24 Mar

RI PT IO N BS C SU THE LEADING INDEPENDENT DAILY IN THE ARABIAN GULF

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010

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Heat beat Nets as Jazz turn tables on Celtics

Obama signs historic healthcare reform into law PAGE 9

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Unapologetic Barrak seeks Hammad’s help Panel delays domestics law

By B Izaak KUWAIT: The number of MPs supporting a no-confidence motion against Information and Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah appears to have remained unchanged at 22 as MP Mussallam Al-Barrak yesterday appealed to MP Saadoun Hammad for help but refused to offer an apology.

Two important meetings linked to tomorrow’s vote were held yesterday, the first by the eight members of the National Action Bloc and the second between MP Aseel Al-Awadhi and members of the Popular Action Bloc.

No statement was issued after the National Bloc meeting which brought together eight liberal MPs, but sources familiar with the meeting said it was decided that members were free to vote in accordance with their convictions.

Continued on Page 14

Domestic transfer window extended KUWAIT: Minister of Social Affairs and L abor Dr Mohammad Al-Afasi is expected to issue a decision in the coming few days to extend the period for domestic workers (article 20 work permits) to transfer their residencies to the private sector (article 18) until June. The move is aimed at organizing the expatriate manpower in the private sector, informed sources told local dailies.

They added that the ministry’s decision be in line with

RABI ALTHANI 8, 1431 AH

the government’s bid to facilitate the movement of workers among the various sectors of the labor market in the country.

Recent reports had earlier said that the number of expatriates in Kuwait has declined for the second consecutive year, attributing the decrease to restrictions on bringing expat manpower in the country in addition to layoffs at some firms as a result of the global economic meltdown.

Continued on Page 14

Britain kicks out Israeli diplomat LONDON: Britain has ordered the expulsion of an Israeli diplomat over the use of fake British passports in the killing of a Hamas commander in Dubai, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said yesterday. “I have asked that a member of the embassy of Israel be withdrawn from the UK as a result of this affair, and this is taking place,” he told lawmakers. Miliband said there were “compelling reasons” to believe Israel was behind the misuse of British passports in the killing of Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh in January. “The government takes this matter extremely seriously. Such misuse of British passports is intolerable... It also represents a profound disregard for the sovereignty of the United Kingdom,” he said.

Miliband said an investigation by Britain’s Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) had established that the 12 British passport holders identified by Dubai police were “wholly innocent Continued on Page 14

Poet attains stardom after bashing clerics DUBAI: A Saudi housewife’s bold poems which blast “evil” extremist fatwas

by Muslim clerics have earned her death threats but could yet win her a $1.3-million poetry contest on Emirati television. Ahead of today’s finals of the “Million’s Poet” aired weekly on Abu Dhabi state television, the poems have put Hissa Hilal, who wears a traditional head-to-toe black “abaya” cloak and veils her face, in the spotlight. If on March 31 she is announced the winner, she will walk away with the grand prize Continued on Page 14

ABU DHABI: Saudi poet Hussa Hilal takes part in “Shaer AlMillion” on March 18, 2010. — AFP

Dubai puts alcoholic dishes back on menu NANPING, China: A Chinese woman whose child was killed in a stabbing incident gets help outside an elementary school in east China’s Fujian province yesterday. — AP

Medic hacks 8 kids to death BEIJING: A former medical worker stabbed to death eight young children and wounded five others yesterday in a bloody rampage outside an elementary school in eastern

China. The 41-year-old attacker struck in the morning as students arrived for classes, mingling with parents at the school gates before suddenly pulling out his knife and slash-

ing children, according to witnesses interviewed on local television. In the aftermath, doctors treated small children and bodies lay covered in Continued on Page 14

DUBAI: The Dubai municipality has retracted a decision to ban restaurants from using alcohol in the preparation of dishes, The National daily reported yesterday. The liberal Gulf emirate had announced on Sunday it would enforce a 2003 law banning alcohol in food preparation, based on complaints from Muslim clients who were not warned that dishes in some restaurants contained alcohol. But it

now appears Dubai has changed its mind.

Khaled Sharif Al-Awadhi, director of Dubai municipality’s food control department, said food containing alcohol could be served on condition it was segregated from other food and clearly labelled, The National reported. “We have found violations where hotels are not clearly stating alcohol content in their food,” Continued on Page 14

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NATIONAL

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Ministry collecting bids

Kuwait railway project to start in three months KUWAIT: The Ministry of Communications is collecting bids for the potential railway project; a process that is expected to take 3 months according to the department’s minster. The ministry will then proceed with the project, as outlined by the Cabinet’s development plan, reported Al-Qabas. Its structural chart has already been adopted by the Kuwait Municipality and the Municipal Council. The Minister, Dr Mohammad Al-Busairi, spoke at an event to commemorate the former State Ministers for Parliament Affairs and stressed the significance of the upcoming phase regarding the development process. He also asserted the importance of reinforcing the culture of development within Kuwaiti society.

KUWAIT: At Seif Palace yesterday, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah received the head of the Kuwait Human Rights Society’s (KHRS) hearing disabilities section Ali Ahmad AlBahgli, along with other KHRS members.— KUNA

kuwait digest

Lessons for Prince Talal’s university

T

he international consensus on further education is that it should be available to the largest possible number of people whose circumstances might prevent them from attending traditional universities, writes columnist Dr. Salah Al-Fadhli in Al-Jarida. This is demonstrated by the growth in Open University and ‘distance learning’ opportunities that use modern digital technology to offer learning online. With 1.5 million students around the world learning through the British Open University alone, the demand for such opportunities is clear.

From this approach grew the idea of establishing a real Arab-based open university tailored specifically for the Arab world, which pioneering idea has been adopted by Saudi Arabia’s Prince Talal Bin Abdulaziz.

This innovative venture opens the door for thousands of young people to continue their education while working; what makes Prince Talal’s project even more important and accessible is the central tenet of keeping the tuition fees charged to students at a low level, opening the way for those on low incomes to complete their university education.

As is the case with all ventures, the Arab Open University (here, I refer to the university in Kuwait) had a humble beginning. The building is small, virtually a pigeon coop, and lacks the capacity for the large number of students taking courses

there, over 5,000. It also has a teaching faculty who are not of the necessary high academic level, but rather from the “whatever’s available” leftovers. Other problems dogging the facility include regular ‘leaked’ exam papers, some of which were openly sold in Hawally shops, as well as technical and administrative difficulties. These shortcomings have left a very negative overall impression of the AOU with many people.

It seems, however, that after a patchy start, things may have begun to improve at the AOU, with some students reportedly beginning to feel that they are actually attending a university, not a school. The construction of a new building is underway, as with other local private universities, while the overall standard of the teaching faculty has improved and the university has begun to extend a number of new services to students, as well as expanding the number of assisted or reduced fee payment schemes for needy students. All these factors taken together are changing the AOU’s image, with increasing numbers of students with a high GPA score choosing to study there.

Despite these positive aspects, however, there are still some negative factors, which the officials setting up the new open university for Prince Talal, along with the prince himself, should look into and ensure they avoid. The first and most notable of

these is the existence of various power factions within the university’s academic faculties which control the university deanship and administrative decision-making in Kuwait. Due to this politicization of university life, several Kuwaiti academics were allegedly dismissed, which is a point that has been raised by MP Yousef Zalzallah with the education minister.

The second potential problem is also related to factionalism and special interest groups, with struggles breaking out over the control of financial resources, an issue that should be under the supervision of the dean’s office. These funds should be allocated solely to spending on student services and improving the quality of the education services on offer. Instead, these struggles have led to permanent tensions between university deans and faculties.

A third potential pitfall to avoid is the existence of conflicts of interest for senior university officials through their writing and translation of university textbooks, which can be extremely lucrative for them but raises obvious ethical problems. Prince Talal’s Arab Open University project is a pioneering one that must ensure that this practice is disallowed and other problems are prevented from taking hold so that it can become a successful example of further education in the Arab world, instead of joining the existing list of disappointments and failures.

MOE to rehearse prolonged school days

KUWAIT: The Laotian Ambassador to Kuwait, Thongphachanh Sonnasinh, yesterday visited the Kuwait Times office and discussed various matters of mutual concern with Editor-in-Chief Abd Al-Rahman Alyan.

KUWAIT: Official sources reported that the Ministry of Education is preparing to rehearse a prolonged school day, reported AlRai. The sources added that Education Minister, Moudhi AlHumoud, formed a special committee to study the project and its implementation by the beginning of the next school year for all school levels. They also noted that the committee praised the project despite the criticism a prolonged school day received from several MPs and the Teachers Society.

The sources explained that the ministry’s council of undersecretaries will meet to discuss the whole project, including the new time schedule.

Al-Busairi addressed Kuwait’s postal service and indicated that, according to the plan listed in the government’s work program, the postal service will be privatized and turned into a shareholding company. The private company will have 24 percent of its shares owned by the government, 26% owned by the private sector and 50% shared publically.

The Ministry of Public Works (MPW) is currently focusing on executing three major development projects, namely the Boubyan Island development project, the Failaka Island development

project, and the Khairan City project, to ensure their timely implementation.

The third and final phase of the Boubyan Island development project, scheduled for a 2023 finish, will end with the expansion of 24 docks, said the Ministry’s Assistant Undersecretary for Major Projects Sector, Adel Al-Turkey.

The project is currently in its second part of the first phase.

Tenders to establish 16 docks at a total cost of KD 330 million are also under discussion.

The Ministry is also coordinating with the Environment Public Authority (EPA) to discuss the structural chart of the

Failaka Island development project. The Ministry has completed infrastructure-related works for three more of the Khairan City’s blocks, while projects to construct roads, power, water and sewage plants have also been finalized.

In another development, the EPA has received information from the Ministry stating that the Mishref sewage plant, which has been out of service since August 2009, will be restored shortly.

Meanwhile, the head of the Industrial Environment Department at the EPA has assured that sewage waters are being treated biologically and

chemically before being flown into the sea. Pollution levels are being closely monitored.

Mohammad Al-Enizi further asserted the safety of drinking waters treated at water desalination plants. He indicated that international experts were consulted to carry out a study on the environmental effects that result from pollution, reported Al-Watan.

On the subject of factories that violated norms, Al-Enizi indicated that factories that were temporarily shut down due to environmental violations could face another suspension should they fail to commit to environmental standards.

KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah hosted a dinner party in honour of visiting Jordanian Prime Minister Samir Al-Rifai. A number of dignitaries attended it. — KUNA

Visit of Jordanian PM ‘big success’ AMMAN: Kuwait’s Ambassador to Jordan Sheikh Faisal Al-Humoud Al-Malek AlSabah yesterday praised the results of Jordanian Prime Minister Samir Al-Rifai’s one-day visit to Kuwait on Monday. The visit helped further the bilateral ties between the two fraternal nations, said the ambassador.

During his visit, the Jordanian premier conveyed to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah the best regards of Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

“During their talks, Al-Rifai and HH the Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser AlMohammed Al-Sabah explored ways to boost cooperation and bilateral relations in various fields, notably the political, economic and commercial ones,” Ambassador Al-Sabah revealed.

“The visit showed the two sides’ shared desire to cement cooperation and coordination in the face of the regional and international challenges,” the Kuwaiti diplomat affirmed.

The visit highlighted the excellent relations between the two Arab nations and provided an opportunity for the Jordanian leader to see the legislative experiment and the democratic process of Kuwait, added the ambassador.

Sheikh Faisal concluded by revealing that Prime Minister Al-Rifai also met with leading Kuwaiti businesspeople as part of his efforts to attract more foreign direct investment particularly from Jordan’s close ally, Kuwait. — KUNA

Stage set for ‘healthy environment for the disabled’ campaign KUWAIT: An official with the ‘Kuwait, A healthy environment for the disabled’ campaign said that the annual event for wheelchair-users will begin on Saturday at the Al-Mubarakeya marketplace.

Ministers, MPs and municipal council members will be among the dignitaries attending the launch event, explained Fawaz Al-Hasban, the head of PR for the campaign, adding that last year’s event

brought a great deal of positive feedback, with the prominent figures participating gaining a sense of the frustrations and difficulties of everyday life experienced by individuals with special needs.

He added that several MPs, ministers and councilors had enthusiastically welcomed the opportunity to participate in this year’s event. A press conference will take place after the event to discuss the

obstacles faced by the disabled.

The event is being held under the patronage of Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for Municipal Affairs Dr. Fadhil Safar.

The campaign, which was first launched by the Municipal Council in 2007, aims to ensure that all Kuwait’s facilities and buildings are disabilityfriendly.

in the news Sheikh passes away KUWAIT: In a statement issued on behalf of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and the Al-Sabah ruling family, the Amiri Diwan yesterday extended its thanks to the citizens and residents of Kuwait who sent their condolences following the sad demise of Sheikh Fahad Mubarak Al-Sabah, who was laid to rest earlier in the day.

Roof replacement KUWAIT: The Public Authority of Minors’ Affairs earned approval from the Finance Ministry to put more pressure on the owner of their buildings. Their department’s roofs are in need of replacement after having been found to containing carcinogens, reported Al-Qabas.

Head of the authority, Ali Al-Alaimi, said that they will carry out procedures to force a replacement of their roof. Their efforts will be made in cooperation with the Environmental Public Authority and other concerned bodies after receiving official permission from the ministry. Al-Alaimi explained that the authority is not allowed to carry out the process of replacing the roofs personally since they only rent the facility.

Harassers arrested KUWAIT: Police patrols arrested 15 youngsters found roaming around women’s school centers in Jahra to harass students and teachers, reported Al-Watan. They were apprehended and taken to the proper authorities. The officers were given further direction to keep police deployed at the location in order to prevent young men from further harassing the women there.

Al-Huwailah denies rumors KUWAIT: The National Assembly’s Supervisor, MP Mohammed AlHuwailah refuted news reports that accused him of failing to express clear support to the Minister of Information and Oil Minister, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah. Furthermore, Al-Huwailah stressed that he had always fought toward forging a strong national identity and did not approve of the Information Ministry’s manner of dealing with the issue, reported Al-Rai. “I have demanded that Al-Abdullah be dismissed several times so that a more capable minister can take his place,” he stressed. He expressed amazement at the fact that his stance on the matter was subject to scrutiny.

NATIONAL

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

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Disgraced Bahraini ex-minister faces Iran spy charges

Kuwaiti suspect’s brother accused of involvement in money laundering KUWAIT: The brother of the Kuwaiti woman accused of involvement in a money- men have denied any involvement in the case. Meanwhile, the latest reports from laundering operation carried out on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards is Bahrain suggest that the country’s prosecution service is preparing to press further reportedly also under suspicion of playing a part in the controversial case, accord- charges against the disgraced former minister, Mansour Bin Rajab, accusing him of ing to press reports. A bedoon (stateless) employee of the woman’s brother is also spying on behalf of Iran, after it was discovered that he had sent pictures of sensiunderstood to be suspected of involvement in the money laundering operation. Both tive military locations in Bahrain to contacts in Iran.

The Kuwaiti female suspect, a received a euro 6 million (KD ently demanded a KD 300,000 apparently travelled to Lebanon was later discovered that the teacher at a local school, has 2,337,525) check from a still ‘commission’ for his part in help- with an Egyptian acquaintance, Bahraini and Egyptian suspects already admitted to having ties to unidentified Bahraini man, with ing them to cash the check, a where they met with an influential had fled to their respective counBin Rajab, who lost his post over the check made out to her broth- demand they agreed to. The min- Lebanese figure, suspected of tries. his involvement in the controver- er’s company, which she was ister was subsequently unable to being a senior member of The female Kuwaiti suspect, sial money-laundering case. authorized to carry out banking carry out the transaction due to Hezbollah, to request help with who has pled not guilty to During questioning by Kuwaiti transactions on behalf of. She and the check being identified as a cashing the controversial check. charges of money laundering, Public Prosecution Service offi- the shadowy Bahraini figure then forgery, however, and returned it Lebanese authorities who were despite admitting to her involvecers, she also informed detectives went to the former minister to ask to the woman, although she monitoring the suspects’ activi- ment in the case, remains in custhat Bin Rajab had asked for a 35 for his help in cashing the check, reportedly offered him KD ties were able to stop the check tody and is still being questioned, percent commission for helping to offering him a diamond ring worth 150,000 to ignore this fact and soon after it was deposited at a with her brother and his employcash a check from a British bank.

KD 15,000 as a ‘gift’ during their continue the transaction. local bank, but failed to arrest any ee being released on KD 500 bail The woman reportedly negotiations. The minister apparAfter this, the Bahraini man of the three accused individuals. It each.

in the news

KUWAIT: Minister of Health Hilal Al-Sayer posing for a group photograph with the staff members after inaugurating the medical center yesterday. —KUNA

Praise for medical centers KUWAIT: Minister of Health Hilal Al-Sayer said here yesterday national health centers in Kuwait constitute an integrated system of medical services.

Speaking to reporters following the opening of a new medical center at Kaifan suburb, the minister greatly appreciated His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah and Sheikha Al-Anoud Al-

Ahmad Al-Sabah for their bountiful donation for the new clinic.

Attention to primary health care does not include facilities and equipment, but also involves sustained revamping for high-quality medical services at all health centers in the country, the minister said.

As part of Kuwait’s state development drive, the Ministry of Health is eager to

overhaul primary medical care services, he said, stressing the significance of commitment to developing and applying the concept of integrated medical care in line with set criteria and guidelines.

The new medical center will provide various health services and includes laboratories, dental, diabetic, family medicine and nutrition clinics. —KUNA

Amiri gift to younger generations

Citizens’ fertility endangered

KUWAIT: Madinat Al-Hareer (Silk City) is HH the Amir’s gift to the future generations, said the General Supervisor of the ‘Middle Class’ Position in the Cabinet’s Work Program’ conference. The conference was inaugurated recently, and is, considered to be the first of its kind in which the Cabinet’s plan was discussed by several sections of society, said Nurria Al-Sadani. He noted that it is also the first time that Kuwaitis have been invited to voice their opinion on their country’s development. The Deputy Head of the Kuwait Society of Engineers (KSE) MP Naji Al-Abdulhadi indicated that the conference aims to deliver the message of maintaining a balanced society that achieves productivity in various aspects, by reinforcing the economy of the middle class in Kuwait, to achieve stability. He further mentioned the ‘Nurria AlSadanis Group for the Middle Class,’ which was named after Al-Sadani in honor of the profound role she has played toward supporting the country’s middle class.

KUWAIT: A new study revealed that the fertility of Kuwaiti men is in danger, reported Al-Watan.

The report indicated that the number of citizens diagnosed with infertility problems increased by 15 percent. The report also noted that the increase is very high in comparison to international statistics.

A Urology and infertility professor at the faculty of medicine of Kuwait University, Dr Adel AlHaniyan, said the causes of increased infertility may be linked to pollutants. He mentioned that radioactive pollution from the several military conflicts in the region, smoking and the overuse of cell phones could all be causes of increased infertility.

Al-Haniyan added that this is a very serious issue and that the government should host programs to increase the public’s awareness of the potential causes of infertility.

Citizenship rescinded KUWAIT: The Supreme Committee of Citizenships has officially rescinded the Kuwaiti citizenship of four individuals. The decision was made at a time when the National Assembly’s Interior and Defense committee has been preparing to discuss naturalization and dual citizenships issues, reported Al-Watan.

This is in addition to other related issues like the plight of non-Kuwaiti children of servicemen and Kuwaiti women, in addition to the steps adopted by the Interior Ministry, the results of the Thamer AlJaber investigations committee, and the mechanism implemented to revoke citizenships will be discussed. The interior minister and other ministry officials are expected to be invited to the meeting.

KD 77 million loss KUWAIT: Municipal Council members have called for the council employee responsible for a KD 77 million loss in council funds, ascribed to “error,” to account for his actions. Councilor Jenan Bushehri indicated that the loss was caused by an error made by one council employee, revealing that the staff member has already been referred to the Public Prosecution Service, where he is currently being held for questioning. Bushehri further emphasized that the council’s lawyers have made no mistakes in their investigation into the matter, reported Al-Watan. At their most recent meeting, the councilors also voted to adopt the proposed designs for the Jaber Al-Ahmad housing estate project, which is to be constructed by the Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW).

NATIONAL

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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Pinoy security guards duped, complain to embassy

Filipino workers take legal action against employers breach of contract. Their list of grouses include substitution of contracts, working (overtime) without pay, poor living conditions and unnecessary KUWAIT: A group of Filipino workers, employed as security guards, have salary deductions. Filipino Labor Attaché Vivo Vidal had intervened previfiled complaints against their firm at the Philippine Embassy’s labor office in ously, but the management of the company denies any wrong doing claiming Jabriya recently. The workers, comprising about 50 men and 10 women, that they have been acting in good faith. However, the workers disputed the lodged several complaints against their company citing ill-treatment and management’s claim and displayed the contract they had signed.

“This is a copy of contract we were talking about. We were hired from the Philippines stating clearly that we would be paid KD 120 per month.

We never got it; all we receive is KD 55 monthly.

The management told us that they would pay KD 85. Since KD 30 is deducted from it every month, we get only KD 55 in hand,” lamented Alfredo Borbon Jr, one of the complainants who spoke to Kuwait Times. “They said that deductions are being made against placement fees, tickets and our visas. These are unnecessary deductions and we don’t know about it,” he added.

The group also complained about their appalling living conditions. Borbon said that they (workers) were crammed into an abandoned building that had no air-conditioning facilities or privacy. “We are 14 in this room, and about 40 in one flat. They ‘dumped’ us here like canned sardines.

We don’t have any household appliances. More than three people use bathrooms at the same time because they cut off our water supply at 7 am.

Otherwise, we end up going to work without bathing,” he said.

The management has earlier been present at the embassy; only to express their unwillingness KUWAIT: Labor Attache Vivo Vidal talking with distressed Filipino security guards outside the to cooperate, placing blame on the local recruitembassy labor office compound. ment agency. The group said they would not be bogged down and would continue to fight for their rights. “We want them to pay us the amount stipulated in the contract signed in Manila. If they fail, all of us will just go home. They have to provide us with our air tickets plus our remunerations,” the workers asserted.

Yesterday, the group formally submitted their complaints with the Kuwait’s labor arbiter’s office (Shuon). The Labor Attache Vidal has promised to provide assistance and assigned one of his attaches to attend to their case. “First, we already called the management to explain their side. It appeared as if like they are not willing to resolve complaints amicably. So, we will wait for the action by the Shuon (Kuwait’s labor arbiter). We cannot promise a speedy resolution of their case, but we will help our compatriots. Their complaints are valid and I see it with substance,” he explained.

Vidal also added their case has already been filed at their labor headquarters in Manila in order to prevent more workers from being recruited by the same recruitment agency. “We informed the labor office about their problems. It seems that the local agency and a Filipino recruiter (based in Kuwait) are also answerable to the problems facing these workers,” he said.

Filipino security guards were recruited during different time periods that ranged between four months to two years. Some of them are stationed KUWAIT: The miserable living conditions of some security guards. —Photos by Ben Garcia at remote, deserted areas in Kuwait.

By Ben Garcia

Dar Al-Shifa establishes training center with AHA

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: The Dar Al-Shifa Hospital celebrated the signing of an international agreement between the Continuous Education Center (CEC) of Dar Al-Shifa Hospital and the American Heart Association (AHA). The celebration, held yesterday at the Sheraton Hotel, included the announcement that the Continuous Education Center will be an international training center for the American Heart Association and be the first of its kind amongst all medical sectors in both public and private sectors in Kuwait.

The ceremony was held under the patronage of the Minister of Health, Dr Hilal Al-Sayer, and is the first time the AHA has launched an Arabic version of its special training program. The ceremony was also attended by senior officials from the Ministry of Health, the Red Crescent, in addition to a group of doctors, specialists and consultants from the Dar Al-Shifa Hospital, and distinguished guests and representatives from the AHA. “We are proud of this remark-

able development,” said Taleb Jeraq, head of the Dar Al-Shifa Hospital Higher Committee.

“This leading and distinctive initiative reflects our commitment and support to sustaining the educational institutions of Kuwait. It speaks to our commitment to develop Dar Al-Shifa staff and other healthcare candidates’ skills and competencies and an adherence to the best practices on par with international standards.”

Yousef Al-Mutairi, Senior Respiratory Therapist and Director of the CEC at Dar AlShifa Hospital, pointed out that this International Agreement was the result of persistent support and trust from the Dar Al-Shifa Hospital management. The hospital met all the requirements needed to accomplish the project, he added.

The CEC’s accreditation was not easy. “We have gone through several stages within the past two years, the most recent of which was the AHA’s visit to the Dar Al-Shifa Hospital in November 2009. They showed that they were impressed with the efforts exerted by the Dar Al-

Shifa staff toward establishing an independent training center with the best equipment facilities for teaching Life Support Programs,” he added.

Al-Mutairi said that the CEC was also the first accredited training site for a Basic Life Support (BLS) program in June 2009. “It was a significant development for the hospital, being the first amongst all Kuwait hospitals in both the public and private sectors to adopt such a unique project,” he said.

“In October 2009 we accomplished a productive relationship with the AHA in regards to Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) programs. The CEC has become an accredited training site for ACLS programs under the direct supervision of a certified training center for the American Heart Association,” he noted.

Al-Mutairi explained that the CEC has organized and conducted around 120 successful training courses and hands-on workshops since the beginning of 2009. The CEC has hosted more than 1,500 candidates from Dar Al-Shifa and other healthcare centers in, and

outside of, Kuwait. The Center now has more than 10 certified trainers ready to teach BLS and ACLS programs and has collaborated with more than five certified trainers available upon request from outside the hospital.

He asserted that the CEC, after earning this certified international standard, is thoroughly studying the possibility of establishing several branches under CEC supervision. “We hope to turn this center into the largest academic training institution for the education of medical skills and public health programs in Kuwait and the Arabian Gulf in the near future,” he concluded.

Glenn M Vanden Houten,

Territory Director for Europe and Africa with the AHA, spoke on the launching of their first Arabic training program. “Dar AlShifa Hospital is the first and only hospital accredited as an international training center with the AHA. The issuance of this international Arabic version training program promotes Dar Al-Shifa as a distinguished partner to the AHA,” he affirmed.

At the end of the ceremony, Taleb Jeraq, Narjes Al-Yousifi and Ahmad Nasrallah presented trophies as a token of appreciation to shareholders, contributors, and to AHA representatives for their continued assistance and cooperation.

KUWAIT: Indian Ambassador Ajai Malhotra inaugurating the seminar on ‘Indian Budget 2010 and Beyond’.

Al-Mulla Exchange - HDFC conference demystifies Indian Budget 2010 KUWAIT: A seminar on ‘Indian Budget 2010 and Beyond’ organized jointly by HDFC Bank and Al-Mulla Exchange, in association with The Indian Chartered Accountants of India, Kuwait Chapter at the Holiday Inn, Salmiya on Monday was a resounding success by any count. From the more than 290 attendees who thronged the Al Dana Hall to listen to the keynote speakers followed by the lively Questions & Answers session it was evident that the seminar was a much anticipated and value-added event.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Guest of the evening, Ajai Malhotra, Ambassador of India, said that the ‘Indian Budget 2010 & Beyond’ was a timely and relevant seminar that would no doubt prove beneficial and informative to Indians in Kuwait.

He expressed his appreciation to HDFC Bank and Al-Mulla Exchange for organizing the event and bringing two top notch professional experts to share their assessment on the Budget and on its Tax implications.

Highlighting the Indian economy’s demonstrated resilience during the recent global crisis and its continued growth, the Ambassador said, “Despite the worst monsoon in a quarter of a century affecting the agricultural sector, our economy is on track and we are headed in the right direction.” He added that with economic growth in the country poised to register double digit numbers in the near future, with a trillion dollar plus economy, with stock markets that are amongst the best performing in the world, with a demographic advantage of having nearly 55 percent of the population below the age of 25, India is on its way to becoming the among the largest and fastest growing economies in the world.

Welcoming the audience, Hormuzda Davar, Director of Financial Services at Al-Mulla Group, said that the seminar was the second in the series of conferences arranged by Al-Mulla

Iqama ‘vendor’ in police net

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: An Indian expatriate has been arrested for illicitly selling illegally obtained iqamas (work permits) to other Asians.

The man apparently told Kuwaiti staff at a local immigration office that he “knew someone” who needed a work permit and was ready to pay KD 400 for one, while charging the individual KD 600 and splitting the difference with the staff member who would help him.

Detectives learned about his activities and caught him redhanded in a sting operation. The man is in custody awaiting trial.

Gas thief caught An Asian chauffeur working for a Kuwaiti family was caught siphoning petrol from his employer’s car to sell elsewhere after his hand got stuck in the petrol nozzle opening, with firefighters having to be called to free him. He was referred to the relevant authorities.

Police car accident A police car overturned on Fahaheel Road while trying to avoid a vehicle that veered towards it. No injuries were reported.

Exchange in collaboration with HDFC Bank. “The enthusiastic response we received to our first conference in November 2009, entitled ‘India - The Growth Continues’ has prompted us to arrange these types of seminars, which hinge on aspects that most affect NRIs, to the benefit of our customers,” said Davar. Introducing the keynote speakers, Abheek Barua, Chief Economist at HDFC Bank and Kirit Mehta, Partner at G P Kapadia & Co. Chartered Accountants, Davar noted that India’s growth could soon outperform even China’s and he hoped that the audience would gather more information on the budget and get to, “treasure the insights which both of our keynote speakers will be sharing with us in the course of their presentation.” Detailing the strong partnership between HDFC Bank and Al-Mulla Exchange and how they have worked together to nurture the relationship by introducing customer centric remittance solutions, Davar noted that Al-Mulla Exchange has always strived to be different from its competitors. He highlighted how AlMulla Exchange spearheaded the EFT (electronic file transfer) revolution in Kuwait by developing the product and changing consumer habits to new technologies.

The first keynote speaker of the evening, Abheek Barua, then began his speech by giving a glimpse of the Indian macro economic settings. He highlighted the fact that the economy was no longer focused on one single sector and that while agriculture and services sectors, which initially propelled the Indian economy in the earlier boom, were sluggish even now, the industrial sector registered a robust year-on-year growth of 16.7 per cent in January 2010, bolstered by a strong performance by the manufacturing sector, which grew 17.9 per cent in the same month. He noted how growth was being sustained by capacity

creation rather than the earlier consumption demand and this, despite the growing inflation, heralded good news for the economy.

The second speaker, Kirit Mehta for his part deconstructed the country’s taxation policies and its implications while elaborating on the Foreign Exchange Management Act and its relevance to non-resident Indians based on the 2010 budget.

Detailing with facts and different examples, he exploded the popular myth that India was a high tax rate country, and he went on to give tips on how to use the Tax Laws effectively to plan transactions to reduce personal Tax incidence, and the importance of proper estate planning and what to do and not to do in the sale of immovable property in India.

Following a lively Q&A session, M.S. Mathew, Chairman of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India - Kuwait Chapter, shared his views on the conference and thanked AlMulla Exchange for organizing the event and the support they have provided to the Charter for organizing the study circles.

Giving his vote of thanks, Minoo Patel, the Chief Financial Officer of Al-Mulla Group spoke on how two decades back, the national bankruptcy sent the Indian economy into a shock spin and how the present Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh through his carefully crafted strategies ensured the economy opened up. “The Indian landscape after that was never the same. While the Western economies were falling apart in the recent recession, the well capitalized Indian banking sector and robust monetary policies created a robust economic structure” added Mr. Patel before concluding by saying that the evening’s discussions are sure to have opened the doors for several NRIs and foreign businesses interested in tapping to an economic superpower.

Al-Rasheed writes letter on Al-Husaini’s death KUWAIT: Secretary of the organization Umbrella for Kuwaiti Action, Anwar AlRasheed, recently sent a letter to Al-Qabas daily. In his correspondence he criticized reports linking the assassination of Palestinian Hamas figure, Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh, in Dubai and the death of Palestinian activist Faisal AlHusaini in Kuwait back in 2001, reported Al-Qabas.

Al-Rasheed’s letter was sent as a response to an interview made by the paper with Al-Husaini’s son, Abdulqadir Al-Husaini. In the interview, he said that a number of family members requested further investigation into his father’s death. He explained that his family wanted to examine the possibility that his death was the result of an assassination carried out by the Israeli Mossad, rather than as a result of natural causes.

Al-Rasheed sent a letter to clarify what happened on the day Al-Husaini passed away in Kuwait, where he was invited to take part in an antinormalization conference.

Al-Rasheed opened his article by questioning the rea-

son behind raising the issue ten years after it took place.

He added that Al-Husaini was a resident of Jerusalem, where he could have been easily assassinated by the Mossad if they wanted to kill him.

Al-Rasheed then gave step-by-step details of AlHusaini’s trip. He explained how he escorted Al-Husaini to the hotel he stayed in following his visits to state officials after his arrival to the country. In the letter, he also shared details of Al-Husaini’s death. He explained that Dr Ahmad Al-Khateeb responded to the scene after AlRasheed personally called for help after learning that AlHusaini had fallen unconscious.

Additionally, he wrote about the events that took place after Al-Husaini was pronounced dead. His brother, Dr Musa Al-Husaini, was contacted at his residence in Amman, Jordan. He was asked to confirm the autopsy, but refused. The body was then prepared and lifted to Amman where it was taken to its final resting place in Jerusalem.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

NATIONAL

5

Kuwait hosts tourism promotion event

Austria witnesses rise in Middle Eastern visitors

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: Austria is benefiting from issues that once hounded other European member nations like Switzerland and Netherlands, upsetting Islamic countries in the Middle East. Speaking to Kuwait Times, on the sidelines of a tourism promotion event held at the Sheraton Hotel on Monday, Klaus

KUWAIT: Pakistani Chargé d’Affaires Sajjad Ahmad Sahar hoisting the national flag (top) and a partial view of the audience.

—Photos by Joseph Shagra

Pakistanis celebrate National Day

By Mohammad Omer KUWAIT: Pakistan’s 70th National Day, which fell yesterday, was celebrated in Kuwait with great enthusiasm. A flag-raising ceremony was held in the grounds of the Pakistan embassy, with Chargé d’Affaires Sajjad Ahmad Sahar having the privilege of raising the national flag.

A respectful and solemn silence greeted the orchestral rendition of Pakistan’s national anthem, ‘Pak sirzameen shad pad,’ after which there was a brief ceremony in the Quaid-I-Azam auditorium.

After a recitation from the Holy Quran, the Chargé d’Affaires read out the celebratory message from the Pakistani President Asif Ali

Zardari, while Head of Chancery Shazad read the message from the country’s Prime Minister Syed Yousef Raza Geelani. The program of events concluded with a prayer from the Hafiz Mohammad Shabbir Amir Minhaj social welfare society.

After the ceremony, the audience members enjoyed refreshments laid on for the occasion and congratulated each other on the special occasion.

Speaking to the Kuwait Times, Mian Mohammad Arshad, the president of the Muslim Center, (N) offered his congratulations to all Pakistanis on this happy occasion.

Atiq Adnan, the President of the Pakistan People’s Club in Kuwait congratulated the Pakistani expatriate community here and around the world on the country’s national day.

in the news New northern border stations KUWAIT: The new and expanded northern borders stations were finally opened after a three-year long waiting period. The buildings were completed but remained closed for reasons that seemed unclear, even though the Ministry of Interior indicated that a lack of electricity was the reason for the delay, reported AlWatan. Servicemen reported to their new offices, which provided them with a more comfortable work environment while securing the northern border. The country’s northern borders contain several sectors, including Abdali, Riqqa, Khabara, and Abraq, each of which contains four border stations that separate Kuwait from Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Officials working at these stations stop potential smugglers and infiltrators. It has been reported that these types of incidents have occurred more frequently, especially from the Iraqi border.

Loan interest charges issue KUWAIT: Commenting on the recent court ruling against banks charging interest on loans, a prominent local constitutional expert has pointed out that the Constitutional Court ruled in 1992 that only legislators have the power to implement Sharia regulations, with no legal body having this power. Constitutional expert Dr. Mohammad Al-Feeli also said that the controversial points also indicated that there are significant differences between loans governed by civil law and those governed by commercial legislation.

MSAL to be replaced KUWAIT: Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Dr. Mohammad AlAfasi has revealed that, as part of the drive towards reform, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MSAL) is to be dismantled and replaced by smaller, independent authorities. Al-Afasi explained that teams of legal specialists are currently studying the best and least disruptive way of introducing the major changes, which are to be implemented within the next few months.

Kuwait electronic services AMMAN: Kuwait occupies the third position among Arab states within the sphere of providing electronic government services, said an official for Jordan’s regional consulting and technology Arab firm SSS PROCESS Company yesterday. The CEO of SSS PROCESS Ala Nishiwat told the press that the ranking was done on 192 states with Bahrain coming in first within the Arab frame work. He revealed that Kuwait came in 50th on the international level. He also noted that the top Arab states of Jordan, Bahrain, the UAE would pursue more development on the electronic government services to reach higher rankings in the upcoming years. With regard to the criteria of the ranking, the official said that the ranking was given in accordance with the quality of the internet government services and how well the services are performing and spreading on a state level. SSS PROCESS was established in Jordan in 2003, providing its technical IT services to the Jordanian government and the Arab world. —KUNA

“I think because of the issue, most of the visitors from Islamic countries are now searching for more Islamfriendly countries in Europe.

And we are in the position to claim that perhaps,” he said.

Ehrenbrandtner noted that the Middle East was once represented by a very small portion of its visitors annually.

According to him, the Middle East is one of the fastest growing markets for Austrian tourism industry. “Middle East now is the third biggest overseas market after North America and Japan. Most of our guests still arrive from Germany, the Netherlands and other European countries.

However, it has been the Austrian National Tourist Office’s policy to focus on the overseas market in recent years,” he said.

Middle Eastern visitors are usually attracted to historic, romantic cities like the capital Vienna, Salzburg or Innsbruck, including the hospitality of Austrian people. “I think, most of the people from Middle East like to visit Austria because we are friendly in nature. But also, don’t forget that we have the famous Alpine region and the spectacular panoramic views and the crystal clear lakes,” he added. Middle Eastern tourists visit Austria in the months between May and June, including September and October.

The diplomat added, “We are just in the right time for

Ehrenbrandtner, Director Middle East Austrian National Tourism Office said that he was not trying to politicize the event that took place and skip major issues. He admitted that the number of visitors from the region has risen.

Ehrenbrandtner was referring to the issue that banned the construction of more minarets in Switzerland and the inappropriate depiction of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) in one of Netherlands’ newspapers.

Innsbruck, Austria, one of many promotional photographs provided by National Tourism Office tourism promotion. We hope to welcome them to our country.”

Ehrenbrandtner noted that Austria was the first to recognize Islam as an official religion in Europe. In terms of food, according to him, there are several stores that serve and offer halal foods. “Some of the facilities originally provided to guests have also become very

popular with the local populace like shisha tents in the inner city of Vienna. It is important to know that Islam is the second biggest religion in Austria and has a very long tradition,” he added.

Ehrenbrandtner said his country is ready to welcome visitors who would like to unwind and take advantage of Austria’s

great, clean and fresh air.

Statistics gathered from the airports and reservations made at hotels in Austria, show a 125 percent increase in the number of Middle Eastern visitors during the last five years.

“In 2009, we had 97,000 guests from the Middle East in Austria, generating 331,000 overnight stays. 2009 was the

first year with a slight decrease in arrivals of about 5 percent, the main reason for it being cancellations performed due to the fear of H1N1 last summer,” he said. He also attributed the decline in visitors due to the global crisis. “Tourism sectors are not affected by the global crisis. In fact we are affected only by the H1NI,” he asserted.

Kuwait funds port project in Yemen SANAA: Yemen and Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) have inked a deal for bankrolling the country’s Socotra Port project costing $41 million.

The deal was signed by Yemen’s Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Planning and International Cooperation AbdelKarim Al-Arhabi and KFAED Director General Abdulwahab Al-Bader.

The signing ceremony was also attended by several Yemeni cabinet

ministers and Kuwaiti Ambassador in Yemen Salem Al-Zamanan Under the agreement, the Kuwaiti fund will provide Yemen with KD 11.8 million (approximately USD 41 million) as a contribution to financing Socotra Port project.

During the signing ceremony, the Yemeni minister thanked KFAED for supporting his country’s national development, and commended people-to-people Yemeni-Kuwaiti relations. Yemen and Kuwait forged coop-

erative ties in the 1960s, he said, lauding steady development of bilateral relations between both Arab nations under the sponsorship of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

For his part, KFAED Director General Abdulwahab Al-Bader said the fund is willing to push forward bilateral cooperative relations between Kuwait and Yemen, vowing to speed up the signing of a third elec-

tricity cooperation deal with Yemen, which was agreed during a recent conference of donors for Yemen in London.

He predicted that the deal would lead to opening up fresh horizons for partnership between both sides.

The Socotra Port project in Yemen is intended to meet the country’s growing local safe maritime transport for cargo and passengers between Socotra Island and Yemeni and international seaports. — KUNA

6

NATIONAL

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Fugitive nabbed at airport

Four killed in Kuwait traffic accidents KUWAIT: Two teenagers were killed in an accident on the Gulf Road in front of the Shaab Sea Club, reported Al-Watan.

The incident occurred when the two youngsters, a Pakistani and a Bangladeshi aged 15 and 16, were crossing the street with a group of their friends and were struck down by two speeding cars. Police and paramedics responded to the incident and discovered the youngsters had already perished. Police arrested the two drivers and investigations revealed that at least one of the cars were traveling at a high speed. It’s believed that the driver of the other car was intoxicated at the time of the incident.

KUWAIT: The staff of Clinique at the Debenhams. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Clinique offers money-back guarantee promotion

By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: Customers can now try Clinique’s three-step products that are being offered with a money-back guarantee in Kuwait for the first time. Clinique plans to reinforce its strong presence in Kuwaiti market by celebrating with this three-step event. This event is the perfect opportunity for skin care seekers to enjoy the experience of Clinique through the hands of its expert consultants.

This promotion aims to deliver certain messages. “We are confident with our products. So, people can buy the products without being worried of spending their money on useless things. In case, they are not satisfied, they will get their money back without even having to ask questions. Within two weeks, they will see benefits of the three-step skin care system,” David Alexander, the Brand Manager Middle East and India told the Kuwait Times yesterday. He was speaking during the official launch of the campaign at the Debenhams Avenues.

This promotion began on March 16 and will last for four weeks. It is available at the Debenhams stores and Vavavoom. The pack of the Clinique three-step skin care system costs KD 26.500. “The customers will spend only 400 fils everyday for the set that will last for more than two months of use, which costs lesser price of some unhealthy food,” he added.

Clinique three-step skin care system is 100 percent fragrance free and is a very safe product. “Most our customers in Kuwait are afraid of skin irritation and Clinique provides them with the safest product. Clinique is a dermatologist brand and we did more tests than any other product. We tested each of our products 12 times on 600 human volunteers, which means 7,200 applications. If any skin reaction

KUWAIT: David Alexander explaining the Clinique promotion. occurred during the test, we would take the product back,” stressed Alexander.

Clinique makes great skin easy as one, two, three with the three-step skin care system - a quick, affordable, effective program for all skin types.

Clinically-formulated between a marriage of Clinique’s visionary dermatologist Dr Norman Orentreich, and a savvy Vogue Editor, three-step skin care system is the foundation of Clinique skin care. They believed that ‘Great Skin Can Be Created’ with an appropriate skin care regimen that includes a basic daily cleansing, exfoliating and moisturizing system. Daily care over time is one of your best de-aging defenses.

“Good skin care pays off. Daily, in cleaner, fresher skin. And over time, skin is going to look healthier, longer,” says Dr David Orentreich, Clinique’s Guiding Dermatologist.

The steps of the system to be followed

twice-a-day, morning and evening: 1.Cleanse: Cleansing the face with Clinique liquid or bar soap makes for fresh, clean skin, never taut, dry or uncomfortable. Clinique Facial Soap comes in Extra-Mild, Mild, and Extra-Strength formulas. Wash face with cleanser and use warm water to rinse after cleaning.

2.Exfoliate: Clarifying Lotion, known as the ‘Difference Maker,’ allows new skin cells to be uncovered and dead cells removed for skin to achieve maximum brilliance and clarity.

Clarifying Lotion - in five formulas appropriate for various skin types - acts as a daily exfoliant.

Dampen a cotton ball with Clarifying Lotion and sweep over face and neck.

3.Replenish: All skin needs moisture, but some more than others. Benefits of Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion or Gel can be tailored to meet the needs of every skin type by applying moisture only where and when needed. It’s the perfect match to skin’s own natural moisturizing factor.

From the very beginning, the three-step skin care system was designed to be used together, each step helping the others to provide optimum results. Cleanse, exfoliate, moisturize. The key is to use all three steps together and great skin is guaranteed. Three steps, three minutes twice-a-day will get your skin back in balance.

After one week of twice-a-day three-step skin care system daily use, dry patches and flakiness are gone for dry combination skins while oily skins see less midday shine and helps pores seem smaller. After two weeks, dry patches have disappeared, fine, dry lines softened, and oily areas are more balanced. By balancing your skin, additional beauty accessories work even better - treatment products are more effective, and makeup goes on easier and stays fresher, longer.

Meanwhile, a bedoon man in his fifties was killed in a car accident on the Fifth Ring Road, reported Al-Qabas. He was killed after his vehicle overturned while he was driving at a high speed. He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

In a separate incident, Al-Rai reported that a bedoon youngster was killed after he was run over by a speeding car while attempting to cross a street in Ferdous.

Four hurt Two citizens and two expats suffered serious injuries in an accident on the road opposite the Ice Skating Rink, reported Annahar. Police and paramedics responded to the emergency and found that an SUV had crashed into a salon. Paramedics determined that the two people in the vehicle were badly injured and admitted them to the intensive care unit of Amiri Hospital.

Investigations are underway to determine the cause of the accident.

Citizen held A citizen was caught at the departure counter of the Kuwait International Airport while trying to leave the country, reported

Al-Watan. It was discovered that he was wanted for previous criminal cases worth KD 5,000. The fugitive tried to bribe the counter official by offering him 1,000 KD if he let him go. The official refused and the wanted citizen was taken to the Jeleeb AlShuyoukh police station.

Infant’s body The body of an infant was found dumped near the fence of the International Airport.

A citizen discovered the body and called police, reported Al-Watan. Investigators responded to the emergency and pronounced the baby dead upon their arrival. It is believed that the baby was the result of an illegal relationship.

Kidnap failed While stopped at a gas station in Rabiya, a Kuwaiti woman was startled by an attempt to kidnap her 14-year-old son, reported AlWatan. After the kidnappers failed to capture the youth, they fled the scene in their vehicle. The mother gave police a description of the vehicle and its license plate number. Police are searching for the attempted kidnappers’ car.

Illegal hunting A youngster was recently arrested for using a rifle to hunt starlings in a populated area, reported Al-Watan. Police officers were sent to a scene in Sabah Al-Salem after receiving an emergency call informing them of a resident firing a weapon. They found the young man targeting starlings on the top of car sheds and endangering the lives of nearby residents. He was taken into custody.

Suicide attempt An Arab man attempted to kill himself by cutting the veins of his wrist while being held in the Rumaithiya police station, reported Al-Seyassah. He was being held for a case of absence filed against him. He was taken to the Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital and an attempted suicide case was filed against him.

Drunk driver A drunk driver lost control of his vehicle in Sabah Al-Salem and crashed into a house, reported Al-Watan. Police responded to the emergency and arrested the driver. No injuries were reported in the accident.

Kuwait keen on empowering women, youth CAIRO: Kuwait is keen on empowering women and youth in all domains, officials at Kuwaiti Supreme Council for Planning and Development said.

The remark was reflected through the adoption of specialized programs to support women, youth and people with special needs, council’s official at social care and development department Suad Awadh said on Monday the sidelines of participating in the 9th international conference of Arab Planning Institute held in Cairo.

In cooperation with different government bodies affiliated, social care department sets development strategies to boost educational, social, legal, and economic con-

ditions for women and youth, she said while Director of Planning Masouma Ashkanani seconded her.

Awadh said that it was important to exchange expertise with Arab countries under the umbrella of the Arab League and other specialized organizations to meet the goals set.

Meanwhile, planning department at the council tries to implement policies that go hand in hand with Kuwait’s economic situation and those that help counter the ramification of possible financial crises, Ashkanani said. The council supports strategies directed towards the development of the country including those aimed at empowering

women in society, observer of the council’s affairs Eman Al-Nasser said.

She noted to Kuwaiti women’s contributions in all domains, and noted that the conference in which the Kuwaiti delegation was participating in would evaluate economic, legal and social situation of women and youth in the Arab world and come up with development policies that serve both.

The conference titled “Women and Youth in Arab Development” is co-hosted by Arab Administrative Development Organization, Arab Labor Organization, Arab League’s Development and Social Policies Department, alongside the Islamic Development Bank. — KUNA

Family Day held at Green Island KUWAIT: The Green Island, one of the facilities of the Touristic Enterprises Company(TEC), celebrated Family Day on March 19. An event was held to honor the oldest and youngest mothers from among participants.

The Island’s supervisor, Nassir Al-Foudari, said that this event was held as part of the plan charted out by the administration to celebrate all occasions throughout the year. The family day event featured celebrations that

highlighted the role played by mothers, in addition to holding competitions for families and children. A special operetta was prepared to celebrate Mother’s Day in which several artists and popular bands participated.

At the end of the event, Al-Foudari honored ten mothers who were chosen from among 170 participants.

Narjis Al-Abdulhadi received the oldest mother award, while Maryam Abdullah was honored with the youngest mother award.

Al-Foudari honors Umm Marzouq.

Nassir Al-Foudari.

Umm Omar poses for a photograph with her family.

Umm Jenan honored.

The youngest mother, Maryam Abdullah poses with her plaque.

Al-Foudari honors the oldest mother, Narjis AlAbdulhadi.

A group photo of the commemorated mothers.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

INTERNATIONAL

7

Merger could push aside Allawi and Sunnis

Iraq’s two main Shiite blocs discuss merger BAGHDAD: Iraq’s two main Shiite political blocs, one led by Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki and another whose leaders have close ties to Iran, are discussing a merger that could widen Iraq’s sectarian divide.

A union between Maliki’s State of Law and the Iraqi National Alliance,

GAZA CITY: A wounded Palestinian man is seen by medical staff in the Shifa hospital in Gaza City yesterday after an Israeli airstrike, witnesses and medics said. — AP

Arab League chief pushes for closer ties with Iran CAIRO: The Arab League chief wants the 22nation bloc to engage Iran directly over concerns about its growing influence and its nuclear activities, in a step that could undermine US and Israeli efforts to isolate the country, diplomats said yesterday. Senior US officials including Defense Secretary Robert Gates toured the region last month to urge Arab allies to back Western efforts to increase the heat on Iran over its nuclear program, including through tougher economic sanctions.

Arab diplomats said Secretary-General Amr Moussa will present his proposal in a policy document to a two-day Arab League leaders summit in Sirte, Libya, that starts Saturday.

The leaders are expected to discuss a range of regional issues, including stalled Middle East peace efforts and Iran.

The engagement would take the form of a forum for regional cooperation and conflict resolution that would include non-Arab nations Iran and Turkey, two Arab League diplomats said. They agreed to discuss details of the proposal on condition of anonymity because of their sensitivity. One of the diplomats, who has seen Moussa’s document, said the League’s chief hopes the inclusion of Turkey, an increasingly influential Sunni Muslim nation, will provide a powerful counterbalance to Shiite Iran.

Moussa also wants the leaders to authorize him to initiate direct talks with Tehran on Arabs’ concerns over what they view as Iranian meddling in regional affairs, including through its support of militant groups beyond its borders.

A senior aide to Moussa, Hisham Youssef, confirmed the secretary-general would present the ideas to the summit. It is not clear if Moussa has yet consulted with key Arab nations such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which have resisted closer ties with Iran in the past.

They and other US-allied Arab nations, most of which are led by Sunni Muslims, have been deeply concerned over the rising power of mainly Shiite and Persian Iran in the Middle East.

They oppose its support of Iraqi Shiites and militant groups like the Palestinian Hamas and

Jordan’s ambassador to Pakistan targeted AMMAN: Jordan’s ambassador to Pakistan was the target of a Taleban kidnap attempt foiled by authorities in Islamabad and is now safe, the Jordanian information minister said yesterday.

The incident followed calls for attacks on the Jordanian government by an Al-Qaeda double agent who killed seven CIA operatives and a Jordanian agent in Afghanistan last December.

On Monday, Pakistani police announced the arrest of two highly experienced Taleban militants planning to attack top hotels and kidnap diplomats in Pakistan. The militants’ identities and their targets weren’t disclosed at the time. Jordanian Information Minister Nabil Sharif said ambassador Saleh Al-Jawarneh was the target of plot and was now safe in Jordan.

He said Jordanian security was in contact with Pakistan for detailed information on the probe under way.

“We have great confidence in the ability of the Pakistani authorities to protect the Jordanian embassy and its staff in Islamabad,” Sharif told The Associated Press. Jordan’s Islamabad embassy has 12 staff, including six accredited Jordanian diplomats.

Pakistani police spokesman Naeem Iqbal says investigators were questioning the two Taleban militants in custody about their plans to kidnap the Jordanian ambassador and attack a five star hotel and a club frequented by Westerners.

“They have confessed to having planned taking the targets,” Iqbal said. — AP

the Lebanese Hezbollah and share Washington’s concern that Iran’s nuclear program is aimed at producing weapons. But the West’s strategy in the standoff with Iran also troubles Arab leaders, who fear that its failure would lead to a military confrontation that could spill across their own borders.

The US has tried to soothe those worries and has been bolstering defense systems in several Arab nations in the Gulf to combat the possible threat of missiles fired from Iran. A year of efforts by President Barack Obama to engage Iran have hit repeated roadblocks, leaving Washington with few options other than to seek international support for more sanctions.

The United States and its Western allies are after a fourth round of UN sanctions to push Iran to stop enriching uranium, a technology that gives Iran a possible pathway to weapons making. Iran says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes such as power generation.

Another factor behind the Arab push for their own Iran strategy is linked to their frustration over the failure of Washington to stand up to Israel over its insistence on building on land the Palestinians want for a future state.

Arab nations look increasingly less likely to align with the US strategy on Iran if they feel they are getting nothing in return on Mideast peace efforts. Skepticism is eroding Arab hopes that Obama will be able to help forge a deal between Israel and the Palestinians to end a conflict that has fueled anti-US sentiment in the region.

In another sign of Arab disenchantment, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said yesterday that his country will press the summit to focus on what is widely believed to be a secret nuclear weapons program in Israel and pressure it to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. “The priority of Arab countries should be to force Israel to join the NPT and place its nuclear facilities under the IAEA guarantees,” Aboul Gheit said, referring to the UN ‘s International Atomic Energy Agency. — AP

A merger could also push aside Maliki, who wants another term at the helm. One of INA’s major components, the Sadrist movement of anti-American cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr, was the top vote-getter for INA and has poor relations with the premier.

The makeup of the next government is being watched closely by Washington, which plans to formally end combat operations in Iraq by Sept 1, and by global oil companies that have signed multibillion-dollar contracts to develop Iraq’s oilfields.

