite-and even in rural villages.

She was elected as a member of parliament for remote and rural Badakhshan, her home province, “where people 10 years back would have been strongly against womennow they voted for me”. “So change is possible, it’s just a matter of some political and moral support from our international friends.”

As the interview draws to a close Koofi proudly brings her daughters in for a final photograph: the girls, aged 12 and 13, have been playing tennis, one of the many simple pleasures banned for Afghan women just a decade ago. —AFP

Pakistan not taking necessary action against terror: Clinton Islamabad dragging its feet on Mumbai mastermind KOLKATA: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday that Pakistan had not taken enough action against Hafiz Saeed, the Islamist blamed for masterminding the 2008 attack by Pakistan-based gunmen on Mumbai, India’s finan-

not detained Saeed since it handed over evidence against him to Islamabad. On Clinton’s authorisation, Washington has offered a reward of $10 million for information leading to Saeed’s capture.

Saeed founded Lashkar-e-Taiba

bounty “laughable”.

“We’re well aware that there has not yet been the steps taken by the Pakistani government to do what both India and the United States have repeatedly requested them they do,” Clinton told a town-

NEW DELHI: US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, meets India’s Congress party president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi, India yesterday. Clinton urged energy-starved India to reduce its Iranian oil imports to keep up pressure on the Islamic republic to come clean about its nuclear program. —AP cial capital.

India has repeatedly called on Pakistan to bring Saeed to justice, an issue that has stood in the way of rebuilding relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours since the carnage in Mumbai, where gunmen killed 166 people over three days.

India is furious that Pakistan has

(LeT ) in the 1990s, the militant group whom India blames for the Mumbai attack. He denies any wrongdoing and links to militants.

After the reward was announced, Saeed last month taunted the United States by holding a news conference at a hotel just 40 minutes’ drive away from the US embassy in Islamabad, calling the

hall meeting in the Indian city of Kolkata.

“And we’re going to keep pushing that point. So it’s a way of raising the visibility and pointing out to those who are associated with him that there is a cost for that,” she said.

Although they are allies in the war on militancy, Islamabad and

Washington have fallen out over the past year due to a raft of issues, notably American drone strikes on Pakistan from Afghanistan and a unilateral US raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

The fact that bin Laden was hiding in a Pakistani garrison town was seized upon by India as proof that Islamabad was dragging its feet on cracking down on militants.

Clinton also said the United States believes al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri is somewhere in Pakistan. The Egyptian Zawahiri was bin Laden’s lieutenant and the brains behind much of al Qaeda’s strategy for many years.

She said Washington was “intent upon going after those who are trying to keep al Qaeda operational and inspirational”, and it was in Pakistan’s interest to pursue them too.

“It is in their interest, and it is in the interest of their sovereignty, to go after terrorists who are operating on their territory,” she said.

“And you have to demonstrate that you’re not going to cede authority or territory to terrorists.”

Ten Pakistani gunmen killed commuters, foreigners and some of India’s wealthy business elite in the rampage in Mumbai, which included attacks on two luxury hotels, a Jewish centre and a train station.

“Our position on Hafiz Saeed is clear. We have an independent and active judiciary. If anyone has proof against him, they are welcome to take it to the courts,” Moazzam Ali Khan, spokesman for Pakistan’s foreign ministry, told Reuters when asked about Clinton’s comments.

Clinton is on a three-day visit to India where she will press New Delhi to further cut its oil imports from sanctions-hit Iran, and make the case for India to push a stalled reform of opening its supermarket sector to foreign chains. —Reuters

Militants behead 2 Pakistani soldiers MIRANSHAH: Eleven Pakistani soldiers were k illed including t wo who were beheaded after being captured during fighting with Islamist militants in North Waziristan, officials said yesterday. Gunmen armed with rockets attacked a military convoy on Sunday, sparking gun battles near M iranshah, the main town in Nor th Waziristan-an Al-Qaeda and Taleban stronghold on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan.

The military said nine soldiers were killed in the clashes over several hours and claimed that “heavy casualties” were inflicted on the militants. The heads of two other soldiers were later found dumped without their bodies-one hanging from a barbed wire fence in the neighbourhood of Makane Bagh and the other in Zafar Town, local officials said.

Three worshippers were also killed and 15 wounded when a shell hit a mosque near Miranshah on Sunday, security officials and residents told AFP. Yesterday, army helicop-

ters shelled suspected militant hideouts in the suburb of Tatta Khel and an indefinite curfew continued into a second day, officials and local residents said.

Helicopter gunships bombarded a threestorey building known to contain weapons shops in Miranshah’s main bazaar, causing a huge fire, witnesses said. The building in Noor Din arms market was hit several times by shells from the helicopters, an eyewitness told AFP requesting anonymity.

“I can see a huge fire and can hear the explosions, I do not know whether people are trapped inside or not, it’s already curfew here,” he said. An AFP reporter and dozens of other tribesmen witnessed the bodies of children lying on the ground af ter the explosion. An official later said two children, aged five and 10, were killed and six others injured.

Gunbattles between soldiers and militants are relatively rare in M iranshah.

Pakistan has resisted US pressure to launch

a full-scale operation against Al-Qaeda and the Taleban in North Waziristan, where they are instead frequently targeted by US drone strikes.

The most recent, on Saturday, killed at least 10 militants according to officials.

Pakistani-US relations have been in crisis for much of the past year and Islamabad has made increasingly vocal public denunciations of the drone strikes, despite having given initial tacit approval.

The fighting in Miranshah followed the murder last week of a senior Muslim cleric, Maulana Naseeb Khan, who taught at a madrassa near the northwestern city of Peshawar where several Taliban leaders studied.

The cleric, who came from Nor th Waziristan, was kidnapped near Peshawar and found dead on Thursday. After his funeral, the Taliban distributed a pamphlet blaming the Pakistani army and vowing to avenge his killing. —AFP

KASKI: A relative of a missing person breaks down after a flash flood in the Seti river at Kharapani village of Kaski district, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of capital Kathmandu, Nepal, yesterday. Rescuers searching through mud and debris for flash-flood victims in northwestern Nepal had found 17 bodies by yesterday, police said. —AP

American kidnapped in Pakistan appears in video ISLAMABAD: Elderly US development worker Warren Weinstein has appeared in an AlQaeda video for the first time since he was kidnapped in Pakistan just days before he meant to return home last August. The two minute, 40 second video was posted on jihadist forums by Al-Qaeda’s media arm asSahab on Sunday, according to the US monitoring service SITE. There is no sign of when the video was made and Weinstein appears alone before the camera.

Dressed in a traditional Pakistani tunic and speaking impassively in English, he urges US President Barack Obama to respond to his kidnappers’ demands. He also tells his wife Elaine that “I’m fine, I’m well, I’m getting all my medications, I’m being taken care of”.

There was no response from the US embassy in Islamabad. Pakistani security officials said they were not immediately aware of the video but believe Weinstein is being held

by Al-Qaeda and local Taleban near the Afghan border. Weinstein, 70, suffers from asthma, heart problems and high blood pressure. “If you accept the demands, I live; if you don’t accept the demands, then I die,” he told Obama in the video, sitting behind a table with books and food on it. Al-Qaeda leader Ayman alZawahiri in December claimed that the group was holding Weinstein, but at the time provided no proof.

Zawahiri demanded that Washington end air strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, and release the 1993 World Trade Centre bombers along with relatives of Osama bin Laden. Pakistan last month deported bin Laden’s widows and children to Saudi Arabia, a year after they were detained following the US commando operation that found and killed the Al-Qaeda founder in Abbottabad.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday that the US believes Zawahiri is in Pakistan, vowing to keep up pressure on Islamabad to

crack down on Islamist militants during a visit to the country’s arch-rival India. Weinstein was snatched after gunmen tricked their way into his Lahore home on August 13, shortly before he was due to return home after seven years in Pakistan. He was country director for US-based consultancy J.E. Austin Associates, which does contracting work with the US government’s development agency, USAID. Security officials believe Weinstein is being held in Pakistan’s lawless northwestern tribal belt, probably close to North Waziristan, which is the focus of US drone strikes targeting Al-Qaeda and the Taleban.

Informants have suggested he is moved regularly to avoid detection. “He is with AlQaeda and local Taliban, but we are unaware about his exact location,” one Pakistani official told AFP on condition of anonymity. A Pakistani working for J.E Austin told AFP that the company had not received any demands for Weinstein’s release, nor for a ransom.

“We came to know that Weinstein is with AlQaeda through the media. You see their demands are of state level and we are not in a position to fulfil these,” he told AFP on condition of anonymity. Weinstein’s kidnapping started a wave of abductions of foreign aid workers.

On April 29, British aid worker Khalil Dale was found beheaded in the southwestern city of Quetta, with a note from his captors saying he had been killed because their demands were not met. He was snatched on January 5.

A German aid worker and his Italian colleague remain in captivity. A Kenyan aid worker kidnapped in January was released around three months later, a Kenyan diplomat told AFP, giving no further details. A Swiss couple snatched in July last year were held for nine months before claiming to have escaped in March, but the nature of their liberation is clouded in mystery. —AFP

Flash floods kill 26 at Afghan wedding KABUL: At least 26 people were killed and more than 100 missing after flash floods hit a wedding party and three villages in northern Afghanistan, an official said yesterday.

Most of the victims were women and children as the floods, caused by heavy rains, swept through areas of Deh Mardan district in Sari Pul province, said Fazlullah Sadat, head of the provincial disaster management authority.

“We have found 26 bodies mostly women and children-and more than 100 others are still missing,” he told AFP. Wedding parties

are traditionally large and joyous occasions in rural Afghanistan, but 21 people from one gathering were among the victims, he said.

“This is a human tragedy. We have a lot of human losses,” said Sadat. Rescue teams had been dispatched to search for the missing, he added, and the floods also swept away livestock and swamped agricultural lands. The defence ministry had dispatched two helicopters to flood-hit areas, he said, and disaster management teams assisted by the UN’s World Food Programme were at the scene, distributing food, blankets and tents. —AFP

12

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

international

Malaysian clerics issue fatwa against demos KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian clerics have issued a fatwa against demonstrations, days after Prime Minister Najib Razak said a quashed election reform rally was being used to topple the government ahead of polls.

Tens of thousands defied a government ban and took to the streets on April 28 to demand clean elections, breaking through barricades and clashing with police, who fired tear gas and chemical-laced water, arresting

513 people.

“Rioting, causing disturbance and damaging public property are all forbidden by Islam,” National Fatwa Committee chairman Abdul Shukor Husin told state media late Sunday.

“This also applies to any intention to topple a duly-elected government by organising such demonstrations,” he added.

Najib is widely expected to set a June date for what is predicted to be a

close battle between his ruling coalition and the opposition led by Anwar Ibrahim, but observers say polls may be pushed back over the rally fallout.

Although video sharing sites like YouTube have shown many scenes of heavy-handed action against protestors, Najib told state media Friday that the Dataran Merdeka or Independence Square rally, which was supported by opposition groups, was aimed at more than just electoral reforms.

“They had the intention to take over Dataran Merdeka, not to gather for two or three hours but for two or three days or even longer, to show that the government cannot control the situation,” he told the national news agency Bernama. “ They wanted to make Dataran Merdeka like the Tahrir Square in Egypt,” he added.

Federal police chief Ismail Omar told the Star newspaper they had started an investigation to identify the

mastermind behind the alleged overthrow attempt. Analysts say Najib may delay expected polls following the rally, as his reform credentials appear to have been dented.

Najib was also hit by heavy criticism of a police crackdown on a similar rally for electoral reform last year and has since launched a campaign to repeal some authoritarian laws and pledged to expand civil liberties to regain voter support. —AFP

Dissident Chen expects Beijing to allow US trip US ready to give Chen visa ‘right away’ BEIJING: Blind Chinese rights activist Chen Guangcheng said yesterday he expected Beijing to let him and his family travel to the United States without fresh troubles, but he remained unsure of how long it would take for his travel arrangements to be made.

In a brief telephone interview with Reuters, Chen said he was still in a Beijing hospital undergoing checks, which identified an intestinal problem as enteritis or chronic inflamma-

months. After leaving the embassy on Wednesday, under a deal that foresaw him staying in China, Chen changed his mind and said he wanted to spend time in the United States to recuperate from the years of imprisonment and harassment that made him one of his country’s most recognised representatives of the “rights defence” movement campaigning for expanded civic freedoms.

China’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that

BEIJING: A policeman takes a video of petitioners who hold up papers to attractions for their cases outside the hospital where blind activist Chen Guangcheng is staying for treatment in Beijing yesterday. —AP tion from an apparent infection. Some of his supporters had voiced fears that he was suffering from cancer. “I can’t move around much but I’m feeling better,” he said, sounding more relaxed than last week, when he was the centre of a diplomatic crisis between the two superpowers just as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was visiting Beijing.

Chen, 40, had taken shelter in the US embassy in the Chinese capital for six days after an audacious escape from Communist Party officials who had kept him locked up under house arrest in his home village for 19

Chen could apply to study abroad, prompting an offer of a fellowship from New York University, though it remained unclear if China would cooperate in the dissident’s travel arrangements.

Chen said yesterday that Chinese authorities had no reason to try to stymie him and his wife and two children from going to the United States. “I still don’t know when I’ll leave, but it shouldn’t be too long,” he said.

“The (Chinese) government openly promised to respect my rights as a citizen, and I expect them to live up to that promise,” he

added. “If they did try to frustrate my plans, then they’d be slapping their own face, and I don’t think they will do that,” Chen said of his plans to travel abroad.

Any more ructions with Beijing over Chen’s future could embolden US critics of President Barack Obama’s China policies as the United States gears up for presidential elections in November. They had seized on Chen’s pleas for safety and his assertions, later retracted, that US diplomats had left him isolated after escorting him from the embassy to the hospital.

US Vice President Joe Biden said on Sunday the United States was ready to give Chen a visa “right away” so that he could take up the fellowship at New York University. “I think his future is in America,” Biden told “Meet the Press” on NBC. Chen’s long confinement, his audacious escape and the furore that ensued have made him part of China’s dissident folklore: a blind prisoner outfoxing Communist Party controls in an echo of the man who stood down an army tank near Tiananmen Square after the crackdown in 1989.

In 2006, Chen was sentenced to more than four years in jail on charges - vehemently denied by his wife and lawyers - that he whipped up a crowd that disrupted traffic and damaged property. He was formally released in 2010 but remained under stifling house arrest in his home Dongshigu village in Shandong province, which officials turned into a fortress of walls, security cameras and guards in plain clothes who kept Chen isolated.

Dongshigu, where Chen’s mother and other relatives remain, was still under lockdown on Friday. Reuters journalists who tried to visit the village were turned away by guards. During his escape, Chen broke his right foot. “I have a cast on it,” Chen told Hong Kong’s Cable News on Sunday. “No major problems came up in other medical tests, just minor problems. I’m undergoing treatment now.”

Chen told Cable News that, being bedbound, he could not apply for a passport himself. “I can just inform the hospital staff and ask them to help me out,” he said. “I am happy, of course, very happy. I am happy because they have invited me over to pursue my studies there.”

Chen has said he remained worried about his frail mother, brother Chen Guangfu and nephew Chen Kegui, whom he fears face retribution from officials in Shandong who have accused them of aiding his escape. —Reuters

JAKARTA: Indonesian alleged bombmaker Umar Patek (R white) speaks during his trial at the West Jakarta court in Jakarta yesterday. Patek is the suspected main bombmaker for the 2002 attacks on nightclubs in Bali, which placed mainly Muslim Indonesia on the frontline of the global battle against Islamic militancy. —AFP

Key Bali bombing suspect tells victims he’s sorry JAKARTA: His voice trembling, the militant accused of building bombs for the 2002 Bali nightclub attacks apologized yesterday for the first time to the victims and their families.

Umar Patek, a leading member of the Al-Qaeda-linked network Jemaah Islamiyah, was emotional as he testified at his trial in the capital, Jakarta, that he’d been against the bombings that killed 202 people from the start. He said he had been afraid, however, to challenge more senior members of the group.

“I still feel guilty,” Patek said, in a trembling voice. “I knew about the plan. I helped mix some of the chemicals use in the explosives. ... Why didn’t I inform the police?” He denies playing a major role in assembling the massive car bomb that, on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2002, went off outside two nightclubs packed with foreign tourists on the busiest night of the week.

A suicide bomber inside one of the clubs had blown himself up, killing many people and forcing others to run outside where the vehicle loaded with the bomb was parked. Another suicide bomber then blew that up.

Eighty-eight of the victims were Australian. Seven were Americans. After the bombings, Indonesia was thrust onto the front lines in the battle against terrorism. There have been several attacks targeting Western hotels, restaurants and an embassy since then. But all have been

Thousands without power after Japan tornadoes TOKYO: More than 3,000 homes were without electricity yesterday, a day after apparent tornadoes tore through eastern Japan, killing one person and injuring at least 46 more. Nearly 900 houses were damaged as gusting winds whipped through the prefectures of Ibaraki and Tochigi, near Tokyo, splintering wooden homes and tearing down trees and power cables.

The only known fatality from the storms, which hit on Sunday afternoon, was a 14-year- old boy who was crushed to death when his house collapsed, officials said. The government’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency said 36 people were injured in Ibaraki, on the nor thern edge of a plain stretching from the capital, and 440 homes were damaged, some of them badly.

In the neighbouring prefecture of Tochigi, about 450 houses were hit and nine people were injured. One person was injured in another prefecture on the plain, the agenc y said. A

spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power, the utility that supplies the area, said of the more than 19,000 homes that lost power when the storms hit, more than 3,000 were still without electricity at midday on Monday.

S everal clips of amateur video footage aired by local broadcasters showed t wisting columns of wind wreaking havoc as they tore through residential areas. Scientists say tornadoes, which are commonly associated with North America, are difficult to predict.

Japan’s meteorological agenc y issued 589 warnings in 2011, but only eight actual tornadoes occurred. “We have to use past data and projected data to make our predictions in given places,” said an agency spokesman.

“You cannot observe it using radar.

“Because it is something that we cannot directly predict using observed data, our forecasts are less accurate than regular weather forecasts or those for typhoons.” —AFP

IBARAKI: A man removes the frame of broken window on a damaged house after a tornado ripped through the residential area of Tsukuba city in Ibaraki prefecture, north eastern Tokyo yesterday. More than 3,000 homes were without electricity yesterday, a day after apparent tornadoes tore through eastern Japan, killing one person and injuring at least 46 more. —AFP

New video of Australian kidnapped in Philippines SYDNEY: A new video has emerged of an Australian kidnapped by suspected Muslim extremists in the Philippines, with the foreign office yesterday saying it proved he was still alive in late March. Warren Rodwell, from Sydney, was seized from his home in the southern Philippine town of I pil on December 5 and in January a video showed him pleading with authorities to do all they could to secure his freedom.

Australia’s department of foreign affairs said Philippine authorities had received a second recording of the former soldier, confirming he was alive on

M arch 26. “ We can confirm the Philippine authorities have received another video of Mr Rodwell. The video provides proof-of-life as at 26 March,” a spokesman said.

“This is welcome given our ongoing concerns about Mr Rodwell’s welfare.”

The department declined further comment, saying it would not be helpful to Rodwell ’s interests. However, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation said the new video showed him holding up a newspaper dated March 26 while making a plea for a ransom payment to be made to save his life.

In the January video, reportedly sent

to his Filipina wife Miraflor Gutang, Rodwell, 53, said his captors were demanding US$2 million. At the time, Philippine authorities said it was possible Rodwell was being held by the Abu Say yaf, an Islamic ex tremist group founded in the 1990s with seed money from Al-Qaeda.

Australia said it was working closely with the Philippines and was in close contact with Rodwell’s family, who did not want to comment.

Meanwhile, Philippine officials say a power ful blast has k illed a man, wounded another and blown off the roof of a house they were renting in a

southern city. Zamboanga city Mayor Celso Lobregat says a bomb exploded yesterday in a room where the two men were staying. The two men had just arrived from southern Jolo island, where Al-Qaeda-linked militants notorious for bomb attacks are based.Lobregat says it is unclear whether the two men were fishermen with explosives they intended to use to stun fish, a common form of fishing in the Philippines, or if they were militants with a bomb. Zamboanga city police chief Mario Yanga says another bomb or part of a bomb was found in the house. —Agencies

far less deadly, thanks in part, security experts say, to a relentless crackdown on Jemaah Islamiyah that has largely decimated their ranks.

Patek, who was arrested in Pakistan just over a year ago, told the court the Bali bombings were in theory meant to avenge Western policies in the Palestinian territories. “From my point of view, it was total failure,” the suspect told the court, adding he saw “no connection” between the original mission, fighting against the oppression of fellow Muslims, and the target, partying tourists.

“Yes, most of the victims were white, but there were no Israelis,” he said. “Some were even Indonesian. That’s a failure.”

Patek faces a maximum penalty of death by firing squad if found guilty of terrorrelated and criminal charges.

He insists he didn’t play a major role in assembling the massive car bomb - saying that job fell to Jemaah Islamiyah bomb-making masterminds, Azahari bin Husin and Dulmatin, both of whom have since been killed in police raids.

“I only played a small role,” he said, acknowledging that he helped mix less than 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of nearly a ton of the chemicals used in the explosives. “But I still feel guilty, because I was involved in an event that caused massive casualties.” “From the bottom of my heart, I apologize to the victims and their families,” he said. —AP

S Korea police find illegal changes at fire venue SEOUL: The owner of a South Korean karaoke lounge where nine people died in a weekend blaze had made illegal alterations to the interior which made it hard to find emergency exits, police said yesterday. The fire on Saturday night in the southern city of Busan also injured 25 others. The dead included three migrant Sri Lankan workers who were holding a party with Korean colleagues from a car parts company. The blaze started in an empty room near the front door and spread quickly through the lounge. The victims inhaled toxic gases after being trapped inside.

“The owner was found to have altered the structure of his lounge illegally,” a police investigator in Busan told AFP on condition of anonymity. He said the complicated layout of the individual karaoke rooms into which the premises were divided made it hard for customers to find the two emergency exits, one of which was inside one of the rooms. There were no sprinklers.

Survivors said they could hardly move through the establishment’s narrow hallway and could not open the windows. Witnesses reported hearing a loud bang before smoke engulfed the establishment, on the third floor of a six-storey building in a busy commercial district of the port city.

Firefighters believe the blaze might have been caused by a electrical short-circuit. “But it is still unclear what started the fire, and we are trying to restore the lounge’s CCTV to see whether the owner violated rules on fire safety,” the investigator said.

In January a new law took effect, requiring karaoke establishments to use a device which automatically stops video content in individual rooms and displays a warning in case of a fire. The investigator could not immediately say whether such a device was fitted in the Busan venue. Newspapers said many customers did not realise a blaze had broken out because employees initially tried to put out the fire on their own, delaying evacuation. Dong-A newspaper said the Busan fire highlighted the dangers at South Korea’s 36,841 karaoke establishments, which use flammable sound-insulating materials inside. It said there were 197 fires at such places last year. —AFP

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

NEWS

WEST BANK: Israeli soldiers fire tear gas during clashes outside the Ofer Prison close to Ramallah, following a march in support of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike while being held in Israeli prisons yesterday. Israel’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal by two Palestinian prisoners who have been on hunger strike for 69 days in protest at being held without charge, their lawyer said. — AFP

Palestinian exiles find family bonds via Facebook SIDON: As Jewish forces advanced on their village during the war that surrounded Israel’s creation in 1948, the Palestinian Faour family piled children and belongings into donkey carts and fled, hoping to return home when the fighting stopped. Only some of them got back, and the family is still divided. Some are in the Lebanese city of Sidon as stateless refugees. Others are 80 kilometers away as Israeli citizens in their village of Shaab, across a fenced and hostile border.

Granddaughter Mona Maarouf, 26, still considers Shaab home, even though she has spent her life in Sidon, has never visited her ancestral village and maybe never will. She knew she had relatives there but knew nothing about them. Then she joined Facebook. Now she tracks who has died in the village, and her cousins in Israel weigh in on her marriage prospects. “I didn’t think anyone knew anything about me,” she says. “Then I saw that they knew everything.”

Social media have produced a boom in communications between Palestinians in Israel and the Arab world, once connected only through rare letters carried by intermediaries or the International Red Cross. Younger exiles like Maarouf are tracking down and getting to

know relatives separated for decades. Many Palestinians say they now know more about their extended families than at any time since the birth of Israel, an event Palestinians mourn every May 15 as the “Nakba,” or catastrophe.

Mostly they stick to swapping family photos and news, worrying that political talk could draw attention from intelligence agencies. Some, however, say stronger ties will bolster the Palestinian demand that some 5 million Palestinian refugees registered with the UN return to their villages, a demand that Israel rejects, saying it would destroy the Jewish state. “Now we can communicate with all our family,” said Maarouf’s aunt, Taghreed Eissa, who also has spent her life as a refugee in this Mediterranean city. “That makes it impossible for the new generation to forget the Palestinian cause.”

“What happened to the Palestinians is what happened to the Jews before: They were dispersed throughout the world,” said Ali Khatib, 67, a Shaab man with relatives in Syria, Denmark, Canada and Saudi Arabia. Khatib’s family, too, was split by Israel’s creation: his father became an Israeli citizen, while his uncle became a refugee in Lebanon. They lost touch. Then

recently his son asked him about a man in Lebanon named Hisham Khatib whom he had just met online.

His father pointed to a photo of his aunt and uncle on the living room wall. “Those are his grandparents,” he said. Also in Shaab, Houriya Faour, in her 70s, said that before social media, finding relatives was a struggle.

“Now my son comes and tells me, this person says hello,” she said. Typing on a laptop, her son Mohammed, 36, opened a Facebook chat with a woman named Huda Faour whom he found while searching for his last name. “How r u can I ask u a question,” he wrote.

“What are your mom’s and dad’s names?”Minutes later, he had found a new relative - in Texas. Sitting in his travel agency in Shaab, Anwar Faour, 40, scrolled through his Facebook friends, pointing out relatives he has found in the United Arab Emirates, Syria, Lebanon, Dallas, Texas, and Los Angeles. He recalled his surprise as condolences poured in from all over the world upon the recent death of his uncle, a revered village council head.

Across the border, Mona Maarouf followed the news of the uncle’s decline on Facebook and was the first to tell her side of the family when he died. Her grandfather

and his father were brothers, among 11 siblings who ended up divided among Israel, Syria and Lebanon. The interest goes both ways. When Maarouf got engaged to a Palestinian man living in Sweden, Anwar Faour and his brothers in Israel saw photos of the couple online. “They asked for his number and called him and said, You take care of Mona,” Maarouf said. The engagement broke off, but Maarouf said the experience made her feel closer to her relatives. While Facebook strengthens ties, it also highlights differences.

Faour, the travel agent, is an Israeli citizen and cannot enter most Arab countries. He speaks Hebrew and Arabic. Like many Arab citizens of Israel, he complains of discrimination by the state, but says he prefers it to living in a refugee camp. A cousin he corresponds with regularly, Larissa Ajjawi, has spent her life as one of Lebanon’s 436,000 Palestinian refugees who cannot become citizens, hold most jobs or buy property. She speaks Arabic but prefers to write in English or French.

“We talk about general stuff: How are you, what’s going on, who got married, stuff like that,” said Ajjawi, 40, who lives in Beirut. “We never talk politics. I’d like to ask them what they think about things, but I can’t.” — AP

Gunmen slay 32 Yemeni soldiers

GCC congratulates Hollande

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Continued from Page 1

Shabwa province killed Fahd Al-Qasaa, who had been convicted of involvement in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole warship in Yemen’s southern port of Aden.

Residents of Shabwa and the militant group, Ansar Al-Sharia, said the missile was fired from a US drone. A drone strike last year killed a US citizen who US officials

subsequently claimed had helped plan a failed attack on a US airliner. The use of drones has angered the public in Yemen as it has in other countries such as Pakistan, where Washington also uses unmanned aircraft to kill militants. Washington has backed a power transfer that saw President Ali Abdullah Saleh replaced by his deputy in February, after a year of mass protests against Saleh.

The United States now wants Hadi to unify the fragmented army and turn it against militants. — Reuters

Kuwait finance minister under fire, faces...

Continued from Page 1 of dual citizenship which is banned under the Kuwaiti law, besides allegations of wide-spread arms, irregularities in granting Kuwaiti citizenship and others.

The grilling is backed by the so-called minority (or supporters of the previous government) and is not expected to lead into a no-confidence motion because the group does not have the required number of 10 MPs to file the motion. The debate of the two grillings is expected to take place on May 22 and the two will be debated together because they are on the same subject and against the same minister. If the debate ever takes place, it is expected to lead to a no-confidence motion which requires just 25 votes to dismiss the minister.

The opposition has the support of more than 30 MPs. The first grilling of Barrak-Tahous-Anjari charges that the minister is responsible for wide-ranging violations and squandering of public funds to the tone of several billion dinars during the past several years. It charges the minister of violating eight main counts: violating a law to establish a shareholding company to build the Al-Zour power plant and offering the project in a tender instead.

The grilling details many financial and administrative violations committed by Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), which is under the minister, through the KIA holdings in many local and foreign companies, citing violations in the Kuwait Investment Co, Zain telecom and Touristic Enterprises Co. which they claimed had squandered more than KD 1 billion in the value of leases to influential people.

It also charged the minister of siding with local banks against citizens who took loans thus aggravating the problem of bank loans and depriving people from fully benefiting from the low interest rates. The grilling alleges that Shamali had violated the law stipulating a revision of the wages of state employees and retired citizens at least once every two years to account for inflation. It said that Shamali had breached this very important law and failed to raise the wages despite soaring inflation.

The grilling claimed that a number of serious violations had been committed by the customs department, which falls under the finance ministry, while Shamali did not take any action against them. It cited the example of a big

shipment of liquor that came in a container to a foreign embassy in Kuwait and which evaded the inspection of customs officers and was later caught by police on its way to the said embassy. The grilling said Shamali failed to take any action against the customs department for not catching the liquor.

The grilling also highlights a large number of violations in the use of state land costing state coffers hundreds of millions of dinars for the benefit of companies owned by highly influential people. It also included allegations that the state-owned Public Institution for Social Security lost hundreds of millions of dinars in option trading during the global financial crisis and had bought a large number of shares in local companies that are facing huge difficulties because of the crisis.

The Social Security department also comes under the finance minister. The second grilling alleges serious financial and administrative violations and failure to perform duty in applying the law on bank loans. In his grilling, Wasmi accused the minister of failing to apply the law regarding the calculation of interest rates on loans and the way loans are granted by banks which gravely harmed the people and benefited the banks.

That policy, the grilling charges, complicated and aggravated the problem of debt in the country. In the second issue, the grilling charges that in the past fiscal year, there was a very suspicious increase in the amounts for fuel and gas subsidies from the previous year, which raises suspicions of profiteering. In the third issue, Wasmi accuses Shamali of deliberately not collecting state funds from other parties, especially income tax, and exempting many foreign companies from paying taxes in violation of the law.

In another development, MP Mubarak Al-Waalan said that a member of parliament has obtained a special diplomatic passport from Syria which granted him the travel document “for security reasons”. Waalan called on the interior minister to investigate the issue and showed repor ters a copy of the document. Later, MP Abdulhameed Dashti said he will sue Waalan because the name in the document was his and Waalan failed to hide his name. Dashti categorically denied that he obtained the document and said it was a fake one.

QNA. Gas-rich Qatar is a traditional French ally and provided vital Arab support to French and British-led efforts to get a UN mandate for military action to protect civilians during the 2011 uprising in Libya.

Qatar also gave military support to NATO-led air operations in Libya by deploying troops on the ground. The small Gulf peninsula state has also raised

its stake in French energy giant Total and will launch a fund for entrepreneurs from France’s deprived suburbs. Bahrain’s King Hamad too sent a telegram to Hollande wishing him “success” and hailing the “deep and strong ties between the two countries.” Hollande, the 57-year-old Socialist won power Sunday in a close race against incumbent right-winger Sarkozy and now faces the immediate challenge of dealing with Europe’s debt crisis. — AFP

Syrians vote as violence rages Continued from Page 1 Rights said. In the eastern province of Deir Al-Zor, three dissidents were killed in a dawn raid by government troops, the Observatory added, underlining the challenge of holding a credible poll and complicating the task of UN observers monitoring a ceasefire declared on April 12.

Unlike autocratic leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen who were toppled by the Arab Spring, Assad has kept enough support among the military and his Alawite sect, which dominates the army and security apparatus, to withstand the 14-month-old revolt. Assad dismisses the uprising as the work of foreign-backed “terrorists” and, counting on the diplomatic support of longtime ally Russia, says he will carry out his own reform program. But the ferocity of the crackdown has appalled people across the globe and many foreign governments have urged him to step down.

Since succeeding his father Hafez al-Assad in 2000, Assad has relied on a pliant parliament to rubber-stamp the will of the ruling family in the majority Sunni Muslim country. The assembly currently does not have a single opposition member and official media said half the seats would be reserved for “representatives of workers and peasants,” whose unions are controlled by Assad’s Baath Party. Opposition figures are boycotting the vote, saying Syria’s revised constitution - which allowed new political parties to be set up this year - has changed nothing.

Activist Musaab Al-Hamadee said people were striking in Hamaa city with a bloody history of opposition to the Assads - and that activists were burning tyres in the streets. In Qalaat Al-Madeeq, a village in Hama province, video which activists say was filmed yesterday showed the streets completely deserted and shops shuttered.

“Today is the Syrian parliamentary poll and we say to you Bashar Al-Assad that there are no people in Qalaat Al-Madeeq voting. You’ve displaced people and killed women and children. We are on strike,” a man filming in Hama said off-camera. Election posters, mostly of proAssad candidates, hung in central Damascus and

regions where Assad still retains strong authority but there appeared to be fewer in outlying areas that form the bedrock of the revolt.

State television channels aired footage from polling centers across the country, showing people ticking boxes on ballot papers and slipping them into plastic boxes. Despite heavy media coverage in recent days, there has been little discussion of candidate policies or political leanings. In one Damascus polling station 137 people voted in the first three hours, authorities told Reuters. But reporters only observed three people voting there during 40 minutes. Reem Al-Homsi, a recent university graduate, said she voted because she wants what is best for her country. “I want a normal life and I want a job,” she said.

Louay Hussein a centrist activist who heads the Movement for Building a State, said the elections were “window-dressing” and would not shift the balance of power in Syria. “It does not matter who votes. It is a forged election against the will of Syrians with no popular participation. The Syrian parliament has no authority over a single intelligence officer. It has no power in the country at all,” he said. Independent politician Qadri Jameel said he was running “because we believe we can turn the election into a starting point of a political process, and to decrease the level of violence so as to reach dialogue.” Authorities say 14 million people are eligible to vote, including expatriates, and 7,195 candidates are fighting for a 250-seat parliament.

