14 May

IO N IPT SC R SU B

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

No: 15088

JAMADA ALTHANI 11, 1432 AH

Two-ton whale-shark stranded at Marina crescent

150 Fils

2 80 die as Taleban avenge bin Laden Suicide bombers blow up police vans in Pakistan

HABQADAR, Pakistan: A pair of Taleban suicide bombers attacked paramilitary police recruits eagerly heading home for a break after months of training, killing 80 people yesterday in the first act of retaliation for the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden. In claiming responsibility, the Al-Qaeda linked militant group cited anger at Pakistan’s military for failing to stop the American incursion on their soil. The blasts in the northwest were a reminder of the savagery of Islamist insurgents in Pakistan. Tensions also have risen between the US and Islamabad over allegations that some elements of Pakistani security forces had been harboring bin Laden, who died in a May 2 raid in Abbottabad, a garrison town about three hours’ drive from the scene of the bombing.

“We have done this to avenge the Abbottabad incident,” Ahsanullah Ahsan, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taleban, told The Associated Press in a phone call. He warned that the group was also planning attacks on Americans living inside Pakistan.

The bombers blew themselves up in Shabqadar at the main gate of the facility for the Frontier Constabulary, a poorly equipped but frontline force in the battle against Al-Qaeda and allied Islamist groups like the Pakistani Taleban close to the Afghan border. Like other branches of Pakistan’s security forces, it has received US funding to try to sharpen its skills.

At least 80 people were killed, including 66 recruits, and around 120 people were wounded, said police officer Liaqat Ali Khan.

Around 900 young men were leaving the center after spending six months of training there. They were in high spirits and looking forward to seeing their families, for which some had brought gifts, a survivor said. Some people were sitting inside public minivans and others were loading luggage atop the vehicles when the bombers struck, witnesses said.

“We were heading toward a van when the first blast took place and we fell on the ground and then there was another blast,” said 21-year-old Rehmanullah Khan. “We enjoyed our time together, all the good and bad weather and I cannot forget the cries of my friends before they died.” The scene was littered with shards of glass mixed with blood and flesh. The explosions destroyed at least 10 vans. It was the first major militant attack in Pakistan since bin Laden’s death on May 2, and the deadliest this year. Militants had pledged to avenge the killing and launch reprisal strikes in Pakistan.

The Taleban spokesman suggested the attack was aimed as punishment against Pakistani authorities for failing to stop the unilateral US raid that killed bin Laden, something that has sparked popular nationalist and Islamist anger. “The Pakistani army has failed to protect its land,” Ahsan said. In its communications, the Taleban often tries to tap into popular sentiments in the country, where antiAmericanism is often stronger than feelings against Islamist militants. This is despite militant attacks over the last four years claiming the lives of many hundreds, if not thousands, of civilians.

Some 350 lawyers sympathetic with Islamists attended special prayers for bin Laden on the premises of the provincial high court in the eastern city of Lahore on Friday. The lawyers cursed the May 2 raid, chanting “Down with America.” The explosive vests used in Friday’s attacks were packed with ball bearings and nails, police said.

Police official Nisar Khan said a suicide bomber in his late teens or early 20s set off one of the blasts. “The first blast occurred in the middle of the road, and after that there was a huge blast that was more powerful than the first,” said Abdul Wahid, a 25-year-old recruit whose legs were wounded in the blasts. Bin Laden, the Sept. 11 mastermind, and at least four others were killed by US Navy SEALs who raided his

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PESHAWAR: Wounded blast victims lie on the flatbed of a truck as they wait for help outside a hospital in Peshawar yesterday. (Inset) A Pakistani man carries an injured boy to hospital. — AFP compound in Abbottabad. Bin Laden is believed to have lived in the large house for up to six years. Pakistani officials have denied knowing he was there but criticized the US raid ordered by President Barack Obama as a violation of their country’s sovereignty. To counter allegations that Pakistan harbored bin Laden, the officials point out that thousands of Pakistani citizens, and up to 3,000 of its security forces, have died in suicide and other attacks since Sept 11, 2001, when Islamabad became an ally of the US in taking on Islamist extremists. Many of the attacks have targeted Pakistani security forces, but government buildings, religious minorities and Western targets also have been hit. Pakistan’s intelligence chief, Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, admitted “negligence” on the part of authorities in failing to find bin Laden during a closed session in Parliament on Friday, a government spokeswoman told reporters. Military officials, including the powerful army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, said they would improve the country’s air defenses, which did not detect the high-tech US choppers used in the raid. The military leaders also assured lawmakers that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenals are safe and that the armed forces were capable of defending the country, said Firdous Ashiq Awan, the federal information minister. In another development yesterday, Pakistani intelligence officials said a US missile strike killed three people near the Afghan border. — AP

Wounded Gaddafi on the run? Libya says no TRIPOLI: Muammar Gaddafi may be wounded and on the run, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said yesterday, a suggestion that was roundly rejected by the Libyan government spokesman.

Frattini’s remarks, based on a comments he said were made to him by the Roman Catholic bishop of Tripoli, came as rebel leader Mahmud Jibril was headed for the White House to press for US recognition and aid. “I tend to think of as credible comments by the bishop of Tripoli, monsignor (Giovanni Innocenzo) Martinelli, who told us that Gaddafi is very probably outside of Tripoli and probably also injured. But we don’t know where he is,” Frattini told reporters in Rome.

But Libyan government spokesman spokesman Mussa Ibrahim told journalists in Tripoli “the leader is in very good health, high morale, high spirits,” and “he is in Tripoli.” — AFP (See Page 8)

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KUWAIT: Curious onlookers watch a two ton, five-meter-long whale-shark that was stranded on the shore at the Marina crescent, Salmiya yesterday. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Two-ton whale-shark stranded at Marina crescent KUWAIT: A two ton, five-meter long whaleshark was stranded on the shore at the Marina crescent, Salmiya at dawn on Wednesday.

Public Relations and Environmental Awareness Director at EPA Dr Khalid Al-Enezi told KUNA that a team was formed to decide to release the whale from shallow waters and shield it from harm.

Al-Enezi said the team comprised members from the Environment Public Authority (EPA) Science Center, Marina Club, Diving

Team, Environment Protection Society, Coast Guard and Kuwait Oil Company.

He said that such sharks mostly feed on algae, small fish and salmon. Despite its large size, it is mostly peaceful, unless excited. It may then turn violent, and urged those who frequent the marina to leave it alone and not throw leftovers.

He said usually, when such fish enters an area like this, a cradle is made. This was the case last year. A whale had entered Kuwaiti

waters and was moved out to its natural habitat.

Al-Enezi said that a team was formed to follow the moves of this whale, to protect it from danger. He said that boat owners were asked to enter and exit the marina carefully so that the whale is not disturbed by any kind of movement. He said that the team has decided to allow the whale time to get out on its own, following which divers will start working on getting it out. — KUNA

Paramedical dept holds two training courses

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: The Paramedical Department in collaboration with King Abdul Aziz Medical University, Saudi Arabia, the Saudi National Guards, with the participation of 24 trainees, recently organized two training courses. The topics concerned

Four citizens, one Indian caught

By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: The Ahmadi police seized heroin from the possession of an Indian, and 70 narcotic tablets were confiscated from another citizen.

Another citizen was also taken into custody in connection with possession of a piece of hashish, and were referred to the General Department of Drug Control. Also, the Hawally Traffic Patrol arrested another citizen who was found in a drug-induced state of stupor. In addition, a fugitive sentenced to four years in jail was arrested in Ahmadi and was referred to higher authorities.

Pediatric Advance Life Support and were conducted from May 8 to 9 and 10 to 11 respectively. The department also organized another training course on Pediatric Emergency Assessment Recognition Stabilization from May 10 to 11, with the participation of 12 trainees from the paramedical department.

MP seeks debate on Gitmo issue in NA KUWAIT: A lawmaker has said that he plans to present a request during next Wednesday’s parliamentary session to discuss the issue of Kuwaiti citizens who are still being detained at the Guantanamo Bay prison. He also questions the procedures taken by the Kuwaiti government to press for their release.

“This detention is shameful on the part of United States, and it is also a shame for the Kuwaiti government that is still unable to secure citizens’ release,” said MP Musallam AlBarrak during a meeting he held

with the defense team of citizens.

They are pleading the case of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison, “[It’s all the more shameful] considering the fact that Kuwait is a strategic ally to the United States.”

Al-Barrak, who announced that he will be making his request next week in coordination with other lawmakers, explained that initial plans called for a press conference to be held inside the Parliament to discuss the subject. He went ahead with the proposal so that it can be discussed during a parliamentary session.

In the news No work permits for illiterate workers KUWAIT: The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor(MSAL) has received a notice from the government asking it to refuse issuing work permits to illiterate laborers, especially domestic workers like housemaids, drivers, and nannies. This step is aimed at improving the quality of laborers in Kuwait, especially domestic workers. The move will limit the number of incidents that take place out of ignorance, reported Al-Jarida. Moreover, the notice urged Minister Dr Mohammad Al-Afasi to improve the mechanism that governs expatriate workers’ recruitment. It should fall in line with achieving positive output for the state, and create healthy competition in the labor market, the notice stated.

MEW heads of depts to be reshuffled KUWAIT: An atmosphere of confusion prevails in several sectors of the Ministry of Electricity and Water as a report about past work and future projects are being compiled. A reshuffle may take place between heads of departments, mostly relying on Minister Salem Al-Athaina’s work plan and the reports received.

Airport office collects fines KUWAIT: The Ministry of Interior’s General Department of Sentences Enforcement now operates an office at the Kuwait International Airport.

Travelers can now pay fines, or inquire about the reasons behind a travel ban placed on them at the cell, reported Al-Rai. Officials said that the cell was opened to help citizens and residents pay fines at the airport instead of having to report back to the Justice Palace. It will also help them become aware of the nature of the legal clause based on which a travel ban is issued.

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Kuwait seeks to solve illegal residents’ issue in 5 years Diplomat rejects charges on obligations GENEVA: Kuwait is seeking to resolve the issue of illegal residents, according to laws, in a maximum period of five years, affirmed the Head of the Kuwait Permanent Mission at the UN here.

Dharar A Razzooqi, commenting on a report by the UN Committee against Torture, said this problem was deeply rooted and became more complicated during the 1990-1991 occupation of the country. Kuwait is dealing with this issue from a sovereign perspective, basically, he stressed.

Shedding light on the state aid for these residents, Razzooqi noted establishment of special funds for health care and education, noting the authorities’ keenness on issuing identity cards for them.

Moreover, Razzooqi has reject-

ed allegations that the state is not fulfilling its obligations in this respect. He indicated at eagerness of many people to obtain the Kuwaiti citizenship to benefit from the substantial state support programs for the citizens, indicating that the government has been also generous to other nations in need for aid, citing diverse charitable projects funded by Kuwait across the globe.

The Kuwaiti mission has submitted the file of the illegal residents to Navi Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, illustrating the Kuwaiti government efforts at this level. On executions, the top diplomat indicated the Kuwaiti judicial authorities would issue such a verdict after lengthy and

‘Interior’ reshuffle before May end KUWAIT: A comprehensive reshuffling process that may affect assistant undersecretaries and department directors’ work has been scheduled to be held at the Ministry of Interior.

This move is being made in accordance with a plan to improve the work process by inducting new blood. According to officials, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Hmoud Al-Sabah, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister is expected to make the decision before the end of the month, reported Al-Rai. This will include referring some officers who are members of the ruling family to retirement or be hired as consultants.

This is especially the case with the Ministry’s diwan owing to poor performance.

Officials indicate that only one ‘sheikh officer’ is expected to be excluded from the provision.

GENEVA: The Head of the Kuwait Permanent Mission Dharar A Razzooqi (inset) addresses the United Nations in Geneva. — KUNA elaborate procedures, noting that there has been no executions in the country since five years ago.

He also denied claims the Kuwaiti

judiciary would order amputation of human organs as a penalty.

The UN commission is expected to receive replies from Kuwait,

GCC expansion to thwart Iran’s intelligence spread Move a clear message to Tehran: Expert KUWAIT: Amid speculations and attempts to understand the reasons behind the Gulf Cooperation Council’s unexpected decision to accept Jordan and Morocco’s memberships, one theory from officials close to the GCC suggests that the step was motivated by what is described to be an Iranian intelligence presence in both kingdoms.

“The main goal behind this step is to send a clear message [towards Iran] that Jordan and Morocco’s security are an inseparable part of GCC’s security,” political experts are quoted in a recent report as saying. Commenting on unconfirmed reports doing the rounds “attempts made by Iran’s intelligence not only to infiltrate into the GCC countries, but also in Jordan and Morocco.”

This information was provided by

sources familiar with the consultations made during the GCC summit held in Riyadh last Tuesday. A decision to ‘welcome Jordan and Morocco’s memberships’ was made. While speaking on condition of anonymity, officials indicated that Iranian intelligence “coordinates with Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan in an attempt to entice conflicts by questioning the legitimacy of the Kingdom’s Hashemite rule.”

Officials went on to state that the authorities in Morocco have detected increasing numbers of organizations that are loyal to Iran. They speculated the idea of overthrowing the country’s monarchy, “Given the similarities between the monarchy in both kingdoms and that of the GCC countries, this encouraged GCC states to take the step, with the realization that the two

Delay in summer sends mercury up KUWAIT: Soaring temperatures were recorded during the past two days owing to the relative delay in the onset of summer this year, said Meteorologist Dr Saleh Al-Ojairi.

He added that the delay was brought about by cool winds that prevailed during the start of the week. The temperature rose steadily and crossed the 40 degrees barrier. He said that the temperature will surpass the 50 degree C mark during the holy month of Ramadan which will begin towards the end of July, Al-Anba reported.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Karam, Director of Meteorology Department at the Civil Aviation, said that the effects of seasonal Indian low pressure have begun to appear clearly on the maps, and that Kuwait is affected.

He said that despite the rise in temperatures, summer has not begun. Unstable weather and ‘sarrayat’ (heavy localized rain fall) is still possible. He added that rising temperatures break the soil loosening the superficial sand layer when the wind gains momentum.

through diplomatic channels, about other issues related to the status of foreign labor and the definition of torture. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Pigeons flutter around a tree as temperatures witnessed a rise in Kuwait. According to weather experts, summer is yet to set in.

—Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

nations are no longer safe from Iranian threat,” officials added.

He spoke about the possible reasons behind the sudden decision. Meanwhile, it is believed that it is still ‘too early’ to talk about the possibility of Jordan and Morocco gaining full memberships in the GCC, with the likelihood that two nations gain limited privileges similar to those of Iraq and Yemen.

This is mainly because of the limitations posed by the GCC charter which does not contain provisions to allow countries from outside the Arabian peninsula to join the union. An expected partial membership that Jordan and Morocco would obtain will enable them to receive political and financial support from the original six GCC states in the face of potential Iranian threats, the report states.

While Jordan has already announced its hope to acquire a GCC membership “as soon as possible,” Morocco is more hesitant because such a step would reflect its relationship with neighbors, “Morocco is interested in [joining the GCC]. The nation’s main strategic choice remains in reinforcing Arab Maghreb Union,” said a statement issued form Morocco’s Foreign Ministry, referring to the union that also includes Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania.

Meanwhile, Morocco’s Information Minister Khalid Al-Nasseri was recently quoted as objecting to the idea of partial membership accorded to his country in the GCC, reported Al-Qabas.

In Kuwait, a political expert felt that the GCC’s expansion step is aimed at sending a message to both Iran and the United States, “[the GCC states] have several alternative options to choose from,” hinting that it could have been made as an attempt to achieve “radical change in security strategies.” He noted at the same time a potential ‘extreme retaliation’ from Iran towards a military presence from non-GCC countries in the region.

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Man held for duping citizen of KD37,000 Asian bootleggers arrested in Ahmadi KUWAIT: Education Ministry official honors teachers for their exemplary services.

—KUNA

KUWAIT: Police recently arrested a citizen who amassed nearly KD 3 million through a scam. Investigations began after a citizen lodged a complaint with the Fahaheel police station, explaining that the person had disappeared with KD 37,000 that was paid after being convinced to enter a joint project to import luxury cars from Dubai and sell them in Kuwait. Detectives located the suspect, after discovering that he was being held at the Sharq police station, reported Al-Anba. The officers headed to his residence and found the documents and computer data which proved that more people are involved.

Ahmadi raids Ahmadi police arrested four Asian bootleggers from Mahboula, two Asian men from a location in Al-Dahar for rendering illegal international calling services, reported Al-Watan. This includes a number of residence permit violators from Abu Halifa.

Teen sexually assaulted Mubarak Al-Kabeer police arrested a young man who attempted to sexually assault a teenager at a friend’s diwaniya. Both men were apprehended. The victim filed a case with the area’s police station, explaining that he rejected the suspect’s advances.

The suspect initially escaped, but was able to find him based on the information provided by the host who was charged with complicity in crime,

Provocative writings removed from walls

By Hanan Al-Sa’doun KUWAIT: Police forces were summoned to Shamiya where the phrase: “Iran will invade Kuwait......May Allah damn tumults” was sprayed on the walls of the College of Basic Education, said security sources noting that the phrase was removed and that further investigations were in progress to indentify the graffito. * Special campaigns were launched to pursue reckless drivers in the capital and Farwaniya, said security sources noting that the campaigns resulted in filing 51 citations, confiscating 11 vehicles. * A fire broke out at 2am, Thursday in Jabriya coop, said security sources noting that firemen from Hawalli and Salmiya rushed to the scene and managed to contain the flames in only 200 square meters out of the coops total area of 2000 square meters and control it after rescuing an Asian security guard who was found unconscious and sent immediately to Mubarak hospital. * A 23 year old bedoon broke his knee when he fell in the American School of Jabriya, said security sources. * A 34 year old Filipino dislodged his left shoulder in a traffic accident in Jahra. * A 26 year old citizen was rushed to Adan hospital with deep abdominal and chest wounds created by a sharp metal object, said security sources.

reported Al-Rai. The victim added that the host was aware of the suspect’s evil schemes but did nothing to stop them.

Weapon possession A GCC national was arrested in connection with possession of a weapon while infiltrating into the country through the Salmi border checkpoint. The man had produced documents to customs officials indicating that the weapon was licensed, and that he was authorized to hold it as a serviceman serving his home country. However, police officers received orders from higher authorities, asking that he be referred to the nearest police station. He faced charges of possession of an unlicensed weapon, reported Al-Rai. This is because the license he provided was not valid for use in Kuwait.

Drunks held Three drunken men were arrested from on top of a boat, off the Blajat Beach. Coastguards went to the location following reports received from three people who carried out dangerous maneuvers using their boat near the beach, reported Al- Rai. The suspects were heavily intoxicated at the time of arrest and were referred to higher authorities. Meanwhile, a drunk man was arrested after trying to make his way to the Abdullah AlMubarak military base, and was

referred to the State Security Service.

Fight A 26-year-old citizen is currently recovering in the ICU of Al-Adan hospital from a serious stab wound sustained to the abdomen during a fight.

He was found bleeding profusely after engaging in a fight with another citizen who escaped before officials arrived, reported Al-Rai. It was discovered that the fight broke out over previous disputes that had arisen between the two.

Impersonator arrested A man dressed in a military suit was recently arrested along the Gulf Road in connection with harassing female drivers. Police learnt that that he was not a Ministry of Defense serviceman.

The suspect was captured by an intelligence officer who noticed him harass a woman at the parking lot of a restaurant. Back up police soon reached the scene, reported Al-Rai. They eventually discovered that the suspect had borrowed the military suit from a friend.

Fugitive nabbed A young bedoon man was apprehended from the Liberation Tower where he was present to finalize a routine transaction, reported Al-Rai. However, an official discovered that his name has been blacklisted and charged in connection with a drugrelated case.

Kuwait budget expenditure placed at KD4.26 billion: CBK KUWAIT: The total actual expenses of Kuwait during the first quarter of this year stand at nearly KD 4.26 billion when compared to KD 3.57 billion during the latest quarter of last year, the quarterly bulletin issued by Central Bank of Kuwait showed here Friday.

The first quarter of 2011, which coincides with the end of the first year of development plan, saw a gradual actual increase in the quarterly expenses since the second quarter of 2010 which coincides with the first quarter of the development year, as well as the first quarter of the state budget which starts in the beginning of April of each year, the bulletin pointed out.

Furthermore, the total development plan budget during the first year amounted to KD 4.998 billion that was distributed across various sections of Kuwait’s state budget, and not confined to the section of construction projects and maintenance. Its expenses were estimated at KD 2.1 billion with a greater portion going to devel-

opment projects listed as part of the development plan, while other expenses on development projects are distributed among other sections of state budget.

The same bulletin shows that the volume of expenses defrayed on development projects, amounts to a main cause of expenses, seeing a gradual increase in tandem with the reports produced by the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development (SCPD), particularly the follow-up report on the third quarter of the first year of the development plan.

The above-mentioned report showed a 34 percent hike in expenses on development projects distributed to development and construction projects, maintenance as well as transferred payments of state budget sections.

Taking a similar tack, the expenses continue within the fourth section of state budget on development projects that were dwelt upon by CBK quarterly report for the first three

months of 2011. An estimated total expenses made for development projects stand at nearly KD 425.6 million, in addition to other aggregate expenses within the development plan listed under various sections of state budget. These are expected to greatly surpass the total aggregate expenditure on the development plan section.

The increased quarterly expenses within the first year of the development plan proportionally soars with the number of projects listed, particularly when a great number of these projects turn from preliminary to advanced stages, including bids and implementation phases that need further expenses.

Finally, the SCPD General Secretariat made clear that expenses made for development projects soared to hit KD 1.719 billion during the third quarter of the first year of the development plan which came to its close by the end of 2010, noting that this expenditure is distributed to various sections of state budget. — KUNA

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Council convenes ahead of meeting with Safar KUWAIT: The Municipal Council members held a meeting recently to reach an agreement over the subject they wished to discuss with the Minister of Public Works and Minister of Municipality Affairs, Dr Fadhel Safar. A meeting was scheduled for tomorrow.

Dr Safar invited the Municipal Council to a meeting following the announcement of the new Cabinet. He highlighted several issues that need to be discussed, including the Municipality’s work plan in light of a new Cabinet formation and cooperation displayed between the Municipality and the Council.

“Members discussed the means to boost cooperation with the Kuwait Municipality,” said Municipal Council President Zaid Al-Azmi. He held a meeting with a number of council members on Thursday, noting that the councils “are extending a hand of cooperation to the minister.”

Subjects that council members are expected to bring up during their meeting with Dr Safar include the issue of renaming public streets, which the council believes are being deprived of despite this process being assigned to the council. The members are also expected to request the Municipality’s director and legal department manager on attending the council’s sessions.

Zubaidi fishing banned The Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources(PAAAFR) has banned Zubaidi fishing.

Jassem Al-Bader, Chairman of the Board and Managing Director of Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) instructed that fishing in Kuwait international waters be stopped from June 1 until July 15, 2011, reported Alanba. Zubaidi fish sales will also be banned during the same period.

He added that frozen Zubaidi can be imported and sold during the same period but a permission must be obtained from PAAAFR. Relaxed registration procedures for bedoons The Minister of Education and Higher Education has promised to allow bedoon (stateless) students to register with public schools, using birth notices as official documents instead of the official birth certificate that numerous stateless residents struggle to obtain.

Minister Ahmad Al-Mulaifi made the promises while speaking to lawmakers Askar Al-Enizy and Adnan AlMutawa during a meeting. It followed Wednesday’s parliament session, which was held to discuss the subject, reported Al-Qabas. The meeting was also attended by Amer Al-Tamimi and Maha Al-Barjas from the Kuwait Human Rights Society.

GCC servicemen included in social securities system

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Defence concluded the preparation of lists of Gulf citizens who work in Kuwait’s military to include them in the social securities system, Al-Shahed reported. According to sources, this step comes to maintain equality among GCC citizens.

The sources explained that the first Deputy Premier and Defence Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak expressed great interest in this issue. The sources said Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak is keen on ensuring psychological and financial stability for all ministry employees. The sources said the ministry will follow this with a proposal to grant pensions to uniformed bedouns who participated in Kuwait’s liberation, similar to the case of the bedouns who participated in the ‘67 and ‘73 wars.

Kuwait key to US effort to reduce Iraq threat: Report Pending issues hamper bilateral relations KUWAIT: A report called ‘Kuwait Security, Reform and US policy,’ published recently by the Congressional research service, was prepared for Members and the Committees of US Congress, says “Kuwait was pivotal to two decades of US efforts to reduce a threat posed by Iraq. After US forces liberated Kuwait from Iraqi invading forces in February 1991, Kuwait was the central location from which the United States contained Saddam during 1991-2003, and it hosted the bulk of the US-led force that invaded Iraq in March 2003 to remove Saddam from power. It is the key route through which US troops have been withdrawing from Iraq during 2009-2011.”

Kuwait’s relations with the current government of Iraq are hampered, in part, by issues not fully resolved from the August 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. A January 12, 2011 visit by the Kuwaiti prime minister appeared to represent a major, at least symbolic, breakthrough. With the strategic threat from Iraq sharply reduced, Kuwait is cooperating with US-led efforts to contain Iranian power in the Gulf. At the same time, like the other Gulf monarchy states, Kuwait seeks to maintain normal economic and political relations with Iran in order to not want to provoke Iran or cause it to increase support to proIranian movements in Kuwait.

Kuwait has been troubled domestically for at least five years, but due to factors unrelated to or unlike the reasons for the unrest throughout the Middle East in 2011. The domestic disruptions have taken the form of infighting between the elected National Assembly and the ruling AlSabah family primarily over the political dominance and alleged corruption of the AlSabah. In March 2009, the infighting led to the second constitutional dissolution of the National Assembly in one year, setting up new parliamentary elections on May 16, 2009. That produced an Assembly that was considered more pro-government, and included four women, the first to be elected to the Assembly in Kuwait since women were given the vote in 2005.

However, over the subsequent two years, the Assembly has turned against the ruling family, producing two unsuccessful attempts (the most recent on January 5, 2011) to vote no confidence in Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Muhammad AlAhmad Al-Sabah. The political deadlock has prevented breaking longstanding legislative and regulatory log-

jams holding up key energy projects, including some projects involving major foreign energy firms.

Kuwait has been only lightly touched by the unrest sweeping the Middle East in 2011. There have been only small political demonstrations in Kuwait during the period of region-wide unrest, perhaps because Kuwait is considered a relatively wealthy society where citizens do not want to take risks to achieve greater freedoms. However, the government response to the small demonstrations has, in some measure, tarnished Kuwait’s reputation as a protector of rule of law and human rights in the Gulf region.

Suppressive measures have included beatings of demonstrators and imprisonments of journalists. However, Kuwait’s tradition of vibrant civil society and

expression of opinion led to the resignation of the interior minister, held responsible for repressive measures, on February 7, 2011, in advance of a planned public demonstration. The Cabinet resigned on March 31, 2011, rather than face questioning from a Shiite parliamentary deputy about its reaction to the unrest in Bahrain.

On other regional issues, the political stalemate in Kuwait has contributed to a tendency among Kuwaiti leaders to defer to Saudi Arabia and other more active Gulf states. Kuwait has not attempted to take a leading role in formulating new approaches to the Arab-Israeli dispute, in mediating disputes within the Palestinian territories, or trying to determine Iran’s role in Gulf security and political arrangements. - www.crs.gov

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Kuwait to mark today UN membership anniversary State celebrates 48 years of effective global role

KUWAIT: The National Guards recently held an awards ceremony to honor members of the core committee that organized national day celebrations.

Arab-Iranian dialogue vital: Moussa KUWAIT: Secretary General of the Arab League Amr Moussa affirmed the inevitability of an Arab-Iranian dialogue to resolve any “sensitive” pending issues, noting that increasing the number of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) state members would do good for the joint Arab action.

Moussa’s remarks were made during an interview he made with Annahar Kuwaiti newspaper upon his arrival to the state of Kuwait for a two-day visit, which started yesterday, to participate in a special meeting with a number of Arab intellectuals to discuss the latest Arab issues and crises.

“Iran is a neighboring country and pending issues with Iran should not lead to a rupture in relations among the Arab states. There are unresolved issues not only within the Arab-Iranian relations but also with Egypt as well,” the Arab League chief said.

He stressed on the importance of having a comprehensive dialogue with Iran by addressing all unresolved issues in order to eliminate all disputes and establish good neighboring relations based on mutual interests.

In his interview, Moussa affirmed the strength and stability of the Kuwaiti-Egyptian relations by saying that “Egyptians, in Kuwait, do not feel estranged. They consider Kuwait as their second homeland.” He lauded His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Jaber Al-Ahmad AlSabah’s initiative to establish a $2 billion fund to support small-scale projects in Arab countries and provide job opportunities for Arab youth.

On the Egyptian political arena, Moussa said that adopting a new constitution for Egypt relies on an elected constituent assembly. This assembly is formed by all of the Egyptian community leaders. “It is for the best interest of Egypt to have a presidential system during the present phase,” he further remarked.

On the Palestinian reconciliation, he noted that it was “a great achievement that ought to be protected and adopted” in order to guarantee the full rights for the Palestinian people, especially establishing an independent Palestinian state of which East Jerusalem is its capital. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Kuwait marks today the 48th anniversary of joining the United Nations demonstrating to the world its belief that international action is a major basis of the Gulf State foreign policy that is also based on cooperation with nations, respect for their independence and sovereignty.

On May 14, 1963, the UN General Assembly issued resolution 1872, accepting Kuwait as a new member of the international organization, thus becoming the 111th member.

In an address to the UN General Assembly marking the historic event, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who was the then foreign minister, stated that Kuwait’s joining of the UN was not the ultimate objective of such a major step, rather a move aimed at taking part in shouldering global responsibilities for sake of securing better living for nations of the world.

After manifesting an effective role at the international quarters within a very short period of time, Kuwait was chosen member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) for the 1978-1979 term, and was elected as the deputy president of the UN General Assembly in the 21st and 27th sessions.

Kuwait was elected a member of the UN Social and Economic Council in 1967-1969, and was re-elected member of this council in 1992-1994.

It was also accepted as member of a sub-committee for cooperation among continents, in 1975-1979.

Since then, the Gulf State has been actively taking part in various international organizations, partly through material and financial contributions, intended for progress of nations.

Within the framework of its international role, Kuwait has actively

THE UNITED NATIONS: Kuwait is represented at the United Nations. — KUNA

helped in safeguarding global peace and security and sought to promote global ties on the basis of equality among nations.

Tangibly, Kuwait has contributed in budgets of more than 34 international organizations, 14 peace missions, in addition to its share of the UN budget, 2.5 percent. Kuwait joined the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in 192, contributing with $200,000 per year.

This program helped in maintaining the marine life of the country and tackling environmental damage left behind by the 1990 Iraqi aggression.

In May 1960, Kuwait joined the World Health Organization (WHO) and became a prime member of the WHO Executive Board in 1980-1983 and 1994-1997.

During the same year, Kuwait became a member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In

1983, the late Abdul Aziz Al-Hussein was named a member of the organization and served in this post till 1987. Out of its belief in the essential role of such an organization, Kuwait founded the Kuwait chapter of the agency, headed by the minister of education and higher education.

In June 1960, Kuwait joined the International Labor Organization (ILO), playing a distinguished role within its ranks. Moreover, Kuwait has taken part in various development programs of the international organization and agencies.

In recognition of the substantial weight of the UN, Kuwait inaugurated, in January 2009, the UN house in the country. Playing such a role on the international arena, Kuwait has proven that nations should not be solely judged by their geographical size for such a Gulf state proved effective at the various international political, economic and social levels. — KUNA

Report faults Municipality over spoilt food issue KUWAIT: An investigation report prepared by the parliamentary health committee on the spoilt food issue has accused the Kuwait Municipality of gross negligence in an attempt to curb the spread of this problem. The report also includes recommendations made to amend food and Municipality regulations to enforce tougher inspection procedures.

In a statement made to the press, the panel’s repporteur Saleh Ashour indicated that the report has already been handed over to the Parliament Speaker before being distributed to the lawmaker. He fur-

ther noted that the report’s final version excludes a provision made to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, “It was found during investigations that the Deputy General Director of the Kuwait Municipality is responsible for the flaws that created the problem,” said Ashour, adding that the Municipality’s Services Affairs Department “should be suspended from work until a committee is formed by the Municipality.”

Moreover, Ashour said that the report includes the names of companies that are found guilty of dealing with spoiled food items includ-

ing meat products, dairy products and mineral water. The report also specifies that legal action were taken against every company named, including the suspension of commercial and health licenses, in addition to cases filed with the Public Prosecution Office, reported AlQabas.

Ashour also confirmed earlier reports which suggested that committee member Mubarak Al-Waalan refrained from voting on the final report. He sought to have the Minister of Municipality Affairs Dr Fadhel Safar be held politically responsible for the issue.

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

Qatar quits mediation bid for Yemen; protests spread

UK summons Syrian ambassador over violence

Ruling party wins Indian states despite scandals

8 9 14 Thousands protest across Syria At least 6 killed

BEIRUT: Syrian security forces opened fire on thousands of protesters yesterday, killing at least six people as soldiers tried to head off demonstrations by occupying mosques and blocking public squares, human rights activists said.