“There has been more than one meeting with INA to reach a deal to form an alliance or merge both coalitions,” Sami al-Askari, a prominent member of Maliki’s State of Law, told Reuters shortly after another leading member of the bloc issued a public statement saying the two needed to merge. State of Law is running in a virtual dead heat with Allawi’s coalition. None of the leading blocs is expected to win enough seats to form a government alone and talks between parties and coalitions about potential alliances are in full swing.

The final preliminary vote count is scheduled to be released on Friday, nearly three weeks after the election. Allawi’s Iraqiya drew strong support from Iraq’s minority Sunni population and analysts have said any attempt to exclude Iraqiya from the government could anger Sunnis marginalized after the 2003 U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. “There is a necessity to merge the State of Law coalition and the Iraqi National Alliance,” Ali alDabbagh, who serves as Maliki’s government spokesman, said in a written statement.

Maliki and INA’s main component, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (ISCI), are former partners that split before the March 7 election. ISCI, formed in exile in Shiite neighbor Iran, allied for the election with the Sadrist movement. There had been speculation that ISCI and the Sadrists, who performed strongly, would split after the election.

But INA sources suggested a merger of the two coalitions would include the Sadrists, who are known to have strong objections to Maliki remaining as

two of the top three vote-getters in Iraq’s March 7 parliamentary election, could sideline secularist former premier Iyad Allawi, whose cross-sectarian Iraqiya coalition won strong support from minority Sunnis.

BAGHDAD: Employees of the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) pose for a picture with electoral boxes before transferring them after the end of counting the votes process in Baghdad yesterday. — AFP prime minister. Al-Askari said there was no talk of dropping Maliki as the candidate for premier of a merged bloc. “There is no other choice except Maliki,” he said.

But a senior INA member and candidate in the election, who confirmed the two blocs were in merger talks, said the union could not happen if State of Law insisted on Maliki as premier. “It’s impossible to allow Maliki to be PM again,” the offi-

cial said. “There is no way to change this and if he (Maliki) rejects this, OK, let him go to ally with Iraqiya.”

In reaction to the possibility of a State of Law-INA merger, Iraqiya candidate Jamal alBateekh said: “There are people who want to cling to power despite the voters’ interest.”

“Forming coalitions is a natural right for the winning blocs, but we want the country’s interest to prevail, not the sectarian

coalitions that will return us to square one.” Sixteen days after the election, about 95 percent of the vote count has been made public. Allawi’s Iraqiya leads Maliki’s State of Law by about 11,000 votes.

Maliki’s bloc is ahead in seven of 18 provinces and Allawi’s in five. Seats in parliament will be allocated on the basis of a bloc’s success in each province, not the national popular vote.State of Law and Iraqiya

each expect to hold more than 90 of the 325 parliamentary seats. Analysts say INA may win 65-70. Formation of a new government is expected to take months.

Analysts have said attempts to sideline Allawi could be seen as an attempt to relegate Sunnis to the political wilderness and set back Iraq’s fragile security gains following years of sectarian warfare that killed tens of thousands of people. — Reuters

INTERNATIONAL

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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Nigeria Islamic court bans online chat on amputation for theft KANO: A Nigerian Islamic Sharia court has banned Twitter and Facebook debates on the country’s first wrist amputation for theft, according to court papers seen by AFP yesterday. The Magajin Gari Sharia court in the northern city of Kaduna on Monday ordered the Civil

Rights Congress (CRC), one of the country’s leading rights groups, to suspend its Twitter and Facebook online debates on the amputation, which was carried out in 2000.

The court granted an interim injunction “restraining the respondents either by themselves or their

agents... from opening a chat forum on Facebook, Twitter, or any blog for the purpose of the debate on the amputation of Malam Buba Bello Jangebe,” said the order. Jangebe was the first person to have had his right wrist amputated on the orders of a Sharia court in Zamfara State, a year

after 12 northern Nigerian states adopted the strict Islamic penal code.

The order followed a suit filed Friday by the Association of Muslim Brotherhood of Nigeria, a pro-Sharia group based in the northern political capital of Kaduna, which argued that Internet forums would be used as “a

mockery of the Sharia system as negative issues will be discussed”. In the wake of the interim injunction, the case is set for hearing on Monday.

The head of the CRC, Shehu Sani, confirmed to AFP that he was served with the court papers Monday. “We opened the blog, the Facebook and

adopted a strict version of Sharia in 1999 nearly a century after it had been abandoned. Zamfara state in the predominantly Muslim north of Nigeria pioneered the move after the country returned to civilian rule following 15 years of military dictatorship. —AFP

Twitter chats 10 days ago to serve as a platform for which Nigerians could air their opinions on Sharia law as a whole and the justification or otherwise of the amputation of the hand of Malam Buba Bello Jangebe,” Sani said on the phone from Kaduna.

Out of Nigeria’s 36 states, 12 re-

Unions hope action put brakes on reforms planned by prez

Nationwide strikes in France against Sarkozy PARIS: Nationwide strikes in France hobbled public services from transport to schools yesterday, with unions hoping their action would put the brakes on reforms planned by President Nicolas Sarkozy two days after his party’s stinging defeat in regional elections. But the new labor minister, Eric Woerth, vowed to move ahead with reforming the

“extremely fragile” pension system, the most critical change expected.

Unions say Sarkozy’s conservative government hasn’t offered satisfactory plans on jobs, salaries, purchasing power and working conditions, and they hope to hammer home that message in the wake of Sunday’s runoff elections.

PARIS: Hospital workers demonstrate in Paris yesterday. Nationwide strikes in France hobbled public services from transport to schools with unions hoping their action would put the brakes on reforms planned by President Nicolas Sarkozy. —AP

Nigerian acting president works to finalize cabinet ABUJA: Nigeria’s Acting President Goodluck Jonathan worked yesterday to finalize a much-awaited new cabinet line-up expected to end months of near governmental paralysis in Africa’s most populous nation. Presidential sources cited by local media said a partial list was expected to be submitted to the senate for vetting late yesterday or early today. The list would comprise only ministers being retained from the old cabinet sacked last week, they said.

It is aimed at preventing the complete paralysis of government in one of Africa’s top oil producers while security clearance of the newcomers gets underway. Jonathan dissolved the cabinet as he manoeuvers to

assert his authority since taking power five weeks ago due to President Umaru Yar’Adua’s ill health. Yar’Adua was stricken by a heart condition in November and left for treatment in Saudi Arabia, leaving the country without effective leadership.

The 58-year-old returned to the country about a month ago after three months in a Jeddah hospital. Local dailies said Jonathan is under immense pressure and lobbying from Yar’Adua allies seeking to push through some of their nominees. Yesterday, Jonathan was still consulting some of the country’s influential 36 state governors, following up on talks from the previous day.

He also met a former military ruler and

mediator in crises in several west African countries, Abdulsalami Abubakar, on Monday. Abdulsalami is seen as well respected in the military and comes from the mainly Muslim north, while Jonathan is a Christian from the south. “We cannot be waiting forever,” Ikedi Ohakim, governor of Imo State, told reporters after meeting Jonathan.

Jonathan is seeking a pro-reform government for the west African giant, where much of the 150 million population lives in poverty without basics such as water and electricity despite its oil wealth. The ruling party said it fully backed Jonathan’s dissolution of the cabinet. —AFP

Sarkozy reshuffled his government yesterday in a quick response to the electoral defeat, notably replacing Labor Minister Xavier Darcos, who was trounced in the voting and considered to have lost the legitimacy needed to continue the contested reforms.

Minor adjustments were also made to the government with Sarkozy bringing in two conservatives aligned with the president’s rivals in his own camp to solidify his political base. The Socialists swept regional elections, taking 23 of France’s 26 regions. “We must maintain the goal which is that of reform. The nation needs to be competitive, to (create) the jobs of tomorrow,” said Woerth, former budget minister. He was replaced in that post by Francois Baroin, aligned with former President Jacques Chirac.

Francois Chereque, head of the CFDT union, said the changes were a “bad sign about the government’s social commitment. “They zap the labor minister as if it were a technical ministry with less importance,” he said on France-Inter radio, noting that France has its fourth labor minister since Sarkozy took office in 2007. Yesterday’s transport strike was an aggravation, not a catastrophe, for Parisians, with only minimal disruptions to the subway system.

Fast trains to Britain and Belgium were running normally, but only 65 percent of traffic was being guaranteed within France. An estimated 30 percent of primary school teachers failed to show up for class nationwide, the Education Ministry said, with around 18 percent out in junior high schools and 11 percent out in high schools. France-Info radio, the news station, was partially hit by the job action, interspersing its usual broadcasts with periods of music.

The RadioShack teammate of Lance Armstrong, seventime Tour de France winner, was among the victims of the strikes. A tweet from Fumiyuki Beppu said his yesterday morning flight was delayed. “Always strike in France ... I hate this happening.” —AP

Berlusconi praises pope for sex abuse response ROME: Premier Silvio Berlusconi praised the pope on Monday for his handling of the clerical sex abuse scandal in Europe and expressed solidarity with the pontiff against what he called attacks on the church and Christianity itself.

In a statement, Berlusconi assured Pope Benedict XVI that Italians supported and appreciated his efforts to confront the scandal. He praised his recent letter to the Irish faithful, in which Benedict apologized for decades of abuse but took no action against bishops blamed for cover-ups, as an effective, humble and sincere response.

He said the scandal “had become motive for attacks against the Church and even the substance itself of the Christian religion.” But “our people know how to distinguish between human errors, of which history is full, and the enormous fruits of good that have been born and continue to be borne from Christianity’s roots,” he said.

The premier’s center-right

People of Freedom party, which courts the Catholic vote in Italy, faces regional elections this weekend. So far, there hasn’t been an avalanche of reported cases of clerical abuse in Italy as there has been in Ireland, the pope’s native Germany or elsewhere. But the diocese of Bolzano, in the German-Italian speaking South Tyrol region, last week launched a campaign to urge victims to come forward after several victims alleged physical and sexual abuse at a convent and church school in the 1950s and ‘60s.

Vatican officials have warned of a widespread “culture of silence” in Italy about clerical sex abuse that may have affected the number of reported cases. Also praising the pontiff was the head of the Italian bishops’ conference, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco. “We bishops unite ourselves to the universal pastor in expressing our regret and our solidarity with those who suffered the betrayal of a violated childhood,” Bagnasco said. —AP

ROME: In this Sept 26, 2009 file photo, Pope Benedict XVI is escorted by Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, right, as he leaves for his pastoral trip to the Czech Republic from Ciampino Military airport, near Rome. —AP

NAIROBI: In this Jan 7, 2008 file photo, displaced women sit in the open waiting for food distribution at Jamhuri Park show ground, Nairobi, Kenya, where hundreds of families have taken refugee after recent bloody violence. Witnesses to some of the atrocities committed during Kenya’s post election violence say they will die if they join a government witness protection program. —AP

Kenya witness protection program unsafe: Witnesses NAIROBI: Kenya’s government is trying to launch a witness protection program, yet those who were threatened after the country’s postelection violence left more than 1,000 dead say they’re so afraid that they want no part of it.

The International Criminal Court is investigating whether to open a formal case into the 2007-2008 fighting and is now gathering testimony in Kenya.

But some witnesses fear the country’s power players could hunt them down for retribution even if they were protected by a government witness protection program. “We will die if we go there,” said Samuel Kimeli Kosgei, who testified during a government inquiry after watching a church filled with women and children set on fire. Dozens died in that attack.

Kosgei is one of two witnesses who told The Associated Press about living in hiding after their names were leaked out of a government commission, even though they were assured they would remain anonymous. Government spokesman Alfred Mutua declined to comment.

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, has asked the court’s judges for permission to start investigations into Kenya’s violence. Ocampo has said he believes top officials from Kenya’s major political parties were responsible for crimes against humanity. More than 1,000 people were killed and 600,000 forced from their homes after Kenya’s electoral commission declared that President Mwai Kibaki had won a second term in the December 2007 poll.

Raila Odinga’s opposition party claimed the vote was rigged, leading to two months of upheavals. Many protesters who clashed with police were killed, but the violence also erupted along tribal lines. Odinga later became prime minister under a power-sharing deal that

was later reached. The ICC also has a witness protection program that Kenyan witnesses could take part in even at this early stage of the investigation, but they must be referred by the prosecution or defense, according to an ICC official who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with official policy.

Kenya launched a witness protection program in 2008 following international pressure to protect those willing to testify, but the program came under heavy criticism. The government strengthened the program’s independence from the Attorney General’s office earlier this year, but parliament still must approve the changes.

Hassan Omar Hassan, the vice chairman of the government-funded Kenya National Commission of Human Rights, said once parliament approves the changes witnesses may be well protected by the program. But others are not convinced. “You cannot trust this government. They protect each other,” Kosgei said. A political cartoon in yesterday’s edition of the Daily Nation newspaper depicts a policeman offering a shirt to a high value witness as “protective wear.” The shirt has a bulls-eye painted on it.

Kosgei said he does not know who exposed his identity following his testimony to the commission in August 2008. He said he has received death threats and was forced into hiding with his wife and infant child. For about a year a non-governmental organization gave him money for his upkeep but funding has run out and he is scrounging in the streets of Nairobi.

Still, he said he prefers a life of misery to the government protection program. “If you have sensitive information in Kenya be prepared to die when you give it out,” Kosgei said. “My life is hell now.”—AP

in the news 2 kidnapped workers found dead in Nigeria

France opens investigation linked to Hamas slaying

ABUJA: A trade unionist says two Nigerian oil workers have been found dead in the oilrich Niger Delta region after being kidnapped 10 days ago. A Nigerian Oil Workers Union official says the bodies were found yesterday in the bush off the road to Sapele town, about 420 kilometers (261 miles) southwest of the capital, Abuja.

Peter Esele says the men worked for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. and were kidnapped March 13. He does not know if ransom was demanded.

Kidnappings of oil workers are common in the Niger Delta. Militants also attack pipelines and have fought government troops since January 2006. The militants want the federal government to spend more oil-industry funds on their region, which remains poor despite five decades of oil production.

PARIS: A judicial official says that France has opened an investigation into the alleged use of four fake French passports in the killing of a Hamas operative in Dubai. The official says the Paris prosecutor’s office opened a preliminary investigation in mid-March for suspected forgery and identity theft linked to the January killing. The official spoke yesterday on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case. Dubai authorities have accused Israel’s Mossad spy agency of being behind the slaying of Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh in a luxury hotel room. Dubai police have identified at least 26 suspects who allegedly traveled on fake identities and forged European and Australian passports. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied any involvement.

Somali militants exhume grave of revered cleric

Austria: Priest resigns after admitting abuse

MOGADISHU: Witnesses say Somalia’s AlQaida-linked militant group is exhuming the remains of a revered moderate cleric in the capital to stop people from worshipping him. Al-Shabab official Ali Mohamed Hussein says yesterday his group dug up Sheik Mohyadin Eli’s grave in Mogadishu because people seeking blessings visit the tomb for spiritual purposes. Witness Hassan Da’ud says the cleric’s 30-year-old remains were stuffed into sacks. Al-Shabab has prohibited adoring tombs and destroyed idolized tombs in areas under its control over the last couple of years. The group espouses a strict interpretation of Islam.

Many Somalis observe a relatively moderate form of Islam that allows the veneration of respected saints.

VIENNA: An Austrian diocese says a priest has resigned after admitting he abused a 17year-old boy. The Graz-Seckau diocese says the priest stepped down of his own accord and that the abuse happened more than 20 years ago on a vacation. Spokesman Georg Plank says two other priests have been suspended as a precautionary measure because one was convicted of committing a homosexual act with a 17-year-old and the other was accused exhibitionism. Plank said yesterday the two cases date back about 15 and 20 years. He added that an investigation was under way to verify that none of the three priests committed other incidents of abuse. Austria is among several European countries currently being confronted with a wave of church abuse claims.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Clinton, Netanyahu show clashing Jerusalem views WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented dueling positions on Jerusalem construction Monday, underlining a recent spat between the allies while simultaneously suggesting the incident is behind them. Israel recently announced new housing plans for east Jerusalem, the part of the city Palestinians want for a future capital, drawing unusually sharp criticism from the Obama administration. Clinton renewed that disapproval on Monday, telling a pro-Israel audience that provocative Israeli land policies in areas claimed by the Palestinians are not in Israel’s long-term interests and undermine US credibility as a mediator.

Speaking later in the day to a crowd of nearly 8,000 pro-Israel activists at the same forum, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, including hundreds of congressmen and senators, Netanyahu did not budge from his position that building anywhere in Jerusalem is an Israeli right. But at the same time both sides appeared to be indicating that while differences may remain, the spat , unique in recent memory for its harsh rhetoric and public nature , should not be allowed to further mar ties or delay the launch of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. The spread of Jewish homes on land claimed by the Palestinians threatens the Obama administration’s first attempts at shuttle diplomacy intended to establish an independent Palestinian state, Clinton said in her speech, and makes it hard for the United States to be an honest broker.

“Our credibility in this process depends in part on our willingness to praise both sides when they are courageous, and when we don’t agree, to say so, and say so unequivocally,” Clinton said. She also criticized Palestinian incitement to violence.

President Barack Obama has remained out of the fray as Clinton and other US officials have rebuked Israel for its announcement of new construction in Jerusalem, which came while Vice President Joe Biden was visiting the country. It embarrassed Biden, a staunch supporter of Israel, and led to new stress in relations between Washington and its top Middle Eastern ally. Obama agreed to see Netanyahu yesterday at the White House , Obama’s first meeting with the Israeli leader since the severe diplomatic breach over the housing announcement this month. But it will be closed to reporters, an unusual choice when hosting a close ally and a sign that suggested the rift may not be entirely healed. “New construction in east Jerusalem or the West Bank undermines mutual trust and endangers the proximity talks that are the first step toward the full negotiations that both sides want and need,” Clinton said. “It exposes daylight between Israel and the United States that others in the region hope to exploit,” and under-

INTERNATIONAL

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White House seeks to ease skepticism on health reform

Obama signs historic healthcare overhaul WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama sealed a hard-fought victory yesterday by signing into law a landmark healthcare reform measure that will help shape his legacy and the Democrats’ chances of holding power in the US

WASHINGTON: Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pauses while addressing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference dinner in Washington, Monday. —AP mines what she called an essential US role as mediator. The AIPAC crowd responded with notably more enthusiasm to Netanyahu’s assertion that Jews had been building in Jerusalem for 3,000 years and that Israel would continue to do so. “Jerusalem is not a settlement. It’s our capital,” Netanyahu said to a prolonged standing ovation. The neighborhoods Israel has built in east Jerusalem are an “inextricable” part of the city, the Israeli leader said, and will remain part of Israel under any peace agreement.

“Therefore, building in them in no way precludes the possibility of a two-state solution,” he said. Israel does not want to rule over Palestinians, he said, while calling on Palestinian leaders to begin talks. But despite the clashing positions, Israel and the US both appeared to signal that the spat should not further delay Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. In her speech, Clinton assured Israel that the US administration’s commitment to its security and future is “rock solid.” And after she met the Israeli leader Monday, Israeli officials termed the talks “friendly” and said both the United States and Israel were interested in leaving the rift behind and getting talks started quickly. A statement from the State Department also said the goal was to “move to direct negotiations as soon as possible.” — AP

“And it is an extraordinary achievement that has happened because of all of you and because of all the advocates all across the country.”

After signing the billdesigned to revamp the $2.5 trillion US healthcare industry-Obama was to attend another ceremony as he launched in a publicity blitz that he and his fellow Democrats hope will overcome widespread public doubts and confusion about the plan.

Obama put his reputation on the line and poured his energy into passing the bill, even delaying a planned trip to Indonesia and Australia.

Aides have described a euphoric atmosphere at the White House after the House on Sunday narrowly approved the healthcare legislation, which analysts had pronounced all but dead only a few weeks earlier. The overhaul will extend health coverage to 32 million Americans now uninsured, expand the government health plan for the poor, impose new taxes on the wealthy and bar insurance practices like refusing cover to people with pre-existing medical conditions.

The Senate is taking up a package of changes that the House of Representatives proposed to improve the $940 billion overhaul program, but Democratic lead-

Congress. “We have now just enshrined ... the core principle that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their healthcare,” Obama said in a ceremony in the jammed East Room of the White House.

WASHINGTON: Marcelas Owens of Seattle, left, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., right, and others, look on as President Barack Obama signs the heath care bill in the East Room of the White House in Washington yesterday. — AP ers say they are confident they have the votes to push them through. Obama’s intense focus on the issue drew criticism from some Democrats who worried healthcare was becoming a distraction from the need to fix the economy and boost jobs.

The bill’s passage will free him to devote time to that and other priorities, including pushing for congressional approval of a plan to reform and tighten financial regulations. Republicans say their anger over the bill’s passage may make them less likely to work with Democrats on

other items such as climate change legislation and immigration reform.

But with a major accomplishment in hand, Obama will be able to counter critics who have suggested he had little to show for his 14 months in office. Americans have been lukewarm toward

healthcare reform and Republicans hope to capitalize on that in November’s congressional elections, in which they hope to overturn or at least reduce Democratic majorities in the Senate and House. Republicans also have vowed to try to repeal the healthcare bill.— Reuters

INTERNATIONAL

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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Beijing catches breath after sandstorm disperses BEIJING : Beijing caught its breath yesterday after the dispersal of sandstorms that had shrouded cities in northern China in an unhealthy cloud of sand and grit. The return to normal weather also was good news for South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong, which had all felt the fallout from the storms.

The storms were the latest sign of the effects of desertification: Overgrazing, deforestation, urban sprawl and drought have expanded deserts in the country’s north and west. The shifting sands have gradually encroached onto populated areas and worsened sandstorms that strike cities, particularly in the spring.

China’s Central Meteorological Station Web site said yesterday that no large-scale sandstorms were forecast in the north of China, while some southeastern provinces such as Jiangxi and Zhejiang may experience traces of them. Skies also were clearer in Taiwan. Its Environmental Protection Administration said yes-

terday it will take another day for air to clean up completely in the south of the island.

Over the past two days, people around Taiwan had worn face masks.

Skyscrapers were enshrouded in dust. Taiwan is 1,600 miles (2,600 kilometers) away from Inner Mongolia where much of the pollu-

tion originated. The weekend sandstorm caused the worst “yellow dust” in South Korea since 2005, and authorities issued a rare nationwide dust advisory.

Chun Youngsin, a researcher at the Korea Meteorological Administration, said only mild levels hit South Korea yesterday and no

advisory had been issued. But pollution remained at severe levels yesterday in Hong Kong, where the sandstorm has exacerbated a chronic problem with pollution caused by buses and other vehicles that authorities in the southern Chinese territory have been reluctant to address.

After hitting record levels on Monday, pollution quantities were expected to ease to merely “high” or “very high” today, the government said, according to Hong Kong’s RTHK radio. A massive sandstorm hit Beijing in 2006, when winds dumped about 300,000 tons of sand on the capital. —AP

Coalition partners say alliance will remain intact

Thailand extends law for protests BANGKOK: Thailand extended a tough security law yesterday for another week after opposition protest leaders called for a “historic rally” to paralyse Bangkok in a bid to force an election that appears no closer to succeeding. Tens of thousands of protesters remained at their open-air encampment in their

trademark red shirts, calling for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve parliament in a rally that has now entered its second week. Security concerns were highlighted when two grenades exploded in the compound of the Public Health Ministry, about 1 km (0.6 miles) from where the cabinet had earlier met.

BANGKOK: Thai soldiers guard at the main entrance to the Public Health Ministry where Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his cabinet members hold the meeting inside yesterday in Bangkok, Thailand. —AP

Suu Kyi against party joining elections YANGON: Aung San Suu Kyi is against registering her opposition party for Myanmar’s upcoming elections because the ruling junta’s restrictions on the vote are “unjust,” her lawyer said yesterday. Suu Kyi was quoted as saying she would “not even think” of registering her National League for Democracy for the polls - which the government says will be held this year - but stressed she will let the party decide for itself. The NLD won the last elections held in Myanmar in 1990 by a landslide but was barred by the military from taking power.

The credibility of the upcoming vote has already been called into question. It would suffer even more without the participation of the country’s principal opposition party.

Suu Kyi is under house arrest and is effectively barred from running and voting in elections under recent laws enacted by the military-ruled government. One of the laws requires parties to register for the elections or cease to exist.

Her comments came ahead of a crucial meeting Monday in which NLD senior members will decide whether the party registers for the vote. Although Suu Kyi has been under detention for 14 of the last 20 years, she is still general-secretary of the party and its most dominant figure. The Nobel Peace Prize winner had previously

criticized the laws as “repressive” but had not yet given her opinion on what the party should do. “Personally, I would not even think of registering (the party) under these unjust laws,” Suu Kyi said, according to her lawyer Nyan Win who met with her yesterday at her lakeside villa in Yangon.

She added: “I am not instructing the party or the people. They are free to make their decisions democratically,” Nyan Win said. Suu Kyi’s house arrest was extended last year after she was convicted on charges of violating the terms of her detention when an American man swam uninvited to her lakeside property. She is serving an 18month term of house arrest and many top members of her party and ethnic-based parties are in prison. Under the new laws they would be barred from the vote.

Her comments came hours after Myanmar’s highest court refused to accept a lawsuit filed by the NLD seeking to revoke the five election laws, which were enacted earlier this month. The laws set out rules for the vote, but have been widely criticized as designed to keep Suu Kyi out of the race.

One law prohibits anyone convicted of a crime from being a member of a political party and instructs parties to expel convicted members or face de-registration.

Lawyer Kyi Win said the Supreme Court

refused to accept the lawsuit, saying it did not have power to handle such a case.

The lawsuit was largely symbolic since Myanmar’s courts invariably adhere to the junta’s policies, especially on political matters. Nonetheless, Nyan Win said lawyers planned to file a formal complaint against the court’s decision to try to have it overturned. “We are taking the legal step against the electoral laws as they are unfair and the laws are a violation of human rights, personal rights and organizational rights,” Nyan Win, who is also the NLD spokesman, said before the attempted lodging of the lawsuit against the ruling State Peace and Development Council, as the junta is formally known.

The junta says the new laws have formally invalidated the results of the 1990 election because the election law under which those polls were held was repealed by the new legislation.

The elections are part of the junta’s longannounced “roadmap to democracy,” which critics deride as a sham designed to cement the power of the military, which has ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, since 1962. The party has written a letter to junta leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe asking its leaders be allowed to have a meeting with Suu Kyi to discuss future policies. —AP

YANGON: U Aung Shwe, chairman of the detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, talks to journalists outside the Supreme Court yesterday in Yangon, Myanmar. —AP

The usual venue, Government House, has been avoided because of its proximity to the protests. The explosions, like previous incidents, were not blamed on the “red shirts” and caused no injuries. Protest leaders, allied with ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, have not revealed details of their plans for the rally on Saturday and whether the demonstrators will fan out across the city as at least 65,000 of them did at the weekend.

“The cabinet sees that there is still a need to be vigilant,” Abhisit told reporters, adding the law has been extended until March 30 for Bangkok and some surrounding districts. The rally has so far been orderly. Most analysts say the protesters are likely to struggle to maintain momentum and expect Abhisit to prevail because of the support he enjoys from the majority of parliament, the powerful military and Bangkok elite. These factors have encouraged continued fund flows into Thai assets, pushing Thai stocks to around a 20-month yesterday, drawn by cheap share prices and high dividend yields.

The bourse closed up 1.3 percent yesterday, when foreign investors bought a net 1.88 billion baht ($58.17 million) of shares, raising their net purchase to about 42.16 billion baht ($1.3 billion) in the last month.

Abhisit has refused to call an early election, which the Thaksin-allied Puea Thai Party would be well-placed to win.

That scenario presents a risk to investors and raises the chance of another judicial or military intervention to keep Thaksin and his allies out of the corridors of power.

Abhisit insists the deep political divisions would undermine any chance of peaceful polls if an election were held now. His critics say he and his backers are clinging on to power. Puea Thai yesterday followed the “red shirts” in calling for parliamentary dissolution. Members planned to meet partners in Abhisit’s uneasy coalition to discuss a political solution, said party chairman Chavalit Yongchaiyudh.

Key coalition partners reiterated their stance yesterday that they have no plan to break away from the alliance amid speculation that Puea Thai would try to bring them on board. The Internal Security Act gives the country’s powerful military-led security agency, the Internal Security Operations Command, an option to impose curfews, operate checkpoints and restricts movements if protests turn violent. Political analysts say the longer the protesters are on the streets, the greater the risk a frustrated minority could break ranks and spark sporadic unrest, as they did in April 2008, denting Thailand’s image as a safe tourist destination.

Government spokesman Panitan Watanayagorn said there had been eight attacks involving explosives since the protest started on March 12, likely aimed at discrediting the government or causing confusion. “We believe the perpetrators want to prolong the climate of fear to show the government is not in control,” Panitan said.

Protesters said the attacks were staged to discredit them.

Yesterday, “red shirts” also rode on about 1,000 motorcycles around Bangkok to give out leaflets, urging city residents to join the rally. —Reuters

BANGKOK: Thai bomb squad officers examine the site where one of the two bombs landed inside the Public Health Ministry compound after the cabinet meeting yesterday in Bangkok, Thailand. —AP

2 small blasts at Thai government ministry BANGKOK: Two explosives were hurled at Thailand’s health ministry yesterday shortly after Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva held his weekly Cabinet meeting there to avoid anti-government protesters, authorities said.

There were no injuries.

Abhisit and his ministers had left the compound when the explosions occurred in an outdoor parking lot several hundred meters (yards) from their meeting site, said Health Minister Jurin Laksanawisit. The blasts, believed to be caused by grenades, shattered several car windows. “The explosions were clearly intended to disrupt the government and to destroy whatever confidence (the government) has built,” said government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn. Police are searching for those behind the attack.

At its meeting, the Cabinet had voted to extend the use of a stringent security law in Bangkok for seven days so it will be in place during a mass antigovernment protest planned here for Saturday. As many as 100,000 people attended a similar event last weekend. The protests have clogged traffic but remained peaceful, despite widespread concerns of violence. Abhisit told reporters before leaving the health ministry that the Internal Security Act “has been an effective tool in keeping to our objective, which is to maintain law and order.” The ISA, which was initially invoked from March 9-23, will cover Bangkok and two nearby provinces that house government offices and Suvarnabhumi international airport, Abhisit said.

The act gives the prime minister authority to use the military

to restore order and allows the government to impose curfews and restrict freedom of movement in situations deemed harmful to national security. The Cabinet meeting was held under tight security at the health ministry, located outside the capital, to avoid protesters who have been camped near Abhisit’s office for almost two weeks. The prime minister has been sleeping at an army base. Similar blasts occurred Saturday night near the Defense Ministry and the headquarters of the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

The so-called Red Shirt movement is demanding Abhisit call fresh elections, which he has repeatedly rejected.

Hundreds of protesters fanned out across Bangkok on motorcycles yesterday distributing bumper stickers that said, “Dissolve Parliament.” —AP

SEOUL: Former US President Jimmy Carter delivers a speech about North Korea’s nuclear and the Korean peninsula’s peace at Korea University in Seoul, South Korea yesterday. —AP

Carter: US, S Korea must talk directly with N Korea SEOUL: The US and South Korea must prove to North Korea that they do not harbor any hostile intent if they want to avoid a “catastrophic war” with the nuclear-armed regime, former US President Jimmy Carter said yesterday. Carter, whose historic visit to Pyongyang in 1994 led to a landmark disarmament deal with North Korea, described the North as “stubborn” and “paranoid,” and said sanctions are unproductive.

He said the communist regime is unlikely to back down from the standoff over its nuclear weapons program without “a firm statement of ‘no hostile intent’ in the form of a

treaty.” Carter, in accepting an honorary doctorate from Seoul’s Korea University, urged the United States and South Korea to engage in unconditional direct talks with North Korea. “No one can predict the final answers from Pyongyang, but there is no harm in making a major effort, including unrestrained direct talks,” he said. “The initiative must be from America and South Korea.” Carter, now 85, went to North Korea in June 1994 as then-President Bill Clinton’s envoy, meeting with late North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, father of the current leader, Kim Jong Il. Kim Il Sung died a month later. The visit helped

thaw the deep freeze in relations with the Korean War foe and paved the way for discussions on nuclear disarmament.

“It was obvious to me when I was in North Korea that there is deep resentment of the past and genuine fear of pre-emptive military attacks in the future,” Carter said. The 1994 disarmament accord that Carter skillfully negotiated alleviated tensions between the foes but fell apart in 2002 after President George W. Bush called North Korea part of an “axis of evil.” The two Koreas remain locked in a state of war because their three-year conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953. —AP

INTERNATIONAL

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

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Gathering marks anniversary of the 1940 Pakistan Resolution

Hardliners in Pakistan vow holy war to liberate Kashmir KOTLI: Pakistani hardliners yesterday vowed to wage a holy war to liberate the disputed Himalayan state of Kashmir from Indian control.

About 5,000 people attended a rally in the town of Kotli in Pakistanadministered Kashmir about 80 kilometres (50 miles) east of

KOLKATA: Indian bystanders watch while firefighters spray water to control a fire on a building in Kolkata yesterday. —AFP

4 die in Indian building inferno KOLKATA: At least four people died and 18 others were injured yesterday when a fire engulfed a landmark building in the heart of the eastern Indian city of Kolkata. “Four people jumped off the building when it caught fire and they were pronounced dead in hospital,” local fire services minister Pratim Chatterjee said as firemen fought the blaze, four hours after it started.

Police joint commissioner Javed Shamim said 18 others were injured in the fire, which erupted on the second and third floors of the six-storey colonial-era structure in the city centre Park Street commercial district. Some of the injured had either jumped off or fell while trying to escape the flames. Groups of people including children clung on window ledges or perched on air conditioning units as cooking gas bottles exploded

inside the complex, fuelling the flames which smothered Park Street with acrid smoke.

Residents using bamboo ladders and ropes evacuated around two dozen people from the building, which houses offices, upscale apartments, a popular restaurant and a clinic. In February, nine people died in the southern city of Bangalore, some as they jumped from windows, when flames engulfed a tall building in the software capital.

Indian firefighters are badly equipped to fight major fires and often lack modern equipment, particularly long ladders capable of reaching trapped victims on high floors. The design of the woollen uniforms worn by Mumbai firefighters was changed this month for the first time in nearly 100 years. — AFP

Militants blow up rail track in eastern India PATNA: Suspected communist rebels blew up a railroad track in eastern India, sending seven coaches of an intercity train off the rails but causing no casualties, police said yesterday. The attack Monday night in Bihar state came during a 48-hour “strike” in which rebels demanded that people stay home to join their protest against a government offensive aimed at flushing militants from their forest hide-outs. The strike, heeded in some villages, was mostly ignored in the region’s cities.

Explosives tied to a railroad track detonated in Bihar’s Gaya district, about 70 miles (120 kilometers) south state capital Patna, just before the New Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express

passed. The blast left some track missing, but the driver was able to slow the train enough so that there were no injuries when the engine and seven cars derailed, police officer Sushil Khopde said.

The government has offered talks with the rebels, but only if they shun violence and place no preconditions. The rebels demand that the government’s offensive end before they agree to talks. Also yesterday, a former communist rebel leader who later became a politician was found dead in his home in eastern India, police said.

The body of Kanu Sanyal, 78, was sent for an autopsy to determine whether he had hanged himself, police official Surajit Kar Purkayastha said.

Neighbors found Sanyal’s body in his home in Naxalbari in West Bengal state, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) northeast of Calcutta, the state capital.

Sanyal had been suffering from age-related ailments, The Press Trust of India news ageny said. Communist rebels have been fighting for more than four decades in a number of Indian states, demanding land and jobs for agricultural laborers and the poor. Sanyal was a co-founder of the rebel movement and was jailed in 1970 for participating in it. Sanyal gave up arms after his release in 1977 and founded the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), which fielded candidates in West Bengal state elections without much success. — AP

The gathering marked the anniversary of the 1940 Pakistan Resolution, in which Indian Muslims decided to struggle for a separate country following independence from British rule.

Pakistan was born seven years later. India and Pakistan have remained arch foes, with relations between the South Asian nucleararmed rivals further strained since the 2008 attacks on India’s financial capital Mumbai, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistani militants.

In late February, the two sides held their first official talks since the Mumbai siege, but they ended with few concrete developments.

“Diplomacy, talks and negotiations spanned over several decades have not worked,” said Syed Salahuddin, chairman of the United Jihad Council, which consists of 16 Islamist groups, militant outfits and political parties. “The only way to liberate Kashmir is jihad,” said Salahuddin, who also leads Hizbul Mujahedin, a militant group fighting Indian rule in Kashmir.

He denied that the jihadi groups were behind attacks within Pakistan. More than 3,100 people have been killed in suicide attacks and bomb blasts across the nation since July 2007, which are blamed on Islamist militants opposed to the government’s alliance with the United States.

Yesterday’s rally was also attended by leaders of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), a charity widely viewed as a front for banned Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) which India and the United States blamed for the Mumbai attacks. A resolution adopted after the meeting said: “Jihad will continue until India ends its occupation of Kashmir.” — AFP

Lanka opposition protests for Fonseka’s release

COLOMBO: Buddhist monks supporting defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka hold placards during a protest in Colombo, Sri Lanka yesterday. — AP

Afghan avalanche kills 35 people, officials confirm KUNDUZ: An avalanche struck a remote mountainous area of northern Afghanistan two weeks ago, killing 35 people and burying homes beneath the snow, a provincial official said yesterday. The disaster struck in Badakhshan province in the far north, but harsh weather and the remoteness of the province bordering China, Pakistan and Tajikistan meant local officials had to travel for weeks to seek help.

“An avalanche swept through five civilian houses in Arghanj Khowa district killing 35 people including men, women and children,” said Marouf Rasikh, the spokesman for northern Badakhshan province. “Two representatives of the district got to the provincial capital after travelling for 13 days on snowblocked roads and they

informed us of the incident last night,” he added.

Rasikh told AFP that the area was covered in about three metres (ten feet) of snow, hampering any rescue efforts and attempts to bury the dead. “Snow closes roads and leaves many villages isolated every winter in Badakhshan province,” he said. “An emergency committee is meeting here tomorrow with the NATO forces to see if we can offer any help via air and helicopters.” Such deadly avalanches are rare in Afghanistan during winter, but are more frequent in the spring when heavy snows melt.

In early February, about 170 people were killed when a blizzard and massive avalanches hit the Salang Pass, a treacherous stretch in the Hindu Kush mountain range

connecting the north and south of Afghanistan, Afghan soldiers and villagers used home-made tools to dig for bodies and survivors after one of the country’s worst such disasters, which sent cars and buses tumbling into a rocky valley and trapping hundreds of people.

The pass provides the shortest route linking the two ends of the mountainous country. One of the highest mountain highways in the world, it was built with Soviet help in the 1950s and was hailed as an engineering feat upon completion. Due to its relative isolation, much of northern Afghanistan including Badakhshan is somewhat sheltered from the eight-year Taleban insurgency that 113,000 NATO and US troops are trying to quell. — AFP

COLOMBO: Hundreds of protesters gathered in the Sri Lankan capital yesterday to demand the immediate release of the country’s opposition leader, an ex-army chief facing a court-martial on charges including participating in politics while still in uniform. The arrest of Gen. Sarath Fonseka has been condemned by the opposition and human rights groups, who accuse the government of retaliating against a man who dared challenge President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his re-election bid.

They say the government is trying to cow the opposition before April 8 parliamentary elections.

Fonseka is the leader of the opposition Democratic National Alliance, which organized yesterday’s protest in Colombo, and is running for a seat in parliament despite his detention.

Party spokesman Vijitha Herath told reporters at the protest that it is clear the charges against Fonseka are “baseless” and the government has no moral or legal right to court-martial the former army chief. “We are protesting against the government’s attempt to suppress the opposition and this fraudulent court-martial,” he said, vowing to bring more people into streets.

Fonseka was arrested by the army last month after he lost January’s presidential election.

He has been charged with participating in politics while army chief and violating military procurement procedures.

Rajapaksa and Fonseka were once strong allies in their campaign to defeat the Tamil Tiger rebels and end their 25-year armed campaign for an independent state. After routing the rebels last May, both men were hailed as heroes by the country’s Sinhalese majority. But the two quickly turned on each other and Fonseka quit the army to lead the opposition.

Rajapaksa has appointed a three-member tribunal to try Fonseka. The judges began proceedings on March 16. — AP

Islamabad, shouting: “We are ready for jihad (holy war), we are ready for jihad!” Kashmir, split between Pakistan and India and claimed by both in full, has triggered two of the three wars the two countries have fought since 1947.

KOTLI: Supporters of The United Jihad Council, which consists of 16 Islamist groups, militant outfits and political parties, shout slogans during a rally in the town of Kotli, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) southeast of Islamabad yesterday. — AFP

Pakistan wants to question nuclear scientist LAHORE: The Pakistani government has requested permission to question disgraced nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan over recent media reports that Pakistan arranged the transfer of nuclear technology to Iran. The government move comes amid fears by the US and its allies that Iran is using its nuclear program to develop atomic weapons. It also comes as top Pakistani officials are in Washington for bilateral talks this week, with Islamabad demanding that Washington acknowledge its progress in the fight against terrorism.

The request to Pakistan’s High Court in the city of Lahore came Monday as the court was preparing to rule on a petition by Khan against restrictions against his movement. Khan can only leave his house in the capital surrounded by a team of government agents and is prevented from meeting

foreigners.

The court is expected to rule today on both requests. Government lawyer Ahmar Bilal Sufi filed the request after The Washington Post published stories in March based on an account allegedly written by Khan that said Iran had tried to buy nuclear weapons from Pakistan in the late 1980s. The stories say Pakistan instead gave Iran bomb-related drawings and other nuclear technology. Sufi says Khan has since denied making those claims. Khan was detained by Pakistan in December 2003 and admitted on television in early 2004 to sole responsibility for operating a network that spread nuclear weapons technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya. He has since retracted that statement but his case remains extremely politically sensitive in Pakistan.

He was pardoned by then-President Pervez Musharraf, but immediately placed under de facto house arrest. Pakistan has refused to allow UN nuclear agency representatives or other governments to question Khan, amid lingering suspicions that Pakistani authorities were at least partially aware of his activities.

“I am virtually a confined man,” Khan told reporters Monday. “The road in front of my house is blocked, and no one can come easily to see me.” Khan is regarded by many Pakistanis as a hero for his key role in developing its nuclear weapons program.

Government officials say he is kept under close watch for his own safety, but many analysts say the powerful military and intelligence agencies restrict his movement because they fear he may implicate them in past nuclear proliferation. — AP

OPINION

12

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

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Broke? Buy a few warships

By Paul Taylor and Renee Maltezou

I

n a bizarre twist to the Greek debt crisis, France and Germany are pressing Greece to buy their gunboats and warplanes, even as they urge it to cut public spending and curb its deficit. Indeed, some Greek officials privately say Paris and Berlin are using the crisis as leverage to advance arms contracts or settle payment disputes, just when the Greeks are trying to reduce defence spending. “No one is saying ‘Buy our warships or we won’t bail you out’, but the clear implication is that they will be more supportive if we do what they want on the armaments front,” said an adviser to Prime Minister George Papandreou, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the diplomatic sensitivity.

Greece spends more of its gross domestic product on the military than any other European Union country, largely due to long-standing tension with its neighbour, historic rival and NATO ally, Turkey. “The Germans and the French have them over a barrel now,” said Nick Witney, a former head of the European Defence Agency. “If you are trying to repair Greek public finances, it’s a ludicrous way to go about things.” France is pushing to sell six frigates, 15 helicopters and up to 40 topof-the-range Rafale fighter aircraft. Greek and French officials said President Nicolas Sarkozy was personally involved and had broached the matter when Papandreou visited France last month to seek support in the financial crisis.

The Greeks were so sensitive to Sarkozy’s concerns that they announced on the day Papandreou went to Paris that they would go ahead with buying six Fremm frigates worth Ä2.5 billion ($3.38 billion), despite their budget woes.

The ships are made by the state-controlled shipyard DCNS, which is a quarter owned by defence electronics group Thales and may have to lay workers off in the downturn. Greece is also in talks buy 15 French Super Puma search-and-rescue helicopters made by aerospace giant EADS for an estimated Ä400 million. The Rafale, made by Dassault Aviation, is a more distant and vastly dearer prospect. There is no published price, but each costs over $100 million, plus weapons.

Germany is meanwhile pressing Athens to pay for a diesel-electric submarine from ThyssenKrupp, of which it refused to take delivery in 2006 because the craft listed during sea trials following a disputed refurbishment in Kiel. Payment would clear the way for ThyssenKrupp to sell its loss-making Greek unit Hellenic Shipyards (HSY), the biggest shipbuilder in the eastern Mediterranean, to Abu Dhabi MAR (ADM), industry sources said.

ThyssenKrupp Marine

Systems last year cancelled a Greek order for four other submarines over the dispute, in which it said Athens’ arrears exceeded Ä520 million.

Witney, now at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said German officials were embittered by Greek behaviour in the longrunning dispute, as well as previous payment problems over the purchase of German Leopard II tanks. Greek Deputy Defence Minister Panos Beglitis told Reuters the dispute was on the brink of settlement but denied the timing had anything to do with Athens’ bid to clinch German backing this week for a financial safety net for Greek debt. “(The submarine) Papanicolis has been carefully inspected by German and Greek experts. It has been greatly improved and declared seaworthy. We will take it, sell it and make a profit,” he said in an interview. “We are paying 300 million (euros) and we will sell it for 350 million,” Beglitis said. Witney questioned Greece’s chances of turning a profit on a secondhand submarine.

Asked whether big European suppliers were using the crisis to press arms sales on Athens, he said: “This has always been the case with these countries. It is not because of the crisis, there is no link.” Beglitis said this year’s defence budget was set at 2.8 percent of GDP, down from 3.1 percent in 2009. Nongovernment sources say the real level of military spending may be higher. “Our strategy is continuously and steadily to reduce spending. This is also in line with the Greek stability and growth programme,” Beglitis said. The program, submitted to the EU, pledges to reduce the budget deficit from 12.9 percent last year to below 3 percent by the end of 2012.

Western officials and economists have advocated a radical reduction of the armed forces as a long-term way of reducing structural spending, but Greek officials say that would require a real improvement in relations with Turkey.

Despite warmer ties, the two countries remain in dispute over Cyprus and maritime boundaries and have sporadic aerial incidents over the Aegean Sea. French economist Jacques Delpla said Greece could reap big savings if it moved jointly with Turkey and Cyprus to settle disputes in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean and engaged in mutual disarmament.

“Unlike Portugal or Ireland, Greece could benefit from significant peace dividends to reduce its titanic fiscal deficits,” he said. Beglitis said Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had mooted the idea of mutual defence spending cuts in public but not followed it up. “There was some rhetoric from Mr Erdogan on this but there are no negotiations at the moment,” he said. — 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.

Don’t wait for disaster

By Ban Ki-moon

N

o country can afford to ignore the lessons of the earthquakes in Chile and Haiti. We cannot stop such disasters from happening.

But we can dramatically reduce their impact, if the right disaster risk reduction measures are taken in advance. A week ago I visited Chile’s earthquake

zone and saw how countless lives were saved because Chile’s leaders had learned the lessons of the past and heeded the warnings of crises to come.

Because stringent earthquake building codes were enforced, much worse casualties were prevented.

Training and equipping first responders ahead of time meant help was there within minutes of the tremor.

Embracing the spirit that governments have a responsibility for future challenges as well as current ones did more to prevent human casualties than any relief effort could.

Deaths were in the hundreds in Chile, despite the magnitude of the earthquake, at 8.8 on the Richter Scale, the fifth largest since records began. In Haiti, a less intense earthquake caused hundreds of thousands of deaths. Haiti had non-existent or un-enforced building codes, and very poor preparedness. The lessons are universally applicable. No country is immune from disaster, be it earthquakes or floods, storms or heatwaves. More and more intense natural disasters are affecting all five continents, we believe as a result of climate

change. Many of the world’s poorest people live in high-risk densely populated cities in flood or earthquake zones, or both.

The culture of disaster risk reduction must spread. I am encouraged that we already have a head start in this regard. The Hyogo Framework for Action, a 10-year plan to make the world safer from disasters triggered by natural hazards, was adopted by 168 governments in 2005. Hyogo gives national authorities a blueprint to assess and reduce risks through planning, training, and better public education. For example, making sure that schools, hospitals, and other key public infrastructure meet certain safety standards.

Based on the Hyogo Framework, the UN has made disaster risk reduction a priority. I have appointed a Special Representative for implementation of the Hyogo Framework of Action. Last year I launched the first global assessment report on disaster risk reduction in Bahrain. There has been progress. Bangladesh lost more than 500,000 people during Cyclone Bhola in 1970. It subsequently built 2,500 cyclone shelters on elevated

concrete platforms and trained more than 32,000 volunteers to help in evacuations. When Cyclone Sidr struck in 2007 with an enormous sea surge, the death toll was less than 4,000. Cyclone Nargis, a similar event in unprepared Myanmar in May 2008, cost 140,000 lives.

Cuba weathered four hurricanes in 2008. It sustained $9 billion of physical damage but very few lives were lost.

The evidence is overwhelming. Yet the lessons of these disasters are forgotten with depressing speed. Many governments have failed to follow through on the practical measures Hyogo proposes. Some states argue that they cannot afford to embrace the prevention model. I say no country can afford to ignore it.

We know prevention actually saves governments money in the long run.

When China spent $3.15 billion on reducing the impact of floods between 1960 and 2000, it averted losses estimated at about $12 billion. Similar savings have been recorded in Brazil, India, Vietnam and elsewhere.

Everyone has a role to play.

Governments, central and local, have to do what it takes to make communi-

ties able to cope with both continuing challenges and sudden shocks.

In flood and earthquake-prone areas, the solution is to enact and enforce building regulations. For flood prone areas, it’s to move or improve squatter settlements, restore natural coastal barriers such as mangrove swamps, provide more suitable land and better infrastructure for the urban poor and install effective early warning systems.

These measures will keep many thousands of people alive who may otherwise perish. The UN is ready to help governments build preparedness at the country and regional levels.

Donor nations need to fund disaster risk reduction and preparedness measures. Adaptation to climate change in particular means investing in systems for disaster reduction, preparedness and management. The Chile and Haiti earthquakes showed us once again why action before disasters makes all the difference. To prevent natural hazards turning into disasters, we must all act sooner and act smarter.

NOTE: Ban Ki-moon is SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations

Sadrists’ rise in vote may shake power balance

By Rania El-Gamal

A

nti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr has emerged as potential kingmaker in Iraq’s new government, threatening to alter the country’s political landscape. Initial results from the March 7 parliamentary vote show the Iraqi National Alliance, a mainly Shi’ite coalition in which the Sadrists are a main faction, in third place nationwide. But the Sadrists have captured so far some 30 percent of the total votes of the INA, which is led by a hitherto politically powerful group, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (ISCI), founded in exile in neighbouring Iran.

The Sadrists’ rise challenges Shiite rivals and allies alike. “The Sadrists have shown again that they should never be counted out. Their electoral strength signals an ongoing but very gradual shift away from rule by former exiles,” said Joost Hiltermann, an analyst with the International Crisis Group. The Sadrists estimate they could grab from 38 to 40 seats in parliament, out of some 72-73 seats for the INA. Analyst Reidar Visser estimated ISCI would win 15 to 17 seats, about half of what they got in a 2005 parliamentary election.

“The main implication of the Sadrists re-emergence is that it changes the internal balance of power among the Shiite Islamists,” Visser, of www.historiae.org, said. “By comparison, ISCI and the Badr group, which are supported by Iran and were given many important positions by the U.S. following 2003, are looking weaker and weaker and could end up being irrelevant for the process of government formation.”

The Sadrists have managed to capitalise on the gradual erosion of

ISCI’s clout created by a leadership vacuum after the death of the influential Iranian-backed Shi’ite cleric Abdul-Aziz Al-Hakim last year.

The success of the Sadrists highlights weakening support for ISCI as well as the group’s strides as a political organisation, with a much better organised campaign this year than 2009 provincial election. “ISCI has not managed to regroup (after Hakim’s death) and come up with candidates that appeal to Iraqi voters,” said Visser.

The strong showing of the Sadrists in the election, where they rode a nationalist message for change, could prove to be a formidable challenge for Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, who eyes a second term as premier. Maliki, the Sadrists and ISCI were once allies in parliament’s largest bloc.

But in 2008, Maliki launched a crackdown on Sadr’s Mehdi Army militia, which once controlled parts of southern Iraq and Baghdad. “Our presence will be strong in the new parliament and our effect on the formation of the new government will be obvious,” said Hakim Al-Zamili, a candidate and member of Sadr’s bloc.

The Sadrist movement draws its support mostly from the Shiite poor in the oil-producing south and deprived urban areas such as Baghdad’s Sadr City slum, named after the revered Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadeq Al-Sadr, Moqtada’s father, who was killed in 1999 for defying Saddam Hussein.

“The Sadrists address a stable base of the poor and the impoverished who are connected with a sacred link to the Sadr family, this was a main reason for their strong showing in the election,” said Iraqi political analyst Ibrahim Al-Sumaidaie.

A day ahead of the March 7 elec-

tion, Moqtada Al-Sadr, whose fiery anti-American message mobilised millions of poor Shiites after the 2003 invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein, urged Iraqis t o

take part in the vote to help pave the way for Iraq’s “liberation” from US forces. The enigmatic Sadr, the scion of a revered clerical family, faded from the political scene since he began reli-

gious studies in Iran more than two years ago.

Embracing the political process, rather than armed struggle, the Sadrists’ political wing toned down the religious rhetoric, cast itself as less sectarian and tailored its message to the voters’ basic needs security, jobs and services.

ISCI and the Sadrists are longtime foes that united for the election. Both have lost ground since holding sway over Shiite voters only a few years ago, as Iraqis grew tired of sectarian tensions and bloodshed unleashed by the US invasion.

Maliki’s State of Law coalition and the Iraqiya list of Shiite secularist Iyad Allawi are in a neck-and-neck election race with no one expected to get an outright majority. Both men will be forced to seek political alliances to form a government.

A union between Maliki and Allawi is unlikely, which makes it even more important that each camp tries to woo other winning coalitions such as the INA and the Kurds.

Allawi is already in talks with the Kurds, ISCI and the Sadrists. Even before full results are out, observers say INA may splinter if ISCI backs Maliki. “ISCI could easily cut a deal with either Maliki or Allawi. The Sadrists on the other hand feel a little different,” a Western diplomat said.

A less likely, but possible scenario would see State of Law dump Maliki and offer another candidate for the premiership in a bid to win the Sadrists’ support, a senior politician in Maliki’s Dawa party said.

“The Sadrists are not ready to negotiate with us. Maybe a way to solve this would be to change our candidate for the prime minister post.

