1st April 2012 by Kuwait Times

ON IP TI SC R SU B

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

Kuwait National & Liberation Days

NO: 15405

The last day of receiving entries for Photography Competition is on April 2, 2012

Syria declares revolt over, but won’t back down first

40 PAGES

150 FILS

www.kuwaittimes.net

JAMADI ALAWAAL 9, 1433 AH

Rebels say they will cease fire if tanks, artillery depart

US, Gulf to coordinate strategies RIYADH: The United States and Gulf Arab states yesterday urged envoy Kofi Annan to produce a “timeline for next steps” in his peace plan for Syria if President Bashar Al-Assad fails to stop the bloodshed. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who met her counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman at a meeting in Riyadh, voiced concern over Syria’s continued deadly crackdown on dissent. She also slammed Iran for its alleged support for the crackdown and appeared cautious about talks between Tehran and the United States and five other powers that she confirmed would be held in Istanbul on April 13. In a press conference, Clinton voiced renewed scepticism about Syria’s acceptance of Annan’s six-point peace plan, which calls on Syrian forces to withdraw from besieged cities and silence their guns. “And as of today, regime forces continue to shell civilians, lay siege to neighbourhoods, and even target places of worship,” Clinton said on the eve of international talks in Istanbul aimed at helping the Syrian opposition. Clinton said dozens of top Arab and Western officials today would discuss further steps to pressure Assad, to provide humanitarian aid and promote “an inclusive, democratic” political transition. The first US strategic cooperation forum with the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries issued a joint statement urging Annan “to determine a timeline for next steps if the killing continues”. Annan’s plan calls for a commitment to stop all armed violence, a daily Continued on Page 13

RIYADH: (From left) United Arab Emirates’ Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Omani Minister of Foreign Affairs Yussef bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud AlFaisal, Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al-Thani and Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa pose for a group photo before a US-Gulf Cooperation Council forum at the Gulf Cooperation Council Secretariat yesterday. — AFP

Max 30º Min 15º High Tide 07:34 & 17:48 Low Tide 00:05 & 11:25

DAMASCUS: Syria’s regime declared yesterday it has defeated those seeking to bring it down while reiterating support for a UN-Arab peace plan, as its troops reportedly shelled rebels in the city of Homs. The opposition reacted by calling for outside powers to arm rebel forces, while the United States and Gulf Arab states urged international envoy Kofi Annan to spell out the “next steps” if Damascus failed to implement his plan. Foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdisi, cited by the official SANA news agency, also said Syrian troops would only draw back from urban areas once the security situation is stable. In Istanbul a day before a second “Friends of Syria” conference, the head of the opposition Syrian National Council said the gathering must back the arming of rebels. “The Syrian National Council expresses the demands of the Syrian people,” Burhan Ghalioun told reporters. “We have repeatedly called for the arming of the Free Syrian Army. “We want the ‘Friends of Syria’ conference to live up to this demand.” Ghalioun called for “a change in the balance of power” after more than a year of violence. The United Nations says more than 9,000 people have been killed in the crackdown by forces of President Bashar al-Assad on an Arab Spring-inspired uprising that began a year ago with pro-democracy protests. “The battle to topple the state is over, and the battle to solidify stability... and move on towards a renewed Syria has begun,” Makdisi said in an interview originally carried on state television. Troops would only withdraw from residential zones once they were secure, he said, adding UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan acknowledged there were “illegitimate armed elements within the opposition”. “The presence of the Syrian Arab army in Syrian cities is for defensive purposes (so) as to protect the civilians,” he said. “Once peace and security prevail, the army is to pull out.” Continued on Page 13

Tabtabaei wants Iran flag burners freed By Hassan A Bari

KUWAIT: People gather to protest against the detention of Nahar Al-Hajri (pictured on the banner) opposite the State Security headquarters yesterday. — Photo by Fouad Al-Shaikh

KUWAIT: MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei yesterday threatened to grill the interior minister unless protesters detained last week - particularly Nahar Al-Hajri - were released. The men were arrested for burning an Iranian flag at a demonstration outside the National Assembly after blasphemous comments against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), his wife and companions were posted on Twitter by a Kuwaiti, who has since been arrested. Addressing citizens demonstrating outside the State Security headquarters, Tabtabaei said that Hajri’s detention was illegal and unjustified. “Nine Kuwaiti students had previously burned Bahraini and Saudi flags and trampled on photos of Gulf leaders in public without a single response from our government. Why then all this anger for burning the Iranian flag?” he exclaimed. Security men were surrounding the building to prevent demonstrators from reaching it. SITRA, Bahrain: A Bahrain armored vehicle is hit with petrol bombs thrown by anti-government protesters on Friday. — AP

World turns off lights for Earth Hour SYDNEY: Australia’s Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House were plunged into darkness yesterday for the annual Earth Hour campaign, leading a global effort to raise awareness about climate change. In a twist to this year’s Earth Hour, Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers observed from the International Space Station countries around the world turn off the lights for 60 minutes from 8:30 pm local time and post photos. From Sydney’s sparkling harbour to Egypt’s Tahrir Square and New York’s Empire State Building, thousands of cities went dark when the switches were flicked in some 150 countries and territories. “From the Sydney Opera House it was fantastic,” said Marni Ryan, from organiser WWF Australia. “We had the skyline of Sydney all out.” The Pacific island nation of Samoa was the first to make the symbolic gesture, with New Zealand’s city landscapes later dramatically darkened as lights on buildings such as Auckland’s Sky Tower were cut. In Australia, where the event was conceived, harbourside Continued on Page 13

China cracks down on Internet after coup rumours

KUALA LUMPUR: This combination of pictures shows Malaysia’s iconic Petronas Twin Towers photographed illuminated and unlit during Earth Hour yesterday. — AFP

Indonesia’s shipwrecks mean riches and headaches

Record $640m US lottery jackpot has three winners

Gunfire kills young Bahraini protester MANAMA: Bahraini security forces fired tear gas during clashes yesterday with protesters who gathered after authorities acknowledged that gunfire killed a young man during earlier anti-government demonstrations in the Gulf kingdom. The country’s Interior Ministry promised an investigation into Ahmed Ismail’s fatal wound from a “live bullet” early yesterday, but the death is likely to escalate accusations that Bahrain’s Western-backed leaders use excessive force to quell protests. It also could boost pressure on Formula One organizers to call off the April 22 Bahrain Grand Prix. The race was canceled last year in a blow to the country’s Sunni leadership, which is now desperate to show signs of stability nearly 14 months after the country’s Shiite majority began a sustained uprising seeking a

greater voice in the kingdom’s affairs. Street battles occur nearly every day with police often using tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades. But reports of live gunfire are rare. Hours after the government acknowledgment that 22-year-old Ismail had been killed by live ammunition, hundreds of protesters gathered at the cemetery near his home outside the capital, Manama. Riot police fired tear gas and stun grenades to try to clear the crowds, touching off running street clashes. There were no immediate reports of serious injuries. More than 45 people have died in Bahrain’s unrest since Feb 2011. Washington faces increasing pressure to try to curb the crackdowns, but US officials are wary about souring relations with Continued on Page 13

Monterosso wins Dubai World Cup for Godolphin

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

LOCAL

KUWAIT: Sheikha Fraiha Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah with members of the Armenian community during the visit. —Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Sheikha Fraiha endorses Armenian Church demands KUWAIT: Sheikha Fraiha Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah announced that she will continue supporting efforts of the Armenian community in Kuwait to have a piece of land licensed for

building an Armenian Apostolic Church in the country. Sheikha Fraiha, who is the chairperson of the Kuwait Society for Ideal Family,

announced her endorsement during a ceremony held in her honor at the Sheraton Hotel following her visit to the Prelacy of the Armenian Orthodox in Salmiya on Thursday.

Describing her as a “role model in modesty”, Bishop Shahi Banossian said that the visit of Sheikha Fraiha is an “important occasion we thank God for ”. Meanwhile,

Islamist blocs pressure Hayef into delaying grilling motion Majority group ‘not thrilled’ KUWAIT: The Islamist bloc will convene today or tomorrow to discuss several subjects including a ‘grilling motion’ that a hard-line lawmaker plans to file against Jamal AlShehab, Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs. MP Mohammad Hayef’s surprise step to question the minister has caught the Parliament’s majority community off guard, according to sources. Most MPs will focus on efforts to talk Hayef out of his plans. Hayef’s decision comes in the wake of an incident where a man was arrested recently for posting offensive remarks against Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) on his Twitter account. The lawmaker plans to question minister AlShehab over the lack of monitoring of Hussaniyas( Shiite mosques). The majority bloc believes that these top-

ics do not live up as subjects that should be given priority ahead of other persistent topics on schedule. For that cause, the MPs plan to convince Hayef into withdrawing the grilling motion or at least put it on hold to give the minister the opportunity to address the matter per tinent with monitoring Hussaniyas. “The MAIA is legally not allowed to monitor worship places established on private property,” said sources who spoke to Al-Rai on condition of anonymity. The ‘majority’ bloc is also ‘not thrilled’ with Hayef’s decision to ﬁle the interpellation motion without coordinating with the bloc’s members. While sources mention attempts made by bloc members to reach out to Hayef, they also indicate that the Islamist lawmaker only

selectively targeted some Hussaniyas in Kuwait. However, sources close to Hayef said that that he is adamant on ﬁling his grilling motion against Al-Shehab, who is also the state’s Minister of Justice, next Tuesday. “Hayef considers confronting oﬀenders of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), his wives and fellowship in public or inside some Hussaniyas. This is should be top priority also believed to be accorded the same status by all Muslims,” said sources. They further added that Hayef possesses ‘audio and video footage’ as evidence to support his claims, and is only willing to back away from his plans “if the minister announces a decision to monitor Hussaniyas, the same way mosques are monitored.”

Armenian Ambassador to Kuwait Fadey Charchoghlyan expressed his gratitude to Sheikha Fraiha for her “distinguished and historic” visit.

Expert: Educational systems encourage voluntary work KUWAIT: Educational systems play a vital role in stimulating voluntary work through school curricula activities, an educational expert pointed out yesterday. Dr Latifa Al-Kandari, an educational expert at the United Nations Development Programs in Kuwait said that voluntary work that stems from an educational perspective contributes greatly in solving many of the community’s social and environmental issues. “It teaches younger generations the skills that could be applied in time of crisis and day-to-day activities. Therefore, teachers have a very crucial duty, since they are the epitome of social communication - to encourage their students to engage in any cooperative or voluntary work in the country’s various non-proﬁt and voluntary organizations,” she added. She said that inducing this sense of volun-

teerism in students should be according to each individuals’ financial, psychological and social standards’ capabilities. Financial and moral supports are the perfect incentive to joining the various venues of voluntary work, the education expert explained. She highlighted the concept of the “bookmobile.” A concept established in the United States of America in 1905 where a large vehicle designed for use as a library. Mobile libraries are often used to provide library services to city suburbs that have no library buildings or to those who have difficulty accessing libraries. Applying the bookmobile concept in Kuwait, especially in malls when the parents are away or busy shopping, would enrich the younger generations’ wealth of knowledge and love of reading, she clarified. — KUNA

Kuwait Airways finalizes air cargo tracking system KUWAIT: The last phase of an air cargo tracking system was ﬁnalized yesterday to provide clients with optimal eﬃciency, Kuwait Airways announced. Ezz Al-Deen Al-Hasawi, Head of the team in charge of this new system, told the press that air cargo tracking system was activated on January 2012. The Kuwait Airways online system allows its clients, individuals or agencies, to track their shipments without the need to use any paper-

work, Al-Hasawi explained. International short messages (SMS) can be sent, through the system, to all international customs authorities, he said, adding that clients will soon be using smartphones to log on to the web-based system. The air cargo tracking system provides clients with all information needed about their shipments such as booking, pricing, documentation, administrative reports and statistics.

He further clariﬁed that some adjustment were made to the system to conform to the local and international markets as well as the airlines’ policies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states. The latest technology system is used by more than 80 international companies which reﬂect the country’s national carrier’s concern to keep up with the latest development in air transport. —KUNA

Sharp increase in water consumption KUWAIT: Concern is currently sweeping through the Ministry of Electricity and Water with oﬃcial readings indicating that water consumption levels in Kuwait are currently on par with the state’s daily production rates. Ministry oﬃcials fear that consumption levels could surpass production rates during summer months given the lack of new projects to increase production capacity in the near future. Speaking anonymously in a report made available recently to the press, the sources noted that the ministry recorded an “almost identical” conKUWAIT: Twelve staff members from the Kuwait Towers and the Khairan resort took part in a recent training program on food safety, organized by the Touristic Enterprises Company in cooperation with the Leader’s Institute for Studies and Training. The three-day event featured lectures on international quality standards (ISO 22000. GMP, HACCP) and other basic food quality and safety standards.

sumption rate to the 490 million imperial gallons of daily production of desalinated water. “Any malfunction at water desalination plants puts the ministry at risk of being unable to meet demand that gradually increase during the summer”, said the sources. The sources speciﬁcally mentioned the holy month of Ramadan as holding the highest risk for the ministry’s capability of meeting water demand, given the fact that it falls this year between July and August; a period that usually feature highest consumption rates as temperatures peak to

their highest levels. “The lack of projects to increase water production give us more reason to worry over the situation when public demand increases”, one source said. Meanwhile, the sources assured that the situation is a lot safer when it comes to meeting demand on electricity, which is currently produced at a 12400 megawatts per day level with 700 megawatts expected to be added in the next few months. The highest electricity usage rate is expected to reach 12300 this year according to MEW estimations. — Al-Rai

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

LOCAL

Cabinet not to change salary increase plans Al-Shamali criticizes labor strikes KUWAIT: Recording a budget surplus does not mean that the state can spend excessively without considering the eﬀects of increases to the public sector’s salaries, said Minister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shamali on Friday. “The Cabinet does not plan to raise salaries again, other than what the Civil Service Commission(CSC) has enforced,” Al-Shamali said asserting the need for ‘careful spending’ to avoid negative impact on the state budget. Criticizing the recent labor strike in which customs and Kuwait Airways workers demanded pay raises, Al-Shamali, who also serves as deputy prime minister, said that the Cabinet cannot put more pressure on the

budget ‘which needs to be kept balanced to avoid inﬂation.’ MP Musallam Al-Barrak recently announced plans to ﬁle a grilling motion against Al-Shamali in April over multiple issues, including the government’s failure to formulate a criteria to meet all employees’ demands in the public sector, while achieving equality in pay among state employees, reported Al-Jarida. Minister of Public Works, State Minister of Planning and Development, Dr Fadhel Safar, warned against ‘entering a dark tunnel’ which can take place as long as spending rates continue to rise. “The increasing rates

are driving Kuwait into a situation where the income of oil production is used to pay public sector employees.” Dr Safar told Al-Rai TV, adding that “the next generations have the right to enjoy the large ﬁnancial surplus.” And while he insisted that the development plan is ‘active,’ Dr Safar referred to unnamed parties ‘who attempt to obstruct progress in implementing developmental projects,’ reported Al-Rai. Speaking of which, a report published by Al-Jarida yesterday indicates that 20 governmental projects included in the development plan were canceled for ﬁnancial reasons, reported Al-Jarida.

KUWAIT: Group photo of the participants of the family fitness challenge.

Fit4Fun Academy caters to children’s fitness needs By Nawara Fattahova

‘My Home’ showroom opened KUWAIT: Ali Abdulwahab Sons & Co., one of the leading and most well renowned names in the world of furniture, kitchens, and home appliances, has opened its newest My Home showroom; a one stop shop designed to meet all your household needs. The ceremony was attended by local dignitaries and VIPs including Dawood Al-Sabij, assistant undersecretary, Ministry of Commerce, Matthew H. Tueller, US Ambassador in Kuwait, and Etienne Thevoz, Swiss Ambassador in Kuwait, who jointly performed the inauguration ceremony led by Faisal Al Mutawa, CEO of Ali Abdulwahab Sons & Co. Faisal Al-Mutawa then guided the attendees on a tour of the showroom, followed by a short meet and greet session. The showroom is located in Shuwaikh Industrial Area, on Street 6, just behind Al Tilal Mall, in a modern new building, enjoying an area of 6,450 m2 divided into 3 ﬂoors, as well as an underground parking space, oﬀering the best shopping experience under one roof. The showroom carries an array of global brands including Bosch & Siemens of Germany for Home Appliances, Century, Bassett, Broyhill, Kingsdown, and LA-Z-BOY for Furniture, as well as Nolte and La Cornue for luxury kitchens, among many others. Ali Abdulwahab Sons & Co. is a leading retail and wholesale company, and one of the oldest trading companies in Kuwait enjoying over 90 years of success. The company has adopted a vigorous expansion policy and is the agent and distributor of many distinct global brands. For more information on Ali Abdulwahab Sons & Co. visit our website at www.aaw.com.

Ministry warns of low-quality tobacco spread

Food inspectors raid co-ops, 378kg of meat destroyed By Hanan Al-Saadoun KUWAIT: A raid recently conducted by Mubarak Al-Kabeer municipality food control inspectors on various co-op storehouses and restaurants resulted in conﬁscating and destroying 378 kilos of meat and 240 ice cream packages that were damaged because they were not properly refrigerated. The four-hour inspection campaign, headed by the food control manager,

Mohammed Marzouq Al-Azmi, started at co-op warehouses to check the validity of food items stored there. Speaking to reporters, Al-Azmi said inspectors noticed that a refrigerator containing 378 kg of meat was not working and that the meat had gone foul and had to be destroyed along with 240 ice cream packages. He added that inspectors also warned the warehouse manager as the ﬂoors were not clean enough.

KUWAIT: Large quantities of low-quality tobacco is smuggled through custom outlets to Kuwait, posing grave danger to public health and environment safety, says a letter released recently by a senior Ministry of Health oﬃcial. The letter sent by Assistant Undersecretary for Public Health Dr Qais Al-Duwairi to Kuwait Municipality Director Ahmad Al-Rujaib, blames the Customs General Department for “failing to take necessary legal procedures regarding the smuggled shipments”, but held the municipality responsible for “the spread of smuggled tobacco to the local market”. Smuggled cigarettes are usually made of cheap material used among at least a thousand component from which tobacco is made. Cigarettes made of these ingredients would be of poor quality that fail to meet oﬃcial standards by which the state allows tobacco to enter the local market for sale.

KUWAIT: Families enjoyed fun-filled activities held as part of the Family Fitness Challenge event held on Thursday at the Fit4Fun Academy in Hawally. Children and adults competed in different categories and took home prizes. Umm Mohammad, mother of two boys aged 8 but 13 years respectively also participated in this event. “My children are satisfied with the activities here. They keep telling me to bring them here and I have noticed that this activity is very useful. I registered my children’s names in this academy. Today, they have participated in this fitness event. They played different games and sports activities like gymnastics, climbing and others,” she told the Kuwait Times. “Other fitness centers mostly cater to adults but this place is suitable for their age. They love activities here, and I think they can release their energy here. Also, they can play alone without my assistance as there are professional trainers. I can also watch them from the screen if I did not leave the place,” added Umm Mohammed. The event was held from 3:30 to 6:30 pm, and about 40 children and adults participated in it. “We hold the challenge about once a month in different ways including different activities. The Academy welcomes children aged between 4 and 15 years old belonging to all nationalities. We are open every day except on Friday. The Academy offers one month to one year memberships, as well as multi-entry tickets and guest passes for single classes,” stated Peter Fitz, Founder of FIT4FUN. “Studies proved that physical activity improves students’ skills. Here, we offer different games and sport activities which helps children progress, improves their discipline and teach them to play in a group. There were some children displaying bad behavior. The Academy has not been officially launched yet. So currently, there are four trainers. Soon, the number will increase to about 10,” stressed Fitz. With so many students in Kuwait looking for things to do, FIT4FUN provides fun activities, fitness programs, and the latest trends in fitness. FIT4FUN attractions include FIT4FUN Academy, FIT4FUN Arena, and FIT4FUN Simulators. The Academy promotes physical fitness and children’s health. It also offers fun activities and trendy classes. Trainer Kareem explained the programs and activities undertaken by the

Academy: Parkour practitioners, also known as Traceurs. Run, jump, climb, twist, and vault to get from one point to another in the quickest and most efficient way. Parkour requires consistent, disciplined training with an emphasis on functional strength, physical conditioning, balance, control, and precision. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) offers the mix of different martial arts styles including boxing, Aikido, Tae Kwon do, and Jiu Jitsu. Students will get fitter, faster and more flexible while improving selfesteem, and camaraderie. Break dance and Hip Hop: This includes Breakdance, Freestyle, Techtronic, Street Dance and Hip Hop. Students learn freezing, rocking, popping, and locking. Jumping: Exercise is performed on a trampoline, and provides a complex dynamic workout for the whole body as well as relaxation and stress relief for body and soul. Jumping classes are performed with emotive, motivating music and a strong experience of fascinating atmosphere. Boot Camp: Classes include activities to improve cardiovascular endurance, strength, power, agility and much more. Boot Camp classes are great to lose weight and improve self-esteem. Target shooting: It is an amazing adrenaline filled adventure and a fantastic fun activity for individuals and groups. Target shooting requires the gun owner to run, and to jump, or crawl from one scene to another. Time required to hit the target is as important as accuracy. Target shooting requires the player to hit the target either by shooting with a gun, or by throwing a tennis ball. Fun classes: FIT4FUN offers dozens of fun and agility classes to romp around, jump and have great fun. FIT4FUN classes include DDR, drumbeats, flexi-bar, flowing, balance ball and many more. Gymnastics : Gymnastics is an exercise routine performed on floor mats and on specialized equipment. It enhances the skills of tumbling and balancing and teaches flexibility, grace, and strength. This class is the perfect preparation for Parkour / Free running. Gym stick Muscle: Two elastic bands connected to a stick make a versatile and simply effective fitness tool, which gives you an enjoyable whole body work out. Sportwall: Run, jump, roll, and hit the lights on the Sportwall to score points for your team. Sportwall is a fun way for kids to improve speed, stamina and reaction, and work together as a team.

KUWAIT: Kids competing at the trampoline jump class.

KPC firm on producing environmentally friendly oil products KUWAIT: Kuwait Petroleum Corp’s longrange strategy is premised on completing a project for producing environmentally-compliant fuel and another involving the construction of a new oil refinery, said the company’s CEO Farouq Al-Zanki, in a press statement yesterday. KPC, he affirmed, was undergoing an ambitious plan to explore a multitude of locations in search of natural gas, to be subsequently used in the company’s petrochemical projects. Al-Zanki was speaking marking the occasion of KPC’s sponsorship of a conference themed Gulf Petroleum, organized by the Investors Group and slated for April 9. He noted that KPC’s subsidiary - KNPC was actively contemplating the consolidation of its refinery sector, so as to complement its petrochemical operations, in a bid to inte-

grate both sectors. Moreover, while KPC has been successful at exploring new oil finds that have tremendously augmented national oil reserves, it has ramped up oil production with great aplomb to surpass three million barrels a day, he said. He added that in keeping with KPC’s penchant for applying renewable energy technologies for enhancing its production capabilities, the company has commissioned Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) to run feasibility studies on the technical and economic benefits of using solar energy in the oil industry. The joint efforts of KPC and KISR-along with contributions from two German universities set the stage for completing the first phase of these feasibility studies, which confirmed pre-conceived notions that solar energy could have an effective role in oil produc-

tion. This first phase dead-lined in March 2010, and the second phase has already been started, involving experimentation with solar energy applications vis-a-vis oil production, he explained. The second phase, he elaborated, would test using solar cells to generate electric power at fuel-dispensing stations and would also examine the use of solar energy to supply power to crude oil collection reservoirs which process crude oil as a first step before other refining processes. Currently gas is being used for that purpose. If gas is fully supplanted with solar energy it would not only save from 20 to 50 percent of power now used to treat crude oil with, but also would cut down on the level of pollutants that result from such treatment, he pointed out. — KUNA

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

LOCAL kuwait digest

Local Spotlight

A case of animosity

Flag burning, hate crimes

By Waleed Al-Rujaib

he recent incident in which a tweeter posted offensive remarks against the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) has joined the ranks of many communal incidents that threaten to tear the fabric of Kuwaiti society. Like previous incidents, the recent incident was condemned by the Kuwaiti society. Also, like previous cases, legal action was taken against the man behind the Prophet’s offenses. I believe that such incidents are allowed to happen in a society where sectarian and religious fundamentalism spreads at the expense of tolerance, and are even expected to take place if societies suffer from lack of proper law enforcement. I am confident that fundamentalism alone is not behind the spread of sectarianism in society . It is also fed by deliberate attempts to damage national unity and eliminate the principle of tolerance that Kuwaitis have been known for decades. Unfortunately, such attempts are met with uncontrolled reactions that reflect a case of animosity present among members of the society in light of the lack of serious governmental efforts to improve patriotism and unity among citizens. Such efforts would have countered demands to limit construction of churches for example, or demand that being Muslim is made a pre-condition for a person to become eligible to obtain a Kuwaiti nationality. These efforts could have prevent the Iranian flag burning incident, or calls to monitor Hussaniyas (Shiite mosques) to demand capital punishment to the Prophet’s offender. Demanding penalties is not mentioned in the state law as an infringement to the jurisdiction of the judicial authority. It is not an indication of a state of chaos that is putting the society at risk. The government shares the responsibility for failing to implement the law properly in order to contain sectarian tensions. Also, the family, education, and media institutions should be similarly blamed. The sense of patriotism within society usually suffers when loyalty to social groups is glorified. Such situation makes a society less capable of fulfilling its duty to build the modern civil state. A government’s duty is to face any form of violation to the law, be it a traffic violation, sectarian instigation or spread of corruption. What is sad about this whole situation is that political forces are found at the frontlines of sectarian instigations, instead of attending to issues that the country needs the most such as political reform and combating corruption. I urge all political forces to join efforts to save the country from sectarianism and shift focus to sustainable development projects. Political activity does not stop after elections. This period signals the start of true efforts to achieve political and social reforms that lead to development and building of the modern state. — Al-Rai

Muna Al-Fuzai

muna@kuwaittimes.net

I kuwait digest

Major security breach By Waleed Al-Ghanim

mid the labor strike carried out by the Kuwait Airways staff recently, a shocking incident happened when a captain flew a KAC aircraft to Tehran after changing the flight’s direction from its original destination in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. All that happened without permission from local aviation authorities to change direction. We have heard several stories in recent years about KAC pilots’ blunders, including a story about a captain accused of flying a plane while being drunk, and another about a captain who deliberately delayed a flight in order to wait for friends who were late to catch their plane. There are also news reports about captains violating terms of safety and security. I would say that similar incidents could happen in any airline around the world — but what no airport would ever allow is to have an aircraft fly without permission. I don’t understand how a pilot was able to make his way through the airport and into an airplane, and then start its engines and take flight without permission from the control tower. How was he able to pass through all security points at the airport? Who helped supply his plane with fuel and make sure that it meets all safety measures before taking flight? How did he get the necessary navigation assistance? All these questions lead me to speculate that the Kuwait International Airport suffers a security breach that is more serious than we imagine. If a pilot was able

to take flight without permission, who knows what happens if a group of airport employees decided to try and start an airplane’s engines for fun? Of course, the KAC staff were on strike - but where have the airport’s security been when the captain got into the plane? Where were the navigation officials at the control tower when the plane took off? I hope I’m not the only one who sees how serious it is for someone to fly a national airplane freely and then return home as if nothing happened. I can’t even imagine how the international airline companies will feel about the KAC now following the recent scandal, or how civil aviation organizations around the world feel about the level of professionalism at the Kuwait International Airport. Such incidents reflect negatively at the state as a whole. If a captain was able to fly a national airplane without anyone stopping him, who can say for sure that a military man cannot drive his tank at a local highway if they feel like it for example? The lack of confidence in the state’s ability to prevent the airport’s incident lead people to make such kind of speculations. Minister of Communications Salem Al-Othaina made the right decision when he formed an investigation committee to probe the incident. Hopefully the investigations finish soon and proper penalties are taken against everyone involved in this grave incident.— Al-Qabas

t is very common to see Arabs on TV burning flags during protests. Before it used to be an Israeli flag - but nowadays, things have changed. It is no longer only an Israeli flag that is being burned in the Arab world. Kuwaiti flag was also burned in Iraq and no one has been arrested for that. Recently, the Iranian flag was burned in Kuwait by Sunni protesters. This is not the end of the story as it is a little complicated. Thanks to new technologies - with twitter, the Kuwaitis are now being introduced to a new tool. There are cases of insulting tweets which have made headlines recently. Until last month, Mohammed Al Muliafi, a Kuwaiti columnist was jailed for his anti-Shiite tweets - and last year there were two similar cases for Shiite Nasser Abul and Sunni Mubarak AlBathali, who spent months in jail for the tweets they posted. This week, a young Shiite Kuwaiti man was accused of insulting Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) and one of his wives, Ayesha. He denied the accusations and insisted that his account was hacked. Also, last week Sunni activists burned the Iranian flag during a rally to protest against Shiites’ insults. Some MPs, demanded death penalty for the man. The protesters were happy to burn a flag of an enemy country, as it is always seen as a harmless way to express their anger and release frustration. But, in the last incident, I wonder if Iran is seen an enemy by some Kuwaitis — especially by their Muslim brothers here. Will such case be treated as a hate crime because of its sensitive nature? I believe the level of extremism is going higher everyday especially among young Kuwaitis from both groups (Sunni and Shiite). These incidents have increased tensions in Kuwait between the Sunni majority and Shiites, who form about a third of the native population of 1.17 million, reflecting rising regional tensions between the two Islamic groups. I think, burning a flag should be seen as a hate crime especially if the act jeopardizes a nation’s relation with its neighbors. But, I don’t agree with those MP’s who call for death penalty for those crimes. Officially, Iran is not our enemy. They have their own agenda for years which may not match exactly with the Sunnis here but, let us not forget that the people in question are Kuwaiti citizens and not Iranians.

in my view

Thin cloak of faith

kuwait digest

Ruling family is magnanimous

By Fouad Al-Obaid

By Thaar Al-Rashidi

fouad@kuwaittimes.net

nce, when I met with ex- prime minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Sabah in his diwan, I presented him with a copy of my first book ‘Alphabet 29’ which is a compilation of my articles that appeared in Al- Anbaa under the same title. At least 25 of the articles clearly attacked the former premier’s style. Of course, I was only performing my duty as a writer and harbored no personal grudge against him. Yet, he received me with a fatherly warmth and acts as if nothing has taken place. I know that many will be astonished to know that a prominent member of the royal family welcomed a writer who attacked him or his government. He who knows Kuwaitis and the Al-Sabah family, will know that such a situation is dealt with in a neutral manner. The magnanimous Al-Sabah family is characterized by their courtliness , patience and broad-mindedness. The family members, especially those in pow-

The magnanimous Al-Sabah family is characterized by their courtliness , patience and broad-mindedness. The family members, especially those in power are not annoyed by other’s opinions and do not punish others for expressing dissent. er are not annoyed by other’s opinions and do not punish others for expressing dissent. While working at newspaper street, I have attacked Sheikh Ahmad Al- Fahad Al-Sabah severely. He had once called me up blaming me for that. When I met him, he did not mention anything about it. There are other writers who have severely criticized me, and Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohmmad Al-Sabah wanted to punish his opponents by resorting to the law. He finally withdrew all cases filed against writers, and that was a good move. I am not here to praise AlSabah family, as they do not want to be praised. I am only recollecting my experience with them. It is very well known, that we do only accept to be ruled by Al-Sabah family. All Kuwaitis agreed to it even before the Constitution was written. Note: If I were in another country and had written about the servant of the grandson of the prime minister, I would have been sentenced to life without need to going to court. Al-Sabah are the best. Also, did Sheikh Nasser bribe me? No, he did not. Rest assured, it is enough that he received me at his diwan in a fatherly way. — Al-Anba

Twitter: @Fouadalobaid

uwait is really a world apart when it comes to our social norms and mores. We are a country, that I am more and more inclined to believe, lost in a multi-polar world by espousing ideologies based on trends. Many believe that the world is about to come to an abrupt end soon - the word soon here is indicative. No date could possibly be conjured. Yet, many prophesize that the end is near. With such mantra, a resurgence of militant religious activity has been ushered and people are attempting to conform to a new social must - the religious attire. Such attire that has pushed many to pursue religious knowledge in various social settings; casually at the mosque, more disciplined at NGO venues specialized in religious teaching, also amongst peers. Logically, such a surge in religious dogma should naturally transcribe in a more ‘honest’ society. Such is not the case. When attempting to pinpoint the loopholes of the Kuwait social contract in 2012, amid a background of religious vote in Parliament, it has become a must to profess your faith publically. Also, amid a pseudo-sectarian supremacy, struggle is seen as a religious open door to the inner circles of many institutions that would be shut! Furthermore, it is in this era of mixed emotions that there is talk of mystical activities. The increase of the conjuring of various amulets with people’s clothes ward off ‘bad spells.’ Sorcerery have become a trend in local news, among many countless hours debated talking about people giving one another the ‘eye’. In this era of cloaked religious resurgence, people have challenged the established order in addition to questions faced. Free speech is constantly challenged by hate speech that has gripped many people who have failed to take prescribed vaccines against such dangerous illness. I am ashamed to admit that these are the products of the people that we mingle. Hence a well-known proverb goes as, “he who dwells in a community for 40 days becomes - espoused in their culture part of them.” In 2012, contemporary Kuwaiti culture based on worldview points are challenging their liberal counter-parts. Yet, despite people flocking to mosques in mass, we are very far from understanding, interpreting and living the true message of spirituality that is enshrined in the proper religious doctrines. It is sufficient to look into the manner people adopt, for instance Islam claims that all believers are brothers, and yet you will come to find people that claim to be religious and yet forget such mantra when it comes down to dealing with co-religionists of various background. In government entities, for instance, equal work does not guarantee equal pay. Kuwaitis are granted superior privileges even in sectors where they ought not to be. In the field of education, for example. Teachers that are not Kuwaiti receive a much reduced pay. We question why they are not ‘teaching’ our children properly, and why they are in need of private tutors after school hours. The examples that one could bring to the attention of all are numerous. Perhaps, nothing is more vivid then the image of women who have decided to follow the command of veiling and yet find it perfectly logical to wear a veil when sporting velvet-training suit that fits the body so well that camels and their toes end up being visible in the name of modesty! With that I leave you to reflect on the issue.

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

local

LOYAC participants at a sports camp pos with HH the Prime Minister.

LOYAC theater play participants

LOYAC celebrates ten years in limelight ‘Youth has impressed unique signature’ By Nawara Fattahova KUWAIT: LOYAC, (Lothan Youth Acheivment Center) celebrated its 10th anniversary last Tuesday evening at the Al-Qiblia School. The event was held under the patronage of HH the Prime Minister Shaikh Jaber AlMubarak Al-Sabah. Ministers, officials and VIP guests also graced the occasion. Also, board members of LOYAC Kuwait, Lebanon and Jordan attended the celebration. The non-profit organization LOYAC has encouraged thousands of Kuwaiti artisans, musicians, artists, athletes, employees and volunteers over the decade. Bader Al-Shimeri and his musical band

presented the LOYAC’s latest musical creations. It was followed by the LOYAC Academy of Performing Arts’ (LAPA) interpretative dance encompassing LOYAC’s theatrical history by weaving snippets of past productions in a colorful display of song and dance. The nostalgic performance chronicled LOYAC’s history from its inception as just a dream through the developments it made to become the organization it is today. The history of LOYAC theater includes 11 plays. This was followed by a documentary about LOYAC, its achievements and projects. Following this, Abdulla Buftain, Dhari Al-Huwail and Fatima Al-Awadhi spoke

Manu Chandrashekhar

New FM radio tunes expats into roots By Sunil Cherian KUWAIT: Connecting Indian expats to their roots and gluing musically-inclined Egyptians to their seats, new radio stations are foraying into Kuwait in aplomb. The Indian FM radio station, 98.4 U FM, will be officially launched on April 14, the Hindu festival of Vishu (Malayalam new year). It ‘caters to the need of expats’ claims the ongoing test broadcast advertisement. The test broadcast now runs Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi songs and jingles that resound the latest Bollywood hits. The Egyptian operated makanfm.com, also on test transmission, offers unlimited Arabic songs and programs that vary between religious and spirited debates. Kuwait’s Marina FM-assisted 98.4 U FM is a much awaited dream come true for many. The inception of an expat-oriented radio began a year ago. Manu Chandrashekhar, Program Convener, said about 17 professionals from TV-radio fields in India were recruited, and the station uses internationally renowned Dalet radio software. Experienced technicians and nine radio jockeys, in addition to locally recruited administrative staff make the 98.4 U FM team a force to reckon with, and it aims to spread it wings, Manu said. The staff, hand-picked without the interview process will work in two shifts. “Our concept is the pure infotainment for the Indian community”, Manu said. The station observed earth hour by shutting down last evening from 8.30 to 9.30. The FM team boasts a vast collection of 52,000 Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi songs that will be aired. Plans are on the anvil to include every half-hour news, announcements, phone-in programs and advertisements in its 24/7 format. The team is busy working on the background and scheduling its program list, to be transmitted from Muthala station. Manu said hypermarkets and small-scale companies have expressed interest in placing advertisements. Since March 21, (the day 98.4 U FM went on air) the test broadcast has become a talk of the town. Egyptian internet radio makanfm.com will broadcast ‘Matigi nitkalam,’ an online voice chat program where people describe funny real-life incidents. Football, technology, hit chart will also be featured in the internet radio station that can be accessed through Real Media and Windows Media Player. “It is team work where a few Egyptians make an online space for a large number of compatriots who will be connected through the programs they listen to,” said Sherif Ismail, who does advertisements for the internet radio. As for 98.4 U FM, being able to bridge the gap between India and Kuwait brings in more good news. The festival of Vishu signifies the first thing seen on the day, believed to have a bearing on one’s life in the coming years. The FM’s launch could not be timed any better.

Makan FM logo

about their successful experiences with LOYAC, and how their experiences benefited them, both in their personal and professional lives. Chairperson and Founder Fareah AlSaqqaf said on this occasion that the Prime Minister’s presence will surely motivate and drive us for the next 10 years. “The evening’s program was carefully put together in such a way that the vision, objectives and achievements of LOYAC in the past 10 years have become clear through the preceding programs and visuals,” she noted. Al-Saqqaf thanked all partner companies, organizations, embassies, sponsors and each individual donor who made LOYAC achieve

this great feat with their support. She also thanked all organizations and companies that provided an opportunity for the youth to gain work-place skills through summer jobs and internships, and helped them spend their spare time productively. And all the universities, colleges, schools and educational institutions both governmental and private cooperated with LOYAC. Following the speech, Al-Saqqaf gave her thanks to the Prime Minister for his presence. The prime minister then congratulated and recognized the LOYAC youth representatives’ contribution in varying fields: For Athleticism: Faisal Al-Haroun and Salmaan Al-Rashoud, For Success Stories: Mariem Al Khudri and

Laith Al Mutawa, For Humanitarian efforts: Fahad Al- Kandari and Saoud Al-Kandari, For Dedication: Duaij Al-Oun and Aisha Bilal, For Creativity: Lulwa Al-Shamlaan and Faisal Buhairi, For Career Impact: Aymen Al Saleh and Muhammad Al- Ameen, For Awareness: Ahmed Al Arbash and Abdul Aziz Ashour, For Leadership: Khalid Shabaan and Manayer Al Qallaf, and For Artistic Finesse: Abdulla AlHassan and Shareen Haji. Finally, the Prime Minister concluded by expressing his gratitude for being a part of the LOYAC 10 year ceremony, witnessing unique youth and their powerful impact. “The youth have impressed upon Kuwait their unique signature,” he pointed out.

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

LOCAL

Husband catches cheating wife in Salmiya apartment Father, son killed in car crash

KUWAIT: The Commercial Bank of Kuwait took part in an international conference on credit cards risk management organized recently in Jordan by the MasterCard, featuring representatives of banks from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. The CBK was represented by credit cards risk management manager, Dina Al-Wuhaib, who gave a lecture explaining ways to counter numerous examples of scams connected to credit cards.

New illegal residents’ bureau to be opened KUWAIT: A new bureau for adjusting the status of illegal residents would be opened in Mubarak Al-Kabeer governorate, an official said yesterday. Head of the status adjusting department at the central apparatus for handling the situation of illegal residents, Mohammad Al-Wuhaib said that the bureau would provide services to those providing their official documents of origins, adding that such action would enable illegal residents to process their

residential visas in accordance with article 24 of the law. He added that individuals would be able to sponsor themselves for a period of five years if they were above 21 years of age. Those under 21, said the official, would be offered a residential visa in accordance with article 22 of the law. The central apparatus would be providing services card, sufficient for a period of five years, for those willing to adjust their current illegal status. —KUNA

KUWAIT: A Salmiya resident returned home early on Thursday evening to find his wife in bed with a stranger. The 23-year-old school teacher reportedly ran towards the next door apartment seeking shelter after her husband discovered her affair with her colleague. The Jordanian man was petrified to witness his wife in a compromising position. While trying to prevent the man from escaping, his Jordanian wife ran half- naked into her neighbor’s apartment who let her in. Police arrived on the scene soon after the husband placed an emergency call, and went to the police station with the stranger in custody. During interrogations, the man, in his mid thir ties, admitted to being romantically involved with the woman who works with him in the private school. Police investigators returned to the building demanding that the neighbor turn her in to police. She eventually complied and the wife was taken into custody against charges pressed by her husband. Road accident A 16-year-old teenager died on Friday, a day after meeting with a fatal accident in which his father died along the Fourth Ring Road. He was pronounced dead at Jahra Hospital. Two oth er in divid ua l s we re involved in the accident. His father died instantly in the multiple vehicular accident that took place on Thursday. Male rapist at large Police are on the hunt for a male suspect who has been accused of sexually

Mexican health minister to visit Kuwait next week MEXICO CITY: Mexican Minister of Health Armando Awad is due to pay a visit to Kuwait, early next week, as part of the two countries’ effort to strengthen bilateral relations, said the Kuwaiti ambassador to Mexico Samih Hayat. Hayat said that Awad would hold talks with his Kuwaiti counterpart, Ali Al-Obeidi, and senior efforts for activating the Kuwaiti-

Mexican memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the health sector, signed in February, in the Mexican capital. The MoU basically stipulates arranging reciprocal visits by Kuwaiti and Mexican officials, doctors and specialists to the two countries for examining latest innovations in the field and exchanging expertise. Hayat

expressed satisfaction at noticeable improvement of the KuwaitiMexican relations, reflected in recent visits by a large number of Kuwaiti and Mexican officials and businessmen to the countries. Credit for the substantial enhancement of these ties goes to the senior political leaderships of Kuwait and Mexico, he affirmed. —KUNA

molesting a teenager he k idnapped in Sulaibiya. The case was filed in the area’s p o l i c e s t a t i o n a f t e r a fe m a l e c i t i z e n reported that her 17-year-old son was kidnapped by his friend who assaulted him at a camp in Sulaibiya desert. The boy reported the incident to his mother soon, after which she reported the case to police. The teenager was taken for a forensic examination to confirm the allegations. Thief ‘let go’ A shoplifter walked out of a Salmiya store recently after she threatened to press sexual harassment charges against workers who tried to stop her. The staff members initially tried to halt the woman from exiting when she was caught stealing accessories and per fumes on Closed Circuit Television (CCTV). The woman agreed to committing the theft but challenged them from preventing her from walking out, threatening to file sexual harassment charges against them. After letting her go, staff members reported the incident to local police and provided them with surveillance tapes. Suicide attempt A domestic worker attempted to end her life after receiving a letter from her husband informing her that he had taken a second wife. Police rushed to an Egaila home where a citizen reported that his Sri Lankan housemaid had jumped off from the second floor. The woman was hospitalized after sustaining serious injuries, and later admitting to leaping from the build-

ing in a bid to end her life. Her employer told officers that she had informed him a couple of days ago about her husband’s second marriage. A case was filed at the area’s police station. Bootleggers in custody Two Asian men were arrested in Hawally with possession of alcohol. The suspects were reportedly forced to pull over after trying to evade a checkpoint set up at a street in the area. They were after 25 spurious liquor bottles were found in their car. They have been detained pending deportation procedures which police are finalizing. Classmates’ row A man learnt that his six-year-old son was viciously attacked by his classmate, an incident that their elementar y school’s m a n a g e m e n t i n J l e e b A l - S h u yo u k h ignored. The child returned home complaining of back pain. His father discovered m a r k s o f w h a t a p p e a re d to b e a s t a b wound inflicted by a sharp pencil. The child told his father that his classmate attacked him, and that teachers did not listen to him. The father rushed back to the school to confront the management about the incident. The management responded saying that, “the incident was too minor to be given any attention.” According to the news report, the child received necessary treatment at the area’s polyclinic . It was not clear whether the father reported the incident to local police. —Al-Rai, Al-Anbaa, Al-Watan

Kuwait students participate in Moot Court Competition WASHINGTON: A Kuwait students’ delegation that consists of five students and their Professor Dr Mohammed Al-Moqatie from Kuwait International Law School is representing Kuwait in the 53rd Philip C Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition being held in the US capital. The competition was the world’s largest Moot Cour t Competition with over 2000 law students participating from over 500 law schools in more than 80 countries. The competition was a simulation of a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice, the judicial organ of the United Nations. One team was allowed to participate from every eligible school, where the students were required to present oral and written arguments on a hypothetical international dispute before a simulated International Court of Justice. In an exclusive interview to KUNA, Dr AlMoqatie said that the competition was a real chance for the students to train their skills to take over international cases in international courts as each student had a chance to appear before the International Court of Justice as a moot court.

