03 Mar 2012 by Kuwait Times

IPT IO N SC R SU B

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

RABIA ALTHANI 10, 1433 AH

No: 15376

150 Fils

Kuwait National & Liberation Days

Obama cautions he is not bluffing on Iran Tehran would ‘play victim if attacked’

Max 16º Min 07º

Execution-style killings in Syria? 35 more shot dead BEIRUT: Syrian activists accused regime forces of carrying out execution-style killings and burning homes yesterday as part of a scorched-earth campaign in a restive neighborhood in the city of Homs, while the Red Cross headed to the area following a bloody, month-long siege to dislodge rebel forces. Meanwhile, 35 Syrians were killed yesterday, including 10 shot dead in Baba Amr after regime forces overran the rebel district of the central city of Homs, a watchdog said. Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that 10 Syrians were “shot dead” in Baba Amr, but added: “The circumstances of their deaths are not clear.” The Britain-based watchdog said regime forces had turned a Baba Amr shopping centre into a detention area, and called on the International Committee of the Red Cross, which has a relief convoy poised to enter the neighborhood, to inspect it. The Observatory warned of summary executions in Baba Amr after regime troops seized it on Thursday following the withdrawal of rebel ﬁghters. Syria has faced mounting international criticism over its bloody crackdown on the uprising, which started with peaceful protests but has become increasingly militarized. The UN has estimated that more than 7,500 people have been killed since the uprising began nearly a year ago. Activists put the death toll at over 8,000. France said yesterday it is closing its embassy in Syria, a day after two French journalists escaped to Lebanon after being trapped for days in the central city of Homs. The United States and Britain already have closed their embassies in Syria. “The situation is worse than terrible inside Baba Amr,” Fouad said. “Shabiha are entering homes and setting them on ﬁre.”. — Agencies

Over 50 die in NW Pakistan violence PESHAWAR: At least 55 people were killed yesterday in violence in Pakistan’s troubled northwestern tribal region of Kyhber, which borders Afghanistan, local officials said. Twenty-two people were killed in a suicide attack targeting a mosque after Friday prayers in the Tirah valley, while at least 10 soldiers and 23 Islamist militants died in an earlier clash around 10 kilometres away (six miles). Kyhber is a haven for militants linked to the Pakistani Taliban and the threat of renewed fighting there between the army and insurgents prompted some 18,000 people to flee their homes in October last year. Local administration official Jamilur Rehman told AFP that the suicide blast killed at least 22 people and wounded more than 20 others, adding the toll may rise. “The bomber detonated himself near the gate of a mosque in Tirah valley of Khyber tribal region when people were returning from the prayers,” he said. — AFP

TEHRAN: A young Iranian couple shows the ink on their fingers after voting at a polling station in Tehran yesterday. Iran’s 48 million voters are being called on to decide their next parliament yesterday in elections whose turnout will be weighed to give an idea of support for the Islamic republic’s regime. — AFP (Page 7) WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama warned that he is not bluffing about attacking Iran if it builds a nuclear weapon, but in an interview published yesterday, he also warned US ally Israel that a premature attack would do more harm than good. In his most expansive remarks on the issue so far, Obama told The Atlantic magazine that Iran and Israel both understand that “a military component” is among a mix of options for dealing with Iran, along with sanctions and diplomacy. That is the most direct threat Obama has issued during months of escalating tension with Iran over its disputed nuclear development program. His comments appeared aimed more at Israel and its supporters in the United States. Obama addresses the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee tomorrow and meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday at the White House. Netanyahu will also address AIPAC. “I think that the Israeli government recognizes that, as president of the United States, I don’t bluff,” Obama said in the interview. “I also don’t, as a matter of sound policy, go around advertising exact-

ly what our intentions are. But (both) governments recognize that when the United States says it is unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, we mean what we say.” Obama will try to convince Netanyahu to postpone any plans his government may have to unilaterally attack Iran’s nuclear facilities in coming months. An attack that soon would not carry US backing, and the US would probably not be involved in planning or executing it. Netanyahu’s government has maintained that all options remain on the table with regard to action on Iran, whose ﬁrebrand leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has questioned Israel’s right to exist. “At a time when there is not a lot of sympathy for Iran and its only real ally (Syria) is on the ropes, do we want a distraction in which suddenly Iran can portray itself as a victim?” Obama said. Israeli President Shimon Peres told the New York Times on Thursday that the United States must make it clear to Iran that “all options are on the table.” “We need a total and clear commitment that the catastrophe of Iran will not create an impossible situation,” Peres said, acknowledging there was disagreement

over where to draw the red line that would spark military action. Nonetheless, it could force the United States into a new conﬂict and an arms race in the Middle East, as Obama made clear in the interview. It also could allow Iran to paint itself the victim and draw new support that would undermine rather than enhance Israel’s security, Obama warned. “At a time when there is not a lot of sympathy for Iran and its only real ally (Syria) is on the ropes, do we want a distraction in which suddenly Iran can portray itself as a victim?” Obama said. In the interview, Obama did go further than he has before. He explicitly referred to the possible use of military force, and he ﬁrmly rejected the notion that the United States might settle for a strategy of deterring Iran from using a nuclear weapon. “You’re talking about the most volatile region in the world,” he said. “It will not be tolerable to a number of states in that region for Iran to have a nuclear weapon and them not to have a nuclear weapon. Iran is known to sponsor terrorist organizations, so the threat of proliferation becomes that much more severe. “ — Agencies

LOCAL

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

KUWAIT: Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Nayef Al-Hajref paid a surprise visit to Jahra educational area over the weekend. He emphasized on the importance of field workers participating in decision making in the ministry.

News

in brief

TV channels referred for violations KUWAIT: The Ministry of Information referred four television channels to Public Prosecution Department this week for several violations they made. The ministry said in a press release that they are implementing law and press regulations against any violators. The ministry added that, through inspection campaigns, they confiscated two cameras belonging to an unlicensed television channel while they were filming outside. The ministry called upon press, media and television channels to practice their role in strengthening the spirit of brotherhood by standing up against discrimination. The ministry advised avoiding broadcasting any program that encourages violence or extremism, staying neutral and subjective in what they broadcast and to concentrate on real problems of the state and its citizens. Family doctors KUWAIT: Ministry of Health Undersecretary, Dr Ibrahim Al-Abdul Hadi, has asked its preliminary care administration to list all shortages of family doctors. This will determine the number of doctors required and open the door for employment applications, sources said. The number of family doctors who were transferred to the central administration will also be listed. Apparently a number of family doctors (not a few) used “wasta” to be transferred to the central administration in the ministry. It has no duty system, and work there is limited to administration work only. This has resulted in preliminary care centers left without family doctors, as they transferred to the central administration to do administration work to avoid decisions by the Health Minister and the undersecretary. 27 MPW projects worth $180m KUWAIT: The Ministry of Public Works (MPW) is supervising around 27 projects within Kuwait’s development plan with the total cost nearing $180 million, a Ministry of Public Works official said yesterday. Yassen AlFarraj, Head of the MPW engineering construction projects department, said two projects in Khaitan and Agaila areas are complete, including a police station and a school. He said two high schools, in Farwaniya and Abu Hulaifa, are also currently under construction. CCTVs outside mosques KUWAIT: Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Undersecretary, Dr. Adel Al-Falah, said the ministry is currently studying a project to install CCTV surveillance cameras outside mosques to prevent graffiti. Al-Falah was speaking at a press conference, held to elaborate on the fourth Imams and Preachers Conference from 5 to 7 March. He said the CCTV cameras will halt any attempts to manipulate national unity by stopping sectarian graffiti phrases from being written on walls outside mosques.

Kuwait for peaceful solution to political crisis in Syria FM underlines initiatives KUWAIT: Kuwait has endeavored indefatigably to contain the crisis in Syria from the very start, striving ultimately to cease violence and turmoil in that country though a process predicated on dialogue and political resolution, said Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah, in a statement he made before the lawmakers at the National Assembly building. In doing so, Kuwait has shown its adherence to its regional and international obligations, always seeking peaceful resolutions to momentous problems, threatening world peace, said Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid, who is also deputy prime minister and state minister for cabinet affairs. He was responding in his statement to calls by some lawmakers demanding discussion of the crisis in Syria. Among points he mentioned demonstrating Kuwait’s keenness to address the situation in Syria was Kuwait’s attendance of a GCC meeting for foreign ministers along with the Russian foreign minister on March 7, dealing with the Syrian issue, but in particular to promulgate GCC’s dismay at the Russian veto in the UN security council. The meeting will drive home the point that the GCC states stand

behind the Arab initiative within the framework of the Arab League for peace in Syria, said Sheikh Sabah. The GCC, in that meeting, will impress upon Russia to take a more balanced and realistic viewpoint, responsive to the aspirations of the Syrian people, and conducive to stopping the bloodshed in that country, he said. Moreover, he emphasized that in keeping with Arab League resolutions, Kuwait has launched national campaigns to collect funds and donations for displaced Syrian refugees, currently ﬁnding refuge in Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon. He added that Kuwait would also contribute to solve the plight of the refugees through donations to international organizations that champion the cause of these refugees in Arab and Islamic countries. The minister went into a detailed account of Kuwait’s reactions to the situation in Syria, from the very start of the crisis there — about a year ago and up until the present time, in a bid to satisfy the lawmakers of Kuwait’s continuous support of the Syrian people. Meanwhile, Kuwait has called on the world to support a UNHCR initiative, expected to see light within the

upcoming few days, to stop the humanitarian disaster affecting Syrian refugees. Permanent Representative of Kuwait to the United Nations in Geneva Ambassador Dharar Razzouqi said yesterday that his meeting with UNHCR’s High Commissioner Antonio Guterres focused on the situation in Syria and means to handle the refugee crisis there. He stressed that Kuwait considered the importance of partaking in the efforts to help the refugees before their situation worsens. The Kuwaiti Ambassador briefed the UN official on Kuwait’s efforts aid efforts in 2012, especially its USD 1 million donation to the UNHRC. The Kuwaiti official lauded the efforts of the UNHRC worldwide, stressing that it was vital to provide aid to countries witnessing distress created by conflict or natural disasters. On his part, Guterres commended Kuwait on its efforts, noting that the UNHRC would be coordinating with all nations to find peace and security for refugees in Syria. A huge portion of Kuwait’s aid contribution would be directed to Somali and Malian refugees, in addition to other nations in Africa and Asia, noted the UN official. — KUNA

Customs strike from March 15 KUWAIT: The Customs Authority union have joined those threatening to start a strike if their demands are not met. Union Chairman, Ahmad Al-Enezi, said that board of directors of the union unanimously agreed during a meeting held on Thursday morning to start their strike before the middle of this month of March. He said the board of directors took a decision to strike no later than March 15 for all those working at land, sea, and air entrances. He said the strike shall consider humanitarian cases like citizens who die abroad and deceased bodies imported for use by the medical college. The

strike will not affect the import pharmaceuticals or perishable foodstuffs, and travelers will still be able to leave or return to the country. Al-Enezi called upon His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak to intervene and defuse the problem. He said the union and representatives of the customs authority employees have tried their best to avoid any escalation by negotiating for the benefit of all concerned parties. But the Minister of Finance is not cooperating and has pushed things to escalate to this conclusion.

LOCAL

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Italy confirms commitment to Kuwait security, stability Defense minister on Gulf tour ROME: On the eve of his visit to Kuwait, Italian Defense Minister Giampaolo Di Paola has reiterated his country’s commitment to security and stability of the State of Kuwait particularly with the growing tension in the region due to the Iranian nuke program. “We want to re-emphasize Italy’s commitment to the security and territorial integrity of Kuwait,” Di Paola said an interview ahead of his three-leg Gulf tour which will start with a visit to Kuwait today. “Italy is working with the international community to keep the strategic Gulf region a zone of everlasting stability and peace.” Di Paola added that Italy is looking forward to developing military cooperation with Kuwait to enhance its capabilities and its strategic role in ensuring peace in the region. He also noted that Iran must realize the importance of freedom of navigation in the Gulf. The Minister also hailed the strong and special friendship between the two nations, adding that His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah’s visit to Italy in 2010 gave a great impetus to these ties. Di Paola pointed out that his Gulf tour, which includes Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, is meant to further deepen bilateral cooperation in the fields of security and defense in which Italy enjoys high potential that could contribute to Gulf nations’ continued efforts to develop their defense capabilities. The minister highlighted the strategic importance of Kuwait in the region. “Though it is a small country, Kuwait has great importance in retaining regional balance, influencing the international arena thanks to the wise and moderate policy of the leadership over ages,” he said. Kuwait and

Italy has signed a defense convention after the latter’s participation in Kuwait’s liberation in 1991. He praised Kuwait’s leading role within the framework of the Gulf Cooperation Council. “The international community appreciates the great importance of Kuwaiti politics under His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.” The Italian official underscored his country’s interest in maintaining the security and stability of the Gulf region, the major source of world energy. “The prosperity and economic growth of the Gulf region are also of strategic interest to world major countries, the major trade and economic partners to the region’s states,” he said. Di Paola said that Rome seeks to ease tension in the region over Iran’s nuke program. “However, Iran must realize that Italy’s strategic interests are linked to the stability of the Gulf region and retaining free navigation in the Gulf waters.” With regard to the recently emerging piracy in the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea, especially at the entry to the Gulf, the Italian Defense Minister revealed that Italy has sent Navy vessels to the region to counter this phenomenon which threatens navigation in this strategic part of the world. Di Paola disclosed that Kuwait offers all support to the Italian naval forces to help implement this task. On military cooperation between Italy and Kuwait, the Minister said he would discuss with Kuwaiti officials supplying them with their needs of military equipment, especially in the field of defense systems, missiles and naval and air forces. Italy is ready to offer its advanced technological capabilities and expertise to Kuwait to help it upgrade the performance of its armed forces, Di Paola concluded. —KUNA

KD 300 fine for barbequing along seafront KUWAIT: Kuwait Municipality director, engineer Ahmed Al-Subaih, announced that a KD 300 fine will be imposed on peddlers and seafront visitors who barbeque outside specified barbeque areas. Al-Subaih stressed there will be no tolerance in imposing all rules and laws on violators, and that special inspection teams will be deployed to various public facilities to make sure they are not abused.

Carelessness in wireless licensing KUWAIT: Informed sources at the Ministry of Communications revealed there is carelessness in wireless licensing. Charges are very low in a number of licensed wireless services. The lack of increase of service fees for many years has resulted in a revenue of only 20 percent of the suggested fees. Apparently there has not been an

increase in a number of service fees in wireless licensing due to an old decision issued in that respect. This contradicts the ﬁnancial policy of the country, which is to increase earnings for the state budget. The ministry has not issued the necessary decisions to specify the amount of service fees for wireless services. This resulted in depriving the min-

istry of the income from those services, such as for waves used in specialized scientiﬁc research and laser services for transmission equipment. The sources demanded the necessary decisions to increase service fees and put a reasonable charge for services, in order to collect fees for them according to their value. —Al-Qabas

HANOI: Kuwaiti embassy in Vietnam held a special reception over the weekend to celebrate the country’s 51st National Day and 21st Liberation Day anniversaries. Picture shows some of the invitees with the host.

Al-Subaih said the Municipality has conducted various awareness campaigns on the need to preserve public facilities and limit barbequing to specified areas. He said everybody can enjoy picnics without spoiling or destroying the landscape and greenery, that cost the State millions of dinars. The campaigns also urged picnickers not to discard litter at the facilities or on the beaches.

LOCAL SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Nurse beaten in kidnap attempt by three youths Duo caught in the act

KUWAIT: An Asian nurse who is working at Sabah health area reported that three youths beat her and attempted to kidnap her. In her report at Shuwaikh police station, she said she finished her shift at about 1am. While walking to her car to return home, she was surprised when she was approached by three teenaged youths. One of them grabbed the nurse and tried to push her inside their old model American car. She started shouting, and resisted her kidnappers. They beat her in an attempt to silence her, but she continued shouting so they ran away. She said she can identify them. A case was registered. Adulterers caught An Indonesian maid and a Bangladeshi expatriate were arrested in Al-Youn area and sent to the Public Prosecution Department on charges of adultery. The maid and Bangladeshi expatriate were caught in the act by the owner of the house where she was employed. Neighbor shoots A Kuwaiti man reported that his neighbor fired shots at him. He told officers at Ali Sabah Al-Salem police station that he had a fight with his neighbor. About an hour after the fight, he heard his neighbor shouting at him and asking him to come out. When he went out of the house, his neighbor started shooting at him with a hunting gun and then disappeared to an unknown place. Police checked the house and found traces of shooting. A case was registered.

Erratic driving An Egyptian woman, who ﬂed with her son, drove so erratically that worried motorists reported her to the Ministry of Interior Emergency Operations room. They said a lady was driving a car in zig-zags on the 5th Ring Road. Callers told police there was a baby in the car, and they suggested the woman driver might be drunk or have taken drugs. Police responded to the call, and traced the woman. She refused to stop and collided with several cars while police were in pursuit of her. Finally she was forced to stop when she entered south Surra area. As she stopped, she started crying in the street and confessed that she kidnapped the baby from her Egyptian husband after he left the house. The woman was found to be suﬀering from psychological problems. She was sent to the psychiatric hospital and the child was returned to his father.

Four men held Four men were arrested in possession of drugs in Salmiya, in two diﬀerent cases. Security sources said police on patrol suspected a car with three men inside it. The driver was asked to stop. After they stopped the car, the three men seemed to be behaving in an unnatural way. They were asked to leave the car. The police searched the car and searched them personally, which resulted in the discovery of two pieces of hashish and drug pills. They were sent to the General Department for Drug Control for further investigations. The other case involved a suspicious driver in his thirties. Police asked him to stop and provide identiﬁcation, but he said he was a stateless resident. Police searched the car and found two pieces of hashish and 138 drug pills.

Drug smuggler An Egyptian expatriate was caught trying to smuggle 160 pills of drugs into the country. Customs men at Kuwait airport arrested the man, who had arrived from Cairo. He was sent to the concerned authorities.

Bootleggers Two Asian expatriates were arrested by Farwaniya police after ﬁnding 130 bottles of locally made liquor in a car belonging to one of them. The car was parked in a sand yard. The two men were sent to the General Department for Drug Control for further investigation.

Drug addicts Three GCC youths were arrested with joints of hashish rolled ready to smoke by customs men at Nuwaiseeb border. They said the hashish was for their own use and not for trade. They were sent to the General Department for Drug Control.

Runaway found A 22-year-old Kuwaiti girl, registered as absent from her home in Qurain, was found with a number of friends in a Mahboula apartment. The girl turned out to be a friend of one of them, who gave her shelter in his friend’s apartment.

A group picture of the students

Promising future for Islamic finance in Africa KUWAIT: There are various promising opportunities for the growth and development of Islamic banking in Africa; especially North African countries, in addition to Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa, a specialized economic report said yesterday. The report, issued by Research Department at Kuwait Finance House, pointed out that Africa hosts 38 Islamic finance institutions, and most African countries have amended their legislations to allow Islamic institutions to operate. However, the report shed light on several major obstacles that hamper the ability of Islamic finance to blossom in Africa, such as lack of competent employees, fragile infrastructure, and the low returns on some projects. Despite the aforementioned, Islamic banks have great potential in the fields of retail services, financing of small and medium scale projects, and real estate development projects. Sudan is the only African country that has restructured its economy and financial system in accordance with the teachings of Islam. In recent years, however, the continent has witnessed encouraging growth of Islamic finance, underpinned by the following factors: Increasing awareness in Sub-Sahara Africa on the back of the growing trade interactions with the Middle Eastern countries; growing demand for Shariah-compliant products and services by Muslims who wish to comply with their religious beliefs; increasing demand for the ethical, risk-sharing approach offered by Islamic finance, in particular in the wake of the recent global financial crisis; measures undertaken by some of the governments to review and reform their respective banking laws to allow Islamic finance institutions to set up and prosper. The report added that although Islamic banking commenced in Egypt since the 1960s, the industry is still in its infancy across the continent. “Currently, there are approximately 38 Islamic financial institutions operating in Africa. Kenya is among the African countries that are taking up the lead in Shariah-compliant banking services. While the demand for Islamic banking services has continued to grow in leaps, banks have been slow in offering such services, mainly due to a lack of expertise in Islamic finance and its products,” it noted. — KUNA

Students at the presentation given by Yaqoub Al-Baqer, NBK public relations officer

NBK welcomes Um Al Harith students KUWAIT: The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) hosted a group of students from Um Al Harith Al Ansariyah High School. The students toured the bank’s head office to learn firsthand about the banking industry and the day-to-day work environment at the bank’s various departments. Yaqoub Al Baqer, NBK Public Relations officer, received the visiting group of stu-

dents and treated them to a familiarization tour of the various departments, including the main banking hall. Al Baqer said “The guests showed great interest with the broad-spectrum of NBK ﬁnancial and banking products and services and were particularly inquisitive about the multi-beneﬁt Al -Azraq and Al-Shabab Al-Watani accounts, exclusively designed

for high schools, colleagues and university students.” Commenting on the conclusion of the visit, the students expressed their sincere thanks for NBK and the opportunity they have been given to gain a better understanding of the banking job and get a personal insight about NBK and the career ﬁeld in general.

Organizing frequent visits and familiarization tours for students and providing regular support and sponsorship for educational institutions and activities in Kuwait had always been a major component of NBK’s social responsibility and strong commitment towards the greater community in general and the young generation in particular.

Sponsored by

Photography Competition

Shoot & Win

from 19th Feb. till 30th March

2012

conducted as part of

Kuwait National & Liberation Days

1st

2nd

Prize

3rd

Prize

tt $BNFSB $"/0/ % XJUI -FOT $BNFSB $"/0/ % XJUI -FOT tt 4UBZ BU #FJSVU GPS UXP OJHIUT TJOHMF 4UBZ BU #FJSVU GPS UXP OJHIUT TJOHMF E EPVCMF PDDVQBODZ JODMVTJWF PG CSFBLGBTU PVCMF PDDVQBODZ JODMVTJWF PG CSFBLGBTU DPVSUFTZ PG 4XJTT #FMIPUFM ,VXBJU DPVSUFTZ PG 4XJTT #FMIPUFM ,VXBJU tt 0OF &DPOPNZ DMBTT UJDLFU ,VXBJU #FJSVU 0OF &DPOPNZ DMBTT UJDLFU ,VXBJU #FJSVU ,VXBJU DPVSUFTZ PG $BFTBS 5SBWFM ,VXBJU DPVSUFTZ PG $BFTBS 5SBWFM

Prize

t $BNFSB $"/0/ % XJUI -FOT t $BNFSB $"/0/ % XJUI -FOT tt 4UBZ BU 0NBO GPS UXP OJHIUT TJOHMF 4UBBZ BU 0NBO GPS UXP OJHIUT TJOHMF EPVCMF PDDVQBODZ JODMVTJWF PG CSFBLGBTU EPVCMF PDDVQBODZ JODMVTJWF PG CSFBLGBTU DPVSUFFTZ PG 4XJTT #FMIPUFFM ,VXBJU DPVSUFTZ PG 4XJTT #FMIPUFM ,VXBJU t 0OF &DPOPNZ DMBTT UJDLFU ,VXBJU 0NBO t 0OF &DPOPNZ DMBTT UJDLFU ,VXBJU 0NBO ,VXBJU DPVSUFTZ PG $BFTBS 5SBWFM ,VXBJU DPVSUFFTZ PG $BFTBS 5SBWFM

t $BNFSB $"/0/ % XJUI -FOT t $BNFSB $"/0/ % XJUI -FOT XP OJHIUTT TJOHMF tt 4UBZ BU %VCBJ GPS UXP OJHIUT TJOHMF 4UBZ BU %VCBJ GPS UX EPVCMF PDDVQBODZ JODMVTJWF PG CSFFBLGBTU EPVCMF PDDVQBODZ JODMVTJWF PG CSFBLGBTU DPVSUFFTZ PG 4XJTT #FMIPUFFM ,VXBJU DPVSUFTZ PG 4XJTT #FMIPUFM ,VXBJU t 0OF &DPOPNZ DMBTT UJDLFU ,VXBJU %VCBJ t 0OF &DPOPNZ DMBTT UJDLFU ,VXBJU %VCBJ ,VXBJU DPVSUFFTZ PG $BFTBS 5SBWFM ,VXBJU DPVSUFTZ PG $BFTBS 5SBWFM

6th

5th

4th

Prize

t $BNFSB $"/0/ % XJUI -FOT t $BNFSB $"/0/ % XJUI -FOT t 4UBZ BU "CV %IBCJ GPS UXP OJHIUT TJOHMF t 4UBZ BU "CV %IBCJ GPS UXP OJHIUT TJOHMF EPVCMF PDDVQBODZ JODMVTJWF PG CSFBLGBTU EPVCMF PDDVQBODZ JODMVTJWF PG CSFBLGBTU DPVSUFTZ PG 4XJTT #FMIPUFM ,VXBJU DPVSUFTZ PG 4XJTT #FMIPUFM ,VXBJU t 0OF &DPOPNZ UJDLFU ,VXBJU "CV %IBCJ t 0OF &DPOPNZ UJDLFU ,VXBJU "CV %IBCJ ,VXBJU DPVSUFTZ PG $BFTBS 5SSBWFM BWFM ,VXBJU DPVSUFTZ PG $BFTBS

t $BNFSB $"/0/ XJUI t $BNFSB $"/0/ XJUI -FOT -FOT t 4UBZ BU %PIB GPS UXP OJHIUT TJOHMF t 4UBZ BU %PIB GPS UXP OJHIUT TJOHMF EPVCMF PDDVQBODZ JODMVTJWF PG CSFBLGBTU EPVCMF PDDVQBODZ JODMVTJWF PG CSFBLGBTU DPVSUUFTZ PG 4XJTT #FMIPUFM ,VXBJU DPVSUFTZ PG 4XJTT #FMIPUFM ,VXBJU t 0OF &DPOPNZ UJDLFU ,VXBJU %PIB ,VXBJU t 0OF &DPOPNZ UJDLFU ,VXBJU %PIB ,VXBJU DPVSUUFTZ PG $BFTBS 5SSBWFM BWFM DPVSUFTZ PG $BFTBS

t $BNFSB $"/0/ XJUI -FOT t $BNFSB $"/0/ XJUI -FOT tt 4UBZ BU #BISBJO GPS UXP OJHIUT TJOHMF 4UBZ BU #BISBJO GPS UXP OJHIUT TJOHMF EPVCMF PDDVQBODZ JODMVTJWF PG EPVCMF PDDVQBODZ JODMVTJWF PG CSFBLGBTU DPVSUFTZ PG 4XJTT #FMIPUFM CSFBLGBTU DPVSUFTZ PG 4XJTT #FMIPUFM ,VXBJU ,VXBJU t 0OF &DPOPNZ UJDLFU ,VXBJU #BISBJO t 0OF &DPOPNZ UJDLFU ,VXBJU #BISBJO ,VXBJU DPVSUFFTZ PG $BFTBS 5SBWFM ,VXBJU DPVSUFTZ PG $BFTBS 5SBWFM

s Canon will offer KD 110 discount for all the participants on purchase of any of the Canon Mid-Range DSLR cameras on the following condition: Return your old DSLR camera (any condition/any brand) as a buy back scheme to support the participants to upgrade their camera to a new Canon MidRange DSLR Camera. Offer valid only at Nasser Al-Sayer Showroom in Kuwait City.

s Competition is open s Competition open to to all. ss Participating Participating phot photos os should be be taken taken by by the entrants entrants only only.. participant. ss A A maximum of ямБv ямБve e en entries tries will b be e allowed allowed per per participant. an b e in black & whit e or ccolor, olorr, siz e 30x40cm. ss Photos Photos ccan be white size e provided provided in hard hard ccopy opy and CD in high ss Entries Entries should b be he phot o of the par ticipant should b e on the rresolution. esolution. T The photo participant be CD as w ell. well. be stuck on the back of each photo photo ss Original coupon should be Original coupon for o mation of the par ticipant. with ccomplete omplete inf information participant. All en e non-r eturnable and will be be the property property of ss All tries ar entries are non-returnable he en tries ccan an be be used by by the organizer. organizer. K uwait T imes. T Kuwait Times. The entries Winners will be by a panel of independent independent judges ss Winners be chosen by judges.. Sponsor Sponsored ed b byy

C COUPON OUPON

C Contest ontest Rules Rules

KKuwait uwait Na National tional & Liberation Liberation D Days ays Photography Photography C Competition ompetition

Shoot & Win Win fr from om 19th FFeb. eb. till 30th M March arch

2012

Name: Name: Address: Address: Tel.: T e el.: Civil ID: Civil

LOCAL SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

KUWAIT: Secretary General of the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, Ali Al-Youha, inaugurated an exhibition of plastic arts by artist Farida Al-Baqqami. Around 50 art works are displayed at the one week exhibition.

Discussions continue on antismoking law KUWAIT: Chairman of Antismoking Committee of the Kuwait Society for Fighting Smoking and Cancer, Anwer Bu Rahma, expressed astonishment at the way that Ministry of Commerce has backed up from its decision calling for a smoking ban in public places including cafés and restaurants. Bu Rahma said law No. 1995/15 banned smoking in public places. He said this law was published but during the past 17 years this law was not implemented in reality until the Smoking Fighting committee and the Ministry of Health acted to implement this law. The National Assembly responded, calling upon the Municipality, the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Interior. Accordingly, the Municipality minister formed a committee to study implementing the law, which resulted in the Ministry of Health issuing law No. 2012/23 to implement the smoking ban in cafés and restaurants. The Ministry of Commerce banned the smoking of water pipes (hubbly-bubbly) in cafes and restaurants. Is it acceptable, he wondered, after 17 years of anti-smoking laws to start arguing whether to implement the law or not? — Al-Anbaa

NATO firm on Gulf stability BRUSSELS: NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen met the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani at NATO Headquarters yesterday and thanked him for the key role played by Qatar in NATO’s mission to protect the Libyan people in 2011. Rasmussen in a statement also thanked Qatar for the “good practical cooperation with the Alliance and praised the active political dialogue between NATO and Qatar.” “Qatar is an important country and an important partner for NATO, ever since you joined our Istanbul Cooperation Initiative”, said the NATO chief. “And we look forward to an even stronger partnership in the future”. Rasmussen said that at the NATO Chicago Summit planned for next May, the Alliance is keen to hear the views of partners in the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) on how to enhance the partnership with NATO. Four Gulf countries, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and UAE are members of the ICI which was launched in the Turkish city during a NATO summit in 2004 aimed at security cooperation with NATO. “We are determined to strengthen our partnership further. Because NATO has a vital interest in stability and regional security in the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf region,” stressed Rasmussen. — KUNA

Kuwait, Japan make great headway in cooperation Stage set for Amir’s visit

TOKYO: Bilateral ties between Kuwait and Japan have made significant headway over decades through frequent high-level exchanges at various levels and cooperation in all fields, particularly economic domain. Kuwait and Japan established diplomatic relations in 1961, but commercial contacts began in 1958, when Kuwait granted oil and gas concessions in the offshore Divided Zone to the Arabian Oil Company. Today, Japan is Kuwait’s third-biggest trading partner, with two-way trade between the two countries reaching $14.2 billion in 2011, nearly doubled from the $7.5 billion worth for 2001. Last year, Kuwait’s exports to Japan totaled $12.9 billion, and imports $1.3 billion, according to Japanese government data. The two countries have witnessed increased multi-layered economic relations and investments as a result of the historical visit to Tokyo by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in his former capacity as prime minister in July 2004. The 2004 summit meeting led to establishing a joint committee between the two governments in July 2008 to further activate cooperation in all fields, particularly the economic and commercial aspects. The Japan-Kuwait Joint Committee helps the two governments discuss ways of enhanced cooperation in such areas as trade, investment and technology transfer, in addition to energy sectors including oil and gas, both upstream and downstream. At their first Joint Committee in June 2010, the two sides agreed to scale up cooperation in the fields of renewable energy, energy conservation, atomic energy, water business and medical tourism. Kuwait and Japan also signed a doubletaxation avoidance agreement in February 2010 aimed at facilitating economic activities and investment in each other’s country, and Kuwait became Japan’s first signatory among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states. The treaty reduces the limit of withholding tax rates

imposed on dividend income, interest and patent royalties paid between the two countries — 5 percent for dividends when payable between a parent company and its subsidiary, and 10 percent for both interest and royalties. Moreover, the two countries concluded a bilateral agreement in November 2010 on the promotion and mutual protection of investments, which contributes to opening up prospects for the flow of investments between Kuwait and Japan. Meanwhile, reflecting the keenness of the private sectors in Kuwait and Japan to expand economic cooperation through joint ventures, businessmen from both countries established the Japanese-Kuwaiti Businessmen’s Committee in 1995 and meet once a year alternately in Japan and Kuwait. In their latest meeting in Tokyo that brought together some 120 government officials and businessmen from the two countries, the participants pledged more active economic ties and welcomed Japan’s active engagement in various projects under the Kuwait’s development plan, in which the government will spend $102 billion in order to transform the country into an international economic hub. Japan is also considered one of the main markets for Kuwaiti oil, with Japan-bound shipments accounting for roughly 20 percent of Kuwait’s total crude exports of 1.3-1.5 million barrels per day at any given time. State-run Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) established Tokyo Office in 1968 as its first regional market office in order to strengthen KPC’s position in Asian markets. HH the Amir will make a four-day visit to Japan from March 20 to meet Emperor Akihito, who will host a state banquet in honor of the Amir, and meet Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda. Previously, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made the first visit by a Japanese leader to Kuwait in 2007, which was followed by the visit to Japan in July 2008 by former Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad AlSabah. — KUNA

Lecture on Kuwait’s role in UN MEXICO CITY: Kuwait’s Ambassador to Mexico Sameeh Hayat held a lecture on Kuwait’s role in the UN at Aliant International University’s Mexico City Campus. His lecture came in opening remarks made in the Model United Nations forum held at the Mexican university. The envoy spoke of Kuwait’s long history within the UN, explaining that since joining in 1963, Kuwait has been supporting all of the UN’s causes aimed at peace, security, and development worldwide. The strong relations between Kuwait and the UN

were most evident during the Iraqi 1990 invasion, said Hayat, who stressed the international organization’s integral role in the liberation of the Gulf state a year later. Kuwait’s role in supporting global development through the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) has been praised on many occasions by the UN. Since its inception in 1962, the Kuwaiti state-run fund has provided assistance to more than 102 countries, funding over 800 development projects with around USD 15.5 billion, so far. — KUNA

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Confident Putin brushes off Russia protests ahead of vote

Suicide bomber attacks NATO convoy

Australian PM axes rival’s supporter from ministry

TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (C) presents his certification card before voting at a polling station in Tehran yesterday.—AFP