But honestly we don’t have other names.” — Reuters

ANALYSIS

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

13

Obama’s healthcare struggle not over

By Jennifer Loven

E

ven with victory in hand, President Barack Obama cannot put health care to rest. He still has to sell skeptical Americans on the benefits he claims for the massive overhaul Congress finally approved and try to save the political skins of fellow Democrats who put their jobs in jeopardy by voting with him. The White House’s chief goal after the healthcare debate was to be a change in focus to jobs and populist issues, all intended to be music to the ears of Americans suffering from high unemployment and a limping economic recovery. That remains the case, but the health overhaul is bound to be a major issue through the November elections and beyond. Despite the year of caustic debate, Obama emerges with a stronger hand.

The cliffhanger House vote that approved the overhaul is one of those presidential achievements with multiple side benefits: fresh clout in a capital that worships winners, bragging rights on a prime promise kept, and a history-making, countrychanging one at that, praise for presidential perseverance against daunting odds, a respite from talk of a mired presidency.

It was news so good that Obama invited dozens of aides to the Truman Balcony for an after-midnight champagne celebration. Senior adviser David Axelrod said Obama was the happiest he had seen his boss since Election Night when he won the White House _ perhaps even happier. “Elections just give you the chance to do things,” Axelrod recalled a jubilant Obama saying. “This is the real thing.” There was no doubt that Obama has passed from

Phase One of his presidency: stalled.

Now he is on to Phase Two: buoyed. Just how buoyed, though, is a bit murky. One clue will be found as the president’s

travel schedule for political campaigning unfolds over the months until November’s congressional elections. Standing by his promise to provide political cover for those who helped

US President Barack Obama makes a statement to the nation Sunday night following the final vote in the House of Representatives for comprehensive healthcare legislation in the East Room of the White House in Washington March 21, 2010. – AP

him on health care is about more than keeping his word. If Obama were to see the Democratic congressional majority ended or severely diminished in November, it could make it much harder to push legislation through Congress.

Most of those who could suffer from their “yes” votes are moderate Democrats in conservative-leaning districts and states. Siding with Obama were 17 Democrats who are seeking re-election in districts that Republican John McCain won in 2008, including top Republican targets such as Tom Perriello in Virginia, Betsey Markey in Colorado, Harry Mitchell in Arizona and Suzanne Kosmas in Florida. One other moderate Democrat running a difficult race for the Senate in a righttilting state - Brad Ellsworth in Indiana - voted for the health overhaul, too. One question is how much these in-danger Democrats could benefit from Obama’s help.

His fundraising prowess will be welcomed by nearly all, and it can remain in the background, far from the candidates’ districts if need be. His history of inspiring grass-roots supporters and bringing new voters to the polls will be helpful, too, in some places, although harder to apply in congressional races than in his own White House run.

There still will be some Democrats who will not want a direct, in-person appeal to voters from a president with job approval ratings hovering around 50 percent. Another health care task that will not disappear any time soon for Obama is responding to Republican allegations. The minority party’s leaders have made clear they will use any tactic available

at the polls, in Congress and in the courts, to try to punish Democrats for the legislation and to undo it. Aides say Obama plans to engage aggressively the Republicans’ universal opposition to the health care bill and efforts to repeal it.

Where the president probably can make the most headway on both offense and defense is with the public. Polls show people are split over whether they like the bill. So Obama will seek to improve those numbers, starting with an appearance Thursday in Iowa City, Iowa, and a series of health carefocused events away from Washington that White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said would come “periodically” - not daily or even weekly, but regularly through the end of the year.

White House advisers believe there is plenty of time before November to make the bill’s benefits real for voters, especially the few parts that take effect soon. Among those are rebate checks for older Americans to help pay for drugs bought under the government’s Medicare program. Another immediate effect will be permission for many 26-year-olds to stay on their parents’ health plans and strictures against insurers turning away children with medical problems or setting lifetime insurance coverage limits.

They also believe that Republican gripes about legislative procedures used by Democrats will fade to a distant memory.

And, Pfeiffer said, “It is helpful for health care reform to go from the theoretical to something real.” The sales job is hardly an easy task for the Obama team. The gigantic bill

remakes the nation’s health care system, one-sixth of the economy, in a way feared by some to be an overly huge and expensive government intrusion. The changes will come gradually, with some not fully phased in for a decade. Some of the biggest shifts, for instance, such as mandates for most Americans to carry insurance, new places to buy it and new employer obligations, and a ban on denying coverage to the sick, are four years off.

Explaining what happens when will not come easily when the target audience is an angry public with a short attention span. “He knows that the legislative process has been confusing, that it’s taken a long time,” White House health reform director Nancy-Ann DeParle said. Legislatively, Obama’s approach for the rest of the year was largely set no matter what health care’s outcome was, starting with a steady diet of jobs- and small businessrelated votes.

He also will press for action on populist-leaning measures with broad appeal, such as tougher financial industry regulations and rolling back a recent Supreme Court ruling that allows unions and corporations to funnel unlimited dollars to political campaigns. Even those measures are tough lifts, though, with potentially large partisan opposition. And with elections looming in November, the window for congressional action on anything, much less something else big and controversial, is fast closing.

Also...Across the street from the Capitol, there is the strong expectation of another Supreme Court vacancy. That would steal the remaining oxygen from any legislative issue. — AP

Democrats face dubious voters on US healthcare

By Thomas Ferraro

D

emocrats in Congress who passed historic legislation on Sunday to revamp the US healthcare system face a new challenge over the next seven months: convincing voters it’s a good deal. If Democrat lawmakers fail to counter public opposition, it could cost them their jobs in mid-term elections in November, return control of Congress to Republicans and weaken Democratic President Barack Obama halfway into his first term. How the high-stakes battle shakes out - if it hurts or helps Democrats or Republicans - is a mystery, even to Obama. “I don’t know how healthcare reform will play politically, but I know it is the right thing to do,” he said at a campaign-style rally near Washington on Friday.

The sluggish US economy, with 9.7 percent unemployment, promises to be the key factor in November elections for Congress. But healthcare will loom large.

Democrats and Republicans - along with labor, business and other special interests waged a multimillion-dollar TV advertising war and intend to finance more in weeks to come, many aimed at specific lawmakers who voted “yes” or “no”. Opinion polls show the public, by a margin of 49 percent to 40 percent, opposed the legislation which Republicans denounced as a costly and misguided federal takeover of healthcare.

Democrats rejected the complaints and contended that public support would grow once more was known about the overhaul which will provide coverage to millions of uninsured Americans and is projected to reduce the federal deficit. As part of their strategy, Democrats intend to highlight key elements set to take effect this year. They include providing tax

credits to small businesses to purchase insurance for employees; stopping insurance companies from dropping people with pre-existing conditions; increasing funding for community health centers and permitting those up to age 26 to be on their parents’ health insurance policies.

“This is going to be a political winner,” said Brad Woodhouse, a Democratic Party spokesman.

“Republican myths about the bill won’t withstand reality.” Republicans defend their criticism and warn Democrats that they will be targeted for defeat on Election Day, Nov 2, when all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and about a third of the 100 seats in the Senate will be up for grabs. “It will be the issue in every race in America,” promised Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

Democratic Representative John Boccieri, who as a member of the Air Force Reserves flew cargo planes in Iraq before being elected to Congress in 2008, brushes off such talk. “It’s no more pressure than flying missions out of Baghdad,” Boccieri said on Friday after he switched and announced his support of the healthcare reform bill.

At least 36 states, most with Republican governors, have moved to

limit or oppose provisions of the legislation, including a requirement that nearly everyone buy health insurance.

“There’s going to be a big free-for-all lawsuit about this,” said Michael Bird, legislative counsel for the National Conference of State Legislatures.

On Capitol Hill, Democrats voice confidence that federal law will prevail over state law. But election-year court fights would open Democrats to complaints of bullying the states. Before the healthcare overhaul was brought up for final passage, Club for Growth, a conservative group, began a campaign to repeal it. As of Sunday, 37 Republican US lawmakers and more than 160 Republican congressional candidates were listed as having signed a pledge to back the effort.

White House adviser David Axelrod dared Republicans to push for repeal, saying they would have to defend allowing insurance companies to deny coverage to sick people. Chris Krueger of Concept Capital, a private firm that tracks Congress for institutional investors, said Democrats were in a bind. “I wouldn’t want to be in a position where I hope public opinion shifts.

It’s going to be tough,” Krueger said.

Patrick Caddell and Douglas Schoen, pollsters for the previous two Democratic presidents, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, respectively, view the party as in trouble. In The Washington Post this month, they wrote: “Unless the Democrats fundamentally change their approach, they will produce not just a march of folly but also run the risk of unmitigated disaster in November.” Responding to Cadell and Schoen in The Huffington Post, pollster John Zogby noted Republicans face problems with voters on healthcare as well. Zogby said when asked which party put the nation ahead of politics in the healthcare debate, most independents and almost half of Republicans, chose Democrats. — Reuters

Obama claims a new place in history

By Stephen Collinson

B

arack Obama now has a political triumph for the ages to burnish an already historic legacy, as the first president to fulfill the Democratic dream of health care for nearly every American. Yet such is the rancor whipped up by the ferocious battle over the health reform bill sent to the president’s desk by Congress on Sunday, the impact on Obama’s political prospects and those of his Democratic allies is unclear. Obama claimed a unique place in US history when his 2008 election win gave the United States its first black president.

Now, his victory on health reform, confirmed after a landmark House of Representatives vote on the most extensive social legislation in decades, has crowned a century-long, and oftthwarted Democratic political crusade.

Supporters will make a case that Obama is the most significant reforming Democratic president since at least Lyndon Johnson, who pushed through health care for the poor and seniors and civil rights legislation in the 1960s.

Sunday’s victory boosted a presidency launched with stratospheric expectations, but

which had recently looked beleaguered, and allows Obama to argue he has delivered the change he promised. “This is what change looks like,” a tired, but triumphant Obama said in latenight remarks in the White House after the vote.

“Tonight we answered the call of history as so many Americans have before us ... we did not fear our future, we shaped it.” Some liberals say the bill does not go far enough, some conservatives brand it a job killing-government takeover over a huge slice of the economy, but no one disputes the significance of the legislation. “I think we will look back on this being an historic vote,” said Dan Shea, a professor of political science at Allegheny College, Pennsylvania. “It will change the relationship between citizen and government, and the role of government in medicine,” Shea said, of a bill which expands coverage to 32 million who lack medical care and regulates the mighty insurance industry.

Obama may reach the high point of his presidency when he signs the health care bill, still to be adapted by a later Senate vote, into law this week. “Barring some major happening, I think this will likely be the most important moment of his first term, and even his presidency,” said

Costas Panagopoulos, a political scientist at Fordham University. Obama swept to power vowing to enact extensive political and social reforms, during the deepest economic crisis in generations, but was slowed by Republican obstruction and his own dwindling poll numbers.

So his health care win will enhance his authority within Washington and beyond, and after refusing to give up the battle, he now looks like a dogged reformer. It may also boost his image abroad, where some observers had begun to wonder about the toughness of a president who can boast a Nobel peace prize but still awaits his first major foreign policy achievement. The draft law, passed after Obama threw himself into the fray, after earlier being criticized for being too hands-off, will send shockwaves through the political establishment. Some observers wonder whether there will be a price to pay and Sunday’s vote marks the start of a new battle, to define the legislation. The health care fight has left America even more polarized than when Obama took office in January 2009 and also spawned a vocal conservative “Tea Party” movement. Even the idea of health care reform, is now highly unpopular, after months of

Republican attacks, legislative stalling, and political bile. The White House argues that once the furor abates, Americans will embrace reform.

But conservatives hope Americans turn against the bill and strip away Democratic majorities in Congress at risk in November.

“This vote, and the passage of this legislation is not the end of the health care reform debate,” said Panagopoulos. “Going into the 2010 midterm elections, this will be the number one issue.” Republicans brand the reform as a pernicious government takeover of the mostly-private US health care system.

Marco Rubio, a candidate for the Republican Senate nomination in Florida, took up that theme within minutes of the House vote Sunday. “This health care bill embodies all the things Americans have come to despise about our political system: more spending, more regulation, backroom deals, secrecy, misinformation, flipflops, politics over principles, demagoguery, pandering and broken promises,” Rubio said. But the bill - though it fell short of a state health system many Obama supporters wanted - may also fire up the Democratic voting base. — AFP

focus

Is this the ‘change’ voters believe in?

By Liz Sidoti

L

ove or hate the country’s new healthcare policy, this much is indisputable: US President Barack Obama accomplished a breathtaking feat that has eluded presidents before him.

He persuaded a deeply divided Congress to pass sweeping legislation remaking one-sixth of the US economy. He did it in a hypermedia world in a hyperpartisan city that he barely knew, that most people detest. He did it without most Americans supporting the plan. But most of all, he brought change - as promised.

But is it the kind Americans want?

Voters who complained they were sick of the status quo must now decide whether this is - to borrow Obama’s campaign motto - the change they believe in. That choice will be the basis on which the nation will judge Obama from this November’s elections in which control of Congress will be at stake to his likely reelection campaign in 2012.

From now until then, the president will try to convince a skeptical public that he’s done the right thing.

“This is what change looks like,” Obama said on the first day of the rest of his presidency. Every president brings change to some degree, and politicians always throw around the word during times of great upheaval. But Obama is unusual. “With him, it’s not just change that he wants: It’s transformational change to make society a fairer place,” says Stanley Renshon, the head of the political psychology program at the City University of New York Graduate Center. With healthcare, Renshon said, “he’s forcing change that people don’t want against their will.” And, he said, backlash is possible if Obama is emboldened to push other big measures that divide the country, like immigration reform. “Call it the audacity of transformation,” added Renshon, who is writing a book on Obama.

Obama didn’t create the call for change that he ran on

in 2008. He seized it, tapping into people’s angst as they tired of George W Bush and Republican rule.

The Democrat became the best messenger for change because people could attach their hopes to him, regardless of whether they agreed with the fine print. “I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views,” Obama said in his 2006 book, “The Audacity of Hope.”

Two years later, there was an inherent contradiction in his pitch. He promised policy changes ripped from the Democratic playbook. And he promised to be post-partisan.

The two don’t jibe; he opened the door to criticism and, it turned out, set the table for his first presidential year. He repeatedly let down those who voted for him.

He became the face of the city people abhor. On health care, he engaged in partisan wrangling that voters despise.

But he got it done.

Or as he put it: “We proved that we are still a people capable of doing big things and tackling our biggest challenges. We proved that this government - a government of the people and by the people still works for the people.”

People may not see it that way. “He promised two kinds of change,” said Mary Stuckey, a Georgia State University professor of political science and communication. “The political change has taken a backseat to the policy change.”

Indeed, while keeping his pledge to overhaul healthcare, he trampled on his other vow to break a decades-old partisan logjam, to do things differently in Washington. He maintained the appearance of bipartisanship - he held a meeting on the matter with Republicans and Democrats and included Republican amendments in the final measure - but, in the end, Republicans opposed the bill.

An AP-GfK Poll in January found that 55 percent said it was too soon to tell if Obama was keeping his promise to change the way things work in Washington - the same as a year ago. — AP

Healthcare debate enters new phase

By Steve Holland

N

ow that the great US healthcare debate is finished, it’s starting all over again. Both President Barack Obama’s Democrats and Republicans see ways to gain a political advantage from a healthcare overhaul that passed narrowly in the House of Representatives. An effort to frame the debate is already under way to try to sway voters ahead of November congressional elections. Look for both sides to cast the legislation in a light that is most favorable to their arguments.

Democrats are focusing on the popular aspects of the bill like ending medical insurers’s ability to cut off coverage to people with pre-existing conditions - to make the case that all Americans stand to gain, not just those currently without insurance. “If you have health insurance, this reform just gave you more control by reining in the worst excesses and abuses of the insurance industry with some of the toughest consumer protections this country has ever known - so that you are actually getting what you pay for,” Obama said.

Republicans are zeroing in on the costs of the $938 billion legislation and raising questions about whether a new government entitlement can truly be paid for simply by increasing taxes on the wealthy. “His health-care bill is unhealthy for America,” said Mitt Romney, a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2012. “It raises taxes, slashes the more private side of Medicare, installs price controls, and puts a new federal bureaucracy in charge of healthcare.”

The debate will play out for the next seven months as Democrats seek to protect their strong majorities in the House and Senate while Republicans try to make a comeback after defeats in 2006

and 2008. There is no doubt that passage of healthcare, two months after it was on life support when a Republican won a pivotal Senate seat, gave Obama’s presidency a critical victory. Now his challenge is to sell a bill that has been unpopular with Americans who do not see what they gain out of it.

Indeed, Americans are even confused about it after a yearlong debate. A CBS News poll found only 29 percent of Americans believe the overhaul will make the system better, while 34 percent said it would make it worse and 28 percent said they were not sure.

“Unless the Democratic message machine is a whole lot better in the next eight months than it has been in the last eight months, they could fail to make the sale this November,” said Bill Galston, who was a domestic policy adviser to President Bill Clinton. “The biggest mistake the Democrats could make, and I don’t think they’re going to make it, is to believe that somehow this bill will speak for itself. It won’t,” he said.

Republicans see plenty of room to maneuver in their bid to overtake the Democrats’ large advantage in the House and Senate. All House seats are up for grabs in November and more than a third of Senate seats. Republican pollster Whit Ayres said recent polling he helped conduct showed independent voters that are often the key to elections were strongly opposed to the healthcare package. “In centrist or Republican-leaning districts, it’s going to be a firestorm,” he said. “There are some Democrats who cost themselves seats yesterday.”

But even big gains for Republicans in November could be cold comfort for those conservatives who saw the healthcare victory as a major defeat for their cause of limited government. — Reuters

NEWS

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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Bin Laden family pleads for refuge RIYADH: Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden’s son issued a plea yesterday for some country to accept members of his family seeking to leave Iran, where they have been held under house arrest since 2001. After two of Omar bin Laden’s siblings were released by Tehran to Syria in the past three months, he and his wife Zaina issued a statement pleading for a refuge for their other family members still in Iran, mentioning specifically Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. “The Iranian government has nowhere to send Omar’s other siblings,” they wrote. “We beg of any country to help us, either from the east or the western world. These are just as much innocent victims as anyone else,” they said. “We ask again for the UAE or Qatar to please help them.”

The letter received by AFP named 23 people still living in the Tehran compound where the family has been held since fleeing overland from Afghanistan in 2001 ahead of the September 11 AlQaeda attacks on the United States. The group includes Osama bin Laden’s sons, their wives, and children born both in

Afghanistan and later in Tehran. Zaina, Omar’s British wife, said that including others like in-laws the entire group numbers more than 30.

Two of the family have been allowed to leave Iran. On December 25, Bakr bin Laden, 16, Osama’s youngest son, flew to Damascus where he was reunited with his Syrian mother Najwa al-Ghanem, one of Osama bin Laden’s several wives. On March 17 Bakr’s sister Iman, who had been living in the Saudi embassy in Tehran for three months after sneaking away from the compound, also flew to Damascus. She was escorted by Ghanem, who had been allowed to travel to Tehran to meet her. The mother and daughter had not seen each other for nine years.

Omar bin Laden says that, despite accusations from other family members and some Al-Qaeda statements, the family has been treated well in Iran. In the guarded compound, “They were well treated, but had no communication with the outside world, other than a TV and occasional accompanied trips outside,” the statement said. He also says none of

them have Qaeda sympathies. “None of the siblings liked war or violence, all they ever wanted was a normal life with a normal family. They all wanted peace,” the statement says.

It listed four sons of Osama bin Laden - Osman, 27; Saad, 30; Mohammed, 25; and Hamza, 19 — and one daughter, Fatima, 24, as still in Tehran. Ghanem is the mother of all the children except Hamza. All are living in the Tehran compound with spouses and 12 children of their own, all under 11 years of age. The statement said that Iran is willing to release them all if there is a place for them to go. “Once we have any confirmation, the Iranians will put them on a flight. Najwa and her children will be together once again.” Asked last week whether the family could go live in Osama bin Laden’s native Saudi Arabia, Zaina told AFP Riyadh that family members were not expecting to go to Saudi Arabia. However, she said, Riyadh, which has extremely poor relations with Gulf rival Tehran, had been helpful in securing Iman’s exit. -— AFP

WASHINGTON: Federal prosecutors are considering filing weapons charges against former top officials of the Blackwater Worldwide private security company over allegations they illegally stockpiled automatic rifles at the company’s North Carolina headquarters, AP has learned. Senior Justice Department officials are reviewing a draft indictment against former president Gary Jackson, former Blackwater lawyer Andrew Howell, and a third man who used to work at the firm’s armory, people close to the case told the AP. A decision is not expected until at least next month.

Any indictment, even of former executives, would be unwelcome news at a company beleaguered since a 2007 shooting involving Blackwater guards in Baghdad left 17 people dead. Under a new name, Xe, the firm is trying to win Defense Department approval to train police in Afghanistan. The contract could be worth up to $1 billion but has drawn the ire of some in Congress. The potential charges stem from a raid conducted by federal agents in 2008 that seized 22 weapons, among them 17 AK-47s.

Multiple law enforcement officials familiar with the case said investigators are trying to determine if Blackwater obtained the official letterhead of a local sheriff to create a false justification for buying the guns. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation. Federal law prohibits private parties from buying fully automatic weapons regis-

tered after 1986, but does let law enforcement agencies have them.

Xe spokesman Mark Corallo said the company has “fully cooperated with this investigation and we will have no further comment.”

Jackson said during a brief phone conversation Monday that he wouldn’t be able to talk about federal charges and didn’t know anything about any that might be looming. “I haven’t heard a single, solitary word,” Jackson said before ending the phone call. Attempts to reach Howell for comment Monday were not successful.

In a 2008 interview with the AP, Jackson and other Blackwater executives said the company provided the local Camden County sheriff’s office a place to store weapons, calling the gesture a “professional courtesy.” “We gave them a big safe so that they can store their own guns,” Jackson said at the time.

Company officials, including both Jackson and Howell, downplayed the raid during the interview. Jackson said some of the 16 uniformed officers who came to serve the warrant were embarrassed by the event and said agents had to stop at Blackwater’s front gate to get passes to come onto the company’s sprawling campus in northeastern North Carolina. “As a hypothetical, one would think that, if you were going on a raid, you’d take your Kevlar and your weapon,” Howell said to laughter from other executives.

Blackwater, headquartered in Moyock, North Carolina, changed its name to Xe Services after its security guards were

accused of killing unarmed Iraqi civilians more than two years ago. Those charges were later thrown out of court after a judge found prosecutors mishandled evidence. In the 2008 North Carolina raid, agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives searched the armory and seized 22 guns from a vault dedicated to county authorities.

The company signed agreements in 2005 in which Blackwater financed the purchase of 34 automatic weapons for the Camden County sheriff’s office. Sheriff Tony Perry became the official owner of the weapons, but Blackwater was allowed to keep most of the guns at its armory. One of the 2005 agreements viewed later by the AP says the weapons will be kept under “lock and key” and doesn’t describe whether Blackwater would use the guns.

At the time of the raid, Blackwater said federal authorities knew about the weapons for years and said investigators got a complete look at the company’s cache in 2005 after two employees were fired. The company also said it was not unusual to store automatic weapons because the company is licensed to sell, provide training on or even manufacture firearms. The 2005 agreements give the sheriff’s office unlimited access to the weapons, including 17 Romanian AK-47s.

Perry said at the time that his department only used the AK-47s in shooting practice at Blackwater and that none of his 19 deputies were qualified to use them. — AP

SANAA: Yemeni former child-bride Nujoud Mohammed Ali participates in a demonstration to support proposed legislation banning the marriage of girls under 17 outside the parliament in Sanaa yesterday. — AFP

Controversy heightens over child marriage ban in Yemen Charges eyed for Blackwater

Dubai puts alcoholic dishes back on menu Continued from Page 1 it quoted him as saying. Awadhi added that alcohol should be handled like other “non-halal products” such as pork.

The newspaper said chefs in Dubai, where restaurants in hotels with a licence are allowed to serve alcohol, had approached the municipality asking for a review of the decision, which they said

threatened their industry. Islam, the main religion of the local population of the United Arab Emirates of which Dubai is a member, bans the production, sale and consumption of alcohol. — AFP

Medic hacks 8 kids to death Continued from Page 1 bloody sheets after the attack at Nanping City Experimental Elementary School in Fujian province. Police officers manned a cordon around the school.

Some comforted distraught parents.

China has witnessed a series of school attacks in recent years, most blamed on people with personal grudges or suffering from mental illness, leading to calls for improved security. The rampage in Nanping was finally stopped by passersby and school security guards and the attacker was arrested, the reports said.

The suspect was identified as Zheng Minsheng, 41.

Zheng worked as a senior nurse in a community clinic before resigning last June, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing Huang Zhongping, spokesman

for the Nanping city public security bureau. Zheng was known to have a history of mental illness, said a man surnamed Wu in the Nanping city government office, who would not give his full name as is common among Chinese officials. An unidentified former co-worker interviewed on Fujian television said Zheng was “difficult to get along with.”

Eight children were killed, and five were being treated at a hospital, Wu said.

Six died at the scene, which was smeared with blood from the sidewalk to the floor of an inner reception room. The victims’ ages were not immediately known, but Chinese elementary schools typically have students aged 6 to 12. The school was closed and students were sent home for the day. Counseling will be provided for students when classes resume today, Xinhua said.

Recent school attacks include a July 2007 assault in which a mentally ill man wielding a wrench wounded 18 children and a teacher in a kindergarten in southern China before fleeing on a motorcycle and trying to stab himself to death. In June the same year, a man slashed four students, wounding one seriously, in a high school in the southeastern city of Fuzhou, while elsewhere, police shot dead a suspected mentally ill man who threatened to blow up a school in southern China with dynamite. China’s worst such incident in March 2001 destroyed a schoolhouse and killed at least 42 people, most of them children. Officials blamed a mentally ill man who charged into the school in Jiangxi province with a bag full of dynamite. Parents disputed that, claiming their children had been forced to make fireworks at the school. — AP

Unapologetic Barrak seeks Hammad’s help Continued from Page 1 The sources said that so far, MPs Saleh Al-Mulla and Marzouk Al-Ghanem are highly expected to vote against the minister while MP Awadhi remained undecided. Most of the remaining five MPs were expected to abstain.

Following the meeting, members of the Popular Action Bloc held a meeting with Awadhi who declined to issue any statement following the 30-minute meeting. Some sources however said that Awadhi was now more inclined to support the vote against the minister, thus raising the number of MPs opposed to the minister to 23. The report could not be confirmed. The motion needs 25 votes to pass regardless of how many members vote with the minister or abstain. Passing the motion would mean an automatic dismissal of the minister, something that has never happened in Kuwait.

Barrak, spokesman of the Popular Action Bloc, called on Hammad and Ghanem Al-Azemi to vote against the

minister, but added that the bloc will not apologize to Hammad. Hammad had initially supported the grilling against Sheikh Ahmad but later opposed it saying that he was not consulted when MP Ali Al-Deqbasi filed the grilling request. The lawmaker said on Monday that he will not change his mind until members of the Popular Bloc make a public apology to him because he was ignored. Barrak however stressed yesterday that the bloc made no mistake to apologize for, adding that Hammad had been informed of the moves. He said the bloc will not issue an apology.

Based on these moves and information, it looks certain that the fate of the minister now depends on two to three MPs who could change the whole equation if they change their mind. A no-confidence motion filed against Sheikh Ahmad in Feb 2007 when he was health minister forced the government to resign on March 4, 2007, one day before the scheduled no-confidence vote was due to take place. The government resigned then

because it could not garner sufficient support to rescue the minister, and the same scenario may be repeated this time if the number of MPs supporting the vote increases to 25.

In another development, the Assembly’s Human Rights Committee yesterday decided to delay the approval of a draft law regulating the affairs of domestic helpers in Kuwait. Rapporteur of the committee MP Mohammad Hayef said the delay came because the bill needs major changes because in the current form, it favours recruitment agencies. If approved, it would be the first legislation in Kuwait to cover domestic helpers whose number has soared to top 600,000, the overwhelming majority of them Asians.

Also, five MPs submitted an amendment to the public funds protection law stipulating that sports bodies and clubs that receive assistance from the government should be brought under the supervision of the Audit Bureau which can investigate their financial situation.

SANAA: Controversy over a law banning child marriage in impoverished Yemen has recently intensified, with those for and against the law organising demonstrations outside the parliament. Hundreds of women rallied outside Yemen’s parliament yesterday in support of the law, which sets a minimum age for women at 17 and men at 18, two days after a larger protest by conservative women, who are opposed. The rally was organised by the General Union of Yemeni Women and other women’s organisations, in response to a Sunday protest by thousands of women against the bill that was called by Islamists and conservatives.

Among the protesters yesterday was Nojoud Mohammed Ali, who obtained a divorce two years ago after her father forced her to marry a man 20 years her senior when she was only eight. “I am here to ask parliament not to touch the law that sets the marriage age at 17

years,” she told reporters. A delegation of protesters met with parliament speaker Yehya Al-Raei and presented a petition with 1 million signatures in favour of the law. “We will maintain the article fixing the marriage age but cancel prison sentences and fines that were provided for those who do not comply,” Raei said.

Ramzia Al-Iriyani, the president of the Union of Yemeni Women, which has long defended the legislation, lamented “the political storm” surrounding it and called on MPs to maintain the law, during the meeting with the speaker. “We are not talking about early marriage (as a whole) in Yemen. It is that of children that we are addressing,” said Nafissa Al-Jaifi, a female doctor who heads the Supreme Council of Women and Children, a state organisation that has strongly supported the law. She said that in the course of her work she had noticed that child marriages “increase the proportion of maternal mor-

tality at birth,” lead to the interruption of the brides’ studies and cause a high rate of illiteracy among them.

The law was passed last year, but some MPs have submitted requests for its review. That has effectively blocked its implementation. Some Muslims believe the minimum age of marriage need not be fixed since Islam did not do so. “Fixing the age of marriage is an act that contradicts the precepts of Islam,” said Sheikh Abdul Majid Zindani, head of the association of Yemeni clerics, who is also identified as a “global terrorist” by the United States for suspected links to Al-Qaeda. The marriage of young girls is widespread in Yemen, an impoverished country with a strong tribal structure.

The death of a 12-year-old girl in childbirth in September illustrated the case of the country’s “brides of death”, many of whom are married off even before puberty —- AFP

Poet attains stardom after bashing clerics Continued from Page 1 from the competition, which draws masters of bedouin dialect poetry, known as Nabati, which is highly appreciated by Gulf Arabs.

But Hilal has drawn the wrath of Islamist conservatives in her country after criticising its strict segregation of the sexes and blasting fatwas that reject an easing to allow women to take on jobs that are currently for men only. The Saudi mother’s loud opinions have resulted in death threats on Islamist websites like Ana Al-Muslim, an online forum known for posting messages from AlQaeda, the Saudi daily Al-Watan said. A participant in the forum even asked for her address, in an apparent threat to kill her. “Of course, my husband, my family and I are afraid,” she told AFP, adding that she has not been contacted directly with threats.

Hilal, who has not been to university, said that through her poems, she wants to “fight extremism, which has become a worrying phenomenon”. “A few years ago, society was more open. Now, things have become heav-

ier. Some men do not even shake hands with female family members as they did in the past,” she said. In her poem entitled “The Chaos of Fatwas,” which she has recited during the popular televised competition, she boldly charged that the “evil comes from those fatwas”. She compared their authors to “monsters wearing belts,” an apparent reference to explosive belts worn by suicide bombers.

The contest’s panel praised Hilal’s courage for expressing her opinion “honestly and powerfully,” giving her the highest score of last Wednesday’s round at 47 out of 50. Videos of Hilal’s recital of the poem are available on the Internet. The poem was seen as hitting out at Saudi cleric Abdul Rahman Al-Barrak, who issued a fatwa last month calling for those promoting a mixing of the sexes in education and at the workplace to be put to death. Hilal said, however, that she was not referring to Barrak’s fatwa in particular, but said that she was “against the idea of killing a human being because of his beliefs.”

She considers the mixing of men and

women at work “a necessity for daily life”.

“We are always told: haram,” or prohibited, she lamented. “This dangerous extremism is no longer limited to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, but has spread to other countries like Egypt, Jordan and Syria.” Radical Saudi clerics were infuriated when the reform-minded King Abdullah inaugurated in September the kingdom’s first mixed-gender university, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, on the Red Sea coast. “Saudi Arabia has made great strides over the past five years” to improve women’s status, Hilal said, praising the “courage” of the Saudi monarch.

In an attempt to prove his commitment to improving the status of women, the king appointed Norah Al-Fayez deputy minister of education for women’s education in 2009, the first appointment of a woman to a ministerial post. Women in Saudi Arabia must cover from head to toe in public. They are also forbidden to drive and cannot travel without a male guardian, while segregation rules severely restrict work opportunities for women. — AFP

Britain kicks out Israeli diplomat Continued from Page 1 victims of identity theft”. The passports had been copied “when handed over for inspection to individuals linked to Israel, either in Israel or in other countries”, he said. He said one victim told investigators that “to go to bed a citizen and wake up as a wanted terrorist is shocking”. Britain has demanded a formal assurance from Israel that it would never again misuse British passports and warned British citizens that their identity details may be vulnerable if they visit Israel.

“Given that this was a very sophisticated operation in which high-quality forgeries were made, the government judges it is highly likely that the forgeries were made by a state intelligence service,” Miliband said. “Taking this together with other inquiries and the link to Israel established by SOCA, we have concluded that there are compelling reasons to believe that Israel was responsible for the misuse of the British passports.”

“The fact that this was done by a country which is a friend, with significant diplomatic, cultural, business and personal ties to the UK, only adds insult to injury. No country or government could

stand by in such a situation,” Miliband said, insisting that while cooperation would continue, Britain must “make clear its deep unhappiness at what has happened”.

Miliband did not specify the seniority or role of the expelled diplomat, and rebuffed suggestions that the ambassador should have been thrown out. “I do not believe that would have been the right thing to do,” he said. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s spokesman said the Israeli diplomat had technically been “asked to withdraw” from Britain, adding that he had been given two weeks to leave.

Miliband, who said he discussed the case Monday with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, confirmed that Britain had chosen which diplomat would be expelled and said “it was not a random” choice. But British and Israeli officials declined to confirm reports that the diplomat was Mossad’s London station chief. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor declined to comment on whether Israel would take retaliatory action for the expulsion.

Hamas hailed the expulsion and said it hoped Israeli leaders would eventually be brought to trial over the case. France and

Ireland are also carrying out similar inquiries into the forgery of French and Irish documents. Interpol has unveiled a wanted list of 27 people in connection with the slaying. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied any involvement in Mabhouh’s death. Israeli Ambassador to London Ron Prosor said he was disappointed by the British decision. “It is our clear intention to strengthen the firm foundation of our relationship which is both vital and beneficiary to both our countries,” he told reporters. Relations between Britain and Israel have been strained recently by a number of issues, including the threat of arrest for alleged war crimes faced by senior Israeli officials visiting Britain.

The expulsion of an Israeli diplomat from London is the first since 1988, when attache Arie Regev was removed for “activities incompatible with diplomatic duties” - a euphemism for espionage.

Britain also barred a second Israeli, Jacob Barad, from returning to Britain after his departure in 1987. Both men were suspected of coordinating Mossad activity in the UK. At the time, Shimon Peres - now Israel’s president - promised Britain it would never again forge British documents. — Agencies

Domestic transfer window extended C o n t i n u e d f ro m Pa g e 1 Meanwhile, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor has issued a decree to exclude an additional six commercial activities from the work permit ban that has been imposed on the public sector, which would increase the total exempted categories to 26. According to the new decision, work permits to recruit

workers can now be issued for commercial activities that are operational at local malls, educational institutes certified by the Ministr y of Education, media offices, cinemas, amusement parks and central markets with a minimum area of 1,000 sq m. Industrial professions licensed by the Industrial Public Authority (IPA) also fall under this category that was created so that

these commercial activities could be committed to their commercial expansion plans, which are encouraged by the ministry.

Also, the ministry has contacted the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to discuss the possibility of classifying all commercial licenses in preparation for the establishment of a labor authority as stipulated by the new labor law.

SPORTS

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

15

Both Klitschko brothers want to fight Haye KIEV: Both Klitschko brothers want to fight WBA heavyweight champion David Haye. “The biggest rival — or obstacle — in this fight is my brother,” Vitali Klitschko said of Wladimir. “We cannot decide who will fight Haye. I think we will have to flip a coin.”

Vitali said the brothers are “very angry” with Haye after the British fighter showed up at a news conference last year wearing a T-shirt depicting himself standing in a ring over the Ukrainian brothers’ bodies, holding their dismembered heads in the air.

“Haye is a man who does not choose his words,” Vitali said. “He has always used bizarre ways to express his thoughts, whatever fight he performs in ... creating ‘good’ publicity.”

Haye, also a former world cruiserweight champion, will make the first defense of the WBA title against John Ruiz in Manchester, England, on April 3.

He won the heavyweight crown from Russia’s Nikolai Valuev in November in Germany. Haye says his goal is to unify the titles by beating the Klitschko brothers, who hold the WBC, IBF and WBO

belts between them.

Klitschko will defend his WBC heavyweight title against Polish-born fighter Albert Sosnowski on May 29 in Germany. Wladimir retained his WBO and IBF heavyweight belt by knocking out against Eddie Chambers last Saturday. Vitali said his brother’s next opponent is expected to be former Olympic champion Alexander Povetkin of Russia.

Meanwhile, Harry Carpenter, a former BBC boxing announcer who covered fights for more than 40 years and became

known for his verbal jousts with British heavyweight Frank Bruno, has died. He was 84.

Carpenter’s family said Monday he died Saturday at King’s College Hospital in London. The cause of death was not released.

Carpenter covered his first fight for the BBC in 1949 and retired in 1994.

During that span, he broadcast all the major bouts, including Muhammad Ali’s epic “Rumble in the Jungle” and “Thrilla in Manila.”

Director of BBC Sport Barbara Slater

described Carpenter as “one of the standout voices of sports broadcasting.”

Boxing promoter Frank Maloney, who managed former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, called Carpenter “the voice of boxing.”

Carpenter was most closely identified with Bruno, whose catchphrase “Know what I mean, ‘arry?” featured in their post-fight interviews. The expression became part of the nation’s sporting lexicon.

Carpenter appeared to momentarily lose his neutral stance during Bruno’s

world title fight against Mike Tyson in Las Vegas in 1989. After Bruno rocked Tyson with a left hook in the first round, Carpenter said, “Go on! Get in there, Frank!”

Tyson recovered and went on to stop Bruno in the fifth round. Bruno captured the WBC title in 1995 but was stopped by Tyson a year later in his first defense. It was Bruno’s last fight.

Carpenter briefly came out of retirement for Lewis’ world title defense against Hasim Rahman in South Africa in 2001. —AP

NHL results/standings NHL results and standings on Monday.

Detroit 3, Pittsburgh 1; Ottawa 2, Montreal 0; Los Angeles 4, Colorado 3. (OT) (OT indicates overtime victory) Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L OTL GF GA PTS Pittsburgh 42 25 6 225 208 90 New Jersey 42 25 4 189 169 88 Philadelphia 37 30 5 212 199 79 NY Rangers 31 32 9 186 197 71 NY Islanders 29 33 10 189 222 68 Buffalo Ottawa Montreal Boston Toronto

Northeast Division 39 22 10 200 38 30 5 196 36 30 7 196 32 27 12 176 26 34 12 192

180 212 200 181 238

88 81 79 76 64

Washington Atlanta Florida Carolina Tampa Bay

Southeast Division 48 14 10 283 32 29 11 218 29 31 11 186 30 34 8 201 28 32 12 188

203 230 209 226 225

106 75 69 68 68

Chicago Nashville Detroit St. Louis Columbus

Western Conference Central Division 45 19 7 234 42 26 5 206 36 23 13 196 34 29 9 196 29 31 12 187

179 203 193 199 229

97 89 85 77 70

Vancouver Colorado Calgary Minnesota Edmonton

Northwest Division 44 24 4 236 40 25 7 216 36 27 9 184 35 31 6 198 23 42 7 184

187 194 181 211 248

92 87 81 76 53

Pacific Division Phoenix 46 22 5 201 179 97 San Jose 43 19 10 232 192 96 Los Angeles 42 24 5 211 188 89 Anaheim 34 29 8 203 217 76 Dallas 31 27 14 208 230 76 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L).

MONTREAL: Jaroslav Halak No.41 of the Montreal Canadiens stops the puck in front of Josh Gorges No.26 of the Montreal Canadiens during the NHL game against the Ottawa Senators. —AFP

Red Wings soar over Penguins DETROIT: Henrik Zetterberg scored two goals and had an assist to help lift the Detroit Red Wings to a 3-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night.

Valtteri Filppula scored in the final minute of the first period and Jimmy Howard finished with 26 saves for the surging Red Wings.

Pascal Dupuis pulled Pittsburgh within a goal late in the second period and Marc-

Andre Fleury stopped 30 shots.

A lot more was at stake the last time the past two NHL champions met in Joe Louis Arena. The Penguins hoisted the Stanley Cup on June 12, 2009 after Game 7 to deny Detroit’s quest to repeat.

This time the Red Wings padded their lead for the final spot in the Western Conference playoffs with their fifth win in six games.

Kings 4, Avalanche 3 At Los Angeles, Drew Doughty scored on a fierce slap shot with 1:20 left in overtime as the Kings recovered from TJ Galiardi’s dramatic equalizing goal for a 43 victory over Colorado.

Ryan Smyth scored his second goal with 10:05 left in regulation for the Kings, but Galiardi tied it on a desperate rebound goal with 6.6 seconds to play.

Los Angeles rallied for its second straight victory on a power-play goal

by Doughty, their rising star defenseman.

Wayne Simmonds also scored and Jonathan Quick made 18 saves as Los Angeles moved into a share of fifth place with Nashville in the Western Conference at 87 points apiece — two more than seventh-place Colorado.

Senators 2, Canadiens 0 At Montreal, Brian Elliott made 29 saves for his fourth shutout, while Erik Karlsson had a goal and an assist as Ottawa ended a five-game losing streak with a 2-0 win over the Canadiens.

Ottawa won for just the second time since the Olympic break.

The Senators also lost five in a row from Jan. 5-12 before putting together a

Sports dignitaries pay tribute to Georgian luger BAKURIANI: The head of the Vancouver Olympics, an Olympic gold medalist and other dignitaries attended a ceremony yesterday at the grave of the Georgian luger killed during a practice run at last month’s Winter Games.

Vancouver organizing committee president John Furlong, luge gold medalist Felix Loch, International Luge Federation president Josef Fendt and other athletes and officials came to the hometown of Nodar Kumaritashvili, who died hours before the opening of the games on Feb. 12.

Yesterday’s ceremony was held 40 days after Kumaritashvili’s death, in line with the rites of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

An Orthodox priest read a prayer and local men sang traditional Georgian chants over Kumaritashvili’s grave in the cemetery of a tiny church in this mountain village, Georgia’s top winter sports resort.

The athlete’s father, David Kumaritashvili, said in a speech at the ceremony that his son’s death shouldn’t discourage young men from practicing luge. “The tragic death of my son mustn’t stop the development of that sport,” he said.

Georgian Olympic Committee chief Georgy Natsvlishvili said a luge track will be built in Bakuriani in the luger’s memory.

The International Olympic Committee has said it will help fund the track’s construction in

the village that was formerly a winter sports training center for Soviet athletes. Bakuriani was part of the short-lived bid from the neighboring town of Borjomi for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Before traveling to Georgia, Furlong told a news conference in Vancouver on Sunday that he considered it his obligation to meet with the athlete’s family “This obviously was a very major thing that happened here and it’s important for us to be there to the end,” he said.

Kumaritashvili died when he lost control of his sled at nearly 145 kph (90 mph), flew off the course and slammed into a trackside steel pole. An investigation by the luge federation concluded that Kumaritashvili was late in coming out of the next-to-last turn and failed to compensate.

But the luger’s family has blamed his death on the course’s design.

The Kumaritashvilis decorated a room at their house in the athlete’s memory, placing his sports uniform on his bed next to the flag of Georgia.

The athlete was a hero for his hometown, widely admired for his sports achievements and also high spirits and generosity.

A 4-year old neighbor, Dmitry Laliyev, yesterday proudly carried a toy rifle which he had asked the luger to bring as a present from Canada. The athlete’s parents found the toy in his luggage after his death. —AP

club-record 11-game winning streak on their way to winning 13 of 15 prior to the break.

Peter Regin scored his first goal in 10 games midway through the first and Karlsson added a power-play goal in the third for Ottawa, which moved into sole possession of fifth place in the Eastern Conference, two ahead of Montreal and Philadelphia. —AP

Hoy aims for triple at track cycling worlds

Luger Nodar Kumaritashvili seen in this file photo died during the recent Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.

COPENHAGEN: British cyclist Chris Hoy has mixed feelings about the Danish velodrome where he will seek to win three titles this week at the track world championships.

It was on the Ballerup Velodrome that Hoy won his first world championship title in 2002. It was also in Copenhagen that the Olympic champion crashed in a World Cup race and injured his hip about a year ago, forcing him to sit out the 2009 world championships.

“When you try and place a venue, you always remember when you’ve been there in the past,” Hoy said. “When I turned up last time I had a flashback to 2002 when I won world titles for the first time, so I’ve got positive things to remember as well as the crash.”

The 34-year-old Scotsman, who already has nine world titles, is aiming to repeat his performance from the Beijing Olympics when he won the individual sprint, keirin and team sprint gold medals.

Hoy said the defending champion French are “the ones to beat” in the team sprint at the worlds, which begin Wednesday.

In the women’s events, Kristina Vogel of Germany is making an extraordinary

comeback after being hit by a van while training last year. She suffered multiple fractures and spent two days in an induced coma.

The 19-year-old Vogel will compete in the sprint in Denmark, where she will be up against British Olympic champion Victoria Pendleton and others.

The Brits — Pendleton, Lizzie Armitstead, Wendy Houvenaghel and Joanna Rowsell — are the favorites to win the women’s pursuit title after breaking the world record last year.

Australia topped the medals table at last year’s world championships in Poland with 10, followed

by Britain with nine and France with six.

The worlds include time trial, keirin, individual pursuit, team pursuit, points race, scratchrace, sprint, team sprint, omnium and, for men only, madison.

The international cycling federation awards a gold medal and a white jersey with rainbow bands to the winner, and silver and bronze medals to others on the podium. World champions wear their rainbow jersey until the following year’s championships. “It would be great to be world champion again and get that jersey on my back,” Hoy said. —AP

SPORTS

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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Rogge: Youth Olympic Games can stop kids leaving sport SINGAPORE: The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) can provide a magnet to attract back youth who turn their back on sports when they reach adolescence, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge told Reuters yesterday.

Rogge was visiting Singapore to assess preparations ahead of the inaugural Aug. 14-26 Youth Olympics, a new IOC event for 14-18-year-olds featuring all the events from the regular Olympic Games.

The Belgian believes the YOG, his

idea which was ratified at an IOC conference in 2007, needs to be “fun” to help retain a demographic who traditionally turn away from sports.

“I would think certainly the event in time will be a magnet for young people who want to participate in something like that,” a relaxed Rogge told Reuters after holding a question and answer session with youth Olympic ambassadors.

“We see the attraction very much and the magnet effect of the traditional games ... I think too a certain extent

for the Youth Olympic Games we will have the same affect.”

The 67-year-old, who competed in the yachting event in three consecutive Olympic Games from 1968, believed the emphasis of enjoying the event was key for the YOG rather than following the full Olympics model.

“It must be fun, it cannot be too serious, there should not be a gravity that you have at the traditional games that’s for later. We want it (the YOG) to be fun, to be attractive.

“They (the athletes) are between 15 and 18 and that is the age to celebrate not necessarily the age to achieve.

“For me the measurement of success lies in the happiness of the athlete if the athletes are happy then for me the experience is a success.”

However, Rogge, an orthopaedic surgeon by profession, said the athletes would be expected to go through the serious matter of doping testing during the YOG with more than 1,000 of the expected 3,500 competitors

being tested.

Rogge, president since 2001, also thought the YOG would need time to perfect its model and find its feet in an already crowded sporting calendar.

“You have to be reasonable, it took 116 years since 1894 to have the organisational perfection, the audience and the crowd for the traditional Olympic Games, we will not need 116 years, maybe one or two editions.”

Rogge said the model of using existing venues for the Youth Olympics helped Singapore organis-

ers survive the global economic downturn with only slight budget effects and could also prove more attractive to other cities wanting to host the event.

“The economic crisis has led to certain adaptations to the budget but never has this slow(ed) down the preparations.”

Rogge added he was not concerned the event would be affected by its scheduling, coming only a month after the soccer World Cup finals in South Africa.

“The World Cup will not have any negative affect on these Games. The World Cup you cannot compare with the Youth Olympic Games, but the Youth Olympic Games will not suffer because of the World Cup.” Rogge said he would meet Singaporean officials today before flying to Hong Kong for the rugby sevens tournament later in the week to discuss the sport with the International Rugby Board (IRB) ahead of its implementation into the 2016 Games. —Reuters

Champion Button cautious about his F1 title defence

Jenson Button in action in this file photo.

Practice partners praise Woods WINDERMERE: Tiger Woods is in vintage form, driving the ball further than ever and fully capable of winning next month’s US Masters, according to two practice partners.

Woods announced last week he would make his comeback at the Masters from April 8-11 after an indefinite break from golf to try to save his marriage following revelations of repeated infidelities.

The world number one practiced on Monday at Augusta National Golf Club, the site of next month’s Masters, according to the Golf Channel and ESPN. American John Cook, who has 11 PGA Tour wins, said he had played rounds with Woods on Thursday and Friday and hit balls with him on Sunday.

Asked, after play at the Tavistock Cup at Isleworth where he would place Woods in the Masters on the basis of his form, Cook told reporters: “From what I’ve seen of the last three days of ball striking, first.

“I don’t see anyone that hits the ball like he does. We all know that that’s not the whole battle, there are a lot of other issues there for him, but as far

as ball-striking goes, if he takes that up there, it’s vintage,” he added.

“Vintage, I’d be hard pressed to see anyone beat him, that being said, you have to go up to the first green and mark your ball and you have to finish out and sign your name at the end of the day, that’s a whole different deal.

“I’d be hard pressed to see anyone beat him but it will be his first rounds of golf for five months.”

Arjun Atwal, who said he had played almost every day last week with Woods, said he was driving the ball even further than he had in his last competitive appearance in November.

“He is hitting it just fine-he is hitting it longer than before, there is no doubt and he feels like he is not totally ready but I have seen him win with what he has right now, plenty of times,” Atwal told reporters.

“I think he is ready but you know him, until he has every aspect right he isn’t going to go out there.” Both Cook and Atwal said that Woods was in a relaxed mood on the course, in contrast to the tense figure who appeared in television inter-

views on Sunday.

“He’s very mellow now, he’s very chilled out, obviously whatever is going on at home I don’t know, I don’t even ask him, when he is out with us you can see that he is more at peace right now. I think he is doing all the right things,” said Atwal.

Atwal, who said he could see Woods being in the top five at the Masters and winning if he putted well, said there was no indication of any rustiness in Woods’s game.

“Nothing, nothing at all...he’s killing it, he’s absolutely killing it,” he said. “He thinks he isn’t putting very well but we see for us mere mortals, it seems okay.”

Britain’s Ian Poulter, though, said it was pointless guessing what Woods could or could not do at Augusta. “We are all speculating, I just hate this nonsense talk of speculation, we don’t know how he is going to play, I just hate all the chit-chat, I’m bored of it,” Poulter said.

“It’s going to be difficult for him but he’s Tiger, he’s the best player in the world, he has a win ratio of 50-50, so I would expect him to go out there and have a mega-week.” —Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO: In a file picture taken on October 8, 2009 US golfer Tiger Woods reacts to his shot out of a bunker. —AFP

MELBOURNE: Formula One world champion Jenson Button has set his sights on the successful defence of his title, but remains less certain about his path back to the winner’s podium after a disappointing season opener.

Despite feeling “completely at home” with McLaren and fellow world champion Lewis Hamilton, the British driver said his new team would still be playing catch-up at the Australian Grand Prix this weekend.

“I think Red Bulls are very strong, I think the Ferraris are very strong, and then it’s probably us,” Button, champion with Brawn GP, now Mercedes, told Reuters in a track-side interview at the Albert Park street circuit yesterday.

“But I’m hoping with the circuit change and a few little updates we’ll be closer to them and maybe challenging them here.”

Button started eighth and finished seventh in a frustrating race in the season opener in Bahrain on March 14, reeling in Red Bull’s Mark Webber but ultimately being shut out by Mercedes’ seven times world champion Michael Schumacher who finished sixth.

Team mate and 2008 champion Hamilton finished third behind a Ferrari onetwo after Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel suffered an engine problem to drop from first to fourth.

“The first race for us was difficult. I don’t think the car suited Bahrain too well,” said Button. “I think it will suit this circuit better. It’s a lower down force circuit so we have to wait and see.

“A podium would be fantastic here (in Melbourne). I think that has to be the aim.

I think it’s a possibility and you’ve got to set your sights pretty high.”

Despite concerns over McLaren’s pace in BahrainButton has taken some comfort in his return to Albert Park, where he won from pole last year on the way to six victories in seven starts that ultimately led to the title.

“It’s great coming back here, because this is all where it started last season.

This is where my first pole of the season was and my first win.

“So it was a very emotional moment last year and hopefully we can have something similar this year. “It’s going to be a very competitive season, but the aim has to be-to be world champion.

“I need to be in a position that I have a car that can be competitive enough to fight for race wins, and then it’s more or less down to (me).”

Button’s bid for a podium finish this year in Melbourne will start in daylight and end in twilight, something the Briton handled with aplomb last year despite complaints from drivers and his own personal misgivings about safety.

“It sounds petty, but it’s not. It can be dangerous if you’ve got the sun in your eyes and you can’t see where you’re going.” “But I’d rather be racing in the day, even a twilight race for me, I’d rather that than the night-time.

“Out in front’s probably not such a bad place to be (as the sun sets), so hopefully we can put ourselves in the same place and won’t have to worry.”—Reuters

INDIAN WELLS: Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia returns a shot to Andy Roddick of the US in this file photo, —AFP

Ljubicic finds winning formula LOS ANGELES: Ivan Ljubicic has suffered his fair share of misfortune on tennis courts around the world but the big-serving Croat could not be any happier with his new-found relaxation and winning form.

Just two days after celebrating his 31st birthday, the ATP Tour veteran finally clinched his first Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells and on Monday he was rewarded for that success by returning to the world’s top 15.

While Ljubicic takes great care to remind anyone who will listen that one triumphant tournament does not necessarily mean another will follow, he believes he is playing the best tennis of his career.

“The fact that I won here (at Indian Wells) doesn’t make me the number three or the number five player in the world,” the former world number three told reporters.

“I just need to be realistic and try to consolidate these results with some other solid results, work on my body and make sure I stay fit and I can compete.

“I know how difficult it is to beat me, to

beat myself, and I’m gonna give a hard time to everybody who is gonna be on the other side of the net.

“That’s the only thing I can promise at the moment,” Ljubicic said after overpowering American Andy Roddick 7-6 7-6 in Sunday’s final. “I think I’m playing better tennis now than in 2006 when I was number three in the world. I’m ready to win big ones and I’m ready to beat anybody.”

