04 May

ON SC RI PT I SU B

WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011

Call for permanent sit-ins in Syria

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www.kuwaittimes.net

JAMADI ALTHANI 1, 1432 AH

Canada’s Conservatives win coveted majority

Barca see off Madrid, into Champions League final

Maestro Barenboim leads Gaza ‘peace concert’

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US admits bin Laden unarmed when shot White House now says Qaeda chief’s wife not killed

Kuwait budget surplus grows KUWAIT: Kuwait’s net budget surplus increased to KD 6.5 billion ($23.5 billion) in its 2010/11 fiscal year as oil income jumped, while spending remained trailing the original plan, preliminary data showed yesterday. The net figure is after a transfer of 10 percent of revenues to a fund for future generations, managed by the OPEC producer’s sovereign wealth fund.

Before the transfer, the fiscal surplus reached KD 8.5 billion, or 23.1 percent of Kuwait’s gross domestic product, above market expectations and KD 6.4 billion seen in the previous fiscal year. Analysts polled

by Reuters in March forecast that the world’s fourth largest crude exporter would post a surplus of 19.8 percent of GDP. Expenditure came in at KD 12.4 billion in fiscal year 2010/11, which ended in March, well behind the original plan of KD 16.3 billion. “These won’t be the final accounts for the 2010/11 fiscal year ... in the final set of accounts, expenditure is revised up very heavily,” said Daniel Kaye, senior economist at National Bank of Kuwait. “I suspect that in the closing accounts, expenditure will be much closer to the budget numbers for the year.” The budget included spending on a four-year, KD 30 billion development plan, which is aimed at diversifying the crudereliant economy and increasing the role of the private sector.

Revenue reached KD 20.9 billion in the year to March 31, more than double the KD 9.7 billion plan, preliminary data posted on the finance ministry’s website also showed. Kuwait had set its 2010/11 budget with a deficit of KD 6.6 billion, assuming that crude, its main revenue earner, would fetch $43 per barrel. Benchmark US crude prices had been hovering between $64 and $107 a barrel during the 2010/11 fiscal year. As a result, oil income soared to 19.4 billion dinars, up from the original plan of 8.6 billion. The ministry did not say when the final figures were expected. — Reuters

GCC: Killing Laden helps fight terror ‘Gulf is Arab’ ABU DHABI: The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council yesterday called for “intensified efforts” to fight all forms of terror after welcoming the killing of Osama bin Laden. Interior ministers of GCC nations, including Saudi Arabia, rejected “terrorism and extremism in all its forms” and expressed the hope that the US killing on bin Laden will boost an international anti-terror drive. After a meeting in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, the ministers urged “intensified efforts to eradicate all forms of support to terrorism and end practices against the values and principles of Islam,” their statement said.

The GCC comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia already welcomed the killing of bin Laden, who was born and brought up in the kingdom, as a boost to international anti-terror efforts.

Saudi Arabia had experienced a wave of Al-Qaeda attacks targeting oil installations and foreign interests between 2003 and 2006.

The interior ministers also denounced Iranian claims and said the Gulf did not exclusively belong to the Islamic state.

“The Gulf is Arab and it will remain as it is,” the ministers said in the statement. The GCC ministers said remarks by an Iranian official Saturday were “provocative, irresponsible and contrary to the principles of good neighbourliness, mutual respect and non-interference”. The chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces General Hassan Firouzabadi had denounced what he called an “Arab dictatorial front” and claimed that the “Persian Gulf had belonged to Iran forever.”

In the initial reaction, GCC chiefs on Monday slammed the statement as “aggressive”. “The Gulf belongs to all states on its shores, and Iran has no right to claim otherwise as it owns nothing from the Gulf but its territorial waters,” GCC Secretary General Abdullatif Al-Zayani said in a statement on Monday.

Relations between Iran and its Gulf Arab neighbours have deteriorated sharply, with the latter accusing Tehran of seeking to destabilise Arab regimes in favour of popular unrest that has erupted in many Arab countries.

Shiite-dominant Iran strongly criticised Saudi Arabia’s military intervention in Sunni-ruled Bahrain that was aimed at helping crack down on a Shiite-led uprising there. Iran says it gives “moral support” to Bahrainis but is not involved in the protests there. The interior ministers said Tuesday that the protection force deployed in Bahrain was at the request of that country. Bahrain and Kuwait have expelled Iranian diplomats, accusing them of espionage. Iran has in the past claimed Bahrain as part of its territory, and it controls three islands in the southern Gulf that are also claimed by the United Arab Emirates. — AFP

WASHINGTON: In this image released by the White House and digitally altered source to diffuse the paper in front of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, US President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with members of the national security team, receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House Sunday. — AP

Call by Kuwait-born courier led to Laden WASHINGTON: When one of Osama bin Laden’s most trusted aides picked up the phone last year, he unknowingly led US pursuers to the doorstep of his boss, the world’s most wanted terrorist. That monitored phone call, recounted Monday by a US official, ended a years-long search for bin Laden’s personal courier, the key break in a worldwide manhunt. The courier, in turn, led US intelligence to a walled compound in northeast Pakistan, where a team of Navy SEALs shot bin Laden to death.

The violent final minutes were the culmination of years of intelligence work. Inside the CIA team hunting bin Laden, it always was clear that bin Laden’s vulnerability was his couriers. He was too smart to let Al-Qaeda foot soldiers, or even his senior commanders, know his hideout. But if he wanted to get his messages out, somebody had to carry them, someone bin Laden trusted with his life. Shortly after the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, detainees in the CIA’s secret prison network told interrogators about an important courier with the nom de guerre Abu Ahmed Al-Kuwaiti who was close to bin Laden.

After the CIA captured Al-Qaeda’s No. 3 leader, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, he confirmed knowing Al-Kuwaiti but denied he had anything to do with Al-Qaeda. Then in 2004, top Al-Qaeda operative Hassan Ghul was captured in Iraq. Ghul told the CIA that Al-Kuwaiti was a courier, someone crucial to the terrorist organization. In particular, Ghul said, the courier was close to Faraj Al-Libi, who replaced Mohammed as Al-Qaeda’s operational commander. It was a key break in the hunt for bin Laden’s personal courier.

“Hassan Ghul was the linchpin,” a US official said.

Finally, in May 2005, Al-Libi was captured. Under CIA interrogation, Al-Libi admitted that when he was promoted to succeed Mohammed, he received the word through a courier. But he made up a name for the courier and denied knowing Al-Kuwaiti, a denial that was so adamant and unbelievable that the CIA took it as confirmation that he and Mohammed were protecting the courier. It only reinforced the idea that Al-Kuwaiti was very important to Al-Qaeda.

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WASHINGTON: Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was unarmed when he was shot dead by US special forces, but he tried to resist and there was a “volatile firefight”, the White House said yesterday. The revelation, likely to stoke anger in parts of the Muslim world, came from President Barack Obama’s spokesman Jay Carney as he provided the most detailed account yet of the Sunday night raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan. “In the room with bin Laden, a women - bin Laden’s wife - rushed the US assaulter and was shot in the leg but not killed. Bin Laden was then shot and killed. He was not armed,” Carney said. On Monday, US officials had said the woman had acted as a human shield to protect bin Laden and had been killed in the firefight.

The elite Navy SEALs came in on two helicopters.

“The team methodically cleared the compound moving from room to room in an operation lasting nearly 40 minutes,” Carney said. After media reports quoting officials describing it as a “kill operation”, the White House spokesman was pressed hard to explain the apparent contradiction that bin Laden was unarmed but also resisted. “We were prepared to capture him if that was possible,” Carney said, without providing a clear explanation. “We expected a great deal of resistance and were met with a great deal of resistance.”

When a journalist insisted: “He wasn’t armed,” Carney replied: “But there were many other people who were armed in the compound. There was a firefight.” “But not in that room,” the journalist pressed. “It was a highly volatile firefight. I’ll point you to the department of defense for more details about it,” Carney said. In addition to the bin Laden family, two other families resided in the compound: one on the first floor of the bin Laden building and another in a second building. “Of the 22 or so people in the room, 17 or so of them were noncombatants,” Carney said.

The SEALs split into two: one team entering the bin Laden house on the first floor and working its way up to the third floor where the Al-Qaeda chief was, while the other team cleared the second building. “On the first floor of bin Laden’s building, two Al-Qaeda couriers were killed along with a woman who was killed in crossfire,” Carney said. “Bin Laden and his family were found on the second and third floor of the building. There was concern that bin Laden would oppose the capture operation and indeed he resisted.” After the firefight, the “non-combatants were moved to a safe location as the damaged helicopter was detonated”, Carney said. “The team departed the scene via helicopter to the USS Carl Vinson in the North Arabian Sea.” The White House spokesman also described the sea burial of bin Laden, which has been criticized as going against Islamic tradition by certain Muslim leaders.

“Aboard the USS Carl Vinson, the burial of bin Laden was done in conformance with Islamic precepts and practices,” he said. “The deceased’s body was washed and then placed in a white sheet. The body was placed in a weighted bag; a military officer read prepared religious remarks, which were translated into Arabic by a native speaker,” he continued. “After the words were complete, the body was placed on a prepared flat board, tipped up, and the deceased body eased into the sea.” — AFP

Panel hikes pay of MPs to KD 5,750 Envoy to Bhutan in soup

By B Izzak

ISA TOWN, Bahrain: Bahrain’s acting health minister Fatima Al-Balooshi (left) and Justice Minister Khaled bin Ali Al-Khalifa hold a press conference yesterday.

Bahrain’s justice minister says several doctors and nurses, who treated injured anti-government protesters during months of unrest in the Gulf kingdom, will be tried in a military court. — AP

Bahrain to try medics MANAMA: Several doctors and nurses who treated injured anti-government protesters during the months of unrest in Bahrain will be tried in a military court on charges of acting against the state, the justice minister said yesterday. Khaled bin Ali Al-Khalifa said the charges against 23 doctors and 24 nurses include participating in attempts to topple the island’s Sunni monarchy and taking part in illegal rallies.

The announcement is the latest in the

Sunni rulers’ relentless pursuit of Shiite opposition supporters after weeks of street marches demanding greater freedoms, equal rights and an elected government in Bahrain. During the unrest, medical staff repeatedly said they were under professional duty to treat all and strongly rejected claims by authorities that helping anti-government protesters was akin to supporting their cause.

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KUWAIT: Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah is expected to announce his new Cabinet today or tomorrow with speculations of changing about five to six faces in the outgoing Cabinet. Based on speculations, four of the five ruling family ministers are but certain to be retained in the new Cabinet but it is likely that Oil and Information Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah may not return. Sheikh Thamer, the son of late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, is expected to be included in the Cabinet.

It has become almost certain that the ministers of justice and awqaf, commerce and industry, education and electricity and water will not be retained. The name of writer Sami AlNasef has floated for the information portfolio and former MP Ahmad AlMulaifi for the justice ministry. The outgoing Cabinet resigned over a month ago and Sheikh Nasser has taken ample time to form the new government, his seventh in the past five years.

The opposition Popular Action Bloc has vowed it will file to grill the prime minister on the same day the new Cabinet takes the oath in the National Assembly.

Meanwhile, the Assembly’s legal and legislative committee yesterday approved a proposal to raise the salaries of MPs from KD 2,300 now to as high as KD 5,750 a month, head of the committee MP Hussein Al-Huraiti said.

Huraiti told reporters that the committee found the proposal submitted by Islamist MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei in line with the constitution and approved it in order to enable MPs cope with increasing financial and social demands. The committee’s decision however is initial as it will have to be reviewed and approved by the Assembly’s financial and economic affairs committee, Huraiti said.

The proposal to raise the MPs’ salaries said that the lawmakers are subject to financial and social pressures and that their salaries are too small compared to counterparts elsewhere, Huraiti said. If the increase is approved Continued on Page 14

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local

Kuwaitis, expats divided over Bin Laden’s burial at sea

kuwait digest

Please, end our political struggle

Another CIA ruse to hide the truth?

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden’s death on Sunday has since been overshadowed by speculation and doubts, especially after it was revealed that his body was buried at sea only hours after President Obama’s announcement that he had been killed. A senior US administration official quoted by ABC Television as saying that burying Bin Laden’s body at sea would ensure that his final resting place did not become a shrine or a place of pilgrimage for his followers. According to the US Navy, burial at sea is a routine exercise, especially for those naval servicemen whose final wish was to be laid to rest in this way.

The standard naval burials at sea are similar to the one accorded to Bin Laden, according to the US official, although they usually include an honor guard which fires shots into the air and a bugler playing Taps.

By contrast, Bin Laden’s body was reportedly placed in a “weighted bag” before an officer read the ritual funeral rites and the remains were put on a flat board and tipped into the North Arabian Sea from the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, said Pentagon officials at a news conference.

Several people in Kuwait have questioned the truth of the US announcement of Bin Laden’s death, suggesting that it was another CIA ruse to hide the truth, with a number of conspiracy theories already circulating about what actually took place.

“They are in the game of politics; whatever they want to announce they can easily announce to the world, and people believe them, I don’t know why, but their reputation was already tarnished long time back.

They always hide the truth. I am sick and tired of politics, I want a genuine peace on earth and maybe it will come when America doesn’t exist anymore,” a skeptical 60-year-old Syrian expatriate told the Kuwait Times.

An Egyptian resident commenting on Bin Laden’s death said that the methods used by the US in the operation in Pakistan was already suspicious. “Burying him at sea and not elaborating on that seems to be more than a tale to us,” said the man, a teacher in his forties. “I don’t want to hear

the US saying sorry again because they committed mistakes, just like they did when they accused Iraq of possessing weapons of mass destruction where in fact they admitted it was a mistake. I don’t want to hear that again. You know the real game of America - to lie about the truth, very sad, but it was proven.”

Ahmed, a Palestinian expatriate, was more supportive of killing Bin Laden, but wondered about another aspect of the coverage, asking why the US administration had focused on small technical details like Bin Laden’s burial at sea rather than on the reason why the operation was carried out in the first place.

“Whether you choose to celebrate it or not, the fact remains that the death of Bin Laden was a historical event in the history of the civil world, and a victory for humanity in the war against terror,” he stated. “The ideology that Bin Laden helped spread is responsible for killing many innocent civilians. [Al-Qaeda’s actions] killed more Muslim civilians than they did victims of other faiths.”

A Filipino resident of Kuwait was also positive about the US action, suggesting that people should reexamine the reasons for the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and ask themselves why there are countless victims of terrorism. The invasion, he suggested, “was launched mainly because of the fact that US was suspicious that Saddam was supporting Bin Laden. You know why they invaded Afghanistan - because the Taleban government supports Bin Laden’s terrorist group. You know why there are suicide bombers everywhere particularly in Pakistan - because of Bin Laden’s ideology being sown there. Why we should be so technical? The fact that Bin Laden does not exist anymore is a good thing for me and for all of us.”

Another Filipino expatriate was equally scathing of the deceased Al-Qaeda leader, adding that burying Bin Laden at sea had not violated any religious principles. “What honorable burial did he deserve? None! He killed many civilians in a dishonorable way; why should a killer receive an honorable burial? If I were the US, I’d have done more shameful things to him,” he said.

Ministry prepared to hold final exams KUWAIT: The Ministry of Education is ready for the year’s final exams, with special efforts put in to secure high school examinations.

This was confirmed by Assistant Undersecretary for Public Education Dr Mona Al-Lughani, who reassured that the tests comprise questions that pertain with subjects which all are included in school curriculum.

Senior ministr y officials spoke to reporters during the inauguration of the first educational conference organized by the Jahra Educational Directorate, reported Al-Qabas.

She noted at the same time that all directorates were instructed to take necessary measures to ensure that schools as well as students are prepared for the final test next month.

By Dr Wael Al-Hasawi

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Jordan king visits Kuwait KUWAIT: King Abdullah II of Jordan arrived in Kuwait yesterday on an official short visit, during which he is to hold official talks with His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah.

The king was greeted upon arrival at the airport by His Highness the Amir, along with His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, National Assembly Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi, Deputy National

Protest against unpaid salaries KUWAIT: At least 300 cleaning workers employed by private companies contracted with the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Education staged a sit-in outside the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor’s Public Relations Department building, in protest against outstanding salaries that were unpaid for three months.

Meanwhile, protesting workers were asked to go to the Farwaniya police station, reports Al-Qabas. Following protesters’ arrival, the company’s owner as well as the labor attache at the Bangladeshi embassy were called.

The issue was resolved following a short meeting in which an agreement was reached to settle all payments within 24 hours, and to ensure that the workers’ places of residence comply with safety conditions.

30m species endangered globally KUWAIT: Almost 30 million of earth’s existing plant and animal species are threatened with extinction as a result of manmade and natural activities which, if it occurred, would lead to a reduction of at least seven percent in the gross domestic product of most countries. This grim warning was issued by Kuwait’s oil minister, Sheikh Ahmad AlAbdullah Al-Sabah, during his speech on Monday during the first day of the seventh West Asian Natural Conservation Forum, which concludes tomorrow.

This year’s forum, being held in Kuwait by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in cooperation with the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), focuses on climate change and the challenges which it poses to biodiversity and planetary ecosystems.

Guard Chief Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad AlJaber, and His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad. Also greeting the delegation upon its arrival was a host of senior state officials, and senior commanders of the Kuwaiti Army, Police, and National Guard.

King Abdullah is accompanied by his personal advisor Prince Talal bin Mohammad, his special envoy and advisor Prince Ghazi bin Mohammad, and a host of senior officials. —KUNA

recently released JP Morgan group report states that Kuwait’s political struggle has negatively affected the economy and its development process. The truth of the matter is, this downward spiral is not restricted to Kuwait’s economy. It has invaded all other aspects of life. For example, state departments have stopped making decisions related to employees’ assignment and transfer; a case that remains until the new Cabinet is formed.

Meanwhile, work in general at the public sector is currently idle.

There is news that the Cabinet is stalling work to avoid imminent confrontation with the Parliament.

On the other hand, opposing groups have made their intentions clear through media statements regarding interpellation motions which aim to drive the new Cabinet to failure as soon as possible.

Regardless of whether the rumors are true or not, how can such conflicts be allowed to paralyze Cabinet and Parliament work, the price of which is paid by the country.

Meanwhile, some reports indicate that His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser AlMohammad Al-Sabah is still yet to be able to form a Cabinet due to various candidates turning down offers. If that is true, then it would indicate that most public believe that the new Cabinet will be shortlived and suffer dozens of confrontations with the Parliament. On the other hand, talk about the premier’s ‘careful selection of highly sufficient ministers’ as an excuse for the Cabinet’s delay. This does not account for much, given the fact that all members of the ruling family - most of whom were set to face grilling motions before the Cabinet resigned.

People are growing tired of all this political struggle that paralyzes public interest, and puts on hold the development plan which gives us hope. The Cabinet has finally woken up from deep slumber, and has decided to compensate citizens for all that has been lost during the past twenty years.

My advice to citizens is to seek help from His Highness the Amir and ask him dissolve this government - parliamentary political tit-for-tat; even if a solution can be forged via a constitutional dissolution of the Parliament. The people can avoid electing tension-causing lawmakers. In the meantime, I believe that a public referendum should be held, whether it should be improved through amendments or not.

The current situation has led me to believe that if it were not for rising oil prices, Kuwait would have failed to achieve success. — Al-Rai

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LOCAL

KUWAIT: At Bayan Palace yesterday, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah received the new ambassadors of South Korea, Myanmar, Spain and Vietnam to the State of Kuwait. The reception was attended by the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Sabah Al-Sabah, along with a number of other senior officials and dignitaries.

Warehouse closed after 60 tons of rotten meat, fish recovered KUWAIT: A warehouse in Al-Rai is to be shut down after inspectors from the municipality’s Capital office discovered 60 tons of frozen meat and fish which was unfit for human consumption being stored there.

Speaking at the site of the warehouse following the operation, Minister of Public Works Dr. Fadhil Safar told reporters that despite the fact that the confiscated foodstuffs had been visibly marked with expiry dates as long ago as 2007, 2008 and 2009, they were clearly destined for sale to local shops, restaurants and hotels.

Dr. Safar, who is also the Minister of Municipal Affairs, confirmed that the municipality is working closely with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to shut the storage facility down as fast as possible, with legal action to be taken against the owners through the commercial prosecution authority.

The minister added that the confiscated foodstuffs would be properly destroyed at the municipality waste disposal facility. “ The purpose of announcing this operation is to let the public know that there are unscrupulous people who continue to deal in rotten food in Kuwait and that they [the public] need to remain alert,” Dr. Safar explained, issuing a strong warning to such traders that the ministry will be “on the lookout” for any such activities.

The head of the municipality team which carried out the operation at the offending warehouse, Khalid Dashti, also revealed that his team of inspection staff is also monitoring a second warehouse which the owner is believed to be using to store large amounts of rotten foodstuffs. Dashti said that his team expects to obtain a warrant to raid that facility shortly. — Al-Qabas

KUWAIT: National Assembly Speaker Jassim Al-Kharafi received yesterday the visiting Jordanian King Abdullah and his delegation. The Jordanian king expressed his condolences over the passing of Al-Kharafi’s brother, Nasser AlKharafi and prayed to Allah Almighty to rest his soul in peace and grant his family patience.

Al-Mislem cheque appeal set for May 11 KUWAIT: The Misdemeanor Court of Appeal has set May 11, next Wednesday, as the date for hearing a joint appeal by MP Faisal Al-Mislem and the manager of a branch of the Burgan Bank against their earlier conviction by the Court of First Degree after they were found guilty of releasing confidential banking information.

The case was brought after Al-Mislem produced a photocopy of a personal cheque from the private bank account of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah

during a parliamentary interpellation session against the premier, which the MP used to support his contention that the Prime Minister was squandering public funds.

Al-Mislem was subsequently convicted of aiding a crime by obtaining a copy of the confidential banking document, whilst the bank manager was found guilty of exposing confidential information concerning a customer’s account, losing his job as a result. Both the MP and the former bank official were penalized with fines. — Al-Rai

Criminal records of 265 bedoons provided KUWAIT: The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) has provided to the Central System for Remedying the Status of Illegal Residents (CSRSIR), the central body that devises solutions to stateless residents’ problem, with a list of court orders issued against 265 bedoons. For the most part, it focuses on debts owed to companies. The central body had requested from the MOJ to look into criminal records of bedoons to ensure that none of the possible candidates for citizenship would have been convicted in crimes such as theft, financial crimes and sexual assault, reported Al-Rai.

SAB keen on getting along with govt bodies ‘Partners and Auditors’ documentary screened KUWAIT: Abdulaziz Yousef Al-Adsani, President of the State Audit Bureau (SAB), asserted here yesterday the state supreme auditing body is keen on communicating with other state bodies which falls under its financial auditing, and to boost confidence with these bodies. Al-Adsani said, in a statement made on the sidelines of a “communication meeting” that was held at SAB headquarters yesterday, that such meetings promote the style of candor and clarification with the aim of avoiding violations out of the bureau’s keenness to protect the public money, and apply regulations and laws in relation to financial and administrative affairs.

He added that the role of SAB is to follow up the perpetration of any violation, while the concerned body will refer the violation to justice if there is a crime requiring taking legal measures.

Meanwhile, Suleiman Al-Busairi, Assistant Undersecretary of the Bureau for Investment Monitoring, said that SAB is following up a strategy to provide good ties with working staff in various fields in addition to investment sector in the interest of the public good of the State of Kuwait.

Further, Al-Busairi expressed his wishes that participating investment bodies will

understand the role played by SAB in order to protect the state public money.

He also said that SAB strategy (20112015) is fraught with a number of goals including communicating with bodies subjecting to its supervision in order to eliminate the sensitivity of some state bodies regarding auditing action.

In this context, he asserted that these bodies should understand the role of SAB, ‘which does not try to find faults with their activities, but it applies and enforces law as well as constitutional regulations which by its virtue this financial watchdog was set up to submit periodical reports to legislative and executive authorities.

Al-Busairi also said that SAB seeks to cooperate with state bodies in order to address the problems facing them in this respect, making clear that law is a deterrent to whoever makes wasting inroads on the public money.

A documentary titled ‘partners and auditors’ depicting the course of SAB history was screened on the meeting sidelines, then it was followed by an open public discussion among the representatives of participating state bodies, and representatives of the investment sector at State Audit Bureau (SAB). — KUNA

KUWAIT: Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdelmehdi and his accompanying delegation visited Al-Babtain Central Library yesterday. The visiting delegation was accompanied by Hawally Governor Abdullah Abdelrahman Al-Faris and the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Iraq Ali Mohammad Al-Momen.

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local kuwait digest

Between Bin Laden and Che Guevara!

By Dr Sajed Al-Abdeli

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recall that the last time I wrote about Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda - it was years ago. It was also back then that I saw a huge media coverage of a certain story. People might have already forgotten all about Bin Laden and now, in the middle of the bloody events going on worldwide, namely in our Arab region, killing Bin Laden by a US Marine Seals squad in Pakistan comes to surface to divert the world’s attention with all its media coverage once more!

I’m not keen on saying that the whole story is an American bluff, though deep within I tend to believe the US is bluffing since it has always mastered such a skill using deceit, tricks and double measures, but I cannot but marvel of the media’s powers. The US has the ability to control and direct public opinion worldwide to whatever they wished at a time they wanted.

It is absolutely an endless ability to re-program and brainwash the minds of various beliefs!

By killing Bin Laden, if the news proves true and predictions about what Obama needed desperately after failing to present something worthwhile to the American people so far and to win another term in office, the US has apparently been after the man all these years to achieve a moral victory in a battle against terrorism, as it calls it. It has been losing for years. This is why the US is over the moon with what it has done.

However, by following the news of Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda for years, we ought to realize that he was not the movement’s mastermind. He was rather a godfather and a symbolic figure. Al-Qaeda has split into several factions with so many masterminds and is funded by multiple, highly complicated sources of finance that the US has been trying to dry out for years. Therefore, killing Bin Laden is the mere killing of another individual. Bin Laden is no longer a person, he is become more of an idea, a concept, a spark that might multiply into more ideas, groups, movements and emotions.

The famous fighter and Argentinean doctor, Che Guevara has also become a symbol of a revolution and oppression. His photos have been splashed everywhere with people who might not share thoughts and principles. It’s only a matter of symbolism. So, did America succeed, by killing Bin Laden, in laying the first brick towards making a new revolutionary symbol? A symbol of a fighter; a man who gave up everything in this worldly life and was firm in relentlessly confronting America? Has America fanned the embers beneath the ashes of Al-Qaeda organization? These are questions to which we need to find answers during the upcoming days!— Aljarida

‘Municipal depts garner achievements’

By Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: The supervisory departments have been able to garner several achievements in the fields of health, services licenses, public cleanliness, food supervision, and engineering in March 2011. Engineer Usama AlDuaij, Deputy Director General of Hawally and Mubarak Al-Kabeer Municipality branches stated. This was mentioned in the monthly report prepared by the Public Relations Department at Kuwait Municipality. Hawally Branch director Engineer Fahad Abdelrahman said at least 140 licenses have been issued. He said the total number of 211 violations have been recorded , including 12 that concern operating a store without license.

Ministry clamping down on disruptive media KUWAIT: The Ministry of Information and other bodies are monitoring local satellite TV channels and newspapers to ensure that they don’t jeopardize national unity or promote sectarianism, according to an information ministry insider.

The insider warned that the information ministry would be rigorous in implementing the law equally against any violators, with recently appointed Ministry of Information Undersecretary for Press and Publications Affairs Munira AlHuwaidi introducing a new strategy to ensure that all media outlets are strictly monitored. Any outlets, particularly unlicensed ones, found to be infringing media legislation will face legal action, the insider stated, adding a quantity of broadcasting equipment has already been seized, with six media firms referred to the Public Prosecution Service in recent weeks alone. — Al-Jarida

Abdullatif Al-Shimeri, Mohammed Khorshid and Mohammed Al-Anezi. (Right) The attendees of the press conference. — Photos by Fouad Al-Shaikh

Annual raft race to attract water sports enthusiasts ‘Activities to serve community’

By Nawara Fattahova

KUWAIT: Raft racing enthusiasts can now attend the annual Raft Race to be held here on May 6, 2011 at the Aqua Park. “The Aqua Park Summer Program includes many surprises and competitions, to be held every Friday. Raft race will be held next Friday. All the sponsoring companies have participated in teams,” said Mohammed Khorshid, Manager of Aqua Park in a press conference held on Monday at the Aqua Park.

This race first began at the Messila Beach Hotel and was transferred to the Aqua Park, a few years ago, “The race was

hosted for the eighth time. I would like to thank the management of the Messila beach for their support,” he added.

Sports events are the most important, “We have prepared competitions and activities to serve the community. So we exploited the Park’s yard to create football playgrounds on an eight-thousand square meter space. The Park covers an area of 64,000 square meters. It provides sports and entertainment-related activities for all age groups,” explained Khorshid.

The Park has also developed services and utilities, “Many gaming facilities have been renovated. Also, new water

slides and slopes will be added in 2012.

Also, we will be preparing to celebrate Aqua Park’s birthday, for which we have planned many surprises,” he stated.

Regarding turning water rafting into an international competition, Khorshid felt that Public Authority for Youth and Sports (PAYS) should support this event and make Kuwait proud by participating in international competitions. “As a first step, we hope to welcome teams from the GCC countries to make it a Gulf race.

Then we may expand it to Arab countries and later to the world,” he further said.

The PR Manager of the Aqua Park, Abdulatif Al-Shimeri spoke about race

categories. “There will be five categories: Wood and rope- men, Wood and ropemixed, welded- men, welded- women, and welded- mixed. We have made preparations for participants. This race will be followed by other activities such as soap football and beach football in addition to other games,” he stated. The teams will enter the Park at 10:00 am.

The race will begin after noon prayers.

The Sales Director Mohammed AlAnezi stressed that the Aqua Park will provide discounts and special offers, “We also provide special offers like receiving a second ticket free of charge. Also, we can sell tickets at discounted prices,” he said.

MP slams PM over former cabinets

By A Saleh

‘Art for Life’ gallery opens KUWAIT: Kuwaiti formative artists have a social responsibility toward their community which is depicted by holding charity art galleries that raise funds for terminal diseases, such as cancer, Head of Ghadir Gallery said yesterday.

Speaking during the opening of “Art for Life” gallery, Monday night, Mahommad Al-Ghadiri said that “the charity art gallery is held for the second consecutive year and it holds 97 art pieces for a group of international artists from Austria, Russia, Macedonia and China.”

The Kuwaiti ar tists Fatima Al-Ghadiri and Thuraya Al-Baqsami also showcased some of their arts in the gallery as a gesture of their participation in fighting this disease that is considered the most expensive in terms of cost, and most intensive in terms of treatment.

The “Art for Life” gallery, which last until May 5th, is held in cooperation with Ruqaya Al-Qatami Charity

and Cancer Patients Helping Fund, known as Hayat Cancer Foundation, Al-Ghadiri noted.

The gallery is located in Mishref area and its visiting hours are from 9:30am to 1:30pm, in the morning, and then from 5pm to 9pm, at evening, he pointed out. Last year, Ghadir Gallery showcased more than 600 paintings for a large group of various professional and amateur formative artists in a similar charity event. Al-Ghadiri remarked that the cultural work is the best method to link all the different cultures together, noting that although Kuwait it is geographically small yet is it huge in its cultural bridges that connect nations of the world together.

Ghadir Gallery is regarded as one of the leading art galleries in Kuwait since 1987. It was incepted by Mohammded Al-Ghadiri and artist Thuraya AlBaqsami. It aims at promoting Kuwaiti cultural and formative art life in the country. — KUNA

KUWAIT: MP Musallam Al-Barrak has once again attacked the governments formed previously by HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser AlMohammed Al-Sabah, asking why the premier “is holding so strongly to his position” and urging the Kuwaiti people to realize that HH the Prime Minister has failed miserably to form the as-yet unannounced new cabinet. The MP claimed that the premier is reluctant to announce the formation of his new cabinet since people are rejecting him as a Prime Minister because, said Al-Barrak, he is the cause of the political crisis in the country and knows that the situation will not settle down in the future.

Al-Barrak urged the National Assembly Speaker Jassem Al-Kharafi reconvene parliament despite the lack of a cabinet at present, insisting that the current situation is unconstitutional since, according to the constitution, an incoming Prime M inister has only two weeks in which to form the cabinet. “ We are, regretfully, trapped between the hammer of the premier and the anvil of the speaker, and the people do not accept being in such an experimental situation for Nasser Al-Mohammed’s failure,” said the MP. Al-Barrak also attacked the finance minister Mustafa AlShamali, who he said, “seems to

sleep and dream before taking his decisions...he referred the Zain issue to the Public Prosecution, although he has no such right.”

The MP and Popular Action Bloc (PAB) spokesman also categorically denied that the PAB had had any dealings or relations with HH the Prime Minister or that the premier had any influence on the bloc.

On a separate issue, MP Nadji AlAbdulhadi insisted on Monday that the plans to privatize national airline Kuwait Airways are unrealistic.

The airline is currently in dire straits and facing an uncertain future, having sustained losses totaling millions of dinars and recently been the subject of a damning report by the State Audit Bureau, which means it’s unlikely to attract potential investors, the MP indicated. AlAbdulhadi urged the Kuwait Investment Authority to halt the privatization process through which KAC is to be turned into a shareholding firm for at least a decade until the airline has recovered sufficiently for privatization to be a realistic prospect.

Meanwhile, on another subject, Sheikh Talal Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, the former deputy chairman of the Public Authority for Youth and Sports (PAYS), has filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MSAL) demanding KD5 million in compensation for the financial and other suffering he incurred when he was dismissed from the post.

Make May Day a national holiday, union leader urges govt KUWAIT: The Secretary General of the Oil Sector Workers’ Union, Saad Al-Khaneen, on Monday called upon the next government to formally designate May 1 as an official holiday similar to many other nations around the world.

May 1 or May Day has long been celebrated by labor activists around the world as a holiday to commemorate workers’ rights in order to honor their contribution to their nations.

In a press release issued to urge the government to make the day a national holiday, Al-Khaneen pointed out that Kuwait’s labor movement is one of the oldest in the Middle East and is widely respected both regionally and internationally. Unfortunately, he continued, Kuwait’s workforce does not meet with the same respect from the country’s government, who he said should be the first to appreciate the achievements of the country’s workforce, especially in the oil sector, since the country has been reliant on these workers for the past 60 years. — Al-Anba

Trainees of last year’s Summer Program in a group photo with Talal Al- Turki

NBK launches 2011 Summer Internship Program KUWAIT: In light of the tremendous success of the Summer Internship Program in the past years, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), the best bank in the Middle East, is launching the first in a series of the 2011 Summer Internship Program on June 12, 2011.

The two-week courses are specially designed for high school and college students aged between 15 and 20

years. NBK Public Relations Officer Talal Al-Turki said that NBK views the Summer Internship Program as an extension of its educative initiatives.

This annual program demonstrates the NBK’s long-standing social involvement as well as its national commitment towards providing the young generations with the appropriate opportunities to experience how

the actual professional banking issues and transactions are handled and processed.

Al-Turki added that the internship program consists of 5-hour daily sessions and features a mixture of theoretical and practical training dedicated to providing the interns with invaluable knowledge on a variety of subjects such as; the teamwork, cre-

ative thinking, means of self expression and modern banking, in addition to helping them to have greater exposure to daily banking work proce dures.

Al-Turki said that online registration for the Summer Internship Program is open until May 31st through nbk.com and through NBK official page on Facebook & Twitter.

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local

Interior ministers welcome Bahrain’s restored stability

kuwait digest

The Ambassador’s statements

By Abdullatif Al-Duaij

Abu Dhabi hosts Gulf meeting

hile MP Mohammad Hayef deserves to be acknowledged for revealing the contradictory statements made by the Kuwaiti ambassador to Bhutan regarding Kuwait’s official stance on the Bahraini political situation, I do not agree with the accusations of inefficiency he has leveled against the Kuwaiti government and Foreign Ministry. The ambassador did, in fact, deviate from the state’s official position, but it is the individual that bears responsibility for the action. The Cabinet and the Foreign Ministry cannot be held accountable for failing to act against this deviation.

The issue is indeed a serious one. An ambassador serves as the personal representative of His Highness the Amir to the country where he is assigned as a top envoy. The ambassador is also welcomed with the Kuwaiti national anthem and flag at any place; privileges that not even the state’s prime minister enjoys.

Therefore, I believe that it is an act of betrayal, in addition to being a gesture of disrespect to HH the Amir, when an ambassador makes statements that cancel out the state’s overall policy.

The ambassador can exercise his right, as a Kuwaiti citizen, to express his point of view. He can even exercise his right to assess an issue from his standpoint, whether in public or through social networking websites, only as a free Kuwaiti citizen, not a representative of HH the Amir.

At the same time, I believe the ambassador’s act is one example of an uncalled for occupational hazard that Kuwait suffers from. Unfortunately, our local culture is infested with personalities that place personal interests over commitment. They use ‘wasta’ instead of qualification as a base element in employment, as well as the lack of commitment to work.—Al-Qabas

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Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Jaber Al-Sabah heading Kuwait’s delegation at the 12th consultative meeting of the GCC ministers of interior in Abu Dhabi.

ABU DHABI: The twelfth meeting of the interior ministers of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states concluded here yesterday with a statement welcoming the calm and stability of Bahrain, hailing the wise Bahraini leadership and rallying of Bahraini people around their leaders. The GCC ministers also lauded the Bahraini people for aligning with the supreme interests of the country within the framework of the consensual agreement of Bahraini leaders and citizens under the overall reform project led by King of Bahrain Sheikh Hamad Bin Issa Al-Khalifa.

The session started with a speech given by Saif Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, and Interior Minister of the United Arab Emirates, also the meeting’s chairman, in which he stressed the importance of cooperation among GCC Arab states to weather the new challenges.

Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad AlHumoud Al-Jaber Al-Sabah led the Kuwaiti delegation in the GCC meeting, and delivered an address in

which he said that, “the meeting’s importance stems out of the delicate conditions undergoing by the region, and incidents which it sees whether at the domestic level, or at the level of relations among the region’s countries as some parties try to interfere with internal affairs of other.”

Sheikh Ahmad said that, “such thing imposes upon us all to closely follow up the current events and variables as well as the possible outcomes in order to come up with a sin-

gle vision that set effective mechanisms to help us abort all schemes aiming at splitting our unity, and destabilizing our security.” The meeting’s final communique strongly condemned the Iranian interference with internal affairs of Bahrain as a violation of international conventions, and principles of good neighborliness, while asserting the legitimacy of the existence of Peninsula Shield troops in Bahrain at its own request.

Further, GCC interior ministers

condemned the statements made by Iranian army’s chief of staff on the identity of the Arabian Gulf, deeming them provocative, irresponsible, and running counter to the principles of good neighborliness, mutual respect, non-interference with countries’ internal affairs as well as the charters of Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), and the UN. The GCC interior ministers asserted that the Gulf is Arabian, and will remain so, while commending the

cohesion among GCC Arab states, and their leaders in the face of malicious calls, and external interferences that target the unity and security of GCC Arab states. As for combating terror, the statement hoped that the killing of Osama Bin Laden will push forward the efforts made on fighting terror, and will give a boost to the efforts of eliminating all kinds of support and instigation to such acts which run counter to Islamic values and principles. —KUNA

KRCS delivers aid to Libyan refugees

KUWAIT: Governor of Hawally Lt Gen (Rtd) Abdullah Abdul Rahman Al-Fares held a banquet honoring the visiting Iraqi Vice President Dr Adel Abdelmehdi, along with the delegation accompanying him, at Marina Hotel, late on Monday.

MADNIN, TUNIS: The envoy of the Kuwait Red Crescent Society headed yesterday for southern Tunisia to oversee delivery of relief aid to Libyan refugees.

Director of the Disasters and Emergency Department at the Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS), Yousif Al-Meraj, is executing the aid program there, in coordination with the Kuwaiti ambassador to Tunisia, Fahad Ahmad Al-Awadhi, and the Secretary General of the Tunisian Red Crescent, Dr Taher Al-Shunaiti.

He is accompanied during this field mission by a representative of the Kuwaiti Diplomatic Attache, Jarrah Saud AlSuwaiet. The team will supervise distribution of food and health aid to 3,000 Libyan families that have settled in the Tunisian border region. —KUNA

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Kuwaiti woman conned out of KD35,000 by fraudster Man held for bribery attempt KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti woman told officers at Sulaibikhat police station that she had been conned out of KD35,000 by a fraudster who led her to believe that he would be able to buy a luxury model of car for her at far less than the usual price.

Instead, the conman disappeared with her money immediately after she handed it over. A hunt is underway for the man.

In a separate case, Hawally police have arrested a man who took money from a number of Kuwaiti citizens in exchange for engineering blueprints which subsequently turned out to be fakes.

The man was arrested at his home in Salmiya and is currently in police custody pending further legal action.

Equal chances for employees in CSC training programs KUWAIT: Employees, of all government’s sectors, have equal chances, within training programs and courses held by the Civil Service Commission (CSC), an official at the commission said yesterday.

In his speech on behalf of the CSC Undersecretary Mohammad AlRomi and on the occasion of graduating a new group of “Long Distance Training Gate” users, the Assistant Undersecretar y for Missions and Information Systems Tarek Al-Khaled said that “heads of all training departments in all dif-

ferent government’s bodies should spread the culture of long distance training and implement it for optimal use of its benefits.”

He added that CSC hopes to spread further awareness of such training methods and adopt many advanced training courses similar to the “Long Distance Training Gate” to reach the largest por tion of employees so that they could further develop their career skills and increase their knowledge in the field of their work.

The CSC’s Human Resources

Development Center has organized in a three consecutive years a competition where employees who most used available e -training courses on the training gate website were awarded.

The result of the competition revealed that the top three winners of governmental bodies are t h e M i n i s t r y o f Pu b l i c Wo r k s wh ic h c ame in fir st place, th e Ministry of Interior, came in second, and the Ministr y of Water and Electricity which came in third place. — KUNA

Bad move Police arrested a Korean man who attempted to bribe a traffic officer to excuse his friend who was caught driving without a license.

The incident took place in Al-Salhiya where the car in which the two suspects were sitting was pulled over.

While the traffic officer was preparing to issue a ticket against the driver, the man in the passenger seat put KD40 in the officer’s pocket and asked him to overlook his friend’s serious violation. The two were arrested and held at the area’s

police station pending further action.

Child abductors A Kuwaiti man told police in the Abu Halifa area that unknown assailants had abducted his 11-yearold son as he left school and threatened the boy, as well as stealing his backpack before releasing him. An investigation is underway as police continue to hunt for the culprits.

‘Missing woman’ A woman reported ‘missing’ by her husband had in fact travelled abroad on holiday without informing her spouse beforehand. After reporting his wife missing at Salmiya police station, the man returned home only to receive a phone call from his son telling him that the ‘missing’ woman had just been in contact to notify him that she had travelled to London for a brief vacation. The man immediately contacted the police to tell them the news, explaining that he and his wife’s relationship had been deteriorating for some time, adding that a dispute between them is currently pending in a local court, despite their sharing a home.

Addicts attack Police in Shuwaikh rushed to the scene after receiving reports that

drug addicts receiving treatment at the psychiatric hospital’s rehabilitation center had attacked medical staff there. The police managed to restrain the attackers and an investigation is underway into the incident.

Brawlers arrested Four men were arrested in Taima during a massive brawl, with police forced to fire warning gunshots into the air to finally separate them.

Police had rushed to the scene after receiving reports that a fight had broken out after a man was dragged from his home there by three relatives. Whilst most of those involved desisted before police arrived, the four men continued to fight, with the police having to fire their guns to stop them doing so. All four were detained at the local police station after first being taken to Jahra Hospital for treatment.

Women scalded Police in Jahra arrested a Kuwaiti man who intentionally threw scalding hot coffee at his wife, daughter and sister, resulting in all three suffering first degree burns. Officers subsequently discovered that the man had been suffering psychological problems for some time. The three women received treatment at Jahra Hospital.

Kuwaiti envoy discusses health care cooperation with Mexican official NEW MEXICO: Kuwaiti ambassador to Mexico Samih Jowhar Hayat discussed with Mexican Health Secretary Armando Ahued means of promoting bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the realms of health and therapy sectors.

Hayat called on the Mexican official to speed up the procedure of signing a previously-crafted Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning health care and the exchange health expertise and training between the two governments, according to an embassy statement released on Tuesday.

The Kuwaiti ambassador reviewed the latest health care development in the state of Kuwait and the Kuwaiti government’s plans of seeking the

utmost international benefits in this field.

He also pointed out that the Kuwaiti government is trying to fulfill its strategy of providing the best medical and health care for its citizens.

On his part, the Mexican Health Secretary welcomed the constructive cooperation with the Gulf state and lauded the level of the exceptional bilateral relations in all domains between the two countries. He noted that Mexico will seek opening new horizons of health care cooperation with Kuwait and promised to seriously look into the legal and technical aspects of the MoU, submitted by the Kuwaiti ambassador, to speed up the signing process in the near future. — KUNA

Diving team saves coral reefs KUWAIT: The Kuwait Diving Team has launched a major campaign to contain the abnormal reproduction of sea urchins, negatively affecting coral’s recovery process from bleaching.

In a statement made recently to the press, Waleed Al-Fadhel Chairman of the Environmental Voluntary Foundation explained that this initiative is part of their

effort to rehabilitate coral reefs at the country’s waters. These had sustained serious damages since.

Sea urchins can impede recovery from bleaching by spreading over to other algae. These grow on rock surfaces. Al-Fadhel confirmed that diving team members have noticed that locations covered entirely in large numbers of sea urchins preventing light from pen-

etrating the zooxanthellae - a symbiotic protozoa that gives the corals their color and nutrition through photosynthesis.

“An announcement to launch the campaign is very important, given the need to help coral reefs’ recovery [from coral bleaching] and maintain biodiversity’s balance in coral reefs’ area,” Al-Fadhal said.

US Ambassador visits Kuwait’s Marine Base KUWAIT: At the Sabah Al-Ahmad Marine Base yesterday, Ministry of Interior Assistant Undersecretary Lieutenant General Sheikh Mohammed Al-Yousef AlSabah received the United States’ Ambassador to Kuwait, Deborah K. Jones. The ambassador was accompanied on her visit by the director of the military liaison office at the US Embassy in Kuwait, Gregory Tohel.

During the cordial meeting, Sheikh Mohammed hailed the strong relations and cooperation between Kuwait and the US, with the two senior officials discussing a range of issues of mutual interest.

Following the meeting, Ambassador Jones and Sheikh Mohammed boarded a vessel from the base, enjoying a guided tour of the coastal waters off northern Kuwait during which they inspected some of the sites where boats had sunk in this area of Kuwait’s territorial waters.

Mothers receiving their Mother’s Day gifts

Gulf Bank supports Operation Hope

Qatar a lucrative market for Kuwaiti industries: PIA

DOHA: The Kuwaiti stall at the Qatar Project 2011 exhibition.

DOHA: The Qatari market for industrial goods is a lucrative market for Kuwaiti industries with the ongoing development in all aspects of the market, an official of Public Industry Authority (PIA) said on the sidelines of the Qatar Project 2011 exhibition.

PIA Deputy Director General for the industrial exports development sector Saqer Al-Enizi said there is much room to benefit in the Qatari market, particularly in view of the country’s hosting of the World Cup 2022.

The Qatar Project 2022 kicked off here Monday night, and there are 19 Kuwaiti companies among those taking part, active in different sectors. This number shows the great interest in the exhibition and the construction companies are hoping to strike new deals in the wave of the Qatari boom. The official pointed out Kuwaiti manufacturers have good reputation for high quality, for securing many ISO quality certificates, and of competitive prices while minding the environment in their activities.

This time around, the eighth year for the exhibition, some 1,700 companies from 47 countries are taking part, which is proof of the great potential pres-

ent in Qatar’s projects for the next 10 years. Al-Enizi stressed Kuwait Public Industry Authority is keen on supporting national products in all sectors, and works to rehabilitate industrial companies with the help of international consultants and supports participation in specialized international exhibitions.

On Kuwaiti industrial exports, he said the value of exports last year came to KD 1 billion, including KD 700 million in petrochemical products, and 300 million non-oil manufacturing products.

This is the biggest exhibition yet of construction material and equipment in Qatar. It is expected the event would bring contracts worth millions.

Green solutions and green building concepts are strongly present at the exhibition, with the latest international products, technologies, and innovations in the field on display.

There is also, understandably, great interest in plans and projects related to construction of sports facilities ahead of hosting the international competitions in 2022, and infrastructure development plans offer opportunities worth over $100 billion over the next 12 years. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Gulf Bank has announced that it has sponsored the 17th Annual Mother’s Day Breakfast, an event that was held to raise funds for Operation Hope.

The event took place on April 30 at ‘The One’ cafe in Marina Mall, and was organized by Operation Hope-Kuwait.

The organization’s main goal is to provide assistance to individuals on a caseby-case basis, offer opportunities for families of the local and expatriate community to work together, each year provide at least 5,000 needy workers with winter warmth and protection, and equip embassy shelters with clothing, blankets as well as other basic necessities. During the event, Gulf Bank donated giveaways and vouchers to the attending mothers from well known venues such as Eden Beauty Salon & Spa, Cutting Edge Beauty Salon, Finesse Studio, La Roge

restaurant at Movenpick Hotel freezone, and Baki Dental clinic. In addition, the giveaways also included essential oils from the Health House in Tala Center, and a variety of selections from Jones gourmet teas.

Gulf Bank was very pleased to be able to support this event. Operation HopeKuwait encourages the spirit of social solidarity and interaction amongst Kuwaiti society, and provides moral support to various underprivileged segments in the community.