Sanctions-weary Iranians vote Poll outcome to set post-Ahmadinejad political scene TEHRAN: Iranian voters fed up with economic straits worsened by Western sanctions decided their next parliament in elections yesterday seen as a test of support for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The nationwide poll to fill the 290 seats in the parliament, known as the Majlis, was the first since Ahmadinejad’s disputed 2009 re-election that prompted opposition cries of fraud. While that re-election sparked widespread protests brutally put down by security forces, yesterday’s poll passed off with no reports of disturbances or demonstrations, according to police. The only political struggle this time was between two conservative currents: those backing Ahmadinejad, and those despising him for perceived nationalist intentions challenging their Islamic vision. Iran’s main opposition and reformist parties were boycotting the poll, with their leaders languishing under house arrest for the past year. The regime, worried about its legitimacy if many disenfranchised reformist supporters with no real candidates to vote stayed away, urged the country’s 48 million voters to participate to send a message of defiance to the West. The interior ministry announced late yesterday extensions to voting hours, up to 9:00 pm (1530 GMT). It has made such extensions in previous elections. Officials said halfway through the day that nine percent more voters cast ballots than in the

previous legislative election in 2008, when a 55-percent turnout was recorded. But they did not provide figures. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said as he cast his ballot early in the day that a high turnout would reinforce “the future, prestige, security and immunity of the country.” The poll outcome will help set the political scene for 2013, when Ahmadinejad has to step down, having reached his term limit. Khamenei last year put a lid on the president’s expanding ambitions by publicly overriding Ahmadinejad’s attempt to sack the intelligence minister. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president who has taken his distance from Khamenei, was reported by the ISNA news agency as saying Iran would have a “good” next parliament-”should the election result be what the people want and be how they cast their votes in the ballot boxes.” The US-based rights group Human Rights Watch called the elections “grossly unfair,” saying in a statement that “Iranian authorities have stacked the deck by disqualifying candidates and arbitrarily jailing key members of the reform movement.” Several people said they voted to show the West that Iran could not be pushed around. But more said the principal issue was the difficulties they face in Iran’s economy, which is struggling with high inflation and unemployment, and Western sanctions imposed over Tehran’s controversial nuclear pro-

gram. Samad, a 51-year-old pastry cook who did not give his last name, stood in line for 45 minutes in his uniform to fill out his ballot. “I vote because it is my national duty,” he said. “But there are many problems in our country. We did not stage a revolution to have it become worse.” Vahid Lavasani, a 34-year-old shopkeeper voting with his elderly mother, said: “I want the Majlis to resolve the economic issues and improve our relationship with the West. I also want them to rein in the president, so the country is united.” But some university students encountered called the poll a “sham” and said they did not vote. “The outcome is predetermined. It’s of no difference if I vote or not. I learned this from the previous election, when our votes were stolen,” said Reyhane, 25, sitting in a cafe with friends. Mahmoud, 22, piped in: “I feel like the regime sees us, and our votes, as a plaything. I voted in the presidential election; that taught me that I should never vote again.” He added that state media appealing for a big turnout was “just so they could say the regime has popular support, that it is legitimate.” They and other students affirmed that, no matter the number of abstentions, officials would announce a high turnout. One, Azin, said the regime was “fundamentally flawed” in the way it ruled. “They already decide my fate; why should I vote? It makes no difference.” — AFP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Amnesty cancels Bahrain visit over rights restrictions DUBAI: Amnesty International said yesterday it has cancelled a visit to Bahrain over restrictions imposed on rights groups monitoring the situation there, one year after an uprising was crushed. “Regrettably we have cancelled the fact-finding visit to Bahrain... as the new five-day limit imposed by the Bahraini authorities for visits by international human rights organizations is a serious impediment to their ability to do their human rights work,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa. The London-based rights watchdog said that, in addition to limiting their visits to five working days, Bahrain’s human rights ministry had informed Amnesty and other NGOs that “they would need to be sponsored to obtain a visa.” “The Bahraini authorities have repeatedly stated their commitment to undertake

human rights reform and to cooperate with international human rights organizations. These new restrictions contradict such commitment,” Sahraoui added. Bahraini security forces, boosted by Gulf troops that rolled in from neighboring Saudi Arabia, quelled the month-long protest that erupted in February 2011, triggering international pressure on the ruling Sunni dynasty. Last month, Amnesty said Bahrain had failed to implement human rights reforms demanded by an independent commission which investigated the deadly crackdown. It said the government was still “far from delivering the human rights changes” recommended by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry. The BICI report, commissioned by the king last June, found that 35 people died in last year’s unrest, including ﬁve security personnel and ﬁve detainees tortured

to death while in custody. “If the Bahraini authorities are truly committed to human rights and co-operation with international NGOs they should do away with these new, unjustiﬁed obstacles,” Amnesty said. A UN torture investigator was informed that his visit to Bahrain, scheduled for March 8, has been postponed until July, Amnesty said. Authorities have multiplied restrictions around the anniversary of the uprising that was crushed in midMarch, for international media as well as foreign NGOs, denying press visas to various news organizations, including AFP. In January, Richard Sollom, deputy director of Physicians for Human Rights, said he was barred from entering Bahrain to attend the trial of 20 medics for their alleged involvement in anti-government protests. — AFP

7 American pro-democracy workers fly out of Egypt US posted nearly $5 million in bail

SANAA: Yemeni protesters gather for a rally in Sanaa yesterday to demand the restructuring of the army, in the first such rally since a new president took office less than a week ago. —AFP

Yemenis demand army shake-up SANAA: Massive crowds gathered across Yemen yesterday, demanding that officers loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh be purged from the country’s armed forces. The demonstrations were the first since Saleh officially handed over power to his successor, in a move that was intended to bring peace after more than a year of violent protests against Saleh’s longtime rule. But while Saleh is out of office, many Yemenis worry that he will wield power through longtime allies in the military and well-placed family members such as his son and nephew who hold powerful security posts. Demonstrators in 18 of the country’s 21 provinces chanted “Restructuring the army is our top demand!” The chants were a reference to commitments made by incoming President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who vowed during his inaugural speech a little less than a week ago to shake up the military. “Purge the army from the family,” the protesters chanted in reference to Saleh’s family members. Saleh’s son and nephew command the powerful Republican Guard and Central Security forces, which were used in trying to suppress the uprising

against Saleh’s rule over the past year. Hadi took over from Saleh today as part of a US-backed power-transfer deal aimed at ending the political turmoil. Hadi, who was Saleh’s vice president, was the only candidate in the election. He immediately moved to fulﬁll part of his inauguration pledge, and on Thursday removed the top commander of the southern region, Gen. Mahdi Maqoula, a Saleh loyalist. Military oﬃcers have been demanding Maqoula’s ouster, alleging him of hindering supplies to the armed forces in the south which are battling al-Qaida militants. Al-Qaida-linked militants have seized on the security vacuum and imposed control over towns and territory in the lawless south. Hadi also named a new governor and police chief to the southern city of Aden. The ousted president is still in Yemen, thought his aides said last week that he is planning to go into exile in Ethiopia. Many fear that if he stays in Yemen he would incite riots by those calling for his prosecution. His opponents fear he would be able to exert control through his powerful network of well-placed family members and allies. — AP

CAIRO: Seven Americans on trial over charges their pro-democracy groups fomented unrest have flown out of Egypt after the US posted nearly $5 million in bail for them and nine others who managed to leave before a travel ban was imposed. Thursday’s departure of the seven eased a deep diplomatic crisis between the US and Egypt that had been building for two months, following a crackdown on pro-democracy and human rights groups by the Egyptian government. Though the Americans were safely on their way home, Washington indicated that its anger over the affair has not abated. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland expressed relief that the Americans were free, but she pointedly noted that no decision has been made about US aid to Egypt. As the crisis unfolded over the past two months, furious officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, warned the $1.3 billion in military aid and $250 million in economic assistance slated for Egypt this year was in jeopardy. Nuland pointed out Thursday that the court case against the pro-democracy groups is not over. The 16 Americans facing charges are not expected to return to Egypt, but their trial has not been called off. After the first session Sunday, it was adjourned until April, and that ruling still stands. A convoy of white vans carrying the symbol of the US Embassy arrived at Cairo airport Thursday afternoon. carrying the seven, accompanied by embassy officials. Egypt’s state news agency MENA said the Americans were “happily” taking group photos at the airport, along with eight other foreigners who were also allowed to leave the country. One of the seven flying out of Egypt on a special plane to Cyprus was Sam LaHood, son of US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. He was the head of the International Republican Institute office in Cairo, a well established pro-democracy group. The IRI called their release “a positive development” and said it was “hopeful that the charges against its expatriate and local Egyptian staff will be dismissed.” The IRI statement also expressed concern about the future of efforts toward establishing democracy in Egypt in the wake of the affair. Ray LaHood welcomed the development. “I’m pleased the court has lifted the travel ban and am looking forward to my son’s arrival in the US ,” he said in a statement. “I’d like to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers during this time.” US Sen. John McCain and other senators said that the crisis “may have tested” US -Egypt ties, but “the strength of our relationship prevailed.” Egypt and the United States have been close allies since the late 1970s, soon after the Egyptians abandoned decades

of partnership with the Soviet Union and signed a peace treaty with Israel, the first Arab nation to do so. Informally, US aid to Egypt is contingent on Cairo keeping the peace with Israel. The raids on the prodemocracy groups and charges against them dovetailed with frequent declarations by the ruling generals, blaming continuing unrest on unnamed “foreign hands.” Local activists ridiculed those statements, charging that the military rulers were perpetuating the harsh, repressive tactics of the overthrown regime of President Hosni Mubarak and demanding that the generals hand over power to a civilian government. Nonprofit pro-democracy groups have trained thousands of young Egyptians in political activism and organizing, an education that played a key part in the success of last year’s uprising that toppled Mubarak. The crackdown began in late December, when Egyptian security raided offices of 10 prodemocracy and human rights groups. Workers, including the 16 Americans, were then charged with using illegal funds and promoting protests against the ruling Egyptian military. The groups hotly denied the charges. They insisted their financing is transparent, and all their efforts to register had been stalled by the Egyptian government. The German government said two of its citizens, working for the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, were on the plane to Cyprus. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle expressed relief that they were freed but hoped that the case against them would be closed, so that their group “can resume its valuable work in Egypt without any hindrances.” Release of the foreigners was seen by many in Egypt as a concession by the ruling military to US pressure, despite repeated statements by the generals that Egypt’s judiciary is independent. Speculation about generals exerting pressure surfaced when the three judges hearing the case abruptly pulled out Tuesday, citing “uneasiness.” Lead judge Mohammed Shukry told the state-run newspaper Al-Ahram on Thursday that there was interference in his work, but he did not say who pressured him. “The problem started with the requests to lift the travel ban on the foreigners,” he said. The ban was lifted Wednesday. On Thursday, court officials said the US posted bail for the seven, as well as nine other Americans charged in the case who had already left Egypt. It was set at $300,000 for each of the 16, or $4.8 million. Egyptian airport officials said that a US military jet landed at Cairo airport on Wednesday, hours after Egypt announced lifting of the travel ban against the foreigners. Its four-member crew spent the night inside the plane. All the Egyptian officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters. — AP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

UK’s Cameron says he did ride the gift horse LONDON: Prime Minister David Cameron stood before the world’s media yesterday and finally admitted: Yes, he had ridden the horse. News that the Metropolitan Police had entrusted a retired police horse named Raisa to former News International chief Rebekah Brooks and her horse-trainer husband Charlie provided light relief this week amid the phone hacking and bribery scandal engulfing Rupert Murdoch’s British newspapers. Police have insisted the 22-year-old horse was not a gift to Brooks, who has since resigned her top media job and been arrested and questioned, but not charged, in the scandal. But Cameron is a good friend of the couple, and questions about the horse pursued him all the way to a European summit. “Before the election (in May 2010), yes, I did go riding” with Charlie Brooks, Cameron told a news conference in Brussels. “He has a number of horses and, yes, one of them was this former police horse Raisa, which I did ride.” That would appear to violate the police department’s policy, spelled out on its website, which is that horses are retired to “homes where the horse will not be ridden.” The horse was later sent back to the police department and has since died. During the week, Cameron’s staff had parried the horse questions with jokes or evasions, for which he apologized. “I don’t think I will be getting back into the saddle any time soon,” Cameron said. Whether Rebekah Brooks’ custody of the horse was improper, it touched on sensitive

News

in brief

Dutch queen visits her comatose son LONDON: The Netherlands’ Queen Beatrix has visited her comatose son at The Wellington Hospital in London. Prince Johan Friso is being treated at the prestigious private hospital after a skiing accident last month left him with severe brain damage. The Wellington hospital is renowned for its neurosurgery and rehabilitation facilities. The Dutch royal household said the queen’s second son was moved to the hospital Thursday because it was the best place to care for Friso “in his current condition.” Dr Wolfgang Koller of the Innsbruck hospital in Austria, who initially treated Friso, said that the 41-year-old may never regain consciousness. The queen’s visit took place yesterday. Denmark charges suspects in terror plot COPENHAGEN: Denmark’s top prosecutor has charged four people with terrorism for allegedly planning a shooting attack on a newspaper that had printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Svend Ulrik Larsen said yesterday that the men - Swedes living in Denmark - wanted “to seriously frighten the population” and destabilize Denmark by planning a shooting spree inside the Copenhagen oﬃces of the Jyllands-Posten newspaper, which published 12 of the cartoons in 2005. The four men were arrested in Copenhagen and one in Stockholm in December 2010. One of them was later released. Ulrik Larsen says the men cannot be named under a court order. If found guilty, they face life sentences, which in Denmark is generally reduced to 16 years in prison. Serbia pleased with its EU candidacy BELGRADE: Serbia’s president says his country’s candidacy for EU membership shows the troubled Balkan nation is on the “right track” following years of wars and international isolation. Boris Tadic said yesterday that the decision by European Union leaders to formally make Serbia a candidate for entry presents a “great achievement.” He also said, “This is a great day for Serbia.” In Brussels, British Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday’s development is important for the entire Balkans. He said, “Serbia has turned a page,” while French President Nicolas Sarkozi said “Serbia has had a turn of the century among the most diﬃcult possible.” Serbia spent much of the 1990s isolated from the EU after then-strongman Slobodan Milosevic started the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.—AP

issues: the relationship between Murdoch’s British papers and the police, allegedly including bribery of oﬃcers and favoritism by the force, and the papers’ relationship with Cameron. “The saga of the horse may seem trivial, “ said Tom Watson, a member of Parliament who has pursued allegations about criminality at Murdoch’s papers. “(However) it’s further evidence of the intensely close relationship between executives at News International and the Metropolitan Police.” Murdoch himself leaped into the fray earlier in the week, tweeting: “Now they are complaining about R Brooks saving an old horse from the glue factory!” For cartoonists, the horse was irresistible. The Guardian’s Steve Bell depicted Murdoch riding Cameron, with Rebekah Brooks’ severed head also on the prime minister’s back. Daily Telegraph cartoonist Matt had a horse testifying at the UK Leveson’s inquiry, admitting, “Yes, sugar lumps did change hands.” It has long been known that the prime minister was on friendly terms with Brooks, his neighbor in the tony Cotswold town of Chipping Norton. Cameron’s friendship with Charlie Brooks dates from their days at elite Eton College. Cameron has also faced uncomfortable questions about hiring Andy Coulson, like Brooks a former editor of the defunct Murdoch tabloid News of the World, as his communications director. Coulson resigned that post and has also been arrested and questioned in the police investigation of phone hacking.

BRUSSELS: British Prime Minister David Cameron gestures while speaking during a news conference after an EU Summit in Brussels yesterday.—AP The horse saga competed with the week’s more signiﬁcant developments: Murdoch launched The Sun on Sunday newspaper to replace the shuttered News of the World. Sue Akers, who is leading the police investigation into bribery of public oﬃcials by journalists, told the UK media ethics inquiry there appeared to be a culture of illegal payments at The Sun, a Murdoch tabloid. James Murdoch, Rupert’s 39-year-old son, resigned as chairman of News International, which runs Murdoch’s British papers.

Confident Putin brushes off Russia protests ahead of vote Opposition lacks in vision: Russian prez MOSCOW: Vladimir Putin made a show of confidence ahead of Sunday’s poll that is set to see him win back the Russian presidency, belittling the opposition as lacking in vision and brushing off protests. The premier said he has not yet decided whether he wants to stay in power beyond 2018 — when the presidential mandate he is expected to win expires-but saw nothing wrong in principle with such lengthy political dominance. At a meeting with editors of leading newspapers around a table laden with white wine and snacks Thursday evening, Putin said the protests made him happy and that the opposition’s leaders offered nothing substantive. “I am very happy about this situation, because that means that the authorities ... have to actively react to what is happening in the country, to people’s sentiments, and to meet expectations,” he said. Tens of thousands of people have staged several rallies in Moscow over the past three months against unfair elections and Putin’s monopoly on power, and many plan to demonstrate on Monday, a day after the presidential poll. Moscow authorities intend to call in an additional 6,300 policemen from outlining regions to the city to make sure that Monday’s rallystaged within a few blocks of the Kremlinremains contained, the interior ministry said. “I think this is a very good experience for Russia,” said Putin, denying that he was quickly losing in major cities such as Moscow and Saint Petersburg. “There are less of my supporters (there), that is true. But all in all, my supporters are in the majority, even in large cities.” The latest opinion polls predict a first-round victory for Putin in the election with support of nearly 60 percent, and the runner-up Communist party leader Gennady Zyuganov trailing with only around 15 percent of votes. Putin has not participated in political debates with four other presidential candi-

MOSCOW: Russian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin, left, listens to the Minister of Regional Development Viktor Basargin at NovoOgaryovo residence outside Moscow yesterday.—AP dates, instead sending his campaign representatives to talk shows while he has maintained an image of a busy prime minister travelling all over the country. Asked whether it is normal to be in power for such a long time, Putin commented: “It’s normal if everything is working out, if people like it.” Putin, who turns 60 this year, can under the law serve as president for two more consecutive terms, which would prolong his rule until 2024, when he will turn 72. The presidential mandate is now six years, due to constitutional changes that expanded the term from the four years served by outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev. “I don’t know if I want to stay for over 20 years. I have not decided this for myself yet,” said Putin, who has now been in power for over 12 years as president and prime minister. In a tense run-up to the election, the opposition accused the authorities of seeking to rig the polls while Putin has in turn accused his opponents of planning to stuﬀ ballot boxes and

then cry foul. Russian prosecutors yesterday warned an independent election monitoring group that it was illegal to hold a planned online parallel vote count during the presidential ballot. The Golos (Voice or Vote) monitor had intended to put text-message reports of results from individual polling stations online in real time during the election as a safeguard against the possible fraud. Putin’s rivals meanwhile spent the last official day of campaigning conceding that the best they could hope for was a chance at a secondround run-off. “I really want to make it into the second round,” billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, who never campaigned directly against Putin, told supporters at his Moscow campaign office. The populist Sergei Mironov, who was a Putin ally until being ousted as the speaker of the upper house of parliament last year, for his part said Russia has had enough ruined by capitalism and now needed a socialist future.—AFP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

South Africa may increase academics’ retirement age to 80 JOHANNESBURG: South Africa is considering increasing the retirement age for university professors from 60 to 80, in a move welcomed by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) yesterday. Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande said Thursday it was counter-productive to let university professors and lecturers retire at 60 when they could still help train desperately needed skilled professionals. “We welcome the suggestion, we think it would play a remarkable role in retaining skilled academics,” NTEU President Norman Kemp told AFP yesterday. “Universities are currently struggling to attract the right people, younger people are not interested in joining academia. They prefer working for the private sector.” Sixty is the national retirement age for academics, though universities can extend professors’ tenure on a case-by-case basis. “The average age of a South African academic as of 2012 is 59, so we are looking at this within the broader scheme of revitalising the academic profession,” Nzimande told a press conference. “Some professors at 80 are as sharp as anything,” he added. “At some universities in South Africa they retire at 60.” The proposal came as the government this year announced plans to build two new universities to help meet increased demand for higher education in the face of a 23.9percent unemployment rate. Nzimande said South Africa would recruit academics from major trading partners such as Brazil, China, India and Russia to staﬀ the new universities. The country currently has 17 public universities, all built by the apartheid government before 1994, and six institutes of technology. The number of students enrolled in public higher education rose from 578,000 in 2000 to nearly 900,000 in 2010, with 46,579 professors and lecturers, according to the ministry. Higher education, which was almost completely oﬀ-limits to blacks under apartheid, has proved to be one of democratic South Africa’s biggest challenges. South Africa has one engineer per 3,166 people, for example, compared to 227 in Brazil and 543 in Malaysia, two other emerging economies.—AFP

AU troops say seize Somalia Shabaab base At least five killed in fighting MOGADISHU: African Union and Somali government troops seized control of an Al-Shabaab insurgent base in the north of the capital yesterday, a move the AU troops said would reduce the rebels’ capacity to launch attacks in the city. The capture of the Maslah training camp means that the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the Transitional Federal Government now control the main road linking Mogadishu to central Somalia. The government has already captured the main road from the capital to the southern towns. “In a swift move that started this morning, the Uganda Contingent helped capture Maslah which the extremists have been using as a base to launch attacks on the city,” AMISOM said in a statement. AMISOM Force Commander, Maj. Gen. Fred

Mugisha said the operation “extended the city’s defenses and will deny the terrorists important ground from which they have been attacking the population.” The coordinator of ambulance services in Mogadishu, Ali Musa, said at least five civilians, some of them children, were killed and ten others were wounded in the exchange of shellfire. “The groups are inhumanely fighting over the civilians who have just fled from Al-Shabaab areas,” he told Reuters. “I am sure the death toll is higher - we have not reached all the corners of north Mogadishu. Most of our ambulances broke down and the blind shelling was terrible.” AMISOM spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Paddy Ankunda, told Reuters that two Ugandan soldiers were also

wounded in the fight. Al Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab rebels, who want to impose a harsh interpretation of sharia law on the Horn of Africa nation, have waged a five-year campaign to drive Somalia’s weak government from power. The shaky Western-backed government is supported by about 9,000 Ugandan and Burundian AU troops and now controls much of the coastal city of Mogadishu. Last week, the UN Security Council voted to expand AMISOM to nearly 18,000 soldiers. Al Shabaab is battling Kenyan and Ethiopian troops to hold on to territory in southern Somalia and against AU troops around the capital. Ethiopian and Somali troops seized the strategic city of Baidoa from AlShabaab last week. — Reuters

Returnee train departs Sudan capital for south KHARTOUM: A 60-car train carrying 1,400 southern Sudanese stranded in the north by their homeland’s declaration of independence has left Khartoum for the south, the International Organization for Migration said yesterday. The passengers are among hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants expected to make the arduous journey in the months ahead. Millions of southerners fled to northern Sudan during the 22-year war that led to South Sudan’s independence in July of last year. Khartoum ruled after negotiations with South Sudan that all southerners living illegally in the north - an estimated 500,000 - would either regularize their status or depart for the south by April 8. The IOM said the train departed Khartoum on Thursday. Another 500 southerners will be picked up in the town of Kosti south of Khartoum. All told, the journey of over 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) across desert, scrubland and savannah is expected to take 10 days. Both groups had been camped out in open lots. The IOM said the passengers were carrying a “huge amount of luggage ... including building materials, household items and personal effects - all needed to help them rebuild their lives in the South.” The IOM says that it expects a “majority” of the half million southerners it says lives in Khartoum will opt to return. But many southerners say privately that they hope to stay in the north. Many were born or have lived for decades in Khartoum, and say they feel cut off from the south’s traditional tribal society. Thousands of people have moved in both directions since the war, which began in 1983, ended in 2005. The IOM says that in 2011, it helped some 23,000 South Sudanese residing in northern Sudan to return home by barge, train and air. The organization also assisted 16,500 others to depart South Sudan for various locations.—AP

ANAMBRA STATE: Soldiers try to fix a tyre on the trolley carrying the body of Nigeria’s secessionist leader Odumegwu Ojukwu during the funeral service at St Michael Catholic Church during his burial at his native Nnewi country home in Anambra State eastern Nigeria yesterday. Odumegwu Ojukwu, who championed the campaign for an independent Republic of Biafra in eastern Nigeria in the 1960s culminating in a 30-month civil war which left more than a million dead was buried at his Nnewi family home in Anambra State. —AFP

Nigeria group claims killings in oil-rich delta LAGOS: A militant group in Nigeria’s oilrich delta yesterday claimed responsibility for killing four police oﬃcers this week in the group’s second assault in about a month. Kidnappers of three foreign ship crew members have also contacted the group, it said. Four police oﬃcers were on a boat patrolling the Nembe river in Bayelsa state on Thursday when gunmen shot them, said Bayelsa State police spokesman Eguavoen Emokpae. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, known as MEND, said they were responsible for the attack in an email to journalists yesterday. The police attack comes about a

month after MEND claimed responsibility for an attack on a pipeline in the area, run by the Italian ﬁrm Eni SpA. Before the recent pipeline attack, the group had been relatively quiet. The two attacks raise fears that MEND, which once crippled Nigeria’s oil industry with a wave of attacks targeting foreign oil companies, could be remobilizing. The statement also raises concerns that it has ties with pirates. The group said in the statement that the kidnappers of three foreign crew members have oﬀered to hand over their hostages to MEND. It said the hostages were in good health. The International Maritime Bureau

had reported that a captain and chief engineer were kidnapped oﬀ a Dutchowned vessel anchored in the city of Port Harcourt during an attack by pirates Tuesday. It said a crew member was also missing. The Curacao-ﬂagged vessel laden with refrigerated cargo had 14 crew members from Russia, Ukraine and the Philippines, said Noel Choong, who heads the bureau’s piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur. Choong did not give the kidnapped crew members’ nationalities. The MEND statement named the hostages and said the captain and chief engineer are Russian, while the crew member is from The Philippines. —AP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Extend or end it? GOP voters torn over best route Obama prepares for general election unchallenged WASHINGTON: To hear some weary rank-and-file Republicans tell it, the increasingly bitter fight for the party’s presidential nomination can’t end quickly enough. “It’s going to get pretty nasty, the longer it goes, with the mudslinging,” says Marilyn Duley, of Hamilton, Ohio. “I’ll just be glad when it’s over.” Other GOP loyalists argue that patience is virtue as they seek the strongest Republican to challenge President Barack Obama. “It’s going to go on long enough until we get the right candidate,” insists Elizabeth Hunter of Tacoma, Wash. - adding that “the race isn’t over until it’s over.” As Obama prepares for the general election unchallenged, there’s no end in sight to the volatile Republican primary battle being waged by Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and, to a lesser degree, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul. Interviews with voters across the country find that the segment of the GOP electorate that hasn’t yet weighed in on the race is torn between wanting the race to end and wanting to have a say in choosing the eventual nominee. There’s also debate over whether the rigorous fight is doing more harm than good to a party going through an identity crisis - one splintered between the GOP’s establishment and its more conservative factions. Come Saturday, voting will have been under way for two months in a primary season that could well stretch into June. Romney, the front-runner, has been unable to seal the nomination as easily as many party elders had thought he would when the year began. He’s failed to allay the concerns of conservatives who make up the base of the party, and both Santorum and Gingrich have capitalized on that discontent to fuel rises in the campaign at various points. The four candidates have pummeled one another in debates, commercials and campaign appearances, exposing everyone’s vulnerabilities. None is close to amassing the 1,144 delegates to the national convention required to secure the GOP nomination. And none is budging from the race - at least for now. That has some GOP leaders voicing concern their eventual nominee will head into the fall campaign broke and battered. Walker Williams, who cast an early ballot for Gingrich in Georgia, shares the worries that the tone of the race could hurt the ultimate Republican victor. “The Republicans are killing

each other and they should be turning on the president and his policies,” Williams said. “They’re trying to ﬁnd fault with each other and they should stop that. They should continue to talk about what the president is doing or not doing.” But Bill Cathey, a lifelong Republican in Oklahoma City, said he thinks the right’s hostility toward Obama will heal any wounds inﬂicted in his party’s nomination contest. “It’s like wrestling matches. You have to wrestle a few to win the champi-

Super Tuesday states. Still, Gingrich along with Santorum and Paul - have suggested they’ll compete all the way to the convention, a notion that doesn’t concern some. “The party is so concerned that we beat Barack Obama, the process doesn’t matter,” said North Dakota state Rep. Wes Belter, a farmer who attended Romney’s town hall in Fargo on Thursday. He also dismissed the ﬁssures in the party, saying, “Once the candidate is nominated we will stand behind him.” Indeed, voters in this

NEW YORK: US President Barack Obama speaks at a Democratic fundraiser at ABC Kitchen in New York on March 1, 2012. —AFP onship,” he said. “If our guys are so weak that they can’t get through this little patty-cake ﬁght here, well Obama’s machine will come at them hammer and tong.” The race could continue well into midyear for several reasons. Republicans invited a drawn-out battle by switching party rules for winning convention delegates. Most states now are awarding delegates proportionally, meaning all four candidates can argue they’re winning even if they’re not. At the same time, the emergence of “super” political action committees that are running ads on behalf of candidates they support has meant that even if a campaign’s money dries up, a candidate can continue to compete. Saturday’s Washington caucuses and the 10 contests on Tuesday might provide more clarity to the contest. Poor showings could doom one or more of the candidates, particularly Gingrich. The former House speaker raised his stakes by essentially sitting out February’s contests to focus on

week’s primaries in Arizona and Michigan were largely on board to support the eventual GOP nominee. But there are signs that the broader Republican Party and the public in general have grown weary of the contest. The latest AP-GfK poll showed that just 40 percent of Republicans had a “great deal” of interest in following the campaigns, down 8 points from December and about on par with the level last summer when the campaign was in a far sleepier phase, while satisfaction with the ﬁeld of candidates is static. There’s a still distant possibility that the race could be unsettled when California awards its 172 delegates in early June, a prospect that both excites and worries die-hard Republicans there like Leland McCorkle. McCorkle, chairman of the Glenn County GOP in northern California, said he’s glad the party is taking a hard look at its options though he worries about the focus straying from Obama. “It’s called vetting, but how far do we go with the vetting?” McCorkle wondered. —AP

Israel PM arrives in Canada ahead of US talks OTTAWA: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Canada yesterday ahead of White House talks next week expected to focus on halting Iran’s controversial nuclear drive. Netanyahu’s plane landed at around 6:45 am (1145 GMT), and he was to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a keen backer of Israel, before traveling on

to Washington on Sunday. Netanyahu and Obama are to meet Monday and are expected to discuss further measures to slow or halt Iran’s nuclear program, which Israel views as its greatest strategic threat. Western nations have stepped up sanctions on Iran, accusing it of pursuing nuclear weapons in the guise of a peaceful program, charges denied by Tehran. —AFP

Florida mulls outlawing Shariad, other foreign law FLORIDA: A measure to ban the use of foreign laws in domestic courtrooms is progressing in Florida’s statehouse, one of dozens of similar efforts across the country that critics call an unwarranted campaign driven by fear of Muslims. Forty such bills are being pursued in 24 states, according to a tally by the National Conference of State Legislatures, a movement opponents call a response to a made-up threat of Shariah law, the Islamic legal code that covers many areas of life. Backers of the bills say they fill a glaring hole in legal protections for Americans. “There have been all sorts of wild accusations about what this bill does,” said Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, who sponsored the Senate bill in Florida. “This is very clear, very simple: In American courts we need American laws and no other.” The Florida measure passed the House on Thursday 92-24. It awaits a full vote in the Senate. If passed, Florida would join three other states - Louisiana, Arizona and Tennessee - in approving legislation curtailing the use of foreign laws. An Oklahoma ballot measure got 70 percent approval, but it goes a step further in specifically mentioning Sharia, the Islamic system of law. A federal court has blocked the measure’s implementation until its constitutionality is determined. The twin House and Senate bills in Florida make no mention of Shariah law or any other specific foreign system. The language of the legislation, in fact, seems innocuous, outlawing the use of foreign law only when it violates rights guaranteed by the US Constitution, and only in certain domestic situations, such as divorces and child custody cases. It does not apply to businesses and says it shouldn’t be construed to prohibit any religious organization from making judgments in “ecclesiastical matters.” But that’s done little to quiet critics who see such legislation as right-wing fear mongering.”It’s a waste of time and irrelevant legislation,” said Nezar Hamze, head of the Miami chapter of the Council on AmericanIslamic Relations. “But the motive behind it is very troubling.” The most fervently outspoken supporters of such bills caution Shariah law could begin to spread outside of Muslim countries in a slow-speed Islamic takeover of the world. Others, seeking to appeal to the masses, say not outlawing Shariah jeopardizes the rights of American women. Though Shariah law was an unrecognizable term to nearly every American just a few years ago, it has become much more mainstream. Dangers of Shariah have been aired on the campaign trail, in tea party rallies and on cable news. One of the most persistent voices on the issue is David Yerushalmi, a Brooklyn lawyer who drafted model legislation on the foreign law issue and who has waged a quiet campaign to ensure Shariah is outlawed in the US Yerushalmi’s views have made him a lightning rod; he even declines to say where in Florida he lived as a child because he has family that still calls it home and he says he fears for their safety. He disputes characterizations of him as a bigot. Yerushalmi calls Shariah “an offensive foreign law” but he says even if critics are right, and that he and other proponents of such legislation are acting on prejudice, legislatures have nothing to lose by outlawing it. “If you’re right and Shariah is everything that is good and noble and doesn’t have all the ugly things that we understand it to have,” he said, then such legislation simply will have no effect on the public. He notes people found to have committed adultery can be stoned under Shariah law. The Florida bills include passages from Yerushalmi’s model legislation, which was written for a group called the American Public Policy Alliance. The leader of that organization, Stephen Gele, says there are egregious court cases that have shown Shariah is a threat in the US , with foreign judgments on divorces and child custody allowed to stand. — AP

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Mexico’s presidential race tightens: Polls MEXICO CITY: Mexico’s former ruling party has lost momentum in its campaign to win back the presidency, two new polls indicated Thursday, although they diﬀered over how much the race has tightened. The candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, Enrique Pena Nieto, has long been seen as the inevitable winner of the July 1 election, leading potential rivals by more than 20 percentage points in many

polls. But the 45-year-old former governor of the State of Mexico has made several verbal gaffes on the campaign trail, and senior figures in his party have been hit by a series of allegations of financial wrongdoing and ties to organized crime in recent weeks. The candidate of the now governing National Action Party, Josefina Vasquez Mota, has appeared confident in public appearances and

made few significant errors since she was selected last month as the first female presidential hopeful of a major Mexican political party. The polling firm GEA/ISA says the difference between Pena Nieto and Vazquez Mota has dropped to 7 percentage points, with 36 percent of voters favoring Pena Nieto and 29 percent backing Vazquez Mota. He had a 20-point lead in a January poll by the same company. Pena Nieto

told reporters Thursday that he is still ahead in all the polls. Vazquez Mota, 51, wrote on Twitter that she was “very excited” about the results. The Parametria polling ﬁrm also found Pena Nieto losing ground to Vazquez Mota, but to a lesser extent. It puts Pena Nieto 17 percentage points ahead of Vazquez Mota, 49 percent to 28 percent. The gap is down four points from its January survey. — AP