A leading activist told The Associated Press that three people were killed in Homs, two in Damascus and one in a village outside Daraa, the southern city where the nationwide uprising began in March. He asked that his name not be used for fear of reprisals by the government. In Damascus, the capital, three rallies were held _ the largest number of protests held at one time in the city during the twomonth revolt against President Bashar Assad. Thousands in Syria have persevered with the demonstrations, turning up in huge numbers yesterday, the Islamic day of prayer, only to be met with bullets, tear gas and batons by security forces.

One activist in Homs, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said security forces dressed in black and shadowly proregime gunmen known as “shabiha” were doing the shooting. He said the regime forces first fired in the air, then shot directly into the crowd as protesters continued their way.

Human rights groups say that between 700 and 850 people have been killed since the start of the revolt against Assad’s repressive regime. In Damascus, security forces fired tear gas in the Zahra neighborhood, forcing scores of people to disperse. In nearby Mazzeh, protesters ran away when security forces arrived. In Muhajereen, security forces used batons to scatter dozens of people, activists said.

Assad has come under scathing criticism for the crackdown, with the United States and Europe imposing sanctions. Yesterday, Britain summoned Syria’s ambassador to warn that new sanctions will target the regime’s hierarchy if Assad does not halt the country’s violent crackdown on protesters.

Syrian Ambassador Sami Khiyami was called in for talks with political director Geoffrey Adams, the second time in recent weeks he had been ordered to explain his government’s actions.

In several volatile areas of Syria, residents said soldiers occupied mosques and blocked off major public areas yesterday to prevent people from leaving their homes.

KAFR NABL: An image grab taken from a video posted on YouTube shows Syrian anti-regime protesters holding a banner saluting international news networks for their coverage of the unrest in Syria during a rally in the northeastern city of Kafr Nabl yesterday.—AFP “The army has transformed major mosques in the city into military barracks where soldiers sleep, eat and drink,” said a resident in the coastal town of Banias. “They’ve put up barriers and sandbags around the mosques.” Up to 1,200 security forces have deployed in the public square in the center of town, and soldiers and armed thugs have broken into shops, offices and homes to intimidate people.

There is a media blackout in Syria, making it impossible to confirm witness accounts independently. Witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear for their personal safety.

Other protests were around the northeastern city of Qamishli, where about 5,000 people marched in the streets chanting “Freedom!” and “Freedom to political prisoners!” said rights activist Mustafa Osso.

Thousands also were demonstrating in the nearby towns of Amouda and Derbasiyeh, he said.

The government’s crackdown has increased in intensity in recent days. On Wednesday, the army shelled residential areas in central and southern Syria, killing 19 people, a human rights group said.

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton slammed the Syrian government’s assault on demonstrators and said the violence indicates that Assad is weak, though she stopped short of saying he must quit. “Treating one’s own people in this way is in fact a sign of remarkable weakness,” Clinton said during a trip to Greenland. The revolt was touched off in mid-March by the arrest of teenagers who scrawled antiregime graffiti on a wall. Since then, the protests have spread nationwide and the death toll already has exceeded those seen during the uprisings in Yemen and Tunisia. AP writer Bassem Mroue in Beirut and David Stringer in London contributed to this report.—AP

Authorities detain wife of deposed Egyptian leader CAIRO: Egyptian authorities yesterday ordered the detention of Suzanne Mubarak, wife of deposed President Hosni Mubarak, the government-run MENA news agency reported. The move came a day after the government said Mubarak and his wife were questioned over suspicions they illegally amassed vast wealth. MENA said prosecutors ordered Suzanne Mubarak, who is 70, detained for 15 days pending further investigation of the allegations. It was not immediately clear where she would be held.

The 83-year-old former president is in a hospital in the Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Hosni Mubarak had been questioned several times, but Thursday was the first time his wife faced interrogation.

MENA said Suzanne Mubarak was asked about 20 million Egyptian pounds ($3.3 million) held in her name in one of the Cairo banks as well as a luxurious home in Cairo. Both Suzanne Mubarak and her husband were questioned in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, where they have been staying since he was deposed Feb. 11 by a popular uprising. She has been staying in the town in their villa, which has an estimated value of 36 million pounds ($6 million).

A report by a financial oversight body said that Mubarak and his family had numerous bank accounts in foreign and local currencies, luxury apartments and palaces and valuable land holdings. Some estimate his fortune in the tens of billions of dollars. Mubarak denies the allegations. Mubarak also faces charges over deaths of protesters during the uprising.—AP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

Gaddafi may be ‘wounded, on the run’ Libyan strongman’s regime disintegrating: Italian FM TRIPOLI: Muammar Gaddafi may be wounded on the run, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said yesterday, adding that the Libyan strongman’s regime was disintegrating. Frattini’s remarks, based on a comments he said were made to him by the Roman Catholic bishop of Tripoli, came as rebel leader Mahmud Jibril was headed for the White House to press for US recognition and aid.

“I tend to think of as credible comments by the bishop of Tripoli, monsignor (Giovanni Innocenzo) Martinelli, who told us that Gaddafi is very probably outside of Tripoli and probably also injured. But we don’t know where he is,” Frattini told reporters in Rome. An AFP correspondent in Tripoli attempted to reach Bishop Martinelli by telephone but was unsuccessful. Frattini had earlier told Corriere della Sera daily: “I am of the view that (Gaddafi) has probably fled from Tripoli but not from the country.”

He also cast doubt on the reliability of television images showing Gaddafi on state television earlier this week. “I have a lot of doubts that those images were shot that day,” he said. On Wednesday, the television showed footage of Gaddafi in a meeting, which it said was with eastern tribal dignitaries that same day. Frattini said inter-

BENGHAZI: Flags of countries supporting the Libyan revolution against Muammar Gaddafi flutter during a rally following a mass Friday noon prayers at the revolution square in the rebel stronghold eastern city of Benghazi yesterday. —AFP

national pressure was causing “the disintegration of the regime from the inside, which is what we wanted,” adding that arms depots had been raided by rebels on the outskirts of Tripoli in the past few hours. “We have seen some rebel flags flying... in eastern Tripoli,” he said.

“International pressure has apparently provoked a decision by Gaddafi

Thousands protest for Palestinian right of return AMMAN: Thousands rallied in support of Palestinians yesterday, with demonstrators in Jordan’s capital heeding a call by Facebook organizers to demand a sovereign Palestinian state, others near the JordanianIsraeli border chanting “Death to Israel,” and still more activists filling Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Palestinian youth groups called for protests in the West Bank and nearby Arab countries to mark the anniversary of the May 15, 1948, creation of the Jewish state.

Palestinians call the anniversary the “day of catastrophe” because of the refugee crisis and loss of land that accompanied the creation of Israel. About 500 protesters, demanding a sovereign Palestinian state and the right of refugees to return home, marched in Amman’s downtown market district, some wearing Palestinian black and white kefiyahs or headscarves and holding keys to family homes left behind. In Cairo, thousands rallied, beginning a Facebook-generated campaign aimed at marching on the borders of the Palestinian territories. Egypt’s powerful Muslim Brotherhood backed yesterday’s demonstration but did not favor a march to the borders. On Thursday, Egypt’s ruling Military Council called on organizers to cancel the march. A few protesters who drove to North Sinai to reach the Gaza border said they were turned back by authorities.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrations are not unusual in Jordan or Egypt, but marches solicited on Facebook are. Organizers are apparently inspired by the uprisings in Egypt and other Arab countries that were heavily dependent on mobilization through social network sites. —AP

to seek refuge in a safer place,” Frattini said. With rebel forces claiming to be only 10 kilometers (six miles) from Zliten, their next main military target on the road to Tripoli, insurgent leader Mahmud Jibril was to hold talks with US National Security Adviser Tom Donilon. Officials would not say whether President Barack Obama would drop by the meeting, a practice

sometimes used with guests for whom protocol does not dictate an official meeting.

Jibril, who handles foreign affairs for the rebels’ National Transitional Council (NTC), was asked by CNN television what he expected from the talks and replied: “We need the recognition.” The Libyan opposition, based in the eastern city of Benghazi, wants Washington to recognize the body as “the sole legitimate interlocutor of the Libyan people,” he said. Unlike France, Gambia, Italy and Qatar, the United States has not recognized the NTC. Jibril told CNN he believed Jordan would also recognize the opposition in the coming days. “All we need is for the world to understand our cause and help us get our legitimate rights realized,” he said. But White House spokesman Jay Carney signaled that Washington was not ready to grant full status to the NTC. “If the question is recognising the (NTC) as the official government of Libya, I think that’s premature,” he said. “We think that the council serves and has served as a credible and legitimate interlocutor for the Libyan people, for the opposition.”

Jibril warned earlier that the council was facing a “very acute financial problem” and needed help from the US administration. —AFP

Qatar quits mediation bid for Yemen; protests spread SANAA: Qatar has pulled out of an effort to mediate an end to Yemen’s political crisis, blaming the country’s embattled president yesterday for the impasse and potentially leaving his regime even more isolated among his neighbors.

The development came as antigovernment demonstrators rallied in several cities, leading to dozens of injuries, and as seven Yemeni soldiers were reported killed in two ambushes.

Qatar was among six Gulf nations pushing a deal for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down after 32 years in power in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Three months of massive street protests have demanded the autocratic ruler’s immediate departure, and a government crackdown has killed about 150 people. The six nations of the regional alliance known as the Gulf Cooperation Council are worried that Yemen’s growing instability could destabilize other parts of the Arabian Peninsula.

Qatar’s official news agency said that the GCC secretary-general, Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani, was informed of the withdrawal decision on Thursday. “The government was obliged to take the decision because

SANAA: Anti-government protestors attend a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Sanaa, Yemen yesterday. —AP

of the stalling and delays in the signing of the agreement, the escalation of the events, the severe confrontations and the lack of wisdom which contradict the spirit of the initiative,” QNA said.

Yemen’s official news agency SABA said yesterday that Saleh’s party accused Qatar of siding with the protesters and welcomed its withdrawal from the talks. “Yemen is ready to

deal with the Gulf initiative without the participation of the (Great) state of Qatar, which is involved in the conspiracy and events taking place not only in Yemen, but in the Arab region in general,” said a statement from the ruling National Congress Party.

Without elaborating, the statement said, “the state of Qatar has its own agenda and the party which stands behind it is known.” —AP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

UK summons Syrian ambassador over violence Khiyami warned of new sanctions

SARAJEVO: Bosnian international administrator, Austrian diplomat Valentin Inzko gestures as he answers a question during an interview with the Associated Press in Sarajevo, on Thursday. — AP

Bosnia: Serb leader says referendum not needed now BANJA LUKA: Bosnia’s Serb leader will ask a regional parliament to cancel a referendum on the country’s judicial system after receiving assurances yesterday from EU’s top foreign policy official that their concerns will be addressed in direct talks with the bloc. “The referendum is no longer needed,” Milorad Dodik said at a joint press conference with Catherine Ashton in Banja Luka — the home of the parliament of the Serb region of Bosnia. The threat of referendum plunged Bosnia in one of the worst political crisis the country experienced since the end of the 1992-1995 war.

The vote was scheduled for mid-June and was to reflect Bosnian Serb disapproval of the federal war crimes court, which Dodik claims is biased against Serbs , and the actions the country’s top international administrator who oversees the running of the country and the implementation of the peace agreement that ended the war.

Ashton arrived in the region unexpectedly late Thursday, demonstrating international concerns over the issue.

Following the talks with Dodik, Ashton said that the EU will open talks with Bosnia’s Serbs to try and address some of their concerns regarding the work of courts. “We consider that any legitimate issues deserve serious analysis and adequate responses,” Ashton said yesterday.

Bosnia was divided into ethnic Serb and Croat-Bosniak halves after the war.

Serbs are seeking more powers for their mini-state and also question the overall authority of top administrator, the Austrian diplomat Valentin Inzko. The United States and the EU, meanwhile, insist on strengthening the central state institutions. Inzko answers to the UN Security Council and has almost unlimited power over Bosnia’s state institutions under the United States-brokered Bosnian peace treaty which allows him to annul or impose laws or even fire local politicians, including presidents. In April the Bosnian Serb parliament said it will question the envoy’s authority and the legality of every decision he has made since the war ended.

Both the Serbs and the EU want a judicial reform, but have opposite ideas of what it should look like. “We consider that any legitimate issues deserve serious analysis and adequate responses,” Ashton said yesterday. She added that EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Fuelle will travel to Banja Luka to chair the first meeting. The United States, however, insisted that any talks with Bosnia’s Serbs are held only after the threat of referendum and challenge to administrator’s authority are removed. “Once those steps are complete, we will see how the dialogue continues,” Jonathan Moore, deputy US ambassador to Bosnia told the Associated Press yesterday. — AP

LONDON : Britain summoned Syria’s ambassador yesterday to warn that new sanctions will target the regime’s hierarchy if President Bashar Assad does not halt the country’s violent crackdown on protesters. Syrian Ambassador Sami Khiyami was called in for talks with political director Geoffrey Adams, the second time in recent weeks he had been ordered to explain his government’s actions.

Adams said that “unless the Syrian government stopped the killing of protesters and released political prisoners, the UK along with its EU partners would take further measures to hold the regime to account,” the ministry said in a statement. “These measures would include further sanctions targeted at the highest levels of the regime, including travel bans and asset freezing.” Last month, Khiyami’s invitation to Britain’s royal wedding was withdrawn over the regime’s action. Germany on Wednesday summoned Syria’s ambassador to Berlin to deliver a similarly stern message, warning that European nations were considering extending travel bans and asset freezes.

Last week, the European Union imposed measures against 13 officials believed to be playing a prominent role in the violent suppression of demonstrations. Western diplomats say up to 800 Syrians have been killed since demonstrations began in mid-

ISTANBUL: Protesters with their fingers painted with the Syrian flag demonstrate after Friday prayers, yesterday, in front of the Syrian consulate in Istanbul. —AFP March, and about 8,000 people detained, including 2,000 over the last two weeks.

The Foreign Office said Adams had called on Syria to allow the UN and other humanitarian organizations immediate access to Deraa and other Syrian cities which have been targeted by regime violence. Diplomats acknowledge Assad’s regime currently appears unlikely to respond to protesters demands for greater openness and democracy.“It’s pretty improbable to

Man beheads woman in Spanish island supermarket MADRID: A man randomly attacked and beheaded a woman in a supermarket on the Spanish resort island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands yesterday, officials said. The suspect, believed to be a homeless Bulgarian man with a police record, was detained by security guards after he ran out of the supermarket with the blood-soaked head in his hands.

A witness told broadcaster Cadena Ser that he saw the man drop the woman’s head on the pavement after coming out of the store. “I parked my car and saw a man running out with something bloody in his hands and a security guard chasing him. He threw it to the ground, it almost hit me and what he had been carrying was a woman’s head,” the unnamed witness said in a radio interview.

Regional Interior Ministry delegate Dominica Fernandez said the suspect is believed to have entered the shop, stolen a knife which he then used to assault and behead the woman, whose identity hasn’t been released. Fernandez told journalists the attack appeared to be random and that the man was well known in the area. The events took place shortly after 10 a.m. (0900 GMT, 5 am EDT) in the southern town of Arona, about 10 miles (15 kilometers north of the beach resort of Los Cristianos. — AP

say the least that the national dialogue which President Assad announced in his speech to the new government a few weeks ago is likely to prosper,” said one Western diplomat, who demanded anonymity to offer an assessment of the Syrian regime. “It’s hard to see how any serious figures from the opposition movement can sit down with the authorities at a time when Syrian civilians are being arrested, detained, abused while in detention, and killed,” he said. — AP

Vatican sets rules for Latin Mass VATICAN CITY: The Vatican issued new instructions yesterday asking bishops and priest to make the old Latin Mass accessible, but warned that Catholic faithful who follow the rite must not question the authority of the pope or the legitimacy of the new Mass. Pope Benedict XVI had asked for a study after he ordered wider use of the Latin Mass in 2007 for those Catholics uncomfortable with the modern rite celebrated in the language of the congregation.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the norms were published to “reconcile differences” between those who are in favor of restoring the Latin rite and those who see it as a going backward in time to a more conservative church. He said that complaints from both sides were about equal.

Along with calling on bishops to implement the pope’s instructions by making more spaces and times available to groups looking for the old rite, the document also stresses the need for Latin instruction for priests wanting to celebrate it.

Benedict’s efforts to make the old rite more accessible was also a bid to reach out to followers of an excommunicated traditionalist, the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who split with Rome over the Second Vatican Council reforms in the 1960s, notably the introduction of the New Mass. The new instructions say that “the faithful who ask for the celebration ... must not in any way belong to groups which show themselves to be against the validity or legitimacy of the Holy Mass or the Sacraments” in the new form or against the pope’s authority. Some liberal-minded Catholics had complained that Benedict’s move amounted to a negation of Vatican II, and some prelates had warned that its implementation would create a rupture in the church. “The spirit of the document is one of reconciliation and welcome,” Lombardi said. The new instructions do not go into such issues as the possibility of using altar girls for the old rite, or the prayer for the conversion of the Jews found in the old Good yesterday rite. —AP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

Somalis drag bodies in streets NAIROBI: It’s a gruesome display seen many times over the years in Mogadishu: The bodies of dead soldiers dragged through the streets. Somalis angry over 20 years of violence say they do it in hopes of driving out African Union forces.

The latest incident happened Thursday, when the body of a fighter who appeared to be a member of the AU’s peacekeeping mission was pulled through the streets by a rope. The spokesman for the country’s most dangerous militant group, Al-Shabab, also displayed a body alongside documents that identified the man as a Ugandan soldier.

“Today we are celebrating the death and blood of your sons,” Sheik Ali Mohamud

Rage said at a news conference Thursday.

The most infamous occurrence happened in 1993, when fighters dragged a US soldier through the streets after a disastrous US military assault into the Somali capital described in the book and movie “Black Hawk Down.” The deaths and grisly scene were widely used by media outlets who had to weigh the images’ news value against their violent nature. The incident hastened the US withdrawal from the East African nation. In 2007, Somalis dragged the bodies of Ethiopian soldiers through the streets. Ethiopia withdrew after two years of war.

The spokesman for the AU mission, which has 9,000 troops in Somalia, said

militants or residents dragging bodies through the street wouldn’t result in a withdrawal. “We condemn the act of the insurgents in the strongest terms possible because its inhuman and un-African,” said Paddy Ankunda, whose force has lost hundreds of soldiers since its deployment four years ago. Some Mogadishu residents angry at the AU for past shellings into residential neighborhoods say they vent their frustrations by dragging bodies.

“The people drag the corpses to force these so-called peacekeepers to leave the country,” said Abdisalam Abdullahi, a 19year-old high school student in Mogadishu. He said several of his friends have been killed by shelling from AU

forces.Another resident, Ahmed Hassan Nur, 21, said he has dragged six foreign bodies since 2007, including Ethiopians, Ugandans and Burundians. “The Africans killed my brother with their ruthless shelling,” said Nur, referring to the AU forces. Asked if he felt any shame after dragging bodies, he said: “No. Absolutely not. I’m happy with what I did.”

Ali Muse, the head of Mogadishu’s ambulance service, said he condemns the dragging of bodies. “But I understand why the people decided to drag the corpses of AU peacekeepers,” he said. Muse has said that African Union troops bear a large portion of responsibility for civilians killed in fighting. —AP

Nigerian ‘Islamists’ kill governor’s driver, chief Mode of operation resembles Boko Haram KANO: Suspected members of an Islamist sect blamed for a series of attacks in northern Nigeria have shot and killed a driver for a state governor as well as a local chief, police said yesterday. The driver, Mai Kadai, had just left home yesterday morning and was on his way to the Borno state governor’s office when two gunmen on motorcycles shot him dead, said police commissioner Mohammed Jinjiri Abubakar.

“From all indications, they knew who he was and were on his trail,” Abubakar told AFP of the attack in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.

Referring to the Islamist sect, he said: “Apparently, this attack was carried out by members of Boko Haram. The mode of operation resembles Boko Haram’s.” The attack followed another late Thursday that saw two motorcycle-riding gunmen open fire on local chief Abba Mukhtar outside his home in Maiduguri, killing him and seriously wounding a friend, police spokesman Lawal Abdullahi said.

The attackers in that incident were

also suspected to be sect members, he said. Boko Haram launched a shortlived uprising in parts of the north in 2OO9 in a doomed bid to establish an Islamic state. It was crushed in a brutal military crackdown that saw hundreds of people killed and the sect’s headquarters and mosque destroyed in Maiduguri, where most of the violence has occurred. In recent months, the sect has been blamed for a series of attacks on military and police personnel, community and religious leaders and politicians, including the high-profile killing of a leading governorship candidate. It has also been blamed for raids on police stations, churches and a prison. Police have said they believe some of the recent attacks were politically related, with Nigeria having held presidential, parliamentary and governorship elections in April. Borno State governor-elect Kashim Shettima this week offered to grant amnesty to sect members if they renounce violence, an offer someone claiming to be a sect spokesman has rejected. Shettima assumes office on May 29. — AFP

UN resumes food aid in South Sudan states KHARTOUM: The UN World Food Program (WFP) said it had resumed operations in two states in South Sudan halted after a wave of violence before secession in July. Southern authorities had given assurances that no food aid would be commandeered again, the UN organization said in a statement late on Thursday, after the southern Sudan army took a lorry full of food destined for schools in Lakes state in April.

A WFP employee was killed in Jonglei state last month, forcing the organization to suspend aid to seven of 11 counties in Jonglei, beset by violence between the army and rebels. The oil-producing south voted in January to separate from the north

and form a new nation, the climax of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war in Africa’s largest nation. The conflict claimed at least two million lives. More than 1,100 people have died this year in rebel and tribal violence across nine of the south’s 10 states, displacing nearly 100,000 people, according to official figures.

More than 160 people have been killed in clashes in the past seven days alone, official figures show. Analysts say the violence-including cattle rustling, tribal clashes over land and water, several rebel militia fighting to overthrow the government-risks making the south a failed state and destabilising the region. — Reuters

KAMPALA: Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye (CR) and his wife Winnie (CL) are embraced by a supporter at a welcome rally for Besigye in Kampala on Thursday. —AFP

Future of Uganda’s anti-gay bill in limbo KAMPALA: Uganda’s parliament adjourned yesterday without acting on a criticized anti-gay bill that would mandate the death sentence in some cases, drawing praise from an advocacy group that said parliament’s failure to act was a “victory for all Ugandans.” Speaker of Parliament Edward Ssekandi Kiwanuk said there is no time to take up the bill this session, which ends Wednesday, leaving the bill’s future uncertain. Kiwanuk adjourned the parliament yesterday and set no date for the body to return.

The bill has drawn criticism from US leaders and human rights groups. The US State Department spokesman on Wednesday called the bill “odious” and said no changes to the bill’s wording would justify its passage. Avaaz, an Internet group that champions action on issues like poverty and climate change, called it a “victory for all Ugandans and people across the world who value human rights” that parliament did not take action yesterday.

“This vile bill is a matter of life and death for gay Ugandans, and would have seen the execution, imprisonment and persecution of friends of Avaaz, and thousands of others who have committed no crime at all. We must now ensure this heinous bill can never return to Parliament again,” said Alice Jay, the group’s campaign director. David Bahati, who authored the bill, has said that if the anti-gay bill was not voted on this session, he would try to move the legislation forward next session. Helen Kawesa, spokeswoman for parliament, said the anti-gay bill

could come back up for debate in the next parliament but that it would likely take time to get back to the floor.

Kakoba Onyango, a member of parliament, said the anti-gay bill has taken so long to be acted on because President Yoweri Museveni did not back it and because of the criticism of human rights groups. Gay rights groups say that the harassment of gays has increased in Uganda since the introduction of the bill in October 2009.

Last year a tabloid newspaper in Uganda published the names and photos of men it alleged were gay. One cover included the words “Hang Them.”

Shortly afterward, a prominent gay rights activist whose picture was published was bludgeoned to death, though authorities contend David Kato’s sexual orientation had nothing to do with the killing.

Bahati’s original bill would mandate a death sentence for active homosexuals living with HIV or in cases of same-sex rape. “Serial offenders” also would face capital punishment. Anyone convicted of a homosexual act would face life imprisonment.

Anyone who “aids, abets, counsels or procures another to engage of acts of homosexuality” would face seven years in prison. Landlords who rent rooms or homes to homosexuals also could get seven years. Homosexuality is highly unpopular in Uganda, and pastors in this Christian country speak out loudly against it. Bahati has said he thinks the bill would become law if voted on. — AP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

Senate Democrats have to defend another seat WASHINGTON: Democrats are facing the prospect of having to defend another open seat next year as one of their senators in the midwestern state of Wisconsin said yesterday he was retiring. Democrats, who now control the Senate, have to defend 24 seats in the 2012 elections while the Republicans have 10 of their seats on the line.

“I’ve always believed it’s better to leave a job a little too early than a lit-

tle too late. And that’s how I feel today,” Kohl said during a news conference in Milwaukee.

“The interest and the energy I have for this job will find a new home at the conclusion of this term.”

Republicans will see Kohl’s retirement as a clear pickup opportunity.

A self-funding millionaire, Kohl is widely popular in his state. Any candidate Democrats run is likely to need more financial support from

the national party. Democrats had thought as recently as last week that Kohl would run again. Kohl would have been a formidable candidate, given his personal wealth and past success.

He won re-election in 2006 with 67 percent of the vote. Khl would have been a formidable candidate, given his personal wealth and past success. He won re-election in 2006 with 67 percent of the vote.

The 76-year-old Kohl was elected to the Senate in 1988. Born and raised in Milwaukee, he worked as an investor before founding the Kohl’s grocery and department stores that earned him a fortune. In the Senate, Kohl has been unassuming, often focusing on local issues.

He serves as the chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, a key post for a state with a large elderly population.— AP

Advocates fight for drug injection site in Vancouver Feds: Supervised injection does not help users quit

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama, with from left, National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO) President Thomas J. Nee, Vice President Joe Biden, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington Thursday.—AP

Obama wants ‘real change’ in Cuba before normal ties MIAMI: The United States needs to see “real change” in Cuba before there can be normal relations between the two neighbors, US President Barack Obama said. In comments that appeared to dampen prospects for any quick improvement in US-Cuban ties, Obama told the Miami-based Spanish-language station WLTV Univision 23 that despite “some talk” of reforms by Cuba’s communist rulers, he did not see “realistic” changes happening yet on the Caribbean island.

“I would welcome real change from the Cuban government ...

For us to have the kind of normal relations we have with other countries, we’ve got to see significant changes from the Cuban government and we just have not seen that yet,” Obama said in an interview broadcast late on Thursday and yesterday. Cuban President Raul Castro, who says he is willing to discuss any issue with Washington after a half century of ideological hostility, has launched a range of economic reforms aimed at revitalizing Cuba’s centralized socialist economy.

This has included more opening for private initiative, although Castro insists Cuba will not shift to capitalism. Havana, which demands an end to the long-running US trade and financial embargo on Cuba, has released dozens of political prisoners into exile in an accord with the Catholic Church. But Obama said the government headed by Raul Castro, who succeeded his older brother and veteran Cuban leader Fidel Castro in 2008, had yet to deliver real change that his administration could respond to.

“The bottom line is political prisoners are still there who should have been released a long time ago who never should have been arrested in the first place; political dissent is still not tolerated. The economic system there is still far too constrained,” said. He added: “If you think about it, Castro came into power before I was born - he’s still there and he basically has the same system when the rest of the world has recognized that the system doesn’t work.” The US president’s clear conditioning of any significant improvement in ties to actions expected from the Cuban side was likely to disappoint those seeking more unilateral moves by him to relax the US sanctions against the island. Since taking office in January 2009, Obama has eased some aspects of the embargo, such as lifting restrictions on travel and remittances to Cuba by Cuban-Americans, permitting some US telecommunications business with the island, and boosting the categories of non-tourist travel to Cuba by Americans to try to promote “people-to-people” contacts. — Reuters

OTTAWA: Supporters took their fight to keep a site where heroin users can safely inject their drug to Canada’s highest court on Thursday, arguing that the provincially sponsored facility was saving lives. In impassioned pleas before sometimes skeptical judges, some supporters of Vancouver’s Insite drug injection site, said the federal government would breach the constitution if it shuttered the facility.

The provincial government said the facility, the only one of its kind in north America, was crucial for Vancouver. “We had in the 1990s addicts dying in the streets, hundreds, some years more than one a day,” Craig Jones, lawyer for the government of British Columbia, told the Supreme Court of Canada. “Our front line workers were almost literally stepping over bodies on their way to work.” Vancouver set up Insite in its depressed and drug-ridden Downtown Eastside district in 2003, arguing that it was safer to allow drug users to shoot up in a place that had medical supervision than to let addicts die on the streets.

The federal government says the facility makes a mockery of its ban on dangerous drugs like heroin and cocaine, and does not help addicts kick the habit, and it has taken the case to close the facility right through Canada’s legal system. “The law doesn’t force people to use the drugs,” said federal government lawyer Paul Riley.

Addicts can choose not to shoot up and cannot blame the law for the unfortunate results of their drug use, he added.

Both the BC government and the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users presented arguments that favored keeping the center open, although the two took different tacks.

John Conroy, lawyer for the users’ network, said denying an addict the right to use drugs violated Canada’s constitutional guarantee of life, liberty and security. “Is your plea not more like decriminalizing drugs?” Justice Louise Charron asked.

OTTAWA: Shelly Tomic, an addict, holds a pamphlet for the Vancouver supervised injection site before hearings in front of the Supreme Court, Thursday, in Ottawa, Ontario. —AP

“We limit our arguments to addicted persons,” Conroy replied, noting that addicts would need a doctor’s note to use the center without running foul of the law. “So you go to the most lenient medical practitioner (to get a medical note), and away you go,” a skeptical Justice Marshall Rothstein said. Numerous studies have concluded that Insite has cut down on death from overdose and disease in Downtown Eastside, where there are about 4,600 intravenous drug users, and two supporters took their pleas to the street outside

Ottawa’s forbidding granite Supreme Court building.

“Let’s not make another mistake.

This is about life saving,” said recovered heroin addict Dean Wilson, 55, a member of the board of the users’ group. Wilson said he has been drugfree for the last 15 months after using Insite. Crack addict Shelly Tomic, 42, said Insite provided hope. “There’s an addict in every family and in every single person, just waiting to get out,” she said. The court is not expected to be decide till late in the year.—Reuters

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

US House passes bill to fund spy agencies WASHINGTON: The House has passed a bill to fund US spy agencies this year over the Obama administration’s objections that the measure tells them how many people it can hire. The vote was 392-15 yesterday. The administration has complained that the bill cuts funds and personnel levels that would have a negative impact on national security.

Lawmakers used the bill to praise the intelligence operatives who were critical in hunting down Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

After reports that bin Laden urged Al-Qaeda groups to target trains, the House added a provision stressing its intention that railway transportation should be included in security plans for the intelligence agencies. The amount of money in the bill is classified. However, the administration said last year’s budget totaled $80.1 billion.—AP

Mom who injected daughter with Botox investigated SAN FRANCISCO: San Francisco authorities are investigating a mother who said on a national television program that she gives her 8-year-old daughter Botox injections.

Trent Rohrer with the city’s Human Services Agency tells KGO-TV that officials need to sit down and talk with Kerry Campbell and her daughter, Britney. Rohrer says it was unusual for a mother to inject a child with the anti-wrinkle shot. Campbell appeared with her daughter Thursday on ABC television. She enrolls Britney in beauty pageants and says she got the idea to give her daughter Botox from other pageant mothers. Rohrer says his office received numerous calls from people concerned about Britney’s well-being after the TV appearance. Botox injections can be painful and are not recommended for anyone under the age of 18. — AP

Mexico fires seven officials from immigration agency MEXICO CITY: Seven top officials were fired Thursday from Mexico’s National Immigration Institute, part of a wider cleanup effort at the embattled department amid rampant migrant kidnappings and accusations that some agents have been involved.

The officials directed operations in seven states most traveled by Central American migrants trying to reach the United States and where some of the worst atrocities against migrants have occurred, the Interior Department announced in a statement.

They include the director in the northern state of Tamaulipas, where a group of Central American migrants recently accused immigration agents of pulling them off buses and handing them over to criminal gangs. Six agents from the immigration institute were arrested after migrants identified them in photographs.

The Central Americans were among 120 migrants, both Mexicans and foreigners, rescued last month by soldiers in separate raids at houses in Tamaulipas. The dangers for migrants crossing Mexican territory controlled by drug gangs have increased dramatically in recent years. In August 2010, 72 Central and South American migrants were found massacred at a ranch in the Tamaulipas town of San Fernando, allegedly because they refused to work for the Zetas gang.

Last month, authorities unearthed 183 bodies from clandestine graves in Tamaulipas, many of them believed to have been snatched from passenger buses by the Zetas. It is unclear how many of the victims might have been migrants. Just six bodies have been identified, five Mexicans and one Guatemalan. Several municipal police officers have been arrested in the mass killings, but investigators have given no indication that immigration agents were involved. — AP

MEXICO CITY: Martin Beltran Coronel, alias “El Aguila,”, center, and 4 other people are presented to the media in Mexico City yesterday. Beltran Coronel, who was arrested on Thursday, is the alleged successor to the late Sinaloa drug cartel leader, Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel. —AP

8 beheaded bodies found in Mexico State still grappling with horror of discovering mass graves MEXICO CITY: The bodies of eight decapitated men were dumped Thursday along roads in Durango, a drug-gang-plagued northern Mexican state already grappling with the horror of discovering mass graves where 196 corpses have been unearthed so far. Six of the naked bodies were found along a highway leading out of the state capital of Durango city, their heads lying nearby, according to a statement from the state attorney general’s office.