Victory over Roddick in the final of the elite ATP Masters 1000 event lifted Ljubicic from 26th to 13th in the rankings on Monday.

The articulate Croat had already paved the way for that significant climb by upsetting second seed Novak Djokovic and reigning champion Rafa Nadal earlier in the tournament.

Above all, though, Ljubicic is especially happy with relaxed way in which he now approaches his matches. “For me, it’s much easier than it was in 2007,” the 6ft 4in (1.93m) Croat said. “That was a really difficult year for me mentally. It was very,

very hard.”

Now a winner of 10 ATP titles, Ljubicic rose to a career-high third in the rankings in 2006 when he beat virtually everyone in the game with the exception of world number one Roger Federer.

However, he lost ground over the next two years and suffered a major setback in 2008 when was sidelined for two months because of a recurring back injury.

“I changed my fitness coach last year in September, and that gave me new motivation to work hard again with different workouts,” Ljubicic said. “Now I feel really motivated with nothing to prove to anybody.

“I’m playing for myself again as I was doing at beginning of my career. I’m enjoying every good result and it’s more relaxing for me now than it was three years ago.

“I’m not gonna react on expectations now from media, from public, from people, from anybody. I know what I can do. One thing is sure: I’m not gonna play with a lot of pressure.” —Reuters

INDIAN WELLS: Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark follows through on a backhand in this file photo. —AFP

No change in outlook for high-flying Caroline LOS ANGELES: Caroline Wozniacki has stuck with the same clear-cut expectations for this year, despite having surprised herself with an extraordinary run of success last year.

The Danish teenager climbed to a career-high second in the WTA rankings on Monday, after losing the Indian Wells final the day before, but her goals for 2010 are identical to those for 2009. “My outlook is no different,” Wozniacki, 19, told Reuters. “Every time I step on the court I want to win. I hate losing. It doesn’t matter who I’m playing against.

“I just have to believe that I can do it and I know that if I keep working hard, the results will come. I do my best to win and to become a better player. That’s

my only expectation.”

The Dane, a six-times winner on the WTA circuit who is known for her tenacity and elegant groundstrokes, was crushed 6-2 6-4 by Serbian Jelena Jankovic in Sunday’s final, a defeat that left her with a bitter after-taste.

Overall, though, Wozniacki was delighted with her form at an elite tournament in the California desert where she reached the final as the second seed.

“I’ve been playing some good tennis,” she said in an interview arranged by the WTA Sony Ericsson Tour. “Obviously it’s very disappointing when you lose, but I will be okay. I had 10 great days and I just need a bit more time.

“My season so far has been pretty good and hopefully I can just continue playing well and developing.”

Last year was a breakthrough season for the fashion-conscious Dane as she won three WTA titles and reached her first grand slam final.

Asked whether she was taken aback by the level of success she had achieved so swiftly, Wozniacki replied: “Yes and no.

I’ve been working hard for a long time and I felt I was playing well.

“It’s always good when the results come but I didn’t expect being in a grand slam final already. “That was a great thing for me.”

Wozniacki, who wears tennis dresses designed by Stella McCartney, became the first

Dane to make a grand slam final since 1955 before losing to former world number one Kim Clijsters of Belgium at the US Open.

She won WTA titles at Ponte Vedra Beach, Eastbourne and New Haven and reached four other finals before ending the year a career-high fourth in the rankings.

Fast forward to this week, Wozniacki is headed by only American Serena Williams in her quest to become world number one. “I’m hungry to get to that top spot,” she said.

“That’s what everyone else dreams about and hopefully it will happen for me one day. I just keep looking forward but I am closer to number one.” —Reuters

17

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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Afghanistan aim to make its mark in cricket ISLAMABAD: They picked up the game in refugee camps and dusty back alleys in a war-torn homeland, so Nowroz Mangal and his Afghan teammates have a unique perspective about what is at stake when they make their debut among cricket’s elite at the Twenty20 World Cup. For skipper Mangal, who learned cricket as a refugee in the Pakistan province of Peshawar before moving back to Afghanistan, the win-loss ledger won’t be the most important measure of his team’s performances in a group containing two of the game’s heavyweights — India and South Africa — in the Caribbean.

“We have started playing cricket after watching cricketers from South Africa and India on television and now it’s like a dream come true that we will be competing against them,” Mangal told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from the team’s training camp at Pakistan’s National Cricket Academy in Lahore.

Being in the competition is the most important thing. There is only one turf wicket in Afghanistan, in Kabul, which means the national team often has to have training camps abroad.

The squad has grown together in recent qualifying tournaments, advancing through the lower levels before missing out by a single win on earning a place at the 2011 World Cup — in the traditional 50-over, one-day format — on the sub continent.

The Afghan team made amends for that by winning the qualifying tournament for the Twenty20 World Cup, beating Ireland — the most powerful of the so-called Associate, or non-test status, countries — in the final last month in the United Arab Emirates.

“Expectations back home are very high now and our people are anxiously waiting to see us live on television,” Mangal said.

Afghanistan opens its T20 World Cup against India on May 1 at St. Lucia, then plays South Africa at Barbados on May 5.

Only two teams from each of the four three-team groups advance to a knockout round, and Mangal knows his team is the rank outsider.

“India and South Africa are the two countries where the base of Twenty20 cricket is very strong,” Mangal said.

“They have so many talented players among their ranks that we know it won’t be easy for us.” But the Afghanis are buoyed by the nature of T20, the newest and most condensed version of cricket, which encourages risky, big hitting from the start and is usually over in three hours.

“You never know what happens on the match day because we have to bat and bowl

LAHORE: In this image taken on Monday, March 22, 2010, members of the Afghanistan cricket team jog during their training session in Lahore, Pakistan. — AP just 20 overs,” Mangal said. Haned Hasan and Shahpur Zadran are the two fast bowlers the Afghan captain is banking on for early breakthroughs. Mohammad Nabi and Karim Sadiq are the two hard-hitting batsmen whom Mangal believes have the capacity to give his team a glimmer of hope.

Afghanistan’s ascent in world cricket has been rapid since gaining affiliate membership of the International Cricket Council in 2001. As recently as two years ago, Afghanistan was playing in the ICC World Cricket League Division 5. While he was living in Peshawar, Mangal had harbored ambitions to appear in the trials for Pakistan’s national team but foreign expats were not allowed. In 2001 he played for Khost in the Afghanistan domestic cricket competition and scored a century.

He was then spotted by the then Afghanistan captain Allah Dad Noori and

has been a part of the national team since.

At least three of his teammates in the current squad — Daulat Ahmed Zai, Zadran and Asghar Tanakzai — played cricket while they lived in the Afghan refugee camps in the surroundings of Peshawar.

Now they’re back in Pakistan, practicing at the state-of-the-art academy where coach Kabir Khan has been most impressed with the improvement in fielding. “That’s where we are trying to improve and are concentrating hard in our training sessions here in Pakistan,” said Kabir, who played four test matches and 10 limited-overs internationals for Pakistan.

“When there is only one turf wicket in whole Afghanistan you can well imagine what the facilities are like.” The Asian Cricket Council appointed Kabir as Afghanistan coach two years ago because of his international experience and the fact he could communicate with the players in

local language — Pushto and Persian.

Kabir’s father migrated to Pakistan in the 1960s and became a citizen, but Kabir still has uncles living in Afghanistan.

Organizing training camps abroad is an expensive exercise, but Kabir said that with president Hamid Karzai now giving the Afghan Cricket Board financial support the day is not far when the team will excel more in international tournaments.

In the meantime, training abroad helps strengthen bonds within the team. Kabir said the squad members come from places such as Khost, Logar, Jalalabad, Kunduz and Panjsher where cricket is played on concrete pitches in the middle of uneven soccer fields.

But the inadequate facilities don’t stop Afghans from playing cricket, with an estimated 150 cricket clubs scattered across the country in cities such as Jalalabad, where two turf pitches have recently been

laid, and Kabul. Cricket is Mangal’s passion and now the Afghan Cricket Board, with support from some local banks and businesses, is helping it be his profession.

The captain earns a monthly salary of $400, atop the payscale for Aghani cricketers. Players in the two other categories — B and C — are paid $300 and $250 respectively. Mangal said the salary compared well with the average Afghan wage of about $60-$100 a month, but was meager compared with other international cricketers.

The captains of the Australian and Indian national teams can earn more than $1 million in salaries and endorsements.

But Mangal realizes there is only so much to go around at the moment. The Asian Cricket Council gives development funds to Afghanistan, while the International Cricket Council covers the expenses for tournaments like the T20 World Cup.

Afridi to lead Pakistan in World Twenty20

England set to wrap up B’desh Test series

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s Jahurul Islam (left) plays a shot as England’s captain Alastair Cook (center) attempts to stop the ball as Cook’s teammate Ian Bell (right) looks on during the fourth day of their second Test cricket match.—AP

Scoreboard DHAKA Scoreboard at the close on the fourth day of the second Test between Bangladesh and England at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka yesterday.

Bangladesh first innings 419 (T. Iqbal 85, Mahmudullah 59, N. Islam 59 not out, S. Islam 53; G Swann 4-114) England first innings (overnight 440-8) A. Cook c Kayes b Razzak 21 J. Trott b Shakib 64 K. Pietersen c Kayes b Shakib 45 P. Collingwood lbw b Rubel 0 I. Bell c Jahirul b Shakib 138 M. Prior b Shakib 62 T. Bresnan st Rahim b Razzak 91 G. Swann run out 6 S. Broad lbw b Mahmudullah 3 J. Tredwell st Rahim b Razzak 37 S. Finn not out 0 Extras (b-9 lb-12 w-1 n-7) 29 Total (all out; 173.3 overs) 496 Fall of wicket: 1-29 2-105 3-107 4-174 5-272 6415 7-426 8-434 9-481 Bowling: Shafiul 14-3-45-0 (w-1), Razzak 39.3-

8-132-3, Shakib 66-27-124-4, Mahmudullah 204-53-1, Rubel 26-4-88-1 (nb-7), Naeem 7-0-29-0, Tamim 1-0-4-0 Bangladesh second innings T. Iqbal c Broad b Swann 52 I. Kayes b Broad 4 Z. Siddique c & b Tredwell 34 J. Islam b Swann 43 Mahmudullah c Prior b Bresnan 6 S. Hasan not out 25 M. Rahim b Broad 3 S. Islam not out 0 Extras (w-5) 5 Total (six wickets; 68 overs) 172 Fall of wickets: 1-23 2-86 3-110 4-130 5-156 6169 To bat: N. Islam, A. Razzak, R. Hossain Bowling (to date): Broad 11-2-37-2, Bresnan 92-21-1 (w-1), Tredwell 23-7-59-1, Finn 7-2-17-0, Swann 18-6-38-2

DHAKA: England took wickets at regular intervals to reduce Bangladesh to 172 for six at the close on the fourth day of the second and final Test yesterday.

The touring side were closing in on victory and a 2-0 series triumph with Bangladesh just 95 runs ahead and only four wickets in hand.

Skipper Shakib Al Hasan was 25 not out and nightwatchman Shafiul Islam unbeaten on nought.

Earlier, all-rounder Tim Bresnan compiled a test-best 91 to lead England to a firstinnings total of 496. “Nine runs are nine runs, it’s the contribution to the team that I’m more happy with,” Bresnan told reporters.

“We’ve managed to get in front on a slow scoring wicket and I feel we’ve set it up perfectly for a win tomorrow,” he said. “I think four quick wickets tomorrow and we chase 150 and win, that’s how I see it.

“We will be chasing a total I have a feeling about that, especially after getting the key wicket of Mushfiqur.

We’ve got a nightwatchman in tomorrow and then Naeem, who’ll hang in a bit, but if we can get them out we are sniffing a win,” he added.

Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal blazed a half-century before being caught by Stuart Broad at point off spinner Graeme Swann for 52.

Tamim had his fair share of luck, being dropped three times with spinner James Tredwell the unlucky bowler on each occasion.

Wicketkeeper Matt Prior put the opener down when he was on 15, Tredwell failed to hold a sharp return catch on 26 and Jonathan Trott dropped an absolute sitter at point with Tamim on 47.

Tredwell was, however, lucky to remove Zunaed Siddique (34) when his drive hit the toe of captain Alastair Cook at silly-point and looped up for a simple catch for the bowler.

Bresnan had Mahmudullah caught by Prior for six and Swann dismissed debutant Jahirul Islam. Jahirul, who made a duck in the first innings, opened up with two sixes and eventually made 43.

Broad, who dismissed opener Imrul Kayes for four, returned later to clean bowl vice-captain Mushfiqur Rahim for three.

Earlier, England resumed on 440 for eight and batted nearly 20 overs to add 56 runs.

Left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak (3-132) claimed two wickets, both with stumpings by wicketkeeper Rahim, and Shakib finished with figures of four for 124.

Bresnan fell nine runs short of his maiden test century after hitting six fours.

Jahirul had not given up hope of a Bangladesh victory.

“We should not look for runs and rather should concentrate on surviving the first two sessions. If we don’t lose any wicket until lunch it would be good for us. It will make them tired and our job will be easier for us to bat,” he said. — AFP

Besides, money is a secondary consideration for these cricketers as they strive to put Afghanistan on the cricket map.

“If we continue to progress like we are doing at the moment, the day is not far when we will be playing alongside the top teams of the world,” Mangal said. Pakistan Cricket Board coaches Mohtashim Rashid, Aaqib Javed and Ali Zia are helping Kabir fine-tune the Afghan cricketers.

“It’s just because of players’ commitment that they are learning quickly how to dive and stop the ball and even the two Pakistan coaches are impressed with it,” Kabir said. The training camp will finish later this month and the team will leave for Kuwait to play in ACC Trophy — a 50over-a-side tournament.

Kabir is planned another short training camp in Sharjah, UAE before embarking on their ‘dream’ journey to the West Indies in the third week of April. — AFP

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Team’s newly appointed skipper Shahid Afridi leaves the field at Gaddafi Stadium. — AP

KARACHI: All-rounder Shahid Afridi will captain Pakistan at this year’s Twenty20 World Cup in West Indies, the Pakistan Cricket Board said yesterday.

Afridi’s re-appointment to the captaincy came days after he was fined three million rupees and placed on six months probation after being found guilty of ball-tampering on the recent tour of Australia.

“It is a big honor for me and I will try to live up to the expectations of the board and nation,” Afridi told reporters. The 30-year-old Afridi has played 26 tests, 293 one-day internationals and 27 T20 internationals.

He was Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain until the balltampering incident in February during the fifth onedayer against Australia in Perth for which he was handed a two-match ban.

The captaincy was handed to Afridi on the same day he received a top civilian honour, the President’s Pride of Performance award. “It is a big day for me to get the award and also the captaincy, I am very happy,” Afridi said.

Pakistan won the T20 World Cup under the captaincy of Younus Khan last year in England and Afridi played a key role in the success, winning man-of-the-match awards in the semi-final and final.

“I will try to lead by example and not let down my supporters and fans. We have the capability of defending our title,” Afridi said. Senior all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, another captaincy candidate, said there were no hard feelings. — Reuters

Aussies look for golden start to track worlds COPENHAGEN: Fallen giants Australia hope to continue their track cycling revival when they saddle up against equally ambitious British, French and German rivals at the five-day world championships.

Australia’s sorry haul of only one medal at the 2008 Olympic Games sparked calls for major reforms and the team bounced back convincingly last year in Poland where they topped the championships’ medals table.

A year on, Anna Meares, who won Olympic silver in the women’s sprint, and pursuit sensation Jack Bobridge spearhead a team which is looking to solidify foundations that will allow them to build confidently towards the London Games in 2012.

Although the women’s 500m time trial is no longer on the Olympic programme, Meares will race the women’s opening event today looking to win back the title she lost last year to Lithuanian Simona Krupeckaite.

“Anna will be very competitive and has done some really good times in training in recent days and weeks,” said sprint coach Gary West.

The other events Wednesday are the women’s individual pursuit, and the men’s points race and team sprint. The men’s team sprint will give the likes of Scott Sunderland, Danny Ellis and Jason Niblett a chance to shake off the competition cobwebs, and have a glimpse of key rivals, ahead of

some enticing match-ups later in the week.

Britain’s renowned sprint team, the Olympic champions, will likely be composed of Jason Kenny, Ross Edgar and Sir Chris Hoy although the Australian trio will also face another obstacle in reigning world champions France.

“The men’s team sprint is a little more challenging but I was very encouraged with Danny Ellis and his performance out of the gate at training today,” added West.

“Jason Niblett will ride in second wheel and Scott Sunderland in third and both those guys are in very good form at the moment.”

Although Australia’s young team will be hard pushed to beat the likes of Britain and France, and could be pushed, like last year, out of the medals

by Germany, the opening day should not be all doom and gloom.

In the men’s points race Cameron Meyer will line up hoping to defend his crown from last year.

Australian topped the medals table at last year’s championships in Pruszkow, Poland with 10 in total, including four of the competition’s 19 gold. France were second and Britain third.

This year 20 finals will be held although half of the events are now longer part of the Olympic programme, which has been reformed recently to assure gender parity at the London Games where a total of 10 finals will be raced. — AFP

SPORTS

18

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Italian title goes down to a three-way fight ROME: All of a sudden there’s a threeway fight for the Serie A title. AC Milan trails leader Inter Milan by just one point and AS Roma is only four points back. With nine rounds remaining, it hasn’t been this close in the Italian league in eight years.

“It’s not easy to make predictions.

It’s an unusual season,” Milan coach Leonardo said. “(Milan) has a lot of desire, Roma has had a good run of positive results and is trying to keep going, but Inter still has the ball in its hands.”

With nine rounds remaining back in 2001-02, it was even closer with only two points separating the top three teams and Juventus ending up edging Roma by one point for the title, with

Inter finishing two points back.

Inter hosts last-place Livor no in today’s midweek round, Milan visits Parma and Roma plays at Bologna. Inter playmaker Wesley Sneijder is likely to sit out against Livorno due to a minor muscle problem, especially with two key matches to follow — Inter visits Roma on Saturday, then hosts CSKA Moscow in the opening leg of the Champions League quarterfinals four days later.

Livorno coach Serse Cosmi’s job is on the line after a 3-0 loss to Atalanta last weekend.

Milan has more injury problems after forward Alexandre Pato was diagnosed with a muscle tear in his leg that will keep him out at least a month. L ast

week, defender Alessandro Nesta and David Beckham each had surgery.

Milan forward Marco Borriello has also had a series of physical problems, prompting Leonardo to recall 36-yearold striker Filippo Inzaghi to the starting lineup after a five-month absence for Milan’s 1-1 draw with Napoli last weekend. Inzaghi scored a 26th-minute equalizer. Will Inzaghi have another five months on the bench before he starts again?

“I hope not,” he said. “I’m going to train with the same dedication that I always do and hopefully persuade the coach to play me. Otherwise, I’ll wait for my turn like always. The good of Milan comes before everything else.

“At the beginning of the season, nobody would have bet on us to fight for the title down to the end.” In Leonardo’s first year in charge, Milan had a difficult start to the season, as did Roma, which quickly replaced coach Luciano Spalletti with Claudio R anieri, who now has Roma playing the most consistent football in Italy.

“The comeback is possible. Inter’s the favorite but we believe in ourselves,” Norway defender John Arne Riise said. “It’s key for us to win in Bologna so we can play all of our cards against Inter.

“There are nine rounds to go and each one is going to be a final for us. I don’t think Inter will be affected by the

Champions League, they’ve got a sufficient squad to fight on every front. But we’ve got to believe in ourselves anyway.”

Roma defender Juan is suspended for the Bologna match, but Philippe Mexes is retur ning, as are David Pizar ro, Daniele De Rossi and Rodrigo Taddei.

Captain Francesco Totti, meanwhile, is aiming to return against Inter this weekend. Bothered by numerous injuries all season, including a right knee operation at the end of October, Totti has played in only 15 of 29 Serie A games.

Juventus remains two points out of the Champions League places after a 1-0 loss to Sampdoria on Sunday, which came just a few days af ter the

Bianconeri were bumped out of the Europa L eague with a 4-1 loss to Fulham. “It was a devastating week in terms of the results and for our morale,” Juve captain Alessandro Del Piero said.

“We’ve got to bounce back.”

With Gianluigi Buffon still making his way back from a thigh problem, secondstring goalkeeper Alex Manninger should return at Napoli tomorrow since No. 3 goalkeeper Antonio Chimenti broke his hand when he punched a table following the Sampdoria loss.

Also today, it’s: Atalanta vs. Cagliari; Bari vs. Sampdoria; Catania vs.

Fiorentina; Genoa vs. Palermo; Lazio vs. Siena; and Udinese vs. Chievo Verona. —AP

Grant hopes to put another dent in Chelsea’s EPL race

LONDON: Chelsea’s John Terry reacts during their English Premier League soccer match in this file photo. — AP

City prepare to host Everton MANCHESTER: Roque Santa Cruz believes Manchester City’s r un of home matches can help them into the Champions League as they prepare to host Everton here yesterday.

City are the only Premier League side yet to be beaten at home this season and they have won nine of their 13 league matches at Eastlands.

Victory over David Moyes’s side will move Roberto Mancini’s team, who have a game in hand on Tottenham Hotspur, a point above Spurs and into fourth place - the final Champions League spot on offer to English clubs.

City’s r un-in includes away matches against Bur nley and Arsenal before they travel to West Ham on the final day of the season.

But after Everton, they entertain Wigan, Bir mingham, Manchester United and closerivals Aston Villa and Tottenham at Eastlands.

Paraguay forward Santa Cruz, who scored in City’s 2-1 win at Fulham on Sunday, thinks that home form could prove decisive, starting with the match against Everton. “It’s massively important,” said Santa Cruz. “It’s the game that will put us ahead of Tottenham.

“To feel that we are close to that four th spot is massively important and we need to make sure that we win that game.

“Everybody’s happy because we’re still in contention for fourth spot and Fulham was a massive win for us.

“The games coming up will be decisive for us. We’re playing at home and we need to get the points.” City will be without former Ever ton defender Joleon Lescott, who suffered a hamstring injury in the warm-up at Fulham, and Mancini is also without left back Wayne Bridge and Michael Johnson through injury.

Bridge’s absence means Javier Garrido is likely to continue at fullback and the Spaniard feels that striker Carlos Tevez has been ever y bit as influential as Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney this season.

Tevez made a controversial preseason move to Eastlands from Old Trafford. And while Rooney has scored 33 goals this season, Argentina striker Tevez has managed 22 despite enduring spells on the sidelines.

“Wayne Rooney has been great for United this season and Carlos

Tevez is maybe our Rooney,” Garrido said. “When Carlos plays, the team respond. They feel he is one player who will always give his best.

“We are in a good position, and the right frame of mind. “Of course, we have to do well in the last few games most of which are at home. We have to be strong but it’s in our own hands.”

Everton have their own eyes on a European place, in the Europa League, after moving up to eighth in the table with a run of just two defeats from their last 11 matches.

Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta thinks Everton will need to win all but two of their last eight matches to earn another European campaign. “I think that we will need to win another six games,” Arteta

said. “That’s really tough with the other teams around us, but I think we’re showing that desire.” He added: “That’s what’s happened over the last few years, the start to the season has been really bad and we’ve been really inconsistent.

“At home we’ve been terrible and then afterwards it takes a lot of effort to get up there. But at least we’re there now. “People are really excited again about the team and they’re trying to get us into those spots.

“The City game is a hard one and they are really good at home as well. We did really well against them at Goodison and last year we did well against them as well. “So it’s going to be a good game, a tough one, but it’s going to be so important.” —AFP

PORTSMOUTH: Avram Grant insists he will feel little sense of satisfaction if his Portsmouth side put another dent in Chelsea’s Premier League title hopes at Fratton Park here today.

Grant was sacked by Chelsea despite leading them to within John Terry’s missed penalty of lifting the European Cup two years ago.

The Israeli’s former team arrive on the south coast following a nightmare week that saw them dumped out of the Champions League by an Inter Milan side managed by another ex-Chelsea boss in Jose Mourinho and then losing ground in the domestic title race in a 1-1 draw at Blackburn.

That left Chelsea four points behind leaders Manchester United, the reigning champions, and a fresh setback at bottom of the table Portsmouth could do irreversible damage to their Premier League ambitions this season. “Chelsea are a great team and I do not wish them any harm,” Grant said.

“I have some great memories from my time there and but for one penalty things could have worked out much different.

“I was not happy when I left because I thought I had done a good job, taking them to the Champions League final, second in the Premier League and the League Cup final,” he added.

“I still speak to a lot of their players and I want them to do well, apart from when they are playing Portsmouth. “Although they lost to Inter, they are a great team with great players and they know what to do in this kind of situation.

“But I’m not the Chelsea manager any more. I have enough problems of my own,” said Grant, whose cash-strapped side face all but certain relegation after being hit with a nine point penalty last week for entering administration.

Chelsea needed a late Frank Lampard penalty to beat Portsmouth 2-1 when the two teams met in London in December and Grant believes Pompey, who fought back to defeat fellow strugglers Hull 3-2 on Saturday, can cause an upset.

“In the first game against them, we played without three or four players against their best team and it was close,” he said.

“We were not far away from a good result - we gave away a penalty in the last few moments and I think anything can happen and it is up to us to play with the same spirit.”

Chelsea’s latest setback came after owner Roman Abramovich appeared at the club’s training ground to tell his players they were under performing. Midfielder John Obi Mikel admits Carlo Ancelotti’s men are playing for their futures at Stamford Bridge. “I think if we keep going like this then it is down to that,” the Nigeria international said. “But we have to fight as a team, not as individuals. “The owner just came to show support. He’s a football fan and understands but at the same time he wants us to put things right,” added Mikel, who is one of those players rumoured to be on his way out of the club. “Everyone was shattered after losing to Inter, which is why he came over to tell us to keep going. All we can do now is look forward to Wednesday and, hopefully, put things right.

“I think the belief, mentality and everything is still there. In football sometimes you have a bad spell and we are having ours right now. We made the mistakes so we have to repair it.”

Chelsea will be without Serbia defender Branislav Ivanovic, who hobbled off at half time against Blackburn, so Yuri Zhirkov comes into the team. Portsmouth cannot play striker Aruna Dindane because of a clause in his loan agreement meaning they will have to pay French club Lens four million pounds to buy him permanently after one more appearance. —AFP

Todayʼs matches on TV (local timings) English Premier League Portsmouth V Chelsea .................... 22:45 ShowSports 3 Man City v Everton ........................ 22:45 ShowSports 1&2 Aston Villa v Sunderland ................ 22:45 Show Shasha Blackburn v Birmingham ............... 23:00 Show Sports Extra FA Cup Tottenham v Fulham ....................... 22:45 Al Jazeera Sport +5 Italian League Parma v AC Milan ........................... 22:45 Al Jazeera Sport +1 Inter v Livorno ................................ 22:45 Al Jazeera Sport +4 Bologna v AS Roma ......................... 22:45 Al Jazeera Sport +7 Spanish League Barcelona v Osasuna ...................... 22:00 Al Jazeera Sport +2

LONDON: Everton’s Australian midfielder Tim Cahill in action in this file photo. —AFP

Tenerife v Villarreal ........................ 22:00 Al Jazeera Sport +6

LONDON: Aston Villa’s Norwegian striker John Carew (right) celebrates in this file photo. —AFP

Carew: Villa still on course BIRMINGHAM: Martin O’Neill’s March madness during his time as Aston Villa manager has been well documented - but striker John Carew insists their campaign for the FA Cup and a Champions League place is not running out of steam.

O’Neill, since taking charge in 2006, has won just one game in 15 Premier League attempts during the month of March.

Failings at a similar time last season ruined Villa’s bid for a top four finish and the prospect of a repeat would be similarly damaging for their ambitions in this campaign.

Saturday’s disappointing 2-2 draw with strugglers Wolves brought an angry reaction from O’Neill to supporters who jeered the team off the pitch at half-time and the final whistle.

O’Neill remains angry with the dissatisfaction after delivering a League Cup final day out, albeit in a losing cause against Manchester United and another Wembley visit in the upcoming FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea.

Meanwhile victory over Sunderland at Villa Park would leave the Midlands side within two points of Tottenham Hotspur, who currently occupy the final Champions League qualifying place.

Carew, whose two goals at least salvaged a draw against Wolves, believes the point could yet prove crucial in the final analysis.

“It was a good point. Any point in a local derby is always good. Maybe we should wait and see until the end of the season, but that point could be crucial to us,” said Carew.

“We want to finish fourth. That is our target and there are still a lot of points to play for. I know we faded last season, but we have a much stronger squad this time.

“The players are super-fit and they can keep going for all the important games that are left,” he added. “What is important is that all the players and fans stick together.”

Villa’s Republic of Ireland international Richard Dunne is an injury doubt after aggravating an Achilles tendon problem against Wolves.

The central defender has been undergoing intensive treatment in an effort to maintain his ever-present Premier League run since signing from Manchester City in August.

Villa could also face Steve Bruce’s improving Sunderland without leading scorer Gabby Agbonlahor, who sat out Saturday’s draw with a foot injury after recovering from a groin problem. —AFP

Injury-hit Spurs turn to Gudjohnsen for boost LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp is banking on striker Eidur Gudjohnsen to fire his team to the FA Cup semi-finals when they meet London rivals Fulham at White Hart Lane here today.

Redknapp was without Tom Huddlestone, Aaron Lennon, David Bentley, Jermaine Jenas and striker Jermain Defoe for Saturday’s win at Stoke and is now sweating over the fitness of Roman Pavlyuchenko who limped off with a hamstring strain. This means Peter Crouch and Gudjohnsen are likely to be the only fit strikers available for Spurs’ quarter-final replay clash.

But Redknapp backed the Iceland frontman, who scored in the 2-1 win against Stoke, to rise to the task. “Technically he is top, top drawer,” the former Portsmouth manager said of his 31-year-old forward, who is on loan from Monaco until the end of the season. “You don’t play for Chelsea and Barcelona if you’re not a great player.

“He is a fantastic footballer and has just been unlucky that Defoe has been scoring and Pavlyuchenko has come in and scored and Crouch has done a great job,” Redknapp added.

The Spurs boss is desperate to set up a semifinal encounter with his old club Portsmouth, where he won the trophy in 2008, but is also intent on protecting his dwindling resources for the push for a fourth place finish in the Premier League which will guarantee Champions League football

next season.

The north-Londoners, who last won the FA Cup in 1991, currently occupy fourth place but are only two points ahead of Manchester City having played one game more.

Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara, who is currently on loan at Portsmouth, finds himself in the strange situation of wanting his parent club to lose as he would be cup-tied for the Wembley semi-final if Spurs, who were held to a goalless draw by Fulham in their initial last eight clash, go through.

“It is a weird one because for the first time in my life I will be hoping Spurs lose,” the 23-year-old O’Hara said. “I have always supported them but I’ve got to be selfish and honest, I want Fulham to go through.”

Fulham are still on a high after pulling off arguably the greatest result in their history when they came back to beat Italian giants Juventus 5-4 in last Thursday’s Europa League tie.

Joy was tempered by Sunday’s home defeat by Manchester City but Fulham manager Roy Hodgson will feel his team have nothing to lose in their quest to reach the semi-final.

Centre-back Chris Smalling, who is to join 2009 Premier League champions Manchester United at the end of the season, promised the Cottagers, whose lone appearance in an FA Cup final saw them beaten by West Ham back in 1975, would give everything in Wednesday’s tie. —AFP

SPORTS

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

19

Gauteng Premier: WCup preparations not in doubt JOHANNESBURG: The premier of South Africa’s most populous province launched a robust defense of World Cup preparations yesterday and said the country has “gone an extra mile” compared to other hosts.

Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane also said her province, which includes host cities Johannesburg and Pretoria, was ready despite concerns over transport strikes, a shortage of hotel rooms and high crime.

“In spite of negative reports emanating from known and unknown sources hell-bent on besmirching the image of our country,” Mokonyane said as she read from a prepared statement, “I am confident that South

Africa is ready to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup.” Gauteng has three World Cup stadiums, Soccer City and Ellis Park in Johannesburg and Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. Together they will stage 21 of the 64 matches, more than any other province, including the opening game and the final. FIFA has also confirmed 19 of the 32 teams at the tournament will be based in the province.

Five-time champion Brazil, defending champion Italy and host South Africa will all be in the Gauteng province and Johannesburg, with its reputation for violent crime, will handle a large number of

fans. “We are a country that is intolerant of crime, a country that is prepared to make sure that this World Cup becomes a legacy,” Mokonyane said. “Believe us, we have gone an extra mile compared to other countries that have hosted.”

Mokonyane also said the provincial government was not concerned about the threat of transport strikes during the monthlong tournament. Operators of taxi minibuses, which many poorer South Africans rely on for transport, have threatened to strike in Johannesburg. It could seriously hamper an already fragile public transport system.

“For us, we are not concerned about protests. As I’ve said, we are living in a country of vibrant democracy,” the Premier said. “The concern we have is when protests are accompanied by violence and the destruction of property.”

But the spokesman for the South African National Taxi Council told The Associated Press in a phone interview shortly after Mokonyane’s briefing that his organization would not put the World Cup ahead of its interests, and it was not satisfied with the government’s response to issues raised in Johannesburg.

“We are very patriotic and we know what

is at stake with World Cup 2010,” Thabisho Molelekwa said. “But we cannot relegate our interests for the sake of the World Cup ... If the government fails to address the issues, the taxi industry will have no option but to embark on a nationwide strike.”

The Gautrain, a new light-rail service linking Johannesburg, Pretoria and Johannesburg’s international airport, will not be fully operational in time for the World Cup, adding to the transport pressures. The pressure on accommodation in Johannesburg and Pretoria has been helped by disappointing foreign ticket sales, and Mokonyane insisted there are enough hotel

rooms available for visiting fans.

Turnout could be as low as 350,000, instead of the 450,000 foreign visitors expected, according to FIFA. Mokonyane said her province had also made plans for the arrival of fans without match tickets.

“For fans that do not want to go to the stadium we have got places, shebeens, taverns and public viewing facilities where you can actually rub shoulders with an ordinary South African who is passionate about soccer at those 11 public viewing areas.”

“We want everyone to have fun and not always be on their guard,” she said. “There will be life after the 90 minutes.”—AP

Qatar’s World Cup bid set on defying weather logic

KUWAIT: The AVC team

KUWAIT: The Don Bosco team

KUWAIT: The Fahaheel Bros team

Don Bosco, AVC-Kuwait and Fahaheel Bros surge ahead KUWAIT: The penultimate round of the Indian Football Federation Kuwait (IFFK) league saw 3 matches being played on March 19, 2010 at the Daya grounds.

In the first match Don Bosco took on Veterans Club. Don Bosco with youth and vigour took the game to the Veterans who matched the opponents with their experience and skill. DBO opened the scoring through their star midfielder Steven Rodrigues and added to their tally with Valenky (Munna) sounding the scoreboard.

Veterans tried their best to force back in to the match and veteran defender Merwyn Fernandes got his name on the score sheet for Veterans, but Valenky (Munna) gave DBO the cushion of a two goal advantage with his brace.

Colin Figueroa reduced the margin for Veterans to make the match more intriguing, but Steven dealt the killer blow to complete his brace and see DBO through the match with a score line of 4-2 in favour of DBO. The second match was between league leaders AVC-Kuwait and MAC. AVC having pocketed the title started the match laboriously, but still went ahead through Melvy Fernandes. MAC stunned AVC with the equaliser through Sahul Vermarath.

AVC after missing numerous chances went ahead through Agnelo Miranda’s placement shot which entered the net after deviating in the air.

After the lemon break AVC made a flurry of changes to test their bench strength and Jimon John put AVC ahead with a well measured shot from top of the box.

MAC retaliated by reducing the margin through Feroze Peedikayil, but Anthony Rodrigues sealed the match with a score line of 42 in favour of AVC. AVC with this match have

completed their league engagements with a clean slate and are declared League Champions of the 1st IFFK League for 2009-2010.

The final match was between Fahaheel Bros and Indians. As usual Indians contained their superior rivals in the initial stages, but Fahaheel Bros took the lead through Nidul Bilavinakath.

More goals from Abdul Natukkanandi and Kavungal Ismail took the match away from Indians. In the second half the entire match was played in Indians half with Abdul, Nidul and Poovan Saker Ali all completing their braces.

Manuel D’Souza of Indians reduced the margin with a stinging floater taken from the top of the box, a goal which had class marked on it. Indians new goalkeeper had an outstanding match with numerous saves which kept the marauding Fahaheel Bros forwards at bay. The match ended in favor of Fahaheel Bros 6-1.

The matches were supervised by professional Indian expatriate referees body IFRA who have been at the forefront of the successful IFFK campaign this season.

The schedule of the final round of the IFFK League to be played on 26th March 2010 at the Daya Grounds is as follows: 1st Match 2nd Match 3rd Match

DBO v/s Santos United Fahaheel Bros v/s DHL MAC v/s Indians

Indian Football Federation Kuwait (IFFK) is pleased to announce the commencement of the 11 a side knockout football tournament on 9th April 2010, for which the draw will be held on 26th March 2010 at the Daya Grounds. This tournament is exclusively for IFFK registered players.

PARIS: Qatar’s bid to host a football World Cup at a time of year when temperatures are baking is brave, but the Gulf state is counting on high technology to overcome the potentially prickly problem. Qatar has emerged as a serious contender for the 2022 World Cup, with a seemingly limitless budget and ambitious plans to drastically improve its poor transport network.

Importantly, with Brazil hosting the 2014 World Cup, FIFA’s policy of continental rotation will likely see the 2018 edition going to Europe and the race for 2022 coming down to bids from Asia and North America.

But temperatures can hit 41C in June and July in Qatar, with that rising even higher in full sun and in built-up areas where thousands of air-conditioning units pump out hot air as they cool buildings’ interiors.

Having lost out in its bid to host the 2016 Olympic Summer Games after IOC members rebuffed Qatar’s idea to move the Games to October to avoid the worst of the summer heat, research is now under way on some ground-breaking ideas.

“Currently, we are researching various cooling methods which are environmentally friendly and very effective,” said Qatar 2022 chief executive officer Hassan alThawadi.

“We’ll be unveiling a number of visionary, state-of-the-art ideas for iconic stadia and infrastructure and we’re very excited by the challenge.” Gabriel Batistuta, the Argentinian striker who finished his career with Al-Arabi in Qatar, is a bid ambassador along with a host of former world renowned footballers.

“I would not be doing this job if I did not believe Qatar can really host the World Cup finals,” he said, quoted by the Qatar National Olympic Committee’s magazine.

“As for weaknesses, some people have suggested that the weather in summer could have been a potential stumbling block, but the Qataris are developing an amazing cooling system to combat the heat.

“If we have regulated temperatures inside stadia it helps everyone involved - from players to fans,” he said, referring to the extreme heat he encountered when playing in the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

Fellow bid ambassador Ronald de Boer, who played for Qatari clubs Al-Rayyan and Al-Shamal after starring for Barcelona, Rangers and Ajax as well as winning 67 caps for the Netherlands, still lives in the Gulf state.

“For the World Cup, the cooling systems which Qatar is developing for stadiums could be a real asset for other countries with warmer climates around the world.

“Players never like to play in extremely hot conditions so temperature regulation inside stadiums seems the way forward to me.

“People in the Middle East are just longing to host such a big football tournament,” he said, citing the reception afforded visiting European clubs and national sides, albeit largely in the cooler off-season time of year.

Qatar has cornered a large and profitable market with its sports infrastructure based around the impressive Aspire dome complex, recent host of the World Indoor Athletics Championships.

The country has also successfully hosted the 2006 Asian Games, regular top-level tennis, golf, squash, rallying and moto GP events, and was recently the venue for a Brazil v England football friendly. Qatar 2022 CEO AlThawadi added that the compact geography of Qatar could be its major selling point rather than a detraction. “There are immediate benefits for all fans who would not have to worry about booking accommodation in different cities in order to follow their teams throughout the tournament,” Al-Thawadi said. —AFP

DOHA: A banner for Qatar’s 2022 bid to host the World Cup is seen at the Doha corniche. Qatar’s bid to host a football World Cup at a time of year when temperatures are baking is brave, but the Gulf state is counting on high technology to overcome the potentially prickly problem. — AFP

UEFA to discuss Euro 2012 delays and club spending TEL AVIV: UEFA opened its ruling executive meeting yesterday with officials set to discuss delayed preparations for the 2012 European Championship and new rules to curb spending by debt-laden European football clubs.

UEFA president Michel Platini is chairing the two-day gathering. He will then outline the European football governing body’s priorities for the next year to the annual Congress of member nations tomorrow.

With the UEFA presidential voting only

a year away, Platini could effectively launch his re-election campaign when he speaks to officials from 53 national federations. Each has a vote, and many have supported Platini’s gradual approach to give smaller European nations a greater say in the sport.

Platini’s support for Euro 2012 co-hosts Poland and Ukraine has been a defining theme of his first term, but the multibilliondollar construction project has fallen behind schedule.

Ukraine’s new sports minister Ravil

Safiullin told state news agency Interfax that the slow progress of rebuilding Kiev’s Olympic Stadium was “depressing.” That stadium is set to host the final.

Work is “more than five months behind the schedule approved by the previous cabinet. There are problems,” said Safiullin, part of the new government appointed by recently elected President Viktor Yanukovych. Ukraine also faces building problems with the stadium in Lviv, UEFA’s Euro 2012 project director Martin Kallen said last week. — AP

Messi reaches for the heights PARIS: The word from a rehabilitation center in the south of France is that Arsenal’s injured central defender William Gallas is on the mend. The bad news is that even if Arsenal could field 11 players as solid defensively as Gallas, it probably still wouldn’t be enough to dim the brilliance of Lionel Messi.

For once, with Messi, comparisons to the great Diego Maradona are bang on the mark.

Messi’s boss at Barcelona, club president Joan Laporta, is getting ahead of himself when he says Messi is the best footballer ever.

Messi’s not, not yet anyway, but he could be. Winning the World Cup for Argentina this July in South Africa would put Messi up there with Maradona or Pele.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola isn’t the only one running out of superlatives to describe the small Argentine striker who is quickly becoming a giant of the game. To think that he is still only 22. How lucky we are to have a whole decade more of Messi to look forward to.

The best thing about the already legendary — here’s that struggle for superlatives again — mesmerizing? otherworldly? goal that Messi scored against Zaragoza at the weekend is that he created it by himself. An attacker who scores is, by definition, good.

But an attacker who tracks back, defends and scraps like a schoolboy for midfield balls like Messi does is better. He was just inside Zaragoza’s half when he dispossessed young midfielder Ander Herrera, who tumbled stunned to the turf. Messi, sprinting, then skipped over a scything tackle by midfield veteran Jiri Jarosik and, with the slippery grace of a shoal of fish,

cut right then left to make a fool of Matteo Contini.

The Italian defender literally turned full circle on himself in his doomed effort to keep up.

Without even looking up, Messi then left-footed past goalkeeper Roberto Jimenez.

It was performance art, a hands-on-head-in-disbelief display of outrageous talent. Hit the rewind button, watch repeatedly without moderation.

Messi, suicidally left unmarked by Zaragoza, also scored with a header and got his third with a shot that arched like a rainbow past the right-hand post. Be afraid, Arsenal, very afraid.

Arsene Wenger’s young team is finally growing up. His hugely talented players are showing real resilience and more of the maturity that Wenger has long said was needed to transform them into championship winners.

Losing striker Robin van Persie to torn ankle ligaments from

November did not prove to be the season-killer that many expected.

That Arsenal is the Premier League’s top scoring team shows how much better it has become at overcoming adversity.

Arsenal needs to win its final seven games — it won the last six — to give Wenger a real chance of lifting the Premier League trophy for the first time since his unbeaten ‘Invincibles’ did so in 2004.

But Messi and Barcelona are a class apart. How Wenger must wish that he could have Gallas back to keep the defending Champions League holders at bay next week. The France international is being treated by French sports doctor Michel Gaillaud for the calf muscle injury that has kept him out since Arsenal beat Liverpool 1-0 in the Premier League on Feb. 10.

Gaillaud cautions that such injuries are complex to deal

with. But he says Gallas started running again last week, could start kicking a ball again this week and is recovering so well that he might even be ready for the quarterfinal first-leg against Barcelona at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium next Wednesday. Gallas should return to London by the end of the week.

“Things are going very well,” Gaillaud said by telephone. “The progress is very good.” Arsenal, however, strongly doubts that Gallas will be fit, and Wenger is pretty much ruling him out for the first leg. That means Sol Campbell will likely be called upon again to fill in.

It could get ugly. Campbell is 35. He was one of Wenger’s original 2004 Invincibles. But Messi’s speed and dribbling skills could make Campbell and the rest of Arsenal’s likely backline of Thomas Vermaelen, Gael Clichy and Emmanuel Eboue or Bacary Sagna look very mortal. — AP

SPAIN: Barcelona’s Argentinian forward Lionel Messi

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Virtue and Moir lead worlds TURIN: Olympic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir set a season’s best in the compulsory dance to hold the lead on the first day of the figure skating world championships yesterday.

The Canadian ice dancers effortlessly glided around Turin’s Palavela rink to notch 44.13 points with their Golden Waltz, with Virtue’s pale grey dress failing to put off the judges.

Vancouver silver medallists Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the United States lie second on 43.25 ahead of Thursday’s original dance and Friday’s final free dance.

Italy’s Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali have 40.85 points in third.

A sparse crowd did their best to cheer on the skaters amid controversy over the number of pull-outs and the timing of the world championships just a month after the Vancouver Olympics.The opening day continues with the pairs short programme.

Meanwhile, Japanese figure skating starlet Mao Asada vowed yesterday to do all she can to prevent Olympic gold medalist Kim Yu-Na from retaining her title at the world championships in Turin this week.

“I want to try and do all I can,” Asada, who finished a distant runner-up to her South Korean arch-rival at the Vancouver Olympics last month, told reporters before leaving for the Italian city.

“I will do the (triple) axel three times,” said Asada, who became the first woman to land three triple axels-one in the short programme and two in the free skating-at one Olympics.

“I feel fit as usual. I felt a bit tired when I practiced right after I came back from the Olympics.

But I am alright now,” added the 19-yearold.

Japan’s team for the worlds is the same as their Olympic squad,

including male bronze medalist Daisuke Takahashi.

He became the first Japanese man to claim an Olympic medal by finishing behind the winner, Evan Lysacek of the United States, and Russia’s quadruple-jump master Yevgeny Plushenko.

Takahashi, the 2007 world silver medalist, has a big chance to become Japan’s first male world title holder after both Lysacek and Plushenko pulled out of Turin.

Asada, the 2008 world champion, is the only woman who regularly executes the difficult 3.5revolution

ITALY: Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitsky from Russia jump in perform internationtheir comal competitions while pulsory fellow 19dance in the year-old Kim ice dance excels in triplecompetition. triple combina—AP tions. Her rivalry

with Kim could end in Turin as the South Korean is rumoured to be considering retiring.

Kim, skating to a medley of James Bond movie themes in the short programme and to George Gershwin’s “Concerto in F” in the free skate, collected a record score of 228.56 points in Vancouver against Asada’s 205.50, her personal best.

Asada’s season got off to a stumbling start as she struggled with her triple axel, choosing Aram Khatchaturian’s “Waltz Masquarade” for her short programme and the sombre music of Sergei Rachmaninov’s “Bells of Moscow” for free skating.

She finished second to Kim in the season-opening Grand Prix in Paris and a lowly fifth in the next event in Moscow.

Japan’s Miki Ando and Akiko Suzuki, who finished fifth and eighth in Vancouver respectively, join Asada in Turin.

Takahashi, 24, who came back to win his fourth national title in December after missing the 2008-2009 season for a right knee injury, is seen practicing a quadruple flip in Turin.

If he attempts it, he could become the first to nail one in international competitions. Male skaters have mostly landed four-revolution jumps through toeloops.

“I’m having a better grip of it,” he told Japanese media about his quadruple flip attempts during official practice on Monday.

“My engine started running after I arrived in Turin. The atmosphere of the competition is making me tense,” added Takahashi, who has yet to land a quadruple in competitions this season, including a failed one in Vancouver.

His teamates Nobunari Oda and Takahiko Kozuka, who finished seventh and eighth in Vancouver, are also aiming to climb the world championship podium for the first time. —AFP

OKLAHOMA: San Antonio Spurs guard George Hill (right) and Oklahoma City Thunder forward Thabo Sefolosha (left) of Switzerland, watch Hill’s shot in the third quarter of an NBA basketball game. —AP

Heat beat Nets as Hornets sting Mavs EAST RUTHERFORD: Dwyane Wade had 27 points and 12 assists as the Miami Heat scored a 99-89 victory over the free-falling New Jersey Nets on Monday night.

Jermaine O’Neal added 25 points as the Heat improved to eight wins and three losses in a span in which they’ve climbed to sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Brook Lopez had 26 points, but the Nets (7-63) lost their eighth straight as they possibly head toward the worst record in NBA history. New Jersey has to win two of its final 12 to avoid breaking the Philadelphia 76ers’ mark for futility (9-73), set in 1972-73. The Nets played without interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe, whose mother is gravely ill in California.

Assistant John Loyer replaced him.

Hornets 115, Mavericks 99 At New Orleans, Chris Paul played for the first time in 25 games, while Marcus Thornton scored 28 points to help New Orleans beat Dallas.

Returning from a left knee injury, Paul started but was limited to 21 minutes and had 11 points.

He helped New Orleans pull away in the fourth quarter, but rookie Darren Collison ran the floor when the Hornets had a remarkable run of 23 straight points from late in the second quarter until early in the third. David West had 25 points and 10 assists, Morris Peterson had a seasonhigh 20 points and Collison scored 16 for the Hornets. Jason Terry scored 24 for Dallas, which squandered a 16-point first-quarter lead.

Magic 109, 76ers 93 At Philadelphia, Rashard Lewis scored 24 points and Dwight Howard added 23 points and 15 rebounds as Orlando notched its third straight 50win season. Vince Carter contributed 17 points and Matt Barnes had 14 for the Southeast Division-leading Magic (50-21), who won 50 games in three straight seasons for the first time since 1993-96. The Magic have won three straight and 10 of 11. Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand led the Sixers with 23 points apiece, while Samuel Dalembert had 16 points and 14 rebounds.

Spurs 99, Thunder 96 At Oklahoma City, George Hill scored a career-high 27 points, and San Antonio overcame Kevin Durant’s 45 to beat the hosts and forge a share for sixth place in the Western Conference standings. Serge Ibaka swatted away Tim Duncan’s layup attempt to give the Thunder a chance with 8.8 seconds left, but Thabo Sefolosha missed a 3-pointer from the left wing with 5 seconds remaining after he was left open because of a double-team against Durant.

Manu Ginobili then hit one of two free throws with 2.3 seconds left, and Russell Westbrook couldn’t connect on a halfcourt shot at the buzzer for the Thunder.

Bulls 98, Rockets 88 At Chicago, Derrick Rose had 27 points, eight assists and seven rebounds to lead Chicago over Houston. Flip Murray added 18 points and Kirk Hinrich scored 17 for the Bulls, who won backto-back games after losing a season-high 10 in a row.

The Rockets lost for just the second time in seven games. Luis Scola led Houston with 22 points and 10 rebounds and Kevin Martin added 19 points.

Bucks 98, Hawks 95 At Milwaukee, John Salmons scored 32 points, including the tiebreaking free throws with 21.8 seconds remaining, to lead the home team to a come-from-behind victory. In a matchup of possible first-round playoff opponents, Salmons and Hawks All-Star Joe Johnson went back and forth down the stretch until the Milwaukee guard, who scored 16 in the fourth quarter, pulled it out. Carlos Delfino added 23 points for the Bucks.

Raptors 106, T’wolves 100 At Minneapolis, Chris Bosh had 21 points and 10 rebounds to help sluggish Toronto hand Minnesota its 13th straight loss. Andrea Bargnani had 19 points and seven rebounds for the Raptors, who beat the Timberwolves for the 12th consecutive time. Al Jefferson had 22 points and seven rebounds for the Timberwolves, who have lost 19 of their last 20 games.

Jazz 110, Celtics 97 At Salt Lake City, Mehmet Okur scored all of his 14 points in the second half and pulled down 15 rebounds, while Deron Williams added 22 points and 11 assists as Utah ended Boston’s four-game winning streak.

CJ Miles added 23 points and Carlos Boozer overcame early foul trouble to finish with 19 points - all but one in the second half — nine rebounds and two blocks. Okur added three blocks for the Jazz, who controlled the lane and outscored the Celtics 50-36 inside. Ray Allen had 15 points for the Celtics. Glen Davis scored 13, Paul Pierce 11 and Kevin Garnett 10.

Grizzlies 102, Kings 85 At Sacramento, Zach Randolph had 25 points and 12 rebounds, and Memphis used the streaky shooting of O.J. Mayo in the fourth quarter to beat the home team. Mayo had 20 points and Rudy Gay 17. Mike Conley scored 12 points and Hasheem Thabeet added 10 for the Grizzlies, who outscored the Kings 51-33 in the second half. Carl Landry scored 23 for the Kings, who played without Tyreke Evans and have lost three of four. Beno Udrih had 18 points and 10 assists, and Spencer Hawes added 13 points.

NBA Results/standings NBA results and standings on Monday.

Orlando 109, Philadelphia 93; Miami 99, New Jersey 89; Chicago 98, Houston 88; Milwaukee 98, Atlanta 95; Toronto 106, Minnesota 100; New Orleans 115, Dallas 99; San Antonio 99, Oklahoma City 96; Utah 110, Boston 97; Memphis 102, Sacramento 85; Phoenix 133, Golden State 131.

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT GB Boston 45 25 .643 Toronto 35 34 .507 9.5 NY Knicks 25 45 .357 20 Philadelphia 24 47 .338 21.5 New Jersey 7 63 .100 38 Central Division Cleveland 56 15 .789 Milwaukee 39 30 .565 16 Chicago 33 37 .471 22.5 Indiana 24 46 .343 31.5 Detroit 23 47 .329 32.5 Southeast Division Orlando 50 21 .704 Atlanta 45 25 .643 4.5 Miami 37 34 .521 13 Charlotte 35 34 .507 14 Washington 21 47 .309 27.5 Western Conference Northwest Division Denver 47 23 .671 Utah 46 25 .648 1.5 Oklahoma City 42 27 .609 4.5 Portland 42 29 .592 5.5 Minnesota 14 57 .197 33.5 Pacific Division LA Lakers 52 18 .743 Phoenix 45 26 .634 7.5 LA Clippers 26 44 .371 26 Sacramento 24 47 .338 28.5 Golden State 19 51 .271 33 Southwest Division Dallas 46 24 .657 San Antonio 42 27 .609 3.5 Memphis 38 33 .535 8.5 Houston 36 33 .522 9.5 New Orleans 34 38 .472 13

Suns 133, Warriors 131 At Oakland, Amare Stoudemire scored 37 points and Jason Richardson had a season-high 34 as Phoenix held off Golden State for its fifth straight victory. Reggie Williams, an NBA Development League product who was signed for the remainder of the season on Monday, scored a career-high 29 points for Golden State. —AP

Tech package for NBA game CHICAGO: Turner Sports will offer a package of technologies during an NBA game tomorrow, including Twitter, multi-camera coverage fed online and a live streamed chat in a move to attract fans watching on TV, the Internet and cellphones.

