8 Mar

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

40 PAGES

MONDAY, MARCH 8, 2010

Iran begins production of short range cruise missiles

Hee-haw! Mew! Purr! Moo!

By Badrya Darwish

A

ppointing lawyers for animals is the latest fad that I heard of. Yesterday, the Swiss Animal Protection group initiated a vote to oblige all cantons to name a lawyer for animals during judicial proceedings.

The Swiss are so sensitive toward the feelings of creatures, whatever they are, human, animals you name it, so they already have one of the most sophisticated laws that protect the animals. Such as, you cannot leave the sheep or goat without visual contact; hamsters and budgies cannot be left alone; cats or dogs cannot be left alone for a long time, etc. The new law once more emphasizes more stringent laws protective of the animals’ rights.

I wonder how this law can be executed?

Do animals speak and they will come to the lawyer’s office and file a complain? Imagine, a line of dogs and cats queuing in front of a lawyer’s office. One animal is mewing and a dog is barking. I leave the other animals to your imagination.

I can tolerate all this sophistication towards the poor animals. I am an animal lover, by the way, but not the Swiss way.

Why couldn’t the sophisticated Swiss give the Muslims the right to have their minarets in Switzerland? I know it all went in a democratic way with a referendum and this is what shocked me. Why these people who believe so much in the freedom and rights of creatures could not share the same feelings with Muslims living in Switzerland?

On the other hand, I am sure that millions of people in the Arab world especially in the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem, Iraq, Afghanistan and many other countries would love to be animals in Switzerland at this point of time. As they will be sure that it is not only food they will get but also lawyers to defend them free of charge. Isn’t that sweet?

Honestly speaking, it sounds hilarious but at the same time it is ironic. No hard feelings to the animals. Good luck to you and congratulations!

in the news Kuwaiti MP, writer fined KUWAIT: Kuwait’s criminal court yesterday fined a lawmaker, a journalist and two newspapers for statements deemed offensive to the ruling family and the prime minister, a legal source said. The court fined Islamist MP Mohammad Hayef KD 3,000 ($10,500) for issuing statements in the run-up to last year’s general election in which he criticised what he called divisions within the ruling family. Al-Ruia daily which published the remarks was handed a similar fine. In a separate case, the court fined opposition writer and journalist Mohammad Abdulqader Al-Jassem a similar fine for publishing an article highly critical of the Gulf state’s prime minister, also a member of the ruling family. Alam Al-Youm newspaper which published the article last summer was also fined.

Oscar hopeful Sandra Bullock crowned worst actress

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Gadahn calls on US Muslims to attack America in latest video

UN Hariri report gives hope: Saad KUWAIT: Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said yesterday a report published by a UN tribunal investigating the 2005 murder of his former premier father gave hope the killers will be identified. “The report gives us hope,” Hariri told reporters on a visit to Kuwait. “The report is an indication to the credibility of the tribunal. The report shows the tribunal needs more time to reach the truth, and the Lebanese government and people should wait,” he added.

The Hague-based tribunal was set up by a UN Security Council resolution in 2007 to try suspects in the murder of Rafiq Hariri, killed in a massive bomb blast on the Beirut seafront in Feb 2005. In its first annual report published on Saturday, the tribunal said investigators were getting closer to identifying the suicide bomber who carried out the attack. The report said the prosecutor had “made significant progress towards building a case which will bring perpetrators to justice.”

Prosecutors were “getting closer to identifying the suspected suicide bomber by Continued on Page 14

KUWAIT: Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri (left) tours the National Assembly with Speaker Jassem AlKhorafi yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat (See Page 2)

Kingdom determined to combat extremism RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is determined to halt extremism and has foiled a number of terror plots inside the kingdom, King Abdullah said yesterday. “In domestic policy, the government continues to expend its efforts to strengthen security,” the king said in his annual speech to the Shura Council, the country’s consultative assembly. “A special effort has been made to confront the thinking of the group of deviants, extremists and terrorists,” he said, using language the government usually employs to identif y AlQaeda. “The security services have had repeated successes with preventative actions, and will continue their activities to foil the Continued on Page 14

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud waves as he takes his seat at the Shura Council meeting yesterday. — AFP

Ex-con makes AIDS claims KUWAIT: A 32-year-old GCC man who was imprisoned in a neighboring country says that a fellow prisoner told him that senior officials there are intentionally transmitting the AIDS virus to various unsuspecting people, including Kuwaitis. The man made the allegations after being taken into custody by police during a visit to the country following accusations of sexual harassment by a woman there. He was then jailed for a weekend after being verbally insulted by two military officers, a major and a captain, reported Al-Shahed. During his imprisonment, another prisoner, a young man in his twenties, was put into the same cell. When they began talking, the younger man apparently started crying, saying he was HIV positive and had been ordered by the two aforementioned officers to pass on AIDS to his cellmate through sexual intercourse. The younger man claimed that the police were using him and another HIV positive man, a South Asian, to transmit the disease to other GCC nationals, including Kuwaitis.

Iraq holds landmark vote as attacks kill 38 BAGHDAD: Millions of Iraqis braved waves of deadly rocket, mortar and bomb attacks that killed 38 to vote yesterday in a general election, winning international praise for their courage. US President Barack Obama paid tribute to all those who voted in the election, seen as a crunch test of the war-shattered nation’s young democracy less than six months before American combat troops quit the country. “I have great respect for the millions of Iraqis who refused to be deterred by acts of violence, and who exercised their right to vote today,” Obama said in his first reaction to the vote.

His comments came after polls closed at the end of a warm spring day that saw long queues at polling stations in Baghdad, in Sunni towns that mostly boycotted the 2005 parliamentary vote, and elsewhere across the country.

Continued on Page 14

ARBIL, Iraq: An Iraqi Kurdish woman shows her ink-stained finger after casting her vote at a polling station in this northern Iraqi Kurdish city yesterday. — AFP

150 FILS

Chelsea ease into semis, Carew treble fires Villa

American Al-Qaeda spokesman arrested

Kuwait tops traffic death rate KUWAIT: Traffic congestions and accidents will cost Kuwait KD 27.430 billion ($95 billion) in the next ten years as the country tries to shrug off a terrible world record. According to the Traffic National Strategy 2009-2019, around 200 Kuwaitis are killed and 6,000 are injured annually in traffic accidents, giving the country the world’s top ranking in the number of deaths and injuries resulting from traffic accidents.

More than 25,000 Kuwaitis, mostly relatives of those involved in accidents, are affected every year, the strategy, prepared by an international expert, said. The money to be spent by Kuwait to deal with accidents will represent around 6 per cent of its annual GDP.

NO: 14661

Swiss vote against lawyers for animals

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conspiracy theories

RABI ALAWAL 22, 1431 AH

KARACHI: The American-born spokesman for AlQaeda has been arrested by Pakistani intelligence officers in the southern city of Karachi, two officers and a government official said yesterday, the same day Adam Gadahn appeared in a video calling for vioAdam Gadahn lence. The arrest of Gadahn is a major victory in the US-led battle against Al-Qaeda and will be taken as a sign that Pakistan is cooperating more fully with Washington. It follows the recent detentions of several Afghan Taleban commanders in Karachi.

Gadahn - who has often appeared in AlQaeda videos - was arrested in the sprawling southern metropolis in recent days, two officers who took part in the operation said. A senior government official also confirmed the arrest. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information. Gadahn grew up on a goat farm in Riverside County, California, and converted to Islam at a mosque in nearby Orange County.

Continued on Page 14

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Investment Dar mulls bankruptcy protection KUWAIT: Investment Dar, the troubled Kuwaiti firm that owns half of luxury British carmaker Aston Martin, said yesterday it may seek legal protection to push through a restructuring plan that is opposed by some creditors. The announcement followed a meeting between the top Islamic investment company and the coordinating committee of creditor banks and investors to discuss the latest developments on the restructuring

plan.

“The coordinating committee and the company discussed the option of utilising Kuwait’s financial stability law,” which provides conditional legal and financial support to struggling companies, the firm said in a statement.

The law, which was officially approved last year, introduced for the first time in the Gulf state legal cover against bankruptcy similar to the US chapter 11 protection.

Continued on Page 14

Saraawi calls to scrap OCA deal MPs call for women’s rights

By B Izzak KUWAIT: MP Adel AlSaraawi yesterday called on the finance minister to abrogate an agreement with the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) over its premises, saying the agreement is not constitutional, as he vowed to use constitutional tools. Saraawi was referring to an agreement signed several years ago giving OCA a piece of premium land in Salmiya in which OCA has built a huge commercial

building (Olympia) just opposite the Scientific Center.

The lawmaker said that the agreement was enforced before it was approved by the National Assembly, which is a clear violation of articles in the constitution. Saraawi warned the finance minister against reports of negotiations between the ministry and OCA to amend articles in the agreement, adding that Kuwaiti laws forbid such amendments.

Continued on Page 14

NATIONAL

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Monday, March 8, 2010

Hariri holds talks with Amir

Lebanese PM lauds Kuwait for ‘support in all hard times’ KUWAIT: Visiting Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri praised yesterday the State of Kuwait for the assistance it offered to his country in all hard times especially after the Israeli aggression in July, 2006. Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Kuwaiti National Assembly (parliament) Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi here, the Lebanese premier said his current visit

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah receiving the National Assembly Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi at the Seif Palace yesterday. — KUNA

Kuwait ‘seriously considering’ KD 10,000 per family proposal KUWAIT: The government appears to be seriously considering a proposal from MP Saleh Ashour to pay KD 10,000 to each Kuwaiti family, which would see a total of KD 1.65 billion paid to 165,000 families. The government’s increased willingness to consider Ashour’s proposal follows indications that parliamentary discussion of proposals by other MPs to purchase citizens’ loans is likely to be delayed until October. Ashour’s proposal would see each family receiving half the lump sum, KD 5,000, this year, with the remaining KD 5,000 being paid in 2011. The MP pointed out that these payments would cost far less to implement than the proposal to write off citizens’ loans, a plan approved by many MPs but rejected by the government.

The KD 10,000 for each family would help citizens to cope with their financial problems, including price increases and debt repayments, Ashour said, noting that several other nations, which he did not specify, provide their citizens with financial allowances as gifts.

The MP indicated that he had drawn up his proposal with providing assistance to several specific groups in mind, including Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaitis and Kuwaiti divorcees, along with unmarried and widowed Kuwaiti women.

Meanwhile, on a separate issue, the parliamentary legislative committee has postponed discussion of a proposal that would allow parliamentary sessions to be held without the presence of any cabinet members, reported AlWatan.

The committee’s next meeting on the matter is set to be held on Tuesday, when cabinet members will be invited to attend and offer their opinions on the matter.

On another subject, MP Nadji Al-Abdulhadi has reiterated his call to reassess public sector workers’ salaries, arguing that doing so would achieve greater balance resulting in improved productivity.

MP Shuaib Al-Muwaizri, meanwhile, released a statement in which he attacked the Minister of Public Works for the “extremely exaggerated” sum quoted for the project to expand Kuwait International Airport’s departures hall.

In a separate development, a number of MPs have warned the cabinet against “submitting to the Chamber of Commerce’s demands.” The MPs insisted that the cabinet does not represent the country’s business community and should not therefore adopt the 2004 legislative bill that the Chamber of Commerce’s management board is pushing for.

“The talks between AlKhorafi and me have explored ways to cement cooperation and exchanges between parliamentarians of the two countries,” he said, urging for constant review of the activities of the joint parliamentary committees to serve the interests of both sides.

Dealing with his meeting with His Highness the Kuwaiti Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah earlier in the day, Hariri said: “The talks focused on the political developments in the Middle East and the recent Israeli threats to Lebanon as well as all challenges facing Kuwait and Lebanon.”

Asked about the volume and kind of Kuwaiti assistances promised by Kuwaiti leaders notably HH the Amir, Hariri said the investment funds affiliated to Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) usually assess Lebanon’s needs in the domains of infrastructure, education, healthcare and socio-economic development

than finance the projects in these vital domains.

Responding to a question about the preliminary report issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, he said the tribunal needs more time to get to the bottom of the case.

“We, as a government and people, have to wait and see what the tribunal will reveal about the attack of February 14, 2005, in Beirut that killed the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri,” he noted.

“The assassination of AlHariri is a capital crime against, and great loss for, not only the Lebanese but the entire Arab nation,” he affirmed. Meanwhile, AlKhorafi hailed the current visit of Saad Al-Hariri to Kuwait, voicing hope for more such exchanges to further cement the bilateral ties.

He said his meeting with the Lebanese premier focused on relations between the Kuwaiti National Assembly and the Lebanese House of Deputies. —KUNA

to Kuwait aimed to coordinate the stances of the two sisterly nations on all issues of common concern and improve the bilateral economic, commercial and business ties. “Every time we come to Kuwait we renew gratitude to the Kuwaitis for their great assistance, firm support and historical stances on Lebanon issues,” he affirmed.

KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah receiving Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri yesterday. — KUNA

MPs slam latest Israeli Al-Aqsa attacks KUWAIT: MPs have issued strong condemnations of Israel’s most recent violence at Jerusalem’s AlAqsa Mosque, reiterating their support for the Palestinian people and their struggle.

MP Ali Al-Omair slammed the recent attacks, calling for Arab and Islamic states to form an unbiased peacekeeping force to enforce peace in the site of the noble sanctuary.

Al-Omair further called on all US allies, including Kuwait, to take a

serious stance in putting pressure on the United States to end its support for the Israeli forces in their attacks on historic Islamic sites.

Fellow MP Saifi Al-Saifi called for all public and governmental efforts to be united in support of the Palestinian people’s struggle against Israeli violations, asserting the need to provide them with both financial and emotional support.

He added that protecting the sacred Islamic sites in Jerusalem and other Palestinian territories is

the duty of all Muslims.

After denouncing the latest Israeli violence, MP Saleh AlMullah condemned the statements recently issued by Kuwaiti foreign minister Dr. Mohammad Al-Sabah concerning an agreement reached

by Arab states to continue negotiations with the Zionist regime.

Al-Mulla warned that Kuwait’s MPs would take a serious stance on these comments, reported AlQabas.

Another MP, Daifallah Buramya,

called on Arab and Islamic states to take serious action against the arbitrary Israeli violations, which he said continue to take place due to a lack of action from the Arab and Islamic world.

“The language of condemnation does not work with the forces of arbitrary violence and those who disregard all international accords and agreements,” said the MP, asserting the importance of adopting a more serious stance on this issue.

Solutions to expat labor problems in offing KUWAIT: The Kuwait Municipality has submitted a number of solutions before the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor to rectify the problems that concern expatriate manpower.

This step follows on the heels of the adoption of the new public labor law. It came as part of the joint efforts made between concerned governmental directorates in this field.

In his recommendations, Ahmad Al-Subaih, General Director of the Municipality, said that ministries tasked with recruiting workers (interior, social affairs and labor) should continue to implement the mandatory steps on laborers and domestic workers prior to issuing a work permit.

The conditions include the need to submit a clear criminal record and a valid medical certificate, reported Al-Qabas.

Also, with the aim of protecting workers’ rights AlSubaih asserted the necessity of protecting these rights, such as placing salary caps on laborers and domestic workers in a bid to put an end to the phenomenon of strikes, in addition to protecting others’ rights such as those pertinent with annual, sick leaves, and proper accommodation.

With regard to housemaids, among the procedures needed to be taken for their rights to be protected would be for recruitment agencies to continue to check on their situation in order to ensure that they are not deprived of their rights.

KUWAIT: A group of military personnel who are attending a moral guidance course at the military headquarters yesterday. — KUNA

Awadhi may file grilling over ‘Women Athletic Ban’ demand KUWAIT: MP Dr Aseel Al-Awadhi released a statement bashing any sort of discrimination against, or guardianship over, women and their participation in athletic activities or any other fields, reported Al-Watan. In her statement she threatened to file an interpellation against the Social Affairs and Labor Minister if he concedes to the demands of the Parliament’s committee to study the negative effect of foreign phenomena in Kuwait and ban women’s participation in the Olympics.

“We don’t want to jump to conclusions about what could happen in the future,” said Al-Awadhi.

“We will not accept banning women from any field they are allowed to practice in as protected by the constitution, including sports.”

The statement was made after MP Jamaan AlHarbash, on behalf of the committee, called for Kuwaiti women to be banned from participating in any of the Olympic games as per Sharia law. AlAwadhi described such demands as a violation of the constitution, which promotes equality among all citizens. She added that Sharia law can be inter-

preted differently and that many Islamic countries still support female participation in the Olympics.

Al-Awadhi went on to accuse this attitude as not being based on Islamic regulation but rather part of an organized approach to limit the role of Kuwaiti women in society. She also pointed out that the objection is based more on women’s sport attire as opposed to the notion of their participation. She added that the government does not have the authority to enforce what women should wear.

“We live in a civil state, ruled by law and the constitution. Personal freedom is protected by the constitution,” Al-Awadhi said. She added that the constitutional court ruled in favor of female MPs not needing to wear headscarves in Parliament.

“The same result should be applied to women participating in the Olympics,” said Al-Awadhi.

Al-Awadhi said that the defeat of Kuwait’s female national team was expected because the women’s team does not have proper training facilities. She added that she intends to question the reason behind not allowing Kuwaiti women to practice in local sports clubs.