The two other bodies were found in another city street. One was identified as the remains of Gerardo Galindo Meza, the deputy director of a city prison who had been kidnapped Monday. Galindo’s head was on a different street corner, accompanied by a threatening message signed by a drug gang, the statement said.

It was the second time this week that beheaded bodies have been found in Durango state. Eleven corpses were found laast Monday, including six left across from a middle school in the capital. Investigators have announced no arrests or possible motives.

Durango is one of Mexico’s most dangerous states, a drug cartel cradle where some of the most notorious kingpins are believed to be hiding.

Homicides have more than doubled in the vast, mountainous state over the last two years amid a turf war between the Sinaloa and Zetas gangs. Soldiers continue digging at mass graves discovered April 11 in five places around Durango city. The bodies of seven men and one woman were recovered Wednesday, bringing the toll to 196, the Durango Public Safety Department

said in a statement.

Investigators say some of the victims have been dead as long as four years, while others were killed as recently as three months ago. Dozens of relatives of people who have disappeared in Durango have come to determine if their loved ones were buried in the graves. Durango’s secretary for government, Hector Vela, told local reporters that many of the victims are likely gang members killed by rivals. But some may be missing police officers, and others may be victims of kidnapping and extortion attempts.

Only one body has so far been identified: a 31-year-old man who had been reported missing several months ago.

His brother claimed the body. Such mass graves have become a hallmark of Mexico’s relentless drug conflict, which has claimed at least 35,000 lives nationwide since President Felipe Calderon sent thousands of troops and federal police into the strongholds of drug cartels in late 2006. The crackdown has led to major arrests, but violence has surged as splintered cartels fight increasingly gruesome turf battles. Last month, security forces unearthed 183 bodies from 40 pits in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, many of them believed to be people kidnapped from passenger buses by the Zetas drug gang, which has been trying to forcibly recruit Mexicans and foreign migrants.

Just six of the 183 bodies have been identified so far, five Mexicans and one Guatemalan. President Felipe Calderon’s security spokesman, Alejandro Poire, said Tuesday that the government has deployed 500 soldiers in Tamaulipas to

help curtail drug violence in an operation that will last a year.

Troops arrived Wednesday night at the state’s capital, Ciudad Victoria. There is already a strong federal police presensce in Tamaulipas, where two formerly allied drug cartels, the Zetas and the Gulf cartel , are fighting. The mayor of Ciudad Victoria, Miguel Gonzalez Salum, said he had taken guns away from local police officers. A state official said the reason why they took away their arms was because 80 percent of the officers in two Tamaulipas cities failed background and security tests. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the case.

In the northern state of Sinaloa, which borders Durango, gunmen wielding Kalashnikov rifles attacked a car along a rural road outside the town of Choix on Wednesday, killing five people and injuring one, according to an official from the state attorney general’s office, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns. The victims included a 19-year-old woman, her husband and their 9-month old daughter.

Police had no suspects and the motive was unclear. In a separate attack, gunmen traveling in seven cars ambushed police officers leaving their base Wednesday night in the Sinaloa city of Los Mochis, the official said. One officer was killed and two were injured in a gunbattle. Three cars stained with blood were abandoned at the scene, an indication that the attackers may have fled with injured or slain companions, the officials said. The officers belong to a special state police unit, known as the

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China seems to rule out talks with Tibetan leader BEIJING: China appeared to rule out talks with the new head of Tibet’s government-in-exile yesterday, quashing any hope of improved relations between Beijing and the new leadership. Beijing does not recognize the government, based in India, that until recently was headed by the Dalai Lama. It has held talks with the Tibetan Buddhist leader and his representatives in the past, but nine rounds have made no headway.

Recently, though, the Dalai Lama turned over political power to an elected head of the government, Lobsang Sangay, a 43-year-old Harvard legal scholar who won April elections. Lobsang Sangay said this week he was ready to negotiate with China “anytime, anywhere.”

However, in an interview with the official “Chinese Tibet” magazine, a top official for Tibetan contacts said Beijing would only meet with personal representatives of the Dalai Lama.

“That government-in-exile of his, no matter who leads (it), it’s all just a separatist political clique that betrays the motherland with no legitimacy at all and absolutely no status to engage in dialogue with the representatives of the central government,” said Zhu Weiqun.

China accused the Dalai Lama , and other exiled Tibetans , of seeking independence, though the spiritual leader insists he only wants greater autonomy for the region. Zhu did not say if China would meet with Lobsang Sangay if he were to adopt another title.

Previously, China has met with officials of the exile government in their capacity as the Dalai Lama’s special representatives. Lobsang Sangay was elected last month by tens of thousands of Tibetans around the world after the 75-year-old Dalai Lama said he wanted to shift his political authority to an elected leader.

Lobsang Sangay said his government would seek genuine autonomy for Tibet under Chinese rule by following the “middle path,” the Dalai Lama’s policy of measured compromise.

China claims Tibet has been its territory for centuries, although many Tibetans say they were effectively independent for most of that time. The Dalai Lama fled into exile in amid an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, nine years after communist forces entered the Himalayan region. — AP

Japan approves Tepco nuclear claims plan, reactor leaks Govt to monitor management of power utilities TOKYO: Japan yesterday announced a plan to help Tokyo Electric Power compensate victims of the crisis at its tsunami-crippled nuclear plant without going broke while it struggles to resolve the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl. The plan, agreed after weeks of wrangling between government officials, bankers and Tokyo Electric executives over who should pay for the crisis, allays investors’ fears that a collapse of the power firm would roil financial markets.

It comes as engineers are still working to bring reactors under control at Tokyo Electric’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant north of Tokyo two months after the earthquake and tsunami that led to radiation leaks.

Ratings agency Standard and Poors lowered Tokyo Electric, known as Tepco, to BBB from BBB+, saying in a statement: “The upper limit of compensation remains unclear at this stage, and we expect Tepco’s profitability to remain under significant pressure for a very long period.”

The government will issue specialpurpose bonds to help finance a fund that will allow Asia’s largest utility to handle compensation claims expected to run into tens of billions of dollars. No ceiling was set on Tokyo Electric’s liabilities. The government is also considering buying preferred shares from Tokyo Electric, also known as Tepco, if it runs short of capital. It did not provide details on the size of its planned fund injection but lawmakers told reporters earlier this week the bond issue would total about 5 trillion yen ($62 billion).

In return for public backing, the government said it will exert control “for a certain period of time” over management of Tokyo Electric and other power utilities, which will also be asked to pay annual premiums into the fund. Though relieved that the worst may have been averted, investors sold utility stocks, unsettled by the prospect of the government’s

SHIZUOKA: Hamaoka nuclear power plant owned by Cubu Electric Power Co stands near the ocean in Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan yesterday. —AP hands-on role in running the sector.

Bank shares also slid after Japan’s top government spokesman said a distinction should be made between loans made before the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and those extended after the disaster and that banks should be asked to cooperate in easing Tokyo Electric’s financial burden. The market interpreted the comments from Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano as an indication banks may be asked to forgive loans or make other concessions. Shares of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group , the utility’s main creditor bank, dropped 3.8 percent. “The government is infringing on private firms’ profits. It has violated the profits of utilities and now it’s trying to lower the burden for the taxpayer by encroaching on banks’ profits,” said Kiyoshi Noda, chief fund manager at MU Investments.

Government officials made great efforts to fend off criticism of the

scheme as an unjustified use of taxpayer funds. Some have argued the utility, which has a history of safety lapses and is known for its cosy ties with regulators, should have been allowed to fail. “This framework is not meant as a bailout of Tepco. We made this framework so that compensation can take place swiftly for the victims ... and so that Tepco can supply electricity in a stable way,” Trade Minister Banri Kaieda told reporters.

Ministers also sought to alleviate concerns that consumers would end up shouldering much of the burden either in the form of higher electricity tariffs or new taxes, saying the implications for both should be kept to a minimum.

The government will need to pass a new law in parliament to implement the plan and analysts said the opposition, however critical of the scheme, will find it hard to block it as it will effectively mean a delay in compensating disaster victims. — Reuters

Manila’s Aquino clashes with bishops on contraception bill

BANGKOK: Royal oxen are offered food during royal ploughing ceremonies yesterday in Bangkok, Thailand.

The ancient ceremony is held every year in Thailand to mark the traditional beginning of the rice growing season. In yesterday’s ceremonies, the holy oxen ate grass from the seven types of food. Thus this year it is predicted the water will be sufficient. —AP

MANILA: A senior Roman Catholic bishop yesterday compared Philippine President Benigno Aquino to the ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos, in an escalating war of words over a controversial bill promoting artificial contraception.

The plan before Congress has put Aquino on a collision course with the country’s powerful Catholic church leaders, who this week walked out of talks on the reproductive health bill.

Pro-life groups supported the bishops and stepped up pressure against Aquino, calling for a widespread civil disobedience campaign, including non-payment of taxes.

“Not to pay taxes, I will be surprised if somebody will say that publicly because if I am not mistaken, that’s a serious criminal offence,” Aquino told reporters yesterday.

“I think sedition will be the charge that will be filed for your not doing your civic obligation.” Aquino’s latest statement in the battle over the bill, which includes measures to promote sex education and the use of artificial contracep-

tion, immediately drew criticism from Catholic bishops, who have blocked similar measures since the 1990s.

“He can put us all in jail,” Ramon Arguelles, archbishop of Lipa, south of Manila, told reporters, adding Aquino sounded like the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who also threatened groups calling for civil disobediance during his regime. “We are willing to pay the price to save the unborn from modern Herods and save the executioners from the grasp of the evil one.”

Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, former head of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, said the government must consider the moral aspect of the issue. “In the end, we must obey God and not man,” he added. The Catholic church is a powerful political force in the Philippines, playing a key role in the overthrow of two presidents, including Marcos, during the past 25 years, and politicians generally avoid picking fights with the clergy. — Reuters

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Ruling party wins Indian states despite scandals Voters show they would punish for graft

HERAT: In this photograph taken on May 4, 2011, an Afghan female police practices during a training program in Herat police training centre, in Herat. For the handful of female police in one of Afghanistan’s most volatile provinces, danger and disapproval are all in a day’s work. —AFP

Afghan women step up with guns and headscarves LASHKAR GAH: For the handful of women police in one of Afghanistan’s most volatile provinces, danger and disapproval are all in a day’s work. Not that it bothers them. “I’m policepolice should not be scared of anything,” one of them, Carmela, told AFP. “I’m doing my job like a man.” There are just 16 women police out of a total force of several thousand in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan. Across the wartorn country, the total is around 1,200 out of 126,000, or roughly one percent.

They mainly work at checkpoints, searching other women for weapons, suicide vests or any other signs of insurgent activity, although some have even lower grade jobs such as cleaning buildings at police headquarters. While on duty, most of them cover their faces and wear sunglasses to avoid being recognized. All have had to secure permission from their families to join the force.

Police in Helmand are frequently targeted by the Taliban and other insurgents, who know that police will take on an increasing role in the run-up to the transition to Afghan control of security in 2014. A parking lot containing bombed-out patrol vehicles outside police headquarters in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, where AFP met the women, is a constant reminder of the dangers they face.

Carmela, 37, said she joined up to support her family after her husband, a policeman, was killed by the Taliban. She insisted she was not afraid of the same fate, but said her greatest ambition in policing was to be able to carry a gun.

“One of my favorite subjects in policing is firearms-when I have a pistol and fire it, it feels good,” she said, dressed in a dark green thigh-length tunic with a badge showing the Afghan flag on one arm and the police insignia on the other.

While most members of her family are happy with her job, which comes with a relatively good salary of around $350 a month, she said her father-in-law was “not happy” but could not say why. Such attitudes are common, particularly in areas such as Helmand which are desperately poor and where many people are poorly educated. Just 32 percent of people in southwest Afghanistan support the idea of women police officers in the community, according to a UN Development Program (UNDP) survey released in January, though figures tend to be higher in urban areas.

Another of Helmand’s female police, 23-year-old Aziza, said she did not even tell her parents when she joined, although her husband knew. “Parents are always thinking about their children, that’s why they were not happy for me to do this kind of job, particularly in Helmand,” she said, giving only one name like all of the women interviewed. “But I’m still happy to do this job.”

Like the others, Aziza said she had never been threatened on the job but had received abuse for what she did. “I haven’t seen any threat but one day when I was searching, a lady asked me ‘why are you searching? How much pay do you get?’ She was saying some abusive things,” she said.

A third policewoman, Malalai, with a world-weary face, said she had worked for the force for many years. After the Taliban took power in 1996, she was forced to leave the police but came back. She now works in recruitment and has earned a higher position than the others, which even gives her the right to carry a gun. — AFP

NEW DELHI: The ruling Congress party and its allies weathered a string of corruption scandals to win three major state elections yesterday, ousting Communists from two strongholds in the process, but voters still showed they would punish for graft. The southern state of Tamil Nadu rejected Congress’ regional ally for re-election after some of its top officials were implicated in one of the past year’s biggest scandals involving the cut-rate sale of cell phone licenses.

“The message for Congress is very clear and loud, that corruption is indeed a major issue,” political analyst Inder Malhotra said. “If Congress doesn’t watch out, they will be in very serious trouble” in the next general elections in 2014. The most-watched race was in India’s fourth most-populous state of West Bengal, where Congress and its ally Trinamool Congress toppled a 34year Communist-led government after an aggressive campaign that hammered the leftist coalition on stagnation, corruption, agricultural malaise and industrial decline.

Wild jubilation swept the state yesterday, with Trinamool supporters blowing conch shells and tossing green powder in the air, the party’s color.

Considering the simultaneous defeat of Communists in Kerala state, the Bengali verdict appeared to vindicate Congress’ national pro-market policies by the weakening its most consistent opponent of globalization and economic reform.

But Kerala’s race was tight, and Bengal’s more a protest against Communist corruption and ineffectiveness during more than three decades of entrenched power. State elections in

India are largely fought on local issues, and in many cases Congress plays a junior role in state coalitions. Opponents had been trying to unseat the Bengali Communists since 1977, and Trinamool’s fiery leader Mamata Banerjee said yesterday’s results reflected a prolonged “freedom struggle.” “We want to dedicate our victory to our people and motherland,” said Banerjee, who is likely to quit as national railways minister to become West Bengal’s chief minister. “We will give good governance and good administration, not autocracy.” She asked her supporters to abstain from alcohol and victory rallies to help maintain calm in the volatile state.

Security was tight to deter any violence

by Communist supporters upset about losing their source of patronage, though no incidents were reported by yesterday evening.

Outgoing Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya conceded defeat, while national Communist lawmaker Sitaram Yechury said it was normal for Bengalis to seek change after 34 years and that the party would be back. Yechury also played down the loss of Kerala by saying the narrow margin showed it was “one of the closest-fought elections” in the southern state’s history. Analysts said the party must now rethink its policies and inject new blood into its aging leadership if it wants a fighting change in future polls. — AP

KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress party supporters paint their faces with colored powder as they celebrate the early leads outside the residence of party leader Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata, India yesterday. —AP

Afghanistan policeman kills two NATO soldiers Nationalities not released KANDAHAR: An Afghan policeman shot dead two soldiers from the US-led NATO coalition, the latest incident of a gunman in uniform targeting foreign personnel, NATO officials said yesterday. The policeman opened fire as the soldiers, whose nationalities have not been released, prepared to eat lunch at a police base in the southern province of Helmand, said an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) release.

It said the victims of Thursday’s attack were part of a mentoring team, one of many working to train up the Afghan police and army to take over security across the country in the next three to four years.

“The shooter was seriously injured during the exchange and is currently in a medical treatment facility,” ISAF said in the release, adding that an investigation had been launched. Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, said in a

website statement that the policeman was an undercover Taliban agent who joined the force to carry out the attack and that 13 people had been killed.

Rebel spokesmen in Afghanistan regularly exaggerate death tolls and make unproven claims of responsibility.

NATO’s efforts to train local forces to take responsibility by the end of 2014 have been hit by a string of attacks by militants who have apparently infiltrated units or who attacked while wearing unauthorized uniforms.

Last month an Afghan soldier blew himself up near the eastern town of Jalalabad, killing five foreign troops and four Afghans.

On April 27, a former Afghan pilot shot dead eight US troops and an American contractor at a Kabul training centre in a reported argument, in the worst such incident since the 2001 USled invasion brought down the Taliban

regime. In November, six US troops were shot dead during a training session in eastern Afghanistan, apparently by a member of the Afghan border police.

The motivation behind Afghan security personnel turning on coalition troops is often unclear, but each incident has raised questions over ISAF’s crucial efforts to expand and train the army and police. Major General James Laster, an ISAF spokesman, said that Thursday’s attack was “a serious incident (but) the actions of this individual do not reflect the overall actions of our Afghan partners.”

“We remain committed to our partners and to our mission here,” he said.

There are around 130,000 international troops serving in Afghanistan, the bulk of them from the United States, although Afghan forces are in control of security in Kabul. — AFP

Toyota’s new Prius model may not arrive for a year

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Germany powers eurozone economic surge in Q1

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Stock markets end week subdued despite strong data

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Yunus steps down from microlender

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BRUSSELS: EU commissioner Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn gestures during his press conference on Spring Economic Forecast yesterday at the EU Headquarters in Brussels. — AFP

EU warns debt in bailout countries Greece reports economic growth of 0.8% in Q1 BRUSSELS: The European Union warned yesterday that the debt loads of Greece, Ireland and Portugal will be much bigger than previously forecast, adding to fears that international bailouts are failing to solve the region’s crisis.

The EU’s Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said Greece needed to cut spending even further than foreseen in its bailout program.

While he fell short of confirming the country may soon need a second bailout — on top of the euro 110 billion ($156 billion) in rescue loans it got a year ago — Rehn said its situation was “very serious” and called on opposition forces to support the government’s efforts. The bloc’s biannual economic forecasts did paint a more optimistic picture of the economy of Spain — commonly seen as the next-weakest state in the eurozone — which supports the currency union’s hope that the debt crisis won’t draw in any other countries.

However, for the three countries that have already received or are about to get international help, debt is expected to remain a problem for some time. The higher debt forecasts, combined with larger budget deficits and weak growth, boost the complaints of many economist that the bailouts are taking too hard a toll on economic activity and are not solving the debt

problem. Greece’s debt will reach 157.7 percent of economic output this year and jump to 166.1 percent in 2012, the European Commission, the EU’s executive, said in its forecast. That’s up from 150.2 percent and 156 percent respectively it predicted last fall.

Although Greece yesterday reported economic growth of 0.8 percent in the first quarter, that was little more than a rebound from a sharper than expected drop the previous quarter. Its longer-term prospects remain grim, with the Commission forecasting a 3.5 percent drop in economic output this year.

While expected, the Commission’s sharp debt revisions will likely spice up discussions among eurozone governments on whether Greece will need a second bailout. It will also fuel calls from many economists who say the country needs to restructure its debts — forcing private creditors like banks and investment funds to accept later or lower repayments on the bonds they hold. Greece’s budget deficit will likely be 9.5 percent this year, about 2 percentage points above previous forecasts and the targets set out in its bailout program. The shortfall is expected to remain high at 9.3 percent in 2012. “There is a need to take additional measures of fiscal adjustment already this year,” Rehn

said, though he declined to give details on whether — and in what form — there many also be additional support from other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Funds.

“I stick to the verbal discipline we agreed in the Eurogroup,” Rehn said, referring to the grouping of eurozone finance ministers. He added that he expected serious discussions on further measures for Greece to begin at the ministers’ next meeting on Monday. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou rejected charges from a European Central Bank official that his country wasn’t implementing the reforms promised to its international creditors. “We believe we are on track,” Papandreou said on a visit to Oslo, again hitting out at investors who he said were making speculative bets against Greece.

The situation does not look much better in Ireland, the second country to get bailed out last year. It debt is expected to hit 112 percent of gross domestic product this year before rising to 117.9 percent in 2012. That’s up from earlier forecasts of 107 percent and 114.3 percent. Its economy is predicted to grow a meager 0.6 percent this year, while it will likely run a deficit of 10.5 percent, up from 10.3 percent forecast in the fall. The most severe revisions were made for Portugal, which at the time of the last fore-

cast was still hoping to avoid a bailout. However, after last year’s deficit turned out much bigger than expected and the government collapse over austerity measures, Lisbon asked for help last month. Finance ministers are expected to sign off on a §78 billion ($110 billion) rescue package for the country on Monday. Portugal’s debt will likely stand at 101.7 percent of GDP in 2011 and increase to 107.4 percent next year, the Commission said. That’s up from 88.8 percent and 92.4 percent previously.

The Portuguese economy will likely contract 4 percent over the next two year, in line with what international exports examining the country’s books to prepare the bailout predicted last week. The deficits projections are also based on the targets set out in Portugal’s bailout program, 5.9 percent this year and 4.5 percent in 2012. The bleak forecasts for the eurozone’s three weakest countries contrast with strong economic growth in the currency union’s large countries such as Germany and France, where GDP growth was revised up. Even for Spain there was some good news in Friday’s forecasts.

Its debt load will reach 68.1 percent this year and grow to 71 percent in 2012. That’s better than the 69.7 percents and 73 percent predicted last fall. — AP

business

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

South Korea aims to triple trade with France PARIS: South Korea hopes to triple its trade with France over the next five years, its President Lee MyungBak said yesterday, hailing a looming free trade agreement with Europe.

“I call on you to multiply by two or even three the amount of trade between our countries in the next five years,” Lee told a gathering of French and Korean business leaders in Paris, on the last leg of a European tour.

Lee spoke after meetings with business leaders including Louis Gallois, chief executive of the

European defence giant EADS, which owns Airbus, and Cho Yang-Ho, head of Korean Air. Gallois said the France-based plan maker would deliver Korean Air’s first Airbus 380 superjumbo on May 24. Also at yesterday’s gathering were representatives of the South Korean global shipbuilder STX and European satellite launch company Arianespace.

The free trade accord between South Korea and the European Union scheduled to come into force on July 1 is the most ambitious the

EU has negotiated, and its first with an Asian nation.

Two-way trade between the EU and South Korea in 2009 was worth 53.5 billion euros ($72.8 billion), with South Korean exports-mainly cars, ships, electronics and semiconductors-accounting for 32 billion euros.

Businesses leaders were upbeat, despite eurozone jitters and the South Korean central bank’s unexpected decision yesterday to hold interest rates at three percent for a second month despite inflation pressure. “We have not carried out any

specific studies, but we don’t think there will be a big impact” from eurozone debt troubles on South Korea’s exports, Huh Chang-Soo, chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries, told AFP. Lee was due to meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy later yesterday.

Officials said the leaders would discuss plans for November’s Group of 20 summit, of which France took over the presidency from South Korea last year, as well as diplomatic tensions with North Korea. — AFP

HK, China shares snap weekly losing streak Volume remains low

TOKYO: A woman inspects a Toyota Motor Corp.’s “Prius a,” or “Prius alpha,” a revamp of its popular gas-electric hybrid, during its launch event in Tokyo yesterday. — AP

Toyota’s new Prius model may not arrive for a year TOKYO: Some buyers will have to wait until April next year for deliveries of a new bigger Toyota Prius because of a battery shortage that’s adding to production delays from the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The launch yesterday of the more spacious “Prius a,” or “Prius alpha,” a revamp of Toyota’s popular gas-electric hybrid, had been initially set for April. But the March 11 magnitude-9.0 earthquake in northeastern Japan destroyed key parts suppliers and forced a delay. The parts shortage has disrupted production at Toyota’s Japanese plants and the automaker has said production won’t be completely back to pre-disaster levels until late this year. The battery shortage was an issue even before the earthquake.

The new Prius model, which looks like a station wagon or a tiny minivan, comes in two versions — one seating five people, set to go on sale in North America later this year as the “Prius V,” and one with three rows seating seven people, being offered in Europe mid-2012 called “Prius+.”

The one with three rows of seats, which starts at 3 million yen ($37,000) in Japan, is equipped with a new kind of battery called lithium-ion for the first time in a Toyota hybrid.

The one seating five people, which starts at 2.35 million yen ($29,000), and earlier Prius models have nickel-metal hydride batteries. The lithium-ion battery takes up less space, allowing for more cabin room. Toyota executive Satoru Mouri said only 1,000 of the Prius with the lithium-ion batteries could be produced a month. Toyota is planning to produce 2,000 of the other model a month, and is trying to increase production, he said. Toyota is aiming to sell 2,000 of the new Prius a month in North America, and another 2,000 a month in Europe. In Japan, Toyota has already received 25,000 orders for the new Prius models — 18,000 for the model with nickelmetal hydride batteries, and 7,000 for the one with lithium-ion batteries.

Buyers have had long waits for previous Prius models. But the wait this time for some could be especially long, lasting until April next year, according to Toyota. Still, Toyota’s launch Friday in the garden of a Tokyo hotel was a bit of bright news that has been rare in Japan these days.— AP

HONG KONG: Hong Kong and China shares rose on Friday to snap their weekly losing streaks but light trading volumes are likely to keep benchmarks within narrow chart levels in the near-term. Inflation remains a concern after a fifth increase this year in reserve requirements for China’s commercial banks signalled that mopping up excess cash in the financial system and reining in prices remained a top priority for authorities.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 0.9 percent to 23,276.3, finding support at its 200-day moving average, currently at 22,949.8, from which it had bounced back following the Japan earthquake. On the upside, the 100-day moving average around 23,431.5 is seen as near-term resistance. Traders said the late rebound followed market talk that China’s securities regulator may introduce a programme that allows Chinese fund houses to raise money outside China to invest in domestic financial markets, known locally as “miniQFII”,” as well good GDP numbers from Europe. But stubbornly high consumer prices in both Hong Kong and China, and concerns over further measures to curb inflation are likely to keep investors wary.

“They (China) have sufficient reserves at their disposal to pump prime the economy as and when required. But it’s going to be a fairly volatile period where we could probably see the economy slow down more than the market would like,” said Arjuna Mahendran, head of Asia Investment of HSBC, in a Reuters Insider interview. Investors looking to increase exposure to Chinese shares are likely to find better entry levels in coming months, said Mahendran.

Cyclicals rose after a choppy week but continued to underperform the broader market as commodity prices remained volatile with oil prices swinging between gains and losses through the day. CNOOC rose 0.3 percent while Petrochina was up 0.4 percent.

Choppy energy sectors pushed investors back into defensive sectors such as utilities, with China Resources Power rising 3.5 percent. Power Assets , formerly HongKong Electric, rose 3.4 percent on

good volumes. Hengan International Group Co Ltd , China’s largest maker of sanitary napkins, rose 2.9 percent after being included in the benchmark Hang Seng Index from next month, according to a statement from the index reviewer.

Shares of Foxconn International , which is set to be dropped from the benchmark, slid 3 percent on expected selling by index funds that replicate the benchmark.

Large banks led a broad uptick in China shares yesterday, propelling the benchmark Shanghai Composite to its first weekly gain in a month. China’s top lender, Industrial and Commerical Bank of China (ICBC) , was the biggest support to the benchmark, gaining 2.0 percent on the day. “Larger banks are seen to be less affected than their smaller competitors by the latest hike in bank reserve require-

ments,” said Zhang Qi, an analyst with Haitong Securities.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed up 1.0 percent on the day and 0.2 percent on the week to 2,871.0 points yesterday. On the upside, the index is likely to be capped by its 125-day moving average. A-share turnover declined on Friday to RMB 10.3 billion, 23.1 percent lower than its 2011 average of RMB 13.4 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data. The decline in volume has coincided with the benchmark’s slide from its 2011 high in mid-April.

“This rise could be a technical rebound and further dips could be in store due to persistent inflationary pressures and as the economy slows,” said Wang Aochao, head of research at UOB Kay Hian in Shanghai.— Reuters

TOKYO: A woman walks in front of the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation headquarters in Tokyo yesterday. Kyodo News reported that Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. said it booked a group net profit of 475.90 billion yen ($5.9 billion) in fiscal 2010, up 75.2 percent from the previous year. — AP

BUSINESS

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

Japan hints banks may waive TEPCO debt TOKYO: Japan yesterday suggested for the first time that banks may have to waive some pre-quake loan terms to the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant before it gets public help to pay compensation.

Banking shares tumbled on comments from Yukio Edano about Tokyo Electric Power’s fate-in particular, that the public would not accept government financial support for TEPCO unless banks waive some pre-quake loan terms.

“I don’t think the Japanese public would possibly show support” for an injection of public funds into Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) without a debt waiver of pre-disaster bank loans, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, the top government spokesman.

“Loans after the quake are a different story,” Edano added.

The remark came as the Japanese government announced a rescue plan yesterday to keep TEPCO solvent and help it foot the bill for the Fukushima disaster.

“Without the government support, TEPCO would be crushed by debt sooner or later,” Hideyuki Ishiguro, investment strategy supervisor at Okasan Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.

“If TEPCO fails, banks would lose everything. Banks would thus have no choice but to accept that (waiver) if asked by the government.”

The comments hit. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, TEPCO’s key lender dropped 3.80 percent to 2,452 yen as Mizuho Financial Group lost 2.98 percent to 130 yen.

More than 80,000 people have been forced from homes, farms and businesses in a 20-kilometre (12-mile)

zone around the plant that was hit by a tsunami on March 11 and has since leaked radiation into the air, ground and sea.

The power company faces compensation payments worth tens of billions of dollars for victims of the world’s worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl a quarter of a century ago.

TEPCO and the government have yet to release estimates for the payout bill, but analysts say it could range from four trillion yen ($50 billion) to 10 trillion yen depending on how long the nuclear crisis lasts.

To help TEPCO, Asia’s biggest electric power company, meet its obligations, the centre-left government of Prime Minister Naoto Kan decided on a financial aid plan paid for mostly with new government bonds.

After the Tokyo stock market closed, Mizuho Financial Group said

Friday that its profits for the fiscal year to March surged 72.6 percent but the outlook is uncertain in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and nuclear crisis.

Japan’s third largest bank by market capitalisation said group net profit came to 413.2 billion yen ($5.1 billion) for the financial year from 239.4 billion yen a year earlier.

The profit gain was helped by a decline in bad loan reserves, or money set aside to compensate for potential debt turning sour as the financial health of borrower companies improved, the bank said.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) posted a hefty 75.2-percent jump in its net profit in fiscal 2010.

In the financial year that ended in March, the nation’s third-largest bank by assets reported a net profit of 475 billion yen ($5.8 billion). — AFP

No inking of EU-Japan trade deal at summit May summit to offer a high-level impetus to start negotiations

SEOUL: Kim Choong-soo, governor of the Bank of Korea, bangs the gavel to preside over a meeting to decide a benchmark call rate at its headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, yesterday. South Korea’s central bank has left its key interest rate unchanged for a second straight month as inflation slows. — AP

Bank of Korea leaves key rate at 3 percent SEOUL: South Korea’s central bank left its key interest rate unchanged for a second straight month amid signs inflation is moderating.

The Bank of Korea kept the benchmark base rate at 3 percent at a monthly monetary policy meeting yesterday. The decision was a surprise. A total of 14 economists out of 17 surveyed by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap news agency, predicted a rate increase. The bank’s monetary policy committee has raised the rate four times since July last year as it tries to tame rising consumer prices. Monetary authorities in China, India, Brazil and other countries have also been hiking rates to cap price pressures amid global gains in costs for food and gasoline.

The base rate influences a variety of borrowing costs in South Korea, including those on overnight loans between financial institutions and more broadly on debt for mortgages and credit cards.

South Korea’s consumer price index

eased to a gain of 4.2 percent in April from its highest level in more than two years of 4.7 percent hit in March.

Despite April’s milder inflation, it has still exceeded the top of the BOK’s “tolerance range” — plus or minus one percentage point from its inflation target of 3 percent — during the first four months of this year. The bank’s inflation concerns come as South Korea’s economy showed robust growth in the first quarter. Gross domestic product expanded 1.4 percent in the three months through March on strength in exports and manufacturing, though high prices for food and gasoline suppressed consumer spending. The economy had grown 0.5 percent in the final three months of last year. South Korea’s economy, Asia’s fourth largest after China, Japan and India, grew 6.2 percent in 2010, rebounding strongly from a mere 0.3 percent expansion the year before amid the global slump that followed the financial crisis of late 2008. —AP

BRUSSELS: An EU-Japan free trade deal to link the world’s third economic power and the leading global market is inching ahead but there is no likelihood of a deal being inked at a summit this month, EU officials said yesterday.

Japan has been pressing the European Union hard to announce the launch of formal negotiations towards a deal at a bilateral summit in Brussels May 27 and 28.

“There will be no deal as such” at the summit, Europe’s trade commissioner Karel de Gucht told reporters after hosting a meeting of trade ministers from the 27-nation bloc.

But the summit will “offer a high-level impetus to start negotiations,” he said.

The EU was still looking to Japan to scrap non-tariff barriers, including on food, while offering better general access to European firms, he said.

“I’m not interested in a paper deal but one that would bring real market access,” the commissioner added.

During a brief stop in Brussels this month by Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto, his spokesman said Tokyo hoped for a quick trade agreement to ease recovery from the quake and tsunami.

“The economy is our most important task,” Satu Satoh told AFP. “The launch of an economic trade agreement now would be a good gesture.”