As a socially responsible financial institution, Gulf Bank is fully committed to supporting charitable events which seek to provide assistance to all parts of Kuwait’s community. Supporting this event reinforces our commitment to the wider community in Kuwait and our intention is to continue supporting such initiatives in the future.

Sheryll Mairza, (middle left) founder of Operation Hope, with the attendees

WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011

Police arrest five men near British nuclear plant Page 10

Voice recorder for 2009 Air France crash found Page 10

TRIPOLI: In this photo made on a government organized tour, supporters carry a poster of Libyan army colonel who was killed in NATO attack in April, during a funeral ceremony for members of Gaddafiís family Monday. — AP

Libya rebel city tense as Gaddafi ultimatum expires Rebels need West to make $3 billion loan MISRATA: The besieged Libyan rebel city of Misrata was relatively calm yesterday but braced for new attacks by Muammar Gaddafi’s forces as an ultimatum to surrender expired, a day after shelling killed 14 people. However, fighting continued in the Al-Ghiran area near the airport, which rebels have been trying to capture from Gaddafi forces are based.

In their eastern stronghold of Benghazi, the rebels warned that they would soon run out of funds unless Western governments make them a $3 billion loan secured on frozen Gaddafi regime assets. NATO said aircraft under its command carried out 158 sorties on Monday, 56 of them strikes against ground targets, which had included 12 ammunition caches and three self-propelled artillery pieces around Misrata.

Loyalist tanks had thrust into the western suburbs of the oil-rich North African nation’s third city from their airport base, triggering clashes that wounded more than 30 people. Government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim announced late on Friday the ultimatum for rebel fighters in Misrata to cease fire, offering amnesty if they laid down their weapons. The rebels, who have been under siege by loyalists for some two months, promptly rejected it.

“We will not surrender. We win or we die,” said the rebels’ top commander, Ibrahim Bet-Almal, whose son was killed in fighting on April 9. With the airport in government hands, the rebels are entirely dependent on supply by sea, and with the port repeated shelled by Gaddafi troops, few vessels are docking, resulting in a worsening food shortage.

Customers queuing outside a Misrata bakery yesterday put on a brave face about the looming expiry of the regime’s ultimatum. “I’m not worried. Gaddafi won’t do anything,” said Abd al-Bari, a 20-year-old student. “He’s lying as usual. God willing, he will do nothing.”

But Bari expressed serious concern about the port. “If it’s blocked off, the boats that have been providing us with aid won’t come any more and then we will have really big problems,” he said. The threat to Misrata’s maritime life line comes not only from Gaddafi’s rockets. NATO forces were searching for a stray anti-ship mine laid last week, the alliance said. Four small boats were caught dropping three mines off the port, but only two were found and disarmed. However, NATO said the port is still

open.”Thanks to the continuous military action which has been undertaken vis-avis the port of Misrata and the city, the port is still quite safe,” Italian Vice Admiral Rinaldo Veri said, adding that rebels had expanded the city perimeter under their control. “Besides the mine issue, for the moment there is clear access into the port of Misrata,” said Veri, adding that NATO had opened a sea corridor and that the port remained open.

Veri denied that the conflict had reached a stalemate and rejected regime claims that NATO was trying to assassinate Kadhafi. “Let’s say that we are going slowly but steadily and after attacking the frontline forces now we are trying to get hold of everything that (Gaddafi) can use to supply his frontline forces,” he said.

In Benghazi, the rebels said they were in no position to resume significant oil exports as their current priority was limited to securing the production facilities under their control. Their plea for an emergency credit line from the United States and the two European governments to recognize their administration-France and Italy-came ahead of a meeting of the International Contact Group on Libya.

“The liquidity that we have domestically most likely will carry us through three weeks, at the most four weeks,” said Ali Tarhoni, who holds the economy and oil portfolio in the rebel administration. “I think if we get lines of credit from our friends in France, Italy and the United States we will be fine,” he said, adding that “we need two to three billion dollars.” That would enable his administration to get through the next three to four months, he said. Tarhoni said a consensus had already been reached between the rebels and the major powers which the rebel leadership will meet in Rome on Thursday to set up a credit lines mechanism. The rebel leadership no longer wants Gaddafi’s assets to be unfrozen and given to its administration but for credit lines to be opened that would be secured by the countries where such assets are being held. “The consensus is that there will be lines of credit backed by these assets,” he said, adding that that consensus would be formalized at the Rome meeting. Tarhoni did not specifically say that the three countries had agreed to provide the he is seeking. He said he believed Gaddafi’s frozen assets around the world amounted to $165 billion. —AFP

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Palestinian factions sign unity deal in Cairo Israel calls agreement a blow to peace

DARAA: Syrian anti-government protesters hold a banner that reads in Arabic “We sacrifice ourselves for Daraa” during a protest in the city of Hama, north of Damascus, on May 2, 2011 following weeks of unrest between government troops and protesters calling for an end to the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad. —AFP

Protesters call for permanent sit-ins in Syria DAMASCUS: Anti-regime protesters called for permanent sit-ins across Syria from yesterday as authorities were said to have arrested more than 1,000 people in their latest crackdown on demonstrations. A Facebook post by the Syrian Revolution 2011 website urged “Syrians in all regions to gather from yesterday evening in all public places to organise sit-ins which will continue day and night.”

The call came one day into a 15-day interior ministry period for people who had committed “unlawful acts” to give themselves up, and as security forces rounded up activists and dissidents across the country. It also urged Syrians to “supply information about saboteurs, terrorists and arms caches,” pledging “they will be spared any subsequent legal consequences.”

The National Organisation for Human Rights in Syria said more than 1,000 people had been arrested in two days. “There has been an insane intensification of arrests in towns. The authorities are arresting anyone who wants to demonstrate, especially writers, intellectuals and activists known to be demanding reform,” it said.

France said President Bashar al-Assad’s government is losing legitimacy, a view shared by Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak. “A government that kills its citizens because its citizens want to express themselves and install a real democracy loses its legitimacy,” Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told journalists in Paris.

Juppe, who warned on Monday that Assad’s regime was bound to fall if it continues its bloody crackdown, said EU sanctions being drawn up in Brussels should target the Syrian president. Israel’s Barak also predicted that Assad’s “brutality” towards the protesters will lead to the downfall of his regime. “I think that Assad is approaching the point where he will lose his internal legitimacy.”

Meanwhile, the International Crisis Group warned that Syria was “quickly going beyond the point of no return. “By denouncing all forms of protest as sedition, and dealing with them through escalating violence, the regime is closing the door on any possible honourable exit to a deepening national crisis,” the think-tank said in a report yesterday.

It called for an end to the violence and a “genuine national dialogue to pave the way for a transition to a representative, democratic political order.” Rami Abdel Rahman of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said arrests were being made all the time in a nationwide crackdown, and that regime agents were armed with lists of people to be pulled in. Activists

posted footage on YouTube of protests in Homs and in the Midan district of Damascus.

“No to violence, no to sabotage, no to unemployment” read a banner at one demonstration in the Bab Sbaa quarter of Homs. Protests also took place in Hama and in the Jassem area near Daraa, hub of the protest movement that erupted in Syria on March 15, where many arrests were reported.

“Important arrests in Daraa today (yesterday) and yesterday according to lists: people aged between 18 and 40 interrogated in a Daraa stadium, at least 1,000 detained,” a human rights activist in Damascus said. Daraa was reported to have water and electricity again yesterday, except for the Al-Omari mosque area which was the scene of clashes.

The official SANA news agency reported on Monday that 600 tons of flour had been delivered to Daraa, where activists had reported major shortages of food, medicine and baby milk.

A militar y spokesman on Monday announced the arrest of 499 people in Daraa, a week after thousands of troops backed by tanks swooped on the town to crush protests. The spokesman also announced the deaths of two members of the security forces “as well as 10 terrorists.”

Eight soldiers were wounded and five gunmen waiting in ambush were arrested, the military added.

The army said it had entered Daraa on April 25 at the request of residents to rid them of “terrorist gangs” responsible for a spate of “killings and vandalism.” The international Red Cross urged Syria to immediately lift restrictions on access to casualties in Daraa. “The violence has resulted in a large number of casualties and we fear that if the situation worsens more lives will be lost,” said Marianne Gasser, head of the ICRC delegation in Damascus.

The northern Syrian port and oil terminal of Banias, another centre for protests against Assad’s government, was expecting an imminent assault on Tuesday and was surrounded, activists said. The Syrian Revolution 2011 site, a driving force behind the protests, urged Syrians to mobilise in solidarity with Daraa and all “besieged towns.” “We say to this regime: ‘The court of the people will judge you,’” it said. Assad’s government has persistently blamed the violence on “armed criminal gangs” and has portrayed the protest movement as a conspiracy. The Insan human rights groups said the civilian death toll from the unprecedented demonstrations in Syria has topped 607. —AFP

Gaza demonstrators condemn death of Bin Laden GAZA CITY: Some two dozen Palestinians gathered in the Gaza Strip yesterday to pay tribute to slain al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. About 25 people holding pictures and posters of bin Laden rallied outside a Gaza City university. The crowd included AlQaeda sympathizers as well as students who said they opposed bin Laden’s ideology, but were angry at the US for killing him and consider him a martyr. Hamas police did not interfere in the demonstration. On Monday, Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of Gaza’s Hamas government, condemned the US operation against bin Laden, whom he

hailed as a “Muslim and Arab warrior.” Still, the Islamic Hamas has always distanced itself from al-Qaida’s militant Islamic ideology, saying its battle is against Israel, not the West.

Bin Laden’s killing in Pakistan on Monday has touched off expectations of revenge attacks. In Israel, police said they beefed up security around sensitive sites, including the airport, the US Embassy, the US consulate and areas where US officials live. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld characterized the reinforcements as precautionary. — AP

CAIRO: Palestinian factions signed a reconciliation deal in Cairo yesterday to end the divide between the West Bank and Gaza and hold elections in a year in an agreement Israel called a blow to peace. Representatives of 13 factions, including Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah party and its rival Hamas, as well as independent political figures, inked the deal following talks with Egyptian officials.

“All the Palestinian factions signed the document at a meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials,” Bilal Qassem, politburo member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), told AFP. He said all factions were given the opportunity to discuss the document and air any reservations. “We signed the deal despite several reservations. But we insisted on working for the higher national interest,” said Walid al-Awad, a politburo member of the leftist Palestine People’s Party.

“We have discussed all the reservations.

Everyone has agreed to take these points into consideration,” he told Egyptian state television without elaborating. The agreement was immediately denounced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “a hard blow to peace process.” Netanyahu’s call on Abbas to cancel the agreement was denounced as “unacceptable

inteference” by the head of Fatah’s delegation, Ahmed al-Azzam. The deal, which was announced last week, comes after 18 months of fruitless talks. It envisages the formation of an interim government of independents that will pave the way for presidential and parliamentary elections within a year.

Maher al-Taher, a politburo member of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, told AFP Egyptian officials had “promised to take into consideration all reservations expressed during the signing.” Israel had heavily criticised the agreement, refusing to deal with any government that includes Hamas, which it and the United States black list as a terrorist organisation.

But Palestinian officials said the new government’s role will be to manage affairs in the Palestinian territories, while the PLO, of which Hamas is not a member, will remain in charge of peace talks with Israel. “The government’s role is limited to administrative affairs dealing with the lives of Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip,” Azzam al-Ahmad said on Monday.

“But all political matters including negotiating the peace process will remain the responsibility of the PLO,” he said. Yesterday’s signing will be followed by an official ceremony on

Wednesday in Cairo, which will be attended by Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi, Muwafi and Arab League chief Amr Mussa.

After the ceremony, work will immediately begin on the formation of the new government, Ahmad said. Among the first tasks to be tackled is the establishment of a higher security council tasked with examining ways to integrate Hamas and Fatah’s rival security forces and create a “professional” security service.

The accord also calls for the creation of an electoral tribunal and for the release of a number prisoners held by the rival movements in jails in the West Bank and Gaza. Fatah and Hamas have been bitterly divided since June 2007 when Hamas took over the Gaza Strip, routing Fatah loyalists in bloody confrontations that effectively split the Palestinian territories in two. The reconciliation deal marks a diplomatic coup for Egypt’s new government, 11 weeks after president Hosni Mubarak was toppled in a popular revolt. Cairo had tried for more than a year to mediate between Fatah and Hamas but its efforts fell flat. Senior Hamas official Mahmud Zahar told the Egyptian independent daily al-Masr y al-Youm that the Mubarak regime had “put pressure on Hamas to make concessions.” —AFP

Amid Arab uprisings, Osama no longer the model CAIRO: Osama bin Laden and his jihadi rhetoric once resonated with millions, especially those in the Arab world who saw militant Islam as their best hope for throwing off the shackles of corrupt, oppressive governments.

But 10 years after 9/11, the dominant theme in the uprisings across the Middle East is a clamor for democracy , with al-Qaida’s militant ideology largely relegated to the sidelines.

It was not long ago that bin Laden and his terror network posed the biggest challenge to the authoritarian regimes of the Arab world, relentlessly calling on their people to rise up, overthrow them and replace them with purist Islamic states.

It is a different Arab world that bin Laden leaves behind. Popular uprisings led by youth groups have toppled the authoritarian regimes in Tunisia and Egypt.

Similar movements are challenging the autocratic rulers of Libya, Syria, Yemen and Bahrain. And, significantly, the millions who participated in these uprisings have not used violence to press their demands. Their ultimate aim is not the creation of the Islamic theocracies that bin Laden preached, but free democracies.

Many activists in the Middle East consider the Saudi-born bin Laden, who was killed in Pakistan on Monday in a US commando raid, as a byproduct of the repressive regimes that dominated the region.

“Bin Laden became part of the past, just like the Arab regimes that have been toppled,” said Khalil el-Anani, an exper t on Islamic jihadi movements. “What a coincidence that the same year Arab authoritarian rulers collapse, bin Laden dies.” In an Arab world where three-fifths of the population is under 30 and for whom the bombings on Sept. 11, 2001, are at best a childhood memory, the catalyst behind the popular uprisings has been the region’s Internet-savvy youth. “It is the Wael Ghoneim era, not bin Laden,” said el-Anani, referring to the former Google executive who became the face of the youth-driven protests in Januar y and Februar y that toppled Hosni Mubarak’s nearly 30-year regime in Egypt.

“It was the soft power of Ghoneim and his associates, not bin Laden’s crude power, that led to regime change,” el-Anani said,

noting that all the terror attacks blamed on Al-Qaeda in the West and the Arab world failed to bring regime change. Tweeting about bin Laden’s death, Ghoneim noted the shift. “2011 is a year that will be marked in history. It’s just May and all of this is happening!

Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria and now OB,” he said.

Although bin Laden once vowed to liberate the Arab world, the only figures who have lately invoked his name have been authoritarian leaders like Muammar Gaddafi of Libya and Mubarak , and both evoked the Al-Qaeda threat to justify clinging onto power.

In Yemen, bin Laden’s ancestral home, young protesters have been camping in the capital Sanaa and other Yemeni cities for nearly three months to push for the ouster of Ali Abdullah Saleh, the country’s authoritarian leader of 32 years.

Abdel-Hadi Al-Azari, one of the Yemeni youth leaders, said the uprising there has given people “hope in tomorrow.” “When you

don’t have hope, when you are alienated, weak or useless, life or death doesn’t make a difference,” said al-Azari, a school teacher.

“Revolutions changed that mindset and people changed the way they perceive themselves, their own value, the value of partnership and the value of dialogue with the other.” Yemeni protesters, he said, have shown the world that the time of bin Laden has passed by refusing to resort to violence even in the face of the heavy-handed tactics of the country’s security forces, including the use of live ammunition.

Some 150 protesters have been killed since the anti-Saleh revolt began in early February. “Only with bare chests. The people have determined to remain peaceful,” he said. “This in itself is a deviance from bin Laden’s discourse. This is against bin Laden.” Saudi political analyst Anwar Eshki said bin Laden’s death deprives Al-Qaeda of a “charismatic, irreplaceable leader,” giving it less and less chance to survive in the Arab street.

In the weeks leading up to bin Laden’s death, a survey by the Pew Research Center ’s Global Attitudes Project found little support for the Al-Qaeda leader in the Muslim world. Among the six predominantly Muslim nations surveyed, bin Laden received the highest level of support in the Palestinian territories , although even there only 34 percent said they believed he would do the right thing in world affairs.

Only 22 percent of those surveyed in Egypt, 13 percent in Jordan and 1 percent of Lebanese Muslims expressed confidence in bin Laden. In Pakistan, support for the Al-Qaeda leader fell from 52 percent in 2005 to just 18 percent.

El-Anani, the expert on militant groups, said bin Laden’s loss might not mean an end to Islamic militancy, but might make it more difficult to recruit youth. “What is remarkable here is that the youth generations which Al-Qaeda once recruited and who gave new blood to jihadists are not the same anymore,” he said. —AP

CAIRO: In this April 9, 2011 file photo, protesters chant slogans as they march following an attack by security forces in Tahrir Square, in Cairo, Egypt. —AP

Netanyahu to lobby UK, France over Palestinian state JERUSALEM: When Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu visits Britain and France this week, he will point to a Hamas-Fatah reconciliation deal as part of his fight to head off UN recognition of a Palestinian state. Hours before leaving Israel, Netanyahu drove home his rejection of the deal, calling on Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to “completely cancel” the agreement, which he said struck a “hard blow to the peace process.”

The accord, signed yesterday, provides for the establishment of a transitional government formed of independents and leaves negotiations with Israel in the hands of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, headed by Abbas. But Netanyahu will tell his French and British counterparts that the Jewish state cannot negotiate with the agreement in place, pointing in particular to Hamas’s outspoken condemnation of the killing of Osama bin Laden this week.

“ The agreement between Abu Mazen (Abbas) and Hamas deals a hard blow to the peace process,” Netanyahu said yesterday during a meeting with former British prime minister Tony Blair. “How can we make peace with a government when half of it calls for the destruction of Israel and glorifies the murderous Osama bin Laden?” Israeli media reported yesterday that Israeli embassies worldwide had been instructed to publicise Hamas’s condemnation of the bin Laden killing, with one official saying Hamas’s response “only strengthens Israel’s position.”

In Britain and France, Netanyahu may face a sceptical audience. British Foreign Secretary William Hague has cautiously welcomed the Fatah-Hamas rapprochement, though he warned that Britain would “judge everyone by their actions.” And analysts expect British Prime Minister David Cameron, who Netanyahu meets today, and French President

Nicolas Sarkozy, who he meets on Thursday, to listen politely to their guest but reserve immediate judgement.

“They have a lot on their plate in any case with regard to Libya and with regard to Syria,” said Jonathan Spyer, research fellow in international relations at the Interdisciplinary Centre near Tel Aviv. “There’s so much going on in the Middle East of real dramatic import that the endless dance of the Israelis and Palestinians is struggling a little bit to get the attention that it once perhaps deserved,” he told AFP. Netanyahu says he is working on a new peace initiative but has not revealed details.

He is expected to show his hand during a US visit in May when he addresses a joint session of the US Congress. Following the breakdown of direct peace talks last autumn, the Abbas administration ruling the West Bank adopted a diplomatic strategy aimed at securing UN

recognition of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with east Jerusalem as its capital.

The Palestinians are expected to seek such recognition at September ’s annual UN General Assembly. Israel and the United States oppose such a move, arguing a real solution can only be reached through negotiations, and the Israeli leadership is seeking to build international opposition to head off the attempt. Last month, however, France and Britain’s UN envoys indicated that their governments would consider backing the Palestinian campaign as a way to relaunch the peace process. Spyer sees no breakthrough for Netanyahu on this trip, but he does believe that drawing attention to the participation of Hamas-defined by the European Union as a terrorist organisation-will carry some weight.

“Israel will have a case for saying: ‘As long

as these guys are on board what do you expect us to do?’ That case will be challenged, but the case is makeable, I think, even in the European context.” Writing in the weekend edition of the Jerusalem Post, diplomatic analyst Herb Keinon took a different view. “For months there have been voices in the EU calling for engagement with Hamas; voices proclaiming that peace is made with enemies; that Hamas can be tamed by being brought into the political tent... that no agreement is possible without the Islamic organisation,” he said.

“Rather than be put off, like most Israelis were, by the fact that the PA is on the verge of incorporating into its unity government an organisation calling for Israel’s destruction, many in Europe will see this move as an indication that Hamas has become pragmatic and more ‘moderate’ as a result of the apparent loss of its patron in Syria.” —AFP

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Canada’s Conservatives win coveted majority Opposition Liberals, Quebec separatists suffer shattering defeat

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama speaks during a dinner for a group of bipartisan Congressional leaders and ranking members and their spouses at the White House, Monday in Washington.—AP

Obama aides were divided on Osama raid WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama held a crucial meeting last week in which his advisers debated three options for dealing with top-secret information about a luxury compound in Pakistan where they thought Osama bin Laden might be hiding. At a two-hour meeting in the ultra-secure White House Situation Room, the team discussed the pros and cons of a raid on the compound by a small group of elite US forces, according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The two other alternatives were to conduct a strike or to wait for information that might lend greater clarity on whether the Al-Qaeda leader was indeed holed up at the fortress-like compound outside of Islamabad, the official said. Obama’s advisers were split at the Thursday meeting and the president took a night to think about the decision, the official said.

On Friday morning, just before leaving to visit tornado-hit Alabama, Obama revealed to a small group of aides that he had decided in favor of an immediate raid, the official said.

“It’s a go,” Obama told his advisers, as he ordered the operation that led to killing of the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Information about the Abbotabad compound had surfaced last August but it was not until March that US officials felt convinced enough of

bin Laden’s potential presence there that they began to develop a list of options.

US intelligence analysts had been monitoring the complex, observing that there was a million-dollar home there owned by someone with no apparent source of income. There also appeared to be a family living there, including a man who never left the compound, according to the official.

The family seemed to fit a profile of bin Laden’s family. Still, right up until the end, no one in the Obama administration, including the US president, knew for sure.

The discussions over what to do took place over a period of weeks in meetings that were so closely held, no photographers were present and the sessions were not given titles, the official said.

Because the person who was believed to be bin Laden seemed always to remain at the compound, that removed some of the pressure to act immediately on the suspicions. Still, Obama and his aides feared delaying action too long would increase the risk that word of the surveillance might leak out and their target might flee, the official said.

The timing of Obama’s Friday order of the raid was driven in part by that concern.

Also playing a role in the timing was the fact that the US Navy SEAL team had carried out a number of rehearsals of the operation and was deemed ready to move ahead by its commander.— Reuters

TORONTO: Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper won his coveted majority government in elections that changed Canada’s political landscape, with the opposition Liberals and Quebec separatists suffering a shattering defeat.

Harper, who took office in 2006, has won two elections but until Monday’s vote had never held a majority of Parliament’s 308 seats, forcing him to rely on the opposition to pass legislation. Harper has deliberately avoided sweeping policy changes that could derail his government, but now has an opportunity to pass any legislation he wants with his new majority.

Meanwhile, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff announced yesterday he will step down from the post after the party suffered its worst defeat in Canadian history.

Ignatieff even lost his own seat in a Toronto suburb. While Harper’s hold on Parliament has been tenuous during his five-year tenure, he has managed to nudge an instinctively center-left country to the right.

He has gradually lowered sales and corporate taxes, avoided climate change legislation that would harm Alberta’s oil sands sector, promoted Arctic sovereignty, upped military spending and extended Canada’s militar y mission in Afghanistan. He has also staunchly backed Israel’s right-wing government.

Elections Canada reported results on its website, giving the Conservatives 167 seats, which will give Harper four years of uninterrupted government. “We are grateful, deeply honored, in fact humbled by the decisive endorsement of so many Canadians,” Harper told elated supporters at the Telus Convention Centre in Calgar y, Alberta.

The Liberals dropped to 34 seats from 77, finishing third for the first time in Canadian history. The leftist New Democratic Party became the main opposition party, with 102

Honduras drops charges against ex-president TEGUCIGALPA: A Honduran court dismissed the last two remaining charges Monday against former President Manuel Zelaya, removing a key obstacle to his return to the country. The decision could also smooth the way for the country’s return to the Organization of American States, which expelled Honduras following the June 2009 coup that ousted Zelaya. OAS Secretar y General Jose Miguel Insulza said in a statement from Washington that “this puts an end to the uncertainty over the former president’s legal situation.” “ The main condition for Honduras’ return to the organization has been fulfilled,” he wrote in the statement. “I will immediately begin consultation with the member states to examine their willingness to call an assembly to consider the issue.” Honduras was expelled from the OAS and subjected to diplomatic isolation following the coup. Most countries re established relations

after Lobo took office. A special appeals court panel dismissed charges of fraud and falsifying documents lodged against Zelaya after the coup.

The court said those criminal charges could have improperly overlapped with civil law and should be vacated. Federal prosecutors said they’ll appeal the court decision, with 60 days to file the appeal.

In March, a judge suspended arrest warrants related to the charges, which Zelaya claims are politically motivated. Zelaya has already said he won’t return from the Dominican Republican, where he lives, because he fears for his life. In an interview with the Honduran radio station Radio Globo in March, Zelaya claimed “there are people who want to liquidate me and are still alive, and they have great power.” He added that his enemies include powerful businessmen but gave no other details. Zelaya did not immediately respond to the court’s

actions Monday. Zelaya’s campaign to rewrite the constitution, possibly to allow his re-election, angered Honduras’ business elite in 2009. The military deposed him and flew him out of the country at gunpoint when he ignored a Supreme Court order to cancel a referendum on the constitutional rewrite. Roberto Micheletti, a former congressional leader, took power on an interim basis, and former National Congress President Porfirio Lobo won the country’s presidency in late 2009 in an election scheduled before the coup.

Lobo replaced Micheletti the following January. In April, Lobo met with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Colombian leader Juan Manuel Santos in Car tagena, Colombia, where the three agreed that dropping the charges against Zelaya could help Honduras’ return to the Organization of American States. Venezuela and its leftist allies had opposed Honduras’ return. — AP

US scouring Bin Laden secrets for Pakistan ties WASHINGTON: US analysts yesterday scoured a trove of secrets grabbed from Osama bin Laden’s fortified hideout for any evidence of the slain terrorist mastermind’s support network in Pakistan, the White House said.

“The exploitation of the information is ongoing, and we are going to look at it very carefully for threat reporting, plotting that may be under way, leads to other AlQaeda officials as well as what type of support system he might have had in Pakistan,” White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan told ABC television. He was referring to documents and computer equipment now in US hands after US special forces stormed the fortified compound of the world’s most hunted man, shot him dead, and left with this body, which officials say was buried at sea.

“It’s too early to tell what type of support system he had,”

Brennan told ABC a day after saying it was inconceivable that bin Laden did not have a network inside Pakistan. Pakistan itself has launched an internal investigation into how bin Laden could live undisturbed in a hillside retreat popular with retired Pakistani generals. “They are trying to determine themselves whether or not there were individuals within the Pakistani government or military intelligence services who were knowledgeable about bin Laden’s residence there and whether or not they were providing support,” Brennan told ABC. “Clearly there’s some type of support network that provided him assistance and helped facilitate contact between bin Laden and his operatives,” Brennan told NBC television in a separate interview. “Whether or not there (were) individuals inside of the Pakistani government is unknown at this point. But I know Pakistani officials

want to get to the bottom of this, and we’re working closely with them to help them in this investigation,” said Brennan.

Amid angr y calls in the US Congress to restrict aid to Pakistan or cut it off altogether, Brennan defended Washington’s uneasy alliance and said of the Pakistanis: “I believe that they want to get to the bottom of this.” “Our counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistani is strong,” he said. “Yes, there are differences of view. Yes, there are times that we want to be more aggressive. We take into account their considerations. But Pakistan is a strong counterterrorism partner,” he told NBC. “But we need to make sure that we maintain the pressure on AlQaeda and these other militant organizations that are resident inside of Pakistan, and we’re not going to rest until al Qaeda is destroyed and so are the other groups,” he said.— AFP

ALBERTA: Prime Minister Stephen Harper waves to the crowd following his speech on election night in Calgary, Alberta, Monday. Harper won his coveted majority government in elections Monday. —AP seats, tripling their support in a stunning setback for the Liberals who have always been either in power or leading the opposition.

The Conservatives had blitzed the country with TV ads targeting the Liberals’ leader, running them even during telecasts of the Academy Awards and the Super Bowl. The ads made relentless use of the more than 30 years Ignatieff lived in Europe and the US “Michael Ignatieff. Just visiting,” went one election ad. “Back in Canada. But for how long?” mocked another.

Ignatieff said the Conservatives engaged a “absolutely unscrupulous campaign of personal attack” but said he’s not going out a sore loser. He said he just didn’t meet enough Canadians.

“I had a very large square put

around my neck for a number of years. Canadians were always slightly surprised to meet me in the flesh because I didn’t turn out to be quite as bad as the ads portrayed me,” Ignatieff said.

“I went through some difficult years. My attachment to the country, my patriotism were questioned, my motivations were questioned and that had a political effect, there’s no doubt about that, but I have to also take my responsibilities.”

Harper was helped by the NDP surge, which split the left-of-center vote in many districts, handing victory to Conservative candidates, especially in Ontario, where the Liberals were decimated in their last national stronghold. Former colleagues of Harper say his long-

term goals are to shatter the image of the Liberals , the party of former Prime Ministers Jean Chretien, Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau , as the natural party of government in Canada, and to redefine what it means to be Canadian. Stephen Clarkson, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto, said the 52-year-old Harper should now be considered a transformative figure in Canadian history.

“It’s a sea change,” Clarkson said.

The New Democrats’ gains are being attributed to Layton’s strong per formance in the debates, a folksy, upbeat message, and a desire by the French-speakers in Quebec, the second most populous province, for a new face and a federalist option after two decades of supporting a separatist party.— AP

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Russia seeks 20 years for US spy ring traitor MOSCOW: Russia announced yesterday it would seek a 20-year prison term for a top spy whose cooperation with the United States led to last year’s humiliating expulsion of 10 of Moscow’s sleeper agents. The Federal Security Service (FSB) said it has concluded its probe into the former deputy head of its US clandestine operations department and charged him with treason and desertion.

Russian media have identified the suspect as Alexander Poteyev and said he has been living in the United States since last year. Security officials believe trial will be held absentia.

“The FSB investigative department has concluded its investigation into Russian citizen A N Poteyev,” news agencies quoted an FSB statement as saying. “The indictment was submitted to the Moscow district military tribunal for a hearing on April 21,” the Russian security service statement added.

The exposure of the spies-who included the media sensation Anna Chapman and others who worked on the US East Coast-left some intelligence officials conceding that their US surveillance programme had been dealt a brutal blow. Former spy and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin used a national television appearance in December to call the double agent a “pig” who will “regret it a thousands times over”.

One security agent told the Kommersant business daily last year that Russia was likely to organize a hit-squad to hunt down Poteyev in the United States-an assertion later refuted by Putin. A security source said details about the case against Poteyev are unlikely to be made public until after the verdict because of its sensitivity to Russia’ national security.

“Such cases usually involved secret investigations,” one security source told Interfax. “The information can only be released after the verdict goes into effect.”

Various Russian and Western media reports have painted Poteyev

as a hardened intelligence officer who began his career in Afghanistan and worked in a crack unit that tried to install a pro-Moscow regime in Kabul in 1979. He is believed to be a native of Belarus and worked as a foreign intelligence officer in New York after the collapse of Soviet Union in 1991 before returning to Moscow.

Multiple reports said Poteyev had until last year served as the deputy head of the US department of Directorate C-a cover operations agency involved in placing sleeper agents in foreign countries who try to pass off as locals. “He fled Russia a few days before Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s June trip to Washington and is currently in the United States,” Interfax quoted an unnamed security official as saying.

The same source said that both the man’s daughter and son had fled to the United States “under various pretences” in the days preceding his own departure from Russia. “His wife has been living in the States from some time now,” the official said. “These circumstances ... clearly accentuate the already severe miscalculation of our secret services,” the security official said. The United States announced the 10 Russians’ arrest just days after Medvedev ’s visit and eventually swapped them for four Russians who allegedly spied for the West.

The 10 exposed agents were personally greeted on their return to Russia by Putin and several have since established lucrative business careers.

The 29-year-old Chapman has particularly cashed in on her fame by becoming the fodder of gossip papers and gracing the covers of various magazines as well as hosting her own T V show about supernatural events.

The 10 were exchanged for four jailed Russians that included Igor Sutyagin a respected scientist who yesterday was awarded 20,000 euros in damages by the European Court of Human Rights for his treatment by the authorities. — AFP

Voice recorder for 2009 Air France crash found PARIS: French investigators yesterday recovered the cockpit voice recorder from an Air France flight that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean almost two years ago, killing all 228 people on board. The machine that records cockpit conversations was located Monday and raised

RIO DE JANEIRO: This photo provided yesterday by France’s air accident investigation agency, the BEA, shows a sealed flight data recorder from the 2009 Air France flight that went down in the mid-Atlantic. —AP from the ocean depths yesterday, according to BEA, the French agency that probes air accidents.

The plane’s flight data recorder was pulled out on Sunday, meaning both pieces critical to determining the cause of the June 1, 2009 crash have now been found. The memory unit was found by a submarine probing (12,800 feet) 3,900 meters below the ocean’s sur face.

Experts have said without the two recorders there would be almost no chance of determining what caused the worst disaster in Air France’s history.

Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris slammed into the Atlantic northeast of

Brazil after running into an intense highaltitude thunderstorm.

The condition of the instruments was not immediately clear. BEA officials have warned that the recordings may yet prove unusable, considering the pressure they were subjected to for nearly two years at such ocean depths. “We can’t say in advance that we’re going to be able to read it until it’s been opened,” a BEA spokeswoman told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. She did not give her name in accordance with her agency’s policy.

Automatic messages sent by the Airbus 330’s computers showed the aircraft was receiving false air speed readings from sensors known as pitot tubes.

Investigators have said the crash, in a remote and deep area of the Atlantic, was likely caused by a series of problems and not just sensor error.

Air France CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon called the find “yet another decisive step forward in the inquiry.” “It is my heartfelt hope that the data contained in these flight recorders may be used and provide answers to questions that relatives of the victims, Air France and the entire airline industry have been asking for nearly two years about why this tragic accident occurred,” Gourgeon said in a statement.

The flight recorders were recovered during a fourth search for bodies and aircraft debris. Investigators targeted an area 3,900 square miles (10,000 square kilometers), several hundred miles off Brazil’s northeastern coast. In early April, French officials said the operation had found most of the Airbus jet, including its motors and more bodies of crash victims.

Determining the cause of the crash took on new importance in March, when a French judge filed preliminary manslaughter charges against Air France and planemaker Airbus. Air France and Airbus are financing the estimated $12.5 million cost of the latest search effort, but the French government is paying for the recovery of anything that is found. About $28 million has already been spent on the three previous searches. — AP

UK arrests 5 in terror alert near nuclear site Britain urged to be vigilant after Bin Laden death LONDON: British police said yesterday they had arrested five men close to a nuclear reprocessing plant in northwest England under counter-terrorism laws. The arrests were made after Prime Minister David Cameron urged Britain to remain vigilant against potential reprisals following the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan by US forces. Police said they were unaware of any link between the arrests and bin Laden’s death.

The men were arrested on Monday after officers conducted a stop check on a vehicle near the Sellafield site in Cumbria. The men are all aged in their 20s and from London. A spokesman for the police’s North West Counter Terrorism Unit declined to comment on media reports the men had been filming the site. “There were suspicions from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary that led to some arrests.

There were some suspicions about them near to the perimeter fence,” he said.

A police counter terrorism source said the arrests were not preplanned. “The local officers felt there was enough to arrest them. It’s a case of seeing if there is anything to it.”

Police held the men under section 41 of the Terrorism Act, which allows officers to arrest people suspected of terrorist offences and hold them for 48 hours without charge. The men were being transferred to the northern English city of Manchester to be questioned by counter-terrorism officers.

Local police were alerted by officers from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, a specialist

SELLAFIELD: This is a Wednesday May 23, 2007 file photo of the Sellafield Nuclear Power Station in Sellafield, England. Five men were arrested under anti-terrorism laws near the Sellafield plant in northwest England, police said yesterday. —AP force which provides protection for civil nuclear licensed sites. Fifty-two people were killed in London in 2005 when Al-Qaeda inspired suicide bombers blew up underground trains and a bus.

The Sellafield site, in operation since the 1940s, includes a number of nuclear fuel

Sudan troops enter Abyei, 14 dead KADUGLI: A heavily armed Sudanese military convoy entered the flashpoint border district of Abyei, sparking clashes that left up to 14 people dead, its chief administrator and a UN spokesman said yesterday.

The fighting broke out on Sunday when a Sudanese army major insisted on entering the disputed territory after the police tried to stop his convoy of six landcruisers mounted with machine guns and more than 200 troops, administrator Deng Arop Kuol told AFP. “They killed a local police sergeant from the SPLA (Sudan People’s Liberation Armythe southern armed forces). I think the UN recovered another 11 bodies. It was a violent clash,” said the southern-nominated official. A UN spokesman confirmed the deadly clashes on Sunday, saying a peacekeeping patrol had found 14 bodies, after initially being denied access to the area by an angry crowd.

“One of our patrols went to the scene of the fighting on Monday, where they found 14 dead bodies, 11 of them in JIU uniform and three in civilian clothes,” said Kouider Zerrouk, referring to the special Joint Integrated Units of northern and southern personnel deployed in Abyei. The district’s chief administrator said the army had been trying to supply northern elements of the joint units with extra weapons, which he said were not needed, and described their presence in Abyei as “illegal.”

“They were not supposed to enter our territory according to the Abyei protocol.

So there was a plan of invading,” Kuol said, referring to an annexe of the 2005 peace deal that ended a devastating 22-

year civil war between north and south.

Kuol said that northern elements of the joint units set up under the protocol had joined the fighting, which took place around 17 kilometres (10 miles) north of Abyei town. He said the northern troops were now in Goli-further north but still within the district’s boundaries.

The Sudanese army spokesman was not immediately available to comment on the allegations. North and south have repeatedly accused each other of sending large numbers of “irregular” soldiers into Abyei, in breach of a January truce which called for the withdrawal of all forces except the JIUs and UN peacekeepers. Deadly fighting and recriminations have flared in Abyei since January, when the district had been due to vote on its future, alongside a referendum in the south that delivered a landslide for secession.

The plebiscite was postponed indefinitely amid deadlock between north and south over who should be eligible to vote. The United Nations and Western observers have reported that the armies on both sides have been reinforcing their positions in recent months, raising fears of the violence escalating. Abyei’s future is the most sensitive of a raft of issues which the two sides are struggling to reach agreement on ahead of the south’s full independence in July.

President Omar al-Bashir warned last Thursday that if the south claims Abyei, his government may not recognize the new state. The US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Johnnie Carson said afterwards that his comments “only serve to inflame and heighten tensions.”— AFP

KORDOFAN: Cows drink from a pond of water in the town of Kadugli in the Sudanese oil-producing northern state of South Kordofan yesterday. —AFP

106 missing in latest boat tragedy on Congo river KINSHASA: An overcrowded boat capsized in Congo, witnesses said, leaving at least 106 people missing in the latest transportation tragedy in this vast Central African country of jungles and huge rivers. The boat carrying passengers and merchandise sank on the Kasai River in Kasai-Occidental province, local resident Vickie Ndaye said Monday. The mayor of the town in south-central Congo where it happened confirmed the disaster but did not immediately

offer any further details. Another boat capsized last year on that same river, a tributary of the Congo River, leaving as many as 200 people dead. Investigators later said there were four times as many people onboard that vessel as the passenger list claimed, and that the boat operators bribed officials to allow them to overload it.

Congo suffered back-to-back civil wars beginning in the late 1990s and today has only 600 miles (1,000 kilome-

ters) of paved roads in a country the size of Western Europe. The Congo River is the only real highway in the vast country.

Barges traverse the river like floating villages crowded with up to 2,000 people, mainly traders and their goods, from bags of sorghum to barrels of palm oil. It can take weeks to get from the river’s source in the south to Kinshasa, the capital, meandering in a scythe-like arc. The river is nearly 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) long and about 10 miles (16 kilome-

ters) wide at some points. Since barely anyone can afford to fly, travelers in Congo ride on boats and barges not intended for people even if they do not know how to swim, sleeping at night next to sacks of maize and piles of timber amid the stench of fish. The boats are often in poor repair and filled beyond capacity, and the industry is not well-regulated. Authorities said at least 72 people were missing after a boat capsized on a lake in eastern Congo a week ago. — AP

reprocesssing facilities and waste treatment plants. Sellafield is owned by Nuclear Management Partners, a consortium of American engineering company URS, British engineering firm Amec and French nuclear reactor maker Areva. It was operating as normal yesterday. —Reuters

News

in brief

Mother convicted of killing four newborns THE HAGUE: A Dutch court has sentenced a woman to the maximum 12 years imprisonment for smothering her four babies, three girls and a boy, shortly after their births. The woman, identified only as Sietske H. in line with Dutch privacy laws, was arrested last year after the babies’ bodies were discovered in four suitcases in the attic of her house.

They were born separately between 2003 and 2009. The District Court in Leeuwarden convicted her yesterday of one count of manslaughter and three counts of murder.

She claimed she did not want anyone to know she was pregnant and managed to conceal all four pregnancies, even from the father, before k illing the newborns. Judges said they imposed the maximum sentence “because the facts are so serious and shocking.”

Spain boosts security after Bin Laden death MADRID: Spain is tightening security at its embassies in Pakistan, Afghanistan, North Africa and the Sahel region of Africa following Osama bin Laden’s killing. Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said Spanish firms and aid workers operating in these regions will be advised to do the same.

He made the announcement to reporters yesterday after a meeting to discuss security in Spain af ter bin Laden’s death. Perez Rubalcaba stressed the overall terrorism alert level will not be changed. It is now at the third-highest on a scale of eight levels. Spain was hit by an Islamic terror attack that killed 191 people and wounded nearly 2,000 in 2004. But officials say there is no evidence alQaida financed or ordered the massacre on the Madrid commuter rail system.

Norwegian police evacuate school after threat OSLO: Norwegian police evacuated a school in the western city of Bergen yesterday following a threat of a massacre emailed to a newspaper. Police evacuated 520 teachers and students from the school to a nearby sports facility after authorities received a copy of a threat against Gimle Skole , a high school Nor way ’s second largest city. The threat, which was originally sent to the Norwegian daily VG, mentioned a weapon that “is safely stored and ready for action” and said that Muslims would be targeted in the attack.

Police spokeswoman Gr y Halseth said police had searched the school and found nothing suspicious. Students and faculty could return to the school later in the afternoon, she said. “We have dozens of nationalities represented at the school, but the majority of the students have a Norwegian background,” said Anne-Marit Presterud, who is responsible for the Bergen school district.

There have been no threats against the school in the past, she said. No one has been arrested so far, police said.

Italy arrests 80 Mafiosi MILAN: Anti-mafia prosecutors says that 80 Mafiosi from two prominent crime syndicates have been arrested in separate operations.

Anti-Mafia investigator Renato Cortese said 40 were arrested for association with the ‘Ndrangheta crime syndicate in Calabria. They included the mayor of the town of Marina di Gioiosca and three of his advisers. In a separate operation, officials yesterday said they arrested another 40 people in Naples accused of trafficking drugs between Italy and Spain.

Officials say the suspects have ties to the Neopolitan crime syndicate Camorra.

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Cambodia takes dispute with Thailand to UN court THE HAGUE: Cambodia has asked the United Nations’ highest court to order Thailand to withdraw troops and halt military activity around a temple at the center of a decades-old border dispute that has flared into deadly military clashes.

Fighting in recent weeks along the disputed border region in northeastern Thailand that surrounds the Preah Vihear temple has left 16 soldiers and one Thai civilian dead. In a request filed April 28 and made available yesterday on the court’s website, Cambodia asked International Court of Justice judges to urgently deal with its request “because of the gravity of the situation.”

Cambodia claims that according to a 1962 ruling by the court the temple is on its territory and warns that if the intervention request is rejected and clashes continue, “the damage to the Temple of Preah Vihear, as well as irremediable losses of life and human suffering ... would become worse.”

The border dispute has stirred nationalist sentiment on both sides.

But analysts say domestic politics may also be fueling the conflict, especially in Thailand, where the military that staged a coup in 2006 could be flexing its muscles ahead of elections due in June or July.

The conflict involves small swaths of land along the border that have been disputed for more than half a century. Including the latest fighting, clashes have broken out six times since 2008, when Cambodia’s 11th-centur y Preah Vihear temple was given UN World Heritage status over Thailand’s objections.

Analysts say the fighting is primarily being driven by domestic tensions within each country rather than tensions between them. Neither side appears to be trying to capture territory, and few believe the conflict will evolve into full-scale war.

The fighting forced tens of thousands of villagers on both sides of the border to flee their homes. Many of them returned this week from makeshift refugee camps as the latest skirmishes eased from ar tiller y barrages to small arms exchanges.

Rulings by the court are supposed to be final and binding on parties. Cambodia has formally applied for an “interpretation” _ a written explanation — by the court of its 1962 judgment, and argued in its written application that the court’s opinion “could then serve as a basis for a final resolution of this dispute through negotiation or any other peaceful means.” — AP

25 fighters killed, wounded near Afghan-Pakistan border First sign of retaliation after Bin Laden’s death ASSADABAD: Twenty-five foreign fighters were killed and wounded by Afghan securit y forces af ter they crossed the border from Pakistan, a government official said, the first sign of retaliatory attacks in Afghanistan after Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed. Bin Laden, the architect of the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, was killed by US forces in a dramatic raid north of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Monday, sparking fears of revenge by Islamist militants.

Jamaluddin Badr, governor of northeastern Nuristan province, said the 25 foreign fighters killed and wounded overnight included Arabs, Chechens and Pakistanis. He said the operation was launched to guard against attacks after bin Laden’s death. “We are aware of the situation here now that AlQaeda and other elements will try to infiltrate into Afghanistan. We have launched an operation to control border infiltration,” Badr told Reuters.

Yesterday ’s operation was in the Barg-e-Matal district of Nuristan, very close to the border with Pakistan, Badr said. Taleban, Al- Qaeda and other Islamist militants have long operated out of safe havens and training camps in Pakistan’s largely lawless northwest Pashtun tribal regions. Bin Laden was sheltered by the Afghan Taleban before the Sept. 11 attacks and managed to escape US troops and Afghan militia during an assault in Afghanistan’s mountainous Tora Bora region before slipping across the border into Pakistan.

Military commanders, political leaders and analysts have warned that the immediate effect of bin Laden’s killing for Afghanistan would likely be a spike in violence as Islamist militants seek to strike back. “I don’t think the death of bin Laden will directly impact the fighting capabilities of any of the parties engaged in the war in Afghanistan,” Martine van Bijlert of the Afghanistan Analysts Net work wrote in a blog (www.aan-afghanistan.com).

“I guess the Taleban are now trying to figure out how to position them-

selves. They will want to use the mobilising potential of bin Laden’s death, but they will also want to leave their position vis-a-vis Al- Qaeda sufficiently ambiguous to keep future options open,” she said. While bin Laden’s k illing had likely sent shock waves through jihadist on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, Global intelligence agenc y Stratfor said it would be difficult for fighters to mount

death. Their counterparts in Pakistan have vowed to step up attacks against Pakistani and US targets. “The Afghan Taleban are in a bind. There will be hesitation, there will be silence. They are caught between not wanting to be associated with Al-Qaeda, but at the same time not looking like they are siding or alinging with the United States,” Stratfor’s Bokhari said. Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, the former Taleban envoy

LANDI KOTAL: Pakistani security officials stand near an Afghanistan bound NATO oil tanker which was set on fire by alleged militants in Landi Kotal near Afghan border in Pakistan yesterday official said. —AP revenge attacks or move undetected.

“Someone’s death can inspire people, but inspiration only goes so far.

What really matters is the actual capability, and I don’t think their capabilities can be changed or altered overnight,” Stratfor’s South Asia regional direc tor K amran Bok hari told Reuters. The Afghan Taleban have so far not commented on bin Laden’s

to Pakistan, said the United States had achieved their purpose in killing bin Laden and should now leave Afghanistan.

“If it’s real, there is no necessity for the Americans to do operations in Afghanistan anymore,” Zaeef told Al Jazeera television. Even before bin Laden’s killing, senior NATO commanders warned a big wave of violence was

Pakistan’s prez denies harboring Bin Laden

MIYAGI PREFECTURE: Volunteer workers wade through flooded port town in Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture, northeastern Japan, yesterday.

Tidal water flood the area as the land sunk near 80 centimeters following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.—AP

Japan plant workers set up fans to cut radiation, repair TOKYO: Workers at Japan’s crippled nuclear plant began putting up equipment yesterday to allow the start of repairs to its cooling systems, key to bringing reactors under control after they were badly damaged in the March 11 quake and tsunami.

Soldiers moved to within 10 km (6 miles) of the Fukushima complex to search for those still missing following the disaster, the first time the military is conducting searches in this area since the plant began leaking radiation after the disaster hit.

Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) has said it may take the rest of the year to bring the nuclear plant back under control. The company said it had begun constructing special tents at the entrance to turbine buildings so workers can move in and out.

It is also installing fans with filters at the No.1 reactor to reduce radiation inside to one-twentieth of current levels within days. “We want to suck out the air in the building and use the filter to remove radiation from the dust,” TEPCO spokesman Junichi Matsumoto told reporters.

The magnitude 9.0 quake and massive tsunami that followed knocked out the cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, 240 km north of

Tokyo, causing it to leak radiation. The natural disaster was the worst to hit Japan since World War Two and killed about 14,700 people, left some 11,000 more missing and destroyed tens of thousands of homes. As the search for the missing continued, 560 Japanese Self-Defense Force troops began working within a 10 km radius of Fukushima Daiichi, the Defense Ministry said, the first time they have come so close for searches since the crisis began.