NATIONAL

Monday, March 8, 2010

Govt drafting new bill

‘Boost cultural relations’

Call for civilian management of Kuwait housemaids’ issues

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: The Kuwaiti government is currently drafting a bill to protect the rights of the 600,000 domestic workers employed in the country, with Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Mohammad Al- Afassi revealing recently that a law protecting the domestic workers’ rights will be issued in May of With many observers criticizing the new law for not including clauses to cover domestic workers’ rights, the Kuwait Times spoke with some expats, particularly housemaids, asking what they think about the government plan and what specific clauses should be added in a new domestic workers’ bill?

A Filipino community leader, who spoke with this reporter on condition of anonymity, said that he hoped that management of domestic labor affairs would be transferred to a civilian authority rather than managed by the uniformed personnel of the Ministry of Interior.

“I am not comfortable witnessing all the concerns regarding domestic workers’ issues here being managed by uniformed men [police]. For one thing, it is scary and not at all friendly. These people are the most vulnerable workforce; they have no arms, not even a cane, to harm

anyone, so why should their daily management be supervised by the police?” he asked.

He argued that any domestic worker with any problem will hesitate initially to cooperate with the police for 1,001 different reasons. “I believe that housemaids should be given a special agency managed by civilians. If there are threats, then they can station some uniformed men in the agency, but they shouldn’t be managed by police,” he said.

An Indonesian community leader said that he’d like to see a more modern way of managing domestic labor affairs. “Why is it that Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia can manage their domestic labor issues properly? Why not Kuwait?” he asked.

“I think it’s a matter of imposing a law that has a genuine goal of helping the housemaids, not just because they want

this year. This comes just after the new private sector labor law came into effect in Kuwait following tumultuous discussion and deliberation of it in the Kuwaiti parliament over the last few months. The new law grants more rights to all other foreign private sector workers, but does not cover employees in the domestic labor sector, which has been called the most vulnerable expatriate workforce in the country. to polish their image in the international community, but due to the fact that these people are human beings who need real protection.”

Meanwhile, housemaids like Lala and Dina, told the Kuwait Times that they want to experience a real, regular day off every week like other workers. “We have been working with our employer for the last five years with only one day a year off. I want to experience a regular day off and I hope they’ll include that in the new bill and implement it accordingly,” she mentioned.

Rea, another housemaid, complained about overwork and limited sleep. “My problem here in my job is that if they have a visitor, I have no right to take a rest,” she explained. “They have visitors until at least 2-3am; it means I have only three or four hours sleep every night. I hope they’ll draft a bill to include the

proper working hours - ten hours or twelve hours a day would be good.”

Gina, meanwhile, wanted to see Kuwait impose a mandatory minimum monthly salary of $400. “Yes, we deserve a $400 salary; we work very hard, almost 24 hours a day, but we only get KD50-60?

That is not enough,” she asserted. “I hope the government will consider this.”

From the very first drafts of the recently introduced private sector labor law, observers like the International Labor Organization (ILO), Human Rights Watch and others called on Kuwaiti authorities to seriously consider including clauses to protect the rights of the country’s domestic workers.

Meanwhile, one Kuwaiti official has suggested reducing the number of domestic workers brought into the country to help maintain a demographic balance and combat human trafficking.

kuwait digest

The Negative Phenomena Committee

‘T

he Alien Practices Committee of the Parliament has exerted its influence to the point that they now intervene in women’s athletic activities - condoning it as being inappropriate and is classified it as being taboo, wrote Abdurrahman Al-Najjar in AlWatan.

‘What a strange committee it is! Some of its members appreciate Bin Laden, and have words of praise

for him. Others draw their ideology from the philosophy of the Taliban.

The writer feels that the ideologies they try to enforce on citizens give that implication. The first question he poses to members of this committee is on their failure to pay attention to the Kuwaiti Constitution properly, especially with regard to citizens’ rights?

Furthermore, he questions

the failure to address the ‘negative practices’ of certain Islamic preachers, who insult society, spread lies and accuse citizens of debauchery? ‘Also, what did they do in response to the action of one of their members who once neglected the National Anthem and refused to stand up while it was being played?’ he asked.

In the end, it’s important to point out the full

3

name of the committee, which is the ‘Committee tasked with studying negative phenomena in Kuwaiti society.’

This committee, which is a temporary one, was set up for its supposed approach of ‘studying’ the phenomena and has since begun interfering with people’s lives and freedom that are protected by the Constitution, Al-Najjar wrote.

‘Pay bonuses to Kuwaiti teaching staff’ KUWAIT: The Ministry of Education (MoE) has asked the Ministry of Finance to pay bonuses to Kuwaiti teaching staff members who work in private schools, at par with their counterparts employed with the Ministry.

A letter sent from the Education Minister, Dr Moudhi Al-Homoud, to the Finance Minister Mustafa Al-Shamali called for this issue to be settled following talks that lasted for years, reported Al-Watan.

In its latest reply, the Finance Ministry has said that it would take a decision after receiving the letter referred from the Civil Service Commission (CSC).

TUNIS: A Kuwaiti official called here yesterday for increasing cultural and intellectual interaction between the Arabian Gulf and the Arab Maghreb region. Kuwait’s representative to the Arab League Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) Dr Fahad Al-Rashid said that his country issued cultural publications in Tunisia to stress cultural and intellectual ties.

The initiative comes as response to a call by His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on openness with Arab Maghreb states, he stressed.

The publications received great acceptance from figures in Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Mauritania, in addition to ALECSO officials, he pointed out.

Articles are published in Fusaifisa Tunisian cul-

tural magazine and will be issued in a book on intellectual and cultural figures from the Arabian Gulf and Arab Maghreb in general, and Kuwait and Tunisia in particular, he noted.

He said he received letters of appreciation from senior Tunisian and Arab officials and figures on the successful initiative.

The figures included ALECSO Director General Dr Mohammad Al-Aziz Bin Ashour and Tunisia’s Religious Affairs Minister Abu Baker AlAkhzouri, he added.

Al-Rashid praised ALECSO and expressed appreciation and gratitude to its director general and to the leadership and people of Tunisia for bringing closer cultural and scientific views. AlRashid, who is a writer, was appointed as Kuwait’s representative to ALECSO in 2007. —- KUNA

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NATIONAL

Monday, March 8, 2010

Huge turnout expected

‘Educare 2010’ opens in Mishref Fair Grounds

By Ben Garcia KUWAIT: Twenty four colleges and universities from different parts of the world will display their prospectus and list of diploma/degree programs to lure Kuwaiti and expatriate students. ‘Educare Exhibition’ which will last until March 11, will be inaugurated today at the Kuwait International Fair Ground (Hall 8) in Mishref. The exhibition is held annually to help students decide on what universities/colleges can better help pursue their higher studies. Basma Al-Dehaiem, Marketing and Public Relations said that the exhibition hall is ready to accept visitors, especially high-school students.

Stores robbed in Salmiya, Maidan Hawally KUWAIT: Investigators have looked into a case regarding 13 stores in Salmiya and Maidan Hawally that were robbed overnight. The staff in each of the robbed stores realized cash and various items were missing after reporting to work the next day.

The losses are estimated to be in thousands of dinars.

Fugitives held Security guards at the Kuwait International Airport arrested a citizen preparing to board a flight to Cairo. After inspecting his identification authorities realized that he was wanted for several previous offenses. Additionally, an Indian on his way to Mumbai was arrested at the airport for similar reasons. Both men were taken to the proper authorities.

Body found Police responded to an emergency in Hasawi after receiving a phone call from residents regarding a man who had just been murdered. Police found the body in the building’s stairway but determined that the man had died of natural causes.

KD 1,800 stolen A citizen accused his two Asian house workers of stealing KD 1,800 from his home in Jahra. In his official report to authorities he explained that he first noticed the disap-

pearance of his male and female domestic workers in the morning and that it wasn’t until later that day that he noticed KD 1,800 were missing. A case was opened to further investigate the incident.

Drugs possession Investigators are looking for a Saudi citizen who escaped from police custody after being pulled over in Hawally. Police attempted to arrest the man after finding an amount of hashish and illegal drug pills inside his car after he was pulled over. He escaped from police on foot and avoided being apprehended. Police are still searching for the man.

Drunk driver Police arrested a drunk driver after receiving an emergency call from the driver of a mobile catering vehicle. He informed police that he was stopped by the drunk man in Mutlaa and asked to trade vehicles. The man was taken to a local police station.

Official investigated A high ranking security officer was sent to the Public Prosecutor on charges of assisting a fugitive’s escape. The incident occurred at the Jahra police station where officers brought in a homosexual wanted for a financial case. Instead of placing him under investigation, a sergeant major released the

fugitive and gave him back his identification.

The fugitive was then arrested again and the official who released him was put under investigation.

Illegal calls Criminal investigators raided an apartment in Hawally being used as an illegal international phone call center. Two Asians were arrested in the apartment and taken to the proper authorities.

Scam claim An expatriate informed authorities at the Jeleeb Al-Shuyiukh police station that he was scammed out of KD 3,000 by a citizen.

He explained that he initially trusted the Kuwaiti to invest the money in the stock market. He added that he does not believe all of his money could have been lost in such an investment. He insisted that the market was on the rise and that it would be impossible for the KD 3,000 to be completely lost in the stock market. Police are investigating the matter further.

Fire A fire that occurred in a home in Waha was successfully extinguished by firefighters before it could spread or cause any injuries. Investigations discovered that the fire was the result of an electrical short circuit.

“We are ready. We are expecting at least six to eight thousand visitors for the entire duration of the exhibition. This is a venue to link prospective students to their dreams universities and colleges,” announced Basma at a press conference held at the venue yesterday.

But the number of exhibitors this year were smaller when compared to over 50 exhibitors last year. According to Sara Al-Thukair, there are some issues surrounding their presence.

“Some Bahraini and Egyptian schools are yet to clear their names at the Ministry of Higher Education in Kuwait. So, most of the exhibitors last year were not able to join,” Sara said.

Without elaborating, Sara was referring to a recent Higher Education Ministry decision which disaccredited some Kuwaiti graduates from the above mentioned countries are suspected of distributing substandard degrees if not fake diplomas.

However, some names which were cleared by the Ministry of Higher Education are also participating. In fact according to Sarah, there are universities from Bahrain and Egypt who participate. Other participating countries include Azerbaijan, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

The press conference was attended by Educare Exhibition Manager Sara Al-Thukair and Public Assistant Manager Dhari Sulaiman Al-Aiban. Several participating university officials were from the American University of Kuwait (AUK), Australian College of Kuwait, Purdue University, American University/Colleges of the

KUWAIT: Dhari Al-Aiban, Basma Al-Dehaiem and Sara Al-Thukair addressing a press conference yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

KUWAIT: Some participating university officials at the press conference.

Middle East, Infocenter, and The British Council attended the event.

The AUK representative said that they have a team of officers at the venue to answer all enquiries and AUK admis-

sion process. On its part, the British Council representative noted that their participation has always been about the capacity building and self-development. Currently according to British Council official, they

have around 2,000 Kuwaiti students currently studying in the UK where experience provides them with great opportunities to develop relations with UK as well as students from many other countries.

National Guards launches moral guidance course KUWAIT: A course on moral guidance began yesterday at the National Guards’ Club, with both Kuwaiti and Qatari officers participating in the event.

The course, the seventh of its kind to date, illustrates the “profound unity”

enjoyed by military officers of the Gulf area, said Colonel Mohammad Farhan Abdullah, the National Guards’ Directorate’s Director of Moral Guidance, in his opening speech.

Colonel Abdullah also stressed the

necessity of exchanging expertise, as well as benefiting from the course’s seminars, which he explained will be delivered by media and Public Relations’ experts and will be of great use to the officers concerned. — KUNA

Kuwait to join Paris nuke conference PARIS: Kuwait is to partake in an international conference on peaceful nuclear energy due here today, with 65 countries to be attending.

The Kuwaiti delegation will be led by Minister of Electricity and Water Bader AlShuraiaan who is expected to turn up here later in the day. Attracting as many as 700 senior international officials, the conference is mainly intended to promote the peaceful and responsible use of nuclear energy.

During the two-day conference to be held at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the conferees are to mull over several nuclear issues and how to spur and encourage multilateral cooperation to help those countries which seek peaceful nuclear energy.

A forum of international decision-makers, experts, lawmakers, companies, industrialists, economists and financiers is to be held on the sidelines of the nuclear gather-

ing in Paris.

Several world countries have recently voiced much interest in peaceful nuclear use in order to fulfill their energy needs amid hiking energy prices.

Six roundtables are also to be held on the margin of the event to discuss nuclear energy, mixed energy and its role in sustainable development, responsible development of nuclear energy and support for nuclearseeking countries. —- KUNA

UAE hosting BOT projects conference KUWAIT: President of the technical staff to study the developmental projects and initiatives Adel Al-Roumi left for Abu Dhabi yesterday to become acquainted with the experience of the United Arab Emirates in implementing development projects, according to the BOT system, particularly with regard to the electricity sector and energy saving.

Al-Roumi said prior to his departure that the UAE is among countries that have a distinctive experience in the implementation of the BOT projects, making it one of the important destinations where others must benefit from.

He added that his body is keen to achieve maximum success in the implementation of development projects, particularly the electricity sector and the energy saving as needs for this vital sector are growing. He added that such visit will have positive effects on the implementation of development projects in Kuwait. Al-Roumi said he would meet during the visit a number of senior UAE officials to identify the most important pros that need to be learned, and the most prominent obstacles to watch out for. — KUNA

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Kuwaiti women continue to challenge obstacles Extremists against female soccer teams

By Nisreen Zahreddine KUWAIT: Today is International Women’s Day, a day when women all over the world are celebrated and those who fought for equality are remembered. In our Arab societies Hayat, 21, was very upset about the speech against allowing women to play football. “I don’t understand why there is such a refusal to allow women their rights here?” she asked.

She added that Islamist MPs always try to limit women’s ambition while the world is moving forward and respecting the spirit of improvement. She wondered why Kuwait is such an exception.

Fatima sees it the other way. “Women cannot do everything men do,” she said.

She pointed out that young ladies with

KUWAIT: Participants of the Fifth Annual Autism Marathon pose for a group photograph with the organizers. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat

Annual Autism Marathon held

By Abdullah Al-Qattan KUWAIT: The Fifth Annual Autism Marathon was held as part of a series of events to mark World Autism Day on Saturday morning.

More than 1,000 participants helped raise awareness about autism with the aim of delivering a better understanding about the ailment to the Kuwaiti community, and the special care that they require.

The Minister of Oil and Information, Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Sabah, who sponsored the event for the fifth consecutive time, flagged off the race and more than 1,000 contestants took part from the Kuwait Tower (start line) until the finish line of the volleyball courts of Souq Sharq Mall. He awarded winners with medals. The event was also organized with the help of the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Health, and the Kuwait Municipality to ensure the safety of its participants.

Kuwaiti women praised for achievements KUWAIT: President of the women’s affairs committee Sheikha Latifa Fahd Al-Salem AlSabah asserted here yesterday that Kuwaiti women made a lot of cultural achievements in the past years that enabled them to play a crucial role in pushing forward the development in various fields.

Sheikha Latifa said in a press statement on the occasion of the International Women’s Day that “the Kuwaiti

women in all walks of life have proven their capability of excelling in various fields of labor and life along with providing an ideal model of the successful career woman.”

She went on to say that the Kuwaiti women are looking forward to achieving many of their aspirations in the coming period in order to further activate their role in the society in tandem with their capabilities and potentials.

Al-Mulla slams Assembly’s negative phenomena panel KUWAIT: MP Saleh Al-Mulla has slammed the parliamentary ‘negative phenomena’ committee over its threats to take action if the Minister of Social Affairs and Labor does not concede to its demand to ban Kuwaiti women from participating in the Olympic Games. The parliament had not appointed the committee as a custodian of Kuwaiti society, said the MP, urging committee members to stop interfering in such issues and end their use of tactics that could lead to conflicts between the National Assembly and the cabinet, and to tensions among MPs themselves.

Al-Mulla also warned the minister, Dr. Mohammad Al-Afasi, against giving in to the committee’s demands, accusing him of having given indications that he would do so and reminding the minister that he is responsible for sports related issues in Kuwait.

The MP also criticized what he said was the committee’s selective approach to which fatwas (religious opinions issued by Islamic scholars) to comply with, pointing out that “while they follow the Ministry of Awqaf’s fatwa to ban women’s participation in the Olympics, they refuse to follow previously issued fatwas that asserted the prohibition of writing off citizens’ loans.”

She also hailed in this respect the interest shown by the government for the Kuwaiti women and offering them constant support in order to continue their role in the service of their country.

Sheikha Latifa said that women who could achieve success in various fields and posts could at the same time effectively contribute to boosting the progress of development looked forward to by the Kuwaiti

people. She also called for promoting the efforts that help the Kuwaiti women forge ahead along with “removing all obstacles obstructing their road in order to be able to achieve the goals sought by all of us,” pointing out that women overcame many obstacles faced during their journey.

She also pointed out that the role of women in the current era is not restricted to the social field despite its

big importance, but they also go forward with big successful strides in the economic, political and scientific fields.