Guatemala judge denies ex-dictator’s amnesty claim Decision to be appealed GUATEMALA CITY: A former US backed dictator who presided over one of the bloodiest periods of Guatemala’s civil war has no amnesty from charges he ordered the murder, torture and displacement of thousands of Mayan Indians, a judge ruled Thursday. The decision to strip exGen. Efrain Rios Montt of the pardon granted by his successor more than a quarter-century ago will be appealed to Guatemala’s highest court, his defense said. That means any trial of the 85-year-old former strongman could be months or years away. Nonetheless, human rights advocates said, Judge Miguel Angel Galvez’s decision is an important symbolic victory for the victims of one of the most horrific of the conflicts that devastated Central America during the last decades of the Cold War. Guatemala’s leaders have been criticized for years for their inability or unwillingness to prosecute government forces and allied paramilitaries accused of marching into Mayan villages, carrying out rapes and torture, and slaughtering women, children and unarmed men in a “scorched earth” campaign aimed at eliminating the support for a left-wing guerrilla movement. Despite a series of international inquiries finding him responsible for war crimes, Rios Montt served as a Guatemalan congressman for 15 years until he lost a re-election race late last year. He had held immunity from prosecution while a member of Congress and was put under house arrest after losing his post. One of the highest priorities of the president who won last year’s election, Otto Perez Molina, has been campaigning for the elimination of a US ban on military aid to Guatemala, which is locked in a fight against heavily armed drug cartels that have taken over swathes of the country. Among the conditions set by the US Congress for restoring the aid is reforming Guatemala’s justice system and putting an end to impunity. The decision to hold Rios Montt responsible for war crimes committed during his 1982-83 regime could stand as a precedent in the cases of two other

former generals accused alongside Rios Montt and of dozens of other lower-ranking military men accused of participating in atrocities, victims’ advocates said. “This proves that Guatemala’s judiciary is willing to uphold their international responsibilities even against the most powerful and this is signiﬁcant,” said Marcie Mersky, program director for the International Center for Transitional Justice in New York. Galvez ruled that a 1986 amnesty law passed by Gen. Oscar Mejia Victores, who ousted Rios Montt, was invalidated by an international treaty against genocide that Guatemala signed in 1949. Rios Montt is accused of authorizing 1,400 human rights violations, the displacement of 29,000 indigenous Guatemalans and 1,771 killings, many under a program intended to completely eliminate an indigenous Mayan ethnic group known as the Ixil. “There are crimes like genocide and crimes against humanity that have no statute of limitations, and for that reason there can be no amnesty decree,” Galvez said. Hundreds of Mayans from Quiche province, where most of the

massacres occurred, attended the hearing and ran after Rios Montt as he left the courtroom, impassive and silent. The Indians were blocked from reaching Rios Montt by soldiers and his bodyguards. When the charges were brought in January, Rios Montt told the court, “I understand what the prosecution is saying and I won’t respond.” He later added, “The point is to do justice, not vengeance.” Edgar Perez, a lawyer representing the victims, said the ruling “means that a fair trial is being held, because these are crimes of international importance.” Defense lawyer Francisco Palomo said the judge’s decision would be appealed. “This is a long process, and the Constitutional Court (Guatemala’s highest tribunal) will be the one to decide,” Palomo said. Rios Montt, who took power in a 1982 coup and was toppled the following year, was appealing charges ﬁled in January by another judge, the ﬁrst time a Latin American court had charged a former president with genocide. The former dictator was told not to communicate with others accused in the case, which also involves former Gens. — AP

GUATEMALA CITY: Retired General and former de facto President (19821983) Jose Efrain Rios Montt, attends a hearing at the court in Guatemala City on March 1, 2012 where he arrived to hear a court’s decision regarding an amnesty motion for human rights abuses committed during the 36year civil war. — AFP

MANAGUA: An image of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez that reads in Spanish “Go ahead commander” is seen during a mass in support of him in Managua, Nicaragua on Thursday. —AP

‘I am doing well’: Chavez on state TV CARACAS: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made his first live communication with his country’s news media in nearly a week Thursday, saying he was in good shape and recovering quickly from tumor surgery in Cuba. In a fiveminute phone conversation broadcast on state television, Chavez said he is keeping active, eating well and even working just days after the operation to remove a possibly cancerous growth. “I am doing well. Since the day before yesterday I am walking, roaming the hallways. I am on a good diet,” Chavez said from Havana. “Right now I’m preparing for the midday walk and later some pumpkin soup ... This morning a nice yogurt. “I got up early at 6 in the morning and was walking around like an old soldier. I signed some papers a while ago,” he said by phone to an official at an event in the western state of Zulia. “We’re here in battle, and sooner rather than later I will be with you physically as well.” Chavez, 57, has been in Cuba since last Friday to have a growth removed in the same part of the pelvis where a larger, malignant tumor was extracted last year. There has been no word on whether the new lesion is cancerous, but the office of the presidency said this week that there had been no complications involving nearby organs. Venezuelan officials said the operation was a success and urged people not to listen to unconfirmed reports that his cancer may have metastasized or that he may have suffered internal hemorrhaging. The exact nature and location of Chavez’s cancer have not been disclosed. Chavez is seeking re-election Oct. 7. His campaign rival, Henrique Capriles, repeated his wish for the president to have a full and quick recovery, but also criticized authorities for being less than forthcoming about the president’s health situation. “If I were president, my health, my life in general, due to the very high responsibility I have, should be a matter of public knowledge,” Capriles said as he launched his “pre-campaign” in the eastern state of Monagas. The official campaign season is not due to begin for several months. Information about Chavez’s health “should be something daily, because that gives tranquility to supporters of the government and to those who are not with the government,” Capriles added. — AP

e niv rsar n

Years

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Yunus rules out World Bank role DHAKA: Bangladesh’s Muhammad Yunus, who won a Nobel Prize for his work in microﬁnance, said yesterday he had no interest in becoming the new head of the World Bank despite being proposed for the position. The country’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina put forward Yunus last month during a visit by some European parliamentarians, saying he was respected for his pioneering role in poverty alleviation. The move surprised many as Hasina has clashed with 70-year-old Yunus, who founded the Grameen Bank in 1983 to provide small loans to the poor, notably accusing him in

December 2010 of “sucking blood from the poor.” “I never thought of taking up the top job of the World Bank or any other such multilateral institutions. I have been a regular critic of the World Bank for its policies and programs,” Yunus said in a statement, while thanking Hasina. Yunus said in 1995 US President Clinton had invited him to the Oval Oﬃce and “asked whether I had any interest in this”. In 2005 ex-Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia wanted to nominate him for UN Secretary General’s post. “Those who are feeling encouraged by the present proposal

from the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina may become disappointed with me that I am not giving importance to such a big opportunity for the country,” he said. World Bank President Robert Zoellick will step down at the end of his ﬁve-year term on June 30, setting up a race for the top post at the development bank. Yunus and the Grameen Bank shared the Nobel peace prize in 2006 for creating “economic and social development from below” by making small loans to poor entrepreneurs. Yunus was forced out of the bank last year, however, after the central bank

ordered him to be ﬁred for exceeding the mandatory returement age-a move seen by critics as being engineered by Hasina. The microﬁnance pioneer said he hoped that Hasina’s proposal that he take over at the World Bank would “make clear that the impressions she previously had about me and Grameen Bank no longer exist”. “Now I am hopeful that the government’s policy towards the Grameen Bank and me will be in line with the Prime Minister’s latest position. This will remove a huge burden of pain and worry from me also from many others in the country.”—AFP

N Koreans skeptical of US nuke deal PYONGYANG: A nuclear deal with the United States may have raised hopes that tensions on the Korean peninsula could ease soon, but rare interviews yesterday by The Associated Press with Pyongyang residents suggest deep cynicism of US intentions. North Korea’s military, meanwhile, repeated threats of a “merciless sacred war” against South Korea - highlighting the lingering animosity between the divided Koreas despite the North’s diplomatic breakthrough with Washington. The US -North Korea announcement of an agreement to freeze North Korea’s nuclear activities in exchange for food aid was seen in Washington as a promising first step toward discussing nuclear disarmament. But in North Korea’s capital, where citizens are taught from childhood to hate Americans, skepticism ran deep. “I heard the news, but I’m not very excited,” Jong Yun Hui, 43, told the AP. She said many rounds of talks over the years have failed to result in food or much-needed energy. “I have no faith in the US ,” she said. North Koreans are subject to daily propaganda, and the views of those interviewed often reflect what is said by the government. Under the deal announced Wednesday, North Korea has agreed to suspend uranium enrichment and observe a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests, and to allow the return of UN inspectors expelled in 2009. In return, the US promised 240,000 metric tons of food aid, mostly for hungry children, as well as to help facilitate cultural, educational and athletic exchanges. Next week, a senior North Korean nuclear negotiator is scheduled to travel to New York to attend a security conference organized by Syracuse University in a trip seen as an early sign of warming relations under new leader Kim Jong Un even as there is widespread skepticism that the deal will hold. The United States and North Korea fought on opposite sides of the three-year Korean War, finally signing a truce in 1953 to stop a conflict that left millions dead and millions of families divided. They have never signed a peace treaty, and the Korean peninsula remains divided by the world’s most heavily fortified border. From childhood, North Koreans are taught to hate the “American wolves.” The US is blamed for the division of the Korean peninsula and is routinely accused of seeking to invade the North on South Korea’s behalf.—AP

SEOUL: Former North Korean defectors participate in a rally to demand release of North Korean refugees captured in China near the Chinese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea yesterday.—AP

KARACHI: Pakistani protesters chant anti-American slogans during a rally to condemn the reported burning of Qurans in Afghanistan by US troops, in Karachi, Pakistan yesterday.—AP

Suicide bomber attacks NATO convoy, 7 wounded Attack bares hallmarks of Taleban insurgents KANDAHAR: A suicide bomber on a motorcycle attacked a NATO convoy in Afghanistan’s southern province of Kandahar yesterday, wounding seven people including four soldiers, an oﬃcial said. “A suicide attacker rammed his explosives-laden motorcycle into a convoy of NATO troops in Dand district injuring four foreign soldiers, one policeman, one translator and one civilian,” provincial governor Toryalai Weesa told AFP. A spokesman for NATO’S International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) conﬁrmed the attack, but would not give details of any wounded soldiers, saying only that none had been killed. The attack bore the hallmarks of Taleban insurgents, who on Monday targeted NATO troops in a suicide car bombing at an airport in eastern Afghanistan, killing nine people but no foreign soldiers. The Taleban said that attack was in revenge for the burning of Korans at a US military base at Bagram

north of Kabul, an incident that ignited days of violent anti-US protests and led to an apology by US President Barack Obama. The only NATO soldiers reported killed in Afghanistan in the 10 days since the demonstrations erupted have died at the hands of Afghan colleagues. Two Americans were killed at a military outpost in Kandahar Thursday, taking the number of Americans killed by Afghan associates to six since outbreak of the protests. NATO withdrew all its advisors from Afghan government ministries after two American oﬃcers were shot and killed inside the interior ministry last Saturday, apparently by an Afghan colleague. Two days earlier, two American troops were killed by an Afghan soldier who turned his weapon on them as demonstrators approached their base in the east of the country. Of the 60 NATO troops killed so far this year 18 percent-almost one in ﬁvehave died at the hands of Afghan colleagues, including four French and an

Albanian, as well as the six Americans. The US-led NATO force has 130,000 troops ﬁghting the Taleban , which has led an insurgency against the Westernbacked Kabul government since being toppled from power in 2001. All combat troops are due to be pulled out by the end of 2014, but the increasing number of attacks on foreign soldiers by their allies in the Afghan security forces has led to calls for an accelerated withdrawal. Obama has said, however, that he believes the United States can stick to its Afghan drawdown timetable. “I feel conﬁdent that we can stay on a path that by the end of 2014, our troops will be out and will not be in a combat role and Afghans will have capacity, just as Iraqis, to secure their own country,” Obama said. Some 40 people were killed in six days of demonstrations over the Koran burning, as protesters targeted Western bases, plunging relations between foreign forces and their Afghan allies to an all time low.—AFP

e niv rsar n

Years

INTERNATIONAL

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Australian PM axes rival’s supporter from ministry Gillard demoted Emergency Management Minister

CHRISTCHURCH: This file photo taken on March 5, 2011 shows debris piled up as the clean up operation continues outside of the Christchurch Cathedral in Cathedral Square after it was severely damaged in the recent earthquake. —AFP

Quake-hit Christchurch cathedral to be demolished WELLINGTON: Christchurch’s Anglican cathedral will be demolished after suffering major damage in the earthquakes that rocked the New Zealand city over the past year, church officials said yesterday. The spire of the 131-year-old cathedral, a symbol of the South Island city, collapsed in the February 2011 quake that killed 185 people, with the structure sustaining further damage in subsequent quakes in June and December. Bishop Victoria Matthews said the cost of saving the cathedral was “staggering”-an estimated NZ$50 million ($42 million) to rebuild using existing parts of the building or NZ$100 million for a complete reconstruction. She said the cathedral remained too dangerous to enter and the risk of more earthquakes in Christchurch meant repairing the revered building was not an option. “The cathedral will be deconstructed with the utmost care and respect, while at the same time protecting the treasures within its walls,” she said. “There will be no bulldozers or wrecking balls on the job.” Matthews said that the first priority was to pull down the walls to a level of about 2-3 metres (6.5-10 feet) so artworks and other treasures could be safely removed. She said the church was committed to creating “a beautiful, inspiring, safe new cathedral” but no decision had been made on where it would be built and what it would look like. The cathedral lies in the city centre “red zone”, the worsthit area during the quakes, which remains off-limits to the public because the risk of falling masonry makes it too dangerous to enter. The cathedral’s future had been the subject of heated debate in Christchurch, with some arguing it should be saved at any cost as a symbol of the city’s endurance after its earthquake ordeal. Christchurch city councillor Aaron Keown vowed to stop the demolition and said there was widespread support for his position in the community. “I would be in there chaining myself to the building to stop that and I know lots of other volunteers would come in to do that,” he told the Christchurch Press. Matthews said she recognised there were strong feelings in the city about the issue but said the church “would not be responsible stewards if we ignored the financial realities”. “We acknowledge the high level of community interest and sense of ownership as the cathedral was both an iconic building and a place of regular worship by many,” she said. “However, this is now a very dangerous building that needs to be made safe.” The fate of Chirstchurch’s 1905 Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament is yet to be determined but reports say the renaissance-style building faces a NZ$10 million repair bill.—AFP

SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard pulled a veteran politician out of retirement and named him foreign minister yesterday in place of Kevin Rudd who tried to oust her during a chaotic, short-lived rebellion in the ruling Labor Party. Rudd resigned as foreign minister last week, making it necessary for Gillard to reshuffle her Cabinet. In the process she also demoted Emergency Management Minister Robert McClelland, who publicly backed Rudd’s effort to remove her as prime minister. The appointment of Bob Carr, former premier of New South Wales state, as Rudd’s replacement was a surprise. He retired from politics in 2005 and said he initially wrestled with whether to return to public service. “But in the end, when the distinctive voice of the prime minister rouses you from your slumber and says, ‘Will you be foreign minister of Australia?’ I couldn’t have found it in me to have said no,” Carr said. Many political observers had expected that Defense Minister Stephen Smith, who held the foreign ministry post before Rudd, would be given the coveted job. Smith said he wasn’t upset about being passed over and was happy to continue in his defense role. “There are no entitlements in public life,” he said. “I don’t have any entitlement to be disappointed.” After quitting, Rudd attempted to oust Gillard in vote of Labor Party lawmakers on Monday. Gillard, who deposed Rudd as prime minister two years ago in an internal party coup, easily defeated him and has been trying since to reunite her fractured party and Cabinet. At a press conference yes-

SYDNEY: This file photo taken on July 27, 2005 shows the then New South Wales (NSW) State Premier Bob Carr handing in his surprise resignation during a press conference in Sydney. —AFP terday in the capital, Canberra, Gillard knowing full well that this could be the insisted the drama-riddled power chal- consequence.” McClelland said he had lenge did not play a role in the Cabinet no plans to quit politics, and oﬀered no reshuffling. Asked whether apologies for backing Rudd. “You get to McClelland’s support of Rudd had a point in life where you call the matter affected her decision to drop him from as you see it. I called the matter, and the the ministry, Gillard replied, “The deci- consequences are the consequences,” sions I’ve made about my team are he said. Gillard is lagging in opinion about merit, about the strongest possi- polls, and Rudd and his supporters had ble team.” But McClelland later said said their center-left party will get Gillard told him yesterday that she was trounced by the conservative opposiousting him in part because he had tion if she continues to lead in elections “gone further” with his advocacy for scheduled for next year. Many other Rudd than others. “I had every expecta- Labor lawmakers, however, were unhaption that this could be the outcome. py with Rudd’s performance as prime Indeed, as of Monday, I started packing minister before his 2010 ouster and conmy oﬃce,” McClelland told reporters in tinue to support Gillard. After his defeat, Sydney. “I went into my support for Rudd said he accepted the result and Kevin Rudd on a matter of principle, would not challenge Gillard again.— AP

Anti-Thaksin protesters denounce constitution plans BANGKOK: Demonstrators gathered in a central Bangkok park yesterday to protest at the Thai government’s plan to amend the constitution, which critics say is a ruse to allow ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to return from exile. Thailand has gone through bouts of violent political unrest since Thaksin was toppled in a coup in 2006 and the moves to change the constitution threaten to raise the temperature again after a period of calm since his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, became prime minister after a general election last July. The protest was organised by the royalist Siam Samakkhi (United Siam) group, which is also concerned the government might try to amend lese-majeste laws that impose hefty prison sentences on people found guilty of insulting the king. The government denies it has any such intention. “Yingluck is definitely changing the constitution to benefit her brother but when the media asks

her, she denies this,” said Pranon Tawamongkol, 62, one of about 1,500 people who gathered to listen to speeches in Lumpini Park in the early evening. Parliament voted last week to set up a Charter Drafting Assembly to draw up amendments to the constitution, which was brought in under a post-Thaksin military government in 2007. In 2008, Thaksin was sentenced in absentia to two years in prison after being found guilty of abuse of power for helping his former wife buy state-owned land while he was in office. He fled abroad shortly before to avoid going to jail. One article of the 2007 constitution is seen as validating the legal process under which Thaksin was pursued for abuse of power. If it were redrafted, the case against him might be undermined and his sentence could be questioned. “It’s quite easy to read between the lines. These charter amendments are designed to eventually pave the way

for Thaksin’s return,” said Tul Sitthisomwong, an outspoken activist opponent of Thaksin. Government chief whip Udomdej Ratanasatien dismissed accusations of a hidden agenda. “We can’t place too much importance on the argument that the change in the constitution will benefit one individual alone. At the moment this is just a concern for one or two groups,” he said. Any change is not imminent. “There are many stages left still. This is just the start. The whole process will take at least a year,” Udomdej said. Among the groups opposing changes to the constitution are the yellow-shirted People’s Alliance for Democracy. Its power has waned since its activists shut down Bangkok’s main airports in 2008 in protests to stop an earlier proThaksin government from amending the constitution, but analysts say it could regain strength if Thaksin’s return appears likely.—Reuters

Iran starts paying India exporters in rupees

Japan spending down as deflation persists

Business

Flights halted as Cyprus air traffic controllers strike

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Crude falls below $125, Saudi supply fears ease

BRUSSELS: (From left) Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italy Prime Minister Mario Monti wait before signing the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union during the second of a two-day EU summit yesterday at the EU headquarters in Brussels. — AFP

EU to decide on firewall this month ECB says clock ticking, onus on nations BRUSSELS: The euro-zone will decide whether to increase its debt crisis firewall before the end of March after the European Central Bank said its extraordinary support measures would not be repeated, putting the onus squarely back on governments to act. Speaking after a two-day summit of EU leaders, Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, said euro zone finance ministers would meet to discuss the size of a permanent rescue fund, probably at an informal gathering in Copenhagen set for March 30-31. The aim will be to combine the 250 billion euros left in the temporary EFSF bailout fund with 500 billion euros in the permanent ESM facility to create a “super-fund” better able to cope with potential problems in Spain or Italy, although Germany remains opposed to the idea for now. “We will revaluate the ceiling for the ESM and EFSF during the month of March,” Van Rompuy said, adding that countries would pay two tranches of capital into the ESM this year, ensuring that a strong facility is running from July. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had agreed to resolve the firewall “by the end of March”, reiterating the

deadline. The stepped-up commitment followed a ﬁrm message from ECB President Mario Draghi at a dinner late on Thursday, during which he warned the EU’s 27 leaders against complacency, after several had suggested the worst of the crisis may be over. “It was a subdued message,” said one euro zone diplomat briefed on Draghi’s intervention. “He said there were timid signs of stabilization but emphasized that the overall situation was fragile.” Speaking after the summit, Merkel made clear the crisis, which began in 2010, was far from over. “We are still in a fragile situation. The situation is somewhat calmer but the crisis has not at all been overcome. Further steps are necessary,” she said. Oﬃcials said Draghi had told the leaders that the central bank’s provision of more than 1 trillion euros of cheap three-year loans was not going to be repeated. It had merely brought the euro zone time, he said, and made it essential that structural reforms were pushed through promptly. “We will use this time,” said Merkel. “We will certainly not take such additional measures. The liquidity goes out of the market again.” The ECB has delivered two injections of capital in three months - 489 billion euros in December

and 530 billion on Feb. 29, equivalent to nearly 10 percent of euro-zone output. “We’ve got three years to reform, otherwise things are going to get very complicated,” said one euro-zone diplomat. Merkel faces strong public hostility to further bailouts and a backbench revolt in her centreright coalition that could make it hard to win parliamentary support for a bigger bailout fund. Major economies in the Group of 20 told the Europeans last weekend they would not give the International Monetary Fund more money to combat the fallout from the euro-zone crisis unless Europe first increased its own warchest. Spain concern The March 1-2 summit is the first for more than 18 months that has not focused almost entirely on crisis resolution, with leaders instead looking to shift the narrative towards growth as recession looms and unemployment climbs steadily. But underpinning the discussions about how to stimulate the economy were concerns about the austerity drive having gone too far, with countries too battened down to grow. Spain, where the economy is forecast to shrink at least 1.0 percent this year, defied the European

Union, setting a 2012 deficit target at 5.8 percent of gross domestic product, a far softer goal than the 4.4 percent agreed with Brussels. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy had hoped to get backing for some leeway, explaining that it was putting Madrid in a straightjacket while unemployment stands at 23 percent and rising and growth is evaporating. But in the event the leaders made clear countries were expected to meet their budget deficit goals, underlining that new rules imposed over the past two years were not going to be loosened just because one or two were facing difficulties. While the ECB program, introduced shortly after Draghi took over as president in November, has done much to calm financial markets, the Italian has come under pressure internally over the strategy. Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann wrote to Draghi last month to express concerns about risks stemming from the strategy and other ECB policymakers have similar qualms, saying it could fuel imbalances in the euro area and stoke inflation. Sources had told Reuters last month the second round of funding was likely to be the last, with liquidity equivalent to nearly 10 percent of euro zone GDP injected into the economy in less than three months. —Reuters

BUSINESS

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Kuwait’s crude exports to Japan top 200,000 bpd TOKYO: Kuwait’s crude oil exports to Japan in January stood at 6.33 million barrels, or 204,000 barrels per day (bpd), down 11.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the latest oﬃcial data. As Japan’s ﬁfth-biggest oil provider last month, Kuwait supplied 5.2 percent of the country’s total crude imports, compared with 5.8 percent in the same month of 2011, the Japanese Natural Resources and Energy Agency said in a preliminary report. Kuwait’s exports to Japan in the full year 2011 totaled 87.05 million

barrels, or 238,000 bpd. Japan’s overall imports of crude oil edged down 1.9 percent year-on-year to 3.94 million bpd for the third straight month of fall. Shipments from the Middle East shrank 6.9 percent to 3.25 million bpd, and accounted for 82.6 percent of the total, down 4.5 percentage points from the year before. Saudi Arabia seized the top spot, with exports from the kingdom jumping 19. 6 percent from a year earlier to 1.32 million bpd, followed by the United Arab

Emirates with 849,000 bpd, down 8.0 percent. Iran ranked third with 339,000 bpd, down 22.5 percent, and Qatar became fourth with 316,000 bpd, down 32.6 percent. In his speech at a reception in Tokyo to celebrate Kuwait’s national days earlier this week, Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yukio Edano expressed gratitude to Kuwait for maintaining a stable supply of crude oil to resources-poor Japan, the world’s third-largest energy consumer. — KUNA

Iran starts paying India exporters in rupees Delhi says not going along with US, EU sanctions

FLORANGE: Florange’s workers of the world’s biggest steelmaker Indian ArcelorMittal demonstrate on the railway of the TGV, yesterday in Florange, eastern France, to denounce the closing of the plant employing 5,000 people. — AFP

Iranian supertanker to discharge crude at Shell Singapore refinery SINGAPORE: An Iranian supertanker anchored near Singapore for the past week has moored at Royal Dutch Shell’s refinery to discharge about 1.5 million barrels of crude, according to Reuters data and three trading sources yesterday. The National Iranian Tanker Co (NITC) vessel Delvar arrived on Thursday evening at Bukom island, where Shell’s 500,000 barrel-per-day refinery is located, Reuters Freight Fundamentals Database showed. “Yes, Shell bought it. There is no other reason for it to be anchored at Bukom,” said a Singapore-based ship broker. In an e-mail reply to a Reuters query, Shell said, “We do not comment on our trading activities. Shell complies with all applicable sanctions.” The 270,000-tonne Delvar arrived on Feb. 23 off Indonesia’s Karimun Island, which is a key offshore storage point near Asia’s biggest oil trading hub Singapore and is often used for ship-to-ship transfers (STS), but NITC vessels have not been known to call there. The vessel then moved into Singapore waters on Feb. 26 after discharging a cargo of condensate into a smaller, China-bound tanker. The smaller 60,000-tonne vessel,

Xuan Wu Hu, was bound for an oil complex in Huizhou, where China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) and oil major Royal Dutch Shell jointly operate a petrochemical complex. Iran, the world’s fifth largest oil producer, has been struggling to sell its crude in the face of tightening US sanctions and an EU embargo that begins on July 1. Anglo-Dutch major Shell is one of the biggest consumers of Iranian crude worldwide, industry sources said, taking around 100,000 bpd into Europe and about the same quantity into Japan under a deal with Japanese company Showa Shell that expires in March. Speaking on Feb. 2, when the company reported earnings, Shell Chief Executive Peter Voser declined to elaborate on how much Iranian crude the company was still buying. “Shell will comply with the sanctions and we will therefore get our crude from somewhere else,” Voser said. Singapore imported around 20,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian crude over the past year, according to industry estimates. Official data on Iranian imports to Singapore is not available. Shell’s Bukom refinery, the oil major’s largest, makes up the biggest share of this volume, industry sources said. — Reuters

NEW DELHI: India’s exporters have begun receiving the first rupee payments from Iran, Indian government and trade sources said, kicking off a mechanism to skirt Western sanctions which have made doing business with Tehran tougher. About $3 billion in Iranian import arrears have accumulated since December 2010 when a previous payment conduit was closed under pressure from Washington, which is using sanctions to try to stop Tehran’s contentious nuclear program. Payments to Indian exporters are being remitted through Iran’s Bank Parsian which has opened an account with India’s UCO bank, the sources said. Bank Parsian is among private Iranian banks that are free from sanctions against Iran’s stateowned banks. The agreement came after meetings between a visiting Iranian delegation and officials from India’s finance and banking sectors over the past two days. “Payments (to Indian exporters) have started coming very recently through Bank Parsian’s account with UCO bank,” said M Rafeeque Ahmed, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations, the top exporters’ body, told Reuters. “Whatever has been stuck in the pipeline, that will be cleared.” Ahmed is taking part in government negotiations to find a solution to the payment problems that have hit trade between the two countries after US sanctions on dollar deals. His organization is a quasi-government body set up by the trade ministry. Two government sources said the conduit through Bank Parsian and UCO bank was only to settle payments for Indian exports to Iran. Indian oil importers have been paying for around $11 billion a year of crude since the middle of 2011 through Turkey’s Halkbank, but this route would have been expensive for Iranian importers given sharp falls in the rial. India was Tehran’s second-biggest crude oil customer last year after China. Iranian oil accounts for about 12 percent of its needs. Most of the Iranian arrears are for imports of iron and steel ($623 million), chemicals ($453 million) and cereals ($419 million), machinery ($143 million) and pharmaceuticals ($87 million). Indian rice suppliers have also reported defaults by Iranian buyers and have said they are owed at least $144 million. With payments for oil through Halkbank now looking vulnerable to fresh sanctions, India and Iran have agreed to settle 45 percent of this trade in rupees and boost exports to narrow their trade gap. Oil buyers are waiting for tax issues to be cleared up before they use the mechanism. India abides by United Nations sanctions on Iran, but has refused to go along with new financial measures imposed by the United States and European Union that aim to punish Iran for its nuclear ambitions. India has pushed back the visit of a delegation to Iran to March 10-14 from this month to explore boosting exports. Ahmed will be part of that team. — Reuters

HYDERABAD: Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Private Limited (DICV), Marc Llistosella (center), Vice President of Product Engineering, Aydogan Cakmaz (right) and Vice President of Marketing and Sales, VRV Sriprasad (left) speak at a press conference for the national launch of Bharat Benz Trucks in Hyderabad yesterday. — AFP

WB sees FDI streaming into Africa in 2012 NAIROBI: Capital flows into Africa are seen growing significantly in 2012 as investors seeking higher returns out of Europe, look at the continent for better opportunities in infrastructure projects, a World Bank’s senior official said yesterday. The Washington-based development lender expects economic growth on the world poorest continent to be 5.3 percent this year and 5.6 for 2013, despite increased concerns about the euro zone debt crisis, its main export market. Marcelo Giugale, Africa’s Poverty Reduction and Economic Management director at the bank, said that the appreciation of the region’s currencies against the dollar was an indication of increased foreign direct investment (FDI). “Most currencies in Africa have appreciated this year, which means investors expect some of those countries to do very well,” Giugale told Reuters in an interview. “There is a boom in urban construction mainly from repatriated money. The amount of offer that Africa is getting to build its infrastructure, which are long haul investments, is clearly increasing.” For instance, the government in Tanzania said it plans to build a $684 million 300 MW gas-fired power plant in the south of the country in the 2011/12 financial year, which runs until June 30, 2012, to plug energy shortages, after securing a loan from China. Tanzania says the project would also involve construction of a 1,100-kilometre power transmission line from Mtwara in southern Tanzania to Singida region in the centre of the country. In neighboring Uganda, British oil company Tullow Oil Plc has a $10 billion plan to start pumping oil from huge reserves discovered on the shores of Lake Albert. Early production is scheduled to start in 2013 before ramping up to a major production phase in 2016.—Reuters

BUSINESS SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Australian treasurer hits out at billionaires SYDNEY: Australia’s Treasurer Wayne Swan yesterday singled out three of his country’s billionaire mining magnates in an unusual and high-profile attack on what he called “vested interests”. In an essay for The Monthly magazine, Swan argued that a minority of the country’s wealthiest were using their power and money to oppose good public policy and economic reforms designed to benefit the majority. Politicians, he said, had a choice “between standing up for workers and kneeling down at the feet of the Gina Rineharts and the Clive Palmers”. Rinehart is the wealthiest woman in the Asia-Pacific region with a fortune estimated at $18 billion built on her iron ore projects, while Palmer’s money comes primarily from coal. Last month Rinehart increased her stake in press group Fairfax to 12.8 percent, while Palmer has also said he would consider a media investment amid fears they are attempting to expand their influence. Swan also took aim at Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, executive chairman of Fortescue Metals and one of the country’s richest men. “A handful of vested interests that have pocketed a disproportionate share of the

nation’s economic success now feel they have a right to shape Australia’s future to satisfy their own self-interest,” he said. “This poison has infected our politics and is seeping into our economy. Though these vested interests have not yet prevailed, every day their demands get louder.” The Monthly is one of Australia’s most highbrow publications. Opposition frontbencher Christopher Pyne dismissed the comments as “class warfare and the politics of envy” while his party leader Tony Abbott defended the mining heavyweights for creating jobs and investment. “Rather than attack people who are prepared to create wealth and invest in Australian businesses, I think they should be encouraged,” he said. In his article, Swan highlighted the “ferocious and highly misleading” campaigns waged against the Labor government’s mining tax and carbon pricing plans. Australia’s controversial tax on the country’s mining boom is due to start on July 1 with the proceeds going towards funding infrastructure, pensions and tax cuts for small businesses. The government originally wanted a 40 percent tax on all extraordinary proﬁts generated by resources

firms as the nation enjoys unprecedented demand for its vast mineral deposits. But that was scrapped in favor of a 30 percent tax only on iron ore and coal super-profits after a furious and intense campaign from the powerful and wealthy mining industry. The country’s tax on pollution also met fierce resistance. The scheme will levy a price of Aus$23 (US$24.85) per ton on carbon pollution before moving to an emissions trading scheme in 2015. “I fear Australia’s extraordinary success has never been in more jeopardy than right now,” Swan said. “We must fight a pitched battle against the influence of vested interests that seek to shape public policy to their own excessive benefit and at the expense of our middle-class society.” Prime Minister Julia Gillard defended Swan’s position, saying it represented core Labor values and urged the “very very rich” to share that vision. “In Australia we’ve done something unique. We’ve had the ability to grow stronger, but also to continue to be fair,” she said. “That’s a great Labor vision for the future, that is what Wayne was pointing to.” — AFP

Crude falls below $125, Saudi supply fears ease Riyadh denies attack but market remains jittery

SHANGHAI: Investors chat at a private securities company in Shanghai yesterday. Asian stock markets performed robustly, however, in the footsteps of Wall Street gains on Thursday. Mainland Chinese shares rose, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index adding 1.4 percent to 2,460.69. — AP

Asian markets lifted by US data, EU moves HONG KONG: Asian markets’ upward trend since the start of the year continued yesterday as optimism was boosted by a fresh set of upbeat US data and positive news from the euro-zone. Improving risk sentiment also supported the euro against the yen but strong oil prices, which hit four-year highs in New York, tempered gains. Tokyo added 0.72 percent, or 69.66 points, to end at 9,777.03, Sydney rose 0.41 percent, or 17.6 points, to 4,273.1 and Seoul added 0.22 percent, or 4.38 points, to 2,034.63. Hong Kong gained 0.81 percent, or 174.30 points, to close at 21,562.26 and Shanghai jumped 1.43 percent, or 34.58 points, to 2,460.69. In Europe ministers agreed measures linked to a Greek debt restructuring and the beleaguered country is expected to be given the all clear for its second bailout next week. The move came at a two-way summit where leaders are discussing measures to promote long-term growth and jobs in the region. Investors around the world have also been encouraged by a committee’s crucial ruling that Greece was not in default on its bonds in the 107 billion euro ($142 billion) write-oﬀ deal. A default ruling would have triggered the payment of credit default swaps, insurance on the

debt, which could have tanked Athens’ entire 237 billion euro second bailout. Adding to positive sentiment was news from the US Labor Department that new claims for unemployment insurance, a key indicator of the pace of layoffs, fell slightly last week. Claims have been trending downward since the middle of last year and are now at levels last seen in March 2008, while in January, the unemployment rate fell for the fifth straight month, to 8.3 percent, the lowest since February 2009. A recent series of positive employment reports has led some analysts to predict the jobless rate will fall again when the Labor Department releases its February job report on March 9. “There’s definitely a bit of relief out there,” said Sydney-based CBA Institutional Equities head of sales trading, Justin Rooney, referring to the US data and receding European debt worries. However, Rooney said “the oil price is becoming a bit of a handbrake for the market”, according to Dow Jones Newswires. On oil markets New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in April, fell 57 cents to $108.27 per barrel while Brent North Sea crude for April was down $1.06 to $125.56 14.—AFP

LONDON: Crude oil futures slipped below $125 a barrel yesterday, after surging 5 percent to an 11-month high a day earlier, as fears of a supply disruption from Saudi Arabia eased, calming investors who now expect oil demand to fall in coming weeks. Oil prices soared on Thursday after an Iranian media report of a pipeline fire in top exporter Saudi Arabia, although prices later pared back after CNBC cited a Saudi oil official saying the report was untrue. Front-month Brent crude was down by $1.41 to $124.79 a barrel at 1201 GMT, after settling the previous session at highs not seen since April 2011 of $126.20. Brent topped $128 a barrel in late post-settlement trade on Thursday, reaching levels not seen since July 2008, when oil reached record peaks of more than $147 a barrel. “Most people believe the retracements to the downside are all going to be pretty limited in the short term,” Tony Machacek, an energy broker at Bache Commodities. Top oil Saudi Arabia said yesterday there had been no attack in the kingdom, but traders are jittery about any potential disruptions to the country’s production or its infrastructure at a time of setbacks to global supplies. “The general belief is that the market is going to remain relatively tight and relatively well supported: the underlying long term fundamentals remain good on demand from China and India. Throw into the mix a bit of geopolitical tension and obviously Iran and that’s enough to keep people not wanting to go short into the weekend,” Machacek said. US crude oil futures were down 87 cents to $107.97 a barrel after settling $1.77 higher at $108.84. Markets have been on edge this year due to threats of supply disruptions caused by the West’s standoff with Iran over

its nuclear program and production losses from South Sudan, Yemen, Syria and the North Sea. “The market seems to normalize slowly, very slowly at best,” Commerzbank’s Carsten Fritsch said. “I don’t expect yesterday’s price increase to be fully priced out again since there are still concerns about supply disruptions and these concerns will be even greater now.” “The market is asymmetric to information at the moment: it reacts strongly to price-supporting news and less so to negative news ﬂow. This report shows just how nervous the market is on any news regarding supply disruptions,” Fritsch added. Iran, OPEC’s second biggest producer, has been struggling to sell its crude in the face of tightening US sanctions and a European Union

embargo that kicks in on July 1. This has threatened to tighten global crude supplies. However, US Energy Secretary Steven Chu said global oil producers have enough spare production capacity to make up for a drop in Iranian exports. Oil prices have also been underpinned this week by positive manufacturing data out of China, easing fears of a sharp drop in demand from the world’s second biggest oil consumer, and by a ﬂood of cheap funds from the European Central Bank. The probability of a sharp global slowdown has eased due to recent policy measures adopted in the euro-zone to tackle its debt crisis, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday, but it warned risks to world growth remain “squarely to the downside”. — Reuters