In the Sunni Muslim town of Madaya, a rural centre of the revolt 30 km north of Damascus, there was no sign of an election campaign. In the nearby town of Zabadani, there were a few pictures of one candidate. “He is the only one running and he will win of course, even if we do not vote for him,” said a Zabadani resident called Yasser. More prominent were pictures of young men killed by Assad’s forces, plastered on shuttered shops and facades of buildings. “Vote for your candidate to parliament, the martyr Nour Adnan Al-Dalati,” read one poster, mocking yesterday’s election. — Reuters

14

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

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Issues

Algeria election a contest against mistrust, apathy

By Hamid Ould Ahmed n Algeria, even those who owe their livelihoods to the government find it hard to muster enthusiasm for a parliamentary election this week that few believe will change anything. “If my father rose from his grave and told me to vote, I wouldn’t do it,” one civil servant said as he shared an elevator at a government ministry with two strangers. The election on May 10 is turning out to be not so much a contest between political parties as between those who think people should vote and those who don’t want to.

A big turnout matters greatly to the authorities in this energy-producing north African state. Under pressure to change after the “Arab Spring” upheavals in neighboring countries, they are casting the election as an important step towards democratic reform, and need people to vote in large numbers to lend it legitimacy. But a large segment of the population is mistrustful of elections which, as the president himself has admitted, have been unfair in the past. These people believe this week’s vote will be no different and will either boycott it or - more likely - just not bother to show up.

“Voter turnout will be the main wild card,” said Riccardo Fabiani, North Africa analyst with private thinktank Eurasia Group. “The fragile credibility of the Algerian regime means that many voters are likely to continue to abstain.” The rows of notice-boards put up in the streets to accommodate election posters have become a battleground between the pro-voting camp and those who favor abstaining. Party workers paste up their posters, and by the next morning, many have been ripped down. It is a routine repeated almost every 24 hours. In the El Biar district of Algiers, the only noticeboards that were untouched were on poles about 2.5 meters high, reachable only on a ladder.

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WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR ME? Many people don’t see how the election will affect their day-to-day preoccupations around unemployment, periodic shortages of goods, poor housing and high prices. In several neighborhoods of the capital, people scrawled the price of potatoes, which tripled at one point last month, over the posters. “We are not interested in the election campaign. I do not trust them and I will not vote,” said Sofiane Medjehedine, an unemployed man taking part in a protest rally organized by an association for jobless people in central Algiers.

In Hadjout, 80 km west of the capital, the Front de Liberation Nationale, the country’s biggest party, whose honorary head is the president, held an election gathering in a vocational training centre. A queue formed outside a gas station about 100 meters away after rumors spread about a fuel shortage. “They are not even able to provide us with fuel,” said a man in the queue, who gave his name as Ahmed. “They remember us only when elections approach. Where have they been over the past months? They come to our district once every five years.” Thursday’s vote is expected to be the fairest and most transparent in two decades. Twice as many parties are taking part as in the last election five years ago and the European Union is sending observers for the first time.

With no reliable opinion polls, it is hard to judge how many people will ultimately abstain. Because of efforts to make the election more fair, the turnout may not be as low as last time, when it was 35 percent. A figure even close to that would be a rebuke to the authorities and their pledge to re-connect with voters, however.

The authorities are sufficiently worried that they have sent out mass text messages reminding people that voting is their duty as citizens. On state-run television, advertising spots exhort people to “make a date for May 10.” One Muslim cleric issued a fatwa, or religious edict, saying God will punish those who abstain.

WHY NOT VOTE? But it is difficult to fight the apathy and indifference of many in the voting population. For one thing, the parliament has very limited powers under Algeria’s constitution. For another, after decades of rigged elections, it is likely to take more than one credible election to restore people’s confidence. It was the military-backed government’s annulment of a parliamentary election in 1991, which a hardline Islamist movement was poised to win, that sparked fighting between Islamist insurgents and state security which has killed an estimated 200,000 people.— Reuters

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.

Greek, French voters reject German-led austerity

By Noah Barkin reek voters dealt a serious blow on Sunday to the fragile political consensus that has kept Europe’s currency bloc intact through more than two years of crisis, rejecting the austerity-for-aid policies that have shielded the country from bankruptcy and a euro exit. Greece’s vote, combined with the victory of Socialist Francois Hollande over incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in a French presidential election, will raise pressure on Europe’s paymaster Germany to pursue a more growth-oriented approach to the crisis.

But it is far from clear whether Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose insistence on tough deficit reduction in vulnerable southern euro members is popular in Germany, will take more than symbolic steps in that direction, even after Sunday’s elections. “This shows that politics is getting out of control in Europe, the gap between politicians and voters is widening, that’s what you see in Greece, that’s what you see in France,” said Steen Jakobsen, chief economist at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen.

“Clearly, voters across Europe have started to send the message: ‘we are not ready to do the reforms’, and that’s worrying.” More immediately, the struggle of Greece’s two big pro-bailout parties conser vative New Democracy and socialist PASOK - to secure a parliamentary majority raises questions about whether Athens can stay in the euro zone in the long run, and may spark a new wave of contagion to other member states. The Greek result puts Hollande, a novice on the international stage who has never held a ministerial post nor met Merkel, in the hot seat from day one.

Investors worried about Greece’s future and the arrival of the first Socialist in the Elysee Palace in 17 years, could punish European financial markets start-

G

ing on Monday, pushing the entire bloc back towards crisis-mode. Hollande must cobble together a new government rapidly and prove that France, which alongside Germany has led Europe’s response to the crisis, is capable of taking the quick decisions needed to keep the 13-year old currency zone together. “His room for maneouvre will be really tight,” said Fabrice Couste, head of CMC Markets in Paris.

SPAIN IS KEY Perhaps the most crucial question for Europe over the coming days is whether markets, spooked by the elections, renew their attacks on a big euro zone state like Spain, which has pressed ahead with deep budget cuts and economic reforms in a desperate bid to win back the confidence of investors.

Both Spain and Italy are considered “too big to fail” and would severely test Europe’s resources if they required the kind of bailouts Europe has already given to Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

“In many ways Spain remains a bigger problem than Greece because of its size,” said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank in London. Worried about contagion, European leaders agreed earlier this year to bolster their “firewall” for protecting vulnerable states to 700 billion euros.

Last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) coaxed an additional 430 billion euros in new crisis-fighting funds out of its members.

The European Central Bank, in a further step, has made massive amounts of liquidity available to vulnerable banks, a move which calmed markets in the first months of 2012 before concerns about Spain’s dire economic state resurfaced.

Both Greece and Spain have endured austerity that has pushed their unemployment rates close to 25 percent and led to a severe contraction in economic activity.

Pensions have been slashed, public sector workers fired and taxes hiked.

Hollande’s campaign was predicated on a new approach to the crisis that would put growth first.

He is expected to travel to Berlin as soon as he is sworn in to begin negotiations on a new “growth pact” for Europe that would complement Merkel’s “fiscal compact ” - a set of rules to anchor German-style budget discipline across the euro zone. New measures to bolster growth are expected to include steps to increase the firepower of the European Investment Bank (EIB), make more flexible use of EU structural aid funds and socalled “project bonds” to fund investment in infrastructure projects like highways, bridges and energy networks. A Franco-German deal could be rubberstamped at a summit of EU leaders in Brussels in late June. But few economists believe the pact will make much of a difference for countries on Europe’s hardhit southern periphery.

Nor do they think Hollande can afford to weaken France’s own commitment to deficit reduction or jeopardize its relationship with Germany by pushing for bolder steps considered taboo in Berlin, like joint euro zone bonds, big stimulus programs or delays in meeting fiscal targets. “Germany remains the political and economic hegemon in the euro zone.

This is a point that Hollande will at some point have to come to terms with,” Eurasia analysts wrote. “What we are most likely to see is a flurry of announcements and initiatives, none of which will make a serious impact on short or medium-term growth prospects.”

EXIT RISK That would increase the odds of a backlash that could stir popular unrest that Europe’s policymakers cannot control. In Greece, the country where the crisis first erupted in 2009, voters punished the parties that have dominated

politics for decades. New Democracy and PASOK, the only parties that support the EU/IMF bailouts that have helped Greece avert bankruptcy, looked set to secure well under 40 percent of the vote together, and may struggle to form a parliamentary majority. Extreme parties on the left and right scored unprecedented gains, in a pattern that has repeated itself in elections across Europe.

At the very least, Greece seems likely to face weeks of political uncertainty.

Next month, parliament must approve over 11 billion euros in new spending cuts for 2013 and 2014 if the country to receive its latest aid tranche. “Before the elections, we had pointed to a 40 percent risk that the flow of support to Greece may stop and Greece may thus be forced to exit the euro later this year,” said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank.

“The exit polls suggest that the risk has certainly not decreased.” European leaders signaled at a G20 summit in Nice last November that they would be prepared to allow Greece to leave the bloc if the Greek people refused to support the conditions of their bailout.

And German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble hinted at a possible euro exit on Friday, saying that Greece would have to “bear the consequences” if it did not elect a government ready to comply with the demands of its international lenders. But an exit of any member would be a humiliating setback for the currency bloc and as there is no legal mechanism for a country to leave, the obstacles are high. A Greek exit would also set a dangerous precedent as markets could quickly bet on another country leaving. That means a Greek departure is unlikely to happen soon, even if an angry electorate appeared to reject the policies that have kept the country on life-support and in the euro zone.—Reuters

Sarkozy is biggest victim of Europe’s debt crisis icolas Sarkozy is the latest national leader toppled by Europe’s debt crisis after the fall of governments in Ireland, Portugal, Slovakia, Italy, Greece, Spain and the Netherlands.

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wing leader Robert Fico won the election.

ITALY Silvio Berlusconi resigned on November 12, 2011 after losing his parliamentary

majority. The 75-year-old media mogul, long a fixture of Italian politics, handed over to ex-European commissioner Mario Monti who set up a government of technocrats named to implement a tough anti-

IRELAND Prime Minister Brian Cowen was the first victim of the debt crisis when his Fianna Fail party, which dominated political life for 80 years, lost a general election in February 2011. Cowen was replaced by Enda Kenny, of the conservative Fine Gael, who runs a coalition government that some months later was offered better repayment terms on a 2010 rescue package that many Irish took as a blow to national pride.

GREECE Socialist Prime Minister George Papandreou stepped down on November 11, 2011 and was replaced by Lucas Papademos, a former deputy governor of the European Central Bank and ex-governor of the Greek central bank. Papandreou faced fierce resistance to austerity measures demanded in return for fresh international loans to save Greece from bankruptcy. But Greek voters angry over austerity dealt a major blow to mainstream parties in weekend elections, making it unclear how a new government will be formed.

SPAIN Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, facing a groundswell of discontent over successive austerity packages, decided to bring forward by four months to November 20 a vote initially scheduled for March 2012. The election was won by conservative Mariano Rajoy who is implementing tough austerity measures to ward off market pressure despite fierce opposition protests.

PORTUGAL Prime Minister Jose Socrates resigned in March 2011 after parliament rejected a fourth austerity package in less than a year.

After conservatives won June elections, new Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho urged the country for “much courage” to face up to more belt-tightening.

SLOVAKIA The centre-right government headed

by Iveta Radicova lost an October 2011 confidence vote she called to secure the country’s backing to beef up the eurozone rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). Slovakia, whose approval was needed to strengthen the 17-nation bailout facility, finally approved it in a second vote won with the support of the opposition. On March 15, 2012, left-

crisis austerity plan backed by the country’s main parties.

PARIS: This combination of two photos shows the French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris. — AP

NETHERLANDS Prime Minister Mark Rutte handed in his minority government’s resignation on April 23, 2012 after failing to win support from the far-right to adopt a bid to reduce the country’s public deficit to 3.0 percent as agreed under eurozone rules. An election has been scheduled for September 12.— AFP

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

sp orts

Draxler gets Euro callup BERLIN: Schalke 04’s teenage midfielder Julian Draxler won a surprise callup yesterday to Germany’s preliminary 27-man squad for Euro 2012 next month. The uncapped 19-year-old made his Bundesliga debut just over a year ago and has been in sparkling form this season, helping Schalke clinch a third-place finish.

Coach Joachim Loew said the final squad would be announced later this month, adding there would be some changes. Germany’s players begin their preparations on Friday without several key men. The players from Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich will be absent, because of Saturday’s German Cup final, together with Real Madrid pair Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira.

Bayern’s players will not join up with the Euro 2012 squad until after the Champions League final against Chelsea to be held on May 19.—Reuters

Djokovic wary of blue clay MADRID: Wary top seed Novak Djokovic said yesterday he hoped that play this week on the untried blue clay laid down for the Madrid Masters will be injury-free as the controversial surface gets a test under battle conditions.

The world number one also fired a shot across the bow of the ATP, which agreed to the one-year experiment without informing players, a coup quietly pushed through without executive oversight by former boss Adam Helfant, who left at the end of 2011.

“The hope of all players is that we won’t have injuries and have a decent week of tennis,” said Djokovic, who skipped the ATP event in Belgrade last week after the death of his grandfather

MLB results/standings

Baltimore Tampa Bay Toronto NY Yankees Boston Cleveland Detroit Chicago W Sox Kansas City Minnesota Texas Oakland Seattle LA Angels

W L PCT 19 9 .679 19 10 .655 16 13 .552 15 13 .536 11 16 .407 Central Division 15 11 .577 14 13 .519 13 15 .464 9 18 .333 7 20 .259 Western Division 18 10 .643 15 14 .517 13 17 .433 12 17 .414

GB 0.5 3.5 4 7.5 1.5 3 6.5 8.5 3.5 6 6.5

Washington Atlanta NY Mets Miami Philadelphia St. Louis Cincinnati Houston Milwaukee Pittsburgh Chicago Cubs LA Dodgers San Francisco Arizona Colorado San Diego

National League Eastern Division 18 10 .643 18 11 .621 15 13 .536 14 14 .500 14 15 .483 Central Division 17 11 .607 14 13 .519 13 15 .464 12 16 .429 12 16 .429 11 17 .393 Western Division 18 10 .643 14 14 .500 14 15 .483 12 15 .444 9 20 .310

0.5 3 4 4.5 2.5 4 5 5 6 4 4.5 5.5 9.5

Angels roll over Blue Jays ANAHEIM: Albert Pujols finally hit a home run for the Los Angeles Angels, ending the longest power drought of his career Sunday in a 4-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Pujols connected in the fifth inning for his first AL homer and the 446th overall. When he returned to the dugout, he had it all to himself. No players, no coaches, no batboys.

Pujols’ teammates gave him the ol’ silent treatment, a plot hatched by Torii Hunter.

They were all waiting for the slugger in the tunnel leading to the clubhouse. Then, a burst of euphoria and they were all back on the bench, high-fiving and slapping him all over his body.

The three-time National League most valuable player had gone 33 games and 139 at-bats dating to last year without a home run in the regular season.

Pujols drove a 2-2 pitch from Drew Hutchison (1-1) into the left-field bullpen for a two-run shot. He homered in his 28th game and 111th at-bat with the Angels, who signed him to a 10-year, $240 million contract as a free agent in December.

Orioles 9, Red Sox 6 At Boston, Baltimore designated hitter Chris Davis overcame an awful day at the plate by pitching two scoreless innings and getting the win as the Orioles outlasted Boston in the first major league game since

JJ Hardy had five hits, including two homers, as Baltimore completed a sweep and won its fifth in a row. The shortstop also made a relay to the plate that cut down the potential winning run to end the 16th.

Robert Andino hit a three-run shot for the Orioles, who improved to a major league-best 19-9. Boston rookie Will Middlebrooks hit a grand slam for his first major league homer.

Gonzlaez was 0 for 8.

Indians 4, Rangers 2 Ay Cleveland, Ubaldo Jimenez pitched seven scoreless innings as Cleveland handed Texas rookie Yu Darvish (4-1) his first major league loss. Asdrubal Cabrera hit a two-run double and Jason Kipnis homered off the Japanese star, who struck out a career-high 11 over six innings. Jimenez (3-2) walked four in the first three innings but settled down and permitted only two hits.

Chris Perez pitched the ninth for his 11th consecutive save. He was helped by a diving catch in right field by Choo Shin-soo.

The first-place Indians took two of three from the two-time defending AL champions after going 1-9 against the Rangers in 2011.

Yankees 10, Royals 4 At Kansas City, Missouri, Robinson Cano hit his eighth career grand slam, Alex Rodriguez added a three-run shot as New York tagged Kansas City starter Luke Hochevar.

Nick Swisher added a homer in his return to the starting lineup from a hamstring injury, helping the Yankees earn a four-game split.

Phil Hughes (2-4) went a season-high 6 2-3 innings for the win.

Hochevar (2-3) was battered for the second straight start, his ERA soaring to 9.00 on the season. He was yanked after 2 1-3 innings.

Tigers 3, White Sox 1 At Detroit, Prince Fielder homered and Rick Porcello pitched impressively into the seventh inning to lead Detroit over Chicago.

Fielder’s 432-foot shot to right-center - his fourth of the year - broke a 1-all tie in the third. Austin Jackson homered for the Tigers in the first after Adam Dunn gave Chicago an early lead with a solo shot in the top half.

Andy Dirks added a home run in the eighth.

Porcello (3-2) allowed a run and four hits in 6 1-3 innings. Four relievers finished for the Tigers, with Jose Valverde pitching the ninth for his fifth save.

ANAHEIM: Los Angeles Angels’ Albert Pujols hits a two-run home run against the Toronto Blue Jays during the fifth inning of a baseball game.—AP 1925 in which both teams put a position player on the mound.

Davis went 0 for 8, striking out five times and grounding into a double play. But in a season full of surprises for the Orioles, a first baseman by trade delivered the biggest one yet in a crazy game at Fenway Park.

Adam Jones hit a three-run homer in the top of the 17th off Darnell McDonald (0-1), an outfielder the Red Sox turned to once their bullpen was empty.

The last time two teams brought in position players to pitch in the same game was Oct. 4, 1925, when Hall of Famers Ty Cobb of Detroit and George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns closed out the second game of a doubleheader on the last day of the season, STATS LLC said.

The last time any position player wound up as the winning pitcher was May 25, 2011, when Philadelphia infielder Wilson Valdez threw one scoreless inning in a 19-inning victory over Cincinnati.

SOFIA: Lokomotiv Plovdiv midfielder Dakson da Silva has tested positive for the banned substance methylprednisolone following his team’s 1-0 win over Litex Lovech in the Bulgarian Cup semi-finals last month, the club said yesterday. “I’m shocked,” the tearful Brazilian told a news conference in which the Lokomotiv doctor took responsibility for the failed drug test.

“It’s so hard to accept that I’ll not be able to help my team mates in the most important matches of the season.” The skilful 24-year-old midfielder faces a ban of up to two years from the Bulgarian Olympic Committee (BOC)’s disciplinary commission.

Lokomotiv said the result of the match would stand despite the failed test. They face Ludogorets in the May 16 final. “I am away from my family and I would never do such things to undermine my reputation and my family’s reputation,” added Dakson, who joined the Plovdivbased side in 2006.—Reuters

Marlins, Giants grab wins

Cleveland 4, Texas 2; Detroit 3, Chicago White Sox 1; NY Mets 3, Arizona 1; Baltimore 9, Boston 6 (17 innings); Cincinnati 5, Pittsburgh 0; Oakland 9, Tampa Bay 5; St. Louis 8, Houston 1; NY Yankees 10, Kansas City 4; Chicago Cubs 4, LA Dodgers 3 (11 innings); Atlanta 7, Colorado 2; LA Angels 4, Toronto 3; Miami 6, San Diego 3; San Francisco 4, Milwaukee 3 (11 innings); Seattle 5, Minnesota 2; Philadelphia 9, Washington 3.

American League Eastern Division

during the Monte Carlo Masters.

Serb Djokovic played through his emotional pain and reached the Monte Carlo final, where he was crushed by Rafael Nadal.

“The blue clay surface makes this year different,” said the 2011 Madrid champion. “It is the first time in history.

It will be interesting for everyone to see what happens.

“There is a certain difference compared to red clay, but we have it (blue) in front of us. I tried to prepare for it as well as I could. But it’s the same for everyone.” Djokovic joined with Nadal in criticising ATP executives who didn’t bother to consult with at least their top-shelf players.—AFP

Dakson fails dope test

Athletics 9, Rays 5 At St. Petersburg, Florida, Brandon Inge hit his first homer for Oakland and drove in four runs as the Athletics roughed up Tampa Bay rookie pitcher Matt Moore.

Jonny Gomes and Daric Barton knocked in two runs apiece for the A’s, who took two of three at Tropicana Field to hand the Rays their first series loss since Boston won three of four April 13-16.

Tampa Bay dropped its second straight, falling to 13-3 at home, and failed again to become the first major league team to reach 20 wins. Inge, released by Detroit on April 26 after 11 seasons with the Tigers, hit a threerun shot off Moore (1-2) in the third to give Oakland a 5-4 lead after Tommy Milone (4-2) struggled in the first.

Mariners 5, Twins 2 At Seattle, rookie slugger Jesus Montero lined a two-run double in the first inning and Mike Carp added his first homer of the season to lead Seattle past slumping Minnesota.

Mariners starter Hector Noesi (2-3) took a shutout into the seventh before giving up a solo shot to Ryan Doumit, who homered again in the ninth off Tom Wilhelmsen. Seattle won its second straight after snapping a seven-game skid Saturday night.—AP

SAN DIEGO: Ricky Nolasco remained unbeaten and Giancarlo Stanton drew a bases-loaded walk to force in the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning as the Miami Marlins beat the San Diego Padres 6-3 Sunday for their season-best sixth straight victory. Miami had lost eight of nine before its winning streak. The Marlins have swept consecutive three-game series on the road for the second time in team history.

Stanton’s walk keyed a four-run eighth. The slugger saw eight pitches from Andrew Cashner (2-2) and all of them registered at least 101 mph.

Nolasco (4-0) allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings to tie Dontrelle Willis for the club record with his 68th career win.

Giants 4, Brewers 3 At San Francisco, pinch-hitter Hector Sanchez singled over a five-man infield with the bases loaded in the 11th inning, giving San Francisco a victory over Milwaukee.

Buster Poster singled off sidearm submariner Tim Dillard (0-1) leading off the inning and pinch-runner Emmanuel Burriss moved to second on Angel Pagan’s sacrifice bunt.

Travis Ishikawa’s run-scoring double for the Brewers handed fill-in closer Santiago Casilla his first blown save in the ninth.

Left hander Javier Lopez (3-0) got one out for the win after Matt Cain struck out 10 in seven innings. Pagan extended his hitting streak to 20 games, the longest active run in the majors.

Cardinals 8, Astros 1 At Houston, Tyler Greene hit a career-high two homers and drove in four runs as Adam Wainwright kept up his dominance of Houston.

Allen Craig also homered as St. Louis stopped a three-game skid and ended Houston’s fivegame winning streak. Wainwright (2-3) improved to 10-1 in 17 career appearances against the Astros - his most wins against any team. JA Happ (2-2) allowed a season-high six runs in five innings.

Cubs 4, Dodgers 3 At Chicago, David DeJesus drew a basesloaded walk in the 11th inning to lift Chicago over Los Angeles. Darwin Barney led off the 11th with a double. Wellington Castillo was intention-

Mets 3, D’backs 1 At New York, RA Dickey baffled the Diamondbacks with his knuckleball, pitching shutout ball into the ninth inning to lead New York past Arizona.

Dickey (4-1) allowed four hits in eight-plus innings, struck out four and walked four, coming within three outs of his third career shutout.

Frank Francisco earned his seventh save in eight chances.

Daniel Murphy hit a two-run single in the first and Josh Thole had an RBI single in the fifth.

Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada left in the fifth after straining his right quadriceps.

Reds 5, Pirates 0 At Pittsburgh, Mat Latos struck out a career-

Phillies 9, Nationals 3 At Washington, Cole Hamels gave up five hits over eight innings and Hunter Pence hit a pair of two-run home runs to lead Philadelphia over Washington. Hamels was in line for his 11th career complete game as he batted to lead off the ninth.

The Phillies’ offense then batted around, scoring six runs, and Hamels was lifted for pinch-hitter John Mayberry when his spot came up the second time in the inning.

Washington rookie Bryce Harper stole home in the first inning, just the latest in an already growing list of accomplishments for the 19-yearold. But the Nationals lost a key player when right fielder Jayson Werth broke his left wrist while attempting a sliding catch.

SAN DIEGO: Miami Marlins’ Giancarlo Stanton ducks under a high inside pitch for a bases loaded walk during the eighth inning of the baseball game with the San Diego Padres. —AP

Braves 7, Rockies 2 At Denver, Brandon Beachy pitched effectively into the seventh inning and Freddie Freeman hit a three-run homer as Atlanta beat Colorado for a three-game sweep.

Dan Uggla homered, singled and drove in two runs for the Braves, who are a major leaguebest 18-7 since April 10. The Rockies went 3-6 on their homestand. Beachy (3-1) allowed two runs and four hits in 6 1-3 innings, retiring 14 straight during one stretch. Cristhian Martinez tossed 2 2-3 hitless innings for his first save.

ally walked and pinch-hitter Jeff Samardzija was hit by a pitch to load the bases. On a 3-2 pitch, DeJesus drew the game-winning walk.

Starlin Castro hit a two-run single for the Cubs, who overcame an early 3-0 deficit. They tied it on Tony Campana’s double in the ninth off closer Javy Guerra. DeJesus, who would have been the winning run, was thrown out at home.

It was Guerra’s third blown save in 11 chances. Rafael Dolis (2-2) got the win, while Jamey Wright (1-2) took the loss. The start was delayed 2 hours, 41 minutes by rain.

high 11 batters over six sharp innings in Cincinnati’s victory over Pittsburgh.

Drew Stubbs had three hits, including a tworun homer, and scored three times. Todd Frazier added his first home run of the season.

Latos (2-2) escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first and then cruised. Pittsburgh never got a runner past second base over his final five innings. The right-hander gave up two hits while walking three. Three relievers upped Cincinnati’s strikeout total to 17, tying a club record for a nine-inning game.—AP

On to the Preakness for I’ll Have Another LOUISVILLE: Doug O’Neill spent all evening celebrating I’ll Have Another’s victory in the Kentucky Derby, finally returning to his hotel room about 2 am Sunday.

The party began at the trainer’s barn at Churchill Downs, moved to a charity dinner and ended up at a downtown hotel where the colt’s owner, J. Paul Reddam, had reserved the 25th floor for about 100 people. As O’Neill walked to his room, he saw dozens of morning newspapers lining the hallway. The bold black headline blared, “I’ll Have Another!” with a huge photo of the chestnut colt edging past Bodemeister to win the Derby by 11/2 lengths.

“Whoa, that really was an unbelievable feeling,” the trainer said.

“That was another stamp that it really happened.” O’Neill isn’t wasting any time in sending I’ll Have Another to Maryland for the second leg of the Triple Crown. The colt will fly from Louisville to Baltimore late yesterday, making him the earliest arriving Derby winner since Monarchos showed up at Pimlico four days after his 2001 win.

I’ll Have Another is in position to win horse racing’s first Triple Crown since 1978 when Affirmed swept the Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes within a five-week span.

“I get goose bumps just thinking about it,” O’Neill said. “I think he is the kind of horse who can maintain his form and keep it going.” I’ll Have Another likely will be seeing some of his old rivals again in Baltimore.

Seven Derby horses might run in the 1 3-16-mile Preakness, led by runner-up Bodemeister. The other possibilities are Went the Day Well (fourth), Creative Cause (fifth), Liaison (sixth), Union Rags (sev-

enth), Hansen (ninth) and Optimizer (11th). Went the Day Well sustained a cut on his right front ankle in the Derby, but trainer Graham Motion said it wasn’t a problem. Seven new candidates are on tap, too.

They are: Pretension and Brimstone Island, the top two finishers in the Canonero II Stakes on Saturday at Pimlico; Cozzetti; Hierro and Paynter, the top two finishers in the Derby Trial at Churchill; Jerome Stakes winner The Lumber Guy; and Tiger Walk.

O’Neill, based at Betfair Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Calif., last ran a horse in Maryland six years ago when Thor’s Echo won the Grade 1 De Francis Memorial Dash on his way to winning an

Eclipse Award as the nation’s top sprinter. Reddam has owned one previous Preakness starter - Wilko, who was 12th in 2005.

O’Neill plans to briefly return to California before heading back East this week. He told his young son and daughter that if I’ll Have Another won the Derby, the family would get a hot tub. “We are going to have to do some shopping now,” he said.

Five-time Preakness winner Bob Baffert plans to keep his two Derby runners, Bodemeister and Liaison, along with Paynter, at Churchill before deciding next weekend whether to take on I’ll Have Another in Baltimore.

“I will let him tell me if he’s ready, like I did with Lookin At

LOUISVILLE: Groomer Inocencio Diaz rubs the nose of Kentucky Derby winner I’ll Have Another at Churchill Downs in this file photo. —AP

Lucky,” Baffert said about Bodemeister, who led most of the Derby until getting caught late by I’ll Have Another. In 2010, Lookin At Lucky finished sixth as the Derby favorite and went on to win the Preakness.

“With Lookin At Lucky, the day after the Derby I told them, ‘We’re not going to run,’” Baffert said. “The next Monday I said, ‘Not only are we going, we’re going to win this.’

I’ve got to wait and see if he shows me a spark.”

Four of the top six places in the Derby went to horses based in Southern California. Besides I’ll Have Another and Bodemeister, Creative Cause was fifth and Liaison was sixth.

Trainer Michael Matz said he didn’t think seventh-place Union Rags, second choice in the Derby betting, would try the Preakness.

The colt is based in Fair Hill, Md., about 11/2 hours from Pimlico.

However, Matz said running in the 11/2-mile Belmont on June 9 “would make more sense.”

Matz said he would decide after watching Union Rags train and talking with the colt’s 71-year-old owner Phyllis Wyeth.

Union Rags broke a step slow, then got bumped and squeezed back to 18th in the 20-horse field before hitting traffic on the far turn.

Matz said he felt badly for the horse and his owner.

“I don’t mind getting beat, I just don’t like getting beat the way he did in the Florida Derby and the Kentucky Derby,” Matz said, referring to Union Rags’ third-place finish in Florida as the favorite. “I know I shouldn’t be crying over spilled milk because it’s happened to other people, too.”—AP

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

sp orts

Boy seeks to remain on girls hockey squad

TALLADEGA: Brad Keselowski (2) celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race in this file photo. — AP

Keselowski gets push from Busch to win in Talladega TALLADEGA: The leader on the last lap isn’t supposed to win at Talladega Superspeedway. Everybody knows that.

Brad Keselowski disagrees, and he showed how to do it Sunday with a calculated plan that sent him to Victory Lane.

Keselowski used a big push from Kyle Busch to pass leader Matt Kenseth, and after leaving the Daytona 500 winner in their wake, Keselowski staved off Busch’s attempt to snatch the win. Using a move Keselowski said he had dreamed about, he held on for his second win of the season and second at Talladega.

“I had this whole plan if I ever got in that situation where I was leading; I thought about it and thought about it, dreamed about what to do, and sure enough, going into (turn) three, it was just me and Kyle,” Keselowski said. “I knew the move I wanted to pull. It worked because the guy running second should have the advantage, but I had this move all worked up in my mind.”

Keselowski was the first driver in the last five races at Talladega to take the white flag and hold on for the win. He did it with a plan that left both Busch and Kenseth flat-footed, and both praised Keselowski after the race. “He’s no dummy, that’s for sure,” said Busch, who wound up second for the second consecutive day.

Busch was the leader on the last lap of Saturday’s Nationwide Series race, and was passed by Joey Logano right at the finish line. He conceded there’s little the leader can do to preserve the victory on the last lap of a restrictor-plate race, and predicted how Sunday would unfold.

“If you’re leading, being pushed, plan on finishing second. That’s all there is to it,” Busch said after Saturday’s defeat.

So he should have been sitting pretty after pushing Keselowski to the front.

Instead, Keselowski went high into the third turn, then pulled off of Busch’s bumper to create some separation.

“That allowed me to drive untouched to the checkered flag,” Keselowski said.

“It wasn’t easy to convince myself to do that, but it was the right move.” Busch initially seemed dumbfounded.

“I must have screwed something up, because we got to turn three and came unhooked,” Busch said. “Just gave the win away over there. Not sure exactly what happened. We definitely need to go back and figure out what it was.”

Kenseth didn’t feel much better. He led seven times for a race-high 73 laps, but believed he gave the win away on the final restart.

A nine-car accident with four laps remaining brought out the yellow flag, setting up a two-lap overtime sprint to the finish. Kenseth, as the leader, got to pick where he wanted to restart and chose the outside line so Roush Fenway Racing teammate Greg Biffle would line up behind him and presumably push him to the victory.

That put Keselowski and Busch together on the inside line, but they drifted back on the restart as Kenseth indeed was able to jump out to a huge lead. It was probably too big of a lead.

Kenseth got a little too far away from Biffle, which gave the Keselowski-Busch tandem a chance to catch him. The two cars sailed past Kenseth on the outside line.

“I think we had the winning car, really just didn’t have the winning driver,” Kenseth said. “I looked forward for a second, when I looked back, Greg and I

were separated, those guys were already outside of him. With me not paying attention, keeping us hooked up, just cost us a shot at the win, cost Greg a shot at the win.” “I wasn’t too fast. I was just too stupid I guess at the end to keep a win.”

It put Keselowski in Victory Lane for the second time this season, which helps his championship chances. He’s been streaky through the first 10 races of the year, and even with this second victory, he’s only ranked 12th in the Sprint Cup standings.

But those wins should guarantee him at least a wild-card berth into the 12-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup championship field.

“Two wins, with the wild card and all, that almost makes you immune to missing the Chase,” Keselowski said. “This team is going to be strong come Chase time. The best is yet to come.”

The victory continued a hot streak for team owner Roger Penske, who won for the first time in the Sprint Cup Series at Talladega. It was also the first win for manufacturer Dodge at Talladega since Dave Marcis in 1976.

Penske, meanwhile, has won all four of the IndyCar races so far this season and driver Will Power is leading the series standings as they prepare for the May 27 Indianapolis 500. For now, though, the team owner is thinking about where Keselowski can take him.

Penske has never won a Cup title since entering NASCAR in 1972, although he was out of the series from 1981 through 1990. Keselowski gave him a Nationwide Series championship in 2010, his only NASCAR title.

“Obviously, one of the goals in my life is to sit up on that stage (at the championship banquet), and I think he’s the guy that can make it happen this year,” said Penske, who called it the perfect race.

That might be going a little too far, which even Keselowski would admit.

He helped cause a caution with seven laps to go when he ran into the back of former Penske teammate Kurt Busch.

Keselowski was apologetic immediately after climbing from his car in Victory Lane.

“I got to Kurt and tried to push him.

He tried staying in line. He didn’t want to go,” Keselowski said. “He probably didn’t know what was going on behind him, which is natural. When he decided not to go, I tried to force him to go. It was a combination of events that were unfortunate. I hated to see that happen.” On the restart with four laps remaining, Penske’s other driver, AJ Allmendinger, was part of the accident that stopped the action again.

It was the last of five cautions in yet another race that featured fairly clean racing. NASCAR’s now had six consecutive uncharacteristically clean races, which drew a tongue-and-cheek response from defending series champion Tony Stewart, who was collected in the Allmendinger accident.