Turner Sports will integrate TNT, NBA TV and NBA.com under the plan, while using TNT’s NBA studio show hosts to call a Miami Heat-Chicago Bulls game, said David Levy, president of Turner Sports, which is owned

by Time Warner Inc. “This is not a one-time-only,” he said in a telephone interview.

“Our consumer may not be near a television set, so we want to have them have access to what’s happening whether it be on Twitter or broadband. It’s about engagement with all of our different platforms.” —Reuters

India tries to tame inflation

23

Shell and PetroChina ink gas deal

25

Obama eyes bank reform

26

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

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Google reroutes China search as Beijing fumes BEIJING: Google Inc shut its mainland Chineselanguage portal and began rerouting searches to its Hong Kong-based site, unleashing a blast of ire from Beijing and prompting concerns over its future business in China. China lost little time in warning Google that its rejection of self-censorship angered the one-party government, which is wary of ceding control over domestic use of the Internet with 384 million users in China.

Google’s decision comes amid heightened tensions between Beijing and Washington over a range of issues, from Internet freedom to the yuan exchange rate, economic sanctions on Iran and U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan. Google shocked the world and the business community in January when it announced it might quit China on censorship issues and after suffering from a sophisticated hacking attack that it said originated from within China.

Beijing has strongly denied it was involved in any hacking.

“Google has violated the written promise it made on entering the Chinese market,” said an unnamed official from China’s State Council Information Office, which helps oversee Internet rules, according to the Xinhua news agency. “We firmly oppose politicising commercial issues, and express our dissatisfaction and anger at Google Inc’s unreasonable accusations and practices,” said the official.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular news conference that Google’s move was an isolated act, and that relevant government departments would handle it in accordance with the law. “The Google incident is the individual act of a commercial company. I don’t see that it would have any impact on China-US relations, unless some people want to politicise it,” Qin said. Those who were rerouted to Google’s Hong Kong website, Google.com.hk, were still unable to access sensitive websites, however, because China’s government firewall continues to filter all content reaching the mainland.

Google said it intends to continue research and development in China, and keep sales staff there.

But the company is likely to be closely watched by officials, possibly emboldened after months of friction with Washington. “I don’t think it’s sustainable for Google to conduct rerouting of traffic,” said Edward Yu, chief executive of Analysys International, a Beijing-based research firm specialising in technology issues. “The thing that makes the government unhappy is this kind of gesture.

That Google will not follow (the rules), and that gesture will anger the government so they may set up barriers against Google.”

Analysts said it was possible Google’s plans for other services in China, such as its Android smartphone software, could be jeopardised by its move.

“Ordinary (Chinese) Internet users won’t be much affected, because the only difference they’ll see is that the burden of censorship has shifted from Google to the government,” said Wang Junxiu, a Beijing-based Internet entrepreneur who has campaigned against online controls. “But Google’s business may take a hit. Advertising may fall, and (Chinese) companies that have invested in joining up with Google innovations and content will be hurt,” said Wang.

AN IMPASSE China gave no ground on the censorship issue in its dealings with Google, the company’s Chief Legal Officer David Drummond wrote in a blog post on Monday. The impasse was the most likely scenario as Google challenged China’s ruling Communist Party who is wary of any political challenges in the world’s third biggest economy. Drummond also wrote that “the Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that selfcensorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement.”

Searches on the Hong Kong Website from mainland broadband lines for sensitive news and discussion about jailed dissidents and banned organisations proved erratic. Some searches gave links to sites that google.cn previously did not. However, these pages could not be opened. Other searches for the same sensitive topics just returned a blank page.

Google.com can still be accessed from China.

But, as always, links for sensitive topics cannot be opened. Google has steadily grown its market share since 2006 when it only had about 10 percent of the market. While Google is the world’s top search engine, it held only an estimated 30 percent share of China’s search market in 2009, compared with home-grown rival Baidu Inc’s 60 percent. Google’s decision on Monday, therefore, won’t have an immediate impact on earnings, analysts say.

Shares of Google, which have fallen more than 6 percent since January when it announced plans to stop censoring searches in China, closed Monday’s trading session down $2.50 at $557.60. Shares of Baidu, which have soared more than 40 percent during the same period, finished up $10.07 at $579.72. Google’s troubles in China are not unique.

Many foreign companies such as eBay and Yahoo! have failed to make headway in the market due to localisation problems and stiff domestic competition and have pulled out.

China requires Internet operators inside the country to block words and images Beijing deems unacceptable. Google.cn used such a filter.

Internationally popular websites Facebook, Twitter and Google’s YouTube are blocked in China. Google said it was “entirely legal” for it to re-route traffic to an uncensored Hong Kong site. A former British colony, Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China and enjoys more freedom, including an uncensored Internet, than mainland China.

However, Google acknowledged that the Chinese government could at any time block access to the services, which include Google search, news and images. Analysts said Google’s other business units, such as its Android platform, may be at risk in China, if the mobile phones offer Google search services that reroute to Hong Kong. — Reuters

Google.cn visitors redirected to google.com.hk

BEIJING: Award winning Chinese blogger Tiger Temple, or Zhang Shihe, a critic of China’s internet censorship, looks at a webpage in his home in Beijing yesterday.— AP

Germany sets out tough terms for EU aid to Greece France, Spain seek euro zone summit BERLIN: Germany signalled for the first time yesterday that it may accept European financial aid for Greece as a last resort, but demanded that euro zone partners agree to negotiate tougher budget discipline rules. A senior German official spelled out Berlin’s conditions for any aid mechanism ahead of an EU summit starting tomorrow: Greece would have to be unable to access credit markets; the IMF would have to contribute to any rescue; European Union states would have to agree to negotiate “additional instruments” to enforce budget discipline, beyond existing rules that failed to prevent Athens running up huge debts and deficits that have shaken the euro zone.

“The condition for action, as a last resort, is that Greece’s financing on the capital markets is exhausted,” the official said.

“Furthermore, it would be necessary for the International Monetary Fund to provide a substantial contribution,” he said, stressing there will be no decision on actual aid at the summit. European diplomats said France and Germany, co-founders of the single currency, were working on a joint position on Greece for the summit, including a possible role for the IMF, which Paris has hitherto rejected as anathema inside the euro family.

“The message from Berlin is crystal clear really, which is that Greece still needs to continue not just with consolidation but to test the markets out and if necessary use the IMF,” said Julian Callow, Chief European Economist at Barclays Capital.

“The implication is that Germany will support Greece only if the IMF channel does not deliver,” he said. France and Spain called for a special meeting of leaders of the 16 nations that share the euro zone ahead of the regular two-day EU summit which

opens on Thursday afternoon. The Eurogroup has held only one such summit previously, at the height of the global financial crisis in October 2008.

Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said he expected a positive outcome and was encouraged by comments from EU institutions on ways to support Greece’s efforts to cut its giant budget deficit and public debt. “Based on these statements, we expect a positive result tomorrow,” he told an investment conference in Athens. “There must be a political mechanism to ensure the stability of the euro zone and support the efforts made by every country,” he said, adding that data for the first two months of 2010 show Greek revenues rose and spending fell sharply.

RISK PREMIUM FALLS German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces massive public opposition to any bailout ahead of a regional election in May in which her centre-right coalition’s upper house majority is at stake, and has said there will be no talk of aid at the summit.

The risk premium that investors charge for holding Greek debt rather than German bonds narrowed to 327 basis points from around 344 at Monday’s settlement close on hopes of a deal, although it was still above last week’s levels. Greece needs to refinance some 16 billion euros in maturing debt between April 20 and May 23 and is hoping that a public display of an EU emergency support mechanism, which would not need to be activated, will be enough to force down the cost. The crisis over Greece’s debt, expected to hit 120 percent of national output this year, and its budget deficit, which reached 12.9 percent of GDP last year, has shaken confidence in the euro single currency. — Reuters

ATHENS: A protesting firefighter holds a flare during a demonstration against the Greek government’s austerity measures in Athens yesterday. — AP

UAE deflation at 0.16% DUBAI: Consumer prices in the United Arab Emirates declined 0.16 percent on annual basis in February, slightly less than a decrease of 0.32 percent in January, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed yesterday. The consumer price index slipped to 114.15 compared to 114.33 in February 2009, which was revised from a previously reported 111.34.

The financial crisis ended an oil and real estate-fuelled boom in the Gulf Arab region, depressing consumer prices from 2008 record peaks, with some countries such as the UAE especially hard hit due to Dubai’s debt problems. On the month, prices decreased 0.17 percent in February, after falling 0.06 in January, the data showed.

The bureau said prices in the main household category, which accounts for 39 percent of the consumer inflation basket and includes rents and energy costs were down 0.32 percent compared to the previous month. Food prices also fell by 0.72 percent compared to January 2010. Analysts polled by Reuters in January expected average inflation of 2.5 percent this year as the economy recovers from the last year’s downturn. The ministry of economy

said in February inflation is not likely to exceed 2 percent in 2010. UAE growth is seen to be the slowest in the region due to impacts of Dubai debt restructuring.

Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi plans to set up a dedicated investment agency to attract foreign investment, an Abu Dhabi government official said yesterday. “In line with our five-year strategic plan, the department is working towards setting up a dedicated investment agency to serve the needs of international investors,” said Mohamed Omar Abdullah, under secretary of the emirate’s department of economic development.

The new agency will begin operations by the end of 2010 and will identify areas of opportunities to attract foreign investments, Abdullah said.

“International investors have a crucial role to play bringing in expertise, technology and best global practices,” he told the conference. Abdullah also said the Ministry of Economy was preparing the final draft of a new UAE companies law which will come out this year. The law will relax foreign ownership rules but stops short of allowing 100 percent ownership, he said. — Agencies

Google wins EU ruling in fake luxury goods case BRUSSELS: Google Inc won a key EU court ruling yesterday that says it did not violate luxury goods trademarks by allowing counterfeiters to buy brand names as advertising links - but could face legal action if it doesn’t pull problem ads swiftly.

The world’s most used search engine won some legal protection against future cases after the EU’s highest legal authority said it could not be held liable for advertisers’ requests to place ads - as long as it removes them when it is told the ad misuses a trademark. The company is not completely in the clear, however.

The European Court of Justice said the French companies who took the case headed by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton - could still claim for compensation in a French court if it rules that trademark misuse damages their brands. The EU court left future decisions on Google’s liability to national courts, saying they should examine whether the search engine’s role in accepting ads directly on its web site is “neutral ... pointing to a lack of knowlege of, or control over, the data which it stores.”

“If it proves to be the case that it has not played an active role, that service provider cannot be held liable for the data which it has stored at the request of an advertiser unless ... it failed to act expeditiously to remove or to disable access to

the data,” a court statement said. LVMH, the company behind Marc Jacobs bags, Dior perfumes and TAG Heuer watches said the ruling showed that Google could not fully escape its responsibility. It said Google could face legal action if it knowingly sells keywords that infringe a trademark.

“This decision represents a critical step towards the clarification of the rules governing online advertising, of which LVMH is one of the foremost clients,” said the company’s vice president Pierre Gode. “We are committed to working with all parties, including Google, to eradicate illicit online practices.” Google’s senior legal counsel Harjinder S. Obhi said some companies were trying to extend trademark law to cover keywords bought by online advertisers.

“This case is not about us arguing for a right to advertise counterfeit goods,” he said. “Trademark rights are not absolute,” he said. “Ultimately they want to be able to exercise greater control over the information available to users.” He said Google’s policies forbid advertising of counterfeit goods, describing them as “a bad user experience,” and that the company works with brand owners to identify and deal with counterfeiters. Google makes most of its revenue by selling advertising triggered by keywords. —AP

Saudi bourse ETF’s move unlikely to lure investors RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s plan to launch exchange-traded funds (ETFs) may lure more investors to the biggest Arab bourse but major funds won’t commit large sums without better regulation or the right to buy individual stocks.

The world’s top oil exporter has said it wants to launch ETFs run by local brokerages tracking Saudi shares, debt or commodities to attract more foreign investors. Analysts say ETFs for Saudi shares, to be traded on exchanges much like stocks, could come as early as in April, the latest move by the biggest Arab economy to gradually open up its stock market for foreigners after allowing indirect ownership via swap agreements in 2008.

While state firms in neighbouring Dubai are busy sorting out massive debt problems, Saudi Arabia is rolling out investments worth $400 billion after high oil prices filled state coffers.

Global banks and fund managers have set up shop in the capital Riyadh and are exploring ways to tap opportunities on the best performing Gulf bourse last year and so far in 2010.

Yet investments remain small as many outsiders want the right to directly buy and fully own individual shares. Foreign buyers of shares via swaps were $792 million, or 2.3 percent of total market capitalisation, from March until February, according to Saudi investment bank Jadwa Investment. Under the swap agreements foreign investors can buy Saudi shares through licensed Saudi brokerages who technically own the stock but transfer the returns to the foreign investor.

Daniel Broby, Chief Investment Officer at UK fund manager Silk Invest, which owns Saudi stocks, said ETFs had a potential of just $200 million in the medium term. “If Saudi were to allow full foreign ownership in the medium term we could see $14.9 billion flow into equities, assuming the market was included in mainstream emerging markets indexes,” he said, adding that such a move would be a far greater “game changer” for the exchange than ETFs. Attracting investment to the bourse is part of plans to lower dependence on oil but diplomats say the government is taking only small steps to avoid upsetting the religious elite who are wary of opening up the deeply conservative Muslim country. Apart from ownership limits there are regulatory risks highlighted by debt troubles of family firms in lawsuits in foreign courts as there is little trust in the outdated Saudi legal system.

The issue has curbed the willingness of foreign banks to lend in the kingdom since the magnitude of the debt problem is still unclear-the government has set up a committee to solve disputes between the family firms but refused to comment beyond that. “I think there is a hangover in terms of widening appeal or a bank investor base beyond those banks that are present and have offices or licences in the kingdom already,” said a banker in London, commenting on the debt issue of family firms. The government has imposed fines and cancelled more than a dozen licenses since January, but analysts said more needed to be done.

“Transparency is definitely improving as the action shows. Exchange traded funds are also more transparent than mutual funds available,” said Abdulhamid Al-Amri, a member of the Saudi Economic Association, a semi-official think tank.

But he said improvements were needed in areas such as fairer pricing of initial public offerings or a quicker response to irregularities. On the Saudi bourse, stocks move often prior to corporate filings and stock prices in heavyweights such as SABIC or banks often fluctuate without apparent reason.

BIG GROWTH POTENTIAL Despite gains of more than 7 percent since January and 27 percent in 2009, investors still see potential for stocks. Several brokerages recommend banks such as heavyweight Samba Financial Group trading at 12 times expected 2010 profit, according to Reuters data. This compares to 16.3 for Kuwait Finance House, Kuwait’s biggest Islamic lender. “With oil prices stabilising Saudi Arabia will be the winner in 2010,” said Rami Sidani, head of Middle East investments at UK fund manager Schroders who also wants the ability to own shares directly.

Suchl ownership may not come soon: the head of the capital market authority has said Saudi Arabia does not want to let “hot” speculative money in. Jadwa Investment analysts said in a note the kingdom might mull a model which allows selected foreign institutional investors to buy a fixed amount directly on the bourse. The government is spending $400 billion to build airports, roads, universities, power plants and other infrastructure projects to serve its fast-rising population of 18 million, of which almost 70 percent is under the age of 30.

“The economic outlook for Saudi Arabia remains one of the strongest in the MENA (Middle East North Africa) region and will see a rebound in economic activity in 2010,” said Monica Malik, chief economist at EFG-Hermes in Dubai. Sidani said Saudi Arabia was the most liquid and diverse Arab bourse-while other Gulf markets are dominated by financial stocks there are many Saudi firms in sectors such as SABIC, one of the world’s top petrochemicals firms competing with Germany’s BASF or Dow Chemical.

Other large stocks are food firm Savola, which is expanding aggressively abroad and Almarai, the Gulf ’s biggest listed dairy firm, seen gaining from strong Saudi population growth.— Reuters

BUSINESS

22

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

ABK & Visa ‘take you’ to 2010 FIFA WCup KUWAIT: Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait brings you a fantastic prospect, a chance to win the most coveted trip to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This golden opportunity comes your way with ABK - Visa Credit Cards, a promotion brought to you in partnership with Visa. Stewart Lockie, General Manager (acting), Retail said “A simple, yet an exciting promotion, all you have to do is spend a minimum of KD 100 on your ABK- Visa credit cards, and you get a chance to enter the draw to win one of the fully paid packages to attend the most sought-after, prestigious games of the year.”

He added that “the promotion starts on the 21st of March and runs up to 15th May. During this period there will be total four draws, and to qualify for each draw, the customer needs to maintain a total spend on the card from the start of the campaign to the draw date. Details of these are available on ABK’s website or at Ahlan Ahli our call center, or in any of our branches. If you are a winner, ABK & Visa fly you and a companion to South Africa, accommodation for both is on the house, plus you receive 2 tickets to watch one of the World Cup matches. Interestingly, taking a companion along on the dream trip is a value added incentive for our loyal customers.”

Moreover, ABK goes to the malls next week with this promotion. ABK booths with interactive games for visitors will be up amidst the buzz of the malls. You can visit ABK booths and win exciting World Cup memorabilia, and you can spend on your ABK-Visa credit card, and win the trip of a lifetime. A trip to witness the World Cup games, as well as the grand prize which is an opportunity to watch the quarter final games! Come to ABK, be a winner all the way. The packages include 5 days/ 4 night’s accommodation in a four star hotel, meet & greet service upon arrival at airport, all scheduled ground transportation, a guided sightseeing tour and USD 200 Visa Gift Card per person among other customer care initiatives.

Stewart Lockie

Wataniya Airways sponsors Kuwait 7th Motorbike Show KUWAIT: Wataniya Airways, Kuwait’s premium service airline announced yesterday that it will sponsor Kuwait’s 7th Motorbike Show, which will be held on Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 360 MALL. The event will be organized by Classic Motors Company, the authorized dealer of Harley Davidson in Kuwait. Khaled Al-Sayer, member of the Organizing Committee said: “We are pleased with Wataniya Airways announcing its sponsorship of the Kuwait’s 7th Bike Show, as the show successfully continues to attract many motorbike enthusiasts from Kuwait and across Gulf region. As a premium service airline, Wataniya Airways is an ideal sponsor of this show. It has succeeded, within one year of commencing its operations, to build an excellent image that has attracted many travelers to and from Kuwait,” added Al-Sayer.

Jassim Al Qames, Wataniya Airways Public Relations Manager said: “Hosting the 7th edition of the Motorbike show is a testament to the success it has endured over the past years in attracting motorsports fans locally, as well as regionally. The Harley Davidson brand in Kuwait is synonymous with people who share the taste for high quality products and services, and is in line with the premium services that Wataniya Airways offers its guests.” Kuwait’s 7th annual Bike Show will take place at 360 MALL from the 25th to 27th of March 2010.

KUWAIT: Abdullah Al-Fouzan, Senior Branch Manager-MAK Branch- Gulf Bank pictured with one of the lucky winners.

Gulf Bank congratulates the winners of Al Danah draw KUWAIT: Gulf Bank launched Al Danah 2010 with more chances for its Al Danah customers to win cash prizes throughout the year. The Bank holds weekly, quarterly and annual prize draws for its customers, encouraging them to keep their money in their account for as long as possible to enhance their chances of winning.

The Bank held its seventh draw on March 21st, 2010, announcing a total number of 10 Al Danah weekly prize draw winners, each awarded with prizes of KD 1,000. The winners were: Abdulrahman Abubaker AlZwedi, Adel Beti Fahad AlBathali, Abdullah Jumaa Abdulhadi Abdullah, Nasra Ahmad AbdulKhaleq Al

account holders deposit their money at their convenience; as well as the Al Danah calculator which is now in operation to help customers calculate their chances of becoming an Al Danah winner.

To be part of the Al Danah draw customers can visit one of Gulf Bank’s 51 branches, transfer on line, or call the Telebanking service 1805805 for assistance and guidance. Customers can also log on to www.e-gulfbank.com, Gulf Bank’s bilingual website, to find all the information regarding Al Danah or any of the Bank’s products and services or log on www.egulfbank.com/aldanah, to find out more about Al Danah and who the winners are.

Banna, Hawra Hani Habib Bu Elyan, Wesamah Ahmad Ali Khalo, Abdulhadi Mobarak Maithan Saad, Mohammed Ameer Eshtiyaq Ahmad, Salah Abdulrasoul A Reda Bahbahani and Rashed Abdullah AlRahmani.

A minimum deposit of just KD200 is needed to open an Al Danah account. Not only does Gulf Bank’s Al Danah account allow customers to win, but it is also encourages customers to save money. The more money deposited and the longer it is kept in the account, the more chances there are to win. Al Danah also offers a number of unique services including the Al Danah Deposit Only ATM card which helps

NBK 10 percent capital increase expected in second half of 2010

Sheraton presents exclusive ‘desert truffles promotion’ KUWAIT: Sheraton Kuwait is proud to announce the launch of the exclusive “Desert Truffles Promotion” where delicious truffles will be blended into special recipes of the renowned Le Tarbouche, Shahrayar and Riccardo restaurants.

Mouthwatering truffle delights

combined into the authentic Lebanese, Iranian and Italian cuisines whether served on a bed of scrumptious salad, finely sliced on a delicious aromatic soup or sautÈed and topped on juicy meat varieties rest assured, that you will indulge in a unique dining experience.

KUWAIT: The Chief Executive Officer of the National Bank of Kuwait - Kuwait, Isam Jasem Al Sager said that the call for subscription for NBK’s capital increase will be announced immediately after the issuance of the Amiri Decree promulgating approval of the capital increase which is expected to be realized during the second half of this year (2010). “The increase represents 10% of the Bank’s paid capital after Isam Al Sager adding the bonus shares that have been recently distributed as per the decision of the Bank’s extraordinary annual general meeting”, Al Sager added. The subscription will be effectuated through a rights issue to be offered for shareholders following the issuance of the Amiri Decree promulgating approval of the capital increase at a nominal value of 100 fils and a premium of 400 fils per share.

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Philippine peso Egyptian pounds US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian dollars Danish Kroner Swedish Kroner Australian dlr Hong Kong dlr Singapore dlr Japanese yen Indian Rs/KD Sri Lanka rupee Pakistan rupee Bangladesh taka UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi Riyal/KD Omani riyals Philippine Peso US Dollar Sterling pounds Swiss Francs Saudi Riyals

.2830000 .4320000 .388000 .2690000 .2800000 .2610000 .0045000 .0020000 .0780860 .7607660 .4020000 .0750000 .7457990 .0045000 .0500000 CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2876500 .4340140 .3899370 .2715430 .2825050 .0524050 .0399700 .2638600 .0370570 .2055220 .0031870 .0063560 .0025290 .0034340 .0042140 .0783550 .7633810 .4068150 .0767450 .7475150 .0063560 TRANSFER CHEQUES RATES .2897500 .4370790 .2734660 .0772350

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. Japanese Yen Indian Rupees

ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.214 6.342

.2930000 .4400000 .3950000 .2770000 .2890000 .2690000 .0075000 .0035000 .0788700 .7684120 .4180000 .0790000 .7532940 .0072000 .0580000 .2897500 .4370790 .3926900 .2734660 .2845050 .0527760 .0402530 .2657230 .0373190 .2069780 .0032090 .0064010 .0025460 .0034590 .0042440 .0788540 .7682490 .4096960 .07723550 .7522810 .0064010

Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash

3.436 2.526 3.979 207.210 37.250 4.170 6.350 8.940 0.301 0.292 GCC COUNTRIES Saudi Riyal 77.094 Qatari Riyal 79.430 Omani Riyal 751.010 Bahraini Dinar 767.800 UAE Dirham 78.733 ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 55.850 Egyptian Pound 52.623 Yemen Riyal 1.319 Tunisian Dinar 209.400 Jordanian Dinar 408.220 Lebanese Lira 193.930 Syrian Lier 6.347 Morocco Dirham 35.673 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 288.950 Euro 393.000 Sterling Pound 437.500 Canadian dollar 285.400 Turkish lire 188.100 Swiss Franc 274.020 Australian dollar 265.000 US Dollar Buying 287.000 GOLD 20 Gram 216.000 10 Gram 110.000 5 Gram 57.000

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound

SELL CASH 268.300 768.250 4.400 287.600 567.300 15.800 53.400 167.800 58.550

SELL DRAFT 266.800 768.250 4.172 286.100

208.200 52.639

Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal 10 Tola Sterling Pound US Dollar

395.500 37.920 6.610 0.035 0.297 0.261 3.290 410.080 0.195 89.110 47.800 4.260 207.700 2.183 50.100 750.430 3.520 6.540 79.900 77.130 208.200 41.890 2.775 440.000 41.700 276.800 6.400 9.280 217.900 78.830 289.300 1.380 GOLD 1,198.180 TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 438.000 288.900

394.000 37.700 6.340

408.350 0.194 89.110 3.990 206.200 750.250 3.440 6.335 79.470 77.130 208.200 41.890 2.528 433.000 275.300 9.120 78.830 288.900

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Cyprus Pound Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees

288.800 287.900 440.640 396.645 272.235 707.865 764.420 78.610 79.305 76.980 407.535 52.629 6.356 3.428

Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees

2.525 4.180 6.344 3.195 8.917 6.301 3.969

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Currency

Rate per 1000 (Tran)

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 Nepali rupee Yemeni Riyal Jordanian Dinars Syrian Pounds Euro Candaian Dollars

288.750 3.435 6.355 2.540 4.175 6.380 78.700 77.200 764.900 52.685 441.400 0.00003195 3.980 1.550 410.200 5.750 397.200 291.000

Al Mulla Exchange Currency

Transfer rate

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

288.700 393.900 437.900 286.000 3.214 6.340 52.600 2.530 4.170 6.330 3.428 768.150 78.675 77.050

BUSINESS

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

23

Low-grade oil glut in Asia may up bunker costs SINGAPORE: Asia marine fuel costs could climb in coming months, defying nearrecord fuel oil stocks in top bunkering port Singapore, as traders struggle to get enough blending fuels to make bunker for the heavy shipping traffic. The region is getting aboveaverage Western fuel oil inflows this month and may see record imports for April, but most are low-grade residues from Russia and Mexico, unsuitable for direct use by ships, traders said.

This stokes an unusually high demand for better-quality fuel with low viscosity of between 5 and 100 centistoke, which traders use to blend with the raw cargoes in onland tanks or floating storage to make the 380-cst bunker or marine fuel grade. A total 3.3-3.4 million tons of Western cargoes have been fixed for March while April volumes are at 3.7-3.8 million tons, the highest since September and above last year’s monthly average of 3.0 million tons. Up to 60 percent are high-viscosity 600 to 800 cst raw cargoes, including M100 fuel oil from Russia.

Marine fuel costs supported by insufficient blending fuels “The problem with this market is that it operates on a herd mentality,” a Singaporebased Western trader said. “Everyone has the same opinion on the dynamics and we all ended up with too much high-viscosity cargoes and not enough cutters.” Traders said under normal market conditions, such high imports and stockpiles would have pummelled prices of bunker if the imported cargoes are of the better grade 380-cst fuel oil that are normally sent from Europe and ready to use by ships.

But the lack of cutter fuels, or what the industry refers to as slurry, to improve the quality of the disproportionately high volumes of low-grade cargoes, has kept bunker prices at firm levels since January. The strength is set to last through end-April or possibly first-half May, which may in effect increase the costs for shippers, even as the gradually improving global economy is rekindling shipping movements. Bunker

premiums-the price spread between retail marine fuels and fuel oil cargo values-have held firm near $2.00 a ton since January, resisting the weakness in the cargo market that has plunged differentials into the red.

“At $1.00-$2.00 a ton, bunker premiums are not very strong, when the market has seen $10-$20 premiums in the past in cases of severe supply tightness,” said another trader with a Singapore-based Asian trading house. “But taken into the context of just how weak the cargo and swaps markets are, the bunker premiums have managed to hold admirably.” Traders said bunker premiums could rise further if cargo supplies tighten after May. Inventories in Europe, which had been built up by the surge in flows of lowgrade fuel oil from Russia after months of loading disruptions due to bad weather, could start to be drawn down and ease the supplies to Asia. European shipments, including the better fuel oil grades, would

decline further as refiners cut production during spring maintenance.

TRADING OPPORTUNITIES The lack of viscosity cutters prompted trading firms such as Glencore, which traders said has big volumes of low-grade Russian and Mexican cargoes for March and April, to use 180-cst fuel oil to blend highviscosity barrels into the 380-cst bunker grade. Traders said the 180-cst grade is not the most efficient of blendstocks for cutting viscosity, unlike lower viscosity fuel oil, because larger volumes are required.

The 180-cst grade used to be the main fuel used by Asian utilities and as bunker, but China is increasingly using gas and coal for power generation, while new and more efficient ships enable greater use of the cheaper 380-cst fuel oil. This explains Glencore’s move to trade the price spread between the 180 and 380 cst grades, in what

the market describes as a “bull trading play” to leverage the market’s current fundamentals.

These dynamics have impacted the forward swap markets- where traders hedge their positions or for speculative tradewidening the prompt March and April price spread between the two main fuel oil grades to year-high levels of $9.00-$10.00 a ton.

The March viscosity spread has been rising from $5.50 a ton on Feb 2 to $10.25 by midday on Friday, the highest since Dec 15, 2008. Its physical settlement price, which will be used to settle swap trades on the contract, hit a 14-month high of $12.75 a ton on March 5 and stayed above $10.00 for the past four sessions, well above last year’s average value of $3.15.

The strong demand has driven up costs of blending fuels such as light-cycle oil (LCO), which has viscosity below 100-cst, to premiums above $20.00 a ton versus normal levels around $10.00. A cargo of another cutter, the 3 to 35-cst pyrolysis fuel oil from Taiwan’s Formosa for end-March loading,

traded at $40.00 a ton above Singapore spot quotes, free-on-board basis, almost double its previous deal for February at $20.00$25.00 premiums.

Q2 FUEL OIL SUPPLY SEEN TIGHT Fuel oil supplies will also be crimped in the second quarter by the active maintenance season in Asia, Europe and the United States, extending the lower rates most have been operating at and keeping up fuel oil crack levels against Dubai crude. By midday on Monday, fuel oil’s front-month April cracks were valued at a discount of $6.17 a barrel to Dubai crude, steadily falling from minus $2.00-$3.00 about a month ago, burdened by the heavy supplies. “The cracks have been strong for most of last year because of the reduced runs yielding less supply,” a bunker fuel trader said. “Even with the current situation, it’s not been that weak at around minus $5.00-$6.00 a barrel in the historical context.” — Reuters

Asia shares up 0.7% Nikkei dips on profit-taking, yen’s resilience TOKYO: Asian shares inched back towards recent two-month highs yesterday as recovering commodity prices boosted shares of resource firms and as tech stocks drew support from gains in their US peers. The euro held its ground after rebounding from a three-week low against the dollar overnight, but it remained under pressure as major European powers argued over

ALLAHABAD: An Indian farmer works in a wheat field on the outskirts of Allahabad yesterday. Agriculture is one of the strongholds of the Indian economy and accounts for 18.5 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) providing a significant source of livelihood for the still predominantly rural 1.1 billion population. — AFP

India faces more rate hikes to tame inflation MUMBAI: India’s central bank looks set to tighten monetary policy further after raising interest rates for the first time in nearly two years as it bids to check spiralling inflation, economists say.

In a move that surprised experts, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked short-term rates from record lows late Friday to battle near double-digit annual inflation amid fast-strengthening industrial output. Expectations had been for a rate hike at the bank’s scheduled policy review on April 20 but the RBI said in a statement that inflation had “been a source of growing concern.”

The wholesale price index (WPI) in Asia’s third-largest economy was 9.89 percent in February, well above the central bank’s own estimate of 8.5 percent by the end of the current financial year this month. On Friday, the RBI raised the repo, the rate at which it lends to commercial banks, by 25 basis points to 5.0 percent. It also raised the reverse repo, the rate it pays to banks for deposits, by 25 basis points to 3.5 percent, saying “inflationary pressures had accentuated and been spilling over to the wider inflationary process.”

“The timing of the hike is surprising,” said Siddharth Sanyal, economist with Mumbai-based Edelweiss Securities. “With this sudden move, the stance of the central bank is amply clear.” “We expect the bank to raise rates again in April by 25 basis points,” Rupa Rege Nitsure, chief economist with the state-run Bank of Baroda said. Edelweiss Securities also forecasts a similar rate hike in April as India bids to perform the delicate balancing act of tackling high annual inflation while keeping growth on track.

Inflation is a politically sensitive issue in India and the left-leaning Congress-led government has been under attack from opposition parties for its inability to control food prices. The cost of food has rocketed following the country’s worst monsoon in nearly four decades last year, putting pressure on the government to deal with the rising cost of living. Prices of fuel, rubber, plastic and cement all jumped last month, as the economy accelerated out of the global economic downturn, led by a strong recovery in the industrial sector.

The RBI said food prices remain “elevated,” adding that increasing consumer demand could potentially add to inflationary pressures in key sectors such as the auto, cement and steel industries. India’s move comes after Australia and Malaysia increased rates this month. In January, RBI governor Duvvuri Subbarao started to tighten monetary policy by siphoning off excess liquidity from the financial system by raising the cash reserve ratio-the amount commercial banks must keep on deposit-by 75 basis points to 5.75 percent.

The Indian economy is expected to expand 7.2 percent in 2009-2010 as Asia makes a rapid economic recovery after the slowdown. “The rate hike has been early by a month, but is unlikely to affect growth,” said Rajeev Malik, economist with Macquarie Securities, based in Singapore.

Experts say inflation could jump further next month, which would warrant further action from the central bank. Home, retail and auto loan rates could rise further following Friday’s action, media reports said. Analysts expect a cumulative increase of 100 to 125 basis points in policy rates over the next year. — AFP

Maruti Suzuki hits million cars a year NEW DELHI: Japanesecontrolled Maruti Suzuki, India’s biggest passenger car company, said yesterday it had joined the global club of carmakers producing at least one million vehicles a year. General Motors, Volkswagen, Toyota, Ford and Honda are among the vehicle companies in the select group.

Maruti Suzuki, 54.2 percent owned

by Suzuki Motor Corp, is the “first Indian automobile company to join the million club,” the company said in a statement.

Suzuki Motor chairman Osamu Suzuki attended a ceremony at the company’s plant in Manesar near New Delhi to mark the milestone and announced new plans to invest 50 billion yen (555 million dollars) in India as competition heats up in the country’s fastgrowing car market. “All world-class manufacturers are entering India and we are facing severe competition here,” the Suzuki chairman told reporters.

India is the Japanese company’s biggest foreign market, and Suzuki Motor is anxious to fend off global rivals such as Volkswagen, Ford and General Motors which are aggressively seeking to boost sales in the country.

“We achieved one million units but to achieve production of two million... will be a tough journey,” the Suzuki Motor chairman said. Half of the 50 billion yen to be invested will be spent on expanding engine production and the other half on setting up a research and development facility. Company officials also laid the foundation stone for Maruti’s plant expansion at Manesar which will see the facility producing 550,000 units a year from 300,000.

Former prime minister Indira Gandhi set up the car company with Suzuki nearly three decades ago to “serve the ordinary people of India”. Last year, Maruti’s sales outstripped Suzuki’s

performance in Japan and the company is credited with revolutionising transport in India by making affordable cars for a burgeoning middle class.

“Cumulatively, we have produced over 8.8 million cars in India,” said the Suzuki chairman as the millionth car for the current financial year to March-a red hatchback Maruti Suzuki Swiftrolled off the assembly line.

Maruti, which sells one in two cars in the country, produced its first car-the hatchback Maruti 800 — in 1983 and it became a best seller. In its first full financial year of commercial operations, production reached a little over 22,000 cars but in the past few years output has soared.

India is now Asia’s thirdlargest car market, outpaced only by China and Japan, and is one of the few countries where automobile sales are rapidly increasing. Car sales overall jumped 19 percent last year to 1.43 million units. — AFP

But gains were likely to be limited as investors awaited key US housing data later in the day (1400 GMT) for clues on the state of the US recovery, which is key to a sustained global rebound from the worst financial crisis in generations.

Housing market weakness and high unemployment have been a persistent drag on the world’s largest economy, in sharp contrast to a rapid recovery in Asia which has seen foreign investors flocking to the region’s stocks, bonds and currencies.

“Market players are feeling a sense of reassurance about economic conditions, which look strong especially in emerging market countries,” said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management in Japan. “So stocks that have exposure to such markets are on solid footing,” Akino said.

The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan rose 0.8 percent to 418.92, clawing towards a two-month peak of 422.64 hit last week and putting it back in positive territory for the year to date.

Mining and oil company shares rose as commodities prices stabilised after losing ground yesterday. Chinese oil producer CNOOC rose 1.3 percent, while global miner BHP Billiton climbed 1.1 percent in Australia. Tech shares were also strong gainers across much of the region, with expectations of stronger consumer demand for flat screen TVs and other gadgets boosting major producers such as Samsung Electronics, which rose 1 percent. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 average bucked the broader trend, however, slipping 0.5 percent as recent gainers such as Canon Inc lost steam and as investors cautiously watched moves in the yen.

Still, Toshiba Corp jumped 3.6 percent after it said it was in talks with a company backed by Microsoft Corp Chairman Bill Gates to jointly develop advanced nuclear reactors. The biggest risk for Asian equities is if the US economy slows down again, but such worries are unlikely to emerge in the near-term, especially as the US Federal Reserve is likely to keep interest rates at super-low levels for at least a few more months, Akino said. “For the time being, I think equities will stay on a rising trend, with market players focusing on corporate earnings,” he said.

GREEK DANCE The euro was largely steady from late US levels at $1.3560 and edged up 0.2 percent to 122.40 yen However, continuing disagreement between Germany and other European states over financial support for debt-laden Greece was likely to weigh on the euro heading into an EU summit at the end of the week. “Even though we saw a sharp recovery overnight, probably thanks to the passage of the healthcare reform bill in the US, concern over Greece and tightening, not just in China but also in India, should linger in the market,” said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief FX strategist for Japan at Barclays Capital. “There’s very partial risk aversion away from the euro and some assets - but overall risk appetite is still there.” — Reuters

whether to extend financial assistance to debt-laden Greece. European stocks were expected to open higher, breaking a three-session losing run, as the market tracked gains on Wall Street, where the passage of a fiercely debated healthcare reform bill ended some uncertainty hanging over markets and prompted investors to return cautiously to riskier assets.

SHANGHAI: An investor looks at the stock price monitor at a private securities company yesterday in Shanghai, China. — AP

Dai-ichi Mutual Life IPO to be biggest since Visa TOKYO: Japan’s Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Co is headed for a market capitalisation of 15.5 billion dollars after its April 1 initial public offering, the world’s biggest since Visa’s in 2008. Japan’s second-biggest life insurer will be listed at the start of next month as it will be demutualised to become a joint stock company. Facing a declining home market due to Japan’s ageing and shrinking population, the company is raising funds for expansion, including in emerging Asian markets such as India, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Tokyo-based company yesterday set the offering price at 140,000 yen ($1,550), the middle of its previously announced tentative price range, for the 10 million shares, for a total of 1.4 trillion yen.

Of these, about 7.2 million shares will be released to retail investors, raising 1.01 trillion yen, or 11 billion dollars, with some five million shares sold domestically and over two million overseas, the company said. The

remainder will be allotted to existing Dai-ichi policy-holders. The IPO is set to be the world’s largest since Visa’s 19.7-billion-dollar offering in March 2008. It will be Japan’s biggest in more than a decade, since Nippon Telephone and Telegraph released shares in its mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo in 1998, which came to 2.1 trillion yen.

Dai-ichi Mutual has decided to list the company, which is currently a mutual corporation owned by its eight million customers, so that it will be able to secure funds for investment in domestic and overseas operations. “With funds obtained through the market, Dai-ichi can strengthen its health and pension insurance businesses,” said Masahiko Miwa, analyst at Moody’s Japan. “It will also be able to expand its business overseas. If Dai-ichi succeeds in taking advantage of the listing, its rivals may follow suit.”

The looming IPO has already created ripples at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, said

Hirokazu Fujiki, analyst at Okasan Securities. “Some investors have started selling their own shares to cash in for planned purchases of Dai-ichi, which may send overall prices down temporarily,” he said. “But in the long run, the listing is expected to activate Japan’s equity market and will have a positive impact on the entire Japanese economy.”

Mizuho Securities, Merrill Lynch Japan and Nomura Securities are the lead underwriters for the IPO in Japan.

Mizuho Financial Group Inc would acquire a 5.6 percent stake in Dai-ichi, Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. 4.0 percent and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ 2.2 percent, Kyodo News reported earlier.

The joint lead managers overseas are Merrill Lynch International, Mizuho International, Nomura International and Goldman Sachs International, said Dow Jones Newswires. — AFP

2 world travel awards nominations for Alshamel International Holding KUWAIT: Alshamel International Holding, the leading Kuwaitbased travel management company, has been nominated as both the Middle East’s Leading Travel Management Company and the Middle East’s Leading Travel Agency at the prestigious 17th Annual World Travel Awards. The awards are the most sought after in the industry with nominees selected by thousands of professionals from travel and tourism organizations world-wide.

Established in 1993, The World Travel Awards is regarded as the most comprehensive and prestigious awards programme in the global travel industry. Hailed by the Wall Street Journal as the “travel industry’s equivalent of the Oscar’s”, it serves to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the world’s travel and tourism industry. Derin Cameron, CEO Alshamel International Holding said: “It is a great honor to be nominated and we are

Derin Cameron, CEO Alshamel proud, as the only Kuwait-based travel management company to receive a nomination, to represent the country at these awards.

“To be recognized at the World Travel Awards is highly prestigious for any business and highly regarded in the industry.

Getting nominated in these two categories underlines our commitment to providing exceptional service and customer satisfaction

to both the retail-leisure and business travel communities across the region” she concluded.

Mazen Hamad, Senior Vice President added, “We have a huge vision for Alshamel, and the high profile subsidiaries we represent.

These nominations further raise our profile regionally and reflect the company’s constant efforts to succeed. We are honoured to receive two nominations and

hope Kuwait will show support by voting for us.” As a World Travel Award Nominee, Alshamel now enters into the final round of voting. Individuals can register a vote for the company by completing the registration form at www.worldtravelawards.com/register and then selecting the award categories from the Middle East list. Voting is open until 11th April 2010.

The results will be announced on 3rd May 2010 at the Middle East Gala Ceremony held at Dubai.

Alshamel International has been operating in the Middle East for over 12 years, offering a wide range of travel products and services for corporate and individual customers. With branches in Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and new branches open in Oman and Saudi Arabia, the company’s dedicated team of travel professionals has the knowledge, experience and range of solutions to meet and exceed the requirements of both leisure and corporate clients.

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BUSINESS

Market sectors end in the green Global Daily Market Report

Top Gainers and Biggest Decliners In terms of top gainers, A’ayan Real Estate Company was the top gainer for the day, adding 9.80 percent and closed at KD0.112. On the other hand, Nafais Holding Company and Gulf North Africa Holding Company both shed 7.27 percent making them the biggest decliners.

Sectors Wise Regarding Global’s sectoral indices, they ended the day on a mixed note with Global Insurance Index being the top gainer. The index ended the day up 1.05 percent backed by Gulf Insurance Company and Al-Ahleia Insurance Company ending the day with gains of

Card experts identify huge opportunity for Prepaid Up to 85% transactions in the region rely on cash

KUWAIT: The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) closed yesterday on a positive note along with major indicators and market sectors also ending in the green backed by oil prices being above US$80 per barrel. Global General Index (GGI) added 0.55 points (+0.26 percent) during yesterday’s session to reach 210.73 points, the highest level since the beginning of the year. In addition, the KSE Price Index increased by 32.90 points (+0.44 percent) yesterday and closed at 7,450.90 points. Market capitalization was up KD104.85mn yesterday to reach KD34.55bn.

Market Breadth During yesterday’s session, 148 companies were traded. Market breadth was skewed towards gainers as 59 equities advanced versus 46 that advanced. A total of 104 stocks remained unchanged during yesterday’s trading session.

Daily Trading Activity Trading activities ended on a negative note yesterday as volume of shares traded on the exchange decreased by 3.74 percent to reach 341.95mn shares. In addition, value of shares traded dropped by 7.37 percent to stand at KD63.12mn.

The Investment Sector was both the volume and value leader yesterday, accounting for 41.03 percent of total traded volume and 34.79 percent of total traded value. Coast Investment & Development Company saw 20mn shares changing hands, making it the volume leader. Zain was the value leader, with a total traded value of KD4.22mn.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

1.14 percent and 3.23 percent, respectively. Global Industrial Index ended yesterday’s trading session with a gain of 0.62 percent, making it the second biggest gainer in the market. Kuwait Metal Pipe Industries & Oil Services, the biggest gainer in the sector, contributed to the index’s gain by ending the day with a gain of 7.25 percent to close at KD0.370.

Furthermore, Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Company also helped by the index by posting an increase of 6.12 percent and closed at KD0.520.

Global Food Index was the biggest decliner yesterday, down 0.83 percent backed by heavyweight Kuwait Foodstuff Company (Americana) being the only decliner in the sector. The scrip ended the day down 1.23 percent and closed at KD1.600. Regarding Global’s special

indices, Global High Yield Index was the only decliner yesterday.

The index ended the day down 0.57 percent backed by heavyweight Kuwait Foodstuff Company (Americana). Global Small Cap Index ended the day with a gain of 0.69 percent backed by Strategia Investment Company ending the day up 8.62 percent.

Oil News The price of OPEC basket of twelve crudes stood at US$76.75 a barrel on Monday, compared with US$77.18 the previous Friday, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations. Oil prices held steady in Asian trading yesterday to settle at US$80 per barrel amid expectations of improvement of the financial markets and oil demand. However profits remained limited.

Market News Kout Food Group Board of Directors recommended a cash dividend at 15 percent of par value, or 15 fils a share, for the FY that ended on 31/12/2009.

Shareholders of record on the general meeting date are eligible for this distribution. This proposal is pending the approval of shareholder meeting and competent authorities. Hilal Cement Company Board of Directors proposed bonus share distribution at 10 percent of paid-in capital, or 10-for-100, for the FY that ended on 31/12/2009. This dividend will be financed from retained earnings. Shareholders of record on the general meeting are eligible for this distribution. This recommendation is subject to the approval of shareholder meeting and competent authorities.

DUBAI: The first prepaid summit of the region opened yesterday as key speakers, explained the market opportunities available for cashless transactions in the Middle East region. Will Cain, VRL Group Editorial Director for Cards and Payment, VRL Financial News confirmed that up to 85 percent of transactions in the region are cash transactions which immediately creates a massive opportunity for the prepaid cards.

“Education, awareness and regulations will drive the prepaid market that is already showing real potential worldwide” said Cain.

Scott Salmon, Head of Prepaid Global Market Expansion, VISA said: “Prepaid has over 55,000 programs in more than 60 countries. The Central Europe, Middle East and Africa market has seen growth of 300 percent p.a. in the last six years.” The drivers of growth are factors such as shift to e-payment, increasing spending power of youth and remittances.

“Middle East region will see government regulations of salary transfers as the main growth segment,” said Salmon. The two-day summit which opened in Dubai yesterday has global speakers line-up including VISA, Mastercard, Emirates NBD, Italian Ministry of Economy and Finances and Vice Versa International in the first session. More than 30 speakers are presenting the delivery and success models of prepaid to delegates and trade professionals who attended the first ever prepaid summit of the region.

The second day of the

Scot Salmon summit will have more than ten presentations and an expert panel focusing on the prepaid card consumer including exclusive research presentation on the Middle East prepaid market, covering the UAE, KSA and Egypt sponsored by MasterCard.

Event partners, include Visa Title Sponsor; MasterCard Platinum and Research Sponsor; Network Silver Sponsor; Banksoft Brand Sponsor, FirstData Sponsor; Global Technology Partners, exhibitors and official partners TNS Middle East.

BUSINESS

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

25

Islamic banking to see 4-fold growth in next decade

By Velina Nacheva KUWAIT: Islamic banking, which has been less hit by the global economic slowdown is expected to grow fourfold in the next decade. This development was discussed during a lecture entitled, ‘Islamic Finance Basics and Performance’ that was held at the American University of Kuwait (AUK) yesterday. Two experts in the field of Sharia-compliant financing outlined the major differences between Islamic financing and con-

ventional banking, and jointly agreed that the Shariah-compliant institutions have been hit less when compared to their conventional counterparts.

Speaking to the Kuwait Times on the sidelines of the event, Emad Yousuf Al-Monayea, Chairman and Managing Director of Liquidity House, a subsidiary of Kuwait Finance House - one of the world’s largest Islamic banks - said that Islamic-compliant assets are expected to reach four trillion in the next decade.

According to news reports released last year, the total value of assets of Islamic financial institutions soared above $ 820 billion whereas Islamic bonds totaled to a value of $100 billion. There are predictions for a double digit growth of Islamic banking, Al-Monayea said when asked about the predictions for growth of Islamic banking. He further stressed that central banks in the region are encouraging the Sharia-compliant system because everybody sees that the assets-

backed securities are the most secured.

The major difference between Islamic financing and conventional banking is the latter charging interests on loans, which according to Islamic Sharia, is considered a capital sin. Within conventional banking, money is the main element in any kind of transaction, relationship or a contract between a bank and a client, says Mohammad Al-Qattan, Director of the Islamic Economics Unit at Kuwait University. In contrast, with-

in Islamic banking it is more complicated and depends on the benefits from the assets. “There has to be assets,” he said. Asked to comment on the project for the establishment of an Islamic megabank in the United Arab Emirates, Al-Monayea said, that although it is still under study, “there is progress on it.” With the economic turmoil things can change, he said.

In Kuwait, as of late, there were indications for willingness to move towards Sharia-compliant financing.

Warba is the fourth Islamic bank

established recently in Kuwait.

Other Sharia-compliant banks in Kuwait include Kuwait Finance House, Boubyan Bank, Kuwait International Bank and a conventional bank that is currently undergoing a conversion into a Sharia-compliant institution. Asked if the country is slightly overbanked and if competition between five Islamic lenders and five conventional peers will be healthy for the finance turf, AlMonayea argues that “specialization is required.”

At the seminar, Mohammad AlQattan, Director of the Islamic Economics Unit at Kuwait University highlighted some of the products within the Islamic finance structure calling them ‘Islamic tools of investment’ providing specific examples of products such as, Murabaha, Ijara, Musharaka, Istisna’a and Sukuk. The seminar was attended by students and faculty of the American University of Kuwait, journalists and financial experts.

Shell, PetroChina ink gas exploration deal Part of broader alliance between Shell and PetroChina

KUWAIT: Emad Yousuf Al-Monayea, Chairman and Managing Director of Liquidity House, subsidiary of Kuwait Finance House, (right) and Mohammad Al-Qattan, Director of the Islamic Economics Unit at Kuwait University (left) address the attendees at the Islamic Banking seminar held yesterday in AUK. —Photo by Joseph Shagra

Productive sectors help credit growth KUWAIT: In its latest economic brief on monetary developments, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) reports that the money supply (M2) expanded 2.0% month on month (m/m), up KD 512 million, boosted by a large inflow of outside funds in February. This resulted in a KD 469 million growth in Central Bank of Kuwait’s (CBK) net foreign assets. Much of these funds, subsequently, found their way to local banks, where deposits grew KD 481 million.

As a result, banks in Kuwait saw a large boost in liquidity in February, which added to already comfortable levels. Meanwhile, credit growth picked up somewhat this month, helped by strong demand from productive sectors, namely trade, construction, industry, and oil and gas. Credit to residents was up KD 38 million in February, following slow-to-negative growth in previous months.

The improvement was partially the result of action taken by the CBK, which reduced interest rates on February 8. The discount rate was cut 50 bps to 2.5%, while the 1-week and 1month Repo rates were also cut 25 bps to 1.5% and 2.0%, respectively.

NBK noted that during February, loans to the productive sectors posted a combined KD 70 million growth. These sectors have witnessed strong 3-month annualized growth over the past months. Apart from interest cuts, demand for credit in these sectors was perhaps enhanced by the financial stability law, which went into effect in April of 2009. In fact, since end August 2009, new loans to the productive sectors have totaled KD 270 million. These loans are 50% guaranteed by the government if they fulfill the criteria

of the stability law. On the other side, NBK also noted that personal facilities and loans to real estate fell KD 41 million and KD 52 million in February. These sectors were the growth leaders in 2009.

Private resident deposits rose 2.0% (up KD 481 million) m/m in February, exclusively in local currency. Deposits have grown KD 678 million over the past 3 months. Meanwhile, deposits from non-residents rose KD35 million m/m. Repo rate cuts in February and strong expansion of deposits in recent months are pushing interest rates on KD deposits down.

Average rates offered on KD private deposits fell between 6 and 17 bps for the different maturities in February, reaching 1.19%, 1.43%, 1.67%, and 1.90%, for the 1, 3, 6, and 12-month maturities, respectively.

Bank assets rose KD 643 million m/m on the back of the large expansion of deposits. A small part of the increase was deployed as new credit to residents, while the remainder was retained as time deposits with the CBK (up KD 297 million) and deposits with foreign banks (up KD 142 million). As a result, liquidity at banks improved, driving average 1-month Kuwait interbank offer rate (KIBOR) down 11 bps in February.

Liquidity Indicators Since the start of February, the Kuwaiti Dinar was relatively flat against both the Euro and USD. A calmer atmosphere in international exchange markets, as worries concerning sovereign debt in the Euro zone subsided to some degree, contributed to an uneventful FX market in Kuwait.

Economic Brief

Babcock seals VT deal Babcock shares up 6.1%, VT up 5.4% LONDON: Babcock International agreed to buy defence services rival VT Group, creating a FTSE 100listed defence services giant, in a cash-and-shares deal currently worth 1.4 billion pounds ($2.1 billion). Babcock’s offer is worth 757.1 pence per share based on its share price at 1215 GMT, a premium of 49 percent to VT’s closing price on Feb. 12, the day prior to the announcement of an approach

by Babcock.

VT, once a naval shipbuilder and now a support services company, snubbed two previous approaches from Babcock, the latter a cash-and-shares offer worth up to 715 pence per share. Under the terms of the deal announced Tuesday and due to complete in mid-July, VT shareholders will receive 361.6 pence in cash and 0.701 new Babcock shares for each share they hold. According to Thomson Reuters data, this will be the largest takeover of one listed British company by another since the state-backed purchase of ailing lender HBOS

by Lloyds, which closed in January 2009.

Babcock, which maintains the Royal Navy’s submarines, decided to lift its offer after its due diligence uncovered poten-

tial for significantly higher merger synergies than it had originally identified. The group now expects to realise savings of around 50 million pounds per annum after the deal, compared with its original projection of 27 million, and anticipates it will be earnings enhancing in the first year. The merged group is expected by analysts to be valued at about 2 billion pounds and VT shareholders will own about 36 percent of the combined entity.