KANDAL: A man fills gasoline into a motorbike’s tank at a gas station in Kandal province yesterday. Many of Cambodia’s poor are suffering disproportionately from the escalating petrol prices, limiting the use of boats and cars for daily needs. — AFP

BUSINESS

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Japan spending down as deflation persists Economic recovery still on track: Analysts

NEW YORK: Specialist John O’hara (right) talks with trader Gerard Farco (center) on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Markets were steady yesterday as a two-day summit of EU leaders headed to a conclusion with the signing of a treaty that is designed to prevent a repeat of the debt crisis that’s rocked financial markets for the best part of two years. —AP

Brazil slams rich states over ‘currency war’ BRASILIA: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff slammed rich nations for unleashing a “tsunami” of cheap money that threatened to “cannibalize” poorer countries such as her own, forcing them to act to protect struggling local industries. Rousseff’s words amounted to some of the highest-profile criticism to date of efforts by the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan and others to spur their economies through low interest rates and cheap loans. Without naming specific countries, Rousseff said these measures have damaged emerging-market nations such as Brazil by unleashing a wave of capital inflows. That has made their currencies overvalued and their exports more expensive. Her speech, to construction executives, came hours after Brazil announced the extension of a tax on foreign loans. The move was designed to weaken the real but it strengthened instead, highlighting the difficulties Rousseff faces as global investors, flush with cash from the cheap lending, race to invest in Brazil’s high-yielding assets. Brazil has been battling the effects of a strong currency for years but had enjoyed somewhat of a reprieve in recent months as the financial crisis in Europe made global investors more averse to risky assets. With Europe’s problems now abating, the real has rebounded more than 8 percent this year. “We have a currency war that is based on an expansionary monetary policy that creates unequal conditions for competition,” said Rousseff, who is a career economist. “We will continue to develop (our) country by defending its industry and ensuring that the strategy used by the developed countries to exit the crisis does not cannibalize emerging markets,” she said. “Currency war” is where countries seek to achieve a lower exchange rate to protect exports. Rousseff’s speech, which echoed words earlier by her Finance Minister Guido Mantega, appeared to be a coordinated effort to express dismay as central banks in the developed world keep interest rates at record lows and pour cheap cash into markets. Banks snapped up 530 billion euros in low-cost loans offered by the European Central Bank on Wednesday as authorities there try to resolve a debt crisis that threatens the survival of the euro zone. On Feb. 14, Japan’s central bank boosted its asset buying and lending scheme, under which it buys government and private debt and lends cheap funds against various types of collateral, by 10 trillion yen ($130 billion), to 65 trillion yen. Some of Brazil’s problems are homegrown. The country has been a sponge for global liquidity in large part because it has some of the world’s highest interest rates. Brazil warned it would take further measures to stop the real strengthening. “The government will not stand by as the currency war rages on,” Mantega told reporters in Brasilia. A presidential decree published on Thursday extended a 6 percent tax known as the IOF on overseas loans with maturities of up to three years. The tax was previously charged when companies in Brazil took foreign loans maturing up to two years. Analysts questioned the effectiveness of the move. The real strengthened 0.47 percent to bid at 1.711 per U.S. dollar on Thursday in volatile trading. — Reuters

TOKYO: Japanese unemployment inched up and household spending fell more sharply than expected in January, government data showed yesterday, but analysts said the nation’s economic recovery was still on track. Figures from the internal affairs ministry showed the unemployment rate crept up to 4.6 percent in January from a revised 4.5 percent in the previous month while household spending dropped by 2.3 percent year-on-year. The inflation-adjusted fall in spending was far bigger than the 0.8 percent dip economists had expected. However, analysts said the figures did not indicate Japan’s economic recovery was in trouble because they were more than offset by upbeat production figures earlier in the week. The recent batch of data confirmed “the economy is on a gradual recovery track,” said Satoshi Osanai, economist at Daiwa Institute of Research. “The data on production and capital spending continued to be positive. As production recovers and currency

exchange rates help improve corporate earnings, we expect employment and consumption will also pick up,” he said. The yen has tracked lower since the Bank of Japan surprised markets two weeks ago with the announcement that it would pump $130 billion more into the economy in the latest push to combat deflation. The yen changed hands at 81.20 to the dollar and 108.17 to the euro in Tokyo midday trade on Friday, much weaker than 76.19 and 99.56 of a month ago. A strong yen reduces Japanese exporters’ repatriated income. The internal affairs ministry also said Japan’s core consumer prices fell 0.1 percent in January from a year earlier, as the deflation that has plagued Japan for years persisted. Deflation is bad for the economy because it encourages consumers to put off spending in the belief their intended purchases will be cheaper in the future, softening demand and hurting producers. Yoshiro Sato, economist at Credit Agricole bank, said “there is still room

for employment growth especially in manufacturing industries.” “Considering the expected recovery in industrial production going forward on the back of supply chain normalization and reconstruction demand, we maintain our view that employment in those industries will recover and contribute to stable labor market conditions going forward.” Japanese exporters were hit badly by the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan and flooding in Thailand last year. The trade and industry ministry said Wednesday Japan’s industrial production in January rose by a bigger-thanexpected 2.0 percent from the previous month. Automakers and electronics manufacturers continue to ramp up output as they try to make up for the disruption they suffered in the Thai floods. The finance ministry said Thursday that capital spending by Japanese firms grew 7.6 percent in the final three months of 2011 from a year earlier, the first upturn in three quarters, on investment to rebuild damaged facilities. — AFP

Gold inches up as buyers trickle back after selloff SINGAPORE: Gold edged higher yesterday as buyers slowly returned to the market, lured by Wednesday’s plunge of 5 percent, although bullion is still heading for its worst weekly performance since December. US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s lack of a reference to further quantitative easing at congressional testimony on Wednesday sparked a heavy sell-off in bullion, sending the metal to a onemonth low short of $1,700. Gold’s fall to the lower end of its

previous range showed the lack of conviction required to push prices above $1,800 or higher, but analysts and traders saw Wednesday’s plunge as a healthy correction rather than the end of the bull run. “The broader macro backdrop remains gold-favorable, given the negative interest rate environment, longer-term inflationary concerns and lingering sovereign debt uncertainties,” Barclays Capital said in a research note. But dollar strength, broad risk

HONG KONG: Clouds are seen passing by the International Commerce Centre (left) building in Hong Kong yesterday. Hong Kong’s economy could shrink in the first quarter of 2012 due to weak export markets, before rebounding to post growth of 1.0-3.0 percent over the year the finance secretary said in early February. — AFP

reduction and profit-taking could pose near-term hurdles for gold, it added. Spot gold inched up 0.2 percent to $1,720.39 an ounce by 0518 GMT, but was still on course for a weekly decline of 3.4 percent, its biggest one-week fall since mid-December. US gold was little changed at $1,721.90. Technical analysis suggested that spot gold could face resistance at $1,726 during the day, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao. Holdings in gold-backed exchangetraded funds gained 238,674 ounces to a record high of 70.76 million ounces, suggesting investors remained keen on gold. The gold-platinum spread fell to just about $15 an ounce, its lowest since mid-September, as supply disruption in South Africa remains a concern, and upbeat U.S. auto sales data helped. Spot platinum gained 0.6 percent to $35.35 an ounce, headed for a loss of 0.2 percent over the week. The metal, mainly used to produce jewelry and auto catalysts, has risen 22 percent so far this year, versus gold’s gain of 10 percent. “I’m of the opinion that gold’s premium over platinum should be corrected in due time, but I didn’t expect it to come so quickly,” said Yuichi Ikemizu, head of commodity trading, Japan, at Standard Bank. The focus remains on Impala Platinum, the world’s secondlargest platinum producer, which has suffered 100,000 ounces of lost production in a six-week-long strike at its key Rustenburg mine. The company said it would restart production on March 5. — Reuters

BUSINESS

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

ONGC stake sale offers India little fiscal relief Delhi scrambles to balance budget

LARNACA: A passenger passes in front of the check-in counters at Larnaca international airport yesterday. Cyprus air traffic controllers walked off the job for four hours yesterday to protest stalled negotiations over an ongoing pay dispute, officials said. — AP

Flights halted as Cyprus air traffic controllers strike NICOSIA: Air traffic controllers on the Mediterranean resort island of Cyprus staged a four-hour strike yesterday afternoon to protest against government austerity measures, said airports operator Hermes. Some 20 flights and 2,000 passengers will face delays at the island’s two international airports at Larnaca and Paphos, according to spokesman Adamos Aspris. “Unfortunately it was not possible to avert today’s strike, which means for four hours Cyprus will be cut off from the rest of the world as no flights will be able to take place,” said yesterday. He said most flights were rescheduled for after the end of the strike, which is due to run from noon to 4:00 pm (10001400 GMT). Controllers have also declared for strikes during the same hours for March 7, 12 and 15. And Nicosia flight control will operate at 50 percent fewer staff for three hours on March 3 and 8. The controllers’ union said they were escalating action after talks with the government had broken down, with their proposals having been “dismissed without being examined” and there being “no willingness for a dialogue.” The controllers are seeking exemption from a two-year public sector pay freeze, and also have grievances over manning levels, overtime and paying pension contributions. They argue that their salaries come from levies airlines pay for the use of Cyprus’ air space, not from tax revenues, so they should not be subject to tough government spending cuts imposed to rein in a budget deficit. —AP

UK ‘bad bank’ repays 2.1bn stg to taxpayer LONDON: The British “bad bank” running down the loans of bailed-out lender Northern Rock repaid 2.1 billion pounds ($3.4 billion) to the government last year after its annual profits more than doubled as fewer home-owners had trouble with repayments. UK Asset Resolution (UKAR) is effectively a “zombie bank” that doesn’t take new business and runs down the loans held by Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley which had to be rescued when they ran into trouble in the credit crisis. UKAR still owes the government 46.6 billion pounds, down from 49.7 billion when it was formed in October 2010. Richard Banks, UKAR CEO, said he expects to repay the majority of the remaining government loan over the next decade, with repayments accelerating as home loans are repaid. UKAR made an underlying profit of 1.1 billion pounds last year, up from 444 million in 2010, after a fall in losses on bad debts. Banks said arrears were likely to rise this year, even though low interest rates should prevent a major problem for customers. “We think interest rates are going to remain at the low level for the next 12 months, but there are still pressures on disposable income, which is going to make life hard for some of our customers,” he said. “We expect more customers to experience difficulties during 2012.” —Reuters

MUMBAI: The weak response to India’s sale of a 5 percent stake in state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp gives New Delhi little relief as it scrambles to balance the national budget. ONGC shares slipped yesterday, a day after the sale, and analysts said the lukewarm response will make it more difficult for the government to sell off stakes in other state run companies, a tactic New Delhi had hoped would ease India’s troublesome fiscal deficit. “Had this issue got a healthy response, the government could have lined up three or four more issues,” said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, a strategist at SMC Global Securities. “It is high time the government gets their divestment strategy more organized.” New Delhi aimed to raise $2.5 billion from selling a 5 percent stake in ONGC Thursday. At the close of trading Thursday, stock exchanges were reporting that 292.2 million shares - about two-thirds of the offer - had been sold. India’s two main stock exchanges and ONGC then issued a late-night press release, saying that some orders had been wrongly rejected and that final demand was actually for 420.4 million shares against

the offer of 427.7 million shares. Thunuguntla said a surge of interest in the last ten minutes of trading contributed to the confusion. India media reported that state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India may have intervened at the last minute to salvage the sale. Thunuguntla said the government had tried to sell ONGC shares at too high a price. The 290 rupee ($5.88) floor price was a 2.3 percent premium to the previous closing price. Lack of clarity about what share of India’s fuel subsidies are shouldered by ONGC also clouded investor appetite, he said. “Everyone expected there to be a discount to the market price,” he said. “The government is not in a position to give clarity about subsidy sharing. It would have deserved a bigger discount, of 7 to 8 percent of market price.” Better priced offers have drawn investor interest. Last week, Citigroup successfully sold its stake in India’s Housing Development Finance Corp. for $2 billion, and the $135 million initial public offering of India’s Multi Commodities Exchange was 54 times oversubscribed.

New Delhi is scrambling to ease its fiscal deficit before announcing a new budget on March 16. Faced with disappointing tax collections and a burgeoning subsidy bill, the government had hoped to raise funds by selling stakes in state-run companies, which still dominate large areas of India’s economy. India has raised about 140 billion rupees ($2.8 billion) from such asset sales this year, including Thursday’s auction, against an initial target of 400 billion rupees ($8 billion), Thunuguntla said. Economists are wary of India’s growing fiscal deficit, which analysts expect to miss the target of 4.6 percent of gross domestic product by a percentage point or more. Some have chided New Delhi for turning to one-off measures like asset sales to plug the gap rather than undertaking more difficult, fundamental reforms to boost revenues and trim spending. “Sustainable fiscal consolidation should not be based on non-tax revenue,” Standard Chartered economist Samiran Chakraborty wrote in a recent research note. ONGC shares closed down 2.2 percent at 281.5 rupees Friday on the Bombay Stock Exchange in an otherwise flat market. — AP

Kenya launches huge port project LAMU, Kenya: Kenya launched the construction of a massive port, railway and refinery yesterday near a UNESCO-listed Indian Ocean island in a project it bills as the biggest ever in an African nation. Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir unveiled a plaque in a ceremony to mark the official start of building work near Lamu island in Kenya’s southeast. “I have no doubt that this day will go down in history as one of the defining moments, when we made a major stride to connect our people to the many socio-economic opportunities that lie ahead,” Kibaki said. The project will provide the “landlocked countries of our region with a direct and dependable route to the sea” and help connect “the entire east and central African region to international markets,” he added. Nairobi hopes the $24.5 billion (18.5-billion-euro) project will turn the east African country into a regional economic hub and propel it to become a middle-income economy in the next two decades. Dancers and singers marked the formal start of construction at the inauguration at a muddy Indian Ocean shore where pristine mangrove forest is already being cleared. The port to be constructed with 32 berths and be connected to Ethiopia and oil-rich South Sudan by a super-highway, a railway and a pipeline to export Juba’s crude. The project is expected to be funded by regional financial institutions, governments and international lenders, with China believed to have a major stake. Kibaki, in a speech thanking organiza-

tions including the World Bank, African Development Bank and African Union, singled out China as being “extremely supportive” of the project. However, Lamu residents protest that the huge port, although located some 10 kilometers (six miles) from the UNESCO-listed island, will impact on their livelihoods and accuse the government of ignoring their concerns. “The demands for the rights of Lamu people have fallen on deaf ears,” said a statement by Save Lamu, a coalition of local community groups in Lamu.

“We are greatly concerned that the lack of transparency, secrecy and poor accountability in the way the project is being implemented is a dismal reﬂection of our rights as governed by the constitution,” it added. Kibaki said precautions must be taken to ensure there is “minimal interference with the delicate ecosystem and cultural heritage.” However, conservationists fear that monster earth movers and dredgers will destroy the mangroves and plough ship channels through coral reefs that are crucial ﬁsh breeding grounds. —AFP

MOSCOW: The high rises of the Moscow International Business Center, or MoscowCity, can be seen behind the “Evropeisky (European) Shopping Mall” in Moscow. Russia on March 4 votes in presidential elections expected to send Vladimir Putin back to the Kremlin after his four year stint as prime minister. — AFP

BUSINESS

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Geithner defends Obama’s reforms WASHINGTON: US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner defended the ﬁnancial sector overhaul enacted after the 2008 meltdown, saying the safeguards could have gone a long way toward averting the crisis. “Some people seem to be suffering from amnesia about how close America came to complete ﬁnancial collapse under the outdated regulatory system we had before Wall Street reform,” he wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published late Thursday.

He went on to say that President Barack Obama and the June 2010 bill’s authors, Senator Christopher Dodd and Representative Barney Frank, deserve “enormous credit for pushing for tough reforms quickly.” “If these reforms had been in place a decade ago, then the rise in debt and leverage would have been less dangerous, consumers would not have been nearly as vulnerable to predation and abuse, and the government would have been able to limit the damage that a ﬁnancial cri-

sis could have on the broader economy.” The Republican candidates vying to take on Obama in November’s presidential election accuse him of burdening the economy with cumbersome regulations and have slammed his $787 billion economic stimulus plan enacted in 2009. Geithner said his wife looks up from the newspaper with “bewilderment” when she reads about Wall Street ﬁrms and lobbyists complaining about the reforms or saying they didn’t need the massive bank

bailouts of 2008 and 2009. “She reminds me of the panicked calls she answered for me at home late at night or early in the morning in 2008 from the then-giants of our ﬁnancial system,” he said. Obama has defended the government’s intervention in the wake of the 2008 crisis, saying it helped save the country from another Great Depression. His Republican rivals have slammed his policies, saying they cost too much and have failed to get Americans back to work. — AFP

Rebounding steel mills support Obama’s case Sparks fly again at Specialty Fab

BRUSSELS: German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for a press conference at the end of a two-day European Union summit yesterday. —AFP

Berlin wants EU ‘reconstruction commissioner’ FRANKFURT: The EU should appoint a special commissioner to ensure the implementation of reforms in debtwracked member states, German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler said in an interview yesterday. “My wish would be that the EU Commission appoint a reconstruction commissioner,” Roesler told the business daily Handelslbatt. “The reconstruction commissioner would be primarily responsible for growth impulses and the implementation of reforms in countries” needing EU aid, the minister said, adding that the portfolio could be assigned to one of Brussels’ existing 27 commissioners. “I can’t understand why the Greek side is opposed to this proposal,” Roesler added. “I sometimes get the impression that the Greek people are fully aware of the sacrifices being asked of them, but that the elites in Greece don’t want to forego their privileges.” Roesler’s call echoed similar comments by Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker in Wednesday’s Die Welt newspaper in which he called for a European commissioner to oversee Greek economic reconstruction. Roesler also voiced disappointment over resistance by Greece to offers of support from Germany. “It’s all the more important now for Greece to be ready finally for more cooperation,” he told the paper. An internal economics ministry document, seen by AFP earlier in the week and dated February 17, had described as “discouraging” the Greek response so far to its offers of help. Germany has already suggested a beefed-up EU monitoring of Greece, proposing that a commissioner appointed by euro-zone finance ministers would be able to veto budget decisions made by Athens. Athens angrily rejected any calls for it to give up control over its budget and the European Commission also said there was no question of Greece surrendering budgetary control. — AFP

NORTH LIMA, Ohio: Sparks are ﬂying again at Specialty Fab, an Ohio steel manufacturer, and President Barack Obama hopes similar successes in the industrial heartland of this politically crucial state can ignite his reelection campaign. Back in 2008 and 2009, the US economic crisis forced David Hughes, president of Specialty Fab, to go into survival mode-much like others in the region’s battered steel and auto industries. The payroll at his plant, housed in a low, brown set of hangars in the old mill community of North Lima, dropped from about 40 employees to just 10. Much of the machinery, which turns out giant tongs used in steel factories, pipes, and other hardware, fell silent. “The workload around here was very slow,” Hughes, 61, said, “as slow as people had seen in 35, 40 years.” Today Specialty Fab has reawakened. On a visit Thursday, workers could be seen grinding, machining and welding, the air ﬁlled with smoke, red sparks and the intense, bluish light of welding torches. The screeching noise of the grinders at work could only be music to Obama’s ears. Ohio is a key battleground in any presidential election, and for Obama’s eventual Republican rival it is likely a must-win state. So the White House is eager for stories like the revival of Specialty Fab. The Obama narrative is that his $787 billion stimulus package at the start of 2009 saved big industries, particularly steel and auto manufacturing, from total collapse and prepared the ground for today’s recovery. Republicans counter that the stimulus policy poured good money after bad and did little to create any measurable results, while distorting an already sick economy. A “disaster,” Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney has said. Obama points to examples of the way he says his stimulus package helped hasten the end of the recession. Last year he visited Youngstown, near North Lima, to celebrate the $650 million expansion of a mill owned by France’s V&M Star. Part of the reason

V&M decided on the splurge was a $20 million sweetener provided by the state-using federal stimulus money-to prepare the infrastructure. Another major beneficiary of federal largesse in the area was General Motors, which in a dramatic turnaround last year restored full hiring at its Lordstown plant. That things have brightened in this gritty corner of Ohio is undeniable: unemployment has dropped to eight percent from double digits during the recession. “For the first time in 30 years our unemployment rate in this area is below the state and national average,” Eric Planey, at the Youngstown Chamber of Commerce. In fact, if people like Hughes, who started Specialty Fab as a three-employee business in 1994, have a problem, it’s this: there might not be enough skilled youngsters to fill the growing number of positions. “We need to make sure that we have enough young people who can do the jobs,” he said. “It’s a good problem to have, but it’s still a problem.” Whether Obama should pat himself on the back, however, remains in dispute. Many believe the real driver to success here is not federal help, but a

suddenly burgeoning oil and gas industry in the Marcellus shale formation in the hills just to the east. Booming rates of extraction and big energy-style investments are creating hot demand for steel tubes and other equipment. Planey said “a large part” of recent economic improvements were linked to the natural gas boom. The expanded V&M plant, for example, will supply steel tubing to the energy companies. Professor John Russo, from Youngstown State University, said the area is happy to emerge from a “devastating” recession, but he’s not convinced the progress is for real. “In the last year or so, there’s been an uptick of jobs in the area, largely because of the return of workers to the General Motors plant, because of the stimulus package that helped General Motors survive the bankruptcy,” he said. “It also beneﬁted from the government spending in terms of luring and building the new mill here.” But “the number of jobs created can’t oﬀset the number of jobs lost,” he added. Perhaps worse, “the industries that are coming here, especially the oil and gas industry, are known as being very episodic and not long lasting.” — AFP

LIMA: Employees at Specialty Fab in North Lima, Ohio, grind down a compressor skid frame on March 1 which is bound for the Ohio Shale project. Sparks are flying again at Specialty Fab, an Ohio steel manufacturer, and President Barack Obama hopes similar successes in the industrial heartland of this politically crucial state can ignite his reelection campaign. —AFP

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

e niv rsar n

Years

Chocolate may be good for your heart

www.kuwaittimes.net

PAGE 24

‘American Idol’ announces 13 finalists PAGE 26

Taylor Swift performs on stage at the Burswood Dome during the opening night of her “Speak Now” Australian tour in Perth, Australia yesterday. The American country singer will perform in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland New Zealand. — AP

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Katy Perry’s chicken caused a bomb threat

he ‘One That Got Away’ hitmaker was reduced to tears when there was a bomb scare while she was on tour last year, but police eventually discovered the source of the sniffer dogs’ interest was actually some chicken left in a backpack near Katy’s dressing room. She told Interview magazine: “Right before I was supposed to go on stage there was a bomb threat. You know those bomb-sniffing dogs? They were everywhere. “They started sniffing a backpack near my dressing room. Well, they had to put me in an armoured car, and I started crying at one point ... but we found out at the end that it was chicken the dogs were sniffing.” However, this isn’t the first time Katy - who split from husband Russell Brand in December - has feared being bombed. The 27-year-old star had a strict Christian upbringing and has previously admitted her pastor parents Keith and Mary Hudson banned her from reading any book other than the Bible and wouldn’t let her listen to non-religious music, and she was always scared she would be “bombed” if she went against their wishes.

he troubled actress has reportedly checked herself out of Utah’s Cirque Lodge facility where she was rumoured to have been receiving treatment for “an eating disorder and addiction issues” - to go “on vacation” at an undisclosed location. A source told E!: “She’s in no rush to get back to L.A. She’s on total lockdown and only talking to a small group of people.” Demi - who was hospitalised in January after suffering a seizure was recently said to be taking her recovery very seriously. A friend previously explained: “She is totally committed to getting better. “Demi has a long way to go, but she is getting better. She has many days where she feels great.” Last month, Rumer Willis - the 49-year-old star’s eldest daughter with ex-husband Bruce Willis - revealed Demi, who split from husband Ashton Kutcher in November amid speculation he had cheated on her, is on the “road to recovery” and insisted the whole family “believe in her”. The 23-year-old actress said: “Of course the situation weighs heavily on me. “My mother is on the road to recovery. It’s slow going but we believe in her.”

Demi Moore leaves rehab

Lindsay Lohan ‘regrets’ her life’s decisions

he troubled actress - whose career has been plagued by a series of legal problems and spells in rehab - admits she doesn’t need any more “negative stuff” in her life and wants to put her bad times behind her. She said: “I regret the choices that I’ve made, but I’m grateful for where I am today because of them. I don’t need to see any more negative stuff, I don’t need to put myself in those places anymore.” The 25-year-old blonde - who has been undergoing community service at the Los Angeles County Morgue as part of her punishment for breaching probation claims the experience has been “humbling” and she has “learned from it”. She

added: “It’s been a learning experience and I’m glad that I experienced it. I’m grateful that I’ve learned from it. It’s helped me, it’s humbling.” The ‘Mean Girls’ actress - who has been in and out of jail and rehab since 2007 when she was arrested in a DUI (driving under the influence) incident also wants to get her acting career back on track and attend the Academy Awards in the future. When asked on the ‘Today’ show where she hopes to be in five years time, she replied: “Hopefully I’ll have just come from the Oscars this past weekend.” Lindsay has been lined up to portray iconic actress Dame Elizabeth Taylor in new TV movie ‘Liz and Dick’.

e niv rsar n

Years

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Avril Lavigne was star ice hockey player for a boys’ team

Wiz Khalifa

he 27-year-old singer believes her sporting background helped her career because they taught her to be “touch” and compete with the opposite sex. She said: “I was the pitcher in our softball team and I played either centre or right wing in my mixed hockey team. “I didn’t just play, I was MVP [most valuable player] two years in a row. The boys didn’t go easy on me either. I had to play like one of the boys to survive and it was good for me. “It taught me how to be tough and how to work with other people. Those skills have helped a lot in my career.” As well as her hockey success, Avril was also a champion in athletics sports during her school days. She added to FHM magazine: “I’ve always been very athletic. Nowadays, I love to skateboard, rollerblade, play hockey, work out and do yoga. “But when I was growing up in Canada I used to play softball in the summer, ice hockey in the winter and do track and field. My brother and I were the best in our school at track and field.”

and Amber Rose get engaged

Brad Pitt’s

grandmother wants him to get in touch

he ‘Black and Yellow’ hitmaker took to his twitter account to reveal the model accepted his proposal after more than a year together. In a message accompanied by the picture of the 28-year-old beauty’s engagement ring, he tweeted: “She Said Yes!!! (sic)” Following the announcement, Amber took to her twitter account to express her joy. She wrote: “He has made me the Happiest Woman in the World!!!! (sic).” The couple got together following Amber’s split from rapper Kanye West, and the newly engaged pair have collaborated a number of times. Wiz features on Amber’s debut single ‘Fame’, while she is set to appear on his forthcoming mixtape ‘Taylor Allderdice’, which is due for release on March 13. The hip-hop star recently said he is “having a great time” in life and is enjoying “getting new fans”. He explained: “Me, where I come from we made everything on our own. It’s a process of just recreating what we already know how to do and just taking it to the next level, and I’m having a great time. I’m getting great new fans and doing new things.”

he ‘Moneyball’ actor - who raises six children with his partner Angelina Jolie hasn’t seen or corresponded with 89year-old Betty Russell for some time, and his family are unsure why he has stopped contacting everyone outside of his immediate family. In an interview with The Sun newspaper, Brad’s great-aunt Mary Ann Lenier said: “Betty misses him. He doesn’t write, he doesn’t seem to stay in contact with her. “I’m sure he’s busy but I don’t know why he doesn’t stay in contact with his grandmother. He used to send her flowers every month and call her once in a while. “She used to hear from him a lot but not anymore. I know he stays in contact with his mother and father. They even go and visit him and Angelina when they’re on film sets in different places. “Betty’s daughter Betty visits her every day and brings her magazine articles about Brad. I’m sure she misses him.” Betty turns 90 this year and Mary Ann would love it if Brad - who last returned to his hometown of Springfield, Missouri, when Angelina was pregnant with their twins Knox and Vivienne, now three made a special visit to see her. She added she said: “She’ll be 90 on April 25. Her daughter might give her a party.”

Jennifer Aniston ‘in love’ with a goat

he 43-year-old actress bonded with the animal when shooting ‘Wanderlust’ - in which she plays one-half of a couple who turn their backs on their hectic New York lives to live in a hippy commune - and she particularly enjoyed milking the beast. She said: “When we were doing our screen test, I met that goat because I had never milked a goat in my life, isn’t that weird? I’ve never milked a goat, I grew up in New York City, but I fell in love with our goat!” Jennifer who is dating actor Justin Theroux - could relate to her character as she loves taking a break from her regular life and career, but wouldn’t want to ever live in a commune. Speaking on UK TV show ‘Daybreak’, she added: “Getting away is always something I love to do, of course, but the commune I think is a little extreme.” Jennifer’s co-star Paul Rudd jokingly claimed that part of the appeal of ‘Wanderlust’ appeal is the number of “dangly bits” on show. He said: “You can’t have a commune without dangly bits. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times.” Jennifer added: “And you can’t have too many.” — Bangshowbiz

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

ating chocolate is not only a treat for the tongue-it may also have some tangible benefits for heart health, such as lowering blood pressure slightly, according to a study involving more than a thousand people. The study, which combined the results of 42 smaller studies and was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, also found that participants had small improvements in blood vessel function and a dip in their insulin levels. A number of past studies have found that chocolate lovers seem to have lower rates of certain heart risks, such as high blood pressure. “My take-away message would be that if people like dark chocolate, then eating a little in place of other ‘treat’ foods is fine, and may be beneficial,” said study leader Lee Hooper, at Norwich Medical School in the UK. “However, the evidence is not yet good enough to suggest that we should all be doing this.” She cautioned that the studies involved were neither large enough nor long enough to show whether eating chocolate has any effect on a person’s risk of having a heart attack or stroke. In contrast to past studies, which were largely observational and couldn’t prove cause-andeffect-that chocolate itself caused the changes-the current study focused on clinical trials, where researchers assigned people to eat chocolate or not and then watched for changes in blood pressure, cholesterol and other heart risk factors. Hooper and her team pooled data from 42 small clinical trials involving about 1,300 people and found that chocolate eaters had a few points knocked off their blood pressure readings, along with lower insulin levels and other benefits. Though it’s not clear why chocolate has this affect, it’s believed to be due to compounds known as flavonoids, which are also present in foods such as nuts, soy, tea and wine. But researchers acknowledged shortcomings in their study, including differences in the people involved in the trials- some healthy, some with chronic health problems-and different ways of testing chocolate’s effects. Some studies used cocoa drinks, some solid chocolate and some cocoa supplements. They also varied in how long people were “treated,” though most trials lasted less than six weeks. The biggest question may be whether any benefits would be worth the downside of chocolate. Based on the studies they used, Hooper’s

team writes, it could take several hundred calories’ worth of chocolate to see eﬀects on insulin and blood vessel function-and that could mean trouble for your waistline. “From a practical perspective it is premature to advise individuals to consume chocolate or cocoa to decrease their risk of cardiovascular disease,” said Alice Lichtenstein, director of the cardiovascular nutrition lab at Tufts University in Boston, who was not part of the study. For now, she added, if you enjoy a little chocolate in your life, you can probably keep doing so. Just don’t add it in the hopes of helping your heart. — Reuters

Models present dresses made from chocolate during the first Bordeaux’s Chocolate fair (Salon du Chocolat) yesterday, in Bordeaux, western France. — AFP

or lucky sheep, it’s like a trip to the hair salon. For the unlucky ones, it can resemble a wild and woolly wrestling match against an opponent armed with a sharp object. The 4,600 sheep picked for the 2012 World Sheep Shearing Competition in Masterton, New Zealand, and the national Golden Shears championships are in for a pampering this week, when top clippers from around the globe compete for a top prize of

NZ$3,000 ($2,500). The return of the biennial event to New Zealand for the ﬁrst time since 1996 is seen as a homecoming by the sheep-shearing community. That’s not surprising in a nation where sheep outnumber humans 10 to one and which this year lobbied for sheep shearing to be recognised as an Olympic sport. “People here say the Golden Shears is the Wimbledon of sheep shearing,” said Doug

Laing, media oﬃcer at Shearing Sports New Zealand. Shearers from heavyweight countries New Zealand, Australia and Britain are competing with entries from lesser-known shearing countries, including Germany, Estonia and Japan. They will be judged on speed and accuracy in both machine and hand-blade cutting categories. —Reuters

ome customers burst into tears when they first bite into one of her cakes. It’s not just that they’re good... they’re gluten-free. Marie Tagliaferro is one of the very few-if not the only pastry chef in pastry-loving France-to offer customers such delicacies in a country where gluten intolerance has long been considered a problem of the very young. When customers call at her small Paris shop, they always ask “is it really gluten-free?” says her husband Francois, the bakery’s ownermanager. “And we say, yes, I promise, it’s glutenfree... And they are very emotional, they start to eat the cakes and we have some people who are moved to tears because they haven’t had a religieuse (a glazed puff pastry) or a lemon meringue tart for 15 years,” he adds. It might not quite be the stuff of Marcel Proust’s madeleine recollections, but for people deprived for years of a chocolate eclair, the Tagliaferro shop has proved a godsend. Cakes and pastries were always Marie’s life. But a few years ago doctors told her she had a severe intolerance to gluten-a protein found in cereals such as wheat-which can cause chronic diarrhoea and vomiting. She thought she would never again be able to enjoy her own pastry creations. But now she’s has opened a patisserie dedicated to gluten-free versions of the best French pastries. “I did some tests... at the start I just used exactly the same recipes I learnt in traditional patisserie, and then I adapted them according to the results,” she explains. “For example, with choux pastry you want the air to escape but I couldn’t use the same approach with gluten-free dough because it goes all over the place. So, if we don’t know, we just try it and see if it works!” she says. A medical intolerance to gluten, known as coeliac disease, affects up to one person in 100. And while in many countries it’s a standard dietary variation, in France, where glutenbased foodstuffs are almost a national icon, the disease is still under-diagnosed and little known. For Brigitte Jolivet, president of French Association of Gluten Intolerence, little is done for French sufferers. “In textbooks from 20 or 30 years ago, doctors were taught that coeliac disease was a disease of children which disappeared in adolescence, so it wasn’t something adults had,” she says. “So doctors who trained 20 or 30 years ago-for them the discussion’s over. And it’s true that the baguette is one of the symbols of France, so cutting out bread isn’t easy here, it’s difficult,” she adds. Even for those without coeliac disease, a gluten-free diet is popular on health groundsmeaning anyone can enjoy the pastries here, and if Marie’s done her job properly, you won’t even know the difference. So far, the reaction has been far more enthusiastic than they expected. If things go well, Marie and her husband plan to soon start tackling the next symbol of French cuisine-home-made gluten-free baguettes. — AFP