“I’m upset that we didn’t crash more cars,” said Stewart, who finished 24th.

“That’s what we’re here for. I feel bad if I don’t spend at least $150,000 in torn-up race cars going back to the shop. We’ve definitely got to do a better job at that.”

Kasey Kahne finished fourth and was followed by Biffle, Clint Bowyer and David Ragan. Trevor Bayne was eighth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. ninth and Jeff Burton rounded out the top 10. — AP

GARDEN CITY: He’s too good, and that’s too bad. A 13-year-old boy who played field hockey growing up in Ireland has been told that after two years as a member of his US school’s girls’ team, he is now too skilled to qualify for an exemption allowing him to compete with girls next season.

Keeling Pilaro, whose 10 goals and eight assists earned him all-conference honors on New York’s Long Island - he was the only boy in any league - is appealing the decision, and a lawyer for his family suggests a court battle could ensue.

An appeals committee said it looked only at his skills, not size or strength, when upholding the decision to keep him off the field. That raises a question of discrimination.

Keeling’s fight appears to be a rare example of a man seeking to take advantage of Title IX, a 40-year-old law enacted to provide women equal access to athletic opportunities.

There are no boys’ high school field hockey teams anywhere on Long Island, or in most of the country.

“It’s really annoying,” the boy said in a recent interview. “I don’t really care if I’m on a girls’ team or a boys’ team, I just want to play.”

Southampton school administrators agree, but they don’t have the final say.

Edward Cinelli, the director of the organization that oversees high school athletics in Suffolk County, cited a provision in state education law that says administrators are permitted to bar boys from girls’ teams if a boy’s participation “would have a significant adverse effect” on a girl’s opportunity to participate in interschool competition in that sport.

Officials say Keeling’s skills are superior to the girls he plays against, creating an unfair advantage. Family attorney Frank Scagluso argued that judging the boy’s stick play is subjective, and that many girls playing in Suffolk County have superior skills.

In order to play with the girls, Keeling had to get permission from Suffolk’s mixed-competition committee, which screens players who want to compete on teams of the opposite sex. Cinelli says there have been occasions where girls have been approved to play football, wrestle or compete in other traditional boys sports, but Keeling is the first in his memory to play alongside girls.

After a year on the junior varsity and a second season with the varsity, the committee in March denied Keeling permission to play next season. The panel’s appeals committee in

SOUTHAMPTON: In an Oct. 21, 2011 photo, Keeling Pilaro, 13, is seen on the field as a member of the Southampton High School Girls’ Varsity field hockey team. — AP April affirmed the original decision. Another appeal hearing is set for May 15.

Keeling’s chances of winning on a Title IX argument are slim, said Joanna Grossman, a law professor at Hofstra University, because the law was established to benefit those who claim their opportunities to compete are underrepresented. Most of the time that favors women or girls, because schools provide more opportunities for boys to play athletics.

But, she said, he could successfully argue that he is the victim of discrimination because officials already granted him permission to play and may now be holding him to a higher standard than girls. The United States is one of

the rare places in the world where boys do not regularly play field hockey, said Chris Clements, the national men’s coach for USA Field Hockey.

He said Keeling’s age and skill sets should not disqualify him from playing with the girls next season. “Obviously at some stage we do need to separate them in terms of their speed and skill,” Clements said. He didn’t think Keeling’s participation on a girls’ team at his age would be detrimental. “ I would say right now he fits in just fine,” Clements said. “I’d say right now the girls are just as fast and just as strong. He stands out naturally because he’s a boy. He just looks different.” — AP

LA Kings sweep Blues

NEWARK: New Jersey Devils’ Dainius Zubrus (8), of Lithuania, scores a goal on Philadelphia Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, of Russia, in the second period of Game 4 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series. — AP

LOS ANGELES: Dustin Brown scored two goals and Jonathan Quick made 23 saves as the eighthseeded Los Angeles Kings finished an improbable four-game sweep of the St. Louis Blues with a 3-1 victory Sunday, advancing to the conference finals for the second time in club history.

Rookie Jordan Nolan scored an early goal for the Kings, the first No. 8 seed in NHL history to eliminate their conference’s top two seeds in the same postseason.

After steamrolling top-seeded Vancouver and second-seeded St. Louis with eight wins in nine games, the Kings will face PhoenixNashville winner in the Western Conference finals. Phoenix leads that series 3-1 Los Angeles won despite its weakest effort of the postseason, clinging to its 2-1 firstperiod lead through 40 minutes dominated by St. Louis. The Kings didn’t adapt well to an unusually early start time, yet Quick made a handful of stellar saves before Brown scored into an empty net with 25.8 seconds left.

The Kings made their only previous trip to the conference finals in 1993, when Wayne Gretzky and Luc Robitaille propelled Los Angeles

past Toronto and into their only Stanley Cup finals, where they lost to Montreal. The Kings won one playoff series in the ensuing 17 seasons before routing the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Canucks in five first-round games last month.

Devils 4, Flyers 2 At Newark, New Jersey, Dainius Zubrus scored two goals as New Jersey rallied from an early two-goal deficit to push Philadelphia to the brink of elimination in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinal.

Zubrus put New Jersey ahead 3-2 late in the second period and iced the game with an empty-net goal in the final minute. The Devils lead the series 3-1.

Petr Sykora and Marek Zidlicky also scored for the Devils, who can advance to their first conference final since 2003 with a win in Philadelphia on Tuesday night.

In winning their third straight, the Devils let goalie Martin Brodeur have an easy night on his 40th birthday, outshooting Philadelphia 43-22. He even picked up an assist on Zubrus’ final goal. Scott Hartnell and Claude Giroux scored first-period goals for the Flyers. — AP

Finns win, France defeat Kazakhstan STOCKHOLM: A goal by Janne Pesonen helped hosts Finland eke out a 1-0 win over Slovakia at the ice hockey world championship in Helsinki and France ran out 6-3 winners against Kazakhstan despite having Sacha Treille ejected from the game.

Treille was expelled during the second period for a hit to the head on Roman Starchenko and could receive further punishment from the IIHF disciplinary committee, who will review the incident yesterday. During the game at the Hartwall Arena, fans criticising the cost of tickets had their banners confiscated. Security at the arena told fans the banners constituted a fire risk, Finnish state broadcaster YLE said.

Finland, who are hosting the tournament with Sweden, put in another excellent defensive performance against Slovakia but struggled in front of goal.

They managed only 22 shots, failed to convert on five power plays and had to rely on goalkeeper Petri Vehanen’s 26 stops to win the game.

In the late game at the Hartwall, goaltender Tobias Stephan saved a penalty with 4:36 left in the game as Switzerland hung on to beat Belarus 3-2. Over in Stockholm, Italy sprung a surprise to beat Denmark 4-3 in overtime, and Russia bombarded Norway’s goal with 46 shots en route to a 4-2 win in group S. — Reuters

STOCKHOLM: Young Russian fans are seen in the stands prior to the Group B Ice Hockey World IIHF Championship match between Russia and Norway . — AP

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

S P ORT S

Mayweather impressive, still shuns Pacquiao LAS VEGAS: Floyd Mayweather Jr. was getting ready to make his ring walk about the time Manny Pacquiao arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on Philippine Airlines Flight 102. He’ll be occupying a cell at the Clark County Detention Center by the time Pacquiao makes his way to this gambling city for his June 9 fight with Timothy Bradley.

The two are seemingly destined never to be in the same spot at the same time. Certainly not in the ring, something Mayweather made clear Saturday night after taking on Miguel Cotto in a bruising fight that, if not his best, was certainly among his most exciting. “The Pacquiao-Mayweather fight is not going to happen,” Mayweather said. “It’s not my fault.”

More on that later, though Mayweather could be called out for using some convoluted logic about why the fight won’t happen.

Suffice it to say he believes he’s in the driver’s seat for any mega-fight, and is both suspicious of Pacquiao and unwilling to take equal money for the bout.

After making a minimum $32 million in an impressive per formance Saturday night against Cotto, Mayweather could be excused for dismissing what would be the richest fight in boxing history. But, with jail time coming up for a domestic abuse charge, there will be plenty of time for reflection about his future.

“I don’t know where we’re going to go from here because we basically have fought everybody in this sport,” Mayweather said. “I don’t have to fight if I don’t want to.”

Indeed, Mayweather hinted of retirement following his tough battle with Cotto, which

ended with Mayweather claiming a piece of the 154-pound title with a unanimous decision. But there’s huge money still to be made, and he’s a fighter who burns through cash with a Money Team entourage that seems to grow with each fight.

Unlike most of his fights, though, Mayweather looked like he had been in a fight after beating Cotto. He had welts under his both eyes and he spoke deliberately, like a fighter who was exhausted by the effort needed to capture the 43rd win of his unblemished career.

He could have danced about and beaten Cotto without taking the most punishment of his career, Mayweather insisted. But he wanted to give fans a good show, and make them happy they spent $69.95 on pay-per-view to see him fight.

Having Justin Bieber and 50 Cent accompany him into the ring was entertaining, sure. But the action in the ring was even better.

“Things happened tonight and we both had to fight. But the main thing is that we got the victory,” Mayweather said. “The fans were happy. It’s about impressing fans and giving them what they want to see.” The fans did enjoy it, though it was a strange strategy for the normally defensively oriented Mayweather, who said a few days before the fight that he wasn’t going to get into any brawls in the ring because he was worried about his future health. Both fighters paid a price for this brawl, with Cotto going to a local hospital for examination instead of attending the postfight press conference. They traded punches

for 12 rounds without taking a second off, and the sellout crowd at the MGM Grand arena stood and cheered most of the way.

Mayweather was the sharper and cleaner puncher, but Cotto had his moments, too, landing some big shots to Mayweather’s head and body.

Though Mayweather ended up winning easily on all three ringside scorecards, the fight was in doubt in the middle rounds and he never really dominated until he caught Cotto with an uppercut that buckled his knees in the final round.

“You’re a hell of a champion,” Mayweather told Cotto in the ring afterward. “You’re the toughest guy I ever fought.”

Most in boxing figure Pacquiao would be even tougher for Mayweather, which might be the reason he seems to want no part of him.

Mayweather said before the fight he believes Pacquiao used steroids to bulk up and it would be dangerous to fight him, though he has offered no proof of his claims and is being sued by Pacquiao for defamation.

Af ter ward, May weather said the fight wouldn’t be happening because Pacquiao is tied to promoter Bob Arum and he doesn’t want to deal with Arum. He said he offered Pacquiao $40 million to fight - with $20 million wired to him within 24 hours of accepting and was turned down. The fight could easily make each man much more than that, but Mayweather believes he is the true attraction and won’t agree to split the proceeds 50-50 with Pacquiao.

Mayweather’s more immediate future is a

bigger worry for him than a Pacquiao fight.

He’s going to be spending much of the summer in a jail cell for his no contest plea to domestic abuse stemming from a fight with the mother of his children. It will be the first long jail stretch for Mayweather, who has a history of such charges over the years.

He didn’t feel much like talking about it after the fight, preferring instead to highlight his contributions to charity and some vague plans to help hungry and homeless people.

Still, he acknowledged that the impending move from his multimillion-dollar mansion to a spartan cell was weighing on him. “ The only thing it can do is make me stronger as a person,” Mayweather said. “When it comes to June 1, I have to accept it like a man.”

On this night he was certainly man enough, putting on a show that even his detractors had to admire. The knock on Mayweather has long been that, though he’s a masterful boxer, he often fought too defensively to excite fight fans and was seldom worth the money they put out to watch him in their living rooms.

Against Cotto he fought, and fought hard.

He beat a brawler, and he beat him at his own game. Aside from the punishment that showed on his face, the night was a huge success for Mayweather and his many minions.

Though he hinted at retirement, few in boxing doubt that he will be back in the ring, if only because the money is so big he can’t afford not to be. Who knows, if jail does indeed make him stronger, maybe he’ll even be up to taking on Pacquiao. — AP

Fowler clinches first PGA title in playoff

Aboqassim, Failakawi with the organizing committee, judges and the winners.

Two Kuwaitis win Catamaran championship KUWAIT: Kuwait National Sailing Team, Abdullah Jouhar and Ali Bohamad won the first Kuwait International Catamaran Sailing Championship organized by Kuwait Sea Sports Club (KSSC) sail, rowing and kayak committee with the participation of 28 competitors from Germany, UK, South Africa, Holland, Bahrain, Palestine and Kuwait.

A special ceremony was held to honor the two winners in the presence of KSSC’s board member and the organizing committee’s vice chairman, Mahmoud Abolqassim and the organizing committee supervisor, Ahmed AlFailakawi.

Kate of UK receives 3rd place trophy.

Champions Jouhar and Bohamad

The Catamaran Sailing Championship competition underway.

Molinari bags Spanish Open SPAIN: Francesco Molinari conjured a scintillating final round of seven under par to capture his third European Tour title at the Spanish Open on Sunday.

The Italian Ryder Cup player was four strokes down at the start of the final play at the Reale Club de Golf de Sevilla but blew the rest of the field away, including overnight leader Simon Dyson of England, with the best round of the week to win by three strokes.

The 29-year-old’s achievement was all the more impressive given that his position in the draw meant he had to deal with the driving wind and rain that lashed the course over the first two days and he finished the tournament on eight under. Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark and Spaniards Pablo Larrazabal and Alejandro Canizares were joint sec-

ond on five under, while Dyson faded to joint 12th. “I knew I was playing well,” Molinari said on the European Tour website (www.europeantour.com).

“I was also hoping the other guys would not go too far under par and everything worked out perfectly,” added the Italian, whose victory lifted him back into the top 30 in the world rankings.

Despite the victory, his first in 18 months, Molinari remains outside the qualifying positions for this year’s Ryder Cup. “I just have to play the same golf a few more weeks and hopefully I will be there,” he said. “Everybody is desperate to make the team, but unfortunately for us there are only 12 spots. “It’s going to be hard - there are a lot of great players in Europe at the moment.”— Reuters

CHARLOTTE: Rickie Fowler delivered on his vast potential by claiming his first PGA Tour win at the Wells Fargo championship with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff against Briton Rory McIlroy and fellow American DA Points at Quail Hollow on Sunday.

The 23-year-old Fowler finally justified his billing as one of the game’s top young players when he sank a four-footer for birdie at the 18th hole to claim victory at the Charlotte, North Carolina course.

“It’s a good feeling right now,” Fowler told reporters after winning in his 67th professional start. “Definitely some relief, satisfaction.

“I definitely knew I was good enough, and it was just getting everything to come together and stay patient.” Despite losing out in the playoff, the finish ensured US Open champion McIlroy, who is also 23, would reclaim the number one world ranking from Luke Donald.

Fowler fired a three-under-par 69 to join McIlroy (70) and Points (71) in the sudden-death playoff after tying at 14under-par 274 after the regulation 72 holes.

Fowler, who had made the last US Ryder Cup team despite lacking a tour victory, saw the pressure lift off his shoulders when both Points and McIlroy missed their long birdie putts and had to settle for par. McIlroy had left himself 34 feet from the cup after his approach shot, and Points was 41 feet away.

Home-town favorite Webb Simpson, the third-round leader who lives about a mile from the course, finished one stroke out of the playoff at 275 after posting a 73 for fourth place.

Two shots further back on 277 were Briton Lee Westwood (66) and Americans Ben Curtis (67) and Ryan Moore (74).

The Wells Fargo finish could presage a dynamic rivalry between the young Fowler and McIlroy, who two years ago fired a sensational, course-record 62 to win this tournament.

“I’m looking forward to playing with Rory for a long time,” said Fowler, whose colourful outfits and all-orange Sunday get-up had brought him more attention than his tour results. “We’ve always had a great camaraderie, been good buddies,” Fowler said about the Northern Irishman.

“I’ve had a lot of fun playing against him. We first played against each other at the Walker Cup in ‘07, and I look forward to playing against him and hopefully having plenty more tournaments like this where we’re battling back and forth.”

After all three players found the fairway with their playoff drives, Fowler set up victory with his brilliant approach. All three golfers had the chance to clinch victory during the final holes.

Points had a one-shot lead going to the final hole of regulation but knocked his approach shot into a bunker and took a bogey. McIlroy had a shot at winning in regulation but missed a 15-foot birdie putt at the last.

Fowler had the outright lead until he drove into a fairway bunker at the 16th and then hit to a greenside bunker. He two-putted from 10 feet for bogey to slide back. — Reuters

CHARLOTTE: Rickie Fowler holds the trophy after winning the Wells Fargo Championship golf tournament at Quail Hollow Club. — AP

Kiteboarding takes wind out of surfers’ sails MELBOURNE: The surprise decision to chop windsurfing from the Olympic programme has prompted jeers from leading athletes, but is being hailed by kiteboarders whose discipline will be showcased for the first time at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) announced the decision to include men’s and women’s kiteboarding at the expense of windsurfing over the weekend, describing it as a “fantastic addition” for the 2016 Games.

“Obviously we’ve got quite a few young sailors in particular who have been campaigning and building a campaign particularly with 2016 in mind and I guess we’ve been investing via national windsur fing programmes,” Peter Conde, Yachting Australia’s high performance director, told Reuters yesterday.

“Clearly those sailors are pretty devastated. At least at first (glance) it looks like their dreams have been dashed by this decision.

“I guess it remains to be seen as to whether many of those athletes might want to take a fresh look and embrace kiteboarding as a new discipline. I guess we’d be encouraging them to look at it.”

Windsurfing federations have vowed to pressure sailing’s global governing body ISAF to reinstate the sport, with Britain’s Bryony Shaw, Olympic bronze medallist at Beijing’s Games, supporting an online petition.

Britain’s Nick Dempsey, who came fourth at Beijing, said on his Facebook account: “That was a big decision and a very sad day for windsurfing. “My heart goes out to all the aspiring champions and kids with dreams of windsurfing at the Olympics.”

Ben Finkelstein, coach of women’s world champion Lee Korzits, voiced concerns to Reuters in a telephone interview about the cost implications of the switch.

“Professional sur fers who decide to make the change will be able to use their skills to adapt but I am much more worried about all the clubs and the less expert, young surfers.

“It is a completely different discipline and if we want to nurture competitors in the new discipline it will mean changing the equipment and that will require a huge outlay.” British sailing per formance director Luke Derbyshire expressed surprise at the timing of the decision. “ The decision to replace windsurfing with kiteboarding will of course be a huge blow to the windsurfing community, and we’re disappointed for all those who are working at the coal face of the RYA’s windsurfing programmes to deliver activity and British success on the world stage who will be affected most by this decision,” he told local media.

“Kiteboarding made a solid case for its Olympic inclusion at the March trials and although a surprise that ISAF has voted it into the Olympic programme at this stage, it appears that the Council of ISAF wished to seize the opportunity, rather than wait until 2020,” he said.

Yachting New Zealand chief executive Dave Abercrombie suggested there was little hope of the decision being reversed, given past experience.

“If you go to the last ISAF evaluation process when the Elliott 6 (metre) was removed and more recently the Star was removed, both of those organisations jumped up and down but nothing changed, so my gut feeling is it will probably stay as it is,” he told local media, referring to the now-defunct sailing categories.

“We have no (kiteboard) racing, as such, in this country, and if we’re going to get up to speed at Olympic level, we’re going to have to find athletes, evaluate their ability, and get them racing offshore in competitive fleets.”—Reuters

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S P ORT S

KUWAIT: Syrian gymnast Fadi Bahlawan competes on the KUWAIT: Moroccan gymnast Mussa Rasheed competes on KUWAIT: Tunisian gymnast Wajdi Bou Alaq competes on the rings during the 4th Arab Championship for Men’s Artistic the parallel bars during the 4th Arab Championship for rings during the 4th Arab Championship for Men’s Artistic Gymnastics yesterday. —Photos by Yasser Zayyat Men’s Artistic Gymnastics.

Gymnastics.

Arab gymnastics event launched in Kuwait KUWAIT: Kuwait inaugurated the three-day Arab men’s artistic gymnastics championship on Sunday, to honor the martyr Sheikh Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, whom the competition was named after. The 15-nation tournament is being held this year under the patronage of the Association of

National Olympic Committees (ANOC) and head of the Kuwait Olympic Committee, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah.

Attending on behalf of the Kuwaiti sports chief, Sheikh Mishal Talal AlFahad Al-Sabah told attendees at the opening ceremony that the accom-

plishment of having hosted the tournament for the fourth year in a row is one for “Kuwaiti and Arab gymnastics alike.”

“These competitions allow Arab gymnasts to prepare for larger international events, improving their technical abilities,” he said.

Kuwait Gymnastics Federation Secretary Saif Abu Adel said in the opening speech that the competition would continue to honor the late Sheikh Fahad Al-Ahmad, who was known for his great contributions to the sports movement in Kuwait and Asia. Abu Adel, also the President of

Preview

Europa League final promises goals fest from Spanish rivals BUCHAREST: With potent attacking talent in abundance on both sides, Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao should serve up a Europa League final to remember tomorrow and remind the continent that Spain is not just about Real Madrid or Barcelona.

The 2010 champions Atletico have won 11 successive matches to reach the final while fearless Athletic, who only field players of Basque origin, have lit up the competition under eccentric Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa with their possession-based style that has drawn comparisons with Barca.

Athletic made the rest of Europe take notice when they beat Manchester United home and away in the last 16, then accounted for Schalke 04 in the quarter-finals with an attacking intensity that the Bundesliga side, like United before them, could not handle.

Powerful centre forward Fernando Llorente’s physical presence is sure to cause problems for an Atletico defence that is vulnerable in the air, particularly at set pieces, while versatile attacking midfielder Iker Muniain, only 19 and attracting the attention of bigger clubs, pulls the strings.

If Atletico pay too much attention to Muniain and Llorente, then they risk being punished by the equally talented Ibai Gomez, Markel Susaeta and Javi Martinez.

“We will try to play naturally, with

a lack of inhibition, because this will bring us closer to a victory,” said Bielsa, who took the helm at the north-coast club at the beginning of the season.

“Throughout every game, regardless of their importance, I haven’t seen a problem with confi-

for Porto in last year’s final.

After comfortably winning their group following a journey that began in the third qualifying round back in July, Atletico under Simeone have knocked out Lazio, Besiktas, Hanover 96 and La Liga rivals Valencia.

GERMANY: In this Dec. 17, 2011 file picture German referee reacts during the German Bundesliga soccer match. The UEFA Referees Committee announced that the Europa League final between Club Atletico de Madrid and Athletic Club Bilbao tomorrow will be handled by 42-year-old German referee Wolfgang Stark. —AP dence or anxiety yet that the team were not able to resolve themselves.”

Atletico, who have improved steadily under their former player and Argentina captain Diego Simeone since he took over in December, also boast a potent strikeforce in summer signings Adrian Lopez and Colombian Radamel Falcao, who hit the winner

Simeone’s side will try to match Athletic for intensity and not allow their opponents time on the ball.

Gabi is likely to replace the suspended Tiago, sent off in the second leg against Valencia, alongside Mario Suarez in central midfield.

“The sides are very evenly matched. I haven t spoken to Bielsa but I have a great admiration for him,” Simeone said.

“It’s an important event for everyone. A moment of great pride.

Atletico are a Cup team and another final is something for the fans to enjoy.”

Simeone and Bielsa know each other well, with Simeone playing the last 30 of his 106 international appearances during Bielsa’s six-year run at the helm between 1998 and 2004. Bielsa said he had not spoken directly to Simeone, only through his opposite number’s assistant, another Argentine he knows well, former international goalkeeper German Burgos.

“We have agreed not to speak until a month after the final. Burgos acts as the intermediary,” Bielsa said.

“I want to win the final, regardless of whether two players I used to coach are in the other dugout or not.”

Athletic have never won a European trophy, their only previous final coming in 1977 when they lost the UEFA Cup showpiece match to Juventus.

Each side has a win apiece in their clashes in La Liga this season.

Llorente scored twice in a 3-0 home win for Athletic in October but Falcao’s double secured Atletico a 21 victory at their Calderon home in March.

The last time two Spanish teams contested the final of the competition, formerly known as the UEFA Cup, was in 2007 when Sevilla beat Espanyol on penalties after a 2-2 draw. —Reuters

the Arab Gymnastics Federation, said that the competition which kicked off yesterday, will witness the participation of distinguished Arab gymnasts, including two who have already qualified for the London 2012 Olympics, Egyptian Mohamed El-Saharty and Tunisian Wajdi Bouallegue. —KUNA

Tigres to meet Santos in semis MEXICO CITY: Tigres UANL crushed Morelia 4-1 away in the second leg of their Mexican Clausura championship quarterfinal on Sunday to stay on course for a second successive title.

The holders, who won 5-1 on aggregate, will meet Santos Laguna in the semi-finals in a repeat of the Apertura final they won in December.

All five goals at the Estadio Morelos were scored in the final 25 minutes with defender Hugo Ayala opening the way for the visitors from Chilean Hector Mancilla’s cross.

Ten minutes later two goals in quick succession from Argentine playmaker Lucas Lobos and Brazilian substitute Edno settled the tie. Striker Miguel Sabah pulled one back before midfielder Elias Hernandez rounded off Tigres’ emphatic victory with a penalty in the final minute.

Santos came from a goal down to beat Chiapas 2-1 at their Corona home for a 6-4 aggregate victory. America, chasing their

11th league title, will meet CONCACAF champions Monterrey in the other semifinal after the two sides secured their berths on Saturday.

Monterrey drew 2-2 at Tijuana to go through 4-3 on aggregate, while America were beaten 1-0 by Pachuca at the Azteca but qualified 3-2 on aggregate after a 3-1 away victory in the first leg.

Meanwhile, clubs that did not reach the eight-team knockout phase have been looking ahead to next season which opens with the Apertura in late July.

Atlante appointed Argentine former Mexico coach Ricardo La Volpe for a third spell at the club. Former Argentina goalkeeper La Volpe, who steered Atlante to the title in 1993 during his second spell as their coach, had been working in his home country.

“Bigoton” (big moustache) coached Banfield in the Argentine Apertura but was sacked in December after a run of poor results. —Reuters

Boca snatch 2-2 draw in dramatic finish at Rafaela BUENOS AIRES: Boca Juniors equalised six minutes into added time to snatch a last-gasp 2-2 draw at Atletico Rafaela and cling to the lead in the Argentine championship on Sunday.

Striker Nicolas Blandi salvaged the point for Boca with an overhead kick from a corner in a dramatic climax to the match in Santa Fe province.

Boca have a key Liber tadores Cup match in Chile in midweek and fielded several young reserves including Blandi, who could have put Boca two up early in the second half but for a penalty save by Guillermo Sara.

“It was a very important match for us youngsters who don’t get to play regularly,” Blandi told broadcasters Futbol Para Todos. Striker Pablo Mouche put Boca ahead after half an hour with a shot between Sara and the near post from the

left at the end of a lightning counterattack. Defender Fabricio Fontanini headed the equaliser for Rafaela on the hour and, when the match looked like ending in a 1-1 draw, Boca substitute Enzo Ruiz gave away a penalty for handball in the fourth minute of added time.

Striker Dario Gandin converted the penalty with his seventh goal of the championship but the drama did not end there with Boca fighting back to regain their point. Champions Boca have 25 points from 13 matches and now share the lead in the Clausura standings with Newell’s Old Boys, who were 2-1 winners at Olimpo. Racing Club beat Estudiantes 2-0 in the stand-out match of the weekend as young trainer Luis Zubeldia continued to mastermind their recovery from a disappointing spell under former Argentina coach Alfio Basile. —Reuters

Preview

Blues aim for fresh Reds misery

Chelsea’s interim manager Roberto Di Matteo

LONDON: Roberto di Matteo’s Chelsea side will face Liverpool at Anfield today with renewed hope of securing the top four finish that would guarantee their Champions League qualification.

The two teams will meet just three days after the FA Cup final that ended with Chelsea celebrating a third success in the competition in four years following a 2-1 victory at Wembley.

And while Liverpool have only pride to play for in the rematch, di Matteo’s men were given fresh incentive as Newcastle and Tottenham stumbled in their quest for maximum

points. Had either of those two teams won last weekend, Chelsea’s hopes of finishing fourth in the Premier League would have all but disappeared.

That would have left the Stamford Bridge club needing to win the Champions League final against Bayern Munich to ensure a return to Europe’s premier club competitionand consign the fourth-best team in England to the second-tier Europa League.

But Chelsea could yet provide themselves with an insurance policy against losing the Champions League final by finishing fourth.

That would happen if they beat Liverpool and Blackburn in their final two league games and Tottenham and Newcastle failed to defeat Fulham and Everton respectively on Sunday.

The odds are stacked heavily against them, but Chelsea’s end-ofseason revival has shown the danger of dismissing their chances. First, though, they must carry on where they left off at Wembley.

“It’ll be a bit weird playing them (Liverpool) again so soon after this,” Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard said. “But we still have two league

games to play before the Champions League final and we want to finish as best as we can. “It will be a lot easier going to Anfield with a win than if we had lost,” added the England international.

Success is breeding self-belief at Chelsea and the prospect of appearing in the Champions League final is providing added motivation.

“We will carry the confidence through and hope it carries on in the Champions League final,” said Lampard. “We have one more cup final to go, then who knows? It is nice to go into the next game-then

the Champions League final-with a win.” Chelsea, beaten on penalties by Manchester United in the 2008 Champions League final in Moscow, have never won European club’s football greatest prize and Lampard said: “It is huge, we have been close a few times and everyone at the club-the fans as well-is desperate to win it.”

Temporar y Chelsea coach di Matteo, the former Blues midfielder put in caretaker charge after Andre Villas-Boas was sacked in March, must decide how to manage his squad af ter a draining run of games. —AFP

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TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

SPORTS

Ferguson says Man City has ‘hands on trophy’

FRANCE: Lille’s French midfielder Eden Hazard (left) vies with Caen’s French defender Thomas Heurtaux and Caen’s midfielder Molla Wague during the French L1 football match. —AFP

PSG top of Ligue 1 PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain took over at the top of Ligue 1 and loaded pressure on former leaders Montpellier by storming back from two goals down to win 4-3 at Valenciennes on Sunday.

After falling 2-0 down inside 11 minutes, PSG hit back through Nene, Maxwell, Blaise Matuidi and Jeremy Menez and then survived a late scare sparked by a Renaud Cohade free-kick to edge ahead of Montpellier on goals scored.

Montpellier travel to fifth-placed Rennes late yesterday, before a potentially decisive home game with reigning champions Lille next weekend, when PSG will tackle Rennes at home. “It was a bizarre match,” said PSG coach Carlo Ancelotti. “We were terrible at the start. Then we got two goals back and played very well. The forwards worked together.

“The objective is to win every match until the end of the season. Tonight I’m very happy with the performances of all my players. “Every match is difficult-our match against Rennes, the last game against Lorient. We’re happy to be back in first place, maybe just for one night.” Vincent Aboubakar broke the deadlock in the eighth minute at Valenciennes’ Stade du Hainaut, chesting down a high ball and dispatching a low shot that bobbled into the PSG net via a deflection off Alex.

The Cameroonian striker was also at the origin of the hosts’ second goal three minutes later, firing in a low shot that PSG goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu could only parry as far as a grateful Remi Gomis.

PSG’s title hopes appeared to be in serious jeopardy but they hit back four minutes further on, as Nene registered his 18th league goal of the season from Menez’s intelligent dinked pass.

Maxwell and Blaise Matuidi then chose

opportune moments to claim their first goals for the club, allowing PSG to go in 3-2 up at the break. Brazilian left-back Maxwell equalised from a narrow angle in the 40th minute after running on to Nene’s pass and on the stroke of half-time Matuidi slid in to touch Javier Pastore’s through-ball past Nicolas Penneteau and put PSG ahead.

Nene teed up Menez for PSG’s fourth in the 58th minute but any thoughts of a comfortable victory were erased in the 80th minute when Cohade swept a 25-yard free-kick into Sirigu’s top-right corner to set the visitors’ nerves on edge.

Earlier, Lyon’s faint hopes of Champions League qualification were all but extinguished when they were held to a 1-1 draw by relegation-threatened Brest at Stade Gerland. Victory would have taken Lyon to within six points of third-place Lille with three games remaining, but they are now eight points behind the champions and appear destined for a fourth-place finish at best. Asked if third place was now beyond his side’s reach, Lyon coach Remi Garde said: “Yes. I think that now, we have to do everything to hold on to fourth place.”

Brest, meanwhile, climbed out of the relegation zone at the expense of Auxerre, although they have now played a game more than Auxerre and second-bottom Dijon, who are both just a point behind them. Yoann Gourcuff put Lyon ahead with a 37th-minute diving header to register only his second goal of the season, but Gregory Lorenzi slammed home from close range following a left-wing corner to bring Brest level 15 minutes from time.

In the day’s other afternoon kick-off, Ajaccio let slip a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 at fellow promoted side Evian, which left the Corsican outfit three points above the relegation places.—AFP

Conte confirms advantage of youth ROME: Anything Massimiliano Allegri and AC Milan can do, Antonio Conte and Juventus can do just as well, and a year younger. A year ago, Allegri led Milan to their first Serie A title in seven years in his first season at the club, and at just 43 years of age. One season on and Conte has matched that feat, bringing Juve a first scudetto since 2003 in his debut campaign for the Old Lady of Turin, and a year younger than Allegri. It’s a remarkable trend that has seen Italy’s biggest and most prestigious clubs shuffle the old guard out the door and put their faith in young, energetic and dynamic coaches.

Inter Milan may not have won anything this season but they have gone to the extremes, hiring a coach in Andrea Stramaccioni who is younger even at 36 than some of their players.

And yet this faith in youth has born fruit with both Milan and Juve picking up the title in the last two years. Milan let Carlo Ancelotti leave for Chelsea and while things didn’t work out with Leonardo, a year later Allegri turned the promise he’d shown in two years at the Cagliari helm into concrete silverware.

Now Conte has done likewise after succeeding another elder statesman in Luigi Delneri. Conte’s achievement cannot be overstated, despite the resources at his disposal. It is true that Juve are traditional giants, the most supported club across the country and they have spent huge amounts on trying to bring success back to a club hit hard by their involvement in the Calciopoli scandal in 2006.

Relegated for match-fixing, they saw stars such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Fabio Cannavaro and Patrick Vieira jump ship rather than spend a season in Serie B. They spent a lot of money to rebuild having come back up at the first attempt but shelling out the euros does not guarantee success by any means.

Since coming back into the top flight, Juve went through four different coaches in four seasons before turning to their former captain and midfield general Conte.

And while there is no doubt that over the previous two seasons the Juve whole was very much worth less than the sum of its parts, recalibrating that anomaly has been to Conte’s credit.

Whereas big money signings such as Diego, Amauri and Felipe Melo came and went without producing an impact to match their transfer fees and salaries, Conte has got the best out of his squad.

Juve are no less filled with Italy internationals and first choice starters from other

national teams now than they were preConte but the emotional coach has managed to gel them.

And that despite even more limited Serie A experience than Allegri. The Milan coach had spent two years at Cagliari before moving to the rossoneri but Conte’s only previous top flight coaching chance was an unsuccessful three-and-a-half month spell at Atalanta.