People living within a 20 km radius of the plant were evacuated and banned from returning home on April 21 due to concerns about radiation levels. Soil containing radioactive materials up to 1,000 times the normal level were found from the bottom of the sea near the nuclear plant, TEPCO’s Matsumoto said yesterday.

Unpopular Prime Minister Naoto Kan is facing increasing calls to quit over his handling of the crisis. The latest blow for Kan came when an adviser on the nuclear crisis quit in protest over the government’s decision to set the annual radiation limit at 20 millisieverts per year for school children in Fukushima, a level the adviser said was unacceptably high. — Reuters

expected this week and the Afghan Taleban had announced it would begin a new wave of violence as part of the spring fighting season. Fighting traditionally picks up in Afghanistan when winter snow melts allowing militants to move through the mountains.

US officials have also sought to make clear that there would be no immediate change in US polic y in Afghanistan.Washington is committed

ABBOTTABAD: Pakistan’s leader denied suggestions his country’s security forces may have sheltered Osama bin Laden before he was killed by American forces, even as Britain said yesterday it would be demanding answers from Islamabad as to how the Al-Qaeda chief was able to live undetected in a large house in a garrison town.

But in a nod to the complex realities of dealing with a nucleararmed, unstable country that is crucial to success in neighboring Afghanistan, British Prime Minister David Cameron said having “a massive row” with Islamabad over the issue would not be in Britain’s interest. Asif Ali Zardari’s comments in a Washington Post opinion piece Monday were Pakistan’s first formal response to the suspicions by US lawmakers and other critics, which could fur ther sour relations between Islamabad and its Western backers at a key point in the war in Afghanistan.

Bin Laden was killed close to a military academy in the bustling northwestern town of Abbottabad, not in the remote Afghan border region where many had assumed he had been holed up. That was quickly taken as a sign of possible collusion with the country’s powerful security establishment, which Western officials have long regarded with a measure of suspicion despite several notable Al-Qaeda arrests in the country since 2001.

“Some in the US press have suggested that Pakistan lacked vitality in its pursuit of terrorism, or worse yet that we were disingenuous and actually protected the terrorists we claimed to be pursuing. Such baseless speculation may make exciting cable news, but it doesn’t reflect fact,” Zardari wrote.

Ties between the two nominal allies were already strained amid US accusations that the Pakistanis are supporting militants in Afghanistan and Pakistani anger over American drone attacks and spy activity on its soil. They came to head in late January after a CIA contractor shot and killed two Pakistan’s, in what Washington said was self-defense.

US Senate Armed Ser vices Committee Chairman Carl Levin said Pakistan’s intelligence and army have “got a lot of explaining to do,” given that bin Laden was holed up in such a large house with surrounding buildings, the fact that its residents took the unusual step of burning their garbage and avoiding any trash collection. “It’s hard to imagine that the military or police did not have any ideas what was

going on inside of that,” Levin said.

Cameron, who has also made supporting Pakistan a major foreign policy commitment, echoed those concerns. “Those are questions we have to ask, those are questions we will want answered and we will be asking that question of everyone in Pakistan and the Pakistani government,” Cameron told BBC radio before acknowledging the West’s limited leverage against Islamabad.

“We could go down the route of having some massive argument, massive row with Pakistan, but I assess our relationship with Pakistan and it is my very clear view that it is in out interests to work with the government and people of Pakistan to combat terrorism, combat extremism and help development in that country.” Suspicions were also aired in many Pakistan’s media and on the street yesterday.

“That house was obviously a suspicious one,” said Jahangir Khan, who was buying a newspaper in Abbottabad. “Either it was a complete failure of our intelligence agencies or they were involved in this affair.” US officials have said that Pakistani officials were not told about the early morning helicopter raid until the strike team had killed bin Laden had returned to Afghanistan from where they took off from, citing security reasons.

Many Pakistanis were surprised at how this was possible, especially when initial reports stated that the choppers took off from a Pakistani air base. Some were angry that the country’s sovereignty had been violated , an especially sensitive issue given the unpopularity of America here. Zardari said it “was not a joint operation”, the kind of which has been conducted in the past against lesser terror suspects in Pakistan , but that Pakistani cooperation, in a general sense, had helped lead them to bin Laden. “A decade of cooperation and par tnership between the United States and Pakistan led up to the elimination of Osama bin Laden as a continuing threat to the civilized world,” he said. President Barack Obama also said the countr y ’s anti-terror alliance had helped in the run-up to the operation, but did not thank Pakistan when he announced the death of bin Laden. The death has raised fears of revenge attacks, both in Pakistan, which has seen hundreds of suicide attacks by AlQaeda and its allies since 2007, and internationally. The US Embassy said its missions in Pakistan would remain closed to the public until further notice.—AP

to beginning a gradual drawdown of its combat troops in Afghanistan from July, a process that will culminate with Afghan security forces taking over from foreign forces by the end of 2014.

Violence across Afghanistan hit its worst levels in 2010 despite the presence of 150,000 foreign troops, with civilian and military casualties hitting record highs. — Reuters

Nepal bus accident kills 12 KATMANDU: An official says a crowded bus skidded off a mountain road in central Nepal, killing at least 12 people and injuring many others. yesterday is Mother’s Day in Nepal, and the bus was crowded with people visiting their mothers. Sindhuli district chief administrator Jitendra Bhandari says the bus veered off the road and tumbled about 1,000 feet (300 meters) down a slope.

He says rescuers had difficulty reaching the bus because it was hanging on the slope supported only by a few trees. Details were sketchy, but at least two dozen people were taken to nearby hospitals. The village is about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Katmandu. Accidents in Nepal are frequently blamed on poorly maintained roads and vehicles.— AP

AUCKLAND: A man walks past a wrecked car at the Albany Mall in suburban Auckland, New Zealand after a tornado ripped through yesterday. —AP

New Zealand’s largest city hit by tornado AUCKLAND: A tornado ripped across par t of New Zealand’s largest city yesterday, upturning cars and sending debris slicing through the air, witnesses and news reports said. At least one person was killed and about 20 injured, a hospital official said. The swirling dark-gray column of air and cloud cut a 3-mile (5-kilometer) path across the Auckland suburb of Albany at mid afternoon, tearing off roofing iron, flattening trees and tossing vehicles around, police and witnesses said.

“There were kids in a car which turned upside down and they had to get help,” said Hamish Blair, whose golf supplies store was in the hardest-hit area. “There’s probably six or seven seriously damaged cars, and I saw cars flying off the ground about 30 meters (100 feet) in the air.” The tornado first touched down in Albany and then passed through neighboring

Birkenhead. Most of the serious damage was in Albany, where a shopping mall, a large hardware store and a supermarket were hit.

Radio New Zealand reported that the roof of the Mega Center mall in Albany collapsed.

Paul Patton, a spokesman for North Shore Hospital, said one person had been killed and at least 20 injured. Tornados are not uncommon in New Zealand, particularly on the countr y ’s Nor th Island, where Auckland lies. But they tend to be smaller than those seen in the US Midwest. Auckland generally gets one or two tornadoes a year, according to New Zealand’s Ministr y of Civil Defense and Emergency Management. New Zealand has been hit by several disasters in recent months, including a Feb. 22 earthquake that devastated the South Island city of Christchurch and killed at least 169 people. —AP

13

WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011

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Issues

Laden-fed unity may be short-lived

By Charles Babington epublicans and Democrats heaped praise on the Obama administration’s role in killing Osama bin Laden. But few expect the goodwill to ease the path for tough domestic issues, such as taming the federal debt. “No way,” said Mike McKenna, a veteran Republican strategist and lobbyist. Everyone is pleased by the terrorist leader’s death, he said, “but it provides zero additional credibility on debt and deficit issues” for President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats.

Prominent Democrats agreed. Most Republican leaders and presidential hopefuls were gracious in crediting Obama for bin Laden’s death, said Matt Bennett, vice president of the Democratic-oriented centrist group Third Way. “But I don’t think it’s going to have an impact on the domestic debates,” he said. “I just don’t think there’s enough goodwill there.”

Congress certainly could use some bipartisan goodwill these days. Lawmakers returned to the Capitol on Monday after a two-week recess that featured emotional public forums on divisive issues including deficit spending, Medicare’s growing costs and the need to raise the national debt ceiling to avoid defaulting on loans.

Medicare is the government-run program providing health care coverage for the elderly. Sometimes in the same meetings, one group of voters threatened to punish lawmakers who refuse to raise taxes on the rich, and others vowed to oust anyone who dares to raise taxes or the debt limit.

Congress and the nation have grown so partisan and polarized in recent decades that even a universally embraced feat - the death of the chief terrorist behind the 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans - has little ability to influence other aspects of public life.

There are many reasons. Americans have settled into more rigidly defined political sectors. The nation remains almost evenly split between the two major parties, with a relatively modest number of independent voters deciding recent elections.

In the House, trends in migration and redistricting have created many staunchly liberal and staunchly conservative districts. Voters send lawmakers to Washington who barely comprehend each other’s points of view, let alone embrace them. With Democrats controlling the Senate and White House, Republicans see the House as their only federal power base. The more they cooperate with Obama, the more they infuriate their conservative base, and the more they help the president build a record of accomplishments that might boost his 2012 re-election campaign.

Partisanship has long shaped Congress, of course.

But today’s lawmakers are more open about it. Many of them scarcely conceal their unbridled zeal to win the next election, and they pay little lip service to the notion of finding compromises that might help the general public. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, speaking of the bin Laden raid, said Obama “made the right call, and we thank him for it”. But McConnell has never backed away from his 2010 statement that “the single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president”. Obama told a White House gathering of lawmakers Monday night that he hopes to recapture at least some of the unity that swept a stunned and grieving nation on Sept 11, 2001. “That unity that we felt on 9/11 has frayed a little bit over the years, and I have no illusions about the difficulties of the debates that we’ll have to be engaged in, in the weeks and months to come,” the president said. But Americans come together in times of tragedy, he said, and “it is my fervent hope that we can harness some of that unity and some of that pride to confront the many challenges that we still face.”

Working against such unity, however, is an evergrowing number of intensely partisan blogs, Internet sites and cable TV and radio talk shows. Recent polls indicate that the more time mainstream news outlets spent debunking the false claim that Obama was born overseas, the more Americans embraced it. The Jan 8 near-fatal shooting of US Rep Gabrielle Giffords, an Arizona Democrat, prompted widespread calls for calmer political rhetoric and an end to campaign techniques such as drawing crosshairs over “targeted” opponents. It didn’t last long.

Partisans quickly accused each other of trying to exploit the tragedy for political gain. Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, said she was the victim of a “blood libel” related to her criticisms of Giffords.—AP

R

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Laden killing a dividend for Obama

By Steven R Hurst President Barack Obama kept his campaign promise to kill or capture Osama bin Laden, a sharp rebuttal to critics of his national security leadership and a bold but risky operation that could pay major political dividends as he launches his campaign for reelection. Yet, America and its allies are more than ever in the terrorist crosshairs of Al-Qaeda avengers, as Obama acknowledged in his late Sunday night announcement that US Special Operations forces killed bin Laden in a precision assault on his $1 million Pakistani hideout. The spontaneous celebrations that erupted in Washington, New York and other US cities expressed how deeply Americans still felt the national tragedy of the Sept 11, 2001 Al-Qaeda attacks and the deaths of nearly 3,000 fellow citizens.

The news also buoyed spirits in a country caught in the malaise of a slow economic recovery from the Great Recession, spiking gasoline prices, lingering near-9-percent unemployment and a bitter congressional fight over the nation’s staggering debt and spending cuts. But other profound questions remain for a nation still struggling to regain its psychological footing from the world-changing attacks and a decade of the so-called war on terror.

The United States remains embroiled in a 10-year war in Afghanistan and deeply mired in a poisonous political climate that has wiped away the national unity that bathed the country in the weeks after bin Laden’s murderous airborne attacks. That was very much on Obama’s mind as he told of bin Laden’s killing at the hands of a team of Navy Seals. “Tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11. I know that it has, at times, frayed,” he said in the near-to-midnight national television address. “Yet today’s achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people.”

Obama has faced heavy criticism dating to the early days of his administration when he gave speeches that opposition political figures said amounted to an apology for the strong US military and foreign policy posture after the Sept 11 attacks. He also was attacked by some for backing away from missile-defense deployments in Eastern Europe and for trying to “reset” relations with Russia. The 10 or so Republicans vying for their party’s presidential nomination have been casting him as a weak leader.

But, with elections 18 months away, none of the Republicans has seized the imagination of a broad swath of US voters, who are largely consumed with the struggling American economy.

After the 2001 attacks, the United States quickly burned through a huge fund of global sympathy with its invasion of Iraq under the leadership of former President George W Bush. Some close allies shunned Washington over a war that is only now ending after more than eight years. In the Muslim world, America is still trying to undo the perception that the US is at war with Islam, witness Obama’s words Sunday night: “We must also reaffirm that the United States is not - and never will be - at war with Islam. ...Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims.” That is not likely to change many minds among Muslims who were confirmed holy warriors before 9/11 or who have been converted to the cause of jihad since. “Bin Laden is dead.

Al-Qaeda is not,” CIA director Leon Panetta wrote in a memo to agency employees

US

Monday morning. From the fastness of the towering mountains along the AfghanPakistan border to the ungoverned regions of Yemen at the bottom of the Arabian peninsula to the deserts of North Africa to the feared bands of sympathizers inside the United States and Europe, AlQaeda still flourishes. Bin Laden’s death will be a psychological blow but one that foments retribution.And the nearly 10year lapse between Sept 11 and bin Laden’s death has seen a devolution of power away from the tall and striking Saudi Arabian who was born to a family of wealth. “What might have been a decisive blow in 2001 or 2002 may have far less effect today,” said Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic & International Studies Fundamental questions remain, too, about the course of the US war in Afghanistan, where Obama has vowed to begin withdrawing forces this summer. Will pressure build for an outright end to

the conflict that many critics see as a Vietnam-style quagmire, a vast waste of resources and American lives.

And what of Pakistan, where Obama apparently was holed up in a specially built compound in Abbottabad, a city not far from Islamabad and home to a brigade from Pakistani Army’s second division and the location of the Army’s military academy. The leadership of that country was kept in the dark until after bin Laden was killed, his body spirited away by helicopter to Afghanistan and then given a burial at sea.

Obama has said repeatedly that the US focus was not only on preventing Taliban militants from regaining control in Afghanistan but on killing their Al-Qaeda allies in neighboring Pakistan. But aggressive American action with drone attacks and now the killing of bin Laden in Pakistan likely will only deepen the growing rift between the US and Pakistan. The country’s intelligence apparatus has long been suspected of sheltering Al-Qaeda even as it professes cooperation with the American effort to wipe it out. Answers to the vast array of questions raised by bin Laden’s death will likely grow. And the answers to those questions could explode over the

coming weeks, months and years like time bombs that shake rather than build upon the political and strategic victory achieved in killing the Al-Qaeda figurehead. — AP

Pakistan may be greatest casualty

By Arshad Mohammed and Susan Cornwell he greatest casualty of the US operation to kill Osama bin Laden, besides the Al-Qaeda leader himself, may be the USPakistani relationship. That the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks was found in a three-storey house in a Pakistani town prompted umbrage in the US capital, where lawmakers said US aid may hinge on what, if anything, Pakistan knew or suspected of bin Laden’s whereabouts. The bin Laden bombshell came as the two countries seek to repair ties frayed by friction over US drone attacks on militants on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan and Pakistan’s six-week imprisonment of a CIA contractor this winter.

While President Barack Obama and aides said Pakistan had helped lead them to bin Laden’s doorstep in a complex in the city of Abbottabad they also said it was fair to question US aid. In the US Congress, the questions were sharp. “The United States provides billions of dollars in aid to Pakistan,” said Senator Frank Lautenberg, a fellow Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee that apportions government spending. “Before we send another dime, we need to know whether Pakistan truly stands with us in the fight against terrorism.”

Since 2001, Congress, which holds the US government purse strings, has approved about $20 billion for Pakistan in direct aid and military payments, making it one of the top recipients of US aid according to the Congressional Research Service. Much of it been spent on building a close relationship with Pakistan’s military with the intention that it would help the United States fight militants like bin Laden and stabilize a nuclear-armed Pakistan facing its own militant insurgency.

“This is going to be a time of real pressure” on Pakistan “to basically prove to us that they didn’t know that bin Laden was there,” said Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman, a Democrat turned independent who often sides with opposition Republicans on national security matters. “In terms of the military aid ... support for that will depend on how Pakistan answers some of these questions, which need to be asked, about the presence of bin Laden in such a central location,” said Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, a Democrat.

While Abbottabad is only about 65 km on a map from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, the drive takes anywhere from two to five hours, depending on traffic, and the final stretch is through mountainous terrain. The town is the headquarters for the Pakistan army’s Baluch Regiment and one former resident said the life of the

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town largely revolves around the military, including the Kakul academy, which is Pakistan’s equivalent to West Point. The United States and Pakistan have had an uneasy alliance since the Sept 11, 2001 attacks, with Washington pushing Islamabad to take stronger action against suspected militants launching attacks on US troops in neighboring Afghanistan.

Even Democratic Representative Howard Berman, an author of a 2009 law that expanded civilian aid to Pakistan by $1.5 billion a year over five years, said he had doubts about the military aid even before bin Laden was killed. “I am more alarmed about the fact that we are funding and helping to equip a military that doesn’t seem to have a view of its enemies that is the same as our view,” he told Reuters. Berman described a general pattern emerging with Pakistan maintaining ties with militants such as the Haqqani network and “refusing to take on the Afghan Taliban” as well as criticizing the use of US drone planes to attack militants. “All this raises serious questions about what we are doing, with what is well close to 2 billion (dollars) a year in military assistance to the Pakistan military,” Berman said.

Asked if it was plausible Pakistani authorities had no idea bin Laden was in Abbottabad, former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said top leaders might have been ignorant but left open the possibility lower-level people may have known. “I am surprised that they found him where they did, so close to Islamabad, but it is to me conceivable that at least top-ranking people didn’t know that he was there,” she told Reuters. “I think a lot is going to come out over the next several weeks about what Pakistani cooperation looked like and that’s an extremely important part of this,” Rice said. “We need to understand that better.”

Analysts stressed that ties already were strained. “At a time when United States-Pakistan relations are going south in a hurry over aid, Afghanistan, and US intelligence operations inside Pakistan, bin Laden’s death leaves more questions on the table than answers,” Shuja Nawaz, an expert on the Pakistan military, wrote on www.foreignpolicy.com. Nawaz said if the operation was not coordinated with the Pakistanis - and US officials said they told no foreign governments in advance - the relationship could suffer. “If this operation was carried out in close cooperation with the United States, then the trajectory of this declining relationship may be reversed.” he said. “If not, then the velocity of the decline will increase at a time when the mood in Washington seems to be shifting to black toward Pakistan, on the Hill and also in parts of the Obama administration.” — Reuters

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Nissan wins bid for New York’s iconic yellow cabs

TRIPOLI: Libyans enjoy a day on the beach yesterday. — AP

In Tripoli, calm streets belie simmering tension TRIPOLI: In Tripoli’s Green Square, volunteers hand out the green flag, symbol of Libya since Muammar Gaddafi’s 1969 coup, and a giant picture of the “brother leader” looks down on the palm-lined streets.

But in other neighbourhoods, dissidents come out in the dead of night and leave the red, green and black rebel flag unfurled in the streets, residents and opposition activists say. Opposition graffiti appears overnight, they say, only to be painted over in the morning or replaced with the pro-government slogan “God, Muammar, Libya and that’s all”.

With the uprising now in its third month, Tripoli remains under Gaddafi’s control and he can count on a certain amount of popular support. But tension is simmering beneath the surface. “Things are tense. They are not normal. I think something will explode soon. There are rumblings at night. You hear gunfire and it is not always celebratory,” said one Tripoli resident. “In some neighbourhoods, people wake up and find the rebel flag. It is just a sign, just to say ‘we are here’.”

It is difficult for foreign correspondents to venture out without government minders to check what is behind the occasional bursts of gunfire heard overnight. Ten days ago, small arms fire and anti-aircraft guns rattled for over two hours outside the hotel where foreign journalists are staying. Gaddafi supporters said they were celebrating the rumoured death of a rebel leader. In a sign of growing concern that sanctions and NATO strikes could cripple Gaddafi’s military efforts, text messages were sent to Libyan mobile phones in the following days, urging Libyans to save their ammunition for “the crusader enemy”. “The situation across the whole coast, from Misrata to Tripoli is tense. It is ready to blow,” the resident said.

Fearing Gaddafi’s plainclothes security and chastened by his crackdown on protests in February and March, Tripoli residents are afraid to speak, making it hard to gauge the public mood. In the winding alleys of Tripoli’s old souk, few shopkeepers agreed to speak.

Asked how business was, one man said: “Fine” and turned back to his television set. Another made a ges-

ture with his hand showing the situation was rocky. In the proGaddafi neighbourhood of Abu Salim, a jeweller ’s face visibly blanched, sweat appearing on his brow, when he was approached by journalists with government minders looking on.

But snatches of conversation overheard among stacks of traditional clothes and cloth caps displayed in the old souk, suggest politics is on people’s mind. “How are you going to get into Misrata,” one shopkeeper asked a friend, before he noticed passers-by and fell silent. Elsewhere in Tripoli, a shopkeeper, who declined to give his name, said Gaddafi and his sons should all go. “This man needs to go. After 41 years, he still wants to hand Libya over to his son. Is there no one else in this country?” he said, changing the subject when customers came in. “Look what he is doing in Misrata, attacking the people. He wiped out Zawiyah and for what? So he can hand it to his son?” Fighting has raged in Misrata for weeks now, but government forces have put down a rebellion in Zawiyah, west of Tripoli.

In the petrol queues that wind around corners and block streets, scuffles are breaking out and frustration is rising as civilians wait overnight, in some cases for days, to fill up. Sanctions have made it much more difficult for Gaddafi’s government to import gasoline, and it is largely relying on one 120,000-litre -a-day refiner y in Zawiyah to serve the governmentcontrolled west. The dinar has lost value, pushing up the prices of some imported food and consumer goods on which Libya depends.

The mood differs over neighbourhoods. In areas like Tajoura or Fashloom, the focal points of protests that shook the capital early on, streets are covered in green flags and crawling with informers, but there is tension. The Tripoli resident said small numbers of youths come out at night and the discontent is spreading to other areas such as the upscale neighbourhood of Gergaresh. With the Internet switched off, young activists are finding it hard to organise and people are too scared to come out due to what many believe has been a

spate of detentions.

In the pro-Gaddafi working class area of Abu Salim, music stalls blare songs released to back Gaddafi and taunt dissidents he has vowed to weed out “zenga zenga” or “alley by alley”. Outside the national museum, set in a seafront fortress, a group of volunteers collect fingerprints of people who pledge suppor t for Gaddafi and denounce NATO inter vention in Libya.

Speaking outside a meeting of proGaddafi tribes in Aziziyah, 60 km (40 miles) outside Tripoli on Saturday, Nasreddine Abou Amaid praised Gaddafi for handing out 500 dinars a month: “People who don’t work get a salary. Hospitals are free. Bread is so cheap we feed it to the chickens and sheep.”

That view was echoed by a taxi driver, who had a green flag on his dashboard and said he volunteered as an ambulance driver by night: “These people against Gaddafi are animals. If you have lived in peace and stability for years, why would you change that? We don’t even close our doors at night.”

But those views are not universal. A driver, who gave his name as Ahmed, said Libya was not run on merit but on connections. Those close to the Gaddafis benefitted.

Others suffered, despite Libya’s vast oil wealth. “You hear about Libya and you imagine it to be different to this, an oil country, but I would not be working as a driver if we were rich,” he said. “Libya is rich.

People are poor.”

Mistrust of the Gaddafi government runs so deep amongst some, that the shopkeeper said he did not believe government reports that Gaddafi’s son Seif al-Arab and three grandchildren were killed in a NATO airstrike on Saturday. It was a ruse, he said, to force NATO to stop its attacks and to elicit public sympathy. “No one is with him except the few people who are benefitting,” he said, adding that people were simply afraid to speak out. “In Tripoli, if you say anything you are disappeared and no one knows what happened to you.” Still, At Saif ’s funeral on Monday, crowds chanted support for Gaddafi and vowed revenge for the attack. “We are all with Gaddafi’s Libya,” read one placard. — Reuters

Bahrain to try medics Continued from Page 1 Separately, two former parliament members of the country’s main Shiite party Al Wefaq were arrested, according to a senior party leader, Abdul-Jalil Khalil. Al Wefaq has been the leading political backer of Bahrain’s uprising, which was inspired by revolts in Tunisia and Egypt earlier this year.

Bahrain’s Sunni rulers declared martial law on March 15 to crush Shiites demonstrating for greater rights and freedoms. Hundreds of protesters, opposition leaders, human rights activists and lawyers have been detained since emergency rule was imposed. Dozens of doctors, nurses and other medical staff have also been arrested.

At a press conference yesterday, the justice minister read the charges against the 23 doctors and the 24 nurses, which also include “promoting efforts to bring down the government” and “harming the public by spreading false news”. Sheikh Khaled said the two protesters died because staff inflicted additional wounds on them or gave unneeded treatments.

“The medical profession was strongly abused during this period,” he said.

According to him, doctors inflicted additional wounds on a protester who arrived at SMC with a wound on his thigh, causing him to bleed to

death. He said other doctors conducted unnecessary surgery on a protester who was shot in the head, adding the doctors in these two cases would be charged with “assault that led to death”.

International rights groups say Bahrain is targeting medical professionals who treated injured demonstrators at the Salmaniya medical center, which was later overrun by the military. At least 30 people have died since the protests in Bahrain began in mid February. Among the dead are also four opposition supporters who died in custody, including a blogger.

On Thursday, four anti-government protesters were convicted of killing two policemen during the protests and sentenced to death by a military court. Three other demonstrators got life sentences. The military took over the state-run Salmaniya hospital in March, and doctors and patients said soldiers and police had conducted interrogations and detentions inside the complex.

Physicians for Human Rights said in a report last month that at least 32 health care professionals have been detained since Bahrain declared martial law. The report by the US-based group detailed attacks on physicians, medical staff and patients “with weapons, beatings and tear gas.”

Khalil, the Al Wefaq leader, said

Tuesday two of its former lawmakers Matar Matar and Jawad Fairoz - were taken into custody on Monday night.

Khalil said he does not know the details of their arrest. Last month, the tiny island nation’s Sunni rulers also ordered Al Wefaq dismantled.

Authorities also accused Bahrain’s main opposition newspaper, Al Wasat, of threatening national security. The paper will be forced to shut down next week and three of its former top editors will go on trial May 19. A source told Reuters the last edition of the newspaper would appear on May 9: “It’s for economic reasons, the commercial viability was gone.”

Bahrain is the home of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, Washington’s main counterweight against Iran’s expanding military influence in the oil-rich Gulf. Al Wefaq is the most influential party in Bahrain’s seven-member Shiite opposition. Eighteen members of the party have been elected to the nation’s 40-member parliament last year although the legislators resigned from the body in March to protest the government crackdown. The parliament is Bahrain’s only elected body. It holds limited authority since all the country’s decisions - including the appointment of government ministers - rest with the king. The Al Khalifa family has ruled Bahrain for more than 200 years.

NEW YORK: Japan’s Nissan Motor Co Ltd won a 10-year contract to build the next generation of New York’s iconic yellow taxis, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced yesterday. Nissan beat Turkish manufacturer Karsan Otomotiv and US automaker Ford Motor Co for a deal city officials estimated at around $1 billion. Nissan’s design will be based on its NV200 minivan model. “It’s going to be the safest, most comfortable, and most convenient cab the City has ever had,” Bloomberg said. “We started this process to leverage our taxi industry’s purchasing power to get the highest quality taxi,” he noted. “The new taxis will be custom-designed to meet the specific demands of carrying 600,000 passengers a day.”

On a conference call, Nissan officials said they expected to provide up to 26,000 taxi cabs over the lifetime of the contract starting in 2013, with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of about $29,000. “It’s very important for Nissan,” said Carlos Tavares, Nissan’s chairman in the Americas. “ We deserve a better presence (in the United States) than we have today despite progress in recent years.”

Officials at Nissan, which also provides taxis for Tokyo and Mexico City, said they also expected a marketing boost for the brand from television and film exposure. The city’s

This photo provided by Nissan yesterday shows a Nissan NV200 that was selected by New York City to supply the taxi fleet for the next 10 years. — AP world famous yellow cabs feature in just about every feature film or television series based in New York.

They were even the basis for the award-winning series “Taxi” that ran from 1978 to 1983, whose cast included Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd.

Nissan will be able to convert the NV200, which will get 25 miles per gallon, to run on electric-only engines beginning in 2017. The city will test the use of electric-engines in taxis using six electric Nissan Leafs, provided free to the city as part of the deal. The NV200 is the first cab to pass federal crash testing with the taxi partition and taxi equipment installed. The “Taxi of

Tomorrow” will replace the 16 models now on New York’s streets. The 10-year contract is expected to begin in 2013, when older models will begin to be phased out over the next three to five years.

Karsan’s van had gained notice because of its transparent roof for better sight-seeing and a ramp for wheelchairs. The NV200 taxi model will also include a transparent, panoramic roof panel. The Turkish manufacturer had hoped to gain favor with city officials by promising to assemble the cars in Brooklyn, vowing to use union labor. The plant would have marked a return of automaking to the city for first time in about a century. —Reuters

Panel hikes pay of MPs to KD 5,750 Continued from Page 1 and passed by the Assembly, it will be applied only in the next legislative term following the next scheduled elections in 2013. The salaries of MPs were last increased in 1996.

The legislative committee also approved a draft law calling to set up the Kuwait Information Authority which will include a number of state media institutions in preparation for dismantling the information ministry, Huraiti said. The new authority, proposed by MP Faisal Al-Duwaisan, will include under it state-run television stations, radio stations and newspapers and will mark

the first step towards scrapping the information ministry. The bill ultimately aims at transferring the information ministry into a number of independent bodies and authorities, Huraiti said.

Islamist MP Mohammad Hayef in the meantime sent a series of questions to the foreign minister on the Kuwaiti ambassador to Bhutan who is reported to have objected to the Gulf military intervention in Bahrain on his Facebook account. Hayef said that he saw the account and the ambassador’s opinion which contradicts the official position of Kuwait. He asked when the foreign ministry learned about the Facebook comment and what action had been taken.

Call by Kuwait-born courier led to Laden Continued from Page 1 If they could find the man known as Al-Kuwaiti, they’d find bin Laden. The revelation that intelligence gleaned from the CIA’s so-called black sites helped kill bin Laden was seen as vindication for many intelligence officials who have been repeatedly investigated and criticized for their involvement in a program that involved the harshest interrogation methods in US history. “We got beat up for it, but those efforts led to this great day,” said Marty Martin, a retired CIA officer who for years led the hunt for bin Laden.

Mohammed did not discuss Al-Kuwaiti while being subjected to the simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding, former officials said. He acknowledged knowing him many months later under standard interrogation, they said, leaving it once again up for debate as to whether the harsh technique was a valuable tool or an unnecessarily violent tactic.

It took years of work before the CIA identified the courier’s real name: Sheikh Abu Ahmed, a Pakistani man born in Kuwait. When they did identify him, he was nowhere to be found. The CIA’s sources didn’t know where he was hiding. Bin Laden was famously insistent that no phones or computers be used near him, so the eavesdroppers at the National Security Agency kept coming up cold. Ahmed was identified by detainees as a mid-level operative who helped Al-Qaeda members and their families find safe havens. But his whereabouts were such a mystery to US intelligence that, according to Guantanamo Bay documents, one detainee said Ahmed was wounded while fleeing US forces during the invasion of Afghanistan and later died in the arms of the detainee.

But in the middle of last year, Ahmed had a telephone conversation with someone being monitored by US intelligence, according to an American official, who like others interviewed for this story spoke only on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive operation. Ahmed was located somewhere away from bin Laden’s hideout when he had the discussion, but it was enough to help intelligence officials locate and watch Ahmed.

In Aug 2010, Ahmed unknowingly led authorities to a compound in the northeast Pakistani town of Abbottabad, where Al-Libi had once lived. The walls surrounding the property were as high as 18 feet and topped with barbed wire. Intelligence officials had known about the house for years, but they always suspected that bin Laden would be surrounded by heavily armed security guards. Nobody patrolled the compound in Abbottabad. In fact, nobody came or went. And no telephone or Internet lines ran from the compound.

The CIA soon believed that bin Laden was hiding in plain sight, in a hideout especially built to go unnoticed.

But since bin Laden never traveled and nobody could get onto the compound without passing through two security gates, there was no way to be sure. Despite that uncertainty, intelligence officials realized this could represent the best chance ever to get to bin Laden. They decided not to share the information with anyone, including staunch counterterrorism allies such as Britain, Canada and Australia.

By mid-February, the officials were convinced a “highvalue target” was hiding in the compound. President Barack Obama wanted to take action. “They were confident and their confidence was growing: ‘This is different.

This intelligence case is different. What we see in this compound is different than anything we’ve ever seen before’,” John Brennan, the president’s top counterterrorism adviser, said Monday. “I was confident that we had the basis to take action.”

Options were limited. The compound was in a residen-

tial neighborhood in a sovereign country. If Obama ordered an airstrike and bin Laden was not in the compound, it would be a huge diplomatic problem. Even if Obama was right, obliterating the compound might make it nearly impossible to confirm bin Laden’s death.

Said Brennan, “The president had to evaluate the strength of that information, and then made what I believe was one of the most gutsiest calls of any president in recent memory.” Brennan told CNN yesterday that “there was no single piece of information that was an ‘aha’ moment.” He said officials took “bits and pieces” of intelligence gathered and analyzed over a long period of time to nail down the leads they needed.

Obama tapped two dozen members of the Navy’s elite SEAL Team Six to carry out a raid with surgical accuracy. Before dawn Monday morning, a pair of helicopters left Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan. The choppers entered Pakistani airspace using sophisticated technology intended to evade that country’s radar systems, a US official said. Officially, it was a kill-or-capture mission, since the US doesn’t kill unarmed people trying to surrender. But it was clear from the beginning that whoever was behind those walls had no intention of surrendering, two US officials said.

The helicopters lowered into the compound, dropping the SEALs behind the walls. No shots were fired, but shortly after the team hit the ground, one of the helicopters came crashing down and rolled onto its side for reasons the government has yet to explain. None of the SEALs was injured, however, and the mission continued uninterrupted. With the CIA and White House monitoring the situation in real time - presumably by live satellite feed or video carried by the SEALs - the team stormed the compound. Thanks to sophisticated satellite monitoring, US forces knew they’d likely find bin Laden’s family on the second and third floors of one of the buildings on the property, officials said.

The SEALs secured the rest of the property first, then proceeded to the room where bin Laden was hiding. A firefight ensued, Brennan said. Ahmed and his brother were killed, officials said. Then, the SEALs killed bin Laden with a bullet just above his left eye, blowing off part of his skull, another official said. Using the call sign for his visual identification, one of the soldiers communicated that “Geronimo” had been killed in action, according to a US official. Bin Laden’s body was immediately identifiable, but the US also conducted DNA testing that identified him with near 100 percent certainty, senior administration officials said.

Photo analysis by the CIA, confirmation on site by a woman believed to be bin Laden’s wife, who was wounded, and matching physical features such as bin Laden’s height all helped confirm the identification. At the White House, there was no doubt. “I think the accomplishment that very brave personnel from the United States government were able to realize yesterday is a defining moment in the war against Al-Qaeda, the war on terrorism, by decapitating the head of the snake known as Al-Qaeda,” Brennan said.

US forces searched the compound and flew away with documents, hard drives and DVDs that could provide valuable intelligence about Al-Qaeda, a US official said.

The entire operation took about 40 minutes, officials said.

Bin Laden’s body was flown to the USS Carl Vinson in the North Arabian sea, a senior defense official said. There, aboard a US warship, officials conducted a traditional Islamic burial ritual. Bin Laden’s body was washed and placed in a white sheet. He was placed in a weighted bag that, after religious remarks by a military officer, was slipped into the sea about 2 am EDT (0600 GMT) Monday.

Said the president, “I think we can all agree this is a good day for America.” — AP

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sp orts Alonso in fatal car crash MADRID: Bolton Wanderers defender Marcos Alonso was involved in a fatal traffic accident in Madrid on Monday and is being investigated for charges including drunk driving and reckless homicide, a Madrid court said yesterday.

The smash occured early on Monday morning and resulted in the death of a man in his early twenties and injuries to two passengers who were all travelling in Alonso’s vehicle, a court spokesman said.

Alonso, 20, was released late on Monday and is also being investigated for causing reckless injury and infringing traffic regulations, the court statement said.

“Furthermore, the judge has moved to confiscate (Alonso’s) driving licence and impose a driving ban covering the whole of Spain during the legal process,” it added. Alonso joined Bolton Wanderers from Real Madrid last summer and signed a three-year deal with the English Premier League club. —Reuters

Thailand expelled from Olympic qualifiers — report BANGKOK: Thailand have been kicked out of the 2012 men’s Olympic qualifying competition round for fielding an ineligible player, local media reported yesterday.

The Football Association of Thailand (FAT) told the Bangkok Post they would appeal after being thrown out following a first round penalty shootout victory over Palestine.

The Thais were set to face Bahrain in the next round of regional qualifiers for next year’s London Olympics before the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) stepped in, according to the paper.

The AFC punished Thailand for fielding suspended player Sucharit Chanthakul during the first leg in February, the report added.

“We have been formally informed by the AFC about the matter,” FAT secretary general Ong-art Korsinkha told the paper. “We are appealing.”Neither the AFC or FAT were immediately available for comment.

Soccer’s governing body FIFA would not confirm or deny Thailand’s expulsion but said an investigation was under way. “FIFA has a case open with Thailand,” FIFA told Reuters in an email, adding that it could not comment further.—Reuters

Kraft to leave Bayern BERLIN: Thomas Kraft, the young goalkeeper who was at the centre of Bayern Munich’s decision to fire coach Louis Van Gaal last month, will leave the club at the end of the season, the Bavarians said yesterday.

Bayern also announced that 36-year-old goalkeeper Joerg Butt will extend his contract with the club, who are widely reported to be chasing Schalke 04’s Manuel Neuer, for another year.

“Thomas Kraft’s understandable goal is to be the number one,” sporting director Christian Nerlinger told the club’s website (www.bayern.t-home.de).

“That is something we cannot guarantee him.”

Butt has regained his place in the first team under interim coach Andries Jonker following Van Gaal’s dismissal three weeks ago. —Reuters

Giants fall to Nationals

BOSTON: Los Angeles Angels catcher Jeff Mathis (left) loses control of the ball as Boston Red Sox’s Dustin Pedroia scores on a two-run double by Adrian Gonzalez during the seventh inning. —AP

Red Sox down Angels BOSTON: Dustin Pedroia fouled off nine of 13 pitches against Jered Weaver before lining a go-ahead, two-run single that helped the Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels 9-5 on Monday.

The loss was Weaver’s first of the season. Weaver (6-1) scratched Sunday due to a stomach virus, gave up three runs, six hits, struck out six and walked one over six innings. He failed to become the first pitcher since 1891 to go 7-0 by May 2 or sooner.

Sadie McMahon of the Baltimore Orioles from the American Association was the last to open 7-0 by the second day of May. Adrian Gonzalez had a threerun double and Clay Buchholz (2-3) pitched 6 2-3 solid innings for the win.

Yankees 5, Tigers 3 At Detroit, Nick Swisher hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth

inning off closer Jose Valverde as New York handed Detroit its seventh straight defeat. The Tigers rallied from a 3-0 deficit, tying it in the seventh on Alex Avila’s second solo home run of the night, but the Yankees broke through in their last at-bat against Valverde (2-1).

With runners on first and second and one out, Swisher singled up the middle and Mark Teixeira scored from second with a slide.

Alex Rodriguez added another run when he scored from third on a passed ball by Avila.

White Sox 6, Orioles 2 At Chicago, Paul Konerko homered twice and Mark Buehrle pitched 6 2-3 scoreless innings to help Chicago beat Baltimore and snap a five-game slide. Konerko hit a two-run home run and a solo shot for the White Sox, who won only their fourth in 19 games to avoid a four-game sweep.

Juan Pierre had an RBI single and Alex Rios added a solo homer to help the White Sox end a sevengame home skid with their first win at US Cellular Field since April 12.

Buehrle (2-3) scattered eight hits, walked four and struck out four.

Athletics 5, Rangers 4 At Oakland, California, Hideki Matsui hit the first pitch of the 10th inning from Darren Oliver into the right-field seats for a game-winning home run that lifted Oakland to a victory over Texas.

Grant Balfour (2-1) walked three batters in the top of the 10th to load the bases for pinch-hitter Yorvit Torrealba, who struck out swinging on the right-hander ’s 30th pitch. Josh Willingham hit a tying home run leading off the eighth against Texas reliever Arthur Rhodes, and the A’s took three of four from the reigning AL champions. —AP

Higgins beats Trump to claim fourth world title LONDON: Scotland’s John Higgins beat Judd Trump of England 18-15 on Monday to win the world snooker championship for the fourth time.

Higgins held off the exuberant 21-year-old Trump who had lit up the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield with brilliant potting in his bid to become the youngest world champion since Stephen Hendry in 1990.

Trump led 10-7 overnight but Higgins won six frames in the afternoon to edge 13-12 ahead and he remained in control of the match in the evening session to clinch the title.

The 35-year-old Higgins, world champion in 1998, 2007 and 2009, returned to the sport in November after serving a six-month suspension for bringing the game into disrepute.

He was at the centre of allegations of match-fixing which were reported during last year’s world championship. Higgins was later cleared of match-fixing but received his ban for not reporting an illegal approach to discuss throwing matches.

“It has been amazing, an unbelievable 12 months,” he told BBC television. “It was really tough matchplay today. I knew I had to come into the afternoon session and play great and I think I did that to get back into the match and make Judd think a little bit.

“He was the better player. He was playing a brand of snooker I have never seen before in my life. It was unbelievable the amount of long shots he was potting, it was incredible. “It was great to watch-we have got the new sensation of the game,” Higgins said of Trump.—Reuters

WASHINGTON: Tom Gorzelanny allowed only three hits in eight sharp innings against a struggling San Francisco lineup, and Michael Morse and Jerry Hairston Jr. drove in runs for Washington to help the Nationals beat the Giants 2-0 Monday.

Gorzelanny (1-2) hadn’t lasted eight innings in a game since Aug. 12, 2007, when he threw a shutout for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Giants. Drew Storen pitched the ninth for his sixth save in six chances, closing out a game that took just 2 hours, 2 minutes — the fastest nine-inning game in the majors this season, according to STATS LLC. Madison Bumgarner (0-5) retired Washington’s first 12 batters and didn’t allow an earned run but wound up with the loss because of two unearned runs in the seventh, his last inning. He allowed four hits.

The World Series champions were shut out for the third time in their last six games, including twice during this series, when Washington took three of four.

Dodgers 5, Cubs 2 At Los Angeles, Andre Ethier extended his hitting streak to 28 games with an infield single that capped a three-run fifth inning for Los Angeles.

Clayton Kershaw (3-3) pitched seven innings, allowing two runs and eight hits, including Alfonso Soriano’s major league -leading 11th homer leading off the seventh.

The 23-year-old left-hander struck out four and did not walk a batter for the first time in seven starts this season. Vicente Padilla pitched a per fect eighth and Jonathan Broxton did likewise in the ninth for his sixth save in seven attempts.

Ethier, halfway to the record 56game streak Joe DiMaggio had in 1941, is three games shy of the Dodgers’ franchise record, set by Willie Davis in 1969.

Marlins 6, Cardinals 5 At St. Louis, Mike Stanton hit a tying home run in the fifth inning, and tripled and scored the goahead run in the eighth to lift Florida past St. Louis. Gaby Sanchez ended Kyle Lohse’s 22inning scoreless inning streak with his first grand slam, also Florida’s major league-leading third of the year.

Edward Mujica (3-1) allowed a walk in two scoreless innings and Leo Nunez finished for his 10th save in 10 tries after the Cardinals put two men on in the ninth.

The Marlins improved to 18-9 — the franchise’s best start — and are tied with the Phillies for the NL East

WASHINGTON: Nationals starter Tom Gorzelanny delivers a pitch against the San Francisco Giants during the second inning of a baseball game. —AP lead. Mitchell Boggs (0-2) allowed Stanton’s triple in the eighth to take the loss.

Braves 6, Brewers 2 At Atlanta, Alex Gonzalez hit a three-run double as Atlanta finally solved Yovani Gallardo in a win over Milwaukee.

David Ross homered in the third inning before the Braves chased Gallardo (2-2) in the sixth. Gonzalez cleared the bases with his double

before scoring on a single by Nate McLouth.

Gallardo began the day 3-0 with a 0.96 ERA in five career star ts against Atlanta, including a two-hit shutout in a 1-0 win April 5 at Milwaukee. The four runs he allowed in the sixth matched his total over 37 1-3 innings in his first five starts against the Braves. Jair Jurrjens (3-0) gave up two runs and seven hits with no walks in 7 2-3 innings. —AP

MLB results/standings Major League Baseball results and standings on Monday: Oakland 5, Texas 4 (10 innings); NY Yankees 5, Detroit 3; Washington 2, San Francisco 0; Boston 9, LA Angels 5; Atlanta 6, Milwaukee 2; Cincinnati, Houston (postponed); Chicago White Sox 6, Baltimore 2; Florida 6, St. Louis 5.

American League East Division NY Yankees Tampa Bay Baltimore Boston Toronto

W 17 15 13 13 13

L 9 13 14 15 15

PCT .654 .536 .481 .464 .464

Central Division Cleveland 19 8 .704 Kansas City 15 13 .536 Detroit 12 17 .414 Chicago Sox 11 19 .367 Minnesota 9 18 .333 LA Angels Texas Oakland Seattle

Western Division 16 13 .552 16 13 .552 15 14 .517 13 16 .448

GB 3 4.5 5 5 4.5 8 9.5 10 1 3

National League Eastern Division Florida 18 9 .667 Philadelphia 18 9 .667 Atlanta 15 15 .500 Washington 14 14 .500 NY Mets 12 16 .429

4.5 4.5 6.5

St Louis Cincinnati Pittsburgh Milwaukee Chicago Cubs Houston

Central Division 16 13 .552 14 14 .500 14 15 .483 13 15 .464 12 16 .429 11 17 .393

1.5 2 2.5 3.5 4.5

Colorado LA Dodgers San Francisco Arizona San Diego

Western Division 17 9 .654 15 15 .500 13 15 .464 12 15 .444 11 18 .379

4 5 5.5 7.5

Dialed In and Uncle Mo favorites for Kentucky

SHEFFIELD: Judd Trump of Britain plays a shot during the World Championship Snooker tournament final against John Higgins of Scotland, at the Crucible Theatre. —AP

NE W YORK : Uncle M o and Dialed In were still looming as the likely favorites for Saturday’s $2 million Kentucky Derby even after more than a week of heavy rain threatened to disrupt the final preparations of some runners. The Churchill Downs track was reduced to a sloppy mudpit by almost a fortnight of torrential downpours, forcing trainers to patiently wait for breaks in the rain before sending their horses on the track for their final workouts.

But the foul weather was expected to clear in time for Saturday ’s 137th Run For the Roses and has not yet had any impact on the makeup of the field or the early betting markets.

The final field and post positions will be decided yesterday with Uncle Mo and Dialed In still battling for outright favoritism in one of the most open

Kentucky Derbies in years.

New York trainer Nick Zito, who prepares Dialed In, said his three-year-old colt had no problems handling the sloppy track after having a long gallop, completing two laps of the track.

“He liked it,” Zito said. “I can’t remember ever galloping him on a wet track but it looked like he did all right.” Dialed In, who will be ridden by Julien Leparoux, joined Uncle Mo as the pre-race favorite after his brilliant win in last month’s Florida Derby, storming home from last place.

Uncle Mo had been the outright favorite for the past six months after he was named last season as the best 2-year-old colt in the United States with a runaway win in the Breeders Cup Juvenile, held at Churchill Downs.

Uncle Mo’s grip on favoritism for the race was loosened when

he suffered the first defeat of his career at last month’s Wood Memorial in New York and was then reported to be battling a gastro-intestinal infection.

H is trainer Todd Pletcher brought the colt to Kentucky early in the hope that he might improve in time to take his place in the race and was full of enthusiasm after he completed his most recent workout, over five furlongs, in just over a minute. “It was a textbook 1:01 work , which is just what we were af ter,” Pletcher told reporters. “I said he needed to have a perfect three weeks if he were to run in the Derby and so far we have.

“His work today was better than the last one he had and his appetite and appearance are much better than they’ve been.

We’ve still got a week to go but we are where we want to be right now.”—Reuters

y

A

16

e niv rsar n

Years

WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011

S P ORT S

Rose wins MVP: Source CHICAGO: A person familiar with the decision says Derrick Rose has become the NBA’s youngest Most Valuable Player and joins Michael Jordan as the only Bulls players to win the award.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because a formal announcement has not been made.

That was due to come yesterday, with a formal presentation before Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The news is hardly a surprise after Rose had a spectacular season in which he led Chicago to the best record in the league. He averaged 25 points and 7.7 assists in the regular season.

Rose ended the two-year reign of LeBron James as MVP and the 22-year-old supplanted Wes Unseld, who at 23 was the rookie of the year and youngest MVP with Baltimore Bullets for the 1968-69 season.

Rose still has some way to go before he catches Jordan’s five MVPs, but he is off to a good start. In his third year, the dynamic point guard led the Bulls to their best season since the Jordan-Scottie Pippen championship era.