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

‘Desperate Housewives’

star claims unfair dismissal In this file photo, actress Nicollette Sheridan poses for a portrait during The Television Critics Association 2011 Summer Press Tour in Beverly Hills, Calif. — AP

former “Desperate Housewives” actress took her ex-employer to court Thursday, claiming unfair dismissal from the hit TV series about lust and scandal in Wisteria Lane. Nicollette Sheridan claims she was fired for complaining that the show’s creator, Marc Cherry, slapped her on the head during rehearsals for a scene in September 2008. The 48-year-old actress featured in five seasons of the ABC series, before her character Edie Britt was written out of it a few months after the slapping incident-she claims in retaliation for her complaint. Cherry’s lawyers claim he had already decided to drop her character in May 2008, four months before the incident-but Sheridan says she was assured in 2007 that her character would continue for the duration of the show. “We know Edie’s character is one we definitely won’t be killing off,” Cherry said, according to Sheridan, the first witness to take the stand in the trial Thursday. Sheridan filed a lawsuit in April 2010, alleging battery and wrongful terminal of employment against Cherry and Touchstone Television Productions, which makes the show. The actress told the Los Angeles Superior Court that she wanted a funny line to remain in the script, but Cherry resisted because it included part of a Beatles song, for which the studio would have to pay royalties. While discussing the line, Cherry shouted: “What is it that you want?,” said Sheridan, who at times struggled to maintain her composure. When she tried to respond, “Mr. Cherry stepped toward me and he took his right hand and he hit me upside the head,” she said, her voice breaking. “It was a nice wallop.” Defense attorney Adam Levin said Cherry simply tapped Sheridan on the head, trying to give her directions for the next scene. But Sheridan denied this, and re-enacted the scene with her lawyer Patrick Maloney in court. “I was stunned, I could not believe he just hit me in the head. I could tell he was stunned,” she said. “I told him, ‘You just hit me in the head, that is not OK’.” “It was shocking, it was humiliating, it was demeaning. It was unfathomable that I had just been hit by my boss,” She retired to her trailer, and after some time Cherry came to apologize, she said, quoting him as telling her: “I am on bended knee begging your forgiveness.” Several of her former cast mates, including Eva Longoria, Marcia Cross, James Denton and Felicity Huffman, are expected to appear as witnesses to defend Cherry at the trial. “Desperate Housewives,” about lust, gossip, and foul play in a pampered American suburb, is to take its final bow at the end of its current eighth season. The show, watched by 12 million people last season less than half the first season peak, helped turn around ABC’s flagging fortunes and boosted the international market for US series with complex plots and one-hour episodes. — AFP

Singer Mariah Carey performs at Caesars Entertainment “Escape to Total Rewards” kick-off at Gotham Hall on Thursday, March 1, 2012 in New York. — AP

Mariah Carey helps christen new Disney ship in NYC M

ariah Carey helped christen the new Disney cruise ship Fantasy at a Hudson River pier in Manhattan on Thursday night and promised to bring her twins back to enjoy some Disney hospitality. “I christen thee Disney Fantasy. May God bless this ship and all who sail on it,” said Carey as she stood with Disney’s CEO Bob Iger, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Tom Staggs, and of course Mickey Mouse. The ceremony was held inside the ship’s atrium with a fake larger-than-life bottle that sprayed the room with shiny confetti while Carey’s husband Nick Cannon stood on deck in the company of Minnie Mouse. Earlier Carey got a cheer from the crowd as she sang the line “I’m a native New Yorker,” adding, “I’m going to love bringing my new babies here.” Her twins were born less than a year ago. The 4,000-

Cee Lo Green performs during the Caesars Entertainment “Escape To Total Rewards” concert in Los Angeles, Thursday, March 1, 2012. Simultaneous concert events were held in New York, Chicago, New Orleans and Los Angeles. — AP

passenger, 14-deck ship with its distinctive mouse ears logo arrived in New York on Tuesday after travelling nearly 3,800 miles (6,115 kilometres) across the Atlantic Ocean from Bremerhaven, Germany. The ship, which was built in Papenburg, will sail on seven-night Caribbean cruises starting March 31 from Port Canaveral, Florida. The ship is a near-twin to Disney Dream, which launched a year ago. Both ships offer a water coaster ride called AquaDuck that consists of a flume wrapped around the vessel, virtual portholes that stream footage from exterior video cameras to inside staterooms, and pictures in hallways that become animated as guests walk by. In addition to pools, water play areas, gigantic screens, sports, a theater and other activities for the whole family, age-specific amenities range from a nursery to clubs for tweens and teens and

adult-only dining and bars. Motifs from Disney stories and characters turn up all over the ship, from a French restaurant inspired by the movie “Ratatouille,” to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, named for the song from “Cinderella,” where little girls can get princess makeovers. The ship’s Europa area offers five adult nightspots themed on different European countries, including a Champagne bar, Ooh La La, and an Irish pub, O’Gills. Fantasy is the first of several major Disney projects to launch in 2012. The first phase of an expanded Fantasyland opens at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom theme park near Orlando this spring. Cars Land, based on the Disney-Pixar movie “Cars,” opens at Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim, California, this summer. —AP

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

‘American Idol’ announces 13 finalists

“A

merican Idol” is down to the top 13 singers. Smooth 21-year-old pawn shop worker Phillip Phillips of Leesburg, Ga., quirky 22-year-old nonprofit organizer Heejun Han of New York, and spunky 18-year-old country crooner Skylar Laine, from Brandon, Miss., were among the finalists revealed Thursday on the Fox singing contest. They and seven others received the most viewer votes after the 13 male semifinalists performed Tuesday and the 12 female semifinalists sang Wednesday. The other viewer-selected finalists included soothing 18-year-old vocalist Hollie Cavanaugh, of McKinney, Texas; 20-year-old alt-rock musician Colton Dixon, of Murfreesboro, Tenn.; 25year-old “gentle giant” Jermaine Jones, of Pine Hill, N.J.; booming 19year-old student Joshua Ledet, of Westlake, La.; soaring 16-year-old vocalist Shannon Magrane, of Tampa, Fla.; 16-year-old Jessica Sanchez, of San Diego; and soulful 28-year-old teacher Elise Testone, of Charleston,

S.C. “America, you’re on fire, because this is an amazing top 10 brewing,” said judge Randy Jackson. Once the fan favourites were all revealed, the show’s panel picked five remaining semifinalists to deliver a last-chance tune in hopes of becoming one of the judges’ “wild card” selections. The judges ultimately chose 17-year-old student Deandre Brackensick, of San Jose, Calif.; 19year-old receptionist Jeremy Rosado, of Valrico, Fla.; and 26-year-old disc jockey Erika Van Pelt, of South Kingstown, R.I., to be among the top 13. “I love somebody who can fight through the tears and still deliver,” judge Jennifer Lopez told a weepy Van Pelt. The finalists will return to the stage to sing next Wednesday for the first round of season 11’s finals. “Idol” host Ryan Seacrest announced Thursday that the male singers would perform Stevie Wonder songs, while the female contestants would pay tribute to the late Whitney Houston, who died last month. — AP

In this file image released by Fox, judges (from left) Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson listen to contestants on the singing competition series “American Idol.” — AP

Rolling Stones to issue 50th anniversary photo book

Indian film extras are seen wearing burqas for a scene depicting Pakistan’s Abbottabad town in Kathryn Bigelow’s forthcoming film on Osama bin Laden, at Manimajra in Chandigarh on March 1, 2012.

Indian protesters disrupt bin Laden movie shoot

ight-wing Hindu activists yesterday disrupted shooting for Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow’s movie on the hunt for Osama bin Laden, protesting at the use of Indian locations to portray Pakistan. Members of the hardline Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) stormed the set in Chandigarh-the northern Indian city famously designed by SwissFrench architect Le Corbusier-where Bigelow’s crew had been shooting for four days. The location was a Chandigarh market, which the production company had transformed with shopboard signs in Urdu, autorickshaws with Lahore number plates and burqa-clad extras. “They removed signs that had been put up in Urdu and also pushed and abused the camera crew. They raised slogans against Pakistan and forcibly removed some Pakistani flags,” a local police officer told AFP by telephone. “We don’t want Pakistani flags on Indian soil

and we don’t agree that Indian markets should look like Pakistan,” said Punjab VHP secretary Ramkrishna Srivastava. Under the working title “Zero Dark Thirty,” Bigelow’s latest film recounts the hunt for bin Laden, which ended when US special forces raided his hideout in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad last May, killing the AlQaeda leader. With filming in Pakistan not an option, there has been intense media speculation about what locations might be chosen by Bigelow, who won the 2010 Oscar for Best Director for “The Hurt Locker”. Indian newspaper reports had suggested she might look to recreate the recently demolished three-storey bin Laden hideout in the desert state of Rajasthan. The Indian line production company involved in the film, said the shooting in Chandigarh was simply aimed at collecting “establishing” shots with a Pakistani feel. —AFP

ifty years to the day after the Rolling Stones first took to the stage, the veteran rockers will publish a photographic record of their rise to fame and lasting success. “The Rolling Stones: 50” will hit the shelves on July 12, the date in 1962 when the band debuted at the Marquee Club in London’s Oxford Street. The book, published by Thames & Hudson in Britain, is part of the 50th anniversary celebrations for one of rock and roll’s biggest acts, but what fans are calling for most is another world tour. While some members of the group have said a tour was likely, no announcement has been made and questions remain about the relationship between lead singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards. Ties were strained, according to accounts in the music press, after Richards portrayed Jagger in an unflattering light in his 2010 memoir “Life”. The new book will feature 700 illustrations, 300 of them in colour and many taken from the archive of the Daily Mirror tabloid, which contains the largest newspaper collection of Rolling Stones photography. “This is our story of 50 fantastic years,” Jagger, Richards, bass player Ronnie Wood and drummer Charlie Watts said in a joint statement.

“We started out as a blues band playing the clubs and more recently we’ve filled the largest stadiums in the world with the kind of show that none of us could have imagined all those years ago. “Curated by us, it features the very best photographs and ephemera from and beyond our archives.” —Reuters

Member of the Rolling Stones, Ronnie Wood, with Sally Humphreys arrives at the Save the Children’s ‘A Night of Blues’ event at The Roundhouse, Camden, London. — AP

Andew Dost (front left) Nate Ruess, (front centre) and Jack Antonoff (front right) perform with their band FUN, at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel in Providence. — AP

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

In this photo, Ashley Brown, center, portraying Magnolia Hawkes, dances with cast members at a dress rehearsal during the first act of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of “Show Boat.” — AP

Five unforgettable movie parties “P

roject X” follows one wild night as a group of high school outcasts throw an epic bash, one they hope will make them popular. Watching other people getting a little out of hand on screen makes you wish you could be there, too - you can enjoy yourself vicariously without suffering the next day. Here’s a look at five great movie parties. You don’t even have to RSVP - just come as you are: “Animal House” (1978): It is, of course, the gold standard. When I was in school, every fraternity wanted to reach such heights of hedonism (or depths, depending on your perspective). But they could never match the men of Delta Tau Chi. They are, as you well know, the worst house at Faber College. So just when they’re on the verge of being kicked off campus for their horrendous grades and various other offenses, they do the only thing they can do: throw a toga party. Yes, “Shout” is massively overplayed by now - you hear it at every bar mitzvah and accounting firm holiday party but seeing Otis Day and the Knights perform it in this gleefully debauched setting was perfect. “Sixteen Candles” (1984): The quintessential

John Hughes movie bash - the kind of party that only happens in the movies, where high school kids from every level of the social hierarchy get together to trash some ridiculous mansion. (“Project X” similarly aims for this kind of egalitarian spirit.) This is a party where anything can and does happen, where a geek (Anthony Michael Hall) can befriend the studliest guy in school and wind up taking the prom queen home. Even the politically incorrect Long Duk Dong gets lucky with his newstyle American girlfriend. “Bachelor Party” (1984): A grossly underappreciated early Tom Hanks film and a neat little time capsule. Tawny Kitaen! Adrian Zmed! All that big hair! Good times. “Bachelor Party” is inappropriate in the ways “Project X” only aspires to be - or at least it seemed that way at the time. It’s a great reminder of Hanks’ comic roots; he does just the right balance of silly and smart-alecky. “Revenge of the Nerds” (1984): This was a good year for these kinds of movies, apparently; perhaps it was the ostentatious excess of the era that made wild bashes like these make sense. They were a reflection of who we were,

or at least who we wanted to be - even if we were nerds. The misfits who come together to form a makeshift fraternity try hard to throw a party that will impress the leaders of the traditionally black Lambda Lambda Lambda, the only national group that will consider giving them a charter. Things aren’t going so well at first - a shrill violin performance, an accordion sing along - but when Booger busts out the wonderjoints, the nerds and the equally awkward Omega Mus have no trouble throwing down. An ‘80s classic. “Dave Chappelle’s Block Party” (2006): The comic took over part of the BedfordStuyvesant neighbourhood of Brooklyn for a concert featuring an all-star lineup including Kanye West, The Roots and the reunited Fugees. But the whole film has an innocent, cheery, let’s-put-on-a-show vibe about it. A surprisingly straightforward documentary from director Michel Gondry, it’s part concert, part stand-up routine, part neighbourhood get-together. Chappelle is the hilarious, ebullient force of nature at the centre, making everyone feel welcome and functioning as the world’s coolest party planner. — AP

This undated photo originally released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment, shows actor John Belushi in a scene from the 1978 film “Animal House.” — AP

Chris Brown brings ‘Fortune’ to fans in May Indian villagers smear themselves with colours during the Lathmar Holi festival at the Radha Rani temple in Barsana, some 130 kms from New Delhi yesterday. — AFP

&B singer Chris Brown will release his fifth studio album titled “Fortune” in May, record label RCA said on Thursday, following on from Brown’s recent Grammy comeback performance and award win. “I hope this album shows growth and positivity to all my fans and will inspire them to live life to the fullest!!!” Brown posted on his Twitter this week about the upcoming May 8 album release. “Fortune” will follow on from Brown’s fourth album “F.A.M.E,” which was released in March 2011, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and spawned hits such as “Look At

Me Now” and “Yeah 3x.” Brown also picked up the Grammy award for best R&B album last month. The singer, 22, has been attempting to rework his tarnished image after he was arrested and pleaded guilty to beating exgirlfriend Rihanna in February 2009. Brown was sentenced to five-year probation, which he is currently mid-way through serving. After publicly apologizing and being invited back to the Grammys this year to perform, Brown was on his way to redeeming himself, but his Grammy win had fans and critics split, which led to Brown retaliating on Twitter. —Reuters

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Models present creations by British designer Peter Copping for Nina Ricci.

Models wear creations by French designer Olivier Rousteing for Balmain’s as part of the Fall-Winter, ready-towear 2013 fashion collection, during Paris Fashion week, Thursday, March 1, 2012. —AP/AFP photos

It’s

glamour and comfort on Day 3 of Paris shows Models present creations by VietnameseFrench designer Barbara Bui.

he mysterious story of the Faberge egg that has fascinated artists and writers for more than a century was the central theme of Balmain’s spectacular ready-to-wear fashion show Thursday. Designer Olivier Rousteing became captivated by the gilded ornament on display in Christie’s while visiting New York and traced its history back to Imperial Russia. From this, sprung an exquisite fall-winter ready-to-wear collection of bejeweled velvets, Cossack tailoring with pearl and diamond embroidery, and rich high-collar clothes that conjured up Orthodox churchwear - a touch being seen more and more on the runway. From the salons of Moscow to the streets of Brooklyn swept the fashion crowd on entering the street-wise universe of Manish Arora. The Delhibased designer channelled graffiti art in a colourful show with live spray painting that had the front row gasping. Later in the day, both Barbara Bui and Nina Ricci treated spectators to solid, feminine collections that will translate easily onto the street. With robust business figures, maybe it pays to be commercially minded? Friday, day four of Paris’ nine days of shows, will feature powerhouses Christian Dior and Lanvin. Balmain Olivier Rousteing, on his tremendous sophomore outing at Balmain’s show took the label back to its couture roots with a dash of Russian imperial glamour. The collection’s muse, the blue and gold Faberge egg that Richard Burton gave to Elizabeth Taylor, set the tone of the highly structured clothes that dripped with jewels. Gems and pearls adorned hourglass silhouettes, harking back to a time of imperial wealth. Long orthodox vestments in black and sumptuous velvets consolidated a fall trend for the covered-up and ecclesiastical. Le Grand Hotel Paris venue further transported spectators back in time to the glittering days of 18th century salons. But 26-year-old Rousteing was not just about gemstones, and looked forward not back. Since he was catapulted to the label’s head a year ago, he’s been trying to turn the page on what some have described as the house’s “trash factor.” Thursday’s show managed to achieve this, without losing any of the red-carpet glamour that re-popularized the house under Christophe Decarnin. Rousteing revisited the house’s signature jacket, making it oversized and sharpening it into an ornament. Pants were relaxed to give the silhouette a more fluid look, and boyish cropped pants were paired with a perfecto jacket and vest. The lion’s share of the bejeweled pieces might not have been

made in spirit of ready to wear, but they provide a strong direction for the iconic house’s future. Barbara Bui Barbara Bui’s offering shows she really knows how to put the ready in ready-to-wear with an elegant collection of lames, woolens and flowing dresses that the models could have worn straight out onto the street. It was perhaps the relatively down-to-earth choice of muses, including Bianca Jagger and Jerry Hall (living, breathing people, not deities or aliens as some designers have it), that meant the clothes looked unfussy, clean-lined and wearable. Or was it that the brand is known to be commercially minded? Either way there was plenty on the menu for the Bui woman: big alpaca jerseys, finely quilted satin tops and military greatcoats that rubbed accentuated shoulder to accentuated shoulder in a palette of black, pearl, brown and gold. A beautiful and subtle jabot-collared silk blouse had a flavor of the glory days of Yves Saint Laurent, while several short cheongsams, also known as Mandarin gowns, ticked the box for the Eastern-looking trend this fall. Breaking new ground is clearly not the seasoned designer’s main priority. Showcasing covetable and highly buyable clothes is. Nina Ricci Nina Ricci’s Peter Copping is a shameless romantic, and his strong show Thursday took the audience into the world of a young girl who playfully mixes and tears up clothes from her family’s 1950s dress-up box. Rough patchwork panelling featured on deconstructed evening coats in tweed, as if cut and re-sewn by a child’s hand. Redundant fur cuffs dangled limp from the side of a sleeve, a fur stole had gloves attached with a toddlerstyle thread and rhinestone brooches and buttons were applied haphazardly to lace and organza cocktail dresses as if in haste after the wardrobe raid. But beyond the daydreaming, the black-heavy collection exuded a strong, contemporary femininity. More importantly, it marked a change in direction for Copping, creative director since 2009, in embracing the cinched glamour of a 1950s silhouette. “The A-line look makes it feel different to my previous work,” the British designer said. “It’s about nonchalance and comfort.” Comfort is often synonymous in ready-to-wear with “sellable.” Here, the house has no need to worry. — AP

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Street art shakes up catwalk atManish Arora

ineteen-fifties silhouettes in nippedwaist dresses, lit up by subversive images lifted from Brooklyn street art: India’s Manish Arora offered bright, bold contrasts at Paris fashion week on Thursday. A cast of blackhooded graffiti artists set the scene as Arora showcased his his new autumn-winter look in an open-air setting, under a concrete overhang on the banks of the Seine, spray-painting the words “Life is beautiful”. “I’m very attracted to street art,” said the designer after the show. “It deserves a lot more attention than it gets.” For the collection, the designer met artists from the Brooklyn based Judith Supine, whose brightcoloured, surreal work Arora superimposed onto his clothes, to a trio of Paris graffiti artists called Rude, Vision and Broke. On the catwalk, a brick wall motif suggested the street artists’ canvas, used on black velvet tops and retro small-waisted, flared gowns that were illuminated with flashes of emerald green, sapphire blue or fuchsia pink. Motifs ranged

Models present creations by Indian designer Manish Arora.

from urban landscapes, to fragmented figures or faces, or bright red kissing lips dotted all over a black knee-length dress under a little black bolero. Hair was rolled into chignons and hidden beneath unpolished gold plumage-like hairpieces, a futuristic note echoed with lasercut bodices in irridescent green or gold, ending in tiny flounced mini-skirts. For the finale, Arora sent out 10 models in floaty, flared-skirt dresses whose fluo colours and curves picked up on the show’s wall of graffiti. “For my world the colours were subdued,” he joked afterwards. “But it’s not just about the clothes. I fell in love with this venue. For me a show has to be a ‘show’,” Arora smiled. “Otherwise you can just go to a showroom.” — AFP

TECHNOLOGY SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

AT&T relents on ‘unlimited data’ plan limits NEW YORK: AT&T Inc. backed away from an unpopular service policy after smartphone subscribers complained that the company placed unreasonable limits on its “unlimited data” plans. The cellphone company said Thursday that it will slow down service for “unlimited data” subscribers after they reach 3 gigabytes of usage within a billing cycle. The change relaxes a previous policy under which AT&T had been throttling service when subscribers entered the heaviest 5 percent of data users for that month and that area. Under the now scuttled program, there was no way for subscribers to ﬁnd out what the limit was ahead of time. AT&T would send a text message warning to people who approached the limit. The data throttling would then kick in a few days later. Thousands of subscribers complained about the policy online. “Our unlimited plan customers have told us they want more clarity around how the program works and what they can expect,” AT&T said in a statement Thursday. According to a 2011 Nielsen study, the average smartphone user consumes about 435 megabytes of data each month. A person would have to use rough-

ly seven times that amount to hit AT&T’s 3 gigabyte throttling milestone. An Associated Press story two weeks ago cited subscribers whose data service had been throttled at just over 2 gigabytes of data use. The story included others who had received warnings that throttling was imminent. The 2 gigabyte barrier was lower than AT&T’s current “limited” plan provides. One person said his phone was practically useless for two weeks out the month because the data service was slowed so drastically. AT&T stopped selling “unlimited data” plans nearly a year ago, but existing subscribers were allowed to keep it. The company charges $30 per month for the plan, the same amount it charges for 3 gigabytes of data on a new “tiered” or limited plan. AT&T has about 17 million “unlimited” smartphone subscribers, most of whom use iPhones. AT&T’s reversal comes less than a week after iPhone user Matt Spaccarelli won a small claims lawsuit against the company for slowing down his service. A Simi Valley, Calif. judge awarded Spaccarelli $850, agreeing that “unlimited” service shouldn’t be subject to slowdowns. AT&T argued that it never guaranteed the speed of the service, just that it would provide unlimited downloads.

The company said it will appeal the decision. It bars subscribers from bringing class action suits. As part of the new policy, the Dallas-based phone company said subscribers with “unlimited” plans and smartphones capable of using the new “LTE” data network would see the slowdown at 5 gigabytes rather than three. The LTE network is faster and doesn’t have many users yet. T-Mobile USA is already up front about the usage levels where throttling kicks in for its data plans. Verizon Wireless has a “5 percent” formula similar to AT&T’s, but doesn’t throttle unless the particular cell tower a heavy user is communicating with is congested at that moment. By contrast, AT&T and T-Mobile throttle speeds for the rest of the billing cycle, regardless of local conditions. Verizon’s policy has drawn few complaints. Alone among the Big Four national wireless carriers, Sprint has an unlimited data plan that isn’t subject to throttling. However, it reserves the right to cancel service for those who use excessive amounts of data. In a similar incident last fall, Verizon abandoned a planned fee for settling phone bills through last-minute credit-card payments after customers complained. — AP

Zynga unveils stand-alone game destination

SYDNEY: An undated handout photo released yesterday by the Catlin Seaview Survey shows Australian scientists mapping the iconic Great Barrier Reef with a custom-built underwater camera. An estimated 50,000 panoramas, shot in 360-degree highdefinition detail, will be uploaded to Google’s Panoramio photo site for use on Google Maps and Google Earth in a kind of “Street View” under the ocean. — AFP

Australia’s Barrier Reef to get Google treatment SYDNEY: Australian scientists mapping the Great Barrier Reef will broadcast their findings in partnership with Google, emulating its “Street View” to spotlight the impact of climate change. The University of Queensland’s Seaview Survey will use custom-designed cameras and diving robots to plumb never-before-seen depths of the reef off Australia’s northeast coast. It is a scientific expedition with an everyman twist, according to chief scientist for the project, Ove Hoegh-Guldberg. A special four-lensed camera, which can be held by a scuba diver swimming through and over the corals, will capture a “rapid visual census” of life forms at 20 sites along the entire 2,300-kilometre (1,400mile) length of the reef. An estimated 50,000 panoramas, shot in 360-degree high-definition, will then be uploaded to Google’s Panoramio site for use on Google Maps and Google Earth. The result will be a kind of undersea version of its “Street View” function, which allows web users to access street scenes around the world. “By using some really nifty digital tech-

nology to create 360-degree imagery we’re essentially able to allow people to slip into the Great Barrier Reef and go for a dive as if they were coming with us,” HoeghGuldberg told AFP. The expedition, which will oﬃcially depart in September, will also have a dedicated YouTube channel documenting its progress in real-time. Hoegh-Guldberg said its primary focus would be recording the reef for later comparisons to measure the eﬀects of climate change, as well as mapping depths unreachable by scuba divers, about which very little is known. In particular, he said the project team was interested in how deep reefs-between 30 and 100 metres (100-330 feet) below sea level-were triggered to spawn, or reproduce. Shallow reef spawning was triggered by the moon and it would be a “phenomenal discovery” if deep reefs were also found to follow the moonlight, which would likely be very dim at such depths, he added. Another team, led by Emmy award-winning cinematographer and shark

researcher Richard Fitzpatrick, will track the reef’s “charismatic megafauna” such as rays, turtles and tiger-sharks, and migratory changes due to ocean warming. A six-day trial of some of the robots in a deep-reef environment at the end of last year had already revealed four new coral species for Australian records and a new breed of pygmy seahorse. The reef is the biggest in the world, comprising more than 3,000 individual reef systems and hundreds of tropical islands. It is home to 1,500 ﬁsh species and 30 types of whale, dolphin and porpoise. Hoegh-Guldberg said the project was an exciting combination of “real science” and popular culture, adding that he hoped it would increase public awareness of the oceans and their vulnerability to climate change. “Oceans are undergoing major change, be that our polar seas, our kelp forests, our coral reefs and so on,” he said. The Great Barrier Reef was just the ﬁrst part in what was intended to be a global project, mapping coral reefs in the world’s massive oceans.—AFP

NEW YORK: “CityVille” fans afraid to spam their Facebook friends with updates about their virtual hometowns can sigh with relief. Zynga has unveiled a new online destination, Zynga.com, where people can play its games away from Facebook, including with people who are not their Facebook friends. This doesn’t mean that Zynga is divorcing Facebook. Players will log into the site with their Facebook account information and spend money in the games through Facebook. But Zynga hopes the move will lure more players and get them to spend more time on its games, unencumbered by the non-game-related Facebook updates and comments that can distract them from tending to their virtual farms, cities or poker games. John Schappert, Zynga’s chief operating officer, says the new site will be “focused solely on gaming” once it launches later this month. It’ll be a place for people whose Facebook friends don’t play the games they play, or don’t play games at all, he said. On Zynga.com, they will have “zFriends,” and their profiles will be all about gaming. That means no baby photos, status updates or links to news stories. All that can stay on Facebook. “Facebook has been struggling with how to handle two sets of users - one set who loves games and one set who doesn’t,” said Michael Witz, the CEO of online game company Mobscience. Zynga.com, he added “creates a separate space where people who love to play games can play games.” And Mobscience will be among its beneficiaries: Zynga said Thursday that it will let other developers create games for its network, giving them access to the 240 million people who play Zynga games each month. “We really have shifted our entire company’s mission and mantra to become the Zynga of Zynga,” Witz said. Zynga plans to share feedback with developers like Mobscience about players’ experiences, including how engaged they are with a particular game or how much they want to continue playing. Colin Sebastian, an analyst at Baird who follows gaming and Internet companies, said it’s “smart for Zynga to create an independent and healthy platform.” While the company is still “holding hands” with Facebook, Sebastian said, Zynga will be the centerpiece and brand name for its new gaming destination, and “there is a lot of value in that.” The announcement is a sign that Zynga, which went public in December, “is moving from technology investment mode to harvest mode,” which should ultimately improve its profit margins, the analyst said. Sebastian said the announcement was expected and is baked into Zynga’s guidance. Zynga began talking last fall about its own online playground “Project Z.” Investors may have interpreted the news as a sign that company is reducing its dependence on Facebook - whether or not that is the case. Zynga’s stock rose nearly 10 percent to close at $14.48 on Thursday and continued rising after hours, picking up another 76 cents, or 5.3 percent, and climbing to $15.24.—AP

TECHNOLOGY SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Website lets people shine light on dark secrets

TOKYO: A model from Motorola Mobility Japan shows off the company’s new smartphone, ‘Motorola Razr’ in Tokyo yesterday. The phone, with dimensions 69mm W x 131mm H x 10.7mm D is equipped with a OMAPA4430+MDM6600 dual core 1,2 GHz CPU, a 4.3-inch Super Amoled Advanced display and Android Operating System 2.3. The unit is on the Japanese market through KDDI from March 1, 2012. — AFP

Radical new ‘focus later’ camera begins shipping WASHINGTON: A radical new camera that lets you adjust the focus after you take a picture began shipping this week. The Lytro is the creation of Ren Ng, who started work on the digital camera while studying for a doctorate in computer science at Stanford University in California. The telescope-shaped camera uses what is known as “light field technology” to allow the focal point of a digital image to be changed after the picture is taken, a feature that Lytro calls “shoot now, focus later.” Clicking on a Lytro picture displayed on a computer screen allows a viewer to shift the focus from a subject in the foreground, for example, to a subject in the background. The Lytro can do this because it uses powerful sensors to capture significantly more light than a conventional camera. Lytro chief executive Ng, who was born in Malaysia and raised in Australia, describes the images as “living pictures” because of the ability to manipulate them. “This is a very exciting time for our growing Lytro team,” he said in a blog post to mark the shipments of the first models. “We finally get to see how you use the Lytro camera to create and share your own living pictures.” When Lytro pictures are shared online, the “light field engine” travels with each image so anyone can interact with them on desktop and tablet computers or on smartphones. The 16-gigabyte model of the camera, which is about the same size as a stick of butter and can fit easily in a pocket, costs $499 and can hold 750 pictures. An 8GB version costs $399 and can capture 350 images. The first reviews of the Lytro came out on Thursday and were

full of praise for the technological leap the camera represents. “The consumer point-and-shoot camera has just been reinvented-not tweaked, or remodeled, but actually re-thought from top to bottom,” said Walt Mossberg in The Wall Street Journal. “I consider it a revolution in consumer photography,” Mossberg said. At the same time, the Journal’s influential technology reviewer did point out some of the Lytro’s limitations. Mossberg noted that for now at least Lytro pictures can only be imported to a Macintosh computer with its accompanying software and the process is slow because of the relatively large files. The Mountain View, California-based Lytro has promised that a version for computers powered by Microsoft’s Windows operating systems will be available later. Sam Grobart of The New York Times described the refocusing capabilities of the Lytro as “astonishing” and “fairly mind-blowing.” “Refocusing a Lytro image, I felt like one of those CIA agents in the movies who is looking at satellite images and asks some technician to ‘enhance’ the picture until Carlos the Jackal comes into focus,” Grobart wrote. He also highlighted drawbacks with the current model. “While refocusing is its own interesting tool, that’s the only tool you have at this point-adding a filter or importing the image into Photoshop remains impossible,” Grobart said. “Should Lytro’s engineers refine light-field photography into something more versatile and cheaper (imagine this on a smartphone), it may turn out to be a game changer,” he said. —- AFP

LONG BEACH, California: People around the world share their deep secrets with Frank Warren and he, in turn, reveals them to all. Confessions drawn, pasted or written on postcards flow relentlessly into his mailbox and Warren provides as many as possible with time in the spotlight at his website, PostSecret.com. “I’ve never been a person growing up that people told their secrets to,” Warren told AFP after a presentation at the prestigious TED conference that wraps in southern California on Friday. “In my life now, people don’t walk up to me and tell me secrets, but I never get tired of getting postcards. I still go to the post box early.” The Maryland man described himself as a typical suburban dad and small business owner whose life was turned around by a project launched in 2004 as a diversion from his “lucrative but unsatisfying” document delivery company. Warren began by printing 3,000 postcards and handing them out in the Washington DC area, asking people to anonymously share a heartfelt secret they had never told anyone. The idea spread virally, with people making or buying their own postcards and sending them to PostSecret from countries around the world. Warren showed a postcard made from half of a Starbuck’s coffee paper cup and bearing the message “I give decaf to customers who are rude to me.” Another postcard was from someone who confided “I used to work with a bunch of uptight religious people so sometimes I didn’t wear panties and just smiled and chuckled to myself.” One confession arrived in the form of a sealed envelope bearing a message that inside were the torn bits of a suicide note “I didn’t use - I feel like the happiest man on Earth now.” A postcard bearing a collage of pictures of Hollywood actors bore a message that one of them was “the father of my son, he pays me a lot to keep his secret.” Many secrets sent to the website involve loneliness, self-harm, or eating disorders, according to its creator. “One of the biggest surprises is that when we find the strength to share a deep secret, instead of making us weird it connects us to our deepest humanity,” Warren said. “Everyone has a secret that could break your heart.” Warren displayed a picture of him next to a pyramid of a half million postcards bearing secrets. He updates PostSecret.com every Sunday, trying to create a theme with the confessions. “I tapped into something full of mystery and wonder,” Warren said. “Secrets can remind us of the countless human dramas playing out in the lives of people around us.” PostSecret claims the distinction of being the most visited advertising-free blog on the Internet and is credited with inspiring a student in Canada to launch IFoundYourCamera.net website that connects people with lost pictures. Warren supports the website with money from his document shipping business, and successful books featuring collections of confessions. Some PostSecret postcards have made it to the Museum of Modern Art. —- AFP

Liquid battery could charge green energy LONG BEACH: Engineering professor Donald Sadoway yesterday used an old-school chalk board at the prestigious TED gathering to write the formula for a liquid battery that could one day cut the need for new power plants. “The way things stand, electricity demand must be in constant balance with supply,” Sadoway told the tech-savvy audience in southern California. Inexpensive batteries made from liquid metal could store electricity from solar panels, wind farms, or existing generation facilities and save it for when it is most needed. That would be a major change from today’s consume-it-now-orlose-it systems. “The battery is the enabling device here,” he

said. “With it we could draw electricity from the sun even when the sun doesn’t shine.” Sadoway and his team of students at Massachusetts Institute of Technology were so conﬁdent in their creation that they started Liquid Metal Battery Corporation and plan to have bistro-table size models out in two years. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is among the company’s backers. The company plans to eventually bring to market a liquid battery the size of a 40-foot shipping container and capable of holding enough electricity to serve the daily needs of 200 typical US households. “You could have these batteries in the

basements of buildings drinking up power in the wee hours,” Sadoway said. “It means we don’t have to build more plants, power lines just for peak use,” he continued. “The limits are way out there, not only in terms of what it can do for renewables.” The key metals in the battery are common vanadium and magnesium, the professor explained as he chalked a basic chemical equation on the board. TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) is a series of conferences designed to present cuttingedge ideas. Speakers are given only 18 minutes to give deliver their pitch. —AFP