Sheikha Latifa concluded by calling for developing the Kuwaiti women’s capabilities in all these fields through rehabilitation training courses that enable them to catch up with latest developments of the times and prove their capabilities locally and internationally. — KUNA

however, many women are still struggling, silently and alone.

They want the right to do what men already have the full right to practice. In Kuwait, Islamist MPs have strongly spoken against allowing women to play football and represent the country internationally.

scarves on their heads are less likely to practice such a tough sport. In her opinion allowing women to play sports does not help them in the long run. She thinks that religion should be respected and that acting like Europeans does not suit Kuwaiti traditions and norms.

Anfal said that she is not a big fan of sports but cannot imagine being deprived of something just because of some MPs’ opinions.

“This is not right, they should not interfere in women’s sports,” she said.

She explained that freedom cannot be divided or bound and that if they give women the freedom to study in school they must also be given the freedom to play sports, even soccer. She said that it is not fair to interfere in the personal hobbies of women.

Deprived or not, Kuwaiti women continue to challenge these obstacles, just as all women in the Arab world face discrimination and injustice. The road is long and women may not be able to achieve what they want unless they pay a high price.

Kuwait holds chemical conference KUWAIT: Kuwaiti Minister of Oil Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah inaugurated here yesterday Kuwait’s first conference on chemistry and industry.

Being organized by the Kuwait Chemical Society, the three-day conference is being held under the auspices of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah.

The conferees are scheduled to explore weighty aspects pertinent to environment, petrochemical industry, use of green chemistry as a modern technology in the domains of diverse chemical researches, Sheikh Ahmad, who also doubles as Minister of Information, addressed the gathering.

The holding of the conference in Kuwait mirrors Kuwait’s keenness on following up on all scientific researches bearing on environment out of its deep belief in the concept of environment, he said.

Over 300 Kuwaiti and foreign experts are partaking in the three-day chemical gather-

KUWAIT: Dignitaries attending Kuwait’s first conference on chemistry and industry yesterday. — KUNA ing, he added. The minister hoped that the conference would come up with concrete and valuable recommendations that could contribute to serving science and humanity.

For her part, chairwoman of the organizing committee, Fayza Al-Kharafi, said chemistry has a vital role to play in life and in the development and revamping of existing and future industries. Stressing the

significance of world cooperation in this field, she said the committee was keen on inviting local and international scholars, specialists and experts in the areas of scientific research and industry in order to discuss the latest scientific developments for existing and future industries.

Over 35 working papers are to be presented to the event, she noted. Chairman of the

Kuwait Chemical Society Abdelaziz Al-Najjar underlined the importance of chemistry as a core pillar of modern human civilization and scientific advancement.

The gathering will mainly thrash out four key aspects, mainly environment, industrial chemistry and green chemistry, petrochemical industries and chemical research and development, he said. — KUNA

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Monday, March 8, 2010

Delegation visits Kuwait

Argentina hails KRCS on aid, relief operations KUWAIT: A visiting Argentina delegation hailed here yesterday the role played by the Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) regarding the aid and relief operations and offering support to the afflicted areas all over the world. This remark was made following a visit paid by the Argentina delegation led by Prof. Pidro Burger from the Buenos Aires university to the KRCS headquarters in order to get acquainted with the society’s efforts in the humanitarian and relief fields. Burger said that they were briefed on Kuwait’s efforts in the field of assistance provided to the afflicted countries like Indonesia, Haiti, Lebanon, Pakistan and Bangladesh and many others which were previously hit by natural disasters, hailing the humanitarian role of the KRCS.

KUWAIT: The world’s largest packaged product display held at TSC Wholesale Center - Shuwaikh.

—Photo by Fouad Al-Shaikh

New Guinness World Record at Sultan Center

By Nisreen Zahreddine KUWAIT: Al-Mansouriya Consumer Trading Company, a sister concern of Jassim Al-Wazzan Group, Olayan Kimberly Clark and The Sultan Center (TSC), one of the largest retailers in Kuwait and Middle East, have come together to achieve an all new Guinness World Record (GWR). The world’s largest packaged product display was recently held at TSC Wholesale Center - Shuwaikh. The celebrations were attended by top management from the respective companies, suppliers, and customers to witness this accomplishment.

Kleenex boxes were stacked up accordingly to achieve the largest product package display at TSC Wholesale Center - Shuwaikh. It took more than 40 personnel to set up this historic feat in a

time span of 10 hours. The representative of Guinness World Record Jack Brockbank was present to evaluate the entire effort and awarded Certificate of Guinness recognition to Al-Mansouriya Consumer Trading Co, Kimberly Clark Team and The Sultan Center for achieving this World Record.

Kapil Khosla, General Manager on behalf of Al-Mansouriya Management, thanked the Al-Wazzan family for their support to turn the event into a grand success, and also the management of business partners Olayan Kimberly Clark and The Sultan Center for their support and co-operation to achieve this extraordinary world record. He also appreciated the Mansouriya and Sultan Center Teams who worked toward executing this monumental display. “A challenging, yet, an extra-ordinary feat achieved here, placing Kuwait on the

Guinness map and we are proud of it,” said Kapil.

Firas Hamdan, TSC’s Chief Commercial Officer (Kuwait) expressed pride in this achievement for both companies including Kuwait. “We value our long-lasting partnerships with our suppliers and this record breaking achievement is the result of the solid teamwork undertaken between the two companies,” said Hamdan.

Ali Abdul Rehman Al-Wazzan, Director, also graced the occasion and declared the event a great success. He also thanked the Retail and Business Partners and the Al-Mansouriya Management for bringing this recognition to the country.

The attendees were excited to attend this event and see the historic Kleenex display to witness the all new Guinness World Record (GWR).

He also said that the KRCS constantly follows up all the world events and positively responds to the appeals made by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) on providing aid for all the afflicted people all over the world, pointing in this respect to what has been reviewed during their meeting with the KRCS’s president Barjes Hamoud Al-Barjes.

He also pointed out that the delegation got acquainted with all the humanitarian activities conducted by the KRCS whether at the domestic or world level, adding that these activities are a distinctive landmark of the state of Kuwait.

On the reasons behind this visit to Kuwait, Burger said that it came at the invitation of the foreign media department at the ministry of information in order to introduce the Kuwaiti landmarks to them and cover the Kuwait’s celebrations marking the National and Liberation days.

He also said that the delegation visited the Kuwaiti National Assembly and Kuwait House of National Works, besides the KRCS and AlQarein House, pointing out that he, in his capacity as a media man, will prepare a TV and radio program following his return to his country on Kuwait and what he saw of its

KUWAIT: Barjes Al-Barjes, chairman of the Kuwait Red Crescent Society, receiving a delegation from Argentina in his office over the weekend. —Photo by KUNA culture and history.

Meanwhile, coordinator at the foreign media department in the ministry of information Ahmad Dashti told KUNA that the ministry of information is keen on inviting a lot of figures in many world countries in order to know the cultural progress of Kuwait.

Dashti added that the ministry of information represent-

ed in the foreign media department received before delegations from Azerbaijan, China, Argentina and several other countries, stressing the importance of consolidating the Kuwaiti ties with all states in all fields.

He went on to say that another schedule of visits was set for the delegation to make them watch the tourist attrac-

tions of Kuwait along with making another visit to the National Assembly and holding meetings with a number of key Kuwaiti figures.

The delegation accompanying Burger includes Prof. Jorji Castro from the Buenos Aires university and Maria Lawara Karienta, a journalist from the Argentinian newspaper of Pinginia. —KUNA

NIS set to host Spring Educational Conference KUWAIT: The month of March marks the beginning of an important turnaround in the field of education. This educational event will be held on the premises of Al-Nibras International Bilingual School (NIS) under the patronage of Fahad Al Ghais, UnderSecretary of the Private Sector Education in the Ministry of Education - Kuwait.

The conference will provide cornerstones for building bridges between our schools, students, families, and communities. The NIS 1st Spring Educational Conference is scheduled to begin on March 13th for one week on the sprawling new campus.

The conference theme “Building Bridges” - dwells on the educational challenges facing the academic community.

Al-Nibras School is initiating a well needed dialogue among educators as well as conducting training sessions on a scientific

use of a curriculum relevant to the schools and education in Kuwait.

A full day event will be held on March 13th where educators from the prestigious Kennesaw State University - Georgia USA and distinguished educators from our part of the world will be leading the discussions and workshops sessions.

Workshops will start on March 14th until 18th.

Educators will benefit from the extensive expertise of a team of specialists with many years of experience in the field of education. Certificates of attendance will be distributed to all participants on March 18th.

This Conference is the contribution of Al-Nibras International Bilingual School to the development of the educators’ abilities coming from different educational institutions.

It is the school’s commitment in building the future of our children in Kuwait.

Tensions simmering at Interior Dept KUWAIT: Tensions are increasing among staff at the Ministry of Interior’s (MoI) Criminal Investigation Department over a number of longstanding problems there, according to insiders, with the main difficulty being the department’s lack of an Acting Director General for over a year.

Department staff have also complained that the supervisory committee headed by MoI Undersecretary Lieutenant General Ahmad Al-Rujaib, which is currently responsible for running the investigation division, is hindering rather than helping investi-

Al-Qallaf pictured with the organizing committee and a number of club members.

Family photo.

Day trip for Shaab Sea Club members

A family poses in a go-kart.

KUWAIT: Al-Shaab Sea Club hosted a day trip for members and their families in an open area in Jala’ah, which included an entertainment program that lasted from 9:00 AM until 7:00 PM. The event, which was attended by the director of the TEC’s director beaches and sea clubs department Ali Al-Qallaf, featured several competitions in which the participants competed to win various prizes. Shaab Club supervisor Khalid Al-Methen expressed his satisfaction at the success of the trip, further revealing that the club’s administration plans to continue to offer its members and visitors special services throughout the year, especially during special occasions.

Ali Al-Qallaf.

A participant in the activities.

Kites were present in the event.

Khalid Al-Methen.

Two participants enjoying the day out.

INTERNATIONAL

Monday, March 8, 2010

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Settlement deep in West Bank seen as peace spoiler WEST BANK: Ariel has ambitions of becoming a city, and already boasts 19,000 people, a college, a $10 million sports complex, and a fourlane highway leading to it. Ariel is a West Bank settlement, however, and its geography casts a heavy shadow over Palestinian hopes of getting a viable state of their own. Ron Nachman, its founder and mayor, says the community he began with two tents on a hill 32 years ago is already an irreversible fact. To reaffirm that claim and promise future growth, Israel’s prime minister, the hawkish Benjamin Netanyahu, recently planted a tree here, while his centrist coalition partner, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, paved the way for the college to become a full-fledged university.

If Ariel stays, it would gouge a giant hole in any future Palestinian state or could prevent its creation entirely. As the United States pushes to renew peace talks, Israel’s plans here - encouraged by American evangelical Christians - are deepening the Palestinians’ distrust. Even some Israelis, including former peace negotiators, warn a partition deal is impossible if Israel retains Ariel. Of the four major settlement blocs Israel hopes to keep in a peace deal, three are close to its borders. But Ariel juts deep into the would-be nation of Palestine, like a sausage on a stick.

“There is no viability for a Palestinian state if they keep Ariel,” warned Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. Twenty kilometers may not sound like much, but the distance is critical in the argument over territory. Ariel is midway into the West Bank, while heavily populated mid-Israel to the west is also just 20 kilometers wide. And Ariel is not alone. Its satellite

settlements house 30,000 people, 10 percent of the Jewish population among the Arabs of the West Bank.

Nachman, the mayor, dismisses the notion of Palestinian statehood, calling it a security threat, and he believes no Israeli government can afford to dismantle his town. Also, even though he laments the current freeze on settlements imposed by Netanyahu, he dreams of tripling Ariel’s population to 60,000 within a generation. There is precedent for uprooting settlers: Israel evacuated several thousand when it returned the Sinai Desert to Egypt in 1982, and another 8,500 when it left Gaza in 2005. But Ariel poses a unique dilemma - its size makes it difficult to evacuate, but its location makes it hard to annex.

And as Ariel grows, so does the dilemma.

The settlement’s attractions - government subsidies, cheap housing - all but assure future expansion. On a recent afternoon, swimmers did laps in the sports center’s glass-enclosed pool, which offers a spectacular view of the surrounding West Bank hills, while runners worked out on treadmills. Alex Yurievsky said he moved here from the Tel Aviv suburb of Petah Tikvah two months ago because he got a house for about half the price he would have paid in central Israel. The 40-year-old immigrant from Ukraine said three friends from Petah Tikvah also decided to move to Ariel after visiting him.

Yet Nachman complained that Ariel has been shortchanged over the years, and that he has no housing for new arrivals. Indeed, three settlements already are more populous, growing faster than Ariel. The curb on construction

WEST BANK: Palestinian protesters participate in a demonstration against Israel’s separation barrier in the West Bank village of Beit Jalla, near Bethlehem.—AP is to last 10 months, ending in September, and was a partial concession to the Obama administration, which sought a comprehensive freeze.

Israel seems to recognize that Ariel is a potential problem. Bowing to US pressure, it did not connect Ariel’s perimeter fence to the West Bank separation barrier, seen by some in Israel as the basis for a future border.

Former Israeli negotiators say Ariel emerged as a major obstacle in previous border talks, and in two sets of simulated negotiations, the Israeli team ended up ceding Ariel to the Palestinians. Still, construction is continuing on 80 apartments and 130 college dorm rooms, all exempt from the freeze because their foundations were poured before it took effect,

Israeli officials said. Nachman said he has completed plans for 3,000 more apartments, but requires government approval. He said he will push for permits once the freeze is over, but complained that he has been stonewalled by Israel’s leaders in the past.

The Housing Ministry refused to comment on building plans for Ariel. The industrial park has a dozen factories, and Nachman has said he expects two dozen more to move in.

Entrepreneur Lior Barkan, who owns a factory for LCD screen-mounting systems, said he set up shop in Ariel because of cheaper land and tax breaks. Plans for developing Ariel also include a two-story shopping mall, and during his visit in January, Netanyahu promised Ariel a cultural center.

“This is where our forefathers lived,” he said. “This is where we will remain and build.”

The planned upgrade of the college with 8,700 full-time and 2,500 part-time students is perhaps the most controversial in Israel. In January, Barak removed a bureaucratic hurdle to enable the college to become a full-fledged university by 2012, said its president, Dan Meyerstein. Meyerstein said the college, like the settlement, has broad Israeli public support. However, others warned it would make Israel vulnerable to an academic boycott by pro-Palestinian activists.

Last year, Spain expelled Ariel’s college from a solar power design contest because it is in a settlement, while 250 Israeli university lecturers signed a petition this month opposing the college’s upgrade. As debate simmers in Israel about the pros and cons of quitting the West Bank, Ariel’s boosters argue that leaving

the settlement in place is good for peace. They say Israeli voters will support a peace deal only if the number of uprooted settlers is kept low.

The hilltop settlement was founded in 1978 by the government of then-Prime Minister Menachem Begin, Netanyahu’s ideological mentor. It spreads over more than 1,200 hectares, some of it taken from nearby Arab villages, according to Israeli settlement monitors. The location was chosen because it controls a major aquifer and helps shield Israel’s narrow coastal plain, Nachman said. Ariel is a major employer in the area; several thousand Palestinians work in its industrial park and a neighboring one with 120 factories.

The settlement grew in spurts, most rapidly in the 1990s with the arrival of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Today, half of Ariel’s residents are immigrants, and many shop signs are in both Russian and Hebrew.

Beyond the tax breaks and affordable housing, Ariel offers perquisites that result from an alliance between Nachman and U.S. Christian Zionists. The evangelicals believe a Jewish return to biblical Israel hastens Christ’s prophesied return.

Christians, including followers of TV evangelist John Hagee, have donated generously to Ariel, helping build the sports complex and an adventure trail, part of a youth leadership center. The center, with climbing walls, ropes and an Alpine tower, will be inaugurated in April.

Ukrainian-born Elisabeth Isakov, 47, who runs a liquor store, said that after 16 years in Ariel, she would be reluctant to leave, even for compensation. “It’s our city,” she said.— AP

Biden to boost Mideast peace US cautions Israel against striking Iran WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama dispatches his vice president to the Middle East yesterday to try to build support for reviving IsraeliPalestinian peace talks despite deep skepticism on both sides. Iran is also a top issue for Israelis, many of whom see Obama’s focus on diplomacy and tar-

ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller unveils Arab Youth Survey Young people in the Mideast prioritize living in democracy DUBAI: The most important priority for young people in the Middle East today is living in a democratic country, according to the Second Annual ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey, the largest-ever study of its kind of the region’s largest demographic. Good infrastructure, access to the best universities, being paid a fair wage, and living in a safe neighborhood were identified as equally important priorities by Arab youth.

These are among the key findings of the ninecountry survey unveiled today in Dubai by Karen Hughes, Global Vice Chair of Burson-Marsteller and former US Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Conducted by leading international polling firm Penn Schoen & Berland Associates (PSB), the Second Annual ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey included 2,000 face-to-face interviews with Arab nationals and Arab expatriates between the ages of 18-24 in the six Gulf Cooperation Council nations, as well as in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan.

Ms. Hughes said: “More than two-thirds of respondents were very concerned about the rising cost of living, while the shortage of affordable housing was their second biggest worry, followed by unemployment. But in general, youth in the Middle East are confident about the direction in which the region is heading. When asked to consider the last five years, 66 per cent of Arab youth said their country of residence was going in the right direction.”