He added that the students have never been exposed to such an international experience in their study field, where they have a chance to argue their case which is considered a “ver y complicated case.” This year’s case addresses the legality of the destruction of a cultural site, the international standing of a state immediately following a coup d ’etat and international responsibility for the use of force by a state while taking part in a regional operation to bring about democracy. He noted that the students also had a chance to be trained for one day in Washington. “ We are ver y proud to take part in this competition. Kuwait International Law School is a new school - but they feel they are up to the challenge,” he affirmed. Al-Moqatie said they have been holding several sessions and many official hearings. “This has been a chance for the students to face real judges; a chance they would not get on a national level,” he remarked. AlMoqatie added that it is also a chance for the students to build their skills in addressing people and acquire the techniques of oral arguments and eye contact, which is considered of great

importance. The case argument this year is between the Republic of Aprophe and the Federal Republic of Rantania, where the teams had to submit to the International Court of Justice the difference between the states concerning the Mai-Tocao Temple. One of the students, Ghazi AlKhudhari said that the knowledge they gained from their professors and this competition will add a lot to their experience and education. He shed light on the hard work they had to go through to make it to the competition, saying that sometimes they had to work up to 12-14 hours a day to be able to achieve more and represent Kuwait on the highest levels. Meanwhile, the participating students all agreed that by partaking in this competition, they were able to gain more skills, improve their communication abilities with their foreign counterparts, gain a huge experience in the fields of international law; in addition, to making new friends and acquaintance that might help them in their future. The delegation also visited the Kuwait Embassy in Washington DC and meet up with the Deputy Chief of Mission Jasem Al-Bdeiwi and the Embassy staff. —KUNA

‘My First Account’ holds Open Day KUWAIT: On March 24, the Commercial Bank of Kuwait held an Open Day for My First Account (MFA) customers and parents at Discovery Mall from 11am to 8pm. The open day was a huge success attracting over 2000 customers, exclusive to MFA card holders and their parents with a variety of activates to suit all ages from toddlers to 14 years. The MFA Open Day theme was a treasure hunt, organized by Blank Hunts, which took place all over Discovery Mall and required a lot of activity and thinking. Customers were given a list of characters and object names, like Big Foot and Mustard Bottle, and the Kids mission was to find these characters and objects hidden in the mall in a form of costumes. CBK Gift Cards were presented to the treasure hunt first prize winners and lots of toys and vouchers from Baroue and Waleed toys for those who participated in the treasure hunt. CBK also provided their MFA customers with credited vouchers for the arcade area called Play, with a whole

big section for toddlers to enjoy. At Discovery Mall’s outside garden area there was a variety of jumping castles, activities from CBK partners such as face painting and small challenges from McDonalds, and soccer training from BOCA. A puppet and magic show was presented to the kids followed by numerous of educational trivia and contest about the bank while giving out amazing prizes. A lot characters came to join the fun such as Barney and Ronald McDonald followed by pictures and dances with the customers. The MFA open day was concluded with a Caporia martial arts dance that left the kids memorized. This open day comes within the bank’s policy to pay great attention to the children and youth segment. The bank is keen in preparing leisure activities that contribute to giving joy and pleasure to its customers, especially children, in addition to educational activities that refine and develop their talents and creativity.

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

Terror in Europe fuels immigration tensions

School punishes Filipino boys for Facebook kissing Page 8

Page 9

BAGHDAD: Mourners carry a coffin draped with Iraqi flags during the funeral procession for Shaima Al-Awadi in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad yesterday. Al-Awadi was an Iraqi-American woman who was found bludgeoned to death in her California home last week with a threatening note left beside her body, was buried in her native Iraq yesterday. — AP

Baghdad summit exposes sectarian split Sunni rulers largely shun Baghdad summit

News

in brief

29 killed in Yemen ADEN: At least 29 people were killed in heavy fighting yesterday between the army and suspected Al-Qaeda militants in Yemen’s southern province of Lahij, officials said. “Seventeen soldiers were killed in the fighting,” which erupted when the Islamist fighters attacked army positions in Mallah, a town in Lahij, an army officer on the ground said. Eleven others were missing and “believed dead,” said the same source. An official in the Al-Qaeda stronghold of Jaar, southeast of Lahij, said 12 militants were also killed. “The air force and ground troops are now shelling an army post which Al-Qaeda militants have managed to take over” in Mallah, the army officer said. Another military official said “two army tanks and three Al-Qaeda vehicles were destroyed in the fighting, (while) Al-Qaeda militants have seized several soldiers.” The attackers targeted the 119th and 201st army brigades, involved in military operations aimed at regaining control over Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province southeast of Lahij, which the militants overran last May. In a text message received by AFP, the Al-Qaeda-linked militants, who have named themselves Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law), claimed the attack which they declared as “Battle of Dignity.” ‘Batman’ escapes ticket ROCKVILLE: Police in the US pulled over a motorist dressed as Batman, but the caped crusader escaped legally - without a ticket. Authorities pulled over the driver of a black Lamborghini with Batman logo tags last week outside Washington. The driver was dressed as the Dark Knight - cape, mask and all. Police weren’t impressed and wanted to talk to him about his superhero logo license plate, which isn’t an approved plate in Maryland. The driver, who goes by Lenny B. Robinson when not dressed as a superhero to visit sick children at hospitals, was able to show them a proper license plate. A video of the stop shows police officers shaking his hand and taking pictures of him with his ride.

BAGHDAD: Sunni Muslim rulers have largely shunned an Arab League summit hosted by Shiite-led Iraq, illustrating how powerfully the sectarian split and the rivalry with Iran define Middle Eastern politics in the era of the Arab Spring. The crisis in Syria is the epicenter of those divisions. Thursday’s one-day summit closed with a joint call on Syrian President Bashar Assad to stop his bloody crackdown on an uprising seeking his ouster. But the final statement barely papered over the differences among the Arab nations over how to deal with the longest-running regional revolt. “What disturbs the breeze of our Arab Spring and fills our hearts with sadness is the scenes of slaughter and torture committed by the Syrian regime against our brothers and sisters in Syria,” said Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, leader of Libya’s National Transitional Council. In a snub to Iraq, only 10 heads of state from the Arab League’s 22 members attended, with the rest sending lower-level officials. Especially notable were the absences of the rulers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and most other Gulf countries, as well Morocco and Jordan - all of them headed by Sunni monarchs who deeply distrust the close ties between Baghdad’s Shiite-dominated government and their top regional rival, Iran. The Gulf countries also see Iraq as too soft on Syria. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have talked of arming Syria’s opposition, apparently eager to bring the fall of Assad and break the Sunni-majority country out of its alliance with Iran. Speaking to the gathering, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki urged restraint, saying Baghdad opposes any military intervention and citing his country’s years of turmoil as an example of what happens when outside forces get involved in national struggles. US forces left Iraq just over 100 days ago after nearly nine years of war and occupation. “Iraq is afraid of the attempts to militarize the Arab uprisings, because this will deviate them from the right course and push toward the wrong position,” Al-Maliki said. “Dialogue between the government and the opposition is the right option to solve the crisis.” Iraq’s hosting of the annual summit for the first time since 1990 was touted by Baghdad officials as a victory in their efforts to show the country is moving toward stability after years of sectarian fighting that almost tipped the nation into civil war. Thousands of security forces cleared the streets and locked down the capital in one of the quietest weeks in years, although officials said two Katyusha rockets hit near the fortified Green Zone where the summit was held just as diplomats convened. No casualties were reported. The summit was the first since the wave of Arab Spring uprisings began sweeping the region more than a year ago, targeting its long-ruling strongmen. The 2011 summit was canceled because of the turmoil. There were two new faces at Thursday’s collection of heads of state: Libya’s Abdul-Jalil, who holds nominal power after the ouster and killing of Moammar Gadhafi, and Tunisia President Moncef Marzouki, a former human rights activist who was elevated after the fall of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The new leaders of Egypt and Yemen - the other two countries whose rulers fell last year - did not attend, a reflection of their continuing domestic troubles. The session was dominated by the uprising in Syria, where the UN says more than 9,000 people have been killed in the regime’s yearlong crackdown on its political opponents. The regime has sent tanks and troops into Syrian cities and towns, saying the country was under attack from the armed groups. The conflict has a dangerous sectarian angle - most in the opposition come from the Sunni majority, while Assad’s regime relies on the minority Alawites, an offshoot from Shiism. Assad has accepted a peace plan put forward by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, which calls for a cease-fire. But the Syrian opposition and many Arab governments are skeptical Assad will implement it, believing he is just playing for time. Assad said Thursday that armed rebels must also commit to a cease-fire. The summit’s final resolution called on Assad’s regime to “immediately implement” Annan’s proposals. It also said Arab leaders fully support the “legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people to democracy and freedom and their right to determine their future.” US State Department spokesman Mark Toner congratulated Iraq on the summit. — AP

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

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

Young Syrian activists put life on hold in revolt TRIPOLI: Last year, Khalid was a 19-year-old Syrian university student whose modest dreams were to land a job and earn enough to marry his girlfriend not simple tasks given Syria’s weak economy and his lack of connections to the ruling elite. Since then, he’s become a fugitive activist in the fight to topple President Bashar Assad. Khalid said he has been tortured by security forces and hasn’t spoken to his loved ones in months for fear he’ll endanger their lives. Young people like Khalid have manned the front lines in the uprisings across the Arab world, organizing protests, documenting violence and taking up arms against government troops. Analysts say youth frustration has proven to be a potent force in an area where some 60 percent of people are under 25 - making it one of the world’s youngest regions. Many youth activists say they had plenty to protest, facing adulthood in societies where decades of autocratic rule left them with limited freedom and constricted economies. For Khalid and other young Syrians, the uprising is about more than just toppling a dictator. It’s a fight for their generation’s dreams. “I can’t think about my own life

now,” said Khalid, now 20, after sneaking across the Syrian border into Lebanon. “All I can think about is working to make the revolution succeed because it will have a huge effect on the lives of all youth.” The young have been key players in Syria’s uprising since its start in March 2011, when security forces arrested a group of teenagers who scrawled antiregime graffiti on a wall in the southern city of Daraa, generating huge protests. Assad’s security forces violently cracked down, deploying tanks, snipers and thugs to quash the spreading dissent. Later, many civilians took up arms to defend their communities and attack security forces. The UN says more than 9,000 people have been killed, including at least 500 children. Hundreds more children have been injured, detained or abused. As the death toll mounts, young activists acknowledge some naivete in their decision to challenge one of the region’s most brutal police states. Their elders often tried to dissuade them, recalling how Assad’s father and predecessor, Hafez, killed between 10,000 and 25,000 people while crushing a 1982 rebellion in the city of Hama. “Many of them were

scared. They saw what the regime can do and told us, ‘We were there in 1982. You weren’t.’” said Mustafa, 24, who fled the coastal city of Banias to Lebanon last year. Like Khalid, he asked only that his first name be used for fear of endangering relatives inside Syria. Still, many have decided that a chance at better lives was worth dropping their studies, jobs and marriage plans. Before the uprising, Khalid studied engineering at a university in the central city of Homs, even though he was interested in computers and wasn’t sure he’d ever get a job. He dreamed of going to school abroad, but government scholarships went to students in the ruling Baath Party. He never thought about politics, but began paying close attention when uprisings toppled dictators in Tunisia and Egypt last year. In March, security forces stopped an antiregime demonstration on campus, then forced students to attend a pro-Assad rally. In April, security forces killed protesters in his neighborhood, Baba Amr, then posted troops to deter future gatherings. “That was the first time I got mad and decided I was against the regime,” Khalid said. Anger grew in the neighborhood as

the regime crushed more protests and raided homes to arrest activists, sometimes detaining their parents, he said.

mop handle until his back was numb, then locked with six others in a cell so small that only three people could sit down at

TRIPOLI: A wounded Syrian youth lies under a pre-Baath Syrian flag, adopted by the anti-regime opposition on his hospital bed in Tripoli, Lebanon where scores of Syrians wounded in the ongoing violence in their country have been receiving medical treatment. —AFP Khalid started a Facebook page to commemorate those killed while working with other activists to film protests to post online. In October, security forces stopped him at a checkpoint and found a photo on his cellphone of a government sniper, Khalid said. At the police station, he was beaten with a

a time, he added. For 20 days, he was regularly beaten during interrogations and suspended by plastic strips around his wrists, he said. He finally escaped with the help of a sympathetic security officer. “After that, I knew I’d never shut up,” he said. “I wanted to do the impossible to make the revolu-

tion succeed.” But first, he broke up with his girlfriend, worrying that their relationship would endanger her. She cried when he told her. “I had to do it for her safety,” he said. “I have set out on a martyr mission. As soon as you say, ‘I’m an activist,’ you know you could die.” At that time, Baba Amr was becoming a national symbol of the uprising. Army defectors has flocked to the area, making it harder for troops to come in, protests grew and the youth organized into media, medical and even trash pickup committees.That defiance drew the regime’s wrath, and in early February troops surrounded Baba Amr and shelled it daily. Khalid and the media team kept working, filming and uploading videos and communicating with journalists and other activists via Skype. Despite the violence, there was youthful mischief. When an explosion near their makeshift media center silenced a rooster often heard in their videos, they commemorated him with his own Facebook page. On Feb 22, government rockets hit the media center, killing a number of activists and foreign journalists Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik, who had sneaked into Syria. — AP

Turkish lawmakers approve controversial education bill Bill to increase influence of Islamic schools

CAIRO: Egyptian supporters of Islamist presidential candidate sheikh Hazem Abu Ismail (poster) perform their prayers outside a mosque in Cairo. — AFP

Egypt Islamists press generals to fire govt CAIRO: Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood-led parliament has begun drawing up a noconfidence motion against the militaryappointed government, further escalating the Islamists’ increasingly public power struggle with the country’s ruling generals. The Islamists were also squabbling with liberal and secular groups over the commission that is to draw up the nation’s new constitution. After the Brotherhood took a clear majority on the 100-member body for itself, 25 other members resigned. The latest was the representative of Al-Azhar, the pre-eminent institute of Islamic learning in the Sunni Muslim world. On Thursday, a meeting between the Islamists and liberals chaired by military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi produced no compromises. Liberals fear the Islamists plan to impose their religious agenda on the constitution. Islamists say liberals are a minority who have no popular support. Relations between the military and the Brotherhood have deteriorated in recent weeks, as the fundamentalist group has pushed for the army to fire the Cabinet for alleged incompetence. The Brotherhood wants to form a new government, a task it claims is urgent because of Egypt’s deteriorating security and economic situation.

During a heated session in parliament Thursday, lawmakers lambasted Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri’s government for its performance, accusing it of wasting billions of dollars of public funds. Six Cabinet ministers stormed out in protest. Lawmakers also started drafting a motion for a vote of no confidence in the government, said parliamentarian Hussein Ibrahim. He said that parliament, where the Brotherhood and other Islamists hold nearly 75 percent of the seats, will vote on the measure within two weeks. “No one can give a kiss of life to a dead government,” lawmaker Osama Yassin said. While Egypt’s interim constitution does not give parliament the power to dismiss the Cabinet, a no-confidence vote would be a sharp blow to the ruling generals and make it difficult for them to continue backing El-Ganzouri’s government. For months, the Brotherhood and the military, which have emerged as the two most powerful institutions since the uprising that ousted longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak last year, have alternated between cooperating and jockeying for position. Thursday’s move pointed to the Brotherhood’s growing confidence. The group holds nearly half the seats in parliament, making it the largest bloc. —AP

School punishes Filipino boys for Facebook kissing MANILA: A Philippine Catholic school is withholding the diplomas of six high school boys who uploaded Facebook photos that appear to show them kissing one another, an education official said yesterday. A day earlier, a Philippine court rejected another Catholic school’s decision to bar five girls from graduation ceremonies because they had posed in bikinis for photos posted on Facebook. The cases test the limits of privacy in a conservative Catholic nation that is also among the world’s most prolific users of social networking sites. Department of Education officer Samuel Mergenio said the six boys told him they had taken prank photos to make it appear that their lips touched. One of the boys uploaded the pictures on Facebook and mistakenly made them available to others, Mergenio said. The pictures were not taken at the boys’ school, Infant Jesus Academy in the Manila suburb of Marikina, but the students were wearing school uniforms, he said. Mergenio said the school’s chancel-

lor informed the department late Thursday that the boys will be allowed to participate in the graduation ceremonies but “the release of their diplomas will be delayed.” He said the school did not say when the diplomas will be handed over and that he was awaiting a formal written report from the school. The school chancellor was not available for comment Friday. The mother of the boy who uploaded the photos said she works as a nurse in Saudi Arabia and went home only to attend the graduation of her son, one of twins. She said she refused to attend the graduation ceremonies because her son would only be subjected to ridicule since he won’t be called to the stage to receive his diploma. “It will be like an insult,” she said. On Thursday, a judge in central Cebu city issued a restraining order against St Theresa’s College High School, ordering it to allow the five students who appeared in the bikini photos to take part in Friday afternoon’s graduation ceremonies. — AP

ANKARA: Turkish lawmakers have approved a hotly contested school reform bill that detractors say will increase the influence of Islamic schools and which has reignited tensions between the Islamic-leaning government and opponents who fear the country’s secular ideals are in danger. Turkey is a Muslim majority nation that also has a strong secular tradition. The school reform bill comes at a time when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted government is shifting power away from the secular establishment, including the military, that once dominated the country. The bill prompted such passions that scuffles broke out among lawmakers debating it. The government-backed proposal, which snagged 295 votes in the 550-member Parliament, extends compulsory education from the current eight years to 12, but also paves the way for middle school students to attend Islamic schools. It reverses a move that was imposed by the military back in 1997 that closed religious middle schools, allowing only high school students to attend such institutions. The schools had long been viewed by the military as breeding grounds for Islamist groups. Under the bill, students are also given the option of attending vocational schools as early as age 10, a move opponents say will devoid students of the broad-based education they need. The bill needs to be approved by President Abdullah Gul, an ally of the government, before it comes into effect. Erdogan, the prime minister, who is a graduate of an Islamic school and has spoken of government aims to raise a “pious generation,” hailed the reform as a victory for democracy for having rolled back the military-imposed steps. “This law has shown once again who the true owners of national sovereignty are. It is a law that shows how much democracy in Turkey has advanced,” he said. “Fascist pressures have been corrected through democracy.” His government, which has a majority in

Parliament, insists the reforms will raise school standards and reduce illiteracy. It has defended the reopening of the religious middle schools, arguing that it was responding to widespread public demand and overturning undemocratic moves imposed by the military.

party rushed the bill through Parliament without allowing much time for public debate. Discussion over the bill in Parliament were so tense that a legislative committee meeting on the reforms resulted in a fight, with one ruling party legislator even accusing the

ANKARA: People run as Turkish police fire tear gas and water cannons to disperse thousands of people protesting an education reform bill that opponents say will boost the influence of Islamic schools, in Ankara, Turkey. — AP “This law will go down in history as an opposition of throwing a heavy tape disimportant step toward the reconciliation of penser at him. At one point, an opposition the state with its people,” Education Minister lawmaker addressed the committee for a Omer Dincer told Parliament in a speech after record 12-hours in a rare filibuster in Turkey’s parliament. the vote. Fighting also broke out during a debate in Opposition parties say they support school reforms but argue that the students must be the full house. Thousands of people joined an provided with broad-based education while opposition rally against the bill this week, in middle school. They have accused the gov- while police on Thursday used tear gas to disernment of trying to erase all traces of the perse trade-union groups who attempted to 1997 move as an act of “revenge.” Much of march to the Parliament building to protest their anger focused on the fact that the ruling the bill. — AP

China cracks down on Internet coup rumors BEIJING: China has shut down websites, made a string of arrests and punished two popular microblogs after rumors of a coup in Beijing linked to a major scandal that brought down a top politician. Authorities closed 16 websites for spreading rumors of “militar y vehicles entering Beijing and something wrong going on in Beijing”, the official Xinhua news agency said late Friday, citing the state Internet information office. Six people were arrested, while the countr y ’s two most popular microblogs, run by Sina.com and Tencent, said they would stop web users from posting comments until Tuesday after being criticized by the authorities. The crackdown follows a surge in online rumors about a coup led by security chief Zhou Yongkang, following the March dismissal of rising political star Bo Xilai. Analysts say the political drama has exposed divisions in the ruling Communist Party as it

prepares for a key leadership transition later this year. Bo, removed as party chief of the southwestern metropolis of Chongqing after his former police chief fled to a US consulate and reportedly demanded political asylum, had been tipped to join the country’s top echelons of power. His downfall was only lightly covered by China’s tightly controlled state media, opening the way for groundless rumors about a coup to spread on the Internet. In an editorial yesterday, the People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party, pledged to punish those responsible for the “lies and speculation”. “Online rumors undermine the morale of the public, and if out of control, they will seriously disturb the public order and affect social stability,” said the newspaper, according to Xinhua. The latest restriction on web freedom in China, where a vast censorship system known as the

“Great Firewall” already blocks sites including Twitter and Facebook, drew swift condemnation from Internet users. “Stopping web users from posting comments on microblogs is a serious attack on freedom of expression and will go down in the history books,” said a user called Lawyer 80 on weibo.com. Xinhua reported the website closures late Friday, naming some of the sites involved as meizhou.net, xn528.com and cndy.com.cn, saying they had been shut in accordance with laws for failing to stop the spread of rumors. The six people arrested were held for “fabricating and spreading” rumors “particularly through microblogging posts”, said Xinhua, citing the Beijing municipal bureau of public security. Sina.com and Tencent, who run popular microblogs known in China as weibos, had carried online chatter speculating about a coup and were “criticized and pun-

ished accordingly”, a spokesman for the state Internet information office said, according to Xinhua. The spokesman said both sites had pledged to “strengthen the management”-and just hours later the Internet giants announced they would block users from posting on the microblog services. “Rumors and illegal, harmful information spread via microblogs have had a negative social impact and the comments contain a large amount of harmful information,” said a message on Tencent’s website. “From March 31, 8:00 am to April 3, 8:00 am, weibo’s comment function will be temporarily suspended,” said Sina, whose weibo service is China’s most popular. The huge rise of weibos has proved a major challenge to the “Great Firewall”, and censors had been scrambling in recent days to block all forms of search on the microblogs for terms linked to Bo. — AFP

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Terror in Europe fuels immigration tensions Horrific attacks rock troubling Europe LONDON: An Al-Qaeda-inspired gunman kills paratroopers and Jewish children in southern France. A far-right fanatic enraged by Muslim immigration guns down dozens of youths at a summer camp in Norway. Two atrocities in the space of the year, coming from opposite ends of the spectrum, are raising fears across Europe that a growing climate of ethnic and religious hostility is inspiring extremist violence - and creating the conditions for deadly clashes. The attacks in France and Norway represent the most horrific extremes of two trends of intolerance troubling Europe: strengthening far-right sentiment that has sometimes bled into the mainstream, and growing Islamic radicalization in Europe’s disadvantaged, immigrant-heavy neighborhoods. With Europe still stunned by last week’s killings in Toulouse, France, a loosely knit group of xenophobic “defense leagues” plans to rally in Denmark against what they call the growing Islamic presence in western Europe. The rally was organized by one of the rising forces of Europe’s far-right scene - the Danish Defense League. It’s backed by the English Defense League, which gained prominence in Britain amid urban rioting last summer. Similar groups from Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Poland, Romania, and Sweden are expected. Danish intelligence services expect up to 700 of these strident, anti-Muslim “counterJihadists.” A counter-demonstration is anticipated to draw several thousand people. Police vow to keep the two groups apart. But the clashing views on display show Europe’s heightened polarization. “These terrorist events are creating sparks, and a small spark can set off a huge fire,” said Magnus Ranstorp, research director of the Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies in Sweden. “It can set off huge social polarization, and this is what the terrorists want to achieve. Now there is an increased rightwing climate - the counter-jihad movement - feeding off these Islamophobic forces.” The mood is volatile, Ranstrop said, made

Mohamed Merah

more so by the methods of the killers - citing how in France, Mohamed Merah shot video of his attacks that was mailed to the Al-Jazeera television network. “You have the counter-jihad movement, and on the other side you have an old Al-Qaeda structure giving out directives for people to carry out their own personal jihads by solo terrorist activity. The manner in which you carry out these attacks matters: Recording them, sending ﬁlms to Al-Jazeera, shooting people execution style, all to create polarization and revulsion, to create an overreaction.” For decades, western Europe has been the envy of the world with its high standard of living and tolerant social climate. Today, Europe is gripped by a profound economic crisis and festering conﬂict over immigration, religion and cultural identity. Tensions over immigration from northern Africa and other countries with large Islamic populations have fueled the rise of far-right movements across Europe. In France, the ultranationlist National Front is expected to make gains in upcoming presidential and legislative elec-

Anders Behring Breivik

tions. Xenophobic parties in Austria, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands have all gained support in recent years. As anti-immigration rhetoric grows more strident, ideas that were once considered on the fringes of political dialogue have entered the mainstream - with French President Nicolas Sarkozy often seeming to borrow from National Front rhetoric as he campaigns for re-election. At the same time, anti-Western diatribes on the Internet and sometimes in local mosques have played a role in radicalizing some young Muslims in Europe, even as Muslim community leaders try to steer young people toward productive futures. The long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have also enﬂamed passions among Muslims. Over the past year, Europe has suﬀered deadly manifestations of these tensions with the France attacks and the July massacre in Norway carried out by Anders Behring Breivik, who slaughtered 77 people with a bomb in Oslo followed by a shooting rampage at a Labor Party youth camp on an island retreat. The two horrors have drawn inevitable com-

parisons. Both killers had a terrifying sense of theater. Breveik’s island rampage, in which he picked oﬀ the trapped children one at a time, seemed straight out of a horror movie. The French police account of Merah’s last stand, his Colt .45 blazing as he jumped from the balcony, seems inspired by an action ﬁlm. Initial reactions to the attacks point to the ambiguities swirling around Europe’s immigration debate. When Breveik’s deadly bomb ripped through the Norwegian capital on July 22, many counterterrorism experts assumed Muslim radicals were behind the blast. Similarly, many initially suspected that the French killings might be the work of a far-right fanatic.

Poles break the silence, talk about CIA secret jail Poland becomes ‘political victim’ of leaks WARSAW: For years, the notion that Poland could allow the CIA to operate a secret prison in a remote lake region was treated as a crackpot idea by the country’s politicians, journalists and the public. A heated political debate this week reveals how dramatically the narrative has changed. In a string of revelations and political statements, Polish leaders have come closer than ever to acknowledging that the United States did in fact run a secret interrogation facility for terror suspects in 2002 and 2003 in the Eastern European country. Some officials recall the fear that prevailed after the Sept 11 attacks, and defend the tough stance that former US President George W Bush took against terrorists. But the debate is sometimes tinged with a hint of disappointment with Washington, as if this young democracy had been led astray - ethically and legally - by the superpower that it counts as a key ally, and then left alone to deal with the fallout. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Thursday that Poland has become the “political victim” of leaks from US officials that brought to light aspects of the secret rendition program. In his most forthcoming comments on the matter to date, Tusk said an ongoing investigation into the case is proof of Poland’s democratic credentials and that Poland cannot be counted on in the future in such clandestine enterprises. “Poland will no longer be a country where politicians - even if they are working arm-in-arm with the world’s greatest superpower - could make some deal somewhere under the table and then it would never see daylight,” said Tusk, who took office four years after the

site was shuttered. “Poland is a democracy where national and international law must be observed,” Tusk said. “This issue must be explained. Let there be no doubt about it either in Poland or on the other side of the ocean.” To some, it sounded like a long-delayed admission that Poland allowed the US to run the secret site, where terror suspects were subjected to harsh interrogation tactics that human rights groups consider torture. “This statement is quite different from any others,” said Adam Bodnar, a human rights lawyer with the Helsinki Foundation in Warsaw. “From the general context, he’s kind of admitting that something is in the air. You can feel that this is an indirect confirmation.” For years Polish officials and the public treated the idea that the CIA ran a prison in Poland as absurd and highly unlikely - even after the United Nations and the Council of Europe said they had evidence of its existence. Polish officials repeatedly rebuffed international calls for serious investigations. The idea slowly only began to get serious consideration after Polish prosecutors opened an investigation into the matter in 2008. A new breakthrough came Tuesday when a leading newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza, reported that prosecutors have charged a former spy chief, Zbigniew Siemiatkowski, for his role in allowing the site. Siemiatkowski was reportedly charged with depriving prisoners of war of their freedom and allowing corporal punishment. Siemiatkowski has refused to comment, telling The Associated Press he was bound by secrecy laws on the matter. The

Turkmens to mark ‘era of happiness’ ASHGABAT: Turkmenistan’s authoritarian president is calling it a week of celebrations, but for some it might seem more like basic training, especially the march up the fivemile concrete staircase. The series of public shows and sports events will be held during the first week of April to mark the “era of power and happiness” recently announced by President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, state newspaper Neutral Turkmenistan reported Friday. Since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Turkmenistan has become known for its grandiose authoritarianism, including the elaborate cult of personality that surrounded the late President Saparmurat Niyazov. Berdymukhamedov has dismantled much of the personality cult since taking power after Niyazov’s 2006 death, but the overblown and idiosyncratic nature of the upcoming festivities echo Niyazov’s style. The first week of April is traditionally devoted to public events celebrating physical well-being. The period has now been dubbed the “Week of Health and Happiness” and will include the staging of plays called “The Inspirational Era of Happiness” and “The Era of Power is Illuminated by Happiness.” Turkmenistan doesn’t suffer problems like the United States, where two out of every three adults is overweight or obese. But the newspaper quoted Berdymukhamedov as saying in a Cabinet meeting Thursday that all employees in government offices and state companies will be expected to spend the week indulging in physical exercise. The highlight of the week is expected to be the traditional mass march up the Walk of Health - an eight-kilometer (five-mile) concrete staircase built into mountains near the capital. While insisting on making top public officials complete the Walk of Health once a year, Niyazov was notable for his preference for less strenuous pleasures. He died of heart failure in December 2006, aged 66. Niyazov drew widespread criticism in 2005 by closing provincial hospitals, declaring them an unnecessary extravagance. The policy was implemented while Berdymukhamedov was then serving as health minister. — AP

issue is hugely sensitive because any Polish leaders who would have cooperated with the US program would have been violating Poland’s constitution, both by giving a foreign power control over part of Polish territory and allowing crimes to take place there. Any officials who were involved could - in theory - be charged with serious crimes, including crimes against humanity. Former CIA officials have told the AP that the prison operated from December 2002 until the fall of 2003, and that prisoners were subjected to harsh questioning and waterboarding there. The Polish leaders in office at the time - former President Aleksander Kwasniewski and former Prime Minister Leszek Miller - have vehemently denied its existence. But they nonetheless have voiced support for the rendition program in principle, arguing that the US and its allies were at war with terrorists after the Sept 11 attacks and that tough measures were needed. “I will always stand on the side of hurt women, children and the victims of attacks,” Miller said in a radio interview this week. “I won’t shed tears for murderers. A good terrorist is a dead terrorist.” Even former President Lech Walesa, the iconic democracy fighter, said he is “against torture ... but this is war and war has its particular rules.” Miller, the head of the Democratic Left Alliance, an opposition party, has been the main target of criticism by political opponents this week. Some even say he should face the State Tribunal, a special court charged with trying state figures.—AP Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, a senator who was

As sanctions loom, Mali coup leader plans polls BAMAKO: Mali’s coup leader responded to the threat of sanctions by saying he plans to hold elections and rapidly return the country to its established order but gave no timetable for immediate action, falling short of demands by West African countries. Mali’s neighbors gave the captain a 72-hour deadline to hand power back to civilians or else face severe consequences, including the closing of borders to the landlocked nation and the freezing of the country’s account at the regional central bank. If the measures go into effect Sunday, they will be among the toughest imposed on a state in West Africa, where coups, or attempted coups, are still a near-yearly occurrence. Amid the turmoil Tuareg rebels in the country’s north pushed into the strategic town of Kidal on Friday, according to Lt Samba Timbo, the chief of security for junta leader Capt Amadou Haya Sanogo. Kidal, a garrison town, is a major prize for the Tuareg separatists who launched a rebellion in January with the aim of carving out a homeland for themselves in Mali’s desolate north. In the capital of Bamako, Sanogo emerged for the first time since the threat the sanctions were announced, telling reporters Friday that he “understands” the position of the regional body, the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS. At the same time, he said he wanted ECOWAS “to deepen their analysis of the situation in Mali. We ask them to analyze the reasons that led to this coup.” Sanogo grabbed power on March 21 after a mutiny at the military camp where he is based around 6 miles from the presidential palace. The mutiny was sparked over the illtreatment of soldiers sent to fight the nascent rebellion in the country’s north. Troops have been sent without enough

equipment, and the junta claims that many were executed by the Tuareg mercenaries after running out of ammunition. Sanogo asked the regional body to support him, saying the junta seized control of the country with the plan of “holding a rapid process of normalization, organizing free and transparent elections and a rapid restoration of the state.” He omitted to make clear his timeline, even as the threat of sanctions loom. In downtown Bamako, lines 50-people deep were forming outside commercial banks. In the Niarela neighborhood, the branch of Ecobank told patrons they could not take out more than 500,000 francs (roughly $1,000). Ibrahima Kante, an economist, was one of the people lined up outside the branch hoping to take out his savings to weather the coming sanctions. “I think the banks are going to close because ECOWAS took a decision to impose sanctions on Mali. It’s important that we managed to get a little bit of money out before that happens,” Kante said. “I’m happy with this decision though because it will mean that the junta has to leave. If they don’t leave, the population is going to rise up against them.” In Abidjan where the regional body met to issue its threat of sanctions on Thursday, a senior advisor to Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara said that the captain’s reaction is “basically the equivalent of telling us (expletive) you.’” The oﬃcial who could not be named because he was not authorized to speak to the press said that ECOWAS would go ahead with the sanctions as early as Monday, unless “we see a dramatic turnaround by the junta.” He added that the regional leaders had agreed to meet a junta delegation in the capital of neighboring Burkina Faso, whose president has oﬀered to act as a mediator. —AP

The bloodshed carried out by both extremes in the heated immigration debated raises the specter of clashes between the two. There already have been street scuffles between the English Defense League and radical Islamists in Britain - although none has escalated into major violence. Nicolas Lebourg, a historian who studies the far-right at Perpignan University in southern France, said that both Breivik and Merah were products of an increasingly polarized Europe. “For people who are a little fragile, people who are a little sensitive ... we’re overheating them by telling them that there’s this cosmic war between good and evil,” Lebourg said.— AP

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Woman, 65, charged with assisting suicide SANTA ANA: A 65-year-old woman was arrested Wednesday on a felony charge alleging she helped an elderly man kill himself last year by mixing a lethal drug dose in his yogurt. Prosecutors charged Elizabeth Barrett with illegally assisting in the suicide of Jack Koency, an 86-year-old World War II veteran who lived in a nearby retirement complex. The motive for Koency’s suicide was not immediately released, but prosecutors said he was not terminally ill, bedridden or immobile. “People are to some degree conditioned to hear about these cases

when you have an elderly person who is terminally ill, who is in pain, who has zero standard of living or close to it,” said Ebrahim Baytieh, senior deputy district attorney in Orange County. “This is not that kind of case.” Barrett was taken into custody at her home in Laguna Woods and remained jailed on $25,000 bail. She could face three years in prison if convicted. It was not immediately clear whether she had an attorney. Prosecutors contend that Barrett and Koency met a few years ago and occasionally gathered at Starbucks with a

larger group. On the morning of Sept. 30, Barrett is suspected of driving Koency to make arrangements at an office of the Neptune Society, which performs cremations, then to a store to buy yogurt, brandy and medication for heartburn. The medication is used to prevent acid reflux, which often occurs when a person takes a large amount of pills, prosecutors said. Barrett then drove Koency back to his apartment where she crushed a lethal amount of the power ful painkiller Oxycontin and mixed it in

the yogurt, authorities claim. She is accused of giving it to the veteran, who ate it, went into his bedroom, laid down and died. After Koency’s death, Barrett removed his war medals from his wall and put them in her car, then later called 911 to report she had found him dead, prosecutors said. Investigators found a motion-activated camera in Koency’s apartment that showed Barrett preparing and giving Koency the yogurt mixture, authorities said. Authorities also found an address for an organization advocating volun-

tary euthanasia in a notebook on a table in Koency ’s home, said Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Barrett initially identified herself as a social worker to deputies and told them she did not give Koency any pills. After learning of the video footage, she acknowledged crushing some medications for Koency at his request but said she did not know they would cause his death, Amormino said. Barrett denied having an affiliation with any assisted suicide advocacy group, Amormino said.—AP

US can maintain nuclear weapons ‘without tests’ Republicans cast doubts on Obama’s nuke polices

WASHINGTON: United States’ attorney generals, including Florida’s Pam Bondi (left) walk down the steps of the US Supreme Court in this file photo at the end of arguments on the constitutionality of the health care law signed by President Barack Obama. Chances are slim that Congress would act to restore any parts of the law that the court might strike down, even noncontroversial provisions.— AP

Texas man executed HUNTSVILLE: A convicted child sex offender has been executed for the beating death of a 10-month-old boy he was baby-sitting at a home in Dallas. Jesse Joe Hernandez smiled and laughed at times before receiving a lethal injection for the slaying of Karlos Borja 11 years ago. “God bless everybody. Continue to walk with God,” the 47year-old Hernandez said. Moments later, he shouted “Go Cowboys!” in honor of his favorite football team. As the drugs took effect, the condemned man repeated his appreciation for those he knew who had gathered to witness the execution. “Love y’all, man,” Hernandez said. “... Thank you. I can feel it, taste it. It’s not bad.” He took about 10 deep breaths, which grew progressively weaker until he was no longer moving. Ten minutes later, at 6:18 pm. CDT, he was pronounced dead. No one related to the slain child attended the execution, the fourth this year in Texas. It was carried out about two hours after the US Supreme Court denied last-ditch appeals for Hernandez. Ten-month-old Karlos was taken to a Dallas hospital in April 2001 with a skull fracture and bruises to his head, thigh and abdomen. A week later, he was taken off life support and died. His 4-yearold sister had similar beating injuries to her head, ears and eyes but survived. Hernandez’s DNA was found in Karlos’ blood on a pillowcase and on the child’s clothing. The boy’s sister drew stick figures for detectives to help describe her attack. Hernandez denied beating the children but later told a detective he may have hit the boy with a flashlight. He did not include the flashlight reference in a written confession in which he said he “just exploded” and struck them with the back of his hand. “They were being very bad by crying a lot for nothing,” Hernandez wrote. Howard Blackmon, the former assistant district attorney in Dallas County who prosecuted Hernandez, recalled seeing photos of the badly bruised boy connected to tubes while in the hospital and his sister’s red, bruised forehead. “I don’t think Hernandez admitted to

any intent to kill,” he said. “He did admit to striking.” Jurors saw those images and also learned that Hernandez had a previous conviction for molesting a child and drug possession, had beat his ex-wife with a baseball bat, burned a girlfriend’s child with cigarettes and was found with a shank while locked up in jail. Court records showed Hernandez and his wife of six years had been living with the two children and their 22-year-old mother about three days in a Dallas house that had no running water. Hernandez and his wife were to watch the children while their mother was working as a waitress. On April 11, 2001, Hernandez’s wife left to run some errands. When she returned he told her the kids were sleeping and not to disturb them. Hours later, after their mother returned from work, the girl complained her head was hurting and the mother took her to a hospital. While they were gone, Hernandez’s wife checked on Karlos, discovered his injuries and called paramedics. Police were then notified. In trying to stop the execution, Hernandez ’s attorneys unsuccessfully argued that his trial lawyers were deficient because they didn’t pursue evidence that the boy was prematurely removed from life support and had toxic levels of the drug pentobarbital in his blood. The same barbiturate is used in the execution process in Texas. The attorneys also claimed an initial appeals lawyer did not investigate the case beyond the trial record and that failure cost Hernandez his lone opportunity to raise substantive legal claims following his conviction. Brad Levenson, director of the Texas Office of Capital Writs, said a more thorough investigation could have shown Hernandez wasn’t responsible for the child’s death. The Texas attorney general’s office opposed any delay, questioning whether the high court even had jurisdiction in the case because constitutional claims weren’t raised earlier in state courts. At least six other condemned Texas inmates have execution dates scheduled for the coming months.— AP

2 kids, woman killed in Saint Death ritual HERMOSILLO: Eight people have been arrested for allegedly killing two 10-yearold boys and a 55-year-old woman in ritual sacrifices by the cult of La Santa Muerte, or Saint Death, prosecutors in northern Mexico said Friday. Jose Larrinaga, spokesman for Sonora state prosecutors, said the victims’ blood was poured around an altar to the saint, which is depicted as a skeleton holding a scythe and clothed in flowing robes. The grisly slayings recalled the notorious “narco-satanicos” killings of the 1980s, when 15 bodies, many of them with signs of ritual sacrifice, were unearthed at a ranch outside the border city of Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas. While Saint Death has become the focus of a cult among drug traffickers and criminals in Mexico in recent years, there have been no confirmed cases of human sacrifices in Mexico to the scary-looking saint, which is not recognized by the Roman Catholic Church. Worshippers usually offer candy, cigarettes and incense to the skeleton-statue. Larrinaga said the first of the three victims was apparently killed in 2009, the second in 2010 and the latest earlier this month. Investigations indicate their throats were slit, they had cuts on their wrists and their blood was poured around an altar to the saint, he said. “The ritual was held at nighttime, they lit

candles,” Larrinaga said. “They sliced open the victims’ veins and, while they were still alive, they waited for them to bleed to death and collected the blood in a container.” Authorities began investigating after the last victim, 10-year-old Jesus Octavio Martinez Yanez, was reported missing March 6 by his stepfather. Investigations led authorities to the altar site in the Sonora city of Nacozari, about 70 miles south of Douglas, Arizona. Larrinaga said the arrests were made after tests by forensic experts on Thursday found blood traces spread over 30 square meters around the altar. Those arrested included Silvia Meraz, who Larrinaga said spread the blood around the altar, and her son Ramon Palacios, who allegedly killed the victims. The spokesman identified them as the leaders of the cult. Larrinaga initially gave The Associated Press the wrong name for the suspected male leader, saying it was Martin Barron Lopez. The spokesman later corrected the suspect to Palacios and said the name he wrongly gave out was that of the last victim’s stepfather. Meraz answered questions to reporters when she was shown to news media Friday. “ We all agreed to do it. Supposedly she was a witch or something,” she said, referring to the women victim. She did not respond to questions about the boys’ killings. — AP