COMBINED SCALE Babcock Chief Executive Peter Rogers, who will retain his position in the combined group, highlighted the benefits of the combined scale of the two businesses who are both major customers of Britain’s Ministry of Defence. “The combination gives you the ability to talk right across those who influence policy and direction within the MoD and that’s extremely valuable,” he said.

Shares in both companies showed strong gains with traders also citing talk of possible counter bid interest for Babcock from US defence firms Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

Boeing declined to comment.

Lockheed was not immediately available for comment. “We would totally discount the

rumours,” said Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners.

“Neither Babcock nor VT Group would appear to fit within the international strategy of either American giant.”

At 1215 GMT, Babcock shares were up 6.1 percent at 565 pence with VT shares rose 5.4 percent higher at 727.5 pence. Numis analyst Mike Murphy said the deal carried “both short and long-term merits” and believes shares in Babcock are “significantly undervalued”. “There are revenue synergies from the combined group’s unrivalled position in the defence outsourcing space which should offer huge growth prospects as the UK Ministry of Defence looks for savings,” he said.

That could be critical in light of expected cuts to defence spending following Britain’s forthcoming general election.

“In this environment, size does matter,” VT CEO Paul Lester told Reuters in a telephone interview. A parliamentary report on Tuesday said Britain could face a hole of up to 80 billion pounds ($120 billion) in its defence budget within a decade and may have to cancel some equipment programmes to balance the books. —Reuters

BEIJING: Royal Dutch Shell and China National Petroleum Corp have signed duction contract the Anglo-Dutch company has clinched in China. An indusa 30-year deal to develop natural gas in China, a day after launching a joint try official familiar with the project said the block would likely produce 2-3 takeover bid for Australian gas producer Arrow Energy. The two firms will billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas a year, with Shell taking a larger share in jointly develop tight gas deposits in the 4,000 square kilometre Jinqiu block the contract for undertaking all the exploration risks. Further financial in central Sichuan province, Shell said yesterday, the second major gas pro- details regarding the deal were not immeadiately available.

The deal to tap tight gas, contained in rock that must be broken before it can flow easily to production wells, is the latest example of an oil major seeking out previously uneconomic deposits.

Analysts said the deal was part of a broader alliance between CNPC and Shell, as the state-backed giant uses the huge and rapidly expanding Chinese gas market to help it access global hydrocarbon assets and Shell’s proven technologies in unconventional gas. The tight gas deal follows hot on the heels of Shell and CNPC unit PetroChina’s joint $3.1 billion takeover bid for Arrow. “In the Arrow acquisition Shell helped bring upstream access to PetroChina in Australia. China is reciprocating this by giving Shell tight gas opportunities in China,” said Neil Beveridge of Bernstein Research.

China, the world’s secondlargest energy user, is on a fast-track to develop the fuel BEIJING: Lim Haw-Kuang (right) executive chairman of Shell Companies in China, drinks water as Peter Voser, that is cleaner than coal and chief executive officer of Royal Dutch Shell PLC, gestures during a press conference in Beijing yesterday. —AP oil, with consumption forecast to triple to about 300 bcm by 2020, or nearly 10 percent of its total energy needs. The gas revolution taking place in the United States, where huge recovery can be kickstarted NICOSIA: Cyprus has avoided discoveries of unconventional with the package. the fallout from Greece’s gas resources are replacing But the planned freeze on mounting debt crisis but its European imports of traditional liquefied University of between the public sectors of fiscal deficit could still rise Cyprus research analyst EU partners Cyprus and public sector wages and cuts natural gas, is an inspiration to way above the EU ceiling of Pambos Papageorgiou said. Greece that should make it to entry-level wages by 10 Beijing’s energy policy setthree percent of GDP if gov- “The UK is Cyprus’s most easier for Nicosia to impose percent could result in strike ters, Bernstein’s Beveridge ernment austerity measures important economic partner, cuts. “The Greek civil service action. said.

Plans to overhaul tax evalfail, analysts warn. In a bid to Russian companies also have is very politicised and there is Shell is already producing lead by example and trim the offices here and there is a higher level of corruption. uation on real estate, to hike gas in Changbei, a tight gas public sector’s bloated pay investment in Russia through It’s much lower in Cyprus.” VAT on services for which the field in the Ordos Basin in roll, President Demetris Cyprus.”

He added that the Cypriot normal 15-percent rate is not northern Shaanxi province, Christofias announced a 10government, apart from cut- applied and potentially reduce The Cyprus government is which began commercial propercent salary cut for himself, aware that its eurozone econ- ting the salaries of the presi- or means test a range of social duction in March 2007 and the cabinet and other top offi- omy could come under tighter dent and his ministers, should benefits could also aggravate now supplies 3 bcm per year cials on Monday night. He scrutiny from Brussels as it make changes to the public public discontent. Economist to Beijing and eastern China. made the pledge during a tele- tries to tackle a fiscal deficit pay roll and avoid imposing Costas Apostolides agreed The European major, one of vised press conference night that analysts say could reach too many taxes so as not to that Cyprus’s economic woes the few international oil firms relate more to what is happento mark two years in power as seven percent of GDP in 2010 stifle investment. producing gas in onshore ing in Britain and said reducthe divided EU country’s first if public spending is not “I predict we will have China, in January began ing taxation, especially in the communist president. almost zero growth this year, restrained and more revenue assessing a shale gas block in Economists argue that the generated. The finance min- so it is dangerous to try and property and construction Sichuan province. “We are Cypriot economy, technically istry said last week that the raise too much revenue. industry, would help to get focusing quite strongly into in recession since last June, stagnant property market and Public finances must be things moving. the difficult gas area... these “We have stronger ecowas undone not by Greece but fall in tourism receipts, by improved, but excessive tax are two big blocks. Lots of by a plunge in tourists, espe- 16.7 percent, created a rev- measures must be avoided.” nomic links to the UK than explorations. Very exciting,” cially from Britain, by Britons enue shortfall in 2009 of one Finance Minister Charilaos Greece with a dependence on said Shell’s China chief, Lim selling their holiday homes billion euros ($1.35 billion). Stavrakis is expected to tourism and property,” which Haw-Kuang. and a decline in Russian “We face a similar problem to announce a raft of measures have both been badly hit by US TIGHT GAS investment. “Greece has an Greece with our growing aimed at saving 500 million the global recession. “The The China deal is just the indirect effect through the deficit. But we are nowhere euros and has been consulting government has failed to put presence of Cyprus banks near latest move by Shell into tight as bad,” said with political partners to win together a proper growth there and stock prices tend to Papageorgiou. gas, with its North American consensus on a stability pact package. The economy must be affected. But it has no real operations another key source Papageorgiou said there that will be sent to Brussels. be stimulated to generate reveffect on economic activity,” were structural differences He is confident economic enue and all the big infrastrucof production. Shell Chief ture projects have not Executive Peter Voser said moved,” he said. With tourism last week that the company and construction contributing had the resource potential to nearly 30 percent of GDP, the more than double production 17-billion-euro (23 billion dolfrom its North American tight lar) Cypriot economy shrank gas fields to over 400,000 barlast year by 1.7 percent comrels of oil equivalent per day pared to 2008. by 2020.

It was the first contraction “Economics are attractive in three decades and worse in a $4 to $6 gas price range,” than the negative year-onMalcolm Brinded, Shell’s year GDP growth rate of 0.5 executive director of percent forecast by the govupstream international, told ernment, which hopes to see analysts on a strategy update marginal economic growth in conference call, while dis2010. “The government cussing the North American thought it would avoid a slump assets. “As we continue with so it was ill prepared, it didn’t the appraisal and development get to grips with what was programme in tight gas, we about to happen,” Apostolides are seeing sharp improvesaid. Early last year, the govments in drilling costs and ernment confidently forecast reduced drilling time. This that Cyprus would be alone improves the economics of among the 16 eurozone counthese developments, and I tries in achieving growth in think there is more to come 2009, having seen growth here.” Shell’s statement about rates of 3.6 percent in 2008 PAPHOS: A British tourist relaxes in a hammock by the pool at a hotel in the Cypriot the agreement with CNPC did and 4.4 percent in 2007. It is coastal city of Paphos. Cyprus has avoided the fallout from Greece’s mounting debt now among the last members not give any details of cost, crisis but its fiscal deficit could still rise above the EU ceiling of three percent of GDP struggling to shake off a investment or potential output recession. —AFP from Jinqiu. —Reuters if government austerity measures fail, analysts warned yesterday. —AFP

Cyprus escapes Greek crisis Deficit fears grow

26

BUSINESS

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Dented sukuk market starved of sovereign benchmark LONDON: Sovereign borrowing still eludes the Islamic bond, or sukuk, market, leaving investors hungry for a benchmark issue to reinvigorate trading after the credit crunch and the Dubai World crisis.

Where issuance from euro zone and emerging market borrowers in 2010 has been fast and furious, with emerging market borrowers alone issuing over $50 billion, there have been no sovereign sukuk issues at all.

Only one international sukuk has been issued so far this year, a $450 million Islamic bond for Saudi property developer Dar Al-Arkan. A resolution of debt woes at state-owned Dubai World, the mounting of domestic regulatory hurdles for issuers and improved liquidity could bring sovereigns to the sukuk market from around the third quarter. But for now thin trading, the extra premium which borrowers have to

Investors seek sovereign sukuk to kickstart market pay to attract investors into this relatively small and specialist market, question marks over sovereign guarantees and regulatory conundrums have deterred borrowers. “There is genuine need for issuance,” said Muneer Khan, partner and head of Islamic finance at law firm Simmons & Simmons in Dubai.

“Government-related issuances and good credit corporate issuances can often open the gates for further corporates.”

A sukuk is similar to a bond but complies with Islamic law, which prohibits the charging or payment of interest.

SOVEREIGN PLANS The typical path for any debt market is that the initial borrowers are sovereigns, seen as relatively risk-free, followed by

state-owned entities, and then by corporate borrowers who will offer a higher yield. “If sovereigns get deals away at a certain level, corporates should trade 3040-50 basis points above,” said a Londonbased Islamic finance specialist. But without sovereign deals, it is hard for corporates to follow. The Philippines last week shelved plans for a debut sukuk issue, citing legal hurdles. Indonesia, which has previously issued in the sukuk market, has no plans to issue again before September.

Gulf borrowers such as Bahrain and Dubai have also previously issued sukuk.

But trading is weak after the shock payment standstill on Dubai World debt, which includes Islamic debt, and other defaults in a market once boasting a zero default rate.

In addition, the lack of a government guar-

antee for some state-owned Dubai World debt came as a shock to many investors.

Sukuk prices are generally trading below par and the market is highly illiquid, market participants say, even as benchmark emerging sovereign debt spreads are trading at their tightest over US Treasuries in nearly two years.

Global sukuk issuance is likely to range between $15-17 billion in 2010, down from $19 billion last year, a recent Reuters poll shows. Currently even those forecasts look ambitious-in 2009, nearly all sukuk issues were made by states and quasi-sovereign entities. “The sukuk market has been doubly affected by the downturn and the situation in the Middle East, so people are not pushing ahead-it’s not an easy market for a first-time borrower,” said Farmida

Bi, partner at law firm Norton Rose in London.

EUROPEAN DESERT European sovereigns have failed to issue any sukuk at all. The UK was at the forefront of plans for sukuk issuance, and has the legal framework in place. But its original plans coincided with the outbreak of the global financial crisis, and the country has since saddled itself with huge amounts of debt. “The reality is that the UK government has to fund a 178 billion pound ($266 billion) deficit,” said the Islamic finance specialist. “To come to the market with a $500 million to $1.0 billion sukuk is not the highest on their priority list.”

France was also hoping to issue a sukuk but has become bogged down in legal changes, and market participants say sukuk issuance in countries such as

Turkey remains some way off. However, there are a few signs of light. Investors are awaiting a restructuring any day of $26 billion in Dubai World debt, which will draw a line under the four-month old problem.

“The more positive news that comes for resolutions, the better,” said Khan. “It can’t hinder further issuances, but it could help.”

Sovereigns such as Jordan and Kazakhstan have said they want to issue sukuk for the first time, although there is no set timing. And as markets around the world recover, led by emerging debt which is seeing strong demand, sukuk could yet attract investors. According to a Gulf regional banker at a major investment bank: “The sukuk market is a natural follower of the debt capital markets and we’re starting to see more activity there. There is liquidity in the bond market.” — Reuters

ENOC to start new units Dubai ENOC expected to hit 120,000 bpd by third-quarter ABU DHABI: Dubai’s government-owned refinery Emirates National Oil Co (ENOC) expects to start new units at its Jebel Ali refinery in May, a top official said yesterday. The plant will reach full capacity of 120,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the third quarter, up from the current processing level of 72,000 bpd, said Guruswamy Raghunathan,

general manager of the refinery. “Our idea would be to ramp up gradually,” Raghunathan told reporters on the sidelines of the Middle East Refining Conference organised by the World Refining Association.

Commissioning of the new units were put on hold briefly due to technical issues, Raghunathan said. “As with

any start up there will always be incidents, but by middle of April we should activate most of these units,” he said. ENOC began commissioning units at the plant in December after completing the $850 million overhaul.

The project’s initial budget was around $500 million, but Jebel Ali, like many other energy projects worldwide,

suffered cost inflation as oil ran up to a record high near $150 a barrel in 2008.

The upgrade would allow ENOC to convert naphtha to reformate, and give it capacity to produce 40,000 bpd of the gasoline component. The upgrade has added a reformer and a hydrotreater to the plant.

It would also produce sweet naphtha with a sulphur con-

tent of 5 parts per million and a high paraffin content. “These products will likely make its way to the Far East market,” he said. Jebel Ali is the smallest of four refineries in the UAE. The largest is the Ruwais plant run by the refining unit of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and has capacity of 415,000 bpd. — Reuters

Qatar’s Qtel seeks $2 bln refinancing Qatar looking to invest more in Germany LONDON: Qatar Telecommunications Co (Qtel) has approached banks to refinance a $2 billion forward-start loan agreed last year in order to reduce its borrowing costs, banking sources close to the deal said. Forward start loans were popular in 2009 for companies facing maturing loans, as they enabled borrowers to extend the deals when liquidity was tight, but they involved a hefty increase in pricing on the existing credit. With margins falling, they are now looking expensive and borrowers are keen to replace them.

German automotive lighting maker Hella Hueck replaced a forward-start loan earlier this month, while banking sources told TRLPC this week that German industrial gases firm Linde has

issued a request for proposals over the refinancing of the 1.6 billion euros ($2.2 billion) of forward-start facilities arranged last June.

Banking sources told TRLPC last year that Qtel’s $2 billion forward-start loan, signed in September 2009, paid a margin of 250 basis points (bps) over LIBOR. That compared with a margin of 22.5 bps over LIBOR for the original three-year, $2 billion revolving credit facility agreed in November 2006.

Initial mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners on last year’s loan were Bank of Tokyo-Misubishi UFJ, Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, DBS and Royal Bank of Scotland, while Qatar National Bank was initial mandated lead arranger and financial adviser.

In another developent, Qatar is looking for more German investment opportunities after becoming the third biggest shareholder in Volkswagen, a top official told the business daily Handelsblatt.

“In Europe, and particularly in Germany, there is a whole series of interesting companies that we are going to look at,” deputy prime minister Abdallah ibn Hamad Al-Attiyah said in comments published yesterday.

Germany “now seems to be open again to investment,” he added in reference to efforts two years ago to limit the access of sovereign wealth funds from Gulf countries, China and Russia to German companies.

Al-Attiyah noted that little came of

those efforts however and said “it is just as well. That will help the German economy.”

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), which manages investments for the gas-rich nation, invested 30 billion dollars (22 billion euros) in 2009 and plans to reach a comparable level this year, Prime Minister Hamad ibn Jassem Al-Thani said on Monday. In addition to a 17-percent stake in Volkswagen, QIA holds almost seven percent of the shares in Barclays bank, 25 percent of the supermarket chain J Sainsbury and 14.7 percent of Canary Wharf, the business district in London.

Al-Thani said recently it was also in talks to invest in the French nuclear group Areva. — Agencies

Taameer sees end to cash crunch Jordan’s largest property developer seeks $60 million AMMAN: Taameer Holdings, Jordan’s largest property firm, hopes to secure $60 million in funding soon to ease a cash crunch that has delayed major multi-million dollar real estate projects, its chairman said. The largest developer in Jordan by market value has been hit by the global economic downturn, which has sent prices in the kingdom’s once booming property sector down some 25 percent from its peak in 2008.

The company is in advanced talks with undisclosed investors and private equity firms for a syndicated loan and other funds, said Khaled Dahleh, chairman and CEO of Taameer.

“We hope the financing deals will be finalised by mid-April which will position us to inject the cash needed to complete delayed projects,” Dahleh said in an interview yesterday.

Dahleh said the cash injection would complete a $200 million Andalusia luxury gated compound this year and finalise within a year a $67 million government-subsidised housing project and a $60 million entertainment resort in the Red Sea port of Aqaba.

Taameer, with around $500 million of assets, has been unable to tap new financing after an $85 million syndicated loan arranged

by Lebanon’s Blom Bank fell through in August 2008 when most regional banks became risk averse.

Taameer’s prospects for fresh funding brightened when a government-appointed panel representing banks and Jordan Central Bank (CBJ) to look into needs of cash-short firms said last month the property developer was qualified for new funds that may include partial-risk guarantees.

Market expectations of an imminent decision by banks has raised the price of the share by at least 25 percent since the recommendation. Taameer’s share fell 4.05 percent at close of trade yesterday in profit taking, dealers said.

Taameer has pinned its hopes on benefiting from initial signs of a recovery in the depressed estate market with stronger economic growth prospects in Jordan this year, Dahleh said.

Taameer also eyed growth in the Gulf region, especially the fast-growing Saudi Arabian housing market, Dahleh said.

Taameer’s major shareholder is financial conglomerate United Arab Investors.

Others include Saudi-based Savola Group with a 5.5 percent stake, Kuwait’s Global Investment House and other Arab Gulf investors. —Reuters

CANCUN: Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon (center) stands with his Treasury Secretary Ernesto Cordero (left) and with the the President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Luis Alberto Moreno during the inauguration of the IDB annual meeting in Cancun, Mexico. — AP

Inter-American Bank boosts capital by 70 billion dollars CANCUN: The governing board of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has agreed to boost its capital by 70 billion dollars, almost doubling its capacity to make loans to countries in the region. At a meeting in the Mexican beach resort of Cancun, which was wrapped up yesterday, top banking and finance officials also agreed to cancel Haiti’s 470 million dollar debt in the wake of January’s devastating earthquake. The increase will allow the institution to “double our capacity to lend to some 12 billion dollars a year, on average,” said IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno.

“Not only is this the largest increase in the history of the institution, but it will allow us to strengthen our position as the top source of multilateral resources for the region,” he added. The bank’s 48 member countries, including several finance ministers and central bank chiefs, are attending the official gathering to discuss the institution’s future operations and development challenges facing Latin America and the Caribbean. Moreno said earlier this month that the bank was under pressure to expand its capital because its lending capacity will start to significantly fall off

next year. But the capital increase was not as large as some delegations had hoped. “This is the result for the next three years. But demand continues to grow... and I don’t rule out the possibility that in four years we’ll be returning to talk about a new increase in capital,” said Brazil’s Minister of Planning Paulo Bernardo. “We were left with a bitter taste in our mouths because while it is a good increase, it is not the size that Argentina and other countries in the region wanted,” said Argentine Economics Minister Amado Boudou. P But the United States praised the decision, saying “there could be no better vote of confidence than a consensus vote on a capital injection of this size.” Last year, after the global financial crisis increased demands for development lending, the IDB approved record financing of 15.5 billion dollars-an increase of 38 percent from the previous year. The IDB comprises 48 member countries - 26 borrowers in Latin America and the Caribbean and 22 non-borrowing countries, including main shareholder the United States, China, Japan and 16 European countries. -—AFP

DUBAI: A trader is pictured at the Deira fish market in Dubai which supplies Asian markets with fins, some from endangered sharks. — AP

Obama eyes bank reform after health care victory WASHINGTON: Fresh from a landmark health care victory, President Barack Obama has trained his sights on sweeping reforms of Wall Street’s “too-big-to-fail” banks. Obama—who signed health care legislation that will overhaul one sixth of the economy—was joined by key lieutenants in pressing for a similar remake of the banks blamed for dragging the economy to the brink. In the Senate, Obama ally Christopher Dodd pushed a 1000-plus page finance reform package through his powerful banking committee, while Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner appeared at a conservative think tank to call for reform.

Dodd’s key committee passed the bill without Republican support in a 13 to 10 vote, paving the way for a full Senate vote and leaving Dodd—who will retire by the end of 2010 - to promise reform by year’s end. The bill would introduce a slew of Wall Street reforms, creating a potentially powerful consumer financial protection agency, placing checks on executive bonuses and curbing risky investments. The White House quickly moved to welcome passage of the bill, which Obama said would help ensure “the American taxpayer never again pays the price for the irresponsibility of our largest banks and financial institutions.”

Obama vowed to continue to fight to strengthen the measures as they move to the full Senate in the coming weeks. Geithner, whose legacy as treasury secretary will likely depend on the recovery from banking-induced crisis, told the American Enterprise Institute “financial reform is not a war of choice; it is a war of necessity.” He also vowed to fight opponents of reform, who he alleged were spending over one million dollars a day to neutralize the package, which would also create a committee with the power to break up “too-big-to-fail” banks.

Geithner warned lawmakers the passage of the bill would be a “test of our capacity as a nation to deal with complex and consequential problems.”

“If we fail to act, America will lose this opportunity to set the global agenda,” he cautioned. The American Bankers Association on Monday denied opposing reform but said the current bill would “reduce the ability of our industry to support the economy.” Still, with widespread popular support for reform, the Obama White House may also see an easy next legislative target, particularly with Congress plagued by partisanship after the health care vote.

In an ABC World News poll released Monday, 77 percent of Americans said the financial industry had not done enough to atone for its role in the economic crisis. With Democrats likely to paint Republican health care opposition as pro-industry, Republicans may be reluctant to cast their lot with despised bankers ahead of this year’s midterm elections, according to Douglas Elliot of The Brookings Institution. “The politics are very different than for health care reform. The public is demanding action, although the area is too technical for them to know exactly what they want,” he said.

“It is not clear that there are 41 senators who would be willing to stand up and filibuster a bill when that action would be portrayed as siding with the bankers.” After Monday’s vote Dodd’s long-time interlocutor in the Republican Party, Bob Corker—who voted against the bill—sounded an optimistic tone about the prospect of bipartisan support for reform. “(I) hope that there is still an opportunity to produce a sound piece of legislation that will merit broad bipartisan support from the full Senate and stand the test of time,” he said. – AFP

NEW YORK: NYSE Euronext CEO Duncan Niederauer (right) gives Dr Abdulrahman A Al-Tuwaijri, Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority, a tour of the floor of the New York Stock Exchange yesterday. — AP

TECHNOLOGY

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

27

Nintendo set to launch 3-D version of handheld console TOKYO: Looking for its next big hit, Nintendo said yesterday it would begin selling a 3-D version of its popular handheld console within a year. The “Nintendo 3DS” will feature a 3-D display without the need for glasses. The new portable gaming device will be compatible with software made for earlier DS models, the company said. Nintendo revealed little else in its brief statement, except to say that it would offer details in June at the Electronic Entertainment Expo

in Los Angeles. But the Kyoto-based company’s announcement immediately lit up tech blogs and Twitter feeds as it offered a clue to mounting questions about its future.

What will Nintendo do next? How will it stay ahead of rivals? Like other consumer electronics makers, Nintendo is turning to 3-D as part of its answer. The company is also looking to expand on the DS’s longrunning success. Although the Wii is losing market

share, demand for the DS remains solid more than five years after it was launched. Sales for the handheld are gradually slowing, but the Nintendo DS topped US game hardware sales in February with 613,200 units moved, beating Microsoft’s Xbox 360, the Wii and Sony’s PlayStation3, according to market researcher NPD Group.

The DS logged global sales of more than 125 million units since its late-2004 launch through

December, Nintendo said. Last week, a senior Nintendo video game designer told The Associated Press during a trip to London that his company plans to turn the DS into educational aids and teaching tools. Shigeru Miyamoto, the man behind Super Mario Bros and other popular video games, said Nintendo will being rolling out the DS system in Japanese junior high and elementary schools in April. He framed the project as part of his compa-

ny’s effort to broaden the audience for gaming consoles.

Yesterday’s announcement comes just days before Nintendo releases the latest version of the device, the DSi XL, in North America. Retailing for $190, the XL will have two screens like its predecessors. But as the name suggests, the device and screens will be much larger than the currently available versions. The XL is already available in Japan. — AP

CERN ready to attempt highly powerful particle collisions Experiment aims to recreate Big Bang conditions GENEVA: The world’s largest scientific experiment will try to collide particles at the highest energy level so far from March 30, recreating conditions at the “Big Bang” birth of the universe 13.7 billion years ago, CERN said yesterday. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), centered in a 27-kilometre (16.78 mile) circular underground tunnel beneath the French-Swiss border, began circulating particles last November after being shut down in Sept. 2008 because of overheating.

Twin beams are currently circulating at 3.5 tera-electron volts (TeV), the highest energy ever achieved, and will accelerate in coming days, according to the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). “The first attempt for collisions at 7 TeV (3.5 TeV per beam) is scheduled for March 30,” it said in a statement. Rolf Heuer, CERN’s Director-General, said: “It may take hours or even days to get collisions”.

The multiple collisions at 7 TeV will each create mini-Big Bangs, producing data that thou-

sands of scientists will analyze for years to come.

“Just lining the beams up is a challenge in itself: it’s a bit like firing needles across the Atlantic and getting them to collide half way,” said Steve Myers, CERN’s director for accelerators and technology. Once the high-speed collisions are established, the plan is to run continuously for 18-24 months, with a short technical pause at the end of 2010, CERN said.

Dark matter, which scientists believe makes up 25 percent of the universe but whose exis-

tence has never been proven, could be detected, officials say. Astronomers and physicists say that only 5 percent of the universe is known currently, and that the invisible remainder consists of dark matter and dark energy, which make up some 25 percent and 70 percent, respectively.

“If we can detect and understand dark matter, our knowledge will expand to encompass 30 percent of the universe, a huge step forward,” Heuer told a news conference earlier this month. — Reuters

Cracks in Great Chinese Firewall

SAN FRANCISCO: This image released by Ubisoft, shows a scene from their new game “Red Steel 2.” The sword and gun-play videogame hit the market yesterday and pays tribute to the nameless hero carved into film legend director Sergio Leone. Leone, who died in 1989, was famous for “Spaghetti Western” genre films starring a young Clint Eastwood as a “man with no name” who outthinks and outshoots unsavory characters in cowboy towns. — AFP

Review site Yelp under fire in business’ lawsuits SAN FRANCISCO: Yelp, one of the most popular Websites that let people post opinions about restaurants, shops and local services, is being sued by several small businesses that claim they’ve been pressured to advertise on the site in exchange for getting negative reviews squashed. Yelp denies the claims, but exactly what happened may never be clear. And regardless of what happens in court, the lawsuits could taint Yelp’s reputation as a leader in online reviews.

Yelp has faced many complaints since it began letting consumers post reviews about local businesses ranging from all-you-can eat buffets to zip line operators six years ago. Often businesses have complained about how reviews on the site - positive or negative - can mysteriously disappear and reappear. But since late February, at least three lawsuits seeking class action status have been filed against the site by a dozen companies, complaining that reviews are manipulated depending on which companies advertise on the site and which ones do not.

The first suit, which explicitly alleges Yelp engaged in extortion and attempted extortion, was filed Feb 23 in US District Court for the Central District of California by Cats & Dogs Animal Hospital in Long Beach, California. That lawsuit was amended in March to add nine more companies - some Yelp advertisers, some not. It alleges Yelp sales representatives indicated to businesses that they could alter site listings to help advertisers and harm non-advertisers, and that Yelp has actually done so. The lawsuit began with Cats & Dogs owner Greg Perrault, who said in a court filing that after receiving negative reviews on the site he started getting calls from Yelp, informing him that if he advertised Yelp would hide or lower negative reviews on his page and let him choose the order of the reviews.

Perrault said he decided not to advertise, and a week later a negative review that had disappeared from his page reappeared. He also received a second negative review from someone who had previously written one, he said. Yelp refused his request that the reviews be removed, he said. The lawsuit seeks an order barring Yelp from manipulating reviews and forcing the company to return money reaped “by means of its wrongful acts and practices,” along with unspecified damages.

At least two similar lawsuits have been filed: One

by Christine LaPuasky of D’ames Day Spa in Imperial Beach, California, on March 3 in the same district court, and one by Boris Levitt of Renaissance Furniture Restoration in San Francisco on March 12 in San Francisco Superior Court. In an interview, Yelp co-founder and CEO Jeremy Stoppelman said that the businesses suing his company don’t under-

stand how Yelp works.

Yelp says some reviews might come and go because it relies on an automated program to weigh reviews and filter out ones that might be untrustworthy, such as a negative review a spa owner might write about a competitor. Yelp says it does nothing to manipulate reviews, aside from allowing advertisers to choose one review they would like to feature at the top of the page about their business. Stoppelman said the automated filter has helped Yelp stay relevant to consumers, even though it frustrates some businesses.

Bob Gutgsell, whose San Carlos, California-based Astro Appliance Service is one of the 10 businesses involved in the Cats & Dogs suit, said he does understand how Yelp works, and he doesn’t like it.

Gutgsell said that after responding to a negative Yelp review from a customer, he got a call from a sales representative asking him to pay several hundred dollars a month to advertise. Gutgsell said the Yelp representative explained that if he did so Yelp would help him control his good and bad reviews.

“The attitude that was conveyed was, ‘You really need to do this for your business.’ And I felt I really didn’t need to do that for my business,” Gutgsell said.

Soon after declining to advertise, he noticed some positive reviews had disappeared from his site profile, he said. Stoppelman countered, however, that his sales reps have “absolutely no ability” to move reviews or remove them from Yelp. Once a sales representative closes an ad deal it is handed over to an account manager who, unlike representatives, is not

paid in accordance with the number of deals he or she makes, Stoppelman said.

“We would immediately know from our account manager that something was going wrong, or their messaging was off-key, and we simply haven’t found that,” he said. Stoppelman says the lawsuits are suspiciously timed, because Yelp recently got deeper pockets. Yelp got an infusion of venture capital in January, snagging $25 million from Elevation Partners. That values the company at about $475 million and brings its total financing to $56 million.

Some plaintiffs said they were unaware that Yelp had just gotten more financing. Ronald Marron, a lawyer for D’ames Day Spa, said he just wants money returned to people who were subject to Yelp’s “unfair business practices and bought advertising as a result.” Yelp has tried to head off problems by making efforts to connect with businesses and educate them about the site. After a rash of complaints early last year, Yelp started allowing businesses to respond publicly to customers’ critiques right on their Yelp pages. Previously businesses could contact reviewers only privately. Yelp also has hired an outreach manager who has met with business owners and business groups.

Given that more than 15 million small businesses are indexed on the site, including businesses that have not yet been reviewed by Yelp users, lawsuits from even a dozen businesses don’t seem like very many, said Ray Valdes, a Gartner Inc. analyst. “The question is,” he said, “how many more will come out?” — AP

BEIJING: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are out, but in China’s vast and bewildering online universe you can freely read the New York Times or visit a favorite porn site. People outside China who have read about Internet censorship-thrown into the spotlight by Google’s decision on Monday to close its mainland Chinese-language portal-often imagine online life there is bleak and boring. The reality is very different. China’s 384 million Internet users, the world’s biggest online population, enjoy everything from gaming and celebrity gossip to teenage chatrooms, academic forums and illegal file-sharing sites.

English language media reports, some highly critical of Beijing, are usually as freely available as the hardcore pornographic sites the government regularly professes to crack down on. But Twitter, Facebook and many overseas blogging sites are out because they allow rapid sharing of information, triggering the ruling Communist Party’s fears of mass unrest. Another touchy point for government censors are contested history, politics and religion.

Sites with more than cursory or officially sanctioned information about topics including the bloody 1989 crackdown on protesters around Tiananmen Square, or the banned Falun Gong spiritual cult, are usually blocked in China. Total outage is however the weapon of last resort for a sophisticated censorship apparatus that wants to damp down dissent, while allowing room for commercial development.

First stop is media and website editors, who have a good sense of what Beijing will and won’t allow, and are regularly contacted by officials with more detailed instructions on sensitive issues.

Topics can be taken off the front page of a website, the comment function can be disabled on controversial stories, or orders given to only use official state reports on some news. Beijing is also believed by some analysts to fund a vast “50 cent” army, who roam websites making governmentapproved comments, and receive a tiny commission for each one.

Yet the censors’ vast reach and power are shrugged off by many in China searching for anything from a favorite video on YouTube to news about a corrupt official. In hi-tech games of cat and mouse, they try to spread blog posts faster than censors take them down, and joke about “harmonized” or deleted messages, in a satirical reference to President Hu Jintao’s vision of a “harmonious society”. —Reuters

MOJAVE, California: This photo shows the first flight of the Virgin Galactic Spaceship 2. — AFP

Carrier jet takes Virgin rocket aloft for 1st time LOS ANGELES: Virgin Galactic’s fledgling space tourism rocket was taken aloft over the California desert on an inaugural test flight Monday attached to the wing of its mothership, the company said. The captive-carry test marked the start of a test program for SpaceShipTwo that will progress to free flights as a glider and then under rocket power, Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic said in a statement.

Throughout the 2-hour, 54minute test, the spaceship remained slung beneath the middle of the wing of its unique twin-fuselage carrier aircraft, the WhiteKnightTwo. The pair achieved an altitude of 45,000 feet (14,000 meters) before returning to the Mojave Air and Space Port, which is 70 miles (112 kilometers) north of Los Angeles, the company said.

“This is a momentous day,” designer Burt Rutan said in the statement. The rocket and mothership are the second-generation of the Rutan-designed system that sent the first privately developed, manned rocket into space in June 2004.

SpaceShipOne went on that year to make two more suborbital flights, winning the $10 million Ansari X Prize.

Branson, the billionaire founder of Virgin Group Ltd., is in a deal with the Rutan-founded Scaled Composites LLC of Mojave, California, to develop passenger-carrying spacecraft and launchers.

The new SpaceShipTwo has been dubbed Virgin Spaceship Enterprise and the four-engine carrier jet is called Virgin Mothership Eve, after Branson’s mother. “Seeing the finished spaceship in December was a major day for us but watching VSS Enterprise fly for the first time really brings home what beautiful, groundbreaking vehicles Burt and his team have developed for us,” Branson said.

Virgin Galactic said the flight test program will run through 2011 before commercial operations begin. SpaceShipTwo will be carried to an altitude of about 50,000 feet (15,000 meters) and then released by the mothership.

Powered by a single rocket motor, the spaceship will be flown by a crew of two and carry six passengers on a Mach 3 thrill ride through the edge of the atmosphere for a brief zerogravity experience and views of the Earth far below before gliding to a landing. More than 300 people have made deposits on the $200,000 tickets. Such suborbital flights are similar to the 1961 flights of Mercury astronauts Alan Shepard and Virgil Grissom - up into space and then back down without circling the Earth. But by launching SpaceShipTwo from a high-flying carrier aircraft, there’s no need for the massive rockets that propelled the Mercury capsules. Motherships have been used for decades by NASA and the military for captive-carry tests and launches of such craft as the X-15 rocket planes.

The novel part of Rutan’s design is his “carefree re-entry” system. SpaceShipTwo has tailbooms extending rearward from its wings. In space, the booms pivot upward to a 65-degree angle. The position causes drag and slows the descent in the upper atmosphere before the booms pivot back to horizontal.

Commercial development has been slower than expected.

When Virgin Group licensed the technology from Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, who funded about $26 million for SpaceShipOne, Branson envisioned operating flights by 2007. A major setback was an explosion during a 2007 ground test involving the flow of a rocket oxidizer. Three workers were killed and three others suffered serious injuries. — AP

What’s next for Google’s China workers?

SHANGHAI: Google’s decision to shutter its Chinese search website and redirect users to its Hong Kong-based search page leaves the fate of its 600 China-based employees in the balance.

Angst among those employees, who work across a range of operations mostly in Beijing and Shanghai, has been high in the last two months since Google first announced it might withdraw from the market. According to local media reports, a steady stream of employees were leaving Google China over that time, some concerned about the future of their jobs and others about potential liability if Google was found to be in violation of Chinese law.

What are Google’s operations in china?

Google employs about 600 people in mainland China. It has two research and development centers, sales and customer support staff as well as engineers working on its mobile Android platform and other initiatives. Google’s current business in China accounts for a tiny slice of the company’s $24 billion in annual revenue. Analyst estimates of Google’s annual revenue in China range from $300 million to roughly $600 million.

What will happen to Google’s employees?

Google emphasized in its official blog the decision to reroute its search page was made entirely in the United States by executives there, and has made protecting its Chinese employees a priority. Beijing has made clear any sudden lifting of censorship is a

violation of local laws, but has not commented beyond that on potential liability of Google’s employees. Google said it would continue its research and development work in China and maintain a sales presence there, but added that the size of the sales team would depend on the ability of mainland Chinese users to access google.com.hk.

What will happen to Google advertisement resellers?

At the end of 2009, Google had around 30 percent of China’s $1 billion search market by revenue.

Analysts said it was unclear how Google China’s ad resellers would react to the company’s decision to shift its China business to google.com.hk. Much also depends on whether Beijing decides to block access to google.com.hk, in which case Chinese Web users would not be able to access the site even if they wanted, making it of little or no interest to advertisers. Kaiser Kuo, an independent technology commentator based in Beijing, expects advertising revenue from China to be soft for this period as advertisement resellers would not want to make advertising budget decisions with so much uncertainty.

Resumes flying to Baidu?

Over the past two months, local media has reported that morale was low among Google China’s employees. They also reported of many defections to Baidu, China’s domestic search leader as well as many Google employees submitting their resumes to other technology firms. — Reuters

HEALTH & SCIENCE

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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Sharks get hammered at UN wildlife trade meet Environmentalists see red DOHA: The UN w ildlife trade body slapped dow n bids yesterday to regulate cross-border commerce for tw o species of sharks threatened w ith extinction through overfishing, sparking anger from conservationists.

Millions of scalloped hammerhead and oceanic w hitetip sharks are extracted from seas each year, mainly to satisfy a burgeoning appetite for sharkfin soup, a prestige food in Chinese communities around the w orld.

The 175-nation Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), meeting in Doha, rejected the US-sponsored proposals but only by a narrow margin, opening the possibility that one or both could get a second hearing tomorrow w hen the 13-day conference ends.

Only decades ago, the tw o species w ere among the most common of the semi-coastal and open-w ater sharks.

ATLANTA: This file photo shows a hammerhead shark in a large tank at the Georgia Aquarium. — AP

Heart disease treatment pioneer James Black dies LONDON: Nobel Prize-winning pharmacologist James Black, whose breakthrough beta-blocker drugs help treat millions of heart patients and save thousands of lives, has died at age 85, his former university said Monday.

The University of Dundee in Scotland, which Black served as chancellor from 1992 to 2006, said the scientist died Sunday but gave few further details. Black’s discovery of the drugs propranolol and pronethalol - which work by blocking the body’s own response to stress hormones - in the early 1960s revolutionized how doctors helped heart patients.

Dr Clyde Yancy, the president of the American Heart Association, said the drugs’ discovery was “one of the few things that really deserves the moniker: ‘Landmark.”‘ “Easily millions of patients have been helped with beta-blocking therapies,” he said, adding that the family of drugs that grew out of Black’s work remain “the standard of care” despite being discovered nearly half a century ago. Beta-blockers are so called because they block beta receptors, one of two families of receptors present in organs such as the heart and the lungs. The receptors react to hormones such as adrenaline, so blocking them can have a calming effect on the heart muscle, insulating it from stress.

Studies have shown that the use of beta-blockers in heart attack patients dramatically decreased mortality rates, and drugs based on Black’s work are still used to tackle a variety of other cardiac conditions, from abnormal heart rhythms to angina, anxiety, headaches and high blood pressure. Although it’s his work in the field of heart treatments for which he is best known, Black also made significant discoveries in the development of drugs to treat heartburn and ulcers.

He won the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his achievements in 1988 and was awarded Britain’s Order of Merit - a rare honor bestowed by the queen - in 2000.

Black was the fourth of five children born in to what he described in an autobiographical sketch as “a staunch Baptist home” in Uddingston on the outskirts of the Scottish city of Glasgow. Awarded a scholarship to study at Scotland’s St Andrews University when he was only 15, Black applied himself to the study of medicine, meeting his future wife Hilary Vaughan at an undergraduate ball in 1944.

Saddled with debt after graduation, he spent three years teaching in Singapore, moving to London in 1950 with what he said was “no home, no income of any kind and no prospects whatsoever.” But a chance meeting with an old colleague on Oxford Street led to a job with the University of Glasgow Veterinary School, where he said he “slowly learned, like a primitive painter, how to be an effective experimenter.” It was there that Black explored his interest in how to engineer the body’s reaction to hormones.

Convinced by British pharmaceutical chemical company ICI, who gave him his own laboratory, Black went to work creating beta-blockers during what he would later remember as one of the most exciting periods of his life. He would later help discover cimetidine, which turned peptic ulcers from a potentially lifethreatening disease into a far more manageable condition.

In this 2005 photo made available Monday by the University of Dundee, Scotland, Nobelprize winning pharmacologist James Black poses after receiving an honorary degree from the university. — AP In addition to his chancellorship at Dundee, Black has held a variety of other leadership posts, including at University College, the Wellcome Foundation, and King’s College - all in London. In an interview with Scotland’s The Sunday Herald in 2004, Black, the son of a mining engineer, said that his main passion was “making tools.”

“I call myself a pharmacological toolmaker,” he said. Yancy said those tools have proven particularly durable.

“There’ve been other drugs that have been as good, but nothing has stood out as being better,” he said. “They really have stood the test of time.” The university said Black’s funeral would be held next Monday at St Columba’s Church in London. Black’s wife, Hilary, died in 1986.— AP

Calorie counts difficult to ignore with new bill WASHINGTON: A requirement tucked into the nation’s massive health care bill will make calorie counts impossible for thousands of restaurants to hide and difficult for consumers to ignore. More than 200,000 fast food and other chain restaurants will have to include calorie counts on menus, menu boards and even drive-thrus. The new law, which applies to any restaurant with 20 or more locations, directs the Food and Drug Administration to create a new national standard for menu labeling, superseding a growing number of states and cities who have started to pass such laws. President Barack Obama was expected to sign the health care legislation yesterday.

The idea is to make sure that customers process the calorie information as they are ordering. Many restaurants currently may post nutritional information in a hallway, on a hamburger wrapper or on their Web site. The new law will make calories immediately available for most items. “The nutrition information is right on the menu or menu board next to the name of the menu item, rather than in a pamphlet or in tiny print on a poster, so that consumers can see it when they are making ordering decisions,” says Iowa Sen Tom Harkin, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee who wrote the provision. It was added to the health bill with the support of the restaurant industry, which is facing different laws from cities and states. Sue Hensley of the National Restaurant Association says it will help restaurants better respond to their customers.

“That growing patchwork of regulations and legislation in different parts of the country has been a real challenge, and this will allow operators to better be able to provide their information,” she said. Some meals will be exempt from the calorie counts, including specials on the menu fewer than 60 days.

The law will also apply to foods sold in vending machines, specifically those that do not have visible calorie listings on the front of the package. New York City was the first in the country to put a calorie posting law in place. Since then, California, Seattle and other places have done so. The FDA will have a year to write the new rules, which health advocates have been pushing for years. Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said it’s one step in the fight against obesity.—AP

Spice of life? Turmeric ingredient protects liver PARIS: For centuries, practioners of Ayurvedic medicine have counseled patients to use turmeric, a bright yellow spice popular on the subcontinent, to treat liver and digestion disorders. In a study published today, a team of scientists in Europe and the United States give the nod to this piece of advice. In tests on mice genetically engineered to have chronic liver inflammation, curcumin-a naturally occurring yellow pigment that is turmeric’s main ingredient-appeared to delay damage that eventually leads to liver cirrhosis. A group of engineered mice were given curcumin in their diet for four and eight weeks and were compared to engineered counterparts who had an otherwise normal diet.

The curcumin mice had “significantly

reduced” scarring to their livers, damage to liver cells and less bile duct blockage compared with non-curcumin counterparts. Labdish tests were also carried out on cholangiocytes-cells found in the lining of bile ductstaken from engineered mice. Curcumin appears to work by interfering with chemical signaling pathways in inflammation, a finding that throws open an alluring avenue for a new liver drug, the investigators believe.

“Targeting these pathways may be a promising therapeutic approach,” say the authors, led by Michael Trauner, a professor of internal medicine at Medical University in Graz, Austria. The paper appears in Gut, a specialist journal of the British Medical Association (BMA). Curcumin comes from a perennial herb called Curcuma longa. — AFP

But bycatch, or fish caught accidentally, and demand for fins has slashed hammerhead populations by about 80 percent globally, and by up to 90 percent in the Indian and Pacific oceans, experts say.

Many of the fish are tossed back into the water after their precious fins have been removed. The whitetip, found in all the world’s oceans, is listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as “critically endangered” in the northwestern Atlantic, and “vulnerable” globally.

Once the highest level of biomass in the Gulf of Mexico, the species is 99 percent depleted there today, according to marine biologist Julia Baum.

China spoke against the hammerhead proposal in plenary session, saying that even their well-trained fisheries officials had been unable to distinguish between fins once they were cut off.

“Our experience has shown that control of these species at the borders would not be enforceable,” a Chinese delegate said. Japan led opposition to both measures, arguing that management of shark populations should be left to regional fisheries groups, not CITES. Conservationists counter that fishing for sharks is currently unregulated.

“The problem today is not there is serious mismanagement of trade in sharks, as for tuna, but that there is no management at all,” said Sue Lieberman, policy director for the Washington-based Pew Environment Group. They also point out that sharks are especially vulnerable to overfishing because most species take years to mature and have relatively few young.

Initially, four other “lookalike” species were also to be covered in the two US proposals, to prevent accidental harvesting. But the US withdrew two of the species-the dusky and sandbar sharks-whose fins resemble the scalloped hammerhead’s, retaining only the smooth and great hammerhead.

The proposals called for listing on CITES’ Appendix II, which requires countries to monitor and report all exports, and to demonstrate that fishing is done in a sustainable manner.

The bids was supported by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, as well as the secretariat of CITES, which makes recommendations on all measures.

Conservation groups reacted angrily to the votes. “We see clearly now the Japanese motivation for opposing all these marine species proposals,” said Anne Schroeer, an Madrid-based economist with Oceana.

“For the whales they say we are catching it traditionally. For the bluefin tuna, they say we are eating it. But for the sharks, there is nothing but pure economic interest.” In a vote on bluefin tuna last week, the CITES meeting voted down a proposal for Appendix I status, which imposes a total ban on cross-border trade. The fight over bluefin pitted commercial interests against conservationists, and the result suggests it was a mismatched fight.

In the case of sharks, there is business on both sides of the issue: dozens of small island nations, and some bigger ones, reap serious revenue from scuba-related tourism. Two other sparks species-the porbeagle and spiny dogfish-were set to come up for Appendix II listing votes later yesterday.

All told, a third of the world’s 64 species of pelagic, or open water, sharks face extinction, according to report issued last June by the IUCN’s Shark Specialist Group. — AFP

HVOLSVOLLUR: Lava spews out of a mountain in the region of the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland. — AFP

Iceland’s eruptions could have global consequences REYKJAVIK: Blasts of lava and ash shot out of a volcano in southern Iceland and small tremors rocked the ground, a surge in activity that raised fears of a larger explosion at the nearby Katla volcano. Scientists said Monday that history has proven that when the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupts, Katla follows - the only question is how soon. And Katla, located under the massive Myrdalsjokull icecap, threatens disastrous flooding and explosive blasts when it blows.

Saturday’s eruption at Eyjafjallajokull - dormant for nearly 200 years - forced at least 500 people to evacuate. Most have returned to their homes, but authorities were waiting for scientific assessments to determine whether it was safe for them to stay. Residents of 14 farms nearest to the eruption site were told to stay away. Several small tremors were felt early Monday, followed by spurts of lava and steam rocketing into the air. Iceland sits on a large volcanic hot spot in the Atlantic’s mid-oceanic ridge. Eruptions, common throughout Iceland’s history, are often triggered by seismic activity when the Earth’s plates move and when magma from deep underground pushes its way to the surface. Like earthquakes, predicting the timing of volcanic eruptions is an imprecise science. An eruption at the Katla volcano could be disastrous, however - both for Iceland and other nations.

Iceland’s Laki volcano erupted in 1783, freeing gases that turned into smog. The smog floated across the Jet Stream, changing weather patterns. Many died from gas poisoning in the British Isles. Crop production fell in western Europe. Famine spread. Some even linked the eruption, which helped fuel famine, to the French Revolution. Painters in the 18th century illustrated fiery sunsets in their works. The winter of 1784 was also one of the longest and coldest on record in North America. The northeastern New England region reported a record stretch of below-zero Fahrenheit temperatures and New Jersey reported record snow accumulation. The Mississippi River also reportedly froze in New Orleans.

“These are Hollywood-sort of scenarios but possible,” said Colin Macpherson, a geologist with the University of Durham. “As the melt rises, it’s a little like taking a cork out of a champagne bottle.” There are three main places where volcanoes normally occur - along strike-slip faults such as California’s San Andreas fault line, along areas where plates overlap one another such as in the Philippines and the Pacific Rim, and in areas like Iceland, where two of the Earth’s plates are moving apart from each other in a so-called spreading system.

Unlike the powerful volcanos along the Pacific Rim where the slow rise of magma gives scientists early seismic warnings that an eruption is imminent, Iceland’s volcanos are unique in that many erupt under ice sheets with little warning. Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson, a geologist at the University of Iceland who flew over the site Monday, said the beginning of Saturday’s eruption was so indistinct that it initially went undetected by geological instruments. Many of the tremors were below magnitude 2.6.

Using thermal cameras and radar to map the lava flow, Gudmundsson and other scientists were able to determine that the lava from Eyjafjallajokull was flowing down a gorge and not moving toward the ice caps - reducing any threat of floods.

He said he and other scientists were watching Katla but Monday’s trip was meant to assess immediate risk. “A general expectation is that because of the Eyjafjallajokull eruption, the fissure would widen and in that sense, there’s a greater risk of extending into or underneath the glaciers and prompting an eruption at Katla,” said Andy Russell with Newcastle University’s Earth Surface Processes Research Group, who went with a team to Iceland before the eruption. “From records, we know that every time Eyjafjallajokull erupts, Katla has also erupted.”

Russell said past Katla eruptions have caused floods the size of the Amazon and sent boulders as big as houses tumbling down valleys and roads. The last major eruption took place in 1918. Floods followed in as little as an hour.

Those eruptions have posed risks to residents nearby, but most of Iceland’s current population of 320,000 live in the capital of Reykjavik on the western part of the island.

Southern Iceland is sparely populated but has both glaciers and unstable volcanoes - a destructive combination. The last time there was an eruption near the 100-square-mile (160 square-kilometer) Eyjafjallajokull glacier was in 1821, and that was a “lazy” eruption that lasted slowly and continuously for two years. Iceland is one of the few places in the world where a mid-ocean ridge actually rises above sea level.

Many volcanic eruptions along the ocean basin often go undetected because they can’t be easily seen. First settled by Vikings in the 9th century, Iceland is known as the land of fire and ice because of its volcanos and glaciers. During the Middle Ages, Icelanders called the Hekla volcano, the country’s most active, the “Gateway to Hell,” believing that souls were dragged into the fire below. The last major volcanic eruption in Iceland occurred in 2004 with the Grimsvotn volcano. — AP

Poor nations most at risk from plant loss PARIS: Global warming could reduce the range of plant biodiversity by more than nine percent by century’s end, and poor countries least to blame for the problem will be worst hit, a study published today says. German biologists used the UN climate panel’s computer models for possible temperature rise, and crunched through data on “capacity for species richness,” or CSR, meaning the likely count of plant species per area. In 13 out of 18 scenarios, global CSR “declined significantly” by 2100, by an average of 4.9 percent.

Under “B1,” the most optimistic scenario used by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the global average temperature would rise by 1.8 degrees Celsius (3.24 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100. As a result, there would be a tiny gain of 0.3 percent in global CSR, as flora benefited from rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. But under the A1F1 scenarioviewed by many experts as a grim but realistic prospect-temperatures would rise by 4.0 C (7.2 F). In such a case, CSR would fall by an average 9.4 percent.

Change, though, would be unequal. In far northerly latitudes, land locked in permafrost would open up to vegetation

through warming, which implies uninhabited tracts of Canada or Siberia could be opened up to agriculture. But deserts, savannahs, moist tropical forests and other habitats where humidity holds the key to species survival would be damaged by water stress. The Amazonian rainforest would be the most vulnerable of all.

One consequence is that “generalist” species that can adapt to change could expand at the expense of less versatile native plants that can only survive in a narrow temperature range, says the study.

These could become rarer and even become extinct.

“While in most temperate and Arctic regions a CSR increase is expected, the projections indicate a strong decline in most tropical and subtropical regions,” say the researchers, led by Jan Henning Sommer of the University of Bonn.

“Countries least responsible for past and present greenhouse-gas emissions are likely to incur disproportionately large future losses in CSR, whereas industrialized countries have projected moderate increases.” The paper is published by a British journal, Proceedings of the Royal Society B. — AFP

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WHATʼS ON IN KUWAIT

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

ESF sports events he English School Fahaheel, Kuwait recently held a series of Sports Days to accommodate all students from Lower, Middle and Upper Schools studying at ESF. The events were held in the spacious covered play areas at ESF and at Al-Sahel Club stadium. Althea Malliaros was awarded the Best female Athlete award, Mohammed Fakhri the best Male athlete and the Blue

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Embassy information EMBASSY OF UKRAINE The Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait informs that it has started updating the information about Ukrainian citizens, who live and work in Kuwait. In this connection, we are asking you to refer to the Embassy and update your file in consular register in order not to be excluded from it.

For additional information please call: 25318507 ext.106 or visit the embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait (address: Hawalli, Jabriya, bl.10, str.6, house 5). The consular section of the Embassy open every day from 09:30 till 14:30 except Friday and Saturday.

house were the winners this year. The Winning house cup was received by House captain Mohammed AlSubale. Prizes were awarded to all participants by the Chairman lbrahim Shuhiaber and Principal George Bowery. A big thank you goes out to the PE Dept staff and all other staff and parents for their assistance and support in making these events possible.

EMBASSY OF INDIA The Embassy of India will remain closed today and Sunday, March 28, 2010 on account of “Ram Navami” & “Mahavir

Caribou Coffee plays important social role aribou coffee being part of the Kuwaiti culture with a strategy and commitment to lead a strong socially responsible role in the Middle East has decided to play an active role to help promote the activities and projects of the Kuwaiti youth. This has recently lead in being part and sponsoring of Project Nation “Proud to be Kuwaiti” and “Negdar” among many other local events and association that Caribou Coffee sponsors such as “Al-Jaliss” project and the Kuwait Association for the Care of Children in Hospital.