French Trade Minister Pierre Lellouche, in Brussels yesterday

for talks with his EU counterparts, said his country wanted to see “a political sign” from Tokyo before going ahead with a deal.

Paris expected “tangible signs, without which it would be very difficult to imagine opening negotiations for a free trade deal, which on the other hand we believe is necessary.

“We back the principle of a free trade deal between the EU and Japan,” he said. But Tokyo must “proceed with certain difficult changes to its working methods regarding market access.”

An EU diplomat told AFP that Japan had made “important and positive moves in the field of government procurement, but we need more on trade barriers.”

Officials from both sides are

currently working at defining a “scoping exercise”-a bilateral todo list scheduling the obstacles to overcome before the launch of free trade negotiations.

That is expected to be agreed at the summit, though a diplomat said work to get through the exercise could take months.

On prompting by Britain, leaders of the 27-nation bloc in March called for the speedy launch of negotiations for a free trade deal to assist disaster-struck Japan-but on the proviso that Tokyo move to lift restrictions to trade.

Trade ties between the two have consistently shown a strong surplus in favour of Japan-the EU currently being Japan’s third largest trade partner while Japan is Europe’s fifth largest. —AFP

TOKYO: A police officer walks in front of the Mizuho Financial Group headquarters in Tokyo yesterday. Kyodo News reported Mizuho Financial Group Inc. said yesterday its group net profit in fiscal 2010 rose 72.6 percent from the previous year to 413.23 billion yen ($5.13 billion). — AP

BUSINESS

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

UK unions warn of coordinated strikes over pensions LONDON: Britain’s public sector unions are gearing up for coordinated strikes involving as many as 1.9 million workers if talks over pension reforms break down.

Teaching unions are among those that have already voted to ballot members on strikes that could come as soon as June.

A second wave of coordinated strikes could sweep Britain in the autumn if other unions are dissatisfied with the outcome of negotiations between Treasury officials and union bosses, expected to conclude around the end of June.

Union action could add to the strains on a Conservative-led coalition government that has just completed a year in power and is committed to cutting a record budget deficit.

“Unless the government changes tack, it is heading for sustained industrial action on a massive scale,” said Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison which has more than a million members in public sector pension schemes.

“I am leading the negotiations with the Treasury on pensions. We are hoping for the best, but planning for the worst. This includes

getting our membership records as accurate as possible, ready for industrial action,” he said. Trade unions have had fraught relations with the Conservative Party since Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher defeated them in a series of industrial disputes in the 1980s.

Membership has roughly halved since then, although the public sector remains a bastion of union support.

“Coordinated strikes are unusual these days given the way the law works, in that everyone has to have their own grounds for dispute coinciding. Pensions affect a large number of unions and workers in a way no other issue does,” said Richard Hyman, Professor of Industrial Relations at London School of Economics.

“If there is very strong support the electoral implications going forward could be substantial and that might worry some in government. It’s extremely difficult to predict,” he said. The coalition government is consulting over proposals to make public sector workers, whose pensions have been deemed unsustainable and unfair compared to the private sector, retire later and receive

lower benefits. Experts say the proposals could save the Conservative-led coalition government 2 billion pounds ($3.25 billion) a year at a time when finance minister George Osborne is seeking to cut a budget deficit running at about 10 percent of GDP by 2015.

Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, warned last year that Britain could no longer afford “gold plated” public sector pensions.

“In the early 1970s life expectancy of a 60 year old was around 18 years-now it is around 28 years,” a Treasury spokesman said. “Public service pensions cost the taxpayer 32 billion pounds in 2008-09, an increase of a third in real terms over the last decade.”

At its annual conference this week the Prison Officers Association (POA) passed a vote of no confidence in Justice Secretary Ken Clarke and backed a motion for industrial action should “slashing and swingeing” cuts to pensions be imposed.

If at a later date the POA votes in favour holding of a strike ballot it will join teaching unions the NASUWT (250,000 members), the 300,000-member National Union of Teachers

(NUT) and 28,000-strong National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT).

Next week the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union and Fire Brigade Union (FBU) will also hold their annual conferences and debate motions to ballot, following a warning from the PCS last month they could strike within weeks.

Other unions say they plan to wait for the conclusion of talks over the proposed reform before voting on strikes, which would push any industrial action back to the autumn.

Six unions, including Prospect, GMB and the Police Federation have also launched a legal challenge to the government decision to link increases in pension benefits to the Consumer Price Index rather than the higher Retail Price Index.

“Not allowing the course of negotiations and the legal process to run their course may be difficult to explain,” said Prospect Deputy General Secretary Dai Hudd.

“But if they do not come to a conclusion we feel able to consult members on, industrial action is inevitable. We are looking at September or October,” he said. — Reuters

Yunus steps down from microlender Grameen Bank staff and board members beaten

WOLFSBURG: The Feb. 24, 2011 file photo shows a worker wrapping a protective liner around a Volkswagen Tiguan at quality control portion of the production line in the Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg, Germany. The German economy, Europe’s biggest, grew by 1.5 percent in the first quarter. — AP

Germany powers eurozone economic surge in Q1 LONDON: Forecast-busting economic growth in Germany and a surprise rebound in Greece helped the 17-nation eurozone start the new year with a bang, with the region growing twice as fast as the US despite constant fears about debt.

The eurozone’s economy expanded by a quarterly rate of 0.8 percent in the first three months of the year, according to Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office yesterday. That was more than double the 0.3 percent growth posted in the previous three-month period, ahead of analysts’ expectations for a 0.6 percent increase and twice US growth.

“The eurozone is therefore significantly outperforming all other major developed economies at the moment,” said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit. The figures have cemented expectations that the European Central Bank will follow up April’s interest rate increase — the first in nearly three years — with another, possibly in July, despite some countries’ debt troubles. In year-on-year terms, the eurozone economy grew 2.5 percent, roughly in line with what many say should be its long-term average.

Olli Rehn, the European commissioner in charge of monetary and economic affairs, said the EU will surpass the prefinancial crisis growth levels next year. That’s far sooner than most predicted in 2008, when the global economy sank into its deepest and longest recession after the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers brought the financial system to its knees. “The main message in our forecast is that the economic recovery in Europe is solid and continues, despite recent external turbulence and tensions in the sovereign debt market,” Rehn said. The Commission’s new forecasts are for the eurozone to grow 1.6 percent this year and the wider 27-nation EU, which includes non-euro members such as Britain, by 1.8 percent. — AP

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has stepped down from the pioneering microfinance lender he founded, a week after he lost a legal fight against his governmentbacked sacking, a statement said.

The 2006 Nobel winner said he was relinquishing the post of managing director at Grameen Bank and his deputy, Nurjahan Begum, would take over. “I am taking this step without prejudice to the legal issues raised before the Supreme Court, and in order to prevent undue disruption of the activities of Grameen Bank,” he said in a letter released late Thursday.

Yunus, 70, was removed as head of the microlender on March 2 by the central bank for exceeding the mandatory retirement age. He defied the order by returning to work and lodging an appeal against the sacking.

But the Supreme Court ruled on May 2 that Grameen Bank was a government institution, not a private bank as Yunus and his lawyers maintained, meaning Yunus must abide by the state’s mandatory retirement age of 60.

The ruling dashed his last hopes to stay at the helm of the microlender, which has lent more than $10 billion to 8.3 million mostly rural women since its inception in 1983. Following the ruling, which cannot be appealed, Grameen Bank staff and board members have said they have been beaten or threatened to stop them campaigning for Yunus’s reinstatement.

Yunus said he hoped his departure would “ensure my colleagues and our eight million members, and owners of the bank, are not subjected to any difficulty in discharging their responsibilities”, he wrote. Staff and board members had also petitioned the government to appoint Yunus Grameen Bank chairman to ease the transition to new

DHAKA: In this photograph taken on March 7, 2011, Bangladesh microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus (C) emerges from the high court building to contest the decision to remove him from his post in Grameen Bank, in Dhaka.

Bangladesh’s Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has yesterday, stepped down from the pioneering microfinance lender he founded. — AFP leadership, but Finance Minister A.M.A Muhith told reporters late Thursday this was “not acceptable”.

“The staff of Grameen Bank cannot appoint the chairman,” he said.

Muhith said Yunus’s deputy Nurjahan Begum would be acting managing director for three months while a committee searched for a new managing director to replace Yunus on a permanent basis. “Grameen Bank is a fully government institution,” Muhith said, adding that Yunus had never agreed with him on this point but that the bank would now be run accordingly.

The government is currently examining a set of recommendations from an investigation body to radically restructure Grameen Bank and its sister compa-

nies. Yunus has criticised the proposals and said in his resignation letter that he hoped “Grameen Bank will continue to operate maintaining its independence and character”.

Yunus and Grameen Bank jointly won the Nobel peace prize in 2006 for creating “economic and social development from below”.The model has been copied in other developing countries and Yunus’s sacking was widely criticised by international supporters including the US government.

Supporters say Yunus-known as “the banker to the poor”-has been victimised

by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whom he crossed in 2007 when he briefly set up a political party during a period of military rule. — AFP

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BUSINESS

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

Commodities rally underpins fragile FTSE revival LONDON: Britain’s top shares rebounded yesterday as miners rallied along with recovering metals prices, but traders remained wary of the strength of the bounce with commodities having endured their worst rout in three years.

Silver, which has fallen more than 25 percent over the last two weeks shaken by global growth concerns, climbed as much as 3 percent on Friday as investors bought back in on the dips.

The uptick helped precious metal miners such as Fresnillo, which rose 2.2 percent having slid more than 7.5 percent on Thursday. Shares in Anglo American added 1.8 percent, and BHP Billiton and Xstrata both rose 1.5 percent.

“Considering the volatility seen in the prices of commodities of late, most of the trades we have seen have been undertaken on short term contracts, and this raises the potential for quick

bouts of profit taking with traders unwilling to take many risks,” Joshua Raymond, market strategist at City Index, said.

The FTSE 100, which is heavily weighted towards the mining sector, bounced 46.72 points, or 0.8 percent, to 5,991.68 by 1057 GMT, echoing a late rally on Wall Street overnight and having shed 1.2 percent over the previous two sessions.

Sentiment was helped as Germany reported soaring first-quarter GDP figures. Oil services firm Petrofac rose 5.4 percent, pleasing punters by saying it was confident of hitting its target for profit growth in 2011.

Whitbread infiltrated a commodity dominated gainers list on the FTSE 100, rising 2.6 percent. Britain’s biggest hotel operator’s shares were boosted by director share buying, and talk of the potential for the company to spin-off of

its Costa Coffee chain. BAE Systems rose 1.9 percent. Europe’s biggest defence contractor was seen benefiting from the US House of Representatives’ committee approving $690 billion for the US military complex in fiscal 2012. BAE was also getting a lift from EADS results in Paris.

Barclays added 0.8 percent as Citigroup upgraded the company to “buy”, although worries over debt contagion in Europe lingered in the background.

The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday that despite bailouts for Greece, Ireland and Portugal, Europe’s debt crisis may yet spread to core euro zone countries and emerging Eastern Europe. On the second tier, London Stock Exchange rose 3.5 percent after beating full-year results forecasts.

On the downside, retailers Next and

Marks and Spencer fell 1.8 and 0.9 percent, respectively, as investors banked profits following their recent strong showing.

Elsewhere, Scottish & Southern Energy fell 0.6 percent as both Citigroup and Matrix downgraded their rating for the utility firm on valuation grounds, after recent strong gains, helped by commodity stock weakness.

“The stock market is clearly not a zero-sum game and one stock’s loss is not necessarily another stock’s gain but it is hard to escape the impression that the flight from the mining sector is benefitting the utilities as investors seek out defensive situations with a decent yield (6 percent in this case),” said Bill McNamara, technical analyst at Charles Stanley. Wall Street futures ahead of US inflation numbers, due at 1230 GMT, pointed to a firmer open yesterday. — Reuters

Stock markets end week subdued despite strong data Eurozone finance ministers meet on Monday

CLERMONT-FERRAND: French tyremaker Michelin’s next CEO and chief executive designate Jean-Dominique Senard gestures as he speaks during a press conference yesterday in Clermont-Ferrand, France, at the end of the annual French Michelin shareholders meeting at which his nomination as successor to Michel Rollier as CEO was approved. — AFP

Oil market stages slight rebound after sharp slump LONDON: World oil prices rebounded gently yesterday from recent heavy losses, with New York crude breaching $100 as traders took their direction from the weaker dollar, analysts said.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for June, rose seven cents to $99.04, having earlier leapt as high as $100.70 a barrel. London’s Brent North Sea crude for delivery in June added 65 cents to $113.63 per barrel in late afternoon London deals.

“Oil prices rebounded strongly on the US dollar weakness, as stronger than expected GDP data from Germany, France and (the) eurozone provided some support to the euro and pushed the US dollar lower,” said Sucden analyst Myrto Sokou. A struggling greenback tends to boost dollar-priced crude oil because it becomes cheaper for buyers using weaker currencies. That tends to stimulate demand and prices.

The euro briefly soared as high as $1.4340 in morning deals as investors were comforted by stronger-thanexpected European economic growth data, before paring gains in the afternoon. Economic growth across the eurozone more than doubled to 0.8 percent in the first quarter of 2011 from output in the last three months of last year, led

by Germany.

The flash estimate released by the European Union’s data agency yesterday showed accelerating growth from 0.3 percent in the previous quarter, and compared favourably with US growth of 0.4 percent quarter-on-quarter.

Germany led the way, expanding by a quarterly 1.5 percent to a level last seen before the economic crisis in 2008, provisional data showed. This week, the global oil market experienced volatile swings as traders fretted over concerns that high price levels could erode crude demand.

On Monday, oil started on the front foot, gaining as dealers snapped up bargain crude after a large drop the previous week. Prices carried on climbing on Tuesday, encouraged by strong trade numbers from China that showed its economy still growing strongly.

However, the market hit reverse gear on Wednesday amid signs of slowing demand in the United States and China, and a rise in the dollar.

The US Department of Energy’s latest weekly inventories report showed another increase in crude stocks and an unexpected rise in gasoline reserves in the world’s largest oil-consuming nation.— AFP

LONDON: Stock markets and the euro were hit yesterday by a preweekend sell-off, as investors cashed in on gains made in the wake of robust economic growth figures for the eurozone.

Sentiment across financial markets has been volatile over the past weeks as investors fret about the state of the global economic recovery, the prospect of higher interest rates and a drop in commodity markets, particularly the price of silver.

Meanwhile, Europe’s debt crisis has flared up again and Greece is widely expected to require a second bailout soon. “Markets continue to hesitate,” said Herve Goulletquer, an analyst at Credit Agricole. “The data flow sends a contradictory message about the pace of growth and policymakers are having difficulty convincing the markets that they are making the right choice.” Those considerations have weighed on stocks markets, causing them to end the week with a whimper. Earlier figures from Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office, showed that the economy of the 17 countries that use the euro grew by a quarterly rate of 0.8 percent in the first three months of the year, supporting sentiment in Europe. The quarterly growth rate was more than double the 0.3 percent growth posted in the previous three-month period, ahead of analysts’ expectations for a 0.6 percent increase and double the rate of the US. The outperformance was largely due to another stellar performance from Germany, which posted forecast-busting growth of 1.5 percent during the quarter. France, the eurozone’s second largest economy, enjoyed strong growth of 1 percent and even debt-imperilled Greece saw its economy grow by 0.8 percent, though that was largely due to

a rebound from a bigger than anticipated contraction in the previous quarter.

The improving picture was not uniform, though, as Portugal dropped back into recession. Last month, Portugal became the eurozone’s third member after Greece and Ireland to request a financial bailout from its partners in the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund. Growth figures for Ireland are not yet available. The figures had helped European markets post gains for most of the session until a retreat on Wall Street at the open prompted a retreat. In the larger European markets, Germany’s DAX was down 0.4 percent at 7,419 while the CAC-40 in France fell 0.1 percent to 4,022. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares remained in positive territory, but only just, trading 0.1 percent higher at 5,950.

The euro was trading 0.1 percent lower at $1.4223, having earlier traded as far as $1.4338 in the wake of the growth data. The figures had proved a welcome relief to the euro, which had lost about 8 cents to the

dollar this week as investors scaled back expectations of interest rate increases and worried about Greece’s debt troubles. Last week, it was near 18-months high above $1.49. The solid growth figures had also shored up commodities after a recent big sell-off. In the oil markets, the benchmark rate of crude as traded in New York was unchanged at $98.97 a barrel.

Yesterday’s statistics came ahead of a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Monday, when the bailout of Portugal is expected to be agreed upon. More interest is likely to center on what the finance ministers say about Greece and whether it may need to get another bailout this summer. “The eurozone authorities appear to be sticking to the ‘kickthe-can-down-the-road’ policy and the question then is how long can Germany and France record growth rates to offset the poor conditions in much of the other half of the eurozone economy,” said Derek Halpenny, European head of global currency research at The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.—AP

MADRID: Jean Claude Trichet President of the European Central Bank, center, reacts as he leaves a press conference in Madrid, yesterday. — AP

BUSINESS

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

EADS record cash pile boosts acquisition scope PARIS: Airbus parent EADS saw its capacity for acquisitions boosted by a record 12.2 billion euro (17.3 billion) cash pile disclosed with upbeat results yesterday, weeks after governments bailed out a troubled project.

The news could create a headache for the company, which in April signed a deal with seven European nations for a 3.5 billion euro bailout of its A400M military aircraft programme and is expected to receive European loans for its A350 airliner.

Chief Executive Louis Gallois defended the bailout. “I don’t think it (the cash surplus) is changing anything.

The bailout money is to reduce the level of losses we have,” Gallois told Reuters during a meeting of business leaders. The world’s second largest aerospace group after Boeing beat expectations with a strong first quarter at Airbus, which is considering increasing its pro-

duction to meet demand.

EADS said the rebound fuelled signs of recovery, which has bounced back strongly from its financial-crisis recession. Shares in the company rose almost five percent. However the speed of the recovery has handed EADS a dilemma over a cash surplus swelled by deposits on airliner sales. EADS must now answer both to private investors calling for it to put its warchest to good use-while targets in the protectionist defence sector are scarce — and simultaneously maintain support from taxpayers to research and build aircraft.

“If they are unable to find suitable acquisitions or find anything else to do with the money, then they have to distribute it to shareholders through a share buyback or special dividend,” said Howard Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners.

“They must retain cash for future

developments but if they generate cash at this level, then they must find further use for it or give up the possibility of any future government support for developing commercial aircraft.”

EADS recently broke a two-year acquisition drought with a $640 million bid to buy Canadian repair firm Vector Aerospace but is under mounting pressure from analysts to tell shareholders what else it can do with its growing wealth.

EADS Chief Exective Louis Gallois has spoken of potential acquisitions worth 12 billion euros with an emphasis on defence and higher-margin services businesses in the United States.

Yesterday, Finance Director Hans Peter Ring said the flexibility afforded by the company’s cash position had increased further, but declined to give a new target. “There is probably more flexibility but I don’t have a scientific num-

ber,” Ring told reporters.

Rival Boeing has made much of the size of the EADS cash trove as their respective governments battle over aircraft subsidies at the World Trade Organization, arguing Airbus does not need loan support from European nations. The WTO has ruled that some of the loans amount to prohibited export subsidies. The WTO is expected to rule on a European Union appeal against the decision within days. Last month the EU won a partial victory in a counter-suit over aid to Boeing.

Ring defended the bailout, saying governments would get value for money and some money would be repaid from exports. EADS said first-quarter operating profit more than doubled to 192 million euros on revenue up 10 percent to 9.85 billion as passenger jets, helicopters and space compensated for a slump in defence income. —Reuters

US inflation hits 2-1/2 year high in Apri, seen peaking

NEW YORK: Specialist Jim Ahrens, left, and trader Michael Urkonis work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Robust economic growth figures for the eurozone helped shore up stock markets in Europe yesterday. — AP In the news

Wal-Mart buys Yihaodian SHANGHAI: US retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc has agreed to buy a minority stake in Chinese online grocery store Yihaodian, the two companies said yesterday.

“Online sales in China are growing rapidly and are projected to match US online sales in the next few years,” Wal-Mart Stores Vice Chairman Eduardo Castro-Wright said in a statement. “By investing in Yihaodian, we’re continuing to establish a presence in this important ecommerce market, and are moving forward on fulfilling our aspiration of being the leading global multichannel retailer.” Yu Gang, president and co-founder of Shanghai-based Yihaodian, confirmed to AFP the deal was signed yesterday but declined to provide further details.The companies would hold a news conference next week, he said. “Walmart brings its global vision into our business. In addition, its supply chain excellence will help us gain a competitive edge in the e-commerce industry in China,” Yu said in a statement.

Qantas tightlipped SYDNEY: Australian airline Qantas yesterday refused to confirm a report it is planning to establish a new premium carrier in Singapore, but said it was looking at ways to boost its international business. The Australian Financial Review said the “Flying Kangaroo” wanted to set up a full-service subsidiary carrier in Asia much like its budget offshoot Jetstar Asia, which is also based in Singapore. “The biggest struggle is that it (the new airline) will have the same look and feel of Qantas, down to the livery, but they can’t call it Qantas,” an unnamed source told the newspaper. Sources said the new airline, which would have up to 20 aircraft in Singapore, would be less expensive to operate than from Australia, and would have the benefit of easier reach into Asia.

WASHINGTON: US inflation raced to a 2-1/2 year high in April as food and gasoline prices rose, but there was little sign of a broader pick-up in consumer prices that would trouble the Federal Reserve.

While food and fuel pushed up prices last month, the pace of increases slowed considerably from March.

That and a strengthening labor market helped to buoy consumer confidence in early May. The Labor Department said yesterday its Consumer Price Index increased 0.4 percent in April from March after rising 0.5 percent in March.

The rise, which was in line with economists’ expectations, took the year-on-year inflation reading to 3.2 percent, the highest since October 2008. The core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy costs, rose a mild 0.2 percent from March, and the 12-month increase, at 1.3 percent, was at its highest level since February 2010. The Fed, however, would like to see that move closer to 2 percent over time. “This is not enough to prompt an immediate response from the Federal Reserve but they’re certainly watching this,” said Dana Saporta, an economist at Credit Suisse in New York.

Separately, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s index of consumer sentiment rose to 72.4 from 69.8 in April. The survey’s oneyear inflation expectation fell to 4.4 percent from 4.6 percent in April, while the five-to-10-year inflation outlook edged up to 3.0 percent from 2.9 percent. The stiff rise in food and energy costs in recent months has squeezed consumers, who are enjoying only tepid wage gains. The Labor Department said that when adjusted for inflation, average weekly earnings fell 0.3 percent in April after declining 0.4 percent in March. US Treasury debt prices rose on the inflation report,

NEW YORK: Labor-Community Coalition activists march down Wall Street in New York during a protest against budget cuts and bank practices on May 12.

Thousands of activists protested around the New York Stock Exchange to call on Mayor Michael Bloomberg to close alleged loopholes and stop destructive bank practices that destroy communities and cost taxpayers billions. — AFP

while stocks were trading lower.

Strong growth data in Germany and France boosted the euro against the dollar. Fed officials believe high commodity prices, which undercut economic growth in the first quarter, will not have a lasting effect on inflation, but they are likely to be watching the steady increase in core prices closely.

Some economists believe a sharp retreat in commodity prices in recent days signals that inflation could soon peak. “With crude oil prices falling 10 percent in the past week and cereal prices in retreat for more than a month now, energy and food should eventually start to have a deflationary impact,” said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics in Toronto. Gasoline prices accounted for almost half of the rise in overall consumer inflation last month, advancing 3.3 percent. The pace of increase, how-

ever, slowed from March’s 5.6 percent rise and further declines are likely after US gasoline futures registered their sharpest daily drop since September 2008 on Wednesday and slipped further on Thursday. Last month, food prices rose 0.4 percent after increasing 0.8 percent in March. Rising costs for housing, new vehicles, used trucks and medical costs bumped up core inflation last month. Shelter costs, which account for about 40 percent of core CPI, rose 0.1 percent, rising by the same margin for a seventh straight month. Prices for new vehicles rose 0.7 percent last month, likely reflecting tight inventories as a shortage of parts in the wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan disrupts production. They increased by a similar margin in March. Apparel prices rebounded 0.2 percent from a 0.5 percent fall in March. — Reuters

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

Sports hijab lets Islamic women throw punches (Page 24)

Women grab Cannes spotlight (Page 27

Model Adriana Lima poses to kick off the Bombshell Summer Tour at The Grove in Los Angeles on Thursday, May 12, 2011.

The Bombshell Summer Tour includes appearances by the models at select North American Victoria’s Secret retail locations. — AP

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Jude Law too old to be a heartthrob

he ‘Blow’ singer was given the organ - which connects a baby to their mother while they are in the womb - in a necklace form and believes it improves her extrasensory perception. She told Spin.com: “My favorite keepsake is my placenta. My mom found in my basement, crushed it up, and made into a necklace that I wear every day to improve my psychic abilities.” The 24-year-old star, who is currently preparing for her ‘Get $leazy Tour’ of North America, says while some people find her act - which features risque songs about partying- controversial, she will not apologize for her behavior and her personal mantra is “be yourself, unapologetically, always”. The pop star added there is already plenty of drama in the mainstream, adding: “‘Golden Girls’ is my favorite TV show. It’s like ‘Sex and the City’ but in the golden years, and I love that all those old ladies talk about it as much as I do.”

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he 38-year-old actor - who will play a betrayed husband opposite Keira Knightley in ‘Anna Karenina’ - says his days of being the dashing love interest in movies are behind him and he is now being passed over in favor of his younger peers. Speaking at Cannes Film Festival, he told Daily Mail columnist Baz Bamigboye: “I’m the cuckold. I’m the husband she discards. I can’t play the dashing young blade in films any more, those parts don’t come to me.” In the Joe Wright-directed movie Jude’s character will be humiliated when his wife falls for the handsome army officer Count Vronsky, played by 20-year-old Aaron Johnson. However, Jude isn’t bitter about losing out on heartthrob roles and has previously revealed he is relieved that audiences are no longer focusing purely on his looks. He explained: “My goal was always to be recognized as a good actor but no one was interested in that, simply because society just wants to warm towards your appearance. This is the great blemish of society. “When you suddenly appear on the scene and you are the new face, everything centers on you. I experienced this in my mid-20s and I found it rather hard. “I think it will be interesting to be old. It involves a lot of possibilities. The future doesn’t frighten me at all. On the contrary, I am looking forward to it. “If I have a look around at the moment I feel great relief because finally others are entering the limelight. Men like Robert Pattinson must now play the Adonis. For me it was always a restraint, a restriction.”

he pop star and the former world champion driver both have hectic work schedules but they are both prepared to travel around the world to see each other, and Nicole loves to see Lewis when he is driving. The 26-year-old sportsman said: “We’ve made it three years now. We’re having to do a lot of travelling, she’s coming to see me at races. “The thing is her schedule is always changing whereas mine is usually the same. She’s coming to my race which is coming up.”

Lewis - who voices a character called Hamilton in upcoming animated film ‘Cars 2’ - also revealed he and Nicole, 32, also rely on technology to stay in touch. Speaking at the L’Oreal Paris National Movie Awards at London’s Wembley Arena earlier this week, he added: “We email and text each other.”

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Mike Myers is set to become dad

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he ‘Shrek’ star’s wife Kelly Tisdale has been spotted with a prominent baby bump and is reportedly in the second trimester of her pregnancy. A representative for the couple told the New York Post newspaper: “I can confirm they are expecting a child.” Mike, 47, started dating the New York cafe owner in 2006, shortly after splitting from his first wife, comedy writerand-actress Robin Ruzan, after 12 years of marriage. The ‘Austin Powers’ funnyman wed Kelly in a secret ceremony last year and didn’t confirm the news until five months after the nuptials had taken place. They were first revealed to be an item when they were spotted holidaying in Hawaii together. Kelly - who previously dated dance star Moby - confirmed their romance, saying: “We’re actually surprised you didn’t find out about us sooner.” The actor once admitted that he is “insecure” like his animated character Shrek. When asked if he and the green ogre have anything in common, he said: “Insecurity. I’m secure enough to admit I’m quite insecure. “Growing up in Canada you feel like you walk amongst Americans, but you are slightly different. I think ogres feel slightly alienated.”

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he ‘Born This Way’ hitmaker reunited with Luc Carl last July after a break but has revealed she is now single, and hasn’t been dating anyone else since the couple called time on their on/off romance. Speaking on ‘The Graham Norton Show’, she said: “No, I don’t have a boyfriend and haven’t been on any dates recently.” The 25-year-old singer is currently touring the globe as she prepares to release her new album ‘Born This Way’ later this month, and played an intimate concert in London last night for just 150 fans. The ‘Belvedere Presents Born This Way’ gig took place at members’ club Annabel’s and she played 5 songs from her new LP, while a host of celebrities were in attendance at the exclusive event including Kate Moss, Florence Welch, will.i.am and Geri Halliwell.

Gaga’s separation from Carl comes shortly after she reportedly made plans for a “fairytale” wedding in a British castle. A source recently said: “Lady Gaga has told everyone she plans to get married. She has said she wants a fairytale wedding in a castle. “We finish the European leg in London just before Christmas and the timing is perfect for the wedding.” — Bang Showbiz

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he former ‘Friends’ actress has reportedly shot raunchy scenes for comedy ‘Horrible Bosses’ but producers are still undecided as to whether to include them in the final cut. A source told UsMagazine.com: “She shot a topless scene, but producers aren’t sure if they’ll use it.

They filmed it two ways in one. In another, the audience might think it’s a body double.” Insiders claim 42-yearold Jennifer - who plays a dentist who sexually harasses a male employee - was keen to do the topless scenes. One said: “She knows she can’t show off forever, so she’s going out with a bang!”

Jennifer - who is famed for her straight-laced image wants to play up to her “sexuality” so the film’s posters will also be quite racy. A source said: “She told marketing to push the envelope on this one and not play it safe. The studio is playing up her image, and she’s all for it!”

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SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

Schwarzenegger sheds old life as he plots return

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This photo shows Elham Seyed Javad (center) posing with a taekwondo team in Montreal wearing a sport hijab she created to allow the young girls of the Muslim taekwondo team to take part in the competitions. — AFP

Sports hijab lets Islamic women throw punches

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etting out shrill cries, several young women in a Montreal taekwondo class kicked their way through the exercises, not a hair out of place as they were demurely covered by an Islamic sports hijab. Their religion prohibits these female athletes from showing off their firm physiques, or their hair. Yet Western society also frowns on the wearing of traditional Muslim headscarves in sports competitions. So Iranian-born Canadian designer Elham Seyed Javad came up with an idea to marry the two worlds and allow young girls and women to take part in physical activities while also adhering to strict Islamic rules. And the order books for the 27-year-old’s start-up are fast filling up with calls for her head coverings arriving from around the world including Japan, Germany and Australia.

The company iQO Design is now eyeing a lucrative contract to supply the Iranian women’s football team, with the aim that they will be worn during the next Olympic Games. The idea came to the young designer in 2007 after five young Muslim women were thrown out of a Montreal taekwondo tournament because their headscarves were deemed by the sports federation to be dangerous. Seyed Javad, who was studying industrial design at the University of Montreal at the time, was outraged but instead of protesting decided to find a solu-

Seyed Javad models the “sports hijab” created by Montreal designer, Elham in Montreal, Canada. — AFP

tion. At school, she designed a slip-on hooded t-shirt made of stretch fabric. The university immediately seized on its potential: its agency for commercializing its scientific discoveries and inventions filed patents for the sports hijab on her behalf in Canada and the United States. Made of a fabric that moves perspiration away from the body, the garment slips on like a balaclava and is tied at the back. “It’s much less hot, and it stays in place,” says trainer Gaelle Texier. And, she adds, it doesn’t mess up your hair.

“It’s a compromise,” said taekwondo student Asmaa Ibnouzahir. “It allows us to play the sports we enjoy, that we were doing but were forced to quit.” The university’s commercial unit, Univalor, said it has even greater potential. “Of course we looked to market it to young Muslim women in sports, but also for F1 racing, go-carting, and hospital operating rooms,” said Univalor’s Thomas Martinuzzo. It is not just for athletes, he explains. An Australian policewoman, for example, recently started wearing one as part of a trial. “My goal is to separate the religious connotation from the sports connotation,” said Seyed Javad. “So when other organizations approach us, it’s very positive because the religious aspect is not linked to the garment.” The so-called ResportOn is currently sold for 63 dollars (44 euros) over the Internet.

Each prototype is designed and sewn in a Montreal studio, adapted to suit the particular circumstances of each customer. But Javad is already dreaming big, and hopes one day to sell the garment in sports stores everywhere. Since the ResportOn first went on sale in November interest has skyrocketed, attracting attention from 170 cities around the world. The start-up behind it has also partnered with an investor and recruited a sales representative in Iran. The company is now pitching its wares to hospitals and racing drivers, as well as people with dreadlocks who want to keep their prized hairdos in place even when out on the sports field. — AFP

s Arnold Schwarzenegger plots his return to Hollywood, he will in some ways resemble the young Austrian that came to California many years ago: single and detached from politics. Now 63, he is older and while very fit, not quite as buff as he was in his “Conan the Barbarian” days.

Yet Schwarzenegger’s impending new chapter recalls the first time the former bodybuilder attempted - and wildly succeeded at - a quixotic transition to Hollywood. Schwarzenegger finished his seven-year run as California governor in January. On Monday, he and his wife of 25 years, Maria Shriver, announced that they are separating.