However, he had shown in winning the Serie B title with Bari in 2009 and guiding Siena to promotion to Serie A two season later that he could build a winning side, and more importantly motivate players.

Motivation has been a crucial part of Conte’s repertoire and to see him jumping up and down on the touchline, veins popping out of his neck, face crimson red and mouth open in full scream, you can see how much this job and success means to him. Conte was exactly what Juve needed, a son of the club, whose 13 years there as a player coincided with one of the greatest periods in the club’s history.

He has managed to remind the players just who they are playing for and what is expected of them, perhaps in part because he hasn’t forgotten what it meant to play for the biggest and best club in Italy.

It’s a case of the experience of youth trumping the experience of age and Conte has epitomised the new drive and desire that has helped Juve reclaim their glory of old.—AFP

Juventus coach Antonio Conte

LONDON: Only the most unlikely of turnarounds can now prevent Manchester City from beating Manchester United to the English Premier League title. “They probably have two hands on the trophy,” United manager Alex Ferguson said.

City’s 2-0 win at Champions League hopeful Newcastle means the league leader effectively needs only to beat struggling Queens Park Rangers in Sunday’s final round to clinch its first championship since 1968. City has won 17 of its 18 home games and QPR has won just three of its 18 away games, so it’s obvious why bookmakers now make the Blues a 1-9 favorite to hoist the trophy.

If City wins, United will need to at least match its 17-year-old Premier League record 9-0 victory aganst Ipswich to overturn City’s superior goal difference.

Neither scenario is likely, even with QPR needing a point to be sure of avoiding relegation. Ferguson said a collapse by City would rank alongside that of one of the most infamous losers in British sporting history. Devon

Loch was 40 meters (yards) from the winning post in horse racing’s 1956 British Grand National when he collapsed, seemingly without reason.

“There could be a Devon Loch, you never know,” Ferguson said. “Stranger things have happened in this game of football. They’re red-hot favorites but we’ve won the title on three occasions on the last day and we don’t mind doing it again.”

United’s last-day opponent, Sunderland, has only lost four times at home this season, further complicating matters for the record 19-time champions. Ferguson has been left hoping that one of his former players can do him a favor.

Mark Hughes was sold by United in 1986 but Ferguson re-signed him two years later and was repaid with a hatful of goals, two of them clinching the Cup Winners Cup title against Barcelona in 1991.

Hughes was fired as manager of Manchester City in December 2009 and replaced by Roberto Mancini despite losing

just two matches that season, so Ferguson expects the man nicknamed “Sparky” as a player to be especially motivated.

“QPR need a point and they’re fighting for survival,” Ferguson said. “The whole future of the club could be resting on the game and I only wish Sparky was playing.

“But Mark knows his job all right. He was sacked by City in a very unethical way and he’ll remember that.” Mancini has spent the last few weeks playing down City’s chances, apparently for fear of putting his squad under pressure. He finally conceded that his team is favorite for the title after Sunday’s win over Newcastle.

“Maybe yes because it depends on us,” Mancini said. “If we beat QPR, we will be the champions. But at this moment, we can’t think about this. We need to prepare very well for the next game, only this.

“I am excited because we are on the top, but it’s not enough. One week more and if we play like we did today, we have a lot of chance to win.”—AP

Santos wins first leg of Sao Paulo final SAO PAULO: Neymar scored twice to become one of Santos’ top scorers in the postPele era on Sunday, helping his club defeat Guarani 3-0 in the first leg of the Sao Paulo state championship final.

In the Rio de Janeiro state tournament, Fluminense came from behind to defeat 10-men Botafogo 4-1 in the final’s first leg. Fred scored one of Fluminense’s goals with a bicycle kick.

Santos’ commanding victory on Sunday at the Morumbi stadium leaves the club in good position to win its third straight title in the Sao Paulo state title, a feat that hasn’t happened since Pele was the team’s top player in the 1960s.

It can win this year’s championship even if it loses the return match by two goals next week.

Santos has reached the tournament’s final the last four years, dating back to 2009, when Neymar made his professional debut as a 17-year-old.

Neymar, now 20, scored his 103rd and 104th goal with Santos on Sunday, equaling Joao Paulo and Serginho Chulapa for the most goals ever since the Pele era. They are tied for 22nd all-time, all behind the 1,091 goals Pele scored for the traditional Brazilian club. “I’m happy to reach another important mark with the club, it means a lot to me,” Neymar said.

Neymar surpassed 100 career goals with Santos last weekend when he scored a hat trick in the team’s 3-1 win over Sao Paulo in the tournament’s semifinal. He got past Robinho’s tally of 94 goals in March, needing 40 fewer games than the AC Milan striker to hit the mark.

Paulo Henrique Ganso, Santos’ other promising star, put the team ahead with a leftfooted shot from the top of the area in the 43rd minute on Sunday. Neymar increased the

SAO PAULO: Santos’ Neymar (left) fights for the ball with Guarani’s Bruno Peres during a Sao Paulo soccer league match. —AP lead with a strike into an open net in the 66th, then sealed the victory by controlling the ball inside the area and dribbling past a defender before scoring two minutes into second-half injury time.

“This team knows how to play well in the decisive moments and we did it again against Guarani,” Ganso said.

“But it’s not over yet, we have one more game to go and we have to keep our focus.”

Guarani, the 1978 Brazilian champion, is playing in the state final for the first time since 1988, when it lost the title to Corinthians. Guarani upset Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Palmeiras in the quarterfinals and eliminated city rival Ponte Preta in the semifinals.

Before the second leg at the Morumbi, Santos will host

Bolivar on Thursday in the second leg of their round-of-16 matchup in the Copa Libertadores, a competition the Brazilian club won last year. Bolivar won the first leg 2-1 in Bolivia.

In Rio de Janeiro, Botafogo opened the scoring at the Engenhao stadium with a goal

by Renato just nine minutes into the match, but Fluminense rallied to open a significant advantage for the return leg next week.

Fred, who played for Brazil in the 2006 World Cup, equalized for Fluminense with a remarkable goal in the 44th, hitting a bicycle kick from near the penalty spot after a ball headed into the area.

Striker Rafael Sobis scored the go-ahead goal in the 58th and added another in the 61st,

and Marcos Junior closed the scoring in the 84th.

Botafogo played a man down from the 57th after right back Lucas was sent off with a second yellow card for a hard foul on Fluminense playmaker Thiago Neves.

Fluminense hasn’t won the Rio de Janeiro state title since 2005, although it was runnerup to Flamengo last year. It won this year’s Guanabara Cup, the competition’s first stage. Botafogo won the Rio Cup, the second stage.

Botafogo won the 2010 Rio state title.

Brazil does not follow the European football calendar.

Regional tournaments are played in the first few months of the year across the country and the Brazilian league starts in late May.—AP

West Ham crush Cardiff to reach playoff final LONDON: West Ham United are just one match away from an immediate return to the Premier League following last season’s relegation after over-powering Cardiff City in the Championship playoff semi-final. The Londonders, in front of their Upton Park home crowd, won 3-0 on Monday for a 5-0 aggregate victory.

They will now face either Birmingham City or Blackpool-both also relegated last term, and who conclude their play-off semi-final tomorrow-in the playoff final at Wembley on May 19.

The match is often billed as ‘the richest game in football’ as a place in the Premier League is worth an estimated £90 million ($146m) to the winning club.

Having suffered the disappointment of missing out on automatic promotion behind Championship winners Reading and runnersup Southampton, West Ham wasted little time feeling sorry for themselves.

They came into yesterday’s match on the

back of a 2-0 first-leg win in Cardiff courtesy of two Jack Collison goals and the tie was put beyond any lingering doubt when midfielder Kevin Nolan opened the scoring in the 15th minute.

Ricardo Vaz Te made it 2-0 five minutes prior to the break before Nicky Maynard set the seal on an emphatic victory with a 90thminute goal against a Cardiff side already beaten by Liverpool in this season’s League Cup final at Wembley.

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce told Sky Sports: “The response at Cardiff and this performance were terrific. I’m pleased for everybody concerned with West Ham United.

“We have a huge opportunity to get into the golden league, not for the money from my point of view, but because that is where it all happens.”

As for the final, Allardyce added: “It is big pressure for us. Whoever we get, whether it is Birmingham or Blackpool, we are probably going to be favourites and we have to live

with that.

“Hopefully the players can look forward to it and deliver another outstanding performance.” For Cardiff defeat meant yet more playoff heartache, having lost in the semi-finals to Reading last season after being beaten in the 2010 Championship playoff final by Blackpool.—AFP

Matches on TV (Local Timings)

English Premier League Liverpool v Chelsea Abu Dhabi Sports HD 3 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 5

22:00

Dubai’s Drydocks revamp delayed by Singapore snag Page 22

Greece must implement bailout deal: EU official Page 23

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

Al-Babtain Group rewards its best employees for year 2011 Page 25

Kuwait a major market for Atlantis: Armitage Page 24

Zain revenues reach $1.2 billion Customers served increased 7% year-on-year to total 40.3 million KUWAIT: Zain announced yesterday its consolidated financial results for the quarter ended 31st of March, 2012. The results showed sustainable growth in several key performance indicators: For the first quarter of 2012, the Zain Group generated consolidated revenues of KD 325.7 million ( $ 1 .1 7 2 b i l l i on ) , re f l ec t ing a 1% increase over the same period of Q1, 2011. The net income has witnessed an increase of 2% year-on-year to reach KD 70.9 million ($255.1 million). The group’s consolidated EBITDA reached KD 150.8 million ($542.5 million), up 2% over the same period of last year and reflecting an EBITDA Margin of 46.3%. The earnings per share reached 18 fils ($0.07).

Q1, 2012 Key Highlights • Za i n G rou p h a s successfu l l y restructured $433 million syndicated short term loan into a syndicated revolving long term loan.

• Zain Sudan prepaid its Euro 220 million loan in full in Q1 2012, which thus eliminated the Group’s largest exposure to the euro currency.

Commenting on the results, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zain Group, Asaad Al-Banwan said: “The local, regional and international markets continue to suffer from the global financial crisis, which imposes more challenges on the Group’s operations, yet in spite of this, Zain has managed to maintain encouraging growth rates during this difficult period. Due to network upgrades and expansion projects that the Group is continuously implementing in its operations, the company continues to attain solid financial results on all levels.”

Al-Banwan also emphasized that the Group will continue to succeed by consistently looking to surpass the expectations of its customers and achieve the highest return on equity. The coming period is also set to witness new trends and developments within the Zain Group.

Zain Group CEO Nabeel Bin Salamah said: “ While the Group adopted more stringent standards in the identification and definition of its active customers, and the reclassification of its customer base on the basis of the new rules, the company was still able to achieve good results in its markets. This is because the group continues to benefit from the available growth opportunities, which is reflected in the size of its customer base that grew by 7% to reach 40.3 million ac tive customers at the end of March 2012.

Bin Salamah said that the investments the group made in many of its markets during this period have greatly enhanced its competitive position. He continued by saying, “our expansion and development projects in Iraq have helped us to deploy more of our operations in the northern regions of the country, and we have experienced great success at the operational level of our business in Iraq during this period.”

In another context, Bin Salamah said that this period witnessed the true beginning of the separation of the operations of South Sudan from Sudan, a process that the group has successfully implemented in record time. The company’s operations have seen many challenges in Sudan due to the worsening polit-

Chairman of Zain Group Asaad Al-Banwan

Zain Group CEO Nabeel Bin Salamah

ical and economic situation in the region, which will undoubtedly influence the size of the expected growth of Zain’s operations during the rest of the year.

Bin Salamah emphasized that Zain Group owns

and operates one of the most advanced mobile infrastructure networks in the sector in the region, and is well positioned to harness this strategic advantage to achieve even greater heights in the coming periods.

Key Performance Indicators for the 1st quarter of 2012 Total Managed Active Customers Consolidated Revenues EBITDA EBITDA Margin Net Income EPS

40.3 million KWD 326 million KWD 151 million 46.3% KWD 71 million KWD 0.018

up 7% compared to Q1, 2011 (US$ 1.172 billion) (US$ 543 million) (45.6% in Q1 2011) (US$ 255 million) (US$ 0.07)

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

BUSINESS

Dubai’s Drydocks revamp delayed by Singapore snag

Effects of Arab awakening on the Global Oil Industry INSEAD RESEARCH REPORT

Wider credit group yet to approve plan DUBAI: Legal proceedings in the $2.2 billion debt restructuring of Dubai World’s shipbuilding unit have been delayed due to a court challenge in Singapore over a rigbuilding contract, a lawyer said yesterday.

Drydocks World, a shipbuilding and repair business with operations in Southeast Asia as well as Dubai, sought insolvency protection last month and is using a special tribunal in Dubai to force creditors to sign up to the plan. It also filed legal proceedings in Singapore to push through the proposal.

Singapore’s Court of Appeal overturned an initial ruling which prevented the calling of a refund guarantee provided to the buyer by three Singaporean banks concern-

is also a creditor in the main debt deal, he said. Under the terms of a refund guarantee, banks agree to pay back the buyer’s capital outlay on a project if it encounters issues such as a delay or if it is cancelled.

Hyde would not comment on how much the affected guarantee was worth, nor who the buyer was.

Drydocks has been in negotiations to restructure its loan facility in an effort to put an end to lengthy and complex debt talks.

Restructuring talks have been complicated by the involvement of hedge funds, who forced it to seek redress under Decree 57, a form of insolvency protection developed after Dubai’s 2009 debt crisis.

Drydocks lawyers were expected to present the voluntary

ing the delayed rig, a Drydocks lawyer told the special tribunal yesterday. Discussions aimed at securing a consensus-letting banks gain security over the rig in exchange for for feiting the claim against Drydocks-were at an advanced stage but would now be pushed back. “I’m very confident by the time we are next here, this is a problem that will have gone away,” lawyer Mark Hyde told reporters outside the DIFC Courts.

A commercial agreement with the three banks had been reached but now required the approval of the wider creditor group before it can be put in place, Hyde added.

The three banks are OverseaChinese Banking Corp, United Overseas Bank and DBS Group, who

By Dr Yasser Al-Saleh

arrangement agreed with creditors on Monday but that has now been scheduled for June 5. Once that occurs, the 19-member creditor group will vote on the final terms on or around July 8, Hyde told the court.

A final hearing to sanction the restructuring under Decree 57 would not be held before the beginning of August, he added.

“The short delay should not have any material impact on the business or its operations,” Drydocks Chairman Khamis Juma Buamim said in a statement issued after the hearing.

The company said last month it had the agreement of all but one creditor to its proposed restructuring plan.— Reuters

Etihad drops more A350s in setback to Airbus

TAIPEI: A trader monitors stocks at a securities company in Taipei yesterday. Asian markets and the euro slumped yesterday after voters in France and Greece voted out their ruling parties in a backlash against austerity measures aimed at battling the euro-zone crisis. —AFP

Aramco to increase trade in oil products MANAMA: Saudi Aramco Products Trading Co expects its refined oil products trading volumes to rise to 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) as its downstream business expands, the firm’s chief executive said yesterday.

Aramco Trading, a subsidiary of staterun Saudi Aramco which plans a major increase in its refining capacity, started commercial operations in January. “Our mandate is for different types of trading with the exception of crude,” said Said AlHadrami at the Middle East Petroleum and Gas Conference (MPGC) in Bahrain, his first public speech since the company was launched.

Hadrami did not disclose how long it would take to reach the 1.5 million bpd target from a current traded volume of 500,000-600,00 bpd of refined products, condensate and sulphur.

Liquified petroleum gas (LPG) will soon be added to the company’s trading portfolio.

“Establishing a trading business was natural as the downstream system got more complex, We were only on one side of the market,” he told reporters.

The company, based at the state company’s Dhahran headquarters, replaces a marketing department. It now handles refined oil products transactions, including condensate, naphtha, gasoline, middle distillate fuels, fuel oil and residual products and bulk petrochemical products.

“We do not think volatility is always bad but we think its more manageable in the trading environment than a traditional marketing business,” Hadrami said.

Aramco is one of the largest exporters of fuel oil and naphtha into East Asia as well as a net importer of gas oil. — Reuters

PARIS: European planemaker Airbus suffered a fresh setback to its largest twin-engined jet development, the A350-1000, when it emerged that Gulf carrier Etihad had cancelled seven aircraft worth $2.3 billion at current list prices.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline has now halved its order for the 350-seat jet in four months from 25 in November to 12 at the end of April, Airbus monthly figures showed yesterday. Airbus has not sold any of the largest variant of its next-generation A350 since beefing up the design with bigger Rolls-Royce engines last June, while Boeing has been notching up record orders of the wide-body 777.

Airbus says it is confident a market will flourish for the long-distance jet and has said its only difficulty is the shortage of available delivery slots before 2018 or 2019.

“The A350-1000 is consistently more capable than the (Boeing) 777-300ER. It will cover the world with 25 percent less fuel burn,” an Airbus spokesman said. Etihad was not immediately available for comment. Airbus pushed back development of the stretched A350-1000 by two years when it decided to overhaul the design last year. The $320 million jet is now due to enter service in mid-2017.

While smaller versions of the A350 are designed to compete with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, built using similar carbon-fiber materials, the A350-1000 targets Boeing’s older 777-300ER. The Boeing 777 is a 1990s metallic aircraft but dominates a category of its own with seating for 365 passengers in normal layout and a long range. Some A350 customers such as Qatar Airways and Dubai’s Emirates have criticized the A350-1000 for failing to deliver a knockout punch to Boeing’s mini-jumbo. Boeing is considering a refresh of its 777 with new wings and new engines to enter service near the end of the decade.

Etihad ordered the next generation of Airbus jets in July 2008, saying it would be among the world’s most efficient.

The reduced A350-1000 order comes as Airbus makes a relatively slow start to the year after dominating the market in 2011 thanks to a revamp of its best-selling mediumrange A320. Boeing is catching up with a makeover of its own most-sold 737 model and is so far on track to win the annual order race against its only serious rival for the first time since 2006. Airbus took a total of 12 new orders in April, bringing its total for the year to 112. Adjusted for cancellations, net orders for the year to date stood at 95 passenger jets. The EADS subsidiary delivered 183 aircraft in the January-April period, including five A380 superjumbos. Boeing sold 444 aircraft between the start of the year and May 1, or a net total of 415 when adjusted for reductions that included a high-profile Chinese cancellation of 24 Dreamliners. — Reuters

KUWAIT: Almost fifteen years ago, I started my professional career in the oil industry by undertaking extensive training on board large oil tankers that transport crude oil from Saudi Arabia to the United States. The tanker crews always welcomed the shorter trip when we returned via the Suez Canal instead of having to travel around the tip of Africa. Eight hours transit in the canal was an occasion to appreciate and reflect on the efforts that had been put into constructing this key shipping channel, and also the strategic impor tance of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The so-called ‘Arab Spring’ or ‘Arab Awakening’, which brought political instability to Libya, Egypt, Yemen and more recently Syria, has brought another oppor tunity to reflect on the significance of this region through considering the likely profound impact that any political volatility can have on the global oil market.

The MENA region has massive hydrocarbon resources (some 60% of the world’s proven oil reserves and 45% of global gas reserves). Most of those resources are concentrated in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, which is home to approximately 40% of the world’s proven oil reser ves and 25% of natural gas reserves. So, the MENA region, and the GCC region in particular, is of great importance to the global energy market and to the economic stability and prosperity of the world. The current political unrest has already been reflected by a surge in oil prices, but the world hopes that this will be the only short-term effect of the transitional phase that the region is currently experiencing.

Consider the case of Libya - a member of OPEC, which has the largest national reserves in Africa.

Libya is blessed with some of the world’s highest quality crude oil, and its geographical proximity to Europe has always placed the country in a favorable position in the global oil market. In 2010, Libya was exporting around 1.8 million barrels of oil per day in addition to substantial amounts of natural gas. It is therefore no coincidence that the Libyan revolution has been a key reason for the recent rise in oil prices, despite Saudi attempts to bridge the oil production gap. As a result of the escalation of events in Syria, among other factors, Iran’s oil production has begun to be negatively affected. Additionally, the European Union voted earlier this year to stop buying Iranian oil from this summer, but the Iranians did not wait and cut off oil sales early. From its position as the global ‘swing producer’, Saudi Arabia has recently reiterated its pledge to keep the oil mar-

ket well supplied if sanctions hit Iran.

However, any military sanction on Iran is likely to cause a host of serious events, which may include closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Speak to any oil professional who works on shipping oil through the Strait of Hormuz and they will tell you of its importance to the oil industry.

Around 18 million barrels of oil - originating from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates - pass through the Strait on a daily basis. An alternative route could be the Fujairah Pipeline (currently under construction), which upon completion should be able to deliver most of Abu Dhabi’s oil exports to the Indian Ocean. To put this into perspective, the amount of oil that could be shipped through this pipeline represents only 10% of the total oil currently transiting this strait. Another alternative route - albeit an operational one - is the Saudi pipeline, k nown as Petroline. However, presently, this pipeline can only carry around 25% of the amount of oil shipped through the Strait of Hormuz.

The closure of this Strait will not only result in ‘skyrocketing’ oil prices with disastrous effects on the global economy, but will also hurt the Iranian economy which currently relies on the Strait to transport oil, food and other essential goods.

Thus, apart from being blessed with the vast majority of the world’s hydrocarbon reser ves, the MENA region has a major geographic significance due to its influence on key oil and gas shipping routes, which include the Strait of Hormuz as well as the Suez Canal and Bab-el-Mandeb.

Moreover, bearing in mind that production in many of the non-MENA oil fields has already peaked, and with Iraq and Libya now offering high production targets, many industry analysts anticipate that the MENA region will be responsible for supplying at least 90% of global oil production over the next 20 years. Substantial investment will be needed to develop oil and gas fields in the region, which adds to the challenges currently facing those GCC governments that seem to face a relatively lower chance of revolutions taking place within their territories.

Taking such factors into account, one can only envision an increasingly impor tant position for the MENA region. However, without greater effort to respond to increasing pressures, par ticularly with regard to issues related to transparency, social equality, democracy and unemployment, the region is destined to witness endless public uprisings breaking out with a disastrous impact on the global economy.

Dr Yasser Al-Saleh, Senior Research Fellow at INSEAD Innovation and Policy Initiative in Abu Dhabi.

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD .2730000 .2810000 GB Pound/KD .4460000 .4550000 Euro .3580000 .3660000 Swiss francs .2980000 .3090000 Canadian Dollar .2770000 .2850000 Australian DLR .2790000 .2910000 Indian rupees .0040000 .0070000 Sri Lanka Rupee .0020000 .0035000 UAE dirhams .0753900 .0761480 Bahraini dinars .7345050 .7418870 Jordanian dinar .3830000 .4000000 Saudi riyals .0710000 .0760000 Omani riyals .7200500 .7272870 Philippine peso .0040000 .0072000 Egyptian pounds .0430000 .0500000 CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES US Dollar/KD .2777000 .2798000 GB Pound/KD .4476680 .4510520 Euro .3603990 .3631240 Swiss francs .300220 .3022900 Canadian dollars .2783820 .2804870 Danish Kroner .0484600 .0488260 Swedish Kroner .0404070 .0407120 Australian dlr .2815180 .2836470 Hong Kong dlr .0357730 .0360430 Singapore dlr .2223020 .2239830 Japanese yen .0034810 .0033070 Indian Rs/KD .0000000 .0052690 Sri Lanka rupee .0000000 .0022010 Pakistan rupee .0000000 .0030900 Bangladesh taka .0000000 .0034310 UAE dirhams .0756370 .0762090 Bahraini dinars .7368980 .7424700 Jordanian dinar .0000000 .3957570 Saudi Riyal/KD .0740730 .0746330 Omani riyals .7215800 .7270370 Philippine Peso .0000000 .0066490

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. 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

Rate per 1000 (Tran) 278.500 3.067 5.200 2.187 3.405 6.635 75.925 74.420 740.400 46.020 455.400 3.090

Yemeni Riyal Euro Canadian Dollars Nepali rupee

1.550 370.000 285.500 3.350

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) 278.550 366.300 452.300 282.100 3.540 5.262 46.170 2.174 3.395 6.570 3.068 741.600 75.850 74.350

UAE Exchange Centre WLL 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 288.00 284.26 306.78 366.02 453.31 3.57 3.407 5.206 2.187 3.299 3.077 75.89 741.86 46.17 396.78 724.84 76.91 74.47

SELL CASH 292.00 286.00 311.00 368.00 456.50 3.65 3.550 5.700 2.550 4.000 3.250 76.70 741.00 47.25 394.50 726.00 77.75 74.50

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank

Selling Rate 278.300 284.250 451.815 367.140 304.905

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

Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

736.970 75.745 76.390 74.175 391.745 46.013 2.168 5.235 3.089 3.403 6.598 682.655 4.465 9.105 5.860 3.405 92.090

10 Tola Sterling Pound US Dollar

SELL CASH 286.500 741.860 3.660 283.300 547.900 45.500 49.700 167.800 47.800 366.600 36.650 5.500 0.032 0.159 0.229 3.590 395.320 0.188 93.280 45.400 4.290 224.500 1.807 49.200 724.580 3.150 6.840 77.170 74.480 224.930 38.240 2.658 453.600 41.500 305.100

4.300 9.220 75.960 278.900

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. ASIAN COUNTRIES

SELL DRAFT 285.000 741.860 3.407 281.800

Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Malaysian Ringgit

224.900 48.132 366.100 36.500 5.220 0.031

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham

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 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

4.300 9.430 198.263 76.060 279.300 1.340 GOLD 1,714.930 TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 451.600 278.900

395.280 0.188 93.280 3.280 223.000 724.400 3.078 6.589 76.740 74.480 224.930 38.240 2.188 451.600 303.600

3.535 5.183 3.066 2.168 3.277 225.730 35.905 3.399 6.593 8.999 91.433 GCC COUNTRIES 74.310 76.567 723.790 740.140 75.879

ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 47.700 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 45.995 Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.300 Tunisian Dinar 181.47 Jordanian Dinar 393.520 Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.869 Syrian Lier 4.861 Morocco Dirham 33.161 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 278.550 Euro 367.41 Sterling Pound 452.920 Canadian dollar 282.71 Turkish lire 158.580 Swiss Franc 306.77 US Dollar Buying 277.350 GOLD 20 Gram 295.000 10 Gram 148.000 5 Gram 74.000

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

BUSINESS

Saudis help soothe Iran nerves in Asia: Analyst LAUNCESTON, Australia: Asian refiners will no doubt have been cheered by Saudi Aramco’s decision to trim the premium it charges for its benchmark Arab Light crude for June cargoes, especially since the cut appears generous.

The Saudi state oil company reduced the premium to $1.15 a barrel over the Oman/Dubai average, down from $2.45 a barrel for May shipments. It was the lowest premium since September last year and the $1.30 a barrel cut exceed the 80 cent reduction forecast by traders in a Reuters survey.

Given that at the same time the discount over the Brent weighted average for customers in Northwest Europe was trimmed to $2.60 a barrel from $3.85, it appears that the Saudis are indeed doing all they can to assure Asian buyers that they can replace any Iranian oil that may be lost in the next few months.

While European refiners are still paying less in absolute terms than Asian counterparts, the gap has been narrowing in recent months.

This is especially true given that the spread

between Brent crude and Oman/Dubai has been narrowing, which would normally suggest higher premiums for Asia or bigger discounts for Europe.

While the exchange for swaps between Brent and Dubai isn’t a perfect substitute for the Brent weighted average and the Oman/Dubai average the Saudis use for their pricing, it’s a close enough indicator to provide useful insights.

The one month EFS dropped to $3.43 a barrel on May 4, the lowest in almost two months, as Brent lost ground more quickly than the Middle East benchmark.

Using the May 4 close for Brent crude and the Brent-Dubai EFS, and adding in the new prices announced by Saudi Aramco on May 5, it works out that European refiners will be paying about $110.58 a barrel for June cargoes and those in Asia about $110.90. This isn’t a significant difference, and its also lower than in previous months.

The premium Asian buyers, who take about 60 percent of Saudi Arabia’s output, were paying over

those in Europe was about $2.45 a barrel in January and about $2.65 for May cargoes.

This appears to support the contention that the Saudis are providing cargoes to Asia at slightly cheaper prices than they have in recent months, at least in relative terms compared to Europe.

This comes at a time when many Asian refiners are scrambling to find replacements for Iranian crude, which is under increasing pressure from financial sanctions by Europe and the United States aimed at forcing Iran to open its nuclear program to full international scrutiny.

July is looming as a crunch month, not only because Europe is scheduled to halt Iranian imports altogether, but also because European reinsurers may be forced to stop covering Iranian cargoes, which would make it very difficult to get adequate coverage for tankers carrying crude from Iran.

So far, market concern over the potential loss of most of Iran’s 2.2 million barrels a day of exports haven’t come to fruition, especially with the Saudis

and other Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) boosting output. Saudi Arabia pumped 10 million barrels a day in April, a slight gain from 9.9 million bpd in March, but more importantly, up 1.5 million bpd from April last year.

Iraq has also boosted output by about 500,000 barrels a day from last April, helping take OPEC’s output to the highest in three years.

It’s little wonder that physical traders in Asia report no shortage of cargoes, although there is still some nerves over what happens post-July.

Oil prices seem to be caught currently between the reality of less-than-stellar demand fundamentals, particularly in Europe and the United States, and the risk of major disruptions to supply from the Iranian situation.

The 6.4 percent slide in Brent prices in the past week, much of that in the last two trading sessions, shows that the reality of Europe’s unresolved sovereign debt crisis and some soft US economic data is currently outweighing Iran fears. — Reuters

Greece must implement bailout deal: EU official Anti-bailout parties win elections

HANGZHOU: Chinese home buyers who bought their homes when the property market was at its peak hold banners reading “Kunlun cheating” during a protest in Hangzhou, east China’s Zhejiang province, after the Kunlun property developer recently reduced the value of their homes by two-thirds following the fall of property prices. — AFP

US banks in better shape than Europe’s: Buffet OMAHA, Nebraska: Billionaire Warren Buffett says American banks are in much better financial shape than European counterparts because of measures taken during the financial crisis.

The leader of the conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said during a CNBC interview yesterday that the United States already injected more capital into its banks and forced them to clean up their balance sheets.

Buffett says the United States did a better job imposing austerity measures and improving its fiscal situation after the financial crisis of 2008. But he says the Unites States had a better structure to deal with the problems. Buffett also says the size of America’s banks wasn’t the source of the problems. He says they just need enough capital.

Buffett says Europe will have a hard time resolving its fiscal problems because of the structure of the European Union and this weekend’s election results in Greece and France.

Buffett appeared on CNBC yesterday after meeting with more than 30,000 people at the annual meeting of his conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Buffett says Europe won’t solve its many problems without a lot of pain. He says part of the challenge is that the European Union’s 17 countries don’t have similar monetary policies. Buffett says it’s not surprising that people in Greece and France voted against the pain of austerity.

But he says the turmoil in Europe won’t keep him from investing.

Buffett says he avoids buying into businesses like Facebook because it’s too hard to estimate what they might be worth.

Buffett said on CNBC yesterday that he doesn’t really have an opinion on Facebook and Google because it’s hard to determine their value and how they will fare in the future.

Over the weekend, Buffett also told Berkshire Hathaway shareholders that initial public offerings are almost always bad investments. He says there is so much hype involved that IPOs won’t be the mostattractive value. Buffett said Monday that one of the worst mistakes investors make is buying or selling based on the day’s headlines. He says investors should be looking for good businesses to buy and trying to determine how those companies will fare in 10 years. —AP

HYDERABAD: Indian motorists move through a road in Hyderabad yesterday. US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged energy-starved India to reduce its Iranian oil imports to keep up pressure on the Islamic republic to come clean about its nuclear program. — AP

Merkel says Greek reforms ‘of utmost importance’ BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday that it was “of utmost importance” that Greece stick to the reform course agreed in exchange for an EU-IMF bailout, despite a voter backlash.

“It is of course of utmost importance that the programs we agreed with Greece continue,” Merkel told reporters, speaking about Sunday’s Greek election which saw a stunning result for anti-austerity parties.

Merkel, Europe’s top proponent of fiscal discipline as a strategy for busting the euro-zone debt crisis, acknowledged the Greek vote outcome was “not uncomplicated”. She called for giving Athens time to “analyze the election result” and determine “which groupings are possible for a new government”. Merkel acknowledged that the budget cutting imposed on the debtmired

country in exchange for two separate rescue packages was “difficult” but said it “nevertheless must continue”.

Greece’s two mainstream parties fell short of an absolute majority in parliament with their share of the vote collapsing to 32.1 percent, compared to 77.4 percent in the 2009 election, making it unclear how a new government will be formed.

Instead, voters angry after two years of cuts handed parties opposed to the terms of Greece’s t wo international bailouts a stunning result-a total of 151 parliamentar y seats bet ween them, based on 99 percent of votes counted.

And the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn was set to enter parliament for the first time since the end of the military junta in 1974, with 21 seats in the 300-seat chamber. — AFP

BRUSSELS: Greece must implement the reforms it agreed to under the second bailout program and the European Commission is ready to help Athens with that, the European Union executive said yesterday, after Greek parties opposing the bailout did well in elections.

“Full and timely implementation of the program is of the essence in order to meet the targets and (reach) sustainability of the Greek debt,” Commission economic and monetary affairs spokesman Amadeu Altafaj told a regular news briefing.

Greece’s conservative leader, whose New Democracy party won the biggest support in elections on Sunday, began a hunt for partners to forge a coalition that would continue reforms agreed with the euro-zone and the International Monetary Fund, which are a condition for continued emergency financing for Athens.

Without the EU/IMF funds, Greece would have to default on its debt, which some politicians believe would entail leaving the euro zone and the European Union. But on Sunday, voters savaged the two ruling parties for imposing steep wage and spending cuts, in line with the bailout terms, and forming a coalition government in support of the reforms might be difficult. “A second program has been negotiated with the Greek authorities, on behalf of the Greek state... the private sector has contributed... but of course when it comes to implementation, it is up to the Greek authorities,” Altafaj said.

The bailout program is an ambitious deal struck in February that aims to clear the way for Greece to return to financial markets by 2015.

“We stand ready to continue to assist Greece with its ongoing reform agenda in the framework of the second economic adjustment program,” European Commission spokeswoman Pia

ATHENS: A statue of ancient Greek Goddess Athena is highlighted by the moon, in the center of the Greek capital after elections on Sunday. Voters in crisis-hit Greece punished parties that have dominated politics for decades, with parties opposed to the country’s bailout agreements gaining ground. —AP

Ahrenkilde Hansen told the briefing. The Commission said it was premature to anticipate what decisions a future Greek government that might emerge from the coalition talks could take regarding the bailout reforms.

“We do not have a new government in Greece yet,” she said. “ The Commission hopes and expects that the future government of Greece will respect the engagement

Job disability a headache for US recovery WASHINGTON: Monica Soltes was excited 10 years ago to leave Merrill Lynch and start her own business as an independent financial planner in San Diego. After she fell off a porch at her cousin’s cottage and broke her elbow, her dreams unraveled.