WASHINGTON: A study by the National Academy of Sciences has found that the US can maintain its nuclear arsenal without resuming the testing program it suspended nearly 20 years ago, addressing a key issue in the debate over ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The study also found that monitoring networks would likely detect even relatively small nuclear blasts in most parts of the world, apparently countering concerns that other nations could cheat on the agreement without getting caught. President Barack Obama’s has repeatedly called for Senate ratification of the treaty, most recently in a speech at the nuclear security summit in Seoul. The president has made arms control and nonproliferation central to his foreign policy and has pledged to work for a world free of nuclear weapons. The Associated Press reported in February that the administration is looking at plans to reduce the number of USdeployed nuclear weapons by up to 80 percent. Some Senate Republicans, though, have raised doubts that the aging US arsenal could be counted on to work without periodic testing and have expressed concern that other countries might overtake the US through clandestine nuclear tests. The study, conducted by a 14-member panel made up mostly of technical experts, focuses on technical issues and does not take a position on ratification of the treaty, which President Bill Clinton signed in 1996 but the Senate rejected three years later. “Technically, we think we can maintain the stockpile without nuclear testing,” Linton Brooks, former administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration under President George W Bush, said in an interview Friday. “Technically, we believe that we can detect nuclear testing by others at any level under which the military balance would be affected.” The unclassified version of the Academy of Sciences study released Friday found that advances in computer simulations of nuclear blasts have made scientists and specialists at US nuclear labs increasingly less reliant on testing to maintain the arsenal. “Provided that sufficient resources and a national commitment to stockpile stewardship are in place, the committee judges that the United States has the technical capabilities to maintain a safe, secure and reliable stockpile of nuclear

PORTLAND: US President Barack Obama smiles during a campaign event at the Southern Maine Community College in Portland, Maine, on March 30, 2012. — AP weapons into the foreseeable future without nuclear-explosion testing,” the study’s authors wrote. Meanwhile increasingly sophisticated seismic, acoustic and other sensor technology “will reduce the likelihood of successful clandestine nuclear-explosion testing, and inhibit the development of new types of strategic nuclear weapons,” the study found. There has long been concern that some nations could cheat on the treaty by detonating nuclear weapons inside caverns excavated by previous blasts, muffling the ground-rattling impact of the shock waves. The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization Preparatory Commission has completed construction of about 80 percent of an international monitoring system for detecting nuclear explosions, according to the report, which was finished last year but spent months being vetted for classified information. The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty would come into force after ratification by the 44 countries that possessed either nuclear weapons or nuclear reactors in 1996. Thirtysix nations have done so to date, including three of the nine nuclear-armed nations,

Russia, Britain and France. Although the US has not ratified the treaty, it suspended testing less than a year after the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991. The other five nuclear-armed nations - China, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and India - have either not signed or not ratified the treaty. But most nuclear testing programs halted by the late 1990s. Only North Korea has conducted confirmed weapons tests in recent years, once in 2006 and another time in 2009. The US has conducted more nuclear tests than all other nations combined - 1,030 - and uses data from those tests in computer simulations that in recent years have answered many of the scientific questions about the physics of nuclear blasts. Moscow has conducted about 715, France 210, and Britain and China 45 each. Three of the four nucleararmed countries that developed them outside of the Non-Proliferation Treaty - India, Pakistan, North Korea - have tested a total of seven weapons, according to data from the Arms Control Association. Israel, which has an estimated 80 warheads but will not confirm or deny it has nuclear arms, has not conducted any confirmed tests.— AP

Latin America supports Argentina on Falklands BRASILIA: Thirty years after the Falklands War, Latin America is closing ranks behind Argentina’s sovereignty claim over the disputed islands and reviving a bid for control in the resource-rich South Atlantic. All countries of the region back Buenos Aires in its bitter dispute with London over the remote South Atlantic archipelago and oppose any British military presence in the region, Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin said in late March. And she stressed that a statement on the issue would be issued at an April meeting of the Summit of the Americas in the Colombian city of Cartagena. On April 2, 1982, the then-ruling military junta in Argentina invaded the Falklands, igniting a 74-day war with Britain that cost the lives of 649 Argentine, 255 British troops and three Falkland islanders. The war ended in defeat for Argentina, with Britain maintaining control over a territory it has ruled since 1833. But on this sensitive issue, London is facing a united Latin American front, led by Brazil, the region’s dominant power that displaced Britain in December as the world’s sixth largest economy. Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota made this position abundantly clear in a meeting with his British counterpart William Hague in Brasilia early this year. He told Hague that

FALKLAND ISLANDS: Picture shows Port Stanley, in the Falkland Islands. Tomorrow marks the 30th anniversary of the war between Britain and Argentina for the possession of the islands.— AFP Brazil and the region “back Argentine sovereignty over the Falklands and the UN resolutions calling for dialogue between the Argentine and British governments on this issue.” Also early this year, Patriota said Brazil was working with Uruguay to convene a meeting of the proposed South Atlantic Zone of Peace and Cooperation, bringing together South American and southern African countries. “Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay have an interest in creating a South Atlantic security zone. This has been on the agenda for decades,” said Tullo Vigevani, a professor at Sao Paulo State

University. Alberto Pfeifer of the Analysis of International Relations think-tank at Sao Paulo University noted the South Atlantic was “extremely important” for countries on both sides of the ocean. “The geology of this region is a mirror. What you have on the South American side, you will find on the southern African side. Already large oil reserves have been discovered on the African coast, in addition to the resources of the ocean, like fishing,” he added. Brazil is also beefing up its naval might in the South Atlantic, including with an ambitious submarine program, to protect its huge “sub-salt” oil reserves. The

oil fields, located off Brazil’s southeast Atlantic coast beneath kilometers of ocean and bedrock, could contain more than 100 billion barrels of high-quality recoverable oil, according to official estimates. Tensions between London and Buenos Aires have flared anew since 2010, when Britain authorized oil companies to explore for oil in Falklands waters, and have sharpened with the deployment of a British warship to the islands. The Falklandspopulation around 3,000 - are located some 400 nautical miles from Argentina, which calls the islands the Malvinas.—AFP

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

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

N Korea criticises US aid suspension, warns on deal SEOUL: North Korea yesterday criticised the US suspension of food aid over its planned rocket launch as an “overreaction”, warning it would render last month’s deal on a nuclear freeze null and void. “The US overreaction to the DPRK (North Korea’s) plan... has gone beyond the limit,” a foreign ministry spokesman said, according to the North’s official news agency KCNA. He said that Washington had previously insisted that it made no link between humanitarian and political issues. But it had responded to the “planned satellite launch with the announcement to stop following through on its commitment to food aid,” the

spokesman continued. “This would be a regrettable act of scrapping the DPRK-US agreement in its entirety as it is a violation of the core articles of the February 29 DPRK-US agreement.” The United States announced Wednesday that it had suspended plans to send food aid to the nuclear-armed North as it had broken a promise to halt missile launches and could not be trusted to give the help to those who needed it. A Pentagon official said the US had “no confidence” that it was possible “to ensure that the food assistance goes to the starving people and not the regime elite”. Under the US-North Korea deal, the impover-

ished North had agreed to a partial nuclear freeze and a missile test moratorium in return for 240,000 tonnes of US food aid. But not long after it was agreed, the North announced it planned to launch a satellite between April 12-16 to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of founding president Kim Il-Sung. The United States and other countries say it would in fact be a long-range missile test banned under UN resolutions. “This planned launch is highly provocative because it manifests North Korea’s desire to test and expand its long-range missile capability,” said Peter Lavoy, acting assistant secre-

tary of defense for Asian and Pacific affairs, on Wednesday. During discussions with the North, the US had made it “very clear” that a satellite launch would be a “deal breaker”, he said. In yesterday’s statement, the foreign ministry spokesman said that the North was yet to make its mind up about its final response to the US suspension of food aid, and urged Washington to reconsider the move. “(North Korea) just hopes that the US would courageously accept peaceful satellite launch by a sovereign state, though belatedly, and prove in practice its words that it has no hostility toward the DPRK,” he said. — AFP

Triple bomb attack kills 9 in Thailand Shops, cars damaged by powerful explosions

YANGON: Supporters of Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) wave to journalists from the back of their campaign truck a day before Myanmar’s by-election in Mingala Taungnyunt Township, Yangon, Myanmar, yesterday. — AP

Myanmar prepares to vote with Suu Kyi poised for win YANGON: Myanmar was making final preparations yesterday for polls seen as a test of the military-dominated regime’s reforms, in which opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is standing for the first time. Many polling stations in the 45 constituencies spread across the country were already set up for the Sunday vote, which the Nobel laureate is contesting despite criticising it as not “genuinely free and fair”. Suu Kyi was set to make her way later yesterday to her rural constituency of Kawhmu, about two hours drive from Yangon. The participation of “The Lady”, as she is known, and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party has fuelled an explosion in the number of T-shirt vendors in the main commercial city of Yangon, with an every-increasing variety of styles, all of which would have been taboo just a year ago. “We must win,” states the latest design, a red shirt with Suu Kyi’s face printed in black. A carnival atmosphere pervaded in Mingalar Taung Nyunt township, one of six constituencies up for grabs in Yangon, on the last day of campaigning Friday. Large flatbed trucks crammed with people, from young children to the elderly, travelled through the streets blaring music, including the popular campaign song about Suu Kyi “Our mom is back”. There was obvious glee at being able to display political allegiance freely. Many supporters, wearing red NLD bandanas and Tshirts, had plastered their faces with stickers of the party logo-a red background with a yellow fighting peacock and a white star. “We have done a lot of preparation for April 1. We have polling station representatives and people to provide information, because we want to know what’s going on. The result will match people’s desires. The NLD must win,” local NLD candidate Phyu Phyu Thin told AFP. NLD supporters Saturday erected a giant LED screen outside the party headquarters in Yangon to broadcast the results as they come in. In the city’s Mayangone constituency, officials set out tables and labelled ballot boxes at a polling station in a

high school. “Authorities sent us a blueprint of how to prepare the polling station and we have laid it out exactly as they instructed,” said school teacher Myint Ngwe, who was in charge of the preparations. Suu Kyi on Friday renewed complaints of irregularities in the run up to the by-elections, including vandalism of party posters and “intimidation”. But the 66-year-old, who was under house arrest during elections in 1990 and 2010, said she did not regret standing for parliament because the polls had boosted people’s interest in politics after decades of outright military rule ended last year. The NLD won a landslide election victory in 1990 but the junta never allowed it to take office. The party also boycotted the 2010 polls that swept the army’s political proxies to power and were marred by complaints of cheating and intimidation. Experts believe the regime wants the pro-democracy leader to win a seat in parliament to burnish its reform credentials and encourage an end to Western sanctions. The NLD is contesting 44 seats and estimates vary as to how many it could win. Thiha Saw of local weekly news journal Open News said he expected the party to win a little over 50 percent of the available seats. But bookies have predicted 32 seats for the NLD from betting-technically illegal in Myanmar-on the results. The number of seats at stake is not enough to threaten the military-backed ruling party’s overwhelming majority in parliament but Suu Kyi described the vote as “a step towards step one in democracy”. Since taking office a year ago, President Thein Sein has carried out reforms including releasing hundreds of political prisoners, easing media restrictions and welcoming the opposition back into mainstream politics. The government has for the first time invited teams of foreign observers and journalists to witness the elections. A total of 160 candidates from 17 parties, including six new to the political stage, are contesting the polls. — AFP

MANILA: The Maltese registered cruise ship, Azamara Quest, sails through the Suez canal, Egypt, in this April 30, 2010 file photo from the Red sea towards the Mediterranean sea on its way to Athens. The fire on the Azamara Quest started late Friday, a day after the ship left Manila for Sandakan, Malaysia, and was immediately put out, said coast guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Algier Ricafrente. Five crew members were injured. — AP

YALA: Three bomb attacks minutes apart killed nine people and wounded more than 100 yesterday in the main town in Thailand’s insurgency-hit far south, a hospital worker said. The blasts hit the centre of Yala around midday as families were out shopping. Several shop houses near the blast sites were set on fire and many parked cars and motorcycles were damaged by the powerful explosions. “There are nine dead now and 112 injured people sent to our hospital,” a nurse in the emergency unit of Yala provincial hospital told AFP. The public health ministry said 10 people were in critical condition with severe burns. Colonel Pramote Promin, spokesman for the southern army region, earlier gave a toll of seven dead and more than 70 wounded. “There were three bombs that exploded, the first is a car bomb and the second and third bombs were hidden in motorcycles,” the colonel said. A Yala city policeman added: “The bombs went off about 10 minutes apart.” Bomb squad officers were seen inspecting the mangled car wreckage at the site of the car bomb as firefighters doused blazes nearby. Rescue workers helped bloodied victims and searched for other wounded people as smoke filled the street. One policeman was wounded in a separate motorcycle bomb attack in Mae Lan district of neighbouring Pattani province, police said. A complex insurgency, without clearly stated aims, has plagued Thailand’s far south near the border with Malaysia since 2004, claiming thousands of lives, both Buddhist and Muslim, with near-daily bomb or gun attacks. Struggling to quell the unrest, authorities have imposed emergency rule in the Muslim-majority region, which rights campaigners say effectively gives the army legal immunity. The military last

week admitted troops had shot dead four Muslim villagers on their way to a funeral due to a “misunderstanding” in late January after apparently fearing they were under attack from militants. One of the region’s deadliest incidents occurred on October 25, 2004, when seven people were shot dead as security forces broke up a protest in the town of Tak Bai, and 78 more suﬀocated or were crushed to death in trucks while being transported to a detention centre.

Rights groups have said the failure of Thai authorities to hold security forces to account over the deaths has fuelled further violence and alienation in the southern region. The insurgents are not thought to be part of a global jihad movement but are instead rebelling against a long history of perceived discrimination against ethnic Malay Muslims by governments in the Buddhist-majority nation. — AFP

YALA: Thai bomb squad members inspect the wreckage of a car at the scene of a car bomb blast in Thailand’s southern restive province of Yala yesterday. Three bomb attacks killed seven people and wounded dozens more in this main town in Thailand’s insurgency-hit far south, the military said. — AFP

Tribal clashes in Libya’s Sabha leave 16 dead TRIPOLI: At least 16 people were killed yesterday in tribal clashes in the southern Libyan desert oasis of Sabha, local sources said, taking the toll to nearly 100 dead and dozens of wounded in six days. A doctor at Sabha hospital, treating Arab tribal casualties, said eight people were killed and another 50 wounded in fighting between the early morning and noon. A Toubou tribal source said eight of their people were also killed. “We haven’t slept since yesterday. The Toubou have been attacking Sabha since three in the morning, and they very nearly took the city. All the residents have taken up arms to defend it,” Dr Abdelrahman Al-Arish said. Adem Al-Tebbawi, a local Toubou official, spoke of eight dead and “several wounded” on his side. Local sources said Toubou fighters who had been pushed back several kilometers south of Sabha launched a counterattack very early yesterday in a bid to re-enter the city. The fighting erupted on Monday after Arab tribesmen accused the Toubou of killing one of their people. The first three days of clashes cost more than 70 lives, Libyan government spokesman Nasser Al-Manaa said on Wednesday. At least another 24 people have been killed since then. Ex-rebel forces dispatched from the north to try to impose a ceasefire and act as a buffer between the two sides failed to quell the violence. The Toubou accuse the authorities of backing the other Arab tribes, who in turn denounce government “inaction” and “passivity” in the face of a “foreign invasion” in the absence of an organized national army able to restore order. Other tribes accuse the Toubou of including foreign fighters among their ranks, notably from neighboring Chad, a charge the Toubou deny. “The Arab tribes are stopping African immigrants working in the town and presenting them to the press as Toubou fighters come from abroad,” Tebbawi countered. “We have respected a truce and we want reconciliation, but the other tribes especially the Awled Suleiman-have not stopped attacking us for several days. We have been deprived of both water and power,” he said. On Friday, Toubou chief Issa Abdel Majid Mansur accused Arab tribes in Sabha of bombarding a power station providing electricity to several parts of southern Libya including Qatrun and Morzuk, both areas with a strong Toubou presence. Telecommunications were also cut off, Mansur said, adding that “several” members of his tribe were killed that day. The former opposition activist against the ousted regime of slain dictator Muammar Gaddafi also called for international intervention to halt what he called “ethnic cleansing.”“We demand that the United Nations and European Union intervene to stop the ethnic cleansing of the Toubou,” Mansur said. The Toubou say they are defending themselves against attack by Arab tribesmen in the region, and have accused the Libyan authorities of backing those gunmen as part of a campaign of “ethnic cleansing.” The Toubou are black oasis farmers by tradition who also have connections beyond Libya’s borders. They live in southern Libya, northern Chad and in Niger, and have previously denied having separatist ambitions. The Toubou have also been involved in deadly clashes with another tribe in the Saharan oasis of Kufra, where ethnic groups are locked in a standoff over smuggling.— AFP

Hu seeks Cambodia help PHNOM PENH: Chinese President Hu Jintao asked close economic ally Cambodia on Saturday not to push talks on the vexed issue of the South China Sea “too fast” as he pledged to double bilateral trade to $5 billion and announced fresh aid to the impoverished country. Cambodia holds the rotating chair of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year, giving it influence over the agenda and talks over resolving growing tensions in the disputed maritime area. Hun Sen told Hu that while other ASEAN countries would likely raise the issue at the body’s two-day summit in Phnom Penh starting on Tuesday, Cambodia shared China’s belief that the issue should not be “internationalized,” according to Sri Thamrong. Phnom Penh has already said the issue is off the official agenda for the meeting. The Philippines and Vietnam have accused China of flexing its military muscles over the region believed to be rich in energy reserves and which has seen a rise in naval brinkmanship among the three nations in recent years. Hu told Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen that China wanted to move toward finalizing a code of conduct in

the South China Sea but not “too fast” so that the dispute does not threaten regional stability, Hun Sen’s advisor Sry Thamrong told reporters after the leaders’ meeting in Phnom Penh. That would risk worsening a divide in ASEAN over how to handle the decadesold territorial dispute at a time when Washington is refocusing its military attention on Asia and strengthening its alliance with the Philippines. China, which says it has sovereignty over the sea and the islands within a looping “nine-dashed line” on its maps, rejected a Philippine proposal within ASEAN in November to deﬁne contested areas and allow joint development. The two leaders agreed to target a doubling in bilateral trade to $5 billion by 2017, according to Cambodia’s top government spokesman Khieu Kanharith. China has pledged more than $2 billion in aid to Cambodia since 1992, mostly in soft loans, Cambodia’s government says. China’s foreign direct investment in the country was $1.19 billion in 2011, almost 10 times that of the United States, according to an estimate by the government’s Council for the Development of Cambodia. — Reuters

PHNOM PENH: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, right, sits together with Chinese President Hu Jintao, left, during the signing ceremony in Cambodian Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, yesterday. — AP

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

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

Kashmir activist sentenced to two years in US ALEXANDRIA: An influential US-based Kashmiri activist was sentenced to two years in prison Friday for concealing his links to Pakistan’s spy agency while he presented himself as an independent voice to members of Congress and successive presidential administrations. Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, 62, was the longtime executive director of the Washington-based Kashmiri American Council. Last year he pleaded guilty to using a network of straw donors to hide the fact that Pakistan’s spy agency, the ISI, had provided him with $3.5 million in funding over a two-decade career of Kashmiri advocacy. Fai admitted that he knew a disclosure of his financial links to the ISI would harm his credibility as a supposed independent advocate for Kashmir, a disputed territory between India and Pakistan.

Fai’s advocacy would have been legal if he had registered as a foreign agent. But he did not do so and explicitly lied about his links on multiple occasions. Fai apologized for his actions in court. After the hearing outside the courthouse, he struck a slightly more defiant tone. “I fight a worthy fight freedom for Kashmir. I sacrifice for a worthy cause - independence for Kashmir,” Fai said. He was initially charged with conspiring to violate violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). But the plea bargain he struck charged him only with tax violations related to his scheme of using straw donors, as well as making false statements. Prosecutors sought a four-year prison term, higher than the guidelines of 27-33 months. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg argued

that Fai essentially ran a “false flag” operation for the ISI and that he operated the Kashmiri American Council as a front for Pakistan for 20 years. “Everything he did for the KAC for the last 20 years is a fraud,” Kromberg said. Fai’s attorney, Nina Ginsberg, argued for probation. Fai himself said he frequently took positions at odds with those espoused by Pakistan. Most fundamentally, he said, he advocated for Kashmiri independence while Pakistan wants the territory annexed into its own country. But Kromberg said it’s ludicrous to believe that Fai took $3.5 million from the ISI with no strings attached. And he said the evidence seized in the case shows that Fai was under the direct control of the ISI, submitting budgets to them and facing reprimands when he took actions that displeased them.

In court papers, Kromberg also said Fai was “less than forthright” after his guilty plea in briefing authorities about his connections to the Muslim Brotherhood. Ginsberg took exception to the government’s efforts to paint Fai as an extremist. She said they had been monitoring his email and phone calls surreptitiously for 20 years, and could produce no evidence to back up those assertions. As for the Muslim Brotherhood, she said Fai answered the government’s questions truthfully - he knows many members of the group, which is prominent in many Muslim countries, but is not a part of the organization. Ginsberg also noted that Fai drew letters of support not only from the Pakistani and Kashmiri communities, but also from some in India, including the grandson of Mohandas Gandhi.

Fai was well known on Capitol Hill and internationally for his advocacy on behalf of Kashmir, and was especially known for an annual peace conference he sponsored to address the Kashmiri dispute, which has been a major flashpoint in the antagonistic relationship between India and Pakistan for decades. “He has managed somehow to bring people together to talk about peace,” Ginsberg told the judge. US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil MacBride, whose office prosecuted the case, said Fai “lied to the Justice Department, the IRS, and many political leaders throughout the United States as he pushed the ISI’s propaganda on Kashmir.” Fai said he plans to continue his advocacy work from prison. He is expected to begin serving his term in late June. — AP

Afghanistan presses for answers on long-term US military bases US plans for military presence stoke concern in region

HYDERABAD: Activists of various left-wing parties protest against electricity price hike in Hyderabad, India, yesterday. The Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission has revised power tariff effective from today, with a hefty raise in both domestic and industrial usage, according to news reports. — AP

India should repeal law on army powers NEW DELHI: A United Nations expert on Friday urged India to repeal a law that gives its military sweeping powers to act in troubled areas like the Himalayan Kashmir region and parts of the insurgency-wracked northeast. Christof Heyns, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions told reporters in New Delhi that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act allows the state to override rights and has no role in a democracy. Under the law, troops have the right to shoot anyone suspected of being a rebel and to arrest suspected militants without a warrant. “This law has been described to me as ‘hated,’ and a member of a state human rights commission has called it draconian,” said Heyns, who traveled through Kashmir and the states of Gujarat, Kerala, Assam and West Bengal for two weeks ahead of Friday’s press conference. There was no immediate comment from the Indian government Friday. The special powers law has been in force in different parts of the country since 1958 and is currently enforced in Indian-controlled Kashmir and in the states of Manipur and Nagaland in the northeast, all battling separatist movements. In all three regions, human rights workers have accused Indian troops of

illegally detaining, torturing and killing rebel suspects, sometimes even staging gunbattles as pretexts to kill. The law also prohibits soldiers from being prosecuted for alleged rights violations unless granted express permission from the federal government. According to official documents, the state government in Indian Kashmir has sought permission to try soldiers in 50 cases in the last two decades, but the federal government has refused every one. India has long relied on military might to retain control over Kashmir and has fought two territorial wars with Pakistan, which also claims the mountain region as its own. The region is heavily militarized, with hundreds of thousands of Indian troops stationed and maintaining checkpoints throughout Indian-controlled territory. In Manipur in the country’s northeast, an activist has been on hunger strike for over 11 years demand the repeal of a similar law there. Irom Sharmila has been kept alive by Manipur state authorities hospitalizing her on a nasal drip after arresting her for attempting suicide. Sharmila began her hunger strike on Nov. 4, 2000, after soldiers allegedly gunned down 10 civilians near a bus stop, saying suspected militants were in the area. —AP

KARACHI: Pakistani workers carry a dead body into a hospital in Karachi, killed during violence in the southern city. The violence, which has lasted for a week, has been linked to ethnic tensions between the Mohajirs, represented by the MQM, and Pashtun migrants from Pakistan’s northwest affiliated to the Awami National Party (ANP). — AFP

Pakistan foils plot to attack parliament ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s interior minister yesterday revealed that police foiled a plot to attack parliament during a presidential address and said a finance ministry official had been arrested. “I commend the Islamabad police, they have foiled a plot to attack the parliament during president’s address to the joint session,” Rehman Malik told reporters. “Police has arrested a suspect and an official of the finance ministry involved in the plot.” President Asif Ali Zardari addressed the joint sitting of the federal

parliament on March 17 amid tight security. Islamabad’s government district is home to Western embassies, parliament, the presidency and the ISI intelligence headquarters and has seen several bombings and suicide attacks. In October last year, police unearthed a major plot and seized a large quantity of arms and ammunition in a raid on a house in a suburb of the capital. Islamist militants have killed more than 4,900 people across Pakistan since government troops raided an extremist mosque in Islamabad in July 2007. — AFP

KABUL: Afghanistan wants the United States to clearly spell out what sort of military presence it will leave behind once most of its combat troops leave by the end of 2014, a senior Afghan official said. It is also pressing Washington in talks over future cooperation to detail to be more forthcoming on what will be on offer for Afghan forces as they ready to take over responsibility security in the country that is still at war. “These are issues that concern us. We want to know how many bases will be there, how many soldiers and what will be their mission. And what will we get from the United States for our security forces,” President Hamid Karzai’s chief spokesman Aimal Faizi told Reuters, without specifying what levels he thought would be appropriate. In negotiations for a Strategic Partnership Deal on long-term cooperation, one of the stumbling blocks is the US plan for a limited military presence to ensure members of al Qaeda and other militant groups do not find a sanctuary again. Countries such as Russia, China and Pakistan are wary of an indefinite US military presence in the region. Neighbouring Iran strongly opposes the plan. “Ultimately, it is we who are responsible for our security. We are moving towards taking full control. If there will be foreign military, then it has to be put clearly in a future security document,” another senior Afghan official said. The issue comes at a time of growing sensitivity over the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan after a series on incidents involving US troops. In January a video surfaced showing US Marines urinating on Taleban corpses, followed by burning of copies of the Quran at the main American base in Bagram. Then this month 16 people, mostly children and women, were killed in two villages of Kandahar in an unexplained shooting rampage blamed on a US soldier. Karzai called for NATO forces to pull out of rural areas and stay

in their bases, saying he was at the “end of the rope.” A spike in so-called green-on-blue attacks on foreign forces by Afghan army and police has stoked concern that some of that anger is spilling over into the security forces and turning them against their western allies. The talks halted after the Kandahar killings but have since resumed. Because of Afghan concerns, both sides have agreed to separate-

almost on a daily basis. We think we will have an agreement soon,” Faizi said. Afghanistan, which earlier had sought a blanket ban on the night raids by foreign troops, says it is ready to consider them as long as they are “Afghanised” or conducted by Afghan forces and in accordance with the laws of the country. “You just can’t have a situation where a bunch of people land up somebody’s house,

HERAT: Italian Defence Minister Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola (L) is handed an Italian flag by an Italian officer during a change of command between Italian forces in a military camp near Herat airport. Italy has 3,800 soldiers in Afghanistan as part of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force but plans to reduce its deployment starting this year. — AFP ly discuss the issue of military bases while pressing on with the strategic partnership deal they hope to wrap up by May when a NATO summit in Chicago is scheduled. “Right now negotiations are taking place,

break open the door and go in,” Faizi said. The United States says the night raids are a key element in the fight against the Taleban who it says operate in many parts of the country from within population centres. — Reuters

Army chief battles Indian govt, blames corruption NEW DELHI: In his day, India’s army chief fought the Pakistani army in the battlefields of Bangladesh and the Tamil Tiger insurgents in the forests of Sri Lanka. Now, he has a new adversary - his own government. Over the last three months, Gen. Vijay Kumar Singh sued the government in the Supreme Court, claimed the defense minister ignored his complaint about being offered a bribe and is now fending off demands for his resignation after the leak of a letter he wrote to the prime minister claiming the army was falling to pieces. That last revelation has been so alarming it has managed to unify the country’s squabbling political parties, which say the general may have gone too far and exposed the country’s flawed defense to its enemies. Singh, who is due to retire in two months, has denied any role in the leak of the letter that claims the Indian army is “devoid of critical ammunition to defeat enemy tanks” and the air defense system was “97 percent obsolete.” “ The leaking of the letter should be treated as high treason. This cynical approach to tar my reputation has to stop. The source of the leak has to be found and dealt with ruthlessly,” Singh said in a statement Thursday, according to the Press Trust of India. Defense Minister A.K. Antony told reporters that an investigation has been ordered into the leak, which “only helps our enemies.” The tumble of conflicts has highlighted the dysfunction between the man at the helm of one of the world’s largest armies and the government that

appointed him nearly two years ago. “We could not have a better way of showing the world how far we are from being a world power than the drama being staged in public view by the custodians of our security,” political analyst Manoj Joshi wrote in the Mail Today newspaper on Thursday. “The fact that he was shooting off letters to the defense minister and the PM indicate that he is more interested in muddying the record” than fixing the problems that plague the army, Joshi wrote. The drama began in January when after weeks of public bickering over his birth date, Singh took the unprecedented step of taking the government to the country’s top court. He claimed government records falsely showed him to be a year older than he was, an error that robbed him of a year in service - a year where he could remain in his powerful position. He lost that battle when the court decided he would retire in May as planned. The general then went on to claim in a newspaper interview that he had been offered a $2.8 million bribe to approve the purchase of substandard trucks for the army. Singh said he rejected the bribe in horror and told Antony about it but nothing was done to investigate the charge. Antony told Parliament on Monday that he had asked the general to take action, but the army chief had refused. The matter has been handed over to federal investigators. Then came the leak of the letter describing the fragile state of the country ’s defense. India has one of the

world’s largest armies, with 1.2 million active soldiers and nearly another million in reserves. Over the last many years it has emerged as one of the world’s leading defense spenders spurred by rivalries with both of its major neighbors - Pakistan and China. It has fought three wars with Pakistan - two of them over the Himalayan region of Kashmir. Tensions with China have risen as well in recent years, as the two nations contend for regional dominance. Modernizing its army is part of its ambition to become a regional and global power. A public declaration of the inadequacies of its army is an especially sensitive subject. On Thursday, Antony accepted the

army needed “substantial step up for modernization,” but refused to get drawn in to how the government planned to handle Singh. “All three service chiefs still enjoy the confidence of the government. They’re still working.” The conflict with the army chief is one of a slew of scandals embroiling the Congress party-led government. Last week, a leaked audit report said the government had lost hundreds of billions of dollars by selling coalfields to companies without competitive bidding. Former officials are also facing corruption charges stemming from the hosting of the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the shady sale of cellphone spectrum. — AP

MAZAR-I SHARIF: An Afghan woman looks into the camera in Mazar-i Sharif, capital of Balkh province, yesterday. Mazar-i Sharif is the capital of Balkh province with an existence of multi-ethnic groups such as Uzbeks, Turkmen, Tajiks and Hazaras. Mazar-i Sharif means ‘Respected Shrine’ but the city is known by tourists as the city of the blue mosque which is located in the center of the city known as the Shrine of Hazrat Ali. — AFP

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

NEWS

A Western woman helps an Arab to go through the race catalogue during the Dubai World Cup horse race yesterday in Dubai. — AP

China cracks down on Net after coup rumours BEIJING: China has shut down websites, made a string of arrests and punished two popular microblogs after rumours of a coup linked to a major scandal that brought down a top politician. Authorities closed 16 websites for spreading rumours of “military vehicles entering Beijing and something wrong going on in Beijing”, the oﬃcial Xinhua news agency said, citing the state Internet information oﬃce. Police arrested six people, while the country’s two most popular microblogs, run by Sina.com and Tencent, said they would stop users from posting comments to other people’s posts until Tuesday. The crackdown follows a surge in unsubstantiated online rumours about a coup led by security chief Zhou Yongkang, following the March dismissal of rising political star Bo Xilai. Analysts say the political drama has exposed divisions in the ruling Communist Party as it prepares for a key leadership transition later this year. Bo, removed as party chief of the southwestern metrop-

olis of Chongqing after his former police chief ﬂed to a US consulate and reportedly demanded political asylum, had been tipped to join the country’s top echelons of power. His downfall was only lightly covered by China’s tightly controlled state media, opening the way for groundless rumours about a coup to spread on the Internet. In another sign of the state’s tight policing of the web - known as the “Great Firewall” - Xinhua said 1,065 people had been arrested since February 14 during an operation in Beijing to combat Internet crime. More than 3,000 websites had also received warnings after police targeted the smuggling of ﬁrearms, drugs and toxic chemicals, and the sale of human organs and personal information online, Xinhua said. In an editorial, the People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party, pledged to punish those responsible for the “lies and speculation”. “Online rumours undermine the morale of the public and if out of con-

World turns off lights for Earth Hour Continued from Page 1 buildings went dark, along with most big office buildings as some Sydneysiders picnicked on the harbour foreshore by moonlight. Japan’s Tokyo Tower interrupted its sunset-to-midnight lighting to take part, as orgnanisers said the Earth Hour was an opportunity to pray for last year’s earthquake and tsunami disaster. But the just completed 634metre Tokyo Sky Tree, the world’s tallest communications tower, loomed with blinking lights as it prepared to open to the public in May. “We will ask the tower’s operator to turn off the lights next year,” WWF spokeswoman Akiko Ishihara said. In Hong Kong the city’s skyscrapers turned out their lights dimming the usually glittering skyline. Tourists and locals snapped pictures, although many were unaware of what was behind the switch-off. Since it began in Sydney in 2007, Earth Hour has grown to become what environmental group WWF says is the world’s largest demonstration of support for action on carbon pollution. A total of 5,251 cities took part in 2011, as the movement reached 1.8 billion people in 135 countries, it says. Newcomers to the worldwide initiative include Libya and Iraq. “Earth Hour 2012 is a celebration of people power - the world’s largest mass environmental event in support of the planet,” said chief executive of WWF-Australia Dermot O’Gorman. “And we’re seeing hundreds of millions of people in different countries around the world take actions to go beyond the hour in support of positive actions for climate change and the planet.”

In Beijing, Olympic Park’s two landmark monuments, the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube, were spending an hour in darkness. And in Singapore, 32 malls - many located in the glittering Orchard Road shopping belt - and more than 370 companies including luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Armani turned off non-essential lighting. In Taiwan, the presidential office went dim and in the Philippines, more than 1,780 police stations and training centres will turning off all non-essential lights and electrical equipment. “We will turn off the lights in the offices but not the lights in the perimeter because our detainees might escape,” said Philippine national police spokesman Superintendent Agrimero Cruz earlier. In the Indian capital New Delhi lights at three iconic monuments, India Gate, Qutub Minar and Humayun’s Tomb were being switched off, while in Mumbai people gathered on the streets to light candles. “We have a lot of power cuts in our neighbourhood so we’re used to going without power, but my kids want to turn out the lights for Earth Hour - they’ve been learning about energy conservation at school,” Delhi mother-of-two Sangeeta Dayal said. As the movement spread across the planet buildings such as The Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the Eiffel Tower and Louvre in Paris, the cupola of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican and Buckingham Palace in London dimmed their lights. The effort was also observed by the International Space Station, where Kuipers hoped to share photos and live commentary as he watches from above. “There is no better way to raise awareness for the future of the most beautiful planet in the universe,” he said earlier this month. — AFP

Syria declares revolt over, but won’t back ... Continued from Page 1 But the rebels said they would not cease fire until tanks, artillery and heavy weapons are withdrawn. “We cannot accept the presence of tanks and troops in armoured vehicles among the people,” a spokesman for Free Syrian Army commanders inside Syria said. “We don’t have a problem with the ceasefire. As soon as they remove their armoured vehicles, the Free Syrian Army will not fire a single shot,” Lieutenant Colonel Qassim Saad alDin told Reuters by telephone from Homs. A rebel officer in Damascus said separately: “When Assad’s gangs stop the shelling and killing of civilians, then our leaders can issue an order to stop operations and we will commit to it to show our good intentions.” In Riyadh, meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Gulf Arab counterparts urged Annan “to determine a timeline for next steps if the killing continues” despite Syria’s acceptance of his six-point plan. On the ground, at least 25 people were killed in violence nationwide on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Annan on Friday appealed for an immediate ceasefire, even as monitors said at least another 39 people were killed - all but seven of them civilians - as security forces kept up operations to crush the revolt. The Syrian Observatory said a child was killed yesterday by rocket fire in the Bayada area of Homs, where troops fired shells at rebels in its Khaldiyeh district at the rate of one a minute. Clinton’s talks in Riyadh came ahead of today’s “Friends of Syria” forum in Istanbul which ministers from dozens of Arab and Western countries are due to attend. But there are differences over how to help the Syrian people in their

bid for democracy. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have called for arming the opposition, which includes the Free Syrian Army made up of Syrian military defectors. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said yesterday in Clinton’s presence that “arming the opposition is a duty,” despite the opposition of Washington and other Western and Arab states to the idea. The United States and Turkey have agreed on the need to provide communications and other non-lethal aid to Syria’s opposition. An Arab League summit in Baghdad this week rejected the option of arming any side, and urged all parties to engage in a “serious national dialogue”. The Iraqi premier’s spokesman said yesterday his country may not attend the Istanbul conference as it wants to maintain its ability to mediate. On Friday, Clinton discussed with Saudi leaders efforts to send more humanitarian aid to Syria, and support opposition efforts to present a united and inclusive political vision for the future. They also discussed tightening sanctions on Syria, a US State Department official said. Asked about internal opposition divisions, Ghalioun said: “This is not the case, we are on the path to reunification... We are more unified than the international community, which has to live up to its responsibilities and close ranks.” The United Nations is making plans for a Syria ceasefire observer mission if hostilities halt. Syria has agreed to admit a UN team of experts to examine the conditions for deploying the mission, Makdisi said yesterday. Annan’s peace plan calls for a commitment to stop all armed violence, a daily two-hour humanitarian ceasefire, media access to all areas affected by the fighting, an inclusive Syrian-led political process, a right to demonstrate, and release of arbitrarily detained people. — Agencies

trol, they will seriously disturb the public order and aﬀect social stability,” said the newspaper, according to Xinhua. China says it is stepping up eﬀorts to “cleanse” cyberspace, in what many see as a restriction on web freedom in the country, where a vast censorship system blocks sites including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. The crackdown on the hugely popular microblogs China has more than 500 million Internet users - drew swift condemnation online. “Stopping web users from posting comments on microblogs is a serious attack on freedom of expression and will go down in the history books,” said a user called Lawyer 80 on weibo.com. Xinhua reported the website closures late Friday, naming some of the sites involved as meizhou.net, xn528.com and cndy.com.cn, saying they had been shut in accordance with laws for failing to stop the spread of rumours. The six people arrested were held for “fabricating and spreading” rumours “particularly through

microblogging posts”, said Xinhua, citing the Beijing municipal bureau of public security. Sina.com and Tencent had carried online chatter speculating about a coup and were “criticised and punished accordingly”, a spokesman for the state Internet information oﬃce said. The spokesman was quoted as saying by Xinhua that both sites had pledged to “strengthen the management”. “Rumours and illegal, harmful information spread via microblogs have had a negative social impact and the comments contain a large amount of harmful information,” said a message on Tencent’s website. “From March 31, 8:00 am to April 3, 8:00 am, weibo’s comment function will be temporarily suspended,” said Sina, whose weibo service is China’s most popular. The huge rise of weibos, or microblogs, has proved a major challenge to the “Great Firewall” and censors had been scrambling in recent days to block all forms of search on the microblogs for terms linked to Bo.— AFP

Gunfire kills young Bahraini protester Continued from Page 1 Bahrain’s leadership and its key Saudi backers. Bahrain is home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, which is one of the Pentagon’s main counterweights against Iran’s military in the Gulf. Amnesty International on Friday urged Bahrain to free a leading human rights activist who is on a hunger strike and reminded the Gulf kingdom’s rulers to fulfill promises to release all those jailed for speaking out during the country’s uprising. The rights group said Abdulhadi al-Khawaja should be released immediately because of fears the “activist is at risk of death” after more than 50 days on a hunger strike. Al-Khawaja has been refusing food since Feb 8. The activist is serving a life sentence for his role in last year’s uprising. He was arrested in April during a government crackdown on protests. He was convicted of anti-state crimes in a special security court in June. While tight security measures around the tiny island of about half a million inhabitants have prevented the opposition for the most part from repeating massive street marches in the capital Manama common at the start of the uprising, government opponents still gather in smaller groups around the predominantly Shiite villages around the capital, clashing with security forces almost every night. More clashes broke out Friday. In the eastern oil hub of Sitra, riot police fired tear gas and stun grenades at thousands of opposition supporters, shouting slogans against the ruling dynasty and demanding the release of political prisoners. The protesters also called for the Formula One Grand Prix race to be canceled. Al-Khawaja is one of seven opposition figures who have been sentenced to life imprisonment in a special security court. Hundreds of other Bahrainis, protesters, activists, athletes and Shiite professionals such as doctors and nurses have been tried in the court, which was set up after Bahrain imposed martial law last March to quell the

unrest. Dozens were jailed after being convicted of antistate crimes, including the medics who treated injured protesters during the unrest. Amnesty called on Bahrain to release Al-Khawaja and fulfill its promise to free all those who were jailed for speaking out during the revolt. “The Bahraini authorities have made pledges that they would release people who were imprisoned for exercising their right to freedom of expression, but the continued imprisonment of Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja demonstrates that they are not serious about fulfilling such promises,” said Philip Luther, the group’s Middle East and North Africa Director in a statement. Bahraini authorities did not immediately comment on Amnesty’s appeal. In June, Bahrain lifted emergency rule that was imposed to end the unrest. The special court with military prosecutors was abolished in November and protests-related trials were transferred to civilian courts after international investigators criticized Bahrain for trying civilians behind closed doors in a military-style court. Lawyers are expected to appeal Al-Khawaja’s sentence in a civilian court tomorrow. Al-Khawaja, 52, is a former Middle East and North Africa director of Frontline Defenders Rights organization. He has also documented human rights abuses in Bahrain for Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Al-Khawaja, who is married and has four daughters, is also a citizen of Denmark, where he lived in exile for decades. He returned to Bahrain after the government announced a general amnesty in 2001. The Danish government has closely followed AlKhawaja’s case. Last year Denmark’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia attended court hearings in Bahrain. Danish Foreign Minister Villy Soevndal earlier this month raised the issue with his Bahraini counterpart, Khaled AlKhalifa, and asked that Al-Khawaja either be released or be tried before a civilian court. Amnesty’s statement said Friday that Danish diplomats have visited AlKhawaja in prison several times and confirmed his deteriorating health. — Agencies

US, Gulf to coordinate strategies Continued from Page 1 two-hour humanitarian ceasefire, media access to all areas affected by the fighting, an inclusive Syrian-led political process, a right to demonstrate, and release of arbitrarily detained people. In a speech to the forum, Clinton stressed Washington’s “rock solid and unwavering” commitment to the security of the Sunni Muslim-led Gulf Arab monarchies, which are wary of non-Arab Shiite Iran. Raising security ties from a bilateral to a multilateral level, Clinton was breaking new ground in taking part in the first strategic cooperation forum between Washington and the GCC. She looked to taking “practical and specific steps to strengthen our mutual security, such as helping our militaries improve interoperability, cooperate on maritime security and missile defence, and coordinate responses to crises”. US officials have said it is a US “priority” to help the GCC build a “regional missile defence architecture” against what they see as a looming ballistic

missile threat from Iran. Speaking at the press conference, the chief US diplomat broadened her attack on Tehran. Iran “continues to threaten its neighbours and undermine regional security, including through its support for the Assad regime’s murderous campaign in Syria, threats against the freedom of navigation in the region, and interference in Yemen,” she charged. The United States suspects Iran is sending arms to Assad’s regime to help him crush a pro-democracy movement that UN oﬃcials estimate has cost more than 9,000 lives since it erupted in March 2011. Iran has also threatened to close the Straits of Hormuz, a key world oil passageway, if the United States and European Union follow through on plans to impose an oil embargo over its controversial nuclear program. US Central Command chief General James Mattis has warned that Iran was sending support, including “weapons, not just money” to Houthi rebels in northern Yemen, and trying to “inﬂuence the nonHouthi tribes” as well.— AFP

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

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Candor gaffes add to cynicism of US campaign By Nancy Benac fter a week like this, is it any wonder voters are cynical? Within five days of each other, both the president and the campaign of his leading Republican opponent have had to deal with their own “oops” moments of candor. President Barack Obama was caught on an open mic telling Russia’s president that his dealings with the country on missile defense may be different after the elections, raising the specter of a hidden agenda. A few days earlier, Mitt Romney’s top aide suggested his boss’s primary-season positions may shift in the fall campaign, altered as easily as erasing an Etch A Sketch. Both campaigns tried to explain away the significance of the statements on their own side, while exploiting the missteps on the other side The net result is just another reason for voters not to trust what they’re hearing from the presidential candidates, and to wonder how they’d truly govern in 2013 and beyond. Distrust among voters already was so strong that it’s hard to get worse. “The level of voter cynicism about the way politicking happens is pretty high, and so it takes a lot to meaningfully move the needle,” said pollster Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center. He added that the latest episodes “will certainly play a reinforcing role” for doubting voters. Romney can at least take solace in the fact that most voters missed his aide’s Etch A Sketch comments altogether. Just 44 percent of voters said they’d heard about the remarks, according to Pew results released this week. And only 11 percent said it made them less likely to support Romney. But plenty of voters already had doubts about Romney’s convictions, and is GOP opponents have been more than happy to have a catchy new, red visual aid to wave around as they offer themselves as more solid conservatives. “I have not written my public policy pronouncements on an Etch A Sketch,” Rick Santorum promised while campaigning in next-to-vote Wisconsin. “They are written on my heart.” “I think having an Etch A Sketch as your campaign model raises every doubt about where we’re going,” said Newt Gingrich, campaigning in Louisiana before the weekend vote there. Romney has tried to reassure voters that “the issues I’m running on will be exactly the same” in the future - consistently conservative all the way. But Jeffrey Goldfarb, a professor at the New School for Social Research in New York who has written a book about cynicism and politics, said the remarks by Romney’s aide so neatly fit with what voters already know about the candidate’s shifting stances that it’s likely “people will understand and accept or reject him, knowing that’s who he is.” “Moderate Republicans have been praying all along that Romney is not who he’s pretending to be during the primaries,” Goldfarb added. Obama, for his part, tried to laugh off his open-mic remark as simply a restatement of the obvious - that it’s hard to get things done during a campaign year and he’ll have more flexibility once the elections are past. “This not a matter of hiding the ball,” he insisted, after jokingly covering up his microphone. Republicans weren’t ready to make light of the matter. Romney said it was “very alarming for the president of the United States to suggest to Russia that he has a different agenda that he’s going to work out with the Russians after the elections.” It’s not the first time Obama has run into trouble for candid comments meant to remain private. In 2008, his presidential campaign caught grief when word leaked out about a memo in which one of his senior economic advisers suggested to the Canadians that Obama’s harsh words about the North American Free Trade Agreement had merely been for political show. Obama’s Democratic opponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton, said his campaign had given the Canadians “the old wink-wink”. Stanley Renshon, a political psychologist at the City University of New York, said voters may not get too worked up about either of the latest episodes because people are beyond cynicism by now. “They have moved on to resignation,” Renshon said. “And the difference is that cynicism makes you angry; resignation makes you depressed.” Between campaign gaffes, gridlock in Congress and disappointment with government, “everywhere the public turns there’s no evidence of competence, and that can be very deeply corrosive,” Renshon said. “Anybody who’s elected in 2012 is going to have to deal with that, and it’s going to be an awfully difficult barrier to overcome.” Public trust in government has been sliding for decades and has never been worse.—AP

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US focus on Qaeda may slow Yemen reform By Joseph Logan y prodding Yemen’s army to take on Islamist militants, the United States may entrench a split within its ranks and risks undermining the shaky political accord devised to stave off a descent into all-out civil war. Four months after Washington and its Saudi-led Gulf Arab allies cajoled President Ali Abdullah Saleh into ceding power, Yemen’s military command remains divided between his friends and foes. The former include a son and nephew who lead units that have received US aid to fight a Yemen-based wing of Al-Qaeda. The US focus on those militants may brake a drive to restructure the military as part of a transition that sidelines Saleh and, its sponsors hope, will keep Yemen from sliding into chaos that empowers Al-Qaeda, some analysts and diplomats say. Reforming the military - key to a deal Saudi Arabia brokered and America blessed to replace Saleh with his deputy appears at most a longer-term priority for a US administration whose top negotiator with Yemen is its counter-terrorism chief. “The deal created expectations of restructuring as a first step, a condition, for an overall political solution,” said a Sanaa diplomat of the pact Saleh signed in November, intended to prevent renewed fighting between rival military units and tribal militias that followed a mass antiSaleh uprising last year. “But there is resistance to changing things quickly or in a single step. They (the Americans) understand this as a process which eventually reaches restructuring, so that their ‘war-on-terrorism’ objectives are not compromised.”