Unless there are tawdry details to come, the separation won’t have any effect on Schwarzenegger’s rebooted career. This is Hollywood, after all, not politics, where winning elections usually means having a supportive companion at the podium.

Simultaneously splitting from both his wife and politics only reinforces that this is a new, late phase for Schwarzenegger. In a statement, he and Shriver called it “a time of great personal and professional transition for each of us.” Already reorienting from Sacramento to Hollywood, Schwarzenegger has found that showbiz is happy to have him back. He’s making an animated TV show, “The Governator,” with famed comic book writer Stan Lee. He plans to star as a horse trainer in the drama “Cry Macho” for producer Albert Ruddy (“The Godfather,” “Million Dollar Baby”). He’s also reportedly interested in starring as a border sheriff in Kim Ji-woon’s planned “The Last Stand.” “I am not as eager to run for office,” Schwarzenegger said in an interview with The Associated Press last month.

“Entertainment is the important thing right now.” Many are surely awaiting Schwarzenegger’s return to movies. He remains one of the most popular action film stars ever, a position younger stars have failed to usurp. His movies have grossed more than $1.6 billion domestically.

The last time he starred in a film was 2003’s “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” which most viewed as a lesser installment in the series. A month after it was released, Schwarzenegger announced on “The Tonight Show” that he would run in the 2003 California recall election for governor. “Being offscreen for so long, I think people are anxious to see what he’ll do next on the big screen,” says Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Hollywood.com.

“He was one of the biggest movie stars in the world. There’s no way that he can

In this file photo, California Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger arrives with wife Maria Shriver for the 62nd Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif. — AP

come back quietly.” The animated “Governator” will likely be the first project that viewers see from Schwarzenegger.

In it, he voices a superhero character based on Schwarzenegger’s own life. In a sneak-peak teaser, the animated governor inverts his famous line on the state Capitol steps, saying: “I won’t be back.” “When you are a governor, you deal with keeping the beaches clean, making sure there’s enough funding for the after-school programs and the lunch programs for the kids, and all of those kinds of things,” Schwarzenegger said when introducing the show in Cannes. “As an action hero, you just have to save the world - that’s it.” The show is to be drawn from Schwarzenegger’s personal life so much that the actor had told Entertainment Weekly that Shriver would voice a character. (The project also includes a comic book, a video game and eventually a movie.)

“At the last minute, toward the end, we decided that we wouldn’t be using his wife in the story, anyway,” says Lee. “So (the couple’s breakup) really won’t affect anything at all except we can probably have a lot of girls having crushes on our hero as the story goes on - which we probably would have done anyway.” Still, the greater intrigue will likely follow Schwarzenegger on the big screen. Shooting of “Cry Macho” is to begin in September, with Brad Furman (“The Lincoln Lawyer”) to direct the script based on the 1975 novel by N Richard Nash.—AP

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Chicago prepares for life without

Oprah Winfrey B

efore Oprah Winfrey looks west to Los Angeles and her new cable station, the talk show queen finds herself saying goodbye to her beloved Chicago. “It feels like Scarlett leaving Tara,” Winfrey told The Associated Press in December before the Oprah Winfrey Network’s launch. “When I first flew into Chicago on Labor Day 1983 to audition for ‘A M Chicago,’ I remember thinking when I left the city that if I don’t get the job I’m gonna find a way to get back because I just love the city,” she said. There will two difficult moments when “The Oprah Winfrey Show” ends, she said, saying goodbye to her viewers and saying goodbye to Chicago.

In this file photo talk-show host Oprah Winfrey (right) and Irish rocker Bono, frontman for U2, walk down Chicago’s “Magnificent Mile” for a shopping spree to promote his new Red product line. — AP

“Because it couldn’t have happened without Chicago,” she said. “It couldn’t have happened without Chicago.” Winfrey came to Chicago in 1984 to WLS-TV’s morning talk show, “A M Chicago.” A month later the show was No 1 in the market. A year later it was renamed “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” During those early days Winfrey had a small corner office with two rows of desks where her producers sat, remembers Joel Daly, a retired longtime news anchor for the ABC affiliate.

“You’d go down after her show and she’d be walking around in a bathrobe and slippers,” Daly said.

Winfrey outgrew those quarters, getting more studio space until she opened Harpo Studios on Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood in 1990. “We moved here 10 years ago to a section of Randolph Street that was pretty desolate, but it always felt safer because we knew Harpo was down the street,” said Ina Pinkney, who owns the breakfast and lunch restaurant Ina’s.

Winfrey is often given credit for transforming the once-gritty industrial enclave to a neighborhood filled with families pushing strollers and walking their dogs. “When I told people I was down the street from Oprah that was enough when you invoke her name

you invoke a magic,” Pinkney said. “She took a stand and she made this neighborhood what it is.” Art Smith was once Winfrey’s personal chef, a job he earned after cooking lunches for Winfrey at Harpo. He now is executive chef and co-owns Chicago’s upscale Southern restaurant Table fifty-two.

Winfrey brought celebrities, politicians and other famous and interesting people to Chicago, Smith said. He remembers becoming star-struck when Winfrey told him former South African President Nelson Mandela was visiting. “You can’t go any place in the world that doesn’t know who Oprah Winfrey is or Chicago,” Smith said. “She’s been such an important part of the fabric of the city.” Winfrey was visible in Chicago, shutting down Michigan Avenue in September 2009 to film her season premiere with the Black Eyed Peas. “Isn’t this the most fabulous city in the world?” Winfrey yelled to more than 20,000 fans who crowded Chicago’s Magnificent Mile.

Winfrey walked outside a Gap store with U2’s Bono and brought more than 170 American Olympians to the city’s Millennium Park. She lobbied for Chicago in the city’s unsuccessful bid to host the Olympics. “Only Oprah can close down Michigan Avenue and make it not feel like a local event,” said Melody Spann-Cooper, president of WVON and WRLL radio stations in Chicago. “She really put a spotlight on us in a way that nobody else could.” Winfrey didn’t have to do give Chicago the exposure, said outgoing Mayor Richard Daley.

“She could have went to LA, she could have went any place but she’s in Chicago,” he said during a news conference this month after his last city council meeting. “She’s a wonderful citizen of our city. We’re very proud of and proud of her contribution.” Those contributions include $150,000 to sponsor a room for dogs at the animal shelter PAWS Chicago after Winfrey’s beloved cocker spaniel Sophie died. “I don’t think of her of leaving Chicago,” PAWS founder Paula Fasseas said. “I just think her universe is expanding. She’s so much the heart and soul of Chicago, how she came here as unknown and became one of the most successful women in our world today.” Fashion designer Maria Pinto, famous for dressing first lady Michelle Obama and Winfrey, also said she doesn’t think Winfrey will abandon Chicago completely. “Oprah seems like someone who isn’t going to just leave,” Pinto said. “She could

In this file photo, television talk-show host Oprah Winfrey shows off her new figure during taping of her show in Chicago after she lost 67 pounds following a liquid diet and exercise. — AP

have gone anywhere. She could do what she does anywhere.” But Winfrey, a billionaire, didn’t move her show to a coast when her success skyrocketed.

“I think she stayed here because it wasn’t a bubble for her,” Pinkney said. “Because when she walked her dog she saw real people in the park. When she went to a restaurant real people were there. Here she really had a life and I think that connection was important to her.” There’s no question, Pinkney said, that Chicago loves Winfrey. “If Chicago didn’t respect her and love her she would feel that and have gone a long time ago,” she said. Though now there are outward signs Winfrey is leaving. The Oprah Store, across the street from her studio, is closing next month.

Winfrey told Fortune magazine in the fall that she planned on keeping only a small part of her 13,000square-foot apartment off Michigan Avenue. And Rosie O’Donnell is to begin taping her talk show for OWN at Harpo Studios. On Wednesday, Daley named the street outside Harpo Studios “Oprah Winfrey Way” and earlier this month she was inducted into the Illinois Broadcasters Association’s Hall of Fame.

The truth that will slowly emerge in Chicago is that Winfrey won’t be present taping talk shows every day. There will no strategy sessions about nabbing Oprah tickets or gossip about seeing the talk show queen out on the town. Can the city recover from her absence? Will this be like San Francisco without its cable cars? Like Philadelphia losing the Liberty Bell?

Will Chicago feel diminished in a post-Oprah era, the way Brooklyn felt when the Dodgers bolted to Los Angeles? Not according to Smith, her former chef, who believes Oprah and Chicago will never really part. “We’ll have to loan her out to Los Angeles for a while, but I’m sure she’s not going to be gone for long,” Smith said. “Even though Chicago claims Oprah and loves Oprah, the whole country claims Oprah and loves Oprah because Oprah is the great American dream.” — AP

In this photo Paula Fasseas, founder and chair of PAWS Chicago, holds Zorada, a 3-year-old terrier, as Biscuit, a 5-year-old cocker spaniel, rests at her feet as they are photographed in “Sophie’s Place” in Chicago. — AP

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US Actor Johnny Depp poses for the cameras.

he hardest thing about a pirate’s life for Penelope Cruz was not all the swashbuckling and sword fighting and sailing the high seas. It was not even the added rigor of being a pregnant pirate as she filmed her scenes last summer for “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” while carrying her first child, a son with husband Javier Bardem born early this year. Cruz said her toughest job on the fourth “Pirates” flick, overseen by her “Nine” director Rob Marshall, was staying in character opposite Johnny Depp as woozy buccaneer Jack Sparrow.

“To keep a straight face sometimes with Johnny in some of the more dramatic scenes,” Cruz said in an interview for “On Stranger Tides,” which sails into theaters overseas starting May 18, just ahead of its May 20 US opening. “I would look at him doing the things he does as Jack Sparrow, and Rob had to cut so many takes with Johnny or me, because we could not control ourselves. He would provoke me and always make me laugh.

“It was harder than the swordfights, for sure.”

Cruz, 37, was easy pickings for Depp, Marshall and the rest of the “Pirates” crew, who landed her without having to put out much bait. She had been friends with Depp since they costarred in 2001’s crime drama “Blow,” while Marshall directed Cruz to her third Academy Award nomination for the 2009 musical “Nine.”

Marshall popped the question to Cruz over dinner in London as they were finishing work on “Nine.” He already had sounded out Depp and

“Pirates” producer Jerry Bruckheimer about casting Cruz as Sparrow’s old flame. Bruckheimer had been angling for Cruz in the role even before Marshall signed on to direct. He had Cruz’s picture on his planning boards as the character was being developed, and “it made it a lot easier when Rob committed, because she likes him, and she worked with Johnny before, so any trepidation she had about the project was lessened,” Bruckheimer said.

For Cruz, there was no trepidation. The actress, known largely for her work in fellow Spaniard Pedro Almodovar’s films - including “Volver,” which earned Cruz her first Oscar nomination - and Woody Allen’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” which earned her the supportingactress Oscar for 2008, was a pirate at heart. A fan of the original “Pirates” trilogy, Cruz said the decision to enlist took no thought at all.

Marshall said when he brought up the idea toward the end of their dinner, Cruz jumped up and said yes as soon as he hit the word “pirates.”

“I was sad, because we were finishing the process of ‘Nine,’ and it was a wonderful time that we had together, and I love Rob very much,” Cruz said. “We went to dinner, and at the end, he told me, would you like to do ‘Pirates 4’ with Johnny and me. And I said, ‘Why would you wait to ask me after the dessert? Why didn’t you ask me as soon as I sat down?’ I hugged him and I said yes, even before I read the script.

“Then I read it, and I discovered it was this manipulative pirate and a character so full of

Spanish actress Penelope Cruz — AP photos

Sea Cruz: Pirate Penelope finds Depp a jolly mate

colors and contrasts and contradictions. I was very happy with the material when I read it. I thought there were a lot of possibilities. It’s so much fun to play a liar, because I’m not a good liar in life. Other people think that if you’re an actor, you’re supposed to be a good liar in your life. It’s almost the opposite. No, no, I’m not a good liar, but I love playing a liar.” Cruz plays Angelica, Sparrow’s embittered former lover, the daughter of dread pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane). Angelica, her dad and Sparrow follow in explorer Ponce de Leon’s search for the fountain of youth, with pirate-turned-British-privateer Barbossa (returning co-star Geoffrey Rush) in pursuit.

As the production date neared, Cruz found out she was pregnant. Marshall and Bruckheimer worried Cruz might back out, but she remained game to do the film, and they changed course a bit to accommodate her condition. The schedule was adjusted to shoot more of Cruz’s scenes before she started to show. The costume designer created an elastic corset to allow the actress to move more freely, and Cruz’s outfits were constantly being altered.

“I just had a new fitting every three weeks,” Cruz said. “We kept having fittings, but they were very, very kind to do it.” Cruz did all of her closeup action scenes, though her pregnancy forced the filmmakers to use a stunt double on more of the wide shots.

“And we were very clever how we shot her,” Marshall said. “It took more time, but it was worth it. When I was looking to cast Angelica, I knew when I saw it on the page that this was quite a big bill to fill. You have to go up against Jack Sparrow, this iconic character, as a female.

You have to match him and go toe-to-toe with Jack. She’s got to be so many things. She has to

be charismatic and sexy. She has to be a great actor and funny and physical. “I realized for me that there was only one person. That was Penelope. So we knew that we’d rather work with her and make it work, because she was so right for the role.” After two films with Marshall, Cruz is reuniting with two other filmmakers for a couple of Italian tales. She co-stars with Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page and Alec Baldwin in Allen’s next film, shooting this summer in Rome. Then she’s doing an Italian-language film with actordirector Sergio Castellitto, who directed her in the 2004 drama “Don’t Move.” Her work on Allen’s film will take only three weeks, which suits Cruz’s desire to balance career and family now that she’s a mom.

“I’m sure naturally it alters or affects your decision process,” Cruz said. “What is good is that for the last five years or so, I didn’t want to work nonstop, like four movies a year, three movies a year, like I did before. I was a workaholic. The last few years, I’ve been doing one a year, two maximum, if they were short. “So I think I found a good, healthy equilibrium between the time for work and the time for, you know, everything else in life.” — AP

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Cannes

Women grab with disturbing tales

spotlight F

emale directors, famously shut out of the Cannes film festival’s main competition in 2010, dominated the opening of this year’s event with dark tales of murder, prostitution, rape and suicide. Three of four women vying for the coveted Palme d’Or for best picture in Cannes screened their movies to the press in the first two days, and, while dividing critics and varying widely in style, they shared a disturbing vision of the world.

Director Maiwenn Le Besco gestures as she speaks during a press conference for Polisse yesterday.

French actress and film maker Maiwenn was the latest woman in competition this year to present her film “Polisse” yesterday, a hard-hitting drama about a close-knit team of police officers in the Child Protection Unit (CPU).

She followed Australia’s Julia Leigh with her debut feature “Sleeping Beauty”, about a student who turns to a strange form of prostitution, and Scotland’s Lynne Ramsay with “We Need To Talk About Kevin”, about a troubled motherson relationship.

The last of the quartet is Japan’s Naomi Kawase with “Hanezu No Tsuki”, her third picture in competition. Film experts said it was no coincidence that more women were in Cannes’ flagship selection this year. “The increased number of female directors in the Cannes competition reflects a growing trend,” said Annette Insdorf, film professor at Columbia University who is in Cannes. “I don’t think it is separable from Kathryn Bigelow’s Oscar win for ‘The Hurt Locker’ or Lisa Cholodenko’s critical and commercial success with ‘The Kids Are All Right.”

“Polisse”, based on true stories, offers a disturbing glimpse into child pornography, incest, sexual abuse and abandonment, and examines how the police struggle and ultimately fail to separate their personal and professional lives. The stress of the job, and grim discoveries that are part of the daily routine, create a strong bond between the

officers and is a source of often hilarious gallows humour, but it also tests their friendships to the limit.

Maiwenn, who also stars in her film as a photographer brought into the CPU to record officers’ lives for an official book, ends up in a relationship with hot-tempered yet deeply sensitive Fred, played by French rapper Joeystarr. “I don’t think there’s any need really to discuss the status of female directors,” Maiwenn told reporters in Cannes. “I don’t think the gender of the director is important at all. I don’t think there’s any need to have a rule whereby a certain number of women should be in Cannes. I’d hate to think that my film was selected because there was a quota for women.”

She added, however, that being a female director on the set was harder than being a male. The movies returned the Riviera competition to the kind of somber, uncompromising cinema for which the festival is famous, after Woody Allen’s popular comedy “Midnight In Paris” and a host of Alisters gave the event a splashy, upbeat opening.

“The vision of the three films screened thus far has more to do with festival selections than gender: Cannes always tends toward dark, edgy material that reveals the sensibility of an auteur,” said Insdorf. The festival is back in glamour mode at the weekend with blockbuster “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”, which brings Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz to the red carpet to the delight of hundreds of fans and the 4,000-strong press corps. Reviews of “We Need to Talk About Kevin”, an adaption of Lionel Shriver’s bestselling novel about a fictional school massacre, have been generally positive, with Tilda Swinton garnering praise for her portrayal of the tormented mother.

Sleeping Beauty, about a student who agrees to take sedatives and lie naked and unconscious while ageing clients pat, paw and lick her, divided critics. “Sleeping Beauty strikes me as particularly feminist: despite the abundance of female nudity, it is an austere portrait whose voyeurism is uncomfortable,” said Insdorf. “And a male director probably would not have depicted male nudity the way Julia Leigh does-as old and flaccid.” — Reuters

(From left) Actors John C Reilly, Tilda Swinton, Ezra Miller and director Lynne Ramsay arrive for the screening of We Need to Talk About Kevin at the 64th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France. — AP photos

Actors Diane Kruger and Joshua Jackson arrive for the screening of Sleeping Beauty.

Actress Aishwarya Rai poses during a photo call for Heroine at the 64th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, yesterday.

‘I’m not the heroine in “Heroine”‘

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ndian actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s next movie sees her playing a Bollywood superstar, but yesterday she said it would not be a biopic of her own glamorous life. Promoting “Heroine” at the Cannes film festival, the former Miss Worldwho has starred in more than 40 Indian moviessaid she will be creatively at the mercy of director Madhur Bhandarkar. “It’s not a biography, it’s not an autobiography for sure,” said Rai, 37, with a laugh as she fidgeted with her hair. “You hear this today, at the very beginning, so know this until the very end.” When asked by AFP how much of the story she could identify with, she teasingly replied: “That’s to tickle your fancy.”

“I think that is what the viewer will probably be searching for,” she added, “but it must always be remembered that the actor does what the director has visualized and envisioned for a particular character. “I’ll be playing a character called Mahi, but it’s a character that’s been written and conceptualized by the director.”

“Heroine” will mark the first time that Rai has worked with Bhandarkar, who has a track record of peering into the lifestyles of India’s rich and famous with such films as “Fashion” and “Page 3”.

Ronnie Screwvala, chief executive of producer UTV Motion Pictures, said “Heroine”-to start shooting in mid-2011 — was a movie written expressly with Rai in mind. Explaining why he was launching the project in Cannes, Screwvala alluded to Rai’s star power: “She is the brand ambassador for India and for Indian cinema when it comes to the French Riviera.” — AFP

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

rth album Tou r” is to support her fou yesterday. The “Black Star wan Tai , pei Tai in r” Tou r Sta ing her “Black Avril Lavigne performs dur Canadian singer-songwriter 1 in China. — AP 201 il Apr of end the at began “Goodbye Lullaby.” This tour

Jewels from one of Britain’s richest women on sale A

pearl-and-diamond tiara belonging to a 19th century woman once known as Britain’s wealthiest is due to go for auction next month, Christie’s auction house said yesterday. The Victorian tiara was among the most important jewels owned by Hannah Primrose, a socially and politically active heiress whose husband Archibald Philip would eventually become Britain’s prime minister.

Born into the powerful Rothschild family, Hannah reputedly became the country’s richest woman when her father died in 1874, leaving her the then-immense sum of 2 million pounds in cash, properties including a turreted mansion in England’s Buckinhamshire, and a huge stash of jewels. She married Archibald four years later, at which point she acquired the title of Countess Rosebery, and, Christie’s believes, the tiara, along with a matching brooch and bracelet.

Keith Penton, the auctioneer’s head of jewels, said in a statement that the opulent threepiece set was “at the heart of Lady Rosebery’s vast array of magnificent jewels, which rivaled those of the crowned heads of Europe at the time. They are a rare survival of 19th century

English aristocratic splendour, as so much ancestral jewellery has been sold anonymously, remounted or broken down.” The tiara boasts 13 saltwater pearls - six button-shaped ones ringed with diamonds and seven pearshaped pearls dangling from tear-drop diamond surmounts. Christie’s said that the set of jewels were handed down through the family and now form part of a private collection, but didn’t elaborate on their current ownership. It hopes to see the tiara fetch up to 1.5 million pounds ($2.4 million) when it goes under the hammer as part of its important jewel sale in London on June 8.— AP

This undated handout image released by auction house Christie’s show a tiara, broach and bracelet that belonged to a 19th century woman Hannah Primrose once known as Britain’s wealthiest, which is due to go for auction next month, Christie’s auction house said yesterday. — AP

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

Victoria’s Secret bombshells

Miranda Kerr Erin Heatherton

Model Alessandra Ambrosio arrives at the Victoria’s Secret “What is Sexy? List” party in West Hollywood, California on Thursday, May 12, 2011. —AP photos

Paris Hilton

Candace Swanepoel

Tweeting celebs risk boring fans

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elebrities who bombard fans with Twitter updates are likely to have shorter careers than those who maintain an aura of mystique, according to a survey. Easy access to stars through social networking websites has made them less appealing and increases the likelihood of followers getting bored, music consumer research by publishers Bauer Media said. “In this social media age, it’s all too easy to follow your musical icons on a minuteby-minute basis. There’s a consensus within the industry that this ease of access is leading to artists losing appeal more quickly,” the Phoenix IV report

said. The music industry is starting to consider restricting access to certain types of artists in an attempt to boost their staying power in popular culture and lengthen their careers, it added. Although younger fans surveyed said they were thrilled by the idea of 24-hour access to their favorite stars, older respondents said their interest was tempered by a hankering for the days when stars were “more special”. “Meeting bands isn’t about waiting for 10 hours outside a gig these days-you can buy a day out with your favorite band. But separation can be goodknowing too much can kill off rock stars,” said

Nichola Browne, former editor of music magazine Kerrang! Many celebrities have embraced Twitter as a way of communicating day-to-day musings as well promotional material with fans.

Tweets on US singer Katy Perry’s page include: “What does it mean when you see the number 33 all the time? For instance, I’ve seen it over 7 times today.” While US actress Demi Moore, one of Twitter’s most prolific celebrity users with over 3.5 million followers, wrote on Friday: “Kind of digging soft curls with a side part. A good change from straight with a middle part?” — Reuters

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technology

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Google near settlement over ad practices WASHINGTON: Google is close to reaching a settlement with the Justice Department over allegations it made hundreds of millions of dollars by accepting advertisements from online pharmacies that break US law, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The Internet giant disclosed earlier this week that it had set aside $500 million in anticipation of the results of a US

government investigation into “the use of Google advertising by certain advertisers.”

Google did not provide further details in the filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). “As this is a legal matter, we’re not commenting on it,” Google said in response to an AFP inquiry.

But the Journal, citing “people familiar with the matter,” said it concerned an investiga-

Internet tied to US rise in drug abuse BOSTON: Access to rogue online pharmacies may be driving a rapid increase in the abuse in the United States of prescription drugs like powerful painkillers Percocet and Oxycontin, a new study shows. The pharmacies, typically located outside the United States, send out millions of email solicitations a year, and many not adhere to US regulations requiring a physician’s prescription for the drugs.

Investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Southern California found that, over a seven-year period, states with the greatest expansion in high-speed Internet access also had the largest increase in admissions for treatment of prescription drug abuse. The findings were released on Thursday by the journal Health Affairs, and will appear in its June edition.

“Our findings suggest that Internet growth may partly explain the increase in prescription drug abuse, since it is well known that these drugs are easily available online,” said Dana Goldman, director of the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at the University of Souther California.

Prescription drugs are fast replacing illegal substances in venues like college campuses, Goldman said. Goldman and Anupam Jena, of the MGH Department of Medicine, note that the recent marked rise in the abuse of prescription narcotic painkillers corresponds with an increase in the presence of online pharmacies.

Drugs that are frequently abused-painkillers, sedatives, stimulants, and tranquilizers-often can be purchased from rogue sites located outside the United States.

The researchers paired data available on Internet access from the Federal Communications Commission with figures on admissions to substance abuse treatment facilities. Changes in both measures from 2000 to 2007 were analyzed on a per-state basis, and treatment admissions were categorized by the types of abused substances involved. Each 10-percent increase in the availability of high-speed Internet service in a state was correlated with a roughly one-percent increase in admissions for prescription drug abuse, the researchers found.

During the same period admissions to treat abuse of heroin or cocaine, drugs not available over the Internet, and alcohol either rose minimally or actually fell. “The lack of an increase in abuse of drugs not available on the Internet suggests that an overall growth in drug-seeking behavior cannot explain the rise in prescription drug abuse,” Jena said.

The US Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act, which went into effect in 2009, prohibits delivery of controlled substances not prescribed by a physician. The US Food and Drug Administration has issued warnings to more than 100 online pharmacies for violations. The impact of the FDA’s measures is currently unknown, said Jena. —Reuters

tion into whether Google had knowingly accepted ads from online pharmacies based in Canada and elsewhere that violated US law.

“It’s unclear whether those online drugstores were alleged to have sold counterfeit or expired drugs, whether they didn’t require a valid doctor’s prescription, or both,” the newspaper said. The Journal said

a $500 million payment “would rank high among the criminal or civil penalties paid by companies in disputes with the US government.”

In 2007, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! agreed to pay a combined $31.5 million fine to settle allegations they had accepted ads from illegal gambling sites, the newspaper said. —AFP

Internet freedom key to Arab revolts NEW YORK: The United States should promote Internet and social networking access to support the popular uprisings against dictatorships across the Middle East and North Africa, a human rights group said. Amnesty International on Thursday released its 2011 annual report on the state of the world’s human rights Thursday saying a “critical battle is under way for control of access to information, means of communication and networking technology.” It calls on the United States and other governments to promote expanded and unrestricted access to the Internet while condemning any efforts to curb online access , particularly in threatened regimes.

“The United States has the chance to get on the right side of history and support the building of societies where governments are accountable, human rights are respected and protected, and people live with dignity,”

CALIFORNIA: A musical and engineering student from the KarmetiK Machine Orchestra tune up their robot orchestra instruments, Wednesday, May 11, 2011, for an upcoming concert at the Walt Disney Modular Theatre in the California Institute of the Arts campus in Valencia, Calif. —AP

executive director Larry Cox said in a statement accompanying the release of the report. The 403-page report breaks down the recent human rights record in 157 countries, ranging from violence against women in Papua New Guinea to reports of widespread police torture in Moldova.

This year’s report draws particular attention to restrictions on free speech in 89 countries, as well as torture and ill-treatment in 98 countries and unfair trials in 54.

While noting that technology is a tool that can be used for both liberation and oppression, the organization identified several cases where people used the Internet to helped secure human rights goals.

In addition to the recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, the report cites how message-board posters overwhelmed attempts by Chinese authorities to bury a story of a young man escaping justice after having killed a woman while driving drunk because he was related to a police official. It also credited Wikileaks with creating “an easily accessible dumping ground for whistleblowers around the world” and notes the pretrial detention of 22-year-old US Army analyst Pfc. Bradley Manning on allegations that he illegally downloaded hundreds of thousands of sensitive documents.

But Amnesty International called attention to China’s sentencing of dissident scholar and rights activist Liu Xiaobo to 11 years imprisonment in late 2009 on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power.” That act contributed to his being named the Nobel Peace prize laureate last year, a ceremony marked in Oslo, Norway by honoring him with an empty chair. Chinese Web search engines still block the phrase “empty chair” in a bid to shut down even discussion of Liu’s case, Amnesty said.

Russia also came under criticism for attacks on human rights defenders and independent journalists. The report cited a failure to make substantive reforms to a justice system it said was rife with widespread corruption and affected by political influence. Racially motivated violence and continued insecurity in the North Caucasus region were also cited as causes for concern. The London-based organization has long criticized the United States for failing to provide human rights leadership.

This year’s report condemned President Barack Obama’s “embrace of most of former President Bush’s policies,” which it said had, “greatly compromised US leadership on the world stage.” Amnesty USA deputy executive director Curt Goering called on the United States to be more consistent in its approach to Middle East upheaval. “It doesn’t add to the credibility of the United States to be willing to take military action to support ... greater democracy (in Libya) and support the government and its resistance to change in another country,” such as Bahrain, he told the AP at Amnesty’ International USA’s New York headquarters.

The report also noted the continuing operation of the Guantanamo detention facility on eastern Cuba and decried an “absence of accountability” for what it deemed international crimes in the use of torture and enforced disappearance under the Bush Administration. —AP

technology

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

Swiss solar aircraft makes first international flight Developers reporting no problems PAYERNE: Pioneering Swiss solarpowered aircraft Solar Impulse ambled over Europe yesterday on its first international flight, with its developers reporting no problems.

“Everything is going fine,” said Solar Impulse company spokeswoman Alexandra Gindroz as the dragonflylike aircraft pushed cruising speeds close to 40 kilometers (25 miles) per hour.

The experimental emissions-free aircraft was planned to take about 12 hours to cover some 480 kilometers (300 miles) from western Switzerland to Brussels airport in Belgium, flying over France and Luxembourg at an altitude of 3,600 meters (11,880 feet), the team said.

The single-seater, piloted by the firm’s co-founder Andre Borschberg, lifted off gently in clear blue skies from Payerne airbase at 8:40 am (0640 GMT) after being delayed by early morning mist.

Solar Impulse HB-SIA, which has the wingspan of a large airliner but weighs no more than a saloon car, made history in July 2010 as the first manned plane to fly around the clock and through the night on the sun’s energy. It holds the endurance and altitude records for a manned solarpowered aeroplane after staying aloft for 26 hours, 10 minutes and 19 seconds above Switzerland, flying at 9,235 metres (30,298 feet).

The high-tech plane has since flown several times, notably between Geneva and Zurich airports, but the journey to Brussels through crowded airspace is regarded as a new challenge.

“Flying an aircraft like Solar Impulse through European airspace to land at an international airport is an incredible challenge for all of us, and success depends on the support we receive from all the authorities concerned,” said Borschberg, who also piloted July’s flight.

Images and some control details were being streamed live on the

BRUSSELS: Swiss record-setting solar powered aircraft Solar Impulse leaves its hangar in the fog prior to take off from Payerne airbase yesterday to make its first international flight. Solar Impulse is due to land at Brussels airport today evening. —AFP Internet, but pictures were interrupted after it took off and headed north because of a surge in connections, according to a note on the Solar Impulse website. HB-SIA relies on 12,000 solar cells on its 64-metre wings to charge the batteries that provide the energy for the 10-horsepower electric motors driving four propellors.

The showcase for green technology will go on display at Brussels airport until May 29 before flying on to the international air show at Le Bourget in Paris from June 20 to 26.

“This time, we have a real airplaneflying-proof that new technologies can reduce our dependence on fossil energy,” said Bertrand Piccard, joint founder and president of the

Solar Impulse project.

The Solar Impulse team is planning to fly even further, including possible transamerican, transatlantic and round-the-world flights-in stages-in 2013 and 2014 using a slightly larger aircraft.

Piccard, himself the first man along with Briton Brian Jones to fly non-stop around the world in a balloon, comes from a dynasty of pioneers. His grandfather Auguste Piccard twice beat the record for reaching the highest altitude in a balloon, in 1931-32.

His late father Jacques Piccard was a deep sea explorer, who holds the record for travelling to the deepest point underwater, 10,916 metres (35,813 feet) below sea level in the Marianas Trench in the Pacific. —AFP

Lawyer says he’s tired of sharing Zuckerberg name NEW YORK: An American lawyer who shares the same name as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has told a local television station that Facebook has temporarily banned him from the site. On Monday, Zuckerberg’s account was blocked by Facebook as a bogus account because the social networking site does not allow fake names, Zuckerberg told the Indianapolis, Indiana television station WISH. “I’m suffering tremendous emotional distress because of all this... I don’t want money, I want to get back on Facebook and have them leave me alone,” Zuckerberg told the television station. A Facebook spokesman said the error had been corrected. “Our reviewers look at thousands of pieces of content a day that are reported to them and

make an occasional mistake,” said the spokesman. “When this happens, and we’re notified about it, we work quickly to restore the content. We have reactivated this person’s account and sent him an email apologizing for the inconvenience,” he said. It’s not the first time lawyer Mark Zuckerberg, who has specialized in foreclosures and bankruptcies for the past 23 years, has paid a price for having one of the world’s best-known names. Two years ago his Facebook account was blocked for four months.

Meanwhile, Zuckerberg (the lawyer) has created a web site- Iammarkzuckerberg.com-to clear up any confusion about his identity. The two names are not entirely identical: lawyer Mark Zuckerberg’s middle initial is ‘s,’ and the Facebook founder’s name is Mark E Zuckerberg. —AFP

Sony battles to regain trust after data breach TOKYO: Japanese entertainment and technology giant Sony faces a battle to regain the trust of millions of consumers after online networks integral to its strategy were hacked, say analysts. One of the biggest data breaches since the advent of the Internet could cost it around $1 billion, but deeper damage to Sony’s brand image could undermine efforts to link its gadgets to an online network of games, movies and music.