Following multiple surgeries that confined her to bed, Soltes was diagnosed with a hormonal disease that is weakening her bones. She also ran out of money, signed up for disability benefits and has been unable to work again. The 47-year-old from Michigan is among the 8.7 million American workers on the US disability rolls, an important part of the social safety net. Since the recession began in 2007, she has been joined by a record number of people seeking disability benefits, raising questions about the program’s solvency and casting a pall over future prospects for US economic growth.

Applicants soared to a record high of 2.94 million in 2010, and have held above 18 per 1,000 workers in the past three years - a far higher rate than in previous recessions. “There are serious concerns that this increase in disability benefits is a type of ‘hidden unemployment,’” said Richard Burkhauser, a professor of economics at Cornell University. Even though only 35 percent of applicants are awarded disability, those receiving disability benefits now account for 5.6 percent of the working age population, up from about 4.5 percent in 2007. At this rate of growth, Burkhauser estimates that total would reach over 7 percent by 2018.

The problem is those on disability rarely return to work, reducing the overall size of the labor force and weakening the US economy’s growth prospects. Rising gross domestic product (GDP) depends upon a growing workforce and rising productivity.

Since the recession began, the share of Americans actively looking for work, known as the labor participation rate, has fallen to 63.6 percent from 66 percent in 2007.

Some people give up looking for work temporarily, but the size of the decline has perplexed economists and disability is clearly a factor.

JP Morgan estimates it accounts for half a percentage point of the drop. With jobs scarce, it causes little drag on growth. But Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, said over time, disability will rob roughly $250 billion - or 1.6 percent - from total output each year once the economy returns to full employment, probably within the next five to seven years. This will also widen the budget deficit.— Reuters

that Greece has entered into.” Greece consistently missed targets under its first program, agreed in April 2010, which led to the restructuring of its private-sector debt under the second package.

Officials say any further backsliding now will not be tolerated, especially with the International Monetary Fund a reluctant partner in the second program. — Reuters

Spain reluctantly swoops to save major bank MADRID: Spain will reluctantly swoop in with public money this week to clean up bad loans at its largest group of savings banks, Bankia, the government said yesterday.

Bankia, Spain’s fourth-biggest listed bank created from a merger of seven savings banks, is the most exposed to Spain’s property market, which collapsed in 2008, destroying millions of jobs and leaving piles of bad credit. Spain’s financial sector is a significant concern to investors, who fear the unknown cost of rescuing the industry could derail efforts to stem a rapid rise in sovereign debt and stave off a bail-out.

“We are finalizing a plan to clean up the bank,” said an economy ministry official.

The scheme would use public money, and changes in Bankia management were also likely, the official said, adding that it would probably be announced by Friday. The state is likely to use contingent convertible bonds, he said. These bonds convert into equity in certain circumstances, for example if a bank’s core capital falls below a set ratio.

The leading daily El Pais estimated Bankia would need 5-10 billion euros ($6.5-13 billion) to repair its balance sheet. Business daily Expansion put the figure at 5-7 billion euros. Those reports were “not far off track”, said the official, declining however to give any figure.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s conservative government, which swept to power in December vowing to heal the ailing economy, had previously refused to countenance the use of public money to rescue the banks.

Rajoy has already ordered Spanish banks to set aside 54 billion euros in provisions against property-related assets.

But the prime minister said Monday that he would use public money if necessary to avoid a systemic collapse. “If it were necessary to prompt lending, to save the Spanish financial

system, I would not decline to do as all the countries in the European Union have done and inject public money,” he told Onda Cero radio.

“But that would be a last resort.” The premier said new banking legislation would be announced Friday to help banks deal with their assets. But the Spanish leader said he was “not in favor of a bad bank”, an entity that would regroup bad assets and shift their risk away from commercial banks to the government. “The fundamental aim is that there be no doubt about the financial state of Spanish financial entities-that everyone knows they are solvent and can do their job and repay what has been lent to them” on markets and during the restructuring, Rajoy added.

He insisted that if any more public money had to go into the banks, it would not compromise the tough deficit targets. “Public money will only be used in an extreme situation... this will not affect the public deficit,” he said.

Rajoy is under pressure from eurozone neighbors and financial markets to lower Spain’s deficit from 8.5 percent of gross domestic product last year to 5.3 percent this year and 3.0 percent in 2013.

The International Monetary Fund last month urged Spain to push further ahead with banking reforms. Clearly targeting Bankia, the IMF said in a report: “To preserve financial stability, it is critical that these banks, especially the largest one, take swift and decisive measures to strengthen their balance sheets and improve management and governance practices.”

In February, the ratio of bad loans at Spanish banks shot to an 18-year high as the banks struggled with a mass of deteriorating property-related loans.

The Bank of Spain said doubtful loans in February amounted to 143.8 billion euros ($188 billion), rising to 8.15 percent of total credits-the highest ratio since 1994. — AFP

24

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

business

DFM Q1 profit jumps on higher trading DUBAI: Dubai Financial Market (DFM), the Gulf Arab region’s only listed bourse, posted a sharp rise in quarterly profits thanks to increased trading on the exchange, it said yesterday.

The firm, which includes Nasdaq Dubai, made a first quarter net profit of 30.5 million dirhams ($8.3 million) in the quarter ended March 31, up from 2.2 million in the prior-year period. Total revenue rose 42 percent to 69.1 million dirhams from 48.7 million dirhams last year. A positive macroeconomic environment helped to spur trading activity on the exchange, Abdul Jalil Yousef Darwish, chairman of DFM, said. “This was mirrored on the DFM listed companies’ performance which invigorated investor sentiment by disclosing good financial results and rewarding cash dividends, which

eventually reflected positively on the revenue and profit of the DFM company,” he said. Trading volumes jumped in the quarter to 15 billion shares, up from 7.1 billion shares in the year-earlier period, with retail investors driving the momentum.

The DFM index gained 22 percent in the first quarter, rebounding from a sevenand-half-year low on January 17 as investors fished from the bottom.

Confidence in the market was helped by signs of stability in global markets that were hit by worries of a double-dip recession and the euro zone’s debt crisis in 2011. Increased risk appetite brought back money to the market. Shares in the firm gained 1.9 percent to 1.09 dirhams per share yesterday, ahead of the results announcement. The stock is up 27.4 percent year-to-date.— Reuters

Qatar brokers nifty exit for Egypt’s EFG Hermes DUBAI: Qatar has brokered a nifty exit for investors in Egypt’s EFG Hermes. Statebacked QInvest has agreed a deal that will allow the Gulf entity to cherry-pick key assets of one of the Middle East’s largest investment banks. The joint venture looks like an elegant way to salvage value from a bank tainted in the aftermath of Egypt’s revolution.

A joint venture, to be 60 percent owned

by QInvest, will hold the Egyptian banks core businesses: asset management, research, brokerage and investment banking. Once the deal closes EFG shareholders will get a one-off dividend payout worth one third of EFG’s current $1.1 billion market capitalization.

In return for control of the business units, QInvest will inject $250 million into the joint venture upfront and has an option to buy the rest after one year for an additional minimum payment of $165 million.

Qatar isn’t buying EFG’s majority shareholding in commercial bank Credit Libanais. Nor will it take EFG’s private equity arm, a stable revenue generator partly owned by Gamal Mubarak, the son of

Egypt’s former president.

Although it is hard to pin down the exact value of the deal, it looks like QInvest will get a bargain. Banque Audi reckons that if EFG’s non-operational investments are marked to market, and if the commercial bank is valued at a 25 percent discount to its 2010 acquisition price, EFG’s investment bank would be trading at 3.5 times forecast 2012 earnings - a chunky discount to global investment banks and asset managers trading at 10-to-15 times.

The tie-up will turn Qatar’s fledging investment bank into the top one in the region by footprint and brand. QInvest’s deep pockets remove the need for a commercial bank to help fund operations. And if the value of the joint venture assets increase with a broader recovery in Egyptian markets, QInvest will have to pay a fair market value to buy the rest, subject to an undisclosed cap. Whatever the fine print, EFG’s dividend starved shareholders including debt-burdened Dubai Holding, currently owning 18 percent of the bank will find it hard to resist the chance to cut their losses. — Reuters

Kuwait a major market for Atlantis: Armitage Value for money, safety and super services make Dubai a tourism stellar

By Velina Nacheva KUWAIT: The Arab Spring that has hit many tourism destinations across the Middle East and North African region has triggered considerable growth of Gulf tourists opting for Dubai. According to Brett Armitage, Senior Vice President, Sales at Atlantis, The Palm Dubai, the tourists from Kuwait last year marked more than a 20 percent increase yearon-year. “Traditionally, Kuwait is one of our strongest and largest markets during the summer months,” Armitage said on the sidelines of a Roadshow that was held in the Sheraton hotel recently.

There are three times more tourists from Kuwait who choose Atlantis as a summer holiday destination compared to the rest of the year. The reasons for that, Armitage explains, are attributed to the work done to position the resort well in the GCC market. Kuwait is the third largest market for Atlantis after the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. In the summer Kuwait is the second market after Saudi Arabia.

Atlantis was conceived to cater to a large GCC tourism flow. “It is important that such a hotel is available to all GCC,” he said adding that “Atlantis is a unique and iconic destination.”

What is different this year for Atlantis? The Kuwait market is a big family destination.

Therefore, the Atlantis caters to families with its entertainment park, 17 restaurants and many other leisure outlets. This is what makes us standout, Armitage says.

Our booking patterns for the GCC are different compared to the European market because, for Atlantis, the Gulf region is an important market that makes some 25 percent of the guests at the Atlantis. “We structure rooms for the GCC market,” he said. We focus on the small details, such as facilitating adjacent rooms for extended family members, providing menus in Arabic and having Arabicspeaking staff who take care of guests, he said. There is no better location for families in Dubai than the Atlantis, Armitage says.

Atlantis has developed as an entertainment destination too, hosting various events and famous DJs. Many Gulf tourists stay with us just to attend the entertainment events that we host,” Armitage said.

The ongoing turmoil in some traditional holiday destinations in the Middle East, such

holidaymakers and honeymooners en route to the Near and Far East or Europe.

Atlantis, The Palm is a 1,539 room, oceanthemed destination resort located at the centre of the crescent of The Palm in Dubai.

Opened in September 2008, the resort utilizes the 46 hectares site with 17 hectares of water

Brett Armitage, Senior Vice President, Sales at Atlantis, The Palm Dubai.

— Photo by Joseph Shagra as Egypt, serve as a boon to the holidaymakers opting for Dubai. We see a much bigger demand from the Gulf region, Armitage said.

The perfect infrastructure, organized airport, excellent connectivity with many airlines, taxis, and the standard of services set Dubai apart as a world class destination, in addition to the value for money. “It is an easy and safe destination,” he said. Variety, flexibility, shopping and leisure activities as well as the peace of mind have positioned Dubai as a leading tourism hub in the region. For example, Dubai is seen as a stopover destination for

park amusement, further marine and entertainment attractions and a collection of some of the most renowned restaurants. Atlantis, The Palm offers an unprecedented entertainment centre, an impressive collection of luxury boutiques and shops and extensive meeting and convention facilities. It is home to one of the largest open-air marine habitats in the world, with some 65,000 marine animals in lagoons and displays including The Lost Chambers, a maze of underwater corridors and passageways providing a journey through ancient Atlantis.

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

BUSINESS

Al-Babtain Group staff in a group photo.

(From left) Mohamad Shalaby, Ghazi Al-Babtain, Saleh Al-Babtain and Essam Salamah.

Nissan Marketing Manager Bilal AlKharroubi

A view of the audience.

KUWAIT: Al-Babtain Group recently organized the annual rewarding ceremony of its best directors and employees for the year 2011. The ceremony, held at the regency Hotel on Friday, April 27, was marked by the participation of the employees of Abdul Mohsen Abdul Aziz Al-Babtain Co, Gulf Express Co, Kuwait Paint Co, NCS Co, Health Care Co (United Arab Emirates), and Royal City Co, (The Arab Republic of Egypt). Saleh Al-Babtain, CEO of Al-Babtain Group, Mohamad Shalaby, Group Chief Operations Officer, and Ghazi Al-Babtain, Group Business Development Manager all graced the occasion with their presence.

Bilal Al-Kharroubi, Nissan Marketing Manager and MC of the event, welcomed all the guests and thanked them for their presence and engagement that made the ceremony a real success. All invitees then stood for a minute of silence in honor of deceased Shaher Wassef, Logistic Manager of Abdulmohsen Abdulaziz Al-Babtain Co. This rewarding ceremony is one of the major highlights of the company’s strategy aimed at recognizing, supporting and encouraging the efforts of the employees who work hard to improve the company’s performance and maintain it at the forefront of its field.

On this special occasion, Mohamad Shalaby, Group Chief Operations Officer, demonstrated the outstanding achievements accomplished by Al-Babtain Group during this year as well as the honoring awards collected as a result of the efforts provided by the employees and the continuous supervision of the directors. The company was actually awarded the title of the best Nissan Dealer for the year 2011, and ranked first in the Customer Satisfaction survey for the same year. Moreover, Renault honored Abdulmohsen Abdulaziz Al-Babtain Co for successfully achieving its 2011 work plan by promoting Renault aftersales services.

Shalaby concluded his speech by assuring that the company is always committed to achieve its future plans and consolidating its various corporate divisions in order to achieve its main goals.

On his part, Saleh Al-Babtain, CEO of Al-Babtain Group, thanked all the employees and exposed the trust of the directors in their outstanding efforts, hoping for further achievements in the future. Al-Babtain also added that employees have always been and will remain the priority of the company, and mentioned that those who have proven an unparalleled performance should be honored, whether individually or collectively. And after his short speech, he gave away honoring awards to employees.

In addition, the CEO outstanding performance award was handed this year to Zaid Jaber, Chief Sales Consultant at Infiniti. as a special gesture of Saleh Al-Babtain, CEO of Al-Babtain Group.

The ceremony was marked by the presence of more than 700 employees from Al-Babtain Group. Awards were given for Best performance among division employees, Managers/Directors and supportive departments.

Many valuable prizes were later distributed to the participants, and the ceremony was followed by a lunch organized in honor of employees. This rewarding ceremony is actually the living proof that the company is constantly supporting and taking care of all its employees, believing that human resources are the major pillar of achieving development and reaching towards excellence.

CEO of Al-Babtain Group Saleh Al-Babtain

COO of Al-Babtain Group Mohamad Shalaby

Saleh Al-Babtain rewards a staff member.

26

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

BUSINESS

Air Arabia Q1 2012 net profit rises 11% to AED 49.2 million Results beat analysts forecast, passenger traffic up 7%

Hyundai’s New Generation i30 now available in Middle East KUWAIT: The New Generation i30 has now arrived in the Middle East.

Exemplifying Hyundai’s ‘Modern Premium’ philosophy, the New Generation i30 offers consumers a stylish and refined compact-size car with enhanced quality, performance and efficiency compared to the previous model.

Designed and engineered at the Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Centre in Germany, the New Generation i30 will build on the success of its predecessor, which was the first ‘i’ product in Hyundai’s range and introduced new standards of quality and driveability to the company’s product line-up. It comes to the Middle East in two models, the GL and GLS, and is set to appeal to young, progressive buyers who want a car that not only per-

forms well but also looks great.

The New Generation i30 is the latest expression of Hyundai’s ‘fluidic sculpture’ design ethos. This visual philosophy utilizes flowing lines to give a constantly impactful three-dimensional presence to Hyundai vehicles. On the road, its visual impact is also raised by the LED daytime running lights which are standard on all models. The New Generation i30 also bears Hyundai’s signature frontal feature - the hexagonal-shaped grille.

Thomas Burkle, Chief Designer at Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Centre, commented: “ When designing New Generation i30, we used strong, fluid lines to sculpt a car that looks athletic

and exudes a sense of constant motion, even when stationary. We gave the car a bold stance, transmitting a confident attitude through sporty characteristics and dynamic proportions. The strength of Hyundai’s design DNA is easy for people to recognize.”

Buyers of the New Generation i30 have a choice of two petrol engines - a 1.6 D-CVVT unit, returning 130 PS or a 150 PS 1.8 litre powerplant. They are available with a choice of six-speed manual or automatic transmissions, with both units providing a refined driving experience and improved fuel efficiency.

To boost refinement, lower engine revs at cruising speeds and reduce fuel consumption, high top gear ratios are fitted on all transmissions.

Real-world fuel efficiency, together with a generous 53-litre fuel tank, means that i30 drivers could comfortably achieve a range of up to 1400 km between fill-ups - the equivalent of driving from Dubai to Riyadh and still having fuel left in the tank!

CEO of Hyundai Middle East, Tom Lee said: “The i30 has proven extremely successful in Europe, and we believe that Middle East customers will be equally attracted by the New Generation’s stylish looks, refined performance and classleading standards of quality and safety, all of which make it an ideal car for city driving.” Safety is a top priority for Hyundai and the New Generation i30 features the latest active and passive safety technologies to ensure maximum protection for its occupants and other road users. In the Middle East it can be specified with ESP (Electronic Stability Program), VSM ( Vehicle Stability Management) and ABS (Anti-lock Braking System). Dependent on model, the customer can also benefit from EPB (Electric parking brake) and a raft of airbags, including side, curtain and knee airbags.

Khx and abdi sign agreement for developing human capital in GCC KUWAIT: Under a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) announced on 11 March, 2012, Cambridge based abdi Ltd and Khx Education, Kuwait based subsidiary of Beyout Investment Group have agreed to work in a partnership to enhance Human capital and capacity building investment planning and measurement practices within public and private organizations in the State of Kuwait. abdi Ltd and Khx Education have agreed to work collaboratively in the State of Kuwait to deliver abdi’s suite of qualifications and services, aimed at raising professional standards in planning, measuring, analyzing and reporting performance and business impact results and value for money (ROI) for human capital investments abdi and Khx Education will work in a partnership and use mutual expertise to bring world class human capital and capacity building measurement practices into public and private sector organizations in Kuwait.

Jane Massy, CEO of abdi Ltd says: “We all at abdi are proud to work alongside with Khx Education to collaboratively raise professional standards in the planning and measurement of human capital investments. We hope to work with Khx Education to continue our work of building a strong ‘research to practice’ range of case studies and analysis into how investment in human capital influences behaviors, performance improvements and ultimately organizational results.

Ghassan Ahmed, Operations Director

of Khx Education said: “Our agreement with abdi will be an added value to Kuwaiti Business Stakeholders, abdi will help them to build their own evaluation capability and internal accountability systems so that they can do their own impact assessment and ROI measurement. It is part of Khx Education’s mission to raise awareness in developing Human Capital among business executives to maximize their returns”.

Cambridge based, abdi ltd promotes excellence in UK organizations of every sector in measuring the impact of their investments in human capital. abdi services include consulting, capability building workshops, evaluation services and the design and development of tools to support measurement and evaluation.

Khx Education was established in 2011 by a group of experienced educators in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region with a diverse and rich knowledge background from the USA, UK and local MENA educational environments. Owned by Beyout Investment Group (BIG) and based in Kuwait City, the Khx Education investment strategy is to create a diversified portfolio of companies focused on education and the development of human capital. Its objective is to create an operational synergy and regional diversification, in order to tap into the growth potential in the MENA emerging markets. Khx Education offers services in education, higher education, technology and corporate learning.

KUWAIT: Air Arabia (PJSC), the Middle East and North Africa’s first and largest low-cost carrier, announced yesterday its financial results for the three months ending March 31, 2012, demonstrating the carrier’s resilience and surpassing analysts’ expectations.

Air Arabia’s net profit for the three months ending March 31, 2012, stood at AED 49.2 million, an increase of 11 per cent compared to AED 44.2 million in the corresponding period in 2011.

The positive results achieved in the first quarter of 2012 reflect the airline’s strong operating performance, leading market share and solid profitability path.

In the first quarter of this year, Air Arabia posted a turnover of AED 621 million, an increase of 21 per cent compared to AED 513 million in the same period of 2011.

The airline served 1,230,807 passengers in the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 7 per cent compared to 1,153,807 passengers in the same period last year.

In the three months ending

March 31, 2012, Air Arabia’s average seat load factor - or passengers carried as a percentage of available seats - stood at an

announce our positive results for the first quarter of this year, demonstrating Air Arabia’s strong business model and excellent

Air Arabia Chairman Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammad Al-Thani impressive 82 per cent.

“Shortly after the distribution of a six per cent cash dividend was approved by the Assembly at Air Arabia’s Annual General Meeting, we are pleased to

market appeal,” said Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammad AlThani, Chairman of Air Arabia.

“Though political instability and sustained high fuel costs continue to challenge regional

carriers, the appeal of air transport, and especially the low-cost model pioneered by Air Arabia in the region, remains strong. As these results make clear, Air Arabia remains on a path of steady upward growth.”

He continued: “Air Arabia will continue to enter into new markets and to launch new ventures in 2012, supporting the airline’s robust commercial and operational performance, while providing our customers with an even wider choice of affordable air travel options.”

The first quarter of this year saw Air Arabia flights to Kuwait and Dammam increase to three times daily. As well, Air Arabia’s total operating fleet reached 30 aircraft, while the carrier took delivery of the ninth of 44 A320 aircraft it has ordered from Airbus. The airline will receive five more A320 aircraft this year, which is in line with Air Arabia’s growth plan to further expand its destination network and significantly grow the size of its fleet by 2016.

Easa Al-Yousifi & Sons Group Co unveils the ultimate gaming laptops from MSI KUWAIT: Easa Al-Yousifi & sons Co introduced recently their latest MSI laptops for games in a convention held at the Holiday Inn Hotel in order to show the Kuwaiti market the latest inventions and technology related to the computer gaming world. This event was attended by MSI customers, also a number of the company managers and the press people.

MSI has received high marks from all quarters for its high-end gaming laptops, including being selected for Innovations Honorees at the CES 2012, the IT industry’s equivalent of an Oscar. MSI is introducing the 15.6-inch GT60, GE60 and 17.3inch GT70, GE70-the ultimate in next generation gaming notebooks.

EYGC General Manager Hassan Mansour pointed out, MSI is rolling out the GT60 and GT70-the most awesome gaming notebooks ever. They pack Intel’s 3rd generation Core i7 quad core processor, Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 670M discrete graphics card, the Super RAID Dual SSD, which boasts the fastest read-write speed of any dual solid state drive ever, the professional grade Killer Gaming Networking Killer E2200 Game Networking, and a SteelSeries gaming keyboard.

They even come with cutting-edge surround sound courtesy of the perfect marriage of MSI’s own Audio Boost solution and Dynaudio sound technology.

Hassan went on pointing out that MSI’s GE60 and GE70 are the most powerful and able to boast the best display performance among all gaming laptops in history. Under the hood, they feature Intel’s newest third generation quad core processors and nVidia’s top-of-the-line GT650M discrete graphics card, while tipping the scales at just 2.5 and 2.8kgs, respectively. These NBs meet your need for machines that are both lean and mean. In addition, they sport envelope-pushing SteelSeries gaming keyboards, MSI’s own Audio Boost sound solution, and snazzy contoured sport lines. Light and powerful, these NBs will give you the edge in extreme video game competitions.

Versatile next generation GT60 and GT70 ● Super RAID design and up to 32GB of memory: MSI’s GT60 and GT70 come equipped with four DDR3 memory slots for up to 32GB of memory. They also feature MSI’s own Super RAID technology with dual SSD optional. Using accelerated dual solid state drive (SSD) architecture not only gives these machines twice the storage capacity, it also cranks up read speed by some 486% over traditional HDD Raid 0. In addition to booting up more quickly, it more than

satisfies the demand for faster reading capabilities required for the battle scenes and awesome effects of the latest games out there, giving you an edge in the thick of combat. ● TDE technology: The powerful MSI GT60 and GT70 use MSI’s Turbo Drive Engine (TDE) technology, so just one touch of the luminescent TDE hotkey located above the keyboard instantly revs up performance. The GT60 and GT70 also have MSI’s own powerful Cooler Boost technology; so again, just one touch of the luminescent hotkey above the keyboard kicks in the powerful cooling function to rapidly reduce system temp to enhance system stability. ● Unparalleled professional-grade SteelSeries keyboard: MSI has heard your calls for equipment designed with the gamer in

melee you are in, giving you that extra edge you need to come out on top. ● Killer Gaming Networking Killer E2200 Game Networking?: Nothing is worse than losing to opponents in online games, because of slow transmission speeds. The record-breaking, new generation MSI GT60 and GT70 gaming laptops come equipped with Killer Gaming Networking Killer E2200 Game Networking to give you blazing online transmission speeds that are faster than regular LAN, reducing latency/ping time for a hiccup-free online gaming experience and effectively eliminating incorrect commands resulting from game lag, greatly increasing your chances of coming out on top online. ● MSI Audio Boost solution: To give you unequaled surround stereo sound, the GT60

EYGC General Manager Hassan Mansour and other officials during the launch.

—Photos by Joseph Shagra mind. As such, we got together with SteelSeries, the leader in gaming peripherals, to create a new generation keyboard for the MSI GT60 and GT70. And they can lets you choose from among five keyboard backlighting scenariosNormal, Gaming, Wave, Breathing, and Dual Color, that can be used in coordination with variable section lighting, and seven colors offering over 1,000 variations. Gamers will also appreciate the fact that when you depress the Gaming Mode hotkey, the frequently used W, A, S, D, and Ctrl keys located on the left side of the keyboard are all backlit in LED while the rest of the keyboard stays dark. This allows you to quickly find the key you’re looking for, so you can remain focused on the rapidly changing

and GT70 gaming laptops employ MSI Audio Boost solution technology to bring next-generation Dynaudio sound technology to an even higher level of perfection. The audio output employs a gold flash audio jack, which although expensive, is the best conductor there is. It also prevents oxidation, enhances transmission efficiency, and reduces noise, endowing the GT60 and GT70 with crisp, clear, high fidelity stereo sound. In addition, the built-in earphone AMP even gives headsets superior acoustics, so you experience stereo sound to give you a sense of space and directions when playing and no lag when listening to game sounds or when talking with teammates. It doesn’t get any better than this.

ABK launches local concierge services for World MasterCard

Stewart Lockie

KUWAIT: Al-Ahli Bank of Kuwait is proud to announce the launch of a brand new initiative ‘ABK Concierge Services’ exclusively reserved for ABK Emirates World MasterCard cardholders. ‘ABK Concierge Services’ offers personalized and localized support services so that ABK Emirates World MasterCard cardholders can leave the ground work to someone else, while they have more time and freedom to focus on important aspects of their life and business.

This luxury benefit provides ser vices ranging from simple

restaurant reservations to planning a family vacation. The ‘Concierge’ delivers a personalassistant service by organizing and arranging day-to-day activities which may include taxi services, maid or nanny assistance, car servicing or road assistance, or even private cooking classes and sports lessons.

Stewar t Lock ie, General Manager for the Retail Banking Division commented “At ABK, we want our ABK Emirates World MasterCard Cardholders to be rewarded and recognized by deliv-

ering the highest level of personal service, usually only associated with a personal assistant.”

Lockie added “ABK Concierge delivers quick and easily accessible quality service, via telephone or email, permitting our premium customers to focus on the more important things in their lives.”

For more details on our ABK Emirates World MasterCard, please visit any ABK branch or call Ahlan Ahli 1899 899. You can also chat live with ABK’s customer service representative on Ahli Chat at www.eahli.com.

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

TECHNOLOGY

Mashreq Bank transforms IT Infrastructure with EMC VMAX DUBAI: EMC Corporation yesterday announced that Mashreq Bank has consolidated its IT infrastructure onto EMC Symmetrix VMAX, the world’s most powerful, trusted and smart enterprise storage, in order to manage its explosive data growth, becoming the first bank in the UAE to virtualize its mission-critical core banking applications.

CUSTOMER CHALLENGES Mashreq is one of UAE’s leading financial institutions with a growing retail presence in the region, including Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and representative offices across the

world. Like many in the bank ing industry, Mashreq struggled to meet the demands of its exponential data growth, which increases 30% every year. The bank experienced challenges maintaining an IT infrastructure that could scale to meet that demand efficiently, intelligently and w i t h h i g h - l e ve l s o f a u to m a t i o n .

Wi t h co n t i n u o u s d e m a n d s fo r upgrades and new capacity, controlling costs was important, as was ensuring that the infrastructure’s resources were efficiently-utilized.

Mashreq selected EMC’s Symmetrix VMAX to address these challenges and maximize its infrastructure’s effi-

ciency, scalability and performance.

tems - and integration with VMware

CUSTOMER BENEFITS INCREASED EFFICIENCY: Mashreqhas improved storage utilization by30% with EMC VMAX, enabling it to launch new applications and services use with its newly available resources.

EFFORTLESS SCALABILITY: VMAX has enabled Mashreq to effectively scale to meet its anticipated data growth, improving the agilty of its business operations “At Mashreq, we are proud to be at the forefront of technological innovation in the financial services sector, simplifying the way IT is adopted, managed and consumed and enabling us to provide better services - faster to our customers. Our work with EMC has already demonstrated significant improvements in performance and our total cost of ownership, and EMC

IMPROVED PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY: Using VMAX Mashreq hasimproved the performance of its data centre infrastructure and services by 15%. SIMPLIFIED, AUTOMATED STORAGE MANAGEMENT: Mashreq is now able to automate the allocation of extra storage capacity for existing sys-

will be a critical partner in the future as we pursue our vision of using Cloud-based technologies to improve our processes and enhance our customers’ experience,” Richard Hughes, Head of Infrastructure, Mashreq said.

EMC’s South Gulf District Manager Said Akar said “EMC’s main objective is to help Mashreq significantly increase business agility, lower costs and achieve better management. EMC is pleased to collaborate with Mashreq and we are committed to working with them to support their long-term vision of using the latest technologiesto innovate and break new ground in the financial industry.”

Laptops replacing lectures The changing classroom in schools

Intel putting a big bet on ultrabooks SAN JOSE: Racing to branch out from traditional personal computers where most of its chips are used, Intel Corp is making a huge bet on ultrabooks, a laptop-tablet hybrid that runs exclusively on its microprocessors.

Although it doesn’t make the devices itself, the Santa Clara Goliath has announced a $300 million fund to invest in ultrabook technologies and just launched an ultrabook ad campaign costing an additional “hundreds of millions of dollars,” its biggest marketing push since 2003.

Some industry observers have high expectations for the gadgets, including research firm IHS, which predicts the machines will grab 40 percent of notebook sales worldwide by 2016. But if ultrabooks flop, some experts say, it will raise major doubts about Intel’s ability to promote its chips for other mobile products, especially smartphones, where it’s been locked out of the market.

“They have to hit this,” said tech analyst Rob Enderle. “If they don’t, they are out of mobile -at least out of the mainstream of mobile products. This is probably the biggest risk they’ve faced since they were formed.”

Intel isn’t the only company with a big stake in its bet. Because ultrabooks are widely viewed as a notebook form that can compete with tablets, many companies that make notebooks and related personal-computer components hope the hybrid resuscitates their businesses, too. “This is kind of ‘do or die’ for the PC industry,” said Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy.

So far, 21 ultrabook models have been offered by such manufacturers as HewlettPackard Co, Dell Inc., Acer Inc., AsusTek Computer Inc., Lenovo Group Ltd., LG Electronics Inc, Samsung Electronics Co and Toshiba Corp. Lightweight and less than an inch thick, the first ones to hit stores late last year were promoted as quick to start with batteries lasting at least eight hours, data protection features and screens of up to 15 inches. Yet they cost upward of $1,000, which critics call too expensive. The online publication Notebook Review complained that these first ultrabooks “don’t really deliver premium per-

formance.” And CNet wondered “why an ultrabook would be any better than current iPads or MacBook Airs” from Apple Inc. But Intel officials and industry observers counter that ultrabooks are an evolving concept and that models to be introduced in the near future will be much improved. One factor that could enhance their appeal is Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows 8, which reportedly could be released to computer makers later this year. It helps enable touch-screen capabilities, which should soon be built into a “convertible” ultrabook, according to some analysts. The device would operate like a traditional notebook when its clamshell is opened and like a touch-screen tablet when closed.

Windows 8 also requires less powerful processors than Windows 7, which should help lower ultrabook prices, according to IHS. To further conserve power, Intel this year plans to introduce an energy-efficient chip for ultrabooks. Intel says another upcoming machine will incorporate voice-control capabilities, so a person can simply tell it to play media, check email or perform other functions. In April, Intel CEO Paul Otellini boasted that “more than 100” ultrabook models were under development. Indeed, analysts at BMO Capital Markets recently reported that computer makers “are pushing hard to launch new models” and predicted the devices would account for 10 to 15 percent of total notebook sales this year.

“We have been absolutely thrilled with the momentum we have, with the excitement,” said Karen Regis, director of Intel’s ultrabook marketing strategy. “I think the industry has been hungry for this kind of innovation.” But while Intel came up with the term ultrabooks, it may have to battle hard to own the concept. One of its chip rivals, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., is promoting “ultrathins,” which some analysts say could be offered at a lower price. Moreover, Intel’s heavy promotion of ultrabooks “is likely to benefit AMD’s ultrathins in terms of market adoption,” Raymond James analysts concluded in a recent report.— MCT

App designed to help find missing children TORONTO: It’s a parent’s worst nightmare.

Their child doesn’t come home one evening and is missing for several days.

When a 14-year-old boy from Atlanta, Georgia disappeared earlier this year, his mother turned to her smartphone for clues using an app called Family Tracker that helped track his location. It is one of several apps that allow parents to track the whereabouts of their children. “You can see where your loved ones are without having to call or bother them,” said Roberto Franceschetti of LogSat, the creators of the Family Tracker, which has more than 100,000 users and is available worldwide.

Parents can track the location of their child on a map, send messages, and even activate an alarm on the phone remotely.

“We have an option for the sender to make a very nasty, noisy sound. It’s a loud siren and we repeat that sound every two minutes until the person picks up,” he said.

Parents don’t need to own a smartphone to track their children. The service is also accessible via the web, as long as the phone that is being tracked is running the

app, which runs on an iPhone or Android devices.

Family Tracker has an additional service that keeps a log of all data generated by the app for a two-week period, which the company calls GPS breadcrumbs. The service was used to find the missing boy in Atlanta. “With a subscription, we keep all the locations where peoplehave been on our servers. You can see where your kid has been for the past two weeks. You can find out where someone was at a certain time, or when that person was at a specific place,” Franceschetti explained.

“When somebody gets abducted, usually whoever does this throws the phone away or takes the battery out. We were hoping that our app would at least provide information on where the person was abducted or where they had been in the past, that way the police would have a history or some clues as to who they may have been seeing.” But are these types of apps an invasion of privacy? “The advantages are huge compared to the disadvantages.—Reuters

WAUKESHA: Last year, Kim Crosby spent about 80 percent of her class time teaching math concepts at Waukesha STEM Academy. For the other 20 percent, she helped students individually. This year that time is reversed: 80 percent of her class time is spent moving from student to student; about one-fifth continues to be a standard lecture format. The rest of the directinstruction materials she wants students to see, she assigns to watch or read at home. “To me, this makes more sense,” Crosby said.