Those objectives centre on Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a force that includes members of cells who fled Saudi Arabia’s 20032006 campaign against its own militant Islamists. The United States accuses AQAP of plotting attacks abroad on Saudi and US targets. Last year a US drone strike killed Anwar AlAwlaki, a US citizen who American officials say directed a failed attempt to blow up a US airliner in 2009. AQAP is seen as a potential menace to neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, and to sea lanes off Yemen used to supply large amounts of crude to Western markets. For the United States, a united Yemeni military, free of the divisive political in-fighting seen during the struggle to oust Saleh, is regarded as crucial to the campaign against Al-Qaeda. But while the transition plan’s over-arching goal is a cohesive military under professional command answering to legitimate political leaders, its terms are crucially silent on the immediate fate of individuals, notably Saleh’s relatives. Saleh had granted the United States freedom to carry out attacks on suspected Al-Qaeda targets in Yemen, including a 2009 missile strike in 2009 that killed dozens of civilians. As Saleh’s crackdown on protests intensified last year, his longtime ally General Ali Mohsen mutinied, taking with him the First Armoured Division, and Islamists calling themselves Ansar Al-Sharia took the first of a series of towns in south Yemen. The ease of their advance led Saleh’s foes to accuse him of secretly colluding with them, the better to convince Washington of a looming Al-Qaeda threat which only he could help counter.

As the United States is painfully aware, such murky dealings are not new in Yemen’s complex politics nor unique to Saleh. US counter-terrorism chief John Brennan has vowed US materiel will not be used for “internal political purposes” in a land where the ex-president seems keen to retain influence. Brennan did not refer explicitly to Saleh’s son and nephew, who command units that formerly received US backing and who complained during the uprising of a decline in such aid. “Commanders have to understand that their mission is not to fight other military commanders, it’s to fight the terrorists,” Brennan told reporters in Sanaa before the one-candidate vote last month that replaced Saleh with Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. “Our advice, assistance and equipment is not going to those units that are not fighting Al-Qaeda.” That focus on counter-terrorism may have blinded US policymakers to its effects on the political transition that they, along with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a bloc of Yemen’s richer neighbours, have sponsored, some analysts say. “This country (the United States) has a counter-terrorism policy and a Saudi policy, but no Yemen policy: Yemen is a theatre of counterterrorism operations in the kingdom’s backyard, not a place where a potentially democratic transition...might be occurring,” said Sheila Carapico, a Yemen expert at the University of Richmond. “This is why we sent Brennan to do a diplomat’s job on the GCC plan. The American move...seems calibrated to keep the GCC happy and secure while escalating counter-terrorism in Yemen, not on any internal Yemeni dynamics,” she said. Asked for comment, a US State Department

official in Washington said it was “critically important” to revamp the Yemeni armed forces if AQAP were to be neutralised. “We are already helping the military undertake this task, but it is a difficult process that must be carefully planned. “AQAP remains a dangerous terrorist organisation and is a significant and continuing threat to Yemen, the region, and the United States. We continue to work closely with President Hadi and the Yemeni government to confront this mutual threat.” US officials renewed such pledges of support after Hadi’s inauguration, when an AlQaeda-linked group said it had carried out attacks in the south which more than 100 Yemeni troops were killed and their heavy weapons were captured. But some Saleh loyalists read the US stance as keeping faith with military and security units where the former leader still enjoys influence that could survive any proposed shake-up. “Whatever is done against the terrorists unites the armed forces,” said Mohammed Shayaa, a retired general and director of Yemen’s military academy during Saleh’s rule. “As it succeeds, it restores credibility to the army.” At the time of the vote, Brennan dismissed fears Saleh would exert power behind the scenes through relatives in the military and intelligence apparatus or his political party, which under the transition plan has joined opponents in a unity government meant to stabilise Yemen before elections in two years’ time. He described Saleh, who still heads his General People’s Congress party, as a “private citizen” who “has been very supportive of this political transition”. —Reuters

Pope, Castros talked past each other By Paul Haven he spiritual leader of the world’s Roman Catholics and the brothers who have carried Cuba along an increasingly solitary Communist path mixed warm smiles with the hard language of their respective camps during Pope Benedict XVI’s three-day tour of Cuba. Often, the polite octogenarians at the heart of this religio-political drama appeared to be talking past each other, the pontiff using biblical parables about cruel, long-dead kings, the Castros their customary language of revolution and defiance to American dominance. In his respectful send-off, President Raul Castro acknowledged in the visit’s greatest understatement: “We do not think alike on all matters.” The first indication of whether the sides heard each other could come as early as next week, when Castro must decide whether to grant the pope’s unusual request to declare Good Friday a holiday, despite the fact it does not have that status in the United States or much of Europe or even Mexico, the most

Catholic of the world’s Spanish-speaking countries. Progress on larger issues, such as the church’s desire for greater access to state-run airwaves, permission to run schools and hospitals, and license to build new churches, will take longer to assess. Certainly, no concessions were announced. And privately, insiders here doubt the government will ever yield ground on education and health care, which it considers the pillars of the revolution and core responsibilities of the government. Benedict pointedly criticized Cuba’s Marxist system even before he arrived, then followed up in homilies and speeches with repeated calls for freedom, renewal and reconciliation, as well as references to prisoners and those “deprived of freedom.” One of Raul Castro’s top aides, economic czar Marino Murillo, wasted little time in responding: “In Cuba, there will not be political reform.” While the president has begun an overhaul of Cuba’s economy, he has been much slower to make political changes and remains surrounded by a coterie of confidantes who have been with him and his brother since their rebel days. As recently as January, he took to the airwaves to firmly defend the island’s one-party Communist system, saying it is necessary given US hostility. “We should not expect popes to be miracle workers,” said the Rev Thomas Reese, a senior fellow at Georgetown University and longtime Vatican observer. “But Benedict’s visit should keep Cuba on track moving gradually toward greater freedom for both the church and society at large.” As with most sequels, the trip did not live up to the original: the historic 1998 tour by Benedict’s predecessor, John Paul II. The crowds were smaller, the quotes somewhat derivative. The agenda

was also less ambitious, with large chunks of it behind closed doors. Even the personalities paled in comparison: John Paul was one of the towering figures of the 20th century, Fidel is among its most famous revolutionaries and best-known atheists. If they share anything in common, Raul and Benedict are both caretakers of other men’s legacies. To longtime observers, the reactions seemed predictable as well. In South Florida, local media focused on the harassment of the island’s small dissident community and the brusque removal of a protester shouting antigovernment slogans at the Mass in Santiago. While some members of a troupe of mostly Cuban-American pilgrims said their experience made them question long-held preconceptions, hardliners said the pontiff’s visit only demonstrated how little on the island has changed. “The pope’s visit helped show that there is no political space and no political liberty in Cuba,” US Sen. Marco Rubio, a staunchly pro-embargo Florida Republican, told AP. Indeed, while the government repeatedly said it would listen to the pope respectfully, it also used his visit to hammer home oft-repeated talking points. Castro used his welcoming speech for Benedict at the airport in the eastern city of Santiago to rail against the 50-yearold US economic embargo, criticize capitalist decadence and warn of a nuclear holocaust presumably wrought at American hands, while talking up C u b a n achievements in healthcare and education. The next evening, Fidel Castro recalled the Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961, warned of a global scarcity of resources and took a shot at US President Barack Obama in an

opinion piece in which he announced that his much-anticipated meeting with Benedict was on for Wednesday. When they did meet, Fidel and Benedict joked about their advanced years, and the retired Cuban leader quizzed the pontiff on the ins and outs of his job. Benedict, in his final comments, sprinkled references to the Vatican’s long-standing opposition of the US embargo in with calls for more freedom. Ordinary Cubans had heard these lines before, and many said they were taking a waitand-see approach. Many remembered John Paul’s visit, which cemented warmer state ties with the church and resulted in headlines like Christmas being declared a holiday. “John Paul II was a pope who undid the latch,” said Jose Luis Lavin, a 35-year-old government food worker who witnessed Benedict’s Wednesday morning Mass in Revolution Plaza. “Now, we’ll see with this one what agreement there was, whether there will be more freedom.” Crowds for the pontiff’s visit were large but not overwhelming, with the Vatican saying some 500,000 people showed up at the two Masses combined in Santiago and Havana. —AP

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

sp orts Rally stages cancelled PORTUGAL: The three remaining stages of the Rally of Portugal were cancelled on Friday due to safety concerns after heavy rain caused a series of problems during the morning session. Ford drivers Jari-Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg crashed on consecutive stages while leading the rally. “It’s actually quite hard to believe what’s happened: it’s still sinking in. To go from the position we were in last night, ﬁrst and second, to this...it’s unbelievable, particularly with them going out one after another,” team manager Gerard Quinn told the Ford website. “I very much hope that we will see them both out tomorrow and from what we know now, I see no reason why that shouldn’t be the case.” Ford World Rally Team director Malcolm Wilson said the disappointment of the double retirement was felt throughout the team. “After Sebastien Loeb’s retirement, we had an opportunity to close on our championship rivals, but we squandered an incredible lifeline,” Wilson said. “Conditions were treacherous but both drivers have a lot of experience. We didn’t need the pace, we needed to be smart and clever but we were caught out.” —Reuters

Mathews back for Lanka

MLS player denied visa NEW YORK: English forward Luke Rodgers, who spent last season with the New York Red Bulls, has been forced to leave the Major League Soccer club after US immigration authorities denied him a visa. The 30-year-old lodged an appeal after his initial application was rejected but when the appeal failed, it was agreed to end his contract. “After going through the entire immigration and appeals process, Luke’s P-1 Visa application has unfortunately been denied by the US government for now,” the Red Bulls said in a statement. “We have spoken with Luke about potential options and have mutually decided that it would be in all parties’

best interests to terminate his current MLS contract so he could play elsewhere.” Rodgers, who played in England for lower league clubs Shrewsbury Town, Port Vale and Notts County, scored nine goals in 20 regular season starts for New York, where he played alongside former Arsenal and France striker Thierry Henry. New York said they remained open to a possible return should they find a solution to the visa problem. “We will also continue to track his progress this year while working with immigration officials with the goal that he could join the Red Bulls sometime in the future,” the club said. — Reuters

COLOMBO: All-rounder Angelo Mathews has returned from a calf injury to join the Sri Lanka squad for the second and final Test against England but he will not be available to bowl. Chamara Silva has been dropped to accommodate Mathews in Sri Lanka’s 14-man squad while injured pacer Chanaka Welegedara has been replaced by Shaminda Eranga, chief selector Ashantha de Mel said yesterday. “Mathews has been declared fit and we have brought him in but he will not bowl,” he said. “Welegedera bowled with some discomfort during the Galle test and a scan revealed that he had strained his groin,” de Mel added. The second Test begins on Tuesday and Mathews will fight for the number six batting spot with Dinesh Chandimal, who scored 27 and 31 in the Galle test which Sri Lanka won by 75 runs on Thursday. Even though 25-year-old right-arm fast bowler Eranga made the squad, de Mel said that Dhammika Prasad was most likely to share the new ball with Suranga Lakmal.—Reuters

Predators clip Red Wings

Winnipeg 4, Carolina 3 (OT ); Columbus 4, Florida 1; Pittsburgh 5, Buﬀalo 3; Nashville 4, Detroit 1; NY Rangers 4, Montreal 1; Colorado 4, Calgary 1; Los Angeles 4, Edmonton 1; Vancouver 5, Dallas 2. (OT = after overtime)

DETROIT: The Nashville Predators moved ahead of Detroit in the ﬁght for home-ice advantage in the NHL playoﬀs by beating the Red Wings 4-1 on Friday, giving coach Barry Trotz his 500th win with the team in the process. Gabriel Bourque and Francis Bouillon scored in the second period and Pekka Rinne made 31 saves for Nashville, which moved up to fouth in the Western Conference standings, a point above Detroit. Alexander Radulov and Shea Weber also scored for the Predators. Jiri Hudler spoiled Rinne’s shutout bid with 3:03 left.

NY Rangers Pittsburgh Philadelphia New Jersey NY Islanders

Canucks 5, Stars 2 In Vancouver, the hosts dropped Dallas from third seed in the West to seventh. Max Lapierre had a goal and two assists and Henrik Sedin added three assists as the Canucks won their fifth straight to move within a point of St. Louis for the Western Conference lead. Vancouver is two points behind the New York Rangers for the overall lead. Chris Higgins, Sami Salo, Andrew Alberts and Alex Burrows also scored for the Canucks. Steve Ott and Jake Dowell scored for Dallas. Penguins 5, Sabres 3 In Buffalo, Sidney Crosby scored a goal and assisted on three others in Pittsburgh’s win over Buffalo which moved the Penguins four points above fifth-placed Philadelphia in the East. It was Crosby’s third four-point game in a season in which concussion troubles have limited him to 18 games, and came a day after after his nose was bloodied by a puck against the New York Islanders. Steve Sullivan had a goal and two assists, while Evgeni Malkin had a goal and assist for Pittsburgh. Thomas Vanek, Tyler Ennis and Jordan Leopold scored for the Sabres, who had a fivegame winning streak snapped, and dropped into ninth place, behind Washington. Both teams have four games left and 86 points, but the Capitals hold the tiebreaker edge. The result also handed idle Boston a playoff berth. Rangers 4, Canadiens 1 In New York, the hosts won their fourth straight by beating Montreal, closing in on clinching the top seed in the East playoffs. Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards scored early before defenseman Michael Del Zotto had two goals in the third period for the Rangers, who moved a point ahead of St. Louis in the race for the Presidents’ Trophy. Rene Bourque scored the sole goal for the Canadiens with 2:29 left. Montreal was playing its first game since general manager Pierre Gauthier was fired, and team adviser Bob Gainey left on Thursday. Avalanche 4, Flames 1 In Calgary, Semyon Varlamov made 38 saves to help

NHL results/standings

Boston Ottawa Buﬀalo Toronto Montreal

DETROIT; Nashville Predators center Paul Gaustad (28), defended by Detroit Red Wings right wing Johan Franzen (93), of Sweden, breaks his stick on a deflection during the third period of an NHL hockey game. — AP

Colorado beat Calgary and keep its slim playoff hopes alive. Colorado matched San Jose with 88 points, one behind Dallas and Phoenix for the last two playoff spots in the Western Conference. The Avalanche have home games left against Columbus and Nashville. Phoenix, Dallas and San Jose each have four games left. Mark Olver, David Jones, Milan Hejduk and Peter Mueller scored to help Colorado snap a four-game winless streak. Jarome Iginla scored a consolation in the final minute for Calgary, which has three games left and is three points behind Colorado. The Flames could be eliminated Saturday when they play in Vancouver.

Jets 4, Hurricanes 3 In Raleigh, North Carolina, Andrew Ladd scored 16 seconds into overtime to give Winnipeg a victory that eliminated Carolina from playoff contention. Kyle Wellwood scored the tying goal with 4:47 left in regulation and added an assist, while Jim Slater scored and Nik Antropov added a goal in his return to the lineup for the Jets. They trailed 3-1 midway through the second period before rallying to keep their slim postseason hopes alive. Eric Staal scored his 250th career goal and Derek Joslin and Brandon Sutter added goals for the Hurricanes.

Kings 4, Oilers 1 In Edmonton, Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist as Los Angeles beat Edmonton to take over the Pacific Division lead. Mike Richards, Drew Doughty and Alec Martinez also scored to help the Kings jump from eighth place to the third seed in the Western Conference. LA has 90 points, one more than Dallas and Phoenix, who are in the final two playoff spots in the Western Conference. All three teams have four games left. Jordan Eberle scored early for the Oilers.

Blue Jackets 4, Panthers 1 In Columbus, defenseman Nikita Nikitin scored twice and had an assist to lead Columbus past Florida. Nikitin followed a two-assist game in a victory over Detroit on Wednesday night with goals in the second and third periods. R.J. Umberger scored in the first and added an empty-netter with 47 seconds to play. Tomas Kopecky scored for the Panthers in the third. Florida remained four points ahead of Washington in the race for the Southeast Division title. — AP

Florida Washington Winnipeg Carolina Tampa Bay

St. Louis Nashville Detroit Chicago Columbus Vancouver Colorado Calgary Minnesota Edmonton Los Angeles Dallas Phoenix San Jose Anaheim

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L OTL 50 21 7 48 24 6 45 24 8 44 28 6 33 33 11 Northeast Division 45 28 4 39 28 10 38 30 10 33 36 9 29 35 14 Southeast Division 37 25 16 39 31 8 36 34 8 31 31 16 35 35 7

GF 217 264 248 214 190

GA 173 208 214 205 230

PTS 107 102 98 94 77

251 236 205 218 200

189 227 215 249 218

94 88 86 75 72

192 209 211 208 220

215 221 230 232 266

90 86 80 78 77

151 203 195 225 253

106 98 97 95 59

189 209 219 212 230

105 88 85 74 71

166 209 202 201 213

90 89 89 88 77

Western Conference Central Division 48 20 10 202 45 25 8 223 46 27 5 240 43 26 9 235 26 45 7 185 Northwest Division 48 21 9 236 41 33 6 205 35 29 15 192 32 35 10 164 31 38 9 208 Pacific Division 39 27 12 182 42 31 5 207 38 27 13 202 39 29 10 211 33 33 11 194

Germans eclipse Russians for fourth world pairs title

Sahar Al Therban of ABK

Fly to Barcelona with ABK’s Football Competition KUWAIT: Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait is holding an exciting and oﬀbeat event, “ABK’s Football Penalties Competition”, in support of its commitment to Sport, and within the framework of its ongoing campaign “Our Society, Our Responsibility”. The competition will be held on April 3-4, 2012, at the GOAL playground in Discovery Mall, in collaboration with the travel company My Barcode. At the announcement of this tournament, Ms. Sahar Al Therban, Public Relations Manager at ABK said that the Bank has always supported sporting activity, encouraging sports persons to excel, as it believes that is part of their social responsibility. “We are proud to be the ﬁrst to organize this unique “ABK’s Football Penalties” competition, where 64 teams will be competing over 2 days. The teams will be distributed into 4 groups, each team consisting of a player and a goalkeeper.” Ms. Al Therban added “We invite you all to take this opportunity and contact our call center Ahlan Ahli at 1899899 to participate in ABK’s Football Penalties Competition, and be the winner of one of the 8 great prizes, a fabulous free trip to Barcelona to attend one of the most challenging football games in the Spanish League, FC Barcelona vs. Malaga! The trip includes free travel tickets, 4 days accommodation in a luxurious hotel in addition to the tickets to the match and transportation. It can’t get more exciting than this. We wish good luck to all the participants.”

NICE: Robin Szolkowy proved his 32-year-old legs were still capable of out-performing his younger rivals as he and Aliona Savchenko captured their fourth world championship pairs title by the narrowest of margins on Friday. Szolkowy, the oldest skater to compete in Nice, and Savchenko seemed rather pleased when then ended their free skate but were shocked to find they had beaten Russian rivals Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov by a slender 0.11 of a point. Trankov would no doubt be ruing his “stupid fall” while performing the death spiral in Wednesday’s short programme because had it not been for that blip, he and Volosozhar would have been celebrating their first world title. They earned a total of 201.38. The Russians entered Friday’s programme trailing in eighth place but obliterated the opposition with a stirring free skate to eclipse the Germans by a huge margin of 8.04 points. While the top-two results were a repeat from 12 months ago, Narumi Takahashi and Mervin Tran showed that Japan’s success was not confined to only their single skaters. They claimed Japan’s first world pairs medal, the bronze, with a total of 189.69. Two days ago, an utterly distraught Trankov

thought his world had ended. “We’ve lost everything. I’m very upset because now we don’t have a chance for the podium,” he told reporters. It took just 280 spell-binding seconds on Friday for Trankov to return to the top of the world-well almost. From the moment he started their Black Swan interpretation by swivelling around a prostrate Volosozhar on his boot to the duo’s final combination spin, they did not put a single foot wrong. In between, they performed gravity-defying lifts, soaring jumps and synchronised spins and it is little wonder that as the final strains of the music faded out, Trankov let out a huge roar before he lifted his partner to his chest for a prolonged embrace. At that stage, the duo still had no idea if they would get a medal as the four leaders at the halfway point still had to go out and deliver their routines. As they held their breath backstage, they first saw China’s golden couple Pang Qing and Tong Jian crumble under pressure, with Tong almost ramming into the hoardings after falling on his opening jump. Fellow Russians Vera Bazarova and Yuri Larionov also let the occasion get to them and fell by the wayside. With two down, Volosozhar and Trankov jumped for joy as they knew the impossible had

just become possible - they had a medal from these championships. When the Germans’ marks came up, however, the wide-eyed Russians gasped. Their expressions were mirrored by Savchenko in the kiss-and-cry area as she covered her mouth realising their narrow escape. Szolkowy earned Savchenko’s wrath after they were penalised for going out of sync in their opening spins and he also singled a planned double Axel. The judges awarded them 132.86 for the free skate but they were saved by the cushion they took in from short programme. “I was really angry with Robin for messing up the spin,” said Savchenko. “I found it diﬃcult to skate after that.... mistakes like that mustn’t happen.” Szolkowy added:”I don’t know why but I forgot the spin and started it on the wrong foot. It has never happened before.” Volosozhar and Trankov’s surge from eighth to second showed how competitors can perform amazing comebacks thanks to the accumulative scoring system that replaced the 6.0 system in 2002. “It was very hard to swim out of this swamp we were in after the short programme,” a beaming Trankov told reporters. “But we felt some-

11 Kuwaitis in finals of Drag Race first round ABU DHABI: Poor weather conditions delayed the finals of the first round of the 2012 UAE Drag Race tournament which kicked off on Thursday at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi featuring more than forty five competitors. Until the competitions were put on hold late Friday, eleven contestants from the Kuwait Quarter Mile Club made it to the finals in four out of seven classes they competed in, including the Index 4.8 and Super Street 8V classes. The organizing committee announced that the first round’s finals will take place at a date to be scheduled ahead of the start of the second round on April 20, 2012.

thing special today and we made such a huge step with our free skate. I don’t think it has ever happened before when someone can fight back from eighth to the podium.” Patrick Chan also proved to be a master of the new scoring format as the champion’s ability to improvise mid-programme helped him to overcome a two-footed quad landing and two comical wobbles on his footwork to lead the men’s competition. The Canadian, who has been unbeatable for almost two seasons, impressed the judges with the superior quality of his acrobatic jumps and footwork and earned 89.41 despite the obvious mistakes. Czech Michael Brezina made sure he would celebrate an unforgettable 22nd birthday as he earned a career best 87.67. Japan’s Daisuke Takahashi, the 2010 winner, said his legs felt like jelly moments before he stepped out for his performance. That did not stop him from flying around the ice like a caped crusader in his black outfit and he finished third with 85.72 despite falling on his opening combination jump. “Right before the six minute warm-up, all of a sudden my legs started shaking and I felt very nervous. However, the audience got into my music and pushed me through,” said Takahashi. — Reuters

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

sp orts

Tseng takes charge

HUMBLE: Jeff Maggert (left) and Thomas Bjorn check the green on the eighth hole during the second round of the Houston Open golf tournament. — AP

Flawless Davis moves into tie for Houston lead TEXAS: Britain’s Brian Davis upstaged some of golf’s biggest names as he charged into a share of the early second-round lead at the weather-hit Houston Open in Humble, Texas on Friday. The 37-year-old Englishman, who has recorded five runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour without yet winning a title, fired a flawless seven-under-par 65 at the rainsoftened Redstone Golf Club. One of 93 players who had to complete the opening round earlier in the day, Davis birdied two of his last four holes to finish level on 11-under 133 with South African Louis Oosthuizen (66). Defending champion Phil Mickelson, joint leader after the first round, bogeyed his final hole for a 70 to sit two off the pace along with fellow Americans Tommy Gainey (67) and JB Holmes (67) as well as Briton Greg Owen (69). Play was halted in fading light at Redstone with 70 players still out on the course and they will compete the second round on Saturday morning. Of those, American Jeff Maggert was a stroke off the lead at 10 under with eight holes remaining. Davis was delighted with his performance after struggling for form on the PGA Tour earlier this season. “It was a good day at the office today,” the Englishman told reporters, having played 32 holes on Friday after first-round action was suspended on Thursday when thunderstorms swept across Redstone. “I played some good golf and obviously put myself into position for the weekend.” More than an inch of rain saturated the

course on Thursday and tournament organisers allowed the players to lift, clean and replace their balls in the delayed second round. Davis, who tied for fourth at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational after being given a sponsor’s exemption, felt he was finally benefiting from various changes he made to his game at the end of last year. “I changed caddies, sports psychologist and worked on getting my swing back where I want it to be, to improve it as well but get rid of the faults I had,” he said. “I felt really good coming out to start the season and I played awful. It’s one of them things you got to stay the course and keep at it. It’s been getting better, and obviously a couple of good rounds here.” Mickelson, who completed an eightbirdie 65 earlier in the day to join Swede Carl Pettersson and Argentina’s Angel Cabrera in a share of the first-round lead, did not score as well in the afternoon. “I wasn’t quite as hot with the putter,” the American left-hander said. “I had a lot come close but not quite go in. “I played pretty well in the second round, but I didn’t get the score that I had hoped. I got to light it up on the weekend.” Three-times major winner Ernie Els, who needs to win the Houston Open to qualify for next week’s Masters, was at five-under 139 after shooting a 69. The cut was projected to fall at two under with South African Charl Schwartzel, who will defend his Masters title at Augusta National next week, and British Open champion Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland among those likely to miss out. — Reuters

Chiefs rout Waratahs HAMILTON: A shaven-headed Wakaito Chiefs team bided their time before smashing the New South Wales Waratahs in the second half to win their Super Rugby clash 30-13 in Hamilton yesterday. The Chiefs players, sporting sheer haircuts to raise money for charity, scored two tries after the break and conceded only three points to notch their fourth win of the season from five matches. “It’s good to get back in front of the home crowd and grind out a win,” said Chiefs captain Craig Clarke in a pitchside interview. “That’s good to just be playing winning rugby, it’s fun to be a part of (but) we’re off on a road trip now and we’ve got a lot of hard work in front of us,” added Clarke of their three-match tour of Australia and South Africa. The Waratahs held more than 72 percent of the territory in the first half but still found themselves trailing 13-10 at the break. Winger Tom Kingston put the visitors on the board in the fifth minute with a try, slicing through a pack of players to take a quick inside pass and reaching his arms behind him to plant the ball on the line. The Chiefs made the most of their few chances, however, and levelled at 7-7 after livewire winger Tim Nanai-Williams cut the Waratahs defence to shreds with a breathtaking run through midfield. Nanai-Williams’s incursion allowed the Chiefs to spread the ball wide where full-

back Robbie Robinson crossed in the left corner. Aaron Cruden slotted a 47-metre penalty kick to cancel out one from Brendan McKibbin a few minutes earlier and the All Black flyhalf drilled a second after Wycliff Palu strayed offside directly in front of the posts. The Waratahs were frustrated by several fruitless drives to the line in the final minutes of the first half, and had the wind taken out of their sales minutes after the break when Sona Taumalolo crossed for the Chiefs’ second try. Sonny Bill Williams dribbled a poor kick straight into a defender’s legs but the deflection cannoned into the path of charging outside centre Richard Kahui, who scooped up the ball and fed it wide to prop Taumalolo for a soft try in the right corner. Cruden slotted his third penalty kick in the 62nd minute to stretch the advantage to 10 points and flanker Liam Messam delivered the match-sealing try five minutes later after a demoralising turnover by the Waratahs. Replacement Sam Cane intercepted a pass out of a ruck intended for Sarel Pretorius and fed Tawera Kerr-Barlow, who sprinted down the right wing before passing inside to Messam for an easy try. Cruden converted to maintain a perfect six-from-six kicking game and a fatigued Waratahs side never looked like clawing their way back into the game. — Reuters

Cheetahs overhaul Hurricanes WELLINGTON: The Cheetahs fought back after a withering first-half assault to storm home 47-38 over the Wellington Hurricanes in their Super Rugby match yesterday. The win at Wellington’s Westpac stadium was a morale-boosting finish to the Cheetahs’ tour of Australia and New Zealand, the Bloemfontein-based team returning home with a 2-2 record after a pair of gallant losses to the Canberra-based ACT Brumbies and the Canterbury Crusaders. The Hurricanes ran over four tries to charge into a 32-11 lead by the 31st minute, but were stunned as the Cheetahs hit back with three of their own to finish level at the break. Tighthead prop WP Nel ratcheted up the pressure with a try 15 minutes after half-time and loosehead Coeni Oosthuizen drove over the line in the 69th before the Cheetahs defended grimly to take the bonus point victory. “It was definitely a great victory ... and it’s a nice way to end off the tour,” captain Adriaan Strauss said in a pitchside interview. “They’ve got their never-say-die attitude ... It’s a good place for us to start building on now for when we get home.” Hooker Dane Coles got the Hurricanes off to a flying start by shimmying past a defender to cross near the left post less than three minutes in.

Cheetahs inside centre Andries Strauss touched down near the right hand corner soon after, however, and was awarded the try after a lengthy television review. The Hurricanes then capitalised on turnovers deep in their own territory to score three tries on the break. Flyhalf Beauden Barrett slipped four tackles in an exhilarating 50-metre dash for the ﬁrst, while fullback Andre Taylor streamed down the right wing to score the second. Winger Julian Savea set up the third nine minutes from the break with a sprint down the left wing and a tidy oﬄoad inside to scrumhalf TJ Perenara who crossed left of the posts. The Cheetahs began to hold their passes, however, and fullback Hennie Danniller and winger Ryno Benjamin each crossed near the right hand corner after the ball was quickly spread wide to cut the Hurricanes defence to shreds. Oosthuizen barged over on the right to score his first try seconds before the h a l f t i m e w h i s t l e. B a r re t t s co re d 2 3 points for the Hurricanes, slotting the last of his four penalties in the 60th minute to have his team claw back to trail 40-38, but Oosthuizen’s second try sealed a deserving win for the Cheetahs, who had dominated territory and possession throughout. — Reuters

RANCHO MIRAGE: World number one Yani Tseng, the LPGA Tour’s dominant figure, birdied her final hole to end the second round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship with a one-shot lead in Rancho Mirage, California on Friday. A winner in six of her last 12 LPGA events, the long-hitting Taiwanese fired a four-underpar 68 on another day of glorious sunshine at Mission Hills Country Club in the first women’s major of the year. Champion here in 2010 and fresh from consecutive victories on the US circuit, Tseng mixed five birdies with one bogey to post an eight-under total of 136 on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course. South Korea’s Kang Haeji was alone in second, after carding a 68, with compatriot Yoo Sun-young (69) and Australian Lindsey Wright (71) a further stroke back at six-under 138. Wright had joined Tseng at eight under when she sank a curling 30-foot putt to birdie the par-four 10th but she slipped back with a double-bogey at the 15th to finish two off the pace. Two more Koreans, Choi Na-yeon (67) and five-times major winner Pak Se-ri (69), and Swede Karin Sjodin (67) were tied for fifth at five under. The ominous sight of Tseng at the top of the leaderboard will have sent shock waves across the field at Mission Hills as the game’s top player hunted a sixth major victory. “To catch Yani is difficult,” five-times LPGA champion Choi told reporters after compiling five birdies in a flawless display. “When she’s playing well, she looks like a very intimidating player. She played so well today and last week and two weeks ago. She’s an amazing player right now.” Tseng had been disappointed with her opening 68 but she was much happier with the same score on Friday having negotiated slick greens that had quickened under a baking sun. “Yesterday I had a couple of shots I just missed, and a couple of shots where I wasn’t committed and I just hit it,” said the 23-yearold, who has won four of the last eight majors “But today, on every shot, I gave my 100 percent focus. The goal was the same, but I feel so much happier today. “I still have two more days to go, and this golf course suits me really well. I heard tomorrow’s going to be very windy in the afternoon, so I just need to be patient.” Tseng finished her second round

RANCHO MIRAGE: Yani Tseng, of Taiwan, hits from the tee on the 16th hole during the second round of the LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship golf tournament. — AP

in style with a one-putt birdie at the par-ﬁve ninth. “It just made my day,” she said. “It made me feel that I can relax and do something more fun. I was feeling just so happy.” It was not a happy day for some of the other big names on the LPGA Tour, however. Norway’s Suzann Pettersen, who ﬁnished a stroke behind the triumphant Tseng at the

2010 Kraft Nabisco Championship, and 2007 winner Morgan Pressel returned 74s to occupy the lower reaches of the leaderboard. The cut fell at four-over 148 with 2009 champion Brittany Lincicome, who battled to a second-round 76, and fellow American Michelle Wie, after a 77, among those failing to advance. —Reuters

Force blows away Queensland LONDON: A fired-up Western Force showed little sympathy for an injury-ravaged Queensland Reds team as they thrashed the visiting Super Rugby champions 45-19 in Perth yesterday. The Force scored two early tries to charge out to a 21-0 lead seven minutes before halftime and twisted the knife with another three after the break to notch their second win of the season amid four frustrating losses. “Very enjoyable game,” Force captain David Pocock said in a pitch side interview. “(Inconsistency) is something that we’ve been trying to address and we’ve been working hard off the field... the challenge is to back it up next week.” The Reds, humiliated 61-8 by the Bulls in Pretoria last week, slumped to their third straight loss and are mired mid-table with a 33 record and a clutch of frontline players, including key playmaker Quade Cooper, side-

lined for weeks. The Perth-based Force lost to the Melbourne Rebels by a point the previous week after conceding a 21-point head-start and appeared determined to atone for the slow start, attacking with abandon from the outset. Flyhalf James Stannard crossed near the left corner in the eighth minute, and although he limped oﬀ injured minutes later, the Force charged on to reap two penalty goals as the out-of-sorts Reds found new and inventive ways to fumble passes, miss targets and cough up turnovers. Veteran lock Nathan Sharpe drove over the line from a ruck two metres out for the Force’s second try in the 32nd minute. A rare foray into Force territory saw the Reds awarded a penalty and captain James Horwill wave away a three-point shot at goal. Prop James Slipper barged over at the left corner after a second penalty scrum to reward

his captain, but flyhalf Dallan Murphy butchered the conversion kick and the Reds went into the half trailing 21-5. Brett Sheehan dashed any hopes of a sustained Reds fightback by charging down a kick to set up a try for replacement flyhalf Ben Seymour, who sprinted 30 metres to touch down near the right corner. Van Humphries clambered over for the Reds in the 51st minute, but an inspired kick stabbed low and across the ground by Seymour sat up perfectly for winger Samu Wara who charged down the right wing to score the Force’s fourth try for a bonus point. Number eight Matt Hodgson brought the Force’s fifth try three minutes later to complete the rout. Reds winger Dom Shipperley scored a late try after the whistle but it was of little consolation for the visitors, whose hopes of defending their title now appear precarious. — Reuters

Sharks maul Brumbies to end Canberra drought CANBERRA: The Sharks survived a late challenge to break a 14-year drought in Canberra by grinding down the ACT Brumbies 29-26 in their Super Rugby match yesterday. The Brumbies’ replacement Nic White snatched an 80th minute try and Christan Lealiifano’s conversion put the home side within three points but the Sharks repelled a desperate drive after the whistle to notch their first win at Canberra Stadium since 1998. “It was a great encounter, both teams played some real running rugby ... I’m very proud of the boys,” Sharks captain Keegan Daniel said in a pitchside interview. “We haven’t had too much success here or in Sydney, so we’re very happy to pull off a win here.” Fullback Riaan Viljoen scored a brace of tries in the first half and flanker Willem Alberts added another after the break before winger Lwazi Mvovo scored a fourth in the 62nd minute to give the Durban-based Sharks a bonus point. The win was the Sharks’ third from six matches in the season and was made easier by a pair of howling errors from the Brumbies. The hosts were kicking themselves six minutes before halftime when winger Odwa Ndugane intercepted an ambitious pass and fed Viljoen for the Sharks’ second try. Another shambolic error in defence gifted the Sharks their third and a six-point lead four minutes after the break. Flyhalf Matt Toomua knocked the ball out of the air back towards the Brumbies’ try-line where winger Henry Speight fumbled, allowing Sharks flanker Alberts to poke the ball over with his foot and fall on top of it at the left post. The match began as an arm wrestle, but Viljoen drew first blood for the Sharks with his first try in the 21st minute after receiving a long pass from a quickly taken penalty. Fullback Jesse Mogg struck back for the Brumbies seven minutes later with an inspirational try, streaming down the right wing and collecting his own kick a few metres shy of the line before touching down under the posts. The Brumbies held a one-point lead at half-

time but were repeatedly denied after the break by desperate defence on the line. The Sharks counter-attacked brilliantly after weathering a 15-phase assault that covered the breadth of their line, with lock Steven Sykes thundering down the left before dishing inside to jet-heeled winger Mvovo at the halfway mark. Mvovo burned away from the chasing Pat

McCabe to score his try and put the Sharks in front 27-19 with less than a quarter left. White’s unlikely last-gasp try, stepping a defender before crossing near the left corner, raised the hopes of baying fans at the stadium but prop Ben Alexander’s desperate charge toward the line saw the ball spill free and allow the Sharks to boot it into touch to secure victory. — Reuters

TOKYO: Kenya’s Horace Otieno (left) is tackled by Argentinaís Gaston Revol (right) during the Pool C match of the 2012 Tokyo Sevens World Series rugby tournament between Argentina and Kenya. Argentina won 15-7. — AFP

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

SPORTS

American football sets foot in cricket-crazy India NEW DELHI: Bollywood beware. American football is bringing a hint of Hollywood and some star-spangled celebrities and former players to India to battle for a share of attention in this cricket-crazy country of 1.2 billion. The Elite Football League of India, with supporters including actor Mark Wahlberg and former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Kurt Warner, is planning a launch in November with 12 teams - and has grander plans for a 52-team league by 2022. Some of the former NFL coaches who have stakes in the league are former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski, former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka, Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin of the Dallas Cowboys and former Green Bay Packers linebacker Brandon Chillar. Ambitious? Consider this: cricket is the sport in India, drawing more than a quarter of the country’s total advertising revenue of $2.41 billion last year, when it won the World Cup. National team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni signed a $39.7 million contract with a management company in 2010. The Indian Premier League has given cricket an even higher profile, with billionaires and Bollywood beauties falling over

each other to buy stakes in the teams, which then bid at auction for the hired guns from all over the cricket world for a six-week season. “There is relatively no competition on air in the sporting landscape of Asian TV,” EFLI founder and chief executive Sunday Zellar told The Associated Press. “In addition, given the lack of alternatives, we are finding the biggest, strongest and most agile athletes from all over India and Sri Lanka to participate in this new game of chess played by the ultimate gladiator.” Organizers haven’t finalized a TV deal and negotiations with the kind of wealthy local industrialists who back the IPL are ongoing, but talent scouts have been raiding rugby, wrestling and volleyball to unearth talented prospective players for the EFLI. “India has a host of very talented athletes and they are honing their skills very quickly and adapting to the game as though they have played for many years,” said Zellar, a brand marketing consultant who is hoping the trial season in Kolkata in May will generate more exposure for the main tournament. “We hope to introduce the heroes, the players and educate the public on the rules and format of the game. It is our intention that it will spark interest and develop a fol-

lowing that will be sustained through to the opening game in November.” Unlike the IPL, the American football backers are trying to build a group of stars from scratch. Among them could be 19-year-old Santu Sardar, a soccer player who had little hope of a regular job or football contract while he languished in the second division of the local Kolkata league. He now has a monthly salary of 15,000 rupees ($300), a significant boost for a poor family which had survived until then on roughly the same amount earned by his cabdriving father. “My life has changed after I signed up for this league as it promises me a better life and financial security,” Sardar told AP in a telephone interview. “I’ll now give my everything to ensure my team Kolkata does very well in the competition.” But the question remains: will the best efforts of Sardar and dozens of young men from similar backgrounds be enough to get even a glimmer of attention in a sports landscape so dominated by cricket? Other sports, including field hockey and soccer which already have a history and profile in India, rely on government handouts to keep afloat. The EFLI is starting with an initial invest-

ment of $5 million, with another $3 million expected to be raised through the first season. Backers like Wahlberg are committing only endorsements and effort toward building the brand. The Salt Lake Stadium, a massive 120,000-capacity venue in Kolkata, is the hub of activity where coaches from the United States are drilling hand-picked Indian coaches and players. The Stadium will host the inaugural tournament, with teams from Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh lending an international flavor. The nine Indian franhcises in the 58game regular season are Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Rajasthan and Punjab. Each team will have a pool of five coaches and 40 players, excluding support staff. The salaries will be comparable with soccer and field hockey, in which players are generally contracted to teams but paid through government departments or banks they notionally work for. “The next five years will be revolutionary in the sporting arena for India. As the talent grows and people become familiar with the game, you will see children tossing the football around,” Zellar said. “Attendance at live games will increase dramatically and the

culture of the American football game will have planted itself on the ground and in the hearts of the Indian people.” Zellar has recruited sports producer Sandy Grossman to help put together a TV coverage that will help sell and spread the league’s appeal. “It’s very challenging to introduce the game to Indian cameramen and producers,” said eight-time Emmy Award-winning director Grossman. “American football is fast, a contact sport, and involves a lot of strategies.” Grossman says programming in India will have to be different because the game has to be introduced to viewers. “They will be like tutorials. An Indian announcer will talk with coaches, explain the game. My job is to guide the producers and cameramen and then leave them to decide how to cover games,” he told AP on telephone. The US National Football League, which folded its European competition in 2007 after 16 years spent establishing a league on the continent, has no direct stake in the EFLI. The inaugural Indian season will run in winter, sparing the need to expose heavily padded players to the searing heat on the subcontinent. —AP