“It is difficult to make profits on such devices without networking functions,” said Mizuho Investors Securities analyst Nobuo Kurahashi. “What is necessary is for Sony to restore consumer confidence.” The cyber attacks on Sony in recent weeks involved the theft of personal data that include names, passwords and addresses from more than 100 million accounts on its PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment services.

Sony has said it cannot rule out that millions of credit card numbers may have been compromised and has delayed the planned restart of PlayStation Network and Qriocity music streaming services after shutting them down. Already reeling from the impact on production and output of Japan’s March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster, analysts say Sony faces further costs in beefing up security and compensating consumers.

The breach is a blow to the firm’s drive to push its content through its game consoles, smartphones and tablet computers amid competition from Apple’s iTunes and App store and hardware rivals such as Nintendo and Samsung. Consumer trust in security is crucial to the success of such “cloud-based” systems, say analysts, and the fact that Sony failed to encrypt some of its customers’ personal data has undermined confidence, they say.

“The network strategy is very important to Sony, and is representative of their efforts to move away from one-off sales of hardware and toward monetising a vast content library and adding a competitive edge to their hardware,” said Jay Defibaugh at MF Global in Tokyo. “Anything that undermines consumer confidence in providing credit card information to Sony is a negative for the network strategy.

The key point is whether Sony will be able to get consumers to move on after this incident.”

The Playstation Network system was launched in 2006 allowing gamers to compete online, stream movies and access other services via the Internet.

Along with the Qriocity music streaming service, it was shut down on April 20 following the breach and has remained offline as the company upgrades security and works with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. The company’s CEO Howard Stringer in a recent blog post tried to stem the anger of users furious that it did not admit the full extent of the security risk until a week after shutting the services down.

“I know some believe we should have notified our customers earlier than we did. It’s a fair question,” he said. “I wish we could have gotten the answers we needed sooner, but forensic analysis is a complex, time-consuming process.”

But customers remained furious, with one posting: “You should not have sat upon your laurels when the information became available, the breach should have been made public knowledge immediately, not a few days after the fact. “I have lost a lot of faith in Sony,” read another.

Some estimate the incident could cost the company over a billion dollars as it takes steps to protect customers and entice others back online with free offers. “I have seen estimates of anywhere from $1 per customer to $10,” said Defibaugh. “$100 million is marginally material for Sony, whereas 80 billion yen ($1 billion) is clearly material for a company that generated operating profit of between 200 billion and 250 billion yen last quarter.” — AFP

TV listings

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

21:25 22:25 23:25 23:55

00:45 Untamed And Uncut 01:40 Dogs/Cats/Pets 101 02:35 Karina: Wild On Safari 03:30 Big Five Challenge 04:25 In Search Of The King Cobra 05:20 Animal Cops South Africa 06:10 Dogs 101 07:00 Meerkat Manor 07:25 Crocodile Hunter 08:15 The Really Wild Show 08:40 Natural Born Hunters 09:10 Michaela’s Animal Road Trip 10:05 Cats 101 11:00 Animal Precinct 11:55 Wildlife SOS 12:20 E-Vets: The Interns 12:50 Animal ER 13:45 Wildest Africa 14:40 Austin Stevens: Most Dangerous...

20:10 Dogs 101 21:05 Ultimate Air Jaws 22:00 Shark Family 22:55 Crime Scene Wild 23:50 The Most Extreme

00:00 00:30 01:20 02:10 02:55 03:25 03:55 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 11:30 12:20 14:20 16:20 16:50 17:40 18:30 19:20 20:10 21:00 21:30 22:00 22:45 23:15

Beautiful People The Weakest Link Jekyll Live At The Apollo Beautiful People 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 Planets The Weakest Link Eastenders Strictly Come Dancing One Foot In The Grave The Planets The Weakest Link Holby City Holby City Robin Hood One Foot In The Grave Green Green Grass Live At The Apollo Beautiful People A Thing Called Love

00:30 01:20 02:10 03:40 04:25 07:05 07:50 10:50 12:25 14:10 15:40 19:20 21:00 22:30

Come Dine With Me The Home Show Masterchef: The Professionals Rhodes Across China Daily Cooks Challenge Cash In The Attic Saturday Kitchen Masterchef: The Professionals Saturday Kitchen Holmes On Homes Fantasy Homes By The Sea Holmes On Homes Masterchef: The Professionals Saturday Kitchen

00:40 01:35 02:30 03:25 04:20 05:15 05:40 06:05 07:00 07:50 08:45 09:40 10:30 11:25

Dirty Jobs Mega Builders Ultimate Survival Mega Builders Mythbusters How Do They Do It? How Stuff’s Made Dirty Jobs American Chopper Street Customs 2008 Motor City Motors Mythbusters Deconstruction James May’s Man Lab

Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane E! News Chelsea Lately The Soup

00:40 Winter X Games 14 2010 01:30 World Combat League 02:20 Carpocalypse 03:10 M1 Selection 2010 04:00 LG Action Sports World...

05:40 World Combat League 06:30 iEX 2009 08:00 Ticket To Ride 2009/2010 09:40 X Games Heroes 11:20 Lucas Oil Motocross Championships 2009 12:10 Lucas Oil Motocross Championships 2009 13:00 Winter X Games Europe 2010 13:50 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2009 14:15 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2009 14:40 Breitling Airsports 2009 16:20 Lucas Oil Motocross Championships 2009 17:10 Carpocalypse 18:00 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2009 18:50 Lucas Oil Motocross Championships 2009 19:40 Lucas Oil Motocross Championships 2009 20:30 Winter X Games Europe 2010 21:20 Carpocalypse 22:10 Ride Guide Mountainbike 2009 23:00 IFMXF 2010 23:25 IFMXF 2010 23:50 Aiya TV

NOTORIOUS ON OSN ACTION HD 12:20 13:15 14:10 15:05 16:00 16:55 17:50 18:15 19:10 20:05 21:00 21:55 22:50 23:45

Mythbusters Motor City Motors Street Customs 2008 Mega Builders Huge Moves Mighty Ships How Do They Do It? River Monsters: Killer Catfish American Loggers Ultimate Survival Sarah Palin’s Alaska Gold Rush: Alaska River Monsters Get Out Alive

00:30 The Gadget Show 00:55 Mega World 01:45 Stephen Hawking’s Universe 02:35 The Gadget Show 03:25 How Does That Work?

03:50 Junkyard Mega-Wars 04:45 What’s That About?

05:40 Patent Bending 06:10 Human Body: Ultimate Machine 07:00 Sci-Fi Saved My Life 07:55 Brainiac 08:45 Head Rush 08:48 Sci-Fi Science 09:15 Weird Connections 09:45 Scrapheap Challenge 10:35 Powering The Future 13:55 Science Of Storm Chasing 14:45 The Gadget Show 15:35 Patent Bending 16:00 Head Rush 16:03 How Stuff’s Made 16:30 How Does That Work?

17:00 Ultimate Power Builders 17:50 How Stuff Works

18:40 19:30 20:20 21:10 22:00 22:50 23:40

Sci-Fi Science Bang Goes The Theory The Gadget Show Bad Universe Punkin Chunkin 2010 Catch It Keep It Weird Or What?

00:00 00:25 01:15 02:00 02:50 03:35 04:25 05:15 06:00 06:25 06:45 07:10 07:35 08:00 08:25 08:50 09:15 09:40 10:00 10:55 11:15 11:40 12:25 12:50 13:11 13:15 13:40 14:00 14:25 14:50 15:15 16:00

Kim Possible Fairly Odd Parents Stitch Replacements Emperors New School Stitch Replacements Fairly Odd Parents Special Agent Oso Jungle Junction Handy Manny Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Fish Hooks Shake It Up Phineas And Ferb Suite Life On Deck Hannah Montana Forever Wizards Of Waverly Place Good Luck Charlie Fish Hooks Shake It Up Suite Life On Deck Wizards Of Waverly Place Sonny With A Chance Have A Laugh Hannah Montana Forever Stitch Shake It Up Fish Hooks Phineas And Ferb Good Luck Charlie Suite Life On Deck

16:25 16:45 17:10 17:30 17:57 18:00 18:20 18:45 19:10 20:40 20:57 21:00 21:25 21:50 22:15 22:40 23:05 23:30 23:55

Hannah Montana Forever Wizards Of Waverly Place Shake It Up Fish Hooks Have A Laugh Hannah Montana Forever Good Luck Charlie Sonny With A Chance Dadnapped Hannah Montana Forever Have A Laugh Wizards Of Waverly Place Jonas LA Good Luck Charlie Sonny With A Chance Wizards Of Waverly Place Jonas Hannah Montana Kim Possible

00:25 00:55 01:25 02:20 03:15 04:10 05:05 06:00 07:50 08:20 09:15 12:35 13:05 16:55 17:25 17:55 18:55 York 19:55 20:55

Kendra Behind The Scenes E!es E!es 25 Most Stylish Sexiest Extreme Hollywood THS Behind The Scenes E! News Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane Kimora’s Home Movies Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane Extreme Close-Up Fashion Police E! News Kourtney And Kim Take New E!es The Soup

00:05 Unwrapped 00:30 Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives 00:55 Barefoot Contessa 01:20 Barefoot Contessa 01:45 Chopped 02:35 Good Eats - Special 03:00 Good Eats - Special 03:25 Food Network Challenge 04:15 Good Eats - Special 04:40 Unwrapped 05:05 Ten Dollar Dinners 05:30 Paula’s Best Dishes 05:50 Paula’s Party 06:35 Barefoot Contessa 07:00 Chopped 07:50 Guy’s Big Bite 08:15 Boy Meets Grill 08:40 Good Deal With Dave Lieberman 09:05 Ten Dollar Dinners 09:30 Paula’s Best Dishes 09:55 Barefoot Contessa 10:20 Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives 10:45 Throwdown With Bobby Flay 11:10 Unwrapped 11:35 Paula’s Party 12:25 Good Eats - Special 12:50 Paula’s Best Dishes 13:15 Throwdown With Bobby Flay 13:40 Ultimate Recipe Showdown 14:30 Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives 14:55 Unwrapped 15:20 Boy Meets Grill 15:45 Chopped 16:35 Guy’s Big Bite 17:00 Barefoot Contessa 17:25 Good Deal With Dave Lieberman 17:50 Ten Dollar Dinners 18:15 Paula’s Party 19:05 Good Eats - Special 19:30 Food Network Challenge 20:20 Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives 20:45 Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives 21:10 Food Network Challenge 22:00 Chopped 22:50 Ultimate Recipe Showdown 23:40 Good Eats - Special

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 04:30 05:00 Planet 05:30 06:00 06:30 07:00

Market Values Departures Don’t Tell My Mother Long Way Down Pressure Cook David Rocco’s Dolce Vita Food Lovers Guide To The Exploring The Vine Market Values Market Values Departures

08:00 09:00 10:00 10:30 11:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 22:00 22:30 23:00

Don’t Tell My Mother Long Way Down Exploring The Vine David Rocco’s Dolce Vita Banged Up Abroad Exploring The Vine David Rocco’s Dolce Vita Banged Up Abroad Exploring The Vine David Rocco’s Dolce Vita Banged Up Abroad

00:00 01:00 01:55 02:50 03:45 04:40 05:35 06:30 07:25 08:20 09:15 10:10 11:05 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00

Wild Sex Frogs: The Thin Green Line Street Monkeys Monster Crocs Dangerous Encounters Phantom Wolverine Shark Men Monster Fish Hooked V Secret Shark Pits Dive To Tiger Central Swamp Men Shark Men Monster Fish Hooked V Python Hunters Shark Men

02:00 04:30 05:00 06:00 07:00 09:00 10:00 15:00 18:30 21:00

NHL Playoffs Mobil 1 The Grid Lucas Oil Motorsports Hour American Drag Racing League Golf Channel Programming Golf Central International PGA Tour European Tour NHL Playoffs PGA Tour

00:20 00:45 01:00 06:00 06:25 06:45 07:10 07:35 08:00 KSA 20:00 20:45 21:10 21:35 22:00 23:30 23:45

Tales From The Crypt Keeper Rescue Heroes Sonic Underground Marathon New Adventures Of Madeline Rupert Max And Ruby Max And Ruby Babar Programmes Start At 8:00pm

00:05 01:50 03:25 05:00 06:45 08:29 10:30 12:05 13:40 15:15 16:45 18:25 20:00 20:15 22:00 23:55

Species Carrie The Coca Cola Kid Semi-Tough A Prayer For The Dying The 70’s Dreamchild Making Mr. Right Love Bites Who Was Geli Bendl?

Trip With Anita The Defiant Ones Big Screen 1 Stanley And Iris Lifeforce Asteroid

Dennis The Menace Sabrina The Animated Series S Club 7 In Miami Beverly Hills Teen Club Merlin: Part 1 Dennis The Menace Nancy Drew

00:00 Grudge 3-18 02:00 Notorious-18 04:15 Midnight Meat Train-18 06:00 Fast And Furious-PG15 08:00 Vertical Limit-PG15 10:00 Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen-PG15 12:30 The Sum Of All Fears-PG15 14:30 Vertical Limit-PG15 16:30 Signs-PG15 18:15 The Sum Of All Fears-PG15 20:15 Brotherhood-PG15 22:00 Speed-PG15

TV listings

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

01:00 Malice In Wonderland-PG15 03:00 Astro Boy-FAM 05:00 The Prince And Me 3: A Royal Honeymoon-PG15 07:00 The Wild Thornberrys MoviePG 09:00 Sherlock Holmes-PG15 11:15 The Prince And Me 3: A Royal Honeymoon-PG15 13:00 The Wild Thornberrys MoviePG 15:00 Me And Orson Welles-PG 17:00 The Prince And Me 3: A Royal Honeymoon-PG15 19:00 Crazy Heart-PG15 21:00 Brotherhood-PG15 23:00 Jennifer’s Body-18

00:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 01:00 The Colbert Report 01:30 South Park 02:00 Funny Or Die Presents 02:30 Bored To Death 03:00 Friends 03:30 Modern Family 04:00 South Park 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 8 Simple Rules ...

08:30 Dharma And Greg 09:00 Friends 09:30 Malcolm In The Middle 10:00 Yes Dear 10:30 Outsourced 11:00 The Drew Carey Show 11:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:30 Dharma And Greg 13:00 8 Simple Rules ...

13:30 Malcolm In The Middle 14:00 Yes Dear 14:30 Modern Family 15:00 Outsourced 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 Friends 18:30 8 Simple Rules ...

19:00 My Boys 19:30 How I Met Your Mother 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:10

12:00 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 13:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 14:00 The Unit 15:00 Cold Case 16:00 The Office 16:30 Coronation Street 17:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 18:00 The Unit 19:00 Persons Unknown 20:00 The Event

01:00 02:45 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Children Of The Corn-18 Pride And Glory-18 Grudge 3-18 The Snow Walker-PG15 Bad Girls-PG15 Darkness Falls-PG15 House Under Siege-PG15 Bad Girls-PG15 Blue Crush-PG15 Ballistica-PG15 Speed-PG15 Clive Barker’s Book Of Blood-18

00:00 The Longshots-PG15 02:00 The Hudsucker Proxy-PG15 04:00 Did You Hear About The Morgans?-PG15 06:00 The Fighting TemptationsPG15 08:00 Flirting Wth Flamenco-PG15 10:00 Under The Tuscan Sun-PG15 12:00 Ace Ventura : Pet Detective Jr.PG15 14:00 Old Dogs-PG 16:00 The Longshots-PG15 18:00 Management-PG15 20:00 Ball And Chain-PG15 22:00 Anger Management-PG15

01:00 Head Over Heels-PG15 03:00 Bandslam-PG15 05:00 Nativity!-PG 07:00 The Lovely Bones-PG15 09:00The Sorcerer’s Apprentice-PG15 11:00 Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel-PG15 13:00 The Adventures Of Rocky And Bullwinkle-FAM 15:00 I Love You Beth Cooper-PG15 17:00The Sorcerer’s Apprentice-PG15 19:00 Dance Flick-18 21:00 The Private Lives Of Pippa LeePG15

00:00 The Princess And The FrogFAM 02:00 Wild Records!-PG 04:00 Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie-FAM 06:00 Babe: Pig In The City-FAM 08:00 Yogi Bear And The Magical Flight Of The Spruce Goose-PG 10:00 The Princess And The FrogFAM 12:00 Scooby-Doo And The Reluctant Werewolf-FAM 14:00 Babe: Pig In The City-FAM 16:00 Fly Me To The Moon-PG 18:00 Scooby-Doo! Summer Camp Scare-FAM

00:00 01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 10:00

Emirates Twenty20 Cricket NRL Premiership Super 15 Super 15 Emirates Twenty20 Cricket Super 15 Total Rugby

10:30 14:30 17:00 17:30 18:00 22:00

Live Super 15 AFL Premiership Mobil 1 The Grid Total Rugby Live Super 15 AFL Premiership

01:30 04:00 05:00 07:00 08:00 10:00 10:30 14:30 18:30 19:00 21:00

AFL Premiership Trans World Sport Super League Trans World Sport Super League NRL Full Time Live NRL Premiership Live European PGA Tour Futbol Mundial Live Super League ICC Cricket World

00:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 09:30 12:30 14:30 15:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00

WWE SmackDown WWE Bottom Line WWE NXT UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC Unleashed WWE SmackDown V8 Supercars Extra Live Aussie Rules Live NRL Premiership V8 Supercars Extra V8 Supercars Championship WWE Bottom Line WWE NXT UAE National Race Day Series City Centre Races UFC The Ultimate Fighter

00:00 Jerseylicious 01:00 Fashion Avenue

No Ordinary Family American Idol Survivor: Redemption Island No Ordinary Family Lie To Me Good Morning America C.S.I. New York One Tree Hill Lie To Me Karen Sisco The View American Idol Survivor: Redemption Island Karen Sisco Live Good Morning America C.S.I. New York The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Coronation Street Persons Unknown The Event Sons Of Anarchy Boardwalk Empire C.S.I. New York

00:00 Cold Case 01:00 American Idol 02:00 Royal Pains 03:00 Survivor: Redemption Island 04:00 No Ordinary Family 05:00 The Philanthropist 06:00 Cold Case 07:00 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 07:30 The New Adventures Of Old Christine 08:00 The Unit 09:00 The Philanthropist 10:00 American Idol 11:00 Survivor: Redemption Island

THE SNOW WALKER ON OSN MOVIES ACTION

01:30 Fashion Avenue 01:55 Big Boutique 02:25 How Do I Look?

03:20 Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

05:10 Homes With Style 05:35 Area 06:05 Clean House 07:00 Big Boutique 08:00 Clean House 09:00 Giuliana And Bill 12:50 Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

13:45 My Destination Wedding With The Knot 14:45 Fat Free Fiances 15:40 Fat Free Fiances 16:35 Marry Me In Mexico: Trish’s

01:20 Anna Christie-FAM 02:50 Lady L-FAM 04:35 TCM Presents Under The Influence-FAM 05:05 Manpower-FAM 07:00 San Francisco-FAM 08:55 Kiss Me Kate-FAM 10:40 Black Legion-FAM 12:05 TCM Presents Under The Influence-FAM 12:35 The Tender Trap-FAM 14:30 TCM Presents Under The Influence-FAM 15:00 The Unsinkable Molly BrownFAM 17:05 Interrupted Melody-FAM 18:50 Moonfleet-FAM 20:15 The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad

00:30 01:20 02:10 03:00 03:55 05:40 Tree 06:30 07:20 08:10 09:00 09:55 11:40 Tree 12:30 13:20 14:10 15:00 15:55 17:40 Tree 18:30 19:20 20:10 21:00 21:55

Investigating History Conspiracy?

Modern Marvels The Universe The Real Wolfman Bloodlines: The Dracula Family Investigating History Conspiracy?

Modern Marvels The Universe The Real Wolfman Bloodlines: The Dracula Family Investigating History Conspiracy?

Modern Marvels The Universe The Real Wolfman Bloodlines: The Dracula Family Investigating History Conspiracy?

Modern Marvels Deep Sea Detectives Deep Wreck Mysteries

00:05 Cow And Chicken 00:30 Cramp Twins 00:55 George Of The Jungle 01:20 Adventure Time 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 Ed, Edd N Eddy 07:25 Chop Socky Chooks 07:50 Chowder 08:05 Cartoon Network Dance Club 08:15 Ben 10: Alien Force 08:40 Bakugan: Gundalian Invaders 09:05 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 09:30 The Secret Saturdays 09:55 My Gym Partner’s A Monkey 10:20 George Of The Jungle 10:30 Angelo Rules 10:55 Best Ed 11:20 Eliot Kid 11:45 Skunk Fu! 12:10 Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes 12:35 Bakugan: New Vestroia 13:00 Ben 10

13:25 Codename: Kids Next Door 13:50 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 14:15 The Life And Times Of Juniper Lee 14:40 George Of The Jungle 15:05 Ed, Edd N Eddy 15:20 Cartoon Network Dance Club 15:35 Chop Socky Chooks 16:00 Robotboy 16:25 Squirrel Boy 16:50 Chowder 17:15 The Secret Saturdays 17:40 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 18:05 Bakugan: New Vestroia 18:30 Angelo Rules 18:55 Best Ed 19:20 Adventure Time 19:45 Cow And Chicken 20:10 The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack 20:35 Courage The Cowardly Dog 21:00 The Powerpuff Girls 21:15 Cartoon Network Dance Club 21:25 Ed, Edd N Eddy 21:50 Robotboy 22:00 Batman: The Brave And The Bold 22:25 Skunk Fu! 22:50 Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 23:15 Bakugan Battle Brawlers 23:40 Chowder

00:30 The Haunted 01:20 A Haunting 02:10 Murder Shift 03:00 Undercover 03:50 Dr G: Medical Examiner 04:45 Ghosthunters 05:15 The Haunted 06:10 Mystery Diagnosis 07:00 Forensic Detectives 07:50 On The Run 08:40 Mystery ER 09:30 Real Emergency Calls 09:55 Real Emergency Calls 10:20 Who On Earth Did I Marry?

10:45 I Was Murdered 11:10 FBI Files 12:00 True Crime With Aphrodite Jones 12:50 The Will: Family Secrets Revealed 13:40 Mystery ER 14:30 Real Emergency Calls 14:55 Real Emergency Calls 15:20 Who On Earth Did I Marry?

15:45 I Was Murdered 16:10 Forensic Detectives 17:00 On The Run 17:50 FBI Files 18:40 Mystery ER 19:30 Real Emergency Calls 20:20 True Crime With Aphrodite Jones 21:10 The Will: Family Secrets Revealed 22:00 The Haunted 22:50 Ghost Lab 23:40 Mysterious Journeys

00:00 Working Holiday 01:00 Globe Trekker 02:00 48 Hours In 02:30 Distant Shores 03:00 Four Men and a Lady 03:30 Cruise Today 04:00 Globe Trekker 05:00 Working Holiday 06:00 First Class South Africa 06:30 Rudy Maxa’s World 07:00 Globe Trekker 08:00 Spring 08:30 Think Green 09:30 Cruise Today 10:00 Cruising the Spirit of Adventure 11:00 That Crazy French Woman 12:00 Globe Trekker Special 13:00 Spring 13:30 Think Green 14:30 Travel Today 15:00 Indian Times 16:00 Globe Trekker 17:00 Australia’s Great Wildlife Islands 18:00 Hollywood and Vines 18:30 Cruise Today 19:00 Globe Trekker 20:00 Working Holiday 21:00 Think Green 22:00 Julian and Camilla’s World Odyssey

WHAT’S ON SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

Thrissur Association hosts family picnic

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hrissur Association of Kuwait conducted annual picnic on Friday, May 6, at Sherq Al -Mulla garden.

Program Convener Manikrishnan delivered the welcome speech to all members followed by official inauguration of the event by Association President Sebastian Vathukadan. Association Joint Secretary Ashraf Kunnumkulam given a speech regarding the future pro-

grams of Association and then introduced members each other. Felicitation speeches were delivered by Vanithavedi President Rema Vijayan.

The event helped all Thrissurians in Kuwait to feel the unity and strength of Association. Picnic created a real friendly atmosphere between all the members. Regardless of age lot of fun filled activities were conducted including

sports competition and prizes were distributed for the winners. In sports activities ‘Tug of War’ for women and men were the highlight which flamed the spirits of all members.

Around 5:30 pm the picnic winded up with a thanks giving speech by Association Treasurer Maneesh Kumar.

Announcement Summer action for kids idz Play Group in Farwaniya, is holding a summer camp for kids from age groups 4-7, 8-12 & 13-16. A variety of different summer activities have been planned for each age group including arts and crafts, painting, indoor games, karate, swimming, excursions and much more. If your child is not travelling this summer, let them make the most of it with us. For further details contact us at 50572333/ 24726796 (call between 8 am-2 pm only).

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JIS students win gold medals

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he students of Jabriya Indian School, have once again won laurels in the International Assessment School examination, conducted by the University of New South Wales, Australia. Rayan Ali Hallal of class XII (Commerce Stream), a voracious reader and a studious student has won the prestigious gold medal for being the Regional Topper in English. He has been awarded this medal for securing the highest grade among all the participating students of India, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, and UAE conducted in 2010. Rayan also has the honor of being the recipient of the gold medal for securing the highest grade in English across Kuwait for two consecutive years.

Three of our students have also won the gold medals for being the country toppers, which is awarded for securing the highest grade across Kuwait. Mustafa Abedin Khan of class XII (Science Stream), a Mathematic genius is the country topper in Mathematics. R A Nadun Kesara of class VIII, a modest and consistent top scorer won the gold medals for English and Science. Amina Anwar of class VIII again, a talented student has won the medal for computer skills. The Management, Staff and Students take great pride in congratulating our young achievers and also wish Rayan and Mustafa to come out in flying colors who are awaiting their XII CBSE results.

Free summer course for ladies adies, grab your opportunity to learn in IPC. A free intensive course of Arabic Language for non-Arab ladies in summer commencing on June 13 till July 28, 2011.

Classes will be in the afternoon and twice a week.

Interested foreign ladies irrespective of their religion can register now. Also offers Islamic Subjects and Quran memorization in different languages. For information, call your nearest branch: Rawdah: 22512257/97290278; Salmiya: 25733263/97533263; Khaitan: 24730137/99285459; Jahra: 24558830/97509063; Mangaf: 23723002/99256165.

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IIS celebrates Mothers’ Day

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undreds of bees in the purple clover, hundreds of butterflies on the lawn but only one mother the wide world over. All around mothers are appreciated on” Mothers’ day”. In Integrated Indian School the tiny tots of kindergarten made greeting cards for their mothers, by using their wonderful imagination and colorful thoughts with gratitude to make their mothers’ special on this day. It was an atmosphere of merriment, joy and gratitude for being their mother at all times.

US ambassad honors volun or teers n May 11, 20 11

, US Ambassad Jones hosted 40 young volu or to Kuwait Deborah K number of Ku nteers and m wai and apprecia ti civil society organizatio entors from a ns in recogniti tion of their on vo Ambassador Jones thanke lunteerism. In her remar d the voluntee ks, work and exce rs ptional efforts fo the choice an , noting, “You r their great d ta all have mad ty and to mak ken the steps to try to im e prov e a change w what it is all here you live. e your socieab involved to ac out; civil society means I think that is citizens gett tually make a ing di Th e p ar ti ci p at in g or ga ni fference. Thank you for th za ti on s in cl ud at.”

Ku w ai t C ha ng ed e, Ku w ai t H um Lo Center, Pink an Ri g ht s So Ya c, In ja z, Coffee, Spread the Passion, Ku ci et y, A w ar e Society, Kuwai t Dive Team, Ex w xon and Spat ait Economic ial Co.

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SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

WHAT’S ON

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health & science

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

Drugs study hailed as watershed in AIDS saga PARIS: Health campaigners said a new front had opened in the three-decade war on AIDS after a study among couples showed early use of drugs slashed the risk of HIV infection through sex by 96 percent.

“It’s a game-changer,” Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS, said in an interview with AFP. “I am completely amazed.” Antiretroviral drugs can deliver a double blow by suppressing HIV in an infected patient and helping to prevent its spread through intercourse, he said.

He predicted a rethink of the strategies that have evolved since the first cases of AIDS were recorded in June 1981.

“The implications are multiple,” said Sidibe. “However, money will be the major challenge.”

Tasks include encouraging HIV testing and administering early treatment to people with the virus, especially in at-risk population niches such as gay men, intravenous drug users and sex workers, he said.

Margaret Chan, director general of the UN’s World Health Organisation (WHO), said the study was “a crucial development”.

“The findings from this study will further strengthen and support the new guidance that WHO is releasing in July to help people

living with HIV protect their partners,” Chan said in a press release.

Throughout the history of AIDS, the pendulum of policymaking has swung between treatment, essentially drugs, and prevention, essentially the condom.

But this to-and-fro doctrinal debate was challenged in January 2008 by a Swiss researcher, Bernard Hirschel.

He ventured that someone who had observed a drug regimen and was shown to have suppressed the virus in his or her blood was no longer an infection risk through sex. Some activists scorned the findings as premature or even irresponsible. But vindication came on Thursday with data from the first randomised clinical trial, carried out among “discordant” couples, one of whom had the virus while the other was HIV-negative.

The probe was conducted at 13 sites in Africa, Asia and the Americas among 1,763 couples, 97 percent of whom were heterosexual. In the first group, the HIV-positive partner received anti-HIV drugs immediately; in the second, the HIV-positive partner deferred treatment until he or she had reached a given level of viral infection.

The US National Institutes of Health

(NIH) reported when an HIV-infected partner began immediate antiretroviral treatment and adhered to it, there was a 96-percent fall in HIV transmission.

Jean-Francois Delfraissy, director of France’s National Agency for AIDS Research (ANRS), described the study as “a really important moment for public health”.

Delfraissy cautioned, though, the sexual behaviour among heterosexual couplesand adherence to drug therapy-could not be applied to all population groups.

“It’s one more argument for stopping the epidemic by treating all HIV-positive people so that they do not transmit the virus,” commented Bruno Spire of the French advocacy group Aides.

“It’s marvellous news... another piece of evidence to favour using treatment as prevention,” said Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, part of the French team that won the Nobel prize for identifying HIV. But she and the other watchdogs warned against any letup in prevention.

Each day, more than 7,000 people are newly infected with HIV, including 1,000 children. In addition, Delfraissy observed, “there aren’t the means to treat everyone”.

The UN has set a target of zero new

infections by 2015. By that time, 13 million people, according to current clinical guidelines, will need drugs; at present, only six million have access to them Money, though, is tight.

Resources have remained at under 16 billion dollars a year since late 2007.

AVAC, a New York-based group for HIV prevention, said the study highlighted the success of the revolutionary drugs that emerged in the mid-1990s and are now a lifeline for millions.

Antiretroviral treatment is a combination of drugs that can reduce the level of virus in the blood to below detectable levels. But, for some patients, it can also have toxic or distressing side-effects.

Designed primarily as a treatment, antiretrovirals are now being tested for prevention, as a pill taken by gay men at risk of unsafe sex and as a vaginal gel for women.

Early data from these trials is encouraging.

AIDS has claimed more than 25 million lives and more than 60 million people have become infected since the disease was first recorded in 1981. Around 80 percent of new infections occur through sex, according to UN figures. — AFP

Adult stem cells face new hurdle Certain kinds of cells may be rejected by immune system

HAKEGORA: In this June 23, 1974 file photo a small Indian child displays the result of smallpox at Hakegora village in India. Smallpox, one of the world’s deadliest diseases, eradicated three decades ago, is kept alive under tight security today in the United States and Russia. — AP

Experts debate destroying deadly smallpox viruses LONDON: Smallpox, one of the world’s deadliest diseases, eradicated three decades ago, is kept alive under tight security today in just two places — the United States and Russia.

Many other countries say the world would be safer if those stockpiles of the virus were destroyed. Now for the fifth time, at a World Health Organization meeting next week, they will push again for the virus’ destruction. And again it seems likely their efforts will be futile.

US and Russian government officials say it is essential they keep some smallpox alive in case a future biological threat demands more tests with the virus. They also say the virus samples are still needed to develop experimental vaccines and drugs.

It was in 1996 that WHO’s member countries first agreed smallpox should be destroyed. But they have repeatedly

delayed a demand for destruction so that scientists could develop safer smallpox vaccines and drugs. That’s now been done: There are two vaccines, a third in the works, and there are drugs for treating it, but not curing it.

Yet even if most of WHO’s member countries vote to set a new date for destruction, the agency doesn’t have the power to enforce the decision.

The scientific community remains divided over whether the smallpox samples should be destroyed. The respected journal Nature editorialized against it earlier this year, arguing that scientists need the ability to do further research, and perhaps develop new vaccines and treatments in an era of possible biological attack. However, one of the most prominent figures in wiping out the deadly, disfiguring disease is in favor of destroying all remnants of it. — AP

PARIS: Scientists yesterday raised questions about the safety of reprogramming adult cells, an experimental technique which supporters say could one day lead to the growing of replacement tissue in the lab.

Certain kinds of these cells may be rejected by the immune system, which would thus doom them as an option for transplant, according to a study published online by the British science journal Nature.

Interest in cellular reprogramming surged after researchers in 2007 announced they could wind back the DNA of adult, or mature, cells.