When it comes to challenging traditional ideas about how schools should operate, this 2-year-old charter school in Waukesha is building a reputation with a curriculum that focuses on science, technology, engineering and math, and where student schedules can change every day. Students choose when they want to eat and when they want to work during a 60minute lunch, and can randomly be found working in groups behind the reception desk. Or in the teachers lounge.

It may sound like too much freedom for middle-schoolers, but not to Principal Ryan Krohn. “If we want kids to act like adults and be responsible and come up with ideas and manage their time,” he said, “why do we continue to tell them exactly what to do and expect them to do it in the same way and at the same time as everyone else?” Krohn is part of a growing network of educators in Wisconsin calling for learning environments that are less lecture-driven and more collaborative. They want children to think better for themselves. They believe teachers must use technology in more sophisticated ways to advance learning. They believe the immediate payoff is more engagement.

The long-term goal: higher achievement.

Dramatic spending cuts, calls from taxpayers for greater efficiency and rapidly evolving technology are propelling such ideas forward and causing more people to question the seemingly immutable norms of traditional schooling: Why are classes still largely structured around lecturing, when research shows learners often retain information better through writing about it or explaining it, with feedback? Why do schools largely group children by similar age instead of similar ability? Why is memorization and fact-regurgitation so heavily valued when school leaders and employers say they want greater problem-solving and critical thinking skills from graduates?

The Oconomowoc Area School District administration recently sent shock waves through the teaching field by proposing to cut staff and add more work to the remaining teachers - but with a $14,000-a-year bonus. More proposals like that are sure to come. New technologies offer promising opportunities for schools to move away from the factory-style instruction model to one where learning plans are customized for each student - something already common in special education but largely absent from the mainstream. Coined “personalized learning,” the approach is being tested with specific populations of students in many area schools and implemented with all students in places such as Waukesha’s STEM Academy.

In some schools, personalized learning aligns with a blended learning approach that mixes faceto-face teaching with online instruction. In a time of reduced resources, advocates say blended learning could also allow teachers in some cases to handle larger class sizes, particularly if teachers combine their classes and/or receive support from lower-paid aides or even older students. What that could mean for quality of instruction long-term remains unknown.

The efforts in southeastern Wisconsin are being spearheaded largely by Cooperative Educational Services Agency No 1 in Pewaukee, one of many state-funded agencies around Wisconsin that support local school districts.

Jim Rickabaugh, the former superintendent of Whitefish Bay Schools, has launched The Institute at CESA 1, an initiative aimed at helping districts evangelize the concept of customized education through the use of technology and by teaching students to advocate for themselves, research effectively and take ownership of their own learning. The movement has nationwide traction, and companies such as McGraw-Hill, the education services goliath, are offering sophisticated learning tools that teachers can incorporate to make instruction more customized. These new models have generated excite-

skills in students, and that an engaging teacher - technology or no technology - is essential.

Rickabaugh is guided by the belief that the current system of schooling is not set up to educate kids at high levels; it’s set up to teach to the middle and to reward those who memorize and recall facts well. The system is not good at accommodating those who don’t learn well in the traditional fashion, and those are often the students who disengage, fall behind and cost more money to remediate.

As technology matures and educators become more skilled at applying it, Rickabaugh believes

WISCONSIN: Kim Crosby helps student, Keegan Ehler, 14 (right) with math assignment at Waukesha STEM Academy in Waukesha, Wisconsin. — MCT

PEWAUKEE: Taryn Bradley (left) Michelle Dieckelman, and Shelby Clark, all 13 and 7th graders at Asa Clark Middle School in Pewaukee, work together on Algebra. — MCT ment among early adopters, but they don’t have complete consensus.

“We’re trying to honor people’s need for this legacy model of education but also pursue this new educational model, and it’s caused tension,” said Theresa Gennerman, principal of Kettle Moraine Middle School. “We’ve got this per fect storm: the political climate, declining enrollment, less money for schools, and the kids, who are all asking for it. But we’re also trying to exist in this old model. Many parents still want to see ‘Kettle Moraine High School’ on their child’s diploma.”

So the district this year created two new charter schools within Kettle Moraine High School: one focused on global issues, the other on the arts. The charter-school students may still take classes in the “legacy” school - KMHS proper - but spend much of their time working independently or in groups on projects in their core subjects through the charter school. When it comes to the effectiveness of online instruction, most research on computer-based learning vs traditional instruction has been conducted at the university level, not in K-12 education, said Gary Miron, an expert in education technology research at Western Michigan University.

Teachers who already use more technology in their teaching - such as the suite of free Google applications or ALEKS, a popular online math program produced by McGraw-Hill - find value in the tools. But little independent academic research is available to judge the quality of one program over another. What is clear, at least to Miron, is that research suggests well-executed project-based learning builds higher-level thinking

that personalizing education will become the new standard. Not as a boutique charter-school program.

Not as a route for the gifted and talented. But as the new normal. “We need to make a fundamental shift to customized learning plans for each student, which are attached to world-class standards and which move at a pace that challenge but don’t discourage them,” Rickabaugh said. “We have technologies available to us now that allows this to happen.”

At STEM Academy, Krohn spent a year studying how to challenge the traditional ideas people had about how children need to be taught. He questioned everything from class design to curriculum.

Why do students have to do everything at the same time - from calisthenics in gym to eating lunch together? What if all the teachers in a grade level collaborated on their curriculum? What if students didn’t have set schedules every day? What would bringing career professionals into the building, on a near-daily basis, do for students? Why do students need to be in a classroom to work? Could they be more productive if they worked elsewhere in the school?

Krohn developed a vision, which was supported by the district and a charter school planning grant from the state. One thing was immediately clear: His kids would need online access all the time. The school is wireless. Every student is issued a laptop, their assignments and work accessible on the Internet. Teachers meet as a gradelevel team to design projects with an overarching theme, with applicable content areas for each subject. Art and business teachers also align their curricula with core classes.

As an example, the sixth grade

started a baseball unit with a field trip to Miller Park. When they got back, a multiweek study of baseball across subject lines ensued, including business-class projects on marketing baseball, a science project on the force in a swing and math practice that related to calculating surface area, volume and statistics.

Students spend much more of the day working in groups to find the answers to questions and explaining concepts to their friends, while teachers provide one-on-one or group support. Krohn also thought he could redesign lunchtime to be more effective and engaging for students.

While many schools offer a scant 20 minutes, the middle-schoolers have a full hour to eat when they want and do work for the other part of the time. Teachers split the hour: Half eat first and offer assistance to students or an extracurricular activity the second part of the period; the other half eat second.

Since the opening of the school, Krohn has paid close attention to STEM Academy students’ scores on an assessment known as the Measures of Academic Progress, which is taken three times during the school year. So far, students appear to be advancing in ways that are similar or better than what would be expected in a traditional public school.

And that’s with the school still working out a number of bugs. “To go from teachers thinking that we needed to check kids in and out of lunch and assign them seats in the lunchroom to kids being able to monitor themselves and advocate for themselves as learners, that’s a big and we think, valuable - shift,” Krohn said. Charter schools such as Waukesha STEM Academy are set up to be innovative and to experiment with curriculum, but the personalized-learning concept has been adopted with positive feedback at a variety of other traditional suburban school districts.

Milwaukee Public Schools, Racine and Kenosha are also teaming up to share best practices on incorporating personalized learning into their programs. A growing number of area school districts are modifying math instruction through the use of an online math program known as ALEKS, a product of McGraw-Hill. The program allows students to move at their own pace through subjects such as algebra, geometry and trigonometry, which is coupled with varying degrees of teacher intervention.

Through their dashboard, teachers can see where children are advancing, getting stuck or trying multiple times to do a problem and failing.

In Pewaukee’s Asa Clark Middle School, a double-sized room serves as the math lab for up to 40 or 50 students per period.

At least two teachers, a paraprofessional and a high school helper work the room with one-on-one support or small group lessons. The atmosphere is louder than a usual class - while a teacher is doing a small-group lesson in one corner, students elsewhere in the class may question each other about problems or talk to another teacher individually. Math teacher Tiffany Grandlich holds regular conferences with students - the length and frequency determined by how well that student is progressing - to establish goals. “The key is having it personalized to each child,” she explained. “Some students say, ‘I’m good, I can check in with you again in three weeks,’ while other kids have to check in with me every day.

I’m seeing kids who hated math now say they don’t mind it.”

Grandlich was also surprised to see the span of ability of her students, who traditionally would have been able to work up only through honors algebra in a traditional class. Now she has some students who have moved ahead to Algebra II, or advanced algebra in high school. Some k ids enter her class at a fourth-grade level and need lots of personal attention. Grandlich spends extra time with these students to help them advance as much as possible. — MCT

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

Researchers say step closer to meningitis B vaccine PARIS: Researchers said yesterday they were a step closer to developing a vaccine against the type of meningitis that mostly affects Europe and North America and kills hundreds every year. A trial in adolescents in Australia, Poland and Spain showed them developing an immune response without serious side-effects, according to a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases medical journal. After taking the drug, the test group generated antibodies that are active against 90 percent of strains in the meningitis B group affecting the United States and Europe.

“Our data suggest that this vaccine is a promising and broadly protective meningococcal serogroup B vaccine candidate,” said study lead author Peter Richmond from the University of Western Australia’s School of Paediatrics and Child Health.

Meningitis, an inflammation of the lining around the brain and spinal cord, mostly targets teenagers-with a fatali-

ty rate of between five percent and 14 percent. Many survivors suffer permanent neurological damage and limb or hearing loss. Vaccines exist against types A and C meningitis, but none that is broadly effective against strains in serogroup B, mostly prevalent in industrialised nations.

Type A is the primary cause of epidemic meningitis in Africa. “ The results showed that three doses produced an immune response, indicating protection, in 80 percent to 100 percent of adolescents,” said a statement. “Mild to moderate pain at the injection site was the most commonly reported side effect.” The authors said further trials must be held to determine the duration of vaccine protection. “If additional studies show similar immunogenicity (the ability to produce an immune response) and tolerability, this vaccine might help to reduce the global burden of invasive meningococcal disease,” said Richmond.—AFP

Living alone with Alzheimer’s tough choice for all WASHINGTON: Elaine Vlieger is making some concessions to Alzheimer’s. She’s cut back on her driving, frozen dinners replace once elaborate cooking, and a son monitors her finances. But the Colorado woman lives alone and isn’t ready to give up her house or her independence. Some 800,000 people with Alzheimer’s, roughly 1 in 7 Americans with the disease, live alone in their communities, according to surprising new data from the Alzheimer’s Association.

It ’s a different picture of the minddestroying disease than the constant care giving that eventually these people will need. Many such as Vlieger cope on their own during dementia’s earlier stages with support from family and friends who keep in close contact.

“I’m still pretty healthy,” says Vlieger, 79, who sought a neurology exam after realizing she was struggling to find words. “I’m just real careful.” But support or not, living alone with a disease that gradually strips people of the ability to know when they need help brings special safety concerns, and loved ones on the sideline agonize over when to step in. “We don’t want to have to force it before it’s time. But how do we know?” asks Marla Vlieger of Denver, Elaine Vlieger’s daughter-in-law.

There’s no easy answer to that, and it’s a challenge that only will grow as Alzheimer’s surges in the coming years.

Already, an estimated 5.4 million people in the United States have Alzheimer’s or similar dementias. That number is expected to reach up to 16 million by 2050 because the population is aging so rapidly. Census figures show that nearly one-third of all people 65 and older live alone, and by their 80s more than half of women do. Most older people say they want to stay in their homes as long as possible, and developing cognitive impairment doesn’t automatically mean they can’t, says Beth Kallmyer, a social worker who heads constituent services for the Alzheimer’s Association.

The association’s new analysis illustrates the balancing act between a patient’s autonomy and safety. People with dementia who live alone tend to be less impaired than those who live with caregivers. But they are impaired, and studies show they have a greater risk of injuries, even accidental death, than patients who don’t live alone. There’s no one to check that the stove wasn’t left on or to notice right away if the person gets lost or has a fall.

Marla Vlieger, who lives nearby and is her mother-in-law’s primary caregiver, worries about those possibilities. She attends Alzheimer’s support groups to learn from other families’ experiences.

But unlike her mother-in-law, the patients she’s met have a spouse who can spot problems in a way that even regular visitors such as the younger Vlieger and her husband cannot.

Moreover, surveys suggest that as many as half of those with dementia who live alone can’t identify anyone as their caregiver, someone who at least checks

in periodically to see how they’re faring, the association reported. Too often, those are the people whose dementia is discovered in an emergency, such as when neighbors call police to check on a senior whom no one has seen in days, Kallmyer says.

Specialists struggle with how to advise patients who show up with no one to help, like the 68- year-old man who drove himself to Maine Medical Center for a memory evaluation and said he’s not close to his only relative. “He couldn’t draw a clock. He couldn’t complete a check correctly. And he couldn’t make change for a $5 bill,” geriatric physician Dr. Laurel Coleman, who diagnosed the man, told a recent meeting of the government’s Alzheimer’s advisers.

The first National Alzheimer’s Plan, due to be finalized this month, could help. It aims to increase screening of older adults to catch dementia earlier. It also urges doctors to help patients plan ahead for their future care needs while they still can. Kallmyer say that ’s absolutely critical for those who live alone. Elaine Vlieger had been her late husband’s caregiver during a long illness and knew the importance of that planning. After her Alzheimer’s diagnosis 18 months ago, she designated power of attorney and who will help make her health care decisions, and added a son to her bank accounts.

For day-to-day living, Vlieger makes reminder lists. A friend accompanies the once avid hiker on a daily neighbourhood walk, and neighbours check on her. She’s considering wearing a monitor to call for help if she falls. Transportation is a key part of planning care for people with Alzheimer’s. Vlieger insists her driving is fine, and sticks to small, familiar roads and avoids rush hour as a precaution. Daughter-in-law Marla, however, says the doctor wants her to quit. The younger Vlieger says her mother-in-law generally copes well but is finding it harder to handle the unexpected. Family members get tearful phone calls over small crises such as a toilet overflowing.

Email has become frustratingly hard because the provider updated the program so it no longer looks familiar.

Then there’s the planning about housing. “The family was split,” Elaine Vlieger says. One son is researching assisted living options, but Vlieger protests, “I’m more active than those people are. It makes me feel old when I go in there.” She likes her daughter’s suggestion of in-home services that could be added over time. Daughter-in-law Marla wonders if a geriatric care manager could offer professional advice “to help us decide what we need, and when we need it.” The trickiest part, Kallmyer says, is when to overrule someone with Alzheimer’s and start making decisions for them. “Alzheimer’s is not a linear process. Somebody has a bad day and the next several days will be good,” she says. Elaine Vlieger has started cleaning out her home of 35 years. But she says firmly, “I am not in a hurry.”—AP

MELBOURNE: An undated handout illustration by Brian Choo and released by Museum Victoria yesterday shows a meat-eating dinosaur, known as a ceratosaur, which lived in Australia some 125 million years ago near Melbourne. —AFP photos

Australia had ‘globe-trotting’ dinosaurs SYDNEY: Scientists said yesterday a new fossil discovery suggested Australia’s dinosaurs were cosmopolitan globe-trotters, unlike the “unique weirdos” of its current wildlife. Palaeontologist Erich Fitzgerald said an ankle bone fossil found 87 kilometres (54 miles) from Melbourne indicated that meat-eating dinosaurs known as ceratosaurs lived in what is now Australia some 125 million years ago. He said the finding suggested that back then Australia had the same large, well-known predators such as tyrannosaurs and allosaurs which are found around the world.

“The dinosaurs we see here are not unique weirdos like modern koalas and kangaroos on a global scale,” Fitzgerald told AFP. “Contrary to the modern animals we see in Australia, these meat-eating dinosaurs in Australia represent globe-trotting groups which

spread out across the world before the continents began to separate. “We’ve got representatives of groups that are actually found everywhere else. We really have this melting pot... where it was really a cosmopolitan bunch of dinosaurs which called Australia home 125 million years ago.” The ceratosaur was a relatively small, meat-eating dinosaur which grew to be one to two metres high and could be as long as three metres.

The discovery, announced in the journal Naturwissenschaften, adds to the picture about dinosaurs in eastern Gondwana, the continent which broke into Australia, Antarctica and India between 80 and 130 million years ago. “It had been thought that isolation played a lead role in the formation of Australia’s dinosaur fauna,” said Fitzgerald, a Museum Victoria palaeontologist.

“But the ceratosaur and other new discoveries show that several dinosaur groups were here.

These dinosaur lineages date back to the Jurassic, 170 million years ago, when dinosaurs could walk between any two continents.

“Until now, this group of dinosaurs has been strangely absent from Australia, but now at last we know they were here-confirming their global distribution.” Fitzgerald added the ankle bone, found near the coastal town of San Remo by an amateur palaeontologist in 2006, was only six centimetres (2.4 inches) wide but was of great significance in understanding dinosaurs in Australia. “Apart from Antarctica, Australia has the world’s most poorly-known dinosaur record,” he said, adding that even “tantalising fragments” can end up providing researchers with a wealth of information.—AFP

MELBOURNE: (Left) An undated handout illustration shows a meat-eating dinosaur, known as a ceratosaur. (Right) Paleontologist Erich Fitzgerald holding the ceratosaur fossil.

Training immune system to fight cancer comes of age Significant data from many due over next year NEW YORK: More than 100 years after researchers first explored the potential to harness the body’s immune system to fight cancer, the field’s leading doctors see the concept finally proving itself on a large scale in the next year or two. Two drugs based on immunotherapy are already available and have met with mixed results.

Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Yervoy has been hailed as a major breakthrough for treatment of melanoma since its approval last year, while Dendreon Corp’s Provenge prostate cancer vaccine has been hampered by management missteps and doctors’ reluctance to adopt the difficult-to-administer therapy after two years on the market.

They are viewed as harbingers of a treatment revolution that could gain a significant share of the global market for oncology drugs, estimated by IMS Health to reach $75 billion by 2015. Scores of new immunotherapy vaccines and other immune system modifiers are being tested against a variety of cancers. “We have entered into a new era where immune therapies can be recognized as an important component of cancer treatment,” said Dr Glenn Dranoff, co-director of the Dana-Farber Cancer Vaccine Center in Boston. “There’s certainly more excitement and more confidence in the field than there ever has been before.”

At least a dozen therapies are set to have key lateor mid-stage trial data over the next 12 months, and some experts believe the results will be a tipping point for the field as clinical successes pile up. See Factbox: “Several of these are going to (succeed). Once they get approved by the FDA, they will be used more and more,” said Jeffrey Schlom, chief of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology.

Among anticipated new treatments are a prostate cancer vaccine from Denmark’s Bavarian Nordic, a lung cancer vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline and one for melanoma from Amgen. Others in advanced testing of such therapies include Vical Inc and NewLink Genetics.

Investors spooked by years of past failure in the field may want to take note of the enthusiasm from the medical community. Some say Wall Street has taken Dendreon’s disappointing sales as an indicator of the prospects for other research.

“Investors would do well to look away from Dendreon and to companies pouring money into the field,” said Dr Jedd Wolchok, director of immunotherapy clinical trials at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. He cited Merck , Roche’s Genentech and AstraZeneca’s MedImmune units as among those companies. “Nothing begets investor confidence like a little bit of success,” he said.

A new benchmark?

The concept of using the immune system against cancer dates back to the 1890s when Dr. William Coley, a New York surgeon, noted that some patients who got infections after cancer surgery fared better. He surmised that the immune response triggered by the infection was also working to eradicate cancer.

“Although the idea of a vaccine or cancer immunotherapy has been around really for at least 100 years, we now know a lot more about what are the requirements to generate an effective anti-cancer immune response than we ever did,” Dranoff said.

The new understanding of how immunotherapies work may demand a revised definition of clinical success. While extending life is the gold standard, most cancer drug trials have been deemed successful if tumors shrink or if a treatment can demonstrate a delay in tumor growth or in worsening of the disease, known as progression-free survival (PFS). But Provenge and Yervoy have extended survival without necessarily impacting PFS or tumor shrinkage in many cases.

“Overall survival is the accurate indicator. Tumors may look bigger because they are filled with immune cells, so they appear worse,” said Wolchok. “We’ve proposed a new set of response criteria to try to incorporate some of this biology.” Yervoy, or ipilimumab, became the first drug ever to extend survival in patients with advanced melanoma, long seen as a short-term death sentence. On average, it added only about four months of life in pivotal trials, although some 20 percent of patients had an impressively durable response to the drug.

“We have patients who are (alive) now nine years.

That’s what’s really the most convincing evidence for clinically meaningful tumor destruction by the

immune system,” said Dranoff. Oncologists have referred to such patients as essentially cured, although Wolchok was reluctant to do so. “There are some people who we have treated with ipilimumab whose scans look just as abnormal now as they did five years ago, so it has turned it into a chronic disease,” Wolchok said. “It changed the situation from something they were dying from into something they are living with. That really does show you that the immune system can restore an equilibrium between the person and the tumor.”

New combinations Researchers had previously believed that only melanoma and kidney cancer had the right properties to respond to immune system therapy. They were delighted to be proved wrong. Clinical trials now are taking on lung, breast, liver, prostate, pancreatic, ovarian, head and neck and brain cancers. “This is a revolution that has gotten started, and I think the next few years will tell the story,” said Garo Armen, chief executive of Agenus Inc, which makes the QS-21 adjuvant, a drug used to boost the immune response to Glaxo’s experimental vaccines for lung cancer and melanoma.

The basic idea remains the same - train a patient’s immune system to attack the cancer. But new approaches based on more recent knowledge of the immune system’s components include activating a variety of cells to go after tumors and modifying mechanisms that keep either the immune system in check or turn it loose.

There appears to be near universal agreement that to achieve optimal benefit, immunotherapies should be combined with targeted cancer drugs or other immunotherapies in a multi-pronged attack. “Yervoy in combination with the proper vaccine could do phenomenal things,” predicted Armen. “You’ll be looking at cures and long-term survival.”Yervoy is being tested with Roche’s new Zelboraf, which targets melanoma in patients with a specific gene mutation.

“Zelboraf had a high response rate but doesn’t last that long,” said Dr Patrick Hwu, chairman of the melanoma department at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. —Reuters

Want to quit smoking? Try acupuncture or hypnosis

A

DENVER: In this photo taken on April 23, 2012, Elaine Vlieger, 79, walks near her home near, Colo.—AP

cupuncture and hypnosis have been promoted as drug-free ways to help smokers kick the habit, and there is some evidence that they work, according to a research review that looked at 14 international studies. Researchers, whose findings appeared in the American Journal of Medicine, said that there are still plenty of questions, including exactly how effective alternative therapies might be and how they measure up against conventional methods to quit smoking.

But the alternatives should still stand as options for smokers determined to break the habit, said researchers led by Mehdi Tahiri of McGill University in Montreal, Canada. In general, smokers who want to quit should first try the standard approaches, w hich include nicotine-replacement therapy, medications and behavioral counseling, Tahiri said. “But some people are not interested in medication,” he said, adding that in many

cases the standard therapies had not worked.

“Then I think we should definitely recommend (acupuncture and hypnosis) as choices.”

Researchers found that some studies showed that smokers subjected to acupuncture were more than three times as likely to be tobacco-free six months to a year later. Similarly, across four trials of hypnosis, smokers had a higher success rate with the therapy compared to people who had minimal help. But there were some caveats, researchers said. The success rate was not consistent in all the tests conducted, although the broad trends pointed to the benefits of alternate treatment. A 2008 study that ran a few sessions of laser acupuncture on 258 smokers found that 55 percent who’d received the treatment quit the habit in six months, compared with four percent who were not given the treatment.

But a 2007 study from Taiwan that looked at

needle acupuncture around the ear, the area typically targeted for smoking cessation, reported a lower success rate. Only nine percent of those who were given acupuncture had quit after six months compared with six percent who stopped smoking without the treatment. The situation was similar across the hypnosis trials. Two studies showed a significant impact : 20 to 45 percent of hypnosis patients were smoke-free six months to a year later. The other two trials showed smaller effects. Nonetheless, Tahiri said, there was a “trend” toward a benefit across all of the studies of acupuncture and hypnosis. There are still definitely questions, he added, about how many sessions of acupuncture or hypnosis might be necessary, or which specific techniques are best. Other research reviews, though, have concluded that the jury is still out on alternative therapies for quitting smoking.—Reuters

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TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

health & science

Got the munchies? A new pot eatery opens in Ore ASHLAND: After scraping together a mound of zucchini, broccoli, beef, pineapple and noodles on a big round Mongolian grill, Kevin Wallace measured out a shot of grapeseed oil infused with hashish and poured it over the steaming

ASHLAND: Medical marijuana patient Christine Totten uses a cereamic heat stick to light a bong loaded with hashish.

ASHLAND: Co-owner Michael Shea stands at the hash bar.

ASHLAND: Co-owner Michael Shea displays some hashish available for smoking.

food, setting off a sizzle. Thirteen years after Oregon became one of the first states to make medical marijuana legal, Wallace and business partner Michael Shea think they’ve found a way to fit in the big gray area between making a living from medical marijuana and going to jail.

Marijuana is indelibly associated with food, whether it is chemotherapy patients using the drug to try to develop an appetite, or, farcically, a couple of stoners with an overpowering case of the munchies in “Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle.” Secret “herb dinners” with appetizers, entrees and desserts are reported in newspaper food sections. One restaurant chain, CHeBA HUT, is based on a marijuana theme.

And patrons of the World Famous Cannabis Cafe in Portland can get a burger or lasagna packing a pot punch in between choruses of karaoke.

But restaurants where marijuana is the focus have had trouble gaining traction. The customer base is, after all, limited to medical marijuana cardholders. And any enterprise associated with medical marijuana will quickly come under scrutiny.

At the Earth Dragon Edibles Restaurant & Lounge in Ashland, Wallace and Shea are trying to bring Mongolian barbecue dosed with medical marijuana to a higher level, though they are still feeling their way through the fuzzy legalities of it all.

An Oregon medical marijuana card is required to get in the door. Inside, the place looks and operates pretty much like any other little Asian-style restaurant, with the smells of teriyaki and sounds of the grill filling the air. A wall hanging at the back depicts ganja guru Bob Marley. Diners go through a check list of vegetables, sauces, meats and tofu, and whether their bowl will be regular, large, or unlimited. One difference is the boxes to check for medicated or unmedicated. If medicated, there are three strengths. Cheesecake, candies and cookies, medicated or not, are also available.

While they wait, diners can use the hash bar, choosing from an assortment of glass pipes, a vaporizer, or a bong, hashish or bud. Marijuana donations are encouraged.

Operating under the theory that it is no crime for one patient to share medicine with another, all the marijuana - whether in the food or at the hash bar - is free. And unlike the marijuana cafes in Portland, there is no membership fee.

“I know it’s a little weird,” said Shea.

Ashland itself could be considered a little weird. Close to the California border and home to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, it is an outpost of liberalism in conservative southwestern

Oregon. Think of it as a little Berkeley in the middle of Orange County. It is also within the Green Triangle, one of the nation’s best marijuana-growing climates. This corner of Oregon has the higher per capital rate of medical marijuana use in the state. Wallace and Shea render their medical marijuana into hashish, infuse that into oil or glycerin, and eat it, believing that is healthier than smoking. With few patients able to do that, they felt they should share their skills to help others. “That’s how Mommy raised me,” said Wallace.

Wallace, 45, was a carpenter until a 4-by-4 fell on his head, compressing his spine. He remains on disability, but marijuana got him off conventional painkillers. Shea, 52, taught at his wife’s preschool. He uses marijuana to treat pain from an old neck injury. Wallace already had a business license in nearby Medford making candies and chili dosed with hashish.

At the grand opening a week ago, staff had to ask one patient to put out his blunt - marijuana rolled in a tobacco wrapper - because it violated Oregon’s law against smoking in restaurants. Otherwise, there was no heat until the city sent back their business license request, saying a local ordinance barred licenses for anyone violating state or federal law.

Police chief Terry Holderness said busting Earth Dragon Edibles is not a top priority.

“Nobody’s life is at risk here,” said Holderness.

“We will prioritize this appropriately. But ultimately, if they are in violation of the law, they will be shut down.”

The owner of Denver’s Ganja Gourmet knows the feeling. Steve Horwitz said when he opened in 2009, people passed around a bong while dining on eggplant parmigiana and pizza made with cannabis. But Colorado changed its medical marijuana law, and he had to scale back to takeout and groceries. “It was the future about five years before its time,” he said.

Wallace and Shea remain open while appealing. They hope that if they keep separate bottles of hashish-infused oil on hand for each member/patient, rather than sharing their own stash, the city will no longer object. Christine Totten, 24, came in with two fellow volunteers from The Greenery, a local medical marijuana resource center.

“I like to support the cannabis community we have going on,” said Totten. “It’s kind of cool to have a place to hang out.” After a couple hits off the bong at the hash bar, she sat down to a medicated bowl of beef and broccoli, pronouncing it delicious. “You can’t really taste it that much,” she said of the hashish oil. —AP

ASHLAND: Police Chief Terry Holderness poses outside his office.

ASHLAND : File photo shows an assortment of pipes lies on the hash bar in the Earth Dragon Edibles Restaurant & Lounge. —AP photos

ASHLAND : Co-owner Kevin Wallace prepares a bowl of medical marijuana stir-fry.

ASHLAND : Co-owner Kevin Wallace pours a shot of hashish-infused grape seed oil over an order of stir-fried vegetables and meat.

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

lifestyle

lifestyle

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

A journey through

By Badrya Darwish

It

was not even the last thing on my agenda or a plan in my head to visit Iraq. So, when I received a call from Adnan Al-Rashed, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of AlAnbaa newspaper, asking me if I would like to join a trip which was being planned to Iraq, I said, “Iraq! Baghdad? No, no, no”. It took me a couple of seconds to respond but he was quick to react “I take this as a yes” and hung up.

A group photo of the delegation in the palace of Saddam.

Yousef Al-Marzouk, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Anbaa (right) is greeted by Saeed Bahar Al-Oloum in Najaf.

(From left) Mona Shishter, a journalist The Kuwaiti delegation meeting Sayyed Mohammad Saeed Al-Hakeem. from KUNA, Dashti and Al-Wogayan are pictured at the Gold Souq in Iraq.

The delegation from Kuwait is greeted by the Kuwait ambassador to Iraq Ali Al-Mou’men.

(From left) Hassan Sayegh, media consultant in the Prime Minister’s diwan, Amar Hakim and Adnan Rashed, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Al-Anbaa.

Former Minister Mohammed Al-Buseiri (left) and Ambassador Al-Mou’men.

Honestly guys, I was jittery the whole week before the trip. My family did not want me to go. They kept nagging me to cancel the trip. I said I was not going to chicken out.

I started preparing psychologically by listening to news from Iraq. For my luck, on one of the days there were 35 explosions in Iraq! My suffering was immense and my anxiety reached the peak. It was not fear of explosions only. I have faith. Whatever is meant to happen will happen to you even if you are at home. It was just the question: Why would I go to a country that invaded us 20 years ago? I enquired with people (who were there before) about the place, and they said that the skies were full of lightening as if there were fireworks! For the icing on the cake, a friend called to tell me that he was in Iraq on a mission. I asked him what it was like. He only said “Hell.” He said that the hotel he was at shook all night long. I told him to stop talking because I was about to travel to Iraq the following week.

I dragged myself to the airport sluggishly, without any enthusiasm, hoping that the whole trip would be cancelled at the last minute. But they did not. We took flydubai to Dubai and from there back over the Kuwaiti space to land in Baghdad. It was a long, boring flight. We then landed in the capital of Al-Rashid.

We were received by many officials at the airport. They facilitated our entry, luggage and all. Of course, we were taken to the Green Zone and I am sure most of you know what that is. It is a high security area in Baghdad where diplomats and companies stay. The Green Zone is quite safe. We thought we would be staying at Rashid Hotel in the Green Zone but Nouri Al-Maliki insisted that the Kuwaiti delegation be his guests. We were accommodated at the Prime Minister’s guest palace, which is also located in the Green Zone. The place looked grand. I don’t know if it was Kuwait’s delegation in front of the shrine of Imam Al-Kazem in Baghdad.

A group of Iraqi journalists came to meet the Kuwaiti delegation.

On the streets of Iraq.

one of Saddam Hussein’s old palaces. At that point, I was loosening up but I was totally alert, waiting to hear any bombing or shelling. As the night approached, I looked up at the sky to see the fireworks. The palace was so serene and quiet. I didn’t see anything.

And from that moment onwards, I loved every moment of the trip. It was my first trip to Iraq. I had never visited the country, even before the invasion of Kuwait. The Iraqis I met were so great. They were very friendly and not like what you see on TV. They are brave and want to come out of their misery. They are tired and fed up of war, isolation and bombings. Everywhere we went, we were met with passion, love and remorse. They were apologetic about Saddam’s crazy and savage acts. They were all repeating the same thing: “He invaded you and harmed you for a couple of months.

But he destroyed us, killed our families and spirits for 35 years. We were all his prisoners, in fact.”

We met Iraqi Vice President Khudair Al-Khuzaei, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zibari, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee at Iraq’s National Assembly Dr. Human Hammoudi, and Chairman of the Higher Council Sayyed Ammar Al-Hakim. The delegation met the Head of the Iraqi Journalists’ Union Moayad Al-Lami and the Head of the National Investment Authority Dr. Sami Al-Araji.

Of course, during our trip, we met Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki who was very keen to receive us. The visit with AlMaliki was supposed to last for one hour but it stretched to two. The man was very candid, polite and straightforward in his answers. He had high hopes to rebuild his country before the end of his term. He said, “I am not sure if I will be re-elected in the coming elections.” Al-Maliki said that he wanted to do his best before leaving office. He went on to explain the suffering, disputes and devastation in Iraq. “Our country needs everything.

Continued on Page 32

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

lifestyle

lifestyle

Continued from Page 31 We have to start right from scratch, building and repairing. I would like to see our Arab friends in this venture,” he said. Many companies from China, Turkey, Russia and many others are participating in rebuilding Iraq. “I would like to see Arab brothers coming to invest. We have set new and flexible rules for investors,” he said.

It did not need Al-Maliki to tell me that the country needs rebuilding. When touring Baghdad accompanied by assistants from Al-Maliki’s office guards et al, we were like a mobile military convoy. Of course, you cannot visit Baghdad without paying respect to Al-Qadem. So, we went to Imam Al-Qadem Mosque. The streets were buzzing with people. But the area looked crowded with shops, sweet shops, restaurants, shawarma stands, and Iraqi sweets in baskets. I could see poverty on the faces of people.

The streets looked desolate and many lacked asphalt.

The electricity grid could be seen with naked eyes. The streets did not give away the feeling of a modern, posh city.

No infrastructure but just old buildings huddled next to each other. Everything looked like ancient ruins except for Saddam’s palaces. I asked our coordinators if they could take us to one palace. They agreed. The pictures tell the story better. That was just one of his palaces. The area surrounding his palaces reminded one of Paris, London or Dubai, but not the rest of Baghdad where nearly seven million people live.