Mavericks stop Magic

KEY BISCAYNE: Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, returns the ball to Juan Monaco, of Argentina, during the men’s semifinals at the Sony Ericsson Open tennis tournament. —AP

Djokovic beats Monaco to set up Murray final MIAMI: World number one Novak Djokovic beat Argentine Juan Monaco 6-0 7-6 on Friday to reach the final of the Sony Ericsson Open, where he will meet Andy Murray. Fourth-ranked Murray’s semi-final against Rafa Nadal was earlier ruled a walkover after the Spaniard pulled out with a knee injury. There was the air of a virtual walkover in the way Djokovic dealt with a wayward Monaco in the first set. The Serb, in imposing form, dismissed him in just 27 minutes and took full advantage of the Argentine’s numerous unforced errors as he won 24 of 32 points. “He was incredible, he really played like the world number one and it was tough on me,” said Monaco. But after Djokovic broke to go 3-2 up in the second, Monaco fought back well and forced some errors out of the Australian Open champion, who was finally broken when he served for match at 5-4. The gritty Argentine took the match into a tie-break - a tight affair featuring several long rallies, including one entertaining 26 stroke exchange won by the Serb. Monaco, who had been cheered on by a largely Latin-American crowd, went long on the decisive point, however, to hand victory to Djokovic. “I started very strong, just going for the shots, being very aggressive, then I just wasn’t

able to close it out,” said Djokovic, who is now looking for his third win at Key Biscayne. “All the credit to him for staying in the match, fighting and coming back (but) I still think I gave him points. I made so many unforced errors that I got him back to the match,” he added. Djokovic has a 7-5 record from previous meetings with Murray although the Scot won the most recent in the semi-final in Dubai three weeks ago and also the last time they met in a final - when Djokovic retired in the second set at Cincinnati. The pair also met in the 2009 Sony Ericsson final with Murray running out 6-2 7-5 winner and Djokovic knows he can expect a tough encounter in the Florida heat. “We all know his talent, his potential, and quality,” he said of Murray. “He’s dangerous on any surface. Obviously here we played finals in 2009 and I lost in straight sets. He likes the conditions. He likes to play in the heat as well, and has a good serve. “We kind of play similar, as well. We grew up together. We know each other really well and we have been rivals since and good friends off the court. It’s going to be a good match. “I don’t think it’s going to affect him that much that he hasn’t played today, but we’ll see what happens,” he added. —Reuters

Windies stun Aussies to draw T20 series BARBADOS: Dwayne Smith smashed a half-century before Fidel Edwards and Marlon Samuels bowled superbly to lead West Indies to a 14-run win over Australia in their second Twenty20 international on Friday. Smith belted 63 off just 34 balls, featuring six boundaries and four sixes, to get West Indies off to a great start at Kensington Oval in Barbados. Smith’s fellow opener Johnson Charles chipped in with 37 before the Australian bowlers, led by paceman Brett Lee (3-23), fought back and bowled the home team out for 160. “I was pleased with the performance and glad we got a win,” said Smith. “I’ve been doing a lot of work on my batting, doing the things I know and it seems to be working.” Australia suffered an immediate setback in their reply when Shane Watson, man of the match in Tuesday’s first game, won by the visitors, was dismissed for a duck in the first over. Opener David Warner kept the runs ticking along at a steady pace with 58 off 43 but when he was run

out, Australia’s chances went with him. Edwards and Samuels shared six wickets, finishing with identical figures of 3-23, to restrict the tourists to 146-9 to leave the two-match series squared at 1-1. “Great start from the West Indies, I think we pulled it back to about par, 160, and I thought we were on course to knock it off,” Australia captain George Bailey said. “They put pressure on us, the wicket of David Warner was huge, run-outs change matches. The crowd were great and hopefully we provided some good entertainment.” The teams also drew their fivematch one-day international series, setting the stage for an intriguing test series, starting in Bridgetown next week. “The work we’ve been doing in the camp and throughout the series has been paying off and I want to ask the boys to keep doing that,” said West Indies skipper Darren Sammy. “We want to keep doing well in the tests and hopefully continue the good results.” —Reuters

Scoreboard Scoreboard from the second Twenty20 international between West Indies and Australia in Barbados on Friday. West Indies innings D.Smith c D.Hussey b Doherty 63 J.Charles c Christian b Watson 37 K.Pollard c Wade b Lee 1 Dwayne Bravo c Christian b Watson 23 D.Sammy b McKay 5 D.Hyatt c Bailey b McKay 6 M.Samuels c Warner b Christian 2 C.Baugh c Wade b Lee 1 S.Narine run out 2 G.Mathurin not out 3 F.Edwards b Lee 0 Extras (lb-1 w-9 nb-1) 11 Total (all out, 19.4 overs) 160 Fall of wickets: 1-72 2-80 3-110 4-120 5-134 6140 7-155 8-155 9-159 10-160 Bowling: J.Pattinson 2-0-34-0 (w-2), B.Lee 3.40-23-3, C.McKay 4-0-24-2 (w-1), X.Doherty 3-032-1, S.Watson 4-0-26-2 (nb-1 w-2), D.Christian 3-0-20-1

Australia innings D.Warner run out 58 S.Watson c Sammy b Edwards 0 G.Bailey c Hyatt b Samuels 24 M.Hussey c & b Samuels 14 D.Hussey c Pollard b Bravo 19 M.Wade c & b Samuels 17 D.Christian c Sammy b Edwards 3 B.Lee b Edwards 0 C.McKay b Bravo 7 J.Pattinson not out 0 X.Doherty not out 2 Extras (w-2) 2 Total (for nine wickets, 20 overs) 146 Fall of wickets: 1-1 2-64 3-89 4-98 5-133 6-136 7-136 8-144 9-144 Bowling: F.Edwards 4-0-23-3 (w-2), S.Narine 40-33-0, G.Mathurin 2-0-23-0, D.Sammy 1-0-110, Dwayne Bravo 4-0-27-2, M.Samuels 4-0-23-3, K.Pollard 1-0-6-0 Result: West Indies won by 14 runs. Series finished 1-1.

ORLANDO: Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki banked in a jumper with 5.9 seconds left and scored a game-high 28 points to lead the Mavericks to a comeback 100-98 win over the Orlando Magic in the NBA on Friday. The Mavericks trailed by 15 points in the third quarter before rallying in the final period, aided by a plethora of turnovers by the Magic. Jason Terry had 10 points in the quarter and 17 in the game. Orlando had 16 turnovers, which led to 20 points for the Mavericks. Orlando lost to Dallas for the sixth straight time at home. Jameer Nelson scored 24 points to lead the Magic.

The Clippers trailed by two when Paul got the ball to Randy Foye, who hit a 3-pointer with 47 seconds left to put the Clippers ahead 96-95. Jamal Crawford responded with a 22-footer and Portland led by one with 13 seconds left. Paul dribbled around before driving to the basket for the winner. Wesley Matthews missed a jumper in the waning seconds for the visitors. Paul, Blake Griffin and Randy Foye led six Clippers in double figures with 20 points each. JJ Hickson led the Blazers with a season-high 29 points and 13 rebounds.

Cleveland. Ersan Ilyasova scored 20 points in his return from back spasms and sat out the fourth quarter, as did Jennings. Rookie Kyrie Irving scored 29 points to lead Cleveland before leaving in the fourth quarter with a sprained shoulder. Irving was 11 for 20 from the field, including 6 for 6 on 3s. Milwaukee, which moved within 1 1/2 games of the East’s final playoff spot, scored the first 16 points of the second period and steadily built the lead throughout the game.

Nets 102, Warriors 100 In Oakland, Gerald Green tied the score with a thundering one-handed dunk from the baseline, then added a go-ahead basket moments later as New Jersey rallied from 19 points down in the second half and edged Golden State. Gerald Wallace had 24 points and 18 rebounds for the Nets, who ended a six-year losing streak at Oracle Arena. Wallace scored 10 points over the final 6 minutes of the game and blocked a potential tying shot just before time ran out. David Lee had 27 points and six rebounds for Golden State.

Bulls 83, Pistons 71 In Chicago, the hosts beat Detroit for the 14th straight time. Luol Deng scored 20 points and Joakim Noah added 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Bulls, who scored the final eight points after the Pistons closed within four with just under 5 minutes left. Chicago improved its leaguebest record to 42-11 even though star Derrick Rose and Richard Hamilton remained sidelined by injuries. Brandon Knight scored 16 points for the Pistons. Hawks 100, Knicks 90 In Atlanta, Joe Johnson scored 28 points to lead Atlanta past former coach Mike Woodson and New York. Willie Green carried the Hawks home by scoring 15 of his 20 points in the final period, including a 3-pointer from the corner that stretched Atlanta’s lead to 94-84. Woodson, who coached the Hawks from 2004-10, returned to Philips Arena for the first time as the Knicks interim coach. His team was missing injured starters Amare Stoudemire and Jeremy Lin. Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 36 points. Rockets 98, Grizzlies 89 In Houston, Goran Dragic scored a season-high 25 points as Houston beat Memphis at home for the 12th straight time. Dragic has been starting at point guard with Kyle Lowry out with an illness. Friday’s performance extended his streak of double digit scoring games to a career-high 14 in a row. Courtney Lee added 17 for the Rockets. Rudy Gay had 20 points to lead Memphis, which started a span of seven games in nine days on Friday. Heat 113, Raptors 101 In Toronto, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh scored 30 points each as Miami notched its seventh straight win over Toronto. DeMar DeRozan scored 28 points for the Raptors. Celtics 100, T’wolves 79 In Minneapolis, Kevin Garnett had 24 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in his return to Target Center, leading Boston past Minnesota. Paul Pierce had 21 points and nine rebounds for the Celtics, who have won four in a row. Kevin Love had 22 points and 11 rebounds for Minnesota but succumbed to Garnett’s physical defense in a battle between the face of the Timberwolves past and present. The Wolves turned the ball over 21 times to see their playoff hopes take a hit. They entered 21/2 games out of the eighth spot in the West. Clippers 98, Trail Blazers 97 In Los Angeles, Chris Paul made a driving layup with 5 seconds to go, lifting Los Angeles past Portland for its season high-tying fourth straight victory.

LOS ANGELES: Clippers forward Caron Butler (left) falls after trying to put up a shot while Portland Trail Blazers center Joel Przybilla (right) and forward Nicolas Batum of France defend during the second half of their NBA basketball game. —AP Kings 104, Jazz 103 In Salt Lake City, DeMarcus Cousins scored 27 points, including the winning free throw with 3.8 seconds left, to help Sacramento end a four-game losing streak and beat Utah. Marcus Thornton added 26 points for Sacramento, who won on the road for only the fifth time this season. The result also snapped Utah’s seven-game home winning streak. Bucks 121, Cavaliers 84 In Cleveland, Brandon Jennings scored 28 points to lead Milwaukee to a rout of

Wizards 97, 76ers 76 In Washington, the hosts built a big lead and held on to it for a change, beating Philadelphia and breaking a five-game losing streak. The loss knocked Philadelphia out of first place in the Atlantic Division, one game behind Boston. Cartier Martin tied a careerhigh with 20 points in his second game under a 10-day contract for the Wizards who had blown double-digit leads in their past three home games. Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young scored 14 apiece for the 76ers.

Nuggets 99, Bobcats 88 In Charlotte, Arron Afflalo scored 12 of his team-high 19 points in the second half and added 11 rebounds as Denver held off Charlotte. The Nuggets entered in a three-way tie for seventh place in the Western Conference standings with Houston and Utah and in need of a victory against the worst team in the league. They got it behind a balanced effort as Ty Lawson had 14 points and 10 assists. Gerald Henderson had 21 points to lead the Bobcats, who have lost six straight games and remain the only team in the league with fewer than 10 victories. —AP

NBA results/standings Denver 99, Charlotte 88; Miami 113, Toronto 101; Washington 97, Philadelphia 76; Atlanta 100, NY Knicks 90; Milwaukee 121, Cleveland 84; Chicago 83, Detroit 71; Houston 98, Memphis 89; Boston 100, Minnesota 79; Dallas 100, Orlando 98; Sacramento 104, Utah 103; New Jersey 102, Golden State 100; LA Clippers 98, Portland 97. Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT Boston 29 22 .569 Philadelphia 28 23 .549 NY Knicks 26 26 .500 New Jersey 18 35 .340 Toronto 17 35 .327 Chicago Indiana Milwaukee Detroit Cleveland Miami Orlando Atlanta Washington Charlotte

GB 1 3.5 12 12.5

Central Division 42 11 .792 30 20 .600 24 27 .471 18 33 .353 17 32 .347

10.5 17 23 23

Southeast Division 37 13 .740 32 20 .615 31 22 .585 12 39 .235 7 42 .143

6 7.5 25.5 29.5

Western Conference Northwest Division Oklahoma City 39 12 .765 Denver 28 24 .538 Utah 27 25 .519 Minnesota 25 28 .472 Portland 24 28 .462

11.5 12.5 15 15.5

LA Lakers LA Clippers Phoenix Golden State Sacramento

Pacific Division 31 20 .608 30 21 .588 25 26 .490 20 30 .400 18 33 .353

1 6 10.5 13

San Antonio Dallas Memphis Houston New Orleans

Southwest Division 35 14 .714 30 23 .566 27 22 .551 28 24 .538 13 38 .255

7 8 8.5 23

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

sp orts

Monterosso wins Dubai World Cup DUBAI: Monterosso led home a Godolphin one -two in the Dubai World Cup over 2000 metres at Meydan racecourse yesterday when he swept past his stablemate, Capponi, to win the world’s richest race. The five -year- old, ridden by Mickael Barzalona, advanced from a prominent position to win a race in which he finished third last year. The contested early pace helped to bring Monterosso’s stamina into play as Capponi finally gave way after challenging for the lead throughout. I t was the per fect end to the US$27.25 million extravaganza for Sheik h Mohammed, the Ruler of Dubai who owns both Monterosso and Capponi. The outcome brought some consolation to the Sheikh, whose Fox Hunt had to be humanely destroyed after breaking a leg in a race three hours earlier. For Barzalona, meanwhile, it was the perfect start to his new position as Frankie Dettori’s understudy at

Godolphin. Dettori himself finished down the field aboard Prince Bishop. Monterosso banked the winner’s purse of US$6 million. He won by three lengths from Capponi after a brief tussle halfway down the home straight, with Planteur a half-length back in third and hot favourite the former Australian champion, but trained in Ireland for the past year by Aidan O’Brien, So You Think in fourth. The latter had his chance along the rail but could not summon the acceleration to mount a serious challenge. Monterosso only returned to the fray earlier this month after an 11-month absence enforced by a minor injury. He was compromised by the slow early gallop 12 months ago but that was never likely to be a problem with so many front-runners gathered among the 13-strong field. And so it proved. Transcend, runner-up from an easy lead last year, was driven hard by jockey Shinji Fujita to reach the front after two furlongs. He was chased

throughout by Capponi and So You Think, with Monterosso following closely in their wake. The American challenger, Game On Dude, was brought into contention by Chantal Sutherland, who was bidding to become the first female jockey to win the World Cup. But his bid proved short-lived. With Transcend weakening, Capponi struck for home off the final bend and made a bold bid. The five-year-old fought valiantly to retain his advantage under his Dubaian jockey, Ahmed Ajtebi, but Barzalona had him covered from the 400-metre mark. From there, the Corsican-born jockey simply chose his moment and the prize was his. Japan’s three -strong challenge came to nothing after horses from that country filled the first two places last year, while So You Think, trained in Ireland by Aidan O’Brien again failed to match the international standard. —AFP

DUBAI: As Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister and ruler of Dubai (4th left) looks on, Mickael Barzalona, Jockey of Monterosso from Great Britain holds the trophy after winning the Dubai World Cup race. —AP

Radwanska bags Miami title MIAMI: Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska captured her second title of 2012 by defeating world number two Maria Sharapova 7-5, 6-4 in the final of the WTA/ATP Miami tournament yesterday. The 23-year-old from Krakow won earlier this year in Dubai, but this marked the biggest win of her career as she competed in Miami at a new career high ranking of fourth in the world. Radwanska becomes just the second multiple title winner on the WTA Tour this season, behind world number one Victoria Azarenka, as she clinched the Miami crown without dropping a set in six matches. “I got a lot of good wins this year against top players,” said Radwanska, after condemning Sharapova to a fourth Miami final defeat. “I was trying from the beginning to focus on my serve, put my first serve in and go for it. I think I did a really good job today and the serve was the key.” Radwanska clearly won the matchup of her savvy all-court game against Sharapova’s power display. She finished with one ace and hit just six winners against Sharapova but limited her unforced errors to 10 in the one hour, 44 minute centre court match. Radwanska broke the mistake -prone Sharapova in the final game of both sets jumping out to big leads both times. She clinched the title on the first of two championship points when Sharapova hammered a backhand long. Sharapova held serve in the first set to get to 5-5 but then her game started to unravel. Radwanska broke in the 12th game to win the first set in 57 minutes. Sharapova made 26 SPAIN: Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal (right) shows his leg after he scored against Osasuna during their Spanish La Liga soccer match. —AP

Ronaldo leads charge as Real hit five past Osasuna MADRID: Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice and set up two more goals as leaders Real Madrid swept Osasuna aside 5-1 away yesterday to take another step towards the La Liga title. Ronaldo took his league tally to 37 and laid on further goals for Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain, who also finished with a double strike, as Real notched their first league victory in Pamplona since they last won the title in 2008. Jose Mourinho’s side, who have scored 100 goals in La Liga this season, moved on to 78 points with eight matches to play, nine ahead of second-placed Barcelona who welcome Athletic Bilbao in Saturday’s late game. Osasuna are sixth on 43 points. Real took just seven minutes to open the scoring when Ronaldo swung a cross in to the far post for Benzema to stroke a spectacular volley back into the far top corner. It was a typically intense battle in the compact and intimidating Reyno de Navarra stadium but Ronaldo brought the noise down when he arrowed in a

30-metre thunderbolt. When Higuain scampered away to lob the third just before the break it effectively ended the match as a contest. Osasuna’s Nino nodded one back for the hosts just after the restart but Ronaldo squashed thoughts of a comeback with a freekick that deflected through the wall in the 70th and he crossed for Higuain to head a second soon after. Real Zaragoza’s impressive bid to avoid relegation gathered momentum with a third consecutive win, Angel Lafita poking in a low cross in the last minute for a 2-1 victory at fellow strugglers Sporting Gijon. Cash-strapped Zaragoza climbed off the foot of the standings for the first time since early December, moving up to 18th with 28 points, three from the safety zone. Racing Santander lost 1-0 at home to Granada after conceding an 89th-minute penalty and slipped one place to 19th with 25 points, the same as Sporting who are now bottom. —Reuters

unforced errors in the first set compared to just eight for the Pole. The Pole also won the set despite hitting just one winner and it came on her backhand. Radwanska, who improved to 26-4 in 2012, beat Sharapova for just the second time in nine career meetings, but this was the first time they had met in two years and Radwanska has made huge strides in her game during that period.

The only other time she had beaten the Russian was at the 2007 US Open. Yesterday’s loss leaves the 24-year-old Sharapova still chasing her first win in Miami, the first professional tournament she would watch each year as a youngster. Her family would make the annual fourhour trek by car to Miami from the international tennis school she was attending at the time. —AFP

KEY BISCAYNE: Agnieszka Radwanska (right) of Poland, holds her trophy after defeating Maria Sharapova of Russia, in the women’s singles final 7-5, 6-4 at the Sony Ericsson tennis tournament. —AP

Bayern close in on Dortmund BERLIN: Bayern Munich trimmed Borussia Dortmund’s lead at the top of the German league back to three points yesterday as the Bavarians’ 1-0 win at Nuremberg heated up the title race with six games left. After champions Dortmund were held to a dramatic 4-4 draw at home to Stuttgart on Friday night, second-placed Bayern seized their opportunity with Dutch winger Arjen Robben hitting the winner. The win was also a perfect boost ahead of Tuesday’s home Champions League quarter-final second leg tie against Marseille where Bayern start with a 2-0 lead. “Things are back in our own hands now in all competitions,” said Bayern’s director of sport Christian Nerlinger. “I trust the team, they are showing they can cope with a game every three days and their stamina is right up there. I look forward to the final sprint.” At Nuremberg, Munich were frustrated by their hosts’ robust defence, but after Germany striker

Mario Gomez was harshly ruled offside having found the net, Robben put the Bavarians ahead just moments later. Bayern midfielder Toni Kroos chipped over the Nuremberg defence and although Franck Ribery’s shot was blocked by goalkeeper Raphael Schaefer, Robben was on hand to fire home on 69 minutes. Dortmund host Bayern at home on April 11 in a showdown which could decide the Bundesliga title with the season to end on May 5 and the pair also contest the German Cup final on May 12. “We are not looking at Dortmund, we just want to win our games” said Germany star Bastian Schweinsteiger, who played the last 35 minutes in Nuremberg as he returns from injury, but is suspended for Tuesday’s visit of Marseille. “You can really feel the absolute will of the team at the moment. Clearly we want the title. I’m still not 100 percent, but every minute I play is good.” Third-placed Schalke are at

mid-table Hoffenheim today, while Borussia Moenchengladbach, who are fourth in the table, are at Hanover. Hertha Berlin’s woes continued as they were drubbed 4-1 at home to VfL Wolfsburg to remain second from bottom of the table and four points from safety as ex-Germany striker Patrick Helmes netted twice in the rout. Freiburg stay clear of the relegation zone after picking up their third straight win and have gone five games without defeat after they earned a 2-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen, who produced a poor performance. Cologne dropped into the bottom three for the first time since August after they were beaten 2-1 at Augsburg. South Korea midfielder Koo Ja-Cheol hit Augsburg’s opening goal on 19 minutes, but Cologne’s Germany star Lukas Podolski, who is tipped to join Arsenal at the end of the season, leveled with a penalty. On the stroke of half-time, Augsburg’s Angola striker Nando Rafael converted a penalty for the

hosts and the win lifted his team to 14th in the table. Mainz are up to 10th after their 3-0 win at Werder Bremen. Hungary striker Adam Szalai put his side ahead on 19 minutes, Cameroon forward Eric ChoupoMoting scored the second on 48 minutes, after coming on at the break, then added a third on 74 minutes. Hamburg enjoyed their first win in eight games to climb up to 15th and out of the relegation places with a 1-0 victory over bottom side Kaiserslautern. Ex-Germany midfielder Marcell Jansen hit the winner on 28 minutes which took the pressure off coach Thorsten Fink. On Friday, Dortmund were stunned as Stuttgart produced a last-gasp equaliser to share the points with the league leaders. Striker Christian Gentner poached a point for Stuttgart at Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park stadium when he scored in the 92nd minute to break home-fans’ hearts as the lead changed hands three times in the last 20 minutes. —AFP

Catania dent Milan’s Serie A title charge ROME: AC Milan’s relentless pursuit of the Serie A title hit a stumbling block yesterday as Catania held them to a 11 draw in Sicily. Brazilian Robinho had given the champions a first half lead but Nicolas Spolli equalised in the second period. The draw took Milan five points clear of second-placed Juventus, who host Napoli on Sunday, with eight games left. Catania are now just one point behind Roma in the final Europa League qualifying position. Playing in front of a rare packed house in Sicily, the hosts came flying out of the blocks and could have taken an early lead. Sergio Almiron released Gonzalo Bergessio behind the Milan backline but the Argentine looked more keen to pass than shoot and when he eventually did the latter, it was a woe-

ful effort that went high and wide. Milan had soon weathered the storm and started to take control of proceedings. Antonio Nocerino played in Urby Emanuelson but goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carrizo stood up well to block. Milan captain Massimo Ambrosini chipped a ball over the top and Zlatan Ibrahimovic took it down on his chest, held off the attentions of a defender and flicked the ball goalwards, only for Carrizo to save with his foot. Catania could not hold out forever, though, and the opening goal on 34 minutes was exper tly crafted. Ambrosini played the ball towards the box to Robinho who knocked a first-time pass to Ibrahimovic. The big Swede used great strength

to hold off Nicola Legrottaglie and then even greater finesse to hook the ball back into Robinho’s path for the Brazilian to finish with aplomb as four bewildered defenders looked on. Catania could have hit straight back but Alenjandro Gomez’s stunning strike, after he made space with a clever feint, crashed back off the bar. The hosts started the second half as they did the first and had the ball in the net through Gomez only to see a linesman’s flag rule that out. Television replays suggested the assistant was right when he spotted a marginal offside in the build-up. Catania kept coming, though, and Francesco Lodi scraped a drive just past the post. They got the reward their attacking approach deserved on 57 minutes as Spolli tapped home

from close range after Legrottaglie won a header in the box at a corner, although Milan paid for being too passive around their own six-yard box. And it could have been worse for the rossoneri, who were struggling to hold on, as Luca Antonini had to throw himself at a Bergessio shot to prevent a goal. But the visitors soon came back into it and Ibrahimovic dinked the ball over for Robinho who rounded Carrizo and shot goalwards. The shot evaded two back-tracking defenders but Giovanni Marchese just got back in time to poke it off the line, with television replays suggesting three-quarters of the ball was over the line. Milan went looking for a late winner but Carrizo twice denied Ibrahimovic. —AFP

ITALY: AC Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Sweden vies for the ball with Catania defender Marco Motta during Serie A soccer match. —AP

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

S P ORT S

Resurgent Everton down Baggies

Soccer results/standings Aston Villa 2 (Collins 77, Lichaj 80) Chelsea 4 (Sturridge 9, Ivanovic 51, 83, Torres 90); Everton 2 (McAuley 18-og, Anichebe 68) West Bromwich 0; Fulham 2 (Dempsey 2, Duff 13) Norwich City 1 (Wilbraham 77); Manchester City 3 (Balotelli 43pen, 85, Kolarov 86) Sunderland 3 (Larsson 31, 55, Bendtner 45); Queens Park Rangers 2 (Taarabt 22, Diakite 66) Arsenal 1 (Walcott 37); Wigan 2 (Alcaraz 54, Moses 90) Stoke 0; Wolverhampton 2 (Kightly 53, Jarvis 88) Bolton 3 (Petrov 63-pen, Alonso 80, Davies 84). Playing today Newcastle v Liverpool, Tottenham v Swansea Playing tomorrow Blackburn v Manchester United English Football League results Championship: Brighton 1 Middlesbrough 1; Bristol City 1 Derby 1; Cardiff 0 Millwall 0; Crystal Palace 0 Nottingham Forest 3; Hull 0 Coventry 2; Ipswich 1 Barnsley 0; Leeds 0 Watford 2; Peterborough 1 Leicester 0; Portsmouth 1 Burnley 5; West Ham 2 Reading 4. Playing later: Blackpool v Southampton Played Friday: Doncaster 1 Birmingham 3 Division One: Bournemouth 0 Yeovil 0; Bury 2 Tranmere 0; Carlisle 2 Huddersfield 1; Charlton 2 Leyton Orient 0; Chesterfield 1 Scunthorpe 4; Exeter 1 Colchester 1; Hartlepool 0 Sheffield United 1; Milton Keynes 1 Brentford 2; Notts County 1 Oldham 0; Rochdale 3 Walsall 3; Sheffield Wednesday 2 Preston 0; Stevenage 1 Wycombe 1. Division Two: Accrington 2 Wimbledon 1; Burton 0 Crawley

0; Crewe 1 Northampton 1; Gillingham 2 Macclesﬁeld 0; Oxford 1 Morecambe 2; Plymouth 1 Bradford 0; Port Vale 0 Dagenham and Redbridge 1; Rotherham 1 Hereford 0; Shrewsbury 1 Aldershot 1; Swindon 0 Bristol Rovers 0. Played Friday: Barnet 0 Torquay 1; Southend 4 Cheltenham 0 Scottish Premier League results Dundee Utd 3 (Daly 49, 83, Robertson 80) Dunfermline 0; Hearts 3 (McGowan 27, Skacel 53, 89) Aberdeen 0; Motherwell 1 (Ojamaa 6) Rangers 2 ( Whittaker 9, McCulloch 89); St Mirren 4 ( Thompson 24, 83, Thomson 61, Hasselbaink 66) Kilmarnock 2 (Van Tornhout 13, Shiels 89). Playing today: Celtic v St Johnstone; Inverness C T v Hibernian. Scottish Football League results First Division Partick 2 Livingston 3; Queen of the South 2 Ayr 1; Ross County 1 Raith 1. Second Division Albion 1 Cowdenbeath 0; Arbroath 2 Brechin 3; Dumbarton 1 For far 0; East Fife 1 Stenhousemuir 1; Stirling Albion 0 Airdrie 2. Third Division Berwick 3 Clyde 0; East Stirlingshire 0 Annan 4; Elgin 1 Stranraer 2; Montrose 0 Alloa 2; Queen’s Park 0 Peterhead 1. German League results Nuremberg 0 Bayern Munich 1 (Robben 69); Kaiserslautern 0 Hamburg 1 (Jansen 29); Werder Bremen 0 Mainz 05 3 (Szalai 19, Choupo-Moting 48, 74); Bayer Leverkusen 0 Freiburg 2 (Schuster 8, Caligiuri 60); Augsburg 2 (Koo 19, Rafael 45pen) Cologne 1 (Podolski 42-pen).

English Premier League table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Man Utd 30 23 4 3 74 27 73 Inverness 31 8 7 16 34 51 31 Man City 31 22 5 4 75 25 71 Hibernian 31 5 8 18 30 59 23 Arsenal 31 18 4 9 62 41 58 Dunfermline 32 4 8 20 31 70 20 Tottenham 30 16 7 7 53 35 55 Note: Rangers deducted 10 points for going Chelsea 31 15 8 8 53 36 53 into administration Newcastle 30 14 8 8 44 42 50 Everton 31 12 7 12 32 32 43 Scottish Football League tables Liverpool 30 11 9 10 36 31 42 First Division Sunderland 31 11 8 12 42 37 41 Ross County 30 17 12 1 52 25 63 Swansea 30 10 9 11 34 36 39 Dundee 30 13 9 8 46 32 48 Fulham 31 10 9 12 39 42 39 Falkirk 30 11 11 8 43 39 44 Norwich 31 10 9 12 42 49 39 Hamilton 30 12 6 12 44 39 42 Stoke 31 10 8 13 29 43 38 Livingston 30 11 8 11 48 49 41 W Bromwich 31 10 6 15 36 43 36 Partick 30 10 8 12 40 33 38 Aston Villa 30 7 12 11 33 42 33 Morton 30 9 9 12 32 45 36 Bolton 30 9 2 19 36 60 29 Ayr 30 7 11 12 34 53 32 Blackburn 30 7 7 16 43 62 28 Raith 30 7 10 13 34 40 31 QPR 31 7 7 17 35 54 28 Q of South 30 7 8 15 31 49 29 Wigan 31 6 10 15 29 55 28 W’hampton 31 5 7 19 33 68 22 Second Division Cowdenbeath 31 18 9 4 60 24 63 English Football League tables Arbroath 31 15 11 5 69 44 56 Championship: Dumbarton 31 14 6 11 52 54 48 Southampton 39 23 9 7 72 35 78 Stenhousemuir 31 12 6 13 47 43 42 Airdrie Utd 31 11 9 11 58 57 42 Reading 40 23 7 10 60 36 76 East Fife 31 12 6 13 48 49 42 West Ham 40 20 12 8 63 42 72 Brechin 31 10 10 11 40 48 40 Birmingham 39 17 12 10 63 42 63 Forfar 31 8 9 14 51 65 33 Brighton 40 17 12 11 49 41 63 Albion 31 9 5 17 38 57 32 M’brough 40 16 15 9 47 44 63 Stirling 31 7 7 17 41 63 28 Cardiff 40 15 16 9 57 50 61 Blackpool 39 16 12 11 66 56 60 Third Division Hull 40 16 10 14 38 36 58 Alloa 31 21 6 4 57 30 69 Leeds 40 16 9 15 59 59 57 Stranraer 31 17 7 7 73 45 58 Watford 40 15 12 13 48 55 57 Queen’s Park 31 16 6 9 58 39 54 Leicester 40 15 11 14 56 49 56 Elgin 31 14 8 9 58 45 50 Derby 40 16 8 16 45 53 56 Athletic 31 12 8 11 49 45 44 Ipswich 40 16 7 17 63 68 55 Berwick 31 10 10 11 50 52 40 Crystal 40 13 15 12 40 39 54 Peterhead 31 11 5 15 40 51 38 Burnley 39 15 8 16 55 48 53 Montrose 31 8 5 18 45 69 29 P’borough 40 13 8 19 60 64 47 Clyde 31 6 9 16 30 42 27 Barnsley 40 13 7 20 47 63 46 East Stirling 31 5 6 20 34 76 21 Nottingham 40 12 7 21 44 59 43 Millwall 40 10 11 19 44 54 41 German league table Coventry 40 9 11 20 37 52 38 Dortmund 28 19 6 3 63 21 63 Bristol City 40 9 10 21 34 63 37 Bayern 28 19 3 6 67 18 60 Portsmouth 40 11 10 19 41 48 33 Schalke 27 17 2 8 60 34 53 Doncaster 40 7 11 22 35 67 32 Borussia 27 15 6 6 40 18 51 Note: Portsmouth deducted 10 points for Stuttgart 28 11 7 10 48 38 40 going into administration Leverkusen 28 11 7 10 39 38 40 Werder Bremen 28 11 7 10 41 43 40 Division One: Hanover 27 9 11 7 35 38 38 Charlton 40 25 10 5 72 31 85 Wolfsburg 27 11 4 12 36 48 37 Mainz 28 8 9 11 42 44 33 Sheffield Utd 40 24 7 9 78 42 79 Hoffenheim 27 8 9 10 31 38 33 Sheffield Wed 40 23 8 9 69 45 77 Nuremberg 28 9 4 15 25 39 31 Huddersfield 39 18 17 4 72 40 71 Freiburg 28 8 7 13 37 53 31 Milton Keynes 40 18 13 9 74 44 67 Augsburg 28 6 12 10 30 42 30 Carlisle 39 17 13 9 58 58 64 Hamburg 28 7 9 12 32 50 30 Notts County 40 17 9 14 59 54 60 Cologne 28 8 4 16 35 58 28 Stevenage 39 14 17 8 54 37 59 Hertha Berlin 27 6 8 13 29 48 26 Brentford 39 15 11 13 53 46 56 Kaiserslautern 28 3 11 14 17 39 20 Colchester 40 12 17 11 52 53 53 Hartlepool 40 13 11 16 43 47 50 Bournemouth 40 13 11 16 42 47 50 Tranmere 40 12 12 16 41 44 48 Oldham 39 13 9 17 45 56 48 Yeovil 40 12 11 17 50 64 47 (Local Timings) Preston 40 12 11 17 48 62 47 Scunthorpe 40 9 19 12 52 53 46 Leyton 39 12 10 17 41 58 46 English Premier League Bury 40 12 10 18 51 70 46 Newcastle v Liverpool 15:30 Walsall 40 8 19 13 44 48 43 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 3 Wycombe 40 11 8 21 58 73 41 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 5 Rochdale 40 7 14 19 38 65 35 Exeter 40 8 11 21 34 63 35 Tottenham v Swansea 18:00 Chesterfield 40 7 12 21 42 70 33 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 3

Matches on TV

Division Two: Swindon 38 24 5 9 63 Torquay 40 22 9 9 57 Crawley 39 20 12 7 67 Shrewsbury 39 21 9 9 55 Southend 40 21 7 12 68 Oxford Utd 40 17 14 9 55 Cheltenham 40 19 8 13 55 Crewe 40 18 8 14 57 Gillingham 40 18 7 15 70 Aldershot 39 17 6 16 42 Rotherham 40 15 11 14 57 Morecambe 40 14 12 14 57 Accrington 40 13 14 13 49 Bristol Rovers 40 13 11 16 46 Wimbledon 40 13 8 19 55 Burton Albion 40 12 11 17 46 Port Vale 39 16 8 15 61 Northampton 39 11 9 19 50 Dagenham 40 12 5 23 41 Bradford 40 9 13 18 47 Plymouth 40 9 13 18 41 Barnet 39 10 9 20 44 Macclesﬁeld 40 8 12 20 36 Hereford 40 8 11 21 41 Note: Port Vale deducted 10 points into administration Scottish Premier League table Celtic 31 24 3 4 Rangers 32 22 4 6 Motherwell 32 16 6 10 Dundee Utd 32 13 10 9 St Johnstone 31 14 7 10 Hearts 32 13 6 13 Kilmarnock 32 8 13 11 St Mirren 32 7 14 11 Aberdeen 32 7 12 13

64 62 42 54 42 39 36 31 29

Everton 2

West Brom 0

LIVERPOOL: Everton brushed aside West Bromwich Albion 2-0 at Goodison Park yesterday to prolong their excellent recent run and keep their hopes of a Europa League spot alive. The Toffees went ahead though a wickedly-deflected 18th-minute shot from Leon Osman that was credited as an own goal to Baggies defender Gareth McAuley and sealed their win through substitute Victor Anichebe in the 68th minute. FA Cup semi-finalists Everton have now won three straight games 2-0, having got the better of Swansea in the English Premier League and Sunderland in the cup. Everton’s victory left them seventh in the table, seven points behind Newcastle and 10 behind fifth-placed Chelsea in the only guaranteed Europa League spot. It also kept them a point ahead of city rivals Liverpool, who were to play Newcastle today. Albion are in 14th place, eight points above the relegation zone. Osman and Darron Gibson both missed early chances as the hosts had the better of the possession. However, their goal had more to do with luck than domination.