“If I get it? It’ll be nice, unbelievable, a goal that in the beginning in the year I said I wanted to achieve,” Rose said recently when asked what the award would mean to him. “It would be huge, not only for me, but for the city.” A product of Chicago’s South Side, Rose continued his impressive rise this season.

He established himself as one of the top players in the league after going from rookie of the year to an All-Star in his first two seasons with one of the best all-around performances by a point guard.

For all the groaning over the Bulls missing out on James, Wade and Bosh in free agency, they did quite well for themselves anyway.

Looking for more after back-to-back 41-win seasons and first-round playoff exits, they fired coach Vinny Del Negro and replaced him with Tom Thibodeau. Then, they landed Carlos Boozer and supporting players like Kyle Korver, giving the Bulls the inside scoring presence they were lacking and one of the deepest rotations.

It all added up to this — a 62-20 record and homecour t advantage throughout the playoffs. They advanced past the first round for just the second time since the championship era, and the biggest reason for all that, of course, was Rose.

He showed up to training camp openly wondering why he couldn’t be MVP. Then, he backed it up. He ranked seventh in scoring and 10th in assists, making him the only player this season in the top 10 in both categories. The only other Bulls player to do that was Jordan in 1988-89, when he led the league in scoring (32.5 points) and finished 10th in assists.

Throw in a 4.1 rebounding average, and Rose joins another elite group. He’s the seventh player in league history to average at least 25 points, 7.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds, along with Jordan, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Larry Bird, Wade and James, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. In the postseason, he’s been just as impressive. He scored 39 and 36 points in the first two playoff games against Indiana.

Then he shook off two sub-par performances not to mention a sprained left ankle to score 25 points in Game 5 as the top-seeded Bulls closed out what had been a tight first-round series with a 116-89 victory.

They stumbled in G ame 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against Atlanta, losing 103-95.

Rose scored 24 points, but he hit just 11 of 27 shots and did not attempt a free throw.

He also limped off the court after twisting his left ankle in the closing seconds, sending a chill through Chicago, but he said he expects to be ready for Game 2 today.

Rose has been a star in Chicago since high school.

He helped Simeon Career Academy become the first Chicago Public League team to win back-to-back Illinois state championships, then led the University of Memphis to the NCAA championship game in his lone college season before the Bulls drafted him with

HH the Amir with Shooting Board

Curtain to fall on shooting season

By Abdellatif Sharaa KUWAIT: The 2010/2011 shooting sport season will come to a close with the organization of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Annual Shooting Sport Tournament. The closing ceremony will be held on Saturday under the patronage of HH the Amir who will be represented by minister of Social Affairs and Labor Dr. Mohammad Al-Afasi.

President of the Arab Shooting Federation, Member of the International

Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Administrative Council Engineer Duaij AlOtaibi said he thanks HH the Amir on behalf of the Arab and Kuwait Shooting communities for his unlimited support of sports in general and shooting in particular. He said Kuwait shooting has been able to occupy advanced places regionally and internationally both at the technical and administrative levels.

Al-Otaibi said Arab shooting witnessed major developments at all levels and hope to see more Arab championships being

organized especially after the success of the Arab Championship for the 10m Air pistol and rifle that was held in Jordan last month. He welcomed the participation of UAE and Qatar shooting teams in HH the Amir tournament especially that they are considered among the best shooters in Asia.

Meanwhile Secretary General of the Arab and Kuwait Shooting Federations Obeid Munahi Al-Osaimi said the Shooting Sport Club is ready for the start of HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad

Mavs rally to stun Lakers LOS ANGELES: Dirk Nowitzki scored 28 points and hit two go-ahead free throws with 19.5 seconds left as Dallas rallied for a 96-94 victory over Los Angeles on Monday night in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series.

Nowitzki had 14 rebounds for the Mavericks, who rallied from a 16-point deficit in the second half of the teams’ first postseason meeting in 23 years.

Bryant scored 21 of his 36 points in the second half for the Lakers, but he fell down while trying to get the ball from Pau Gasol with 5 seconds to play. After one free throw by Jason Kidd, Bryant missed a 3pointer just before the buzzer.

Game 2 is Wednesday night at Staples Center.

Gasol had 15 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the second-seeded Lakers, who lost their second straight series opener. The Mavericks trailed 92-87 with 3:32 to play, but finished on a 9-2 run.

Hawks 103, Bulls 95 At Chicago, Joe Johnson scored 34 points as Atlanta beat top-seeded Chicago in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Bulls got a scare when Derrick Rose came up limping at the end of the game. He stepped on Jamal Crawford’s foot as he dribbled out the final seconds and was helped off by teammates and a trainer.

The Hawks went on a 15-2 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters to take an 80-71 lead with 10:27 remaining. Johnson scored eight points during that stretch. Game 2 is tonight at the United Center.

Johnson hit 12 of 18 shots and all five 3-point attempts. Crawford scored 22 points for the Hawks, who shot 51.3 percent. Rose scored 24 points on 11of-27 shooting. Luol Deng scored 21 points for Chicago. —AP

LOS ANGELES: Dallas Mavericks’ Jason Kidd (bottom) passes the ball while defended by Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant during the second half in Game 1 of a second-round NBA playoff basketball series. —AP

Bruins take lead over Flyers PHILADELPHIA: David Krejci scored 14:00 into overtime as the Boston Bruins beat Philadelphia 3-2 on Monday to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Tim Thomas was phenomenal in net, stopping 46 straight shots af ter the Flyers took a quick 2-0 lead. The series now shifts to Boston for the next two games today and Friday.

K rejci fired a one -timer from one knee that ricocheted off the back off the net and back onto the ice. Play continued until officials could review the call.

But the goal was clearly good.

“At first I thought it was in. Then they kept playing,” Krejci said.

James van Riemsdyk had a breakout game for the Flyers. He scored two goals and was all over the ice trying to help the Flyers win at least one at home.

Instead, they have to rally from another deficit.

Chris Kelly and Brad Marchand also scored for the Bruins, who have taken a seemingly commanding lead on the Flyer s for th e se cond s t ra i ght ye a r.

Boston led 3-0 in the East semis a year ago before the Flyers won four straight PHILADELPHIA: Zdeno Chara No. 33 of the Boston Bruins defends on a shot by Danny to advance - including a rally from a 3-0 Briere No. 48 of the Philadelphia Flyers during the third period of Game Two of the hole in Game 7. Thomas was on the bench for that collapse. —AP Eastern Conference Semifinals during the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. —AFP

US defeat norway, Czechs crush Danes BRATISLAVA: United States staged a thirdperiod recovery from two goals down to defeat Norway 4-2 at the world ice hockey championships on Monday.

A young US squad conceded two firstperiod goals to Ken Andre Olimb and Anders Bastiansen but finally got their act together to make it two wins out of two in Group C.

Duaij Al-Otaibi with HH the Amir

Nick Palmieri scored twice for the Americans and Jack Skille and Craig Smith also tallied. “We set off badly ... we were slower but we managed to recover,” US centre Yan Stastny told reporters.

Norway must now beat Austria today to escape the relegation round. Holders Czech Republic thrashed Denmark 6-0 in Group D

with Michael Frolik and Milan Michalek scoring two goals apiece.

Sweden, shocked by arch rivals Norway over the weekend, regrouped to beat Austria 3-0 in Group C thanks to Niklas Persson’s double and Magnus Paajarvi’s goal while Finland needed overtime to down Latvia 3-2 in Group D. —Reuters

Championship.

He said the club witnessed unprecedented number of shooters from both sexes who wish to be part of the tournament as most of them began their training mornings and evenings at the Sabah AlAhmad Olympic Shooting Complex which is among the best five such facilities in the world.

Al-Osaimi said activities of the tournament include: Skeet, Trap, Double Trap, 10 m Air Pistol and Rifle, 50m Rifle, 50 m free pistol in addition to Olympic Rules Archery.

Olazabal banks on local knowledge MADRID: Injury-plagued Jose Maria Olazabal will rely on local knowledge to try to get his game back into shape when he plays his first Spanish Open for seven years this week.

The 45-year-old double U.S. Masters champion is using 2003 British Amateur champion Alex Larrazabal, brother of regular tour player Pablo, as his caddie when he plays the new El Prat course near Barcelona this week. Spaniard Larrazabal, 31, honed his game at El Prat and knows inside out the new layout designed by Greg Norman and opened in 2004. Olazabal’s recent career has been plagued by a second bout of arthritic problems and he is looking for light at the end of the tunnel.

Europe’s Ryder Cup captain was only able to play three events last season and this year he has made only two cuts in six starts, leaving him ranked a lowly 161st on Europe’s money-list (Race to Dubai).

“I’m struggling...don’t seem to find my way,” Olazabal told reporters at El Prat on Tuesday. “My health is OK, not a hundred per cent but bearable. It’s certainly no excuse not to play well.

“Alex knows El Prat well, he has played competitive golf and he can help me make decisions. He has a fighting spirit which keeps me going.”

Larrazabal said he was looking forward to working with Olazabal. “It’s not a long course but the greens are deceptive and the second nine is more strategic than the first,” he said. —Reuters

Williams hire ex-McLaren spy designer LONDON: Williams named Mike Coughlan, the designer sacked by McLaren four years ago for his role in a $100 million Formula One spying controversy, as their new chief engineer yesterday.

The struggling former champions said Coughlan, who has been working in the US NASCAR series with Michael Waltrip Racing since leaving F1 in 2007, would be joining next month.

At the same time, Williams-still without a point from three races this season-announced that Australian technical director Sam Michael and chief aerodynamicist Jon Tomlinson had resigned and will leave at the end of the year.

Williams chairman Adam Parr told reporters he had also tendered his resignation to team co-founders Frank Williams and Patrick Head, who will retire this year, and shareholder Christian ‘ Toto’ Wolff but they had rejected it.

Parr had warned at this month’s Chinese Grand Prix that the Cosworthpowered team, whose drivers are experienced Brazilian Rubens Barrichello and Venezuelan rookie Pastor Maldonado, had to make changes.

Coughlan’s appointment will be controversial, even though the 52-year-old Briton has served out a two-year ban from the sport for his role in the socalled ‘Spygate’ affair of 2007 that cost McLaren a record $100 million fine and the loss of all their constructors’ points.

McLaren sacked their chief designer after he was found to have a 780-page dossier of secret Ferrari information in his possession. Ferrari also dismissed Nigel Stepney, the British engineer accused of passing the information to Coughlan.

“I will dedicate myself to the team

and to ensuring that we return to competitiveness while respecting the ethical standards with which Williams has always been synonymous,” Coughlan said in a statement.

A Ferrari spokesman said the Italian team had “nothing to say on other team’s choices.” Parr said Coughlan had wanted to return to Britain for family reasons and would be responsible for next year’s FW34 car, as well as “driving forward the engineering process” while Michael focused on this year’s car.

He said the team had carefully considered Coughlan’s past but had decided that he had served out his penalty and learned his lesson. “Everyone has the right to move beyond that.

Otherwise what is portrayed as a twoyear penalty becomes a lifetime penalty and I think that is just not right...that experience makes you a better person,” said Parr. “He’s got unfinished business in Formula One, he wants to recover his name and his reputation and prove what he can do,” he said. “I think he brings some very necessary skills and experience to this team.”

Before he joined McLaren in 2002, Coughlan had worked for Lotus, Benetton, Tyrrell, Ferrari and Arrows.

“At the end of the year we will make a decision whether Mike becomes technical director or whether he remains as a chief engineer and we bring in someone else alongside him who can further strengthen the team,” said Parr.

He added that the team would be looking for a new chief aerodynamicist to join before the end of the season. Williams Grand Prix holdings made their market debut in Frankfurt in March after an initial public offering of 2.4 million existing shares, representing a 24 percent stake in the company. —Reuters

WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011

sports

Rain and Simmons end W Indies losing streak

Kuwait Team with Sheikh Dari Fahed

Kuwait see off Norway in ICC WCL Tournament Murad rips through Norway’s top order BOTSWANA: In the second match of the ongoing ICC WCL Division 7 tournament at Botswana, Kuwait displayed their true talent to overcome a stiff resistance to defeat Norway by a huge margin of 7 wickets at a match played at Gaborone, Botswana.

It was a combined team effort by Kuwait whose left arm fast bowlerMohammed Murad ripped the Norway top order batsmen with some fiery and hostile spell which fetched him 6 wickets for just 39 runs and the man of the match award.

Thereafter, some scintillating batting display by Irfan Bhatti, Sibtain Raza and Hisham helped Kuwait to win the second match in comfortable fashion.

Norway won the toss and decided to bat first but their decision back fired as the tall and lanky Mohammad Murad, the gifted Kuwait left arm fast bowler, fired with brutal force to send the top four Norway batsmen to the pavilion.

In came Norway’s most experienced batsman Ethesham Ul-Haque and along with young Shahbaz Butt exhibited brilliant batting skills to post 155 runs for the sixth wicket. Sensing the requirement of keeping their head cool, both the batsmen displayed perfect technique to combat the Kuwait spinners Abdulla Akunzada and Azmatullah who bowled their heart out.

Ethesham with his nimble foot work and explicit timing slowly started flourishing and rotated the strike to keep the score-

board moving. Shahabaz was more adventurous and stepped out to loft spinners.

Ethesham finally holed out to Abid for a patient 69 runs while Shahabaz remained not out with a splendid 72 runs. Norway scored 246 runs in 50 overs for the loss of 7 wickets.

Chasing 247, Kuwait made a rollicking start with Irfan Bhatti & Abid put on 46 runs opening partnership. Kuwait soon lost and saud Qamar in quick succession and for once Norway were on top.

Irfan Bhatti scored a polished 64 runs with 7 fours & a six to long on to give Kuwait a solid start.

But it was the experienced duo of Sibtain Raza and skipper Hisham combined together to post a match winning partnership of 168 runs to notch a memorable victory. Both the players who had been playing together since their school days exhibited perfect understanding and south paw Sibtain was at his best cutting and pulling with awesome power.

Hisham played a sedate innings in the beginning but soon found his rythem to play another wonderful innings of 64 runs which contaioned 8 fours & one huge six.

The stylish Sibtain Raza matched his skipper to notch up 79 unbeaten runs with 9 hits to the fence. Kuwait won the match in 44 overs and currently are placed top on the table. Norway 246/7 (50 overs) Kuwait 249/3 (44.2 overs). Kuwait won by 7 wickets (with 34 balls remaining).

BRIDGETOWN: Mohammad Hafeez’ second career hundred was upstaged by rain and a blistering 76 from Lendl Simmons that condemned Pakistan to a one -run defeat under the Duckworth-Lewis Method in the fourth One -day International on Monday.

Pakistan were left to nurse their wounds, when the inclement weather that has dogged this island over the last week interrupted, as West Indies were chasing a revised target of 223 from 39 overs.

For the West Indies it ended a run of eight straight defeats in this format of the game by Pakistan and a recent run of six successive defeats against all opposition.

A short ball from Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi was swung high over mid-wicket for six by Dwayne Bravo to formally carry West Indies to 154 for four - the exact total they required - from 29.5 overs under the D/L Method to claim their first victory of the series.

Pakistan lead the five-match series 3-1 with the final ODI to be played on Thursday at the Guyana National Stadium.

Pakistan had stumbled, after Hafeez struck seven fours and three sixes in the top score of 121 from 138 deliveries, and shared a century second-wicket stand with Asad Shafiq to lead the visitors to 248 for nine from their allocation of 50 overs.

After the Pakistanis were sent into bat on a hard, true Kensington Oval pitch under overcast skies, Hafeez anchored the batting, and reached his milestone from 128 balls with a flick through mid-wicket for a single off Ravi Rampaul in the 42nd over.

He added 153 for the second wicket with Shafiq, whose 71 from 102 balls contained four boundaries, before leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo continued to bowl impressively, taking three for 37 from his allotment of 10 overs to trigger a batting collapse.

The visitors lost their way in the last 10 overs, losing seven wickets for 66 runs, to slide from a comfortable 182 for two, with Dwayne Bravo taking two for 60 from his 10 overs, Kemar Roach two for 67 from 10 overs, and two run outs helping to undermine them.

Junaid Khan set West Indies back early, when he had makeshift opener Kirk Edwards caught behind for a first-ball duck in the second over.

But Pakistan were put on their heels, when Darren Bravo joined

BARBADOS: West Indies’ Darren Bravo beats the throw to avoid a run out during the fourth one-day international cricket match against Pakistan in Bridgetown. —AP compatriot Simmons, and they put on 56 for the second wicket with a volley of strokes.

Tanvir Ahmed was the target for some special treatment from Bravo and Simmons, when they smote three fours and one six from his fourth over.

Khan made the breakthrough, when Bravo was caught at third

man for 21, but Ramnaresh Sarwan, making a return to the side for the first time since losing his place following the World Cup, kept the momentum going with 28 in a stand of 75 with Simmons.

Hafeez showed his all-round ability, when he had Sarwan caught at long-off for 28 in the 25th over before Tanvir gained his revenge on

Simmons, when the West Indies opener was caught on the cover boundary in the next over to leave the home team 135 for four.

Pakistan’s bowlers tried to tie down the West Indies pair of the elder Bravo and Marlon Samuels, but they failed, and West Indies could celebrate a victory at long last.—AFP

SCOREBOARD BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Final scoreboard from the fourth one day international between West Indies and Pakistan on Monday at Kensington Oval: Pakistan Mohammad Hafeez b Bishoo 121 Ahmed Shehzad c D.J. Bravo b Roach 6 Asad Shafiq c Simmons b D.J. Bravo 71 Shahid Afridi c Rampaul b Roach 8 Misbah-ul-Haq b Bishoo 5 Hammad Azam c Roach b Bishoo 1 Usman Salahuddin run out 5 Mohammad Salman run out 0 Tanvir Ahmed b D.J. Bravo 18 Saeed Ajmal not out 5 Junaid Khan not out 1 Extras (lb1, w5, nb1) 7 Total (9 wkts, 50 overs) 248 Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Ahmed Shehzad, 4.3 overs); 2-168 (Asad Shafiq, 38.2); 3-182 (Shahid Afridi, 40.4); 4-210 (Misbah-ul-Haq, 43.5); 5-219 (Mohammad Hafeez, 45.1); 6-220 (Hammad Azam, 45.4); 7-220 (Mohammad Salman, 46.1); 8-236 (Usman Salahuddin, 48.4); 9-244 (Tanvir Ahmed, 49.3) Bowling: Roach 10-0-67-2 (nb1, w1); Rampaul 10-2-37-0 (w1); D.J.

Bravo 10-0-60-2 (w2); Sammy 10-0-46-0 (w1); Bishoo 10-0-37-3 Overs: 50 West Indies (target: 154 off 29.5 overs) L. Simmons c Salahuddin b Tanvir Ahmed 76 K. Edwards c Mohammad Salman b Junaid Khan 0 D.M. Bravo c Tanvir Ahmed b Junaid Khan 21 R. Sarwan c Junaid Khan b Mohammad Hafeez 28 M. Samuels not out 8 D.J. Bravo not out 11 Extras (w9, nb1) 10 TOTAL (4 wkts) 154 D. Sammy, C. Baugh, K. Roach, D. Bishoo, R. Rampaul did not bat Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Edwards, 0.2 overs); 2-57 (D.M. Bravo, 8.4); 3-132 (Sarwan, 24.3); 4-135 (Simmons, 25.4) Bowling: Junaid Khan 6-0-26-2 (w1); Tanvir Ahmed 6-0-45-1 (nb1); Shahid Afridi 6.5-0-32-0 (w7); Saeed Ajmal 4-0-16-0; Mohammad Hafeez 6-0-26-1 (w1); Hammad Azam 1-0-9-0 Overs: 29.5 Result: West Indies won by one run (D/L Method)

Pathan, Abdulla inspire Kolkata to IPL victory Jack Sands presents Kuwait’s Mohammad Murad with the Man of the Match award

Djokovic hopes to keep living undefeated dream MADRID: Untouchable 27-0 Novak Djokovic admitted yesterday he’s living a tennis dream which cannot go on. The second seed at the ATP-WTA Madrid Masters has not been beaten at all in 2011 and owns five titles coming into his first serious clay test of the spring as the French Open start on May 22 draws near.

“I don’t think it’s realistic to go without a defeat in the first four months of the season,” admitted the Serb as he prepared to face an opening match against South African Kevin Anderson, a winner over Olivier Rochus in the first round 6-2, 6-4.

“But anything is possible if you believe you can achieve it and you are fit physically and mentally fresh, motivated and dedicated to the sport,” said the world number two behind Rafael Nadal.

“I’ve been working very hard on my game, my mental approach over the past few years and now it’s paying off. There is no secret.”

Djokovic, who latest trophy triumph came at his family-owned Serbian Open on Sunday, added: “I always knew I had the quality, I just needed to get things together - and that’s happening right now.”

But Djokovic does not believe his dream can go on forever. “I don’t believe I can win every match on clay, but I’ll take it one match at a time and we’ll see how far it can go.” While Djokovic, who played Madrid in 2009 with a marathon semi-final loss to Rafael Nadal and withdrew last year with illness, was psyching up for battle, Estoril champion Juan Del Potro was reaching the second round, defeating 13th seed Mikhail Youzhny 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

Del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, missed more than eight months of play last season after wrist surgery but has now won two titles in 2011. He has claimed victories in 24 or 28 matches since February as his return towards the elite gains pace.

German Florian Mayer eliminated 16thseeded Serb Viktor Troicki 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 while Frenchman Gilles Simon booked a secondround spot against fourth seeded Andy Murray through a win over Ivan Ljubicic 7-5, 7-6 (10/9). Three women’s seeds reached the

MADRID: Bojana Jovanovski from Serbia eyes the ball during her Madrid Open tennis tournament match against Caroline Wozniacki from Denmark. —AP third round, with number one Caroline Wozniacki leading the way as she held off Serbia’s Bojana Jovanovski 6-4, 6-4.

Australian Samantha Stosur defeated Daniela Hantuchova for the second time in a fortnight on red clay, winning 7-6 (7/1), 7-5 winner in a match which was almost interrupted by a huge thunderclap in the skies over the Caja Magica. The noise caught Hantuchova off-guard, with the flinching Slovak asking to stop play.

But with Stosur closing in on victory, the match went ahead, with the French Open finalist advancing on her second match point in just under two hours of play moments later. Stosur lifted her clay record in 2011 to 6-2 as she closes in on her career-best in Madrid, a quarter-final last year. “It was a tough match and I’m glad to get through. I was ready to play a third set if it had gone to that.

I just tried to stay in the moment and play each point as it came,” said Stosur.

Czech 16th seed Petra Kvitova also advanced 6-3, 6-3 past South African Chanelle Scheepers as Bethanie MattekSands hammered fellow American Vania King 6-0, 6-2.—AFP

HYDERABAD: Yusuf Pathan smashed an unbeaten 47 and Iqbal Abdulla grabbed two quick wickets as Kolkata Knight Riders posted a 20-run win over Deccan Chargers in an Indian Premier League match yesterday.

Pathan hit three sixes and as many fours in his 26-ball knock to help Kolkata reach 169-4 before left-arm spinner Abdulla got two wickets in three balls to restrict Deccan to 149-6. It was Kolkata’s sixth victory and Deccan’s sixth defeat in nine matches of the Twenty20 tournament.

Kolkata and Mumbai now jointly lead the 10-team league table with 12 points, followed by Rajasthan (11), Chennai (10), Bangalore (nine), Kochi (eight), Deccan (six), Delhi (six), Punjab (six) and Pune (four).

Abdulla put Deccan under pressure in his second over when he dismissed opener Sunny Sohal (26) and skipper Kumar Sangakkara, who failed to open his account.

Opener Shikhar Dhawan top-scored for Deccan with a 45-ball 54 before being

bowled by South African paceman Jacques Kallis in the 18th over. He added 56 for the fifth wicket with Ravi Teja (30).

Pathan, dropped twice during his brisk knock, and Manoj Tiwary (33) earlier helped Kolkata set a challenging target as they added 80 runs in eight overs for the fourth wicket.

Kolkata were 84-3 in the 12th over after Kallis and skipper Gautam Gambhir (35) fell in the space of four deliveries before making a strong finish, thanks to middle -order batsmen Pathan and Tiwary.

Gambhir, who exchanged words with Australian seamer Daniel Christian, hit one six and three fours in his 22-ball knock while Kallis cracked four boundaries in his 31-ball innings.

Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 169-4 in 20 overs ( Yusuf Pathan 47 not out, G. Gambhir 35, M. Tiwary 33, J. Kallis 30) beat Deccan Chargers 149-6 in 20 overs (S. Dhawan 54, R. Teja 30, S. Sohal 26, R. Bhatia 2-26, Iqbal Abdulla 2-34) by 20 runs.—AFP

HYDERABAD: Kolkata Knight Riders players Iqbal Abdullah (left) and Brett Lee celebrate the wicket of Deccan Chargers batsman Kumar Sangakkara during their Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket match. —AP

England ink new deal with Flower LONDON: English cricket officials have secured the continuing presence of national coach Andy Flower after the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced yesterday they had agreed a new contract with the Zimbabwean.

Flower has been highly successful since taking over from Peter Moores in April 2009 and though he was already on a permanent contract, the ECB drew up a new deal in the wake of suggestions that he could be poached.

“Andy Flower has made a huge impact during his time as England team director and I am delighted that he has committed to the role and will be continuing to build on the considerable progress the England team

has made during his time in the position,” Hugh Morris, England’s managing direc tor, said in a statement.

“Andy’s outstanding leadership, commitment and his open and honest approach have been key factors in the success the England squad has enjoyed over the last two years and I have no doubt that under his direction we will continue to see England improve as we strive to become the number one side in the world in all formats of the game.”

Within months of his appointment Flower had overseen England’s Ashes victor y over Australia then in 2010 he led them to victory in the ICC World Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies.

A rare away Ashes series vic-

tory followed in 2010/2011 but there was disappointment too with a poor showing in the 50over World Cup in Asia when England limped into the quarter-finals where they were thrashed by Sri Lanka.

During his period in charge England have risen from sixth in the ICC test rankings to third behind India and South Africa and climbed from sixth to fifth in the one-day rankings.

“When I was appointed I stated that I wanted to create a winning England team and I am very pleased with the advances we have made as a squad over the last two years in all formats of the game,” Flower said.

“Regaining the Ashes in 2009 and retaining them last winter and the World Twenty20 title are

obvious highlights, but there is still plenty more we want to achieve in the longer term.

“We have made no secret of our determination to become the number one side in the world and challenge for global titles and I feel we have been making steady progress.

“I firmly believe we have the talent amongst the playing squad and management team to help us realise our ambitions and am looking forward to testing ourselves against quality opposition this summer and beyond.”

E n g l a n d h ave t h re e te s t s against Sri Lanka followed by a four-test series against India, now led by former England coach Duncan Fletcher.—Reuters

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LONDON: Schalke players gather on the pitch before a training session at Old Trafford Stadium. — AP

United freshen up for Schalke, Chelsea loom MANCHESTER: Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson faces a delicate balancing act of picking a strong enough side to reach the Champions League final while resting the players he needs for this week’s domestic showdown.

After securing a comfortable 2-0 at Schalke 04 in their semi-final first leg last week, Ferguson was already talking about making changes for today’s return leg at Old Trafford and the need has since become even greater.

United’s lead at the top of the Premier League was trimmed to three points this weekend to set up Sunday’s match at home to Chelsea as a potential title decider. The London side would go ahead on goal difference with victory.

“We’ll regroup and get them freshened up.

I’ll make some changes, without question, on Wednesday,” Ferguson told MUTV after his side lost 1-0 at Arsenal on Sunday to throw open a title race that United had looked to have well under control.

“We’ll bring Paul Scholes back in. Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen, fresh players. We need to do that but, also, I’ve probably got to keep experienced players at the back.”

That would point to captain Nemanja Vidic keeping up his commanding central defensive partnership with Rio Ferdinand and if Schalke are anywhere near as toothless as last week, the duo would not expend too much energy. It will hardly be a second-string side if it features the Premier League’s top scorer Berbatov and evergreen midfielder Scholes, but it will be weaker.

LONDON: Manchester United players warm up at Carrington training ground, in Manchester. United will play Schalke in a Champion’s League semi-final second leg soccer match today. — AP

QPR promotion under threat LONDON: Queens Park Rangers face an anxious wait to discover if their promotion to the English Premier League will be reversed after a four-day hearing started yesterday.

West London club QPR were confirmed as the on-field winners of the second-tier Championship following a 2-0 win over Watford on Saturday.

But they face the prospect of a points deduction that could drop them out of the top two automatic promotion places and into the playoffs on charges relating to the signing of Argentinian midfielder Alejandro Faurlin in 2009.

They concern the alleged existence of an agreement between the club and a third party in respect of Faurlin’s economic rights, and the alleged failure by the club to notify the Football Association (FA) of that agreement before the player was registered to play in England in July 2009.

The club has also been charged with allegedly using an unauthorised agent as part of the Faurlin deal.

Meanwhile both the club and chairman Gianni Paladini have been charged with allegedly submitting false information in documents provided to the FA relating to a contract extension signed

by Faurlin in October.

QPR and Paladini have denied the charges, which will be put before the FA regulatory commission’s four-man panel and a verdict is expected on Friday-the day before the final round of Championship fixtures.

The charges threaten to re-open old wounds for QPR manager Neil Warnock . He was manager of the Sheffield United side relegated from the Premier League in 2007 when fellow drop candidates West Ham stayed up after it was revealed Argentina striker Carlos Tevez, now at Manchester City, was the subject of a third party deal similar to the one allegedly involving QPR. However, on that occasion, West Ham were fined rather than docked points that could have seen them relegated instead of Sheffield United-much to Warnock’s fury.

“We’re all guessing, we have to wait until Friday,” Warnock said last week. I’m happy with what my barrister (lawyer) has told me. “I don’t fear anything, I was brought in to win promotion and that’s what I’ve done.”

The worry for QPR is the ‘Tevez affair’ was something of a test case and all English clubs since then would be expected to have a clearer understanding of the governing FA’s rules in respect of third party ownership.

If QPR, who are due to be presented with the Championship trophy at their Loftus Road ground before a match with Leeds on Saturday, are handed a points deduction then the club are all but certain to appeal.

And that could cause a delay to the start of the playoffs and have a damaging knock-on effect for the pre-season plans of all teams involved. — AFP

Midfielder Ryan Giggs, who became the oldest scorer in the Champions League at 37 years and 148 days when he struck the first goal last week, is unlikely to be rushed back after missing the Arsenal game through illness.

The first leg’s other scorer Wayne Rooney is also a prime candidate to be rested as the striker has been excelling in a new deeperlying role behind Javier Hernandez that is as energy-sapping as it is devastating to defences.

Schalke travel to Manchester needing goals but know United have conceded only three times in 11 matches in the competition this season, suggesting the English side will reach their third final in four years.

United defender Patrice Evra was, however, keen to remind his team mates they could not afford to think they had done enough to reach the May 28 final at Wembley, having experienced a Champions League turnaround in his Monaco days.

“In football, you never know because I remember when I was playing with Monaco, we lost in the Bernabeu 4-2 and Madrid thought they were going to the semi-final.

But in the second leg we won 3-1,” he told MUTV referring to his 2004 experience.

While that could inspire Schalke, the reality is they will need to become a different side from the one that barely put up a fight at home last week.

“We must be much more compact and aggressive than we were in the first game,” defender Christoph Metzelder said.

“In playing terms, we are not as strong in comparison with Manchester United and therefore we must surpass ourselves in other aspects. If we are going to pull off a miracle, we must do a hell of a job.”

The winners will face either Barcelona or Real Madrid, who play late yesterday with Barca holding a 2-0 advantage before hosting their La Liga rivals. — Reuters

Ferguson won’t let German team ruin his season again MANCHESTER: Alarm bells rang for Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson yesterday as he sought to solve a selection puzzle that must stop a midweek game against German opponents ruining their domestic title bid again.

United host Chelsea on Sunday in a match that will go a long way to deciding who will be crowned Premier League champions but first they need to ensure they reach the Champions League final by not letting Schalke 04 get back into their semi-final.

Last year United handed the advantage to eventual English champions Chelsea by losing 2-1 to their rivals at Old Trafford, just days after facing Bayern Munich in the first leg of a Champions League quarter-final they went on to lose.

Having won last week’s first leg in Germany 20, it would be a major shock if United did not reach the May 28 European final at Wembley and Ferguson should be able to rest several players to keep them fresh.

“If you look at the experience of last year where we lost the league was after a (midweek) game against Bayern. The team were very tired against Chelsea in that next game,” Ferguson told a news conference.

“That has to have a bearing on my team selection. Two massive games, both as important as the other. There will be some changes, hopefully I’ve a nucleus of a team that is still good enough to win the match.”

United are three points clear in the Premier League and Chelsea would go top on goal difference with victory this week, making it unsurprising that fans are focusing on that match rather than the Champions League game they feel is in the bag.—Reuters

Dortmund will not be serial German champs BERLIN: Borussia Dor tmund fans should not expect their team to dominate the German league in the coming years despite winning the Bundesliga in spectacular fashion three days ago, the club’s sports director Michael Zorc said.

“We do not see ourselves as serial champions,” Zorc, recovering from the weekend’s extended celebrations, told Reuters in an interview yesterday.

“We are fully aware that this was a unique season and this dominance we showed all year cannot just be repeated at will. “What’s important for us is that next season we show that same passion, the same commitment to playing our style of football.”

It is difficult to imagine what coach Juergen Klopp’s young team-with an average age of 24.2 years-can do better next season.

They won their seventh German league title and the first since 2002 after beating Nuremberg 2-0 to go eight points clear with two games to spare.

Few had believed in Dortmund’s title chances before the season as they lined up a largely untried and untested group of players.

So far this term they have won 22 of their 32 league games and lost four.

They have scored 64 goals while conceding 19.

“We did not set a specific aim at the start of the season,” said Zorc, who won the Champions League with the club in 1997.

“What we said at the start was we wanted to see this young team develop. A few more young talented players joined them and we said we would be happy if we won a European spot.”

Zorc has been credited with spotting their highly successful purchases in the past few seasons, including Japanese Shinji K agawa, Poland’s Rober t Lewandowski and Paraguay international Lucas Barrios. Quickly they set their sights on winning the title.

“I t star ted with the away win at Schalke 04 (on the fourth match day).

There we had the feeling that the club had rediscovered its dynamism,” he said.

“The team gained more confidence and with the away win at Leverkusen (in January) and the away win at Bayern Munich (in February) the team showed

it could handle the pressure that was quickly building up,” he said.

Their spectacular run also caught the eye of Germany coach Joachim Loew, who called up defenders Marcel Schmelzer and Mats Hummels and midfielders Sven Bender, Mario Goetze and Kevin Grosskreutz for international duty. Playmaker Nuri Sahin most certainly would have joined them had he not opted to play for Turkey.

Dor tmund have planned ahead, agreeing long-term deals with their core of young players, although Sahin looks set to join Real Madrid at the end of the season.

“There will be some changes, winning a title triggers changes but our playing style will remain the same, it is how the coach wants it and it is also this club’s character,” said Zorc.

The future of Sahin, 22, however, still remains uncertain even though he has a contract until 2013. Many pundits believe he could join Real Madrid at the end of the season.

“It is difficult to say what will happen. We have to deal with a request when one is there but no final decision has been taken yet,” Zorc said when asked whether Sahin would be playing at the Westfalen stadium next season.

Zorc, however, believes Dortmund is attractive enough as a football destination to keep all their other players for a few more seasons.

“We have very good arguments for them to stay in Dortmund- what we call the full package. Not only financial but also the prospect of playing in this unique constellation of this young team with 80,000 fans there with you in every game.”

“But we are talking about the next season and maybe the one af ter.

Anything beyond that is too far away in football.”

Zorc also said he did not see any danger in his team’s performances with the added Champions League commitments next season.

“The physical burden is more or less then same (as we’ve had in the Europa League this season) but the mental burden is far bigger in the Champions League. But all this is overshadowed by our anticipation to play in that competition again,” added Zorc. — Reuters

GERMANY: Dortmund’s teammates celebrate with their head coach Juergen Klopp (top) after winning the German First Division Bundesliga soccer match against FC Nuremberg and the German Championships in this file photo. — AP

FIFA sets 2012 target for goal-line systems ZURICH: FIFA has set a target date of July 2012 to approve goal-line technology systems that could be introduced before the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Football’s governing body said yesterday that candidates must pass a further two rounds of tests conducted at a stadium of their choice.

“The final results of this evaluation will be presented to (rule-making body) IFAB at a special meeting in July 2012,” FIFA said in a statement.

Though FIFA’s update on a complex process was long planned, it finally arrived days after the goal-line debate was reignited with another major error by match officials involving England midfielder Frank Lampard, this time while playing for Chelsea.

Lampard was judged to have scored against Tottenham on Saturday when television replays proved the ball had not wholly crossed the line. Chelsea won 2-1 to keep alive its Premier League title hopes.

It was Lampard’s notorious “ghost goal” against Germany at the 2010 World Cup — when his shot did not count despite bouncing down off the cross bar beyond the goal line — that persuaded FIFA President Sepp Blatter to end his long-standing opposition to technology and revive the debate.

Blatter apologized to English officials after watching Germany’s 4-1 win in

South Africa. Technology companies bidding for approval must tell FIFA in the next month if they want to take part in tests scheduled from September to December.

FIFA has stipulated that tests will be conducted in daylight and under World Cup-standard floodlights. Systems achieving 90 percent accuracy in “simulated match scenarios” could be invited for more tests in March-June 2012, if agreed by IFAB and a FIFA-approved testing institute.

IFAB has demanded of candidate systems that “indication of whether a goal has been scored must be immediate and automatically confirmed within one second.” Only match officials would receive the information.

Ten systems were tested at FIFA headquarters before the annual International Football Association Board meeting in March but their accuracy was unacceptable. Hawk-Eye, the Sony-owned company whose ball-tracking technology is used in tennis and cricket, declined to participate because its system uses cameras that need to be set up in a stadium.

IFAB includes four representatives of FIFA and one each from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Six votes are necessary for approval. Prior to the 2010 World Cup, the Welsh and Northern Irish backed Blatter by voting to keep technology out of football. — AP

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Celtic look to seize back title lead from Rangers GLASGOW: Celtic have the chance to take the initiative in the title race if they can claim a win away to Inverness Caledonian Thistle today.

Victory would take Celtic back to the top of the Scottish Premier League and two points clear of bitter rivals and defending champions Rangers.

Celtic know their destiny is in their own hands with four wins in their final four matches guaranteeing the championship returning to Parkhead for the first time in three years.

It is a long way from where the club found themselves this time last year as they finished a disappointing season under former boss Tony Mowbray trophy less.

However Celtic are in the hunt for a league and cup double in Neil Lennon’s first full season in charge he replaced Mowbray towards the end of last term after he revamped the squad in the summer. And his assistant Johan Mjallby says he is delighted with the team’s improvement this season.

“We are just so happy that we have really improved this team,” Mjallby said. “With 11 or 12 new signings, we knew it was a wee bit of a worry if we would be able to get them to gel so quickly, but I think we have done a good job and the players

have been a credit to themselves.

“I would probably have been happier if we were eight points ahead right now and I could take it easy and relax a bit. “But that’s why you are working at this club - you want to be in the spotlight and working at a club with a chance to win titles. “We know it’s probably going to go all the way so it’s up to us to just concentrate on ourselves and try to win these four games.”

Inverness have run Celtic close in their two previous league encounters, a narrow 1-0 defeat and a 2-2 draw at Parkhead in November.

Lennon knows his side will be facing a tough challenge. “It’s a huge game for us, in the context of the season,” he said. “And it will be good psychologically if we can go top of the table at this stage.

“But ever y game is impor tant psychologically from here on in.

“We’ve played well at Inverness on the previous two visits there. “They have played well against us also, and Terry Butcher will have them well motivated. “But we’ve got a bigger picture in front of us, and the players will be very focused.” Celtic, who now face three away games in a row, will be without Joe Ledley who has been ruled out for the rest of the season. —AFP

Juventus dream of Europe Pepe floors Lazio ROME: A late Simone Pepe goal earned Juventus a 1-0 win at Lazio on Monday to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for Europe.

The deflected strike from the Italian winger in the 87th minute was tough on fourth-placed Lazio, who dominated the match but had to play the last nine minutes with 10 men after Cristian Ledesma was sent off. The result left Lazio on 60 points with three Serie A matches to play-one point above AS Roma and Udinese with seventh-placed Juventus a further three points adrift.

The teams finishing fifth and sixth qualify for the Europa League. “It was a satisfying win because Lazio played better,” Pepe told Sky Italia television. “They didn’t allow us to play and we had to defend for long periods but in the end we showed our spirit and that we are united as a team.” Lazio coach Edy Reja said his side should have been awarded a penalty after a challenge by Giorgio Chiellini on Sergio Floccari midway through the second half. “There was a clear penalty that would have changed the game,” he said.

“Not only are decisions going against us, we seem to be having a lot of bad luck at the moment like the deflection on their goal. But we are still in the Champions League places.” In an opening half controlled by Lazio, two chances in as many minutes fell to Christian Brocchi.

The midfielder had a volley blocked on 25 minutes before a bullet header went wide of the post. The home team continued to press and striker Floccari forced Gianluigi Buffon into a scrambling save with a low shot six minutes later.

Juventus, though, had the best first-half opportunity when Alessandro Matri’s eight-metre shot was blocked by the feet of keeper Fernando Muslera.

Stephan Liechtsteiner then went agonisingly close for Lazio seven minutes into the second half, his half-volley going just over the bar.

With 20 minutes to go the home side upped the tempo and Buffon threw himself to his right to stop a 35-metre piledriver from Hernanes before holding on to another powerful free kick from the Brazilian.

Ledesma was sent off in the 81st minute when he received his second caution of the night for a trip on Felipe Melo.

Pepe then sank Lazio when he controlled a deep cross and his deflected shot beat Muslera. On Sunday, AC Milan defeated Bologna 10 to go eight points clear of second-placed Inter Milan and move to the brink of their first Serie A title in seven years. —Reuters

Korean, Japanese sides book knockout places HONG KONG: K-League sides Suwon Samsung Bluewings and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors swept into the Asian Champions League knockout phase yesterday along with Japan’s Kashima Antlers.

Suwon beat Sydney FC 3-1 at

victory over Shanghai Shenhua in Tokyo.

Jeonbuk edged China’s Shandong Luneng 2-1 in their away fixture to reach 12 points in Group G, a result that guarantees they will qualify for the last 16.

TASHKENT: Bunyodkor’s Jovlon Ibrokhimov (left) and Al Wahda’s Al Shehhi fight for the ball during a 2011 AFC Champions League Group C soccer match. Bunyodkor won 3-2. —AP home to top Group H on nine points, the same number as Kashima, with just one round of matches remaining in the group stage.

Two goals from forward Shinzo Koroki fired seven-times J-League winners Kashima Antlers to a 2-0

Suwon took control of an open and entertaining match with goals from Ha Tae -Goon and Mato Neretljak. While Bruno Cazarine pulled one back for Sydney, a late strike from Yeom Ki-Hun gave Suwon a deserved win.

The Koreans took the lead in the

ROME: Juventus midfielder Alberto Aquilani (left) tackles Lazio forward Sergio Floccari during an Italian Serie A soccer match. —AP

Norwich promoted to EPL

first half when a free-kick was curled behind the Sydney backline for Ha to nod home from the edge of the six-yard box and five minutes after the restart, Suwon doubled their advantage from a Neretljak freekick. Sydney immediately pulled a goal back but Suwon settled the contest with 10 minutes to go. “ We have one game left at Shanghai and if we want to finish first we need to win and we will do all we can to get that result. We will fight 100 percent for victory,” said Suwon coach Yoon Sung-Hyo. Yoon was delighted with the victory over Sydney that sends the team into the knockout stage for the third consecutive year.

“We had to win to be sure of a place in the last 16 and the performance and result was good, it was a good victory,” he said.

Jeonbuk, winners of the competition in 2006, beat China’s Shandong Luneng 2-1 through a brace from Lee Dong-Gook.

Seven-time J-League winners Kashima opened the scoring in their match against Shanghai Shenhua through a Koroki header and doubled their lead when Koroki scored again after Shanghai goalkeeper Wang Dalei failed to hold an effort from Brazilian Fellype Gabriel.

“Probably all the people of the Kashima side had hoped for us to win today. I’m very glad that we were able to live up to their expectations,” said Kashima coach Oswaldo Oliveira.

Cerezo Osaka kept their Champions League hopes alive with an emphatic 4-0 win away at Arema Indonesia, moving to second in Group G behind Jeonbuk with nine points.

In the West Asian matches, already qualified Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia play Iran’s Piroozi Athletic in Group C. Uzbek outfit Bunyodkor face Al Wahda of the United Arab Emirates in the same group.

Group B table-toppers Al Sadd of Qatar take on Iran’s Esteghlal and the top two sides in Group D, Emirates and Iran’s Zobahan, clash.

Thirty-two teams play home and away in eight groups to qualify for the knockout stages starting in May. —AFP

LONDON: Norwich were promoted to the Premier League on Monday after they defeated Portsmouth 1-0 and join champions Queens Park Rangers among the elite for next season.

Their fourth successive win thanks to Simeon Jackson’s fifth goal in six games - leaves them four points clear of third-placed Cardiff, who lost 3-0 at home to Middlesbrough earlier on Monday, with a match remaining.

It is Norwich’s second successive promotion and sees them return to the Premier League after a six year absence. Norwich manager Paul Lambert said it equalled the greatest moment of his play-

ing career, which oncluded winning the Champions League with Borussia Dortmund in 1997.

“It’s incredible what the lads have done. They are the ones who do it week in week out,” said the Scotsman.

“In the two years we have been here it’s a miracle what has happened. “And it’s how we’ve done it, from League One and then the Championship. It’s up there with anything I’ve done.”

Norwich captain Grant Holt, who has contributed 22 goals, lavished praise on Lambert. “ The manager has been fantastic. He’s a motivator and has been great for us,” he told Sky Sports News.

“We’ve got a fantastic bunch of lads here. We’ve worked hard and I think when we’re on it there’s noone better. “We’ve a great team spirit and a great desire. It’s a joy being with each other every day.”

Cardiff will need to come through the play-offs to gain promotion to the Premier League for the first time.

Middlesbrough — who failed to justify their pre -season favourites tag and lie below midtable — stunned Cardiff and the 25,000 home crowd with all their goals in the opening 21 minutes through Leroy Lita, Barry Robson his fourth of the season - and Richard Smallwood. —AFP

Iranian police clash with anti-Saudi fans at game TEHRAN: Iranian police yesterday clashed with protesters demonstrating against Saudi Arabia during a club match between Iran’s Piroozi team and the Saudi alIttihad club.

The protesters, chanting “death to Saudi,” were objecting to the role of Saudi armed forces in the bloody crackdown by the Bahraini monarchy on its Shiite subjects over the past months.

Iran’s Piroozi team, meanwhile, won the match 3-2, with two goals

by Hamid Reza Ali Asgari, in the 13th and 68th minute and one by Shpejtim Arifi in the 16th minute.

Al-Ittihad’s Mohammed al-Rashid and Sekou Berthe scored in the 19th minute and during injur y time in the second half, respectively. The game was part of the Group C competition of the Asia Champions League, but also took place between two regional powerhouses on either side of the Middle East’s deep Sunni-Shiite divide.

An eyewitness told The Associated Press that two protesters were seriously injured. The Fars News Agency added that several protesters were detained. Police expelled the protesters from the

match in the middle of the second half. The unrest in Bahrain, which erupted in February, has played out against the region’s deep rivalries between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. Protesters from Bahrain’s Shiite majority have demanded that the kingdom’s Sunni minority rulers grant them equal rights and a political voice.

Saudi Arabia, a largely Sunni nation, has rushed to the aid of Bahrain, while other Gulf countries have accused predominantly Shiite Iran of meddling in Bahrain’s affairs by allegedly trying to stir Shiite unrest there. —AP

Boca and Independiente draw BUENOS AIRES: Lucas Villafanez scored a second-half equalizer to give Independiente a 1-1 draw at Boca Juniors in round 12 of the Argentine Clausura tournament Monday.

Martin Palermo gave Boca the lead with a back-heeled volley in the 23rd minute, but substitute Villafanez struck from the edge of the box in the 77th to level the match. “It’s a difficult pitch to play on because the people put you under a lot of pressure,” said Villafanez.

“It took a long time to get the equalizer, but we managed it in the end.” Both clubs were left in the bottom half of the table with 15 points each, nine behind leader Velez

Sarsfield. Also Monday, Olimpo drew 2-2 with Tigre and Lanus won 1-0 at Colon.

In Friday and Saturday results it was: Gimnasia 1, Newell’s 2; Banfield 3, Quilmes 4; All Boys 0, Argentinos Juniors 0; San Lorenzo 3, Huracan 0; Racing Club 0, River Plate 1; Godoy Cruz 1, Arsenal 4; Estudiantes 0, Velez 4. After 12 matches of the 19match tournament, Velez Sarsfield leads the standings with 24 points.

River Plate is second with 22, while Godoy Cruz has 20 in third.

Defending champion Estudiantes has faded in recent weeks and sits in ninth with 17 points.

Boca’s playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme recovered from an abdominal muscle strain to start the

match against derby rival Independiente, but was substituted in the 73rd by Walter Erviti - the player many believe has been signed as his replacement. — AP

Matches on TV (Local Timings) UEFA Champions League Man United v Schalke Al Jazeera Sports + 7 Al Jazeera Sports + 5 Al Jazeera Sports + 6 Al Jazeera Sports + 3 Al Jazeera Sports 1 HD Al Jazeera Sports 2 HD

21:45

TEHRAN: Iranian police officers clash with protesters in a protest against Saudi leaders for cracking down on Bahraini opposition, during a soccer match between Saudi’s Al Ittihad and Iran’s Persepolis (Pirouzi), in AFC Champions League. —AP

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Barcelona in Champions League final

BARCELONA: Barcelona reached their second Champions League final in three years after a 1-1 draw with Real Madrid at the Nou Camp in their semi-final second leg clash here yesterday saw them progress 3-1 on aggregate.