We also visited several shrines including the two Kazimi imams in Baghdad. In Najaf, we met Sayyed Mohammad Saeed Al-Hakeem and scholar Judge Sayyed Mohammad Bahr Al-Oloum. The delegation visited the shrine of Imam Ali bin Abi Taleb in Najaf and the shrines of Imam Al-Hussein bin Ali and his brother Al-Abbas in Karbala. Saeed AlHakim expressed his warm feelings for Kuwait and apologized for Saddam’s wrongdoing. He explained how much his family suffered at the hands of Saddam.

Of course, you do not enter Iraq without visiting Karbala - the home to Imam Hussein’s shrine. Karbala looked like a sad, old village. The city which is known as the location of the Battle of Karbala is one of the holiest cities for Shiite Muslims after Makkah and Madinah.

After that, we went to Najaf where Imam Ali is buried.

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

The same story applies to Najaf - old streets, no infrastructure. These are two famous religious cities in his country which Saddam neglected. Some 50 million people visit these shrines. Karbala and Najaf can bring to Iraq as much as petrol income! They looked like two cities dated from medieval times. That did not stop people from crawling to the cities from all over the world. Some worshippers even walk the distance between Karbala and Najaf, which is 80 kilometres. They refuse to ride buses or cars; they prefer to walk the distance to receive more blessings.

In Najaf, we were the guests of Sayyed Mohamad Bahar Al-Oloum - a high level cleric in the Shiite community whop is also the father of the Iraqi ambassador in Kuwait Mohammad Bahar Al-Oloum.

In the end of our trip when we returned home we met our Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mohammad who blessed and helped the trip to Iraq to be held. He wants to see the results by having good relations with Iraq on all levels. Of course, he is relying on the media to help in that field. He said Iraq is our neighbor and you cannot change your neighbours. So, you do your best to live peacefully side by side with them. Peace is all I wish Iraq. They need it badly.

I hope that one day I return and tour Iraq without arms and stay outside the Green Zone.

Darwish in front of the Tigris river in Baghdad. The water is receding due to the construction work of dams in Turkey.

Jassem Kamal, a KJA member (left) with Redha Al-Feeli, media expert.

(From right) Badrya Darwish, General Manager of Kuwait Times, Rola Dashti, former MP and Reem Al-Wogayan, a KJA member.

The Iraqi delegation which accompanied the Kuwaiti delegation during their visit.

(From left) Well-known Kuwaiti writer Ayed Al-Mana’a, former MP Hassan Jawahar and writer Saleh Al-Ghanam.

An Iraqi soldier is listens to the complaints of a female citizen.

Mona Shishter, a journalist from KUNA in front of the shrine of Imam Al-Kazem .

Yousef Al-Marzouq, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Anba and Adnan Rashed (left).

This door with the lock is located inside Sheikh Abdul Qader Al-Jilani Mosque which we visited during our trip in Baghdad. Sheikh Al-Jilani born in 1077 in Iran is one of the oldest Muslim clerics. One of the servants in the mosque told us an interesting story about the door. He said the key locks the door of the tomb of the Sheikh. Many worshippers come from around the world once a year. They all stand near the door and keep on praying until, according to the servant, the lock opens by itself and then worshippers can go inside to pray near the tomb.

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TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

W H AT ’ S O N Greetings

Many happy returns of the day to Roa’a Diaa Mohammad Showki Abd Alalim who celebrated her birthday in Cairo with her parents, family, friends, and well-wishers.

Engineering Group introduces new products

E

ngineering Group is proud to introduce a series of products and services in Kuwait through its new exclusive partnerships with various international corporations. Recently, the Engineering Group has established an exclusive partnership with three corporations including Jacir (France), FTEnE (South Korea), and HC Barcol-Air (Netherlands). Through these partnerships, Engineering Group can now offer

the following services and products to its customers in Kuwait: Stainless steel and concrete cooling towers; thermal storage systems; variable air volume units; and car park ventilation system.

In an effort to introduce and educate customers about its new products, the Engineering Group organized an educational seminar entitled, ‘The Latest Sustainable Energy and Green System Solutions’ on Wednesday, April 18, 2012

at Marina Hotel. The seminar focused on the importance of sustainable energy, green system products, and the reduction of energy and water usage to benefit the environment. Selim Kseib, Director - Commercial Divisions and Qais Khraisat, Sales Manager - Mechanical and A/C products, conducted a presentation for the audience to highlight their new innovative products and services that are now available in Kuwait.

Approximately 200 customers attended the seminar and expressed their appreciation and interest in the new products. The attendees list included individuals from ministries, consulting agencies, contractors, and private companies. The seminar is part of Engineering Group’s continuing efforts in providing its customers with the latest products and solutions to fulfil all of their requirements.

KGL Holding establishes multi-purpose training center Many happy returns of the day to Shaik Maula Basha. On this happy occasion, we would like to extend our best wishes for all his future endeavours. May all your dreams come true. Best wishes from friends, family and well-wishers.

IKEA unveils ice-cream dispenser

I

KEA Kuwait has now made the exit cafe even sweeter with the latest addition, Luna self-service ice-cream dispenser. For the first time in Kuwait, IKEA Kuwait introduced a revolutionary designed machine from Germany where customers can serve their own icecreams, reducing the amount of human contact with the final product. Moreover, the ice cream produced is a soft serve, with a low ice component and contains only three percent fat.

Customers of IKEA Kuwait’s Exit Cafe need only buy a token at the counter, and collect a cone that they can place in the self-service machine. Next step would be to choose from a popular range of pure vanilla to vanilla with chocolate syrup or vanilla with strawberry syrup flavors.

Equipped with the latest technology, the Luna selfservice ice-cream dispenser is now considered a delicious treat for mothers to provide their children as they would enjoy the fulfilling experience of getting their own ice-cream and the ice-cream components are kept at healthy levels for all to consume without compromising on taste. IKEA Kuwait encourages everyone to sweeten their taste buds with a healthy blend of icecream flavors guaranteed to serve as the perfect break from a tedious day at the mall.

Announcements Korea Week Join us at the opening of the “Korea Week” from 7 pm to 9 pm in the Embassy of the Republic of Korea. Also to the other programs during May 811, 2012 at Mishref, Diplomatic Zone 2, Block 7B, Plot 164. Programs of the Korea Week May 8, 7 pm - 9 pm. Day of Taste Korea. Opening ceremony, Korean food festival. Cultural activities & traditional games. May 9, 6 pm - 9 pm. Day of Buy Korea. Korean traditional wedding ceremony, kids hanbok fashion show, Korean product market & charity bazaar, cultural activities & traditional games May 10, 6 pm - 9 pm. Day of Enjoy Korea K-POP contest, Korean product market & vharity bazaar, cultural activities & traditional games. May 11, 7 pm. Day of Feel Korea.

Classical music concert performed by Korean students living in Kuwait at Abdulaziz Theater, Mishref.

NAFO anniversary ‘Samagamam’ NAFO Kuwait (National Forum Kuwait) is all set to celebrate its 9th anniversary on Friday, May 11, 2012, at the American International School, Maidan-Hawally, at 6.30 pm. T K A Nair, the adviser to the Prime Minister of India will be the chief guest of the function. Indian Ambassador Satish C Mehta will be the guest of honor. A cultural extravaganza ‘Samagamam’, a nostalgic event of harmony and festivity will be staged on the occasion presenting a multi-dimensional visual experience to the audience. Renowned Mohiniyattam exponent and recipient of many awards Vinita Nedungady, well-known Malayalam playback singer Rajalakshmi and violinist and promising playback singer Vivekanandan are among the celebrities who will perform during the cultural show.

Zara Sa Jhoom Loon Main ICS gears to a new cultural entertainment in “Zara Sa Jhoom Loon Main” with renowned playback singer from Bollywood Abhijeet & world fame theater cum comedy king Umar Sharif from Pakistan on 18th May Friday, at 7 pm sharp.

The Chief Guest for the event will be Ambassador of India, Kuwait. Also guest of honor will be prominent personalities from Kuwait & respected embassies from different countries. So join @ Dr Kamil Al Rayes Auditorium, AIS opposite Police Station Maidan Hawally Kuwait.

I

n line with its strong commitment to contributing to the enhancement of the quality of education in Kuwait, Kuwait and Gulf Link Holding Company established a Multi-Purpose Educational Training Center at Al-Adan High School for Girls. The center will promote learning, encourage extra-curricular activities and boost personal development among students and administrative staff.

The center was inaugurated on Sunday, March 25, 2012 by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education Tamather Al-Sedirawi who represented the Minister of Education Dr. Naif Al Hajraf, Mubarak Al-Kabeer Educational District representatives, along with HameedAbul- Chief Treasurer representing KGL Holding and Fatma Abdulla Dashti the School Principal.

This initiative falls under the Corporate Citizenship Program of Kuwait and Gulf Link Holding Company as the company seeks various opportunities to help in the advancement of the communities it serves where the company organized various programs, workshops

and seminars in collaboration with the Global Center- College of Business Administration at Kuwait University of whom KGL is a founder and supporter.

Also the company provided various financial aids to various scientific and educational institutions in Kuwait and hosted many world renowned figures

such as US Astronaut from Mexican origins, Dr. Jose Hernandes who visited Kuwait last year to inspire the Kuwaiti youth.

ESF celebrates 44 years of excellence

Y

ear 11, 12 and 13 students and hundreds of guests attended The English School Fahaheel’s 44th Annual Graduation and Prize-Giving ceremony in style again at the opulent Hashemi 2 Ballroom at the Radisson SAS Hotel. The chief guest at this special event was Frank Baker, the Ambassador of the United Kingdom. Among the other dignitaries attending were former Minister of Education Dr. Mudhi Al-Humoud and Former Minister Housing in Kuwait Dr. Abdullah Rashed Al-Hajeri. ESF Chairman and owner Ibrahim Shuhaiber was accompanied by Vice-Chairman Jasmine Shuhaiber, Department Heads and Upper School staff. The evening commenced with the National Anthem. Following this the graduating class of 2012 made their entrance to the tune of “The Valiant Years.” During the course of the evening the Upper School Choir headed by Van Zitter performed. Certificates and prizes were presented to Year 11, 12 and 13 Graduates by Frank Baker accompanied by the owner and Chairman of The English School Fahaheel lbrahim Shuhaiber. Head of Upper School Cox then addressed the audience.

The winner of The International Student Award (Council of International Schools) award this year was Asma Al-Sify. The special French award was then presented to the winning student Ahmad Salmeen by Fredrique Asfar. A special Humanities Award was offered to winning student Tatiana Olar by the South African Ambassador to Kuwait.

The 44th Annual Graduation at The English School Fahaheel came to a close with a vote of thanks in English, French and Arabic after which a sumptuous buffet was offered to all diplomats, honoured guests, parents, students and staff.

Planning your future The Public Affairs Section at the US Embassy, in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education, and in coordination with Amideast, will hold a seminar today May 8, 2012, entitled “Planning your Future: An Introduction to the US Higher Education System.”

Visiting Regional Educational Advising Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Ms Kristen Cammarata, representatives from the US Embassy, the Kuwait

Ministry of Higher Education, and the Public Authority for the Disabled (PAD) will talk about opportunities of higher education in US universities for distinguished students, including students with disabilities. The Embassy encourages Kuwaiti students in government and private highschools, especially those who are registered in the 11th and 12th classes, students registered in scholarships to the U.S. as well as parents who are interested in higher education in Kuwait to attend the

seminar on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at the Kuwait Graduates Society, Bnaid Al-Qar, AlSoor street at 07:00 pm.

Festival folkorico Festival Folkorico celebrating 20 years of OLEK organizing Lationamericana en Kuwait on May 11 at the Crown Plaza, Andaluz Ballroom at 8 pm. Featuring dances from Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Spain, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

See you there!!!

Free Arabic course

I

PC is opening an Intensive Basic Arabic Course for ladies commencing from June 3 to July 8, 2012. The class will be from 5-7 pm for three days a week. Registration is on! For information, call 22512257.

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TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

W H AT ’ S O N

McDonald’s Kuwait hosts Crew Olympics

2

012 is Olympic Year. Just as it is every four years since the 1976 Montreal Olympics, McDonald’s is, once again, an official sponsor.

McDonald’s Kuwait, with its own version of the Olympics, recently named eight of its crew members as representatives to the regional McDonald’s Crew Olympics scheduled in Dubai, UAE from May 26-29, 2012 in an awarding ceremony held at the Holiday Inn, Salmiya. Each was given a trophy on top of an all expense paid trip to Dubai, UAE for the regional competition.

These eight champions, who beat all the other Crew Olympic hopefuls in Kuwait, will be competing against their counterparts in the region as they battle for supremacy in each of the eight

McDonald’s work stations.

During the awarding ceremony, Elie Ghosn, McDonald’s Kuwait’s Human Resources and Administration Director, challenged McDonald’s Kuwait’s champions to extend their supremacy in the region which covers all Middle Eastern and African markets.

McDonald’s Kuwait’s delegates to the regional Crew Olympic Championships are Vijay Kumar Sah, Shuwaikh branch, Michelle Escalona, Fintas branch, Arnie Jay Barola, Mishref branch, Marissa Alingod, Kheitan branch, Jan Newton Dungo, Lulu branch, Sandra Jamid, Souq Sharq branch, Algie Hagutin, the Avenues Mall branch and Herdiansyah Sinjaran, Al-Siddeeq branch.

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF BRAZIL The Embassy of Brazil requests all Brazilian citizens in Kuwait to proceed to the website www.brazil.org.kw (Contact Us Form / Fale Conosco) in order to register or update contact information. The Embassy encourages all citizens to do so, including the ones who have already registered in person at the Embassy.

The registration process helps the Brazilian Government to contact and assist Brazilians living abroad in case of any emergency.

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EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakel St., Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is closed from 12:30 to 01:00 pm for lunch break.

Consular Services for Canadian Citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00 on Sunday through Wednesday. The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration services to residents of Kuwait. Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.uae.gc.ca.

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Nandhanam School of Dance hosts ‘Arangetram 2012’

N

andhanam School of Dance held ‘Arangetram 2012’ at American International School on Friday.

The event was indeed an evening of joy and sense of accomplishment, watching the students perform brilliantly on stage in accordance with the live music.

Nayana Santhosh - founder director of Nandhanam welcomed the ambassador, guests, artists and all the well wishers and participants.

The program was inaugurated by the traditional lighting of the lamp by Indian Ambassador Satish C Mehta, Shobana, Prof Kalamandalam Pushpalatha and the founder directors - Nayana Santhosh and Bindhu Prasad. The ambassador delivered the inaugural speech in which he congratulated Nandhanam for the efforts to preserve the rich culture and heritage in Kuwait. He further added that such activities would help us to transform the

culture to the new generations as well as to get acquainted to other nationals.

Shobana released the beautifully designed souvenir and handed the first copy to the ambassador. Kalamandalam Pushpalata delivered a felicitation speech. The live accompaniment team Arun Gopinath (vocal), Kiran Gopinath (Mridangam) and Suresh Namboothiri (violin) — all three from India-and Mahadevan (flute) from Kuwait welcomed the audience with a lovely Keerthanam. This set the tone of the evening and gave the encouragement for the 13 students who started the Arangetram with the item Ganesh Sthuti.

The students performed a total of nine items, including Allaripu, Jathiswaram, Padam, Varnam, Padavarnam and Padam.

Four other students performed the Thillana and the Arangetram ended with all 17 students completing the man-

galam gaining the blessing of the accompaniment team.

After the Arangetram, Shobhana delivered her message to the audience, appreciating the dedication and efforts of the students and teachers including the live accompaniment team. Both Shobhana and Kalamandalam Pushpalatha presented mementos, certificates and gift vouchers to the performing students.

As a token of appreciation, Nandhanam’s founding directors Nayana Santhosh and Bindu Prasad and advisory members Santhosh Kumar and Prasad K R handed over mementos to the special guests Shobana, Kalamandalam Pushpalatha, artists - Arun Gopinath, Kiran Gopinath, Suresh Namboothiri, K Mahadevan, teachers Nruthabhushanam Shyamala,

Kalamandalam Krishnendu, Jubi Jayaprakash and the makeup artist Jayan V Naranayan.

As part of the closing ceremony, all the 150 students of Nandhanam School, covering various age groups, formed ‘Nandhanam family’ in harmony with the lovely music in the background. The teachers of the Nadhanam School, Nrithubushanam Shyamala, Kalamandalam Krishnendu and Kalamandalm Jubi were felicitated by Nadhanam founder directors for their contribution and tireless efforts to train the students for the day.

Program Convener Santhosh Kumar delivered the vote of thanks. The program convener also thanked the large audience of over 1,300 for encouraging and staying till the end of the program by which the audience showed their passion for India’s cultural heritage.

EMBASSY OF CYPRUS The Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus requests Cypriot citizens living in Kuwait to register with the Embassy has moved. This registration service is provided so that the Embassy can update its contact list and assist Cypriot citizens in cases of emergencies.

Registration information can be emailed to cyprusembassykwt@gmail.com or faxed to 22253227 or given by phone to 65906048 (Mrs Christine).

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EMBASSY OF KOREA The Embassy of the Republic of Korea wishes to inform that it has moved to Mishref. New Address: Embassy of the Republic of Korea Mishref, Block 7A, Diplomatic Area 2, Plot 6. The Embassy also wishes to inform that it will be opened to the public on the following office hours: Saturday to Thursday Morning: 8:00 am to 12:30 pm Lunch Break: 12:30 pm to 1:00 pm Afternoon: 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF MYANMAR Embassy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar would like to inform the general public that the Embassy has moved its office to new location at Villa 35, Road 203, Block 2, AlSalaam Area in South Surra. The Embassy wishes to advice Myanmar citizens and travellers to Myanmar to contact Myanmar Embassy at its new location.

Tel. 25240736, 25240290, Fax: 25240749, email:myankuwait11@gmai1.com ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF NEPAL The Embassy of Nepal has moved from its current location to a new place in Jabriya, Block 8, St. 13, House No. 514, Till the new telephone connections are installed, the Embassy may be contacted by email: info@nepembku.org ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has its new office in Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax25387719. Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk ■■■■■■■

GUST Short Story Competition winners announced

T

he Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) Humanities and Social Sciences Department, held a small award ceremony in the center of campus celebrating the winners of the Short Story competition.

Dr. David Miller, Interim Head of the

Social Sciences & Humanities, first thanked all the students who participated and awarded them with certificates of participation which he felt was important, as the university believes in the importance of students practicing their writing skills as well as honing the

creativity in their writing. Later Dr. Miller awarded the winners. English first place, Yousef Mustafa and second place went to Amal Behbehani for her story. As for the Arabic short story winners, first place went to Sara Al-Ajmi, second to Fatima Ahmad and third place to Ali

Mahdi. The winners received vouchers from Jarir Bookstore with first place with a substantial value of KD 100, second value of KD 75 and third KD50.

GUST is proud of its students for their skills at writing and wishes them the best of luck.

EMBASSY OF ROMANIA The Embassy of Romania to the State of Kuwait would like to inform that the Consular Section of the Embassy will be closed for construction works beginning with 18 April 2012, till 10 May 2012. During this period of time the Consular Section will not issue any type of visas for Romania and will not issue any Romanian passports or travel documents. The Consular Section will only be able to assist with notary deeds. We would like to apologize for any inconvenience.

■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF SLOVAKIA The Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Kuwait would like to inform the public that the Embassy will be closed today (May 8) on the occasion of Liberation Day. ■■■■■■■

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.

■■■■■■■

Poland Embassy holds reception

T

he ambassador of the republic of Poland, Janusa Szwedo hosted a reception at Radisson Blu Hotel over the weekend to commemorate the adoption of the constitution of May 3, 1791. Higher officials, diplomats and media persons attended the reception.

Open House for Indian citizens

A

mbassador of India will be holding an Open House for Indian citizens to address their problems/grievances on Wednesdays of the second and the fourth weeks of every month between 1500 hrs and 1600 hrs. in the Embassy. In case Wednesday is an Embassy holiday, the meeting will be held on the next working day. To ensure timely action/follow-up by the

Embassy, it is requested that, wherever possible, Indian citizens should exhaust the existing channels of interaction/grievance redressal and bring their problems/issues in writing with supporting documents. The next open house of the Ambassador is scheduled tomorrow.

It may be mentioned that Embassy of India’s Consular Wing is providing

daily service of Open House to Indian citizen on all workings days from 1000 hrs to 1100 hrs and from 1430 hrs to 1530 hrs by the consular officer in the Meeting Room of the Consular Hall.

For any unaddressed issues, Second Secretary (Consular) could be contacted. Furthermore, the head of the Consular Wing is also available to redress grievances. Similarly, a labour

wing Help Desk functions from 0830 hrs to 1300 hrs and 1400 hrs to 1630 hrs in the Labour Hall to address the labour related issues. There is also a 24X7 Help Line (Tel No. 25674163) to assist labours in distress. For any unaddressed issues, the concerned Attaches in the labour section and the head of the labour wing could be contacted.

EMBASSY OF UKRAINE We’d like to inform you that in response to the increasing number of our citizens who work in the state and the need for 24-hour operational telephone in case of emergency the Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait has opened “hotline telephone number” (+ 965) 972-79-206.

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

Classifieds TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Airlines JZR QTR JZR RJA GFA UAE ETD OMA DHX FDB MSR QTR JZR THY DHX FCX JZR KAC BAW KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR FDB IRA ETD IRA GFA MEA JZR MSR JZR JZR MSR GFA KAC KAC FDB KNE QTR SVA KAC RJA KAC KAC QTR JZR JZR ETD JZR UAE SVA GFA UAL JZR JZR ABY KAC KAC KAC FDB KAC MSR JZR KAC KAC KAC KAC JAI KAC AXB FDB OMA MEA QTR GFA ALK SYR KLM UAE JZR ABY QTR DHX AIC RBG GFA UAL JZR DLH THY PIA

Arrival Flights on Tuesday 8/5/2012 Flt Route 185 DUBAI 148 DOHA 539 CAIRO 642 AMMAN 211 BAHRAIN 853 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 643 MUSCAT 370 BAHRAIN 67 DUBAI 612 CAIRO 138 DOHA 503 LUXOR 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 201 DUBAI 555 ALEXANDRIA 412 MANILA 157 LONDON 416 JAKARTA 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 302 MUMBAI 332 TRIVANDRUM 352 COCHIN 284 DHAKA 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 55 DUBAI 605 ISFAHAN 301 ABU DHABI 619 LAR 213 BAHRAIN 404 BEIRUT 165 DUBAI 618 ALEXANDRIA 561 SOHAG 201 DAMASCUS 610 CAIRO 219 BAHRAIN 514 TEHRAN 672 DUBAI 57 DUBAI 472 JEDDAH 140 DOHA 500 JEDDAH 562 AMMAN 640 AMMAN 678 ABU DHABI 546 ALEXANDRIA 134 DOHA 215 DEIREZZOR 535 CAIRO 303 ABU DHABI 787 RIYADH 857 DUBAI 510 RIYADH 215 BAHRAIN 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 177 DUBAI 777 JEDDAH 127 SHARJAH 542 CAIRO 166 PARIS 786 JEDDAH 63 DUBAI 104 LONDON 624 SOHAG 325 NAJAF 618 DOHA 674 DUBAI 614 BAHRAIN 742 DAMMAM 572 MUMBAI 774 RIYADH 389 KOZHIKODE 61 DUBAI 647 MUSCAT 402 BEIRUT 146 DOHA 221 BAHRAIN 229 COLOMBO 341 DAMASCUS 415 AMSTERDAM 859 DUBAI 135 BAHRAIN 129 SHARJAH 136 DOHA 372 BAHRAIN 981 CHENNAI 3553 ALEXANDRIA 217 BAHRAIN 981 BAHRAIN 239 AMMAN 636 FRANKFURT 772 ISTANBUL 205 LAHORE

Time 0:15 0:20 0:30 2:10 2:20 2:25 2:30 2:50 2:55 3:10 3:20 3:25 3:55 4:35 5:00 5:30 6:00 6:15 6:30 6:35 7:15 7:45 7:50 7:55 8:05 8:15 8:25 8:30 9:00 9:20 9:20 9:30 9:40 10:00 10:55 11:05 11:25 12:25 12:30 13:30 13:40 13:40 13:40 13:45 14:15 14:25 14:30 14:30 14:55 15:05 15:05 15:15 15:15 16:00 16:35 16:40 16:55 17:20 17:20 17:25 17:30 17:40 17:45 18:15 18:40 18:40 18:45 18:45 18:55 19:15 19:20 19:25 19:30 19:30 19:35 19:40 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:25 20:35 20:55 21:00 21:05 21:15 21:15 21:30 21:35 22:00 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:55 23:10 23:40 23:59

Airlines AIC UAL DLH KLM PIA THY UAE FDB OMA DHX ETD MSR QTR QTR JZR RJA JZR JZR GFA THY KAC BAW FDB KAC ABY JZR KAC KAC KAC UAE JZR KAC QTR FDB ETD IRA IRA GFA KAC KAC MEA JZR MSR KAC JZR JZR GFA FDB MSR KAC KNE SVA KAC JZR RJA QTR KAC KAC KAC ETD JZR JZR QTR UAE GFA JZR ABY SVA UAL JZR FDB KAC MSR JZR KAC JAI FDB KAC KAC OMA MEA GFA DHX ALK SYR KLM ABY KAC UAE FCX QTR KAC KAC JZR DHX QTR AXB RBG GFA KAC JZR

Departure Flights on Tuesday 8/5/2012 Flt Route 976 GOA 981 WASHINGTON DC 637 FRANKFURT 411 AMSTERDAM 240 SIALKOT 773 ISTANBUL 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 644 MUSCAT 371 BAHRAIN 306 ABU DHABI 613 CAIRO 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 560 SOHAG 643 AMMAN 164 DUBAI 200 DAMASCUS 212 BAHRAIN 771 ISTANBUL 545 ALEXANDRIA 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 677 ABU DHABI 126 SHARJAH 534 CAIRO 561 AMMAN 513 IMAM KHOMEINI 671 DUBAI 856 DUBAI 214 DEIREZZOR 101 LONDON 133 DOHA 56 DUBAI 302 ABU DHABI 604 ISFAHAN 618 LAR 214 BAHRAIN 541 CAIRO 165 ROME 405 BEIRUT 776 JEDDAH 623 SOHAG 785 JEDDAH 786 RIYADH 176 DUBAI 220 BAHRAIN 58 DUBAI 611 CAIRO 673 DUBAI 473 JEDDAH 501 JEDDAH 617 DOHA 324 AL NAJAF 641 AMMAN 135 DOHA 773 RIYADH 741 DAMMAM 613 BAHRAIN 304 ABU DHABI 238 AMMAN 538 CAIRO 141 DOHA 858 DUBAI 216 BAHRAIN 134 BAHRAIN 128 SHARJAH 511 RIYADH 982 BAHRAIN 266 BEIRUT 64 DUBAI 283 DHAKA 607 LUXOR 184 DUBAI 361 COLOMBO 571 MUMBAI 62 DUBAI 343 CHENNAI 351 KOCHI 648 MUSCAT 403 BEIRUT 222 BAHRAIN 171 BAHRAIN 230 COLOMBO 342 DEIREZZOR 415 DAMMAM 120 SHARJAH 381 DELHI 860 DUBAI 102 BAHRAIN 137 DOHA 301 MUMBAI 205 ISLAMABAD 554 ALEXANDRIA 373 BAHRAIN 147 DOHA 390 MANGALORE 3554 ALEXANDRIA 218 BAHRAIN 411 BANGKOK 528 ASSIUT

Time 0:05 0:25 0:30 0:55 1:00 2:15 3:45 3:50 3:55 3:55 4:05 4:20 4:50 5:40 6:00 6:50 6:55 7:00 7:05 7:10 8:10 8:25 8:25 8:35 9:05 9:10 9:15 9:15 9:20 9:40 9:45 10:00 10:00 10:05 10:15 10:20 10:40 10:45 11:30 11:45 11:55 12:15 12:25 13:10 13:15 13:20 14:25 14:25 14:30 15:05 15:15 15:45 15:45 15:50 15:50 16:15 16:25 16:30 16:30 17:20 17:30 17:40 17:45 18:05 18:20 18:20 18:25 18:35 18:40 18:50 19:25 19:30 19:55 20:05 20:20 20:35 20:40 20:55 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:35 21:50 21:55 22:00 22:05 22:10 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:35 22:40 22:45 23:00 23:00 23:10 23:10 23:15 23:30 23:40 23:50

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw) Prayer timings

112 Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128

Fajr: Duhr: Asr: Maghrib: Isha:

03:33 11:45 15:20 18:30

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988

ACCOMMODATION One bedroom available for Keralite couples or a working lady in Abbassiya near Maliackal Jewellery with a Christian family from June.

Contact 99494671. (C 3993) Sharing accommodation for a new couple available at Mangaf near petrol station, looking for Indian or Philippines.

Contact between 7 to 9 am and 4 to 6 pm. Tel: 23719415.

(C 3995) 8-6-2012 Wanted room-mate Indian only, near Garanada Cinema and KFH, Khaitan.

Contact: 66141908 after 5pm only. (C 3989) Sharing accommodation available in Salmiya, Block4, for male bachelors, prefer vegetarians.

Contact: 50181570. (C 3990) 7-5-2012

Sharing accommodation available at Abbasiya near United Indian School in a CA/C new building with double (separate) bath room and double bedroom flat with Keralite Christian family. Preference for working ladies and couples only.

Contact: 66324234.

(C 3987) 6-5-2012

FOR SALE 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer, golden color, 81,000 km. KD 1,800. Mob: 66729295.

(C 3992) 2011 Daihatsu Grand Max bus, automatic transmission, sliding side doors, air condition, mileage 7,500 km. Price KD 2,400. Tel: 50699345. (C 3991) 8-5-2012 Laptop HP, Core2Duo, Ram 1GB, HD 120 GB, Wifi, Bluetooth, Display 15.4”. PC

Siemens Core2Duo, Ram 2 GB, HD 160 GB, DVD Writer, Card reader, LCD 17” Multimedia, both excellent condition.

Contact: 99337034.

6-5-2012 CHANGE OF NAME I, Vohra Kutbuddin Kikabhai holder of Indian passport No. E6247160 hereby change my name to Raja Kutbuddin Kikabhai.

(C 3985) I, Shaik Younus, S/o, Shaik Ahmed, resident of H.No. 171-341/2, Darga Barhanashah, Santoshnagar, Hyderabad that I am holder of Indian passport No. E-6703568 issued Hyderabad, A.P. that I am intending to change my name as Shaik Younus instead of my old name Mohammed Younus.

(C 3986) 6-5-2012 I, Naranga Valappil Gaffer,

holder of Indian passport No. E2897263 hereby change my name to Jafar Narangavalappil. (C 3984)

MATRIMONIAL Marriage proposals invited from parents of RC Christian Nadar family, 30 years old boy, fair, 163 cm height, working in Dar Al Shifa hospital, engineering department. Email: benadict.xavier@gmail.com (C 3988) 7-5-2012

SITUATION WANTED Accountant, MBA Finance has 5 years experience looking for part-time job, can prepare all your business accounting reports and financial statements independently.

Call 55829223. (C 3980) 8-5-2012

TUESDAY, MAY 8Departure Flights on Tuesday 8/5/2012

FIRE BRIGADE

PRIVATE CLINICS Ophthalmologists Dr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444 Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222 Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171 Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999 Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700 Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223 Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223 Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510 Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660 Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478 Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996 Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988 Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166 Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426 General Practitioners Dr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123 Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312 Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920 Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465 Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528 Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781 Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501 Urologists Dr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534 Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955 Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660 Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120 Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427 Psychologists /Psychotherapists

Paediatricians

Plastic Surgeons Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf

22547272

Dr. Khaled Hamadi

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari

22617700

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed

Dr. Abdel Quttainah

25625030/60

Family Doctor Dr Divya Damodar

23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari

22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan

22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians DrAdrian arbe

23729596/23729581

Dr. Verginia s.Marin

2572-6666 ext 8321

Endocrinologist

25665898

Dr. Zahra Qabazard

25340300 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 Anil Thomas

3729596/3729581

Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami

25343406

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly

25739272

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

Dr. Salem soso

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

22639939

Dr. Mousa Khadada

22666300

Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan

25728004

Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra

25355515

Dr. Mobarak Aldoub

24726446

Dr Nasser Behbehani

25654300/3

Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688

info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com

Neurologists 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

22655539

Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan

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

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

Al-Jahra

25610011

Al-Salmiya

25616368

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

22434064 22435865 22544200 22547133 22515277 22616662 25714406 22530801

38

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

stars CROSSWORD 669

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) You could be getting most of the attention today, especially with superiors or in relation to your work. You may find that you enjoy your job or the responsibility that comes with it, more than most. You are sensitive and in tune with others—perhaps listening at some length to someone’s problems. Your intensity and passionate approach to life are obvious to all who meet you.

You do your utmost to break through the trivial and get at the basics in many situations. Perhaps you are selling a product to the public—this is a successful time.

Conversation with prospective customers is intriguing today and can lean toward a mystical or poetic appeal. Your health gets better all during this year—keep it that way through structured and programmed exercise.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Don’t be afraid to project your image—make those dreams real. Ideas of group cooperation and communication could further your career. Some sort of competition between the company you work for and another company will light up your imagination. You have ideas that will help put your company at the head of the market. You excel at professions that allow you to be in contact with many different people and to travel to new and exciting locations. You will be in a position to communicate to your co-workers and people apart from work this afternoon. You will prosper by pursuing your ideals and most deep-seated dreams of how life could be. Take your intuition seriously, particularly if you suspect some type of underhanded activity.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. The seventh and last day of the week.

4. Swelling from excessive accumulation of serous fluid in tissue.

10. Of southern Europe.

13. An independent agency of the United States government responsible for collecting and coordinating intelligence and counterintelligence activities abroad in the national interest.

14. Creation that is created again or anew.

15. Aircraft landing in bad weather in which the pilot is talked down by ground control using precision approach radar.

16. A human limb.

17. Congenital absence of an arm or leg.

18. Tag the base runner to get him out.

19. A small cloth bag filled with dried beans.

21. An Indian side dish of yogurt and chopped cucumbers and spices.

23. A long noosed rope used to catch animals.

25. Divulge information or secrets.

27. The face or front of a building.

32. (in Gnosticism) A divine power or nature emanating from the Supreme Being and playing various roles in the operation of the universe.

33. An ugly evil-looking old woman.

36. Obvious and dull.

37. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

39. A Hindu prince or king in India.

41. Being one more than two.

42. Jordan's port.

46. A member of the Siouan people of the Kansas river valley in Kansas.

48. Large brownish-green New Zealand parrot.

50. A large fleet.

53. Essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers.

57. The United Nations agency concerned with the international organization of food and agriculture.

58. Of someone who has not been married.

61. Goddess of the dead and queen of the underworld.

62. Aromatic bulb used as seasoning.

63. An esoteric or occult matter that is traditionally secret.

65. One of the five major classes of immunoglobulins.

66. A nucleic acid that transmits genetic information from DNA to the cytoplasm.

67. A city in western Germany near the Dutch and Belgian borders.

68. A reproach for some lapse or misdeed.

DOWN 1. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

2. A river in northern England that flows southeast through West Yorkshire.

3. Small buffalo of Mindoro in the Philippines.

4. Any of numerous low-growing cushion-forming plants of the genus Draba having rosette-forming leaves and terminal racemes of small flowers with scapose or leafy stems.