Supporting “Proud to Be Kuwaiti” and “Negdar” gives Caribou Coffee the privilege of encouraging the youth to take a strong step in building Kuwait’s economy throughout motivating them to grow their small projects; and for those with special needs to take an active role in society.

Hamad Musaed Al-Sayer, Managing Director of Al-Sayer Franchising commented “It is an honor to take this action in sponsoring our youth and developing their capabilities and achievements.”

He added “This country was built by our grandfather’s hands... They started with small projects and made them into these large organizations, and we are proud to be part of supporting the youth as their time will come to take over in building our future. Our devotion and patriotism is an obligation to give back to our beloved country which provided us with a

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lot of genuine opportunities”. Jad Morwa, Marketing Manager of Caribou Coffee Middle East also said: “Sponsoring projects like ‘Proud to Be Kuwaiti’ and ‘Negdar’ is an integral part of our company’s core values which is founded on the socially responsible principle of giving back to the community”.

Mansouriya Secondary School learns about global warming he English Language Department of Mansouriya Secondary School, Ministry of education, organized a lecture on Global Warming on Monday, March 22, 2010.

The lecture was delivered by Mohammad Kotob, a reputed Petro - Chemical Engineer.

The lecture was attended by Grade 12 students and the staff members. Pupils were informed about global warming, the reasons and how we as individuals can contribute to prevent global warming. The session was a very informative one and at the end of the session both the staff members and students put forward a lot of queries which Kotob patiently answered. “Cutting down on consumption of meat and dairy products will not reduce global warming,” was something strongly reiterated by the guest speaker.

The students and staff members resolved to do their bit towards reducing global warming. Mansouriya Secondary School is one of the few schools which has already started recycling of paper.

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Sangamam Dance Troupe’s entertainment program stage program tomorrow will be conducted at 5:3O pm at American International School (AIS) Auditorium which will contain a variety of dance entertainment and musical evening by Sangamam dance groups in Kuwait. Sangamam Dance Troupe formed in the year 2000 will be completing 10 years of non-stop performance with more than 100 stage shows all over Kuwait, KTV seasonal programs and other TV channels.

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Safir International Hotel plans perfect weddings Y

our wedding is one of the most important events of your life. That’s why we will oversee all the details before, during and after the event itself - and make sure that everything you wish for happens just as you would like.

The experts at Safir will assist you in creating the affair of a lifetime with our creative cuisine, luxurious ambience and professional service. With our specialized technicians we can offer a magical touch for a day always to be remem-

bered. The Pearl Tent has a round table seating to accommodate up to 1,000 guests; In addition, to a large buffet tent that is conveniently attached.

The Safir International Hotel adds Presidential grace and style in a worldclass facility to create an optimal environment for meetings, seminars or product launches. Our ability to cater for meetings of just 50, or seminars and events up to 1,500 certainly makes us one of Kuwait’s foremost and flexible

Malayalam poet’s new collection released

raviperoor’s new collection of poems “Marubhumiyil Oru Kulirma” (A Coolness in the Desert) was released at a recently held function in Kottayam, Kerala. M K Madhavan Nair, Editor of Bashaposhani and Former Secretary of Kerala Sahithiya Academy presided over the meeting which was inaugurated by Dr Ettumanoor Somadasan, eminent poet and educationist. Veteran Prof Mathew Ulakanthara, famous critic and scholar released the book by handing over a copy to Dr Cheravalli Sasi, noted poet and writer.

Kainakari Shaji eminent journalist and author introduced the book to the audience. He pointed out that the poet is a socially conscious individual who draws his

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venues.

Just five minutes drive from the best shopping mall, located on the Gulf Road and within easy reach of the city - and you have all the ingredients to make your meeting or event truly memorable.

We have a dedicated Audio Visual Services company Staging Connections that offers your event the best and most advanced presentation technology.

Our brand New Pearl Tent has been built to meet the most demand-

ing meeting planner sparing no cost in space and quality construction, making it one of the most flexible venues in Kuwait for events of all types including exhibitions, fashion shows and special events. The Pearl Tent concourse area is the ideal venue for large exhibitions and has a space that goes up to 1,500m floor space and can be extended as needed. In addition, the area also has adequate space for cars parking.

Indian Central School annual day celebrations postponed ue to sad demise of our two beloved students in an accident, Ayaz Nadeem Ahmed of Class IX - C and Ahnaf Bin Ali Mitul of Class IX - 0, the Annual Day Celebrations proposed to be held on March 25, 2010 (Thursday) has been postponed. New date will be intimated later.

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themes from the canvas of everyday life. He praised the romantic and progressive views narrated in the book and opined that a real poet cannot write without the inspiration he derives from romance and those who deny it are hypocrites. He also pointed out the limitations faced by expatriate writers and hoped that more valuable contributions will come from Varkey Mathew Eraviperoor.

Shahul Hameed (Kavi Mozhi magazine), Naduavattam Sathiya Seelan (Mangalam weekly), Dr N V Sadidharan, Viji Kurien (Deshabhimani), artist Sankar and Aleyamma Kurien delivered facilitation speeches. The meeting was followed by a meeting in which many noted poets presented their creations.

Bhasma opens registration hasma” opens the registration of participants for the Carnatic music (Vocal) competition in connection with the 2010 Dr KTB Menon memorial Indian cultural Festival scheduled for May 14, 2010.

Interested children, up to 18 years of age, may register their names for competition either by contacting the telephone num-

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bers given below or by sending email to bhasmakuwaita@yahoo.co.uk., menon_kishnadas@hotmail.com or Vijay_mini@hotmail.com.

The registration will close on the April 1, 2010. Children will be grouped age-wise and the winner from each group will get a cash award. The preliminary selection will be during the first

week of April and the successful children from the preliminary round will participate in the finals of the competition, which will he held on May 14, 2009. The judges for the finals will be prominent artistes from India. interested children are requested to register their names on or before April 1, 2010. Contact numbers: 97204538.

Radisson Blu Hotel honors winner he Radisson Blu Hotel, Kuwait is proud to announce that Hamda Al-Rashed is the lucky winner of the promotion during Winter Olympics promotion. The BeoCom 2 phone was

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presented to her by Jan Petter Eilertsen the General Manager of Radisson Blu Hotel, Kuwait together with Greg D’Silva the Manager of Bang & Olufsen showroom in Kuwait.

Jayanthi” respectively.

The Embassy of India has further revamped and improved its Legal Advice Clinic at the Indian Workers Welfare Center, and made the free service available to Indian nationals on all five working days, i.e. from Sunday to Thursday every week. Kuwaiti lawyers would be available at the Legal Advice Clinic daily from Monday to Thursday, while Indian lawyers would be available on Sundays.

Following are the free welfare services provided at the Indian Workers Welfare Center located at the Embassy of India: [i] 24x7 Helpline for Domestic Workers: Accessible by toll free telephone no. 25674163 from anywhere in Kuwait, it provides information and advice exclusively to Indian domestic sector workers (Visa No. 20) as regards their grievances, immigration and other matters. [ii] Help Desk: It offers guidance to Indian nationals on routine immigration, employment, legal, and other issues (Embassy premises; 9 AM to 1 PM and 2 PM to 4.30 PM, Sunday to Thursday); (iii) Labour Complaints Desk: It registers labor complaints and provides grievance redressal service to Indian workers (Embassy premises; 9 AM to 1 PM and 2 PM to 4.30 PM, Sunday to Thursday); (iv) Shelters: For female and male domestic workers in distress; (v) Legal Advice Clinic: Provides free legal advice to Indian nationals (Embassy premises; Kuwaiti lawyers 3 PM to 5 PM, Monday to Thursday; Indian lawyers 2 PM to 4 PM on Sunday); and (vi) Attestation of Work Contracts: Private sector worker (Visa No. 18) contracts are accepted at the Embassy; 9 AM to 1 PM; Sunday to Thursday; Domestic sector worker (Visa No. 20) contracts are accepted at Kuwait Union of Domestic Labor Offices (KUDLO), Hawally, Al-Othman Street, Kurd Roundabout, Al-Abraj Complex, Office No 9, Mezzanine Floor; 9 AM to 9 PM, Saturday to Thursday; 5 PM to 9 PM on Friday.

EMBASSY OF PHILIPPINES The Embassy of the Philippines wishes to inform the Filipino community in the State of Kuwait, that the recent supreme court decision to extend the registration of voter’s applies only in local registration in the Philippines under Republic Act no. 8189 and does not apply to overseas voters which is governed by Republic Act no. 9189, hence it has no impact on the plans and preparations on the conduct of overseas absentee voting. The overseas absentee voting for presidential elections will start on 10 April 2010 and will continue uninterrupted until 10 May 2010 daily at the Philippine Embassy. Registered overseas absentee voters are advised to schedule their days off in advance to avoid complications in their schedules. Qualified voters are encouraged to get out and vote.

EMBASSY OF BANGLADESH The Embassy of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in Kuwait will remain closed on Friday, 24 March 2010 on the occasion of The Independence and National Day of Bangladesh. The Embassy will arrange the following programme on Friday, 26 March 2010 at 08:00 am to observe the Independence and National Day at the Chancery: Chancery Roof • Ceremonial hoisting of the National Flag.

Chancery Basement • Recitation from the Holy Quran, dua & munajat.

• Observance of one minute’s silence in honour of the Martyrs.

• Reading out of the Messages.

• Discussion on the significance of the day.

All members of the expatriate Bangladesh community in Kuwait are cordially invited to attend the programme.

This is for information of all concerned.

Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

WHATʼS ON IN KUWAIT

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The students pose with Kuwait Times Editor-in-Chief Abd Al-Rahman Alyan. — Photos by Joseph Shagra

The students display the Kuwait Times obituary issue on former Editor-in-Chief late Yousuf Al-Alyan. s part of the co-curricular activities organized by the Emam Malek Secondary School for Boys’ English department, 21 eleventh grade students paid a visit to Kuwait Times yesterday.

Accompanied by English teacher, Hassan Abdul Bari, the students were welcomed by Kuwait Times IT Manager, Islam Al-Sharaa who familiarized them with the newspaper’s functioning. The process of making a newspaper starting with news collection, editing, page making, and the use of modern

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The students are briefed on how a printing press functions.

Emam Malek students visit Kuwait Times

technology when compared to the 1960s, color separation, proof-reading, translation and the final printing process were explained to them. Students were elaborated on the activities undertaken by the commercial printing press that is annexed to the building. The students also met the Editor-in-Chief Abd Al-Rahman Alyan, who answered their questions and queried about their future plans. Notably, the new ‘Over To You’ English textbooks include an article about Kuwait Times and its founder, the late Yousuf Saleh Al-Alyan.

Students take a look at a fresh newspaper copy.

Kuwait Times’ IT Manager Islam Al-Sharaa explains the intricacies of page-making.

International Day of Nowruz celebrated O

n February 2010 United Nations General Assembly recognized the March 21 as the “International Day of Nowruz”, the day of vernal equinox, which is celebrated as the beginning of the new year by more than 300 million people all around the world and has been celebrated for over 3,000 years in the Caucasus, the Middle East, Central Asia, the Balkans, and the Black Sea basin.

Before UNGA resolution on recognition of “International Day of Nowruz”, this festival was included into the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on September 2009.

As it has been highlighted in the UN GA resolution Nowruz is an affirmation of life in harmony with nature, the awareness of the inseparable link between constructive labour and natural cycles of renewal and the solicitous and respectful attitude towards natural sources of life.

Taking into account the important role of the processes of mutual cultural enrichment and the necessity of promoting civilizational exchanges, UN General Assembly calls for member nations to make efforts to raise awareness about Nowruz and to organize annual events in commemoration of this festivity and to study the history of the origin and traditions of Nowruz with a view to disseminating knowledge about the Nowruz heritage among the international community.

References to Nowruz have been found in ancient Chines historical sources, “Kutadgu Bilig”, in the writings of Mahmud Kashgari, Biruni, including in the Malikshah’s calendar and laws of mid-century Ag-Goyunlu state of Azerbaijan.

Despite the fact that the Soviets forbade any official celebration of Nowruz, Azerbaijanis have always observed the date as their greatest and most important holiday even tough they sometimes had to celebrate it discreetly inside their homes.

Notwithstanding bans and hardships imposed by the Soviet regime centuries old traditions of Nowruz, festive customs, songs, games and rites, including all culinary dainties of special “Nowruz” cuisine and all the joy of getting in touch with the ancient culture of the ancestors preserved well in

the minds of Azerbaijani people.

Nowruz in Azerbaijan is associated with the beautifully lush green colour of new growth and is specifically symbolized by the growing of freshly sprouted wheat or “samani” as the Azerbaijani people refer to it.

Friends and families visit one another. Usually, a very carefully guarded hierarchy is observed and the oldest members of the community receive guests first. Gifts and food are shared with the needy, poor, and sick. Usually preparation for Nowruz begins a month prior to the festival. Each of forthcoming 4 weeks is devoted to one of the four elements and called accordingly in Azerbaijan.

Each Tuesday people celebrate the day of one of the four elements- water, fire, earth and wind. The last and the most important Tuesday is devoted to wind and called Yel Charshanbasi or Ilakhir Chershenbe by Azerbaijani people.

On Ilakhir Chershenbe everybody- the young and the old- should jump over bonfires seven times. While jumping, it is necessary to keep saying: “My yellowness is for you, your redness- for me” that means “take away my diseases and give me your strength”. When the festive fire almost goes out, one should throw a twig of rue to coals this rite is believed to be a remedy for the Evil Eye. The festive fire should not be put out with

water- it is better to let it go out.

On Ilakhir Chershenbe or in the Nowruz evening, one can make a wish and go to the neighbour’s doors at sunset. In front of each door, one drops a key onto the ground and overhears. The first two overheard words will indicate whether the wish will come true or not. Of course, on this particular day cherishing festival atmosphere people talk about positive and pleasant things in their homes.

With Novruz comes new clothes. Houses and

American International School joins Gethealthykuwait.com ethealthykuwait.com, Kuwait’s largest initiative for better nutrition and weight management announced it is joining forces with private schools to help spread nutrition and obesity awareness by offering free testing and consultations to students, teachers, and parents starting with the American International School of Kuwait.

After a series of weekly community outreach visits to private businesses, public centers, governmental entities, and public schools, Gethealthykuwait.com’s team of expert nutritionists extended their one-on-one consultations to over 50 students, teachers, and parents at the American International School (AIS).

The community-based initiative aims to provide every individual in Kuwait the opportunity for onspot free testing and free nutritional consultation by expert dietitians from Diet Care and Taiba Hospital, the primary funders of the initiative.

Gethealthykuwait.com Chief Nutritionist and

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Diet Care Operations Manager, Sami Al-Bader said “We have crossed major milestones in empowering individuals to take more positive steps towards their well-being. We have contributed to healthier changes in Kuwait by helping the community lose over a ton of fat in less than six months. Joining forces with private schools has helped us reach out to more members of the community and bolsters our efforts to making Kuwait healthier.

Since its launch in June 2009, Gethealthykuwait.com’s team of expert nutritionists has given out more than one 3340 free consultations. The initiative’s weekly consultations are based on free on-spot testing for glucose and cholesterol levels as well as weight analysis. This is followed by private consultations with expert nutritionists to empower individual to take the first step to bettering their lifestyle.

Gethealthykuwait.com’s Head of Testing and Taiba Hospital’s Chief Operating Officer, Rashed

Al-Fadala said “Cholesterol and glucose as a direct result of obesity are health risks are threatening a large part of the community at very young age. Our commitment is to reach out to adults to fight against these diseases and help teenagers adopt healthier lifestyles at early stages of their lives. We thank AIS for extending us the opportunity to empower its students, teachers, and parents.

Gethealthykuwait.com will continue to reach out to more in the weeks to come.”

To further motivate and inspire people, gethealthykuwait.com is offering the person who loses the most percentage of their body weight a free vacation for three people to the magical island of Bali, Indonesia. In cycle 1 of Gethealthykuwait.com, Ivan Kristovic won the trip to Bali after losing 8.8 per cent of his body weight in 28 days, and Nawaf Al-Thabian, won the Bali trip in cycle 2, after losing 32 kilograms of his body weight in three months.

yards are cleaned. Trees are pruned; fields cleared. It’s a time for renewing relationships as well. People who have had quarrels and refused to speak with each other use this chance to forgive one another and renew their relationships.

To be a guest of Azerbaijani family during Nowruz means to have a chance to enjoy many chef-d’oeuvres of the national cuisine. Among the sweets served at the festive table which are to be served in every house are pakhlava, shakarbura, shorgogal, badambura etc. The decoration of the

festive table is khoncha, a big silver or copper tray with Samani placed in the centre and candles and dyed eggs by the number of family members around it. The table should be set, at least, with seven dishes.

Though there are many various dishes cooked in the festive evening, “the hit of the program” of each table is a pilaf with “gara” - a mixture of meat and dried fruits.

Within the festival, young men place handkerchiefs under the doors of their beloveds. If a girl reciprocates a young man’s feeling, she should put sweets into a handkerchief, if she does not - a handkerchief will be empty. On the last Tuesday prior to Novruz, according to old traditions children slip around to their neighbours’ homes and apartments, knock at their doors, and leave their caps or little basket on the thresholds all the while hiding nearby waiting for candies, pastries and nuts.

It will be interesting to compare via “Google Earth” - free internet application, satellite night pictures of our Earth taken a few days prior to the holiday with those made in Nowruz night. Millions of bonfires will be seen on our Earth - peaceful and festive fires bearing only the warmth and hope.

And faith in kindness and prosperity that Nowruz will present to all of us!

TV PROGRAMS

32

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Orbit / Showtime Listings

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

00:50 01:45 02:40 03:35 04:30 05:25 06:20 06:45 07:10 07:35 08:00 08:25 08:50 09:45 10:40 11:05 11:30 11:55 12:20 12:50 13:45 14:10 14:40 15:35 16:00 16:30 17:25 17:50 18:20 18:45 Baker 19:15 19:40 20:10

00:35 01:30 02:25 03:25 03:55 04:25 05:15 06:05 06:35 07:20 07:40 08:00 08:15 08:45 08:50 09:00 09:20 09:40 09:55 10:25 10:30 10:40 11:25 12:15 13:15 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:45 16:15 16:45 17:15 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 21:45 22:15

14:20 NEXT X U.S SHORTS 14:30 Jimmy Two-Shoes 15:00 Phineas & Ferb 15:30 Yin Yang Yo 16:00 The Suite Life of Zack & Cody 16:30 Kid vs Kat 17:00 Power Rangers Jungle Fury 17:30 Phineas & Ferb 18:00 Suite Life On Deck 18:30 Suite Life On Deck 19:00 Iron Man: Armoured Adventures 19:25 Kid vs Kat 20:00 Zeke & Luther 20:30 Phil Of The Future 21:00 The Suite Life of Zack & Cody 21:30 Pokemon DP: Battle Dimension 22:00 Phineas & Ferb

ER In Plain Sight Life Murdoch Mysteries In Plain Sight Burn Notice Demons ER Lie to Me Law & Order Life Murdoch Mysteries Demons Burn Notice Life In Plain Sight Lie to Me Law & Order Starter Wife Demons Without a Trace Ghost Whisperer Sons of Anarchy The Tudors

Tigers Attack Animal Cops Phoenix Untamed And Uncut Journey Of Life Animal Cops Phoenix Miami Animal Police Going Ape Shamwari: A Wild Life Vet On The Loose Aussie Animal Rescue Wildlife SOS Pet Rescue Tigers Attack The Jeff Corwin Experience Beverly Hills Groomer The Planet’s Funniest Animals The Planet’s Funniest Animals Going Ape Shamwari: A Wild Life Miami Animal Police E-Vets: The Interns Pet Rescue Animal Cops Phoenix Wildlife SOS Aussie Animal Rescue Tigers Attack The Planet’s Funniest Animals The Planet’s Funniest Animals Beverly Hills Groomer Deep Into The Wild With Nick Living With The Wolfman Living With The Wolfman Jessica The Hippo

Casualty Egypt Child Of Our Time 2006 Love Soup Love Soup Casualty Casualty Cash In The Attic Bargain Hunt Balamory Fimbles The Roly Mo Show Tikkabilla Yoho Ahoy Little Robots Balamory Fimbles The Roly Mo Show Tikkabilla Yoho Ahoy Little Robots Bargain Hunt Egypt Child Of Our Time 2006 The Weakest Link Eastenders Doctors Bargain Hunt Cash In The Attic Red Dwarf Red Dwarf The Weakest Link Doctors Eastenders Casualty Casualty The Weakest Link Doctors Eastenders

00:05 Ching’s Kitchen 00:30 Gary Rhodes’ Local Food Heroes 01:20 Cash In The Attic Usa 01:45 Hidden Potential 02:15 Antiques Roadshow 03:00 Antiques Roadshow 03:45 The Clothes Show 04:45 Cash In The Attic Usa 05:15 Cash In The Attic Usa 05:45 Hidden Potential 06:15 Living In The Sun 07:00 10 Years Younger 07:30 10 Years Younger 08:10 Antiques Roadshow 09:00 Cash In The Attic Usa 09:25 Hidden Potential 09:45 Gary Rhodes’ Local Food Heroes 10:30 Gary Rhodes’ Local Food Heroes 11:30 Living In The Sun 12:15 Antiques Roadshow 13:10 The Clothes Show

Taken on Show Movies 14:00 Gary Rhodes’ Local Food Heroes 14:50 Gary Rhodes’ Local Food Heroes 15:40 Daily Cooks Challenge 16:05 Daily Cooks Challenge 16:30 Cash In The Attic Usa 16:50 Hidden Potential 17:10 Fantasy Homes By The Sea 18:00 Antiques Roadshow 18:50 Antiques Roadshow 19:45 Daily Cooks Challenge 20:15 Daily Cooks Challenge 20:40 Masterchef Goes Large 21:10 Come Dine With Me

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:15 09:00 12:00 14:30 16:30 18:30 21:00 23:00

Return To Paradise-PG15 Heart Of The Beholder-PG15 Almost Famous-PG15 L’age Des Tenebres-PG15 West Side Story-PG15 Nicholas Nickleby-PG15 Max-PG15 Stolen Summer-PG As Good As It Gets-PG15 Unfaithful-18 Trainspotting-R

00:00 01:00 02:00 02:55 03:50 04:15 04:45 05:40 06:05 07:00 07:55 08:20 08:50 09:45 10:10 11:05 12:00 12:55 13:25 13:50 14:45 15:40 16:35 17:30 18:30 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00

Untamed & Uncut Miami Ink Street Customs American Chopper Massive Speed Massive Speed Mythbusters How Stuff’s Made Dirty Jobs China’s Man Made Marvels Massive Speed Massive Speed Street Customs How Do They Do It? Mythbusters Ultimate Survival Swamp Loggers How Do They Do It? How Stuff’s Made American Chopper Miami Ink Mythbusters Dirty Jobs Swamp Loggers Street Customs Destroyed In Seconds How Do They Do It? How Stuff’s Made Destroyed In Seconds Destroyed In Seconds My Shocking Story

00:40 01:30 02:20 03:10 04:00 04:50 05:45 06:10 06:40 07:10 08:00 09:00 10:00 10:55 11:20 11:50 12:45 13:10 13:40 14:35 15:30 16:25 16:55 17:50 18:45 19:40

Building The Biggest Engineered Space Pioneer What’s That About?

Beyond Tomorrow Sci-Fi Saved My Life Cool Stuff And How It Works Mean Green Machines One Step Beyond Engineered Junkyard Wars Nasa’s Greatest Missions What’s That About?

Cool Stuff And How It Works Stunt Junkies Engineered Mean Green Machines One Step Beyond Nasa’s Greatest Missions What’s That About?

Primal Connections Cool Stuff And How It Works Junkyard Wars Brainiac Building The Biggest The Future Of...

20:30 21:20 21:45 22:10 23:00 23:50

00:00 00:20 00:45 01:10 01:35 02:00 02:25 02:45 03:10 03:35 04:00 04:25 04:45 05:10 05:35 06:00 06:10 06:35 07:00 07:20 07:45 08:10 08:35 09:00 09:25 09:45 10:10 10:35 11:00 11:25 11:45 12:10 12:35 12:55 13:20 13:40 14:05 14:30 14:55 15:15 15:40 16:00 16:25 16:45 17:10 17:35 18:00 18:25 18:45 19:00 19:25 19:50 20:15 20:35 21:00 21:25 21:45 22:00 22:25 22:50 23:15 23:35

Brainiac How It’s Made How It’s Made Mythbusters The Future Of...

Brainiac

My Friends Tigger And Pooh Handy Manny Special Agent Oso Imagination Movers Lazytown Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Handy Manny Special Agent Oso Brandy & Mr Whiskers Fairly Odd Parents Hannah Montana I Got A Rocket Wizards Of Waverly Place Phineas & Ferb Higglytown Heroes My Friends Tigger And Pooh Handy Manny Special Agent Oso Imagination Movers Lazytown Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Handy Manny Special Agent Oso Brandy & Mr Whiskers Fairly Odd Parents Hannah Montana I Got A Rocket Wizards Of Waverly Place Phineas & Ferb Suite Life On Deck Replacements American Dragon Kim Possible I Got A Rocket Fairly Odd Parents Phineas & Ferb Replacements I Got A Rocket Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana Sonny With A Chance Fairly Odd Parents Phineas & Ferb Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana The Replacements Jonas Suite Life On Deck Sonny With A Chance Hannah Montana Wizards Of Waverly Place The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody The Replacements American Dragon Kim Possible I Got A Rocket Fairly Odd Parents Phineas & Ferb

07:00 Yin Yang Yo 07:25 Iron Man: Armoured Adventures 07:50 Kid vs Kat 08:15 Power Rangers Jungle Fury 08:40 Aaron Stone 09:05 Phineas & Ferb 09:30 Kid vs Kat 10:00 Pokemon DP: Battle Dimension 10:30 Suite Life On Deck 11:00 American Dragon 11:30 Jimmy Two-Shoes 12:00 Kid vs Kat 12:30 Phineas & Ferb 13:00 Aaron Stone 13:25 Power Rangers Jungle Fury 13:50 Pokemon DP: Battle Dimension

00:15 Streets Of Hollywood 00:40 E!es 01:30 25 Most Stylish 02:20 Sexiest 03:15 40 Smokin’ On Set Hookups 05:05 Dr 90210 06:00 Ths 07:45 Style Star 08:10 Style Star 08:35 E! News 09:00 The Daily 10 09:25 Leave It To Lamas 09:50 Leave It To Lamas 10:15 Ths 11:05 E!es 12:00 E! News 12:25 The Daily 10 12:50 Kendra 13:15 Kendra 13:40 E!es 15:25 Behind The Scenes 15:50 Behind The Scenes 16:15 E!es 16:40 E!es 17:10 Bank Of Hollywood 18:00 E! News 18:25 The Daily 10 18:50 Streets Of Hollywood 19:15 Battle Of The Hollywood Hotties 19:40 Ths 20:30 Ths 21:20 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 22:10 E! News 22:35 The Daily 10 23:00 Dr 90210

00:40 01:30 02:20 03:10 04:05 05:00 05:55 06:20 07:10 07:35 08:00 08:50 09:40 10:30 11:20 12:10 13:00 13:50 14:40 15:30 16:20 17:10 18:00 18:50 19:40 20:30 21:20 22:10 23:00 23:50

Dr G: Medical Examiner Fbi Files A Haunting Murder Shift Serial Killers Forensic Detectives Crime Scene Psychics Dr G: Medical Examiner Ghosthunters Ghosthunters Forensic Detectives Fbi Files Royal Inquest Diagnosis: Unknown Forensic Detectives Fbi Files The Prosecutors Guilty Or Innocent?

Csu Forensic Detectives Fbi Files Royal Inquest Diagnosis: Unknown Forensic Detectives Fbi Files The Prosecutors Guilty Or Innocent?

Csu On The Case Crimes That Shook The World

01:55 03:20 05:00 06:55 08:55 10:20 11:55 13:40 15:10 16:45 18:35 20:25 22:00 23:40

The King And Four Queens Last Rites Jason’s Lyric Cuba Miracle Beach The Man Inside Nobody’s Fool The Escape Joey Alice’s Restaurant Marie: A True Story The Burning Bed Speechless Legend of the Lost

00:00 Community 00:30 10 Things I Hate About You 01:00 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 01:30 The Colbert Report 02:00 Late Night with Jimmy Fallon 03:00 Reno 911 03:30 Weeds 04:00 The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson 05:00 Community 05:30 Late Night with Jimmy Fallon 06:30 Tyler Perry’s House of Payne 07:00 The Nannyt 07:30 Malcolm in the Middle 08:00 Yes dear 08:30 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 09:00 The Colbert Report 09:30 Drew Carey 10:00 Everybody Loves Raymond 10:30 Frasier 11:00 Just Shoot me 11:30 Eight Simple Rules

12:00 The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson 13:00 10 Things I Hate About You 13:30 Tyler Perry’s House of Payne 14:00 The Nanny 14:30 Malcolm in the Middle 15:00 Yes dear 15:30 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Drew Carey 17:00 Everybody Loves Raymond 17:30 Frasier 18:00 Eight Simple Rules 18:30 Just Shoot me 19:00 Modern Family 19:30 New adventures of old Christine 20:00 Best of Late night with Jimmy Fallon 21:00 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Family Guy 22:30 Entourage 23:00 The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

00:00 01:00 01:30 02:00 03:00 04:00 04:30 05:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 09:30 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 Leno 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 Leno 23:00

The Martha Stewart Show 10 Years younger S3 Look A Like S3 The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Monique Show Never Trust A Skinny Cook Fresh GMA (repeat) GMA Health What’s the Buzz The Martha Stewart Show Never Trust A Skinny Cook Fresh Jimmy Kimmel Live!

The View The Ellen DeGeneres Show What’s Good For You GMA Live GMA Health What’s the Buzz The Tonight Show with Jay Look A Like S3 10 Years younger S3 The View The Ellen DeGeneres Show Jimmy Kimmel Live!

The Tonight Show with Jay The Monique Show

00:00 Adulthood-18 02:00 Danielle Steel’s Safe Harbour 04:00 Call Of The North-PG 06:00 Red Riding 1983-PG15 08:00 Beverly Hills Chihuahua-PG 10:00 Mostly Ghostly-PG 12:00 Confessions Of A Shopaholic 14:00 Honeydripper-PG15 16:00 Beverly Hills Chihuahua-PG 18:00 Nick And Norah’s Infinite Playlist-PG15 20:00 I Am Legend-PG15 22:00 Taken-18

01:00 03:00 05:00 06:45 09:00 11:15 13:00 14:45 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Fight Night-PG15 Shifty-PG15 Stargate: The Ark Of Truth-PG Spy Game-PG15 Battle Of Wits-PG15 H.I.T.-PG15 Missionary Man-PG15 Battle Of Wits-PG15 Redline-PG15 Traitor-PG15 Prophecy 5-18 Dark Reprieve-18

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

The Milagro Beanfield War Kettle Of Fish-18 The Coneheads-PG15 King’s Ransom-PG15 Ping Pong Playa-PG15 Going Berserk-PG15 Black Knight-PG15 Slap Shots 3-PG15 The Milagro Beanfield War In Memory Of My Father Hot Fuzz-18 Election-18

00:00 Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs Wakko’s Wish-PG 02:00 Free Willy 3: The Rescue 04:00 War Of The Buttons-PG 06:00 Tony Hawk: Boom Boom Sabotage-FAM 08:00 Tracy Beaker - The Movie Of Me-FAM 10:00 War Of The Buttons-PG 12:00 Papelucho And The Martian 14:00 Free Willy 3: The Rescue 16:00 Cinderella-FAM 18:00 The Jungle Book IV : Hate And Love-FAM 20:00 Superman : Brainiac Attacks 22:00 Papelucho And The Martian

00:00 01:00 02:00 02:30 03:00

Grey’s Anatomy Private Practice Sex and the City Sex and the City Smallville

04:00 05:00 05:30 06:00 06:30 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00

Criminal Minds Frasier Coach Emmerdale Coronation Street “24” Frasier Coach Smallville (TBA) Criminal Minds Emmerdale Coronation Street Frasier Coach Grey’s Anatomy Private Practice “24” Beauty and the Geek Emmerdale Huey’s Cooking Adventure Bones Dollhouse Cold Case Life on Mars

00:45 Scottish Premier League 02:45 Scottish Premier League 04:45 Barclays Premier League Review Show 06:00 Portugol 06:30 Fut Brasil 07:00 Scottish Premier League 09:00 Scottish Premier League 11:00 Premier League Classics 11:30 Premier League Classics 12:00 Premier League 14:00 Scottish Premier League 16:00 Scottish Premier League 18:00 Barclays Premier League Review Show 19:30 Scottish Premier League Highlights 20:00 Scottish Premier League 22:00 Scottish Premier League

01:00 Premier League World 01:30 Goals On Monday 03:00 Premier League Darts 07:00 Barclays Premier League Highlights 08:00 Mobil 1 08:30 NRL Premiership 10:30 Futbol Mundial 11:00 Weber Cup Bowling 12:00 Premier League World 12:30 Goals Goals Goals 13:00 Premier League Classics 13:30 Barclays Premier League Highlights 14:30 ICC Cricket World 15:00 World Hocky 15:30 Futbol Mundial 16:00 Anglo-Welsh Cup 18:00 Mobil 1 18:30 Goals Goals Goals 19:00 Futbol Mundial 19:30 Premier League Classics 20:00 World Sport 20:30 Premier League World 21:00 Barclays Premier League Highlights 22:00 Live Premier League Darts

01:00 Futbol Mundial 01:30 NRL Premiership 03:30 European Tour Weekly 04:00 Weber Cup Bowling 05:00 Premier League World 05:30 Goals Goals Goals 06:00 Mobil 1 06:30 ICC Cricket World 07:00 Super 14 09:00 Goals Goals Goals 09:30 European Tour Weekly 10:00 PGA European Tour Highlights 11:00 Super League 13:00 Futbol Mundial 13:30 Mobil 1 14:00 NRL Premiership 16:00 Fut Brasil 16:30 ICC Cricket World 17:00 European Tour Weekly 17:30 Live PGA European Tour 20:30 ICC Cricket World 21:00 Mobil 1 21:30 World Sport 22:00 PGA European Tour

00:00 02:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 09:00 10:00 10:30 11:00 12:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 18:00 19:00 20:00

Finish-PG15 11:00 Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who!-FAM 13:00 Kung Fu Panda-PG 15:00 10,000 B.C.-PG 17:00 Bring It On 5: Fight To The Finish-PG15 19:00 Taking Chance-PG15 21:00 Race To Witch Mountain-PG15 23:00 The Eye-R

01:00 The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight 02:35 The Dirty Dozen 05:00 Kelly’s Heroes 07:30 The Screening Room 08:00 Beau Brummell 09:50 The Comedians 12:20 The Unsinkable Molly Brown 14:35 The Sunshine Boys 16:25 Anchors Aweigh 18:40 Kelly’s Heroes 21:00 Lust For Life 23:00 Rhapsody

00:40 Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire 01:30 Lost Worlds 02:20 Dead Men’s Secrets 03:10 Conspiracy?

04:00 Nostradamus Effect 04:55 Nostradamus: 2012 06:40 Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire 07:30 Lost Worlds 08:20 Dead Men’s Secrets 09:10 Conspiracy?

10:00 Nostradamus Effect 10:55 Nostradamus: 2012 12:40 Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire 13:30 Lost Worlds 14:20 Dead Men’s Secrets 15:10 Conspiracy?

16:00 Nostradamus Effect 16:55 Nostradamus: 2012 18:40 Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire 19:30 Lost Worlds 20:20 Dead Men’s Secrets 21:10 Conspiracy?

22:00 Life After People

00:00 01:00 02:00 02:30 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 06:30 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 10:30 11:00 12:00 13:00 13:30 14:00 15:00 15:30 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 21:00

Clean House Peter Perfect Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane Dallas Divas And Daughters How Do I Look?

Split Ends Dr 90210 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane Area How Do I Look?

Style Star Style Her Famous My Celebrity Home Style Star Dress My Nest Peter Perfect Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

Ruby Giuliana And Bill Clean House Clean House Comes Clean Dress My Nest What I Hate About Me Split Ends Dallas Divas And Daughters The Dish Running In Heels Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane Split Ends Clean House

01:04 01:45 02:00 02:45 05:04 06:00 08:04 08:45 13:04 13:50 14:00 15:00 16:04 16:45 18:00 18:45 20:04 20:45 21:00 21:15

Latina Playlist Urban Hit Playlist Legend Playlist Latina Playlist Urban Hit Playlist Trace Video Mix Playlist RNB Playlist Urban Hit Playlist Sound System Playlist Guest Star Playlist

00:00 Globe Trekker 01:00 Angry Planet 01:30 The Thirsty Traveler 02:00 Inside Luxury Travel-varun Sharma 03:00 Planet Food 04:00 Intrepid Journeys 05:00 Globe Trekker 06:00 Swiss Railway Journeys 07:00 The Thirsty Traveler 07:30 Angry Planet 08:00 Globe Trekker 09:00 Travel Today 09:30 Dream Destinations 10:00 Distant Shores 10:30 Distant Shores 11:00 Chef Abroad 11:30 Entrada 12:00 Planet Food 13:00 Globe Trekker 14:00 Chef Abroad 14:30 The Thirsty Traveler 15:00 Feast India 15:30 Entrada 16:00 Inside Luxury Travel-varun Sharma 17:00 Globe Trekker 18:00 Essential 18:30 Hollywood And Vines 19:00 Chef Abroad 19:30 The Thirsty Traveler 20:00 Globe Trekker 21:00 Essential 21:30 Essential

00:30 01:30 02:30 03:00 03:30 04:00 04:30 05:00 05:30 06:30 07:30 08:30 09:00 09:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00

Jailed Abroad Jailed Abroad Bondi Rescue - Bali Destination Extreme Surfer’s Journal Treks In A Wild World Madventures Chasing Time Departures Jailed Abroad Jailed Abroad Bondi Rescue - Bali Destination Extreme Surfer’s Journal Treks In A Wild World Madventures Chasing Time Which Way To...

Bondi Rescue Bondi Rescue Surfer’s Journal Surfer’s Journal Bondi Rescue - Bali Destination Extreme Surfer’s Journal Treks In A Wild World Madventures Chasing Time

NCAA Basketball NCAA Basketball UFC - The Ultimate Fighter UFC - The Ultimate Fighter UFC - The Ultimate Fighter WWE SmackDown WWE Vintage Collection FIM World Cup Brain Cell Bushido WWE SmackDown LG Action Sport Drambuie Pursuit NCAA Basketball UFC 111 Countdown WWE Vintage Collection WWE NXT

01:00 Hunger-18 03:00 Asterix Aux Jeux Olympiques 05:00 Lost Holiday: The Jim And Suzanne Shemwell Story-PG 07:00 The Longshots-PG15 09:00 Bring It On 5: Fight To The

Kung Fu Panda on Super Movies

Star Listings (UAE Timings) STAR Movies 21:35 Tuck Everlasting 23:10 My Daughter’s Secret 00:45 The Road To Perdition 02:40 The Guardian 05:00 Tuck Everlasting 06:30 Keeping Up With The Steins 08:00 The Road To Perdition 10:00 The Jewel Of The Nile 11:45 The Guardian 14:05 A Simple Twist Of Fate 15:50 What’s The Worst That Could Happen?

17:30 Dick Tracy 19:15 Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead STAR World 20:00 American Idol 22:00 Boston Legal 22:50 Married With Children 23:00 American Idol 01:00 Boston Legal 01:50 Married With Children 02:00 Grey’s Anatomy 03:00 [V] Tunes 04:00 [V] Tunes 05:00 [V] Tunes 06:00 7th Heaven 07:00 Scrubs

07:30 08:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:50 15:00 15:50 16:00 17:00 19:00

The King Of Queens Stone Undercover American Idol American Idol The King Of Queens The Bold And The Beautiful 7th Heaven Different Strokes Grey’s Anatomy Married With Children [V] Tunes American Idol Stone Undercover

Granada TV 21:00 Cosmetic Surgery From Hell 22:00 Emmerdale 22:30 Coronation Street 23:00 Cosmetic Surgery From Hell 00:00 Parkinson (Series 7) 01:00 The Crunch 02:00 Romance Wednesday: I Saw You (Double Bill) 04:00 ...And Proud 05:00 Emmerdale 05:30 Coronation Street 06:00 Parkinson (Series 7) 07:00 The Crunch

08:00 Romance Wednesday: (Double Bill) 10:00 ...And Proud 11:00 Emmerdale 11:30 Coronation Street 12:00 Parkinson (Series 7) 13:00 Come Dine With Me Series 1) 14:00 Romance Wednesday: (Double Bill) 16:00 Emmerdale 16:30 Coronation Street 17:00 Parkinson (Series 7) 18:00 Come Dine With Me Series 1) 19:00 Romance Wednesday: (Double Bill) Channel [V] 22:00 [V] Plug 22:30 The Playlist 23:00 Loop 00:00 Backtracks 01:00 Double Shot 02:00 [V] Plug 02:30 The Playlist 03:00 Loop 04:00 [V] Countdown

I Saw You

(Primetime I Saw You

(Primetime I Saw You

06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 09:30 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00

Double Shot Backtracks Loop [V] Plug Double Shot Backtracks [V] Tunes [V] Plug The Playlist Loop Parental Control Double Bill [V] Tunes Backtracks [V] Tunes [V] Plug The Playlist Loop Parental Control Double Bill [V] Tunes

Fox News 20:00 Happening Now 22:00 The Live Desk 00:00 Studio B with Shepard Smith Live 01:00 Your World with Neil Cavuto 02:00 Glenn Beck with Glenn Beck 03:00 Special Report with Bret Baier 04:00 The FOX Report with Shepard Smith

05:00 The O’Reilly Factor 06:00 Hannity 07:00 On the Record with Greta Van Susteren 08:00 The O’Reilly Factor 09:00 Hannity 10:00 On the Record with Greta Van Susteren 11:00 Glenn Beck with Glenn Beck 12:00 Fox Report 13:00 Special Report with Bret Baier 14:00 The O’Reilly Factor 15:00 FOX & Friends First Live 16:00 FOX & Friends Live 18:00 America’s Newsroom 19:00 America’s Newsroom National Geographic Channel 20:00 Everyday Things -Packaging 21:00 Long Way Down -Rome To Tobruk 3 22:00 Cruise Ship Diaries -Rock Concert 4 23:00 Theme Week -Is It Real? : Nostradamus Effect S2 00:00 Seconds From Disaster -Kobe Earthquake S2-6 01:00 ABOUT ASIA -Inside Afghan ER 02:00 Carrier -True Believers S1-8 03:00 DogTown -Crisis Dog

04:00 Fishzilla 05:00 ABOUT ASIA -Inside Afghan ER 06:00 Lockdown -Gang Wars 07:00 The Living Edens -Madagascar: A World Apart 08:00 Carrier -True Believers S1-8 09:00 Wild Detectives -Fur Seals 09:30 Food Lovers Guide To The Planet Fancy Fast Food 16 10:00 Theme Week -Naked Science : Apocalypse Earth 11:00 Seconds From Disaster -Kobe Earthquake S2-6 12:00 ABOUT ASIA -Inside Afghan ER 13:00 Wild Wednesday -Monster Fish Of The Congo 14:00 Wild Wednesday -Monster Fish : Giant Stingray 15:00 Theme Week -Naked Science : Apocalypse Earth 16:00 Everyday Things -Shaving 17:00 Seconds From Disaster -Kobe Earthquake S2-6 18:00 Wild Wednesday -Monster Fish Of The Congo 19:00 Wild Wednesday -Monster Fish : Giant Stingray

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

33

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available for one bachelor at Abbassiya near Unique store No. 2 from 1st April with kitchen facilities. Contact: 66110593 or 24313908. (C 20495)

Brothers Alejandro and Eduardo Lejtman tear through a package from home with counselor Kinsey Johnson on July 19, 2009. — MCT

Old-fashioned Summer institution still relevant O

n a warm summer morning thick with dew, the counselor stood before 50 sleepy kids in T-shirts and sweatpants at the flagpole-the meeting place before all meals-and bellowed, “Good morning, Camp Maplehurst!”

“Good morning,” they mustered back. He asked for announcements. Nothing for a moment, then one camper offered, “Ryan farts in his sleep.”

Giggles. “Are there any real announcements?”

“But it’s true!” the camper insisted.

Another said, “It’s Lindsey’s birthday Saturday!” The kids, ages 10 to 16, cheered and descended into chatter. The counselor raised his hand, reeling them back with a simple command: “Listen to your camp family.” After quickly running through the Camp Maplehurst Song (“I’ve got the Maplehurst feeling up in my head, up in my head ...”), the kids headed to a breakfast of French toast, sausage links and strawberry yogurt on plastic trays.

It was an average Camp Maplehurst morning, the details likely forgotten before the last sausage was served (except maybe by poor Ryan). But in the camp family, as the counselor put it, even the ordinary is extraordinary. Every moment matters. Consider: For a few weeks every summer, each camper takes on a few dozen brothers and sisters. They sleep together, eat together, play together, sing together, work together and learn together. They fight and make up. They start figuring out love. They see one another in pajamas and bathing suits. They develop their own vocabularies that allow them to know the differences among the Moose Song, the Beaver Song, the Pirate Song and, when rushed, the Flagpole Song (“This is the flagpole song/It doesn’t last too long”).

In the togetherness, idiosyncrasies are forgiven. Peer pressure dissipates, or as much as it can at the age of 14. Material things prized back home are made moot. What good is a PS3 at camp?

And judgment is withheld.

Don’t believe it?

“I don’t have many friends at school,” said Roberto Soto, 13, of Guadalajara, Mexico. “I like to read, and in Mexico reading is considered nerdy, and if you’re a nerd, you’re considered an outcast. Here, people are from a lot more places

and everyone is open.”

Anyone who has been to summer camp knows that the relationships are like few others.

Friendships form quickly, intensely and with open minds. Even if camp friends don’t keep in touch long-term, what has been shared is long remembered.

One hundred fifty years since summer camp was born, the American Camp Association estimates there are as many as 15,000 summer camps in the US, much of the recent growth in specialized camps: music, religious, athletic, etc.

Peg Smith, chief executive officer of the ACA, said the camp experience “is probably even more important than it was 150 years ago.”

“It is a microcosm of a community,” Smith said. “You learn to contribute to that community and to make relationships. Being able to communicate needs and resolve conflict stays with you.” Even the youngest campers realize the difference between what happens at camp and what happens back home.

“There’s a lot of drama at school,” said Charlotte Thomas, 12, of Short Hills, NJ. “You get into fights with your friends, but here, you figure it out because you have to,” said Anna Stern, 12, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

That was Thomas Cohn’s plan when he started Maplehurst in 1955. Cohn, a University of Michigan psychology professor, wanted an outlet for kids built on freedom and creativity not promoted in schools. The camp is particularly popular with kids from Midwestern suburbs and attracts many international campers.

Laurence Cohn, who grew up attending his father’s camp, took the reins with his wife, Brenda Cohn, in the 1970s. They deal with issues the elder Cohn never had to address, such as restricting use of MP3 players to afternoon rest time and asking for cell phones at the start of each session. “The kids don’t want to give up their phones,” said Laurence Cohn, a psychology lecturer at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. “So we ask nicely.”

He figures phones get in the way of the real business of camp, namely, being at camp. It’s difficult to miss text-messaging when post-breakfast activities include biking, tennis, archery, arts and crafts, model rocketry, basketball, fencing,

golf, kayaking, floor hockey, improvised comedy, tai chi and photography. And that’s just before lunch.

Campers can program their own time to learn what they like, Cohn said. But that freedom is balanced by the responsibility of cleaning their cabins daily.

“I don’t even have to do that at home,” said Jordan Correll, of Farmington Hills, Mich.

Leaving usually ends up being the worst part of camp. It happened a few days early last summer for Maud Foriel-Destezet, 16, because of her family’s travel plans.

Seemingly everyone at the camp offered Foriel-Destezet a hug, and tears flowed quickly.

Her cabin mates formed a circle and took her in, heads down, arms around one another’s shoulders, to create a world of sniffling teenage girls in shorts and T-shirts.

“The real world is waiting for you on the other side,” said Margot Kriete, 16, of Birmingham, Mich.

A few hours after Foriel-Destezet had left, those same girls were all smiles while performing in the long-awaited camp talent show.

Dressed in brightly colored clothes, they lipsynced to a top-40 hit, leapt, giggled and made new memories.

Considering camp?

Fees for Camp Maplehurst’s two-week sessions (beginning July 3 and July 17) cost $2,500 each; cost for both sessions is $4,300. For information, go to campmaplehurst.com.

For more information on camps across the country, and for planning a child’s camp experience, visit the American Camp Association Web site, campparents.org. Here are topics from the ACA to consider when choosing a camp for your child: How are counselors trained? Does the training include CPR and first aid?

What are the health and medical procedures?

Who is trained to deal with health issues?

What is the return ratio? It offers insight into whether kids are happy there.

What does a typical day look like? What activities are available?

What about the menu? Is there a philosophy guiding how campers are fed? — MCT

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SITUATION WANTED A decent housemaid for a family in Hawally. Call 66729068, 67784195.

24-3-2010 Hardworking experienced honest Pakistani young man available to work for high profile people as personal secretary or mandoob or personal driver. Mob: 67730592. (C 20489) 23-3-2010 Diploma holder in civil engineering (Indian) 15 years experience in civil construction field. 5 years Gulf experience, experienced in Autocad + Comp. Seeks suitable placement. Phone: 65033757, 66860418. Mail: kkpillai2005@yahoo.co.in (C 20480) 21-3-2010

Flight Schedule Arrival Flights on Wednesday 24/03/2010 Airlines Flt Route Jazeera 0263 Beirut Gulf Air 211 Bahrain Kuwait 544 Cairo DHL 370 Bahrain Turkish A/L 1172 Istanbul Emirates 853 Dubai Etihad 0305 Abu Dhabi Qatari 0138 Doha Ethiopian 622 Addis Ababa/Bahrain Air France 6782 Paris Jazeera 0503 Luxor Jazeera 0527 Alexandria Kuwait 416 Jakarta/Kuala Lumpur Jazeera 0529 Assiut Jazeera 0481 Sabiha British 0157 London Kuwait 412 Manila/Bangkok Falcon 201 Bahrain Kuwait 204 Lahore Kuwait 382 Delhi Kuwait 302 Mumbai Kuwait 332 Trivandrum Kuwait 676 Dubai Kuwait 284 Dhaka Emirates 855 Dubai Arabia 0121 Sharjah Qatari 0132 Doha Etihad 0301 Abu Dhabi Jazeera 0691 Shiraz Gulf Air 213 Bahrain Wataniya Airways 1121 Bahrain Iran Air 605 Isfahan Jazeera 0165 Dubai Wataniya Airways 1021 Dubai Egypt Air 610 Cairo Lufthansa Cargo 8292 Frankfurt Kuwait 672 Dubai Syrian Arab A/L 341 Damascus Wataniya Airways 2301 Damascus Jazeera 0525 Alexandria Jazeera 0257 Beirut Wataniya Airways 2001 Cairo Saudi Arabian A/L 500 Jeddah Kuwait 562 Amman Kuwait 744 Dammam Jazeera 0457 Damascus Qatari 0134 Doha Kuwait 546 Alexandria Royal Jordanian 800 Amman Jazeera 0173 Dubai Mihin Lanka 403 Colombo/Dubai

Time 00:05 01:05 01:15 02:15 02:15 02:35 03:00 03:25 03:30 04:25 05:35 06:10 06:25 06:30 06:35 06:40 06:45 07:00 07:35 07:50 07:55 08:05 08:10 08:15 08:30 08:55 09:00 09:35 10:40 10:45 10:45 10:50 11:05 11:20 12:55 13:20 13:25 13:30 13:35 13:45 14:10 14:20 14:30 14:35 14:40 14:45 15:00 15:30 15:40 16:05 16:40

Emirates Gulf Air Etihad Saudi Arabian A/L Jazeera Jazeera Jazeera Arabia Jazeera Thai Wataniya Airways Srilankan United A/L Wataniya Airways DHL Wataniya Airways Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Rovos Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Singapore A/L Kuwait Jet A/W Oman Air Egypt Air Jazeera Jazeera Wataniya Airways Indian Gulf Air Middle East Qatari Emirates KLM Wataniya Airways Jazeera Jazeera Global Jazeera Jazeera India Express Lufthansa Wataniya Airways Wataniya Airways Pakistan

857 215 0303 510 0493 0239 0217 0125 0367 519 2101 227 982 2003 473 1025 502 542 618 674 093 166 786 614 774 104 552 458 512 572 0647 618 0459 0343 2103 993 217 402 0136 859 0443 1129 0449 0429 091 0117 0185 389 636 2201 1029 205

Dubai Bahrain Abu Dhabi Riyadh Jeddah Amman Isfahan Sharjah Deirezzor Bangkok Beirut Colombo/Dubai Washington Dc Dulles Cairo Baghdad Dubai Beirut Cairo Doha Dubai Kandahar/Dubai Paris/Rome Jeddah Bahrain Riyadh London Damascus Singapore/Abu Dhabi Tehran Mumbai Muscat Alexandria Damascus Sanaa/Bahrain Beirut Chennai/Mumbai Bahrain Beirut Doha Dubai Amsterdam Bahrain Doha Bahrain Baghdad Abu Dhabi Dubai Kozhikode/Mangalore Frankfurt Amman Dubai Lahore/Peshawar

16:55 17:05 17:15 17:15 17:30 17:35 17:40 17:40 17:45 17:45 17:50 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:30 18:40 18:45 18:50 18:55 18:55 19:00 19:00 19:10 19:20 19:30 19:35 19:40 19:45 20:05 20:05 20:20 20:35 20:40 20:55 20:55 21:00 21:05 21:20 21:35 21:40 21:55 22:00 22:10 22:15 22:20 22:25 22:40 23:15 23:30 23:40 23:45 23:55

Departure Flights on Wednesday 24/03/2010 Airlines Flt Route Tunis Air 328 Dubai/Tunis Jazeera 0528 Assiut Pakistan 240 Sialkot United A/L 981 Washington Dc Dulles Indian 576 Goa/Chennai Turkish A/L 1173 Istanbul DHL 371 Bahrain Emirates 854 Dubai Etihad 0306 Abu Dhabi Ethiopian 622 Addis Ababa Qatari 0139 Doha Air France 6782 Dubai/Hong Kong Wataniya Airways 1020 Dubai Jazeera 0164 Dubai Jazeera 0524 Alexandria Wataniya Airways 2000 Cairo Gulf Air 212 Bahrain Jazeera 0690 Shiraz Wataniya Airways 1120 Bahrain Rovos 094 Dubai/Kandahar Wataniya Airways 2300 Damascus Kuwait 545 Alexandria Jazeera 0256 Beirut British 0156 London Kuwait 671 Dubai Kuwait 561 Amman Jazeera 0456 Damascus Arabia 0122 Sharjah Kuwait 101 London/New York Emirates 856 Dubai Qatari 0133 Doha Etihad 0302 Abu Dhabi Wataniya Airways 2002 Cairo Gulf Air 214 Bahrain Kuwait 165 Rome/Paris Iran Air 604 Isfahan Jazeera 0342 Bahrain/Sanaa Kuwait 743 Dammam Jazeera 0172 Dubai Kuwait 541 Cairo Wataniya Airways 2100 Beirut Jaazeera 0492 Jeddah Jazeera 0366 Deirezzor Jazeera 0238 Amman Kuwait 501 Beirut Kuwait 785 Jeddah Egypt Air 611 Cairo Kuwait 551 Damascus Wataniya Airways 1024 Dubai Kuwait 673 Dubai Syrian Arab A/L 342 Damascus

FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION 161

Time 00:01 00:05 00:35 00:40 00:50 03:15 03:15 03:50 04:10 04:15 05:00 06:10 07:00 07:00 07:00 07:30 07:45 07:50 07:50 08:00 08:10 08:30 08:35 08:55 09:00 09:15 09:25 09:35 09:35 09:40 10:00 10:20 11:30 11:40 11:45 11:50 11:50 11:55 12:00 12:00 12:05 12:15 12:20 12:25 13:00 13:40 13:55 14:20 14:25 14:30 14:30

Jazeera Lufthansa Sharjah Wataniya Airways Jazeera Kuwait Kuwait Saudi Arabian A/L Kuwait Kuwait Royal Jordanian Qatari Mihin Lanka Gulf Air Etihad Emirates Arabia Jazeera Saudi Arabian A/L Jazeera Jazeera Wataniya Airways Jazeera Global Jazeera Thai Wataniya Airways Srilankan Wataniya Airways Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Jet A/W Oman Air Egypt Air Singapore A/L Gulf Air DHL Kuwait Kuwait Middle East Falcon Jazeera Kuwait Qatari Kuwait Emirates KLM Jazeera Jazeera Jazeera Kuwait

0216 Isfahan Cargo 14:50 2102 Beirut 0458 Damascus 617 Doha 511 Tehran 501 Jeddah 773 Riyadh 613 Bahrain 801 Amman 0135 Doha 404 Dubai/Colombo 216 Bahrain 0304 Abu Dhabi 858 Dubai 0126 Sharjah 0262 Beirut 511 Riyadh 0184 Dubai 0116 Abu Dhabi 2200 Amman 0448 Doha 092 Baghdad 0428 Bahrain 520 Bangkok 1128 Bahrain 228 Dubai/Colombo 1028 Dubai 283 Dhaka 361 Colombo 343 Chennai 351 Cochin 571 Mumbai 0648 Muscat 619 Alexandria 457 Abu Dhabi/Singapore 218 Bahrain 171 Bahrain 801 Cairo 675 Dubai 403 Beirut 102 Bahrain 0188 Dubai 381 Delhi 0137 Doha 301 Mumbai 860 Dubai 0443 Bahrain/Amsterdam 0480 Sabiha 0526 Alexandria 0502 Luxor 411 Bangkok/Manila

14:35 8292 15:10 15:30 15:35 15:35 15:45 16:10 16:20 16:25 16:30 17:40 17:55 18:00 18:10 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:35 18:40 18:40 18:50 18:50 19:00 19:05 19:15 19:15 19:30 20:15 20:20 20:50 20:55 21:10 21:20 21:35 21:45 21:55 22:00 22:00 22:10 22:20 22:30 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:50 22:55 23:00 23:25 23:50 23:55

SPECTRUM

34 CROSSWORD 937

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Calvin Aries (March 21-April 19) Courage and

confidence reign. Others will follow your lead in any group effort. You keep a positive spin on everything you do. A smile attracts other smiles— frowns can close doors. Who could have guessed that last week’s frowning introvert would be metamorphosed into a winner of a conversationalist so quickly? Passion is high—perfect for getting some exercise or chopping that cord of wood.