Increased public participation was seen as either ‘very important’ or ‘somewhat important’ by the vast majority of youth across all the countries surveyed, from 85 per cent of respondents in Oman to 99 per cent of young people in Kuwait. Joseph Ghossoub, Chairman and CEO of the MENACOM Group, regional parent of ASDA’A BursonMarsteller said: “By examining a wide range of issues, the insights from the survey will be of relevance to the broadest spectrum of experts, including policymakers, marketers, the business community and the media. Our hope is that the survey results will spark greater understanding of the priorities and indeed action on the ground.”

“Addressing the needs of the Middle East’s largest demographic requires carefully considered solutions informed by robust insights,” said, Sunil John, Chief Executive Officer of ASDA’A BursonMarsteller, the Middle East’s leading public relations consultancy. “We firmly believe that an evidence-based approach is essential to understanding and meeting those needs, which is why we

embarked on the second and most ambitious edition of our Arab Youth Survey,” John said. “This survey makes a valuable contribution to this critically important discussion about the future of the region’s youth.”

“The second survey has greater reach, more depth and is even more representative of the divergent views of the young men and women across the major Arab nations than the 2008 study which was based on an online survey. By using face-to-face interviews, the 2009 research is even more representative than the inaugural study in 2008,” said Robert Kellman, Middle East Business Director of PSB. “The interview sample is weighted to reflect the socio-economic make-up of the participating countries, the geographical distribution of the population within them, and the opinions of women as well as men,” he added.

The Second Annual ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey explored a diversity of topics most relevant to young people in the region, from the financial crisis to foreign relations, to media consumption and online behavior, to brand preferences and spending habits, to education and career aspirations, to how youth spend their free time.

Contrary to the common Western misperception of Arab youth as conservative and inward-looking, young Arab men and women see themselves as fully engaged global citizens and aspire to the same privileges and freedoms taken for granted in the West, according to the survey. Other key findings of the Second Annual ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey include the following insights: Arab youth are confident about the prospects for economic recovery in 2010. -Nearly four out of five claim to own a mobile phone. -Young Arabs increasingly live online, but nearly half read a newspaper every day. -Two thirds of Arab youth spend their free time in front of the TV. - More than a quarter of Arab youth are in debt. - Arab youth are increasingly looking East in response to the shifting global economy . - Youth in the Middle East are evenly split on their preferences to work in the government or private sector Within the region, the GCC and Levant are the most popular travel destinations for Arab Youth, who strongly prefer flying with their national airlines. The highlights of the Second Annual ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey will be presented Sunday evening to an audience of government, industry, marketing and media opinionleaders. The event will be chaired by Karen Hughes and debated by a panel of distinguished Arab thinkers.

Gunfire at Yemen hospital SANAA: An Al-Qaeda suspect tried to shoot his way out of hospital in Yemen’s capital where he was being treated under guard yesterday, while security forces and separatists clashed in the south of the country. The suspected Al-Qaeda militant snatched a gun from one of two intelligence agents guarding his room and opened fire, a hospital administrator said. One of the agents was killed and the other wounded, a security official said.

More gunmen opened fire at the hospital entrance as the Al-Qaeda suspect tried to make his way downstairs, the administrator added.

There was no word on civilian casualties. “I saw smoke rising from the window of one storey of the hospital, and heard the screams of people who were inside,” said a journalist who was at the hospital when the shooting broke out, asking not to be named. He said the smoke was probably from smoke bombs fired by security forces after the shooting. Al Arabiya television had reported both

guards in the room were killed.

Yemen became a major Western security concern after the Yemen-based regional arm of AlQaeda claimed responsibility for a failed attempt to bomb a US-bound plane in December. Hospital sources said the suspected Al-Qaeda militant was apprehended, but the gunmen who opened fire at the hospital entrance managed to flee. A security official said the suspect, a non-Yemeni, had been among 11 al Qaeda suspects held this week in the capital Sanaa.

Western allies and neighboring Saudi Arabia fear Al-Qaeda is exploiting instability in impoverished Yemen to recruit and train militants for attacks in the region and beyond. As well as fighting Al-Qaeda, Yemen is trying to contain separatist tension in the south and end a northern Shiite insurgency. Last month, facing international pressure to focus on Al-Qaeda, Sanaa declared a truce in the northern conflict.— Reuters

“What we have here is a madman, and crazy people can do only crazy things,” Industry and Trade Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told Israel Radio. “The Americans ... must see how they can create a reality in which they stop the madman.” An Israeli political source said Israel expected Biden’s main message would be “don’t bomb Iran”, a cautionary note Washington has sounded before in contacts with Israeli leaders.

Biden will meet Israeli, Palestinian, Egyptian and Jordanian leaders starting on Monday, but a main component of his trip will be public diplomacy.

That means reassuring anxious Israelis about Obama’s commitment to their security while explaining why they should be willing to make concessions for peacemaking. Biden was not expected to take part in indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks that would be spearheaded by Obama’s special envoy, George Mitchell, and could be announced during his visit, although he will be briefed on them.

TOUGH SELL The vice president, who will be the most senior American official to visit Israel since Obama came to office in January 2009, faces a tough sell, Israeli officials and analysts say. Many Israelis are distrustful of Obama’s outreach to the Muslim world, a priority he highlighted with highprofile visits to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and, later this month, to Indonesia. “If Israel is supposed to make sacrifices for a peace deal, the Israeli public has to be convinced it is receiving sufficient support from the United States,” an Israeli official said, calling Biden’s visit the beginning of that process.

US-Israeli tensions flared over Obama’s early push for a complete Jewish settlement freeze, although his administration has at least temporarily backed off, embracing a more limited, 10month moratorium on new building announced in November.

Other differences remain over next steps and the scope of renewed talks with the Palestinians.

Before Biden’s visit, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the case to Israel against taking military action against Iran.

“A strike could be as destabilizing as Iran getting a nuclear weapon,” one US official said. An Israeli official said Washington made clear Israel “doesn’t have a military option without US clearance, and we don’t have clearance at this time”. US and Israeli officials said the main source of discord on Iran for the time being was over the scope of future sanctions, rather than the pros and cons of military action.

The Israeli official said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will meet Biden, was “disappointed” by sanctions proposed thus far by the United States.

“This is not what we’ve been promised”, he said. Asked if that meant Netanyahu would seek a US green light for striking Iran, another senior Israeli official said: “We’re not there yet. ... This is the time to act on sanctions and it is premature to discuss anything else.” Israel has called for “crippling” sanctions.

Washington wants them to be targeted against hard-liners and is wary of broad-based penalties that could destabilize the Iranian economy as a whole and alienate its people. — Reuters

geted sanctions to curb Tehran’s nuclear program as wishful thinking. An Israeli cabinet minister, commenting on Joe Biden’s visit, pointed to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s description of the Sept 11 attacks in the United States as a “big fabrication” as cause for concern.

Sunni Arabs ‘vote against Al-Qaeda’ Voters defy terror threats FALLUJAH: Khaled Abdallah dropped his ballot into the box in defiance of Al-Qaeda, whose threat to kill any voter in Iraq’s election yesterday was largely ignored in the Sunni Arab bastion of Fallujah.

Amid the echo of blasts from around the former rebel stronghold in the desert of western Iraq, a cry of “vote against Al-Qaeda!” rang out from Kamal Fawaz, a first-time voter at a polling station in AlAmine school. Formerly in the grips of Osama bin Laden followers in Iraq and other insurgents, Fallujah was the scene of two fierce battles against the American military in 2004. The war for Fallujah was fought a year after the US-led invasion which toppled Iraq’s long-time Sunni president, Saddam Hussein.

But many local residents, weary of the bloodshed and destruction, turned out for Iraq’s second post-Saddam parliamentary election, in contrast to a Sunni boycott at the last such poll in 2005. Only 3,500 people voted five years ago, less than one percent of the electorate in Anbar province of which the city of Fallujah forms a part. “They terrorized us for many years. Now, we must drive them out because they are doing wrong to the country,” said Kamal, referring to Al-Qaeda, which on Friday threatened voters with their lives.

After a timid start, the pace picked up, with local dignitaries and clerics encouraging voters not to repeat the boycott which only served to boost the dominance in parliament of Iraq’s majority Shiites and their Kurdish allies. Women in the “niqab” fullface veil, accompanied by their husbands, sought out their names on the registers, avoiding the glances of other men and the cameras of journalists.

Outside, hundreds of police and soldiers patrolled

the streets, where motorists were banned amid fears of car bombings.

“They’re like rats. They open fire and then just vanish into the air. Let them come and confront us face to face,” said Khaled Abdallah, 35, who like voters all around Iraq had to undergo a search before casting his ballot. His father, 70-year-old Sheikh Majed, said the days of Fallujah’s subservience to the rebels and the US military were numbered.

“Those terrorists want to intimidate us but we mustn’t let it get to us. We managed to resist the Americans and it’s not a handful of people who are going to deviate us from our course today,” he said.

The two men said they voted for the Iraq Unity list of Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani, who is in alliance with Arab tribal chiefs who have turned against Al-Qaeda. “Our goal today is give back the Sunnis their place in parliament and to restore a balance in the government,” said Sheikh Majed.

Storekeeper Hamed Hilal, 25, openly said he voted for the Allawi camp, referring to Shiite former premier Iyad Allawi whose Iraqiya list includes several Sunni parties.

“All my family voted for his representative in Anbar,” said a doctor, Rafaa Al-Issawi. “He’s a man who can be trusted and who can serve the interests of the Sunnis.” Like in other Sunni regions of Iraq, a nostalgia for the Saddam era bubbled not far under the surface, almost a full seven years after the nowexecuted dictator was overthrown. Iraq “needs a Saddam,” swore Battal Salman, 55.

“I voted but I don’t really believe in these new leaders ... The Sunnis are going to work with the Shiites but it’s them who now control the wheels of power.” — AFP

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INTERNATIONAL

Monday, March 8, 2010

Destructive floods ravage East Africa NAIROBI: Torrential rains across East Africa have sparked flash floods that have swept away homes, bridges and lives in a region emerging from a harsh drought that plunged millions into hunger. The annual rainy reason has seen unusually heavy downpour. Some 300 people were feared dead in eastern Uganda where days of rainfall this week caused a huge landslide that buried entire villages.

Meteorological officials have predicted more rains in the coming weeks as the March to May wet season peaks.

The meteorological department in Kenya, where six people were killed and dozens reported missing after flash floods Thursday, forecast that many areas in the country “are likely to experience near normal rainfall with a slight tendency towards above normal.” A similar forecast was put out by Ugandan authorities as they embarked on relocating thousands of residents from the landslide-stricken villages in the eastern Bududa district, fearing more mudslides.

The landslide which engulfed three villages in the region was one of the worst disasters to hit the east Africa country in recent years. In neighboring Tanzania, some 28,000 people were left homeless following heavy

ABIDJAN: A worker taps a rubber tree to collect rubber sap in a plantation of heveas in Allokoi village located 5 kilometers from Abidjan. Ivory Coast is the leader of rubber production in Africa with 180,000 tons per year. — AFP flooding in December and January in the country’s eastern and central regions.

The railroad linking the commercial capital Dar es Salaam and the countryside was washed away by the raging waters, forcing travelers to take a 450-kilo-

metre bus trip to catch trains to other parts of the country.

“The principal factors responsible for the observed and predicted weather are weak El Nino conditions,” Tanzania’s Meteorological Agency said in a statement. Earlier this week,

thousands of livestock were killed after heavy rains pounded Somalia’s northern breakaway region of Somaliland, according to officials and residents.

“Around five thousand goats were killed by the floods in TogWajale area where a river burst

its banks,” local elder Mohamed Adan Duale said.

Mired in almost uninterrupted civil conflict since the 1991 ouster of president Mohamed Siad Barre and plagued by recurring natural disasters, Somalia is often described as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Response to disaster in this region is often only temporary, with relief aid rushed to victims and appeals for help sent out while long-term solutions to the recurrent crises are seldom sought.

And in the absence of permanent solutions, many of those affected by drought find no respite even when the rains come as floods sweep away their homes, destroy crops and bring water-borne diseases.

In Kenya, many of the victims of the current floods were also affected by last year’s prolonged drought, declared a national disaster after it left some 10 million people facing food shortages.

The weather vagaries also hurt economies in the region, where agriculture is the main source of revenue and the mainstay of millions of people. The latest rains also flooded 10 tourist lodges in Kenya, forcing the evacuation of some 500 tourists.

Tourism is one of Kenya’s top currency earners. — AFP

French president suffers poll woes Sarkozy’s approval ratings fall, economy weighs PARIS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy suffered fresh poll woes at the weekend, with his popularity hitting new lows and his political allies forecast to suffer heavy defeat at this month’s local elections. The regional vote, held over two rounds on March 14 and 21, is the last major ballot box test ahead of the 2012 presidential election and worries about the state of the anemic economy look certain to weigh on the chances of the ruling centre-right.

A CSA opinion poll in Le Parisien daily showed Sarkozy’s approval rating down 4 points in a month at 36 percentthe lowest level since he won power in 2007. A separate CSA poll predicted leftwing groups would win a combined 52 percent of the vote at the local elections against a meager 28 percent for centreright and rightist parties. Politicians on both sides said the economy was weighing on voters’ minds, with data last week showing the unemployment rate hitting 10 percent in France for the first time in a decade.

More alarming still for the government, a record 25.3 percent of males aged 15 to 24 were registered as unemployed. “The government’s strategy has led to more poverty and more unemployment, so the regional elections have come at the right moment,” Socialist party spokesman Benoit Hamon told Canal+ television yesterday. The Socialists already control 20 out of France’s 22 mainland regions and a new, resounding victory this month could heal some of the deep, internal rifts that condemned the party to defeat at recent national elections.

SARKOZY UNDER FIRE It is also likely to buoy rare, dissenting figures on the right, such as former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who is eyeing a possible challenge to Sarkozy in 2012. “A positive trend is opening up for all those who see themselves as alternatives to Nicolas Sarkozy, both on the left and the right,” said political analyst Stephane Rozes. Sarkozy has suffered a string of setbacks in recent months, his authority dented by internal party dissent, allegations of nepotism, a controversial debate on national identity and increasing concerns about ballooning debt and deficit levels.

He has tried to stay aloof from regional campaigning, sending his sturdy prime minister, Francois Fillon, into the firing line, but this policy has not done him any

Police hit wall in hunt for missing British boy JHELUM: Pakistani police said yesterday they were scrambling for clues to help recover a missing British boy, with no new contact from the kidnappers and few leads on the fate of the five-yearold. Frustrated relatives waited in the town of Jhelum in central Pakistan for news of Sahil Saeed, who was snatched Thursday from his grandmother’s house by robbers who also stole jewelry, cash and demanded a 120,000-dollar ransom. “We are totally blind with no clue in hand so far about the kidnapped child, but our investigation continues,” said senior police official Raja Mohammad Tahir Bashir. “We are concerned about the safety and security of the child.”

The boy was kidnapped by men who stormed the house armed with guns and grenades, subjecting the family to a six-hour ordeal shortly before Sahil and his Pakistani father were preparing to take a taxi to the airport and fly home. Police have detained the taxi driver who had been booked to take them to the airport and said on Saturday they were confident of recovering the child. A Pakistani diplomat also said police had made several arrests. Pakistan’s high commissioner to London suggested the kidnapping could have been an inside job, but family members have vigorously denied the claim.

Sahil’s great uncle Raja Shahid said family members were getting increasingly frustrated with police efforts, adding that they had no fresh contact from the kidnappers since a telephone call to Sahil’s father on Friday. “We have not received any information from police about the kid. We are very upset and concerned about the health and security of Sahil,” Shahid said. “We will now contact the police again to find out why they have not been able to recover the child so far. The kidnappers have also not contacted us again-they had contacted us twice in the beginning.”

In Oldham, northern England, Sahil’s mother Akila Naqqash on Saturday made an emotional plea for her son’s safe return, telling his captors: “I just want my son back. All is forgiven, I will forgive you.” Local police official Chaudhry Shahbaz Ahmad said he thought the widespread media coverage of the abduction may have caused the kidnappers to go underground and refrain from contacting the family.

“But we are hopeful we will safely recover the boy,” he added. Kidnappings of Westerners are rare in Pakistan, but criminal gangs-some connected to Islamist militant networks-often abduct locals for ransom. Other kidnappings are blamed on family disputes. — AFP

Swiss vote against lawyers for animals

PARIS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy salutes farmers’ representatives at the start of talks he held during a visit at the Agriculture Fair on March 6, 2010. Standing at left is French Agriculture minister Bruno Le Maire. – AFP favors. Even though the centre-right is floundering, Fillon himself has won plaudits for his calm, steady manner, and his own popularity rating is consistently higher than Sarkozy’s-down just one point in February to 42 percent according to CSA. One mainstream, centre-right news magazine splashed the prime minister on its cover this week with the

headline “President Fillon”-a barb aimed directly at Sarkozy, who is criticised by opponents as hyperactive and confrontational. When the right was routed at the last regional election in 2004, the thenpresident Jacques Chirac responded with a cabinet reshuffle. This time around, Sarkozy’s allies have played down the prospect of a major ministerial shake-up.