5. Something (especially a game) that is played again.

6. The ending of a series or sequence.

7. A close friend who accompanies his buddies in their activities.

8. Narrow wood or metal or plastic runners used for gliding over snow.

9. A period of time containing 365 (or 366) days.

10. God of fire.

11. Singing jazz.

12. A metabolic acid found in yeast and liver cells.

20. The compass point that is one point north of northeast.

22. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising solely the razorbill.

24. A gray tetravalent metallic element that resembles zirconium chemically and is found in zirconium minerals.

26. An accidental hole that allows something (fluid or light etc.) to enter or escape.

28. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

29. A blue dye obtained from plants or made synthetically.

30. The lower house of the parliament of the Republic of Ireland.

31. English essayist (1775-1834).

34. A particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography).

35. A rare silvery (usually trivalent) metallic element.

38. Moths whose larvae are tobacco hornworms or tomato hornworms.

40. 35th President of the United States.

43. Remote city of Kazakhstan that (ostensibly for security reasons) was made the capital in 1998.

44. The cry made by sheep.

45. Profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger.

47. The capital and largest city of Yemen.

49. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

51. Water falling in drops from vapor condensed in the atmosphere.

52. Not only so, but.

54. A person who is entitled by law or by the terms of a will to inherit the estate of another.

55. Primitive chlorophyll-containing mainly aquatic eukaryotic organisms lacking true stems and roots and leaves.

56. An inclined surface or roadway that moves traffic from one level to another.

59. Blood cells that engulf and digest bacteria and fungi.

60. A chronic skin disease occurring primarily in women between the ages of 20 and 40.

64. An associate degree in nursing.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) You have clear vision and can easily see the steps needed to make good decisions. You are happy when in control and you enjoy managing anything practical. You will excel in group activities now and it is easy for you to get your ideas across to others. Not too emotional, you are objective, businesslike and reliable. You may not trust those in authority just now and you must be careful with your response to superiors. Someone understands how you feel and is sympathetic. You seem able to manipulate most every idea or situation and bring it around to good use. Your mind is ever on communication and how you present yourself and how the result of your communication influences others. The focus is on you this evening.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) There may be many things to gain your attention this morning and they are all good. Your career direction gets encouragement and life’s problems find easy solutions. You are pioneering when it comes to self-analysis and self-care. You can see new ways to make use of your position. An unconventional approach to working for or with others may require a special work situation for you. Someone needs help in translating some instructions and you might consider helping. Explaining with pictures as well as demonstrating the steps that are needed can be quite helpful and you may be asked to help again. It certainly is a change of pace. You have no trouble putting your feelings into words for yourself or as you help others.

NON SEQUITUR

Leo (July 23-August 22) Continued success on the career level may point to your adjusting some of your current plans this day—go with the flow. You will make career gains by your ability to sense quality and choose accordingly. After work you may want to shed some of the tension that has accumulated this workday by doing something totally different from your usual activities. You are kindhearted and usually inspired by emotional situations. You and a friend may decide to volunteer at a soup kitchen—serving the homeless. This evening you will have your say when it comes to a neighborhood community meeting or gathering of friends. You might compliment each other on the good communications between neighbors. The group of you can make a positive difference.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) This is a real time to buckle down and consolidate your career. Your organizational abilities and sense of responsibility will be what guides you and proves successful. Your career could assume a much more determined path, a firm foundation. Circumstances may appear to work against you and bring some very sensitive issues to your attention. Changes you want to make may be challenged by someone close to you, or by events. Think things through before making any quick decisions at this time—there is time.

Your inner resources and emotions are strong. Expect a sense of support and goodwill from those around you. You have lots of restless energy that can be channeled constructively with a small amount of focus.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) You enjoy working hard to achieve the finer things in life.

Financial gains are possible today and if you look and plan, you will see the trends for your future finances. Now is the time to plot your course.

This afternoon you could schedule in a massage, hairdo, new clothes, whatever it takes to make you feel pampered—now is the time. Take some time to express to others how important they are to you. Your sensitivity is strong and you may listen to someone else’s problems today. You are very serene with a tendency to daydream—people may need to call your name several times before you respond.

There are opportunities to be with the family in a fun setting this evening.

Perhaps some outdoor cooking is in order.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) You are ambitious, self-confident, honorable and generous in money matters. Your professional life goes along pretty well until you find out about someone that is furthering their education in order to increase their bank account. You may desire the same—you certainly involve yourself in a lot of talk around improving your work status. Be careful that you do not overspend or indulge too much just now. You could feel great support from those around you, and you could be feeling quite natural and healthy. Being fond of pleasant surroundings, you strive to create a harmonious environment around your home all the time. This is a favorable time to spend with loved ones and family. There is a need for security and a sense of roots.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

Yesterday’s Solution

It seems you are on an uphill swing financially and may discover ways in which to invest that can be quite profitable. However, take care not to fall for some catchy moneymaking gimmick—check and recheck.

There are some unbelievable deals out there. You can block yourself from progress with the attitude of wanting and needing, versus the experience of accomplishment.

Your intuition is high today—listen before you leap. You may be friendly and find many people attracted to you; you will be able to have the last say. This is a wonderful time to be with loved ones—the energies that surround you tonight are affectionate.

Dreams open the door to your subconscious. Keep a note pad, pen and small flashlight handy and record your dreams.

Obtaining and exchanging information takes on greater importance just now. There could be an investment matter at risk or a new customer may ask for your help. Any type of scenario that calls for your attention and strong focus in making good business decisions today will be successful as you become involved. You may be surprised with the positive results today. You are able to bring a group together with words or ideas that transport others. Your power of imagination is successful as you meet with others in a sales meeting or make a presentation.

These good vibrations continue after the workday is over—you encourage others to use their creative mind. You are in a festive mood this evening and you thoroughly enjoy socializing.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Work, achievement and ambition are foremost on your mind.

This is a perfect time to be assertive and to move forward in your career decisions. You have all the drive and energy you need for successful results. It should be easy to channel your objective. You will find the path is open and clear. This is a time when you may enjoy some support or recognition from those around you.

You may feel that you are in touch with others and the lines of communication are open. You may find your friends asking for help this afternoon and you may need to reorganize a few of your own plans. However, all of this should go rather smoothly. It pleases you to be included or to lend a helping hand. You may find yourself in a romantic mood tonight.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

You could be known as the best team player at work. You tend to be good at working for and with others without any focus on yourself. You may find yourself thinking long and hard to find the right words today . . . good synonyms are hard to think of spontaneously. It is important to you that you have clear communication with others. There is a harmony between your emotions and rational action. Your strong personal magnetism and effervescent personality may gain you attention from the opposite sex. Make sure this attraction is not in the workplace, however. As a friendly person, you inspire anyone who comes near you today. Tonight your loved one inspires you and may even give you ideas for poems or songs.

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 Untamed & Uncut 01:40 Your Worst Animal Nightmares 02:35 Great Animal Escapes 03:00 Great Animal Escapes 03:30 Baboons With Bill Bailey 03:55 Baboons With Bill Bailey 04:25 Wildest Africa 05:20 Wildlife SOS 05:45 Escape To Chimp Eden 06:10 Wildlife SOS 07:00 Orangutan Island 07:25 Wild Animal Orphans 07:50 Natural Born Hunters 08:15 The Really Wild Show 08:40 Cats Of Claw Hill 09:10 Must Love Cats 10:05 Wildest Africa 11:00 Animal Precinct 11:55 Animal Cops South Africa 12:50 Safari Vet School 13:15 Safari Vet School 13:45 Wild Africa Rescue 14:10 Wildlife SOS 14:40 Wildest Africa 15:30 Echo And The Elephants Of Amboseli 16:00 The Really Wild Show 16:30 Wild Animal Orphans 17:00 Natural Born Hunters 17:25 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 18:20 World’s Ugliest Dog Competition 19:15 Wildlife SOS 19:40 Escape To Chimp Eden 20:10 Great Ocean Adventures 21:05 Wildest Africa 22:00 Safari Vet School 22:25 Safari Vet School 22:55 Wildlife SOS 23:50 Animal Cops Phoenix

00:00 Newsday 00:30 Asia Business Report 00:45 Sport Today 01:00 Newsday 01:30 Asia Business Report 01:45 Sport Today 02:00 Newsday 02:30 Asia Business Report 02:45 Sport Today 03:00 Newsday 03:30 Hardtalk 04:00 BBC World News 04:30 World Business Report 04:45 BBC World News 05:00 BBC World News 05:30 World Business Report 05:45 BBC World News 06:00 BBC World News 06:30 World Business Report 06:45 Sport Today 07:00 BBC World News 07:30 World Business Report 07:45 Sport Today 08:00 BBC World News 08:30 Hardtalk 09:00 BBC World News 09:30 World Business Report 09:45 Sport Today 10:00 BBC World News 10:30 BBC World News 11:00 GMT With George Alagiah 11:30 GMT With George Alagiah 12:00 BBC World News 12:30 World Business Report 12:45 Sport Today 13:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 13:30 Impact With Mishal Husain 14:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 14:30 World Business Report 14:45 Sport Today 15:00 BBC World News 15:30 Hardtalk 16:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 16:30 The Hub With Nik Gowing 17:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 17:30 World Business Report 17:45 Sport Today 18:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 18:30 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 19:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi

19:30 19:45 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 21:45 22:00 22:30 22:45 23:00 23:30 23:45

World Business Report Sport Today BBC World News America Hardtalk BBC World News World Business Report Sport Today BBC World News America Asia Business Report Sport Today BBC World News Asia Business Report Sport Today

00:10 00:35 01:00 01:25 01:50 02:15 02:40 03:00 03:25 03:50 04:15 04:40 05:00 05:25 05:50 06:00 06:30 06:55 07:20 07:45 08:00 08:25 08:50 09:15 09:40 10:05 10:25 10:50 11:15 11:40 12:00 12:15 12:40 12:55 13:45 14:10 14:35 15:25 15:50 16:15 16:40 17:05 17:30 18:10 19:00 19:15 19:40 19:55 20:20 20:35 20:55 21:20 21:45 22:10 22:35 23:00 23:20 23:45

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 Dexters Laboratory Bananas In Pyjamas Baby Looney Tunes Gerald McBoing Boing Ha Ha Hairies Pink Panther And Pals The Garfield Show Dastardly And Muttley A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Scooby Doo Where Are You! The Flintstones Duck Dodgers Tom & Jerry Kids Droopy: Master Detective Wacky Races Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Ha Ha Hairies The Garfield Show Scooby Doo Where Are You! Dastardly And Muttley Looney Tunes Puppy In My Pocket Pink Panther And Pals Pink Panther And Pals Tom & Jerry Moomins The Garfield Show Dexter’s Laboratory Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Ha Ha Hairies Gerald McBoing Boing Bananas In Pyjamas Pink Panther And Pals Tom & Jerry Looney Tunes Scooby Doo Where Are You! Droopy: Master Detective The Flintstones Wacky Races Dastardly And Muttley New Yogi Bear Show

00:30 Bakugan: New Vestroia 00:55 Bakugan: New Vestroia 01:20 Powerpuff Girls 02:10 Courage The Cowardly Dog 03:00 The Amazing World Of Gumball 03:25 Ben 10 03:50 Adventure Time 04:15 Powerpuff Girls 04:40 Generator Rex 05:05 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 05:30 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 05:55 Angelo Rules 06:00 Casper’s Scare School 06:25 Eliot Kid 06:50 The Amazing World Of Gumball 07:15 Adventure Time 07:40 Regular Show 08:05 Grim Adventures Of...

08:55 Courage The Cowardly Dog 09:45 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien

10:10 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 10:35 Powerpuff Girls 11:25 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 11:50 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 12:15 Ed, Edd n Eddy 13:05 Ben 10: Alien Force 13:30 Bakugan: Gundalian Invaders 13:55 Redakai: Conquer The Kairu 14:20 Camp Lazlo 14:45 Powerpuff Girls 15:35 Angelo Rules 16:25 Grim Adventures Of...

17:15 The Amazing World Of Gumball 17:40 Adventure Time 18:05 Regular Show 18:30 Ben 10 18:55 Bakugan: Mechtanium Surge 19:20 Hero 108 19:45 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated 20:10 Courage The Cowardly Dog 21:00 Ben 10: Alien Force 21:25 The Powerpuff Girls 21:50 Cow And Chicken 22:00 Codename: Kids Next Door 22:50 Ben 10 23:15 Ben 10 23:40 Chowder

00:15 01:10 01:35 02:30 03:25 04:20 05:15 05:40 06:05 07:00 07:50 08:45 09:40 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:25 12:20 13:15 14:10 14:35 15:05 16:00 16:55 17:20 18:15 19:10 19:40 20:05 20:35 21:00 21:30 22:25 23:20

Miami SWAT Destroyed In Seconds Gold Rush Gold Divers Alone In The Wild Miami SWAT How It’s Made Factory Line Coal Twist The Throttle Mythbusters Ultimate Survival Border Security Auction Hunters How It’s Made Factory Line Fight Quest One Man Army Storm Chasers Border Security Auction Hunters Coal Twist The Throttle Wheeler Dealers Ultimate Survival Mythbusters How It’s Made Factory Line Border Security Auction Hunters Scrappers Fight Quest One Man Army An Idiot Abroad

00:35 01:25 01:50 02:40 03:35 04:00 04:25 04:50 05:20 06:10 07:00 07:50 08:15 08:40 09:35 10:25 10:50 11:20 12:15 13:05 13:55 14:20 14:50 15:15 15:40 16:05 17:00 17:25

Moon Machines The Tech Show Mega Builders Superships Weird Connections Weird Connections Stunt Junkies Stunt Junkies Mighty Ships Smash Lab Moon Machines Weird Connections Weird Connections Mega Builders Superships The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Smash Lab Mighty Ships Moon Machines Weird Connections Weird Connections Stunt Junkies Stunt Junkies The Tech Show Smash Lab The Gadget Show The Gadget Show

THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR ON OSN ACTION HD

17:50 Moon Machines 18:40 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 19:30 Space Pioneer 20:20 The Gadget Show 20:45 The Gadget Show 21:10 Smash Lab 22:00 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 22:50 Space Pioneer 23:40 Mighty Ships

00:10 00:35 01:00 01:25 01:50 02:15 02:40 03:05 03:30 03:55 04:20 04:45 05:10 05:35 06:00 06:15 06:40 07:05 07:30 07:55 08:20 08:45 09:10 09:25 09:35 09:45 10:00 10:25 10:50 11:15 11:40 12:05 12:30 12:55 13:20 13:45 14:10 14:35 15:00 15:25 15:50 16:15 16:40 17:00 17:30 17:55 18:20 18:45 19:10 19:35 20:00 20:25 20:50 21:15 21:40 22:05 22:30 22:55 23:20 23:45

Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents Brandy & Mr Whiskers Brandy & Mr Whiskers Replacements Replacements Emperor’s New School Emperor’s New School Brandy & Mr Whiskers Brandy & Mr Whiskers Replacements Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents Fish Hooks Recess So Random Wizards Of Waverly Place Good Luck Charlie Shake It Up Phineas And Ferb Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Jake & The Neverland Pirates Handy Manny The Hive Mouk Recess So Random Hannah Montana Fish Hooks Jake & Blake Sonny With A Chance Wizards Of Waverly Place Phineas And Ferb Recess Jessie A.N.T. Farm Good Luck Charlie Suite Life On Deck Shake It Up Phineas And Ferb Jessie A.N.T. Farm Recess Wizards Of Waverly Place So Random Fish Hooks Shake It Up Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana Phineas And Ferb Shake It Up Jonas So Random Good Luck Charlie Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Wizards Of Waverly Place Kim Possible

00:55 Style Star 01:25 Beauty Queens Gone Wrong 03:15 Behind The Scenes 03:40 Extreme Close-Up 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:00 THS 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Scouted 10:15 25 Hottest Hollywood Cougar Tales 12:05 E! News 13:05 Ice Loves Coco 13:35 Ice Loves Coco 14:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 14:35 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 15:00 Style Star 15:30 THS 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 Khloe And Lamar 17:25 Khloe And Lamar 17:55 E! News 18:55 THS 19:55 Kourtney & Kim Take New York 20:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 21:25 Giuliana & Bill 22:25 E! News 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Fashion Police

06:00 Kid vs Kat 06:21 American Dragon 06:45 Rekkit Rabbit 07:10 Pair Of Kings 07:35 Pair Of Kings 08:00 Iron Man Armored Adventures 08:25 Iron Man Armored Adventures 08:50 Kick Buttowski 09:15 Zeke & Luther 09:40 I’m In The Band 10:05 Phineas And Ferb 10:30 Kid vs Kat 10:55 The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes 11:20 Aaron Stone 11:45 Rekkit Rabbit 12:10 American Dragon 12:35 Kick Buttowski 13:00 Phineas And Ferb 13:25 I’m In The Band 13:45 Kid vs Kat 14:10 Pair Of Kings 14:35 Zeke & Luther 15:00 Rekkit Rabbit 15:25 Pokemon: Black And White 15:50 Timon And Pumbaa 16:15 Rated A For Awesome 16:40 Rated A For Awesome 17:05 Zeke & Luther 17:30 Mr. Young 17:55 Phineas And Ferb 18:20 Phineas And Ferb 18:45 I’m In The Band 19:10 Kickin It 19:35 Kick Buttowski 20:00 Pair Of Kings 20:25 Zeke & Luther 20:50 Escape From Scorpion Island 21:20 Aaron Stone 21:45 The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes

22:10 Phineas And Ferb 22:35 Kid vs Kat 23:00 Programmes Start At 6:00am KSA

00:30 01:20 02:05 02:30 03:20 03:45 04:30 05:20 06:10 07:00 07:50 08:40 09:30 09:55 10:20 11:10 12:00 12:25 12:50 13:40 14:30 14:55 15:20 16:10 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:05 19:55 20:20 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40

The Haunted Psychic Witness I Married A Mobster Scorned: Crimes Of Passion Stalked: Someone’s Watching Dr G: Medical Examiner The Haunted Psychic Witness Disappeared Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Mall Cops ‚Äì Mall Of America On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Street Patrol Street Patrol Undercover Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Mall Cops ‚Äì Mall Of America On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Forensic Detectives Undercover Real Emergency Calls Mystery Diagnosis Mall Cops ‚Äì Mall Of America On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Killer Kids Deadly Women Dr G: Medical Examiner

01:20 Cuba-PG 03:20 Eureka 05:25 Dangerous Game 07:05 The Curse 08:35 How To Succeed In Business Without Trying-PG 10:35 Limit Up-PG 12:05 Road Rage-PG 13:30 Love Or Money 15:00 Mary Christmas-PG 16:30 The Pride And The Passion-PG 18:40 Kidnapped-PG 20:20 The Silver Strand 22:00 The Scalphunters-FAM 23:40 Some Girls-PG

00:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 01:00 Deadliest Journeys 01:30 Deadliest Journeys 02:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 03:00 Banged Up Abroad 04:00 Treks In A Wild World 05:00 Endurance Traveller 06:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 07:00 Deadliest Journeys 07:30 Deadliest Journeys 08:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 09:00 Banged Up Abroad 10:00 Treks In A Wild World 11:00 Endurance Traveller 12:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 13:00 Deadliest Journeys 13:30 Deadliest Journeys 14:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 15:00 Banged Up Abroad 16:00 Treks In A Wild World 17:00 Endurance Traveller 18:00 Lonely Planet: Roads Less Travelled 19:00 Word Travels 19:30 Word Travels 20:00 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 20:30 Food Lover’s Guide To The Planet 21:00 Food School 21:30 Food School 22:00 Long Way Down 23:00 Bite Me With Dr. Mike Leahy

00:00 Megastructures 01:00 Ancient Secrets: Cathedrals Decoded 02:00 Is It Real?

03:00 Mega Factories 04:00 Caught In The Act 05:00 Hunter Hunted 06:00 Banged Up Abroad 07:00 Inside 08:00 Megastructures 09:00 Ancient Secrets: Cathedrals Decoded 10:00 Is It Real?

11:00 Megastructures 12:00 Caught In The Act 13:00 Hunter Hunted 14:00 Banged Up Abroad 15:00 Inside 16:00 Megastructures 17:00 Ancient Secrets: Witch Hunter’s Bible 18:00 Is It Real?

19:00 Mega Factories 20:00 World’s Deadliest Animals 21:00 Shark Men 22:00 Lockdown 23:00 Inside

00:00 01:00 01:55 02:50 03:45 04:40 05:35 06:30 07:25 08:20 09:15 10:10 11:05 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00

Crimes Against Nature The Kill Zone Catching Giants Expedition Wild Caught In The Act Swamp Men The Living Edens Catching Giants Expedition Wild Caught In The Act How Big Can It Get Cliffhangers My Life Is A Zoo Mother Warthog Monster Fish Expedition Wild Caught In The Act Lion Army Cliffhangers My Life Is A Zoo Catching Giants Expedition Wild Caught In The Act

THE EAGLE ON OSN CINEMA 22:00 How Big Can It Get 23:00 Cliffhangers

00:00 01:00 01:55 02:50 03:45 04:40 05:35 06:30 07:25 08:20 09:15 10:10 11:05 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Crimes Against Nature The Kill Zone Catching Giants Expedition Wild Caught In The Act Swamp Men The Living Edens Catching Giants Expedition Wild Caught In The Act How Big Can It Get Cliffhangers My Life Is A Zoo Mother Warthog Monster Fish Expedition Wild Caught In The Act Lion Army Cliffhangers My Life Is A Zoo Catching Giants Expedition Wild Caught In The Act How Big Can It Get Cliffhangers

00:30 The Collector-18 02:00 Death Race 2-18 03:45 Carlito’s Way-18 06:15 Flight Of The Phoenix-PG15 08:15 Rocky II-PG15 10:15 Largo Winch 2-PG15 12:15 The Thirteenth Floor-18 14:00 Rocky II-PG15 16:00 Odysseus: Voyage To The Underworld-PG15 18:00 The Thirteenth Floor-18 20:00 My Bloody Valentine-R 22:00 Dangerous Flowers-PG15

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:30

Goodbye Baby-18 District 9-PG15 Ball & Chain-PG15 Cars 2-FAM According To Greta-PG15 Red-PG15 The Nanny Express-PG15 The Eagle-PG15 Bound By A Secret-PG15 I Am Number Four-PG15 Biutiful-18 Middle Men-18

00:00 King Of The Hill 00:30 The Daily Show Global Edition 01:00 The Colbert Report Global Edition 01:30 Louie 02:30 American Dad 03:00 The Simpsons 03:30 Raising Hope 04:00 Friends 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Seinfeld 06:00 Weird Science 06:30 Dharma And Greg 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Friends 08:30 The Simpsons 09:00 Seinfeld 10:30 Dharma And Greg 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Weird Science 12:30 Friends 13:00 Seinfeld 13:30 Dharma And Greg 14:00 Raising Hope 15:30 The Daily Show Global Edition 16:00 The Colbert Report Global Edition 16:30 Weird Science 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Perfect Couples 18:30 Wilfred 19:00 The League 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Enlightened 22:30 Hung

23:00 American Dad 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Desperate Housewives Game Of Thrones The Closer Revenge Strike Back Live Good Morning America The Invisible Man Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Martha Stewart Show The View Desperate Housewives Revenge Good Morning America The Invisible Man The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Coronation Street Grey’s Anatomy Private Practice House The River Strike Back

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Parenthood The Closer Game Of Thrones Desperate Housewives Revenge Friday Night Lights Parenthood Emmerdale Coronation Street Royal Pains The Closer Desperate Housewives Revenge Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Royal Pains Parenthood Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Surface Grey’s Anatomy Private Practice House The River The Tudors

01:00 Ronin-18 03:00 Carlito’s Way-18 05:30 Deadtime Stories-R 07:00 Bodyguard: A New BeginningPG15 09:00 S.W.A.T.: Firefight-PG15 11:00 The Reunion-PG15 13:00 The Last Airbender-PG 15:00 S.W.A.T.: Firefight-PG15 17:00 Attack On Leningrad-PG15 19:00 The Haunting Of Molly Hartley-18 21:00 Dangerous Flowers-PG15 23:00 Madso’s War-18

00:00 02:15 04:15 05:45 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 PG15 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Renaissance Man-PG15 Crazy On The Outside-PG15 Bubble Boy-PG15 Renaissance Man-PG15 Sleepover-PG15 You Again-PG15 Charlie & Boots-PG15 My Girlfriend’s BoyfriendYou Again-PG15 Blue Streak-PG15 Just Wright-PG15 Rag Tale-18

01:15 03:00 05:15 07:15 09:00 11:15 13:15 14:30 16:45

Fargo-18 A L’origine-PG15 Arlington Road-PG15 Khao Niao Moo Ping-PG15 The China Syndrome-PG The Eclipse-PG15 Across The Sea Of Time-FAM The China Syndrome-PG My Enemy’s Enemy-PG15

19:00 The Greatest-PG15 21:00 Fear-18 23:00 All Good Things-18

01:00 The Fighter-PG15 03:00 Last Of The Living-PG15 05:00 One Hot Summer-PG15 07:00 Witness To Jonestown-PG15 09:00 The Chaperone-PG15 11:00 Napoleon Dynamite-PG 13:00 Not The Messiah: He’s A Very Naughty Boy-PG15 15:00 Cinema Verite-PG15 17:00 The Chaperone-PG15 19:00 Thor-PG15 21:00 Little Fockers-PG15 23:00 Cemetery Junction-PG15

01:00 Super Rugby Highlights 04:00 NRL Premiership 06:00 WWE Bottomline 10:00 European PGA Tour Highlights 11:00 NRL Premiership 13:00 Snooker World Championship 16:00 Trans World Sport 17:00 NRL Premiership 19:00 Snooker World Championship 22:00 Futbol Mundial 22:30 Premier League Darts

00:00 01:00 01:30 02:30 06:00 06:30 07:00 09:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 13:30 14:30 15:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 23:00

Golfing World Top 14 Highlights Trans World Sport Premier League Darts SPL Highlights Mobil 1 The Grid NRL Premiership Super League IronMan IronMan IronMan Super Rugby Highlights AFL Highlights Premier League Darts SPL Highlights NRL Full Time Top 14 Highlights Mobil 1 The Grid Futbol Mundial SPL Highlights European PGA Tour Highlights Golfing World

00:30 Scottish Premier League Highlights 01:00 Super League 03:00 Snooker World Championship 06:00 World Cup Of Pool 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 European PGA Tour Highlights 09:00 Top 14 Highlights 09:30 Super Rugby Highlights 10:30 Scottish Premier League 12:30 Scottish Premier League Highlights 13:00 AFL Highlights 14:00 Golfing World 15:00 Top 14 Highlights 15:30 Super League 17:30 AFL Premiership 20:00 Super Rugby Highlights 21:00 Super Rugby 23:00 NRL Full Time 23:30 Sevens World Series

01:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:30 18:00 20:00 23:00

PrizeFighter UFC Unleashed UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC Unleashed WWE Vintage Collection WWE NXT PrizeFighter Mobil 1 The Grid This Week in WWE WWE SmackDown UAE National Race Day UAE National Race Day Mobil 1 The Grid WWE Vintage Collection V8 Supercars Extra V8 Supercars Highlights PrizeFighter V8 Supercars Highlights

A journey to Iraq

TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012

36

File photo shows, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band performing at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans. — AP photos

A member of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band performs.

T

Hall tent, the festival’s traditional jazz venue. Jaffe has been criticized by some for moving the band away from its traditional roots into different musical genres through collaborations with artists such as rapper Mos Def and rockers Lenny Kravitz and My Morning Jacket. “I think when you talk of change, it’s a part of the evolution of our traditions,” he said in an interview. “Keeping any cultural tradition alive must reflect the generation of today or it will die. We generally play almost the same set that we have been playing. What changes most is the audience more than anything else. “I think it’s important to find a way to pay respect to the past while still balancing and staying true to yourself. That’s the only way you’re going to leave your own imprint on the music.”—AP

said. “The faces may be a bit different, but the experience is not tremendously different.” “It’s important that the Preservation Hall people keep playing,” added Wein, who also founded the Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island. “Times have changed, but the spirit and feel remain the same.”

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s members include 79-year-old clarinetist Charlie Gabriel, a fourth-generation musician; trombonist Frank Desmond, also 79; pianist Rickie Monie, 60; drummer Joseph Lastie Jr, 53; saxophonist Clint Maedgen, 42, on tuba; Jaffe, 41; and trumpeter Mark Braud, 38. “New Orleans music is passed on through its traditions, with younger players learning from older ones,” Jaffe said. “That remains central to our mission and even today, 50 years later, it’s a continuing goal to cast a spotlight on the old and young that’s very much alive.” “I have so much respect for them as musicians and for what they do,” said Toussaint, 74, who at one time was the band’s opening act. “It’s a wonderful thing for our city and the world.”

On Saturday, the band performed in the Economy

T

here’s a note of despair in his voice as Charles Correa, India’s most famous modern architect, discusses the multiplying shiny high-rise apartment blocks sprouting across the nation. “You see the big ads-’Buy your house, it’s time you moved up in life’-and it’s a horrible project. Twenty-five

This picture taken on March 7, 2012, shows Indian architect Charles Correa gesturing during an interview with AFP in New Delhi. — AFP

identical buildings, some swimming pools somewhere, and the angle is such that you see all 25 of them,” he says.

“They’re the kind of cloned building that used to be done by Stalin and the Russians or in the Bronx that people just hate and dread,” adds the celebrated Modernist. The reason, he believes, is that people think tower blocks are “progressive” and “modern”-a perception derived from cities such as Dubai and Singapore which are visited and admired by India’s new elite. “People see that as an image of progress,” he told AFP. “For people in Bombay (Mumbai) and Delhi, Dubai is a big source of inspiration. They go there for shopping. They think its a smart place I presume.” Dubai — Correa has written in one of his many essays on architecture — is inspired by the imagery of Houston, the sprawling US oil town that impressed the sheikhs of the Middle East.

In a career spanning five decades, the Mumbai-based architect and planner from the former Portuguese colony of Goa has passionately advocated buildings adapted for their climate and environment and shaped by local culture and history. Asked

about the generic glass-fronted office blocks that line the streets of new towns like Gurgaon, the booming outsourcing and IT hub outside the Indian capital, he has no answer. “What should I do? Go and throw stones at them?” he says.

The future While the battle for good design might be lost, Correa has not given up on his campaign for more liveable cities in India as overcrowding, pollution and the destruction of open spaces gather pace. At a recent conference in New Delhi, the sprightly 81year-old could be found speaking to city planners from all over, stressing the need to protect forest areas and other public spaces for citizens to meet and socialise.”They (India’s cities) are mostly getting worse, but the good thing is that they are a system of cities. It’s not like Lagos dominates Nigeria, London dominates England and Paris in France. That’s deadly,” he told AFP. Correa’s hope is that small and mediumsized towns can be developed and grown, integrating efficient public transport and proper planning which are missing in the current urban centres of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata or Bangalore. Medium-density residential buildings of five to six storeys are ideal structures, not the vanity high-rise projects whose occupants overwhelm local infrastructure and public amenities. “You can’t go on overloading these existing cities.

They will break down,” says the former chairman of the National Commission on Urbanisation and one-time Harvard professor.—AFP

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ollywood superstar Aamir Khan has been lauded for addressing some of India’s darkest social problems after his new television show tackled the taboo subject of female foeticide. Khan’s show, which had been massively promoted before its debut on Sunday, received nearuniversal praise from the press and the public for his interviews with women about their harrowing experiences.

The 90-minute programme gripped viewers as Khan, a top actor, producer and director, explored how a preference for male heirs leads to the killing of female foetuses and new-borns. Khan, using data graphs and maps to make his case, urged the public to help bring about change before an emotional Bollywood-style song at the end of the show ensured maximum appeal to the audience. The mixture of campaigning social activism and an intimate, personal style on “Satyamev Jayate” (Truth Alone Triumphs) drew comparisons to US chat show host Oprah Winfrey.

“Aamir Khan’s a Desi (Indian) Oprah!” said a headline in yesterday’s Hindustan Times, with a piece quoting praise from celebrities and fans after reaction to the show was so strong that its website crashed. “Aamir Khan’s show can bring a revolution,” tweeted actor and social activist Shabana Azmi, adding the programme “forces us to reexamine ourselves”. Actress Preity Zinta told her 1.5-million followers: “I love this effort from him & thank him as a Woman!” Khan is reportedly earning 30 million rupees ($564,000) for each of the 13 episodes in the weekly series, which is airing on the Star network and Doordarshan channels. — AFP

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan looks on during a press conference following the broadcast of his television programme “Satyamev Jayate”. — AFP

Lady Gaga teacup fetches $75,300 in Japan auction

he Preservation Hall Jazz Band on Sunday marked its 50th anniversary with a jam session at New Orleans’ Jazz Fest featuring a number of old friends. On Sunday, the band closed the festival’s Gentilly Stage with friends including Allen Toussaint, Trombone Shorty, the Rebirth Brass Band and Jazz Fest founder George Wein. In a rare performance, the 86year-old Wein introduced the band then played piano on their opening number - “Basin Street Blues.” He got a rousing ovation after the song ended and he left the stage. All of the performers then joined the band on stage for the finale. The French Quarter-based music venue was founded in 1961 to protect and honor New Orleans jazz.

The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, on its closing weekend, marked the anniversary by showcasing the world-renowned band in concert twice. Hall director Ben Jaffe, the son of founders Allan and Sandra Jaffe, said his parents’ goal was to make sure New Orleans’ unique musical traditions would be kept alive.

“Fifty years later, we’re not too much different,” Jaffe

File photo shows US top entertainer Lady Gaga drinking tea with a “Pray for Japan” engraved cup during a press conference for the MTV video Music Aid Japan event in Tokyo. — AFP

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teacup and saucer used only once by pop diva Lady Gaga has sold for more than 6.0 million yen ($75,000) at auction, the sale’s organiser said yesterday. With more than 1,300 bids, the week-long auction finished at 1400 GMT Sunday, with a top offer of 6,011,000 yen, said Yahoo!

Japan, which managed the charity event. Payment was required before the winning bid could be confirmed, it said. The cup was used by Lady Gaga at a press conference in Tokyo three months after the massive tsunami of March last year swamped a large stretch of coastline.

Lady Gaga told reporters at the time that she would auction the cup, marked with her lipstick and bearing the Japanese message “We pray for Japan” along with the star’s autograph.

All the money raised will be used to help young Japanese artists who want to study in the United States.

The teacup was one of a number of items being sold to raise money for those affected by Japan’s worst postwar calamity, and was the second most expensive lot.

The top-priced item was a Kawai crystal piano used by Yoshiki of rock band Japan X, which went for 11,001,000 yen, Yahoo! Japan said.

The natural disaster killed some 19,000 people on Japan’s northeast coast and sparked the world’s worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, leading to a plunge in visitors to the country. Lady Gaga visited Japan twice after the disaster and called on tourists from around the world to follow suit. The songstress is due back in Japan this week as part of an Asian tour.—AFP