Barcelona could now face Manchester United in a repeat of the 2009 final — which Barcelona won — as they hold a 2-0 lead over Schalke going into today’s second leg in Manchester.

Needing to overturn a 2-0 home defeat Real had to attack but they never managed a sustained threat on the Barca goal and fell behind to a Pedro strike in the 54th minute.

Marcelo replied 10 minutes later but it was only a consolation goal for Real.

There was debate as to where Real coach Jose Mourinho, suspended from the touchline, would watch the game as at the Nou Camp there is no enclosed area

to protect him from the fans. In the end though he chose to stay at the team hotel.

The Portuguese had a final surprise with his team selection as Gonzalo Higuain was chosen to lead the attack over Karim Benzema and Emmanuel Adebayor while Kaka was picked ahead of Mesut Ozil.

For Barcelona as expected Andres Iniesta and Carles Puyol were passed fit with the latter filling in at left back for his 100th Champions League appearance for the club.

The visitors pressed forward with Cristiano Ronaldo dangerous on the left wing but every time Barca took possession in midfield the Real defence looked uncomfortable.

The Real players knew that they had to hassle Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta to prevent them finding their passing range but when they did get the ball to Lionel Messi and Pedro they had the pace and trickery to do damage.

Ricardo Carvalho who missed the first leg through suspension went in the book after 11 minutes for bringing down Messi as he tore through the Real half, while there were several other borderline yellow card challenges.

An unmarked Sergio Busquets headed straight at ‘keeper Iker Casillas from a corner but generally the game was simmering and it was Messi who threatened to bring it to

the boil in the run up to half time.

The Real defenders were bunching up as they tried to halt his forays and he tested Casillas with a couple of shots from the edge of the area. The shot-stopper then made an excellent stop to deny a curling David Villa strike.

After the break Real attacked with renewed vigour and BarÁa were looking edgy. In a strange decision by the referee a goal was ruled out for Higuain for a foul by Ronaldo on Mascherano although he himself had been pushed by Gerard Pique.

The slippery conditions were also making it difficult for the Barca defence but the more Real attacked the greater chance they would be caught on the counter-attack and that is what happened.

Dani Alves ran down the wing and played the ball inside to Iniesta who found Pedro with a brilliant through ball and he finished calmly with just the keeper to beat.

The contest looked over but Real kept pushing and got their reward when Marcelo swept the ball home. Di Maria nutmegged Mascherano and while he was unlucky to see his shot come back off the post, he kept his composure to set up Marcelo.

Barca played out the final minutes in control and there was even the chance for coach Pep Guardiola to bring on defender Eric Abidal in the final minutes. The Frenchman is returning to full fitness after

having an operation to remove a tumor from his liver.

Meanwhile, the tactics of Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid against Barcelona last week came under more fire from Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, twice a Champions League-winning manager with Dortmund and Bayern Munich.

UEFA on Thursday announced it had launched a disciplinary inquiry into events surrounding Wednesday’s unruly Champions League semi-final tie between Real Madrid and Barcelona.

One of the incidents being investigated is Mourinho’s post-match outburst in which the Portuguese coach suggested referees always showed favoritism to Barcelona, who won 2-0 in Madrid to take a huge step towards the final.

“Luckily, Mourinho’s destructive tactics, aimed solely at provoking and destroying the opponents’ gameplan, did not work,” Hitzfeld wrote in German football magazine Kicker.

“Such a way of playing does not relate to the demands of Real, it’s really shameful for Real Madrid. It harms the good

name and image of this legendary club.”

Hitzfeld, just one of only three coaches to have won the Champions League with two different clubs-along with Mourinho and Ernst Happel, did not hide his disdain for the Portuguese coach.

“I’ve met him at UEFA meetings and his behaviour is faithful to his image: arrogant, haughty, chewing gum and somewhat of a boor.—AFP

Etihad Airways inks MoU with Royal Jet Page 22

Trading at KSE remains lackluster amid caution Page 24 WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011

India raises key interest rates by a half point Page 25

Jazeera posts record performance in Q1 2011 Page 23

DUBAI: Visitors walk past the Emirates pavilion at the annual Arabian Travel Market exhibition in the Gulf emirate of Dubai yesterday. Dubai Airports has announced it expected to more-than-double its passenger capacity to 98.5 million in a decade, but travelers will have to wait for another year to go through its second airport. — AFP

Dubai eyes 100m air passengers by 2020 Arabian Travel Mart opens DUBAI: Dubai Airports said yesterday it expected to more-thandouble its passenger traffic to 98.5 million in a decade, but travellers will have to wait for another year to go through its second airport.

Dubai International, the Middle East’s busiest airport, should become the world busiest airport for international passenger traffic in 2015, when passenger handling exceeds 75 million, the company said.

International passenger traffic through Dubai International and the new Dubai World Central-Al Maktoum International will grow

at an average 7.2 percent annually, chief executive officer Paul Griffiths said. Cargo volumes will grow by 6.7 percent annually, he told reporters during the Arabian Travel Market.

By 2020, the number of passengers will reach 98.5 million, compared to 47.2 million last year, and cargo will top 4.1 million tons, he added.

He said DWC-Al Maktoum International, which began cargo operations last year, will commence passenger ser vices in 2012, signaling another delay of almost a year.

It is touted as becoming the

world’s largest when completed and has the capacity for 160 million passengers annually. “We have joined the elite club of twoairports cities,” Griffiths told reporters. He said 19 cargo carriers now use the new facility, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of the original airport, and on the doorsteps of Dubai’s Jebel Ali port and free zone-the Middle East’s busiest container port.

Griffiths said Dubai airport ranked the world’s fourth in terms of international passenger traffic, not including domestic traffic, in the past 12 months. It was behind London’s Heathrow which han-

dled 61.08 million international passengers, Charles de Gaulle in Paris, with 53.28 million and Hong Kong, with 50.23 million.

“Based on the current pace of growth we are seeing in other large international airports, Dubai International should become the busiest airport in the world for international passenger traffic as early as 2015 when passenger numbers are projected to exceed 75 million,” he said. Dubai has established itself over the past few years as a travel hub capturing a sizable traffic between Asia, Australasia and the rest of the world. —AFP

US factory goods orders up in March WASHINGTON: US. businesses increased their demand for industrial machinery, computers and autos in March, lifting factory orders for the fifth consecutive month.

Orders rose 3 percent in March af ter a 0.7 percent increase in Februar y, the Commerce Department reported yesterday. A key categor y that signals business investment plans jumped 4.1 percent after a small increase in February and a big decline in January.

Excluding the volatile transportation sector, orders rose 2.6 percent. The March increase pushed total orders to $462.9 billion, up 31.2 percent from the recession low hit in March 2009.

Analysts noted that the March increase was partly driven by higher oil prices that increased the costs of petroleum products.

But the report also supported evidence that the manufacturing sector has been one of the strongest segments of the economy since the recession ended nearly two years ago. On Monday, the Institute for Supply Management repor ted that manufacturing activity rose for a 21st straight month in April.

Joshua Shapiro, chief US economist at MFR Inc. in New York , said the solid March increase in fac tor y orders showed the Januar y-March quarter ended with momentum, an encouraging sign for future

Gulf markets falter; Blue-chips lift Dubai MIDEAST STOCK MARKETS DUBAI: Most Gulf Arab markets gave back gains yesterday as investors await local catalysts and petrochemical stocks reacted to an oil price decline.

Petrochemical stocks headed losses on the Saudi bourse. with Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) and Saudi Arabian Fertilizers Co (Safco) falling 0.9 and 0.6 percent respectively.

The petrochemicals index ended down 0.7 percent, but analysts said it was likely to bounce back on the back of strong first-quarter earnings and high oil prices. “All signs are positive except the decline in oil prices,” said Hesham Tuffaha, from Bakheet Investment Group. “But I expect oil to keep above $100 a barrel, so most likely the market will increase gains but that will be in coming weeks,” Tuffaha added.

Oil dipped below $113 a barrel yesterday as the dollar rose from a threeyear low. Crude hit a 31-month peak on Friday. Saudi Arabia’s main benchmark fell 0.4 percent.

Egypt’s main index shed 0.3 percent in thin trade, with political and economic uncertainty still weighing on investor confidence. “There is no catalyst. There are no buyers in the market that would take it to a higher level,” said Mohammed Radwan, head of equities at Pharos Securities. “With this kind of turnover, the market is going to remain sideways or trading in a range of 2-3 percent maximum.” Real estate firm Palm Hills shed 5.6 percent after a northern provincial government scraped a sale of land to the firm. Egypt’s biggest property developer, Talaat Moustafa

Group (TMG), fell 6.8 percent.

Bluechips weighed on Muscat’s index and Ominvest gave back gains, falling 0.6 percent. It had surged on Monday after a newspaper said discussions to float a bank unit were at an advanced stage. “Low bank deposit interest rates are encouraging the investors to invest more in bonds,” said Osama Ibrahim alQinna, head of brokerage at Oman Arab Bank. The benchmark ended 0.3 percent lower, easing from Monday’s two-week high. Kuwait’s index fell while volumes remain low amid local political uncertainty following the resignation of the country’s cabinet in April.

The benchmark closed 0.2 percent lower, taking its 2011 losses to 6.5 percent. It hit a 10-week intraday high on Monday. “Market will be sustainable around this level for a while until the government is formed,” said a Kuwaitbased trader. National Mobile Telecommunications Co (Wataniya) fell 1 percent, but Zain gained 1.7 percent.

UAE markets ended mixed with bluechips lifting Dubai’s index from Monday’s 18-day low.

Emaar Properties and Emirates NBD rose 0.6 and 0.2 percent respectively.

Abu Dhabi’s index slipped 0.1 percent to a three-week low, with banks weighing. “Abu Dhabi’s stock market is not reflecting the growth of the economy,” said Rashid Baloushi, chief executive of Abu Dhabi Exchange, reiterating that the bourse is ready to list bonds.

National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank fell 0.4 and 1.1 percent respectively. — Reuters

Oman opens door to Islamic banks to curb fund outflows WAYNE: A line worker assembles a 2012 Ford Focus at the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan.

Businesses increased orders for industrial machinery, computers and autos in March, lifting factory orders for the fifth consecutive month. — AP

economic growth. A weak dollar is making US exports cheaper overseas and tax cuts are encouraging business investment in capital goods.

For March, orders for durable goods-items expected to last at least three years-rose 2.9 percent. That’s slightly better than a

preliminary estimate the government reported last week.

Demand for nondurable goods rose 3.1 percent.

Petroleum products increased 7.8 percent. Much of that gain reflected higher prices. Orders for transportation rose 6.2 percent. Demand for autos

increased 4 percent, nearly double the 2.2 percent rise in February. Automakers are benefiting from rising sales over the past several months.

Orders for commercial aircraft rose 0.9 percent after much bigger increases in the previous two months. —AP

DUBAI/MUSCAT: Oman will finally open the door to Islamic banking and let conventional lenders run sharia-compliant operations in a bid to keep investment funds in the Gulf state and grab a share of the rapidly growing industry.

A central bank official told Reuters yesterday applications were open for the creation of Oman’s first standalone Islamic bank, after a decree from ruler Sultan Qaboos bin Said.

“His Majesty approved the establishment of an Islamic Bank and allowing the banks in the Sultanate to open new branches if they wish so,” a circular posted on Oman News Agency said. Existing banks in the Gulf state will not

be allowed to switch to become Islamic banks, the official added. Oman is the only Gulf Arab state which until now has not set up a bank specifically offering products and services complying with Islamic law. Its central bank head said in 2007 that Oman believed that “banks should be universal”.

The move aims to tap into demand for sharia-compliant products and services currently being met elsewhere in the Gulf, analysts said. “This decision should help in curtailing to a certain extent the outflow of Sharia-compliant investments from Oman,” said Joice Mathew, head of research at United Securities in Muscat. —Reuters

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BUSINESS

Etihad Airways inks MoU with preferred partner Royal Jet Airline launches ‘Premium Connect’ ABU DHABI: Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has launched its new premium travel service portfolio ‘Premium Connect’ and has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Abu Dhabi-based Royal Jet, the Middle East’s award-winning international luxur y private charter service provider, to further enhance the airline’s premium ser vices offering to its guests.

Launched at Arabian Travel Market, the agreement between the two companies will enable guests to access a bespoke and personalized service to single or multiple destinations beyond Etihad’s extensive network that is not only luxurious but also discreet and highly customized - making each and every flight, by its nature, unique.

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad’s Chief Commercial Officer, said: “Premium Connect will consist of a portfolio of carefully selected preferred luxury travel partnerships. If a guest’s journey continues beyond Abu Dhabi, Etihad will be able to offer them a number of onward private travel options through Premium Connect. Royal Jet’s wide-ranging fleet includes some of the

(From left): Peter Baumgartner, Etihad’s Chief Commercial Officer, and Shane O’Hare, Royal Jet’s Chief Executive Officer, sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Monday. most luxurious, sophisticated and technologically-advanced private jets in the world and is an ideal launch partner for this unique travel solution for the discerning traveller.”

Shane O’Hare, Chief Executive Officer, Royal Jet, said: “This service extends Etihad’s world beating premium service

through our ability to provide the highest levels of luxury air travel, flexibility, responsiveness, and discretion to today’s sophisticated traveller. This will be achieved through absolute service excellence supported by a diverse product offering and an exceptional team of highly qualified professionals.”

This partnership between Royal Jet and Etihad Airways perfectly aligns the two brands and both have been recently recognized as the world’s best in their respective categories by the World Travel Awards.

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, began operations in

2003, and in 2010 carried more than seven million passengers.

From its hub at Abu Dhabi International Airport, Etihad serves 66 cities in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and North America (New York, Chicago and Toronto), with a fleet of 57 Airbus and Boeing aircraft, and 100 aircraft on order, including 10 Airbus A380s, the world’s largest passenger aircraft.

Royal Jet, the international luxury flight services company, is jointly owned by Abu Dhabi Aviation and the ‘Presidential Flight Authority’ the royal flight service. Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, Royal Jet is chaired by His Excellency Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, who also serves as Minister in the UAE Federal Cabinet. Royal Jet’s business expansion plans have been created to find the best solutions to address the evergrowing and changing demand in the aviation industry. Its fastgrowing fleet of jets includes six Boeing Business Jets, which makes Royal Jet the world’s largest single BBJ operator; two mid-range Gulfstream 300s; a long-range Gulfstream IVSP; a Lear Jet 60 and an Embraer Lineage 1000.

Cadillac wins three honors in Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards Brand named Best Luxury Exterior Design, Best Interior Design and Best Comfort DUBAI: Cadillac won more categories than any other brand in Kelley Blue Book’s 2011 Brand Image Awards, a set of honors based on consumer perceptions of automotive brands in the US. Kelly Blue Book is the trusted resource for prices, values and expert and consumer reviews on new and used cars in the US, and is the only vehicle valuation and information source relied upon by both consumers and the industry. Each week the company provides the most market-reflective values in the industry on its top-rated website www.kbb.com.

The 2011 Brand Image Awards, presented to the top brands in 10 categories, are based on consumer automotive perception data from Kelley Blue Book Market Intelligence’s Brand Watch study. The Image Awards recognize automakers’ outstanding achievements in creating and maintaining brand attrib-

utes that capture the attention and enthusiasm of the newvehicle buying public.

Kelley Blue Book named Cadillac winner of Best Exterior Design Brand in the Luxury category as well as Best Interior

Design Brand and Best Comfort Brand among all classes. The awards are determined by Kelley Blue Book’s Brand Watch study, which taps into the perceptions of consumers at kbb.com who are in the market

for a new vehicle.

“In our opinion, the Cadillac CTS deserves at least 75 percent of the credit in securing this award (Best Exterior Design Brand - Luxury),” the editors of Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com said

in a statement announcing the winners. “Yes, the big, bad Escalade is impossible to ignore and the SRX crossover is a nice interpretation of Cadillac’s current design ethos, but the CTS Sedan is the car that put Cadillac on the design map.”

The strong results in the Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards coincide with a strong performance in this region.

Cadillac is the fastest growing luxury automotive brand in the Middle East with 26% sales growth in 2010.

“The Kelley Blue Book Brand Image Awards are significant because they’re based on the perceptions of consumers actively looking to buy a new automobile,” said Don Butler, vice president of Cadillac marketing. “The awards confirm that Cadillac is setting the standard for exterior and interior design and attracting more people to the brand.”

Iran launches oil bourse with gasoline sale TEHRAN: Iran launched a new Oil Exchange yesterday, putting on sale a consignment of gasoline for export to show what it says is new found self-sufficiency in the vital fuel, the official IRNA news agency reported.

The bourse, located on the island of Kish, an economic free zone in the Gulf, has been planned for years but faced repeated delays.

Its launch comes after a rush by the Islamic state over recent months to expand refining capacity to counter economic sanctions, which were tightened last year to make it more difficult for Iran to import the automotive fuel.

The world’s fifth-biggest crude oil exporter long depended on imported gasoline for 3040 percent of its consumption. It now says it produces more than enough of its own and has become a net exporter, a rapid transformation which many foreign analysts view with skepticism, saying they believe it takes years, not months, to build so much new refining capacity.

The launch of the Kish bourse is also part of Iran’s plan to deregulate oil products and petrochemicals prices and create more transparency. “ The first supply of export-grade gasoline will be registered at the Kish Island Products Bourse international hall beginning today,” said Akbar Hashemian, head of the Iran Produc t Bourse Co., which runs the Oil Exchange.

The consignment will amount to 20,000 tons, with an octane of 87, supplied by the Bandar Abbas refiner y in southern I ran, Hashemian said, adding that the National Iranian Oil Produc ts Distribution Co. had pledged to supply the bourse with up to 30,000 tons of gasoline per month.

An energy official said on Monday Iran aimed to export up to 3.5 million litres of gasoline per day by nex t M arch [ID:nN02237477], and Oil Minister Massoud Mirkazemi said yesterday that daily gasoline output would reach 76 million litres by then.

That represents a huge increase in refining since the United States and European Union sanc tions were tightened on its gasoline imports last summer.

Iran’s oil ministry said last June its domestic industry produced 45 million litres of gasoline daily and that average gasoline consumption at the time was around 63.1 million litres.

“By increasing our production with 22 million litres of gasoline, Iran’s gasoline output will reach 76 million litres by March,” the semiofficial Mehr news quoted Mirkazemi as saying on Tuesday, implying current output is 54 million litres.

“Not only have the countr y ’s gasoline imports dropped to zero, but it also joined the exporting countries’ club,” he said. Last month trade sources said Iran had struck a deal to sell gasoline to Iraq but that the rare cargo did not mean the Islamic Republic was now free from its dependence on gasoline imports.

Iran also has sought to suppress domestic demand for gasoline by cutting state subsidies on auto fuel. Consumption fell to 52-53 million litres per day from around 61 million after prices rose by as much as seven times in January after the subsidy cuts, officials said at the time. —Reuters

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

.2724240 .4488460 .4022350 .3144510 .2855300 .2958400 .0061560 .0024880 .0742000 .7228030 .3853250 .0726660 .7077790 .0063950 .0461730

.2776760 .4574990 .4099900 .3205130 .2910350 .3015430 .0062750 .0025360 .0756300 .7367680 .3927530 .0740670 .7214240 .0065180 .0470630

CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2731000 .2767000 .4499600 .4558910 .4032320 .4085480 .3152310 .3193860 .2862380 .2900120 .0540750 .0547880 .0450600 .0456540 .2965730 .3004820 .0351560 .0356200 .2221950 .2251240 .0033780 .0034220 .0000000 .0062530 .0000000 .0025270 .0000000 .0032940 .0000000 .0038170 .0743840 .0753640 .7245950 .7341470 .0000000 .3913720 .0728460 .0738060 .7095350 .7188880 .0000000 .0064950

US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian dollars Danish Kroner Swedish Kroner Australian dlr Hong Kong dlr Singapore dlr Japanese yen Indian Rs/KD Sri Lanka rupee Pakistan rupee Bangladesh taka UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi Riyal/KD Omani riyals Philippine Peso

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.

Japanese Yen Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka

ASIAN COUNTRIES 3.415 6.191 3.255 2.503 3.884 224.970 35.447 3.759

Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash

6.420 9.199 0.271 0.273 GCC COUNTRIES 73.429 75.660 715.210 731.170 74.964

Saudi Riyal Qatari Riyal Omani Riyal Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Egyptian Pound - Cash Egyptian Pound - Transfer Yemen Riyal Tunisian Dinar Jordanian Dinar Lebanese Lira Syrian Lier Morocco Dirham

ARAB COUNTRIES 47.250 46.256 1.260 205.720 388.850 182.600 5.944 36.700

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 275.250 Euro 408.750 Sterling Pound 455.540 Canadian dollar 291.270 Turkish lire 180.820 Swiss Franc 320.060 Australian dollar 300.020 US Dollar Buying 274.050 GOLD 285.000 143.000 75.000

20 Gram 10 Gram 5 Gram

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees

SELL CASH SELL DRAFT 304.100 302.600 731.650 731.650 3.980 3.770 294.300 292.800 540.400 14.100 55.700 167.800 226.200 47.290 46.318 411.500 410.000 36.110 35.960 6.480 6.200

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

0.033 0.243 0.243 3.490 390.300 0.186 95.070 47.300 4.320 225.100 1.865 53.700 714.570 3.330 6.590 76.110 73.450 226.170 44.350 2.670 461.500 46.900 321.600 5.800 9.580 198.263 75.070 275.500 1.260

0.033

388.830 0.185 95.070 3.890 223.600

Sterling Pound US Dollar

320.100 5.800 9.410 74.970 275.100

TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 459.500 275.100

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees

Selling Rate 276.800 292.345 453.255 400.600 308.720 732.607 75.339 76.008 73.783 391.007 46.496 2.506 6.239

3.283 3.806 6.397 678.972 3.437 9.341 6.038 3.943 91.033 91.428

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. 714.390 3.260 6.445 75.880 73.450 226.170 44.350 2.502 459.500

GOLD 1,598.720

10 Tola

Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit Malaysian Ringgit

Currency US Dollar Pak Rupees Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Nepali rupee Yemeni Riyal Jordanian Dinars Syrian Pounds Euro Canadian Dollars

Rate per 1000 (Tran) 275.000 3.210 6.515 2.515 3.780 6.465 74.975 73.535 731.100 46.270 464.800 0.00003280 3.910 1.550 390.700 5.750 413.500 297.200

Al Mulla Exchange Currency Transfer Rate (Per 1000) US Dollar 274.650 Euro 409.300 Pound Sterling 460.000 Canadian Dollar 291.700 Japanese Yen 3.390 Indian Rupee 6.205 Egyptian Pound 46.255 Sri Lankan Rupee 2.498 Bangladesh Taka 3.745 Philippines Peso 6.430 Pakistan Rupee 3.247 Bahraini Dinar 731.600 UAE Dirham 74.900 Saudi Riyal 73.400 *Rates are subject to change

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business

Jazeera posts record performance in Q1 2011 Net profit of KD 1.1m, best Q1 since inception

KUWAIT: In a live webcast with financial analysts from over 30 international financial institutions, Jazeera Airways Group yesterday announced a first quarter (Q1) net profit of KD 1.1 million, up from a net loss of KD 4.5 million in Q1 2010, making Q1 2011 the Group’s third consecutive profitable quarter since the introduction of the company’s TurnAround Plan in mid-2010, and the best Q1 since inception.

Q1 2011 Financial highlights: Operating revenues: KD 11.4 million, up 22.6% from Q1 2010 Operating profit: KD 1.8 million, compared to an operating loss of KD3.3 million in Q1 2010 Operating expenses: KD 9.6 million, down by 23.8% from Q1 2010 Net Profit: KD 1.1 million, compared to a net loss of KD 4.5 million in Q1 2010 Q1 2011 Operational highlights: Average yield up 41% from Q1 2010 Load factors up 26.7% from Q1 2010

Aircraft utilization up 7.3% from Q1 2010 Jazeera Airways Group had registered KD 4.4 million in net profit for the third quarter (Q3) of 2010, and KD 2 million in net profit for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2010. Both Q3’10 and Q4’10 results were record breaking as well.

Jazeera Air ways Group Chairman Mar wan Boodai told analysts, “We are very pleased with our record first quarter results, which demonstrate Jazeera Airways’ success in mitigating the impact of the political unrest seen in the Middle East in the last quarter. We were able to secure this success because of the flexibility we enjoy within the Jazeera Airways Group between our aircraft leasing business, which has assets deployed across the world, and our commercial airline business that serves 18 destinations across the Middle East.

Combined, they have not only shielded the Group’s performance from these events, but they have also put the company on a winning streak for three straight quarters”.

Boodai added, “Our outlook for the second half of the year remains unchanged, however we have upgraded our Q2 outlook from ‘slow’ to ‘mild’ as we welcome the inclusion of Cairo into our network starting from May 18. We remain focused on making every quarter of 2011 a profitable quarter as we have successfully strived for over the last three quarters.”

Jazeera Airways Group operates in the aviation industry, which tends to experience travel demand highs in the summer season and travel demand lows in the winter season.

Turnaround plan Since inception in late 2005, Jazeera Airways Group has been profitable every year until 2009, when it registered a net loss for the first time ever due to the overcapacity that was dumped in the market by existing government airlines and new players as well. The Turn-Around Plan was created as a direct response to this situation and aimed at solving this external challenge by resizing its own operations internally, and to ultimately bring the Group back to profitability.

Implemented in May 2010, the Turn-Around Plan included asset redeployment, staff reductions, rigorous cost management, network/market alignment and enhanced commercial offering, which were rolled over the several months that followed.

The Plan began yielding results immediately and above expectations. Within the first three months, Jazeera Airways Group closed its best performing quarter in history when it reported a net profit of KD 4.4 million for the period Q3’10.

Six months into the plan, Jazeera Airways closed the Q4’10 with a net profit of KD 2 million. Though Jazeera Airways had been profitable on an annual

Jazeera Airways Group Chairman Marwan Boodai basis prior to 2009, this was the first time that it closed two consecutive quarters with positive results at both ‘operating’ and ‘net’ levels. This was a clear sign to the market that the Group is well into sustaining profitability.

Yesterday’s earnings announcement for Q1’11 is the third consecutive quarter since the implementation of the turnaround plan.

Volkswagen Behbehani launches the new 2011 Eos in Kuwait KUWAIT: The 2011 Eos cabriolet coupe is the ideal car for city living with its sleek, sporty design as well as its convertible characteristics and dynamic road handling. As one of the world’s most successful convertibles the new Eos has been technically perfected, visually updated and enhanced with numerous features which all add to creating a fun driving experience.

With its panoramic sunroof, allowing the rays to flood the interior while keeping cool and to savour the cooling temperatures of the Arabian evenings, with the click of a button the five piece folding steel roof transforms the Eos from coupe to a convertible in 25 seconds.

Karsten Jankowski, Marketing Director, Volkswagen Middle East, commented: “We are delighted to launch the new Eos to the Middle East market. It is a luxurious and highly technical model which we not only changed the appearance of, but also the driving experience our customers can expect from the new cabriolet coupe.”

In the Middle East, the 2011 Eos is available as a 147 kW/200BHP 2.0-litre TSI with a 6-speed DSG. The model is complete with all the standard features including ESP, a convertible specific Climatronic air-conditioning system, electric windows, alloy wheels, multi-function displays, central locking and numerous new distinguishing details including; Light Assist high beam control system and second generation Park Assist complete with ParkPilot, which can cope with both multi manoeuvre right angle and parallel parking. The model also boasts the Keyless Access lock and ignition system. The ignition is started by pushing the convenient “Press & Drive” button.

The Eos comes with a stunning hardtop dual technology design, boasting a full-width integral glass sunroof, which slides and titles, making it the perfect choice for the Middle East’s climate extremes. The CSC roof also made it possible to design a very low profile windshield frame. This produces a harmonious design and a panoramic view above the driver and front passenger The 2011 Eos is the perfect combination of style and elegance, while demonstrating all the hallmarks of classic German innovation and engineering.

KUWAIT: Riad Al-Hajeri representing the governor of the central bank (left), Adel Bin Hamad Al Qleish, executive secretary of FATF (middle) and chairman of the financial work group Louis Orcia during the meeting. (Right) A general view of the conference.

— Photos by Joseph Shagra

MENAFATF session focuses on combating money-laundering Kuwait CB reiterates commitment to regional initiative

By Nisreen Zahreddine KUWAIT: The thirteenth plenary meeting of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF) began yesterday in Kuwait, with the delegates scheduled to discuss a range of issues concerned with combating the regional funding of terrorism and moneylaundering, as well as studying the outcome of a recent joint evaluation of Kuwait and Oman.

Delivering the opening speech at the event on behalf of the governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait was the country’s Attorney General, lawyer Riad Al-Hajri, who is also a member of the parliamentary committee for combating money-laundering and the funding of terrorism.

Other high-level speakers at the opening ceremony of the two-day meeting were the MENAFATF chairman, Abdul Nour Hayboush and the head of the financial

ADM Q3 profit up in volatile period DECATUR: Archer Daniels Midland’s net income rose 37 percent, the company said yesterday, thanks to a healthy third quarter for oilseed and corn processing and agricultural services.

The company was forced to navigate volatile commodity prices during the quarter, as well as unstable political climates from the Middle East to Africa. ADM posted earnings of $578 million, or 86 cents per share, for the three months ended March 31. That’s up from $421 million, or 65 cents per share, a year earlier. The performance met analysts’ expectations. Revenue climbed 33 percent to $20.08 billion, easily topping Wall Street expectations for $16.88 billion. The health of Archer Daniels Midland Co. provides a snapshot for agribusiness as a whole, because it operates in virtually every aspect of the business as both a buyer and seller of commodities.

The company reported higher operating profit across its segments. Its corn processing division includes its network of ethanol plants, while its agricultural services unit includes grain trading.

Archer Daniels does not break out its ethanol results, but said its profit climbed $99 million to $158 million for its bioproducts division, which includes ethanol and food additives like lysine.

Operating profit in the agricultural services segment rose $6 million to $171 million amid volatile commodity markets, regional instability in the Middle East and North Africa and Japan’s earthquake and tsunami.

David Driscoll of Citi Investment Research said in a client note that he was expecting a strong quarter from the division because of the low level of global grain supplies. He predicted a much higher agricultural services profit of $400 million.

“This is the biggest surprise of the quarter and it will likely generate the most questions on its forward implications,” he wrote. Shares of Archer Daniels Midland dropped $1.83, or 5 percent, to $35.17 in morning trading. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $24.22 to $38.02. Operating profit for the sweeteners and starches unit was basically flat at $46 million as increased average selling prices and volumes were mostly offset by higher net corn costs. The company said sweetener export demand remained strong, while US demand for industrial starches improved.

Chairman and CEO Patricia Woertz said that the Decatur, Illinois, company is monitoring the planting and growing season in North America and Europe, but that global demand for crops and agricultural products remains relatively strong. —AP

working group, Louis Orcia.

In his address, Al-Hajri underlined Kuwait’s commitment to and continuous support for the efforts of all the states in the MENA region to combat money-laundering and the funding of terrorist activities. Kuwait, he said, is wholly convinced of the importance of grouping the efforts of the relevant regional bodies dedicated to eradicating these destructive phenomena together with their counterparts internationally.

Kuwait has contributed to these efforts by being amongst the founders of the MENAFATF group, he pointed out, and is closely observing its achievements in combating these phenomena, as well as increasing its efforts to introduce effective methods to fight the consequences of money-laundering and the funding of terrorism in the region.

All the concerned bodies in Kuwait are closely monitoring the outcome of the first

round of evaluations of the MENAFATF’s work, Al-Hajri went on, and are keenly awaiting the forthcoming results of the investigations conducted by the financial working group looking into ways of combating money laundering and the funding of terrorist activities.

The senior Kuwaiti official clarified that the two-day MENAFATF meeting will witness discussion of the results of the recent evaluation of Kuwait’s and Oman’s efforts to combat these phenomena, adding that the commitment shown by these two GCC nations demonstrates the dedication of all the GCC member states to comply with MENAFATF’s regional strategy and its requirements and goals.

Another speaker at yesterday’s event, MENAFATF’s executive secretary Adel Bin Hamad Al-Qulaish, said that the organization is a strong regional body, as well as being unique in its work to combat terrorism-funding and money-laundering. The

GM US sales up 26% for April DETROIT: General Motors Co’s US sales rose 26 percent in April, a sign that the automaker has not been greatly affected by supply disruptions from Japan after the March 11 earthquake.

Auto sales are an early indicator each month of US consumer demand, and GM, as the biggest US seller of autos and the first to report April sales yesterday, indicated that industry sales will be strong.

A Thomson Reuters poll of 40 economists and analysts had predicted a gain of 16 percent over last year. GM said that its retail sales were up 25 percent, driven by higher sales for its fuel-efficient Chevrolet compact cars and compact crossovers: the Cruze, Equinox and Terrain.

The Cruze, the compact car that GM introduced last year, is now the secondbiggest selling vehicle in the automaker’s lineup, behind only its Silverado pickup truck. Cruze sales so far this year are about triple the sales of the car it replaced, the compact Cobalt.

“Consumers are continuing to rethink their vehicle choice,” said Don Johnson, GM vice president for US sales. Ford Motor Co sales analyst George Pipas said this week that Ford is also showing a major shift in consumer taste toward smaller and more fuel-efficient cars as gasoline prices rise. US retail gasoline prices rose 8 cents in the

past week to $3.96 per gallon and are now $1.07 higher than a year ago, according to government figures released on Monday.

Pipas said the he believes that high gasoline prices are convincing many consumers to “pull the trigger” on a new vehicle purchase. “I believe there is a call to action,” Pipas said of consumer purchases this spring. “Summer is the driving season, and I’m going to pull the trigger,” he said of consumers. Sales for the other automakers in the US market will be issued later.

On Monday in Japan, new-vehicle sales in April halved, sinking to the lowest monthly tally on record, as Japanese automakers felt the full brunt of the March earthquake.

Also on Monday, French car sales fell 1.2 percent, reflecting the end of a scrappage scheme. In Italy, they fell to the lowest level in 15 years. Last month, Ford outsold GM for only the second time in 13 years. Ford and other automakers will report US sales later yesterday.

The world’s top automaker by sales, Toyota Motor Corp, is expected to show weaker sales than its US counterparts, due to production and inventory problems, analysts said.

GM shares were up 2.4 percent at $32.94 on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday morning. — Reuters

task force can perform its role effectively and achieve its goals, he insisted, especially since these issues have taken precedence in the past few decades in the international community’s work to protect financial institutions and the banking sector worldwide, as well as enhancing the role of legislative and supervisory personnel both regionally and internationally.

Another speaker during the opening event, Abdul Nour Hayboush, the chairman of the task force, said that in recent years the MENAFATF’s work had proven its importance at the regional level and confirmed its significance as an influential and powerful entity in combating money-laundering and the funding of terrorist activities.

Hayboush said that whilst heading the MENAFATF this year, his own country, Algeria, will push the task force to make even greater efforts to achieve the goals of all its member nations.

Abu Dhabi sees 2011 GDP growth at 4.5% ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi’s economy is expected to grow by 4.5 percent this year, below government plans, while inflation in the Gulf Arab emirate should hold at around 3 percent, a government official said yesterday.

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, plans to increase its economic output by an average of 7 percent a year until 2015. “There are many factors that will drive growth.

Industry, tourism,” Mohammed Omar Abdullah, undersecretary at Abu Dhabi’s Department of Economic Development, told reporters at an investment forum.

The emirate accounts for more than 60 percent of annual gross domestic product of the UAE, the world’s third largest oil exporter.

Analysts polled by Reuters in March forecast the UAE’s economy would expand 3.4 percent in 2011, faster than an estimated 2.2 percent in 2010 as its trade hub Dubai emerges from debt troubles.

Abdullah also said he expected the rise in Abu Dhabi consumer prices to hold at around 3 percent this year. “Inflation is controllable and we have a mechanism to deal with the situation,” he said.

Annual inflation in the emirate, which has 10 percent of the world’s oil reserves, had been edging higher over the past year. It peaked at 4.1 percent in November and October last year before slowing to 1.9 percent year-on-year in March from 3.1 percent the previous month.

Abu Dhabi plans to set up an export promotion agency in the second half of the year, Abdullah also said, as well as a competitiveness office to establish rules and regulations for opening businesses. — Reuters

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Trading at KSE remains lackluster amid caution

LONDON: Brent crude oil dipped more than $1 a barrel to around $124 yesterday as the dollar rose from a three-year low and India raised interest rates in an attempt to battle inflation.

The dollar index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of major currencies, was up 0.2 percent but still not far from a near three-year low. “Prices are still down, and that’s probably because the dollar strengthening is weighing on prices,” said Serene Lim, a commodities analyst with ANZ Bank in Singapore.

Brent crude for June was down $1.45 to $123.67 a barrel by 1407 GMT. US crude lost $1.20 to $112.32. Brent had earlier dipped to $122.88.

Michael Hewson, an analyst at CMC Markets, cited India’s decision to raise interest rates by a larger-than-expected 50 basis points in an attempt to battle inflation as a factor in oil’s retreat.

“There are concerns that higher interest rates could be a growth killer and that could be what is weighing down oil prices. India is one of the biggest emerging economies where a lot of global growth will come from.” Analysts said the potential for retaliatory attacks following the death of al Qaeda leader Osama bin

GLOBAL DAILY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended yesterday’s session on a mixed note. The gains of Global General Index came in line with the a surge in the prices of banking and services stocks. Meanwhile, profit taking in investment sector affected negatively the KSE price index. It seems that, the market will be quiet after all the big companies released their 1Q2011 financial results.

Investors waiting for some sizzling news to cheer their moods and enter the market with some motive.

Global General Index (GGI), market weighted, ended the day up by 0.11 percent, at 206.88 point.

Market Capitalization was up for the day at KD33.93bn. On the other hand, KSE Price Index closed at 6,502.3 point, shedding 14.30 points (0.22 percent) to its previous close.

Market breadth During the session, 114 companies were traded. Market breadth was skewed towards decliners as 60 equities retreated versus 20 that advanced.

Yesterday’s performance was accompanied by diminishing trading activity with most of the trades conducted in the Investment sector. Total volume traded was down by 9.73 percent with 201.82mn shares changing hands at a total value of KD26.68mn (26.50 percent lower compared to the day before).

The Investment Sector was the volume leader today, accounting for 35.88 percent of total shares. The Banking sector was the value leader, with 30.29 percent of total traded value. Kuwait Finance House (KFH) was the most active in terms of values of shares traded during Monday session, with 2.77mn shares exchanged at an aggregate value of KD2.93mn.

Brent oil dips to $124 on dollar, India rates Laden, and continued turmoil in the Middle East, would support the market.

“The risk premium could even rise again if acts of revenge follow,” said analysts at Commerzbank in a report. “As long as the unrest continues in Arab countries, the price of oil should not fall significantly in any case.”

Olivier Jakob, an oil analyst at Petromatrix, said that the death of bin Laden did not change anything with regard to prompt supply and demand.

Supply worries have kept the oil price elevated, trading between $120-$126 over the last two weeks.

According to a Reuters survey, OPEC output fell in April as fighting in Libya and field maintenance in Angola cut supplies, despite extra oil from Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.

Oil investors will also keep an eye on the latest US oil inventory figures later this week.

US crude oil inventories probably increased last week as imports outpaced refinery demand, a Reuters poll showed ahead of weekly industry and government reports. On average, crude stocks were forecast to rise 1.9 million barrels in the week to April 29. — Reuters

Pfizer profit rises; sales hit by Lipitor rivals Sector-wise Sector-wise, Global indices ended the day with a mixed performance as 4 out of 8 sectors reported daily loss. On the positive side, Global Services Index was the biggest advancers, adding 0.63 percent to its value, pushed up by the increase of Zain’s share price. The scrip added 1.69 percent to its value to close at KD1.200.

On the other side, Global Real Estate Index, which was the biggest decliner, shed 0.78 percent from its value. Al Dar National Real Estate made it to the top decliners list,

down by 11.11 percent as its share price closed at KD0.016. Moreover, Injazzat Real Estate Development Company was the second biggest decliner in the sector with a 5.45 percent drop in its share price to end the day at KD0.104. The company posted a net profit of KD1,100 for 1Q2011, a whopping dip of 56.72 percent over KWD2,500 reported during the corresponding period of 2010. It is worth mentioning that, Injazzat paid back a loan worth $27.8mn (KD7.64mn) to local banks. Global Investment Index posted a 0.75 percent drop in its

value. Global Investment House witnessed profit booking spree making its stock the biggest loser in the sector. The scrip shed 7.27 percent and closed at KD0.051.

Furthermore in the sector, Housing Finance Company (ISKAN) and Tamdeen Investment Company declined by 4.41 percent and 3.03 percent, respectively.

The price of OPEC basket of twelve crudes stood at $119.90 a barrel on Monday, compared with $120.35 the previous Friday, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

NEW YORK: US drugmaker Pfizer said yesterday that first-quarter earnings jumped 10 percent despite a 13 percent hit to sales of its anti-cholesterol drug Lipitor from new generic competition.

Net earnings at the world’s biggest pharmaceutical company grew to $2.22 billion for the January-March period, from $2.01 billion in the same period in 2010.

Adjusted diluted earnings per share were 60 cents, the same as the year-earlier period. Revenues were $16.50 billion, down from $16.58 billion in the 2010 first quarter, the company said, with Lipitor contributing sales of $2.39 billion, down from $2.76 billion. International revenues grew 2.0 percent despite a 25 percent drop in foreign Lipitor (atorvastatin) sales, while revenues inside the United States were down 3.0 per-

cent. Income was “negatively impacted by the loss of exclusivity of Lipitor in Canada and Spain in May and July 2010, respectively,” as well as the November 2010 loss of exclusivity in the United States of the Alzheimer’s treatment Aricept (donepezil) in the US in November 2010, the company said. The figures do not include gains from the $2.4 billion sale of capsule-maker unit Capsugel to private -equity firm KKR, announced in early April. The company said it expected revenues of $65.2-$67.2 billion in 2011 but a lower $62.2-64.7 billion in 2012. “Given our performance during the first quarter as well as our continued confidence in the business, we are reaffirming our 2011 financial guidance and 2012 financial targets,” said chief financial officer Frank D’Amelio in a statement. — AFP

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business Tokyo Electric may face $25bn in liabilities: Report TOKYO: Tokyo Electric Power may be asked to shoulder half of an estimated $49 billion in total compensation for damages stemming from its crippled nuclear power plant with other power firms to bear the rest, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday.

Officials from the government, Tokyo Electric, and creditor banks have been scrambling to craft a scheme that would allow the utility to cope with the bill of compensating those displaced by the crisis at its Fukushima Daiichi plant, while continuing to operate as a private firm.

The draft government plan reported by the Asahi newspaper could mark a significant development in those efforts because it puts a ballpark figure on the total cost at 4 trillion yen ($49.2 billion) and suggests a cap on Tokyo Electric’s burden.

Uncertainty over the likely cost of compensation as well as the prospect of unlimited liability for Tokyo Electric, commonly known as Tepco, has unnerved investors since the crisis, triggered a widening of corporate bond spreads. The plan calls for Tepco to pay 2 trillion yen in compensation over 10 years. Of the 200 billion yen in annual payments, half would come from a roughly 16 percent increase in electricity prices, the newspaper reported.

“The 2 trillion yen figure would be positive in the sense that it helps erase some uncertainties hanging over Japan’s utilities sector,” said Ariel Hsiao, manager of HSBC Global Power & Resources Equity Fund in Taipei, which sold its entire holding of Tepco shares after the March 11 disaster.

The other half of the 400 billion yen annual bill would come from Kansai Electric Power and seven other nuclear plant operators, which will put money into the fund in proportion to their electricity output, the Asahi said. To shore up Tepco’s finances and prevent debilitating credit ratings cuts, the fund will buy 1.6 trillion yen worth of preferred shares in the utility, whose market value has shrunk by three-fourths since the crisis to about $8 billion.

A Tepco spokesman said the information in the Asahi report was not based on any disclosure from the company.

Tepco has started making provisional compensation payments to residents and local governments after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami tore through the Fukushima Daiichi plant, causing it to leak radiation and prompting an evacuation of surrounding areas.

The question of whether to put a ceiling on Tepco’s burden has been one of the most contentious issues in discussions on the compensation scheme, delaying its official announcement from an initial target of the last week of April.

While Tepco and its creditor banks have pushed for an upper limit, arguing it was essential to prevent a drop in its credit rating to junk status, many politicians have sought to take a hard line on the utility, characterising it as the primary bearer of responsibility for the nuclear disaster.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said on Monday that there would be no ceiling set on Tepco’s liabilities and that it should not qualify for an exemption from compensation under Japanese law.

The mention of specific liabilities figures in the draft government plan may be aimed at allowing Tepco to make the cost calculations it needs to close its books for the past business year ended in March, the Asahi said.

Tepco is now expected to report a net loss of about 800 billion yen for the past year and will aim to return to profit in four years and resume issuing bonds from the financial year starting in April 2015, the newspaper said.

The draft estimates the cost of scrapping the six reactors at Fukushima Daiichi plant at 1.5 trillion yen and the additional fuel costs to run thermal power generators at about 1 trillion a year, the paper said. The plan also calls for annual cost cuts of 150 billion yen by the next financial year and a total of 300 billion yen to be generated by the sale of real estate, stocks and other assets, the Asahi said. — Reuters

Deutsche Bank faces US mortgage fraud lawsuit NEW YORK: The United States sued Deutsche Bank AG, accusing the German bank and its MortgageIT Inc unit of repeatedly lying to be included in a federal program to select mortgages to be insured by the government.

In a civil complaint filed in US District Court in Manhattan, the government said that defendants recklessly chose mortgages that violated program rules “in blatant disregard” of whether borrowers could make mortgage payments. The lawsuit seeks triple damages and other penalties for violations of the federal False Claims Act. Deutsche Bank had no immediate comment on the complaint. The bank’s shares were down 2.6 percent in late afternoon trading in Frankfurt. According to the complaint, MortgageIT from 1999 to 2009 endorsed in excess of 39,000 mortgages with principal totaling more than $5 billion for Federal Housing Administration insurance, meaning they were backed by the federal government.

The government said the defendants profited from the resale of the mortgages, even as thousands of US homeowners faced default and eviction. It said it has paid out more than $386 million of FHA insurance claims and related costs, and expects to pay out hundreds of millions of dollars more.

“Deutsche Bank and MortgageIT had powerful financial incentives to invest resources into generating as many FHA-insured mortgages as quickly as possible for resale to investors,” the complaint said. “By contrast, Deutsche Bank and MortgageIT had few financial incentives to invest resources into ensuring the quality of its FHA-insured mortgages.” — Reuters

India raises key interest rates by a half point Persistent inflation threatening growth: CB MUMBAI: India’s central bank raised its key interest rate by half a percentage point yesterday, its ninth hike in just over a year, warning that persistent inflation is threatening growth in Asia’s third-largest economy. The bank said the short-term lending rate — or repo rate — will go from 6.75 percent to 7.25 percent, a sharper hike than expected, and warned that growth would slow to around 8 percent this fiscal year from 8.6 percent last fiscal.

The move was seen as a sign that the Reserve Bank of India is willing to sacrifice short-term growth to control inflation, dismaying business groups and investors, who sent the benchmark Sensex index down 2.4 percent yesterday. “Persistent high inflation undermines growth,” Reserve Bank Gov. D. Subbarao said. “If we want to sustain growth in the medium term, we need to bring down inflation. We sacrifice a little now for much more later.” India suffers from the worst inflation of any major Asian economy despite the Reserve Bank’s aggressive rate hikes, suggesting that curing the problem will require structural reform, rather than monetary policy alone.

High oil prices, loose fiscal policy and supply constraints have muted the impact of the Reserve Bank’s long fight against inflation. The bank had raised the effective policy rate by 3.5 percentage points prior to yesterday’s move. That put pressure on growth, with capital goods production and investment softening, but it hasn’t been enough to contain inflation, which came in at a higherthan-expected 9 percent in March.

Reserve Bank deputy governor Subir Gokarn said in an interview that India’s

inflation outpaces the region because of supply bottlenecks and because food, which has been a major driver of price rises, constitutes such a high percentage of the inflation basket — 27 percent for the headline Wholesale Price Index and from 46 to 69 percent of India’s various consumer price indices. Gokarn said monetary policy remains effective in controlling core inflation - the cost of non-food manufactured goods, like automobiles and construction materials — which constitute 55 percent of the Wholesale Price Index.

“That is quite sensitive to monetary policy,” he said. “What happens elsewhere, in terms of food and energy is clearly beyond our control.” He said fiscal consolidation and better production and distribution of food — especially protein products like pulses, milk and eggs, which are in greater demand as Indians get richer — are critical to easing prices.

“The domestic supply response is critical,” he said.

The bank said it expects inflation to remain near 9 percent for the first half of the fiscal year before softening to 6 percent by next March. The bank expects economic growth to slow to between 7.4 percent and 8.5 percent this fiscal year, if monsoon rains are normal and crude oil prices average $110 a barrel. That is lower than New Delhi’s projection of 9 percent growth and dents the ruling Congress party’s hopes of using the gains of double-digit growth to alleviate poverty and create jobs for millions of young Indians.

Most Indians live on less than $2 a day.