Just make sure any new projects are short-term. Problems with relatives today can be ongoing unless you do something nice to calm the frustrations. You may be unable to get the support you require, so the choice to lighten the problems will be on your shoulders. You will be able to handle this successfully after planning and thinking through things.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) So, you just found out you

cannot help or solve everyone’s problems. You may feel a little sad, but do not worry. Aren’t you glad you do not have everyone’s problems? Put some effort into stress relief and make it a habit to continue along this path; every day. You should be able to accomplish quite a lot just now.

However, you must be very careful of giving quick responses, especially today. You could find that you are appreciated for your ability to act and get things done. Gathering and exchanging information becomes a more important part of your life . . . a very educational experience. Neighbors or siblings have a big impact on your goals and make a big impression. This is a mentally and socially active growth period.

Pooch Cafe

ACROSS 1. A barrier constructed to contain the flow or water or to keep out the sea.

4. Ancient Italian deity in human shape, with horns, pointed ears and a goat's tail.

8. The compass point that is one point south of due east.

11. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

12. (Irish) Mother of the Tuatha De Danann.

13. Resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects.

14. A room or establishment where alcoholic drinks are served over a counter.

15. Lacking sufficient water or rainfall.

16. Type genus of the family Myacidae.

17. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

19. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

21. A public promotion of some product or service.

22. Events that provide the generative force that is the origin of something.

25. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

27. A long thin fluffy scarf of feathers or fur.

28. 3 to 30 gigahertz.

29. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

34. A plant hormone promoting elongation of stems and roots.

35. Coffee-flavored liqueur made in Mexico.

37. The atomic weight of an element that has the same combining capacity as a given weight of another element.

38. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

40. King of Denmark and Norway who forced Edmund II to divide England with him.

43. A port city on the Caspian Sea that is the capital of Azerbaijan and an important center for oil production.

47. A rare silvery (usually trivalent) metallic element.

48. In bed.

49. An agency of the United Nations affiliated with the World Bank.

51. A small cake leavened with yeast.

52. An audiotape recording of sound.

53. An independent agency of the United States government responsible for collecting and coordinating intelligence and counterintelligence activities abroad in the national interest.

DOWN 1. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad.

2. Any culture medium that uses agar as the gelling agent.

3. A percussion instrument consisting of a pair of hollow pieces of wood or bone (usually held between the thumb and fingers) that are made to click together (as by Spanish dancers) in rhythm with the dance.

4. A federal agency established to regulate the release of new foods and health-related products.

5. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.

6. An agency of the United Nations responsible for programs to aid education and the health of children and mothers in developing countries.

7. A quantity of no importance.

8. Any of various trees of the genus Ulmus.

9. Common Indian weaverbird.

10. Any of a number of fishes of the family Carangidae.

18. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

20. The cry made by sheep.

23. Capital of modern Macedonia.

24. Any branch of Shinto other than Kokka.

26. A mound of stones piled up as a memorial or to mark a boundary or path.

30. An intensely radioactive metallic element that occurs in minute amounts in uranium ores.

31. (Akkadian) God of wisdom.

32. Type genus of the Alaudidae.

33. A ductile silvery-white ductile ferromagnetic trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group.

36. Jordan's port.

37. The month following February and preceding April.

39. Tropical starchy tuberous root.

41. Large sweet juicy hybrid between tangerine and grapefruit having a thick wrinkled skin.

42. The basic unit of money in Bangladesh.

44. God of the earth.

45. A resource.

46. Take in solid food.

50. An international organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) A friend can influence your move up the ladder at work today. Changing chaos into order may be the ticket for successful work days. You may be sought after as just the person for a particular job.

Your management and directional abilities are in high focus. This should be one of those, days when you just, feel good. You feel good about your friends, your love relationship and if there is none, you may feel good about finding one. The only things you do not feel good about are work and self-discipline—so watch the finances! You may as well go on feeling good about everything else! Your popularity is growing. The most unusual people are attracted to you. Show the world you have character and good taste—continue to set good examples.

Non Sequitur

Cancer (June 21-July 22) Today your sensitivity to others and your desire to help is strong. This should be a great day to work in a service-oriented position.

Everything points to you taking the initiative. You could feel great support from those around you for any decisions or actions you feel are important. Communicating and getting your message across to others is at a high. Your timing should be perfect and those around you should find you most talkative. In order to make your cash work for you, perhaps this would be a good time to gain some information for study and planning. Advice is important but your study and planning will make the difference. When you have a purpose or goal to fulfill, you begin living life with gusto. Name your profession.

Leo (July 23-August 22) You may well be reminded of your various responsibilities today. This is a good time to get down to the nitty-gritty and take care of the business problems that had previously been shoved aside.

Obligations may come to your attention now. A meeting with someone older or someone in authority may create some nervous moments but this will keep you on your toes, so-to-speak. You are at your most practical when it comes to dealing and working with others and you know just what to do. You have a lot of zest and plenty of discipline to complete whatever project you begin now. A sense of ambition and practicality takes hold now. A little overtime would not be unusual just now.

This evening is for relaxing—friends may have to wait.

Zits

Virgo (August 23-September 22) A great career trend throughout this year may be the knowledge you need in order to make that push for a particular job that you have been wanting. There are rewards for your efforts. You have a grasp for the necessary steps it takes to make things work and improve production—sales or business in some way. Others are interested in what you have to say—as well as your response to their questions. Today, your sensitivity to the needs of others is so acute and your desire to help is so strong, that this should be one super day to work with people. If you are a salesperson, you should double your quota! This afternoon a friend may encourage you to become involved in some sort of child protective service. You have a sincere interest in helping children.

Libra (September 23-October 22) Between the phone calls and chatty fellow employees, you wonder how you will ever get to all the paperwork. Remember to take things one step at a time and keep asking yourself if you want to stay after work to finish your allotment of work. Since the answers to life’s mysteries do not seem to be coming forth, you may wish to seek help from disciplines that dig a little deeper into people and phenomena, such as psychology, astrology, the occult, or perhaps Zen or Yoga. Try to keep an open mind today, no matter what happens. If your mind becomes totally preoccupied with one particular thought, try to shake it away by visiting with friends. Friends will appreciate your listening ear and they will provide a great distraction.

Mother Goose and Grimm

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Do not expect much

leeway in assignments for now, excuses might not be accepted. Cooperation and compromise can bring you close to success. Self-assurance can become rather low at times, so use your spare time to meditate and recuperate—perhaps a health drink and a fun magazine during your break. This afternoon a brainstorming session may shed light on a hidden matter. Pay special attention to jointly-held properties and accounts, which could hold a few surprises. Attention to diet and exercise seems only natural, but you probably will not neglect the inner self, either. Books about positive thinking and career advancement should be your first choice of serious reading material. You enjoy problem solving—a positive day.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) It may be time to hire more people in the work place, especially if the higher-ups look to only a few employees to carry a heavy load. Be accommodating, up to a point! Someone could demand a bit too much from you. Don’t give in to any martyr role. Bear in mind, any intense feelings today are just short range, although they could symbolize some significant emotion in the long haul. Beware of any obsessive ideas plugging up your mind, particularly in relationship with loved ones.

Remember, there is only one thing you can change and that is some part of yourself. If you have questions that are emotional, it may be good to ask a disinterested party of their impression. A hunch about a family member turns out to be true-the outcome is positive.

Yesterday’s Solution

Capricorn

yester

Yesterday’s Solution

to

INTERNATIONAL CALLS Kuwait Qatar Abu Dhabi Dubai Raas Al Khayma Al-Shareqa Muscat Jordan Bahrain Riyadh Makkah - Jeddah Cairo Alexandria Beirut Damascus Allepo

00965 00974 009712 009714 009717 009716 00968 009626 00973 009661 009662 00202 00203 009611 0096311 0096321

Tunisia Rabat Washington New York Paris London Madrid Zurich Geneva Monaco Rome Bangkok Hong Kong Pakistan Taiwan Bonn

0021610 002127 001212 001718 00331 004471 00341 00411 004122 0033 00396 00662 00852 0092 00886 0049228

Word Sleuth Solution

(December

22-January

19)

Changes are in the air and you are prepared to make them. This is one of your better days for money. Circumstances may seem to conspire to irritate you or cause you to become emotional but you are good at thinking first before speaking. You are particularly clear in thinking and speech and the difficult person may wish they had never approached you with a negative subject. You may even have an opportunity to teach others how to reverse a difficult situation. It is all about truth and respect. Health and work goals are important to you and this afternoon is a most positive time to make any changes in your diet routine or choice of foods. Lots of comfortable feelings are present with loved ones tonight. There may be a fun game challenge this evening.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) Your temperament could likely be at bit cool just now, as you take a serious attitude to just about all aspects of your life. This is an excellent time to sit down alone and get many things accomplished. Your fertile mind will be picking up new concepts and inspirations all day, like a radio receiver. The air is electric and your mind is wide open. Take a little trip, or get outside during the noon break today. You may want to break that routine and try something new or different this afternoon. You may have insights into day-to-day problems that will be of great value later. Knowing things without knowing how you know brings about some interesting conversations today. The mystical, the universal and the eternal stir your curiosity.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) You may have a mad desire to do nothing but communicate and exchange ideas today. You could shoot the breeze with someone for hours, if given the opportunity. There could be a temptation, however, to play devil’s advocate or analyze things to death. Just enjoy the exchanges and give the other guy a chance. Many stalled activities finally get back on track. Remember those plans and decisions you postponed? Now is the time to begin implementing them.

Pay attention to the little details—otherwise they will come back to haunt you. Brainstorming with others will get your mind buzzing and your juices flowing. Tensions in the family can be put to good use if you look at the situation from a creative perspective.

INFORMATION

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

35 FIRE BRIGADE Operation Room 777 Al-Madena 22418714 Al-Shohada始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

Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw

For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128 HOSPITALS Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

POLICE STATION Al-Madena Police Station Al-Murqab Police Station Al-Daiya Police Station Al-Fayha始a Police Station Al-Qadissiya Police Station Al-Nugra Police Station Al-Salmiya Police Station Al-Dasma Police Station

24874330/9 CLINICS

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

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22518752

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22459381

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22451082

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22456536

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22465401

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25746401

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25316254

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25623444

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24810221

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24770319

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4892674

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4719048

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4710044

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4732263

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3900322

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22617700 25625030/60

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25655535 Dentists:

Dr Anil Thomas

3729596/3729581

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22641071/2

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25620111

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36

SPECTRUM

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Gaga’s skimpy fishing fashion ‘Daughter-in-law’ Paris Hilton

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following her Auckland shows after she took off her headgear and lied down during her final performance of ‘Bad Romance’, Jason claimed she was fine, although a little tired when she arrived on the island by helicopter as she had been up partying until 4am. He told the New Zealand Herald newspaper: “I think she was OK though, she was just pretty tired.” The New York-based performer travelled to the island with some dancers and her bodyguard, where they all enjoyed barbecues with sausages, oysters and local tarakihi fish. Gaga is now in Australia on the latest leg of her ‘Monster Ball Tour’, before she heads to Japan in April.

Cyrus shy to approach Hemsworth iley Cyrus paid $10 to find out if boyfriend Liam Hemsworth liked her - because she was too shy to ask. ‘The Last Song’ star said she bribed her on-screen brother in the film, Bobby Coleman, to find out what her Australian co-star thought of her. Of Bobby she said: “He is probably one of the most hysterical kids I’ve met in my life. This kid will do anything for five bucks. By the end he literally had a receipt for me. It was like $80.

I paid him 10 bucks to go ask Liam if he liked me. I sent him back and forth. It was really funny.” Miley, 17, also told how dating her co-star led her to made extra effort

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aris Hilton is referred to as “daughter-in-law” by her boyfriend’s parents. Doug Reinhardt and the hotel heiress recently spend a week with his mother, Kelly and stepfather Duane Roberts at a luxury villa on the Caribbean island of Anguilla, fuelling rumors they will soon marry A source told website X17online: “Paris and Doug looked like they were on a honeymoon. They would be on the beach for hours, just staring into each other’s eyes, kissing and laughing. “At dinner Doug’s mom was overheard referring to Paris as her, ‘daughter-in-law’ and it’s pretty clear that Paris’ family feels the same way about Doug.” While enjoying the break the couple reportedly went scuba diving through local ship wrecks as well as enjoying the facilities of the estate, including a private swimming pool, tennis court, fitness centre and cinema. Paris, 29, has previously talked of the possibility of her and Doug, 24, marrying this year. She said: “I wouldn’t rule out a wedding in 2010. With how amazing everything is going between us, I see a very bright and happy future.” After a night out in February with Doug and her parents, Paris tweeted about how pleased she was at how well they got on. She wrote: “What a fun night! My mom and Doug were so cute dancing together! I love how my parents love my love! We all had a blast! Great night! (sic).”

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on-set, which she also said was positive because she is trying to promote a more mature image as she makes the transition from child star to serious actress. Miley - who shot to fame as star of ‘Hannah Montana’ aged 13 in 2006 - added: “It was really good working with Liam, because it makes you want to come to work and look good. “I’m trying to make people see my work as a real actress and more mature. And when you have someone who loves you and wants you to do well, you really want to help each other, and you want to make each other look good.

We both were trying to get our point across that we can do more than what people know us as.”

Mark Owen will leave rehab next month The Take That singer who admitted earlier this month he had cheated on wife Emma Ferguson several times throughout their relationship - is said to be “responding well” to treatment for alcoholism and plans to check out of the unnamed British clinic much earlier than expected. A friend said: “Initially, everyone thought he might be in the clinic for months but Mark has been responding really well to treatment.

“As a result, it has been decided he will leave the clinic next month.”

Although Emma not yet visited her husband in rehab, the ‘Greatest Day’ singer is still hopeful of saving his five-year marriage. The source added to the Mail Online website: “Mark knows that when he comes out of the clinic he has to try and persuade

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hil Spector allegedly lost some of his teeth after being involved in a brawl in jail. The legendary music producer - who was jailed last June for 19 years for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson - has reportedly been in a number of fights since he got to jail, and had some of his teeth knocked out in one brawl.

Spector’s friend Steven Escobar, said: “Phil has quite a mouth on him. Not everyone understands his humor.

He said the wrong thing to the wrong inmate in the yard. “He mouthed off to a big guy, who punched him.

At first, Phil said he fell down a flight of stairs. Later, he told family and friends what really happened.”

Escobar said the star had suffered a bruised nose, a black eye and two missing

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teeth in the violent beating.

His account has, however, been denied by Spector’s wife, 29-year-old Rachelle, who claims her husband who invented the ‘Wall Of Sound’ production technique - is well liked among the population at the Corcoran prison in California. She said: “Phil was not assaulted.

Absolutely not. Anyone who meets Phil loves him. He’s so freaking funny. He’s an idol to the other inmates.

They look out for him.” She also added that Spector had treatment for “an abscess and issues with crowns and implants” at a dentist in December. A spokesperson for the prison said they had no record of Spector being involved in any reported altercations. Earlier this month Spector, 70, launched an appeal against his murder conviction, claiming he was denied the right to a fair trial.

Emma to give him another chance.

That is what he is preparing himself for now - because no decision has been made on their marriage so far.”

Friends of the couple believe Emma, 33, will take back the 38-year-old pop star for the sake of their children son Elwood, three, and 15-month-old daughter Willow Rose. A source close to the family said last week: “Emma will do absolutely anything for her beautiful children. Mark has been a complete idiot - which he openly admits - but it doesn’t stop him being a brilliant dad. “He does over those kids and Emma knows it. It’s a long road ahead. But for the sake of their children, she will forgive him.”

Mark’s bandmates - Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Jason Orange are lending him their full support, as well as former Take That star Robbie Williams.

won’t initiate proceedings himself, his team is asking lawyers if they would consider taking on the case should he need them. Sandra cancelled the UK premiere of ‘The Blind Side’, after Michelle revealed the affair in a magazine interview last week. She also pulled the plug on a scheduled premiere of the movie which earned her a Best Actress Oscar in Berlin, Germany. Meanwhile, Sandra’s friend Mo’Nique - who won the Best Supporting Actress prize at this year’s Academy Awards - has spoken out in support of her pal. During an interview with ‘Entertainment Tonight’, she said: “To my sweet sister Sandra, my prayers are with you. “My prayers are also with your husband, baby. That is between the two of you and I hope you all make it work. “Everybody else, and please quote me, mind your damn business.”

— BangShowbiz

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Bullock meeting with divorce lawyers andra Bullock is reportedly planning to meet with divorce lawyers. The ‘Blind Side’ actress - whose husband Jesse James cheated on her with tattoo model Michelle ‘Bombshell’ McGee - has reportedly asked her assistants to search for a “high-end” legal team to represent her if she decides to split from the motorcycle enthusiast for good. Gossip website TMZ.com reported: “We’re told Sandra’s reps have been in touch with several high-end divorce lawyers. Our sources say Lance Spiegel, who handled divorces for Charlie Sheen, Heather Locklear and Michael Jackson, is the frontrunner.”

Discussing whether a divorce petition will be filed, a source said: “Something’s happening.” Jesse is also believed to be searching for divorce lawyers, in case the 45-year-old actress goes through with a legal separation. Although he

Phil Spector beaten in Jail

ady Gaga went fishing in high heels and underwear. The 23year-old pop star had a relaxing two-day break on a beach in New Zealand following two performances in Auckland, but refused to tone down her eccentric dress sense. Jason Schwarz, general manager of Waiheke’s Goldwater Estate on Waiheke Island, said: “She’s pretty eccentric, she didn’t take her heels off once. “She went down to Onetangi Beach to go fishing in her eight-inch heels, undies and a man’s business shirt - that’s it. She still had her bright yellow hair.” Discussing reports the ‘Telephone’ hitmaker was exhausted

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SPECTRUM

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

37

Lifestyle

Witness:

Michael Jackson doctor interrupted CPR

he man who called paramedics as Michael Jackson lay dying in his rented mansion told police he was stunned by what he saw in the singer’s bedroom. Alberto Alvarez, who worked as Jackson’s logistics director, told investigators that after receiving a distress call from another worker June 25,

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he rushed up the stairs of Jackson’s home and entered a bedroom to find the singer lying on a bed with his arms outstretched and his eyes and mouth open.

At his side, Jackson’s personal physician, Dr Conrad Murray, was administering CPR with one hand. “Alberto, Alberto, come quickly,” Murray said, according to a statement obtained by The Associated Press. “He had a reaction, he had a bad reaction.” Two of the star’s children, Prince and Paris, came in the room and cried as they saw Murray trying to save their father. They were quickly ushered away. The account and other statements obtained by the AP depict a grisly scene in Jackson’s room in the final minutes before paramedics arrived. Alvarez also states that Murray interrupted CPR and delayed calling paramedics so he could collect drug vials at the scene.

Jackson’s death at age 50 was ruled a homicide caused by an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol and other sedatives. The possibility that Murray may have tried to hide evidence is likely to be a focus as prosecutors move ahead with their involuntary manslaughter case against him. Alvarez told police he arrived at Jackson’s home around 10:20 am. He was awaiting instructions for the day in a security trailer outside Jackson’s rented mansion when, at 12:17 pm, his phone rang. It was Jackson’s personal assistant Michael Amir Williams, who said Jackson was in trouble.

Alvarez said he was “frozen and stunned” when he saw Jackson on the bed. Murray then grabbed a few vials with rubber tops and told Alvarez to put them in a bag, Alvarez told investigators. Alvarez picked up a plastic bag from the floor and Murray put the bottles inside, then Murray told Alvarez to put that plastic bag inside a brown canvas bag, according to the account.

Alvarez said Murray then told him to remove an IV bag from a stand and put it in a blue canvas bag. He did, and noticed the bag had a connector with a milky white substance in it. Alvarez didn’t say what happened to the bags, nor did he identify what was in the vials. Two days after Jackson’s death, under several hours of questioning by police, Murray eventually directed them to a closet in Jackson’s bedroom.

In it, they found propofol and other sedatives in a bag.

Murray’s lawyer, Ed Chernoff, rejected the notion his client tried to hide drugs. He also noted Alvarez was interviewed twice by police and gave different accounts of what happened in Jackson’s bedroom. During the first interview, Alvarez did not mention being told to tidy away medicine vials.

“He wasn’t putting bottles in a bag and trying to hide them,” Chernoff said. “We are confident that a fair trial will ferret out the truth.” On the day Jackson died, Murray waited until the bags were filled before telling Alvarez to call paramedics, according to Alvarez’s statement.

The documents also detail an odd encounter with Murray after Jackson was declared dead at a nearby hospital.

Murray insisted he needed to return to the mansion to get cream that Jackson had “so the world wouldn’t find out about it,” according to the statements, which provide no elaboration.

Alvarez and the others who gave the statements, Williams and driver/bodyguard Faheem Muhammad, could be key witnesses should Murray go to trial. Except for the brief appearances by the nanny and the children, Alvarez and Muhammad were the only others in the room with Murray as he tried to save Jackson before paramedics arrived. Murray, 57, a cardiologist licensed in Nevada, California and Texas, has acknowledged briefly leaving Jackson’s bedside the day he died but maintained from the outset that nothing he gave the singer should have killed him. —AP

‘Alice’ stays on top in box office earnings im Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” retained the box office lead for the third week running, pulling in 34.1 million dollars for the weekend, final industry figures showed Monday.

Starring Johnny Depp and Mia Wasikowska, the live action, 3-D version of Lewis Carroll’s children’s classic has earned 265.4 million dollars since its

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release, box office tracker Exhibitor Relations reported. The surprise of the weekend was “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” 20th Century Fox’s newly released adaptation of the Jeff Kinney cartoon novels, which came in second in the box office with 22 million dollars.

That put it ahead of “Bounty Hunter,” a comedy starring Jennifer Anniston and

French maestro Boulez celebrates 85th birthday in Vienna

Gerard Butler, which came in third with a 20.7-million take, and science fiction morality tale “Repo Men,” which made 6.1 million dollars, both in their first week in theaters. “Green Zone,” an Iraq war film starring Matt Damon, took in 6.1 million dollars, dropping to fifth place from second.

“She’s Out of My League,” in which a

stunning woman and a dorky guy fall in love, slipped to sixth place from third last week, earning 5.8 million dollars. Martin Scorsese’s “Shutter Island” was in seventh place in its fifth week in theaters. It made 4.7 million dollars.

“Avatar,” the top grossing movie of all time, added another four million dollars to the pile, bringing its North American

box office total to 736.9 million dollars.

On its 14th week in theaters, it was the eighth top earner. Behind it in ninth place was the interracial romantic comedy “Our Family Wedding,” which earned 3.7 million dollars, and in the tenth spot was romantic drama “Remember Me,” starring British heartthrob Robert Pattinson, which took in 3.2 million dollars. —AFP

For World Cup, South Africaʼs football crafts go industrial ith reggae playing in the background, workers paint pictures of football players onto hardhats, transforming the mining gear into an essential South Africa football accessory, the makarapa. Most makarapas are handmade, created by individual fans who carve shapes into the hats and adorn them with team colors, a process that can take four days to complete. With the World Cup’s June 11 kick-off fast approaching, this cottage business has gone industrial, with workers in this factory using a machine to cut shapes into the hardhats in a matter of minutes.

“After looking at how a makarapa is made, we realized there are two pinch points in the process - cutting them, and painting them,” said South African architect Paul Wygers, who designed the machine. “So if you can get rid of the pinch point of cutting them, which is the most labor-intensive part of the whole process, you can up the numbers.”

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French maestro Pierre Boulez rehearses with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra on March 16, 2010 in Vienna. —AFP rench composer and conductor Pierre Boulez, who turns 85 next week, is celebrating his birthday with a series of concerts in the world’s musical capital, Vienna.

Not only will he be conducting the famous Vienna Philharmonic in the Austrian capital’s legendary golden auditorium of the Musikverein concert hall, but there will also be a special Boulez Festival at the city’s University of Music and the Performing Arts.

Even for a man widely regarded as one of the greatest living figures in contemporary music, the idea of marking his birthday in the city where the likes of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Schoenberg, Berg and Webern have all lived and worked is “very intimidating,” Boulez told AFP in an interview.

“I was very proud” at being invited, he said in the Conductor’s Room of the Musikverein following an afternoon rehearsal. “I was really delighted and I accepted because Vienna for me is a city of very great musicians. And when you are here, you think of all these musicians who have lived here and produced here and you are very intimidated, almost.”

Boulez will conduct a set of six concerts-including on his birthday on March 26 — of Karol Szymanowski’s Third Symphony, “Jeux” by Claude Debussy, plus his own “work-

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in-progress”, “Notations”. And a week later, he conducts Stravinsky’s “Symphony of Psalms” and “Symphonies of Wind Instruments” plus Janacek’s “Glagolitic Mass” as part of the city’s Easter Osterklang Festival.

That is no easy fare for traditionalist Viennese audiences who are brought up on a staple diet of mainstream classical and romantic works. But Boulez said he was sure the Viennese could stomach it.

“Szymanowski is not really difficult. It’s just not often performed. I don’t know why,” Boulez said.

There was a link between the sumptuous late romanticism of the Szymanowski, the shimmering orchestral landscapes of the Debussy and his own “Notations,” he said. “I am pleased with these three pieces together. There is a conjunction with Debussy from both sides,” he said.

Boulez’s disc of the two Stravinsky pieces with the Berlin Philharmonic is widely regarded as a reference recording. “I have a deep relationship with all of Stravinsky’s works of this period,” he said. But his performances with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin orchestra’s arch-rivals, will be different, he says.

“Not in quality, but in character, certainly. At this level, you can’t say one is better than the other one. It’s different, simply that.” —AFP

A picture taken on March 4, 2010 shows employees displaying football player hardhats known as ‘Makarapas’ in Johannesburg. —AFP As the world prepares for Africa’s first World Cup, interest is growing in how the continent celebrates football.

Football governing body FIFA has ordered 2,000 makarapas for 12 of the top teams from Wygers’ factory

A Broadway theater is renamed for Stephen Sondheim o what did Stephen Sondheim get Monday on his 80th birthday? A Broadway theater renamed for the composer of “Company,”

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In this Dec 3, 2007 file photo, composer Stephen Sondheim arrives at the premiere of ‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’ at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York. —AP

“Follies,” “Sweeney Todd” and other memorable shows. The Henry Miller’s Theatre on West 43rd Street will now be known as the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. The announcement was made by longtime Sondheim collaborators James L apine and John Weidman at the conclusion of a gala performance at Studio 54 of “Sondheim on Sondheim,” a celebration of the man’s work in the musical theater.

The Roundabout Theatre Company production, starring Barbara Cook and Vanessa Williams, officially opens April 22. The existing Henry Miller’s Theatre was constructed behind the restored neoGeorgian facade of the original theater, built more than 90 years ago. It opened last fall with a revival of “Bye Bye Birdie” and currently houses “All About Me,” starring Dame Edna and Michael Feinstein. —AP

Bachchan rules out retirement

In this March 5, 2009 file photo, US singer Michael Jackson is shown at a press conference in London, announcing plans to appear at the London O2 Arena in July. — AP

In this file film publicity image released by Disney, Helena Bonham Carter appears in a scene from the film, ‘Alice in Wonderland.’

—AP

in downtown Johannesburg, where artists paint them with different designs for each of the 32 teams competing. Mineworkers first started wearing their hardhats to football games to protect their heads from flying bottles on the terraces. In the

ollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan, basking in a late flowering of critical acclaim, has no plans to bring down the curtain on his four-decade career despite a number of health scares.

The 67-year-old “Godfather of Bollywood” received the lifetime

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achievement award at the annual Asian Film Awards held in Hong Kong late Monday.

“If you recognize me, you recognize the Indian film fraternity, and indeed my own country. So, deeply, thank you,” said Bachchan, who has appeared in more than 100 movies

1970s, one fan thought of cutting and decorating his hard hat with the yellow and black of the Kaizer Chiefs, a popular club in the Johannesburg township of Soweto.

With large-scale demand coming from the up to 450,000 foreigners expected at the World Cup, many of South Africa’s football crafts are undergoing an industrial revolution.

Another company mass-producing makarapas has simplified the process even further by printing stickers that fans can attach themselves. Meter-long plastic trumpets known as vuvuzelas, which sound like foghorns and reverberate through South African stadiums, are also being produced in endless commemorative varieties.

Some fans are dismayed by the commercialization of local football culture. “That’s very painful, somebody getting money out of it,” said Sadaam Maake, who styles himself as the Kaizer Chiefs’ biggest fan and proudly designed his own makarapa. —AFP

after he emerged as a tough-guy hero in the early 1970s. The actor and producer, who founded India’s most famous acting dynasty with his son Abhishek and daughter-inlaw, former Miss World Aishwarya Rai, said he had no plans to retire.

“I hope I can go back and start working again. So long as there are people who wish to work with me, so long as I remain healthy, I would like to continue working,” he said.

Last month Bachchan won the best actor title in Bollywood’s top film awards for his portrayal of a child with the rapid-ageing condition progeria in “Paa” (Father), which also featured Abhishek. After a midcareer slump and financial problems, Bachchan re-emerged this decade as host of India’s version of television game show “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” and rediscovered box-office success in Bollywood.

Last July he was admitted to hospital with a recurrence of an abdominal injury that nearly killed him in 1982, when masses of fans held vigils praying for his swift recovery. Reflecting in Hong Kong on his industry, Bachchan said cinema has the rare capacity to bring unity to a fragmenting world. “In a world that is fast disintegrating, I believe cinema is one medium that brings all of us together in love, in friendship, and in cooperation,” he said. —AFP

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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Fashion

Vanna White brings her yarns to fashion runway anna White, America’s favorite alphabet maven, periodically steps away from the “Wheel of Fortune” puzzle board to hook audiences on her favorite off-camera hobbies: crocheting and knitting.

White, 52, isn’t the only celebrity closet craf ter.

Actresses Scarlett Johansson, Uma Thurman, Sarah Jessica Parker and Catherine ZetaJones are among those who claim to click needles to relax. But White has taken

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yarns. Ruffled scarves, cowl collars, leggings with lace-up yarn and wrist warmers headlined the 2010 Lion collection. Vanna’s Choice yarns, available in 23 solid colors and five prints, showed up in a Wind Chime Afghan, Ribbed Thigh Highs, a Metropolis Scarf and Glimmering Thigh Highs. Links to the patterns are available at LionBrand.com.

Midway through the 20minute mini-show, White surprised the audience when she

her pastime to a new level.

She’s the spokeswoman for Lion Brand Yarn, a 132-yearold company that has attached White’s name to three of its specialty yarns and featured her on its instructional books.

L ooking elegant in an onyx knit sweater craf ted from her new Vanna’s Glamour acrylic and metallic yarn, White co-hosted the Lion Winter Fashion Show at the 2010 Craf t and Hobby Trade Show held recently at the Anaheim Convention Center. Nearly 300 merchants crowded around a portable runway to hear the for mer model with Lion designer, Karen Tanaka, describe the season’s latest cozy fashions.

Most of the models wore turtleneck tops and leggings in muted tones to emphasize the classic, and funky, embellishments fashioned from a wide variety of textured

introduced her daughter, Gigi Santo Pietro, 12, who bounced onstage in a Girl’s Circle Vest in a rainbow of colors. Mother and daughter crochet left-handed, she said.

Her son, Nicholas, 15, isn’t interested, she said. Between shows, White retreated to a refreshment nook to briefly spin her lifetime yarns. Who knew the country’s first female co-host of a game show sits in her dressing room between tapings crocheting blankets? In her first few years on “Wheel,” White kept track of her output — 70 afghans in all. Who knew the woman recognized in the Guinness World Book of Records as “Television’s Most Frequent Clapper” keeps those hands agile crocheting aboard planes destined for exotic “Wheel” locations?

White’s crafting image earned a wider audience many years ago when host Johnny Carson asked about her favorite hob-

Telling time with a wristful of dinosaur poo and meteorite

Artya CEO Swiss designer Yvan Arpa’s holds his last creation, a ‘dinosaur dung watch’ during the press preview day at the Baselworld watch and jewelry fair on March 17, 2010 in Basel. — AFP

van Arpa has put dust from the moon and rust from the Titanic in watches. This time, he has gone further by setting fossilized dinosaur excrement into his latest timepieces. “I decided to take it a step further and use the forbidden material-coprolite,” he told AFP, referring to the scientific name for fossilized faeces or droppings of ancient animals.

“By chance the color inside is magnificent and it’s 100 million years old, and it’s the antimaterial. “People work with gold and silver, ... but I like to turn non-noble material into noble material,” he added, speaking at Baselworld, the world’s biggest watch and jewelry fair held in the northern Swiss city. The price tag of 12,000 francs (8,365 euros,

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11,265 dollars) for the watch, which looks rather rugged and comes with toad skin straps, is reasonable, according to Arpa, who noted that each is a “unique” work which contains a piece of history.

He said tests have shown that the excrement originated from a herbivore, and further investigations are ongoing for the exact dinosaur species.

Arpa, whose label Artya is based in the Geneva region of Vesenaz, explains his approach to watchmaking as one that is “very close to contemporary art.” “It’s an industry where this approach is not done at all,” he added.

Arpa, who cuts an odd dash in the precision minded Swiss watch industry, pointed out that he had created the first ‘watch’ which does not tell time. That

piece, which costs 300,000 francs, only tells day from night.

Among his latest collection are watches whose casing has been finished with “lightning strikes” or subjected to electric blasts of up to one million volts.

“It’s to think differently,” said the former mathematics teacher, who describes his work as the “dark side of watchmaking.” If Arpa works at deconstructing the traditional watchmaking world, his colleague Jean-Marie Schaller, who has also put dinosaur parts into his watches, takes a more traditional line.

Schaller, who runs the brand Louis Moinet in western Switzerland’s Saint-Blaise, has also turned to rare materials to differentiate his creations from others in an industry dominated by long-established major players such as the Swatch Group or Richemont. While other brands try to set their watches apart with the clearest diamond

or rarest sapphire, Schaller has turned to bits of meteorites from Mars as well as the legendary Rosetta Stone meteorite-the oldest known rock in the solar system with an age of 4.56 billion years.

This year, Schaller has also come up with a limited edition that featured fragments of bones from a herbivore believed to be 150 million years old and which was found in western North America. The dinosaurbone watch retailing at 310,000 francs is accompanied by certification of the authenticity of the bones, said Schaller.

Unlike Arpa’s creation, however, Schaller’s sports the classic look of a fine mechanical watch complete with a “tourbillion” movement-a mechanism that helps counter gravity and thereby improve the watch’s accuracy. Its bezelthe grooved rim-is also set with “baguette”, or rectangular, diamonds. —AFP

Arpa poses with a prototype of the “Moon Dust-DNA” collection. — AFP

by on “The Tonight Show.”

Lion Yarn’s Jack Blumenthal had been watching, and jumped at a chance to sign the popular game show icon to a contract.

The next morning Blumenthal contacted his cousin, David, chief executive of Lion Brand, and the two sent a package of products with a letter asking if she would promote their yarns.

“Vanna answered the next day with a handwritten letter,” David Blumenthal said. “It turns out she was already using our yarns. She’s been our representative ever since.”

Her name hasn’t hurt sales. As recently as last year, Lion Yarn posted an 18 percent spike in sales, David Blumenthal said. And the company has donated $500,000 from its Vanna’s Choice sales to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

White was 5 when her grandmother taught her to crochet doilies in the family

en hours. And, yes, she’s made an adult-size blanket for her “Wheel” co-host Pat Sajak with his name woven into the pattern. “I keep an antique wooden bowl by my bed that’s filled with yarn,” she said.

On weekends, she spends time with her financier boyfriend, Michael Kaye.

Inside Kaye’s ocean-view home in Orange County, Calif., White said she is inspired by the waters’ brilliant blues, greens and turquoise tones for some of her handiwork. In her own home, she decorates in earth tones. Among her latest creations, she has combined Lion Yarn’s green tea, espresso and pumpkin.

Surprisingly, White, a onetime student at the Atlanta School of Fashion Design, has worn more than 5,100 gowns on “Wheel”, yet has never dressed in one of her knitted or crocheted outfits. As another crowd of conventioneers gathers for the af ternoon show, White smoothed her slacks and sweater before

Vanna White, pictured January 25, 2010, in Anaheim, California, has a line of yarns called Vanna’s Choice through Lion Brand Yarn. home in North Myrtle Beach, NC “I was more interested in playing outdoors and riding my bicycle,” White said. “I didn’t pick it up again until 27 years ago when my hairdresser was pregnant, and I wanted to make her a baby blanket.”

Dozens of baby blankets later, the personable blonde can whip up a coverlet in sev-

perching on a stool to narrate another segment.

“I’m flying to the Caribbean tomorrow to tape another ‘Wheel,’” she said, heading toward the stage.

“I’m always fearful airport security will confiscate my crochet hook thinking it’s a weapon. I spend most of the trip crocheting.” —MCT

Medical ID bracelets go glam to save lives ou can have a brilliant idearoller skates for cats, for example-but if the public doesn’t buy into it, the idea is worthless. Take medical alert jewelry. The notion goes back more than 50 years, when simple bracelets and necklaces noted a wearer’s medical condition, a great idea that can help emergency personnel provide faster treatment. As smart of a product as it was, some people were reluctant to wear such items because they were so pedestrian. Who, after all, considers the rod of Asclepius a fashion statement?

“Traditionally, they’ve been fairly generic, not so attractive,” said Rick Russell, president of American Medical ID, which for 16 years has been creating medical IDs that are more like jewelry. The idea of devices that provide information for emergency personnel has since evolved, of course. But the most common items are still jewelrynecklaces, bracelets, dog tags and

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the like. They have gotten more stylish through the years and now come in silver, gold and titanium, some in leather, others even studded with semiprecious stones. At American Medical ID, where customers can build their own bracelet online (identif yyourself.com), prices range from around $30 to $700.

The fancier items, though, can keep medical personnel on their toes. “We have to know to look for those kinds of things,” said Connie Meyer, president-elect of the 30,000-member National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians. “They’ve tried to make them more attractive because that’s one of the reasons women, in particular, don’t wear them, because of the style.”

The bracelets-some come preengraved; with others you can have your own wording added-can alert medical staff to dozens of conditions, including diabetes, emphysema, heart disease, allergies, asth-

ma, autism, epilepsy, Parkinson’s, or hearing, sight or mental impairments. Knowing quickly that a patient has an already diagnosed condition can make a difference.

Meyer estimated that only about 1 percent of the patients she sees as a full-time paramedic-she’s an emergency medical services captain for Johnson County Med-Act, an EMS network headquartered in Olathe, Kan. “I think if you have a chronic medical problem that might make you unresponsive, then it’s a good idea to have something,” she said.

The medical alert items are not a cure-all, of course. Meyer said that one identifying a patient as a diabetic would help emergency personnel start treatment. But one that had a Do Not Resuscitate notation would require the EMTs to call an 800 number to verify the order.

“So sometimes it speeds things up,” she said. “If we see a tag that says diabetic, then we’ll go straight to checking the blood sugar as our

first assessment. But we still do other assessments.”

ABCs of medical bracelets: Lengthy medical conditions can eat up space on a medical ID. That’s why a list of abbreviations has evolved.

Here are a few of the dozens of standard abbreviations that are used:

ARDS: adult respiratory distress syndrome BKA: below knee amputation CXR: chest X-ray qh: every hour Hx: history IDDM: Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus NPO: nothing by mouth Prn: whenever necessary.

—MCT

Lauren’s Hope Medical ID Bracelets go glam to save lives. The idea of devices that provide information for emergency personnel has since evolved, but the most common items are still jewelry, including necklaces, bracelets, dog tags and the like. —MCT

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

SPECTRUM

39

Fashion

Models display creations of Izreel Autumn and Winter collection, designed by Kazuhiro Takakura in Tokyo yesterday.

Designer Kazuhiro Takakura gestures to the audience.

—AFP photos

laudia Schiffer’s husband is terrified she will be murdered by a fan - like John Lennon. Director Matthew Vaughn - who confronted a stalker in the couple’s home in Suffolk, East England, in 2004 has serious concerns for the safety of his supermodel spouse, who is currently pregnant with their third child. He said: “We have had some freaks.

I am not the famous one, but as a husband you get worried for your wife. With the John Lennon thing - now and again a celebrity gets ‘done in’, it’s scary.” Former Beatle John died in 1980, af ter being shot by deranged fan Mark Chapman outside his apartment building in New York. Speaking about the time he confronted the intruder, the ‘Kick Ass’ filmmaker admitted he was so stunned, he offered the man Canadian Louis Brisette - a cup of tea.

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Claudia Schiffer

Matthew added in an interview with The Sun newspaper: “There was one time when I walked into the kitchen and there was a stranger sitting at the table with a bag. “My initial reaction was to tell him to get the f**k out. Then I thought he might have a gun and my wife and kids were upstairs asleep.

So I ended up offering him a cup of tea.

“Then I rang the police as I put the kettle on. He was a freak.” Matthew and 39-year-old Claudia - who already have a son, Casper, seven, and daughter, Clementine, five - are looking forward to welcoming their new arrival but the 39-year-old director expects three children will be much more difficult to cope with than two. He said: “Suddenly it will be one goes left, one goes right, and one goes down the middle. I won’t be able to catch all three. I’m looking forward to it though.” —Bang Showbiz

he designer - who created US First Lady Michelle Obama’s pale yellow inauguration outfit - has signed a deal with affordable retailer Payless to create an exclusive footwear collection, made from a range of fabrics including patent, nylon, rubber and mesh, retailing at under $40. Isabel said: “I believe that the freedom of wearing and living in high-low fashion is what pure American styling is all about. “Shoes must be flattering and wearable, and I am thrilled to collaborate with Payless to create something new and fresh for all women through my new Payless shoe line.” Isabel - who will also create accessories for the retailer - is delighted with the collaboration as she believes it makes her designs more accessible.

She added: “Working with Payless gives me an opportunity to reach so many women, and it’s a treat to be able to touch as many women as I will. It’s really a collection for women from all walks of life, literally.

And it’s been interesting as I’ve had to have a different design hat on. My business is quite couture and precise. This is taking into account all different lifestyles.

In a way, it’s the closest thing to real life for me. And I feel like I’m all of these women.” Isabel Toledo for Payless will be sold from September. —Bang Showbiz

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illa Jovovich has debuted the bag she designed for Tommy Hilfiger. The model-and-actress - who has previously had her own fashion label, JovovichHawk, with catwalk beauty Carmen Hawk - created the stunning red holdall with the fashion house to benefit breast cancer.

Milla, who is also ambassador for Hilfiger’s Breast Health International, said: “It’s an honour to be part of this campaign. I hope that together we can change the life of thousands of people who are affected by this horrible disease.”

The beautiful red handbag will be available to buy next month.

The initiative was backed by supermodel Helena Christensen, who has previously designed an oversized Momosa yellow leather tote bag for the campaign. Milla and Carmen launched their fashion line in 2003 to widespread critical acclaim. However, late last year they announced they planned to end their partnership. Milla said: “I’m an artist. I’m not someone who can deal with shipping rates and taxes.” —Bang Showbiz

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Milla Jovovich debuts Tommy Bag

Schiffer’s husband fears fan will kill her

Isabel Toledo to launch a budget shoe line

www.kuwaittimes.net

Last Supper is growing by Biblical proportions ow would the Last Supper look if it were painted according to today’s appetites?

Would it be a simple, frugal meal, or cosmopolitan and supersized, in the spirit of our times? That intriguing question is addressed by a pair of US academics who analyzed 52 of the most famous paintings of the Last Supper painted between 1000 and 2000. Over a thousand years, the portions of food placed before Jesus and his disciples grew astonishingly, they found.

Using computer-aided design technology, the pair scanned the main dish, bread and plates and calculated the size of portion relative to the size of the average head in the painting. Over a thousand years, the size of the main dish progressively grew by 69.2 per cent, plate size by 65.6 percent and bread size by 23.1percent, they found. The growing size reflects the success of agriculture over the past 10 centuries, say the researchers.

“The last thousand years

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have witnessed dramatic increases in the production, availability, safety, abundance and affordability of food,” said Brian Wansink, a professor of marketing and applied economics at Cornell University, New York. “We think that as art imitates life, these changes have been reflected in paintings of history’s most famous dinner.”

The study, published in Britain’s International Journal of Obesity, is co-authored by Wansink’s brother, Craig, a professor of religious studies at Virginia Wesleyan College in Norfolk, Virginia, and an ordained Presbyterian minister.

According to the New Testament, the Last Supper took place on an evening of the Jewish festival of Passover, the day before Christ’s betrayal and subsequent crucifixion, although it makes no mention of what was eaten. The main dishes depicted in the paintings contained fish or eel (18 percent), and lamb (14 percent). The remaining paintings had no discernable main dish. —AFP

What women want:

A crowning glory igger is better! According to local and expat women across the region who want more volume to their tresses and will go to extraordinary lengths to achieve it. Revealed today through a survey conducted by TNS Consultants on behalf of hair care experts, Sunsilk - one of Unilever’s premium hair care brands - it has emerged that while women of the region are very different culturally, their hair concerns and needs are very much in line with that of their peers in other countries.

Women between 20 and 30 years from a range of cultural backgrounds were quizzed in-depth about the importance of their hair in their lives and the major difficulties they face with their locks, living in the Middle East. External factors including extreme weather conditions, as well as natural factors such as stress and hair fall, all contribute to and adversely affect the condition and appearance of women’s hair.

Iain Potter, Marketing Vice President, Unilever North Africa & Middle East said; “Throughout time a woman’s hair has always been a key attribute to her beauty and confidence. With such a diverse range of cultures in this region comes a wonderfully diverse range of hair types and in turn, diverse hair needs.

Regardless of their backgrounds, all women want fabulous hair and once they find a product that gives them the results they are searching for, they will stick with that for a long time.”

Although hair appears to be equally important in the lives of women across all cultures, there are inherent differences when it comes to specific hair styling, treatments and their overall idea of beauty. Local Arab respondents wish to arrest attention with their hairstyles as they see it as the most powerful avenue for differentiating themselves from the crowd in an “All Women” setting. It is one of their most prized assets in terms of their beauty and their hair must live up to the image of being visibly different and groomed. In terms of the women they most aspire to be like, Zainab Al Askari and Shams are among the top choices.

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of self but without the effort being overly obvious. In their society it is more about fitting in than standing out, with balance of individuality and following the trend, crucial to the mix. These women tend only to color or straighten their hair when it is time for a change, while blow drying, styling and coloring is a regular part of the expat Arabs hair care regime. Not quite as regular, however, as local Arabs who include blow drying as part of their daily routine.

In spite of the disciplined hair care regimes, hair problems are seen as a universal reality that a woman has to live with and evokes high anxiety among women as they actively seek solutions and remedies. The level of anxiety varies by the seriousness of the problem and the potential impact it can have on one’s emotional state. According to the survey, hair problems are attributed to number of causes, varying from controllable to uncontrollable factors including: Stress and anxiety, lifestyle, environment, hereditary, lack of care, lack of proper diet, excessive use of styling and hair care products.

So what measures do women take to achieve the perfect tresses? Due to its multi-cultural aspect, the region appears to be a hub of various hair care remedies, with women imparting their hair ‘improvement’ tips on friends, acquaintances and family. The survey has revealed an abundance of ‘solutions’, from the weird to the wonderful, which are still practiced within certain groups across all cultures. These include mixes

A file photo taken on August 22, 2007 shows a visitor looking at a reproduction of ‘The last supper of Tongerlo’ painted by Leonardo da Vinci during the exhibition ‘The European Genius’ at the National Basilica of Koekelberg, central Brussels.

—AFP

India launches ultra-luxury Maharaja train service ndia has launched its most luxurious and expensive train service yet, seeking to attract wellheeled foreign rail enthusiasts prepared to pay the minimum 800-dollars-a-night price tag. For most visitors, rail travel in India is an indispensable part of any holiday, although an ability to overlook the often filthy toilets and deal with basic comfort and crowded carriages is required. The backers of the new service, which began its maiden journey from Kolkata to New Delhi on Saturday, have made every effort to ensure passengers get to see the country glide past the window with a minimum of inconvenience.

The specially built new train accommodates just 84 passengers, has suites with private bathrooms and plasma televisions, two restau-

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A British tourist walks along the platform before boarding the Maharajas’ Express. western Maharashtra, the Palace on Wheels in Rajasthan and the Golden Chariot in southern Karnataka.

India’s vast railway system, a legacy of British colonial rule, carries 18.5 million passengers every day in varying degrees of comfort-a basic ticket on a 24-hour journey from Kolkata to Delhi can cost as little as 10 US dollars. The advantage of the new service, say its

promoters, is that the Maharajas’ Express will travel throughout India, whereas the other services are restricted to individual states.

Its first journey will be a weeklong trip from Kolkata to New Delhi, via stops including the holy city of Varanasi and the Taj Mahal in Agra, but another itinerary will take it to the southwestern city of Mumbai. —AFP

An Indian train assistant makes a bed on the Maharajas’ Express.

Gisele Bundchen of; cactus water, castor oil mixed with olive & sesame oil, lime mixed with vinegar, cacao mixed with henna, espresso & olive oil, yoghurt mixed with sesame oil, Avocado, eggs.

For all women of the region their hair equals beauty, confidence and is an unmistakable mark of their femininity in a region largely dominated by men. They will continue to search for solutions to give them voluminous, soft and lustrous hair and continually invest their time and energy in finding the product that has been created specifically with their hair needs in mind.

As suitably described by one respondent, “The beauty of a woman is in her hair, it’s the Crown of her beauty.” If this is what women want, it would appear that this is one crown that is most certainly worth the investment!

Aishwarya Rai Expat Arab respondents take a slightly different tack; they like their hair to be a statement about who they are with their singular focus on not being part of the crowd. Their beauty definition is self driven with a focus on personality, presence and carriage along with external looks. It is hugely important to these women to be “In” with the latest trends and fashion, seeing celebrities such as Nancy Ajram and Haifa Wehbi as key influencers. They also maintain a competitive feeling within their social circles to always look the BEST! In stark contrast to their Arab neighbors, Asian respondents of the region prefer a more natural and feminine look, putting an extra ‘effort’ into taking care

Nancy Ajram

rants serving Indian and Western food, a bar, card tables and an observation lounge. “It’s travel like royalty. You get treated like a king that’s the whole idea,” promoter Thomas Thottathil told AFP. Even the suspension has been designed to ensure a smooth ride on the sometimes rickety Indian lines and the 23 carriages have all been fitted with

A man watches a ‘La porta della Bellezza’ (the door of beauty), 9.000 shapes of terracotta made by 2,000 children, on a wall of a street in the Sicilian town of Librino, on March 19, 2010 as part of the Fiumara d’Arte art exposition. The Fiumara d’Arte, literally translates as River of Art, consists of an unusual attempt at exhibiting contemporary sculpture in a kind of open air museum, that takes advantage of the natural landscape to arrive at a symbiosis of art and nature and provides interested visitors an opportunity of exploring secluded and off-the-beaten-track spots. —AFP

air conditioning and carpet throughout. Prices start at 800 dollars for the most basic deluxe cabin and rise up to 2,500 dollars a night for the presidential suite-which occupies an entire carriage and includes two cabins with double beds and a toilet with a bathtub. The new Express joins a fleet of other luxury trains plying India’s railway network, including the Deccan Odyssey in

An Indian train assistant prepares a drink at the bar on the Maharajas’ Express. —AFP photos