Restored to their immature state, the cells become highly versatile stem cells which-so it is hoped-could then be coaxed into developing into tissuespecific cells, such as heart, brain or muscle cells.

The big advantage of these “induced pluripotent stem cells,” or iPSCs, is that they would be free of the moral controversy that has dogged use of embryonic stem cells, or ESCs. Many scientists have also assumed that, because iPSCs are derived from one’s own DNA, they will be accepted by the immune defences as

friends and thus be spared from attack.

Not so, according to the new research.

“The assumption that cells derived from iPSCs are totally immune-tolerant has to be reevaluated before considering human trials,” warned lead investigator Yang Xu, a professor of biology at the University of California at San Diego.

His four-person team tested iPSCs and ESCs on mice that had been genetically modified to have identical DNA. As expected, the mice’s immune defences did not respond when they encountered a cluster of tissue, known as a teratoma, that came from the embryonic cells.The surprise, though, was that they went into attack mode when they met the iPSCs. The responders were T cellsthe heavy artillery of the immune system, which are designed to destroy invading microbes. They are notably the problem that has to be curbed when someone receives an organ transplant: without drug controls, the defenders destroy the implanted tissue.

In a phone conference with journalists, Xu said the findings were a clear setback for iPSCs, but exactly how big a problem was for now unclear. The T-cell

attack only occurred with certain kinds of iPSC-derived cells, not all, and more work was needed to find out which ones and why, he said. “If it’s only limited to certain cell types, then maybe other cell types can still be used for transplantation without the worry of being rejected,” he said.

“If it’s a very widespread problem, that becomes another issue. So at this moment, it’s very difficult to say how big the hurdle is.”

For now, ESCs remain “the gold standard” of versatile stem cells and should not be abandoned, in spite of the controversy surrounding them, in favour of iPSCs, he said.

Xu said he suspected that the problem with iPSCs lay in errors that occur in the DNA code when the cells are reprogrammed.

In February, a team led by Joseph Ecker of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, found that the transformation from adult cell to stem cell was incomplete.

DNA errors pop up in an area of the genome called the epigenome, which essentially is the switching system that turns genes on or off and determines their level of activity, they reported. — AFP

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information SATURDAY, MAY 14, 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 PIA THY ETH PIA UAE DHX ETD FDB GFA QTR JZR JZR JZR KAC BAW KAC FCX KAC KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC KAC UAE QTR ABY ETD GFA MHK JZR JZR IRC JZR IRM KAC MSR UAL RJA MSR KNE FDB KAC LMU JZR SVA KNE JZR QTR IRC AFR KAC SYR ETD UAE GFA CLX KAC SVA JZR VOS JZR ABY KAC ALK JZR

Arrival Flights on Saturday 14/5/2011 Flt Route 215 KARACHI 772 ISTANBUL 620 ADDIS ABABA 239 SIALKOT 853 DUBAI 370 BAHRAIN 305 ABU DHABI 67 DUBAI 211 BAHRAIN 138 DOHA 529 ASSIUT 503 LUXOR 555 ALEXANDRIA 412 MANILA / BANGKOK 157 LONDON 416 JAKARTA / KUALA LUMPUR 201 BAHRAIN 206 ISLAMABAD 382 DELHI 302 MUMBAI 53 DUBAI 352 COCHIN 284 DHAKA 344 CHENNAI 362 COLOMBO 855 DUBAI 132 DOHA 125 SHARJAH 301 ABU DHABI 213 BAHRAIN 711 BAGHDAD / NAJAF 165 DUBAI 121 BAHRAIN 6964 TEHRAN 213 DEIREZZOR 5066 MASHAD 672 DUBAI 610 CAIRO 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 640 AMMAN 621 ASSIUT 703 MEDINAH 57 DUBAI 786 JEDDAH 109 ALEXANDRIA 357 MASHAD 500 JEDDAH 745 JEDDAH 257 BEIRUT 134 DOHA 6791 MASHAD 6706 PARIS 118 NEW YORK 341 DAMASCUS 303 ABU DHABI 857 DUBAI 215 BAHRAIN 792 LUXEMBOURG 178 GENEVA / FRANKFURT 510 RIYADH 777 JEDDAH 197 KANDAHAR / DUBAI 239 AMMAN 127 SHARJAH 550 SOHAG / SHARM EL SHEIKH 227 COLOMBO / DUBAI 177 DUBAI

Time 0:25 1:15 1:45 2:15 2:25 2:55 2:55 3:10 3:15 3:20 3:35 5:15 6:10 6:15 6:30 6:35 7:00 7:15 7:20 7:55 7:55 8:05 8:10 8:20 8:20 8:25 9:00 9:10 9:30 9:35 11:00 11:10 11:15 11:15 12:40 12:50 13:15 13:20 13:30 13:35 13:40 13:45 13:50 14:00 14:05 14:10 14:30 14:45 15:10 15:15 16:00 16:15 16:15 16:40 16:50 16:55 17:15 17:15 17:15 17:20 17:25 17:30 17:35 17:40 17:50 18:00 18:00

KAC KAC KAC KAC IRA KAC KAC SIA JAI KAC AIC KAC VOS FDB OMA JZR MEA KNE KAC MLR MSR DHX KLM UAE GFA JZR QTR UAL JZR MSR JZR MSR DLH AXB BBC

104 502 542 618 607 674 774 458 572 562 975 614 93 61 647 179 402 789 788 1405 618 372 445 859 217 203 136 981 135 606 185 612 636 393 45

LONDON BEIRUT CAIRO DOHA MASHAD DUBAI RIYADH SINGAPORE / ABU DHABI MUMBAI AMMAN CHENNAI / GOA BAHRAIN KANDAHAR / DUBAI DUBAI MUSCAT DUBAI BEIRUT JEDDAH JEDDAH COLOMBO / DUBAI ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN AMSTERDAM DUBAI BAHRAIN DAMASCUS DOHA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN LUXOR DUBAI CAIRO FRANKFURT KOZHIKODE / COCHIN DHAKA / BAHRAIN

Airlines DLH AIC KLM PIA THY ETH PIA UAE FDB DHX ETD QTR VOS JZR JZR GFA KAC JZR JZR BAW FDB KAC JZR KAC UAE ABY KAC QTR ETD GFA

Departure Flights on Saturday 14/5/2011 Flt Route 637 FRANKFURT 976 GOA / CHENNAI 447 AMSTERDAM 216 KARACHI 773 ISTANBUL 620 BAHRAIN / ADDIS ABABA 240 SIALKOT / ISLAMABAD 854 DUBAI 68 DUBAI 371 BAHRAIN 306 ABU DHABI 139 DOHA 198 DUBAI / BAGRAM 164 DUBAI 212 DEIREZZOR 212 BAHRAIN 785 JEDDAH 120 BAHRAIN 356 MASHAD 156 LONDON 54 DUBAI 671 DUBAI 256 BEIRUT 101 LONDON / NEW YORK 856 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 549 SOHAG / SHARM EL SHEIKH 133 DOHA 302 ABU DHABI 214 BAHRAIN

18:35 18:45 18:50 18:55 19:05 19:25 19:25 19:35 19:35 19:50 19:55 19:55 20:00 20:00 20:10 20:10 20:15 20:20 20:20 20:50 20:55 21:00 21:05 21:15 21:25 21:30 21:35 22:00 22:10 22:15 22:35 22:50 23:00 23:15 23:45

Time 0:40 0:50 0:55 1:25 2:15 2:30 3:30 3:45 3:50 3:55 4:05 5:00 5:00 6:55 7:00 7:10 8:15 8:20 8:20 8:25 8:40 9:00 9:10 9:30 9:40 9:50 9:55 10:00 10:15 10:20

KAC KAC JZR JZR MHK IRC KAC JZR IRM MSR KNE RJA FDB MSR UAL KAC KAC LMU KAC KNE KAC JZR SVA JZR KAC QTR KAC IRC VOS ETD SYR AFR UAE GFA ABY JZR JZR SVA CLX ALK JZR KAC IRA JAI FDB KAC KAC OMA KNE MEA SIA MLR MSR DHX KLM KAC UAE GFA KAC FCX QTR KAC KAC JZR MSR UAL KAC MSR

165 541 776 238 712 6808 501 176 5065 611 702 641 58 622 982 561 787 110 673 746 617 178 505 202 773 135 613 6792 82 304 342 6706 858 216 128 184 266 511 792 228 134 283 604 571 62 331 351 648 790 403 457 1405 619 373 445 677 860 218 381 102 137 301 205 554 607 981 411 613

ROME / PARIS CAIRO JEDDAH AMMAN NAJAF / BAGHDAD SHIRAZ BEIRUT DUBAI MASHAD CAIRO RIYADH AMMAN DUBAI ASSIUT BAHRAIN AMMAN JEDDAH ALEXANDRIA DUBAI JEDDAH DOHA DUBAI JEDDAH DAMASCUS RIYADH DOHA BAHRAIN MASHAD BAGHDAD ABU DHABI DAMASCUS DUBAI / HONG KONG DUBAI BAHRAIN SHARJAH DUBAI BEIRUT RIYADH HONG KONG DUBAI / COLOMBO BAHRAIN DHAKA ISFAHAN MUMBAI DUBAI TRIVANDRUM COCHIN MUSCAT JEDDAH BEIRUT ABU DHABI / SINGAPORE COLOMBO ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN BAHRAIN / AMSTERDAM DUBAI / MUSCAT DUBAI BAHRAIN DELHI BAHRAIN DOHA MUMBAI ISLAMABAD ALEXANDRIA LUXOR WASHINGTON DC DULLES BANGKOK / MANILA CAIRO

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

11:45 12:00 12:00 12:10 12:20 12:45 13:00 13:40 14:15 14:20 14:25 14:30 14:35 14:40 14:45 14:45 15:05 15:05 15:10 15:30 15:35 16:00 16:00 16:05 16:05 16:15 16:55 17:00 17:00 17:35 17:40 18:00 18:05 18:15 18:20 18:25 18:30 18:35 18:45 19:10 19:10 20:00 20:05 20:35 20:40 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:10 21:15 21:20 21:50 21:55 22:00 22:05 22:10 22:25 22:30 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:55 23:10 23:15 23:40 23:40 23:50

CLASSIFIEDS SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available for Indian bachelors in a fully furnished central A/C building in Farwaniya with kitchen and parking facilities. Those interested may call Mob: 99038601. (C 3341) Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya for decent couples (non-smoking) in a central A/C, 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom (1 attached) from 30th May onwards. Rent KD 85.

(C 3343) Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya, near Al-Mulla exchange, one bedroom & separate bathroom with Keralite family from June onwards, small family or working ladies, anybody interested please call 66450237. (C 3340) Sharing accommodation single room available in Farwaniya near gas station, clinic from 10-6-2001 to 109-2011. Three month visit visa only with household items also. Please call 99482666. (C 3344) 14-5-2011 Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya in a two bedroom apartment for a couple or an executive bachelor with all facilities.

Please call 66699841.

(C 3339)

Sharing accommodation available for a single executive Indian bachelor, near Al Rashid hospital, Salmiya.

Central A/C, new building, separate room. Rent KD 70.

Contact: 66251716, 99550578. (C 3238) 11-5-2011

FOR SALE Ford Edgese model 2011, zero mileage, brand new from company original price KD 8,000, selling price KD 7,200, serious buyers.

Contact: 99495795. (C 3342) 14-5-2011

Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya near Highway center with Keralite Christian family, two bedroom 2 separate bathroom available, family or working ladies preferred. Contact: 99509436.

(C3338)

Toyota-Bus-HiAce model 2010, white color, excellent condition, price KD 5,750, negotiable.

Contact: 66507741. (C 3336)

Sharing accommodation available for Indian Hindu or Catholic 2 bachelors or small family with Mangalorean Catholic family in a window A/C bldg opp Appolo hospital, Shara Amman, Salmiya.

Contact: 55995437. (C 3334)

PC Compaq Pentium 4, intel original HD 20 GB, Ram 128 MB (expandable), Windows XP pro with 15” LCD Neovo, price KD 400 & Laptop Acer Aspire 4315 price KD 75, all in excellent condition. Call 99322585.

(C 3337) 12-5-2011

Sharing accommodation for one executive bachelor with one Indian bachelor in Omariya area, near bus stop, beside zoo, kitchen, bathroom separate, preferable Indians. Call: 99566462. (C 3322)

Nissan Pathfinder, model 2003, well maintained, good condition, serious buyers please call 66457115. (C 3329) 11-5-2011

LOST Policy No. 633000388 issued by the State Life Insurance Gulf Zone on the Life of Mr Tahir Mahmood is reported to have been lost. Anyone finding the same or claiming any interest in it should communicate with the State Life Kuwait Office Phone No. 22452208 within one month of this date.

12-5-2011

MISCELLANEOUS Sri Lankan Engineer in Maidan Hawally needs home cooked Sri Lankan food.

Please call 97263962 for details.

12-5-2011

SITUATION WANTED An Indian male, bachelors degree in Petroleum Engineering, subject of specializations: well drilling and completion, production technology, logging, geophysics, reservoir engineering, is looking for a suitable job.

Please contact: 66204579, email: sonyjohnk@gmail.com (C 3327) 10-5-2011

CHANGE OF NAME Big furnished room with attached bathroom C-A/C, available in Fintas, near to London hospital, close to Fahaheel Highway, for executive bachelor or decent couple, rent KD 90. Contact: 60020168. (C 3335) 12-5-2011

SITUATION VACANT A part time or a full time female house maid is needed to work for a small family of two. Contact: 97247999, 99367793.

(C 3330) 12-5-2011

The new name changed for Haneef Abdul Khaleel, holder of Indian Passport No. E9556818 issued in Kuwait on 28-09-2004. Name change from Haneef Abdul Khaleel to Abdul Khaleel.

12-5-2011

C R O S S W O R D

3 1 7

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

Word Sleuth Solution

Yesterday始s Solution

ACROSS 1. One of several parallel sloping beams that support a roof.

5. Treated with contempt.

10. Enlarged prostate.

13. On or toward the lee.

14. Make less active or intense.

15. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

16. Someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike.

17. God of love and erotic desire.

19. The capital and largest city of Zimbabwe.

20. A sheet or band of fibrous connective tissue separating or binding together muscles and organs etc.

21. A public promotion of some product or service.

24. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

25. A period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event.

28. A genus of Ploceidae.

30. A thick black tar intermediate between petroleum and asphalt.

34. A colorless odorless gaseous element that give a red glow in a vacuum tube.

35. The (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb.

39. The crease at the junction of the inner part of the thigh with the trunk together with the adjacent region and often including the external genitals.

40. A benevolent aspect of Devi.

42. Brief episode in which the brain gets insufficient blood supply.

43. (Akkadian) Mother of the gods and consort of Apsu.

44. Great coolness and composure under strain.

46. An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the sale of petroleum.

47. An anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions.

48. A flat-bottomed volcanic crater that was formed by an explosion.

55. A white linen liturgical vestment with sleeves.

59. Long green edible beaked pods of the okra plant.

61. Extremely pleasing.

62. A resident of Utah.

64. The sense organ for hearing and equilibrium.

65. A unit of surface area equal to 100 square meters.

66. A member of an agricultural people in southeastern India.

67. The elementary stages of any subject (usually plural).

DOWN 1. A vigorous blow.

2. Type genus of the Alcidae comprising solely the razorbill.

3. British artist and writer of nonsense verse (1812-1888).

4. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

5. Australian shrubs and small trees with evergreen usually spiny leaves and dense clusters of showy flowers.

6. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

7. Russian physicist (1895-1971).

8. The 7th letter of the Greek alphabet.

9. A Mid-Atlantic state.

10. An indehiscent fruit derived from a single ovary having one or many seeds within a fleshy wall or pericarp.

11. The capital of Cape Verde on Sao Tiago Island.

12. Relating to the deepest parts of the ocean (below 6000 meters).

18. A region of Malaysia in northeastern Borneo.

22. A person forced to flee from home or country.

23. Swelling from excessive accumulation of serous fluid in tissue.

26. (the feminine of raja) A Hindu princess or the wife of a raja.

27. Primitive chlorophyll-containing mainly aquatic eukaryotic organisms lacking true stems and roots and leaves.

29. (Babylonian) The sky god.

31. An abnormal new mass of tissue that serves no purpose.

32. A collection of objects laid on top of each other.

33. (prefix) In front of or before in space.

36. (physics and chemistry) The smallest component of an element having the chemical properties of the element.

37. Game in which matchsticks are arranged in rows and players alternately remove one or more of them.

38. A light touch or stroke.

41. South American armadillo with three bands of bony plates.

45. The dynasty that ruled much of Manchuria and northeastern China from 947 to 1125.

49. (botany) Of or relating to the axil.

50. A French abbot.

51. A member of the Siouan people formerly living in the Missouri river valley in NE Nebraska.

52. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC).

53. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.

54. Made from residue of grapes or apples after pressing.

56. A large bottle with a narrow mouth.

57. A reptile genus of Iguanidae.

58. An informal term for a father.

60. Large brownish-green New Zealand parrot.

63. A silvery soft waxy metallic element of the alkali metal group.

Yesterday始s Solution

SPORTS

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

CALIFORNIA: San Francisco Giants’ second baseman Freddy Sanchez is upended while making a play as Arizona Diamondbacks Stephen Drew slides in with a double during the fourth inning of their game in San Francisco. The Giants won 3-2.— AP

Beltran powers Mets to 9-5 win Stubborn Senators dent Devils’ playoff hopes DENVER: Carlos Beltran hit a career-high three homers and drove in six runs to help the New York Mets beat Ubaldo Jimenez and the Colorado Rockies 9-5 on Thursday in a game delayed more than two hours by rain.

Beltran homered from both sides of the plate and reached all parts of the ballpark with his three two-run homers: straightaway center in the first, deep left in the seventh and into the right-field seats in the ninth.

The switch-hitting outfielder became the eighth Mets player to hit three in a game, and first since Jose Reyes on Aug 15, 2006, at Philadelphia. Reyes hit a two-run single in

the fourth that chased Jimenez (0-3) and kept the Rockies’ ace searching for his elusive first win of the season. He lasted just 3 2-3 innings in his shortest stint of the season, surrendering five runs and three hits while walking six.

Cardinals 9, Cubs 1 At Chicago, unbeaten Jaime Garcia pitched seven effective innings and Matt Holliday homered to start an early burst that sent St. Louis to a victory over Chicago.

Garcia (5-0), who carried a perfect game into the eighth in his previous start against

MLB results/standings Major League Baseball results and standings on Thursday.

Tampa Bay 7, Cleveland 4; St. Louis 9, Chicago Cubs 1; NY Mets 9, Colorado 5; San Francisco 3, Arizona 2; Baltimore 2, Seattle 1 (12 innings); Kansas City 11, NY Yankees 5; Pittsburgh LA, Dodgers (postponed); Atlanta 6, Washington 5 (10 innings).

American League Eastern Division W L PCT GB Tampa Bay 22 15 .595 NY Yankees 20 15 .571 1 Baltimore 17 19 .472 4.5 Toronto 17 20 .459 5 Boston 17 20 .459 5 Central Division Cleveland 23 13 .639 Kansas City 20 17 .541 3.5 Detroit 20 18 .526 4 Chicago White Sox 15 23 .395 9 Minnesota 12 23 .343 10.5 Western Division LA Angels 21 17 .553 Texas 19 18 .514 1.5 Oakland 19 18 .514 1.5 Seattle 16 22 .421 5

National League Eastern Division Philadelphia 24 12 .667 Florida 21 15 .583 Atlanta 21 18 .538 Washington 18 19 .486 NY Mets 17 20 .459 Central Division St. Louis 22 16 .579 Cincinnati 20 17 .541 Pittsburgh 18 19 .486 Chicago Cubs 16 20 .444 Milwaukee 16 21 .432 Houston 14 23 .378 Western Division San Francisco 21 16 .568 Colorado 19 16 .543 LA Dodgers 18 20 .474 Arizona 15 21 .417 San Diego 15 22 .405

3 4.5 6.5 7.5 1.5 3.5 5 5.5 7.5 1 3.5 5.5 6

Milwaukee, allowed one run and nine hits.

He complemented his 84-pitch outing at Wrigley Field by hitting an RBI single. St. Louis finished with 16 hits and took two of three in the series without manager Tony La Russa, who is back in St Louis recovering from shingles. Holliday led off a five-run second with his fifth homer, a long shot off Casey Coleman (1-3) that cleared the bleachers in left field.

Giants 3, Diamondbacks 2 At San Francisco, Matt Cain had his best outing in nearly a month and Nate

Schierholtz added three hits and made an outstanding defensive play as San Francisco beat Arizona to complete a perfect homestand. Eli Whiteside doubled twice to help the Giants go 6-0 at home. They swept Colorado and then Arizona to extend their seasonhigh winning streak to six games. Gerardo Parra, Xavier Nady and Justin Upton had two hits apiece for Arizona, which has lost four straight. The Diamondbacks scored twice in the eighth and had the tying run at third base with one out in the ninth before Javier Lopez recorded the final two outs for his first save in nearly five years. — AP

Rays’ hot road form continues CLEVELAND: Tampa Bay’s irresistible road form proved too much for Cleveland’s impressive home record as the Rays beat the Indians 7-4 in Thursday’s clash of American League divisional leaders. Tampa Bay has won 10 of 11 on the road and owns the majors’ best mark away from home at 13-5. Cleveland lost for just the second time in 16 home games.

Rays starter James Shields (4-1) gave up two runs in seven innings. Cleveland had been the only AL team he hadn’t beaten, previously holding an 0-4 record against the Indians. Reid Brignac, Sam Fuld and Evan Longoria had two RBIs apiece as the Rays handed Justin Masterson (5-1) his first loss this season.

Royals 11, Yankees 5 In New York, the hosts lost their first home series of the season, beaten by Kansas City.

Eric Hosmer and Melky Cabrera homered for the Royals, who had a season-high 16 hits. Ten of them came off Ivan Nova (3-3) who last only three innings in the shortest start of his career.

Kansas City starter Sean O’Sullivan (2-2) retired

his first 13 batters before running into trouble, but pitched into the seventh. New York dropped out of the AL East lead for the first time in a month as it prepares for a home series against archrival Boston.

Orioles 2, Mariners 1, 12 innings In Baltimore, J.J. Hardy singled in two runs in the 12th inning as Baltimore edged Seattle for a three-game sweep. After Seattle scored in the top half of the 12th, the Orioles bounced back in the bottom half against Brandon League (0-3). Derrek Lee hit a leadoff single, and League hit two batters with pitches to load the bases with no outs. After one out, Hardy followed with a bouncer up the middle that scored Lee and pinch-runner Jake Fox as Baltimore recorded its second extra-inning comeback win in the series. League, who hit only two batters with pitches all last year, was 9 for 9 in save opportunities before blowing two in three games against the Orioles. Seattle had gone ahead in the 12th when Miguel Olivo drove in Ichiro Suzuki. — AP

sports

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

Federer dumped out Nadal shrugs off fever

FLORIDA: Tiger Woods walks slowly after hitting on the seventh tee during the first round of The Players Championship golf tournament. Woods withdrew after nine holes because of leg injuries. — AP

Watney leads Players as Woods limps out PONTE VEDRA BEACH: Nick Watney reversed his recent fortunes Thursday to seize The Players Championship first-round lead, but there was more bad luck for Tiger Woods. Watney carded an eight-under par 64 for a one-shot lead over Lucas Glover. Woods, however, hobbled off after nine holes because of knee and Achilles injuries in his left leg. “I’m having a hard time walking,” said Woods, who was making his first start since an equal fourth place finish at the Masters. It was at Augusta that Woods said he suffered the “minor injury” to his leg, although it now appears it could cost him serious time from the course. Watney launched his round with birdies in a row from the 10th. He rebounded after a double-bogey at 14 with a birdie at 15 and had five more birdies and an eagle against one more bogey on the front nine. His performance came after he missed the cut at Quail Hollow. “Last week in Charlotte, I got off to a bad start and I never really righted the ship,” Watney said. “So today to have a bad hole like that and still play a good round is a rewarding feeling, just because I didn’t let it affect the rest of my day.” Glover, who won last week at Quail Hollow, birdied his first hole to keep that momentum going.

“Got things going,” Glover said. “Just the confidence from last week, from looking up and seeing the ball where I’m looking instead of not. And that’s been an issue.” Mark O’Meara, who qualified by winning the Seniors Player Championship, was tied for third after a six-under 66. The 54-year-old US veteran was even with David Toms, who played without a bogey.

PGA champion Martin Kaymer of Germany, who can reclaim the world number one ranking by winning or finishing alone in second, opened with a 67. He also had a close-up look at Woods’ struggles as he was paired with the 14-time major champion and Matt Kuchar. “Nobody really knows how much pain he was in,” Kaymer said of Woods, who lagged behind his playing partners. “He was walking really slowly. He was walking behind us. But I didn’t know that it was because of pain or I just thought that he walks a little slower than me.”— AFP

ROME: Roger Federer’s French Open problems piled up on Thursday when he was dumped out of the Rome Masters

by Richard Gasquet but world number one Rafael Nadal shook off a fever to make the quarter-finals. World number three Federer went down 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/4) in the third round to Frenchman Gasquet, a worrying setback less just 10 days before the start of Roland Garros, the second Grand Slam of the season. Nadal, the defending French Open champion, quickly put behind him what he described as his worst clay performance in memory on Wednesday to streak into the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-2 win over compatriot Feliciano Lopez. World number two Novak Djokovic took his unbeaten run at the start of this season to 34 matches as he strolled past Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 6-1 while world number four Andy Murray saw off Italian Potito Starace 6-2, 6-3.

Federer broke Gasquet in the seventh game of the first set before serving it out and when he broke again in the fifth game of the second, it looked like he would be in for a short afternoon. But Gasquet fought back in the eighth game and then took the tie-break. The decider also went to a tie-break that saw two early mini-breaks apiece before Gasquet took the initiative when Federer missed a backhand. Leading 5-4 and with two serves to come, Gasquet held his nerve while Federer made errors off both wings to hand the match to the Frenchman. It was only Gasquet’s second victory against the record 16-time Grand Slam winner in 10 meetings, his first coming in 2005 in Monte Carlo in their first match when he was still a teenager. “That’s how it goes sometimes, I thought I was playing well and then in the third I wasn’t playing at all, it’s a disappointing match for me,” admitted Federer. “It was tough to play out there, it was a slippery court. Richard started to play better as the match went on.” Nadal played much better than in his troubled three-set victory over Italian qualifier Paolo Lorenzi on Wednesday insisting that his poor form had been due to a fever and not the pressure of having lost last week’s

ROME: Switzerland’s Roger Federer fails to return the ball to France’s Richard Gasquet during the Italian Open tennis tournament, in Rome. Gasquet won 46, 7-6, 7-6.—AP Madrid final to Djokovic. “I had a fever last night and this morning I didn’t feel perfect. Before the match I didn’t know if I could go on court,” he said. “I had a practice at 11:30 for just 15 minutes to see how it went and finally I decided to go on court. It worked a little bit better than yesterday. “The last few months have been hard. I certainly didn’t understand very well yesterday (Wednesday) why I felt that slow and without energy.

I understand better today.” Having given up an early break, Nadal took the first set when Lopez played a sloppy service game at 4-5, a poor drop-shot into the net bringing up 0-40 and three set points to Nadal, who took the first with a

rasping backhand passing shot.

Nadal then broke him twice in the second set as Lopez paid for his 30 unforced errors during the match. In the women’s event, world number one Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark enjoyed a relatively trouble-free night as she overcame Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 6-1, 7-6 (7/4). French Open champion Francesca Schiavone showed her mettle as she came back from a set down to beat Daniela Hantuchova 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals for the fourth time, but first since 2005. Former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova breezed past 10th seed Shahar Peer 6-2, 6-2.— AFP

Rai, Bayron share lead at Philippine Open MANILA: Himmat Rai of India and local hope Jay Bayron shared the halfway lead at the ICTSI Philippine Open yesterday, with both players chasing their maiden Asian Tour victory. Rai posted a two-under-par 70 to tie with Bayron, who returned with a 69, on a two-day total of six-under-par 138 in the $300,000 event held at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club. Rookies Berry Henson of the United States and Daisuke Kataoka of Japan were a stroke back with South African Jbe Kruger, who finished second three times last year. Thailand’s Panuphol Pittayarat bounced back from two opening bogeys with a solid 69 to lie in sixth place, two strokes from the leaders.

Rai, 23, was on seven-under after 15

holes but swirling winds threw him off track when he dropped his second bogey of the day on the 16th hole. “It was hot out there and the wind picked up later in the afternoon. The wind was swirling but I managed my shots well to give myself a chance in the weekend,” said Rai. Bayron fired four birdies against one bogey with the highlight of his round coming on the 14th hole when his eagle attempt from 97 yards out stopped mere inches from the cup.

He was introduced to the game of golf at the age of 13 when he caddied in a local golf club.

“This is a very difficult golf course and I’m very surprised to shoot sixunder after two rounds. Winning on the Asian Tour especially my national Open

will be a dream come true,” smiled the 32-year-old.

Henson, 31, continued his rich vein of form. He was delighted to be in the mix when he made a pivotal up-anddown par save on the 17th hole after his tee shot found the fairway bunker. “I felt like I escaped with my score. If I can get my putter going, I will be dangerous in the weekend,” said Henson.

Thailand’s rising star Panuphol kept his emotions intact after two early bogeys and was rewarded with five birdies as he returned with 69. “I was frustrated when I bogeyed the first two holes but I tried to maintain my tempo and emotions. My goal was to make the cut but now I’m hoping to finish in the topfive,” said the 18-year-old.—AFP

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Clash of styles sets stage for intriguing East final TORONTO: The Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning may be as different as country music and jazz but they have been two of the NHL’s hottest post-season acts and set the stage for an intriguing Eastern Conference final. For all their differences, the Bruins and Lightning have followed remarkably similar paths to the third round, which begins today in Boston with the winner of the best-of-seven series advancing to the Stanley Cup finals.

Both teams received opening round scares, surviving series that were pushed to the seven-game limit before sweeping aside higher seeded opposition in the second round. The Lightning enter the series riding a sevengame winning streak after storming back from 3-1 down to eliminate the Pittsburgh Penguins and then stunning the top-seeded Washington Capitals in four straight.

Boston has also been in sizzling form, posting victories in eight of their last nine contests, seeing off the Montreal Canadiens with a Game Seven overtime win then exacting

Russia to host 2016 world championship Moscow, St Petersburg named host cities MOSCOW: Russia won the right to stage the 2016 world ice hockey championship yesterday, the latest in a series of international sporting events to be awarded to the world’s largest country. “Russia will host the world championship in five years in Moscow and St. Petersburg in state-ofthe-art venues,” the sport’s world governing body said on its website (www.iihf.com).

“The event will take place from April 29 to May 15, 2016, and coincide with the 70-year anniversary of Russian ice hockey.”

The Russians had been favorites to land the 2016 tournament after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin arrived at the current world championship in Bratislava on Friday to throw his weight behind their campaign. The IIHF congress in Bratislava voted for Russia after two other bidders for 2016, Denmark and Ukraine, withdrew their nominations.

“I can promise you that the world championship will be staged at the highest level,” Putin told the IIHF delegates in English, adding that all players, officials and fans would get top quality service and free transportation to and from arenas.

“Russia has fully deserved to stage this championship.” Moscow last hosted the world championship in 2007 at the new 14,000-seat Khodynka arena, while St Petersburg was the venue of the 2000 tournament.

Moscow’s Khodynka arena also hosted the world figure skating championships last month after Japan abandoned its plans to stage the event following the deadly earthquake and tsunami.

Putin has also helped Russia land the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and the 2018 soccer World Cup. — Reuters

revenge on a Philadelphia Flyers team that beat the Bruins last year to become just the third NHL team to win a series after losing the first three games. With the NBA’s Boston Celtics bounced from the playoffs by the Miami Heat this week, the Bruins will command the Beantown sporting spotlight as they continue a quest to end a 39-year Stanley Cup drought. “If there is one thing that we’ve learned through the years, it’s that there is no entitlement,” Bruins coach Claude Julien told reporters. “We’ve gotten here because we have earned it and if we are going to get an opportunity at challenging for the Stanley Cup, we certainly can’t have a sense of entitlement here.”

SURPRISE PACKAGE The Bruins won three of the four meetings between the two clubs during the regular season but the Lightning have shown an extra spark during the post-season. With a rookie general manager Steve Yzerman, first-

year head coach Guy Boucher and well-traveled 41-year-old netminder Dwayne Roloson, the fifth-seeded Lightning have been the surprise package of these Stanley Cup playoffs.

Tampa Bay’s emergence as a Stanley Cup contender, however, may not be so much a surprise as it is a project that is simply ahead of schedule. “I wanted to bring in the best possible people at all positions,” said Yzerman, a Hall of Famer who won Olympic gold as a player and was put in charge of assembling Canada’s team for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games. “I wanted to surround myself with the brightest, most enthusiastic people.”

“This isn’t just a one year thing. It’s going to take time, but we’re off to a good start.”

With the exception of their greybeard netminders, the East finalists have little in common.

The Lightning, who the Stanley Cup in 2004, feature some of the NHL’s most gifted offensive talents in Steven Stamkos and Vincent Lecavalier, who have each scored 50 or more

goals in a season, and Martin St. Louis, a Hart Trophy finalist for the league’s most valuable player. Finn Sean Bergenheim, who had just 14 goals during the regular season, is tied for the playoff lead with seven.