“They’ve acknowledged they are willing to sacrifice some growth to control inflation,” said Samiran Chakraborty, head of India research at Standard Chartered in

MUMBAI: Reserve Bank Governor D Subbarao (left) speaks with Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn during a meeting with bankers in Mumbai yesterday.

India’s central bank raised its key interest rate by half a percentage point yesterday, its ninth hike in just over a year. —AP Mumbai. “This is a sea change in monetary policy.”

Wages in India have been rising faster than inflation, crimping corporate margins along with higher input costs.

“Inflation expectations arising from the demand side need to be contained,” Chakraborty said. “This rate hike was needed to make sure we’re not into a wage price spiral.”

Business leaders decried the Reserve Bank of India’s move as too aggressive.

“We are afraid that with growth slowing down, as now admitted by the RBI, employment targets will not be achieved and this could generate greater social pressure,” Rajiv Kumar, director general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of

Commerce and Industry, said in a statement. Chandrajit Banerjee, director general of the Confederation of Indian Industry, urged the government to move forward on long-delayed reforms in agriculture, land use and foreign investment.

“The continued monetary tightening without any movement on structural reforms to address supply side bottlenecks will have an added impact on capacity creation and expansion,” he said.

The bank said that from now on it will set only one policy rate, the repo rate, and fix the reverse repo rate — or short-term borrowing rate — at 1 percentage point below the repo rate. Yesterday’s rise automatically brings the reverse repo rate to 6.25 percent. —AP

Japan quake, Middle East turmoil hit air travel: IATA

STRASBOURG: A man shows the combined electricity and gasoline engine of an Opel Ampera, General Motors German brand new hybrid-electric car which is displayed at GM’s plant in the French eastern city of Strasbourg, yesterday. The European version of the US Chevrolet Volt will be assembled at the plant in Warren, Michigan. — AFP

Australia’s Fairfax warns on profit SYDNEY: Australian publishing giant Fairfax yesterday slashed its profit outlook and said sub-editing for its largest mastheads will be outsourced in a move unions warned could cost hundreds of jobs.

Fairfax, whose major titles include The Sydney Morning Herald, The Melbourne Age and The Australian Financial Review, said that revenue since January 1 was down by 4.5 percent, due to a slump in advertising. It does not expect market conditions to improve enough to recover the decline before the end of the financial year on June 30.

The publisher forecast a 6.5 percent drop in full year earnings to Aus$600 million ($654 million).

“The overall softness (in advertising revenues) is consistent with trading conditions reported by major clients and reflects poor consumer sentiment,” chief executive Greg Hywood said in a statement.

“Revenues have also been directly affected by the flood conditions experienced in key markets early in the second half and the continuing impact of the Christchurch earthquake.” He was referring to devastating floods in Queensland in January and the massive earthquake in New Zealand in February that claimed more than 180 lives.

The company announced a restructure that will see subbing duties on The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Sun-Herald, and The Sunday Age no

longer carried out in house.

Instead, they will be handed over to Pagemasters, a subsidiar y of the Australian Associated Press news agency. Hywood said the changes would result in Aus$25 million worth of redundancies, without saying how many jobs would be lost.

The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) union estimated hundreds of positions were under threat.

“Yes, there will be cost reductions-but the strategic driver for those savings is reinvestment in the parts of Fairfax that will determine the future success of the company,” Hywood said in a staff memo.

“While the changes I am announcing today carry some pain they represent a necessary step forward in creating a sustainable and successful Fairfax.” Hywood said the move will allow Fairfax to focus more on quality journalism by recruiting new high-profile reporters while investing in multimedia training and equipment. The MEAA though called the move “grossly misguided”. “This decision ultimately means less specialized, local and professional journalism from one of Australia’s largest media companies,” said alliance federal secretary Chris Warren.

Fairfax journalists were to stop work temporarily yesterday afternoon to discuss the decision.

The company ’s shares dropped m o re t h a n e i g h t p e rc e n t i n response. — AFP

GENEVA: The earthquake in Japan and turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East hit international air travel last month, wiping about two percentage points off demand, the top airline industry body said yesterday. Latest data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) showed that international air travel grew year-on-year by 3.8 percent in March, compared to 5.8 percent a month earlier. “ The profile in the recovery in air transport sharply decelerated in March,” said IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani. “The global industry lost two percentage points of demand as a result of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa,” he added in a statement.

The aftermath of the disaster in Japan accounted for about one percent of the traffic loss in March, while some 0.9 percent was lost to disruption in the Middle East and North Africa-including the nofly zone and military action over Libya.

IATA estimated that passenger traffic for holiday destinations Egypt and Tunisia was 10 to 25 percent below nor-

mal for March. Carriers in the Asia-Pacific region suffered a two-percent loss in traffic, while domestic flights in Japan lost 22 percent of their passengers.

Air passenger traffic in North America tailed off by one percent. IATA predicted that the aftermath of Japan’s devastating quake and tsunami as well as geopolitical events would continue to depress the world air travel market through the second quarter.

However, the ongoing economic recovery should underpin passenger and freight markets in the second half of 2011, the association forecast. Bisignani also delivered a fresh warning about the impact of high oil prices. Although there was strong demand, especially in markets outside Europe, for business or luxury travel even with oil prices around $120 a barrel, economy class travel was weakening, he cautioned.

“Many leisure travelers are putting off flying because of the impact of high oil prices,” said Bisignani. IATA represents some 230 carriers that account for more than 90 percent of scheduled air traffic worldwide but does not include many of the big budget airlines. — AFP

Australia leaves rates on hold at 4.75% SYDNEY: Australia’s central bank yesterday left interest rates on hold at 4.75 percent, as widely expected, but warned of possible rising inflation. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) last lifted rates in November 2010 and in a statement said its current mildly restrictive monetary policy stance remained appropriate.

“In future meetings, the Board will continue to assess carefully the evolving outlook for growth and inflation,” RBA governor Glenn Stevens said. The central bank said recent data suggested that the marked decline in underlying inflation

from its peak in 2008 had now run its course. “While the rising exchange rate will be helping to hold down prices for some consumer products over the coming few quarters, over the longer term inflation can be expected to increase somewhat if economic conditions evolve broadly as expected,” Stevens said.

Australia, the first major western economy to raise interest rates after the global slump, has hiked its cash rate by 175 basis points since October 2009 as it rides a mining boom driven by Asian demand, helping it dodge recession. — AFP

SYDNEY: Members of the public watch a screen at the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) announce the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) decision in Sydney yesterday. Australia’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged at 4.75 percent, in line with expectations, but warned of possible rising inflation. —AFP

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TNK-BP focuses on growth as owners fight MOSCOW: Russian oil firm TNK-BP is keeping its focus on growth and value creation despite a clash between its powerful shareholders, BP and a quartet of Russian tycoons, its CFO told Reuters in an interview.

Speaking after unveiling a 91 percent gain in first-quarter earnings last week, Jonathan Muir said that TNK-BP would treble outlays on advanced drilling and field management in 2011 after recouping spending of $100 million last year in just six months.

The results and ambitious long-term growth plans offer an insight into why the tycoons refused a $27 billion offer from BP to buy out their 50 percent stake in Russia’s No 3 oil firm. Looking to 2020, growth projects in Russia’s northern Yamal region could add 500,000600,000 barrels per day of new oil output, while natural gas could account for 20 percent of the business.

“It is expansion. It is gas. And once

we get the Yamal projects up and running that is a 10-15 year spike in terms of the next layer of production growth,” Muir said.

TNK-BP has been at the centre of a legal battle that broke out after the British oil major struck an alliance with state-controlled Rosneft in January. The tycoons have won every round so far, arguing that the BP-Rosneft deal to launch an Arctic exploration venture and do a $16 billion share swap violated a shareholder agreement that accords TNK-BP the right of first refusal on BP deals in Russia.

The BP-Rosneft offshore pact has been blocked by an arbitration panel.

The tribunal reconvenes on May 5-6 in London to hear arguments on the share swap, which is subject to a temporary injunction and whose deadline has been extended to May 16.

The tycoons - Mikhail Fridman, German Khan, Viktor Vekselberg and Len

Blavatnik - insist TNK-BP should be the vehicle for the offshore deal, even though they rejected a BP proposal at a March 12 board meeting to bring TNKBP into the deal because it did not include that possibility.

The tycoons’ position enjoys the support of management, which ran the numbers on a proposal in February to insert TNK-BP into the share swap by buying a 5 percent stake in BP for $7.6 billion in cash and then exchanging it for a 10 percent stake in Rosneft. TNKBP’s strong balance sheet meant relationship banks stood ready to finance such a deal, said Muir, a Briton who joined TNK-BP at its creation in 2003 and was confirmed as CFO in 2009: “We had 100 percent support from the banks that we went to, both from a strategic and from a funding point of view.”

TNK-BP’s net debt fell by $1.7 billion over the first quarter to $3.9 billion, low-

ering its gearing-a measure of a firm’s reliance on debt in relation to shareholder funds-to 16 percent from 21 percent at the end of 2010.

Industry analysts have speculated that the dispute will end only if TNK-BP’s local shareholders agree to sell out, even though they turned down the $27 billion offer from BP CEO Bob Dudley.

Given TNK-BP’s improving financial performance, the cost of any buyout by BPpossibly joined by Rosneft-is likely to rise from an initial asking price of $30 billion floated in the Russian media.

Analysts at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch have valued the tycoons’ stake in TNK-BP Ltd, the joint venture that controls 95 percent of the listed unit and other assets, at $33-$35 billion.

Muir said a possible sale was “a question for the shareholders”. But he did call the Arctic offshore opportunity pursued

by BP and Rosneft “exciting”, even though it was only expected to enter

production in the late 2020s.

For now, the focus is on growing TNK-BP’s output by 1-2 percent this year, with investments to enhance recovery rates at older fields like Samotlor the priority. Oil and gas output was 1.8 million bpd, in oil-equivalent terms, in the first quarter.

The next big oil increment will come from the Yamal fields, which could enter production in 2014-15, while the Rospan gas project could ramp up to 15 billion cubic metres per year later in the current decade. Acting CEO Maxim Barsky’s strategic goal is to raise the foreign share of TNK-BP’s output to 30 percent over the next 20 years, adding to current deals in Vietnam and Venezuela.

“It is opportunistic. We are not going to buy everything in sight,” said Muir. “It has got to be strategic, it has got to add something to the equation, and it has got to be consistent with our core strengths.” —Reuters

Year after bailout, Greece rejects debt restructuring Markets bet euro-zone debt crisis to worsen ATHENS/LISBON: Greece insisted yesterday any restructuring of its debts would be a disaster for the economy, but financial markets continue to view it as likely and are betting that the euro-zone debt crisis will worsen. In Portugal, European Union and International Monetary Fund experts pursued negotiations over a bailout with Lisbon’s caretaker government, with one newspaper predicting that the figure could end up being substantially higher than expected. A year and a day since the EU and IMF agreed to extend Greece 110 billion euros ($163 billion) in loans in exchange for deep structural adjustments to its economy, the finance minister again dismissed growing suggestions that Athens will have to restructure its debts, which are set to hit 150 percent of annual output, or around 340 billion euros, this year.

“A restructuring, haircuts on debt, would be a huge mistake for the countr y,” Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou told state television as EU and IMF inspectors began a new visit to assess if the government’s austerity plans are sufficient. “It would have a very big cost and we would not have the benefit, we would stay out of markets for 1015 years, the wealth of Greek pension funds would suffer writedowns, we would have problems in the banking system and hence the real economy.”

Despite the minister’s insistence, two German government advisers said last week a restructuring of the debt pile, which is only increasing as Greece’s output contracts, was now inevitable, and markets hold the same view.

European Central Bank policymaker Nout Wellink said on Monday he was open to the idea of extending maturities on Greek debt, becoming the first senior ECB official to admit that possibility publicly. JP Morgan said the likelihood of a Greek restructuring this year was rising, although it was not guaranteed.

“We are not yet ready to forecast that a debt restructuring will occur this year, but we have to recognize that the risk has risen relative to our baseline assumption that any decisions about debt restructuring would be delayed until

2013,” it said.

Yields on Greek 10-year government bonds now stand at 15.5 percent, nearly 12 percentage points higher than equivalent German bonds, a stark measure of the extra risk investors take on by holding Greek sovereign debt.

An even clearer illustration that some form of debt restructuring is inevitable can be seen in the two-year bonds, which are yielding 25.7 percent-an unsustainable figure that implies Greece cannot but reschedule some repayments.

Under the umbrella term “debt restructuring” there are various options, ranging from writing down the value of the debt by a set amount, known as a haircut, to rescheduling when the debt will be repaid, which is a softer form of restructuring.

While Greece is adamant that there will be no haircuts, a move that would alarm bondholders including many of Europe’s biggest banks and the European Central Bank, some form of rescheduling is a possibility, euro zone sources have said.

“It’s very difficult to imagine what else Greece can do,” a euro zone finance official said last week. “Without growth, its debts just keep growing. If it’s going to get back on top of them, it’s got to

reschedule at some point.”

In Portugal, EU and IMF experts are expected to conclude nearly three weeks of negotiations over Lisbon’s bailout in the coming days, sources have said.

Officials have said Portugal is likely to need about 80 billion euros of assistance, but Portuguese newspaper Diario Economico reported yesterday the figure could be greater than 100 billion euros ($148 billion), including up to 10 billion euros in aid for Portugal’s banks.

The newspaper did not cite any sources but said the banking sector needed at least 5.3 billion euros to cover a hole left by the failure of BPN, a bank nationalised in 2008, as well as additional funds to help banks raise their capital ratios. Officials in Brussels have described Portugal’s bailout as more complicated than either that of Ireland, which received 85 billion euros last November, or Greece, which received agreed its 110 billion euro program on May 2, 2010.

The problem for Lisbon is that it has high public sector debts, banking problems and structural economic shortcomings, including rigid labor markets and a costly state pension system, all of which require attention in the same package. At the same time, the country is to hold a parliamentary election on June 5 following the resignation of the previous gov-

ernment, which collapsed when its plans for austerity measures were voted down by the parliament.

The political impasse means the EU and IMF are negotiating with caretakersat a time when politicians are thinking about voters and their own re-election.

The caretaker government will have to win the endorsement of major opposition parties before agreeing to any euro zone bailout deal.

But even then, there is the risk that any package will not be approved by all 17 countries in the euro-zone.

Finland, where the eurosceptic True Finns party came third in a parliamentary election last month, would likely find it impossible to back the bailout if the True Finns end up being in the next governing coalition.

Jyrki Katainen, whose right-leaning party came top in the polls and who is expected to be the next prime minister, began preliminary talks with potential coalition partners on Tuesday.

The True Finns have said definitively that they will not support a bailout of Portugal, a position that may rule them out of government. But it is still unclear whether Finland will be able to form a government that backs Portugal’s bailout in time for Lisbon to receive the money it needs by a June 15 deadline. —Reuters

NEW YORK: MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga speaks to reporters in New York. MasterCard Inc said yesterday its first-quarter profit jumped 24 percent as consumers swiped their credit and debit cards more often in the first quarter. —AP

MasterCard Q1 profit up 24% on higher card use NEW YORK: MasterCard Inc said yesterday its first-quarter profit jumped 24 percent as consumers, especially those outside the United States, swiped their credit and debit cards more often. The results topped analysts’ estimates. Its shares rose $6.11, or 2.2 percent, to $281.40 in pre-market trading. The payment processor said its net income rose to $562 million, or $4.29 per share, in the three months ended March 31, up from $455 million, or $3.46 per share, in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 15 percent to $1.50 billion from $1.31 billion a year earlier.

On average, analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of $4.08 per share on revenue of $1.45 billion.

Purchase volume increased 13 percent from the previous year to $545 billion. Much of that growth came outside of the US Purchase volume worldwide excluding the United States increased 16.5 percent, while US purchase volume rose 7.4 percent.

The company also noted its revenue growth was helped by more consumers traveling across borders and using their credit and debit cards. That type of spending jumped 18.5 percent during the period.

The number of transactions MasterCard handled rose 11 percent to 6 billion from the previous year. Debit purchases were up 16.3 percent globally, while credit card purchase volume increased 11.7 percent. The US posted the smallest increase in credit card purchase volume at just 4.9 percent, compared with a 14.6 percent gain worldwide. —AP

Korean Air posts 49% gain in net profit

ZEEWOLDE: A spyker car in the factory in Zeewolde, The Netherlands. Saab and its owner Dutch carmaker Spyker have raised 150 million euros through a strategic partnership deal in China, Spyker said yesterday. —AFP

Spyker CEO, Vic tor Muller outside the company ’s headquar ters in Zeewolde. —AFP

Saab reprieved with cash and keys in China STOCKHOLM: Dutch auto minnow Spyker revealed yesterday a deal with Chinese carmaker Hawtai to pump 150 million euros ($221 million dollars) into stricken Saab, hoping this will be a key to sales in China Spyker described the partnership as a “mid-term” solution to its liquidity crisis.

Under the deal, Spyker which had rescued Saab, is to receive 120 million euros in return for shares and 30 million euros in the form of a convertible loan from the Hawtai Motor group.

The announcement comes a day after Spyker said it had secured a short-term cash injection of 30 million euros to restart production within a week. “Saab is now well financed, it has secured its short and mid-term financing,” Spyker head Victor Muller told

reporters on the phone from Beijing. “That puts the liquidity crunch that the company went through in the month of April to bed,” he added.

Saab announced on April 6 this year it was stopping production “until further notice” as suppliers halted deliveries due to unpaid bills.

The stop marked the latest of a series of obstacles Spyker, an auto industry minnow, had been faced with since acquiring Saab from US auto giant General Motors for 400 million dollars in early 2010.

The Dutch firm said in a statement yesterday that its partnership with Hawtai, a Beijing-based automotive company founded in 2000, would see the Chinese firm take “a maximum equity stake of 29.9 percent in Spyker on a fully diluted basis.”

The company said: “ The remaining 30 million euro will be in the form of a convertible loan agreement with a sixmonth maturity, an interest rate of seven percent per annum and a conversion price of 4.88 euros per share.”

The Hawtai deal was subject to approval and conditions including the consent of Chinese government agencies, the European Investment Bank and the Swedish National Debt office, Spyker said. Muller said the deal meant Hawtai would start producing Saabs locally for the Chinese market.

“Production in China is for China, and production in Trollheattan (in western Sweden) is for the rest of the world. There is no cannibalism here in any way, shape, or form,” he said, adding “the Saab 9-3

would be the first car that would be eligible for such local production (in China) ... sometime in 2013.

“There is a tremendous benefit in sharing technologies,” Muller said, describing the production partnership as a joint venture and recalling China’s Geely had benefited from its purchase of Swedish carmaker Volvo in August 2010.

But he stressed Spyker’s deal with Hawtai for Saab was a partnership, not an acquisition.

He also said the partnership would allow Saab to take advantage of Hawtai’s distribution network, which could pave the way for the import in China of Saabs made in Sweden, boosting sales.

In the statement, Hawtai’s vice president Richard Zhang, said “the partnership with the iconic Saab brand will give us

access to innovative technologies and an international network which would have taken us decades to build.”

“On the other hand, we have a very strong Chinese manufacturing and distribution infrastructure which we will make available to our new partner Saab automobile,” Zhang said.

Hawtai has the capacity to produce 350,000 vehicles, 300,000 engines and 450,000 automatic transmissions per year, Spyker said. In Sweden, Enterprise Minister Maud Olofsson, who previously said Saab would not receive any help from the state, applauded the partnership.

“I’ve said the whole time that for it to work in the long term there had to be private interests ready to invest the money,” she said. —AFP

SEOUL: Korean Air’s net profit in the first quarter jumped 49 percent on investment and foreign currency gains. Korean Air earned 282.1 billion won ($263.3 million) in the three months that ended March 31, the company said. That compared with a net profit of 188.7 billion won a year earlier.

Korean Air Lines Co is South Korea’s top airline and the world’s biggest international air cargo carrier.

Consolidated sales in the first quarter rose 7 percent to 2.82 trillion won, the company said. Boosting the airline’s bottom line were equity gains from investments in affiliates of 138 billion won - more than nine times higher than the year before — and a 65.7 percent foreign currency-related increase of 205 billion won, the company said.

Korean Air also plans to buy seven new aircraft — two Boeing 777-300ERs and five Airbus A330-200s — the company said in a regulatory filing. Shares in Korean Air fell 0.7 percent to close at 69,300 won. —AP

F&C first-quarter asset growth flat LONDON: UK fund manager F&C Asset Management said weaker fixed income markets offset positive currency movements and higher equity markets to keep asset growth subdued in its first quarter. F&C said yesterday it attracted 195 million pounds ($325.7 million) of net inflows outside of its insurance business in the three months to March 31, helping assets rise 0.3 percent to 106.1 billion but missing some analyst expectations. Analysts at Numis had forecast assets would rise to 108.1 billion pounds, and said a review of the business strategy currently being undertaken

by F&C’s new chairman was key to assessing the long term value of the business.

F&C said yesterday that a review, launched by chairman and activist shareholder Edward Bramson after he won a boardroom battle in February, was still ongoing. —Reuters

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Years

TECHNOLOGY

Fear of tech helped betray bin Laden WASHINGTON: In a high-tech world where just about anyone who can afford it has a telephone or an Internet connection, Osama bin Laden’s decision to shun the communications tools helped contribute to his demise.

Despite years of speculation that the Al-Qaeda leader may be living in rough conditions along the Pakistan-Afghan border, he turned up in a wellappointed villa in a military cantonment town north of the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

But the mansion in Abbottabad where the 9/11 mastermind was killed by US Navy Seals on Sunday did not have telephone or Internet service, according to US officials, presumably to prevent detection through electronic eavesdropping.

The absence of the basic tools of modern communications in a luxury home was cited by US officials as

precisely one of the things that aroused their suspicion that the building was being used to house the Al-Qaeda leader.

Briefing reporters on the intelligence that led to the raid on bin Laden’s hideout, a senior US administration official who requested anonymity said it was “noteworthy” that “the property is valued at approximately $1 million but has no telephone or Internet service connected to it.”

“Everything we saw-the extremely elaborate operational security... and the location and the design of the compound itself was perfectly consistent with what our experts expected bin Laden’s hideout to look like,” the official said. “Intelligence analysts concluded that this compound was custom built to hide someone of significance.”

While bin Laden was betrayed in part by his deci-

sion not to equip the villa with something as simple as a telephone, the United States on the other hand deployed some of its most sophisticated high-tech assets to track him down.

The Pentagon on Monday released a series of satellite photographs of the bin Laden hideout and a diagram of the premises which included such details as the precise heights of the various walls surrounding the complex.

Central Intelligence Agency director Leon Panetta specifically cited the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Security Agency in a message to CIA employees marking bin Laden’s death.

The NGA is the US government’s main mapping agency responsible for satellite and other imagery while the NSA is its super-secret electronic eaves-

dropper, tasked with monitoring and intercepting communications around the world.

“We applied the full range of our capabilities, collecting intelligence through both human and technical means and subjecting it to the most rigorous analysis by our government’s leading experts on bin Laden and his organization,” Panetta said.

US officials said what initially led them to the compound was discovering the identity of a man known to have served as a courier for bin Laden.

From there, US intelligence analysts were able to “build a body of evidence that suggested, circumstantially, that bin Laden was at that compound,” said John Brennan, US President Barack Obama’s anti-terror advisor.

That included the curious lack of telephone or Internet service. — AFP

Foxconn workers treated like ‘machines’: Labour group Employees worked 80 to 100 hours of overtime a month HONG KONG: Taiwanese technology giant Foxconn treats its workers like “machines”, a Hong Kong-based labour group said yesterday after a survey based on interviews with the firm’s workers in mainland China. At least 13 Foxconn employees died in apparent suicides last year, which labour rights activists blamed on tough working conditions in a case that highlighted the challenges faced by millions of Chinese factory workers.

SEOUL: A South Korean woman walks past the Google logo at the company’s local Seoul office yesterday. South Korean police raided Google’s local office to investigate whether the global search company used its mobile phone advertising platform to illegally collect private location data. — AFP

Japan mulls new robot help with nuclear disaster TOKYO: Japan may be at the forefront of robotics and its children raised on cartoons of robot heroes and villains, but the country has so far had to rely on USmade machines for help tackling its nuclear crisis. The massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami knocked out reactor cooling systems at the Fukushima nuclear power plant northeast of Tokyo, where workers are battling to prevent radiation leaks and a total meltdown.

Although Japan is reliant on atomic power and leads the world in developing humanoid machines and industrial robots it has not developed any robots to tackle nuclear accidents.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has sent in a pair of US-made crawler PackBot robots to examine areas where radiation from the rubble left by explosions is too high for humans to enter.

Experts say the government has not provided enough funding to develop its own specialised disaster robots, which have no commercial market. “In the case of housekeeping robots, the market is there and so the companies can continue the development,” said Hajime Asama, professor of engineering at Tokyo University and a member of a robot taskforce set up after the disaster.

“In the case of the United States, the military invests a lot of money for this kind of robot. But in Japan it is prohibited to make military robots,” he said.

A mistaken belief that such a nuclear disaster would never happen in Japan is also to blame, he said.

“That’s why the Japanese government did not invest sufficient money to develop this kind of robot system. They invested initial money for developing the robot system but they didn’t continue,” said Asama. Fellow taskforce member Satoshi Tadokoro, professor of robotics at Tohoku University, who specialises in rescue robots, said more than one type of robot would be needed, given the various problems within the plant. For the moment, the taskforce is recommending the use of the compact Japanese-made Quince robot, which has two main caterpillar tracks and four smaller protruding ones which can be angled up or down to enable it to climb over debris and up stairs.

TEPCO says it is considering using the robot but there is no clear timetable for putting it to work. It takes three days to train a worker to use it.

“We have heard the robot is good at

moving around in rubble -scattered places. If we introduce it, we’ll utilise it for on-the-spot surveys” in reactor buildings, a TEPCO spokesman said.

Tadokoro said Quince was well-suited for the task.

“Within the nuclear plant if the second and third floors need to be checked, there may be debris and water and the surface might be slippery. I think Quince is most suitable in these circumstances,” he said. “The most difficult thing is to have enough capacity to move around the nuclear plant. It is not very spacious, and filled with debris, so the robot has to go through this in order to check deeper inside the building.” Japan had to come up with improvised response measures to the nuclear calamity, including using firetrucks and helicopters shielded with lead plates to dump water on the overheating reactors and spent fuel rod pools. “I believe that robots can’t do everything and that some things need to be done by humans, and some need heavy machinery,” said Tadokoro. “So by combining all things available, we need to bring the current situation to a cold shutdown.” TEPCO has said it expects to bring all six reactors at the stricken plant into “cold shutdown”, where reactor temperatures and pressure drop to safe levels, by some time between October and January.

While humanoid robots such as Honda’s ASIMO already exist, experts say it will be some time before such machines are capable of working like a human inside a nuclear plant.

Honda on its website answers the question “could you make ASIMO take care of the nuclear accident?”

It says ASIMO “has been developed to be useful for humans in the future, but at the moment unfortunately the technology has not reached the point where it can do what you have requested. We ask for your understanding.” Kazuhito Yokoi, deputy director of Intelligent Systems Research Institute which developed the dancing HRP-4 humanoid robot, said: “This robot took about three years to develop, but compared to a human it’s just taking baby steps. “For a robot to be able to work at Fukushima we still need further research and development.”

Asama said the operations centre was discussing which robots to use in the plant. “They don’t care whether the robot is made in Japan or outside. They would just like to use the best, optimal robots for the missions,” he said. — AFP

The group Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM) said Foxconn’s employees were forced to work excessive overtime with “military-styled training”.

“SACOM is startled by the dire working conditions,” the group said in its report-based on interviews with 120 Foxconn workers in March and April-given to AFP ahead of its release on Saturday.

SACOM said many Foxconn employees worked 80 to 100 hours of overtime a month on top of their regular 174 hours, which the report said was more than three times China’s legal limit.

“Most of the workers yearn for more overtime work because the basic salary is not enough for survival,” said SACOM, which said the workers earn as little as $200 a month.

The group also claimed workers were made to skip meal breaks during a typical 10-hour daily shift while new employees had to undergo “military training”, which they dismissed as “nonsense”.

“The content of the military training is merely standing. A supervisor will ask dozens of workers (to) line up in discipline and form a square.

Workers are required to stand still as a soldier for hours,” the report said.

Any mistake at work resulted in harsh punishment, the report said, with some workers forced to write a “confession letter” read out to their colleagues.

Foxconn declined to directly comment on the labour group’s claims, but promised an investigation into the alleged mistreatment if “the authors of the report in question can provide us with specific information.”

“Our policies and practices are regularly audited by our customers and their consultants, by government officials and by our own teams,” Foxconn said in a statement to AFP, noting any violations of the law “are immediately

FOSHAN CITY: This file photo taken on June 17, 2010 shows a Chinese woman walking past a Foxconn factory sign in an industrial district of Foshan City, in southern China’s Guangdong province. Taiwanese technology giant Foxconn treats its workers like “machines”, a Hong Kong-based labour group said yesterday. — AFP addressed.”

“Our company policy also requires that all management and supervisory staff treat our employees with the highest level of respect and we have formal grievance procedures that all employees can use,” the firm added.

Foxconn is the world’s largest maker of computer components and produces items for Apple, Sony and Nokia. It employs about one million workers in China, about half of them based in its main facility in Shenzhen.

The string of suicides prompted Foxconn to roll out a series of measures including safety nets outside buildings, wage hikes and a morale-boosting rally for its workers.

Mobile phones advertisements rising in Asia

SEOUL: South Korean prosecutor Kim Young-Dae explains about cyber-attacks on the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, or NongHyup, during a news briefing in Seoul yesterday. North Korea was to blame for a cyber-attack that paralysed operations at one of South Korea’s largest banks last month, prosecutors said. — AFP

Saved by smartphones? Sites stay up despite spike SAN FRANCISCO: News of Osama bin Laden’s death caused traffic to increase at popular US news sites. Yet outages and slowdowns were less severe than during major news events in the past, meaning fewer people were stuck staring at error messages.

Two likely reasons? Smartphones and the royal wedding in Britain.

Dave Karow, a manager with Keynote Systems Inc., a California-based company that monitors Internet traffic, said that smartphones helped spread the pain of throngs of people trying to view the same

news sites at once. Smartphones typically deliver slimmed-down versions of the regular Web pages, which reduces the load on the websites. Last week’s wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton may have also helped because many news organizations upgraded their Internet infrastructure, anticipating huge page views. Some of the extra capacity, which often can be increased or decreased based on a site’s needs, may still have been in place.

Karow said that of the largest news outlets tracked by Keynote, only about a

But critics have rejected the measures as a largely cosmetic bid to gloss over working conditions at the firm’s plants.

“It is hypocritical that Foxconn hires a number of counsellors, opens up care centres and launches hotline service for workers (after) the spate of suicides, but impose(s) harsh management on workers at the same time.

“Workers are not allowed to talk on production line and they always feel they resemble machines,” the 20-page report added.

Foxconn has been expanding its workforce in central China as it seeks to scale back the size of its Shenzhen plant and maintain production while cutting maximum overtime hours. — AFP

third experienced significant delays. But those delays were resolved quickly, a change from earlier news events that caused an immediate spike in traffic, such as Michael Jackson’s death in 2009. The average slowdown for regular Web sites was about five seconds, while for mobile sites it was less than three seconds, Keynote said.

“It wasn’t like sites were completely cratered for hours,” Karow said. “Within an hour, most sites were in pretty darn good condition and were serving pages pretty darn well. But it was within that first hour

when they were seeing the most stress.”

The crush of online traffic did cause some problems. Visitors to The New York Times site who were not already logged in could not access articles for about 30 minutes, as the site coped with an unprecedented surge in volume. CNN.com reported 88 million page views between the time the news broke late Sunday and 1 p.m.

Monday. That’s more than three times what it normally gets during that time.

MSNBC.com said its page views were 38 percent higher than on an average Sunday. — AP

SINGAPORE: More advertisers are reaching out to buyers through their mobile phones, with growth in the Asia-Pacific region outpacing the global rate, international mobile ad network InMobi said yesterday.

Advertisements on mobile phones reached 17.6 billion “impressions” in March this year, up 26 percent from just four months earlier, it said in a report. The increase was 21 percent globally during the same period, it added.

InMobi, which acts as a middleman between advertisers and mobile phone users, said the market was being driven by the phenomenal growth in smartphones, which now account for 22 percent of all mobile ads in the region.

Smartphone users usually get interactive advertisements while surfing the web or playing games on their high-tech devices.

This allows users, for example, to view different car models being advertised or even “meet” characters of the Pirates of the Caribbean 4 movie in a click. “The continued growth of mobile media consumption in Asia highlights the advertising opportunity for local, regional and global brands,” said Atul Satija, InMobi’s regional vice-president and managing director.

“The mobile phone screen is the primary screen for Internet use in Asia, a fact which will drive Asia to innovate in the mobile space potentially ahead of the world’s most advanced media markets.”

James Lamberti, vice president for global research and marketing at InMobi, said the introduction of the Android operating system to compete with Apple’s iPhones “has significantly accelerated smartphone growth”.

“With the increased focus on mobile from global publishers, advertisers and developers, the mobile experience has reached the next phase of its evolution,” said Lamberti.

A joint study by InMobi and the Mobile Marketing Association reported that 80 percent of Asian mobile web users shop while on the move, buying products including music, movies, games and clothes. — AFP

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H E A LT H & S C I E N C E

Wrong strategy could worsen dengue epidemics PARIS: The wrong approach to wiping out the mosquitoes that cause dengue infections could lead to worse epidemics in the future, according to a study released yesterday.

Targeting only mosquito larvae, and not adults, with insecticides may work in the short run, but could result in higher resistance in the insects and less disease immunity among humans, especially in urban settings, the study found.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne infection that causes severe, flu-like symptoms in some 50 million people every year, mainly in developing countries.

Global incidence of the disease, which is rarely fatal but often debilitating, has risen dramatically in recent decades, linked to both rapid urbanisation and the impact of global warming. Some 2.5 billion people are at risk.

There is no treatment, cure or vaccine-the only way to control the disease is to kill the mosquitoes that carry it, especially one species: Aedes aegypti.

But which insecticides work best, how frequently they should be applied and whether it is more effective to target mosquitoes in their larval or adult stage are still debated among experts.

Researchers led by Paula Luz of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro used mathematics and computer models to simulate the impact over five years of dozens of different strategies for reducing the vectors in which the blood-seeking insects breed and live.

The cost of different approaches was also taken into account, using World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines as to “cost-effectiveness,” that is, the trade off between results and the price tag.

The method prevailing in most countriesattempting to destroy breeding areas-is misguided, according to the study, published in The Lancet.

“Year-round larval control can be counterproductive, exacerbating epidemics in later years because of evolution of insecticide resistance and lost of herd immunity,” the researchers said.

“Herd immunity” is the term scientists use to describe immunity that occurs when enough of the population is inoculated from having had the disease to prevent it from spreading easily.

The problem of mosquitoes adapting to insecticide-as happened with DDT in the 1950s and 1960swas common to all the strategies, but not all were as effective in reducing disease outbreak over a longer period.

“The main conclusion is that when you compare

all the proposals for controlling dengue, the most cost effective is killing adult mosquitoes,” commented Eduardo Massad, a professor at the School of Medicine at the University of Sao Paulo.

“This is the one that has the least problem of evolving resistance, and which is most effective in killing mosquitoes,” he said by phone.

Massad said his own modelling research had reached a similar conclusion, showing that targeting adults is many thousands of times more effective.

He has not, however, been able to convince health officials in his country to switch tactics, he added.

“The most applied strategy is to search and destroy breeding places. This has not worked wellwe need a new strategy, one that doesn’t exist yet,” he said. — AFP

Rethinking hormone therapy Menopausal women take charge of their choices DETROIT: Johanne Erickson could handle two to three hot flashes a week when her perimenopause symptoms began two years ago, when she was 44. But by February, 40 to 50 hot flashes a day plagued the Oxford, Mich., woman. Erickson, a human resources manager for an automotive supplier, turned into the office joke. Friends bought her a cache of fans. “At some point you either have to laugh about it and have a sense of humor, or otherwise you jump out the window,” she said.

PARIS: Medical staff members prepare a patient who had a head frame screwed into the skull for immobilization, getting ready for a Gamma Knife surgery yesterday at the Pitie-Salpetriere hospital in Paris. The Gamma Knife sugery is a minimally invasive treatment that can destroy deep-seated blood vessel malformations in the head and brain tumors once considered inoperable. It can also eliminate pain conditions and certain movement disorders. — AFP

US telescope array seeking alien life shut by cutbacks LOS ANGELES: The search for intelligent life in the universe beyond planet Earth has been dealt a major blow by government spending cutbacks in the United States.

The world’s only radio telescope array specially designed to detect potential signals from distant worlds was shut down this month after money ran out, said Seth Shostak, senior astronomer for the group that runs the northern California facility.

The setback comes at a crucial time for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, headquartered in Mountainview, California.

Astronomers there were anticipating a slew of possible new research targets from the dozens of potentially life-supporting planets newly detected by NASA’s Kepler space telescope orbiting distant stars in the Milky Way galaxy.

“It’s a frustrating thing to know that there are worlds out there that may have life, intelligent life, and not be able to look for them,” Shostak told Reuters.

Shostak said the Kepler telescope has pinpointed about 50 potentially habitable planets beyond the solar system in the Milky Way, leading scientists to estimate the existence of at least 500 million such worlds in the galaxy.

The Allen Telescope Array, named for Microsoft Corp co-founder Paul Allen, one of its chief benefactors, consists of 42 dish-like antennas about 20 feet (6 meters) in diameter, operated as one large

radio telescope in the Cascade Mountains east of Reading, California.

The site, which stretches across a third of a mile (half a kilometer), resembles the fictional array operated by the character played by Jodi Foster in the 1997 science fiction film “Contact,” based on the novel

by Carl Sagan.

Other radio telescope complexes are capable of searching for extraterrestrial signals in deep space, but only the Allen array was designed specifically for that purpose and was dedicated to that research around the clock, Shostak said.

What scientists are listening for in a galaxy filled with natural and artificial radio “noise” is a distinct, repeating pattern of electromagnetic signals, emanating from space, across a limited range of frequencies. Such a pattern could indicate that it was sent by intelligence life.

Built with private donations, and still expanding, the facility is part of the Hat Creek Radio Observatory, run by the the Radio Astronomy Lab of University of California, Berkeley.

But the project was hit hard by recent state budget cuts for University of California, Berkeley. Money from the National Science Foundation also has been scaled back drastically. It costs about $1.5 million a year to operate the array, which has been running for five years, and at least $1 million to cover the related cost of the SETI research, according to the institute. — Reuters

Nearly one in 12 in US have asthma WASHINGTON: Asthma cases in the United States have risen 12.3 percent since 2001, and nearly one in 12, or almost 25 million Americans, are stricken with the chronic respiratory disease, the government said yesterday.

The extra 4.3 million cases over the past decade also cost more to the US economy-from $53 billion for medical expenses and lost productivity in 2001 to $56 billion in 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

But officials say they do not understand why more people are getting asthma, especially when fewer Americans are smoking and the nation is taking steps to cut back on air pollution.

“Despite the fact that outdoor air quality has improved, we’ve reduced two common asthma triggers-secondhand smoke and smoking in generalasthma is increasing,” said Paul Garbe, chief of CDC’s Air Pollution and Respiratory Health Branch.

“While we don’t know the cause of the increase, our top priority is getting people to manage their symptoms better.” Asthma can affect people of all ages but tends to be more prevalent among the poor, said the CDC Vital Signs report,

issued as the United States marks Asthma Awareness Month.

African-American children have the highest rate of asthma, at 17.6 percent.

But all ethnic and demographic groups saw a rise in incidences of asthma over the 2001-2009 study period, which used data from the National Health Inter view Sur vey and the Behavioral Risk Factor Sur veillance System.

The overall prevalence of asthma in the US population went from 20.3 million people in 2001 (7.3 percent) to 24.6 million people in 2009 (7.3 percent).

Asthma can be triggered by “tobacco smoke, mold, outdoor air pollution, and infections linked to influenza, cold-like symptoms, and other viruses,” the CDC said.

Most asthma sufferers can eliminate their symptoms if they take prescription drugs such as inhaled corticosteroids, and if they can “modify their environment to reduce or eliminate exposure to allergens and irritants,” the CDC said.

Medical expenses were about $3,300 per person annually for treating asthma, but among people without health insurance, two in five said they could not afford medication. — AFP

The situation led Erickson to start hormone therapy — a $2.2 billion industry — despite risks of breast cancer, heart disease blood clots and stroke indicated in research in the early 2000s.

For women like Erickson, the pendulum of hormone-therapy treatment is swinging once again. It’s offering relief to those struggling with hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia and mood swings as they leave their reproductive years in their 40s and 50s.

Since she began taking nonsynthetic hormones, Erickson’s hot flashes are gone and she’s begun sleeping better.

“You have to weigh your quality of life,” she said. “Is this something I’d consider staying on the rest of my life? No. But is it something I’m willing to consider for a year or two? Yes.” Menopause. a woman’s last menstrual cycle and the end of her fertility, occurs, on average, at age 51. But the transition phase, called perimenopause, can last six years or more, with myriad symptoms. Gone are the days when doctors doled out prescriptions for oral estrogen and progestogens, telling women that replacing their naturally dwindling hormones would do everything from stop their hot flashes and mood swings to combat wrinkles and prevent late-age health issues.

Many women stopped taking hormones in the early 2000s, scared after National Institutes of Health researchers abruptly halted a Women’s Health Initiative study that indicated that some hormone therapies can increase women’s risk of breast cancer, heart disease, blood clots and stroke.

“There have been a lot of updates” since that study, said Detroit Medical Center Dr. Susan Hendrix, a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Michigan State University and a principal investigator for the study. “As any research goes, you get the big picture first, then you try to narrow down the information.”

The Journal of the American Medical Association’s April 6 issue reported that another branch of the study continued through 2009 and found that women who had a hysterectomy and who used estrogen did not experience many of the health risks. The study also showed that those women saw a decreased risk of breast cancer.

Dr. Margery Gass, executive director of the North American Menopause Society, said the use of hormones to treat symptoms of menopause has evolved with ongoing research.

Before the National Institutes of Health study, “they were telling women to take them forever, and that’s changed,” Gass said. “Basically (now) it’s using them for a reason, and using the lowest dose that treats the symptom.”

One of the relatively new ways to deliver hormones is with transdermal skin patches, which have not been studied long-term but may reduce the risk of blood clots, Gass said.

Virginia Reader, 72, of Orion Township, Mich., started taking hormones in pill form at age 48, after dealing with hot flashes and not feeling like herself. Then, her doctor suggested the patch version, and she has used the patches for seven years.

Reader’s doctor, obstetrician-gynecologist Luana Kyselka, said researchers now realize that the original studies looked at mostly women

MICHIGAN: Virginia Reader, 72, of Lake Orion, Michigan, prepares to change her Vivelle-Dot patch at her home. — MCT older than 60 who may have already been predisposed to late-life disease, rather than those first experiencing symptoms in their late 40s and early 50s.

“We have this window of opportunity to use hormone therapy without as much risk as we thought,” she said, adding that more recent research has shown that women who begin hormone therapy within months of first experiencing the symptoms of menopause, or who use low-dose estrogen/progestogens, may not be as at risk.

Hendrix said women sometimes turn to bioidentical, or nonsynthetic, hormones — a treatment touted by actress Suzanne Somers — thinking they’re safer. But she thinks the difference doesn’t affect the risk of disease.

“They’re all still binding to the same receptor in a woman’s body, and they all have the same effect,” Hendrix said.

Scott Popyk, a compounding pharmacist and owner of Health Dimensions Compounding Pharmacy in Farmington Hills, Mich., said he has seen women benefit from using bioidentical hormones custom-mixed according to their doctor’s instructions.

Earlier research “raised a lot of questions and some doctors took their patients off hormones, no matter what they were,” said Popyk. “I think fundamentally this is about women taking charge of their choices.”

Though Reader is now in her 70s, she started hormone therapy in her younger years and says to her, it’s worth the risk.

“I feel so good, and I think that has a lot to do with it,” Reader said.

“This is about women taking charge of their choices.”

DIFFERENT TREATMENTS What are the choices?

Prescription hormones: Once loved, then scorned, prescription hormones are again accepted as a viable option for many premenopausal women.

“I think there’s consensus. If you’re early

menopausal (and) you don’t have cardiovascular disease, it’s safe and effective to use hormone therapy,” said Beaumont obstetrician-gynecologist Luana Kyselka. “But I would use the FDAapproved bioidentical transdermal estrogen.”

Bioidentical hormones: Chemically the same as those produced by a woman’s body, bioidentical hormones are either plant-based or produced in a lab.

Board-certified family physician Dr. David Brownstein, author of “The Miracle of Natural Hormones” (Medical Alternatives Press, $18), said he saw a jump in women looking for alternatives to prescription hormones after a study in the early 2000s indicated that some prescription therapies increased women’s risk of heart disease and cancer.

“Definitely women got the message, and there was an increase in interest in non synthetic hormones,” said Brownstein, who encourages the use of hormones that have not been chemically altered and that are custom-mixed in compounding pharmacies. The prescriptions he writes combine drugs produced in FDAapproved facilities and are custom-mixed for a woman’s size and situation.

Other drugs: Detroit Medical Center Dr. Susan Hendrix, co-author of a “Chicken Soup for the Soul” Healthy Living Series book about menopause, at times will look to medications other than hormones to treat symptoms. She prescribes selective serotonin or selective ser otonin/nor epinephrine re-uptake inhibitors, like the antidepressants Prozac and Effexor, which research has shown reduce hot flashes and night sweats. She also sometimes prescribes the seizure medication gabapentin to reduce the intensity of hot flashes.

Alternative treatments: Dr. Charla Blacker, a Henry Ford Health System obstetrician-gynecologist, said many of her patients have reduced their hot flashes with acupuncture, deep breathing exercises and yoga.

Studies of the herb black cohosh as well as soy products are inconsistent on hot flashes, Blacker said.—MCT

Study reveals children can undo carseat restraints

PARIS: File picture taken on October 11, 2010 show people going through security at the Paris Court of Appeal during the trial of French health officials charged with involuntary homicide in the death of more than 100 children infected with a human variant of mad-cow disease. Twenty years after the death of the first vicitims, the Paris Court of Appeal will finally rule tomorrow if among the people implicated left alive. — AFP

BOSTON: Children still too young to walk are finding ways to wriggle out of protective car restraints and are increasing their risk of serious injuries, a study shows.

Researchers at Yale University’s School of Medicine found some children as young as 12 months can unbuckle their seatbelts. A majority of youngsters less than three years old can do it, with boys most often the ones attempting to unhook their seatbelts.

“Young children might acquire the motor skills to unbuckle from restraints before developing the cognitive ability to understand the necessity of automotive restraints,” said Dr. Lilia Reyes, a clinical fellow at Yale and co-author of the report.

Researchers said the findings should prompt a broader study on devices that would keep kids safer, particularly because car crashes are a leading cause of death among four to eight years old. The findings, which will be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting in Denver on Sunday, are based on 500 surveys distributed at pediatric offices in Connecticut.— Reuters

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New report confirms Arctic melt accelerating STOCKHOLM: A new assessment of climate change in the Arc tic shows the region’s ice and snow are melting faster than previously thought and sharply raises projections of global sea level rise this century.

The report by the international Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, or AMAP, is one of the most comprehensive updates on climate change in the Arctic, and builds on a similar assessment in 2005.

The full report will be delivered to foreign ministers of the eight Arctic nations next week, but an executive summary including the key findings was obtained by The Associated Press yesterday.

It says that Arctic temperatures in the past six years were the highest since measurements began in 1880, and that feedback mechanisms believed to accelerate warming in the climate system have now started kicking in. It also shatters some of

the forecasts made in 2007 by the UN’s expert panel on climate change.

The cover of sea ice on the Arc tic Ocean, for example, is shrinking faster than projected by the UN panel. The level of summer ice coverage has been at or near record lows every year since 2001, AMAP said, predicting that the Arctic Ocean will be nearly ice free in summer within 30-40 years.

AMAP also said the UN panel was too conservative in estimating how much sea levels will rise — one of the most closely watched aspec ts of global warming because of the potentially catastrophic impac t on coastal cities and island nations.The melting of Arctic glaciers and ice caps, including Greenland’s massive ice sheet, are projected to help raise global sea levels by 35 to 63 inches (90-160 centimeters) by 2100, AMAP said, though it noted that the estimate was highly uncer-

Caring your beauty

tain. That’s up from a 2007 projection of 7 to 23 inches (19-59 centimeters) by the UN panel, which didn’t consider the dynamics of ice caps in the Arctic and Antarctica.

“The observed changes in sea ice on the Arctic Ocean, in the mass of the Greenland ice sheet and Arctic ice caps and glaciers over the past 10 years are dramatic and represent an obvious departure from the long-term patterns,” AMAP said in the executive summary.

The organization’s main function is to advise the nations surrounding the Arctic — the US, Canada, Russia, Denmark , Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Finland — on threats to the Arctic environment.