Osman had a quick exchange of passes with Nikica Jelavic before launching a shot which took a giant deflection off Northern Ireland defender McAuley. Baggies goalkeeper Ben Foster was caught stranded, having no chance of reaching the ball. West Brom came out fighting and Toffees goalkeeper Tim Howard had to be alert to push out a shot from Paul Scharner. Chris Brunt tried to blast in the loose ball but his effort hit team-mate Shane Long instead. Foster was then called into action again to tip a low Marouane Fellaini effort around the post, keeping the score 1-0 at half-time. Jelavic, the Croatia striker, was at the heart of Everton’s second-half push for another goal, sending a near-post header into Foster ’s hands, curling another effort over the crossbar and earning a caution for catching Liam Ridgewell with his arm. Everton boss David Moyes brought off yellow-carded Australia midfielder Tim Cahill for Anichebe in the 62nd minute and the switch quickly paid off. The Toffees’ South Africa winger Steven Pienaar went on a diagonal run and Anichebe finished off the move, the Nigeria forward’s strike going in off the far post. Six minutes later, Pienaar was played in by Jelavic but his shot went straight at Foster. Jelavic then put a header wide as Everton stepped up the attack and the frustration got the the Baggies, with

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Spanish League Atletico v Getafe Aljazeera Sport 2 HD Valencia v Levante Aljazeera Sport +2 Sociedad v Vallecano Aljazeera Sport +6 Villarreal v Espanyol Aljazeera Sport +2

Norwich 1

LONDON: Fulham ended a three-match losing run with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Norwich at Craven Cottage yesterday. Martin Jol’s side had slipped into lower midtable after consecutive defeats to Aston Villa, Swansea and Manchester United. But the west Londoners climbed back up to 11th place in the Premier League thanks to first half goals from Clint Dempsey and Damien Duff. Norwich responded well and forced a nervy ending thanks to Aaron Wilbraham’s 77thminute effort but weren’t able to salvage a point. Fulham’s 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford equalled a club worst run of three goalless Premier League outings. But that barren streak was ended inside the opening two minutes. Fulham broke forward as Bryan Ruiz latched onto a long ball, turned and saw a low drive saved by goalkeeper John Ruddy, whose parry fell kindly for Dempsey to bundle home. That was the American’s 10th goal in all competitions this year and Fulham increased their lead in the 13th minute. Again the Canaries were caught out by a quick surge forward as Dempsey slotted the ball through to Duff, who curled home a left-footed effort from inside the box. Elliott Ward picked up the game’s first booking for a challenge on Ruiz in the midst of the Cottagers’ dominance and there were calls from the home faithful for the Norwich centre-back’s

Italian League AS Roma v Novara Aljazeera Sport +1 Aljazeera Sport 1 HD Siena v Udinese Aljazeera Sport +10 Aljazeera Sport 2 HD Lecce v Cesena Aljazeera Sport +9 Inter v Genoa Aljazeera Sport 1 HD Fiorentina v Chievo Aljazeera Sport +8 Cagliari v Atalanta Aljazeera Sport +7 Bologna v Palermo Aljazeera Sport +4 Juventus v Napoli Aljazeera Sport +1 Aljazeera Sport 1 HD

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LONDON: Fulham’s Pavel Pogrebnyak (left) vies for the ball against Norwich City’s Elliott Ward (right) during their English Premier League soccer match.—AP dismissal after he was adjudged to have taken down Pavel Pogrebnyak minutes later. The Russia international looked to have picked up a knock in the clash and was replaced in the 35th minute by debutant Alex Kacaniklic. Only the goal frame and a last-ditch Ryan Bennett block prevented Fulham taking an unassailable lead on the stroke of half-time as Dempsey hit the post from an acute angle and Moussa Dembele saw his follow-up deﬂected

Bolton keep head above drop zone Wolves 2

Bolton 3

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States and Canada. He will become general manager for the newlyformed Professional Referee Organisation. His last match in England saw him issue three yellow cards: two for Everton and one for Albion.—AFP

Fulham 2

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Foster and his striker teammate Peter Odemwingie exchanging sharp words as the match petered out. It was referee Peter Walton’s ﬁnal Premier League match before the 52-year-old goes oﬀ to head the referees’ body in the United

Fulham back on track after sinking Norwich

Abu Dhabi Sports HD 5 27 42 46 35 46 38 45 53 56 43 54 46 53 58 68 65 53 69 67 54 57 68 53 64 for

LONDON: West Bromwich Albion’s Paul Scharner (right) and Everton’s Nikica Jelavic battle for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match.—AP

LONDON: Resurgent Bolton Wanderers battled back from a goal down to win 3-2 at bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers yesterday and keep their heads above the relegation zone. Michael Kightly gave Wolves the lead early in the second half but Martin Petrov drew the visitors level from the penalty spot before Spanish left-back Marcos Alonso and substitute Kevin Davies gave Owen Coyle’s side the three points. Having been swept to a 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers on a tide of emotion sparked by Fabrice Muamba’s on-pitch collapse and subsequent fight for life, Bolton have now recorded three straight wins for the first time since December 2006. They remain a point above the bottom three, in 16th place-albeit with a game in hand-but Wolves are now six points from safety with only seven games to play. Wolves manager Terry Connor preferred Sylvain Ebanks-Blake to Kevin Doyle in the home attack and the former Manchester United trainee registered an early effort on target with a low shot that Bolton goalkeeper Adam Bogdan scrambled away. The hosts began the game with a sense of enterprise that belied their desperate recent form, but they were almost undone

by a marvellous piece of skill by Petrov in the 31st minute. The Bolton winger used his heel to retrieve a ball that had bounced just behind him and flick it over Roger Johnson’s head before lashing in a volley that cleared the crossbar by a matter of inches. Stirred, Wolves sought to re-assert their authority and only a fine reaction save from Bogdan prevented Steven Fletcher from giving Connor’s side the lead with a well-directed header. Having generated such momentum, Wolves threatened to lose their way after a bizarre incident that saw Johnson go headto-head in an argument with his own goalkeeper, Wayne Hennessey. It did not appear to unsettle the hosts unduly, however, as moments later Fletcher had a header kicked off the line by Ryo Miyaichi. The Scot went even closer on the stroke of half-time, skimming the crossbar with a header from Kightly’s right-wing cross, but still the breakthrough would not come. The impressive Kightly broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute, drifting inside Alonso on the right flank and bending a left-footed shot into the bottom-left corner from just outside the 18-yard box. Wolves had lost 14 points from winning positions prior to Saturday’s game and their inability to protect a lead resurfaced in the 63rd minute as Bolton were awarded a penalty when Mark Davies fell under Johnson’s challenge. Petrov tucked away the spot-kick before unveiling a T-shirt bearing the slogan “Be strong Stan,” in reference to his Bulgarian compatriot Stiliyan Petrov, the Aston Villa midfielder, who has been diagnosed with acute leukemia. —AFP

behind. Norwich tightened up in the second half and pushed hard for a goal, with Mark Schwarzer doing well to stop a Wes Hoolahan drive before Aaron Hughes brilliantly blocked Andrew Surman. Moments after substitute Wilbraham shot wide from a good position, he made amends by reducing the deficit in the 77th minute as his effort deflected in off Hughes, but Fulham held on.—AFP

Wigan dream of great escape WIGAN: Wigan’s hopes of escaping the drop for Wigan 2 a second successive season received a huge boost yesterday as they beat Stoke 2-0 in their Stoke 0 Premier League clash. Second-half goals by Paraguayan Antolin Alcaraz and Victor Moses gave the hosts their second successive win - only the second time they have achieved that under manager Roberto Martinez. It wasn’t enough to lift them out of the bottom three as they stay second bottom but only on goal difference from the two sides immediately above them-QPR and Blackburn Rovers. Wigan, who have lost just one of their last eight league matches, made the brighter start with the visitors thankful that goalkeeper Asmir Begovic was on top form. First the Bosnian saved well from Franco di Santo and later in the first-half got down well to deny former Celtic striker Shaun Maloney. However, he was nowhere to be seen when Moses found Chilean wing Jean Beausejour all alone at the far post but with the net beckoning the former Birmingham wing fired over. The hosts kept up their attacking style in the secondhalf and counted themselves unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty when Dean Whitehead looked to have handled Gary Caldwell’s ball. Referee Mark Clattenburg disagreed and only gave them a corner. However, they put that behind them as they deservedly went ahead as Beausejour proved more effective as a creator as he set up fellow South American Alcaraz, who put the ball past Begovic. Beausejour was to miss another golden opportunity midway through the second-half but fortunately for him the impressive Moses wrapped up the points when he scored close to the final whistle.—AFP

Resurgent Everton down Baggies

Radwanska clinches Miami title

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

American football sets foot in cricket-crazy India

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LONDON: Manchester City’s English defender Micah Richards (second left) wins the ball from Sunderland’s English midfielder Jack Colback (left) during the English Premier League football match. —AFP

City late show can’t hide title jitters Man City 3

Sunderland 3

MANCHESTER: Manchester City staged a dramatic revival to draw 3-3 with Sunderland, but the late show couldn’t hide a clear case of title nerves at Eastlands yesterday. Roberto Mancini’s side are now two points behind leaders Manchester United after just one win from their last four

league matches and the champions can increase their advantage to five points with a victory at Blackburn on Monday. After playing some superb football in the first half of the season, City have been hamstrung by some sloppy away displays of late, so they could ill-afford to drop points at home for the first time this season. It could have been even worse as Sunderland led 3-1, thanks to two goals from Sebastian Larsson and a Nicklas Bendtner header, with only five minutes left. But Mario Balotelli, who had scored a first half penalty equaliser, started the fightback in the 85th minute and moments later Aleksandar Kolarov lashed in the equaliser. The equaliser temporarily eased some

of the tension around Eastlands but, as the rivalry with United at the top of the league intensifies, this was a desperately nervy performance from Mancini’s team. The warning signs had been evident for City from early in the game, James McClean’s early volley being charged down by Micah Richards and Craig Gardner shooting into the side-netting from barely six yards. Sunderland stunned City on the half-hour when they became the first team since December to score against them in the first half of a game. Larsson got it, converting an expert right-foot finish as Vincent Kompany backed off and allowed the winger to choose his spot with a deadly right-footed shot. That lead lasted just 12 minutes

before referee Phil Dowd handed City a disputed penalty kick after Edin Dzeko was tripped in the box by Gardner. Balotelli calmly equalised from the penalty spot with a typically cool ﬁnish into the bottom right-hand corner. Yet Mancini was furious on the touchline when City were caught unprepared by a quickly-taken Larsson free-kick which sent Stephane Sessegnon away down the right in ﬁrst half stoppage-time. Sessegnon’s perfectly-weighted cross to the far post was met by Bendtner, outjumping Micah Richards, to head home emphatically. It got worse for City after 54 minutes. Sessegnon played a superb pass which split City’s badly-organised defence and

QPR 2

Arsenal 1

LONDON: Adel Taarabt’s first goal of the season set Queens Park Rangers on course for a 2-1 victory over Arsenal at Loftus Road yesterday to boost the west London club’s hopes of avoiding relegation. Taarabt broke his duck in the 23rd minute with a superb individual effort and while Theo Walcott levelled for the Gunners, Samba Diakite’s 66th minute effort secured three points for the home side. Mark Hughes’s team remain in the bottom three on goal difference, but victory against an in-form Arsenal who remain third will strengthen their belief they can survive. Arsenal came into the game on the back of a run of seven successive league wins but rarely looked likely to extend that run. Arsene Wenger’s side remain in third spot, but defeat means fourth placed Tottenham can close the three point gap between the two rivals if they win their game in hand. The opening moments suggested this would be another long afternoon for QPR with Arsenal starting the game in the manner expected of a team on such an impres-

leaving Kolarov to place his shot just wide of the mark. Increasingly, City’s best hope appeared Tevez whose run and shot into the sidenetting handed supporters a glimmer of hope after 68 minutes before he again forced Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet into action from 20 yards 10 minutes later. Instead, after Bendtner missed a promising opening, it was Balotelli who sparked the comeback by firing home through a crowd of players with five minutes left. City had some momentum at last and Kolarov bagged the equaliser one minute later with a tremendous finishing after chesting the ball down in the penalty area.—AFP

Chelsea shatter Villa’s emotional afternoon

QPR stun Arsenal to boost survival hopes sive run of form. Robin van Persie quickly tested home keeper Paddy Kenny with a low free kick after Walcott had been fouled as Rangers struggled to find a way out of their own half. The hosts soon showed they had the stomach for the fight, regrouping and taking the game to the in-form visitors. And it soon became clear Rangers had the capacity to unsettle the visitors with Clint Hill and Bobby Zamora both directing headers close to Wojciech Szczesny’s goal. Hughes’ side were winning the midfield battle with Diakite, Barton and Shaun Derry eclipsing the efforts of Arsenal trio Alex Song, Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky. Arsene Wenger’s decision to field Aaron Ramsey in an unfamiliar left-sided role appeared misjudged with the Wales captain largely anonymous in the first half. When Rangers finally took the lead, it was not simply the result of their greater determination, more a moment of genuine quality from Taarabt. The Morocco international received the ball with his back to goal and in one movement turned Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen outside the visitors’ area before advancing and placing a right foot finish beyond Szczesny. Rangers fully deserved their lead and Arsenal appeared stunned. Arsenal, though, hit back and were level 15 minutes later as Walcott equalised after being set up by Van Persie. —AFP

sent Bendtner racing clear. The on-loan Arsenal forward waited long enough to draw in the remaining defenders before placing a pass to the far post where Larsson converted his second goal of the afternoon. Mancini’s response was to bring on Carlos Tevez, in place of the increasingly ineﬀective David Silva, as City could sense their title aspirations disappearing. Kolo Toure attempted, in vain, to start a recovery but headed well over from a James Milner corner. Things were becoming desperate for City, their malaise illustrated when Balotelli and Kolarov openly argued with each other over who should take a freekick. Yaya Toure marched Balotelli away,

Aston Villa 2

Chelsea 4

LONDON: Queens Park Rangers’ Bobby Zamora (left) battles for the ball with Arsenal’s Thomas Vermaelen during their English Premier League soccer match. —AFP

BIRMINGHAM: Aston Villa honoured captain Stiliyan Petrov, who has been diagnosed with acute leukaemia, with an impressive fightback against Chelsea yesterday, only for the Londoners to triumph 4-2. Goals from Daniel Sturridge and Branislav Ivanovic looked set to earn a routine win for the Stamford Bridge club until goals from James Collins and Eric Lichaj in the space of three minutes pulled Aston Villa level once again. Then Ivanovic touched in from closerange once again before Fernando Torres broke clear to score his first Premier League goal since September to earn Chelsea three points on an emotional afternoon at Villa Park. Bulgaria international midfielder Petrov, 32, was diagnosed with the illness on Friday and will begin his treatment in London tomorrow. The former Celtic player was in the crowd and was pictured in a hospitality box just before kick-off, while a statement was read out on his behalf. He said: “With the help and love of my family, my team-mates, all of my friends in football, Aston Villa and all of the fans, I am sure I will beat this illness and I am determined to do this. “I saw the picture released

by Fabrice Muamba, my fellow player, and it has inspired me as has all of the support in the past 24 hours.” Villa manager Alex McLeish had vowed his team would attempt to win the game for their captain but Chelsea were always in control. Torres wasted an early chance but after eight minutes, the visitors made the breakthrough through Sturridge. Salomon Kalou clipped a cross in from the left and after Nathan Baker went down under Torres’ challenge, Juan Mata pulled back for Torres once more and when his effort was blocked by Stephen Warnock, Sturridge tapped in from close range. Villa’s first opening came when Andreas Weimann flicked a header in behind the Chelsea defence and Gabriel Agbonlahor raced clear of David Luiz to finish only to be called back for offside. John Obi Mikel threatened to add a second when his powerful effort deflected off Baker and James Collins before being gathered by Given. After both sets of supporters rose to applaud throughout minute 19, in honor of Petrov’s shirt number, the hosts went close to drawing level when Collins headed over from a corner from Barry Bannan. But Chelsea always carried the greater threat and should have moved clear thanks to more fine work from Mata. The Spaniard cut in from the left and fed Kalou and via a pass from Torres, Mata was through before clipping a shot past Given that came back off the post before Baker blocked from Torres.—AFP

Agility reports KD3.5m net profit for Q4 2011 Page 22

German wage deal agreed, averts public-sector strike Page 23

SUNDAY, APRIL 31, 2012

KSE stocks retreat amid caution Page 24

Atlanta airport terminal to be city’s ‘front door’ Page 25

ATHENS: Protesters carry banners reading “Capitalism can’t be corrected, but overthrown” during their protest march towards the EU offices in Athens yesterday. The protest was organized by groups supporting the European day of action against capitalism. — AFP

EU wants G20 to boost IMF funds Summit to urge Japan, US to cut budget deficits COPENHAGEN: The European Union expects leaders of the world’s 20 biggest economies (G20) to agree to contribute more money to the IMF in April after Europe expanded its own bailout capacity, EU officials said yesterday. The International Monetary Fund is seeking to more than double its war chest by raising $600 billion in new resources to help nations deal with the fallout of the euro zone debt crisis. But most G20 countries have said that before they inject any new money into the IMF, the euro-zone must first put up more of its own money to resolve its sovereign debt crisis. In response, finance ministers from the 17 countries sharing the euro, called the Eurogroup, on Friday raised the combined lending capacity of their two bailout funds to 700 billion euros from 500 billion. The increase was a compromise between tempering new demands on euro-zone taxpayers and assuring markets that money invested in euro-zone debt was safe. “It is important to ensure that the IMF has enough resources to play its systemic role in the world economy and yesterday’s agreement within the Eurogroup...is very important in this respect,” Danish Economics Minister Margrethe Vestager, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, told reporters. G20 finance ministers and central bank governors will discuss an increase in IMF resources on April 22 in Washington. “This is the time for increasing IMF resources. It is in the interest of all countries, the focus is very much on Europe, but it is very important to recognize that there are vulnerabili-

ties in other parts of the globe as well,” Vestager said. “I think and I hope, and that is what we are working for, that we will reach an agreement in April,” she added. But five large emerging economies Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) - have said they will only support an

COPENHAGEN: Vice-President of the European Central Bank Vitor Constancio of Portugal (left), Danish Minister for Economy and Interior Margrethe Vestager and Director General of the Internal Market and Services for the EU-commission Jonathan Faull of England (right) at the final press briefing on the second day of the a euro-zone finance ministers meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark yesterday.—AP increase in IMF resources if they are given more say in the IMF, as envisaged by a 2010 reform. “The EU is aware of its responsibility in successfully implementing the 2010 IMF

Obama wants higher tax rates for rich Americans WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama called yesterday for higher tax rates on wealthy Americans, saying the current system of tax breaks for top income earners was unfair. “Today, the wealthiest Americans are paying taxes at one of the lowest rates in 50 years,” the president said in his weekly radio and Internet address. He pointed out that under the current system people like billionaire investor Warren Buffett or Microsoft founder Bill Gates were paying a lower rate than their secretaries. “That’s not fair. It doesn’t make any sense,” Obama said. “Do we want to keep giving tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans like me, or Warren Buffett, or Bill Gates - people who don’t need them and never asked for them? Or do we want to keep invest-

quota and governance reforms and is working on implementing it in full,” an EU terms of reference document prepared for EU delegations for the Washington meeting said. “We call on others to do likewise.” The euro-zone has already declared that it would contribute 150 billion euros to the

ing in things that will grow our economy and keep us secure? Because we can’t afford to do both.” The comments came as Congress prepares to consider a proposal that would increase tax rates for people making more than $1 million a year while keeping then unchanged for those making under $250,000 a year. Obama urged Americans to call their members of Congress and ask them to support the bill. “Call them up, write them a letter, pay them a visit, and tell them to stop giving tax breaks to people who don’t need them and start investing in the things that will help our economy grow and put people back to work,” he said. “That’s how we’ll make this country a little fairer, a little more just, and a whole lot stronger.” — AFP

higher IMF resources. The Czech Republic will contribute 1.5 billion euros, Denmark 5.3 billion, Poland 6.3 billion and Sweden 6.9 billion euros. “The EU calls on other G20

countries and financially strong IMF members to contribute to the effort,” the EU document said. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Friday that the stronger euro zone bailout capacity would support the IMF’s efforts to raise more cash. The European Commission and several other institutions initially pushed for a bigger increase in the euro zone firewall, arguing that the bigger the bailout capacity, the smaller the probability that it would ever have to be used. But Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, Estonia and Slovenia opposed a larger bailout capacity and on Friday the European Central Bank and the European Commission said they were happy with the increase. “We Europeans can travel to the spring meetings in Washington having done our homework,” ECB Executive Board Member Joerg Asmussen said. In Washington, the European Union will urge Japan and the United States to cut their budget deficits as promised, the terms of reference document said. It will also call for structural reform in G20 countries, saying the United States and China had the biggest macroeconomic imbalances. The United States should increase its domestic savings rate, consolidate public finances and improve financial regulation and supervision, the document said. It said China must strengthen its welfare policies, reform corporate governance and liberalize financial services as well as allow the exchange rate of its Yuan currency to be set by the market rather than the government. — Reuters

Report: Swiss seek arrest of German tax officials BERLIN: Swiss authorities have issued arrest warrants for three German tax inspectors over the purchase in 2010 of a CD containing data on suspected tax cheats, according to a German newspaper - infuriating a German state governor. The Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported yesterday that the Swiss accused the officials of “economic espionage” in a letter to authorities in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It quoted state governor Hannelore Kraft as saying that the move was “monstrous.” “The tax inspectors were only doing their duty to chase German tax cheats,” Kraft added. The Swiss federal prosecutor’s office said that it had sought legal assistance from German authorities in an investigation of the theft of Credit Suisse data. However, it said in a brief statement that it could not give details of the request for assistance. It said there is a “concrete suspicion that concrete orders were issued from Germany to

spy on information” of Credit Suisse. The incident comes as opposition-led German states including Kraft’s - are blocking a German-Swiss agreement meant to end a long-running spat over tax evasion by Germans. It would entail Germans making one-time payments to legalize money hidden in Swiss bank accounts and foresees a so-called withholding tax on future income from assets in Switzerland. The deal needs approval by the German Parliament’s upper house, which represents Germany’s 16 states and where Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right government lacks a majority. The states governed by Kraft’s Social Democrats want tougher terms than originally negotiated and aren’t satisfied with changes proposed by Switzerland - though Germany’s federal government says it hopes for movement after North Rhine-Westphalia and another state hold regional elections in May.—AP “There are still overly big loopholes for

Spain budget deficit goals remain a serious challenge MADRID: Spain will still struggle to meet this year’s deficit target despite steep budget cuts announced on Friday and it will have to dig just as deep to meet 2013’s goal, a serious challenge as the economy enters recession. The euro-zone’s fourth largest economy has been the focus of debt market attention since the bloc’s debt crisis began on fears of the cost of Greek-style bailout if sliding investor confidence pushes lending costs up to unsustainable levels. Central governments savings worth over 27 billion euros ($35.96 billion) announced on Friday were well received by Europe, which has demanded the deficit be reduced by 3.2 percentage points this year, and the markets, helping prompt a euro rally. But, the 2012 deficit target needs deep austerity from the regions, that is not guaranteed, and a difficult balancing act for the welfare system, which is groaning under the weight of the highest unemployment rate in Europe and an aging population. “The central government could meet its target but there’s still a risk from the regions and the social security budget,” economist at Madrid-based think tank Funcas Angel Laborda said. “I get the impression the central government has created a budget it can meet but has left everyone else in a rather difficult situation.” The regional authorities, which account for around half of the total spending budget and were responsible for a large part of the fiscal deviation last year, must slash their own deficits in half this year. But, with few details on Friday of how the central government cuts will affect the regions - a full breakdown will be published on Tuesday it is still unclear if Madrid’s austerity comes at the cost of the 17 autonomous communities. What is clear is the regions, which hold the purse strings of the much treasured state health and education systems, will be forced to make unpopular cuts which could fuel growing public anger like that seen during the general strike on Thursday. Marches across the country saw violent flashes for the first time since the crisis began last week as frustration erupted at the government’s failure to address the 23percent unemployment rate which rises to almost 50 percent for under-25s. A fiscal amnesty, which offers a reduced tax rate on money which had previously been undeclared, was the most controversial in editorials on Saturday and makes the assumption some 25 billion euros, to raise 2.5 billion euros for coffers, will be declared. “This is flagrantly unfair, ethically questionable and will hurt the government’s credibility in its fight against tax evasion,” rightleaning El Mundo said. The potential tax income from the declared cash and potential growth such money could help stimulate made it a pragmatic move by the conservatives, which have previously protested the idea, the editorial added. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has expressed his opposition to raising taxes, especially those aimed at the consumer such as value added tax, but if the measures announced on Friday fail to deflate the deficit, hikes could be unavoidable.— Reuters

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

BUSINESS

Agility reports KD3.5m net profit for Q4 2011 114% rise over same period in 2010 KUWAIT: Agility yesterday announced its financial results for the fourth quarter 2011, reporting a net profit of KD 3.5 million and earnings per share of 3.45fils, an increase of 114% for both from same period in 2010. Fourth-quarter revenue fell by 5%, from KD 368.6 million to KD 352 million, largely because of the loss of government contracting business. On a like-for-like basis excluding government and discontinued business, Agility group revenue grew from KD 332 million to KD 345 million, an improvement of 4% despite a slowing economy. The company remains focused on growing profit through continued financial discipline and transformation of its operating platform with the adaptation of new technology that will increase efficiency. Full year results 2011 For the full year ended December 31, 2011, net profit was KD 27 million, vs KD 25 million in 2010, an increase of 8%. Revenue and operating profit for 2011 were KD 1.33 billion and KD 19 million, respectively. The board of directors met and proposed a dividend distribution of 30% (30 fils per share) for the year ending 2011. “Profits grew by 8% in 2011 even though revenues fell as Agility discontinued defense and government business. We are a different compa-

ny today than we were a year ago, and we consider 2011 a new financial baseline against which we will measure future performance,” said Tarek Sultan, Agility’s Chairman and Managing Director. “In 2011 and continuing into 2012, we are heavily focused on strengthening our core commercial business. This includes redeploying resources: we sold the bulk of our vehicle fleet in the Middle East, freed up warehousing space for commercial customers, and converted working capital to cash. Having undergone some heavy lifting in terms of restructuring over the last two years, the company anticipates solid gains in 2012 and beyond,” Sultan said. Core business Revenue for Agility Global Integrated Logistics (GIL) for the full year 2011 was KD 1.19 billion, a decrease of 1.4% from FY 2010. Excluding government and discontinued business, GIL’ revenues grew by 3.2% from the same period in 2010, despite softened trade volumes that prevailed in the last two quarters of the year. Agility’s excellent position in high-growth emerging markets was a major contributor to revenue, as reflected in a double-digit growth in Asia-Pacific region. This strength in the underlying business reflects GIL’s commitment to grow

organically by focusing on key trade lanes, adding new customers and expanding existing accounts. “We have worked hard to engineer a sustainable, durable turnaround in our core commercial (GIL) business. The message for customers is that we’re growing, healthy and here to support you,” Sultan said. “Our focus in 2012 will be to continue grow business with existing and new customers by leveraging our global footprint and marketleading position in emerging markets. At the same time, we intend to drive efficiencies in our operating platform.” Infrastructure Group Agility’s Infrastructure companies contributed KD 111.3 million to FY 2011 revenue. Infrastructure revenue grew KD 18% from FY 2010, excluding government-related business. “Our Infrastructure group of companies continues to provide us with the ability to address profitable niches in the marketplace,” Sultan said. “In 2011 we successfully closed two deals. We merged Agility Qatar operations with Gulf Warehousing Company (GWC) and realized gain of KD 8 million. We also formed a Joint Venture with France Telecom and converted our debt into Equity in Korek. Today we have an indirect stake of 24% in Korek and $100 million debt yielding 12% per annum”.

Making car payment take priority: Study

DUBAI: The Dubai-based port operator DP World’s profit rose 18 percent last year as cargo volumes increased through its network.

Dubai’s DP World profit rises 18% DUBAI: DP World, the Dubai-based port operator, said yesterday its profit rose 18 percent last year as cargo volumes increased through its network. The cargo handler said it earned $532 million in 2011, up from $450 million the previous year. Adjusted earnings, which included gains from the partial sale of the company’s Australian business, were up 67 percent to $751 million. DP World agreed to sell 75 percent of its Australian operations to an investment fund led by Citigroup Inc. for $1.5 billion in late 2010. The deal closed last March. Sales for 2011 dipped 3 percent, to $2.98 billion, the company said. It attributed the decline to a change in how it accounted for the Australian ports. DP World is the world’s third biggest seaport operator, with a heavy emphasis on fast-growing markets in the

developing world. CEO Mohammed Sharaf said that although the health global economy looks uncertain this year, DP World remains “confident about the long term outlook for our industry.” The company has operations at more than 60 sea cargo terminals on six continents, so its earnings offer a window on global trade flows. It runs Dubai’s immense Jebel Ali port, the Middle East’s busiest, and is building Britain’s first new deep-sea container port in more than a quarter century outside London. The cargo handler is part of Dubai’s troubled Dubai World conglomerate, but was excluded from its parent’s $25 billion debt restructuring. Earlier this week, DP World announced it will use spare cash it has on hand to repay $3 billion in debt next month, six months before it is due. —AP

NEW YORK: The recession and its hangover may have turned bill-paying habits upside down. Cash-strapped Americans are paying off their car loans before they pay credit card bills and make mortgage payments, a study finds. It used to be that Americans would pay their home loans first, then their credit card and car loans. After all, homes have been the most valuable possession for most people for decades, and nobody wanted to jeopardize that. But TransUnion, a credit information company, studied the payment patterns of 4 million Americans with at least one car loan, one credit card and a mortgage and found a clear priority for staying current on the car loan. Among Americans who were late on payments last year, 39 percent were delinquent on the mortgage while current on the car loan and credit cards, and 17 percent were late on credit cards while current on the other two. Only 10 percent were late on the car loan while current on the other two. When TransUnion first did the study in 2006, staying current on the mortgage was the priority, says Ezra Becker, the company’s vice president of research and consulting. “Today, most people need a car to get to a job or to look for a job, and that has made cars a priority,” he says. It hasn’t helped that home prices keep falling while the mortgage remains by far the biggest payment for most people. The latest Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index found that prices in big cities had fallen to 2002 levels, down 34 percent from the peak. There is also more leeway on the mortgage. Foreclosure can take two to three years. Cars can be repossessed 90 days after people stop paying. Matt Saxton of Columbia, Md., was not surprised by the study’s results. Saxton is on unpaid medical leave from work, recovering from spine surgery and relying on his savings. Saxton says he dares not be late on his car payment and risk having his car repossessed. Instead, he’s decided to be late on his credit cards and student loans. “I can work with the credit card companies. They won’t shut off or take away anything,” says Saxton, who made a $474 payment this week. “I won’t have the ability to get to work or even get another car if they repossess this one.” — AP

Bayt.com report

Job interview tips for interviewers

ompanies are in constant search for high-caliber, well grounded prospective candidates. Chasing competent and trustworthy talent has become important in today’s highly competitive surplus job market. However for employers, finding a successful talent match is no easy task. In fact the latest statistics from Bayt.com’s poll ‘Hiring Practices in the Middle East and North Africa’ show that almost 41.9% of professionals say that their company does not provide any interview training to those involved in the hiring process. Hiring, if not done right, costs the organization in time and effort. Unsuccessful hiring, results in high turnover, reduced employee morale and is detrimental to the achievement of the organizations goals and objectives. In order to avoid these obvious negatives, the Career Experts at Bayt.com, the Middle East’s #1 job site, have listed below a few essential interview guidelines that interviewers can follow, to ensure that they ask the right questions at the right time. Tip 1: Know what the job is about: More often than not, interviewers tend to commit the mistake of not being abreast of the job requirements and thus rely on their rudimentary gut feel to decide whether a candidate is suitable for the position or not. Do not fly by gut instinct alone; instead prepare your questions in advance and learn everything there is to learn about both the specific position (by taking the time to read through the job description thoroughly) and the candidate (by taking the time to review his/her resume) before the interview stage. Tip 2: Offer the information you have about the position: Do not wait for the candidate to ask. Sell him/her both your company and the position itself. It has become quite hard to find talented, efficient, committed employees and your role as an interviewer requires you to lay the facts on the table and explain to the candidate why you should be the employer of his/her choice and why the position is the long awaited position that will grant him/her long term success and career advancement. Tip 3: Follow a behavioral interviewing technique rather than the traditional interviewing path: Dig deep into the candidate’s accomplishments rather than merely glossing over the candidate’s stated skills and capabilities. This technique accentuates past performance and behavior, and there is no better indicator of future performance than past performance. Let go of customary questions (i.e.: Tell me more about yourself, your strengths and your weaknesses, etc.) and hypothetical questions (What would you do if...) and focus more on getting further into the details of previous/actual work

experience relating to decision making skills, leadership, resourcefulness, organization, communication, motivation, resilience and willingness to learn (i.e.: Did you face obstacles on the job? How did you handle them? etc...) Tip 4: Use open-ended questions when you are interviewing a candidate: Give him/her the time he/she needs to give you an answer. Silence can be an effective tool in such situations and can work to everybody’s advantage. Do not hustle the interviewee with the next question on your list but rather give him/her the opportunity and the time to think before responding. Tip 5: Remember that your role as an effective interviewer urges you to listen more and talk less: (interviewers are usually expected and advised to talk for about 20 to 30% of the total interview time and leave the rest for the interviewee). Give your candidate the opportunity to talk about his/her competencies, skills and qualifications. Tip 6: Maintain a positive body language: •

Posture: Make sure your shoulders are kept straight and your head up high. A solid posture reveals great self confidence (which assures the interviewee that you’re on top of what you’re doing).

•

Hand shake: A firm hand shake shows interest and extends value to the interviewee. Remember to greet your candidate with a steady courteous hand shake.

•

Tone of Voice: Speak clearly, slowly with an enthusiastic tone of voice. This will put your candidate at ease and reassure him/her that they are in good hands.

•

Eye Contact: Maintain direct eye contact with the interviewee during the interview process. Strong eye contact is usually perceived by interviewees not only as interest, respect and self confidence but also as credibility and trustworthiness from both your part and your company’s. Last but not least, remember that being professional at all time is a must. You obviously have to ensure your candidate is comfortable enough to want to sit and talk to you and later on become part of your team (especially if he/she is the right candidate for the job). Be friendly but maintain your professionalism. Do not indulge in excessive small talk, rather focus on work-related information. Remember the interview process is a two-way street: the candidate will be assessing you and your company just as much as you will be assessing him/her and his/her capabilities. Always allot some time to answer his/her questions and concerns before wrapping up the interview!

EXCHANGE RATES Commercial Bank of Kuwait US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian Dollar Australian DLR Indian rupees Sri Lanka Rupee UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi riyals Omani riyals Philippine peso Egyptian pounds US Dollar/KD GB Pound/KD Euro Swiss francs Canadian dollars Danish Kroner Swedish Kroner Australian dlr Hong Kong dlr Singapore dlr Japanese yen Indian Rs/KD Sri Lanka rupee Pakistan rupee Bangladesh taka UAE dirhams Bahraini dinars Jordanian dinar Saudi Riyal/KD Omani riyals Philippine Peso

.2730000 .4390000 .3670000 .3040000 .2750000 .2850000 .0040000 .0020000 .0751050 .7317240 .3830000 .0710000 .7165140 .0040000 .0430000 CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2772000 .4410670 .3691890 .3062650 .2776720 .0496440 .0416320 .2873730 .0356980 .2202800 .0033530 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0000000 .0755000 .7355710 .0000000 .0739400 .7202810 .0000000

.2805000 .4490000 .3750000 .3140000 .2870000 .2980000 .0070000 .0035000 .0765530 .7458310 .4000000 .0760000 .7303270 .0072000 .0500000 .2793000 .4444080 .3719860 .3085850 .2797760 .0500200 .0419480 .2895500 .0359680 .2219790 .0033780 .0054820 .0022040 .0030860 .0034290 .0760720 .7411440 .3950500 .0745000 .7257370 .0065180

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Currency US Dollar Pak Rupees

Rate per 1000 (Tran) 278.400 3.067

Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Yemeni Riyal Euro Canadian Dollars Nepali rupee

Indian Rupee Sri Lankan Rupee Nepali Rupee Pakistani Rupee UAE Dirhams Bahraini Dinar Egyptian Pound Jordanian Dinar Omani Riyal Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal

5.470 2.185 3.404 6.515 75.895 74.395 740.100 46.070 449.400 3.190 1.550 376.600 285.500 3.510

Transfer Rate (Per 1000) 278.050 373.300 444.800 281.000 3.395 5.458 46.060 2.180 3.400 6.465 3.070 740.450 75.750 74.250

UAE Exchange Centre WLL COUNTRY Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swiss Franc Euro Sterling Pound Japanese Yen Bangladesh Taka

SELL DRAFT 293.80 283.68 313.10 374.46 448.56 3.46 3.399

5.700 2.600 4.000 3.195 76.30 740.05 47.45 394.50 725.00 77.15 74.85

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd

Al Mulla Exchange Currency US Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Canadian Dollar Japanese Yen Indian Rupee Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupee Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso Pakistan Rupee Bahraini Dinar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal *Rates are subject to change

5.469 2.171 3.412 3.072 75.75 740.53 46.08 396.07 723.54 76.77 74.34

SELL CASH 297.00 285.00 312.00 374.00 447.00 3.70 3.650

Rate for Transfer US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Sri Lankan Rupees Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Cyprus pound Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees Malaysian Ringgit

Selling Rate 279.050 282.725 443.005 367.850 304.965 738.960 76.950 76.595 74.375 392.800 46.252 2.226 5.556 3.081 3.412 6.502 684.499 4.340 9.165 5.875 3.555 92.335

Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal

282.700 546.900 45.400 51.000 167.800 47.440 375.500 36.570 5.750 0.032 0.159 0.238 3.480 394.620 0.188 92.820 45.600 4.280 231.700 1.804 50.100 723.280 3.140 6.820 77.030 74.350 222.930 38.680 2.653 449.500 43.100 311.900 4.200 9.420 198.263 75.920 278.800 1.340 GOLD

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka

SELL CASH 291.800 740.540 3.660

SELL DRAFT 290.300 740.540 3.399

10 Tola Sterling Pound US Dollar

1,743.090 TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 447.500 278.400

281.200

222.900 46.144 374.000 36.420 5.470 0.031

394.570 0.187 92.820 3.420 230.200 723.100 3.076 6.498 76.600 74.350 222.930 38.680 2.197 447.500 310.400 4.200 9.230 75.820 278.400

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

business

A bleak future for renewable energy? Think again Dr Yasser Al-Saleh

’m often asked if renewable energy has already lost the battle with fossil fuels, and my answer has always been that clean energy technologies are here to stay. Prior to the economic downturn, solar and wind power technologies used to enjoy doubledigit market growth. With the recent financial hiccups, their market penetration has slowed down. However, one would be naive to expect otherwise for such capital-intensive technologies. Despite the global slowdown and the uncertainties surrounding climate change negotiations, you do not need to look far ahead to see a bright future for renewable energy. Consider this —a recent report by the EurObserv’ER affirms that the renewable energy industry is growing in terms of employment, turnover and investment. Renewable energy-based economic activity in Europe was estimated at a staggering$166 billion last year (compared with around $155 billion in 2010). Even more importantly, renewable energy has now started to compete with conventional power sources, without the need for government aid. Unsubsidized solar power is already competing with fossil fuels in India, Spain, Italy and Hawaii. The wake-up call sparked by the nuclear disaster at Fukushima has also revived worldwide interest in

renewable energy. Plans to construct new nuclear plants in Japan and Germany, among other countries, have been scrapped and replaced with new targets to massively increase the utilization of renewable energy there. Whilst phasing out of nuclear power is now being hotly debated around the world, there are plans to remove nuclear facilities in several countries including Germany, Austria, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland and the Philippines. This anti-nuclear movement has boosted demand for clean energy sources like solar and wind power. Even in the United States, renewables now generate more electricity than nuclear. With the US presidential elections taking place later this year, advocates of clean energy are closely watching the American political scene. This is no surprise; the USA, which still has the largest economy in the world, is the biggest global energy consumer and polluter Environmental policy is central to the US election now as it was during the previous presidential election, especially after eight years of the ‘anti-green’ George W. Bush. Being a mainstream Republican candidate favoring laissez-faire policies, John McCain said little in his electoral campaign about government spending on alternative energy. On the other hand, the soon-to-be President Obama focused on issues close to the hearts of the American public like energy security and job creation, both of which relat-

ed to the successful development of a renewable energy industry. More recently, we heard about a few US solar manufacturing companies that went public after being hurt by the Chinese dumping of solar energy products in to the US markets. However, this should not hide the fact that a number of leading international companies including Denmark’s Vestas and India’s Suzlon have increased their manufacturing capacities in the US and that more manufacturing jobs have subsequently been created. Many commentators attribute recent progress in the USA to President Barack Obama’s green stimulus plan, with over $70 billion in direct spending and tax credits for clean energy. At the moment, there is a great deal of optimism that the next US President will keep supporting the green agenda and stimulate global demand for renewable energy. Important though global events and market conditions are, one needs to acknowledge regional differences when considering the prospects for renewable energy technologies in our region. Affected to a certain extent by a blurry financial climate and regional political unrest, renewable energy initiatives in the Gulf region have stumbled recently, but generous government support has swiftly put earlier plans back on track. The Saudi Government recently said that it will invest over $140 billion over the next 20 years on nuclear and renewable energy projects in the

Kingdom. Important pro-renewables efforts are already being made by the International Renewable Energy Agency, whose headquarters will soon be located at the green Masdar City in Abu Dhabi. The World Future Energy Summit was successfully held in the Emirate for the fifth year running in January 2012. A few days prior to this event, the Government of Dubai unveiled a $3.2 billion investment plan to develop the region’s largest solar power plant. That timing seemed a little suspect and some skeptics have argued that these green projects are all about rivalry between neighboring countries and cities in boosting green credentials and nothing to do with meeting rapidly growing domestic energy demand. What seems to be overlooked is that the effect of recent cutbacks in green funding and subsidies in Spain and elsewhere, combined with the recent surge in oil prices gives the oil-rich Gulf region a golden opportunity to become a global leader in the renewable energy arena. As a first step, we need to start perceiving renewables as ‘commentary’ as opposed to ‘alternative’ sources of energy. After all, supporting the local renewable energy agenda will not only help in freeing more oil for export purposes but will also stretch the lifetime of the region’s most precious export. — Dr Yasser Al-Saleh is Senior Research Fellow at INSEAD Innovation and Policy Initiative in Abu Dhabi

German wage deal agreed, averts public-sector strike Verdi union wins 6.3% pay deal over 24 months

ATHENS: A protester chants slogans yesterday in front of a police cordon blocking the way near the Greek Parliament in Athens. — AFP

Merkel: Greece on track to weather euro crisis PRAGUE: Greece has a chance to weather its crisis after the euro-zone and private creditors agreed to restructure its debt, but has “a long way to go,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told a Czech daily yesterday. “Greece has a chance now ... it still has a long way to go, but it has already walked a decent stretch of it,” Merkel told the broadsheet Lidove Noviny daily ahead of her visit to Prague on April 3. “The Greek parliament has approved harsh measures, such as slashing the minimum wage, so that it could compete with neighboring countries for instance in tourism,” she said. “These are extremely tough political decisions which I appreciate a lot. They will bear fruit with time,” added Merkel. She said she wanted Greece to stay in the euro-zone as its departure “would have serious effects” including the domino effect that could cause doubts in other countries. Merkel said earlier she would not

use the visit to Prague to discuss the Czech Republic’s decision to stay out of the EU’s fiscal discipline pact as the only member of the 27-member bloc bar Britain. Prague’s signature on the so-called fiscal compact is being opposed by the strongest party in the Czech government, the Civic Democrats of Prime Minister Petr Necas, whom Merkel will meet next Tuesday. Necas has attacked the pact for failing to clearly set a 60-percent ceiling for government debt and to ensure participation at euro-zone meetings for EU countries still using their own currency. In the interview, Merkel said the Czech Republic was “not isolated” because of its decision not to join the deal tightening fiscal rules for those who signed. “Just like all the other countries, the Czech Republic carries out a number of reforms. I definitely don’t think your country wants to be sidelined,” she added. — AFP

The logo of German Commerzbank is seen in the bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt, central Germany. Commerzbank AG said on Friday, it will wind down its troubled Eurohypo real estate unit instead of selling it, as it had previously been ordered to do when it was bailed out in 2009. — AP

POTSDAM, Germany: Two million German public-sector workers will get a pay rise of 6.3 percent over a 24-month period, according to a government official leading the talks, ending a labor dispute that has disrupted ser vices across Germany. The deal ends the threat of a broader walkout following a series of warning strikes that have disrupted Europe’s largest economy. Wage rises in many other euro zone countries have been steeper than in Germany, fuelling the economic divergence that has underpinned the debt crisis in the singlecurrency area. Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich, who had led the talks with the Verdi union, announced the breakthrough shortly before 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) yesterday after allnight negotiations in Potsdam, a suburb of Berlin. “ This wasn’t a marathon, this was an Ironman (triathlon),” Friedrich told reporters

at the end of the final round of talks that started on Friday. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, speaking at a meeting of European finance ministers in Copenhagen, called it an acceptable deal, adding he was pleased strikes had been averted. “It’s a result that goes to the outer limits of what the federal government and communities can afford but it is all in all a reasonable outcome and I believe it’s a good thing that we’ll avoid another week of strikes,” he said. Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann said he did not believe the deal would serve as a model for other unions and he said the German central bank would closely analyze the agreement. “I believe it is not a model for other sectors but instead has to be analyzed on its own,” he said. He added that the decisive question is how much of a role did the high energy prices have in the wage negotiations.