TV listings

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

03:35 Wild France 04:30 Wildest Africa 05:25 League Of Monkeys 06:20 Escape To Chimp Eden 06:45 In Too Deep 07:10 K9 Cops 08:00 Orangutan Island 08:25 Animal Planet’s Most Outrageous 09:15 The Really Wild Show 09:40 Cats Of Claw Hill 10:10 Dogs 101: Specials 11:05 League Of Monkeys 12:00 New Breed Vets With Steve Irwin 12:55 RSPCA: On The Frontline 13:20 Wildlife SOS International 13:50 New Breed Vets With Steve Irwin 14:45 Animal Cops Phoenix 15:40 League Of Monkeys 16:30 Shamwari: A Wild Life 17:00 The Really Wild Show 17:30 Pandamonium 18:25 Cats 101 19:20 Extraordinary Dogs 19:45 Extraordinary Dogs 20:15 Orangutan Island 20:40 Wildlife SOS International 21:10 Escape To Chimp Eden 21:35 In Too Deep 22:05 Rats With Nigel Marven 23:00 Beast Lands 23:55 Snake Crusader With Bruce George

03:05 03:30 04:00 04:20 04:30 04:45 05:00 05:05 05:25 05:36 05:50 06:10 06:20 06:35 06:45 06:50 07:10 07:20 07:35 08:05 08:35 09:20 09:50 10:20 11:10 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:45 14:15 14:45 15:35 16:25 17:10 17:40 18:10 18:40 19:10 20:00 20:50 21:20 21:50 22:40 23:05 23:50

dinnerladies My Family Me Too! Charlie and Lola Gigglebiz Boogie Beebies Poetry Pie Fimbles 3rd & Bird Forget Me Not Farm Me Too! Charlie and Lola Gigglebiz Boogie Beebies Poetry Pie Fimbles 3rd & Bird Forget Me Not Farm 2 Point 4 Children dinnerladies The Weakest Link Eastenders Doctors Casualty Lark Rise to Candleford My Family 2 Point 4 Children The Weakest Link Eastenders Doctors Casualty Lark Rise to Candleford The Weakest Link Eastenders Doctors dinnerladies 2 Point 4 Children The Orang-Utan King Last Woman Standing Little Britain My Family Jekyll Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show The Weakest Link The Orang-Utan King

03:00 03:25 03:50 04:15 04:40 05:10 05:35 06:25 07:10 07:35 08:05 08:50 09:35 10:25 11:10 12:00 12:50 13:40

James Martin’s Champagne James Martin’s Champagne James Martin’s Champagne What To Eat Now - Autumn What To Eat Now - Autumn Indian Food Made Easy 10 Years Younger Celebrity Fantasy Homes James Martin’s Brittany James Martin’s Brittany Bargain Hunt MasterChef Australia MasterChef Australia Bargain Hunt Antiques Roadshow Come Dine With Me 10 Years Younger MasterChef

FINAL FANTASY ON OSN ACTION HD 14:35 15:25 16:15 17:00 17:45 18:35 19:00 20:35 21:00 21:50 22:45 23:40

MasterChef Celebrity Fantasy Homes House Swap Bargain Hunt Antiques Roadshow Cash In The Attic USA French Food At Home French Food At Home 10 Years Younger MasterChef MasterChef Bargain Hunt

03:00 03:30 03:45 04:00 04:30 04:45 05:00 05:30 05:45 06:00 06:30 06:45 07:00 07:30 08:00 08:30 08:45 09:00 09:30 09:45 10:00 10:30 10:45 11:00 11:30 11:45 12:00 12:30

BBC World News Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday Asia Business Report Sport Today Newsday Hardtalk BBC World News World Business Report BBC World News BBC World News World Business Report BBC World News BBC World News World Business Report Sport Today BBC World News World Business Report Sport Today BBC World News Hardtalk

13:00 BBC World News 13:30 World Business Report 13:45 Sport Today 14:00 BBC World News 14:30 BBC World News 15:00 GMT With George Alagiah 15:30 GMT With George Alagiah 16:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:00 Impact With Mishal Husain 17:30 World Business Report 17:45 Sport Today 18:00 BBC World News 18:30 Hardtalk 19:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:00 The Hub With Nik Gowing 20:30 World Business Report 20:45 Sport Today 21:00 BBC World News 21:30 World Business Report 21:45 Sport Today 22:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 23:00 World News Today With Zeinab Badawi 23:30 World Business Report 23:45 Sport Today

03:15 03:40 04:00 04:25 04:50 05:15 05:40 06:00 06:25 06:50 07:00 07:30 07:55 08:20

Puppy In My Pocket Popeye Tom & Jerry Looney Tunes Scooby Doo Where Are You! Droopy: Master Detective Wacky Races The Flintstones A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Popeye Classics The Garﬁeld Show Bananas In Pyjamas Baby Looney Tunes Gerald McBoing Boing

08:45 09:00 09:25 09:50 10:15 10:40 11:05 11:25 11:50 12:15 12:40 13:00 13:15 13:40 13:55 14:45 15:10 15:35 16:00 16:50 17:15 17:40 18:05 18:20 19:10 19:35 20:00 20:15 20:40 21:05 21:30 21:55 22:20 22:45 23:10 23:35

03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00

Jelly Jamm Pink Panther And Pals Pink Panther And Pals Puppy In My Pocket The Scooby Doo Show Scooby Doo Where Are You! The Flintstones Duck Dodgers Tom & Jerry Kids Pink Panther And Pals Wacky Races Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Bananas In Pyjamas The Garﬁeld Show A Pup Named Scooby-Doo Scooby-Doo And Scrappy-Doo Looney Tunes Puppy In My Pocket Pink Panther And Pals Pink Panther And Pals Tom & Jerry Tom & Jerry The Garﬁeld Show The Scooby Doo Show Scooby-Doo And Scrappy-Doo Jelly Jamm Baby Looney Tunes Gerald McBoing Boing Bananas In Pyjamas Pink Panther And Pals Tom & Jerry Looney Tunes Scooby Doo Where Are You! Droopy: Master Detective The Flintstones

World Report Anderson Cooper 360 Piers Morgan Tonight Quest Means Business

07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 11:30 12:00 13:00 13:30 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 19:45 20:00 20:30 21:00 22:00 22:45 23:00

Erin Burnett Outfront World Sport Talk Asia World Report World Report World Sport News Special World Business Today Backstory News Special World One Piers Morgan Tonight News Stream World Business Today International Desk Global Exchange CNN Marketplace Middle East World Sport Living Golf International Desk Quest Means Business CNN Marketplace Europe Piers Morgan Tonight

03:25 04:20 05:15 05:40 06:05 07:00 07:50 08:45 09:40 10:05 10:30 10:55 11:25 12:20 13:15 14:10 15:05 16:00 16:55 17:50 18:45 19:10 19:40 20:05 20:35 21:00 21:30 22:25 22:50 23:20

Ultimate Survival Mythbusters How Does It Work How It’s Made Dirty Jobs Mythbusters Gold Rush Swamp Loggers How Does It Work Cake Boss Border Security Auction Kings Science Of The Movies Science Of The Movies Science Of The Movies Science Of The Movies Science Of The Movies Overhaulin’ Ultimate Survival Mythbusters Cash Cab Us Border Security Dirty Money How It’s Made How Does It Work Cake Boss One Man Army I Escaped: Real Prison Breaks I Escaped: Real Prison Breaks Ross Kemp On Gangs

03:15 03:40 04:05 04:35 05:00 05:25 06:20 07:10 08:00 08:25 08:50 09:15 09:40 10:05 10:35 11:00 11:25 12:20 13:15 14:05 14:55 15:20 15:50 16:15 16:40 17:05 18:00 18:50 19:40 20:05 20:30 21:20 22:10 22:35 23:00 23:25 23:50

Sci-Fi Science Sci-Fi Science Sci-Fi Science How Does That Work? How Stuff’s Made Under New York Thunder Races Space Pioneer The Gadget Show The Gadget Show How Does That Work? How Stuff’s Made Sci-Fi Science Sci-Fi Science Sci-Fi Science Sci-Fi Science Under New York Thunder Races Space Pioneer Invisible Worlds How Does That Work? How Stuff’s Made The Gadget Show The Gadget Show The Tech Show Thunder Races Bad Universe Engineered Bang Goes The Theory Bang Goes The Theory Sci-Trek Thunder Races The Gadget Show The Gadget Show Bang Goes The Theory Bang Goes The Theory Sci-Trek

03:15 03:35 04:00 04:25 04:50 05:15 05:35

EMPEROR’S NEW SCHOOL STITCH STITCH REPLACEMENTS REPLACEMENTS Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odd Parents

06:00 HANNAH MONTANA 06:20 RECESS 06:45 TIMON AND PUMBAA 07:05 PHINEAS AND FERB 07:30 Good Luck Charlie 07:55 FISH HOOKS 08:10 WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE 08:35 MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE 09:00 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 09:15 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 09:25 HANDY MANNY 09:40 THE HIVE 09:50 RECESS 10:15 SO RANDOM 10:45 HANNAH MONTANA 11:10 SUITE LIFE ON DECK 11:35 JAKE & BLAKE 12:00 SONNY WITH A CHANCE 12:25 WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE 12:55 PHINEAS AND FERB 13:10 SO RANDOM 13:30 SUITE LIFE ON DECK 13:55 WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE 14:20 HAVE A LAUGH 14:30 PHINEAS AND FERB 14:55 Good Luck Charlie 15:15 MY BABYSITTER’S A VAMPIRE 15:45 FISH HOOKS 16:10 SHAKE IT UP 16:35 WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE 17:00 TIMON AND PUMBAA 17:30 Good Luck Charlie 17:55 FISH HOOKS 18:20 SUITE LIFE ON DECK 18:45 SUITE LIFE ON DECK 19:10 Good Luck Charlie 19:30 HAVE A LAUGH 19:35 WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE 20:00 HANNAH MONTANA 20:25 PHINEAS AND FERB 20:50 SHAKE IT UP 21:15 FISH HOOKS 21:35 RECESS 22:00 SHAKE IT UP 22:25 SHAKE IT UP 22:50 WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE 23:15 WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE 23:35 SONNY WITH A CHANCE

03:00 JUNGLE JUNCTION 03:25 LITTLE EINSTEINS 03:50 HIGGLYTOWN HEROES 04:20 JO JO’S CIRCUS 04:40 SPECIAL AGENT OSO 05:10 JUNGLE JUNCTION 05:35 LITTLE EINSTEINS 06:00 HIGGLYTOWN HEROES 06:15 HIGGLYTOWN HEROES 06:30 JO JO’S CIRCUS 06:50 JUNGLE JUNCTION 07:45 HANDY MANNY 08:00 SPECIAL AGENT OSO 08:15 JUNGLE JUNCTION 08:30 JUNGLE JUNCTION 08:45 MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE 09:10 THE HIVE 09:20 HANDY MANNY 09:35 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 09:50 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 10:05 THE HIVE 10:15 MINI ADVENTURES OF WINNIE THE POOH 10:20 MOUK 10:32 MOUK 10:45 THE HIVE 10:55 MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE 11:20 IMAGINATION MOVERS 11:45 ART ATTACK 12:10 IMAGINATION MOVERS 12:35 SPECIAL AGENT OSO 12:45 LazyTown 13:10 HANDY MANNY 13:25 JUNGLE JUNCTION 13:40 IMAGINATION MOVERS 14:05 THE HIVE 14:15 SPECIAL AGENT OSO 14:25 LITTLE EINSTEINS 14:50 LazyTown 15:15 MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE 15:40 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 15:55 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 16:05 MOUK 16:20 HANDY MANNY 16:30 THE ADVENTURES OF DISNEY FAIRIES 17:00 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 17:15 MOUK 17:30 THE ADVENTURES OF DISNEY FAIRIES 17:55 MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE

TV listings

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012 18:25 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 18:40 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 19:00 THE ADVENTURES OF DISNEY FAIRIES 19:25 THE HIVE 19:35 LITTLE EINSTEINS 20:00 MINI ADVENTURES OF WINNIE THE POOH 20:05 MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE 20:25 101 DALMATIANS 20:50 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 21:05 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 21:20 THE HIVE 21:30 MINI ADVENTURES OF WINNIE THE POOH 21:35 A POEM IS... 21:40 ANIMATED STORIES 21:45 MOUK 22:00 MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE 22:25 JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES 22:40 SPECIAL AGENT OSO 22:55 LITTLE EINSTEINS 23:20 TIMMY TIME 23:30 JUNGLE JUNCTION 23:45 HANDY MANNY 23:55 MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE

03:15 25 Most Stylish 04:10 Sexiest 05:05 Extreme Hollywood 06:00 THS 07:50 Behind The Scenes 08:20 E! News 09:15 Kendra 09:45 Kendra 10:15 THS 12:05 E! News 13:05 Khloe And Lamar 14:05 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 14:35 Keeping Up With The Kardashians 15:00 Style Star 15:30 E!es 16:25 Behind The Scenes 16:55 Ice Loves Coco 17:55 E! News 18:55 THS 19:55 Scouted 20:55 Chelsea Lately 21:25 Fashion Police 22:25 E! News 23:25 Chelsea Lately 23:55 Keeping Up With The Kardashians

03:05 03:50 04:40 05:25 06:15 07:10 08:00 08:50 09:40 10:25 11:10 11:35 11:55 12:40 13:25 14:15 15:00 15:25 15:50 16:35 17:20 18:10 19:00 19:45 20:10 20:55 21:20 22:10 23:00 23:50

I Almost Got Away With It Cuﬀ Me If You Can Dr G: Medical Examiner The Haunted A Haunting Mystery Diagnosis CSU Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry? On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Murder Shift Mystery Diagnosis Real Emergency Calls Who On Earth Did I Marry? On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared CSU Forensic Detectives Murder Shift Real Emergency Calls Mystery Diagnosis Who On Earth Did I Marry? On The Case With Paula Zahn Disappeared Kidnap And Rescue Fugitive Strike Force

03:00 03:30 04:00 05:00 06:00 06:30 07:00 07:30 08:00

Don’t Tell My Mother Don’t Tell My Mother By Any Means A World Apart Treks In A Wild World Treks In A Wild World On Surfari Word of Mouth Extreme Tourist Afghanistan

09:00 09:30 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 22:30 23:00

Don’t Tell My Mother Don’t Tell My Mother By Any Means A World Apart Treks In A Wild World Treks In A Wild World Food School Bondi Rescue The Green Way Up The Green Way Up Exploring The Vine Market Values Making Tracks Making Tracks Adventure Wanted Departures Food School Bondi Rescue The Green Way Up The Green Way Up Exploring The Vine Market Values Making Tracks Making Tracks Adventure Wanted

03:45 Windtalkers-PG15 06:00 Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within-PG 08:00 Ballistica-PG15 10:00 Snake In The Eagle’s ShadowPG15 12:00 Armored-18 14:00 Ballistica-PG15 16:00 Star Trek: Generations-PG15 18:00 Armored-18 20:00 The Spirit-PG15 22:00 My Bloody Valentine-R

04:45 07:00 09:00 11:00

Leap Year-PG15 Love The Beast-PG Unanswered Prayers-PG15 Leap Year-PG15

13:00 5 Dollars A Day-PG15 15:00 Unanswered Prayers-PG15 17:00 Tomorrow, When The War Began-PG15 19:00 Letters To Juliet-PG15 21:00 Season Of The Witch-PG15 23:00 A Little Help-18

03:00 The Simpsons 03:30 Mr. Sunshine 04:00 Dharma And Greg 04:30 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 05:30 Seinfeld 06:00 Just Shoot Me 06:30 Til Death 07:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 08:00 Dharma And Greg 08:30 The Simpsons 09:00 Seinfeld 09:30 Two And A Half Men 10:00 Hot In Cleveland 10:30 Til Death 11:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 12:00 Just Shoot Me 12:30 Dharma And Greg 13:00 Seinfeld 13:30 Til Death 14:00 Mr. Sunshine 14:30 Hot In Cleveland 15:00 Two And A Half Men 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Just Shoot Me 17:00 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 18:00 The Simpsons 18:30 Mr. Sunshine 19:00 The League 19:30 State Of Georgia 20:00 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

21:30 22:00 22:30 23:30

The Colbert Report The Big C Curb Your Enthusiasm Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

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

Strike Back Bones Good Morning America Eureka Emmerdale Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Martha Stewart Show The View American Idol Eureka Live Good Morning America The Ellen DeGeneres Show Emmerdale Look-A-Like Psych American Idol Necessary Roughness Bones

03:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 09:00 10:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00

American Idol Switched At Birth Smallville Emmerdale Coronation Street Parenthood The Ellen DeGeneres Show American Idol Parks And Recreation Coronation Street The Ellen DeGeneres Show Parenthood Smallville Law & Order: Los Angeles The Ellen DeGeneres Show Parenthood Psych

20:00 American Idol 22:00 Necessary Roughness 23:00 Supernatural

03:00 05:00 07:00 09:15 PG15 11:00 13:00 15:00 PG15 17:00 19:00 21:00 23:00

Wild Things: Foursome -18 The Morgue-18 X2-PG Bodyguard: A New BeginningFatal Secrets-PG15 The Bannen Way-PG15 Bodyguard: A New BeginningDeadly Impact-18 Assassination Tango-18 8 Mile-PG15 Bad Guys-18

04:00 Last Of The Living-PG15 06:00 Nativity!-PG 08:00 Coming & Going-PG15 10:00 Checking Out-PG15 12:00 Born Yesterday-PG15 14:00 I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry-PG15 16:00 Lost In Yonkers-PG 18:00 The Making Of Plus One-PG15 20:00 Greenberg-18 22:00 Serial Mom-18

03:00 05:00 07:15 09:00 11:00 13:00 14:45 16:45 19:00 21:00 23:00

Blame It On Mum-18 Nine-PG15 Oceans - Into The Deep-PG Soapdish-PG The Wronged Man-PG15 Winning Time-PG15 Squanto: A Warrior’s Tale-PG15 A Simple Twist Of Fate-PG15 The Clearing-18 Return To Paradise-PG15 Chico & Rita-18

03:00 The Tempest-PG15 05:00 Open Season 3-FAM 07:00 A Cinderella Story: Once Upon A Song-PG15 09:00 Just Wright-PG15 11:00 By The People: The Election Of Barack Obama-PG15 13:00 Just Married-PG15 15:00 The Client List-PG15 16:30 Just Wright-PG15 18:30 Eat Pray Love-PG15 21:00 Season Of The Witch-PG15 23:00 True Grit-PG15

SEASON OF THE WITCH ON OSN CINEMA

03:45 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Gladiators: The Tournament-PG Ramses Of Egypt-PG Yona Yona Penguin-PG Marco Antonio-PG The Nimbols: Part II-FAM Supertramps-FAM Yona Yona Penguin-PG Marco Antonio-PG Garﬁeld-PG Supertramps-FAM

04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 15:45 18:00 20:00 22:00

The Chaperone-PG15 Head Over Heels-PG15 Slipstream-PG15 The Chaperone-PG15 Diary Of A Wimpy Kid-PG Slipstream-PG15 The Great Debaters-PG15 Across The Hall-PG15 Resident Evil 4: Afterlife-18 Dare-18

03:30 04:30 05:00 07:00 10:30 11:30 13:30 14:00 15:30 16:30 17:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 21:30 22:00

Trans World Sport Volvo Ocean Race Highlights Super Rugby Premier League Darts Super Rugby Highlights Live NRL Premiership ODI Cricket Highlights Volvo Ocean Race Volvo Ocean Race Volvo Ocean Race Highlights NRL Premiership WWE NXT UFC - The Ultimate Fighter ODI Cricket Highlights Futbol Mundial Live Premier League Darts

04:30 Futbol Mundial 05:00 European Tour Weekly 05:30 Asian Tour Highlights 06:30 Total Rugby 07:00 Pro 12 Celtic League 09:00 Super Rugby Highlights 10:00 World Cup Of Pool 11:00 World Pool Masters 12:00 US Bass Fishing 13:00 Trans World Sport 14:00 ICC Cricket World 14:30 ODI Cricket Highlights 15:00 NRL Premiership 17:00 Total Rugby 17:30 Golﬁng World 18:30 Asian Tour Golf Show 19:00 Scottish Premier League Highlights 19:30 ODI Cricket Highlights 20:00 ICC Cricket World 20:30 European Tour Weekly 21:00 Trans World Sport 22:00 NRL Premiership

07:00 08:00 09:00 09:30 10:00 10:30 11:30 13:30 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 17:30 19:30 20:30 21:00 22:00 23:00

Golfing World Asian Tour Highlights Cricket ODI Highlights European Tour Weekly Total Rugby Trans World Sport Scottish Premier League SPL Highlights Golfing World Asian Tour Highlights European Tour Weekly Futbol Mundial Super Rugby Volvo Ocean Race Cricket ODI Highlights Top 14 Highlights Super Rugby Highlights Golfing World

03:00 04:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 09:30 10:30 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:30 17:00 19:00 20:00 21:00

Speedway Le Mans Series Highlights UFC Unleashed WWE SmackDown Speedway Power Boats Aquabike World WWE Experience WWE Vintage Collection WWE Bottom Line Aquabike World Speedway FIM World Power Boats WWE NXT UFC The Ultimate Fighter UFC 144

04:30 Mutiny On The Bounty 07:30 TCM Presents Under...-U 08:00 Anna Christie-PG 09:30 The Adventures Of Quentin Durward-FAM 11:10 The Big Sleep-PG 13:05 Catlow-PG 14:45 Flipper-FAM 16:15 The Harvey Girls-FAM 17:55 Gaby-PG 19:30 The Swan-FAM 21:15 Memphis Belle-PG 23:00 The Morning After

03:50 04:20 05:15 07:05 08:00 09:00 10:00 10:25 10:55 11:50 12:50 13:50 14:15 14:45 15:45 16:40 17:35 19:25 21:20 22:15 23:10

Videofashion News How Do I Look? Whose Wedding Is It Anyway? Clean House Videofashion News Videofashion Daily Open House Fashion Classics How Do I Look? Whose Wedding Is It Anyway? Clean House Dress My Nest Mel B: It’s A Scary World How Do I Look? Giuliana & Bill Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane Tia And Tamera How Do I Look? Clean House: New York Fashion Police Giuliana & Bill

WHAT’S ON SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Captivating open day at ILOA

st standard students of Indian learners own academy, paid a befitting tribute to their beloved school through an awesome open day celebration. In the magnetic range of its enticement, it was a beautiful poetry par excellence. “Learning is finding what we already know, doing is demonstrating that we know it; teaching is reminding others that they know it as well as we do.” Learners’ children became learners, doers and teachers in the beautiful evening of January 25th when they appeared in the guise of confident anchors who reminded professionals, wonderful and enthusiastic singers, lovely and charming dancers and sober speakers on the spectacular stage in the school auditorium. It was an absolute personification of the Latin Motto, “FAC OMNIA BENE” (DO ALL THINGS WELL).They proved that small beginnings are the opportunities to great enterprises. The event was eagerly looked forward to, by all and when it finally unfolded on the eve of the republic day, little ones emerged colourfully making it an articulate and colourful presentation, setting a festive evening for a galaxy of proud parents. It exceeded all expectations and was a cut above the other occasions. Verse from the Holy Quran, recital of prayer and national anthems of Kuwait and India metamorphosed the whole venue

into a sanctum. The guest of honour was Kanet Alexander Rodrigues, the respected principal of Indian public school Salmia, who graced the occasion with his valuable presence. The enchanting welcome song in the national language of India and the semi-classical welcome dance in the form of an invocation through which they sought the blessings of the Almighty, gave a good start to the cultural extravaganza. The lighting of the lamp by the chief guest was an explicit symbolization of the eradication of ignorance and arrogance from our minds. The school principal Mrs Asha Sharma welcomed the gathering and introduced the chief guest to them. The highlight of the event was the felicitation of the students for both scholastic and non-scholastic performance. It was adorably done by the chief guest, Kanet Alexander Rodriques. While appreciating the team spirit of the entire school wing, Rodriques added that the students are very lucky for; they are under the guidance of the president’s proud award winner, Mrs Sharma. He admired the motto of the school and stated that there is neither a high nor a low achiever in the school. He admired the name of the school “Learners Own Academy” which signiﬁes that all partners in education are learners, which is a hallmark of any leading school. As everybody is a learner, each and every child should be treated as a high achiever. Parents play a

Writers’ Forum holds meeting

he Writer’s forum Kuwait held its monthly meeting at the Salwa residence of Aftab Alam and Mrs Humera Roshi on February 17. The meeting was conducted by Sunil Sonsi. The vice president of the forum, Ve.P. Mathiyazhagan presided over the meeting. The chief guest was Ali Chougle. The agenda of the meeting was story telling. The ﬁrst story of the evening was ‘He loves me, he loves me not’, on the social impact of Valentine’s day, by Mrs Humera Roshi. The second story was a heart touching romantic tragedy,’Dard ka hadd se guzarna’by Mrs Maimuna Ali Chougle.

The third story was on the plight of expatriate maids working in Kuwait, ‘A tale of seven years’ by Ms Shabana Sheikh. The last story of the evening, ‘Insaan’ was narrated by the President of the forum Mrs Shahjahan Jaﬀrey. The meeting was attended by Umesh Sharma, Mrs Tajwer Sutana, Dr (Mrs) Navniit Gandhi, Mrs Caroline Johnson, Mrs Mateen Kadri, Mrs Sabiha Merchant, Zahid Merchant and Ali Imam. The meeting concluded with the speeches of the chair person and the chief guest who applauded and appreciated the members for their literary brilliance and thanked the hosts for their hospitality.

vital role as they are partners in the progress of the school. They should walk each and every step along with the child, school and the principal. He reminded the parents that they have put their precious ones in the right and safe hands. He was sure that they would come out with flying colours in each and every respect. He was full of appreciation for the entire wing which is always in full swing. The indescribable beauty of nature presented through an action song and “the dingle dingle scare crow” dance received spontaneous applause from the audience. The little ones were very much aware that the lack of adequate fruit and vegetable consumption has become an important public health issue. With fancy fruits they explained the need of the intake of fruits. Dandiya dance was a mesmerizing poetry of kids’ movements in tune to captivating rhythmic beats, intermittent jingling sound of bells, clattering of sticks and electrifying flow of colours. The mind blowing Goan Dance was a beautiful portrayal of the unique amalgamation of the cultural legacy of Goa. “Brown girl in the ring” one of the attractive, traditional childrens’ songs in the West Indies was presented enthusiastically by the children. Thus ended the fabulous fiesta leaving a beautiful picture of the budding artists in the minds of the parents which they can recollect in tranquility.

WHAT’S ON SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

IIS celebrates National, Liberation days

uwait National Day and Liberation Day were celebrated with great pomp & gaiety at the kindergarten of India International School. It was indeed a pleasure to see the Tiny Tots expressing their love towards Kuwait which they are living in. The event started with the students dressed in Kuwaiti tra-

ditional costumes marching down the richly decorated corridors, waving their ﬂags to the lovely tunes of Kuwait National song and lining up for the celebration. The day was also sparked with the special Assembly and cultural activities to enhance the festive spirit among the students. The presence of the Director, Principal and Vice-

Principal made a diﬀerence among the children as they joined in the Gala celebration of National and Liberation Day of Kuwait. The enthusiasm and zeal with which the children celebrated National Day and Liberation Day was extremely commendable.

KDNA conducts leadership training camp

ozhikode District NRI Association (KDNA) conducted a leadership training camp at United Indian School, Abbassiya. Munawar Muhammed, CIGI (Center for Information Guidance India) International Vice President and Kuwait Chapter President Conducted a class on the topic “Team, Organization and Organizing”. The session started with the importance of the professional developments availed to the busy members of the workforce to recognize the core operating principle that combines the academic excellence, practical relevance and flexibility of time tabling. The team effort toward a common goal need to be based on mutual trust among its members. The different abilities of team members need to be brought under one

platform and make use towards this common goal. As well, there should be programs to increase the bond and attachment between its members, whether through Art and Sports activities. Etc. Munawar Mohammed also emphasized the requirement of group, Association, Team effectiveness. According to him in an Association the basic requirement of formation of a group is to maintain relationship between individuals. He also explained about Group & Team, morale, self-development, factors affecting the morale, frequent programs’, task, initiative to work etc. CRAB was defined C-as commitment to team and each other. R as relationship among team members. A as agreement, disagreement & evaluation of the happenings

and B as behavior & strength. The Leader’s Training Camp was presided by the acting president of the Association Kalathil Abdurahiman and Inaugurated by the advisory board member Krishnan Kadalundi. General Secretary Suresh Mathur and Organizing Secretary Rasheed Pynthong spoke over the function. Advisory Board member Basheer Batha presented a token of appreciation to Munawar Mohammed for his excellence lecture. Azeez Thikkodi, Vicepresident of the Association explained about the signiﬁcance of the Nationalday & Liberation day of Kuwait. Association Academic Secretary Nisar KV rendered Welcome speech and Joint Treasurer R.N. Shoukath Ali proposed vote of thanks.

Tamilnadu Engineers Forum

s a student outreach program, we are organizing and hosting, a high level delegation from Anna University to meet the Indian community to explain the various educational opportunities in engineering programs. Their visit to Kuwait will be on the 5th & 6th March 2012. The program during their stay in Kuwait is as follows: March 5: Evening 4 to 8 pm. Auditorium, Indian Central School, Abbasiya. March 6: Evening 4 to 7 pm. Kohinoor Housing Solutions,Block 8, St 28, Near LulaPharmacy, Souk Sabah, Fahaheel, Basement Auditorium. Interested parents / Students can meet the delegates to obtain information regarding Anna University (CEG, AC Tech, SAP & MIT) admissions for the year 2012. Members of the senior level delegates from Anna university are: Dr L. Karunamoorthy, Dr N.Nagendra Gandhi, Dr.(Mrs) S.Thamarai Selvi, Dr N. Kumaravel, Dr S. Kuppusamy, Mrs Jewelcy Jayant Emleta and Dr K. Baskar, Professor. For more info contact 99576510 /67002569 /65037903.

HEALTH

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Fake Avastin had several chemicals WASHINGTON: Counterfeit versions of the popular cancer drug Avastin obtained by European regulators contain a variety of chemicals, but not the active ingredient found in the genuine drug, according to drug maker Roche. The Swiss company said in a statement that an analysis of the contents of the vials picked up traces of 10 substances, ranging from starch and salt to solvent chemicals like acetone, which is used in paint thinner. Medical experts said Tuesday the chemicals are unlikely to harm patients, provided they are not taken in large doses. “They’re not great to have in your system, but depending on the concentration your body can probably handle them pretty well,” said Dr. Miguel Fernandez of the South Texas Poison Center in San Antonio. “It’s the dose that makes the poison.” Roche did not provide detail on the level of the chemicals found in the vials. The company said none of the fake products contains the active ingredient found in Avastin, a protein-based drug infused at hospitals and doctors’ offices. “The counterfeit product is not safe or effective and should not be used,” the company said in a statement. Avastin is used to treat cancers of the colon, lung, kidney and brain. The drug is one of the most widely used cancer drugs in the world, generating about $6 billion a year in sales. The Food and Drug Administration is investigating the source of counterfeit Avastin imported and distributed by a U.S. wholesaler to doctors here. British regulators have confirmed that 41 vials of fake Avastin were shipped to the U.S. Five have been recovered while 36 which still are missing. Authorities in Europe have traced the counterfeit product back through distributors in Britain, Denmark and Switzerland. The original country of origin remains unclear. Dr. Philip Cole of Johns Hopkins University said several of the substances appear to be common to biotech drugs, including starch, salt and benzoic acid. “But I don’t think any of them are useful for getting the functional effect of Avastin,” said Cole, who directs the pharmacology program at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Cole said the presence of the solvent acetone was concerning, since it does not have a medical use. “We do make some acetone in our bodies as a byproduct of various metabolic pathways,” Cole said. “Small quantities are not dangerous, but it certainly can be toxic at higher levels.” Experts say gauging harm from a counterfeit cancer treatment is very difficult because drug infusions are spaced out over weeks and months. A colon cancer patient, for example, might receive 18 to 20 Avastin infusions over six months. Missing one dose seems unlikely to have a dramatic effect on survival odds, but it is not provable either way. Incidents of counterfeiting reported by drug makers have increased steadily over the decade to more than 1,700 worldwide last year. Only 6 percent of those were in the U.S. The rise in counterfeiting comes as pharmaceutical supply chains increasingly stretch across continents. More than 80 percent of the active ingredients used in U.S. pharmaceuticals are now manufactured overseas, according to a recent congressional report. Roche sells Avastin in 120 countries and manufactures and packages the drug at eight sites worldwide. — AP

This undated handout artist rendering provided by the Schneider Lab, University of Pittsburgh shows an experimental type of scan showing damage to the brain’s nerve fibres after a traumatic brain injury. The yellow shows missing fibres on one side of the brain, as compared to the uninjured side in green, in a man left with limited use of his left arm and hand. — AP

Autism not diagnosed as early in minority children Socioeconomics play crucial role WASHINGTON: Early diagnosis is considered key for autism, but minority children tend to be diagnosed later than white children. Some new work is beginning to try to uncover why - and to raise awareness of the warning signs so more parents know they can seek help even for a toddler. “The biggest thing I want parents to know is we can do something about it to help your child,” says Dr. Rebecca Landa, autism director at Baltimore’s Kennedy Krieger Institute, who is exploring the barriers that different populations face in getting that help. Her preliminary research suggests even when diagnosed in toddlerhood, minority youngsters have more severe developmental delays than their white counterparts. She says cultural differences in how parents view developmental milestones, and how they interact with doctors, may play a role. Consider: Tots tend to point before they talk, but pointing is rude in some cultures and may not be missed by a new parent, Landa says. Or maybe mom’s worried that her son isn’t talking yet but the family matriarch, her grandmother, says don’t worry - Cousin Harry spoke late, too, and he’s fine. Or maybe the pediatrician dismissed the parents’ concern, and they were taught not to question doctors. It’s possible to detect autism as early as 14 months of age, and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that youngsters be screened for it starting at 18 months. While there’s no cure, behavioral and other therapies are thought to work best when started very young. Yet on average, U.S. children aren’t diagnosed until they’re about 41/2 years old, accord-

ing to government statistics. And troubling studies show that white kids may be diagnosed with autism as much as a year and a half earlier than black and other minority children, says University of Pennsylvania autism expert David Mandell, who led much of that work. Socioeconomics can play a role, if minority families have less access to health care or less education. But Mandell says the full story is more complex. One of his own studies, for example, found that black children with autism were more likely than whites to get the wrong diagnosis during their ﬁrst visit with a specialist. At Kennedy Krieger, Landa leads a wellknown toddler treatment program and decided to look more closely at those youngsters to begin examining the racial and ethnic disparity. She found something startling: Even when autism was detected early, minority children had more severe symptoms than their white counterparts. By one measure of language development, the minority patients lagged four months behind the white autistic kids, Landa reported in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. It was a small study, with 84 participants, just 19 of whom were black, Asian or Hispanic. But the enrolled families all were middle class, Landa said, meaning socioeconomics couldn’t explain the diﬀerence. One of the study’s participants, Marlo Lemon, ignored family and friends who told her not to worry that her son Matthew, then 14 months, wasn’t babbling. Boys are slower to talk than girls, they said. “I just knew something was wrong,”

recalls Lemon, of Randallstown, Md. Her pediatrician listened and knew to send the family to a government “early intervention” program that, like in most states, provides free testing and treatment for young children’s developmental delays. Matthew was enrolled in developmental therapy by age 18 months, and was formally diagnosed with autism when he turned 2 and Lemon enrolled him in Kennedy Krieger’s toddler program as well. In many of his therapy classes, Lemon says, Matthew was the only African-American. Now 7, Matthew still doesn’t speak but Lemon says he is making huge strides, learning letters by tracing them in shaving cream to tap his sensory side, for example, and using a computer-like tablet that “speaks” when he pushes the right buttons. But Lemon quit working full-time so she could shuttle Matthew from therapy to therapy every day. “I want other minority families to get involved early, be relentless,” says Lemon, who now works part-time counseling families about how to ﬁnd services early. For a campaign called “Why wait and see?” Landa is developing videos that show typical and atypical behaviors and plans to ask Maryland pediatricians to show them to parents. Among early warning signs: Not responding to their name by 12 months, or pointing to show interest by 14 months. Avoiding eye contact, wanting to play alone, not smiling when smiled at. Saying few words. Landa says between 18 and 26 months, kids should make short phrases like “my shoe” or “where’s mommy,” and should be adding to their vocabulary weekly. —AP