The findings of its repor t — Snow, Water, Ice and Permafrost in the Arctic — will be discussed by some of the scientists who helped compile it at a conference star ting today in the Danish capital, Copenhagen. — AP

PARIS: Non-profit organisations dedicated to fighting HIV/AIDS Aides and Act up activists demonstrate in front of the French Senate in Paris to protest against a draft law which will modify the ability for immigrants suffering from grave illnesses to be protected against all measure of expulsion and to be stabilized in the frame of the right of residence for medical care. The placards read: “State sentences to death 28,000 ill immigrants”. — AFP

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W H AT ’ S O N Announcements

Birthday Greetings

Thanima to present legend play Thanima (The Human and Nostalgic Interaction of Malayalees Abroad) is presenting of yet another unique cultural event to the Kuwait cultural spectrum by enacting ballads of the epic Vadakkan Pattukal (Ballads of North Malabar) of medieval Kerala on stage. ‘Oru Vadakkan Veerakatha’, drama scope mega budget full length visual entertainer becomes a reality in the collective effort of Malayalee expatriate community in Kuwait spearheaded by Thanima. The play will be staged at 4.30 pm and 8.30 pm on 20 May at Al-Jeel Al-Jadeed School Auditorium at Hawally. The drama combines both the legendary spirit of Vadakkan Pattu and the bravery of Kalaripayattu (martial art form of Kerala) and harmonizes with the technical excellence of silver screen. In 18 sets it will be on stage designed by acclaimed Artist Sujathan. Entry will be restricted through passes.

Many happy returns of the day to Saagar Nair who celebrated his 4th birthday on May 2.

Guided tour WARE Center announces Guided Tour & afternoon tea & sunset photo opportunity on the Balcony of the Dickson House, Friday, May 6, 4:30pm-6:30pm. The Dickson House Cultural Center, as it is now known, once served as the official residence for a series of British Political Agents to Kuwait, with the most famous, Colonel Harold Dickson, who came to Kuwait in 1929 with his wife, Violet and two young children. The house was the scene of momentous occasions in Kuwait’s history and provided accommodation to a multitude of fascinating characters including royalty, statesmen, writers, oil prospectors, rebel leaders and explorers.

Reservations required. Contact us on Tel: 25335280 - Fax : 2-5335230 E-mail: info@aware.com.kw Working Hours: Sunday to Thursday 9am - 1 pm and 5 pm - 9 pm

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Al Taalib Scholarship 2011 Al Taalib Scholarship is a financial aid scheme for the under privileged school students in Kuwait, sponsored by the Ministry of Awqaf in association with Islam Presentation Committee (IPC), Friday Forum and Pakistan Kuwait Welfare Association. These scholarships were given to the needy students irrespective of their religion or nationality. The process of Al Taalib Scholarship for the current academic year, 201112, has begun for all Indian and Pakistani Schools in Kuwait. In order to avail this scholarship, applicants are requested to collect the Application Form from Al Taalib Office located in CAMS, Ahmed Al Jaber Street, Darwaza, Near Warba Insurance Co., Int’l Islamic Charity Organization Building, 2nd Floor, Al Sharq. The duly filled application form shall be submitted to Al Taalib office on or before 10th May 2011 along with all supporting documents specified in the Application Form.

Aware Arabic course he AWARE management is glad to inform those interested in learning Arabic that Summer 1 Arabic language courses will begin on April 24 and go on till June 2, 2011.

AWARE Arabic language courses are designed with the expat in mind. The environment is relaxed and courses are designed for those wanting to learn Arabic for travel, cultural understanding, and conducting business or simply to become more involved in the community. We cater to teachers, travelers and those working in the private business sector.

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ABCK golf tournament The American Business Council of Kuwait is hosting its 10th annual Golf Tournament at the Sahara Golf Club on Friday, May 13th, 2011. It will be a Texas 4-man scramble and your participation is encouraged. Registration begins at 7.00am and shotgun at 8.00am. Event includes breakfast, lunch and raffle prizes. For details contact americanbusinesscouncil@gmail.com before May 10th.

BASNIUM 2: Melodious Nite on May 12

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asnium 2’ a melodious nite with variety of stunning and amazing items, will be conducted on Thursday, 12th May 2011 at 6.00 PM at Al-Jeel Al-Jadeed Arabic School Auditorium, Hawally.

Madhu Balakrishnan; versatile South Indian playback singer, Durga Viswanath; winner of Idea Star Singer 2007, youth heart throb singer Rehman and well known musicians in Kuwait will take part in the event which is being organized in the auspices of The Basil Arts, an Indian Embassy registered cultural organization in Kuwait, as part of its Charity. Prominent Indian personalities and invited guests will attend the musical extravaganza. Entry will be restricted through passes Organizers informed in a press release. For more details please contact 99594221 / 66131488 / 97253083.

ESF unity on show at International Day

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he English School Fahaheel recently held the annual International Day under the slogan “One World. One ESF”. On this day the many nationalities that attend the school got the opportunity to share with others the diversity and depth of their culture, traditions, social activities and economies.

Upper school students had

planned for weeks for this event by setting up colourful stalls in the covered play areas, each depicting the rich culture they represent. It was a truly educational, colourful and enjoyable day for students, teachers and parents who came to view all nationalities at ESF working together in harmony.

The Lower and Middle school

students participated by dressing up in their traditional attire.

Middle and Upper school students also held a dance display. The best dance troupe was awarded a prize. Winners for the best International Day stall and best costumes were awarded by the Chairman Vice Chairman, Principal and Heads of Departments at the end of the day.

Kuwait Chapter of ICAI celebrates 5th anniversary

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he Kuwait Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) celebrated its 5th anniversary at an impressive function held at the Hotel Holiday Inn Downtown on April 30. The celebration was honored with the presence of the patron of Kuwait Chapter, Ajai Malhotra, Ambassador of India, along with G. Ramaswamy, President of the ICAI, and J.N. Shah, Vice-President of the Institute.

Accompanying the distinguished guests on the rostrum, were the chairman of Kuwait Chapter of ICAI, M.S. Mathew, and the founder Chairman, Jagdeesh Joshi.

A large gathering of ICAI members, their spouses and well-wishers attended the anniversary celebrations. The evening’s program started off with a stirring invocation by Lalitha Varadarajan, followed by an

introduction of the speakers by the master of ceremonies, Sajjan K. Agrawala, who compÈred the entire evening’s show.

In his welcome address, Mathew briefly traced the time-line of the Chapter and the teething hassles they faced, from the time it germinated as an idea among a group of CA professionals in 2004, to its eventual inauguration on 19th April, 2006, by the then president of ICAI, T.N. Manoharan.

Announcing the names of the new managing committee members - Gaurav Dokania (Chairman), Prashantha Shetty (Vice Chairman), Noel Cherian (Secretary) and Sanjiv Pabrai (Treasurer) - Mathew then wished them all success.

As patron of the Kuwait Chapter, the ambassador in his speech expressed his

profound pleasure in attending the 5th anniversary celebrations. The ambassador said, the fact that both the president and vice-president of ICAI had taken time from their busy schedule to join in the celebrations was indicative of the high level of recognition the parent body placed on the Kuwait Chapter. The ambassador went on to add that many of the largest businesses in Kuwait relied on, and respected and valued, the professional standards displayed by members of the Chapter. He concluded by wishing the members and the Chapter the best of success in the coming years.

With more than 170,000 members and a student base of over 800,000 students the ICAI is the second largest accounting body in the world, said

Shah, in his speech.

Delivering his keynote address at the celebrations, Ramaswamy said that since its establishment in 1949, members of the ICAI, through their independence and high-quality professional work, have earned a reputation in India and abroad for professional integrity and for upholding the loftiest ethical standards.

As part of the celebrations, members who had completed 25 years of professional service were felicitated with mementos. The evening was brought to a close with a vote of thanks delivered by Sanjiv Pabrai, in which he thanked the organizers, supporters and well-wishers for their contribution in making the anniversary celebrations a resounding success.

NSS Vanitha Samajam team

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air Service Society (NSS Kuwait) unanimously elected the Vanitha Samajam office bearers for the year 2011 - 2012 during the Annual Vanitha Samajam General Body meeting held on 22 April 2011 at Mr. Raveendran Nair’s residence, Abbasiya.

Office bearers elected for this current year : General Convener: Smitha Sumod, Joint Convener: Anitha Santhosh & Chandrika Prasad, Program Committee Convener: Smitha Saji, Joint Program Committee Convener: Priya Manoj Area Coordinators:

Indu Vinod (Abbasiya / Hasawi), Santhi Anilkumar (Mangaf / Fahaheel), Shedhi Shaji (Salmiya / Sharq), Rajani Ajith (Riggaie / Farwaniya) & Sandhiya Manoj (Abuhalifa / Mehboula).

General Convener Smitha Sumod welcomed newly elected office bearers, area coordinators and other committee members and programme convener Smitha Saji conveyed vote of thanks.

NAFO to present Soorya’s ‘Sangamam’ National Forum Kuwait (NAFO Kuwait) is all set to bringing a spectacular, well conceptualized, a jewel in crown super cultural show ‘Sangamam’ for the art lovers of Kuwait, according to a press release. Indian Ambassador Ajai Malhotra will inaugurate the first of its kind super show, scheduled for the evening of Friday, May 13, 2011 (6.00 PM) at the American International School Auditorium, Maidan-Hawalli.

Voice Kuwait 6th Anniversary Voice Kuwait is celebrating its 6th anniversary “VISWAKALA 2011” on May 20th Friday from 4 pm to 9 pm at Carmel School Khaitan.

Voice Kuwait is giving award to its member’s children who got highest mark in last S.S.L.C. either from Kuwait or from Kerala. The students those are eligible should give attested copy of their mark list to Area conveners or sent copy to voicekuwait2004@gmail.com For more information please contact 66950482,94419371.

Balakalamela on MAY 13 The yearly event “Balakalamela” conducted by Kerala Art Lovers Association (Kala-Kuwait) for the students of all Indian Schools in Kuwait for attaining the Benji Benson EverRolling Trophy has been scheduled for May13th, Friday at Carmel School, Khaithan as informed by the Central Committee of Kala. The items that are included for the competition are Bharthnatyam, Mohiniyattam, Oppana, MargamKali, Folk Dance, Group Dance, Fancy Dress, Mappilapaattu, Monoact, Light Music (Malayalam, Hindi), Group Song (Malayalam, Hindi), Classical Song, Poetry Recitation(English, Hindi, Malayalam), Elocution (Malayalam, English), Essay Writing(English, Malayalam), Story Writing (English, Malayalam), Poetry Writing (English, Malayalam) and Drawing.

Participants are categorized as shown below: L.K.G & U.K.G( Kindergarten) Standard1 - Standard 4 (Sub Juniors) Standard 5 - Standard 8 (Juniors) Standard 9 - Standard 12 (Seniors) Registrations can be done via the respective schools or through Kala Centre. Registration forms can also be downloaded from the official website of Kala, www.kalaonweb.com and the filled forms should be mailed to the email address kalabalakalamela@gmail.com. For the success of the program a reception committee was formed in which K.vinod was selected as General Convenor . Members who are in charge of various Sub Committees are as follows:- Sunil (Program), Bineesh.K.Babu (Registration), Binu Rani Albert(Reception), Sunny Saijesh (Stage), C.Krishnan (Food), Skaria John (Volunteer), K.Chandran (Publicity and Souvenir) and R.Ramesh (Finance) . For more details regarding the program contact 24317875 (Kala Centre), 66180229, 97817100 or 66656642

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Embassy Information EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA The Embassy encourages all Australians to register their presence in Kuwait through Smartraveller Online (see link below).

Australians who are registered are asked to update their details. The information provided will assist us in contacting you in an emergency. www.smartraveller.gov.au Kuwait citizens can apply for and receive visit visas to Australia online at www.immi.gov.au. This usually takes two working days.

All others visa applications are handled by the Australian Visa Application Centre Tel. 22971110.

Witnessing and certifying documents are by appointment only, please contact the Embassy on 2232 2422. The Australian Embassy is open from 8.00am to 4.00pm, Sunday to Thursday.

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GUST honors workers on International Worker’s Day

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he Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) honored International Worker’s Day with a week-long campaign entitled “I care.” Badges were made and a booth set up in the center of campus where students, staff and faculty made contributions which were distributed be distributed to 86 GUST workers on May 1st at a special ceremony held in the grand auditorium of the university.

Everyone who contributed received an “I care” badge and wore it to the ceremony where the GUST support workers were honored by Dr. MesferMesfer, Dean of Student Affairs, Muhammed Al-Nasiri, HR Director and Dr. Ali Al-Kandari, Dean of Admission and Registration, with certificates and contributions.

At the ceremony, Muhammed Al-Nasiri said to the

workers in his opening speech: “You may think your role is very small, but it is important. Without you, we wouldn’t be able to function.”

Afaf Al-Rukhayes, President’s Advisor on Student Affairs, a key player in the organization and execution of the campaign said: “It is important that we show the workers that we care and appreciate their jobs as much as we do about our own. They are an important part of the how smoothly the university runs and they should know that we appreciate what they do.” During the ceremony, she gave her speech in Hindi so that the workers who speak neither Arabic nor English would understand how much they are appreciated.

The workers at GUST were appreciative of the sentiment and smiles spread from ear to ear on everyone.

EMBASSY OF BRITAIN The Visa Application Centre (VAC) will be closed on the same dates above. The opening hours of the Visa Application Centre are 0930 - 1630 Application forms remain available online from the UKBAs’ website: www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk or from the Visa Application Centre’s website: www.vfs-uk-kw.com.

And also, from the UK Visa Application Centre located at: 4B, First Floor, Al Banwan Building (Burgan Bank Branch Office Building), Al Qibla area, opposite Central Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait City. For any further inquiries, please contact the Visa Application Centre: Website: www.vfs-uk-kw.com E-mail:info@vfs-uk-kw.com Telephone:22971170.

The Consular Section will also be closed on the same dates. For information on the British Embassy services, visit the British Embassy website: www.ukinkuwait.fco.gov.uk ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF GERMANY The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kuwait wishes to announce that as of 1 May 2011, the external service provider Al Qabas Assurex is operating a Visa Application Centre in support of the German Embassy. Short-term visa applications for travels to Germany (e.g. for tourism, visits, business) are to be submitted to the service provider Al Qabas who for your convenience will ensure that all relevant documents are included in your application.

Your personal appearance at the Application Centre is not required. Address of the Visa Application Centre: Al Qabas Assurex Sanabel Tower (Al-Babtain) Mezzanine (M3) opposite Sharq Mall Kuwait 22924444 Fax: 22924442 Further information are available on the following websites: www.kuwait.diplo.de www.qavisa.com ■■■■■■■

KES students celebrate glorious, memorable prizegiving Ceremony

D

r Salwa Al Jassar honoured Kuwait English School with her presence at an illustrious gathering of dignitaries, parents, teachers and students celebrating a glorious and memorable Prizegiving Ceremony in the beautiful setting of the Courtyard Marriot Arraya Ballroom on Sunday evening.

“Guided by teachers and supported by parents, your success has given us cause to rejoice” said Rhoda Elizabeth Muhmood, KES Director, in her opening address.

The Concert Band began with a processional of the prizewinning students, followed by the National Anthem and reading from the Holy Quran by Ahmed Abdelaal and Dima Janoudi. Ihab Habashi led the Arabic Choir in “A Salute to Kuwait”.

Commissioned by KES Chairman, Mohmammed Jassim Al Saddah, the piece was composed especially for Kuwait English School..

“It is not just a school” said Mme Naela Al Saddah, KES Vice-Chairman, thanking Principal Craig Halsall and Deputies John Sherwood, John Price and John Lynskey for their loyalty and dedication.

KES events this year included 50th National and 20th Liberation Day celebrations, Spring Fete, Remembrance Day, International Day of Francophone, French Day, Earth Day, Mufti Days, an Environmental Fashion Show, Talent Show, Science Construction Challenge, Kuwait Best 100 Science Competition, Maths competitions, Art competitions, Spelling bees, House quizzes, Bake Sales, participation in Introduction to Kuwait Exhibition and numerous fund raising activities.

The Drama and Music Departments produced Romeo and Juliet, GCSE Drama performances, AS/A2 performances, the BBF Music Competition, and band performances at Al Fanar Mall and at TES in aid of Japan.

In Sport, KES were overall boys and girls ISACK swimming champions, and ISACK Champions in the U15 girls netball, U19 girls netball, U19 girls table tennis, U13 girls football, and in the U13 girls Volleyball. InHouse Sports included Inter-House Fitness Challenges, Football, Tabletennis, Basketball and Volleyball, Health and Fitness Week,

Swimming Galas, and Sports days.

School trips included an International Award Gold trip to Prague, and Bronze Award to Mutla Ridge, MUN trip to Qatar, a Geography Field Course in Thailand, Years 8, 9 and 10 visit to Thailand, a Ski Trip to Switzerland, a Drama/Theatre trip to London, a Year 11 Textiles trip to Dubai, U13 and U19 boys football trips to Dubai, U11 boys and girls trips to Qatar and U13 boys and girls trip to Bahrain with the BSME. Mme Naela presented subject prizes to outstanding students in Years 7 to 9 who performed to an exceptional standard in examinations and throughout the school year. Ian Drummond then directed KES Showband in superb performances of

Frankenstein by Edgar Winter and Iron Man

by Black Sabbath.

John Sherwood, Assistant PrincipalAcademic/Senior High School Designate, said that the 100 prizewinners represent the elite creme de la creme both at Kuwait English School and in Kuwait. He said “As teachers we know we are very undervalued in society. But, as we know, without teachers there would be no doctors, no lawyers, no engineers, no architects........”

Steven Tarry then directed the Concert Band in a performance of Kuwait Dance number 3 by Al Harbi.

“Your journey of success is just beginning” said Craig Halsall, Senior High School Principal, praising the students for their

drive, desire and determination. Michael Hassan then conducted the Senior Choir in a rousing medley of Michael Jackson numbers.

Dr Salwa Al Jassar, MP and member of the Council of Nations representing Kuwait, presented prizes to outstanding students in Years 10 to 13. The eminent and widely respected Dr Al Jassar urged the Kuwait English School stars, saying the country is waiting for them and the great services they can provide to the nation. Next, the Showband performed Flashdance and Boogie Down.

“Enjoy your lives, don’t wait for tomorrow. You really are the best” advised Mrs Muhmood, saying technology has opened

doors and windows of opportunity to a world of infinite possbilities, and education is the key. Mrs Muhmood thanked the students for their hard work and dedication, parents for providing them the opportunity, and teachers for eliciting the best from them. Then the Concert Band played the Great Waldo Pepper March.

Mrs Muhmood presented Year and Special Prizes, accompanied by John Sherwood. Year prizes were awarded to students who are role models and have contributed in many areas of school life.

Talented and intellectually gifted students who excelled in 3 or more subjects were: Amira Aboud Younes, who won a prize for Mathematics, Arabic and French and Maisa

Chaalan for Biology, Physics and Social Studies in Year 7. In Year 8, Ahmed Abdelaal won prizes for Physics, Geography, Art and Quran. Mahmoud El Bahnasawi, in Year 9, won prizes in Mathematics, Physics and Quran.

Year 10 winners included Abdullah Khalil for Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Music. Ahnaf Al Rafi Farooq for Physics, Accounting and Quran, and Lina Najem for History, French, Business Studies and PE. Year 11 winners were Lama Saleh for English, Physics, Business Studies and ICT, and Mohammed El Bahnasawi for Mathematics AS, Chemistry AS and Accounting. Ananyo Bagchi in Year 12 won a prize for Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. Faisal Al Mejren won the Asdan Prize.

Honour prizes, for students whom in diverse ways have brought special recognition to the school in this historic year, went to Mohammed El Bahnasawi for achieving the highest mark in the world in mathematics last summer and has since scored 100 per cent in external AS levels, maestro pianist Heui Sung Kim, Saif Al Kholy for the top science project in Kuwait and Samrad Khan, Head Boy, who is offered continued education at Stanford, Duke, Yale and Harvard Universities.

“A thousand thousand congratulations.

Life has just started...finish your studies” said Dr Al Jassar after receiving her own award. “Hopefully this will lead for a better life for us”.

“Our future is much in their hands. They can make the world a better place” concluded Rhoda Elizabeth Muhmood in her Appreciation. Mrs Muhmood thanked Maha, her personal assistant of 20 years, and praised the school band, which raised KD3,000 for Japan in a performance at TES one week after the disasterous earthquake.

“There is no school in the world with a better group of musicians” Mrs Muhmood said. Finally, the Concert Band played Marching Down Broadway. John Price, Assistant Principal, closed the ceremony and KES Showband played for the procession of students leaving the hall to join their parents for the “ inevitable edible” refreshments.

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakel St., Block 4 in Da’aiyah.

Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca.

Canada offers a registration service for all Canadians travelling or living abroad. This service is provided so that Consular Officials can contact and assist Canadians in an emergency in a foreign country, such as a natural disaster or civil unrest, or inform Canadians of a family emergency at home. The Embassy of Canada encourages all Canadian Citizens to register online through the Government of Canada Travel Website at www.voyage.gc.ca. The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration services to residents of Kuwait. Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.UAE.gc.ca.

Effective January 15, 2011, the only Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) application form that will be accepted by CIC is the Application for Temporary Resident Visa Made Outside of Canada [IMM 5257] form. All previous Temporary Resident Visa application forms will no longer be accepted by CIC and instead will be returned to applicants. Should old applications be submitted prior to January 15, 2011 they will continue to be processed. To ensure that the most recent version of the Temporary Resident Visa application form is being utilized, applicants should refer to the CIC website. As of January 15, 2011, forms are to be filled in electronically. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday.

Consular Services for Canadian Citizens are provided from 09:00 until 12:00 on Sunday through Wednesday.

The forms are available on the internet at: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IM M5257E.PDF. A guide explaining the process can be found here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/kits/guides/5 256E.PDF. ■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF FRANCE On the occasion of public holiday in France, the French Embassy in Kuwait will be closed Sunday the 8th of May 2011.

■■■■■■■

EMBASSY OF GUYANA The Embassy of Guyana, recently established in Kuwait, announces that it is located at Block 3, Street 321, Villa 3, Mubarak Abdullah al Jabar, West Misrhef. The Embassy’s telephone numbers are 2539-7939 and 2539-4336; the fax number is 2539-3448. The Embassy can also be contacted by e-mail at Guyanaembassy.kuwait@gmail.com; its website address is www.guyana.org.

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EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has moved its office to Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax25387719. Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk

A

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WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011

Years

TV PROGRAMS

00:45 Untamed And Uncut 01:40 Dogs 101 02:35 Great Savannah Race 03:30 Last Chance Highway 04:25 Squid Invasion 05:20 Animal Cops Houston 06:10 Animal Crackers 07:00 Meerkat Manor 07:25 The Really Wild Show 07:50 Natural Born Hunters 08:15 All New Planet’s Funniest Animals 08:40 Breed All About It 09:10 Must Love Cats 10:05 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip 11:00 Animal Precinct 11:55 Wildlife SOS 12:50 Last Chance Highway 13:45 RSPCA: Have You Got What It Takes?

14:10 E-Vets: The Interns 14:40 Amba The Russian Tiger 15:30 Animal Battlegrounds 16:00 The Really Wild Show 16:30 Baby Planet 17:25 Extraordinary Dogs 17:50 Project Puppy 18:20 Great Savannah Race 19:15 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip 20:10 Dogs 101 21:05 Wildest Africa 22:00 Mutant Planet 22:55 Buggin’ With Ruud 23:50 Daniel And Our Cats

00:00 00:30 01:20 02:10 03:00 03:30 04:00 04:30 04:50 05:10 05:35 05:45 06:05 06:25 06:50 07:05 07:25 07:45 08:10 08:20 08:40 09:00 09:25 09:40 10:40 11:25 12:15 12:45 13:15 14:10 15:40 16:30 17:15 17:45 18:15 19:10 20:00 20:45 21:15 21:45 22:40 23:30

00:05 00:45 01:35 02:25 04:15 05:10 06:35 07:15 08:00 09:30 09:55 10:45 11:30

My Family The Weakest Link Holby City Conviction Eastenders Doctors My Family Me Too Tweenies Teletubbies Charlie And Lola Me Too Tweenies Teletubbies Charlie And Lola Me Too Tweenies Teletubbies Charlie And Lola Me Too Tweenies Teletubbies Charlie And Lola My Family The Weakest Link Michael Palin’s New Europe Doctors Eastenders Holby City My Family Michael Palin’s New Europe The Weakest Link Doctors Eastenders Holby City Michael Palin’s New Europe The Weakest Link Doctors Eastenders Casualty Paradox My Family

Cash In The Attic USA Come Dine With Me Design Rules Cash In The Attic USA Sweet Baby James Daily Cooks Challenge Come Dine With Me Ching’s Kitchen Colin And Justin’s Home Show Sweet Baby James Antiques Roadshow Cash In The Attic USA Cash In The Attic USA

11:50 12:30 12:55 13:50 14:15 15:00 15:45 16:35 18:20 19:10 20:00 20:45 21:30 22:20 23:05

Cash In The Attic USA Sweet Baby James Antiques Roadshow Glamour Puds Cash In The Attic Bargain Hunt Come Dine With Me Cash In The Attic USA Sweet Baby James Antiques Roadshow Cash In The Attic Bargain Hunt Come Dine With Me Design Rules Holmes On Homes

00:00 BBC World News 00:30 World Business Report 00:45 Sport Today 01:00 BBC World News America 01:30 Asia Business Report 01:45 Asia Today 02:00 BBC World News 02:30 Asia Business Report 02:45 Asia Today 03:00 BBC World News 03:30 Asia Business Report 03:45 Asia Today 04:00 BBC World News 04:30 Asia Business Report 04:45 Asia Today 05:00 BBC World News 05:30 Asia Business Report 05:45 Asia Today 06:00 BBC World News 06:30 Hardtalk 07:00 BBC World News 07:30 World Business Report 07:45 BBC World News 08:30 World Business Report 08:45 BBC World News 09:30 World Business Report 09:45 Sport Today 10:00 BBC World News 10:30 World Business Report 10:45 Sport Today 11:00 BBC World News 11:30 Hardtalk 12:00 BBC World News 12:30 World Business Report 12:45 Sport Today 13:00 BBC World News 13:30 World Business Report 13:45 Sport Today 14:00 GMT With George Alagiah 15:00 BBC World News 15:30 World Business Report 15:45 Sport Today 16:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:30 World Business Report 17:45 Sport Today 18:00 BBC World News 18:30 Hardtalk 19:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:30 World Business Report 20:45 Sport Today 21:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 22:30 World Business Report 22:45 Sport Today 23:00 BBC World News America 23:30 Hardtalk

00:05 Cow And Chicken 00:30 Cramp Twins 00:55 George Of The Jungle 01:20 Adrenalini Brothers 01:45 Eliot Kid 02:10 Ed, Edd N Eddy 02:35 Ben 10: Alien Force 03:00 The Powerpuff Girls 03:15 Chowder 03:40 The Secret Saturdays 04:05 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 04:30 Ben 10: Alien Force 04:55 Best Ed 05:20 Skunk Fu! 05:45 Cramp Twins 06:10 Eliot Kid 06:35 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 07:00 Codename: Kids Next Door 07:25 Cow And Chicken 07:50 Angelo Rules

08:05 Cartoon Network Dance Club 08:15 Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends 08:40 Ben 10: Alien Force 09:05 The Secret Saturdays 09:30 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 09:55 The Powerpuff Girls 10:20 Robotboy 10:30 Hero 108 10:55 Ben 10 11:20 Chowder 11:45 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 12:10 Camp Lazlo 12:35 George Of The Jungle 13:00 Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends 13:25 Codename: Kids Next Door 13:50 Ben 10 14:15 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 14:40 Squirrel Boy 15:05 Eliot Kid 15:35 Ed, Edd N Eddy 16:00 Cow And Chicken 16:25 Chop Socky Chooks 16:50 Skunk Fu! 17:15 Chowder 17:40 Best Ed 18:05 Hero 108 18:30 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 18:55 Star Wars: The Clone Wars 19:20 Ben 10: Alien Force 19:45 The Secret Saturdays 20:10 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 20:35 Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes 21:00 The Powerpuff Girls 21:25 Ed, Edd N Eddy 21:50 Robotboy 22:00 Camp Lazlo 22:25 Hero 108 22:50 Ben 10 23:15 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 23:40 Chowder

00:40 01:35 02:30 03:25 04:20 05:15 05:40 06:05 07:00 07:50 08:45 09:10 09:40 10:30 10:55 11:25 12:20 13:15 14:10 15:05 16:00 16:55 17:50 18:45 19:10 19:40 20:05 21:00 21:30 21:55 22:50 23:45

Dirty Jobs Stan Lee’s Superhumans Ultimate Survival Mega Builders Mythbusters How It’s Made How Stuff’s Made Dirty Jobs Mega Builders American Chopper How Stuff’s Made How It’s Made Mythbusters Cake Boss Border Security Street Customs 2008 Ultimate Survival Mythbusters LA Ink Dirty Jobs Street Customs 2008 Mythbusters Extreme Fishing Cake Boss Border Security Industrial Junkie The Future Of...

Deconstruction Deconstruction Mythbusters James May’s Man Lab Extreme Fishing

00:30 The Gadget Show 00:55 Nyc: Inside Out 01:45 Space Pioneer 02:35 Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman 03:25 How Stuff’s Made 03:50 Junkyard Wars 04:45 What’s That About?

05:40 Patent Bending 06:10 Superships 07:00 Catch It Keep It 07:55 Head Rush 07:58 Sci-Fi Science 08:25 Weird Connections 08:55 Cosmic Collisions

THE ROCK ON OSN ACTION HD

09:45 10:10 10:35 11:25 11:50 12:40 13:05 13:30 13:55 14:45 15:35 16:00 16:03 16:30 17:00 17:50 18:40 19:05 19:30 20:20 20:45 21:10 21:35 22:00 22:25 22:50 23:40

The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Engineered Mean Green Machines Da Vinci’s Machines Patent Bending Sci-Fi Science Sci-Fi Science Space Pioneer Nyc: Inside Out The Gadget Show Head Rush Sci-Fi Science Weird Connections Brainiac Space Pioneer How It’s Made How It’s Made How Stuff Works Sci-Fi Science How Does That Work?

The Gadget Show The Gadget Show How It’s Made How It’s Made How Stuff Works Building The Future

00:00 00:25 01:15 02:00 02:50 03:35 04:25 05:15 06:00 06:20 06:45 07:05 07:30 07:55 08:20 08:35 09:00 09:25 09:50 10:10 10:35 10:50 11:15 11:35 12:00 12:25 12:45 13:10 13:30 13:55 14:20 14:40 14:55 15:20 15:40 16:00 16:45 17:10 17:35 18:00 18:45 19:10 19:35 20:00 20:25 20:50 21:12 21:15 21:35 22:00 22:25 22:50 23:15 23:35

Kim Possible Fairly Odd Parents Stitch Replacements Emperors New School Stitch Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Emperors New School Phineas And Ferb Kim Possible Suite Life On Deck Fish Hooks Wizards Of Waverly Place Fairly Odd Parents Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Handy Manny Special Agent Oso Jungle Junction Imagination Movers Phineas And Ferb Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Good Luck Charlie Shake It Up Fairly Odd Parents Phineas And Ferb Hannah Montana Sonny With A Chance Wizards Of Waverly Place Suite Life On Deck Have A Laugh Good Luck Charlie Shake It Up Wizards Of Waverly Place Sonny With A Chance Jonas LA Fish Hooks Wizards Of Waverly Place Hannah Montana Phineas And Ferb Good Luck Charlie Wizards Of Waverly Place Sonny With A Chance Jake And Blake Hannah Montana Have A Laugh Phineas And Ferb Fairly Odd Parents Replacements Hannah Montana Sonny With A Chance Wizards Of Waverly Place Jonas

06:00 Kid Vs Kat 06:20 Kick Buttowski 06:40 Pokemon 07:05 Phineas & Ferb 08:05 American Dragon 08:30 Kick Buttowski 08:50 Next X 2011 Winter Edition (Cema) 09:00 Zeke & Luther 09:50 I’m In The Band 10:15 The Super Hero Squad Show 10:40 Suite Life On Deck 11:30 Pair Of Kings 11:55 Phineas & Ferb 12:45 Kid Vs Kat 13:50 The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody 14:40 Zeke & Luther 15:05 Suite Life On Deck 15:25 Next X 2011 Winter Edition (Cema) 15:35 Kick Buttowski 16:00 I’m In The Band 16:25 Suite Life On Deck 16:50 Zeke & Luther 17:15 Phineas & Ferb 18:30 Escape From Scorpion Island (Cema) 18:55 Pokemon 19:20 Skyrunners 21:05 I’m In The Band 21:30 Zeke & Luther 21:50 Phineas And Ferb 22:00 The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody 22:20 The Super Hero Squad Show

00:25 Kendra 00:55 Style Star 01:25 E!es 02:20 THS 03:15 25 Most Stylish 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:00 50 Most Insane Celebrity Oops 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 10:15 30 Best And Worst Beach Bodies 12:05 E! News 13:05 Giuliana And Bill 13:35 Holly’s World 14:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 14:35 THS 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 THS 17:55 E! News 18:55 Kourtney And Kim Take New York 19:25 Kourtney And Kim Take New York 19:55 THS 20:55 Chelsea Lately 21:25 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane 22:25 E! News 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Kourtney And Kim Take New York

00:15 00:40 01:30 02:20 03:10 04:00 04:25 04:50 05:40 06:30 08:00 08:25 09:15 10:55 11:45 12:35 13:25 14:15 15:05 15:55 16:45 17:10 18:00 19:40 20:30 21:20 22:10 23:00 23:50

Fantasy Factory Mantracker World Combat League Fantasy Factory Aiya TV Dr Danger Gumball 3000: 2008 Mantracker World Combat League iEX 2009 Kenny Belaey’s Big Time Summer Dew Tour 2010 BMX Megatour Final Fu X Games Heroes Fantasy Factory Mantracker World Combat League Final Fu X Games Heroes Kenny Belaey’s Big Time Summer Dew Tour 2010 BMX Megatour X Games Heroes Fantasy Factory Fight Girls World Combat League Aiya TV Fantasy Factory

00:30 Ghost Lab 01:20 A Haunting 02:10 Deadly Women 03:00 The Prosecutors 03:50 Dr G: Medical Examiner 04:45 Crime Scene Psychics 05:15 Ghost Lab 06:10 Life Or Death: Medical Mysteries 07:00 Forensic Detectives 07:50 CSU 08:40 Life Or Death: Medical Mysteries 09:30 Real Emergency Calls 10:20 Fugitive Strike Force 11:10 FBI Files 12:00 Murder Shift 12:50 Solved 13:40 Life Or Death: Medical Mysteries 14:30 Real Emergency Calls 15:20 Fugitive Strike Force 16:10 Forensic Detectives 17:00 CSU 17:50 FBI Files 18:40 Life Or Death: Medical Mysteries 19:30 Real Emergency Calls 20:20 Murder Shift 21:10 Solved 22:00 I Almost Got Away With It 23:40 Dr G: Medical Examiner

00:00 Market Values 01:00 Departures 02:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 03:00 Long Way Down 04:00 Pressure Cook 04:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 05:00 Food Lovers Guide To Planet 05:30 Exploring The Vine 06:00 Market Values 07:00 Departures 08:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 09:00 Long Way Down 10:00 Pressure Cook 10:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 11:00 Food Lovers Guide To Planet 11:30 Exploring The Vine 12:00 Market Values 13:00 Departures 14:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 15:00 Long Way Down 16:00 Pressure Cook 16:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 17:00 Food Lovers Guide To Planet 17:30 Exploring The Vine 18:00 Market Values 19:00 Departures 20:00 Don’t Tell My Mother 21:00 Long Way Down 22:00 Pressure Cook 22:30 David Rocco’s Dolce Vita 23:00 Food Lovers Guide To Planet 23:30 Exploring The Vine

The

The

The

The

00:00 Fast Lane-PG15 02:00 Jennifer’s Body-18 04:00 Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassin’s Ball18 06:00 Independence Day-PG15 08:30 Panic Room-PG15 10:30 Star Runners-PG15 12:00 The Rock-PG15 14:15 Panic Room-PG15 16:15 Bad Girls-PG15 18:00 The Rock-PG15 20:15 Courage Under Fire-PG15 22:15 Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans-18

01:00 Triage-18 03:00 Paper Heart-PG15 05:00 Lucky Break-PG15 07:00 Batman: Under The Red Hood-PG 09:00 Paper Heart-PG15 11:00 The Dust Factory-PG15 13:00 Chatterbox-PG 15:00 Me And Orson Welles-PG 17:00 Fly Me To The Moon-PG 18:45 The Lovely Bones-PG15 21:00 The Greatest-PG15 23:00 Staten Island-PG15

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 Family Guy 02:00 The Cleveland Show 02:30 Entourage 03:00 Just Shoot Me 03:30 30 Rock 04:00 Family Guy 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Malcolm In The Middle 06:00 Yes Dear 06:30 The Drew Carey Show 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 08:30 Dharma And Greg 09:00 Just Shoot Me

TRIAGE ON OSN CINEMA 09:30 Malcolm In The Middle 10:00 Yes Dear 10:30 Seinfeld 11:00 The Drew Carey Show 11:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:30 Dharma And Greg 13:00 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 13:30 Malcolm In The Middle 14:00 Yes Dear 14:30 30 Rock 15:00 Seinfeld 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 The Drew Carey Show 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 Just Shoot Me 18:30 Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne 19:00 Melissa And Joey 19:30 30 Rock 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 The Big C 22:30 Entourage 23:00 Family Guy 23:30 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

Private Practice The Glades The Ellen DeGeneres Show Grey’s Anatomy The View Good Morning America Commander In Chief Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Martha Stewart Show The View Private Practice Grey’s Anatomy Live Good Morning America C.S.I. New York The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Coronation Street Glee Any Human Heart Game Of Thrones Boardwalk Empire C.S.I. New York

00:00 Downton Abbey 01:00 C.S.I. 02:00 The Glades 03:00 Private Practice 04:00 Grey’s Anatomy 05:00 The Closer 06:00 Downton Abbey 07:00 The Office 07:30 Coronation Street 08:00 Smallville 09:00 The Closer 10:00 Private Practice 11:00 Grey’s Anatomy 12:00 The Office 12:30 Coronation Street 13:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 14:00 Smallville 15:00 Downton Abbey 16:00 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 16:30 Coronation Street 17:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 18:00 Smallville 19:00 Glee 20:00 Any Human Heart 21:00 Game Of Thrones 22:00 C.S.I. 23:00 The Closer

01:00 03:00 18 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:15 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

The Gene Generation-18 Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassin’s BallJuice-18 The Betrayed-PG15 The Italian Job (1969)-PG Face Off-PG15 Captain Drake-PG The Italian Job (1969)-PG The Blackout-PG15 Freight-PG15 Signs-PG15 Dark Island-PG15

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Swing Vote-PG15 The Hudsucker Proxy-PG15 Married To It-PG15 Dragnet-PG15 From Justin To Kelly-PG America’s Sweethearts-PG15 Imagine That-PG Return To Me-PG15 Swing Vote-PG15 Brassed Off-PG15 Mallrats-PG15 Man About Town-18

01:00 Deliverance-R 03:00 Taking Woodstock-18 05:00 Cry Baby-PG15 07:00 Eva-PG15 09:00 Rudy-PG 11:00 Motherhood-PG15 13:00 Not One Less-PG 15:00 Under The Mountain-PG 17:00 Skellig-PG15 19:00 Accidents Happen-PG15 21:00 A Prophet-18 23:30 Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas-18

01:00 Edward Scissorhands-PG 03:00 G.I. Joe: The Rise Of CobraPG15 05:00 A Christmas Carol-PG 07:00 Valentine’s Day-PG15 09:00 The Blind Side-PG15 11:00 Drumline-PG15 13:00 Smart People-PG15 14:30 Harry Potter And The HalfBlood Prince-PG15 17:00 The Blind Side-PG15 19:15 Temple Grandin-PG15 21:00 The Greatest-PG15 23:00 Public Enemies-18

01:45 Dark Crystal-PG 04:00 My Fair Madeline-FAM 06:00 Scooby-Doo And The Loch Ness Monster-FAM 08:00 The Enchanted Mountain-PG 10:00 Sabrina The Teenage Witch: Friends Forever-PG 12:00 The Princess And The FrogFAM 14:00 Scooby-Doo And The Loch Ness Monster-FAM 16:00 Delgo-FAM 18:00 Leave It To Beaver-PG 20:00 The Thief Of Baghdad-PG 22:00 The Princess And The FrogFAM

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Boarding Gate-18 The Shock Doctrine-PG15 I Spy-PG Make It Happen-PG15 My Bollywood Bride-PG15 Easy Virtue-PG15 500 Days Of Summer-PG15 Tooth Fairy-PG My Bollywood Bride-PG15 Coco Before Chanel-PG15 The Final Destination-18 All Good Things-18

00:00 NRL Premiership 02:00 Futbol Mundial 02:30 World Hockey 03:00 Super 15 05:00 Trans World Sport 06:00 Weber Cup Bowling 07:00 NRL Premiership 09:00 European PGA Tour Highlights 10:00 FEI Equestrian World 10:30 Mobil 1 The Grid 11:00 Snooker 15:00 Weber Cup Bowling 16:00 Spirit of Yachting 16:30 Futbol Mundial 17:00 NRL Full Time 17:30 Golfing World 18:30 Trans World Sport 19:30 Scottish Premier League Highlights 20:00 AFL Highlights 21:00 Scottish Premier League 23:00 IRB Sevens

00:00 NRL Full Time 00:30 AFL Highlights 01:30 AFL Premiership 03:30 FEI Equestrain World 04:00 European PGA Tour Highlights 05:00 NRL Premiership 07:00 Golfing World 08:00 AFL Premiership 10:30 ICC Cricket World 11:00 World Hockey 11:30 Scottish Premier League Highlights 12:00 FEI Equestrain World 12:30 Weber Cup Bowling 13:30 Spirit of Yachting 14:00 European Challenge Cup 16:00 Mobil 1 The Grid 16:30 Super League 18:30 FEI Equestrain World 19:00 Golfing World 20:00 European Tour Weekly 20:30 Mobil 1 The Grid 21:00 Trans World Sport 22:00 AFL Highlights 23:00 European PGA Tour Highlights

01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 09:30 11:30 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 15:30 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00

UFC The Ultimate Fighter Le Mans Series V8 Supercars Championship UAE National Race Day Series UFC Unleashed WWE Vintage Collection UAE National Race Day Series Duathlon V8 Supercars Championship Sports Adventure WWE NXT UAE National Race Day Series City Centre Races Superstock Powerboat Series Full Throttle Le Mans Series V8 Supercars Championship WWE NXT WWE Bottom Line WWE Vintage Collection UFC Wired UFC Unleashed

00:30 01:20 02:10 03:00 03:55 04:50 05:40 06:30 07:20 08:10 09:00 09:55 10:50 11:40 12:30 13:20 14:10 15:00 15:55 16:50 17:40 18:30 19:20 20:10 21:00 21:55 22:50 23:40

Life After People UFO Files Modern Marvels Surviving History Modern Marvels Sliced Tales Of The Gun Life After People UFO Files Modern Marvels Surviving History Modern Marvels Sliced Tales Of The Gun Life After People UFO Files Modern Marvels Surviving History Modern Marvels Sliced Tales Of The Gun Life After People UFO Files Modern Marvels Patton 360 Battles B.C. The Korean War Diplomats For The Dammed

01:10 Soldier’s Story, A-FAM 02:50 Elvis On Tour-FAM 04:20 TCM Presents Under The Influence-FAM 04:50 The Hill-FAM 07:00 Fury-FAM 08:30 The Last Time I Saw Paris-FAM 10:25 Son Of Lassie-FAM 12:05 Where The Spies Are-FAM 13:55 Each Dawn I Die-FAM 15:25 Ride, Vaquero!-FAM 16:55 Lust For Life-FAM 18:55 Doctor Zhivago-FAM 22:00 Whose Life Is It Anyway?-FAM 23:55 Kiss Before Dying, A-FAM

Classifieds WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011

ACCOMMODATION Keralite family on vacation, flat available for 2 months (June - July). Call 97121669.

(C 3313) 4-5-2011

Week ending May 3, 2011

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Source: iTunes iTunes

One bedroom available for Keralite couples or working lady in Abbassiya near Orma restaurant with a family. Contact: 99494671.

(C 3308)

FOR SALE 2009 model Toyota Corolla, excellent condition, price KD 3450. Tel: 60951195.

(C 3307) SUV Envoy, model 2007, very good condition, price KD 3700. Tel: 66728911.

(C 3311) 3-5-2011 PC Compaq Pentium 4, HD 20 GB, Ram 128 MB (expandable), Windows XP professional with 15” LCD Neovo. All in excellent condition, price KD 40 only. Call 60477518 & 99337034.

(C 3305) 1-5-2011 2005 model Mitsubishi

Nativa white color, running 96,000 km excellent condition, CD, remote, alloy wheel, single owner, accident free new 4 tires, price KD 2400.

Contact: 60797291. (C 3303)

CHANGE OF NAME I, Shavaz, holder of Pakistan Passport No. KH048265, hereby change my name to Abdul Ahad Fayyaz. (C 3309) 3-5-2011

SITUATION WANTED Indian male B.Com, 25 years Gulf experience (Kuwait & UAE) in management, procurement, sales, seeks senior position, experience in oil field materials, hard wares, power and hand tools, timber, steel, building materials etc.

Contact: 66889375.

(C 3302) 4-5-2011 Housemaid urgently needed- preferably Sri Lanka, Indonesian and India. Call 97785326 Accountant Indian (male) 9 years experience (2 years in Kuwait), B.Com, PG in Sociology, accounts up to finalization, bank reconciliation, inventory, cash, creditors and debtors management, good knowledge in Tally, Oracle, MS Office.

Tel: 65990299.

(C 3304) 1-5-2011

MISCELLANEOUS Required 2003 - 2004 model Honda Accord, full option or regular, 4 cylinder, in excellent condition.

Tel: 60005317, 99976051.

30-4-2011

Must speak English. Call 66838807 after 4pm.

(C 3306) 3-5-2011

MATRIMONIAL Proposals invited for postgraduate (MBA) Kuwait employed, Orthodox girl 28/160, planning vacation May-June.

Contact: gegekutty@hotmail.com / palliyilus@yahoo.com (C 3314) 4-5-2011

LOST SITUATION VACANT Driver wanted urgently for a decent Kuwaiti family.

Indians with local experience preferred temporary for 3 months. Please contact 99006777 for immediate appointment. (C 3312) American family looking for live -in maid. Call 65729276, 66104141.

(C 3310) American family in Salwa needs full time, live -in maid, start immediately.

I, Nusheen Mustafa Kardame, Indian Passport holder No: G2641002, have lost my B.Com certificate and mark sheet a week ago at Al-Rai bus stop. Anybody who happens to find it please contact 66804400.