You will not find any Hart or Rocket Richard trophy candidates on a Big Bad Bruins roster that does most of its scoring by committee. While the burly Bruins lack a big gun, they roll out four hard-working lines that play a physical game with Nathan Horton, David Krejci and Brad Marchand all tied for the team lead with five goals apiece. But what the Bruins do have is a solid back end anchored by goalie Tim Thomas, a Vezina Trophy finalist as top goalie, and the hulking Zdeno Chara, nominated for the Norris Trophy as top defenceman. Thomas, a 37-year-old journeyman, and Roloson, a late-season pickup by the Lightning, have provided their teams with championship-quality netminding recording eight wins while posting the top goals against averages. — Reuters

Sharks clinch series SAN JOSE: Patrick Marleau, who has shouldered blame for past postseason failures by San Jose, scored the winning goal that gave the Sharks a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday in Game 7 of their NHL playoff series. Marleau got his first point of the series when he knocked home a rebound with 7:47 to play and then made the key defensive play in the closing seconds as the Sharks managed to knock out Detroit at the fourth attempt and book a place in the Western Conference finals.

“For him to end up with the winning goal was pretty special for our team and for him,” coach Todd McLellan said. “The monkey may be off his back for the next series. He was a difference maker tonight.” Devin Setoguchi and Logan Couture scored in the first period and Antti Niemi made 38 saves for the Sharks, who had lost three straight potential clinching games before eliminating the Red Wings for the second straight year in the second round.

San Jose avoided becoming the fourth NHL team to lose a series after winning the first three games. A franchise known for its playoff flops avoided a colossal one and now heads into its second straight West finals.

“There’s a lot of doubters who said we probably couldn’t do this,” captain Joe Thornton said. “But that’s two years in a row we beat a pretty good team. We’re a pretty good team now, too.” The Sharks get two days off before beginning the conference final Sunday in Vancouver against the Canucks, who also won a Game 7 after blowing a 3-0 lead in the first round against Chicago.

Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg scored for the Red Wings, who fought valiantly to the end but were unable to complete their bid for an historic feat. Detroit furiously pushed for the tying goal in the frantic final minutes, but couldn’t beat Niemi again even after getting a late power-play chance.

“It’s not easy being down 3-0 and having to win four games,” Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. “I felt like we had the upper hand. But you never knew the outcome of any game until the end. At the end, it’s still disappointing to win three games and come back here with a chance to win or tie it in the final minutes and then fall short.” The muchmaligned Marleau, who was called “gutless” by former teammate Jeremy Roenick after Game 5, gave the Sharks the breathing room when he poked a rebound of Setoguchi’s

SAN JOSE: San Jose Sharks right wing Dany Heatley (15) celebrates after the San Jose Sharks defeated the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in Game 7 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup Western Conference semifinal playoff series on Thursday, May 12, 2011. — AP shot into an empty net behind Jimmy Howard to give San Jose a 3-1 lead.

But as tough as it was to eliminate the Red Wings in the series, it was just that hard to close out this game. Datsyuk beat Niemi with a great individual effort to make it a one-goal game with 6:01 remaining. The Sharks had to kill off a power play, when Torrey Mitchell was called for slashing with 5:03 left, to preserve the lead. Niemi then made a stop on a

tricky shot by Datsyuk in the final minute.

After a scramble in front of the net, Marleau broke up a scoring chance for Patrick Eaves and then got the final clear, sending the fans into delirium and giving the Sharks their first sense of relief as the clock ran out. “It was just nice to have it over and have us on top,” Marleau said. “They played great the whole way through. It was just nice to be able to shake hands and come back in here.” — AP

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Bulls down Hawks to reach Eastern Finals Boozer scores game-high 23 in win

LE MANS: Spanish MotoGP driver Jorge Lorenzo powers his Yamaha at the Le Mans racetrack during the second free practice session, in Le Mans yesterday. — AP

Lorenzo looks for birthday present LE MANS: World champion and 2011 series leader Jorge Lorenzo will be hoping to enjoy a belated birthday present by clinching a third successive French Grand Prix triumph tomorrow. The Spaniard, who turned 24 just last week, has a Jerez win as well as podium places at Qatar and Estoril under his belt this season and leads compatriot Dani Pedrosa by four points ahead of the Le Mans clash.

Lorenzo won here in 2009 and 2010 and was also victorious in the 250 class in 2007. “It’s a track that is normally good for the Yamaha but we will see what happens this year because the competitors are really strong, they have improved their bikes a lot,” said Lorenzo, who is set to make his 150th GP start this weekend.

“I love the track, it’s very flat and has a lot of chicanes, which is one of my specialties. Also you have to carry a very fast corner speed. The circumstances can change a lot so we start here with an open mentality, hope and with a lot of excitement.” Honda rider Pedrosa, who won in Estoril just a month after undergoing shoulder surgery, said his physical condition is improving. “I hope I can do well here because I will ride with some pain still, but I think there is nothing abnormal about this after having surgery and rehabilitation,” said Pedrosa. “Right now I’m still sore but I hope I can improve during this weekend.”

Meanwhile, seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi, who has three premier class wins at the French track, is desperate to improve on a best finish of fifth place so far this season in his debut campaign with Ducati. But he is wary of making a confident prediction on a machine which has been off the pace of its rivals this year. — AFP

Massa’s future ‘secure’ LONDON: Felipe Massa will be staying at Ferrari next year, the Formula One team’s president Luca di Montezemolo said yesterday. Asked in an interview with CNN television whether Brazilian Massa’s future was secure at Ferrari, Montezemolo did not hesitate.

“Yes. He has a contract with us for this year and for next year, so absolutely yes. No question about it.”

Massa suffered a serious head injury in 2009 and after recovering played a second string role to team mate Fernando Alonso last season after being given controversial ‘team orders’ to let the Spaniard overtake and win the German Grand Prix. His form has been more promising this year and, while still behind double world champion Alonso in the standings, beat him in Malaysia and China. The Brazilian’s future at the team has been a frequent subject of speculation since he arrived alongside Michael Schumacher in 2006, but he brushed that off in Turkey last weekend. “Since I came to Ferrari I have been answering all of these things about me going away, so there’s nothing to say really.

We concentrate on doing the best we can with the car and to get all we want,” he said. — Reuters

ATLANTA: The Chicago Bulls advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1998 with a series-clinching 93-73 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday.

Displaying the kind of offensive and defensive balance that earned them the best regular-season record, the Bulls brushed past the Hawks to close out the best-of-seven series 4-2.

Chicago will now face the in-form Miami Heat for a place in the NBA Finals. “It’s going to be a battle.

They’re a great team, they’re playing together great as a team and we are too,” Chicago’s Derrick Rose told reporters of the upcoming series.

“We’re at a place where we’ve never been. We’re happy, the fans are happy

and we’re just trying to keep it going.”

Rose, the League’s most valuable player (MVP), has helped the Chicago franchise reach a level not seen since the Michael Jordan-led glory days of the 1990s. On Thursday, he delivered one of his most efficient performances of the postseason, finishing with 19 points and 12 assists while taking just 14 shots-nearly half of his series average. Rose’s team mates carried more of the load with Carlos Boozer tallying 23 points and 10 rebounds. “I’m just getting a little better every day and playing off the MVP,” said Boozer, who has been hampered by a toe injury during the playoffs. “We just got done with a great challenge against a great team.”

The Hawks were blitzed from the start, trailing by 10 after the first and second quarters, before falling behind by 17 after three. Joe Johnson scored a team-high 19 points and Josh Smith added 18 for the Hawks. Having pulled off an upset win over the Orlando Magic in the first round series, Atlanta stole the opener against Chicago to position itself nicely. But the Hawks lost the next two games of the series then were pushed to the brink with a Game Five loss on Tuesday. Atlanta was held to just 36 percent shooting in the finale. The Bulls, meanwhile, thrived making 53 percent of their field goals and tallying a playoff-high 34 assists on the night. — Reuters

BRATISLAVA: Canada’s Jason Spezza (center) celebrates with teammates after scoring against Russia during the quarterfinal Hockey World Championships match in Bratislava, Slovakia, on Thursday, May 12, 2011. — AP

Kovalchuk ends Canada’s dream Two late goals from Russia sink Canada BRATISLAVA: Russia struck late with two third-period goals on Thursday to beat Olympic champions Canada 2-1 and book a spot in the ice hockey world championship semi-finals.

Russia will play Finland in the last four after the Nordic team beat Norway 4-1. Holders Czech Republic face Sweden in the other semi-final.

Canada took the lead in the second period when the Ottawa Senators’ Jason Spezza latched onto Alex Pietrangelo’s pass to slip the puck past Konstantin Barulin for his fourth goal of the tournament. The young Canadian team, led by Rick Nash, outshot the Russians by a wide margin but Barulin made some spectacular saves to keep his side in with a chance.

Canada dominated until the last part of the third period when Russian scored two quick goals. For the first, Alexei Kaigorodov stole the puck while on the penalty kill and skated in alone to give the goalie little chance. A few minutes later Ilya Kovalchuk of the New Jersey Devils slammed the door shut when he put the Russians ahead, leaving it to Barulin to hold off a final flurry of shots.

“Both teams played their hearts out,” Canada’s coach Ken Hitchcock said. “We made couple of mistakes in the third period and they ended up in our net. We couldn’t stretch the 1-0 lead when we had it.” Earlier, Finland reached the semi-finals for the first time since 2008 after a comprehen-

sive win over Norway. Ken Andre Olimb fired Norway ahead with a penalty shot early in the second period but Jarkko Immonen and Tuomo Ruutu quickly replied to put the Finns ahead. Immonen grabbed his second on a power play at 15.38 in the period to become the tournament’s top scorer with seven goals and Jani Lajunen made it 4-1. Finland captain Mikko Koivu is excited to play Russia.

“I think we have to stay strong as a team and do things that we do good and obviously try to do things a little better again and more forward,” Koivu told reporters. “It’s been getting better. Obviously every game is always different, some games you have to play very good defense to win the game.” — Reuters

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German League Preview

Now or never in relegation fight BERLIN: The Bundesliga’s relegation battle will be decided today with exchampions VfL Wolfsburg and Borussia Moenchengladbach in the thick of the fight to avoid the dreaded drop. Wolfsburg, ‘Gladbach and Eintracht Frankfurt are all fighting to stay up and one of the three will definitely be relegated today. 2009 champions Wolfsburg are 15th on 35 points, the same as ‘Gladbach who are in 16th place, which would mean a play-off against the side third from top of the second division at the end of May. Frankfurt are 17th, one of the positions which means automatic relegation while bottom side St Pauli have already been sent down.

Today, Wolfsburg are at mid-table Hoffenheim, ‘Gladbach are at Hamburg and Eintracht Frankfurt are at champions Borussia Dortmund.

Having spent most of the season bottom of the table, ‘Gladbach, who last

won the Bundesliga in 1977, are just one game from pulling off a memorable escape. They have won their last three matches against high-fliers Dortmund, Hanover and Freiburg and a fourth-straight win at Hamburg would give them a fighting chance of survival. Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath, who took over in March after ex-England coach Steve McClaren was sacked, says ‘Gladbach are under pressure.

“Gladbach are on the upswing after three wins and for them, the situation has changed,” said Magath.

“They were previously at the foot of the table and everyone had written them off. They had nothing to lose.”

“Now they are in the play-off place and have something to lose, so I think it will be harder for them on the final day.” The 57-year-old has indulged in some mind games with his Wolfsburg players by confidently

DORTMUND: A group of women hold parts of the longest BVB Dortmund soccer scarf on in Dortmund, western Germany yesterday. A hundred people between the ages of 6 and 86 knitted what now became the longest fan scarf in the world. Dortmund won this year’s Bundesliga title. — AFP

PARIS: France coach Laurent Blanc on Thursday received the backing of the French Football Federation’s (FFF) Federal Council following their probe into his role in alleged plans to introduce quotas for dual nationality players. The decision comes two days after Blanc was also cleared of any wrongdoing by French Sports Minister Chantal Jouanno.

The two-pronged FFF and Sports Ministry inquiry was launched after the Mediapart website released a transcript of a meeting last November in which Blanc and French officials discussed introducing quotas on dual

nationality players at youth training centres. While backing Blanc, the Federal Council opened “disciplinary proceedings” in the case but without naming names in order to respect the rights of their employees. However sources revealed that the disciplinary proceedings concerned suspended National Technical Director (DNT) Francois Blaquart and the FFF’s deputy director general Andre Prevosto.

Blaquart’s comment “we can think about a kind of quota without saying it” during the November meeting was described as “regrettable” by Jouanno.

Prevosto, meanwhile, was handed the

Cup specialists PSG bar Lille’s route to double

donating to charity a Bentley Cabrio he has been promised for keeping his team in the Germany league.

Even though his side could still be relegated, he has handed over the sports car worth 250,000 euros ($353,990) to show his players the sacrifices he expects to help stay in Germany’s top tier.

With the German league title secured, Magath expects Dortmund will want to bring down the curtain on the season with a convincing win at home over Frankfurt. “Nobody from Borussia Dortmund will want to take part in the celebrations with the bad taste of defeat in the mouth,” he said. Japan midfielder Shinji Kagawa has been included in the Dortmund squad, despite breaking his foot in January. The last time the 22-year-old played was in the Asian Cup semifinal against South Korea when he broke a metatarsal bone, but could be named on the bench despite only returning to training last week.

Magath has already told his squad that in the event of relegation, they will all be held to their contracts and they can forget any ideas of quitting the Bundesliga or joining a team still in Germany’s top flight. “The players who cooked us up this soup will be given a spoon and told to drink it,” Magath said. Bayern Munich aim to finish second in the German league by beating Stuttgart at home, while hoping rivals Bayer Leverkusen lose.

Third-placed Munich are only three points behind and can finish no lower than third, but a win over Stuttgart would see them finish second, as long as Leverkusen lose away to Freiburg. Bayern are sure to play in the Champions League next season, but a second-placed finish would mean they qualify directly for the group stages, while third would mean they would need to qualify through a play-off. — AFP

French football chiefs back Blanc in race row secret recording of the meeting made

by Mohammed Belkacemi, national technical advisor for neighborhood football, without doing anything.

Quotas were being discussed as a result of concerns over the number of players coming through French academies in recent years, who have represented France at youth level, only to switch allegiances to the senior sides of different countries. Meanwhile, a French anti-discrimination organization on Thursday launched a complaint over the handling of the quota row by the FFF and the French sports ministry. — AFP

French League Preview

PARIS: Neither Paris Saint-Germain nor Lille have enjoyed resounding success in recent years, but they are worlds apart in terms of French Cup experience ahead of today’s final in Paris. Holders PSG, defending the trophy they won in extra time against Monaco last year, will be appearing in their sixth final in nine seasons, while Lille have not graced the showpiece match since 1955. That appearance 56 years ago, a 5-2 defeat of Bordeaux at the old Olympic Stadium in Colombes, also represents Lille’s last piece of major silverware.

The 1955 triumph crowned a 10-year golden era in which the feted ‘War Machine’ team from the Nord-Pasde-Calais region in France’s extreme north won two league titles and five French Cups. The years have been fallow for Lille ever since, but that appears destined to change this season as, apart from today’s match, they currently lead the Ligue 1 championship by four points with three games remaining.

Having spent the best part of 60 years in the trophy wilderness, the club are now poised to repeat their achievement of 1946 when they laid the foundations for their post-war glory years by securing a league and cup double. “In any case it will be a historic moment,” says goalkeeper Mickael Landreau, who will celebrate his 32nd birthday on the day of the final. “Now I want to mark the club’s history and allow us to write an extra line in our list of honors by lifting the trophy.”

Lille secured Champions League qualification by prevailing 2-1 at Saint-Etienne on Tuesday, with captain Rio Mavuba netting a rare winning goal to reward a sterling performance between the sticks by ex-PSG man Landreau. “We cannot but think about this cup final,” admitted Lille coach Rudi Garcia afterwards. “It is an event for our club and we fully intend to win it.”

Central midfielder Florent Balmont is a doubt for the final after he was forced off in the 24th minute at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard with a thigh injury.

Garcia will be able to call upon Ivorian forward Gervinho after he completed a suspension, but France centre-back Adil Rami is not certain to play after sitting out the Saint-Etienne match with a rib problem. Like Lille, PSG have enjoyed one of their best seasons in recent memory but their Champions League aspirations took a hit this week following successive draws against Monaco (1-1) and Nancy. The Parisians were held 2-2 at home to third-bottom Nancy on Tuesday, after right-back Christophe Jallet was shown a 20thminute red card for conceding the penalty that led to Nancy’s opening goal.—AFP

Champions League fight going down to the wire ROME: With the Serie A title already wrapped up it is the minor details that need to be ironed out in Italy this weekend, starting with the race for a Champions League place. Three teams are realistically still in contention for fourth place and a berth in the Champions League qualifying round next season. Udinese currently hold that crucial fourth place with Roman neighbors Lazio and Roma two points behind and hoping for a helping hand. Juventus had also been in the running until Monday when they blew a 2-0 lead at home to Chievo to draw 2-2.

They trail Udinese by five points

and it would take an extremely unlikely turn of events for them to snatch fourth place now. However, it is Juve’s own recent nemesis Chievo who the Romans will be looking to do them a favor when Udinese travel to Verona tomorrow. All three teams have one home and one away match remaining so they will be looking for each other to slip up when travelling away.

Udinese, however, have the toughest looking home match to come as they finish the season against Milan. Even so, defender Maurizio Domizzi says theirs is the position to be in and he’s called on the club’s fans to come out in force to support them.—AFP

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Toure ready to end City trophy drought LONDON: When Yaya Toure decided to swap Barcelona for Manchester City last summer, several of the Ivorian international’s former team-mates at the Nou Camp were baffled by his decision. But 10 months later and Toure stands 90 minutes away from having his decision handsomely rewarded, with City poised to end a 35-year trophy drought against Stoke City in today’s FA Cup final. Even the fact that Barcelona are closing in on another La Liga and Champions League double is unlikely to bother Toure, who insists he joined City for the challenge of reviving the club’s fortunes.

“When you say: ‘I want to leave Barcelona’, people think you’re a crazy person and that’s how it was,’ Toure said of his decision to quit the Nou Camp.

“Because they are a big team, a great team, and nobody wants to leave them because of that. So the reaction was that people couldn’t really believe it.

“But for me, I won everything there and I needed another challenge. And for me, Manchester City is a very nice challenge.” Cynics no doubt will point to the fact that Toure is being handsomely remunerated for his involvement with the City “challenge.”

With weekly wages estimated at an eye-watering £250,000, the 28-year-old is believed to be the highest-paid player in English football. That sort of fabulous wealth is a far cry from his humble beginnings, where he grew up surviving on one meal a day as one of nine children, who include his brother and City team-mate Kolo, currently serving a drug ban.

Although neither City nor the player has ever confirmed his wages, Toure is not over-burdened by the expectation which accompanies his monster pay packet. “For me, it is not a worry,” he has said.

“Sometimes when people pay a lot of money, you want to prove to yourself you are worth it. But, for me, it is not about the money.”

Indeed, Toure plans to use a chunk of his wealth to set up a charitable foundation in the Ivory Coast.

“When your life starts to change and you get some money, you want to help your family, which I do,” he said. “We are normal people, we have not come from a family with a lot of money. That’s why I love my brother. He’s a very good guy who’s always wanting to help other people.

“I want to start up one big foundation with my brother to help young people because when African players do something for their own country or region, the people there love it. “In Africa, when you come from a difficult life, when it’s not so easy to eat, not so easy to survive, you respect money when you start to earn it and you respect people more.” For the time being however, Toure’s focus is City, and today’s date with Stoke at Wembley. “This year the club needs some history and we signed for City to make this real,” Toure said. “We want to be part of history at this club.” Eventually though, Toure believes City will be capable of challenging the likes of his former club at the top table of European football. “At the moment you cannot compare Barcelona with City because Barca are at the top and have top-quality players,” he said. “Lionel Messi, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Dani Alves, they are fantastic. “But, who knows, in a couple of years we could maybe be better than Barcelona. That is where the history comes in. We know the final is only one game and anything can happen. “But, if we play to 100% and then we have a bit of luck, we can win the game.” — AFP

Barcelona eye Euro glory MADRID: High-flying Barcelona, with a third La Liga title already wrapped up, will rest key stars ahead of the Champions League final when they welcome Deportivo La Coruna to Camp Nou tomorrow. Barcelona became the first team since 1993 to win three successive Spanish titles when they drew 1-1 at Levante on Wednesday.

They now have the luxury of two ‘dead’ league games to prepare for the European showpiece against Manchester United at Wembley on May 28.

“Now is the time to party and that’s what winning a title deserves and we have time to get ready for the final in London,” said Guardiola. “These players are unique and an enormously strong bunch and you have to remember the schedule they have had to put up with over the last two and half years. I hope people have enjoyed watching us play - that would really be the best reward.” Depor will provide the traditional guard of honor at Camp Nou tomorrow, but will hope to upset the celebrating home fans with a win to aid their survival bid. La Coruna, Champions League semi-finalists in 2004, are three points above the relegation zone and fighting to extend their 20-year stay in the top flight. Real Madrid tried to forget about Barcelona’s latest title win by parading their Kings Cup trophy and have nothing to play for but pride when they travel to Villarreal tomorrow. Real have had second place wrapped up for months but Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo insists the team want to finish the campaign with two more victories.

“The coach has asked us to finish the league by winning our games and we will try to do that,” said Ronaldo.

Ronaldo has scored an incredible seven goals in his last two league outings to take his season’s tally to 36 and is on course to win the Pichichi crown for the league’s top-scorer. Ronaldo lies five goals ahead of Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and could break the all-time record of 38 set by Athletico Bilbao’s Telmo Zarra in 1951 and matched by Real’s iconic Mexican striker Hugo Sanchez in 1990. —AFP

Manchester City’s Yaya Toure

‘Gloved One’ plots more South African Cup glory JOHANNESBURG: Sello Chokoe is the South African answer to Jose Mourinho-the ‘Gloved One’ who has taken third-tier Baroka FC to the South African FA Cup semi-finals this weekend against massive odds. He has the same confidence and charisma as the Real Madrid manager, the same background of never having played topclass football and the same ability to attract media attention. While

Mourinho and controversy have been natural bedfellows for many seasons in England, Italy and Spain, Chokoe uses a grey, worn, right-hand leather glove to fascinate South African football followers. Here is a dashing 28-year-old law graduate in a dark, striped suit, a light green check shirt, a yellow tie, shoes with a shine any soldier would be proud of, and that glove.

As Chokoe plots the downfall of sec-

JOHANNESBURG: Children attend soccer training at a ground in Alexandra Township, north of Johannesburg. — AFP

ond-tier Black Leopards Sunday at Peter Mokaba Stadium in northern city Polokwane, he has a simple explanation for his strange sartorial accessory.

“I use it to wipe perspiration during matches,” he tells AFP, discounting countless media and public theories that within the glove lies muti (traditional magic) that will assist in the downfall of rivals. While Mourinho once acted as an interpreter at Barcelona for the late English coach Sir Bobby Robson, Chokoe regularly visits a library near Polokwane to improve his football knowledge. Sir Alex Ferguson may be surprised to know, but Sello cut his coaching teeth with Manchester United. To be precise, an under-12 team in the northern Limpopo province that copied the name of the famous Old Trafford club.

His break came after the 2010 World Cup when Baroka owner-cumbusinessman Khurishi Mphahlele gave him the reigns with a dream of climbing two tiers to the Premiership within three seasons. It seemed a ridiculously tall order for a squad of unknowns who play home matches on a hard, uneven, part-grass, part-dirt pitch in a village 60 kilometers from Polokwane.

But after eliminating Premiership pair Moroka Swallows and 12-time cup holders Kaizer Chiefs in the last two rounds, Baroka are planning to play Orlando Pirates in the May 28 final. —AFP

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Vidic glad of criticism as Man Utd eye title MANCHESTER: Manchester United visit Ewood Park to face Blackburn today requiring just a point to win their 19th English title, with captain Nemanja Vidic believing the club’s critics have propelled them to success this season. Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad has never been that easy on the eye this term but that has not stopped them from being the most successful side in the Premier League and, with 36 games played, they are six points clear at the summit. Last weekend’s victory against Chelsea at Old Trafford means United simply need to avoid losing against either Rovers or Blackpool in their remaining two encounters to regain the title from the second-placed Londoners.

If they do, United will finally become the most successful English club in terms of domestic championships, breaking the record of 18 they currently share with

arch-rivals Liverpool, although Liverpool still have five European Cups to United’s three. That could become four later this month when United face Barcelona in the Champions League final at Wembley.

But for now, Vidic is concentrating on picking up the valuable point required to enable him to lift his first trophy as United’s captain.

“Compliments are not always good for you. Criticism can help a team,” Vidic said. “Back in early season there were people who were always trying to compare this team to other United teams.

“They were saying that we didn’t have the individuals like we used to and we were not as good. “But you look at the names in this team and you think ‘how could they say that?’ I couldn’t agree with all that was going on then. “We have never been focused on what people have been saying about us but you

SPL Preview

Rangers on title verge in Scotland troubled week GLASGOW: The Scottish Premier League title will once again be decided on the final day of the season tomorrow with Rangers and Celtic desperate to put a controversial week behind them.

Rangers, who hold a one point advantage over their Glasgow rivals, know that a win away to Kilmarnock would see them being crowned champions for the third successive season. Celtic, whose loss to Inverness last week handed the title initiative to Rangers, host their Scottish Cup final opponents Motherwell at Parkhead needing a win and hoping the Gers slip-up.

Such a dramatic finish to the season has become the norm in Scotland in recent years with five of the past eight title races going down to the wire. Rangers have been victorious in three of the previous four and with a 100 per cent record in five games against Kilmarnock this season are the clear favorites to land retiring manager Walter Smith his 21st trophy. Celtic’s win against Hearts on Wednesday, which ensured the Hoops would take the title race to the final day, was overshadowed by an attack on Neil Lennon in his technical area by a Hearts fan.

It was the latest in a long line of controversies the Celtic manager has had to put up with, including death threats and parcel bombs, in his debut season in charge of the club. And defender Mark Wilson revealed the attack on Lennon has spurned the Celtic players on to come from behind and snatch the title, just like Rangers did when the Hoops threw it away against Motherwell in 2005. “For us on the pitch, it spurs you on and makes you want to win this championship even

more. It will be difficult, but we’ve given ourselves a chance,” Wilson said. “After the Inverness defeat last week, there was a real sad couple of days.

But we picked ourselves up and we knew what we had to do. The manager asked us to go to Kilmarnock and Hearts and win and try to keep a clean sheet, and we did that. “We’ve given ourselves a real chance, and it happened a few years ago, when Celtic went to Fir Park on the final day and were one up and managed to lose the title. So you can only hope that something like that happens again.” Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor, who has kept 15 clean sheets in his past 20 games, said the players were desperate to give Walter Smith a winning send-off. “It’s impossible to explain why he is as good as he is.

He just has something about him he has an aura about him,” McGregor said.

“He has the respect of every player and he makes everyone want to go out there and win football matches. “Now it’s just a case of one final push and hopefully getting across the finishing line in first place. “We’ve got to go down to Kilmarnock tomorrow and win the game to make sure we win the title and we’ll give them every respect. “They’ve been one of the most improved sides in the country this season and they’ll not want to see another team celebrating at their stadium. Right now, it’s in our hands and Celtic and us are extremely close. That’s all you can say. “Obviously, it is a situation we are extremely happy with as you can’t ask for any more than that.

We’ve worked really hard to get into this position.” — AFP

can still get benefits from it. It can be a positive.” Central defender Vidic added: “Sometimes criticism can help a side. It can drag you forward. You have to work harder to prove to your critics that anything they are saying is not true. That it is different to their opinions.

“If we win the title we will have proved to everyone that we are a very good team. We are nearly there now to prove them wrong. This team has space to grow. I think that next season we will be even better.” United could never have dreamt of such an easy-looking end to the season with fixtures against Rovers and fellow relegation candidates Blackpool. Steve Kean has failed to inspire Rovers since he replaced Sam Allardyce as manager in December and is a divisive figure among the club’s fans.

However, victory over United would secure Rovers’ Premier League future

and strengthen Kean’s managerial position. Those two factors mean United will face a side unwilling to allow them to cruise to the title. “I think looking at Man United’s point of view they have an agenda but we have our own agenda at this point of the season,” Kean said.

“They will be determined like we will be.

We are confident we will get something from the game.

It will be tight. “We won’t be approaching this game to defend. It’s a fantastic time to play them with them having one eye on the championship. “You always relish coming up against Sir Alex. Just look at his record. I now have the opportunity to select a team to come up against one of his.” Rovers are likely to be without David Dunn (calf), Ryan Nelsen (knee) and Vince Grella (Achilles) while United are likely to have a virtually full strength line-up to choose from. — AFP

Utd’s Ferguson charged with improper conduct LONDON: Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was charged with improper conduct by the Football Association yesterday over comments about referee Howard Webb in which he called him “the best referee in the country”. The charge, which comes two months after Ferguson received a five-match touchline ban for criticizing referees, relates to views expressed at a news conference before last Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Chelsea. FA regulations make it clear that managers are not allowed to comment on referees before a match, regardless of whether the statements are positive or negative.

“Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been charged with improper conduct. The charge relates to media comments made about match official Howard Webb on May 6,” the FA said in a statement. “Ferguson has until 4pm on May 16 to respond to this charge.”

Ferguson’s previous misconduct charge from English soccer’s governing body came after he said he “feared the worse” when he found out Martin Atkinson was refereeing United’s match at Stamford Bridge in March, which his team lost 2-1. Before Chelsea headed to Manchester last weekend for a top-of-thetable clash, Ferguson was asked whether he took comfort from the fact that experienced World Cup final referee Webb would be officiating. —Reuters

MANCHESTER: Manchester United’s manager Alex Ferguson (left) gestures during the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Chelsea at Old Trafford in Manchester in this file photo. — AFP

Matches on TV (Local timings)

English Premier League West Brom v Everton FC Abu Dhabi Sport 4 Sunderland v Wolves Abu Dhabi Sport 6 Blackpool v Bolton Abu Dhabi Sport 7 Blackburn v United Abu Dhabi Sport 3

14:45 14:45 14:45

FA Cup Man City v Stoke Aljazeera Sport +5 Aljazeera Sport +3

Aljazeera Sport 1 HD

14:45

17:00

French Cup Lille v Paris Saint-Germain Aljazeera Sport 1 Aljazeera Sport +3 Italian League SS Lazio v Genoa Aljazeera Sport +1 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD AC Milan v Cagliari Aljazeera Sport +1 Aljazeera Sport 1 HD

21:45

19:00 21:45

SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

Sports

Federer dumped out; Nadal shrugs off fever

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BUENOS AIRES: Paraguay’s Libertad’s Nicolas Pavlovich (front) fights for the ball with Argentina’s Velez Sarsfield’s Sebastian Dominguez, (top) as Argentina’s Velez Sarsfield’s Fernando Ortiz looks on during a Copa Libertadores soccer match in Buenos Aires. — AP

Disappointing night for Paraguay Libertad lose 3-0 at Velez Sarsfield BUENOS AIRES: Paraguayan sides had a disappointing night in the Libertadores Cup on Thursday when Cerro Porteno conceded a late equalizer at Chiapas and Libertad lost 3-0 to Velez Sarsfield in the first leg of their quarter-final ties. Midfielder Jonathan Fabbro gave Cerro the potential advantage of an away goal in Tuxtla Gutierrez in central Mexico before substitute Antonio Pedroza’s equaliser in added time left the tie evenly poised at 1-1. Striker Juan Manuel Martinez profited from goalkeeping mis-

takes to hit two in five minutes for 1994 champions Velez at the Bombonera in Buenos Aires.

Velez had to stage their match at Boca Juniors’ ground because their Fortin was closed on Tuesday after fans fired flares during their league match against Banfield on Monday.

The hosts went ahead in the 21st minute when midfielder Augusto Fernandez crossed from the right and Martinez allowed the ball to pass between his legs for Maxi Moralez to steer it in from the centre of the penalty

area. The Argentine league leaders went further ahead in the 75th minute when Libertad goalkeeper Tobias Vargas needlessly brought Martinez down and he picked himself up to convert the penalty. Martinez, set up by substitute midfielder Ricky Alvarez, added a third goal five minutes later when Vargas should have saved his shot but let the ball slip from his grasp.

THREE-GOAL CUSHION Velez did not play as well as they have done in recent matches but took their goals tally in the

competition to 19 in nine contests and go to Asuncion for next week’s second leg with a comfortable cushion. “To win here and take a good advantage there was very important because they are a great team,” Martinez told Fox Sports after Libertad had threatened to wrest control of the match in the second half.

At Chiapas, Cerro’s Argentine striker Roberto Nanni missed a golden opportunity to open the scoring when he was left with only the goalkeeper to beat but dallied on the ball and was

robbed of possession. However, Cerro took the lead in the 73rd minute when Fabbro steered home Fredy Bareiro’s knock down from a Juan Manuel Iturbe cross. Pedroza equalized one minute into added time when he rose above the defense to head in off Cerro captain Diego Barreto’s left-hand post. In Wednesday’s quarter-finals, Brazil’s Santos won 1-0 against Once Caldas in Colombia and Penarol of Uruguay beat Chile’s Universidad Catolica 2-0 in Montevideo.— Reuters