“This is not a parliamentary election,” said Xavier Bertrand, secretary general of Sarkozy’s UMP party. “Whatever the result, one thing is sure: the president, the prime minister, the government and the ruling majority will keep as their absolute priority the economic recovery and continue the reforms that the French need,” he told Le Parisien. — Reuters

More than 200 die in Nigeria violence JOS: More than 200 bodies - many of them women and children - lay in the streets of a central Nigerian town after a renewed spate of Christian-Muslim violence, witnesses said yesterday, just months after religious violence tore through a nearby city and left hundreds dead. Yemi Kosoko, a reporter with the independent Nigerian news network Channels said most of the bodies appeared to be women and children killed by blows from machetes. Kosoko

JHELUM: Tasneem Bashir (second left) and Raja Naqqash Saeed (right), grandmother and father of British born kidnapped child Sahil Saeed, stand with other family members as they await the arrival of Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik at their residence yesterday. — AFP

said the dead lined the streets of Dogo Nahawa, a village about three miles south of the city of Jos. Kosoko said he made the count yesterday afternoon with an official from the state government. Military units began surrounding the affected villages around the same time, said Red Cross spokesman Robin Waubo. Waubo said the agency did not know how many people may have died in the fighting, though officials have been sent to local morgues

and hospitals. Witnesses said the violence began in the mostly Christian village at about 3 am yesterday an hour when the area should have been under curfew and guarded by the military. Jos has remained under a curfew since violence in January left more than 300 people dead - the majority of them Muslims.

Police and military officials declined to comment on the attack or the motivation for the violence. “It appears to be reprisal attacks,” Waubo said. In nearby

Bauchi state, more than 600 people fled to a makeshift camp still holding victims of January’s violence, said Red Cross official Adamu Abubakar. “They started running away from the fighting,” Abubakar said by phone. He said more continued to come. Sectarian violence in this region of Nigeria has left thousands dead over the past decade. The latest outbreak came despite the Nigerian government’s efforts to quell religious extremism in the West African country. — AP

GENEVA: Switzerland boasts laws to protect goldfish from being flushed down the toilet and to guarantee companions for lonely animals but yesterday voted against assigning lawyers to abused creatures. Just over 70 percent of voters chose the “no” option in a referendum on the issue and nearly 30 percent said “yes”, according to results released after the day’s voting.

Yesterday’s referendum was initiated by the Swiss Animal Protection (PSA) group and would have obliged all cantons to name a lawyer for animals during judicial proceedings.

Legal representation in cases involving mistreated animals has been compulsory since 1992 in the Zurich canton.

But pet politics could have been taken to a new level if voters had extended the right to the other 25 mini-states. The quirky lawyers-for-animals poll is the latest example of Switzerland’s “direct democracy” in which any citizen who collects 100,000 signatures from eligible voters can force a nationwide referendum on their chosen cause.

“It is not about Paris Hilton’s dog now needing a lawyer to represent its interests,” said Antoine Goetschel, Switzerland’s only lawyer mandated by his canton in Zurich to handle animal welfare cases. It is about protecting animals who are harmed by the very people who are meant to take care of them, Goetschel said ahead of the vote. The problem is that the animal has “no rights”, unlike humans who can prosecute the person who has caused harm, he said.

Environment groups, the Green and Socialist parties supported the initiative. But the government, parliament and the country’s biggest party, the far-right Swiss People’s Party, were against. A lawyer’s presence would however not have ushered in a slew of children being prosecuted for pulling a mosquito’s leg off, said Green lawmaker Adele Thorenz Goumaz, as the rejected law only covered “vertebrates” raised or used by man. “In reality, lawyers for animals have a limited role. They can only work when there are penal pro-

GRAND SAINT BERNARD, Switzerland: Saint Bernard dog Salsa poses at the Great Saint Bernard mountain pass in this June 4, 2009 file photo after its arrival at the monastery for the summer season. Already boasting laws to protect goldfish from being flushed down the toilet and to guarantee companions for lonely animals, Switzerland yesterday voted on whether abused animals deserve lawyers. — AFP cedures stemming from a violation of the law,” she told the Le Temps newspaper.

The strongest opposition was in the countryside. “It will generate too much bureaucracy,” complained Urs Schneider, spokesman for the Swiss Farmers’ Union. “Switzerland already has existing laws to protect animals,” he told AFP. Switzerland already has one of the world’s most comprehensive laws on animal rights.

Under laws revised in 2008, people wanting to get rid of a fish cannot flush it down a toilet bowl alive. It must be knocked out, killed and then its body disposed of.

Sociable household pets such as budgies and hamsters cannot be left alone. Even

sheep and goats must have at least a “visual contact with their fellows”. “We have very good laws... but unfortunately they’re not applied with the severity that we’d like,” said animal rights defender Samuel Debrot.

The law’s advocates say that Zurich’s experience of lawyers for animals has shown that the system can lighten the public prosecutor’s load.

The canton paid 78,000 francs ($72,600) last year to Goetschel, far less than a typical lawyer dealing with other cases.

Ethnologist Jacques Hainard said yesterday’s referendum could be seen as misdirected anthropomorphism and as a sign of excessive compassion that reflects “a rich country’s pathology”. — AFP

INTERNATIONAL

Monday, March 8, 2010

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Tsunami-hit fishermen now ‘scared of sea’ ILOCA: The powerful tsunami that swept a string of coastal fishing villages out to sea a week ago carried away boats, tackle and engines too, and traumatized fishermen are now “scared of the sea.” The wreckage along the 20 kilometers of southern coast hit by three gigantic waves a week ago Saturday is among the worst wreaked by the mega 8.8 quake, one of the biggest ever on record.

Blue-eyed and sunburned, Mamerto Jara Faria, 53 and a father of four, stands listlessly gazing out to sea by his bombed-out house.

“What’s going to become of us?” he says. “My boat’s gone, along with the nets and engine. I haven’t got money for new ones-the cash under the mattress washed away.” “And look at the sea,” he adds. “The fish’ve gone, the water’s higher than it was, so the haul would be bad even we had boats.” Not a single person died along this coast, a special police investigator told AFP, but the sea swallowed one of Chile’s three main fishing centers, a key industry.

“We thank God we’re alive,” said

Francisco Rivera Cespedes, the 39year-old former head of the 300strong local fishermen’s association as he supervises a hand-out of relief sent by fishermen from other partsa consignment of disposable nappies, crates of water and biscuits.

“Many are saying they no longer want to fish, they’re scared of the sea now,” he said. “But that’s what we do-fish!”. Piled high along both sides of the straight coastal road stand a jumble of mangled fridges and beds, stray computers, power lines and muddied rags. Twisted circus caravans and vehicles from the Circo Montini lie near the remains of a fair ground.

Rescue-workers this week saved lions and monkeys brought to entertain summer holidayers enjoying the seaside in hotels and bungalows, many built by fishermen for extra cash. But in the dead of night, high waves powered hundreds of meters inland, literally sweeping away entire houses that now lie tumbled on their sides far from where they stood, or were hollowed out in the middle when waves crashed in and out.

“That’s ours, over there, it used to be here,” said Graciela Corea, 74.

Most people are homeless, and most sleep in tents. By day they pick through the rubble for hidden banknotes, mementos, or anything usable.

At night they sleep on high ground in the surrounding hills.

Survivors recount how people scrambled up the hillside minutes after the quake. “We’d been told it could happen here, after the one in Asia,” Corea said. “Never, never in my whole life here had I seen one.”

Thanks to the full moon that night, everyone went quickly, screaming “Run! Run! The sea’s coming!”

“There was a long silence after the quake,” she said. “I saw the first wave. It made a noise like a huge machine crunching wood. A few minutes went by, then the second wave came, the most violent.”

More than 200 aftershocks-as strong as 6.8 and 6.2 on Friday are traumatizing Chileans already in shock. Maria Yarce Jara, who waited three days before finding the strength to come down to the sea to see the state of her damaged house,

said she cannot close her eyes at night. “It has been days since I slept.” By day, she and husband Francisco, and the children and grandchildren-they took to the hills with only a pack of nappies for a 3month baby when the tsunami struck-camp close to their house to make sure nobody makes off with the little left inside.

By night they climb the hill.

“We’re worried about the future,” she said. “For now, Chileans from all over are bringing us food, water and clothing.” “But a few weeks down the road, people may forget us and how can we make out if we have no boat, no way of earning a living?”

President-elect Sebastian Pinera, who will be sworn into office next week, on March 11, toured the coastal disaster zone this week, and South Korean officials too came by promising help. “We want to work though we’re terrified of the water,” said Francisco Jara. “But people say there’s little chance of another tsunami like this for another 100 years, so we will return. We can’t hang around uselessly like this much longer.”— AFP

TALCAHUANO: A man walks in front of a half-sunk fishing boat and container next to Talcahuano’s shore line in Chile. — AP

House juggling Chile mourns White several issues at once quake dead A furious health care push; but what about jobs?

Flags lowered across the country in tribute

CALETA TUMBES: People take part in a prayer session in Caleta Tumbes, Chile. — AP

Morale low at US embassy in Kabul WASHINGTON: Civilians on the front lines of President Barack Obama’s war in Afghanistan are stretched to the limit, beset by low morale and a shortage of qualified personnel, an official report has found. In a report completed last month and posted this week on its website, the State Department inspector general’s office blamed the “unprecedented pace and scope” of Obama’s civilian “surge” in Afghanistan for the shortcomings.

“Even with the able leadership of Kabul’s senior (civilian) officers, the best of intentions and the most dedicated efforts, Embassy Kabul faces serious challenges in meeting the administration’s deadline for ‘success’ in Afghanistan,” the report said. When he unveiled his revamped strategy for Afghanistan in December, Obama made the civilian buildup-alongside a 30,000-troop increase-an important part of his plan to defeat the emboldened Taleban-led insurgency and its Al-Qaeda allies.

Although State Department inspectors hailed US Ambassador Karl Eikenberry’s “impressive progress” in managing personnel, they noted that diplomats were stretched to the limit, working 80 hours a week with no days off. They often work into the very early morning for conference calls with top administration officials in Washington, a frenzied schedule that has reduced productivity and curtailed the mission’s goals of promoting good governance and stability in Afghanistan, according to the report.

“Morale at Embassy Kabul has been challenged by the stresses of an almost 100 percent personnel turnover, a massive civilian buildup at a frenetic pace, the redesign of development assistance programs, the continuing high volume of official visitors,” it said. Embassy spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden noted that the inspection took place in October and November, and

said many of its dozens of recommendations had already been implemented.

“In general, the report is accurate in its assessments.

Many of the findings and recommendations are similar to those found in reports about other embassies worldwide,” she said via email. The number of civilians falling under the US embassy’s purview is set to nearly triple from around 300 last year to about 900 early this year. A large number of diplomats are dispatched to military bases and provincial reconstruction teams, advisory units that include diplomats, military officers and reconstruction experts. Most diplomats sent to the provinces lack training in political reporting and analysis, further taxing the units, according to the report.

They also have to worry about their living conditionswith packed quarters at the embassy complex and officers in rural areas sometimes forced to live in makeshift housing with neither heat nor running water. In addition to dealing with the massive influx of new personnel, Eikenberry and his staff face “war tourism,” with an “incredible number” of lawmakers, as well as federal and state officials placing an additional strain on reconstruction and counterinsurgency efforts, the report said.

It stressed that staffing levels were inadequate to meet the Obama administration’s goal of overhauling its public diplomacy efforts in Afghanistan or Pakistan, where militants have used as a safe haven since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

Beyond the US embassy’s own shortfalls, the report said its efforts were further undercut by a weak Afghan government beset by corruption.

“There is tension among the US government’s lofty goals, the embassy’s ability to advance them, and the capacity and commitment of elements of the Afghan government to implement them,” it added. —AFP

SANTIAGO: Quake-hit Chile begins three days of mourning yesterday for the hundreds killed in last week’s disaster with flags lowered across the country in tribute to the dead. Eight days after the 8.8-magnitude earthquake, officials have almost halved the initial death toll, revising it from 802 to 452, after finding that missing people had been listed as dead in several parts of Chile.

But half a million homes were destroyed in the quake, leaving two million homeless, and sanitary conditions for many still living on the streets were a growing concern.

“We have cases of gastroenteritis, respiratory problems, and we’ve had heart problems due to fears caused by recent aftershocks,” Carlos Barra, a health center doctor in the badly-hit coastal city of Concepcion said. In another southern town, Talca, angry residents blocked traffic on Friday with a barricade of burning tires to protest against a lack of official help. Elsewhere aid was gradually getting through to the quake survivors. Vaccinations against hepatitis and tetanus have started in the seaside resort of Constitucion, the government said.

Power has been restored to two thirds of the town’s 50,000 residents after a week in the dark, although only one third have access to running water, city officials said. In a sign of improving security conditions, Chilean authorities shortened a curfew in Concepcion from 18 to 13 hours on Saturday, and reduced curfews in Arauca, Nuble and Biobio provinces. Scores of people were arrested in Concepcion Friday night for ignoring the curfews, ordered immediately after the quake to curtail widespread looting.

Police said they had recovered thousands of possessions, from plasma television sets to washing machines and items of furniture, helped by tip-offs from local residents. Despite being seen as a model of stability in Latin America, Chile struggled to cope with the scale of the catastro-

phe. The outgoing government of President Michelle Bachelet-who is to hand power to Sebastian Pinera, a multi-millionaire right-wing businessman, on Thursday-has come under fire for its slow response.

Bachelet deployed 14,000 troops in the wake of the disaster, a move unprecedented since the 17-year military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, which ended in 1990. But the Chilean Navy on Friday sacked the head of the agency in charge of issuing disaster warnings in a recognition of its failings. Aftershocks have also complicated the rescue efforts, with a 6.8-magnitude tremor on Friday among the strongest of more than 200 to rattle the nation in the quake aftermath.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon vowed to help Chile recover after touring the disaster zone Saturday, including Concepcion and the tsunami-hit port of Talcahuano. “Words fail to describe my feelings after what I have seen,” the UN secretary general told survivors. Among the sites Ban visited was a downtown area in Concepcion, where a new 15-floor building collapsed on its side during the quake, trapping over 100 residents. Only about 40 people survived. Ban said he would report his findings to the UN General Assembly and discuss how best to help Chile with reconstruction.

Ban already pledged 10 million dollars in immediate help from the United Nations and helped launch a 24-hour telethon featuring celebrities in a bid to raise 15 billion pesos ($29 million) for disaster victims. The hastily-organized telethon raised twice as much as it aimed for - 30 billion pesos ($58 million) - enough to build 60,000 basic homes. Bachelet said Friday that 35 nations had responded to specific requests for aid, including bottled water from Bolivia, tents from China, French seismic equipment, Russian water cleansers, US sat-phones and pontoons from Sweden. — AFP

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama’s furious, final push to get a health care bill passed threatens to shove aside the message he promised would top his list this year: creating jobs. Even as the White House juggles several enormous issues at once, the public takes its cues about the president’s chief concern from how he spends his time, energy and capital. As Obama himself put it on Wednesday, from now until Congress takes a final vote on a health care overhaul, “I will do everything in my power to make the case for reform.”

That kind of now-or-never campaign means America can expect a debate consumed by health care, again, for weeks. The White House is trying mightily to focus it on real people and the human cost of inaction. But there will be no escaping the same slog that turned off so many people in 2009 congressional process, arm-twisting and doomsday rhetoric. So what unfolds over the next few weeks will affect millions of Americans and alter the course of Obama’s presidency.

He has a shrinking window in which to find enough votes within his party to pass health care legislation so he can free himself to spend more bully pulpit time on the single issue that has stoked the public ire since he became president - disappearing jobs. Polling shows the economy remains a bigger personal worry to people than the cost, access and coverage problems endemic to the health care system. There is a huge economic element to health care as people struggle to pay premiums or keep their insurance. Yet to many, the astounding loss of jobs is a singular issue that demands constant, bold attention. It is just this competition - the economy versus health care - that helped define Obama’s grueling first year in office and prompted howls within his own party for a recalibrated jobs-first agenda.

Obama responded with a State of the Union speech on Jan 27 that was remarkably focused on the economy, dwarfing all other issues. “Creating jobs has to be our number one priority in 2010,” Obama emphasized the next day at a stop in Tampa, Florida. Yet it was always the reality that Obama would consolidate his attention on health care again, at least for one last blitz. Beyond all the policy implications, Obama has spent a year on it and never intended to let that

effort go to waste.

The White House’s political calculation is that the next few weeks are their last chance to push through an overhaul of health coverage. But aides also know it cannot drag on, as every day focused on process overshadows their message. There is no expectation within the West Wing that voters’ moods will change until they see their lives improving. Senior Obama adviser David Axelrod said the plan is to keep plugging away on an agenda to shore up the economy for the long haul.

“We’re going to still be out there on jobs,” Axelrod said, dismissing any worry that the economy-first message will be obscured. “We’re going to be focused on health care for the next few weeks, but we’re still going to be doing jobs.” To get votes, Obama is lobbying lawmakers, many of whom are teetering in this election year. He’s calling on his 2008 campaign supporters to push Congress for a vote. He’s staging health care events in Philadelphia and St. Louis this coming week.