HEALTH

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

US seeks new review of easier-to-spread bird flu WASHINGTON: A scientist who created an easier-to-spread version of the bird ﬂu said his work is not as risky as people fear. The U.S. government is asking its biosecurity advisers to reconsider if the research should be made public. Bird ﬂu only occasionally sickens people, mostly after close contact with infected poultry, but it can be deadly when it does. Scientists have long feared it might mutate to spread more easily and thus spark a pandemic. Researchers in the Netherlands and

the state of Wisconsin were studying how that might happen when they created bird flu strains that at least some mammals - ferrets - can spread by coughing or sneezing. The work triggered international controversy. U.S. health officials urged the details be kept secret so would-be terrorists couldn’t copy the strains, and critics worried that a lab accident might allow deadly viruses to escape. But contrary to public perceptions, the airborne bird flu didn’t kill the ferrets,

Dr. Ron Fouchier of the Netherlands’ Erasmus University told a meeting of U.S. scientists Wednesday. In fact, he said those previously exposed to regular flu were protected from severe disease. Fouchier said publishing the research would help other scientists monitor the so-called H5N1 bird flu for similar mutations in the wild, and to test vaccines and treatments. A federal biosecurity panel first sounded the alarm about the research, concerned

about the easier mammal-to-mammal spread. The U.S. is asking that panel to conduct another review of the two laboratories’ work, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health said Wednesday. He said the board should hear some new data that came to light at a recent closed-door meeting of the World Health Organization, where international ﬂu experts concluded the research eventually should be published. —AP

CLASSIFIEDS SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

ACCOMMODATION

112 Hospitals Sabah Hospital

24812000

Amiri Hospital

22450005

Maternity Hospital

24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital

25312700

Chest Hospital

24849400

Farwaniya Hospital

24892010

Adan Hospital

23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital

24840300

Al-Razi Hospital

24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital

24874330/9

Clinics Rabiya

4732263

Roudha

22517733

Adhaliya

22517144

Khaldiya

24848075

Keifan

24849807

Shamiya

24848913

Shuwaikh

24814507

Abdullah Salim

22549134

Al-Nuzha

22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh

24814764

Al-Khadissiya

22515088

Dasmah

22532265

Bneid Al-Ghar

22531908

Al-Shaab

22518752

Al-Kibla

22459381

Ayoun Al-Kibla

22451082

Al-Mirqab

22456536

Sharq

22465401

Salmiya

25746401

Jabriya

25316254

Maidan Hawally

25623444

Bayan

25388462

Mishref

25381200

W.Hawally

22630786

Sabah

24810221

Jahra

24770319

New Jahra

24575755

West Jahra

24772608

South Jahra

24775066

North Jahra

24775992

North Jleeb

24311795

Al-Ardhiya

24884079

Firdous

24892674

Al-Omariya

24719048

N.Kheitan

24710044

Fintas

3900322

Need executive bachelors with clean habits male/female or issueless couples to share accommodation with S Indian family, near 6th Ring Road, petrol pump, Touristic park, Indian Central School. Contact: 97534176 / 24312943. (C 3890) 3-3-2012 Sharing accommodation available in 2BHK fully furnished, luxury flat, for decent couples or two working ladies near Hadi Hospital, backside to fire station, Bugaira Bin-Shada St., Salmiya. Contact: 25618576/ 66373409 after 2 pm. 1-3-2012 Immediate sharing accommodation available for a decent Indian Christian couple or bachelor near Salmiya Garden. Contact: 25657832/ 66884273. (C 3888) 29-2-2012 Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya near United Indian School, new building/ separate room/ toilet/ balcony for decent executive bachelor. Contact: 97208351. (C 3885) Sharing accommodation available in Khaitan, behind old Pakistani School, big room with separate bathroom for small family or two working ladies. Contact: 55847242. 28-2-2012 Required sharing accommodation with separate toilet for a small Sri Lankan family, within Abbassiya or near Indian Central School. Contact: 66552905. (C 3883) 26-2-2012 Accommodation available with separate attached bathroom for couple, decent lady or decent bachelor with kitchen, drawing satellite facilities in C-A/C flat new building in Salmiya, Amman Street. Contact: 99678634. (C 3878) Room available in Salmiya near City Center for a decent bachelor. Rent KD 75/-. Contact: 99959140. (C 3881) 25-2-2012

FOR SALE Furniture for sale in good condition, sofa set (3+1+1), dining table, table 2 no, shoe rack, gas stove, fridge, washing machine, etc at very good price. Contact: 99172842. (C 3892) 3-3-2012 Toyota Prado 2006, golden color, 4 doors, 6 cylinder, 101000km done, full options, Price KD 5,250/-. Contact: 66729295. (C 3886) Mitsubishi Lancer 2009, golden color, GLX, 75000km, Price KD 1,900/-. Contact: 50699345. (C 3887) 28-2-2012

LOST I lost my State Life Insurance paper, with policy number 633000205 of M. Younas. Anyone who has found it, call: 60741774. (C 3882) 25-2-2012

CHANGE OF NAME

food, hard work, good salary, good accommodation, full time or part time. Call 66519719 / 23901053. (C 3891) 3-3-2012

MATRIMONIAL Proposals invited for a Keralite Marthoma boy 27/179, MCA, working in Kuwait as Software Engineer, seeks alliance from God fearing, well educated / Kuwait employed girls. Contact: proposal84kwt@gmail.com 29-2-2012

TUITION

Business management teacher with doctoral degree for universities, institutions, corporate & all student levels. Over 10 years experience. Call 66495951. (C 3817) Mathematics teacher, Intermediate and secondary Exams models, Easy method, Exams from past years with solutions. 97301901

I, Viliana Isabella Lorena, holder of Indian Passport No. J 3503777 hereby change my name to WILIANA ISABETH LORENA. (C 3889) 1-3-2012

English teacher (3) years experience, looking for a job and ready to start with all educational stages. 55963993

I, Eshfak Esmailbhai Huseiny, holder of Indian Passport No. U009826, have changed my name to MUSTAFA ESMAILBHAI HUSEINY. (C 3884) 28-2-2012

Mathematics teacher for Universities, Institutions, Foreign Schools, Administrative, American, English, Australian, Bahrain, Electric and Gulf Sciences, Algbra Prel, Mathematics, intermediate, gmat, sat college, math98, 110 pre calculus geometry. 97619261

SITUATION VACANT Professional cook for house good experience all kind of

No: 15376

A Syrian Arabic language teacher. Masters in methods of teaching and follow up of 10th grade and 11th grade students. 97934291 Islamic education teacher for elementary and intermediate stages. Experienced in Kuwait curricula. Easy explanation, and summary of the subject, training for exams. 66292985 Syrian Arabic language teacher for elementary and intermediate stages. Experienced in following learning diﬃculties, and those weak in reading and writing. 97264100 Female senior Mathematics teacher with more that 30 years experience in Kuwait, to teach secondary, intermediate and elementary stages. Religious and applied, communications and navigation institutions, special courses and secretariat institution. 97926737 Computer teacher for secondary and intermediate. Practical on laptop, power point projects, front page, visual basic data, universities and applied institutions. 50603063

information SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

DIAL 161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION In case you are not travelling, your proper cancellation of bookings will help other passengers to use seats Airlines JZR QTR JZR KLM JZR ETH THY PIA UAE OMA QTR DHX MSR FDB ETD GFA THY DHX FAH JZR JZR KAC BAW KAC KAC FDB KAC KAC KAC JZR KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY QTR ETD FDB BAB GFA JZR RBG IRM MSR KAC GFA MSR JZR FDB MSR UAL GRF QTR KNE SVA RJA KAC KAC JZR QTR KNE JZR IRC ETD JZR UAE KAC RKM GFA SVA ABY JZR KAC BAB

Arrival Flights on Saturday 3/3/2012 Flt Route 320 ALEXANDRIA 138 DOHA 185 DUBAI 447 AMSTERDAM 539 CAIRO 620 ADDIS ABABA 772 ISTANBUL 239 SIALKOT 853 DUBAI 641 MUSCAT 148 DOHA 370 BAHRAIN 612 CAIRO 67 DUBAI 305 ABU DHABI 211 BAHRAIN 770 ISTANBUL 170 BAHRAIN 201 DUBAI 503 LUXOR 555 ALEXANDRIA 416 JAKARTA 157 LONDON 412 MANILA 206 ISLAMABAD 53 DUBAI 352 COCHIN 382 DELHI 302 MUMBAI 531 ASSIUT 284 DHAKA 362 COLOMBO 344 CHENNAI 855 DUBAI 125 SHARJAH 132 DOHA 301 ABU DHABI 55 DUBAI 436 BAHRAIN 213 BAHRAIN 165 DUBAI 3553 ALEXANDRIA 5066 MASHAD 610 CAIRO 672 DUBAI 219 BAHRAIN 621 ASSIUT 241 AMMAN 57 DUBAI 606 LUXOR 982 WASHINGTON DC DULLES 93 KANDAHAR 140 DOHA 745 JEDDAH 500 JEDDAH 640 AMMAN 562 AMMAN 786 JEDDAH 257 BEIRUT 134 DOHA 839 JEDDAH 535 CAIRO 6791 MASHAD 303 ABU DHABI 357 MASHAD 857 DUBAI 118 NEW YORK 310 RAS ALKHAIMAH 215 BAHRAIN 510 RIYADH 127 SHARJAH 777 JEDDAH 550 SOHAG 437 BEIRUT

Time 0:10 0:20 0:20 0:30 0:50 1:45 2:15 2:20 2:35 2:50 2:55 2:55 3:00 3:05 3:10 3:15 4:50 5:15 5:30 5:55 6:00 6:25 6:40 6:45 7:40 7:45 7:50 7:50 7:55 8:00 8:15 8:20 8:25 8:30 9:00 9:05 9:15 9:20 9:40 9:55 11:20 11:35 12:40 12:55 13:20 13:25 13:30 13:35 13:50 13:55 14:05 14:15 14:20 14:25 14:30 14:40 14:45 14:50 15:00 15:25 16:15 16:25 16:30 16:50 16:50 16:55 16:55 17:00 17:15 17:20 17:40 17:45 18:00 18:05

ALK JZR RBG FDB KAC KAC QTR JZR KAC KAC IRA KAC KAC KAC KAC SYR JAI OMA AIC AXB MSR KAC DHX KNE MEA GFA QTR UAE JZR KLM KAC KNE FDB JZR UAL BBC DLH

227 177 3563 63 502 542 6130 125 178 618 607 674 104 774 790 341 572 647 975 393 618 788 372 789 402 217 136 859 135 445 614 843 61 239 981 43 636

COLOMBO DUBAI ALEXANDRIA DUBAI BEIRUT CAIRO DOHA BAHRAIN GENEVA DOHA MASHAD DUBAI LONDON RIYADH MEDINAH DAMASCUS MUMBAI MUSCAT CHENNAI KOZHIKODE ALEXANDRIA JEDDAH BAHRAIN JEDDAH BEIRUT BAHRAIN DOHA DUBAI BAHRAIN AMSTERDAM BAHRAIN JEDDAH DUBAI AMMAN BAHRAIN DHAKA FRANKFURT

Airlines PIA UAL AIC JZR DLH ETH KLM ETH THY PIA FDB UAE OMA DHX MSR ETD QTR QTR THY JZR GFA JZR FDB BAW KAC JZR JZR KAC KAC KAC UAE ABY ETD KAC FDB QTR

Departure Flights on Saturday 3/3/2012 Flt Route 216 KARACHI 981 WASHINGTON DC 976 GOA 530 ASSIUT 637 FRANKFURT 3718 HONG KONG 447 AMSTERDAM 621 ADDIS ABABA 773 ISTANBUL 240 SIALKOT 68 DUBAI 854 DUBAI 642 MUSCAT 371 BAHRAIN 613 CAIRO 306 ABU DHABI 139 DOHA 149 DOHA 771 ISTANBUL 164 DUBAI 212 BAHRAIN 240 AMMAN 54 DUBAI 156 LONDON 671 DUBAI 256 BEIRUT 534 CAIRO 561 AMMAN 785 JEDDAH 101 LONDON 856 DUBAI 126 SHARJAH 302 ABU DHABI 549 SOHAG 56 DUBAI 133 DOHA

18:10 18:15 18:25 18:40 18:45 18:50 19:00 19:00 19:10 19:15 19:20 19:25 19:35 19:40 19:55 20:00 20:10 20:15 20:25 20:40 20:45 20:55 21:00 21:05 21:20 21:25 21:35 21:40 21:55 22:05 22:05 22:10 22:15 22:45 23:00 23:45 23:50

Time 0:30 0:45 0:50 1:15 1:20 1:30 1:45 2:45 3:15 3:30 3:45 3:50 3:55 3:55 4:00 4:00 4:40 5:40 5:50 6:55 7:00 8:05 8:25 8:40 9:00 9:00 9:15 9:20 9:25 9:35 9:40 9:45 10:00 10:00 10:05 10:10

BAB GFA JZR KAC KAC RBG JZR KAC JZR MSR IRM GFA MSR FDB MSR KAC KNE UAL KAC RJA KAC JZR KAC SVA KAC QTR KAC KNE JZR QTR IRC ETD JZR GRF RKM UAE GFA ABY SVA JZR BAB KAC RBG JZR ALK FDB JZR KAC IRA QTR SYR DHX KAC KAC JAI OMA MSR KNE KAC DHX KAC MEA GFA KAC FAH QTR KAC JZR UAE KNE KAC KLM FDB JZR JZR KAC

436 214 356 165 541 3564 776 501 176 611 5065 220 622 58 607 673 746 982 789 641 617 124 787 505 773 141 153 840 238 135 6792 304 538 82 311 858 216 128 511 266 437 613 3554 134 228 64 184 283 616 6131 342 171 331 351 571 648 619 790 543 373 675 403 218 381 102 137 301 554 860 844 205 445 62 188 528 411

BEIRUT BAHRAIN MASHHAD ROME CAIRO ALEXANDRIA JEDDAH BEIRUT DUBAI CAIRO MASHHAD BAHRAIN ASSIUT DUBAI LUXOR DUBAI JEDDAH BAHRAIN MADINAH AMMAN DOHA BAHRAIN JEDDAH JEDDAH RIYADH DOHA ISTANBUL JEDDAH AMMAN DOHA MASHHAD ABU DHABI CAIRO BAGHDAD RAS ALKHAIMAH DUBAI BAHRAIN SHARJAH RIYADH BEIRUT BAHRAIN BAHRAIN ALEXANDRIA BAHRAIN DUBAI DUBAI DUBAI DHAKA AHWAZ DOHA DAMASCUS BAHRAIN TRIVANDRUM KOCHI MUMBAI MUSCAT ALEXANDRIA JEDDAH CAIRO BAHRAIN DUBAI BEIRUT BAHRAIN DELHI DUBAI DOHA MUMBAI ALEXANDRIA DUBAI JEDDAH ISLAMABAD BAHRAIN DUBAI DUBAI ASSIUT BANGKOK

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

10:25 10:40 10:50 11:45 12:00 12:15 12:15 13:00 13:50 13:55 14:15 14:20 14:30 14:35 14:55 15:05 15:10 15:20 15:30 15:35 15:50 15:50 15:55 16:00 16:25 16:30 16:35 17:05 17:15 17:25 17:30 17:35 17:40 18:00 18:00 18:10 18:15 18:25 18:35 18:45 18:55 19:00 19:05 19:05 19:10 19:20 19:55 20:15 20:20 20:30 21:00 21:00 21:00 21:05 21:10 21:15 21:45 21:50 21:55 22:00 22:10 22:20 22:25 22:30 22:30 22:35 22:45 22:45 22:50 23:00 23:00 23:05 23:10 23:10 23:35 23:55

C R O S S W O R D

6 0 5

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Word Sleuth Solution

Yesterday始s Solution

ACROSS 1. A nucleic acid consisting of large molecules shaped like a double helix. 4. African tree having an exceedingly thick trunk and fruit that resembles a gourd and has an edible pulp called monkey bread. 10. Inquire about. 13. The sense organ for hearing and equilibrium. 14. Cause to be attached. 15. Aircraft landing in bad weather in which the pilot is talked down by ground control using precision approach radar. 16. How long something has existed. 17. Chorea in dogs. 18. Thigh of a hog (usually smoked). 19. A woman who is engaged to be married. 21. Tropical tree of Central America and West Indies and Puerto Rico having spikes of white flowers. 23. The first month of the year. 26. A member of the Siouan people of the northern Mississippi valley. 29. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group. 30. (dialect) A short straight stick of wood. 34. (sometimes followed by `of') Having or showing realization or perception. 36. A long brightly colored shawl. 38. A form of rummy using two decks and four jokers. 40. Having leadership guidance. 41. A sweetened beverage of diluted fruit juice. 43. The capital and largest city of Bangladesh. 47. A motley assortment of things. 50. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad. 54. A doctor's degree in musical arts. 58. (British) Your grandmother. 59. The general activity of selling. 61. A branch of the Tai languages. 62. An inn in some Eastern countries with a large courtyard that provides accommodation for caravans. 63. An indehiscent fruit derived from a single ovary having one or many seeds within a fleshy wall or pericarp. 64. An agency of the United Nations affiliated with the World Bank. DOWN 1. Lacking or deprive of the sense of hearing wholly or in part. 2. Medium-sized tree having glossy lanceolate leaves. 3. A particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography). 4. Resembling a berry. 5. (Greek mythology) Goddess of wisdom and useful arts and prudent warfare. 6. A member of the Siouan people inhabiting the valleys of the Platte and Missouri rivers in Nebraska. 7. A room or establishment where alcoholic drinks are served over a counter. 8. (informal) Of the highest quality. 9. God of wealth and love. 10. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey). 11. A fraudulent business scheme. 12. God of love and erotic desire. 20. Chief of the Vanir. 22. A former communist country in eastern Europe and northern Asia. 24. A small pellet fired from an air rifle or BB gun. 25. An associate degree in applied science.

27. Inspired by a feeling of fearful wonderment or reverence. 28. Informal terms for money. 31. A fine grained mineral having a soft soapy feel and consisting of hydrated magnesium silicate. 32. An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for the sale of petroleum. 33. English monk and scholar (672-735). 35. Russian physicist (1895-1971). 37. Tropical starchy tuberous root. 39. Open-heart surgery in which the rib cage is opened and a section of a blood vessel is grafted from the aorta to the coronary artery to bypass the blocked section of the coronary artery and improve the blood supply to the heart. 42. Any of a number of fishes of the family Carangidae. 44. A defensive missile designed to shoot down incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles. 45. Realistic Norwegian author who wrote plays on social and political themes (1828-1906). 46. English theoretical physicist who applied relativity theory to quantum mechanics and predicted the existence of antimatter and the positron (1902-1984). 47. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey). 48. A woman hired to suckle a child of someone else. 49. (Babylonian) Goddess of healing and consort of Ninurta. 51. (prefix) Opposite or opposing or neutralizing. 52. King of Saudi Arabia since 1982 (born in 1922). 53. Small buffalo of the Celebes having small straight horns. 55. Seed of a pea plant. 56. The elementary stages of any subject (usually plural). 57. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth. 60. A unit of information equal to 1024 bytes.

Yesterday始s Solution

SPORTS SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Afaf Al-Rukhayis - President Student Advisor

GUST Team Coach, Afaf Al-Rukhayis, Othman Al-Othman, Anwar Al-Sabah, Head of Student Life

GUST Team Captain and KSA Team Captain drawing their matches

GUST to host Gulf first women’s football tourney Tournament to encourage women sports in GCC

KUWAIT: With the Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) celebrating its 10th Anniversary this year, it announced the start of the 2nd ever Gulf Women’s Football Tournament. Kicking off yesterday, the tournament will go on for four days and will include different teams from the Gulf region - Kuwait, KSA and Bahrain - to square off on the GUST FIFA accredited field. The tournament will work to promote and encourage Women sports in the Gulf. GUST President’s Student Advisor, Afaf Al-Rukhayis spoke at the press conference and stated: “Team sports are a great way to exercise your interpersonal skills, especially on the field; sportsmanship is important in building character.” AlRukhayis, a leading woman in Kuwait sports as the initiator of the first women’s handball team in Kuwait, stressed on the vitality of encouraging women’s sports locally and regionally. She thanked all participating teams and the organizing committee of the tournament and hopes to host many grander tournaments for many sports in the future. Anwar Al-Sabah, Head of the Student Life Office at GUST and head of the organizing committee for the event mentioned the importance of this occasion not only because of its uniqueness and inspirational factor, but because it is part of a

Kuwait GUST Team

Othman Al-Othman, PR Officer, explaining the match draw

bigger ideal for the university. Othman Al-Othman, PR Oﬃcer at GUST then explained the rules and terms of the tournament draw and asked the captains of the teams to draw randomly in order to determine who will be playing the tournament’s ﬁrst match today. GUST hosted an opening ceremony on the GUST

ﬁeld yesterday with Kuwait (GUST) playing KSA as the ﬁrst match of the tournament. The second match of the night was Kuwait vs. Bahrain. An awards ceremony will take place on March 5th in the same location to honor the winning teams.

Schmid sets the early pace as GT3 Cup debuts in Qatar

UAE driver Karim Al Azhari in the practice session

French Groupama power for Auckland SANYA: French boat Groupama’s breakneck pursuit of a Volvo Ocean Race Leg four triumph into New Zealand was being powered by “thunder-cloud power” yesterday after crossing the equator. The fleet faced a cluster of clouds packing gale force winds of up to 40 knots that can make or break a campaign in the testing stage between Sanya in southern China and Auckland. Franck Cammas, a newcomer to the 39-year-old race, and Groupama led their five rivals by just over 60 nautical miles with some 2,345 still to negotiate before arriving in New Zealand in just over a week’s time. US-led Puma were second with Abu Dhabi, overall leaders Telefonica and Camper all around 100 miles adrift of the French crew at 0700 GMT. The Chinese entry, Team Sanya, was 70 nautical miles further behind. Abu Dhabi’s British skipper Ian Walker described the challenge facing the boats, reporting that his team had veered 60 degrees off course at one stage in the face of a 38-knot gust. — AFP

DOHA: Austrian Clemens Schmid recorded the fastest time in official practice yesterday for Round 9 of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East as the series made its first appearance at Qatar’s Losail International Circuit. It marked another milestone for the Porsche one-make series which has now united all five of the region’s top race circuits, having already become a familiar attraction in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain and Reem in Saudi Arabia. Schmid, the winner of three rounds so far in the 12-round championship, set a practice lap time of 2:01.644 to comfortably top the session ahead of Oman’s Ahmad Al Harthy, 2:02.546, and Saudi’s Bandar Alesayi, 2:02.588, currently lying second in the standings. UAE drivers Karim Al Azhari, 2:02.660, and Musaed Al Murar, 2:03.076, along with championship leader Abdulaziz Al Faisal, 2:03.810, completed the top six as the GT3 Cup cars prepared for a first ever night race under the Losail circuit’s lights.

Qatar’s Saadon Al Kuwari in action

Official practice results 1. Clemens Schmid (AUT) 2. Ahmad Al Harthy (OM) Oman Air Racing 3. Bandar Alesayi (KSA) Saudi GT Racing 4. Karim Al Azhari (UAE) Al Nabooda Racing 5. Musaed Al Murar (UAE) 6. Abdulaziz Al Faisal (KSA) Saudi Falcons 7.Saeed Al Mouri KSA) Saudi Falcons 8. Saddon Al Kuwari (QAT) Gerbhard Motor Sport ME 9. Abdul Rahman Al Thani (QAT) 10. Armin Schmid (CH) Team TCE

2:01.644 2:02.546 2:02.588 2:02.660 2:03.076 2:03.810 2:03.993 2:04.304 2:04.747 2:04.992

SPORTS SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Jewish US basketball team to get day on court SAN ANTONIO: An Orthodox Jewish high school basketball team in Texas will not have to forfeit its playoff game after league officials agreed under legal pressure on Thursday to move up the game time to avoid a conflict with the Jewish Sabbath. Before Thursday’s abrupt reversal, the school, Robert M. Beren Academy in Houston, was going to have the team forfeit the game rather than play as originally scheduled after sundown on Friday night, at the start of the weekly Jewish Sabbath. Officials from the athletic league, the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, or TAPPS, had initially refused to move the game to accommodate the team, which has a 23-5 record and won its quarterfinal game by 23 points to earn a berth in

the semifinals. But that changed on Thursday when a federal court in Dallas intervened after the parents of some of the team’s members sued. “We have been issued a temporary restraining order,” said Edd Burleson, the league’s executive director. “We are currently trying to make arrangements to play that game tomorrow. I have been assured that we will be able to play it on Friday prior to the beginning of the Sabbath, and we will play the finals game after 8 pm today.” “Arrangements have been made to avoid the Sabbath if Beren Academy wins and makes it to the finals,” Burleson said. The school said in a statement it was grateful for the change but that it was not the instigator of the legal action.

“We are thankful to TAPPS for ultimately making the right decision,” the school’s statement said. “The school administration and board was not involved in any legal action, and we regret that it took a lawsuit ﬁled by parents to bring about this decision.” Until the court order, Burleson and the league had resisted the school’s requests to move the game. “We have certain things that we do, not necessarily based on religion, but when TAPPS was founded, there were no schools in it that celebrated their Sabbath on anything but on Sunday,” Burleson had said earlier. The vast majority of schools that are members of TAPPS are Christian institutions, and the organization does not play tournament games on Sundays. In fact, the league accommodated one Christian school’s

Saturday Sabbath previously, Beren’s top administrator said. “There was a precedent two years ago,” Head of School Rabbi Harry Sinoﬀ said. “A Seventh Day Adventist team, which is also a Saturday Sabbath observant faith, and TAPPS made an exception for them.” Members of the Beren basketball team play wearing yarmulkes, the school calendar lists months and years according to Hebrew tradition, and the school’s mission statement stresses “a commitment to the Torah and its ethical and moral precepts to the Jewish people.” The school-situated on a 52-acre campus with an enrollment of 275 ranging from nursery school through high school-is dedicated to Jewish traditions. A key tenet of the faith is to observe the Sabbath. — Reuters

James scores 38 in 107-93 Heat win over Blazers ‘We need a Magic Johnson’ PORTLAND: Looking ahead to the prospect of facing the Trail Blazers without Chris Bosh, Heat coach Eric Spoelstra told LeBron James he was going to need a “Magic Johnson-type” night from him. James delivered. The Miami star scored 38 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and added six assists and five steals, to lead Heat to a 107-93 victory in Portland on Thursday night. It was the ninth straight win for the Heat, who at 28-7 are off to their best 35game start in franchise history. Dwyane Wade added 33 points and 10 assists for the Heat in their first game since the All-Star break. Miami hadn’t played since a 102-88 victory at home over the New York Knicks last Thursday. The Heat were without Bosh because of a death in his family. The All-Star was also expected to miss tonight’s game at Utah, but it is not yet known whether he will play tomorrow when Miami visits the Los Angeles Lakers. Spoelstra said he approached James at shootaround, saying he needed a little bit of everything from his star. “Really, it was as simple as this: ‘We need a Magic Johnsontype, not necessarily performance, but awareness,’” Spoelstra said. “Man, he really took the challenge. It’s his ability to do all these different things in the course of one game.” James said he, in turn, told his teammates that he was going to guard everyone. “We had a big piece of our team out, so I definitely had to step up my game to bring home this win,” he said. LaMarcus Aldridge had 20 points for the Blazers, who were coming off a 104-95 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night. Portland (1818) has lost eight of its last 12 games. It was never much of a contest, and the Blazers trailed by as many as 25. Aldridge, coming off his first All-Star appearance, was clearly frustrated. “I’m at the point where we can’t keep talking about what we need to do,” he said. “We have to go out and do it.” Before the game, the Blazers activated center Joel Przybilla, who was signed by the team earlier this week. Przybilla, who spent more than

six seasons in Portland before he was traded to Charlotte last season, has not played since last March. An 11-year NBA veteran, the 7-foot-1 center ﬁnished with four points, six rebounds and two blocked shots in 19 minutes. A fan favorite, he was treated to a standing ovation by the Rose Garden crowd. “Miami is on a mission. They are focused on winning a championship,” Przybilla said afterward. “And we want to get where they are, we want to get to the level they’re at.” The Blazers jumped out to an early 14-6 lead, but the Heat came back to tie it on Wade’s lob pass to James for the dunk. James and Wade combined for all of Miami’s points to that point. The Heat extended the lead to 30-21 on Mario Chalmers’ jumper. They kept the Blazers at bay the rest of the half, going up 45-34 on Udonis Haslem’s 15-foot jumper before taking a 60-42 lead into the break. James and Wade accounted for 41 of the team’s points. The second half was more of the same. James went to the bench in the fourth quarter with the Heat still holding a sizable lead. But the Blazers chipped away a bit, coming to within 91-78 on Wesley Matthews’ reverse layup. James’ break was brief and the Blazers got as close as 95-85 on Nicolas Batum’s 3-pointer with 4:35 left. James answered on the other end with a 3pointer of his own. James has scored 30 or more points in 15 games this season. Wade has scored at least 20 points in 10 straight games. Last season, James scored 44 points against the Blazers, a record-high for an opponent at the Rose Garden, in a 107-100 overtime victory for the Heat. The road team has won the last ﬁve games in the series. Blazers coach Nate McMillan said he was proud that his team didn’t “fold up the tent,” when it was clear they weren’t going to win. “I don’t think our guys did that tonight. They kept scrapping,” he said. “We had a slow second quarter. That was the big quarter for us. But for the most part, I thought we kept competing.” — AP

ORLANDO: Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant (35) manages to get off a shot despite a defensive effort by Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard during the second half of an NBA basketball game on Thursday, in Orlando, Fla. Oklahoma City won 105-102. — AP

NBA result/standing NBA results and standings on Thursday. Oklahoma City 105, Orlando 102; Phoenix 104, Minnesota 95; LA Clippers 108, Sacramento 100; Miami 107, Portland 93. Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT Philadelphia 21 15 .583 Boston 17 17 .500 NY Knicks 18 18 .500 Toronto 11 24 .314 New Jersey 11 25 .306 Central Division Chicago 29 8 .784 Indiana 22 12 .647 Milwaukee 14 21 .400 Cleveland 13 20 .394 Detroit 12 25 .324 Southeast Division Miami 28 7 .800 Orlando 23 14 .622 Atlanta 20 15 .571 Washington 7 28 .200 Charlotte 4 29 .121

GB 3 3 9.5 10 5.5 14 14 17 6 8 21 23

Western Conference Northwest Division Oklahoma City 29 7 .806 Denver 19 17 .528 Portland 18 18 .500 Minnesota 18 19 .486 Utah 16 18 .471 Pacific Division LA Clippers 21 12 .636 LA Lakers 21 14 .600 Golden State 14 18 .438 Phoenix 15 20 .429 Sacramento 12 23 .343 Southwest Division San Antonio 24 11 .686 Houston 21 15 .583 Dallas 21 15 .583 Memphis 20 15 .571 New Orleans 8 27 .229

10 11 11.5 12 1 6.5 7 10 3.5 3.5 4 16.

e niv rsar n

Years

SPORTS

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Ireland needs attacking flair to beat France PARIS: Ireland will need all of the attacking flair it showed when thrashing Italy last weekend to stand a chance of ending its dismal losing streak in France when the teams meet in the Six Nations. Ireland has only won twice on its travels to France in the last 40 years, and the home side will be favorite to win again at Stade de France tomorrow. France has won at home to Italy and away to Scotland, and is already eyeing a potential Grand Slam decider away to Wales in two weeks’ time. Ireland started the tournament with a last-minute home defeat to Wales, but bounced back with an impressive 42-10 win against Italy. “We’re coming off the back of a good win and have scored five tries against Italy. It’s very encouraging to go to France with that in the bank,” Irish hooker Rory Best said. “The record books say that us winning in Paris doesn’t happen very often, so from an Irish point of view it would be a massive result for us.” Ireland coach Declan Kidney has kept the same team, while France coach Philippe Saint-Andre made two changes, recalling flanker Julien Bonnaire to match Ireland’s lineout strength, and drafting in Clement Poitrenaud to replace the injured Maxime Medard at fullback. The Irish have won only once at Stade de France — 27-25 in 2000 - since France started playing there in 1998. France’s previous home game against Ireland, back in 1996, was at Parc des Princes and ended in a 45-10 rout, with former winger SaintAndre among the seven French tryscorers. Ireland’s previous win in France was a 14-9 victory in 1972. The Irish will be even more motivated to give their fans something to sing about in the bars of Paris after the game. Three weeks ago, Irish fans trav-