Verdi leader Frank Bsirske said it was difficult to accept the deal but at least the union had managed to narrow the gap to the pay rises workers in the private sector have been receiving. The annual inflation rate in Germany is about 2 percent. “It’s regrettable that we weren’t successful in getting more for the lower wage groups,” an exhausted Bsirske said. Verdi, one of Germany’s biggest and most influential unions representing 2 million public-sector workers, had been seeking a 6.5 percent rise for one year after years of accepting modest pay deals. Verdi rejected an earlier offer of 3.3 percent. Overall, wages for some 9 million German workers are up for negotiation this year and, despite Bundesbank’s remarks, some economists expect the public sector deal to serve as a model for other unions. With Germany’s economy growing strongly, higher-than-

WB head says US leadership still key NEW DELHI: Amid a global debate about who should succeed him as World Bank president, Robert Zoellick said that it is important for US candidates to get top leadership roles in international institutions if the world wants to keep Washington supporting them. The 187-nation World Bank has been led by an American since its founding in 1944, while its sister lending organization, the International Monetary Fund, has always been headed by a European. After Zoellick announced he would step down in June, some developing countries appealed for an end to the US hold on the top job at the international development organization that gives low-interest loans to developing countries. While declining to address who should succeed him, Zoellick said he often finds himself fighting against critics inside the United States who want to distance Washington from global institutions. No American has ever led the IMF, the United Nations, the World Trade Organization or any regional development bank, he said. “I would just suggest, if you want to keep the United States engaged in multilateral organizations, keep openings somewhere. Because the issue that I have to deal with is keeping the United States supporting some of these organizations,” he said. Last week, President Barack Obama nominated Jim Yong Kim, an American, to

replace Zoellick. The other candidates are Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi OkonjoIweala and former Colombian Finance Minister Jose Antonio Ocampo. Zoellick said all three candidates are excellent. The selection, which will be made by the bank’s 25-member executive board, is expected next month. Another sign that developing countries are chafing against the World Bank: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa agreed at a summit here on Thursday to look into setting up their own so-called BRICS bank to make loans to the developing world. Zoellick said the World Bank would support that venture and work to partner with it, providing its decades of experience and doing the type of joint financing projects it currently coordinates with the Islamic Development Bank. However, he cautioned, it could take awhile before any BRICS bank gets off the ground, because of the difficult decisions about who will put up the capital, what structure it will take and where it will be located. “It’s not an easy sort of task,” he said. Zoellick spoke at the end of a five-day trip to India, during which he met with top government officials and visited projects supported by the World Bank. He said the country needs to undergo serious structural reform if it wants to unlock its “huge potential.” — AP

Dubai’s Drydocks’ lenders agree on $2.2bn debt deal DUBAI: Dubai’s ship building unit Drydocks World has secured the necessary level of support from its syndicated lenders to implement the restructuring of its $2.2 billion debt, the company said in a statement yesterday. The Dubai World unit said a “significant majority” of the Group’s lenders had formally confirmed their support for the restructuring. However, a small minority is yet to confirm support, it added. The company did not specify what percentage of lenders needed to agree for it to go ahead with the restructuring proposal. “The Group remains confident the absence of support from this minority will have no impact on the group’s restructuring,” said the chairman of Drydocks World Khamis Juma Buamim in the statement. It said last week that it hoped to secure lenders support by April 2. Drydocks World

has been in negotiations to restructure its loan facility in an effort to put an end to lengthy and complex debt talks. Earlier this month, the company proposed repaying creditors in five years and said it was seeking more working capital. Drydocks World’s debt restructuring, initially expected to be completed by April last year, has dragged on as the presence of hedge funds and a lack of government support curbed prospects of an amicable deal. A US-based hedge fund Monarch Alternative Capital won a $45.5 million legal claim against Drydocks this month for defaulting on a loan, putting the ship builder’s restructuring in further trouble. The firm’s debts stem from a multibillion-dollar loan it took out to fund expansion in Singapore. Its major ship and rig building facilities are in southeast Asian countries such as Singapore and Indonesia. — Reuters

expected tax revenues gave the federal government and local communities more scope for pay rises. The union had pointed that out in the course of 55 hours of talks and argued they accepted modest pay deals in leaner past years. Under the deal, public-sector workers will receive a 3.5 percent pay rise retroactive to March 1. They will receive a further 1.4 percent in January 2013 and another 1.4 percent pay rise in August 2013. Late on Friday evening, employers had signalled a pay rise of up to 5.8 percent over two years was possible before they upped their effort to 6.3 percent. One last sticking point was that the employers wanted the deal to start today rather than March 1. The union rejected that demand. The pay rise will cost the federal government 550 million euros, Friedrich said. It will cost communities some 2.2 billion euros in 2012 and about 4.3 billion euros in 2013. — Reuters

NEW YORK: A shoe store glass door advertises shoes for $39.99 in New York. The US economy grew at a solid pace in the final three months of 2011 but that growth likely slowed in the first three months of this year as businesses cut back on restocking their shelves. —AP

World Bank President Robert Zoellick

Mattel CEO 2011 compensation even with 2010 NEW YORK: The former CEO of Mattel Inc, the largest US toy maker, received compensation valued at $10.8 million in 2011, the same as he received in 2010, according to an Associated Press analysis of a company regulatory filing. Robert A Eckert, 57, chairman and chief executive of Mattel Inc from 2000 through December, received a base salary of $1.25 million in both 2010 and 2011. He declined increases to his base salary the whole time he was CEO. The bulk of his pay in 2011 came in stock and option awards valued at nearly $7.4 million on the dates they were granted, according to a document the company filed on Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. His performance-based bonus fell 42 percent to $1.9 million from $3.25 million in 2010. And his perks, $283,172 in all, included $51,707 for personal use of company aircraft, $30,000 for a company care and $124,038 in retirement contributions. Mattel’s board of directors took into account the company’s financial performance for the year in determining compensation for Eckert and other executives. Mattel’s net income rose 12 percent while its revenue rose 7 percent to $6.27 billion. Bryan Stockton, who took the reins as CEO on Jan. 1, said he was pleased with the company’s performance, “given the soft global economic backdrop and the highly promotional environment, particularly in the US.” Mattel’s revenue from classic brands such as Barbie and Hot Wheels was strong, as was revenue from properties like its “Monster High” dolls and accessories. The AP’s formula for calculating executive compensation is designed to isolate the value the company’s board placed on the executive’s total compensation package during the last fiscal year— AP

BUSINESS

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

KSE stocks retreat amid caution BAYAN WEEKLY MARKET REPORT KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended last week in the red zone. The price index ended last week with a decrease amounted to 1.26%, while the weighted index retreated by 0.71% compared to the closings of the week before. Furthermore, last week’s average daily turnover decreased by 24.42%, compared to the preceding week, reaching KD 34.45 million, whereas trading volume average was 335.56 million shares, recording decrease 29.41%. General state of caution was the main feature of KSE. Traders had concerns about the announcement of the listed companies’ annual results, as many of them didn’t announce its results yet, which may cause their shares to be suspended. Moreover, more companies announced its financial results during last week, the number of declared companies reached 71% so far. The total number of declared companies reached 146 out of 205 listed companies, realizing approximately KD 1.58 billion, with a decline of 19.95% compared to same companies’ results for 2010. By the end of the week, the price index closed at 6,165.0 points, down by 1.26% from the week before closing, whereas the weighted index registered a 0.71% weekly loss after closing at 420.21 points. 2011 results By mid of last trading day of the week, 146 companies

announced their results for the year 2011 with a total net profits amounting to KD 1.58 billion, 19.95% lower than the same companies’ results for the year 2010, which amounted to KD 1.97 billion. The Services sector came first in terms of total net profits for the year, with a total of KD 744.05 million, followed by the Banks sector with a total of KD 565.49 million, then the Non Kuwaiti Companies sector in the third place with KD 91.23 million. And as per 2011 announced results, the Services sector came in first in terms of average earnings per share (EPS) for its listed companies, which amounted to 167.07 fils. The food sector was second with an average EPS of 101.72 fils, followed by the Industry sector in the third place with 45.96 fils, whereas the market’s overall average EPS is 69.20 fils. On the other hand, and according to the announced results and last Thursday’s closing prices, KSE average P/E ratio is currently at 15.37. Sectors’ indices Six of KSE’s sectors ended last week in the red zone, while the other two recorded increases. The Investment sector headed the losers list as its index declined by 3.58% to end the week’s activity at 3,943.4 points. The Non Kuwaiti Companies sector was second on the losers’ list,

which index declined by 3.07%, closing at 5,992.4 points, followed by the Real Estate sector, as its index closed at 2,200.4 points at a loss of 2.72%. The Insurance sector was the least declining as its index closed at 2,700.3 points with a 0.27% decrease. On the other hand, last week’s highest gainer was the Food sector, achieving 0.66% growth rate as its index closed at 4,324.5 points. Whereas, in the second place, the Services sector’s index closed at 14,023.8 points recording 0.21% increase. Sectors’ activity The Investment sector dominated total trade volume during last week with 512.91 million shares changing hands, representing 30.57% of the total market trading volume. The Services sector was second in terms of trading volume as the sector’s traded shares were 28.81% of last week’s total trading volume, with a total of 483.33 million shares. On the other hand, the Services sector’s stocks where the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover of KD 52.50 million or 30.48% of last week’s total market trading value. The Investment sector took the second place as the sector’s last week turnover of KD 36.45 million represented 21.16% of the total market trading value.

Market capitalization KSE total market capitalization declined by 0.67% during last week to reach KD 29.04 billion, as six of KSE’s sectors recorded a decrease in their respective market capitalization, whereas the other two recorded increases. The Investment sector headed the decliners list as its total market capitalization reached KD 2.13 billion, decreasing by 3.26%. The Industry sector was the second in terms of recorded decline with 1.83% decrease after the total value of its listed companies reached KD 2.19 billion. The third place was for the Non Kuwaiti Companies sector, which total market capitalization reached K.D. 1.77 billion by the end of the week, recording a decline of 1.26%. The Services sector was the least declining with 0.23% recorded decrease after its market capitalization amounted to KD 7.21 billion. On the other hand, the Food sector headed the growing sectors as its total market capitalization reached KD 698.64 million, increasing by 0.40%. The Real Estate sector was the second in terms of recorded growth with 0.33% increase after the total value of its listed companies reached K.D. 1.94 billion. — Prepared by the Studies & Research Department, Bayan Investment Co.

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

BUSINESS

Euromoney Conference looks at future of Kuwait economy KUWAIT: Faisal Al-Mutawa participated in “the Euromoney Kuwait Conference and the Global Economy: Strategies for Uncertain Times”, that was held on March 27, 2012 in Kuwait. 2012 Euromoney aimed at providing a global perspective and an independent platform to look at the future of the Kuwaiti and the global economy, since it has been an interesting year across the globe as countries deal with the repercussions of the global economic slowdown and debt crisis. The conference discussed how is Kuwait itself affected and what will change in the light of a changing global economic landscape. Al-Mutawa participated in a panel discussion on “Investment Strategy in a Low/No Return Environment”. The panel featured a group of investment professionals from Kuwait and outside, they discussed the new investment landscape, the new strategies for asset allocation, whether investment has returned to the old paradigm of deal and manager selection, will growth be sectoral and specific or can one still find markets and asset classes to buy, and should investors of all types benchmark their performance-relative or absolute return. Some of the key points Al-Mutawa raised and received a great audience interaction were: 1. Political instability is number one enemy to the

development of the local economy. 2. Effect of the Arab Spring on its countries, the Arab world, and the rest of the world, with different degrees. 3. The large stagnated government bureaucracy and its control over most sectors of the Kuwaiti economy. 4. According to a release given lately by the Chairman of the Kuwaiti Industries Union, the government has not given any industrial land to investors since 1970’s, with few exceptions. 5. Very old regulations that do not serve the vision of His Highness the Amir of turning Kuwait into a Trading and Financial Center. 6. Economic freedom creates wealth, however Kuwait lacks this freedom when compared to other GCC countries; an example of this economic freedom is that countries that don’t enjoy natural resources are ranked the highest in income per capita and the richest in the world, i.e. Japan, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore ....etc. 7. Lack of credit is one of the major obstacles facing the investment sector in Kuwait. 8. Lack of investment opportunities is putting a burden on the banking system as they don’t find proper channels for lending due to the

continued drop in asset prices. 9. According to World Bank, G20 spent $12 Trillion in their domestic economies to reduce the impact of the financial crisis, while Kuwait enjoys surplus assets of approximately US$ 300 billion and a daily income around $300 million

on a daily basis, but spent almost nothing in its local economy to reduce the effect of the financial crisis in its economy. 10. Many countries have reduced their interest rate to between 1% - 2%, however interest rate in Kuwait still at 2.5%.

KUWAIT: Faisal Al-Mutawa addresses ìthe Euromoney Kuwait Conference on March 27, 2012 in Kuwait.

Atlanta airport terminal to be city’s ‘front door’ Sleek launching pad for millions of passengers

Standard & Poor’s affirms NBK ratings, outlook stable KUWAIT: Standard & Poor’s, the international credit rating agency, affirmed the long-term credit ratings of National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) at A+. All the bank’s ratings carry a stable outlook. NBK ratings reflect its strong business position, asset quality, capital and earnings, as well as its adequate risk position, funding and liquidity. NBK has consistently been awarded the highest credit ratings of all banks in the region by the major international rating agencies: Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings. In their latest reports, the three rating agencies affirmed NBK’s credit ratings with a stable outlook. In 2012, NBK moved up 14 positions to

rank 33 among the 50 safest banks in the world. NBK is the only Arab bank to be listed among the world’s 50 safest banks five times in a row. NBK continues to enjoy the widest banking presence in Kuwait with 67 branches, which together with its growing international presence totals 176 branches worldwide. NBK’s international presence spans many of the world’s leading financial centers including London, Paris, Geneva, New York and Singapore, as well as China (Shanghai). Meanwhile, regional coverage extends to Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

NEW YORK: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. European markets recovered some ground on Friday after sharp losses this week, as finance ministers from the 17 euro countries discussed whether to increase the amount of resources at their disposal for future bailouts. — AP

US weekly unemployment aid applications decline WASHINGTON: The number of people seeking US unemployment benefits dropped last week, the latest evidence that the job market is strengthening. The Labor Department says weekly unemployment benefit applications fell 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 359,000. That’s the smallest number of applicants since April 2008. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, declined to 365,000. The department also made its annual revisions to the past five years of unemployment benefit data. The revisions significantly increased the number of unemployment benefit applicants in recent months. But the downward trend remains intact. When unemployment benefit applications drop consistently below 375,000, it usually signals that hiring is strong enough to lower the unemployment rate. The decline has coincided with the best three months of hiring in two years. From December through February, employers added an average of 245,000 jobs per month. That has pushed down the unemployment rate to 8.3 percent, the lowest in three years. Companies are hiring more because the economy is picking up. The economy grew at an annual rate of 3 percent in the final three months of last year. That was better than the 1.8 percent rate

in the previous quarter. There are other signs the economy is steadily recovering. Companies ordered more durable goods last month. That’s a sign rising factory output will likely boost economic growth. Consumers remained confident in March, even as gas prices jumped. That suggests greater hiring is offsetting the harm to confidence from higher gas prices. Even the battered housing market is showing signs of improving. January and February comprised the best winter for sales of previously occupied homes in five years, according to the National Association of Realtors. One concern is that rising gas prices will force consumers to cut back on discretionary spending. That could weigh on economic growth and slow hiring. The Federal Reserve says it expects oil and gas prices to temporarily boost inflation but predicts that longer-term inflation should remain stable. The job market still has a ways to go to fully recover from the Great Recession. More than 12.8 million people remain unemployed, and the economy still has 5 million fewer jobs than before the downturn. But the more robust job market has caused some so- called “discouraged workers” to start looking again. The work force rose by nearly a half-million in February. — AP

ATLANTA: The new $1.4 billion international terminal at the world’s busiest airport will be a sleek launching pad for millions of passengers that’s designed to help Atlanta grab a growing share of the lucrative market for global travelers. Its wavy lines, expansive windows and eyecatching artwork offer a stark contrast to the boxy design of the rest of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Airport managers are already expecting an increase in international travelers over the next decade, and they hope the terminal set to open May 16 will convince airlines to route even more of their overseas flights through the city. “This is America’s new global gateway. It gives international passengers their own facility and it creates a new front door for the airport,” said Al-Snedeker, the airport’s spokesman. “And it eases the load on the rest of the facility.” It was first proposed in 2000 to accommodate the expected surge of international travelers. The airport handled almost 10 million international passengers last year, and the Federal Aviation Administration predicts that number will grow to more than 13 million international passengers by 2015. The project is the biggest expansion at the airport in more than 15 years. It’s taken four years to build and is so vast workers built a new entrance on a busy interstate highway. It’s coming to fruition at a time when Atlantabased Delta Air Lines, the airport’s biggest user, is cutting back slightly on international flights amid rising fuel prices. But neither airport officials nor airline executives expect it to have more than a short-term effect. “The international terminal is a long-term asset that we see as a foundation for the longterm growth at our number one international gateway,” said Trebor Banstetter, a Delta spokesman. “It gives us a world-class facility for our customers.” Walking into the light-filled terminal, passengers won’t fail to notice broad glass windows along every wall that allows them to watch planes and lift off from the airport’s five runways as they check their bags. The building, unlike the older terminal, features separate levels for arriving and departing travelers to help untangle the traffic outside. Behind the security checkpoint is the second phase of the project: A new concourse with 12 gates for international flights, giving the airport a total of 40 international gates. That’s enough to allow Delta and other carriers to offer new routes while relieving some of the strain on the airport’s other five concourses. The facility is designed to give jet-lagged passengers a place where they don’t mind waiting out a flight delay, turning an airport visit from chaotic to calming. Travelers will be able to dine on organic burgers or tapas at restaurants in the concourse. Artwork includes a crystal chandelier that hangs over the concourse’s sun-splashed

atrium and another installation that plays soothing music for weary travelers as they file off a plane. Some of the most impressive work is less eye-catching. Workers spent months digging a 90-foot trench under an existing concourse to extend the airport’s internal subway system to the new facility. Another popular feature will be a new system that ends the baggage re-check process for Atlanta-bound international travelers, who previously had to relinquish their bags after clearing customs and then wait for them again at baggage claim. The airport believes it will cut travel time by 45 minutes for international flyers whose destination is Atlanta. About $1 billion of the expansion is funded by municipal bonds that would be repaid by passenger fees, and the remaining $400 million was picked up by the airlines. The changes are helping Atlanta keep up with other major international airports. Beijing’s airport, the secondbusiest on the planet, completed an expansion that included a third runway and a colossal glass-and-steel terminal in time for the 2008 Olympics. And Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, the world’s third-busiest, is undergoing a $15 billion expansion that will add a new runway and other upgrades. “If Atlanta and Delta are going to compete on the global stage, you need that new terminal,” airline analyst Michael Boyd said. He said Atlanta and its US rivals are seeking to position them-

selves as way stations on long routes between cities on separate continents. “The future is going to be which of the airline connecting hubs become global portals that not just take people to and from Atlanta, but take people from Buenos Aires to Shanghai through Atlanta,” he said. “The biggest flow is going to be between Latin America and Asia, and the US is in the middle. Those intermediate stops are the name of the game, and that means on longer flights, a stop in Atlanta makes sense.” The terminal still has hurdles to clear. Chief among them is making sure long-time travelers still get to the right place now that the airport has grown even bigger. Transportation officials poured more than $7 million into new highway signs to remind domestic travelers to go to the main terminal and direct international passengers to the new building. And free shuttles take people from one side of the airport to another in 12 minutes. Legal challenges threatened to derail the project, too, after several firms that lost out on lucrative airport contracts challenged the bidding process. Most of the complaints were resolved and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said the one case still pending won’t delay the terminal’s opening. “Our city has long been a preferred destination for international business and tourism, and I look forward to May 16 when we greet travelers from around the world in this new, state-of-the-art terminal,” the mayor said.

ATLANTA: A sign for an electrical outlet stands in the new Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr International Terminal at Atlanta’s airport. — AP

US stocks rack up giant quarter NEW YORK: US stocks closed out their best quarter in years on Friday with record pointgains in the period for the S&P 500 and the Dow blue-chips. After another positive week confirming the first quarter’s bull run, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the three months up 8.1 percent at 13,212.04. The broad-based S&P 500 had its best quarterly percent gain since 1998, adding 12 percent to 1,408.47, while the tech-centric Nasdaq surged a huge 18.7 percent. The Dow’s point gain was a record 994.5 points, while the S&P added a benchmark 150.9 points. The gains came more on the back of real corporate earnings growth than the lackluster economy, analysts said, and for that reason the markets were more likely to hold up. “The rally is fully justified,” said analysts at Briefing.com. “The gains in the S&P 500 this year simply reflect the index gaining ground consistent with profit gains last year.” “There was some serious catching up to do. The reduction of risk from Europe has allowed it to happen quickly.” But the markets were entering the second quarter with cautioneconomists

were divided about what recent data said about the pace of economic growth, while stock analysts warned of a slowdown in corporate profit gains. And while Friday showed the euro-zone coming together to strengthen its protections against more financial contagion, there was still worry about slowing growth there and in Asia. The Federal Reserve itself has not helpedsome policy makers suggested during the past two weeks that the central bank’s easy money policy has gone far enough, while Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke hinted repeatedly that it might not yet be enough. “Even though the economy has improved significantly since the spring of 2009, it is still a mess,” said Chris Low at FTN Financial. “As Bernanke said, the very fact that we are having a glass-half-full, glass-half-empty discussion means we only have half a glass.” US consumer spending picked up pace in February, surging 0.8 percent over January, more than expected-though part of the reason was higher gasoline prices. The spending outpaced income growth, a worry for Wells Fargo Securities economists. “Low real income

growth and the lowest savings rate since August 2009 could be headwinds for consumer spending in the months ahead,” they said. But others saw little problem. “Although real disposable income growth has been soft over the last three months, we expect this to pick up given the recent trends in employment growth,” said RDQ Economics. Gregori Volokhine of broker Meeschaert New York also saw the glass half full in the data. “When we see consumption going well in the United States, it is good for the entire American economy,” he told AFP. The way the debate plays out is crucial: if the economy is strengthening, the Fed could be forced to pull back on its forecast that its ultra-low interest rate policy will stay in place through 2014. If it is still as weak as Bernanke seems to fret, then more efforts to push down interest rates could be in store. Traders and analysts hope for more clarity from data releases in the coming week-but average forecasts suggest the picture will remain muddy. On Monday the ISM will release its index on manufacturing activity for March, and on Wednesday its services sector index.—AFP

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

business

Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Co sponsors Gulf Traffic Week 2012 KUWAIT: Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Co, authorized general distributor of Mercedes-Benz in Kuwait in cooperation and coordination with Ministry of Interior, Traffic department of Kuwait is pleased to support the Gulf Traffic Week 2012. Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Co, participated in the Gulf Traffic Week by supporting the TV commercials made for the traffic week and also supported the radio campaign and competition which was conducted on Kuwait FM. Gulf traffic week was conducted from March 11 to 15. The number of

vehicles on the roads is rising worldwide, posing a challenge for road safety. Mercedes-Benz has been leading the way in vehicle safety for many decades. - The aim is to make current and future mobility as sustainable and safe as possible. A pioneer in matters of safety, MercedesBenz is firmly committed to continuing along “road to accident free driving” by introducing these systems in its vehicles. Some of the pioneering safety innovations are: Active-Lane keeping Assist On long journeys in particular, a dri-

ver’s attention is bound to tail away at some point. It seems as if you’re driving in a straight line the whole time, and the way ahead just looks the same. But tiredness and/or simple lack of attention can lead very quickly to you finding you have drifted between two lanes. This drifting accounts for one in every six serious accidents on the roads: more than a third of all fatalities on the roads stem from this sort of accident. The Active Lane Keeping Assist helps in such cases by warning the driver - or indeed, by intervening autonomously with ESP(r) - as soon as it

detects the vehicle leaving the lane. If there is a risk of crossing a solid line and the driver does not react to this, the system intervenes and attempts to steer the vehicle back to the lane it was in through selective braking on one side. Currently Active Lane Keeping Assist is available in C-Class , CLS-Class, E-Class, M-Class and S-Class. Active Blind Spot Assist No-one can see what is happening behind their back. In vehicles, this limitation has for many years been compensated for with rear-view and side mirrors.

But there remains always one area which is not covered by looking in the mirrors: the blind spot. The Active Blind Spot Assist from Mercedes-Benz helps the driver to monitor the areas that are difficult to see. It gives a warning if danger is detected and can help to avoid accidents through selective braking. 2 short-range radar sensors in the rear bumper, 2 in the front bumper and a long-range radar sensor detect the presence of vehicles in the socalled blind spot area. This is the area on the road that the driver cannot see, even with the use of mirrors. If the system detects a car or motorbike in the blind spot area, a warning triangle appears in the relevant exterior mirror. If the vehicle’s indicator is activated, an acoustic signal also warns the driver that a steering maneuver could be dangerous here. If the vehicle is nevertheless steered into the danger area, the system creates a yaw motion (turning motion around the vehicle’s vertical axis) through selective braking of the wheels on the vehicle’s other side, which can bring the vehicle out of the danger zone. Active Blind Spot Assist is available in C-Class , CLS-Class, E-Class, M-Class and S-Class. DISTRONIC Plus Insufficient distance from the vehicle ahead, poor driver concentration, and unexpected, abrupt stops in traffic are the most common causes of rear-end collisions. Radar-based DISTRONIC PLUS proximity control with integrated Brake Assist BAS PLUS from Mercedes-Benz provides crucial assistance. The system automatically maintains your distance from the car in front and helps to minimize the risk of rear-end collisions by identifying potentially dangerous situations and reacting accordingly. In stop-and-go traffic, DISTRONIC PLUS applies the brakes automatically - if necessary, until the vehicle comes to a

complete stop. Automatic braking is carried out with a deceleration of up to 4 m/s≤. When the traffic situation improves, DISTRONIC PLUS automatically accelerates to the preset speed, relieving the driver of tiring routine actions in traffic queues or stop-and-go traffic. A graphic showing the distance to the vehicle ahead can also be displayed. Currently DISTRONIC Plus is available in B-Class, C-Class, CL-Class, CLS-Class, EClass, M-Class, S-Class & SLK-Class

tem’s vehicle. Should the distance between the vehicle and the detected object decrease to an extent that equates to a potential collision, Brake Assist PLUS will go into action by issuing a visual warning on the instrument cluster display and sounding an alarm via the car speakers. At the same time, the electronics system calculates the braking deceleration required to avert the accident. If the driver hits the brakes hard, BAS PLUS recognizes this and automatically optimizes the braking pressure needed to prevent an

The Brake Assist system BAS PLUS The Brake Assist system BAS PLUS part of the optional DISTRONIC PLUS system - can help to prevent a rear-end collision or at least reduce the impact speed should the collision prove unavoidable. BAS PLUS uses the same attentive “eyes” as the DISTRONIC PLUS system, i.e. two radar systems that monitor short, medium and long-range distances ahead of the vehicle. One thing the systems do extremely well is detect objects in front of the vehicle and calculate their distance and relative speed compared with the sys-

impact. Depending on the car’s speed and its distance from the vehicle in front, BAS PLUS can either implement systematic braking or, if necessary, increase braking power up to maximum force. Developers have also considered the drivers behind you. Adaptive brake lights, which start flashing after emergency braking with BAS PLUS, use this visual signal to warn the vehicles behind you and can help to reduce their stopping distance. BAS Plus is available in C-Class , CLClass, E-Class, M-Class and S-Class models.

NRIs not greatly impacted by budget India tops 5 investment destinations in the world KUWAIT: Al Mulla International Exchange Company, the premier exchange company in Kuwait, in association with the Kuwait Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the Indian Doctors Forum, Kuwait held a thought-provoking seminar on Indian Budget 2012-2013, at the Futouh Ballroom of The Regency Hotel on Tuesday, 20 March, 2012. The keynote speaker at the event was Indian legal luminary, Supreme Court advocate and Director of the Reserve Bank of India, Homi Phiroze Ranina, who delivered his assessment of the Indian Budget 2012-13 and the Direct Taxes Code. Following the keynote address, Ashok Wadhwa, eminent Chartered Accountant and Group CEO of Ambit, India’s leading financial services company, spoke on the Indian economic climate and indirect taxes. In an exclusive interview with Q8India.com, Ranina said that the budget for 2012-13 was a realistic assessment of country’s situation that was scripted keeping in mind the prevailing political climate in the country and against the backdrop of a sluggish global economy. “While the government’s record of fiscal management was disappointing, it needs to be pointed out that the jump in fiscal deficit during 2011-2012, was largely not of the government’s making. The estimated deficit of 4.6 percent of GDP for 201112, went up by 1.3 percent to 5.9 percent, mainly on the back of external factors like surging international oil prices and subsequent local subsidies on petroleum products. The government plans to rein in this deficit and bring it down to 5.1 percent in 2012-13, largely by increasing excise and service taxes, and anchoring subsidies at 2 percent of GDP.” The increase in rates of service tax and excise duty to 12 percent, from the current 10 percent, is expected to bring in nearly Rs 460 billion to the coffers in 2012-13. While this increase in indirect taxes could have a cascading negative effect on inflation, consumer demand and economic growth, the government has sought to incentivize investment into the capital market through its new Rajiv Gandhi Equity Scheme. The Finance Minister’s speech hinted that an income tax rebate of 50 percent would be granted to new retail investors who invest up to 50,000 directly in equities, provided their annual income is below one million Rupees. Though details on this scheme are scant, if structured correctly, it has the potential to generate huge long-term equity inflows. On the Direct Tax Code (DTC), which aims to replace the archaic Income Tax Act of 1961 and

intends to simplify tax laws and encourage better compliance, the Finance Minister, though he has brought the tax rates and slabs to the level recommended by DTC, did not give a timeframe for its implementation. Clarifying that the DTC would probably come into force only by April 2013, Ranina said the new tax code when implemented, as it currently stands, would have a significant impact on the taxable status of Non-resident Indians (NRIs). The DTC would consider the global income of NRIs taxable, if they stayed in India for over 60 days in a financial year or for more than 365 days in preceding four financial years. However, the Standing Committee of Parliament, which was assigned to look into DTC, has recommended in its report filed in the Lok Sabha on 9 March 2012 that the existing provision of granting NRI status to people who spend less than 181 days in the country should be maintained. Giving his take on the weakened rupee, Ranina said that the country’s Current Account deficit that led to a weakening of the currency, mainly stemmed from factors like hike in the oil import bill, the pull back by Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) from equity market in last quarter of 2011, and the unbridled import of gold. While FII confidence in the economy is based on the country’s financial fundamentals and has already started to return during the first two month of 2012, holding down the oil bill and streamlining petroleum subsidies will prove more difficult for the government. It is also doubtful whether the doubling of import duty on gold is going to induce household to stop buying the metal and instead channel investments into financial products. While praising the Finance Minister for performing a tough juggling act with the budget, Ranina pointed out that by shelving bold economic reforms the minister missed out on an opportunity to put the country back on the reform path. Moreover, by not outlining a clear roadmap for implementing pending infrastructure projects, especially in road, rail, ports and power generation, the minister failed to instill greater confidence among investors. In conclusion, Ranina cautioned that while the Indian economy was expected to grow at the rate of 7.5 percent in 2012-13, there could be slippages along the way. He added that as one of the top five investment destinations in the world, the government must do everything possible in the days and months ahead, to firmly entrench India’s place as a superpower in the global economy.

Kimi Raikkonen opens Lotus showroom Beirut

Lotus Cars ME launches Lotus Cars Lebanon ABU DHABI: Lotus, the British motor racing and automotive icon, has arrived in Lebanon with RYMCO and Zardman winning the highly-competitive bid to represent the legendary brand in the country. Launched as ‘Lotus Cars Lebanon’, the new operation was introduced to the market on March 26, 2012, with an exclusive event at Beirut’s MAD nightclub and with Lotus F1 Team driver and former World Champion Kimi Raikkonen, Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar and CEO Lotus Cars Middle East Montaser Al-Kuzbari, in attendance. A select number of profiled guests and fans got a chance to see the cars first hand at the event titled “Lotus is Back” featuring the current line-up of Lotus gems. Lotus Cars Middle East (LCME), the official Lotus distributor based in the UAE is proud of launching Lotus Cars Lebanon as part of their mission to develop the Middle East and North African market. . Lotus, founded by racing legend Colin Chapman, is the industry benchmark for ride and handling. These cars are telepathic to a driver’s

touch. They are agile, uncompromising, simple yet technologically prodigious. The design, materials and manufacturing processes are state-of-theart, the engineering visionary, and they are hand-built in England by passionate artisans obsessed with performance, refinement and dynamic excellence. Group Lotus, headed by CEO Dany Bahar, continues to reinvig-

orate Lotus with highly anticipated future range of vehicles supported by continued developments to the current Elise, Exige and Evora platforms “The new Exige S model is in high demand, and the newly released Evora GTE road car is already receiving a very high number of orders. Lotus is scheduled to take the year ahead by storm”, said Bahar. Bahar

went on to comment, “The appointment of Lotus Cars Lebanon is an important and positive step for Lotus, as Lotus Cars Middle East works to expand the representation of our brand across what is a very important region for the future of Lotus. We are delighted to work with our new partners in Beirut. We also look forward to strengthening our relationships with existing partners and welcoming further new dealers in new markets across the Middle East and North Africa in the near future.” The current range of Lotus cars will be available in the Middle East market including the award-winning Evora, the iconic Elise and the stunning Exige. The Elise is a truly modern evolution of the classic two-seat sports car; this is a Lotus that immerses the driver totally in the intensity of the drive, on road or on track. The Lotus Exige S is blending the extreme and the sublime, it’s a balance between beauty and the beast, and with its 345 hp (350 PS) supercharged V6 engine it’s not for the faint hearted. The Evora is a car for serious drivers who enjoy the combination of performance and the open road.

Home Centre ‘Room Makeover’ contest goes GCC-wide KUWAIT: Home Centre, the region’s leading home retailer, unveiled the second edition of its hugely successful ‘Room Makeover’ contest. Previously hosted only across the UAE, the competition goes GCC-wide in the current season and invites entries from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. The contest will select 20 winners across the region that will each be given dramatic room makeovers for a chosen living space worth AED10,000 in the UAE; KD1,000 in Kuwait; BHD1,000 in Bahrain; OMR1,000 in Oman; SAR10,000 in Saudi Arabia; and QAR10,000 in Qatar. Beginning on 2 April, the competition will run on a microsite hosted on the Home Centre website www.homecentrestores.com that will also be accessible from the brand’s Facebook w w w.facebook .com/homecentrestores. Participants can register through their Facebook accounts or personal email addresses until 21 April.

To engage a wider consumer base, the competition will be open to public voting allowing applicants to share their entries with family and friends in order to gain votes and increase their chances to win. The top 100 entries that receive the highest votes will be shortlisted for the next round and additionally win a limited edition Home Centre cookbook. An internal jury will also review the rest of the entries to select deserving candidates. From the second round of selection 40 participants will be picked out as the shortlisted finalists. Experts from Home Centre will then examine each of the 40 shortlisted homes to select the 20 final winners from across the six GCC countries. Aarti Jagtiani, General Manager, Home Centre, said: “ The Home Centre team is excited about the second season of our highly successful Room Makeover contest, which offers an excellent opportunity to reach our customers across the region. Additionally, it allows us to understand cus-

tomers’ aesthetic and functional needs, which will go a long way in creating an appropriate product portfolio. The beauty of the contest is that anyone can enter - it is not linked to purchase or transaction. The entire experience is very rewarding, at many levels.” In 2011, Home Centre successfully organized the first-ever ‘Room Makeover’ contest attracting over 3,200 entries from the UAE. In addition to providing home decor expertise, the Home Centre design team made a distinct visual impact by matching colors, lighting, palettes and textures to reflect the personality of the winners. All products including furniture, painting and accessories for refurbishing the rooms were offered by Home Centre. Voted a UAE ‘Superbrand’ in January 2012 for the third consecutive year, Home Centre offers a mix of contemporary and traditional designs across furniture, furnishings, home accessories, kitchenware and gift options at exceptional value.

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

TECHNOLOGY

Public needs more online references: Wiki founder LAGOS: The man who helped create the online reference Wikipedia said that the end of Encyclopaedia Britannica’s print run shows the world’s growing reliance on the Internet as a base for knowledge. Jimmy Wales’ first visit to Nigeria also highlighted the growth of other languages besides English on Wikipedia, particularly the Yoruba language of the oil-rich nation’s southwest. While growth remains slow and uneven, Wales said he hopes more users for the community-edited website will begin offering new articles as creation on the English version has slowed as it now has nearly 4 million entries. “I’m an optimist about the Internet

as a force for preserving culture, while at the same time increasing global culture. I don’t think we have to have either/or,” Wales told The Associated Press in an interview in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos. Wikipedia’s popularity remains high among Internet users as print resources continue to suffer. This month, the owners of Encyclopaedia Britannica, published since 1768, announced its print edition will stop being available when its current stock runs out. The Chicago-based Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., which publishes the 32-volume set, said it will continue to offer digital versions. Wales said that decision represented the will of a pub-

lic now expecting to have knowledge at the push of a mobile phone button or at the finger-sweep of a tablet computer. “It’s the culmination of a very, very long trend. In a way, it’s a sad moment, but it’s the way technology moves on,” Wales said. “Even if we think Britannica is what we want, we really want Britannica on an iPad or a phone, accessible to us all the time, not in dusty books on the shelf - no matter how beautiful those might be.” Wales acknowledges the limits of Wikipedia, a website he said is edited by a user base that’s 87 percent male, with an average age of 26. He said he hopes a simplified editing process will

allow the reference site to attract a more diverse range of contributors with knowledge in a variety of fields. In Africa, Wales said that the Yoruba language of Nigeria’s southwest, including Lagos, led the continent in actual pages in its own version of Wikipedia with more than 29,000 pages. However, the majority of those articles came from “bots” - programs designed to take data from a table and create a simple Wikipedia entry. Detailed entries remain far fewer, as there appears to be one dominant user creating the Yoruba entries, he said. Connectivity to the Internet remains another challenge. Nigeria in

particular relies on Internet over mobile phone networks as hard-wired lines remain few and expensive. Fibre optic lines now running under the ocean to Nigeria could see better service brought to the nation of more than 160 million people. “From this hotel, the speed of the connection is better than New York City, which is quite amazing,” Wales said during a speech at a seminar on youth marketing, drawing applause from the crowd. “Of course there are bigger challenges. For one thing, this is at a fancy hotel by the seaside and of course loads of people across Nigeria are still struggling with very difficult access issues.” — AP

Apple pledges to boost China factory wages Foxconn’s concession expected to have ripple effects

GUTTENBERG: Dave McClelland strolls along Bergenline Avenue at the North Bergen-Guttenberg border. — MCT

A good pay phone is very hard to find HACKENSACK: The pay phone - that quaint-looking device with a receiver and a slot for coins - is fast disappearing. Or were you too busy staring at your Droid to have noticed? Don’t look for a pay phone on Route 4. None of the highway’s 22 gas stations has one. Don’t feed quarters into any of the five phones in the entryway of Hackensack’s Coach House diner. They’ve been disconnected. Don’t count on phoning home from the North Bergen terminus of the HudsonBergen Light Rail. The pay phone’s been removed from its stand. It doesn’t take a genius to identify the culprit: cellphones. Verizon Communications recently sold off its public telephone business, a move that has further reduced the number of pay phones and frustrated people who rely on them. Time was when pay phones were a dime a dozen. In 1975, when all pay phones in the region were operated by New Jersey Bell, The Record identified a phone booth at an Exxon station on the Palisades Interstate Parkway as Bergen County’s busiest public phone. On average, 93 calls were made from it a day. Today, the station is a Sunoco and there’s no phone. If there’s a pay phone today that’s used 93 times a day, Michael Maccaro would like to know. Maccaro owns Bethlene Enterprises, a Wayne, N.J.based property management firm that owns pay phones in northern New Jersey, mostly in urban areas. He says he no longer looks at the call reports for his 65 sites. “I can’t get out of this business soon enough,” groused Maccaro, who used to have 1,400 phones. One of his phones is outside the 7-Eleven on Teaneck Road in

Teaneck, NJ. It handled 22 calls during one seven-day span in January - three a day, on average. The number of pay phones nationally has dropped from a peak of 2.2 million in 2000 to perhaps 400,000 today, according to the American Public Communications Council, which represents 800 independent pay-phone owners. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that pay phones are vanishing at the rate of 10 percent a year. Willard Nichols, the trade group’s president, says pay phones “are primarily used by the lower-income portion of society - that stands to reason.” He adds that roughly half of calls do not involve coins, such as those made with a prepaid calling card. America’s first coin-operated telephone was installed in 1889 in a Hartford, Conn., bank. A tinkerer named William Gray invented it after begging to use someone’s telephone to summon a doctor for his wife, according to Sheldon Hochheiser, archivist and institutional historian at the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) History Centre, based at Rutgers University. By 1902, there were 81,000 pay phones in the US, mostly at drugstores and train stations. The number kept rising until cellphones “ended up in everybody’s pocket,” said the 60-year-old Hochheiser, who can’t remember when he last used a pay phone. Not that he’s sentimental about it. “New technologies evolve and appear and sometimes they complement older technologies and sometimes they replace older technologies,” he said. “What hasn’t changed is the need for people to stay in touch.” —AP

BEIJING: Consumers probably won’t have to pay more for iPads, iPhones and other popular consumer electronics despite a Chinese company’s pledge to trim work hours and raise wages for its hardscrabble assembly workers. The paychecks have already been steadily growing even before this week’s pledge, and labor expenses remain a small portion of the total bill for most gadgets made in China. At most, the cumulative wage increases could crimp the profits of major technology companies. Manufacturers have a bigger worry in finding ways to save money on the parts that power the devices. Nonetheless, assembly costs are likely to escalate because of Foxconn Technology Group, which assembles an estimated 40 percent of the world’s electronics, including the hot-selling iPhone and iPad. Foxconn, owned by Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., promised to limit hours while keeping total pay the same. That commitment will translate into higher hourly wages. The pledge came after Apple Inc., the world’s most valuable company, hired a labor auditor to review the practices and conditions in Chinese factories run by Foxconn. A report on the audit, released Thursday, evoked images of a sweatshop and said Foxconn routinely violated overtime laws by assigning its assembly-line workers to toil for more than 60 hours per week. Foxconn’s concession is expected to have ripple effects not only because it involves Apple, one of the world’s most scrutinized companies, but also a major Chinese employer that cuts a broad swath. Foxconn has about 1.2 million workers and either currently or has assembled products for a long list of technology companies including Microsoft Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc. Those companies’ smartphones, computers, video game consoles and other devices have become household staples around the world. “I think whatever Foxconn did will have an impact, certainly, on all Chinese workers in all trades,” said Willy Lin, managing director of Hong Kong-based Milo’s Knitwear, which makes clothing in three factories in China for European clients. Japan’s Toshiba Group, which employs 32,000 workers in China to

make products such as refrigerators and TVs, said it already plans similar changes to reduce overtime work and improve working conditions at its factories. China has long been a low-cost manufacturing center for goods stamped with some of the world’s best-known brands. But wages there have been steadily rising for years as companies compete for workers. IHS iSuppli analyst Thomas Dinges believes China’s communist leadership also realizes that the country’s economic evolution requires raising the standards of living so more factory workers assembling the devices will eventually be able to buy them.

by employees in 2010 by more than doubling its basic monthly salary to 1,800 yuan ($290). That year, Toyota Motor Corp. and other Japanese automakers also granted pay hikes following a wave of strikes that had tacit government support. China’s leaders have already promised to double the country’s minimum wage from 2010 levels by 2015. The minimum wage in Shanghai, one of the world’s most expensive cities, is about 1,200 yuan ($200) a month after an increase of more than 10 percent last year. The northern city of Tianjin raised its minimum wage to 1,070 yuan ($175). Beijing has tightened enforcement of wage and hour rules “because

SHENZHEN: In this file photo, staff members work on the production line at the Foxconn complex. — AP After the 2008 global financial crisis triggered a freeze in the minimum wage to help exporters compete, Chinese workers have received big pay increase over the past two years, though salaries remain paltry by Western standards. Foxconn responded to a spate of suicides

there has been a general lack of compliance greater than in other countries,” said K. Lesli Ligorner, head of the China employment group for the law firm Simmons & Simmons. “China is trying to make sure that at least at the lowest level of unskilled workers, there are greater protections in place for them.” — AP

REVIEW

Sea of rights limits March Madness digital NEW YORK: Madness is one way to describe my experience with March Madness Live, a service for watching the annual college basketball tournament on computers and mobile devices. Don’t get me wrong. The features were great, and video quality was decent. But it wasn’t easy figuring out how to get the games I was entitled to watch for free. CBS and Turner Sports were smart to continue offering live video coverage beyond the TV. After all, many of the tournament’s early games took place during the workday, when many people aren’t near TVs or don’t want to make it too obvious they’re goofing off. What’s changed is that there’s now a fee to watch the games via March Madness Live, with some exceptions. Fans may detest having to pay for something that used to be free, but $3.99 for all 67 men’s games is a good deal. It’s a one-time fee, so you don’t get charged again for the iPad if you’ve already paid for access on the computer. On computers March Madness Live offers extensive access to the tournament, starting with the March 11 selections of teams and concluding with a practice session this Friday and the Final Four on Saturday and Monday. Visit http://ncaa.com/march-madness to launch March Madness Live in a separate browser window. From there, you can get a schedule of games and check your picks. You get displays of

both teams’ Twitter feeds and tools for easily posting messages or video clips on Facebook or Twitter. You can watch any of the games live or get a full replay afterward, all with commercials. Unfortunately, you can’t pause or rewind live video. It felt like TV before I bought a TiVo digital-video recorder in 2001. Stats on individual players are also available, and a scoreboard at the top gives you frequent updates to other games. For those at work, hitting the “Boss Button” temporarily replaces the video window with a fake email, including a humorous one pretending to be a scam to get your password information for March Madness Live. Or you can play it safe and just listen to audio produced for radio stations, while pretending to be stuck in an endless conference call. Here’s where it got confusing. All games broadcast live on CBS are available for free on computers, though only from CBSSports.com and not the March Madness Live service. Games shown on Turner cable channels TBS, TNT and truTV require a subscription - the onetime fee of $3.99 or an existing TV subscription with a cable or satellite TV company (an Internet subscription isn’t enough). But not all subscribers are created equal. If you paid the $3.99, then you have full access. If you’re an existing TV subscriber, it depends which provider you have. Some subscribers have been able to watch games

through their providers’ websites after logging in to verify they are customers. Others had to figure out which Turner channel a particular game was on, go to its website and enter credentials - in my case, information that matched my billing records on file. That got me access on computers, but not on mobile devices. To add to the confusion, replays of full games always require a $3.99 upgrade, regardless of the network. When I first tried to watch video on March Madness Live, I was asked for my credit card information. I had to do a Google search to learn that I could watch on computers for free, but elsewhere. Why make it difficult to watch video I’m already entitled to as a paying cable subscriber? Apple’s iPad The app is free, but watching video of the games costs money. The $3.99 fee applies regardless of whether you are already a cable subscriber or which network is carrying the game. (The exception is when a provider offers the games through its own mobile app, but it’s not even clear if any does. That’s how confusing this all is.) The experience on March Madness Live’s iPad app is slightly richer than on the desktop, with more prominent access to social media features. You also have options for getting alerts when there’s a close game, a potential upset or when a game goes into overtime. You can set the app to

alert you when your favourite team is about to start playing. These alerts appear on your device when you’re not using the March Madness Live app. What you don’t get are replays of past games. You’re told you can watch highlights at NCAA.com, but there’s no link to get you there. Because of that, I see the iPad app as more of a backup when you’re away from a computer - or if your employer blocks access to March Madness. Smartphones Apps are available for the iPhone and Android devices. Once again, installing the app is free, but you need a subscription to get live video. The features are similar to those on the iPad. Because the screen is smaller, some of the features such as social media aren’t as easy to find and access. But they are there if you look hard enough. Where the phone apps do better is in their ability to display highlights of past games right from the app. Like the iPad, there’s no full replay of past games. You probably wouldn’t want to watch a full game on the phone in any case, but I appreciate having that choice -and I don’t mind paying for that option. In fact, $3.99 is a bargain compared with monthly cable bills that exceed $70 on average. Live sports coverage is one of the few reasons people need cable TV these days. Don’t tell the cable guy, but I’d quickly drop my cable service if more of these online packages become available. — AP

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

H E A LT H & S C I E NC E

London exhibition looks inside our skulls LONDON: Like zombies, human beings can’t get enough of brains. A new London exhibition explores that fascination, displaying everything from mummified Egyptian cerebral matter to slices of Albert Einstein’s brain in the story of our quest to understand what’s inside our skulls. The show at London’s Wellcome Collection asks not what brains have done for us but what, in the name of science, we have done to brains. “Brains have been prepared and weighed and sliced and generally (messed) about with,” Ken Arnold, the museum’s head of public programs, said Tuesday. “This exhibition is, almost contrarily, about the brain, rather than the mind,” he said. “An exhibition about what the brain is, rather than what the brain does.” The gray mass inside our skulls is our exceptional organ, the one that can’t be transplanted, the seat of intellect and personality. It is part of us, but it’s also the essence of us. Which is why brains fascinate - and why seeing one in a jar delivers a special shudder. There are plenty of such shocks in “Brains: The Mind as Matter,” a show that puts the brain under a microscope - sometimes literally. The brain has fascinated and baffled scientists for centuries, ever since medieval Christian and Islamic scholars recognized it as the repository of thought and memory. The exhibition, which opens Thursday and runs to June 17, features mummified, desiccated, galvanized and pickled brains - testament to our sometimes misguided attempts at scientific understanding. Generations of scientists have extracted and measured brains, to see if they could find the secret of genius - or evil - in the organ’s size and texture. The exhibition includes a range of celebrity brains, including those of 19th-century murderer William Burke and

women’s suffrage pioneer Helen Gardiner. There’s also the left lobe of mathematician Charles Babbage, and two slides carrying pieces of Einstein’s brain, kept by a pathologist and studied by scientists ever since for clues to his genius. That secret remains elusive. Scientists no longer believe, as they did in the 19th century, that character can be read in the contours of the skull, or that smarter people have bigger brains.