“They are looking at the election in November, and they need to have one big victory that they can claim,” said Michael Lind, policy director of the economic growth program at the New America Foundation, a Washington think tank. “This is not the victory they would have chosen, because even if it does help the economy, it won’t help most people for years to come. The problem is, there just doesn’t seem to be the ability to do anything significant about jobs this year.” The House and Senate have passed versions of a $35 billion bill that offers a tax break to companies that hire workers and extends federal highway programs, but even supporters doubt it will create many jobs. By comparison, the economic stimulus bill enacted last year - and not nearly spent out yet - was an $862 billion measure.

Lawmakers plan more steps this year. But there is less political will to keep spending on big jolts to the economy. Obama has always argued that overhauling health care is not just about health, but also an economic imperative for families who will suffer “if we let this opportunity pass for another year or another decade or another generation” - a message he conveyed Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address. — AP

INTERNATIONAL

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Monday, March 8, 2010

Lebanese women wed to foreigners fight for rights BEIRUT: Samira Soueidan thought she had won a major battle last year when a judge ruled she could pass on her Lebanese citizenship to her children, a first for women wed to foreigners in this tiny Mediterranean nation.

Her victory was short-lived, however, as the decision was quickly appealed, highlighting the struggle facing thousands of L ebanese women married to foreigners but prevented by law from passing on their nationality to their spouse or children. “When my attor ney called to say that the judge had ruled in my favor after a nine-year legal fight, I was shaking,” recalled the frail 48-year-old widow, who was mar ried to an Egyptian and has four children.

“Our laws are unfair and completely disregard women,” said Soueidan, sitting in her modest living room in a working class neighborhood of Beirut and drawing ner vously on a cigarette.

Under legislation adopted in 1925, 18 years before Lebanon’s independence from France, only Lebanese men can get citizenship

for their spouses and offspring.

The measure often leads to surreal situations in which children born and raised in Lebanon to a foreign father face costly legal and social difficulties and in many instances end up rejected by the only country they know.

“Every year I have to get residency permits for my children, I have to come up with the fee and I have to undergo the same questioning” by the Lebanese authorities, lamented Soueidan, who began working as a cleaning lady after her husband died in 1994.

“One year, I couldn’t come up with the fee and the authorities threatened to deport the kids to Egypt, where they had never set foot,” she added. “I ended up going to a loan shark to borrow the money.”

But efforts by rights groups and women’s organizations to change the law have gained momentum in the past year, with draft legislation currently pending in parliament. Similar campaigns in three other Arab countriesAlgeria, Egypt and Morocco-have been successful in recent years.

BEIRUT: Lebanese Samira Soueidan (second right) holds her Lebanese passport as she sits with her children Faten Ahmed (left), Mohammed Ahmed (second left) and Samir Ahmed (right) who show their birth certificates at their home in Beirut. —AFP Those opposed to an amendment in Lebanon are mainly from the minority Christian camp who

argue that granting women the right to pass on their citizenship would upset the country’s delicate

demographic balance.

Lebanon’s Muslims account for about 64 percent of the population

against the Christian community’s 35 percent. There are also fears that changing the law would hand citizenship to many Palestinian refugees who are mar ried to L ebanese women. Judge John Qazzi, who ruled in Soueidan’s favor, said the debate on the issue was politically motivated and illustrated L ebanon’s pater nalistic approach to women’s issues. “This battle is not about citizenship, it’s about women’s rights,” he said.

“Politicians in Lebanon look at women as immature citizens.”

Hripsmeh Arkanian, 59, who is married to a Palestinian and has two children, entirely agrees. “I stopped voting a long time ago,” she said at her home in a suburb on the outskirts of Beirut. “If my vote counts, then why isn’t it heard? “And if my vote is equal to a man’s vote, then this should also apply in the case of citizenship.”

She said the administrative hassles her son encountered in L ebanon when he mar ried a Romanian woman prompted him to leave and seek a job in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.

“I went to visit him recently and I noticed that the ring tone on his cell phone was the Lebanese national anthem,” Arkanian said.

“It brought tears to my eyes because I realised how attached he is to Lebanon which, in the end, considers him a stranger even though his mother is Lebanese and he was born and raised here.”

Sociologist Fahmiyeh Sharaffedin, who published a study on the citizenship issue in 2008, said she was baffled by the discrimination women face in Lebanon given both sexes are officially equal under the constitution.

“Other countries impose restrictions on citizenship but they apply to both men and women,” she said. “I don’t understand why concern over the country’s confessional balance only applies to women and not men.

“Why can a Lebanese man marry, have children and boost the size of one community, be it Christian or Muslim?” she asked. “Why doesn’t this apply to women? “We are fighting for equality and we won’t accept anything less.” — AFP

Only socialism can ‘save’ Tibet Chinese-appointed governor slams Dalai Lama’s succession plan BEIJING: The new Chinese-appointed governor of Tibet said yesterday that only socialism can “save” the remote region and guarantee its development, and blamed the Dalai Lama for Tibet’s problems.

China has defended its iron-fisted rule in Tibet, saying not only did it free a million Tibetan serfs but it also poured billions of dollars into “The main source of instability in Tibet is the Dalai Lama, and it is also he who causes trouble for Tibet’s economic development and socio-economic progress,” Padma Choling told reporters on the sidelines of the annual meeting of parliament.

“But I have to say, we are not the least bit scared ... as all the peoples of Tibet have already clearly realized that only the Chinese Communist Party and socialism can save Tibet, and only then can Tibet develop,” he said in impeccable Chinese. Protests led by Buddhist monks against Chinese rule in March 2008 gave way to torrid violence, with rioters torching shops and turning on residents, especially Han Chinese, who many Tibetans see as intruders threatening their culture.

At least 19 people died in the 2008 unrest, which sparked waves of protests across Tibetan areas. Pro-Tibet groups overseas say more than 200 people were killed in a subsequent crackdown. The Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in India in 1959 af ter an abor tive uprising, denies China’s charges against him, and says he only seeks more meaningful autonomy for Tibet. Several rounds of talks in recent years between the Chinese Communist Party and the Dalai Lama’s envoys have

the Himalayan region for development. Padma Choling, an ethnic Tibetan appointed governor in January, blamed the region’s problems on exiled spiritual leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner the Dalai Lama, a man reviled by Beijing as a “separatist” and instigator of anti-Chinese violence.

BEIJING: Palma Trily, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region answers a question during the National People’s Congress in Beijing yesterday. — AFP yielded little.

REINCARNATION POLITICS Uncertainty also surrounds what will happen once the ageing Dalai Lama passes away.

The Dalai L ama has floated several scenarios, including that his successor and reincarnation may not be found in Chinese-controlled territory.

Many Tibetans and pro-Tibet groups fear Beijing will simply announce its own Dalai Lama,

as it did with the Panchen Lama, Tibetan’s Buddhism’s second-highest figure, in 1995.

The Dalai Lama’s choice for Panchen Lama, a six-year-old boy, was swiftly picked up and taken away by the Chinese authorities. Human rights groups dubbed the child then “the world’s youngest political prisoner”.

Padma Choling said that boy was a “victim” of the Dalai Lama’s unilateral decision in

1995 to recognize him as the 11th Panchen Lama, and that he was now living a quiet life in Tibet, out of the public gaze.

The governor also poked fun at what he said was the Dalai Lama’s indecision on his succession.

“One minute he says he will be reincarnated, the next he won’t ... One minute he says it can happen within China, the next it will happen overseas,” he said. “I don’t know which

one is accurate. “The Dalai Lama is still alive, let’s talk about it (his reincarnation) again when he dies,” the governor added.

China earlier this year held a work conference to decide future direction in Tibet, which was notable for covering all Tibetan areas, and not just those governed by the Tibet Autonomous Region. The wider scope may be a response to the 2008 uprising. A similar work conference would be held for Xinjiang, the governor of that region said on Sunday, without giving details. Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi was the scene of deadly riots in July by Uighurs, a Muslim, Turkic-speaking people native to the arid region, after Han Chinese in south China attacked Uighur workers at a factory. Han residents of Urumqi attacked in revenge two days later.

Since those riots, 198 people have been tried in 97 cases, governor Nuer Baikeli told reporters. He did not give details on the fate of 20 Uighurs who had sought asylum from the UN refugee office in Phnom Penh in December, who were deported by Cambodia back to China. “The press conference was a pretence to trick outsiders,” World Uyghur Congress spokesman Dilshat Raxit said. “Uighur people want to decide for themselves how to run their affairs.” - Reuters

Japan PM’s support down to 36 percent US base feud a pressing test for Hatoyama TOKYO: Only about onethird of Japanese voters support Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s government, and about the same percentage plans to vote for the main opposition party in a key midyear poll, a survey showed yesterday. Doubts about Hatoyama’s leadership, including his ability to resolve a feud with Washington over a US Marine airbase and funding scandals have eroded his support and now appear to be eating away at that for his party as well.

Hatoyama this weekend reiterated he would keep his pledge to solve a feud over where to relocate a US air-

base on the southern island of Okinawa by the selfimposed deadline of end-May, but hinted that he might step down if he could not. Support for Hatoyama’s government has slipped 5.1 points from February to 36.3 percent, a public opinion poll by Kyodo News Agency showed.

Asked which party they plan to vote for in an upper house election expected in July, 26.9 percent of the respondents said the ruling Democrats, while 26.3 percent preferred the opposition Liberal Democratic Par ty.

The Democrats swept to power six months ago, winning 308 seats in the 480seat lower house of parlia-

ment against the LDP’s 119.

Opinion polls had the Democrats with approval ratings around 70 percent.

The party needs to win a majority in the upper house election to avoid policy paralysis as Japan strives to keep a fragile recovery on track and rein in its massive public debt.” Hatoyama, asked whether he is ready to step down if he cannot settle the base row by the deadline, told reporters on Saturday: “I am strongly resolved to realize each policy. That is obvious.”

Some Japanese media interpreted the premier’s remark as meaning he might step down if he could not keep his pledge. —Reuters

BEIJING: Hostesses walk in line in front of the Great Hall of the People where China’s annual meeting of the National People’s Congress is ongoing. — AFP

Chinese women struggle for a foothold in power BEIJING: Chairman Mao famously said women hold up half the sky, but in today’s China, the half that matters, the economy, often remains out of their reach. Women make up the backbone of production-line workers in China’s private, export-oriented factories, and gravitate to professions such as medicine, journalism and teaching.

But they have done less well in entering the centers of power-China’s ruling Communist Party, and the giant corporations that form the core of the state-dominated economy. At the annual meeting of China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC), and an auxilliary advisory body that both opened this week, women were very much a minority, especially female Communist Party members from the majority Han Chinese population.

“While there are a lot of women at all levels of politics, proportionally their numbers are small. This is because in the old feudal system there was no equality between men and women,” said Guo Shuqin, a doctor from Hebei in north China attending as a parliamentary delegate. “I think it’s very likely that in the near future we’ll have a female president. I’m very hopeful that will happen.” One fifth of Chinese NPC parliamentarians are female, higher than the 17 percent of the US Congress who are women. But China’s parliament comes under the firm thumb of the Communist Party, where real power lies.

All nine members of the Party’s top ruling body, the Politburo Standing Committee, who marked the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day yesterday, are men. Chinese women’s economic power and wealth are still lower than men’s. They own 20 percent of businesses, compared to a world average of 30 percent, said Global Summit of Women president Irene Navidad. In China, the ownership pattern of an industry is a good indicator of women’s foothold in management.

Conventions for the steel industry, the bastion of the state-owned enterprise, are full of

men; by contrast, the lead smelting industry, with its higher ratio of small private firms, has many more female bosses. China’s retirement age is five years earlier for women than for men, a situation that women would like changed, said Qin Bailan, an artist who belongs to the advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

“Because of the one-child policy, women have to spend less time on family, so they hope to be treated the same.”

MODERN LIVES, MODEL WIVES Modern China contains many paradoxes for women. The one-child policy, designed to rein in population growth, freed many women from caring for large families but has caused pain for those who aborted children the law did not allow them to bear. Even “3.8”, the term for International Women’s Day on March 8, has become slang in parts of China used to make fun of women seen as scatterbrained or vacuous.

“China is still a very traditional society.

Women have heavy family responsibilities, while men have more room to interact with society,” said Qin Wenjing, a children’s book publisher from Guangxi, southwest China, attending the CPPCC. “A husband and wife will often start out at the same level in their careers but in the end, the man rises higher in his field.”

Many poor rural women face the painful choice of seeking work in distant factories and cities, where they often work as poorly paid waitresses or nannies, or staying in villages where farm work is hard and in-laws can be harsh. “Since the men have all left to find jobs, all the work there depends on women, from teenagers to the very old,” said Liu Qiaoying, a parliamentary delegate from the rural southwestern province of Guizhou.

“Previously we said women can hold up half the sky,” she told reporters. “But nowadays most women in my hometown are holding the whole sky”. — Reuters

North Korea blasts US war games, vows nuke defense

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama speaks at the Upper House’s budget committee session in Tokyo. — AFP

SEOUL: North Korea said yesterday it was abandoning efforts towards nuclear disarmament in response to US-South Korean military exercises and would be free to build up its nuclear forces. The announcement, carried by the official KCNA news agency, came from a spokesman for the North’s army mission at the inter-Korean border on the eve of the US-South Korean exercises, titled Key Resolve/Foal Eagle. It said all military talks with the United States and South Korea would be suspended during the exercises, which involve 10,000 US troops stationed in South Korea plus 8,000 from abroad and last from March 8-18. “It is illogical to sit face to face with the dialogue partner who

brings dark clouds of a nuclear war while levelling its gun at the other party, and discuss ‘peace’ and ‘cooperation’ with him.

“The process for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula will naturally come to a standstill and the DPRK (North Korea) will bolster its nuclear deterrent for self-defense,” the statement said, alleging that the exercises were actually “nuclear war exercises”. The North is entitled “to counter with powerful nuclear deterrent,” it added. The North already warned on March 2 that the annual US-South Korean exercise would torpedo efforts to rid the peninsula of nuclear weapons and vowed to beef up its arsenal if necessary. —AFP

INTERNATIONAL

Monday, March 8, 2010

11

Sky’s the limit for Pakistan women fighter pilots ISLAMABAD: Ambreen made Pakistani history by becoming one of the country’s first female fighter pilots, but yesterday she was due to swap her flight schedule in one of the world’s most dangerous countries for an arranged marriage with a stranger. “It’s all set and planned, but I haven’t talked to him,” she admits, her face scrubbed clean and wearing a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jumpsuit-a far cry from the make-up and ornate gown she’ll wear for the wedding. The wedding between Flight Lieutenant Ambreen Gul, 25, and an engineer from Islamabad has been arranged by their families in

the best Pakistani tradition.

When she wakes up todayInternational Women’s Day-she’ll be married to a man she has only seen once before and with whom she has barely exchanged a word. Pakistan is a conservative Muslim country, where the United Nations says only 40 percent of adult women are literate. Women are victims of violence and abuse, and the country still lacks a law against domestic violence. But in 2006, seven women broke into one of Pakistan’s most exclusive male clubs to graduate as fighter pilotsperhaps the most prestigious job in the powerful military and for six

decades closed to the fairer sex.

Ambreen’s company manager father was delighted. Ironically it was her housewife mother who initially feared her daughter would bring shame on the family. “It was because of our eastern culture. She thought people would say, ‘Why are you letting your daughter go out of the home?’”

She and 26-year-old Flight Lieutenant Nadia Gul say PAF is a trailblazer for women’s rights. As respected officers with a 60,000-rupee-a-month ($700) salary, they are living out their dreams. “It’s a profession of passion.

One has to be extremely motivated. I love flying. I love to fly fighter jets, to

do something for my country that is very unique,” smiled Ambreen, her hair stuffed into a pony tail.

Signing up aged 18, only a handful of girls beat homesickness and stiff competition to pass a six-month selection process and graduate after threeand-a-half years of training. “It was the toughest time we’ve ever faced,” Ambreen remembers. During a training flight on a Chinese-made F-7, she once blacked out for a few seconds before survival reflexes kicked in.

Nadia, whose army captain husband is serving on the front line of Pakistan’s war against the Taliban in the windswept mountains of Swat, won a prize

for academic achievement at PAF’s first women fighter pilot graduation.

“It was the first time. It was history,” she remembers, a bottle-green hijab covering most of her hair and tucked into her padded pilot’s jacket.

“I was just a girl who went to college and came back home, but now I’m in a great profession,” said Nadia.

Commanding male subordinates, they bat aside any question of sexism or men who don’t take kindly to being ordered about by a woman. They love the respect that comes with official fighter pilot status in the armed forces-the wealthiest institution in Pakistan. “Families are very fascinat-

ed. Everyone’s very impressed,” says Nadia, describing her husband as “very supportive” and “proud”.

Forbes ranked Pakistan in 2010 as the fourth most dangerous country in the world. Officers say only a tiny elite-and no women - actually fly in combat in Pakistan’s tribal belt, a battleground against Al-Qaeda and the Taleban. While PAF is outwardly very proud of its women pilots, some wonder privately whether women are strong enough to reach the top of the profession. But flying transport and cargo planes, ferrying VIPs like cabinet ministers around the country, Nadia feels women’s lot is improving

and takes issue with Western perceptions of Pakistan as backward.