(C 3316) I, Nida Mustafa Kardame, Indian Passport holder No: G2640931 have lost my B.Com certificate and mark sheet a week ago at Al-Rai bus stop. Anybody who happens to find it please contact 67761591. (C 3315) 4-5-2011

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION In case you are not travelling, your proper cancellation of bookings will help other passengers to use seats Airlines JZR THY ETH ETH UAE DHX FDB GFA QTR JZR JZR JZR FCX JZR KAC BAW IRC KAC KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE QTR ABY IRA ETD GFA FCX MEA JZR IRM SVA JZR RBG KAC MSR IRC UAL RJA FDB KAC SVA

Flt 267 772 620 3718 853 370 67 211 138 529 207 503 201 555 412 157 6807 206 382 302 53 352 284 344 362 855 132 125 603 301 213 203 404 165 5066 9361 561 3557 672 610 6791 982 640 57 802 500

Arrival Flights on Wednesday 4/5/2011 Route BEIRUT ISTANBUL ADDIS ABABA LIEGE DUBAI BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA ASSIUT DAMASCUS LUXOR DUBAI ALEXANDRIA MANILA / BANGKOK LONDON SHIRAZ ISLAMABAD DELHI MUMBAI DUBAI COCHIN DHAKA CHENNAI COLOMBO DUBAI DOHA SHARJAH SHIRAZ ABU DHABI BAHRAIN DUBAI BEIRUT DUBAI MASHAD JEDDAH SOHAG ALEXANDRIA DUBAI CAIRO MASHAD WASHINGTON DC DULLES AMMAN DUBAI CAIRO JEDDAH

Time 0:35 1:15 1:45 2:00 2:25 2:55 3:10 3:15 3:20 3:35 3:55 5:15 5:25 6:10 6:15 6:30 7:10 7:15 7:20 7:50 7:55 8:05 8:10 8:20 8:20 8:25 9:00 9:10 9:25 9:30 9:35 10:30 10:55 11:10 11:50 12:00 12:30 12:55 13:15 13:20 13:25 13:30 13:35 13:50 14:00 14:30

KAC SVA QTR KAC JZR KNE SYR ETD UAE GFA SVA KNE JZR JZR ABY KAC JZR ALK JZR KAC IYE KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC KAC AIC JAI FDB JZR OMA VOS MEA DHX UAE GFA QTR UAL JZR JZR DLH SAI AXB KLM PIA

552 9371 134 546 201 701 341 303 857 215 510 745 777 239 127 550 481 227 177 166 824 502 542 618 786 614 774 674 102 975 572 61 787 647 81 402 372 859 217 136 981 135 185 636 441 393 447 215

DAMASCUS MEDINAH DOHA ALEXANDRIA DAMASCUS RIYADH DAMASCUS ABU DHABI DUBAI BAHRAIN RIYADH JEDDAH JEDDAH AMMAN SHARJAH SHARM EL SHEIKH / SOHAG SABIHA COLOMBO / DUBAI DUBAI PARIS / ROME SANAA / DOHA BEIRUT CAIRO DOHA JEDDAH BAHRAIN RIYADH DUBAI NEW YORK / LONDON CHENNAI / GOA MUMBAI DUBAI RIYADH MUSCAT BAGHDAD BEIRUT BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN DOHA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN DUBAI FRANKFURT LAHORE / KARACHI KOZHIKODE / COCHIN AMSTERDAM / BAHRAIN KARACHI

14:35 14:35 15:15 15:30 15:45 16:00 16:00 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:20 17:20 17:25 17:35 17:40 17:45 17:50 18:00 18:00 18:40 18:40 18:45 18:50 18:55 19:00 19:20 19:25 19:25 19:25 19:30 19:35 20:00 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:15 21:00 21:15 21:25 21:35 22:00 22:10 22:35 23:00 23:05 23:15 23:35 23:55

Airlines AXB DLH BBC AIC PIA THY ETH UAE FDB DHX ETH QTR JZR JZR GFA KAC VOS IRC BAW KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY KAC KAC QTR JZR ETD GFA JZR IRA FCX MEA JZR KAC JZR KAC KAC IRM KAC SVA RBG JZR

Departure Flights on Wednesday 4/5/2011 Flt Route 390 MANGALORE / KOZHIKODE 637 FRANKFURT 46 DHAKA 982 AHMEDABAD / CHENNAI 206 LAHORE 773 ISTANBUL 620 BAHRAIN / ADDIS ABABA 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 371 BAHRAIN 3718 HONG KONG 139 DOHA 560 SOHAG 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 801 CAIRO 94 DUBAI / KANDAHAR 6963 TEHRAN 156 LONDON 545 ALEXANDRIA 54 DUBAI 177 FRANKFURT / GENEVA 671 DUBAI 551 DAMASCUS 856 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 549 SHARM EL SHEIKH / SOHAG 117 NEW YORK 133 DOHA 480 SABIHA 302 ABU DHABI 214 BAHRAIN 200 DAMASCUS 602 SHIRAZ 204 DUBAI 405 BEIRUT 776 JEDDAH 541 CAIRO 238 AMMAN 103 LONDON 501 BEIRUT 5065 MASHAD 785 JEDDAH 2661 JEDDAH 3558 SOHAG / ALEXANDRIA 176 DUBAI

Time 0:25 0:40 1:00 1:05 1:10 2:15 2:30 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:00 5:00 5:55 6:55 7:10 7:20 8:00 8:10 8:25 8:35 8:40 8:55 9:00 9:10 9:40 9:50 9:55 10:00 10:00 10:05 10:15 10:20 10:20 10:25 11:45 11:55 12:00 12:00 12:10 12:30 13:00 13:20 13:30 13:30 13:35 13:40

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

MSR IRC RJA FDB UAL KAC KAC SVA SVA KAC QTR KAC JZR KNE SYR ETD UAE KNE GFA ABY JZR JZR SVA JZR JZR ALK IYE KAC KAC JAI FDB KAC KAC OMA MEA DHX UAE GFA KAC FCX QTR KAC KAC JZR JZR UAL KAC SAI

611 6792 641 58 982 673 617 503 2371 773 135 613 786 704 342 304 858 746 216 128 184 266 511 204 134 228 824 283 361 571 62 331 351 648 403 373 860 218 381 102 137 301 205 502 554 981 415 442

CAIRO MASHAD AMMAN DUBAI BAHRAIN DUBAI DOHA MEDINAH / JEDDAH JEDDAH RIYADH DOHA BAHRAIN RIYADH MEDINAH DAMASCUS ABU DHABI DUBAI JEDDAH BAHRAIN SHARJAH DUBAI BEIRUT RIYADH DAMASCUS BAHRAIN DUBAI / COLOMBO SANAA DHAKA COLOMBO MUMBAI DUBAI TRIVANDRUM COCHIN MUSCAT BEIRUT BAHRAIN DUBAI BAHRAIN DELHI BAHRAIN DOHA MUMBAI ISLAMABAD LUXOR ALEXANDRIA WASHINGTON DC DULLES KUALA LUMPUR / JAKARTA LAHORE

14:20 14:25 14:30 14:35 14:45 15:10 15:35 15:45 16:05 16:05 16:15 16:20 16:35 16:45 17:00 17:35 18:05 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:35 18:55 19:10 19:10 19:40 20:00 20:20 20:35 20:40 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 22:00 22:25 22:30 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:55 23:05 23:10 23:40 23:50 23:59

34

star CROSSWORD 307

WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011

s

STAR TRACK

CALVIN & HOBBES

Aries (March 21-April 19) For the most part, your time is spoken for today. It may be difficult to tend to what you feel you would like to accomplish.

Compromise, cooperation and determination may be the only way to handle such a day. Group situations can be quite productive today. Make up your mind now, to go with the flow when it comes to the workplace. There is an urge to set out on your own but if you keep your attention focused and stay on track, you will be pleased with the outcome. You have lots of energy to be productive. You will be drawn to many forms of self-improvement. Practice using your energies in positive, constructive and creative ways. It is through the struggles that successes we receive become more meaningful-don’t give up.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Probing conversations find you at your mental best this morning. Your analytical abilities are at a high point. You can demonstrate a good understanding of what is needed or you can ask questions that will take the instructor back to the drawing board. Good for you, always alert to what is needed or what is just not necessary and has been in effect for way too long. You are in a good position to communicate with others, one-on-one or in groups. Your investments are showing some positive rewards all through this month. You might be wise to let an investment grow before cashing in on your share. You have a drive this evening to entertain or be entertained by friends. This is the best relief of stress that was ever created.

POOCH CAFE ACROSS 1. An erratic deflection from an intended course.

4. A winged often one-seed indehiscent fruit as of the ash or elm or maple.

10. The compass point that is one point south of due east.

13. To make a mistake or be incorrect.

14. A port city in southwestern Turkey on the Gulf of Antalya.

15. Resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects.

16. (informal) Of the highest quality.

17. Of or related to genetically distinguished groups of people.

18. Type genus of the family Myacidae.

19. A large building at an airport where aircraft can be stored and maintained.

21. 36th President of the United States.

23. A public promotion of some product or service.

24. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

25. An official prosecutor for a judicial district.

27. An awkward stupid person.

29. Any distinct time period in a sequence of events.

32. Food that is discarded (as from a kitchen).

36. A Buddhist who has attained nirvana.

38. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

39. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

42. A small cake leavened with yeast.

44. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

46. 300 to 3000 kilohertz.

47. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.

48. Submerged aquatic plant having narrow leaves and small flowers.

54. An amino acid that is found in the central nervous system.

58. Slender bristlelike appendage found on the bracts of grasses.

59. Show a response or a reaction to something.

62. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

63. Wild and domestic cattle.

64. A university town in east central Illinois adjoining Champaign.

66. The compass point midway between northeast and east.

67. In or of the month preceding the present one.

68. African tree having an exceedingly thick trunk and fruit that resembles a gourd and has an edible pulp called monkey bread.

69. A condition (mostly in boys) characterized by behavioral and learning disorders.

DOWN 1. Not only so, but.

2. Type genus of the family Arcidae.

3. English architect who designed more than fifty London churches (1632-1723).

4. (historically) A member of the nomadic people of the Syrian and Arabian deserts at the time of the Roman Empire.

5. The sixth month of the civil year.

6. (British) A waterproof raincoat made of rubberized fabric.

7. American prizefighter who won the world heavyweight championship three times (born in 1942).

8. The basic unit of money in Iran.

9. A city and port in northern Jutland.

10. Any of various trees of the genus Ulmus.

11. Common Indian weaverbird.

12. Any of a number of fishes of the family Carangidae.

20. Mentally or physically infirm with age.

22. A sharp hand gesture (resembling a blow).

26. Small terrestrial lizard of warm regions of the Old World.

28. A sheet or band of fibrous connective tissue separating or binding together muscles and organs etc.

30. A one-piece cloak worn by men in ancient Rome.

31. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

33. A defensive missile designed to shoot down incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles.

34. Cassava with long tuberous edible roots and soft brittle stems.

35. Very dark black.

37. Young of domestic cattle.

40. A woolen cap of Scottish origin.

41. God of wealth and love.

43. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

45. Being ten more than one hundred ninety.

49. Absent without permission.

50. In or of the present month.

51. Beat thoroughly in a competition or fight.

52. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

53. An inactive volcano in Sicily.

55. A particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography).

56. An unofficial association of people or groups.

57. In bed.

60. A period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event.

61. A dark-skinned member of a race of people living in Australia when Europeans arrived.

65. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) You may shine in your particular job today—a promotion is possible. You could represent or speak for your company. There is an opening to some business travel if you want it. This could include trips to colleges or high schools in a recruiting type of mode. You may be sought after as just the person for a particular job. Your management and directional abilities are in high focus. This is not, however, a good time to make any concrete decisions about a relationship or a private business deal. Others may find you especially witty and eccentric. During this time, additional responsibilities may be placed on you in the context of the home setting. Take some time this evening to relax and enjoy your loved ones in a fun activity together.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

NON SEQUITUR

Your inventive imagination will get you out of some tight places today, including a difference of opinion in the workplace. You are open-minded, democratic and enthusiastic and you have a definite sense of mission.

When it comes to teaching or coaching young people, you are a natural, always able to motivate and inspire others. You may find yourself guiding someone younger than you in matters of importance. You may have insights or breakthroughs in regard to your living situation or life circumstances. You may find yourself torn between an environment that is very comfortable and supportive versus a real need to push out on your own today. You could be neglecting home, family or career due to social involvement; easy does it.

Leo (July 23-August 22) You may be receiving a great deal of confusion about what you are to accomplish at work today. Go to your immediate superior and give him or her however many paragraphs culminate in however many choices from which you are to choose. Ask that person to initial the preferred route and you will have not only a witness to your quandary but an approval of your decision making as you will have an opportunity to express your own impression. Be appreciative and you are covered in all directions. You must know that you would not be given these extra responsibilities if others in management did not think you could handle them, a little guidance is expected. Try to delegate any of the work that slows you down from reaching the main goal.

ZITS

Virgo (August 23-September 22) By taking the initiative at this time, you shine in your professional affairs. You are at your mental best with clear thoughts. You can add some creative and unusual touches to whatever you are working with or on today. You have that extra drive to succeed that brings about successful results. You have a way of sticking with a problem when others would walk away. You are just as motivated when it comes to possessions and material things. Higher-ups are aware of your natural abilities and when it comes to productivity, the doors of opportunity are wide open. Your career gets plenty of support from other people and you feel at home while making practical and management decisions. There is a strong urge to invest, own and build.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) Your vanity and your pride may hinder communications today.

Think before becoming too involved in bragging. Take on an attitude of self-confidence but know that confidence within yourself. As you succeed with your goals, self-imposed as well as professional performance, people will follow you anywhere. This can make a big difference when you want support in accomplishing a group project. This is where real progress and understanding can be made.

Communication among friends is strong this afternoon. There is a chance to understand those around you and to have a special time with someone you love. A young person may need guidance. He or she will find what is needed as you encourage thinking on his or her own.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Keep little reminders around for you to see that will direct you toward your goals. These may be seashells if you want to go to the ocean or stick-on stars, if you are training to be an astronaut or an astronomer, etc. As the days go flying by, you will find yourself automatically moving toward the opportunities that are required to fulfill your dreams. Your inner resources and emotions are accented. Expect a sense of support and good will from those around you. You are able to sort through most problems and find the source or cause in order to make the necessary changes. You may be able to bring a group together with words or ideas that transport others. Poetry and art may be enjoyed this evening; create these things or enjoy the reading.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

To

Yesterday’s Solution

This is an active day with an exchange of ideas in the workplace. Your patience and ability to remain cool under difficult circumstances affords you a great deal of command for yourself. You seem to be enjoying the way in which your work as well as your personal life is taking shape. New friends are in the forecast. Creating money is easier now, but so is spending it. Aristotle is quoted to have said; “First, have a definite, clear, practical ideal—a goal, an objective.

Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends—wisdom, money, materials and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end.” You have a game plan for the repair of your home and tonight may be the night you paint a particular room. One day at a time you will see excellent results.

Professional possibilities are promising. Keep yourself up-to-date with the new work opportunities that become available. This is a good time to be judicious in your financial decisions. You should expend great zest in your money-making plans. Do not pick out a new car today but know that with your new plans it won’t be long before you will be able to afford those needed wheels.

Visiting with friends later this afternoon brings about laughter and fun times.

Broadening your education comes to mind when the subject of continued education takes form. Learning about new ideas and new people that may or may not have similar interests can really keep your mind busy. Movies, books and all forms of escape could prove very relaxing tonight.

Yesterday’s Solution Yester

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) This is a very good day for job-related events—practical insights will come with ease. You could represent or speak for your company and may find yourself communicating about your skills. You are most persuasive with others. The situation is just perfect for your particular ideas and thoughts.

There is an emphasis on fairness and harmony. The intellectual and communicative talents of those close to you take on greater importance. Any shortcomings of this kind stick out like a sore thumb. A young person, perhaps in the neighborhood, has come to your attention this afternoon. As you begin to realize that you can be a mentor to this child, you may begin to seek ways in which you can make a positive difference in the child’s life.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Word Sleuth Solution

You can take full advantage of your position in the workplace today. You are able to prioritize your time and projects. You seem more able than ever to be in control of your life. You should be most pleased with your efforts today. A new experience this afternoon opens up your mind to all sorts of possibilities. Someone may be teaching you a new way to use some technical tool or you may be teaching someone. This may bring on lots of creative resourcefulness. Keep a secret this afternoon and you will have a friend for life. In a few more days you will be able to spread the good news. This may mean surprise tickets to a concert or you have won a contest. A marriage or other partnership can raise high hopes and give your spirits a boost this evening.

A

y

e niv rsar n

WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011

Years

i n f o r m at i o n FIRE BRIGADE

112

Al-Madena

22418714

Al-Shohada’a

22545171

Al-Shuwaikh

24810598

Al-Nuzha

22545171

Sabhan

24742838

Al-Helaly

22434853

Al-Fayhaa

22545051

Al-Farwaniya

24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat

24316983

Al-Fahaheel

23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh

24316983

Ahmadi

23980088

Al-Mangaf

23711183

Al-Shuaiba

23262845

24812000

Al-Jahra

25610011

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Al-Salmiya

25616368

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

Ministry of Interior website: www.moi.gov.kw For labor-related inquiries and complaints: Call MSAL hotline 128

Hospitals Sabah Hospital

POLICE STATION Al-Madena Police Station Al-Murqab Police Station Al-Daiya Police Station Al-Fayha’a Police Station Al-Qadissiya Police Station Al-Nugra Police Station Al-Salmiya Police Station Al-Dasma Police Station

Clinics Rabiya

4732263

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Al-Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W.Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Al-Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Al-Omariya

24719048

N.Kheitan

24710044

Fintas

3900322

22434064 22435865 22544200 22547133 22515277 22616662 25714406 22530801

THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988

PHARMACIES

AIRLINES

ON 24 HRS DUTY GOVERNORATE

PHARMACY

ADDRESS

PHONE

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Years

WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011

lifest yle G o s s i p

mma Watson has been named the world’s best-dressed woman. The 21-year-old actress, who has previously been a UK Vogue cover girl and is the face of Lancome make-up, beat Cheryl Cole - last year’s number one - to the top spot in a list by Glamour magazine. Fashion designer Victoria Beckham dropped seven places in the list to 15th, although Beyonce Knowles suffered the biggest slide from ninth last year to 36th. Among the surprising entries are Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ daughter Suri, who despite being just five years old was said by the magazine to have “the most covetable wardrobe in Hollywood”. British prime minister David Cameron’s wife Samantha - who caused controversy by being among the only female guests at the wedding of Prince William and Princess Catherine on Friday to not wear a hat - was among the newcomers at number 19. The full list was compiled by over 15,000 votes on Glamour.com, and will appear in the June issue of the magazine.

E Glamour magazine 9th annual best dressed women 2011 Top 30 1. Emma Watson 2. Cheryl Cole 3. Kristen Stewart 4. Dannii Minogue 5. Alexa Chung 6. Rihanna 7. Kate Moss 8. Blake Lively 9. Olivia Palermo 10. Lea Michele 11. Jennifer Aniston 12. Ashley Greene 13. Anna Kendrick 14. Vanessa Hudgens 15. Victoria Beckham 16. Sienna Miller 17. Diane Kruger 18. Leighton Meester 19. Samantha Cameron

20. Carey Mulligan 21. Suri Cruise 22. Keira Knightley 23. Sarah Jessica Parker 24. Fearne Cotton 25. Nicole Richie 26. Jessica Alba 27. Katy Perry 28. Lady Gaga 29. Kim Kardashian 30. Miley Cyrus

Hudson values respect in relationships

osie Huntington-Whiteley has topped Maxim magazine’s 2011 Hot 100 list.

The sultry Victoria’s Secret model - who is dating actor Jason Statham - took the coveted top slot in the publication’s annual rankings of the world’s most attractive women. Rosie told the magazine that it was a “huge honor” to be given first place in the poll which includes actresses, musicians, sports stars and other models. The 24-year-old beauty said: “It’s a great title to have for a year and you can have some fun with it, I think.” Last year, Katy Perry took the top slot but fell two places for the latest list, coming in at third place after Olivia Munn. Not far behind Rosie this year are Cameron Diaz and Mila Junis in fourth and fifth place respectively. Making up the rest of the top 10 are supermodel Bar Rafaeli, actresses Anne Hathaway, Natalie Portman, Cobie Smulders and Jennifer Lawrence. Britain’s latest member of the royal family, the Duchess of Cambridge came in at number 26 on the list, making her higher ranked than former Pussycat Dolls star Nicole Scherzinger, Lindsay Lohan and reality star Kim Kardashian.

Rosie has admitted in the past that she gives her sex appeal a boost by putting chicken fillets in her bra. She said: “I’m not a fan of that whole push-up look in the day, but, of course, you do need a lift with a sexy dress. “Do what you’ve got to do girls - shove them in there. I’ve been known to have three in at a time for shoots - plus padding.”

R

Maxim magazine’s 2011 Hot 100 top ten 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

oldie Hawn’s ex-husband has signed a deal for a tell-all book. Bill Hudson - who is the biological father of the ‘Overboard’ star’s daughter, actress Kate Hudson - will release ‘So You Are a Star: Coming to Terms with Fame, Infatuation and Family’ later this year, which will reveal everything about his life with Goldie and Kate. In the book’s proposal, Bill - who also has a 34-year-old son, Oliver, with Goldie - teases: “What if your exwife used her public platform to spread rumors about your relationship with your children?” According to the New York Post newspaper, the tome will describe “his whirlwind romance ... with Goldie Hawn and his struggle to rebuild a relationship with his children”. Bill - who divorced Goldie in 1980 - recently hit out at 32-year-old Kate, accusing her of neglecting her 88-year-old

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Rosie Huntington-Whiteley Olivia Munn Katy Perry Cameron Diaz Mila Kunis

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Bar Refaeli Anne Hathaway Natalie Portman Cobie Smulders Jennifer Lawrence

ate Hudson thinks “respect” is the key to a lasting relationship. The 32-year-old actress - who has a seven-year-old son Ryder with ex-husband Chris Robinson and is currently pregnant with fiance Matt Bellamy ’s baby - thinks her attitude to love has changed since she became a mother because her family will always come first. Explaining how her relationship values change as she gets older, she said: “It just becomes more adult - that passionate, crazy love changes. The things you want in a partnership are different than when you were younger. Now it’s about respect, honesty, full partnership and compromise - all the great stuff. I think respect is what makes love last. “I think, when you have kids, this shift happens where, all of a sudden, your life and your priority becomes your children, first and foremost. If you do enter a relationship, you have to balance out the relationship and all the other things in your life, but your real focus is your children. So, having kids obviously shifts the focus of what it is to love and be in a relationship.” Kate also thinks her insistence on honesty and no game-playing keeps her life stable as she will not put up with “petty” problems. She explained in an inter view with Australia’s Daily Telegraph newspaper: “I’m not threatened or jealous. From the beginning, I don’t tolerate any of the petty stuff. I think anybody who knows me or is in a relationship with me knows that if they start doing that kind of thing, I’ll say something. “Also, being a parent makes you grow up. When you see kids walking all over their parents, you realise they’re just doing it because they know they can. Ryder would never do that, because he knows he can’t. It’s the same with friendships.”

K

dying grandmother. He said at the time: “I have called Kate and texted her dozens of times begging her to help her grandmother, but she hasn’t responded to me. She became very sick about a year and a half ago, and the whole family pitched in because it’s very expensive to care for her. “Kate doesn’t have to talk to me and she doesn’t have to give her a dime of her millions. All I want is for her to call and say, ‘Hi grandma,’ before it’s too late.” Kate who is currently pregnant with her second child, her first with fiancee Matt Bellamy - has always said she regards Goldie’s longterm partner Kurt Russell, who raised her from the age of three, as her real father and she hasn’t spoken to Bill for several years.

iranda Kerr loves dancing around her house.

The 28-year-old model - who has three-monthold son Flynn with husband Orlando Bloom thinks she has a “wide variety” of taste in music and loves dancing alone around her pad. She said: “I have a wide variety in taste of music. Everything from Mozart to Dr Dre. “Music is such a wonderful form of expression and there’s nothing I love more than putting on a great song and dancing around the house.”

However, when the Victoria’s Secret Angel is not bopping to her favorite tunes, she can be found in front of the television, where she enjoys comedy show ‘Modern Family’. She revealed on her blog for Kora Organics: “My favorite TV show. I love ‘Desperate Housewives’ but at the moment I am hooked on ‘Modern Family’. It is such a great show.” Although dancing may help keep the pounds off, Miranda has previously revealed she follows the blood type diet which keeps her trim. She said: “I am a blood type A and more often than not I eat specifically for my blood type. I also eat low GI, high alkaline foods, drink filtered water and eat mostly fresh produce and very little meat. “I believe it is important to supplement our food to ensure our bodies have the nutrition required to remain healthy. This is even more important if you do not eat certified organic foods and certified organic fresh produce.”

loves dancing at home

Kerr

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Longoria buys

burgers for ‘Housewives’ crew

va Longoria and her co-stars treated the ‘Desperate Housewives’ crew to burgers on the last day of filming of the new season. The actress - who plays Gabrielle Solis in the drama series - arranged for the Fatburger truck to visit the set and serve up a feast of calorific treats as a reward to the team for all their hard work. Accompanied by a photo of her and three of her co-stars, Tuc Watkins, Kevin Rahm and Vanessa Williams, she wrote on her twitter page: “Last day of shooting on set for this season! So we got the Fatburger truck to come out and make burgers for the crew!”

Fatburger specialties include the 8oz Kingburger and the gut-busting 24oz Triple King - which is made up of three beef patties. Eva, 36, isn’t the only star who has treated crew members to an on-set treat. Jessica Biel and Gerard Butler bought the ‘Playing the Field’ crew cupcakes from Cush’s Grocery and Market while they were shooting in the town of Shreveport, Louisiana. When filming in the same town, Katie Holmes treated the crew of ‘Mad Money’ to different treats every week. A member of that crew previously said: “The first Friday was smoothies. Then we had ice cream, pizza, cupcakes, Coke floats and then snow cones.”

— Bang Showbiz

E

WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011

lifestyle

Maestro Barenboim leads Gaza ‘peace concert’

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An Indian vendor sits besides newspapers displaying headlines portraying the killing of Osama Bin Laden at a roadside stall in Mumbai yesterday.—AFP

Hollywood has Bin Laden death in its sights O

sama bin Laden’s death is blockbuster news for Hollywood, whose attempts to dramatize the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have largely bombed.

Instead of churning out little-seen films about death and destruction wrought upon civilians and military personnel, the studios can now tap into resurgent American pride with movies about the hunt for the world’s most wanted man. If only John Wayne were still alive or Arnold Schwarzenegger were younger to star in a gung-ho film about the daring strike by dashing Navy SEAL operatives on a compound in suburban Pakistan. Picture “Black Hawk Down” with a happier ending, or “Die Hard” in Islamabad.

Coincidentally, the Oscar-winning director of “The Hurt Locker”an Iraq war film that earned just $17 million at the box office-has a chance to reach a wider audience with an aptly named follow-up, “Kill Bin Laden.” According to entertainment news Web site Deadline.com, Kathryn Bigelow and her “Hurt Locker” screenwriter Mark Boal have been working for some time on their project about an earlier, unsuccessful mission to nab Bin Laden.

Details about the film’s plot were sketchy, Deadline reported, but the filmmakers will likely need to rework the script to take into account real-life developments. A spokeswoman for Bigelow said she was not talking.

Television will likely rush out a few quick movies if history is any guide. Within six months of the successful Israeli hostage rescue mission in Uganda in 1976, two television movies had been broadcast.

The rescue of US soldier Jessica Lynch by Special Operations forces in Iraq also got a similarly quick turnaround time in 2003. The Navy SEALs-short for SEa, Air and Landwere notably depicted in a 1990 action thriller of the same name starring Charlie Sheen.

The film’s director, Lewis Teague, told Reuters that a new movie should be similar to “United 93,” a semi-factual real-time depiction of events aboard one of the ill-fated 9/11 flights, or to “Touching the Void,” which blended documentary footage and recreations to show a mountaineering mishap. Ideally, the filmmakers should get full cooperation from the Navy SEALs, especially since Teague said they videotape all their operations.

And don’t forget a few good jokes, said Teague, a Middle East expert who spent about a year working closely with Navy SEALs in San Diego on his project. “I would definitely do it with humor,” he said.

“It takes a very peculiar character to be a Navy SEAL-courage, stamina, dark humor, a witch’s brew of a warrior’s mentality.” Can’t wait for the film? How about the book? In another strange-but-true coincidence, former Navy SEAL sniper Howard Wasdin is bringing forward the publication of his memoir by two weeks to next week.

“Seal Team Six” is about Wasdin’s Navy SEAL training and his service in Somalia during the 1990s. Even though the book has nothing to do with Bin Laden, Hollywood studios barraged Wasdin’s agent on Monday.

“This story is really on everyone in Hollywood’s mind right now so it is probably going to be a race about who can do this type of story,” Scott Miller told Reuters.—Reuters

undreds of eager Palestinians, many of them schoolchildren, packed into a hall in northern Gaza yesterday for a rare concert conducted by IsraeliArgentine maestro Daniel Barenboim. As the audience settled into their seats, musicians from across Europe who have come together to form the “Orchestra for Gaza,” stepped onto the stage to tune their instruments under a blaze of twinkling white fairy lights. The “peace concert” marks the first time that Barenboim, a tireless campaigner for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, has visited Gaza. Many in the audience said they were thrilled to be there and heartened that an Israeli had chosen to come to Gaza.

As the 68-year-old maestro walked on stage, the crowd leapt to their feet and applauded furiously, only to fall silent as the orchestra began playing the opening bars of Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.

“My dear friends, you have been blocked here for many years,” he told them. “And this is why we came today ... so you understand that many people from all over the world care for you,” he told them. “This is a unique gesture from the whole of Europe for you, Gaza,” he added, to thunderous applause. For most people, it was the first time they had attended a classical concert, with most of the audience breaking into spontaneous applause at the end of each movement, drawing a wry smile from several players on stage.

As the orchestra began to play the second piece, Mozart’s G minor symphony (no. 40), smiles and whispers could be heard throughout the hall as the crowd recognized the melody as one used by Lebanese singer Feiruz in one of her most famous songs. Fatma Shahin, a 28year-old English teacher who was accompanying a group of teenage girls from a UN school in Jabaliya refugee camp, said her students were very excited. “The girls will like it. It may change something in their

Israel-Argentine maestro Daniel Barenboim, with an orchestra of European musicians, perform during a “peace concert” in Gaza City yesterday.—AFP minds and give them a chance to think before judging people,” she said, adding that it was significant that an Israeli had chosen to come to Gaza to perform. “It will really make a difference, because he’s bringing a message of peace.” Barenboim is well known for his calls for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

In 1999, he co-founded a “peace orchestra” with his friend Edward W Said, a Palestinian-American scholar who died in 2003. Known as the East-West Divan orchestra, it brings together Israeli, Arab and international musicians, and in 2005 it performed in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Speaking to AFP shortly after the concert, the late scholar’s wife, Mariam, said she was delighted to have witnessed the performance. “This was great for me!” a beaming Mariam Said told AFP. “My husband would have been elated. I hope the people appreciate and understand the importance of this visit.” It was also an emotional day for the musicians, many of whom had never previously set foot inside the Gaza Strip. “I’ve played these pieces hundreds of times before but playing here was entirely different,” said Dieter Flury, a flautist with the

Vienna Philharmonic. “It was probably more of an historical moment than any other concert I’ve ever played.”

Barenboim holds Israeli, Argentine and Spanish passports. In 2008, he accepted honorary Palestinian citizenship saying he hoped the move would be an example of the “everlasting bond” between the two peoples. “I know that Barenboim is a messenger of peace in the Middle East and for the Palestinians and I believe music can make peace between people,” said Natalie Nahel, a 24-year-old translator. “Culture, literature, music and education are all important for creating peace between countries.”

Barenboim has performed across the West Bank, but never in the Gaza Strip. He has sought Israeli permission to cross into the coastal territory several times to perform, but was refused. Barenboim and his entourage, which included his wife and two of his sons, crossed into Gaza from Egypt early on Tuesday and were headed back there immediately after the concert, organizers said.—AFP

Academy to honor barrier-breaking Loren

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t’s a rare moment when Sophia Loren doesn’t stand out, but this is one of them. The Italian actress is posing for photos on the stage at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, where she will be honored Wednesday for her half-dozen decades in cinema. She is head-to-toe in red, from the highlights in her hair to her boots to her Armani suit. She seems to melt into the red-curtain backdrop on the stage. But not completely. No amount of red can hide the smile, the voice, the incredible beauty. “I love red, because I think it is very nice,” she explains. “It says, ‘Naples.’ It’s the vibrant life of Neapolitan people. It’s the creative side of the Neapolitan people. It’s life.” Loren’s personal and professional

lives began in Rome, though, where she was born in 1934. She got her start in movies as an extra in the 1951 MGM epic “Quo Vadis.” Her breakthrough came in the Italian feature “The Gold of Naples” (1954). Hollywood eventually took notice, but she didn’t truly triumph until returning to Italy and her “Naples” director Vittorio De Sica.

In his “Two Women” (1961), she played a mother who is raped while protecting her daughter in wartime.

The performance earned her the first major Oscar for a non-English-language performance. The Academy honored her again in 1991, with an award for her contributions to world cinema. Nevertheless, this week’s Academy tribute is clearly significant to Loren. —AP

Sophia Loren

Broadway anticipates Tony Award nomination smiles

W

hen the Broadway season began last year, a big brash musical about Spider-Man was supposed to muscle its way to multiple Tony Award nominations. Instead, a pair of goofy Mormons may be the ones to beat. “The Book of Mormon” has been a critical and box-office darling even without big-name stars, and yesterday’s Tony Award nominations could give it an extra boost: official endorsement from the theatrical community. Not bad for a show in which a man loudly complains about having maggots in his scrotum.

The musical, about two Mormon missionaries who find more than they bargained for in Africa, was written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of “South Park,” and Robert Lopez, cocreator of the Tony Award-winning musical “Avenue Q.” The trio teamed up with Casey Nicholaw, who co-directed with Parker and choreographed. It has received 12 Drama Desk Award nominations, six Outer Critics Circle Award nominations and a Fred & Adele Astaire Award nomination, which recognizes excellence in dance.

The musical is also grossing more than $1 million a week and is selling out-the place “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” was supposed to be before its implosion. On the play front, two frontrunners for Tony nominations are the heartwarming human-puppet hybrid “War Horse” and David Lindsay-Abaire’s “Good People,” a darkly comical exploration of class differences in Boston.

While “War Horse” is a visually stunning and gorgeously realized story about a boy and his horse during World War I, it is based on a children’s book; Lindsay-

Abaire’s play, on the other hand, leaves all the fireworks in its smart, adult script. “ The Book of Mormon” and “War Horse” are just two bona fide hits in a complex season that has seen everything from a well-regarded revival of Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” to a raw new play whose title — “The Motherf—— With the Hat” — made some squeamish. It’s also a season in which football fans came to see Vince Lombardi prowling a Broadway stage and cheered James Earl Jones behind the wheel in a revival of “Driving Miss Daisy.” “There’s absolutely nothing cookie-cutter about this season,” said Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the Broadway League, which jointly produces the Tony awards with the American Theatre Wing. “ The theme is that there is no theme.” Of the 42 new productions this season, there were 14 musicals — 12 new ones and two revivals-and 25 plays, a whopping 16 of them brand new. The last time there were 16 new plays produced in a single season was 1986-87. It is also shaping up to be a lucrative time for Broadway, with total box-office grosses already at more than $987 million, or 3.6 percent more than the same time last year. Attendance this season is at over 11.4 million, up 3 percent from this time last year.

The awards will be handed out June 12 at a new location: the Beacon Theatre on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, after producers lost their long-term space at Radio City Music Hall. It will be broadcast live by CBS. “The Book of Mormon” will likely have competition from a trio of musicals that have movies

File image released by The Hartman Group, Patina Miller, center, is shown in File image released by Boneau/Bryan-Brown, from left, Rema Webb, a scene from the Broadway musical “Sister Act,” in New York.—AP Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad perform in “The Book of Mormon” at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre in New York.—AP in their DNA — “Catch Me If You Can,” best actor nominations in a play include “Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Mark Rylance and Mark Rylance. The With only five spots, who will be left Rannells in “The Book of Mormon,” and Musical” and “Sister Act.” Will there be English actor gave two stunning perNorbert Leo Butz and Aaron Tveit in spots for “Elf” or “The Scottsboro Boys” formances this season, including a 20- out?

The possible lead actress play nomi- “Catch Me If You Can.” Other possibilities minute soliloquy in the short-lived “La or “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson”?

The best play category is a rich one. Bete.” He then returned to Broadway nations aren’t any easier, though Lily include Daniel Radcliffe in “How to In addition to “War Horse” and “Good and even more cheers for “Jerusalem.” Rabe (“The Merchant of Venice”) and Succeed in Business Without Really People,” other possible nominations He will likely face competition for a Tony Frances McDormand (“Good People”) Trying” and Tony Sheldon for “Priscilla may go to Rajiv Joseph’s “Bengal Tiger at nomination from Al Pacino (“ The top most lists. Nina Arianda (“Born Queen of the Desert: The Musical.” The the Baghdad Zoo,” Jez Butterworth’s Merchant of Venice”), Joe Mantello (“The Yesterday”), Judith Light (“Lombardi”), leading actress in a musical nominees “Jerusalem” and Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Normal Heart”), Bobby Cannavale Vanessa Redgrave (“Driving Miss Daisy”) are likely to include Patina Miller and “The Motherf—— With the Hat.” With (“Motherf——”) Jones (“Driving Miss and Elizabeth Rodriguez (“Motherf—— Victoria Clark, both in “Sister Act,” as well as Sutton Foster for “Anything Goes,” the category limited to four plays, at Daisy”), Jim Belushi (“Born Yesterday”), ”) could each make a case.

Nominations for best actor in a musi- Beth Leavel for “Baby It’s You!” and least one playwright will be disappoint- Robin Williams (“Bengal Tiger”) and Brian Bedford (“ The Importance of cal may likely pit performers in the same Donna Murphy for “The People in the ed. show, such as Josh Gad and Andrew Picture.”—AP Some of the potential candidates for Being Earnest”).

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Years

lifestyle Fashion

Hollywood, fashion elite recall McQueen at NY gala A

who’s who of Hollywood’s elite and fashion’s most coveted hit the red carpet in New York City on Monday night for the annual Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Gala Benefit.This year’s event, “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty,” honored the work of the late designer, who committed suicide in February 2010 at age 40. “I miss him terribly, not only as a person but as a designer,” said a visibly emotional Madonna, who was wearing a gown by Stella McCartney.

“I think the fashion business is a little bit dull without him and I loved his provocative punk rock attitude. I think his designs were brilliant. I think he was brilliant. And I hope he’s having fun wherever he is right now.” Designer Rachel Roy chose her own gown for the event with McQueen in mind. She said she picked a more refined design to showcase that part of his personality. “I wanted to show his more ethereal side,” she said. Many celebrities who attend the Met Gala are escorted by the designer who dressed them.

Francois-Henri Pinault, chief executive of luxury conglomerate PPR, and his wife, actress Salma Hayek, served

as the event’s honorary chairs. British Oscar-winner Colin Firth, designer McCartney and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour were vice chairs.

Others who walked the red carpet included Jennifer Lopez and husband Marc Anthony, “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest with girlfriend Julianne Hough, Gwyneth Paltrow, Penelope Cruz, Jessica Alba, Fergie and Sarah Jessica Parker, who wore McQueen. Also in attendance was the successor to McQueen at his fashion house, Sarah Burton, who also designed Kate Middleton’s wedding dress, The “Savage Beauty” exhibit will be on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from May 4 to July 31. — AP

Dakota Fanning

Designer Giorgio Armani and actress Penelope Cruz attend the “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty” Costume Institute Gala . — AP photos

Naomi Campbell

Rihanna

Salma Hayek

Demi Moore

Madonna

Serena Willaims Ashley Greene Taylor Swift

Jessica Alba

Guests arrive to attend the ‘Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty’ Costume Institute Gala.

Liv Tyler

Sarah Jessica Parker

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Savage Beauty Gala

Eva Mendes

New England Patriots football player Tom Brady and his wife Gisele Bundchen.

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: Well-known international fashion retailer Giordano, an apparel and accessories brand for men, women and children, opened its tenth outlet in Kuwait on Monday. The Giordano branch at Khaifan Cooperative was opened by the chain’s Dubai-based Executive Director Ishwar Chugani. Along with the opening of the new outlet came the launch of its newest clothes line, ‘G: Cool,’ a trousers and shorts summer collection, which, Chugani explained, is innovatively and technologically designed to absorb sweat, providing breathability for wearers’ skin, whilst being stylish, simple and durable. “Sweat-resistance is a necessity, especially in hot weather conditions such as Kuwait’s,” he went on. “It is made of series of ‘natru dry’ special fabrics, mixtures of cotton and polyester. Sweat can be very uncomfortable, but if you wear G:Cool, it absorbs sweat and doesn’t cling to fabrics, so you’ll be very comfortable and relaxed.” Since Giordano opened its first Kuwait branch in 2003, the label has become widely known and appreciated locally, by Kuwaitis and expatriates alike. “What we deliver in Giordano is not extreme fashion, not extreme trendy designs, but we cater to what’s important and necessary...so we have many, many loyal customers,” Chugani explained.

When Giordano entered the Kuwaiti market, many suggested that it was doomed to fail or would be swallowed up by the major European brands already popular on the local market. “When we entered the Kuwaiti market they said we would never survive since we offer only simple clothing products. But we believed in our vision and mission to offer the best quality; though our clothes are simple, they make people feel good and look great,” he said. Giordano offer high quality clothes at a very competitive price, the executive went on. “We believe there will always be people that will accept our simple yet fashionable styles; we know that there will always be women buying products for their husbands

Orlando Bloom and his wife Miranda Otto

and husbands buying for their wives, so now [Giordano] is being embraced by many customers in Kuwait. What we offer is the best, simple but elegant yet fashionable, and the value for money is superb,” he said.

Brand X versus Giordano Compared with other well-known brands, says Chugani, Giordano’s products are made to last, unlike the seasonal clothing and apparel from many European labels. “Giordano products are timeless; in fact they can be considered classically stylish, unlike other brands which are designed for one season,” he said. “Giordano is designed to last for a while, therefore saving you money. For other brands, they work in volume because what they produce is best for one season, and has to be discarded right away because tomorrow it’s out of fashion.”

He stressed that each brand has its own strategy, and that he wouldn’t dare to question that of other fashion houses. “I am not saying they are wrong - they are very successful. For us in Giordano, we want to create fashion that can be worn for even up to three years and beyond,” Chugani stated. “Our products are created to last, and we cater to the low, mid and high-end markets. Other products cater only to the low-end or highend markets. Giordano is created to offer something for all economic backgrounds.”

Giordano’s regional expansion is continuing apace, with the chain already operating 190 stores across the Middle East. By the end of 2015, it plans to increase this number to 250. The chain, which began with one small store in Hong Kong in 1981, now operates 2,200 stores globally. Giordano outlets can be found across Asia, Australia, India, Eastern Europe and North America. Asked about the firm’s market share in Kuwait and the Middle East in general, Chugani noted: “The year 2009 was a very challenging one for us because of the global downturn, but we survived and we learned

Jennifer Hudson

Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony

Stacy Ferguson and husband Josh Duhamel

a lot from it.” In contrast, however, 2010 was one of the best ever years for Giordano, he said, with that trend set to continue throughout 2011 and beyond going by current figures. “Our business has been doing extremely well, not only in the Middle East but globally. When the economy was booming in 2010, we made it more fashionable too, we took a risk, we introduced lots of experimentation and when we look back on our DNA, simplicity, essentials, relevant, then we look back to what we’ve achieved and we’ve learnt the lessons of the past and are applying those experiences now and in the future,” he stated.

Kuwait, an exhilarating market Chugani said that Kuwait is a very interesting and exciting market which has offered several opportunities for Giordano. “Kuwait and the Middle East in general has great potential,” he said. “In Saudi Arabia we have 70 outlets, Qatar is a great market too for us, and the UAE has been a fantastic market for us. Just last week, we opened our first store in Iraq. In Iran we have 15 stores, and we are using Dubai as their hub. We are expanding very fast in the Middle East; we have presence in Jordan, Bahrain and beyond the region such as Georgia, Armenia, Tunisia, Algeria.”

One of Giordano’s in-house policies is to change the ambience and the physical appearance of all the firm’s stores everywhere at least once every two years. The Giordano outlet in the Avenues, for example, has undergone two decor overhauls since it opened. “At least every two years we carry out store redecoration and repair to apply what we’ve received in customers feedback to our outlets and it’s been really effective,” Chugani explained.

As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility policy, Giordano is also an enthusiastic supporter of charitable organizations and groups that make a lasting and indelible positive imprint on the community. In this context Giordano has gained a lot of credibility through supporting governments’ efforts to save energy at all its stores. “To support the government’s wish to reduce electricity consumption levels, all the light bulbs we use are energy-saving ones, which consume only half the wattage but provide the same level of illumination,” said the senior company official, adding, “This brings down energy consumption considerably since it reduces heat, which also reduces the level of air-conditioning consumption.”

Kiosk & Competition In Saudi Arabia, Giordano has launched a number of kiosk-type outlets where a smaller range of products is offered. “It is ideal for airports, busy streets and other crowded areas and we’ll possibly introduce all that in Kuwait,” said Chugani. On the subject of competition amongst the big-name brands and his view of the numerous competitors already in the clothes and accessories market, Giordano was positive: “Competition is healthy. Competition brings growth, if you don’t have competitors you will be complacent; when competition comes, you will definitely work harder, work together and reinvent yourself and probably innovate every day. But our eyes really need to be focused on our court, you can look around but never

A display of Giordano products at its outlet at The Avenues.

lose sight of your own area,” he advised.

Asked about the effects of the political upheavals on some countries in the Middle East on Giordano’s business, Chugani said, “To tell you the truth Giordano has benefited from it. I would have to excuse myself for saying this, but it is true in the sense that many

Ishwar Chugani, Giordano’s Executive Director.

—Photos by Joseph Shagra Egypt visitors had moved to the UAE. Besides many multinational companies shifted their operations to the UAE because it’s the safest place proximity wise, therefore the crisis positively contributed to our business.”

With over 30 years of retail experience in the Middle East, Chugani himself has contributed greatly to Giordano’s growth and success in the region. An honors graduate with a degree in Business Management from the Philippines’ De La Salle University, the multilingual executive, who is fluent in Arabic, English and Hindi, as well as Tagalog and Ilonggo, has received several awards in recognition of his tremendous work for the company, including the Best Service Performance Brand Awards for 2008-09. Chugani is also a founding member and director of the Middle East Council of Shopping Centers.

Hollywood has Bin Laden death in its sights

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WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011

A gallery worker positions artworks depicting Britain’s Prince William and Kate Middleton at the Opera Gallery in London—AFP

Warhol-inspired royal portraits unveiled in Canada J

ust before the royal wedding of the century, a Montreal artist has unveiled stunning contemporary portraits of Prince William and Kate Middleton, amid much buzz in the art world. Skip related content The portraits by Andre Monet, a former graphic artist who worked in advertising until five years ago, were put on display yesterday in London, and will be given to the royal couple after Friday’s wedding, the gallery that commissioned the work told AFP. The paintings come nearly three decades after Andy Warhol unleashed his

iconic portraits of Prince Charles and Diana, the Princess of Wales. Monet’s depiction of the royal family’s newest couple are definitely a pop realist nod to Warhol’s work.

Warhol’s 1982 photographic-like paintings of Charles and Diana were done in silkscreen ink on canvas. But Monet’s portraits, which are a hybrid of painting and collage, have a unique, 21st first century feel and are striking for their luminosity and texture.

“I was inspired by Warhol’s vision,” Monet told AFP from London, where the Opera Gallery, which has close ties with the

royal family, is showing his work this week.

The gallery will offer the portraits to Prince William and his bride as a gift, shortly after the wedding, Florie-Anne Mondoloni of Opera Gallery London said. Monet wanted to give his mixed media paintings a fresh allure. Inspired by a photo of William and Kate, he painted their smiling faces with delicate precision. “I was trying to express their personality,” he said.

“When you look at them, in my vision, they look like a couple that’s happy, in love.”

Beneath the smiles are a collage of historical references to the monarchy that Monet

This image courtesy of Galerie Lydia Monaro shows portraits of Prince William and Kate Middleton.—AFP

found in dozens of books, most of them more than a century old, from London bookstores. The artist tore out pages from the books-referencing figures such as Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria-and layered them behind the couple’s faces, creating gold and yellow accents that are meant to symbolize the “glow” of the young couple. “When you see the paintings up close, you can read what’s behind them,” Monet said. The artist’s backers are convinced that his work will survive the test of time. “His work is so delicate and strong at the same time. It’s a real voice in the art

world,” said Eric Allouche, a co-owner of Opera Gallery New York and Miami.

Allouche said the manner in which Monet respects the authenticity of the photographic image while adding his own touch is “absolutely phenomenal.” On rue Saint Paul, in an historic district of Montreal, Monet’s portraits of Madonna, Jackie Kennedy, the Dalai Lama and Twiggy cover the walls. It is here that gallery owner Lydia Monaro first displayed Monet’s work. “He works with his fingers and a very small brush, and goes to great lengths to paint the eyes,” Monaro explained.—AFP

Cardin still designing at 88, says label for sale

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A file photo shows the logo of French fashion brand Jean Paul Gaultier.—AFP

Puig to replace Hermes in Gaultier

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uxury products company Hermes is to sell its stake in fashion brand Jean Paul Gaultier to Spanish firm Puig which controls Nina Ricci and Paco Rabanne, the newspaper Les Echos reported yesterday. The report said that Hermes would sell all of its interest in the fashion design company and that designer Jean-Paul

Gaultier, currently the majority shareholder, would reduce his holding by about 10 percentage points to 45 percent, the report said, citing what it termed various sources.

The operation would make Puig the majority shareholder, and the new investor would support the group if it issued new capital, the report said. Jean-Paul

A file picture shows French designer Jean Paul Gaultier acknowledging the public at the end of his 2009 men’s spring/summer ready-to-wear collection.—AFP

Gaultier, who was looking for a buyer able to help the business to develop internationally, wanted to retain responsibility for artistic management. Sales by the Jean Paul Gaultier business fell by 19 percent in 2009 to 23 million euros ($34.0 million). The company earns its income from licenses for ready-towear clothing for women and

from perfumes. The perfumes have been developed with the group Beaute Prestige International, a subsidiary of Japanese company Shiseido. Hermes was not available for comment.—AFP

ierre Cardin, 88 and still a top name in clothes design, said he wants to sell his label while retaining artistic control, but his price of a billion euros ($1.48 billion) is five times bank valuations. Cardin, one of the first to take French fashion design labels into Asia in a big way and one of the first to develop brand licensing, told the Wall Street Journal: “I want to sell it now.” The Cardin brand has put its stamp on hundreds of products from shirts to bottled water and real estate: some say too many. Pierre Cardin entered Asia in the 1950s, set up in Japan in 1957, and then in China in 1979. Today consumers in Asia are among the biggest customers for luxury products and designer clothes, and French luxury goods companies are global leaders.

“I know I won’t be here in a few years and the business needs to continue,” said Cardin, who does not have an heir. But on one condition-that he remain creative director: “It will be in the interest of the brand’s reputation,” he said. But Cardin is asking too much for the image of the brand and the skill of his talents, judged by hard-nosed bankers who value the business at closer to 200 million euros, just one fifth of the one billion he told the newspaper he is seeking. Financial data for calculating valuations is thin because the Cardin empire is not quoted on any stock exchange and so is not obliged by listing rules to provide detailed figures such as sales volumes.

At business consultancy Savigny Partners, senior manager Pierre Mallevays said: “A brand like Cardin does not increase (in value) like a normal brand because it is entirely based on license revenues.” Valuations are reached by applying a multiplying ratio to license income streams, he told AFP. “Financially, Pierre Cardin is a very big deal

because all these licenses generate a lot of royalties,” he said. Cardin explained his pricing logic, on the basis of 10 million euros per product per country, “which is nothing at all”, he said. “One thousand products, 100 countries, that’s how it calculates. It’s nothing.” The group employs 450 workers but owns only one Cardin shop in France. However, it manages at least 500 licenses throughout the world. Cardin was also one of the pioFile photo shows French designer neers of licensing, a Pierre Cardin posing with models capital-efficient after his spring/summer 2009 readymethod of develto-wear collection show.—AFP oping a business by selling the right to sell branded products. Cardin has since built up an eclectic range of businesses and brands, including the exclusive Maxim’s restaurants, and also high-end furniture, and perfume. In 2009, Cardin sold 32 textile and accessory licenses in China-but not its brand-to companies Jiangsheng Trading Company and Cardanro for 200 million euros.

Although there are no publicized buyers for the Cardin business, US group Iconix Brand may be a bidder, a source familiar with the deal said. But top names such as groups, such as LVMH and PPR are less interested because they “want to control the brands they own. —AFP