(Einstein’s is not particularly large.) The discovery of neurons - the cells that transmit information from the brain to the body - has led to huge advances in understanding how the brain works. Yet the brain remains “a complex and inscrutable substance,” said the show’s curator, Marius Kwint. And despite huge medical advances, brain surgery remains a brutal business, in some ways little changed

LONDON: Wellcome Trust employee Zoe Middleton poses for the media by a work entitled ‘My Soul’ by artist Katherine Dawson, that is a laser etched in lead crystal glass of the artist’s own MRI scan, at an exhibition call ‘Brains -The Mind as Matter’ at the Wellcome Collection on March 27, 2012. — AP

since our ancestors bored holes in skulls with flint tools thousands of years ago. One such neatly drilled Bronze Age skull is on display in the London show. “It’s basically down to drilling and cutting and sawing,” said Kwint. The exhibition drives that point home, viscerally, with an assortment of skull saws, drills and other items from the brain surgeon’s toolbox, as well as a graphic 1930s instructional film on how to perform a craniotomy. The Wellcome Collection is a cross between medical museum and art gallery, and the exhibits on display range from the clinical to the artistic. The medical specimens are interspersed with artworks that deal with the brain, including Annie Cattrell’s silvered bronze casts of the inside of a skull and Katharine Dowson’s delicate, feathery images based on cerebral angiograms. There are constant reminders that brains have long been collectible, for interests of science or curiosity. Kwint said the show is, in part, an exploration “of the ethics and politics and even the economy of the giving and taking of brains.” From 19th-century scientists taking the brains of criminals to the Nazis experimenting on those they considered their racial inferiors, brains have often been taken without their owners’ consent. Today’s scientists are once again on a quest to archive brains - this time with the permission of their donors - in the hope of unlocking the secrets of degenerative neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s. The exhibition ends on a hopeful note, with testimonies from people who have agreed to leave their brains to science. One, Albert Webb, says in a recording that he made the decision so “I won’t be burnt to death when I get into a coffin”. “And I should be doing a bit of good, perhaps, to somebody.” — AP

Doc saves babies caught in Romania corruption

WASHINGTON: John Askew, Sr, a patient/actor (left) gives feedback to third-year Georgetown medical student Gregory Shumer after a training session in an examining room on the Georgetown Medical School campus on March 16, 2012. — AP

In age of gadgets, doctors try to keep human touch WASHINGTON: As the United States moves to paperless medicine, doctors are grappling with an awkward challenge: How do they tap the promise of computers, smartphones and iPads in the exam room without losing the human connection with their patients? Are the gadgets a boon or a distraction? “That’s the tension I feel every day,” says Dr. Vincent WinklerPrins, a family medicine specialist at Georgetown University. The medical school is developing one of a growing number of programs to train new doctors in that balancing act, this one using actors as patients to point out the problems ahead of time. Across the country at Stanford University this summer, medical students will bring a school-issued iPad along as they begin their bedside training - amid cautions not to get so lost in all the on-screen information that they pay too little attention to the patient. Face your patient, excuse yourself to check the screen and put away the gadget when you don’t really need it, say Stanford guidelines that specialists say make sense for physicians everywhere. And, of course, no personal Internet use in front of a patient. “The promise of these devices to augment the delivery of clinical care is tremendous,” says Stanford’s Dr. Clarence Braddock. He uses a secure app on his iPad to pull up patient charts if he’s called after hours, no matter where he is. Braddock helped develop Stanford’s standards understanding there are different hurdles. Middle-aged doctors may be less comfortable with the technology and take longer with it. Younger ones who grew up texting while multitasking may not realize how intrusive patients might find the devices. Even Braddock has a confession: To his embarrassment, his phone once beeped an email alert about a sports tournament while

he was with a patient. It’s not just a matter of etiquette. If the doctor spends too much of your 15 minute visit typing or staring at a screen, you have to wonder: What if I have a symptom that just got missed? “If the screen is turned away from the patient, they don’t know if you’re looking at their electronic health record or playing solitaire or looking up stocks,” notes Dr. Glen Stream of the American Academy of Family Physicians. A longtime user of computerized records, Stream makes sure to show his patients what he’s doing - especially when seeing pictures on the screen can help them better understand a health condition. Electronic health records, or EHRs, are considered the future of health care for good reason - they can help prevent medical errors. For example, the systems can warn if doctors are about to prescribe a drug that could interact badly with another one the patient already uses. As these computerized charts become more sophisticated, they also have the potential to spur more efficient care: no more getting another X-ray just because you forgot to bring in your last scan if the doctor can call it up digitally. About a third of doctors report using electronic records, double the number since 2008, says a report this month in the journal Health Affairs. Georgetown’s WinklerPrins limits screen time in front of his own patients by typing notes into their charts after they leave. A group of actors gathered at Georgetown one recent morning, each there to play the role of an older diabetic seeking care for the first time since a spouse’s death. WinklerPrins watched on a monitor outside the room as medical students conducted a 15-minute office visit. —AP

Dar Al Shifa Dental Center launches special promotion

Dr Ala Jamal DDS, MDS

KUWAIT: Dar Al Shifa Dental Center has announced the launch of a special promotion for patients seeking dental care. Patients who book teeth cleaning appointments before 26th of April will receive free of charge a teeth whitening home treatment kit valued at KD 80. Dr Ala Jamal DDS, MDS, Orthodontist Consultant and Head of Dar Al Shifa Dental Center commented: “Oral health is very important. It is a crucial aspect of maintaining general health. Proper dental care can reduce the presence of bacteria, which reduces strain on the immune system. Regular dental visits allow for early identification of conditions and infections. This allows for early treatment of these issues before they develop into serious problems. Our new promotion reflect the hospital’s continued pursuit of providing premium healthcare services to its patients that further adds value to their overall experience.” Dar Al Shifa Dental Center is located at Dar Al Shifa Clinics in Maidan Hawally.

BUCHAREST: Dr Catalin Cirstoveanu runs a cardio unit with state-of-the-art equipment at a Bucharest children’s hospital. But not a single child has been treated in the year-and-a-half since it opened. The reason? Medical staff he needs to bring in to run the machinery would have expected bribes. So Cirstoveanu has launched a lonely crusade to save babies who come to him for care: He flies them to western Europe on budget flights so they can be treated by doctors who don’t demand kickbacks. That’s what Cirstoveanu did last week for 13-day-old Catalin, who needed heart surgery. Cirstoveanu packed a small bag, slipped emergency breathing equipment into the baby carrier and caught a cheap flight to Italy, where doctors were waiting to perform the surgery. The operation was successful. Two days later, though, a 3-week-old baby that Cirstoveanu whisked away to the same clinic in northwestern Italy - with tubes piercing her tiny frame - died before she was able to have lymph gland surgery. “I was very worried it wouldn’t work,” said Cirstoveanu. “But in Romania, she would have died anyway.” The soft-spoken Cirstoveanu is fighting an exhausting and largely solitary battle against a culture of corruption that’s so embedded in Romania that surgeons demand bribes to save infants’ lives and it’s even necessary to slip cash to a nurse to get your sheets changed. It’s one of the reasons why the country’s infant mortality rate is more than double the European Union average, with one in 100 children not reaching their first birthday. “To be honest, it’s so deeply rooted into our system that it’s really difficult to eliminate,” Health Minister Ladislau Ritli said in an interview with AP. Officially, the new cardio unit that Cirstoveanu runs at the Marie Curie children’s hospital isn’t functioning because jobs have not been filled. The real reason appears to be that Cirstoveanu has banned staff from taking bribes. That means that hightech machinery lies idle because qualified experts do not bother to apply for jobs, as they know they cannot supplement their incomes with bribes. The zero-tolerance policy to corruption makes for a grueling work schedule for Cirstoveanu, who needs to shuttle babies abroad for surgery and take care of them on the flight. During the two-hour flight with the

girl who died, Cirstoveanu fixed tubes, sedated her and hand-pumped oxygen to keep her alive. In the less than 24 hours Cirstoveanu had in Bucharest between returning from Catalin’s trip and departing with the little girl, he even squeezed in a shift at the Marie Curie clinic. Patients in Romania routinely discuss the “stock market” rate for bribes. Surgeons can get hundreds of euros and upward for an operation, while anesthetists get roughly a third

Last year, some 2,800 Romanian doctors - discouraged by the antiquated and corrupt health system and low wages - left to work in western Europe, according to the Romanian College of Doctors. “Ideally, we would have decent salaries and nobody would be tempted to accept informal payments,” said the Ritli, the health minister. “And the population would be educated so people would believe that this is not the only way to get proper healthcare.” Bribes across

BUCHAREST: Doctor Catalin Cirstoveanu (right) checks a newborn baby before transport to Italy for heart surgery from the intensive care unit of the Marie Curie children’s hospital on March 22, 2012. — AP of that, depending also on what a patient can afford. Nurses receive a few euros from patients each time they administer medications or put in drips. Getting a certificate stamped to have an operation abroad can easily cost hundreds, if not thousands of euros if you ask the wrong doctor. While the Romanian state appears unwilling to do anything, it often ends up footing the bill. At the Marie Curie unit, Catalin’s operation would have cost Ä2,000 to Ä3,000 ($2,700 to $4,000) without bribes. Romanian state health insurance is paying 10 times that for his operation in Italy - a small fortune in a country where the average monthly salary is Ä350 after tax. Many disillusioned doctors have abandoned the country, which spends just 4 percent of its gross domestic product in healthcare - about half of the percentage of GDP spent by Western European countries.

Romania accounted for some $1 million a day in 2005, according to a World Bank report; more recent estimates are not available. The culture of bribes - or “informal payments” as they’re commonly known - is tacitly accepted. But anger is rising. One of Marie Curie’s donors, Procter & Gamble, has several times gone back to the hospital and the Health Ministry to ask questions about when the unit will start functioning. The tragic plight of Romanian children is nothing new. In a misguided effort to boost Romania’s then-population of 23 million, Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu banned birth control and abortion, which led to thousands of infants being left in orphanages in harrowing conditions broadcast around the world after his execution in 1989. Nearly a quarter-century later, the country’s shortcomings are again

being seen through the gaze of children and powerless parents trapped in a web of corruption. For those whose children die shortly after birth, grief is magnified when they do not receive a birth certificate or even see their babies alive. Angela Vasile, whose baby daughter, Cristina, only lived one day, saw her infant just once after she’d died, lying on a metal table. She was then put in a ward of nursing mothers, adding to her anguish. Bianca Brad, a Romanian celebrity, spoke out publicly about the pain of losing her baby at birth - calling the situation “criminal”. She founded the “EMMA Association” to help grieving parents, offering support for those who do not receive psychological counseling and remain locked in years of grief. Yet remarkable things are happening at the Marie Curie Hospital. Cirstoveanu is personally overseeing the survival of Baby Andrei, an 8-month-old Roma baby born to underage parents. His intestines are almost nonexistent. The tiny infant who weighs about 2 kg with limbs that look like gnarled twigs was given only days to live. His bright eyes, alert gaze and lively personality have endeared him to all staff who comfort him in their arms as much as they can outside of his incubator. Andrei can only have lifesaving surgery in the United States - and a fee of hundreds of thousands of dollars is proving prohibitive. Nurses are so fond of the bright boy that they are playing the state lottery in an attempt to raise funds for his surgery. Even in this grim setting, there are signs that doctors are mobilizing in a bid to make things better. Anca Mandache, a child heart surgeon, left her career in France to offer her services to the Marie Curie hospital, taking a salary one tenth of what she would have earned there. Others also are expressing an interest in working at the clinic. Cirstoveanu, who also flies sick babies to Germany and Austria, says he feels “ashamed” that he has to go to the lengths he does to save children, but talks with pride of the moment he sees the joy of relieved parents whose babies survive. They are in awe of his dedication. “Cirstoveanu is more than a hero - he is a god for us and the children,” said Gheorghe Meliusoiu, Catalin’s 28-yearold woodcutter father. “If there were more like him, many lives would be saved.”—AP

Smithsonian showcases replica of monster snake WASHINGTON: A prehistoric monster snake the length of a school bus, which probably fed on supersized turtles and crocodiles, has made its way to the Smithsonian Institution for an exhibit that opened Friday. The National Museum of Natural History is featuring a life-size replica of Titanoboa along with a cast of its large vertebra through Jan 2013. When it was alive, the snake averaged 16 m long. Fossils from the world’s largest snake were first discovered in 2004 in a coal mine in Colombia that once was a rainforest. Eventually bones were uncovered from at least 60 of the monster snakes. At first scientists labelled the fossils as being vertebra from a crocodile, but a graduate student noticed there was a difference. A student interning with the Smithsonian eventually discovered the snake’s skull. The specimen broke the previous record for snake length by almost 4 m. “It tells you how magical nature is,” said Carlos Jaramillo, a staff scientist at the Smithsonian’s Tropical Research Institute, who helped make the discovery. “Here we have it, so nature can do many things.” Scientists figure the snake weighed more than 1,000 kg. It was found near fossilized plants, giant turtles the size of a kitchen table and other creatures dating to more than 60 million years ago in the Paleocene era after the dinosaurs. Titanoboa was related to modern boa constrictors and anacondas. Scientists say it was the world’s largest predator and large enough to eat a cow or a human easily. It likely fed on large turtles or crocodiles while spending most of its time in water. One meal could last it an entire year because of its long digestive process. After the fossils were uncovered, it took a year to determine the snake’s full length. Jason Head, a professor from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, developed a mathematical model to calculate the massive size. —AP

NEW YORK: In this March 23, 2012 photo, a full-scale replica of the prehistoric snake ‘Titanoboa’ swallowing a crocodile is previewed at Grand Central Station during a promotion for its exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington. — AP

H E A LT H

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

Indonesia shipwrecks mean riches and headaches MENTAWAI ISLANDS, Indonesia: Mamat Evendi straps on his primitive breathing device - a garden hose attached to a compressor on the back of his wooden fishing boat. Pulling down his goggles, he splashes flippers-first into the crystal blue water. A few minutes later he’s flashing a ‘thumbs up,’ pointing first to a massive, coral-encrusted anchor, then a bronze cannon and finally, peeking up from the sand, the buried deck of a 17th century European ship. Nearby are pieces of blue-and-white ceramics. A tiny perfume bottle. A sword handle. Broken wine flasks, one still sealed with a wooden cork. The wreck is just 6 m underwater, one of four pushed into view after a tsunami slammed into the Mentawai Islands of Indonesia just over a year ago. They are among possibly 10,000 vessels littering the ocean floor of what for more than a millennium has been a crossroads for world trade. For historians, the wrecks are time capsules, a chance to peer directly into a single day, from the habits of the crew and the early arrival of religion to contemporary tastes in ceramics. But for Evendi and other fishermen involved in the new discoveries, it’s not the past they see. It’s the future. A chance, maybe, to strike it rich. “They keep telling me, ‘Let’s just break them open, get the stuff out,’” said Hardimansyah, a local maritime official who has taken it upon himself to protect the wrecks as the government wrangles over a new policy on underwater heritage. “To be honest, I’m getting frustrated, too,” he says, noting he’s already given the best artifacts pulled from the coral and sand to military and political officials who stop by his office from time to time to see what’s been found. “Gifts,” he calls them, or “offerings”. “It’s hard to say no if they ask.” Indonesia - a sprawling archipelago nation straddling the equator - remains desperately poor despite its vast oil, coal and gold reserves. Its graveyard of ships from Asia, Europe and the Middle East - one of the biggest in the world with nearly 500 wrecks identified so far - has long been coveted as yet another resource to exploit. The most valuable, packed with everything from 9th century ceramics and imperialquality gold boxes to exquisite jewels, funeral urns and inkwells, can bring in tens of millions of dollars. That has created a small, lively industry for fishermen, who are often the discoverers of the wrecks. Those that aren’t immediately looted have been sold to commercial salvage companies, which pull up the cargo as quickly as possible and then sell it off piece

by piece at international auctions. The government, which gets 50 percent of all proceeds and half the cargo, decided to wrest greater control over the riches of the sea after being left empty-handed following one of the most significant hauls, a 9th century Arab sailing vessel whose presence pointed to previously unknown trading links between China and the Middle East. “It’s frustrating,” said Horst Liebner, an expert on Indonesia’s maritime history, who has helped catalog artifacts and shipbuilding techniques for both the government and salvage crews. “Because in the end, this isn’t about the odd treasure chest guarded by an octopus. It’s about the knowledge we can gain from proper excavation.” With tens of thousands of artifacts already handed over, Indonesian museums should by now be richly stocked. Instead, shelves are all but bare. The most exquisite pieces have “disappeared”. And

those of little or no monetary value are in musty warehouses, closed to the public. Pictures remain on disk drives and painstaking research goes unpublished. “In the end, all the artifacts, everything you put into data-basing,” said Liebner, “it’s just for nothing in this country, it seems. No one cares.” For-profit excavations in the sea are legal in several countries, including Indonesia, that have yet to sign a 2001 UN convention on protecting underwater cultural heritage. But they rarely spark the outrage they would if carried out on land. That’s in part because maritime archaeology is a relatively new discipline, developed only after World War II, and neither lawmakers nor the public have kept pace with the technological advances that have turned it from a romantic hobby into a thriving business. Historians, however, abhor the practice. “They are recovering only things that are monetarily valuable,

MENTAWAI ISLANDS, Indonesia: In this Feb 13, 2012 photo, a diver swims near a Dutch East India Company (VOC) cannon from a shipwreck that is believed to be from the 17th century. — AP

and that might represent just 1 or 2 percent of the entire artifact assemblage,” said Paul F Johnston of the National Museum of American History in Washington. “Sometimes they blast through, dynamite, or pull apart artifacts that are historically or archaeologically far more important.” International auction houses have also played a part by creating markets for the artifacts, he and others say, as have governments and museums that buy them and put them on display. Slowly, however, attitudes are changing. After a chorus of criticism, the Smithsonian Institution announced in December it was canceling a planned exhibition of cargo from the Arab vessel, which was found in 1998. The German company involved in the excavations pulled up more than 60,000 pieces of China’s Tang Dynasty ceramics in just a few months, and then sold it to Singapore for $40 million. Indonesia got $2.8 million - a mere fraction of what it was owed under its own law - and thousands of artifacts. Privately, officials were furious. But no one protested, presumably because the deal was linked to underthe table “gifts” to high-ranking officials, as was common during and immediately after the collapse of Gen. Suharto’s dictatorship. “I don’t think anyone will ever know exactly what happened,” said Helmi Suriya, director of the Underwater Heritage from the Education and Culture Ministry, with a laugh. “Even when I asked, I didn’t get an answer,” he said. “But that was a different era. We didn’t even have an anti-corruption commission then.” Indonesia has embraced democracy since Suharto’s ouster, and in 2010 it passed a law protecting underwater cultural heritage. But guidelines for implementation have been stalled by infighting. Some officials, including Suriya, argue artifacts should stay inside the country, either beneath the water, as favored by UNESCO, or auctioned off locally. “We should only allow underwater excavation for research and knowledge purposes, not for commercial,” he said. Others say, in a graft-ridden country of some 18,000 islands and more than 50,000 km of coastline, that’s unrealistic. Wrecks left where they are will be immediately looted. And no one, least of all the government, will assume the cost or risk excavations without the promise of a big payoff, they say. So for now, all excavations are on hold. Fred Dobberphul, a German diver, who has been involved numerous salvage projects in the last two decades, says that’s causing its own problems. — AP

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

W H AT ’ S O N

CGS discusses environmental aspects of Subbiya development

ontinuing the series of lectures about Subbiya development, the Center for Gulf Studies (CGS) at the American University of Kuwait (AUK) and the Arabana Project co-organized the second panel discussion entitled “Subbiya: Part II: Environmental Impacts and Opportunities”. The lecture hosted a number of experts in environmental research and ecology including, Dr. Ali Khuraibet, Founder and General Manager of ECO Environmental Consultants, Dr. Khaled Al-Banaa, and Dr. James Bishop, researchers for the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR). The panel discussion, which was moderated by Mr. Abdullatif Al-Mishari of the Arabana Project, focused on the various risks and considerations of Subbiya’s development from an environmental perspective. During his talk, Dr Khuraibetmentioned that part of the significance of Subbiya is that it is the site of the earliest inhabitants of Kuwait, dating back to 1620. The importance of the area and its preservation, therefore, has a political and social dimension, and is a significant component of reinforcing the Kuwaiti identity and spirit. Dr. Bishop highlighted the importance of Subbiya from an ecological point of view. He mentioned that Subbiya is home to more intertidal mudflats than anywhere else in the Gulf region. Subbiya is also rich in biodiversity, rare species of animals, and is a critical feeding area for migratory birds heading south. It is therefore especially important that considerations are taken to preserve, as much as possible, this “virgin area” that to date has been virtually unaffected by human interaction. The speakers pointed to several major environmental risks involved with the extensive development of Subbiya. Dr. Al Banaa drew attention to Subbiya’s major power plant and its proximity to the location of the future city. He noted that the extra power and desalination capacity required to power this new city would have to be accommodated, and that using water to cool the plants would increase the salinity of Kuwait’s Bay, creating major environmental risksDr. The speakers spoke at length about the potential impact of the construction of the 20km bridge that would link Kuwait City with Subbiya. Construction of both the bridge and the port would require extremely high volumes of dredging, which will need to be done on a continuous basis. This is both expensive and potentially environmentally damaging, if not done carefully. Recycling the dredge, according to Dr. Khuraibet, would minimize the harm, rather than dumping it in landfills. However, avoiding the environmental damage resulting from the port’s use, and the subsequent shipping lanes along Kuwait will be much more difficult. According to Dr. Bishop, this will surely have an adverse effect on the quality of Kuwait’s fisheries, biodiversity, and intertidal habitat. With regards to the construction of the city itself, the panelists discussed key aspects that required specific consideration. There is the need to avoid repeating the mistake of Kuwait City by building exclusively along the coast. Furthermore, careful zoning plans are needed to avoid repeating the mistake of zoning the residential area of Sabah Al Salem close to various industrial zones, or of the proximity of landfills with the residential area of Al Qurain. The subbiya project is part of a comprehensive national plan to develop the northern sub-region of Kuwait. The site consists of the planned “Silk City”, the causeway that will link with Kuwait City, and the new deep-water port on Bubiyan Island. The region will also include employment and residential areas, as well as possible cultural and resort facilities. The projection is for the northern sub-region to initially accommodate approximately 200,000-300,000 people by 2030, and will have the capacity to accommodate up to 1 million people in the long term. The 2nd panel discussion on Subbiya came as part of the collaborative efforts of CGS and the Arabana Project to educate the public about the different aspects of the project. The aim of the panel series is to cultivate public discussion and interaction in the planning process of Subbiya’s development. It was noted that only through the involvement of all the stakeholders (including the government, the public, NGOs and other civil society actors) could the planning process truly reflect the needs and desires of the public. The 3rd Subbiya panel discussion is expected to take place in May 2012, and will address key economic and strategic considerations. The Center for Gulf Studies (CGS) at the American University of Kuwait aims to promote greater cultural understanding of and increased intellectual interest in the Gulf, by facilitating free and open academic discourse on a range of issues that both shape and challenge this critical region of the world. The goal of CGS is to enable scholars as well as political and civil society actors both within and outside the region to contribute and add value to the burgeoning field of Gulf Studies, while at the same time informing and engaging the general public. To this end, the CGS encourages, supports, and cultivates interesting and original research on the Gulf, while regularly organizing a variety of public academic events such as lectures, roundtable discussions, and conferences.

Bangladesh celebrates Independence and National Day

angladesh Embassy in Kuwait celebrated 41st Independence and National Day of Bangladesh in a befitting manner. The program of 26 March began with the ceremonial hoisting of the National Flag of Bangladesh at the Chancery. Syed Shahed Reza, Ambassador hoisted the National Flag at 08:30 am in presence of Embassy officials, Commander and officials of the Bangladesh Military Contingent to Kuwait, officials of Bangladesh Biman and members of the community. The discussion program at the Chancery began at 05:30 pm with the recitation from the Holy Quran. Special

dua and munajat were offered for salvation of the martyrs of the nine month long independence war and also for seeking divine blessings for the country’s continued peace and progress. Messages given by the President, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister on this occasion were read out by officers of the Mission. A good number of participants took part in discussion and they highlighted different phases of our liberation struggle since the birth of Pakistan. Syed Shahed Reza in his speech cherished his memoirs of the independence war and urged all to be united to realize the dreams of the independence. He also urged all to strengthen the hands

of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina so that her Vision 2021 could be turned into reality, a Sonar Bangla free from illiteracy, poverty and hunger could he achieved. He expressed his sincere gratitude to His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah, the Amir, His Highness Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, Crown Prince, His Highness Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al Hamad Al Sabah, Prime Minister and His Excellency Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Kuwait for their continued support to him and the Embassy for smooth discharge of responsibilities.

Embassy officials, commander and officials of the Bangladesh Military Contingent, officials of Bangladesh Biman and a huge number of members of the community were present in the discussion program. Bangladesh Military Contingent to Kuwait (BMC) arranged a day long program to celebrate the Independence Day. The Military Band of the BMC Military Contingent played the National Anthem of Kuwait and Bangladesh. They also played patriotic songs. A large number of high officials of the Kuwait Armed Forces, Ambassador Syed Shahed Reza and other Embassy officials attended the special fuction.

CONGRATULATIONS

alal Islam from Al Najjat Private School graduated from Grade 7 with a good percentage. His parents, sisters, relatives and his teachers congratulate him for his achievements. Talal thanked all his teachers for their efforts and encouragement.

Announcements Amma Kuwait, PART to hold workshop Amma Kuwait and Progressive Art Realization Troop of Kuwait (PART) announce their maiden joint venture PRAKRUTI. The purpose of the workshop is to motivate children to explore art in nature by inspiring them to observe nature consciously. Prakruti is a 5 hour workshop from 9am to 3pm on 20 April 2012 on landscape painting for budding student artists in the age group ten to seventeen. This workshop which will take place in the Al Jawhara Al Ahlea School, Rigaae will be conducted by the professional artists of PART who will interact with the children and guide them on special effects and professional painting techniques. The medium of painting will be Acrylic/Water. Each participant will receive a certificate of participation at the end of the workshop. Participants will get to showcase their paintings of the day and one previous work at the Exhibition that follows this workshop! Last date for registration is 10 April 2012. So hurry and visit the website www.ammakuwaitprakruti2012.com to register yourself. Future Eye Theatre anniversary Future Eye Theatre, Kuwait will celebrate its second anniversary on April 13, 2012 (6 pm to 9.30pm on Friday) at the Indian Central School auditorium, Abbassiya. The celebration entitled ‘Kaliyarangu’, will showcase a variety of theatre presentations. Manjulan, a well-known film and theatre personality from Kerala, will be the chief guest of the this year’s celebration. Manjulan’s solo drama ‘Koonan’ will be a major attraction of the anniversary celebration. The highlight of the celebration will be the staging of the Malayalam version of Samuel Beckett’s most celebrated play ‘Waiting for Godot’ by Future Eye Theatre members. A theatre sketch on Bertolt Brecht’s popular play ‘Threepenny Opera’ will also be staged on the occasion. All theatre lovers are welcome. Entry is free.

Teachers entertaining TSK children with the story Basel cuts a striking figure ‘Room on a Broom’ with his moustache.

Story time with BSK students.

Book Week at The Sunshine Kindergarten

ast week was Book Week at The Sunshine Kindergarten (TSK) in Salwa. The children were thrilled to start the week with the ‘Room on a Broom’ assembly put on for them by their teachers. Zenda, Henri, Michelle, Wilda, Chaz and Leoni took on the leading roles of the witch, the narrator, the dog, the

dragon, the frog and the cat and amazed the children and staff with their acting talents During the week, the older children from The British School of Kuwait came over to read their favourite stories to the Creche and Kindergarten children, a super way for them to lead by example

and to demonstrate development in literacy skills, the students who came over from Year 9 had written and illustrated their own books. On Wednesday and Thursday Spectra Books held a book fair at TSK and the week was rounded off nicely on Thursday when all the children and teachers came to school dressed as

their favourite book characters. Book Week is always fun at TSK, so why not check out our website and see what else we do. Visit us now on www.tsk.edu.kw and don’t forget that registration for the academic year 2012/2013 is now open, so hurry to avoid disappointment.

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

W H AT ’ S O N

Embassy Information EMBASSY OF BRAZIL The Embassy of Brazil requests all Brazilian citizens in Kuwait to proceed to the website www.brazil.org.kw (Contact Us Form / Fale Conosco) in order to register or update contact information. The Embassy encourages all citizens to do so, including the ones who have already registered in person at the Embassy. The registration process helps the Brazilian Government to contact and assist Brazilians living abroad in case of any emergency. nnnnnnn

NBK Public Relations Officer Yaqoub Al Baqer in a group photo with the students.

NBK receives primary school visit

ational Bank of Kuwait (NBK) hosted a group of students from Hafsah Primary School at the bank’s head office recently. NBK staff took the students on a banking familiarization tour, explaining to them the benefits of saving and all the different banking services offered.

NBK Public Relations officer Yaqoub Al Baqer received the visiting group of students and showed them various areas of the bank, including the main banking hall and the safety deposit vault. NBK staff then presented to the students a brief lecture on the importance of saving, and the different

accounts and services that NBK provides its customers locally and regionally. Students were also informed about the PR, media relations and CSR activities that NBK takes part in throughout the year. The primary school students expressed their sincere thanks to NBK and appreciated the opportunity to gain

a better understanding of the banking industry. As part of its corporate social responsibility program, NBK regularly hosts students on field trips from both public and private schools in Kuwait and provides them with information about the banking industry and career opportunities.

EMBASSY OF CANADA The Embassy of Canada is located at Villa 24, Al-Mutawakel St., Block 4 in Da’aiyah. Please visit our website at www.Kuwait.gc.ca. The Embassy of Canada is open from 07:30 to 15:30 Sunday through Thursday. The reception is closed from 12:30 to 01:00 pm for lunch break. Consular Services for Canadian Citizens are provided from 09:00 A.M until 12:00 P.M on Sunday through Wednesday. Canada offers a registration service for all Canadians travelling or living abroad. This service is provided so that Consular Officials can contact and assist Canadians in an emergency in a foreign country, such as a natural disaster or civil unrest, or inform Canadians of a family emergency at home. The Embassy of Canada encourages all Canadian Citizens to register online through the Government of Canada Travel Website at www.voyage.gc.ca. The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi provides visa and immigration services to residents of Kuwait. Individuals who are interested in visiting, working or immigrating to Canada are invited to visit the website of the Canadian Embassy to the UAE at www.uae.gc.ca. nnnnnnn

The Prodigal Son, a musical drama

he Great American story teller Mark Twain was once asked who is the world’s greatest story teller, and he said “Jesus Christ.” When he was asked which is the greatest story ever told. He said “The Prodigal Son.” This great story of man’s repentance and God’s unconditional love was presented to us the parishioners of Kuwait in a musical drama by Rev. Fr. Francisco Pereira SDB and his team on the 16th and 17th of March 2012, as a part of the Lenten spiritual programme. The musical was staged in The Indian English Academy School (Don Bosco) in Salmiya, in an elaborate set up, with a spacious stage, excellent sound system, lighting and great music. It had the makings of a professional opera. It was a real treat to Drama lovers like me who never got tired of watching it even twice. The auditions to the musical were thrown open to participants from all the parishes in Kuwait. The cast consisted of members from Our Lady of Arabia Parish - Ahmadi, St. Therese Parish - Salmiya, and The Holy Family Cathedral- Kuwait City. The making of The Prodigal Son to me was a perfect act of love. It took a lot of hard work and sacrifice on the part of the cast and crew of the musical. The participants would come rushing from work in the evenings,

some coming straight from work. The school going children coming for practices despite of their exams and tuitions. The youth foregoing their spare time. Musicians coming every

evening carrying heavy burdens of their musical instruments and other paraphernalia, not forgetting to carry snacks as well for the little ones and those who come straight from work. The crew consisted of age group 5

yrs to 60 yrs. They sacrificed their comfort, family time and leisure, just to bring the message of God’s love to all people. None of them worked for any reward. Fr. Franco and Ms Arlette the directors of the play, spent evening

after evening in spite of their very busy schedule standing in front of the stage directing, guiding, motivating and driving the crew to bring out the best in them. The practices were held in

the evenings right from January 2012 to mid March, totaling to about 64 hours. To top it all, although this venture involved a good bit of expenses the musical was entry free for all, so that no one would miss the

opportunity to return to the heavenly Father’s house because they could not afford. Wasn’t that love? The outcome was truly fantastic. The musical was a hit. The Parish priest of St. Therese Rev.

Fr. Blany Pinto SDB set the spiritual tone of the musical with a Lenten message at very outset. The audience thoroughly enjoyed the play and had only praise for the wonderful direction, music and performances. Both days the shows went packed house. The characters were very well portrayed and the actors performed their roles to the best. The costumes were beautifully designed. The stage props by Ms Cynthia and Raul we just apt and simple. The singing was melodious. Blossom Pereira provided great music and was ably supported by Johnny Fernandes. The stage was set ablaze every now and then with scintillating dances choreographed by Fiona Lobo, Ronnie Lobo and Vicky Tanaji. The entire play had a contemporary setting, making it easy for us to identify ourselves with the characters and grasp the message of the play. We congratulate Rev. Fr. Franco and the entire cast and crew for the excellent job and for helping us find our way back HOME during this season of Lent. The management of The English Academy School has been very kind and generous to give their school premises for staging the musical play completely free. The message of the prodigal son shall remain etched in our minds forever.

group of friends of syrian people meeting

s it will be recalled the “Second Meeting of the Group of Friends of the Syrian People,” will be held today, 1 April 2012, in Istanbul, at Istanbul Congress Center under the auspices of Ahmet Davutoglu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey. The developments regarding the meeting may be followed from the Twitter pages of Davutoglu, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, as well as the official

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EMBASSY OF KOREA The Embassy of the Republic of Korea wishes to inform that it has moved to Mishref. New Address: Embassy of the Republic of Korea Mishref, Block 7A, Diplomatic Area 2, Plot 6 The Embassy also wishes to inform that it will be opened to the public on the following office hours: Saturdays to Thursday Morning: 8:00 am to 12:30 pm Lunch Break: 12:30 pm to 1:00 pm Afternoon: 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF MYANMAR Embassy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar would like to inform the general public that the Embassy has moved its office to new location at Villa 35, Road 203, Block 2, AlSalaam Area in South Surra. The Embassy wishes to advice Myanmar citizens and travellers to Myanmar to contact Myanmar Embassy at its new location. Tel. 25240736, 25240290, Fax: 25240749, email:myankuwait11@gmai1.com nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF NIGERIA The Nigerian embassy has its new office in Mishref. Block 3, Street 7, House 4. For enquires please call 25379541. Fax25387719. Email- nigeriakuwait@yahoo.com or nigeriankuwait@yahoo.co.uk nnnnnnn

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Paragon featured in two more International books on branding

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EMBASSY OF INDIA The Embassy of India will remain closed on Thursday, April 5, 2012 on account of “Mahavir Jayanti”.

SOUTH AFRICAN EMBASSY On the occasion of Easter Sunday, the South African Embassy will be closed from Sunday, 8 April 2012 to Monday, 9 April 2012. The Embassy will resume its normal working hours on Tuesday, 10 April 2012, from Sunday to Thursday. Please note that the working hours will be from 8h00 to 16h00 & the Consular Section operation hours will from 8h30 to 12h30.

Twitter page which will be specially created on the occasion and for the duration of the conference. The addresses of these pages are listed here-bellow. Official Twitter page of the “Second Meeting of the Group of Friends of the Syrian People.” @FriendsOfSyria https://twitter.com#!/FriendsofSyria Twitter page of Ahmet Davutoglu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey

he P.G.A. in association with Everton F.C. and sponsored by Porsche Centre Kuwait, Behbehani Motors Company, offers football coaching for girls and ladies at Shaab Park every Wednesday from 5 to 7pm with ex English Premier League ladies football player Carly Stevens. For further details contact Academy Director Mike Finn on 99981327 or Executive Director Baker on 66918666. Email; premier_fa_kuwait @yahoo.com †www.PGA-kuwait.com.kw

EMBASSY OF CYPRUS The Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus requests Cypriot citizens living in Kuwait to register with the Embassy has moved. This registration service is provided so that the Embassy can update its contact list and assist Cypriot citizens in cases of emergencies. Registration information can be emailed to cyprusembassykwt@gmail.com or faxed to 22253227 or given by phone to 65906048 (Mrs Christine).

aragon Marketing Communications one of Kuwait’s leading advertising agency network has yet again been featured in Rockport Publications 12th edition of Letterhead and Logo Design and in the Logo Lounge Master Library Vol 4 3000 Type and Calligraphy logos. Letterhead and Logo Design 12 published by Oxide Publications presents the latest, most innovative, and exciting work from well-known design leaders, new design firms, and cuttingedge artists. The work done by Paragon Marketing Communications for Al Humeidi Group, 247 and Paragon’s own stationery won mentions in the international publication that is used as a reference by designers worldwide on letterhead and logo designs. Fourth and final installment in the series Master Library 4: Type & Calligraphy by Cathy Fishel and Bill Gardner, is a highly organized collection of 3,000 typographic logo designs. Interviews with such top-tier logo designers as Miles Newlyn, Jessica Hische, and Ken Barber provide insights on the values, traditions, and future of designing with typography. Paragon recently shifted its headquarters in Kuwait to the heart of the City. Besides being located in Kuwait, Paragon Marketing Communications has operations based in Oman and Bulgaria, where too it functions as a fully

fledged marketing communications agency. Paragon Marketing Communications has won a total of 57 international, regional and local awards on creativity and also has been featured in 23 international books on advertising and graphic design: 1000 More Greetings by Rockport Publications; The Best of Business Card Design by Sibley/Peteet Design/Austin, Letterhead & Logo Design 9 by The San Francisco Design Office Mine, Letterhead & Logo Design 11 by Design Army, Logo Lounge 4 by Bill Gardner, Identity Crisis by Jeff Fisher, The Big Book of Self promotion by Peleg Top and Ilise Benun, Logo Lounge Master Library 3000 Initial & Crest Logos and Logo Lounge Master Library 3000 Initial & Mythology Logos by Catharine Fishel and Bill Gardner, Recycling & Redesigning Logos by Michael Hodgson, Really Good Logos Explained by Margo Chase, Rian Hughes, Ron Miriello and Alex White, Portfolios 01 by Maura Keller, Crack, Celebrations Graphics Sourcebook by John Stones, Kuwait Arab Advertising Award Book, Complete Graphic Designer by Ryan Hembree, Creating Great Graphic Design to a Budget by Scott Witham Reference to Paragon Marketing Communications work is available on its official Facebook page and YouTube channel.

EMBASSY OF VENEZUELA Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, request Venezuelan citizens living in Kuwait to register with the Embassy, This registration service is provided so that the Embassy can update its contact list and assist Venezuelan citizens in cases os emergencies. Registration Information 25324367 or by email: embavenez@gmail.com. Our time is from Sunday to Thursday from 8.30am till 2 pm. nnnnnnn

EMBASSY OF THAILAND The Royal Thai Embassy in Kuwait, wishes to invite the Kuwaiti companies that deal business with Thai companies or those agencies of Thai commercial companies to visit the Embassy’s Commercial Office to register their relevant information to be part of the embassy’s business and trade database. The Royal Thai Embassy is located in Jabriya, Block 6, Street 8, Villa No. 1, Telephone No. 25317530 25317531, Ext: 14.

Write to us Send to What’s On upcoming events, birthdays or celebrations by email: local@kuwaittimes.net Fax: 24835619 / 20

Classifieds SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

ST TAT TE OF K KUW WAIT A

Tel.: e 161

DIRECTORA AT TE GENE GENERAL OF CIVIL AVIA V AT TION METEOROLOGICAL DEP PA ARTMENT DA AY: Y Saturday

ACCOMMODATION

Ext.: 2627 262 - 2630

Fax: 24348714 WWW.MET.GOV V.KW .

31/03/2012

07:00

Issue Time

Expected Weeather for the Next 24 Hours Sunny with light to moderate northerly to north easterly wind, with speed of 08 - 28 km/h and some scattered clouds will appear

BY Y DA AY:

Fair with light variable wind changing to light to moderate south easterly wind, with speed of 06 - 26 km/h

BY Y NIGHT:

No Current Warnings arnin a

WA ARNING ST TAT TION

MAX. EXP P.

MIN. REC.

KUW WAIT A CITY

27 °C

18 °C

KUW WAIT A AIRPOR RT

28 °C

16 °C

NUW WAISEEB A

31 °C

17 °C

WA AFRA

30 °C

16 °C

SALMI

24 °C

11 °C

ABDAL LY

27 °C

13 °C

JAL ALIY YAH A

26 °C

12 °C

FA AILAKA

27 °C

16 °C

AHMADI POR RT

27 °C

20 °C

UMM AL-MARADEM

24 °C

19 °C

WA ARBA A - BUBY YAN A

28 °C

14 °C

SFC. CHART

WEA AT THER

Sunday

01/04

Monday Tuesday Wednesday e

Wind Direction

Wind Speed

sunny

30 °C

16 °C

08 - 30 km/h

02/04

fair + scattered clouds

32 °C

18 °C

S-SE

08 - 30 km/h

03/04

sunny + raising dust

30 °C

17 °C

S-SE

20 - 40 km/h

04/04

sunny + scattered clouds

30 °C

19 °C

SE-E

15 - 40 km/h

RECORDED YESTERDA AY AT KUW WA AIT AIRPORT 04:20

MAX. Temp.

30 °C

Sunrise