“PAF are giving us this chance on an equal basis. It was really a bold step that the Pakistan Air Force has taken in recruiting lady fighter pilots,” she said. In a country where extended family is important and most middle-class women rely on servants for household work and childminding, Ambreen and Nadia may be saved some of the problems faced by women in the West. They believe marriage and-in the future-motherhood can complement, not replace, a career, “provided you have a supportive family”. —AFP

Karzai visits battle zone Marjah operation billed as biggest of 8-year war

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Air Force Flight Lieutenant Ambreen Gul (left) and Flight Lieutenant Nadia Gul are pictured in Islamabad. —AFP

Good times return for India IT workers BANGALORE: Indian software engineer Prithvi Sen has a spring in his step after getting re-hired by the country’s flagship outsourcing industry, which is shaking off the effects of the global recession. “I was unemployed and it was tough, but I’ve got work again,” said the 26-year-old Sen, who landed a job recently with a small outsourcing company in India’s high-tech hub of Bangalore. Sen is benefiting from a hiring wave by India’s outsourcing sector which is set to increase recruitment by nearly 70 percent in the next financial year, according to the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom).

India’s big three outsourcing companies-Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wiproall have plans to boost hiring sharply in the coming financial year. “The feel-good factor is back in the industry,” said Prithvi Lekkad, head of the Union of IT and IT-enabled services (Unites)

Professionals, a trade union which represents some outsourcing workers. India’s software and services exports are expected to grow by up to 15 percent to hit 57 billion dollars in the next fiscal year to March 2011. The growth projected for next year is still far below the blistering 28 percent export revenue rise clocked in the financial year 2006-07.

But it is allowing major companies to bump up hiring again after a year in which they froze salaries and sharply reduced recruitment. The big companies have been returning to university campuses to recruit in large numbers with new orders in the pipeline. “Prospects for jobs are bright now,” RK Akash, a 21year-old computer science student said. Indian software companies, whose breakneck growth has been an important driver of the country’s economic modernization, were hit by the global slump that prompted many cus-

tomers to put projects on hold.

More than 2.3 million people are employed in the sector either directly or indirectly, making it one of the biggest job creators in India and a mainstay of the national economy. It accounts for 5.9 percent of gross domestic product. India’s success has been in convincing US and other foreign firms, drawn by a vast, educated English-speaking workforce and low labor costs, to farm out processes that were previously done in-house.

Companies provide a slew of services ranging from answering banks’ client calls, processing insurance claims, legal work and equity analysis to engineering and computer systems design. “We expect net hiring in the ensuing fiscal year to be over 150,000,” Nasscom president Som Mittal said. That is up from net additions of 90,000 in the current year but still far off peak levels of 250,000 to 300,000 before the global financial crisis hit. —AFP

MARJAH: Afghan President Hamid Karzai made an unannounced visit to the southern town of Marjah yesterday, promising to rebuild the former Taleban stronghold after a massive operation there by NATO troops. NATO forces say persuading villagers in Marjah to back Karzai’s government is the ultimate aim of what has been billed as the biggest offensive of the 8year-old war. The operation is also seen as a first test of US President Barack Obama’s “surge” of 30,000 extra troops, which is intended to turn the tide in the conflict this year.

“Today I’m here to listen to you and to hear your problems,” Karzai told a gathering of about 300 local elders assembled on rugs in a mosque near the town’s main bazaar. During two hours of talks, the elders complainedshouting at times-about looted shops, house searches, civilian casualties, arrests and Western forces using schools as bases. Karzai promised to provide security, open schools and build roads and clinics. When he asked the gathering: “Will you support me?”, elders raised their hands and shouted: “We are with you.”

“I had the opportunity to meet people and talk to them. At the same time, it’s a source of sadness that they have suffered from the Afghan government and foreigners,” Karzai later told reporters. “The promises we have made of security and reconstruction, we will fulfill them.” He was joined during the meeting by US General Stanley McChrystal, commander of US and NATO forces, who have largely

KABUL: Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai holds a pair of girls during education day celebrations at The Amani High School in Kabul. —AFP taken control of Marjah in operation Mushtarak, which began last month and been described as the single biggest offensive of the war so far. McChrystal sat on the floor during the meeting, listening to Karzai through an interpreter, but did not speak.

OPIUM-GROWING HEARTLAND Marjah, a fertile warren of desert canals in Helmand’s opium-growing heartland, was billed as the last big Taleban stronghold in the

Sex scandals and stampedes: Bad week for India ‘godmen’ MUMBAI: With two sex scandals and a fatal stampede, it’s been a bad week for India’s “godmen”, the self-styled Hindu ascetics whose followers range from farmers and housewives to politicians and rock stars. On Thursday, 63 people-all of them women and children-were crushed to death in a stampede at an ashram run by a popular holy man in northern Uttar Pradesh state.

The day before, angry villagers in the southern state of Karnataka attacked another religious retreat after a television station aired footage purportedly showing its long-haired 30something guru fondling two women. And last weekend, police in the capital New Delhi revealed they had arrested a godman for allegedly running a vice ring involving air-hostesses, college students and housewives.

For skeptics, the sex scandals show that many godmen, despite their spiritual air and claims of mystical powers, are nothing more than confidence tricksters craving cash and power.

“Ninety-five percent of godmen give the remaining five percent a bad name,” joked Dipankar Gupta, a former sociology professor at Jawarhalal Nehru University in New Delhi.

“Most of them are not (holy).

They’re charlatans. That’s why they crave indulgence from the rich and the gullible. This happens all the time. I don’t know why people fall for them.” But for many Indians, these gurus play

AHMEDABAD: Indian spiritual leader Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (left) speaks with a follower in Ahmedabad. With two sex scandals and a fatal stampede, it’s been a bad week for India’s “godmen”. —AFP an integral role in daily life, taking their place in the country’s vast spiritual supermarket to be handpicked as a pathway to enlightenment.

Foreign tourists have flocked to India seeking spiritual awakening and an escape from their hectic lives in the West, ever since the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi captivated The Beatles with his teachings on transcendental meditation. Today, popular gurus include Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, the so-called “hugging saint” of Kerala, and Sathya Sai Baba, a wild-haired south Indian

godman who claims to be the reincarnation of a 19th century yogi, Sai Baba of Shirdi.

Both have massive followings and hundreds of spiritual centers and charitable foundations working in areas like health and education around the globe. Mata Amritanandamayi Devi-known as “Amma” or mother-pledged 23.4 million dollars in aid for victims of the 2004 Asian tsunami, as well as free education and counseling for children orphaned in the tragedy. Padmini Sardesai, a 72year-old part-time shop worker

from south Mumbai who also acts in commercials, is wary of modern-day gurus but like many Hindus reveres Sai Baba of Shirdi.

“He’s like a god,” she said.

“He has done some miracles. I have faith in him because he’s the incarnation of Dattatreya (a combination of the three gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva).

“Whatever your wish it will be fulfilled. Praying to someone like Sai Baba is for mental peace.

These people won’t harm you.

They will show you the proper path.” The latest scandals, how-

ever, are further ammunition for critics of modern-day godmen like Sanal Edamaruku, head of the Indian Rationalist Association, which campaigns for scientific reasoning over superstition.

“All godmen are fake,” he said. “All godmen work on the basis of the gullibility of people... they only want power and money.” He said anyone can don saffron robes and proclaim to be a godman or join the ranks of the saddhus-the unwashed, wandering mystics often found through a fug of marijuana smoke in places like the holy city of Varanasi on the River Ganges. Shiv Murat Dwivedi, arrested last weekend in New Delhi, “used the guise of spirituality” as well as the offer of money, expensive gifts and cars to lure young women into a prostitution, from which he made millions, police said.

Edamaruku suggested a need for answers in an increasingly complex world explained the cult of godmen. “It’s people who want instant solutions, instant miracles, they need something in front of them,” he said. Gupta agreed. “People want customized, designer religion and the public is becoming more and more individualistic,” he said.

“They can’t look for the usual routes to salvation.” Hinduismwith its many gods, magic and mysticism-leads people to seek out such individuals to fulfill the emotional desire to believe or even a basic human need to congregate, he added. —AFP

country’s most violent province. Thousands of US Marines flooded into the town last month, joined by about 1,500 Afghan troops.

British troops conducted simultaneous operations to seize areas on its outskirts.

Some fighters may still be in the area.

A rocket or mortar fell about four km from where Karzai was to appear before he arrived, but did not explode and no one was hurt, said Dawud Ahmadi, spokesman for the Helmand

provincial governor.

A Taleban spokesman, Qari Mohammad Yousuf, said by telephone from an undisclosed location that militants had fired rockets at a delegation that included Karzai. A NATO official in Kabul also said there had been a rocket or mortar strike in the town with no explosion, and no one was hurt.

Karzai, who has ruled Afghanistan since the Taleban were ousted in 2001, has survived numerous assassination attempts.

NATO troops say the president played a more important role in approving and planning the Marjah offensive than he has in the past.

The stated aim of the offensive was to bring an Afghan “government in a box” to Marjah, extending the reach of Karzai’s government to an area where it previously had no authority. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited the area on Saturday, but returned to Britain and was not there yesterday. —Reuters

OPINION

12

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Scholar analyses English of S Asia

By Jean-Baptiste Piggin

E

nglish as spoken in South Asia is evolving, but there is no sign it is turning into a separate dialect that English speakers from other continents might not understand, according to Joybrato Mukherjee, a top German linguistics scholar. The University of Giessen professor uses computer analysis, based on 1-million-word samples of Indian and five other South Asian varieties of English, to discover their distinctive words as well as slight regional differences in grammar.

English spread around the globe with the British Empire. Linguists say there is no authoritative standard English. All the spinoffs exist side by side and are “right” for the people who speak them. English in India functions a little differently from English in England. Take the word, “prepone,” the opposite of postpone, which most other English speakers have never heard of.

“In British English you would have to say ‘bring forward in time’,” explained Mukherjee, who is of Indian origin. “It shows Indian English speakers approach this very analytically. They use the prefix ‘pre’ and combine it with ‘pone.’

Actually, the question should be why there isn’t any word ‘prepone’ in British English. It would be much easier,” he said.

“Native languages are much more historically conditioned, whereas it’s generally a tendency among postcolonial varieties that speakers handle their second language much more rationally.

“There are, for example, in Indian English lots and lots of words that end in ee, like rewardee - the one who gets a reward - which is uncommon in British English, but very common in Indian English. You say, the -ee ending is there, the word is there, I’ll combine the two. It’s completely rational.”

Mukherjee, who was born and educated in Germany, had early exposure to India, visiting Kolkata as a child to see cousins. At 36, he is now the president, or chief executive, of his university.

In the academic linguistics community, he belongs to the group that regards Indian English as being in a “steady state”. “That does not mean it is fossilized,” he said.

“Steady state is a term from chemistry, which means things are coming in, others are going out, but the balance remains the same,” he explained. Indian

English has acquired its own peculiarities, but its ‘common core’ with other Englishes is solid. “The speakers want to remain comprehensible to other speakers of English,” he said. Mukherjee described Indian English as “the biggest second-language variety of English worldwide”. “According to most intelligent guesses, there about 50 million truly competent speakers, who have attended English-medium schools, who speak Standard Indian English,” he said.

Indians have been fascinated in recent years at how Hindi is absorbing English words and phrases, creating a “contact language” dubbed Hinglish, or what a linguist would call a pidgin or a creole.

Occasionally one of those words, such as “ticket-wallah,” or person who sells tickets, is absorbed into Indian English proper. “It was used so often that it became part of the standard language.

The processes in British English are no different.

Words get used by teenagers, which become so common that at some point they become part of the standard language,” Mukherjee said.

He is especially interested in verbs that he describes as “genuine innovations” not influenced by Hindi or other languages.

“There are things in Indian English which are completely new, such as the phrase ‘he informed her the time,’ or ‘he fathered her a son’.” Speakers of the other varieties of English are more reluctant to use verbs with two objects, and might find those phrases odd, though the meaning would be perfectly clear to them.

The value of computer analysis is that it can point out differences of frequency among varieties of English.

For example, there are almost no absolute grammatical differences between British and American English, but certain forms tend to be more common on one side of the Atlantic than the other, Mukherjee said.

Computer analysis can spot what some call an “archaic flavour” in Indian English, preserving old words such as “thrice.” ”In both British and Indian English, the form ‘three times’ is definitely the most common, but in British English it’s 100-percent ‘three times’ and in Indian English it’s 70-percent ‘three times’ and 30per-cent ‘thrice’,” Mukherjee explained. His current project is to compile a database of the English spoken in Sri Lanka. – dpa

All articles appearing on these pages are the personal opinion of the writers. Kuwait Times takes no responsibility for views expressed therein. Kuwait Times invites readers to voice their opinions. Please send submissions via email to: opinion@kuwaittimes.net or via snail mail to PO Box 1301 Safat, Kuwait. The editor reserves the right to edit any submission as necessary.

Morocco political elite moves to thwart Islamists

By Lamine Ghanmi

M

orocco’s secular-minded establishment wants to squeeze the country’s biggest Islamist party out of the political mainstream, a step that risks strengthening religious extremists.

Morocco has earned a reputation as a stable, moderate reformer during the first decade of King Mohammed’s rule, leading to a tourism boom and improved access to markets and financial aid from neighbouring Europe. In that time, the moderate opposition Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) has embedded itself in the north African country’s political landscape and has become the third largest opposition group in the parliament. But the Makhzen - a group of powerful business and political figures who dominate the ruling royal establishment - has vowed to take the wind out of the PJD’s sails and drag the kingdom in a secular direction.

The moderate Islamists say that could lead to a resurgence in the kind of radical sentiment that contributed to coordinated suicide bombings in Casablanca in 2003 that killed 45 people. “If you shut the door of participation in the face of moderates, you reinforce the current of violence,” said PJD deputy chief Abdallah Baha.

“Those Islamists who might join the PJD would look to other alternatives including bad ones.” Abderrahim Bahsen, a political analyst, said moderate Islamists appeal to Moroccans who want Western-style democracy with an Islamic cultural reference.

“Disagreement with reform-minded Islamists ... does not justify their isolation, which would only bolster extremists,” he said.

The Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) - the brainchild of Fouad Ali El-Himma, a friend of the king and the country’s former security chief - is being used by the secular-minded

elite to marginalise the moderate Islamists. “The Makhzen aims to kill two birds with one stone: bring political parties together against a common enemy and enhance its credibility as a fighter of Islamic fundamentalism in the West’s eyes,” said Ahmed Reda Benchemsi, editor of liberal current affairs magazine Telquel.

The move against the PJD suggests a change of strategy because previously it was embraced as a mainstream opposition party with popular support, albeit staunchly loyal to the king who remains all-powerful as head of state. Now PAM leaders are branding the PJD an “obscurantist party” trying to turn Morocco into a purist Islamic state by stealth. “We are ready to work with all parties, but not the PJD because it is different,” said senior PAM official Hassan Benaddi.

Political analysts are certain that PAM plans to exclude the PJD from the next government. They say the party’s leaders and liberal and secular allies will fill the top cabinet posts after 2012 parliamentary polls.

“The Makhzen hates improvisation in politics. They do not want to face surprises. So they plan things years in advance,” said Abdesamad Belkebir, editor of current affairs monthly Al Moultaka and a professor at Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakesh.

Analysts said PAM has a twopronged strategy to limit the PJD’s influence - assailing it as enemy of individual rights and stopping it forming a coalition with other parties.

They say that by blocking the PJD’s political expansion, Morocco’s establishment will entrench closer cooperation with the wealthy European Union, which awarded Morocco a new “advanced status” in bilateral relations in 2008. “Morocco is keen in King Mohammed’s second decade to show an image of modernity ... that emphasises respect for individual rights,” said political analyst

Mohamed Darif.

“So it needs political players who fully embrace a modern and Westernised culture that puts it at ease

with the West and investors.” PJD officials say they have already begun to feel the heat. “We have felt tension and indirect pressure against us ... They want to

sabotage the PJD’s ties with the palace and other political parties,” said Mustapha Khelfi, editor of Islamist-leaning daily Attajdid. — Reuters

Divide, and be conquered

By Michael O’Hanlon

I

am beginning to hear worries at the working level about the scheduled changing of basic command arrangements in 2012 between US and South Korean forces on the Korean peninsula. If the plan is implemented, the longstanding system whereby a US general would command both countries’ armed forces in any wartime scenario against North Korea is to be dissolved. Instead, a new approach would have each country in effect command its own military units (while trying to coordinate closely, of course). This means that South Korea would have much greater direct control over operations than it would have now. The concern is that, for a number of practical reasons, 2012 may prove to be too soon for this change.

If those concerns are warranted, Washington and Seoul should be willing to delay the date of transfer of operational control, or “opcon.” But to my mind, the basic concept of dividing command never made sense and perhaps should even be repudiated. It violates the basic principle of unity of command. Since the tragic Iran hostage rescue attempt of 1980, when no single military service or major command had primary responsibility for an operation that went badly awry, the US has spent three decades trying to strengthen this principle in its own military and in concert with its key allies.

The origin of the 2012 plan is telling. The main drivers included Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and then-South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun (who sadly committed suicide in May over a financial scandal). The motives of both men were less than sound. Frustrated by South Korea’s resistance to various US diplomatic ideas of the time, as well as the difficulty in deploying US forces in Korea elsewhere in a manner that would help with his concept of a more flexible American global military system, Rumsfeld may have seen the idea as a way to weaken and downplay the US-South Korea alliance.