NHL results/standings NHL results and standings on Thursday. Boston 4, New Jersey 3 (OT); Montreal 5, Minnesota 4 (So); Philadelphia 6, NY Islanders 3; NY Rangers 3, Carolina 2; Winnipeg 7, Florida 0; Columbus 2, Colorado 0; Calgary 4, Phoenix 2; Vancouver 2, St Louis 0; Buﬀalo 1, San Jose 0. Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L OTL GF GA PTS NY Rangers 41 15 6 172 126 88 Pittsburgh 37 21 5 202 166 79 Philadelphia 35 21 7 209 191 77 New Jersey 35 23 5 175 174 75 NY Islanders 26 29 9 151 193 61 Northeast Division Boston 38 21 3 204 143 79 Ottawa 34 23 8 199 192 76 Buﬀalo 29 27 8 157 180 66 Toronto 29 28 7 191 200 65 Montreal 25 30 10 169 181 60 Southeast Division Florida 30 21 12 158 179 72 Winnipeg 31 27 8 173 186 70 Washington 32 26 5 172 178 69 Tampa Bay 29 28 6 176 213 64 Carolina 24 27 13 168 193 61 Western Conference Central Division Detroit 42 19 3 202 151 87 St. Louis 40 18 7 166 130 87 Nashville 37 20 7 181 165 81 Chicago 34 24 7 198 193 75 Columbus 19 38 7 148 212 45 Northwest Division Vancouver 41 16 8 206 156 90 Colorado 33 28 4 168 175 70 Calgary 29 24 11 155 175 69 Minnesota 28 26 10 143 172 66 Edmonton 25 32 6 169 189 56 Pacific Division Phoenix 33 22 9 168 160 75 San Jose 33 23 7 178 160 73 Dallas 33 26 5 168 175 71 Los Angeles 29 23 12 138 137 70 Anaheim 27 27 10 161 180 64

eled in their thousands to Stade de France, only for the match to be called off five minutes before kickoff because of freezing weather conditions. Those who kept their tickets can watch the match again on Sunday, but there were no refunds for their initial travel and hotel costs. “We go there full of confidence, but we’re fully aware of how long it’s been since we’ve beaten them in Paris,” Best said. “It’s a massive challenge, but we have a massive opportunity to write ourselves into the history books. As competitive players you want to have these big moments in your career.” Captain Paul O’Connell is confident that an Ireland side that boasts 575 test caps, with seven players with more than 40 caps, will stretch SaintAndre’s team. “We have trained well and prepared well,” O’Connell said. “A lot of the players have experience, either internationally or European, of going away from home and winning and we’ll be looking to use that experience tomorrow.” However, Ireland is without injured center Brian O’Driscoll, Ireland’s talisman, who burst onto the international scene with a hat trick of tries in Ireland’s last win in France, 12 years ago. “O’Driscoll is a great player for them, but we’ve also lost Maxime Medard,” Saint-Andre said. Medard, who injured his right knee minutes after scoring France’s second try in the 23-17 win in Scotland, will have an operation on Monday and faces up to nine months out. But Poitrenaud is no lightweight at international level, with 44 tests and a highly successful club career with Toulouse to his name, and it is hard to see a potential weakness in the France team for Ireland to target. Saint-Andre has shored up France’s inconsistent

lineout by recalling Bonnaire, who is also one of France’s best tacklers, as well as offering great mobility in the back row. The 33-year-old Bonnaire is playing in his final Six Nations tournament. “If we had won the World Cup I would have stopped. But I really wanted to play in this tournament,” Bonnaire said. “We know what we’re up against and the quality Ireland have. They’re a more complete team than Scotland, but we have the means to win this game, and it starts in the scrum. It’s going to be a big challenge for us in the back row.” Although Saint-Andre refuses to write off Ireland, he is struggling not to think about Wales, which has won its three games so far. “Wales impress me, and now they have two games at home,” SaintAndre said. “They are the tournament favorites, but we must concentrate on our own game and keep improving.” France: Clement Poitrenaud, Vincent Clerc, Aurelien Rougerie, Wesley Fofana, Julien Malzieu, Francois Trinh-Duc, Morgan Parra; Imanol Harinordoquy, Julien Bonnaire, Thierry Dusautoir (captain), Yoann Maestri, Pascal Pape, Nicolas Mas, Dimitri Szarzewski, Jean-Baptiste Poux. Reserves: William Servat, Vincent Debaty, Lionel Nallet, Louis Picamoles, Julien Dupuy, Lionel Beauxis, Maxime Mermoz. Ireland: Rob Kearney, Tommy Bowe, Keith Earls, Gordon D’Arcy, Andrew Trimble, Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray; Jamie Heaslip, Sean O’Brien, Stephen Ferris, Paul O’Connell (captain), Donncha O’Callaghan, Mike Ross, Rory Best, Cian Healy. Reserves: Sean Cronin, Tom Court, Donnacha Ryan, Peter O’Mahony, Eoin Reddan, Ronan O’Gara, Fergus McFadden. — AP

Ryan Miller leads Sabres over Sharks Stafford scores his 13th goal

SAN JOSE: Ryan Miller made 39 saves for his second shutout in as many nights and Drew Stafford capitalized on a San Jose turnover to score the only goal in the Buffalo Sabres 1-0 victory over the Sharks on Thursday night. Stafford scored his 13th goal late in the first period and Miller made the lead stand as the Sabres earned at least one point in a season-high seventh straight game to move into 10th place in the Eastern Conference, four points behind Winnipeg for the final playoff spot. Antti Niemi made 18 saves for the Sharks but got no help from his offense, which pressured Miller throughout the third period but was unable to get one past the Buffalo star. Miller made 82 saves to post shutouts on consecutive nights for the second time in his career, also doing it Dec. 3-4, 2010, against Columbus and Ottawa. Miller has 27 career shutouts, including five this season. He spent much of the third period sprawled on his back as the Sharks peppered the net with shots. His best play might have come when he broke up a pass from TJ Galiardi to fellow newcomer Daniel Winnik midway through the third. Miller got shaken up when teammate Patrick Kaleta ran into him, but stayed in the game to help the Sabres hold on despite being outshot 28-9 over the final two periods. The Sharks got a goal from Ryane Clowe 1:22 into a 1-0 win over the Flyers on Tuesday night, but were held

GLENDALE: Mikkel Boedker #89 of the Phoenix Coyotes skates with the puck past T.J. Brodie #7 of the Calgary Flames during the NHL game at Jobing.com Arena on Thursday in Glendale, Arizona. The Flames defeated the Coyotes 4-2. — AFP off the scoreboard after that and remained in a funk that started on a 2-6-1 road trip. San Jose missed a chance to tie Phoenix for the Pacific Division lead and has just a three-point lead over Los Angeles and Colorado for the final playoff spot in the West. Despite outshooting Buffalo 22-14 through the first two periods, the Sharks were unable to generate many good scoring chances against Miller - even though the Sabres were coming off a game in Anaheim the previ-

ous night. San Jose managed to put some pressure on Miller during their first power play late in the period, but Miller made a key save with Joe Thornton crashing the net to preserve the 1-0 lead. The Sabres struck after a bad turnover late in the first period by Brent Burns. Tyler Ennis took Burns’ errant pass at the Buffalo blue line and headed the other direction on a threeon-two advantage. He fed Stafford, who beat Niemi with a wrist shot with 1:09 left in the first period. — AP

SPORTS

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Pearson wins 100, Kiprop struggles in Melbourne MELBOURNE: World champion hurdler Sally Pearson collected the first of her expected three titles at the Australian Olympic trials when she won the 100-meter sprint into a blustery headwind yesterday to live up to the local hype. The time of 11.67 seconds was well outside the Olympic qualifying standard and her aim for this weekend of breaking the Australian record. “What can you do?” Pearson asked shrugging her shoulders and nodding at the registered 2.3-meter headwind. At least she won comfortably at the Melbourne Track Classic, an IAAF World Challenge meet that is doubling as the Australian trials. World and Olympic champion Asbel Kiprop of Kenya struggled in the 1,500, finishing fifth, five seconds behind Australia’s Ryan Gregson. Gregson won the 1,500 in 3 minutes, 38.51 seconds from American David Torrence. Olympic silver medalist Nic Willis of New Zealand was third in 3:39.77 and Kiprop was fifth in 3:42.52. Kiprop suggested he was about 10 seconds slower than where he wanted to be, but said he wasn’t disappointed because his recent training has been geared toward endurance

events. He’s planning to go home to start focussing on his speed and preparing for the London Olympics in August. “This is an Olympic year and everyone is preparing for that,” Kiprop said. “I’m going back to Kenya to train now ... to start speed work.” Pearson is competing in the 100 hurdles, her favored event, and the 200 meters today and is expected to win both titles. The reigning IAAF World Female Athlete of the Year hasn’t lost a race on home soil in two years. She has already been nominated for the Australian Olympic team and is using this meet primarily to ﬁne-tune for the world indoor championships in Turkey later this month. Even so, she couldn’t mask her disappointment at her time in the 100. “It’s frustrating because I know I’m in good shape. And I can’t show my good shape because of the wind,” she said. “But we chose an outside sport. All weather. We’ve got to put up with it.” Henry Frayne completed the ﬁrst leg of what he’s hoping will be a horizontal jumping double by winning the triple jump in a personal best 17.23 meters on his

sixth and final attempt. Frayne, who will compete in the long jump on Saturday, had a 17.34 with an illegal tailwind on his fifth attempt and had to judge a tricky breeze to ensure his last attempt was a legal qualifier. “It was really gusting. I saw someone getting like 4-meter tailwinds. I was just trying to wait for what I thought would be legal,” he said. “I just got out there and it was still ... so I just went, and it landed.” The 21-year-old Frayne said if he hadn’t surpassed the Australian Olympic qualifying standard (17:20) in his favored triple jump, it would have put enormous pressure on the long jump. “I’d have been stressing a bit. It would have put pressure on the potential (that) if I didn’t jump well tomorrow night I wouldn’t have a spot in anything,” he said. After jumping 8.27 in the long jump last month in Sydney, Frayne now has the distinction of having the best combined PBs in triple jump and long jump by an Australian. “Got that, so it’s great. It’s certainly a good feeling to be the best horizontal jumper in Australian history, but I’ve got my eyes set on bigger things. It’s a nice milestone, but it’s not on the top of my to-do list.” — AP

Rebensburg wins WCup giant slalom, Vonn 10th Feuz takes overall World Cup lead

PALM BEACH GRADENS: Lee Westwood, of England, tees off on the 12th hole during the second round of the Honda Classic golf tournament in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., yesterday. — AP

Love III in driver’s seat at Honda Classic PALM BEACH GARDENS: Davis Love III had a hole-in-one and tied the course record as he took a two-shot lead in Thursday’s first round of the Honda Classic while Rory McIlroy made a positive start in his bid to grab the world number one ranking. Former world number one Tiger Woods was tied in 68th place after struggling to a one-over par 71 while his playing partner, world number two Lee Westwood, was even-par. Love took advantage of more benign conditions in the morning with a six-under-par 64, including a hole-in-one on the 195-yard par-three fifth with a five iron. “That was a big boost but you’re lucky when they go in,” said Love. “And then to hit a good drive at the next hole, have a birdie putt and then birdie three in a row that was a really good start to the first nine.” McIlroy, who can only claim the No. 1 ranking from Britain’s Luke Donald with a win this week, made a positive start with a four-under-par 66 after mixing five birdies with a bogey on the eighth hole, the only blemish on his scorecard. “I felt like I played very nicely,” the 22-year-old Northern Irishman said. “Only made that one mistake on the eighth green with a three putt, but apart from that I was very happy with how it went.” The US Open champion said he was not going to be distracted by thinking about the rankings. “A money list (title) or Player of the Year has never really been a goal of mine. I think that will just happen if you play good golf and try to win tournaments,” said McIlroy. “But obviously with all the talk of number one, it would be great to get to that position at some point. I am working towards that and I feel that I’m playing well enough to challenge for it at least.” —Reuters

OFTERSCHWANG: Olympic champion Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany mastered a melting course to win a World Cup giant slalom race yesterday and top the standings in the discipline. She led after the first run and edged Tina Maze of Slovenia for her second victory of the season, finishing in 2 minutes, 33.30 seconds. Elizabeth Goergl of Austria and Irene Curtoni of Italy shared third place, 0.74 seconds behind. “It was really tough,” Rebensburg said after her fifth career victory. “It was warm, the snow was melting, I really had to step on it. I had to fight hard to remain on my line.” Julia Mancuso of the United States was ninth. Overall World Cup leader Lindsey Vonn finished 10th and retained a massive lead in the standings. Vonn was never in contention, making errors in both runs. She lost some of her margin over Maze in the overall standings, but owns a 474-point lead. Rebensburg went into the race trailing Tessa Worley of France by 20 points in giant slalom standings but finished the day 44 points ahead. Worley placed seventh. A win is worth 100 points. Under a cloudless sky and in mild, spring temperatures, Rebensburg and Maze were among those who took advantage of an early start. Jessica Lindell-Vikarby of Sweden was fifth and Nadia Fanchini of Italy, who started 57th, had a sensational second run to finish sixth. She was 16th after the first heat. Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany, Anna Fenninger of Austria, Marie-Michelle Gagnon of Canada and Andrea Fischbacher of Austria were among those who failed to finish the first run. Meanwhile in Norway, Beat Feuz took the overall World Cup lead yesterday, sharing first place in a super-G race

OFTERSCHWANG: Viktoria Rebensburg, second from left, of Germany, the winner, second placed Slovenia’s Tina Maze, left, Irene Curtoni, of Italy, and Elizabeth Goergl, right, of Austria, same time for third place, pose at finish line after an alpine ski, women’s World Cup giant slalom in Ofterschwang, Germany, yesterday. — AP with Austrian rival Klauss Kroell. Feuz and Kroell both finished in 1 minute, 32.35 seconds on the Olympic course. In a tight race, Kjetil Jansrud of Norway finished third, 0.03 seconds behind. “I made a deal with my knee that I’ll heal after the (World Cup) finals,” said Feuz, who has been struggling with an injury. In the hope of winning the overall title, Feuz said he plans to race the technical events next weekend in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. Bode Miller announced on Monday that he’s sitting out the rest of the season because of a bad left knee. Feuz has 1,140 points and leads Austrian technical specialist Marcel Hirscher by five points in the overall standings. He also climbed to third in the super-G standings, 25 points behind leader Aksel Lund Svindal. Feuz is also a contender for the

downhill title, where he is third in the standings, 25 points behind Didier Cuche. “It’s a big surprise to be in the run for three cups. I never expected it at the beginning of this season,” said the Swiss skier, who won his fifth World Cup race. “It means a lot to be up there in the top and it makes the rest of the season very exciting.” Last year, Feuz won his first race in Kvitfjell in the downhill. “I always look forward to skiing here. It’s a special place where I’m very comfortable with my skiing,” Feuz said. “The course here today was firm and I was able to ski with pressure and with an aggressive line from top to bottom.” Feuz will get a chance to add to his lead in the downhill today. “I will study videos to hopefully find the aggressive line. I’m looking forward to trying for a good result tomorrow,” he said. — Agencies

SPORTS

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Dubai celebrates academic excellence DUBAI: Dubai’s status as an eastmeets-west business hub is being rivalled in the world of sport with cricket’s state-of-the-art academy, also a home from home for Pakistan’s international brigade. Set up by the International Cricket Council (ICC), in company with Dubai Sports City (DSC) in 2010, the Global Cricket Academy (GCA) caters for players from around the world. Tim Anderson, the ICC global development manager, said the academy is the hub of the game’s development. “The ICC’s vision, together with DSC, was to develop a world-class, multi-purpose facility, and then provide a wide variety of programmes that could see anybody from the global and local cricket community use them,” Anderson told AFP. Maqbool Dudhia, general manager of DSC, said the academy is fulﬁlling those objectives. “The idea is to be a cricketing hub for the world, something that suits it perfectly given the UAE’s geographical location in relation to the rest of the cricketing world, and we are delighted it has not only fulﬁlled that objective but exceeded it,” said Dudhia. Since the academy opened, 24 of

the ICC’s members-including Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, England, the West Indies, as well as a number of English county teamshave used the facilities for either camps, training or matches. The GCA and the adjoining Dubai Stadium have also become home for the Pakistan team which is forced to play their international cricket in the UAE because of security fears back home. In addition, over 1,500 children have participated in the junior progammes, while the facilities have hosted several UAE club competitions and a number of training courses for coaches, officials and groundsmen. Former Australian wicket-keeper Rod Marsh introduced a multi-dimensional programme of education and coaching as the academy got off to a flying start. Since Marsh returned to Australia last year, former Pakistan opener Mudassar Nazar is in charge of the coaching, alongside former New Zealand paceman Dayle Hadlee. “I enjoy my role as it is an opportunity for me to pass on what I know about the game,” said Nazar. “The enthusiasm and the will to learn is in abundance and I hope

Ryder keeps NZ contract despite alcohol incident WELLINGTON: New Zealand batsman Jesse Ryder has retained his New Zealand Cricket contract despite his latest off-field indiscretions which have led to a one-match international ban. Ryder and bowling all-rounder Doug Bracewell were both suspended for the final one-day match against South Africa in Auckland today after they breached team protocols by drinking while recovering from injury following their loss in the second one-day match in Napier. On Friday, team manager Mike Sandle said Ryder, 27, who had been on a final warning after a series of alcohol-related incidents, had breached an internal team protocol but not the players’ code of conduct. “We are really disappointed as a team that they were out there drinking alcohol and compromising their position and their preparation for the next game,” Sandle told reporters in Auckland. “It was internal team protocols that were breached and not a code of conduct (breach) and it has been dealt with in that manner. “The previous breaches were code of conduct issues and this is simply a team-enforced drinking protocol.” Sandle said Ryder, Bracewell and leg-spinner Tarun Nethula had been in the bar for a “few hours” but the incident “had not been an all nighter”. He said Ryder would not be considered for the first test against South Africa in Dunedin, although that was because of form issues and would be discussed when the test squad was named later yesterday. A vastly talented batsman, with soft hands, a sure eye and bludgeoning power, Ryder has struggled with alcohol issues off the field throughout his career. In 2008 he needed surgery on his hand after he punched through a glass pane in a toilet door in a Christchurch bar while he was dropped for a match in 2009 after turning up to training hungover and in 2010 he was reprimanded after an incident in a hotel, again in Christchurch. After the 2010 incident, then New Zealand Cricket chief exeuctive Justin Vaughan said Ryder was on his final warning. Ryder was brought back into the New Zealand side for the final match of their Twenty20 series against South Africa following his recovery from a torn calf muscle and strong form for Wellington in domestic cricket. He had been on a selfimposed alcohol ban and a diet and had lost weight since rejoining the national team. Sandle said Ryder, who had apologised to the team, would now need to make a decision on where he wanted to go with his career. — Reuters

the talent unearthed at the academy will go places at international level.” The facilities and the top-

European countries. “My son was wasting his time watching television and playing

DUBAI: A boy bowls during a cricket training session at the ICC Global Cricket Academy (ICC GCA) in Dubai Sports City in the Gulf emirate on February 16, 2012. Dubai’s status as an east-meets-west business hub is being rivalled in the world of sport with cricket’s state-of-the-art academy, also a home from home for Pakistan’s international brigade. — AFP class coaching have attracted children of expats from not only India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka but also from

computer games before I got to know about the GCA and now he is on cloud nine, learning cricket,” said

Asif Kashodia, a Pakistani businessman. To test skills there is Hawkeye, allowing coaches to highlight weaknesses, not only in players but in those who want to learn umpiring. The ProBatter, which allows batsmen to simulate facing the world’s leading bowlers, is the main attraction. Pitch Vision is a new plug-andplay coaching aid that allows analysis of players’ techniques. There are various types of bowling machines all of which offer different and varied challenges, as well as numerous types of surfaces, both in the indoor facility and the outdoor practice and match pitches. There are two full-sized cricket grounds, where warm-up matches and the first-ever cricket series between disabled teams of Pakistan and England was played. And visiting school teams find the GCA a delightful place. “Our lads are learning heck of a lot. There are different pitches like WACA and Asian wickets where you can play different lengths, and from cricket to catering we were taken well care of. We want to come again and again,” said David Fallows, director of Bromsgrove School in Birmingham. — AFP

S Lanka win thriller to reach tri series finals India to return home after dismal tour of Australia MELBOURNE: Sri Lanka held their nerve to end India’s late bid for a tri one-day series finals spot with a gripping ninerun win over hosts Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground yesterday. The Sri Lankans dismissed David Hussey with five balls to spare, clinching their place in the best-of-three match finals against the Australians, which starts in Brisbane tomorrow. World Cup champions India, who narrowly failed to leap-frog Sri Lanka into the finals after a sensational runchase in Hobart last Tuesday, will return home this weekend after a dismal tour

of Australia. Sri Lanka triumphed in a thrilling game which saw medium pacer Dan Christian take a hat-trick for Australia, before the visitors-defending a low total-bowled out the Australians with five balls to go. Hussey hit a run-aball 74 and finished the group stage of the tournament as the top runscorer among the the three teams with 412 at an average of 82.40. Lasith Malinga finished with four for 49 as skipper Mahela Jayawardene chopped and changed his eight bowlers to defend Sri Lanka’s below-par total. It was Sri Lanka’s third consecutive victory over Australia in the

MELBOURNE: Sri Lanka’s Dinesh Chandimal, center, and Kumar Sangakkara, left, celebrate after taking the wicket of Australia’s James Pattinson, right, during their ODI cricket match in Melbourne, Australia, yesterday. — AP

series, making them favourites for the finals. “The boys showed character (after the loss to India),” Jayawardene said. “It was fantastic support, it’s like playing in Sri Lanka. We lifted our game. I’m sure the crowd will follow us now, the lift that we got (from them), it pushed us in the last few overs.” Although requiring just 4.7 runs an over after dismissing Sri Lanka for an low total, the Australians, led by Shane Watson in the absence of rested skipper Michael Clarke, struggled under pressure. Watson scored 65 off 83 balls and Mike Hussey 29 off 56, but it was David Hussey, who almost got Australia home with his skilfull farming of the strike with the tailenders. “A brilliant game of cricket... you never knew who was going to win. Dave Hussey batted beautifully, as he’s shown through the summer so far,” Watson said. Allrounder Christian captured a hat-trick as Australia dismissed Sri Lanka for 238 off the last ball in their innings after Jayawardene had won the toss. Christian became only the fourth Australian to claim an ODI hat-trick in his career-best five for 31 off nine overs. Sri Lanka lost momentum when Christian struck in the 44th over, removing Thisara Perera (5), Sachithra Senanayake (0) and Kulasekara (0) with consecutive deliveries. Perera fell to a spectacular juggling catch by Mike Hussey on the boundary rope at deep mid-wicket, while Senanayake and Kulasekara were lbw for ducks, although replays suggested the Kulasekara dismissal was dubious with the ball missing leg-stump. — AFP

SPORTS SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Former Premier League clubs banned from transfers LONDON: Former English Premier League clubs Birmingham and Coventry have been banned from the transfer market for failing to submit their ﬁnancial accounts on time to the Football League. The central England clubs missed a March 1 deadline to ﬁle reports with the Football League, which oversees the second-tier League Championship in which both play. Birmingham, which was relegated from the Premier League at the end of last season, blamed Yesterday’s decision on delayed auditing following the arrest on money laundering charges of owner Carson Yeung. Coventry said it is waiting for its owner to approve its budget. “We

have to be able to show committed funding out for the next ﬁnancial year and, at this stage, we could not do this,” Coventry chief executive Tim Fisher said. “There is nothing untoward about this and it is perfectly normal to be negotiating funding with the owner. We would hope to secure funding commitments in the very next few weeks. “The owner has previously funded the club for a period of more than four years and is currently reviewing our budget proposal for the coming year.” Although regular transfers are not possible between the end of the January transfer window and the end of the season, clubs can still sign out-ofcontract players or bring in players on

loan. “While the situation is far from ideal, we are confident it will be resolved very soon,” Fisher said. Hong Kong-based Yeung was charged in June with five counts of money laundering involving more than $92 million. Yeung acquired Birmingham in October 2009 in a takeover worth $130 million but, despite ending a 48-year streak without a major trophy by winning the League Cup, the club was relegated from the Premier League last season. The charges against Yeung involve money deposited in bank accounts from January 2001 to December 2007. “The delay in filing the financial statements is occasioned due to the delayed audit

processes ... due to the arrest and freezing of the assets of the club’s main benefactor and changes to banking arrangements,” Birmingham said in a statement. “The draft ﬁnancial statements are prepared and it is understood that these will be ﬁnalized and published by the end of April.” Birmingham signed three players Thursday. Peter Ramage joined on loan from Premier League side Queens Park Rangers, while Caleb Folan and Cian Hughton were free agents. The Football League has already deducted 10 points from Portsmouth, which won the FA Cup in 2008 but was relegated two years later, after the club entered bankruptcy protection.— AP

Spurs will give Man United a tough test LONDON: Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has predicted that tomorrow’s Premier League match at Tottenham is his title-chasing team’s hardest game in the buildup to next month’s clash with leader and local rival Manchester City. History says otherwise. United is unbeaten in 25 meetings with Tottenham stretching back to a meaningless end-of-season match in May 2001, and the defending champions will have Wayne Rooney back in action after the England striker missed two games because of a throat infection. Third-place Tottenham is also coming off a 5-2 loss at Arsenal and will be without suspended midfielder Scott Parker, but Ferguson still expects a stiff challenge. “It’s always a tremendous game given the history of both clubs,” Ferguson said. “It’s a very important game for us. Look at the rest of the season. You can certainly say we’re building up to what could turn out to be a title decider with Manchester City. “This is our hardest away game, no doubt. Hopefully we can navigate it.” United has had little trouble doing that at White Hart Lane since Willem Korsten scored twice to lead Tottenham to a 31 win over a side that had already won the 2000-01 Premier League title. Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes both played in that match and could make an appearance Sunday, with Giggs having marked his 900th match for United with the winning goal in last weekend’s 2 -1 win at Norwich - keeping United two points behind City. United could be without Chris Smalling after the defender was carried off with a head injury in England’s midweek friendly against the Netherlands. With Antonio Valencia and Tom Cleverley on the sidelines, Michael Carrick is almost certain to start in midfield against his former club. “Michael’s form for quite a while has been absolutely superb,” Ferguson said. “I know he disagrees with me on this but I feel the second half of the season sees him at his best and he’s doing well so it’s pleasing. “It’s quite refreshing in the modern game to have players who can rely on their ability rather than wanting to project themselves.” Tottenham’s hopes of winning the English championship for the first time since 1961 effectively ended at Arsenal and another defeat - just a fourth in 25 matches - could leave the team 13 points behind City if the leader beats visiting Bolton as expected. City is close to full strength with midfielder Yaya Toure having returned from the African Cup of Nations and striker Mario Balotelli available after suspension. Former captain Carlos Tevez will soon be fit after returning to training following his lengthy dispute with the club. Assistant manager David Platt said keeping all those players happy will be one of City’s biggest challenges for the rest of the season. “You will keep 11 happy, another seven slightly happy, and the others will be disappointed when they are not playing in a game,” Platt said. “But we have a rotation of the squad, we move it around. We try to do that when we have a full complement of players, to keep everyone nice and healthy.” Also Saturday, Arsenal is at League Cup winner Liverpool, Chelsea is at West Bromwich Albion, Blackburn hosts Aston Villa, Queens Park Rangers hosts Everton, Stoke hosts Norwich, and Wigan hosts Swansea. Tomoorow, Sunderland is at local rival Newcastle and Wolverhampton Wanderers goes to Fulham. —AP

TORONTO: FC Dallas’ Moises Hernandez (29) fights for the ball with Toronto FC’s Matthew Stinson, right, and Luis Silva (11) during the first half of a soccer match in the Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic, Thursday, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Toronto FC won 3-0. — AP

Asia backs probe into 10-0 Bahrain rout Asia chiefs back FIFA probe MANAMA: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has backed a FIFA investigation into Bahrain’s 10-0 World Cup qualifying win over Indonesia in midweek, although General Secretary Alex Soosay later said he was confident nothing would come of it. The mauling in Manama raised suspicion because Bahrain needed a huge turnaround to have any chance of reaching the fourth round of regional 2014 qualifiers. Bahrain had to beat Indonesia, hope Qatar lost to Iran and also make up a nine-goal difference on the 2022 World Cup hosts. FIFA’s security department has launched a routine probe, which the AFC said on Friday it supported and would “cooperate closely with”. Soosay later issued a second statement expressing his belief that the suspicions of foul play were groundless. “I have read the media reports about suspicions of match-fixing,” he said. “But I am confident that none of our teams are involved in this. Bahrain were the better team both tactically and technically.

“Moreover I have gone through the oﬃcial reports of the AFC match commissioner and the match referee and they indicate nothing.” Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan - Asia vice president on the FIFA Executive Committee - was keen to stress that while match-ﬁxing should not be taken lightly, it was not just an issue for his region. “It has to be taken very seriously regardless of what region it is played in. It is a world issue, not just simply in the Asian region,” he told Reuters in London. “We need to put as much resources as we can into this aspect of football and support those who are dealing with it in FIFA. “The important thing is that if there are suspicions you have to investigate it. “It might just be a coincidence, however there might be something behind it. Regardless, it can happen in any country in the world.” Bahrain’s 10-goal rout almost sent them through but Qatar advanced after an 86thminute goal gave them a 2-2 draw and the point they needed in Tehran to clinch second place in Group E.

Indonesia, already eliminated, fielded a inexperienced side of mostly uncapped under-23 players after they were blocked by the country’s federation from selecting their regular squad because they mostly play in the breakaway Indonesian Super League. The size of defeat marked a new low for Indonesian soccer, already torn apart by internal strife and political wrangling. Indonesia finished bottom of Group E with no points, conceding 26 goals and scoring just three, the worst record of the 20 teams in the third round of Asian qualifying. “We apologise to the people of Indonesia,” Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) secretary general Tri Goestoro said in a statement. “The PSSI tried to pick the best players and aimed for the best results for the last match. But Bahrain was clearly playing better and defeated us.” PSSI national team coordinator Bob Hippy criticised Lebanese referee Andre El Haddad for awarding Bahrain four penalties and sending off goalkeeper Samsidar in the second minute. — Reuters

SPORTS

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Rooney returns to lead United attack against Spurs MANCHESTER: Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has recovered from a throat infection in time to spearhead the Premier League champions’ attack for the trip to Tottenham Hotspur, manager Alex Ferguson said yesterday. Defender Chris Smalling is doubtful for tomorrow’s game after a clash of heads on England duty midweek, while midfielders Tom Cleverley and Antonio Valencia are ruled out with foot and hamstring injuries respectively. “Rooney’s fit, he’s trained all week which is good news,” Ferguson told a news conference. “Smalling - there’s no concussion but it is quite a nasty cut...it’s

something we’ll need to tread carefully with. We’ll see what he’s like tomorrow.” Striker Michael Owen, who has been out for more than three months with a thigh injury, has returned to training. “Hopefully the lad has a bit of luck, he’s not had much at all. When he has an injury it’s always a long-term one but hopefully he’s back for the rest of the season which will help us.” Second-placed United travel to White Hart Lane to face a Spurs team still reeling from last weekend’s 5-2 thumping by bitter rivals Arsenal which came after Harry Redknapp’s side had established a two-goal lead.

The north London side are third in the table, eight points behind United and 10 adrift of leaders Manchester City, and defeat by Ferguson’s men would probably leave them with too much ground to make up for a realistic title challenge. With Spurs on the rebound, as well as enjoying one of their best seasons for years before Sunday’s shock result, Ferguson knows his side face a difficult game at White Hart Lane which could shape the title run-in. “It’s a very, very important game for us,” he said. “If you look at the rest of the season, you would certainly say it’s

building up to what could turn out to be decider with City (at Eastlands in April) but this is our hardest away game (before that), no doubt. Hopefully we can navigate it.” United, who beat Spurs 3-0 in August’s reverse fixture at Old Trafford, have 61 points from 26 games. City have the chance to go five points clear before Ferguson’s men play as they host second-from-bottom Bolton Wanderers today. The champions will take some encouragement from the fact that they have not lost to Tottenham since May 2001. — Reuters

Today’s matches on TV

English Premier League Liverpool v Arsenal - 15:45 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 3 Blackburn v Aston Villa - 18:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 6 QPR v Everton - 18:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 4 Stoke City v Norwich - 18:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 7 Wigan v Swansea - 18:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 8 Bromwich v Chelsea - 18:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 3 Man City v Bolton - 18:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 3

Italian Calcio League Palermo v AC Milan - 20:00 Aljazeera Sport +1 Juventus v Chievo Verona - 22:45 Aljazeera Sport +1

Spanish League Getafe CF v Malaga CF - 20:00 Aljazeera Sport +2 Real Mallorca v Osasuna - 20:00 Aljazeera Sport +9 Barcelona v Sporting - 22:00 Aljazeera Sport +2 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD Sevilla FC v Atletico - 0:00 Aljazeera Sport +2 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD

French League Saint Etienne v Evian Thonon - 21:00 Aljazeera Sport +10 Marseille v Toulouse - 21:00 Aljazeera Sport +4 Dijon v Montpellier - 21:00 Aljazeera Sport +8 Girondins v Nice - 23:00 Aljazeera Sport +8

RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil former soccer player Ronaldo, second from right, who is a member of Brazil’s 2014 World Cup organizing committee, Brazil former soccer player Bebeto, right, Minister Joao Oreste Dalazen, third from right, and other authorities visit the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, yesterday. — AP

No rush to implement goal-line technology High-tech aids in place by 2014 WCup: Blatter LONDON: Soccer is in no rush to implement goal-line technology, a high-ranking FIFA official said as rule-makers are expected to sanction the next round of testing. FIFA President Sepp Blatter has said he hopes to have high-tech aids in place by the 2014 World Cup, but vice president Prince Ali said the pace is too quick. The International Football Association Board will assess test results from eight systems today before sending approved firms into another phase of checks before a final decision in July. “Referees are part of the game and I would feel a bit depressed if every day something is coming out about how they are not capable of doing their jobs,” said Prince Ali, who does not have a vote on the matter. “There is no rush. I think football can survive (without goal-line technology) ... it should be a process and evolution.” What also concerns Prince Ali, a Jordanian who joined FIFA’s executive committee in June, is the risk of creating inequalities, by giving a “natural advantage to games at a certain level

against others.” He highlighted how in some countries, like Jordan, clubs would struggle to afford goal-line technology. However teams or national team would face rivals who could have advanced in the same competitions with the benefit of computer calls. “These things have to be taken into account if it is a regulation,” he said Thursday. “There are some countries that cannot afford to implement it and ... technology is always an advantage if you are used to using it against others who are not.” Some sports, including tennis and cricket, use similar technology. At major tennis tournaments, only a few of the many courts in use are equipped with the replay system. Instead, Prince Ali said he agrees with UEFA President Michel Platini’s use of additional referees’ assistants. After being tested in continental club matches, the five-official system will be deployed at the European Championship, which starts in June. Although Prince Ali won’t be one of the four FIFA delegates with a vote at the IFAB meeting

today, he will be making his own presentation to the body, urging them to overturn a ban on Islamic female players wearing hijabs. Five years after headscarves were deemed unsafe to be worn in matches, he will ask IFAB, which is also made up of the four British associations, to respect cultural traditions and approve hijabs that are held in place by safe Velcro fasteners. Another vote at IFAB will be on whether to permit teams to use a fourth substitute in extra time after several FIFA committees have backed the recommendation to improve the quality of matches and reduce the number of injuries. An item returning to the agenda again this year is an attempt to amend the so-called “triple punishment” of sanctioning certain fouls with a penalty kick, red card and suspension. FIFA has acknowledged that the current system is “widely considered to be too severe.” Rules are amended with six of the eight available IFAB votes. Changes typically take effect on July 1, but can be fast-tracked for a major tournament if the panel agrees. — Reuters

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Sports

S Lanka win thriller to reach tri series finals

DUBAI: Britain’s Andy Murray plays against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic during their ATP Dubai Open semifinal tennis match in Dubai yesterday.— AFP

Murray beats Djokovic Briton to meet Federer in today’s final DUBAI: Novak Djokovic lost his chance to repeat his incredible 2011 run after succumbing 6-2 7-5 to Andy Murray in the semi-finals of the Dubai Championships yesterday. The Serbian world number one had strung together a 41-match winning streak at the start of 2011, during which he won seven titles, before eventually being beaten by Roger Federer in the French Open semi-finals. But Murray made sure Djokovic’s ride would not be as smooth this season as he avenged his five-set Australian Open semifinal loss in devastating fashion yesterday. The Briton, 24, will face 16-times grand slam cham-

pion Federer in today’s final after the Swiss edged past Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro 76 7-6. “The first set I served well very well and was aggressive when I had my chances,” Murray told reporters after becoming the first player to beat Djokovic this year. “Then at the beginning of the second Novak started trying to go for more shots. “This is why the match in Australia was so important, because the last couple times we played each other, I think I made it incredibly hard for him. I fought for every single point and made it really, really tough. “In the second set he started going for more and making mis-

takes because of that, because it’s tough to always grind out matches.” Djokovic started strongly, holding his opening two service games to love but from 22 a pumped-up Murray then won seven games in a row to claim the first set and go 3-0 up in the second on a balmy evening in Dubai. Roared on by 5,000 fans, Murray served for the match at 5-3 and nerves got the better of the world number four, double-faulting as Djokovic, 24, earned two break points. A netted backhand from the Briton then enabled Djokovic to pull it back to 5-4 and the set appeared to be heading for a tiebreak.

However, Murray roused himself to break again and seal victory after the Serb clubbed a forehand into the net. Federer, who lost to Del Potro in the 2009 U.S. Open final, saved four set points in a second set tiebreak to storm back from 6-2 behind to win it 8-6 and seal a final berth after the towering Argentine clubbed a forehand long. With no breaks of serve in the entire match, the first set also went to a tiebreak, Federer squandering five set points before clinching that first tiebreak 75, a thunderous serve setting up the Swiss to come inside and play a forehand winner into the corner. —Reuters