For his part, Roh was anxious to assert Korean prerogatives, especially against a US administration with which he often clashed. So he liked the idea of a plan that would seem to advance South Korean sovereign rights. This history is

worth recalling because it tells us two things. First, the broader political motivation for the opcon transfer plan was suspect at best. Second, on this issue at least, the recent Republican legacy in East Asia is not strong and should not provide the GOP any bragging rights on its management of US national security affairs. This point is worth making because the Obama administration appears a bit on the defensive and may worry that any delay in implementing the plan would somehow signal weakness and spur GOP criticism.

In fact, relations between Seoul and Washington now are substantially better than they were during most of the George W Bush years. In fairness, the improvement began under Bush, once Rumsfeld was gone from the Pentagon and Roh was gone from the Blue House in Seoul.

President Lee Myung-bak and President Obama have established a reasonably solid relationship, and people such as Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell as well as Assistant Secretary of Defense Wallace Gregson and Adm. Robert Willard, commander of the Pacific Command - not to mention American officials in South Korea and their Korean counterparts - are doing a solid job of alliance management.

Among other things, South Korea is pursuing new initiatives to contribute to the US-led military mission in Afghanistan.

As such, any consideration of a delay in the opcon plan or even a fundamental rethinking of it - should be seen as a sign of confidence and maturity in the alliance rather than the opposite. If there is a need to evaluate the 2012 plan afresh, that should happen without apology, without undue haste and without any predetermined conclusion.

Meanwhile, nothing about a new review would signal any weakening in military capabilities or political resolve, a point that Washington and Seoul should underscore as they announce any plan to rethink the future of the alliance and its military characteristics.

NOTE: Michael O’Hanlon, senior fellow and director of research in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, is co-author of the new book “Toughing It Out in Afghanistan” — MCT

Slow reforms will prolong Zimbabwe unity govt

By Cris Chinaka

Z

imbabwe’s power-sharing government looks unlikely to step down in 2011 as planned because it has failed to draw up the reforms needed to ensure free and fair elections, political analysts say.

President Robert Mugabe and bitter rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai formed a coalition last year to end a political and economic crisis, but mutual suspicion and strategic considerations are delaying democratic reforms meant to clear the way for a poll next year. Under a global political agreement that brought together Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party and Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), a new constitution should be written by December.

That process is seven months behind schedule and there have been long delays in the process to license private radio and television stations and daily newspapers. Critics say ZANUPF has deliberately stalled media reforms for strategic reasons but the MDC has not pushed hard enough. “It is becoming quite clear that we are not going to get elections next year or even in 2012 because the whole political process is way out of schedule,” said Eldred Masunungure, a professor of political science at the University of Zimbabwe. “For political reasons both

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai attend a memorial service for the late Susan Tsvangirai at a Methodist Church in Harare Saturday, one year after the former wife of Tsvangirai died in a car accident. – AFP ZANU-PF and the MDC are still pretending that we may get a general election in 2011, but the reality on the ground does not support that assertion,” he said.

An early election is unlikely to appeal to Mugabe, 86, as it would increase calls for him to make way for

someone younger. Potential successors also need time to organise their political forces to take over the ZANUPF machinery and oil it for a fight against Tsvangirai. “Although we are going to see leaders grandstanding on issues here and there, the parties appear to be settling in for a long tran-

sition,” Masunungure said.

Tsvangirai may be counting on eventually taking on a ZANU-PF without Mugabe, who is lionised in his party but has become an increasingly polarising figure as he hangs onto power. The MDC may also see a long transition as an opportunity to pressure ZANU-PF to neutralise what critics call its structures of violence, the youth militia and independence war veterans, who have led Mugabe’s election campaigns in the past. Political commentator John Makumbe, a fierce Mugabe critic, said the Zimbabwean leader could be planning to die in office to avoid possible prosecution on charges of rights abuses.

“I think Mugabe’s plan is for a life presidency, and if he can drag this power-sharing arrangement to 2013 (when parliament’s latest term ends), he will be nearly 90,” he said. Despite his frustrations with ZANU-PF tactics, Tsvangirai sees no alternative to the power-sharing deal, which would produce reforms and, ultimately, elections acceptable to all. The MDC says Mugabe has remained in office by using violence and rigging elections, including the 2008 presidential run-off, which Zimbabwe’s neighbours refused to endorse as free and fair.

Critics say hardliners in Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party - in power since Zimbabwe’s independence from Britain

in 1980 - have been stalling democratic change for a year, including disrupting a constitutional reform process that would lead to new elections. This leaves the MDC caught up and unable to press for a democratic vote without constitutional reforms and a free media.

“The MDC is a player, and also a hostage, a hostage of ZANU-PF politics in the same way that Zimbabwe as a whole has been a victim of Mugabe’s incredible policies,” said Makumbe.

Last October, Tsvangirai’s MDC briefly “disengaged” from the unity government over the appointment of some senior state officials and the pace of reforms but rejoined weeks later after mediation by the Southern African Development Community. Tsvangirai has now toned down his demands for Mugabe to swear-in some MDC members into government and to fire some ZANU-PF allies, in exchange for reforms towards early polls.

Welshman Ncube, secretary general of the smaller MDC group, said on Wednesday the three parties had settled nearly all disputes and a breakthrough on the swearing-in of Tsvangirai ally Roy Bennett as deputy agriculture minister was near. Mugabe says the MDC needs to campaign for the lifting of Western sanctions against his party, including travel restrictions and a freeze on general financial aid to Zimbabwe. — Reuters

ANALYSIS

Monday, March 8, 2010

13

Hard part in Marjah has only just begun

By Christopher Torchia

T

he hardest fighting is over, but the battle for Marjah is just beginning. The outcome of last month’s military campaign was never in doubt. With 15,000 combined NATO and Afghan troops pouring in to oust an estimated 400-1,000 insurgents, it was simply a question of how long it would take to clear the southern Afghan city that belonged to the Taleban for years. Now, the fight for Marjah focuses on keeping the population safe and - perhaps harder - setting up the first clean and effective civilian administration there in decades.The war in Afghanistan is not just about seizing territory. Western forces, in enough numbers and backed by enough firepower, can do that almost anywhere against scattered insurgent squads with inferior weaponry, however determined the Taleban are, however inventive and deadly their booby-traps and ambushes. In the long term, the war is more about perceptions of authority and commitment than casualty tolls and objectives cleared, more about the Afghan civilians and what they believe and fear.

NATO saw Marjah - a Taleban logistics center and drug-smuggling hub and the largest southern city under Taleban rule - as a key prize in Helmand, the southern Afghan province they’ve struggled to reclaim from the insurgents. But even more than its strategic worth is Marjah’s value as a symbol. The operation is intended to showcase how NATO

US Marines accompany Afghan and NATO officials during their visit to Marjah in Helmand province on March 1, 2010. – AFP plans to win the war - by putting civilians first. Successfully grafting in a workable government could provide a model for allied advances into more parts of the south, where the Taleban still control large swaths of the countryside.

In Marjah, the challenge was never the “clearing phase,” as military commanders call the military offensive. It’s the “holding phase” that follows: getting functional Afghan forces to control the area for good. In fact, Marjah already has been “cleared” at least three times: first

shortly after the 2001 invasion that ousted the Taleban’s hardline regime, again in 2007 and, most recently, in March of last year.

In 2002, this AP reporter witnessed similar scenes to today: government agents with rifles and stacks of American dollars trying to establish control.

“We’re trying to walk in step with the international community,” a deputy police chief said at the time. But the Western-backed government did not sustain its efforts. The difference this

time, according to the plan, is that at least 2,000 Marines and half as many Afghan forces are slated to stay and keep the insurgents from returning. Much will depend on whether the Afghan government, plagued by corruption, can put a convincing Afghan face on what happens in Marjah; on whether cash will come to fix roads, bridges and houses, to build schools and clinics; on whether farmers will hew to a planned seed program for legitimate crops instead of poppy; and whether NATO troops will stay long enough to see through change and stabilization. “We need time. We need to build the trust of the people because the people are scared,” Ministry of Defense spokesman Mohammad Zahir Azimi said Thursday in Kabul. Neither the Taleban nor the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, can prevail without the backing, willing or forced, of Afghanistan’s civilian population.

Both sides know this, and so they fight a parallel conflict, without bombs and bullets. Like campaigners in a heated electoral contest, they make promises and proclamations, and trash-talk their adversary’s claims. Retreating insurgents, endured or tolerated rather than loved by many Afghans in areas under their control, told Marjah’s villagers that Americans would rape and plunder. That didn’t happen.

Civilians, in fact, led American forces to 70 percent of concealed insurgent bombs that have been discovered in an area near Marjah where the US Army 5th Stryker Brigade operated, said Capt.

Nolan Rinehart, a US Army intelligence officer. That shows some degree of cooperation, even though many villagers are wary. “They’re very hesitant because we’re new; we’re foreign,” Rinehart said.

“It’s hard to maintain a good perception (of international forces) if we keep jumping around from place to place because the Taleban will move right back in when we leave.”

US Marines are settling in for a while in Marjah, but the civilians will be watching closely and judging harshly. The Western-backed Afghan government has a public platform there for the first time in a long time; the insurgents’ pitch comes from the underground, or proxies.

A meeting last week between village leaders near Marjah and a district official was a case in point. The official, Asadullah, spoke softly about how the government can only provide services with public support; how Western troops pay compensation for damage to property, unlike Russian invaders during the Cold War in the 1980s; and how the Taleban creed of holy war was defunct.

Then a man leaped to his feet and denounced US troops for disrupting lives.

American soldiers said the speech was Taleban “IO,” a reference to Information Operations, a military term for propaganda and other efforts to influence people. They later pulled the man aside and used a hand-held biometrics device to store his retina image and other data. There will be distractions in Marjah. — AP

Global jihad creeping into Russia’s insurgency

By Amie Ferris-Rotman

T

he Islamist insurgency in Russia’s North Caucasus region appears to be mutating from a grassroots separatist movement towards global jihad or holy war, whose goals, propaganda and patronage point abroad.

In February Russia’s most wanted guerrilla, Chechen-born Doku Umarov, vowed on Islamist websites to spread his attacks from the Muslim-dominated North Caucasus into the nation’s heartland, wreaking havoc through jihad.

His pledge follows escalating violence in the form of shootings and suicide bombs targeting authorities over the last year in the mountainous North Caucasus-particularly Chechnya, site of two separatist wars since the mid-1990s, and the provinces flanking it, Ingushetia and Dagestan. Regional Muslim leaders and rebels revile each other as blasphemous and criminal. But after years of the Soviet Union suppressing religion, both welcome a Muslim revival that has brought elaborate new mosques, government-sponsored hajj trips to Mecca and a bubbling interest in Arabic.

Alexander Cherkasov, who has closely followed the North Caucasus for 15 years for rights group Memorial, said whereas in the past rebels wanted freedom from Russia, a struggle that dates back over 200 years, now they are influenced by jihadism, a global fight against alleged enemies of Islam. “Part of it is homegrown. Corruption leads many to seek out what they call true Islam, but political Islam, by way of foreign financing and insurgents, is certainly playing a role,” he told Reuters.

In early February, Russia said its forces had killed the Al-Qaeda operative and Egyptian militant Makhmoud Mokhammed Shaaban in Dagestan, who the FSB security service said had masterminded several bombings. A myriad of web sites that have come to characterise the insurgency show videos of

“martyrs”, something unheard of in the region five years ago. They feature mostly local men, framed by Caucasus flags, chanting in Arabic ahead of suicide missions. Over the last year, public statements of support for Doku Umarov and other Caucasus rebel leaders have come from a leading Al-Qaeda mentor, Jordanian Sheikh Abu Mohammad AlMaqdisi.

US intelligence officials say Maqdisi is a major jihadi mentor who wields more influence over Islamist ideology than leading militants such as Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri. In an open letter to Umarov last year, which was posted on unofficial Islamist websites, Maqdisi said “it is my great pleasure to express my alignment with, patronage for, and support to the Mujahideen of the Caucasus.”

Rebel leader Alexander Tikhomirov, an accomplished cleric who renamed himself Said Buryatsky after his native East Siberian Buryatia region, trained for jihad in Egypt for many years, where he learned fluent Arabic, political analysts say. Buryatsky took responsibility for the deadliest attack in the North Caucasus in four years last August when a suicide bomber killed at least 20 and injured 138 at a police headquarters in Ingushetia.

Christopher Langton of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London told Reuters that “jihadism” in the North Caucasus is “energised” partly by links to Afghanistan and the Middle East composed of a mixture of smuggling, trade, Islamic non-governmental organisations and charities.

The FSB, successor to the KGB, has long said the insurgency has links to AlQaeda although regional leaders reject that. “We have identified enormous financial influence from Afghanistan and Pakistan,” said Sergei Goncharov, head of a group of veterans of an elite KGB force. But Kremlin critics say the gov-

ernment blames Al-Qaeda to cover up its share of responsibility for the region’s poverty and endemic corruption, which also inspires youths to turn to extremism. “Moscow wants to conceptualise the North Caucasus, they are interested in isolating it from the rest of Russia,”

Glen Howard, President of the Washington-based think tank Jamestown Foundation, told Reuters.

Regional leaders often play down the insurgency as a whole. Moscow-backed hardline Chechen boss Ramzan Kadyrov says there are fewer than 30 insurgents

left in his republic. He has also accused the West of financing the Islamist insurgency, as well as plotting to seize the entire Caucasus region. Ingushetia’s leader Yunus-Bek Yevkurov maintains that deep poverty alone fuels discontent.— Reuters

India, Pak’s ‘proxy war’ in Afghanistan

By Elizabeth Roche

I

ndia and Pakistan, implacable South Asian rivals, are locked in a new struggle for influence in Afghanistan, which analysts say is fuelling attacks on Indian interests there. A suicide bomb assault in Kabul last week killed seven Indians, including government employees, following two bomb attacks at the Indian embassy in July 2008 and Oct 2009. “The attacks are aimed at forcing India to withdraw from Afghanistan,” Rahul Roy-Chaudhury, a South Asia specialist at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, told AFP. “Both India and Pakistan are trying to limit each other’s influence as they have competing interests.”

After more than two decades without sway in Kabul, India swiftly established diplomatic ties with the new government there after the 2001 US-led invasion deposed the extremist Taleban. New Delhi has poured money into the country since, becoming the largest regional donor with 1.3 billion dollars in aid. About 4,000 Indians are busy building roads, sanitation projects and power lines in the volatile country. Even the new Afghan parliament is being built by Indians.

It is this steadily accumulating “soft power” in a country Pakistan sees as its backyard that has stoked insecurities in Islamabad, analysts say. “Pakistan has existential concerns about Indian involvement in Afghanistan, as they see it as a form of encirclement,” J. Alexander Thier of the Washington-based United States Institute of Peace, told AFP in an email. “Pakistan relies on Afghanistan for ‘strategic depth’ - it would support Pakistan in the event of another war with India,” added Thier, an Afghan-Pakistan expert.

In Islamabad, the government is clear that it sees India’s involvement in Afghanistan as a danger and an “unnecessary complication”. “We have strong evidence (that India is) using Afghanistan against Pakistan’s interests and to destabilise Pakistan,” Pakistani foreign ministry

spokesman Abdul Basit said without elaborating.

“Obviously we do have concerns vis-a-vis India.”

Pakistan and India have fought three wars since their independence in 1947, two of them sparked by the divided region of Kashmir. A third was over East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. They started a slow-moving peace process in 2004, which was derailed in Nov 2008 when gunmen attacked the Indian commercial capital of Mumbai, killing 166 people. New Delhi accuses Pakistan of supporting militants that target India and the government saw the hand of the Pakistani intelligence agencies in the embassy attacks in Kabul.

Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, blamed by India for the Mumbai atrocities, denied Thursday it was behind the Kabul assault last week, adding that it had no network in the country. “Increasingly Pakistan and India have become engaged in some kind of proxy war in Afghanistan,” said Pakistani analyst Rahimullah Yusufzai. C U Bhaskar, who heads the National Maritime Foundation think tank in New Delhi, agreed. “All these terrorist attacks have linkages with Pakistan either by way of material support or sanctuary (for the perpetrators),” he told AFP. Islamabad denies supporting militants and points to its own fight against the Taleban in Pakistan, which has been blamed for an intensifying campaign of attacks in the country. Recent arrests of Afghan Taleban leaders in Pakistan have also provided signs that Islamabad is prepared to crack down on the extremists. “There is no other country more interested than Pakistan in having peace in Afghanistan,” Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Basit said. But the US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, said on Tuesday that the deaths of the Indians in Kabul should not necessarily be seen as an attack on India. “Let’s not jump to conclusions,” he urged. Reflecting the US policy of encouraging dialogue between Pakistan and India, he said both countries had “legitimate interests” in Afghanistan that needed to be accommodated. — AFP

Mideast oil demand to outpace world with petrodollars

By Luke Pachymuthu and Jennifer Tan

M

iddle East oil demand could grow by nearly 5 percent in 2010, outpacing a modest recovery in global energy demand as the world’s top oil exporting governments continue spending petrodollars to boost economies, analysts said. Oil export income has fuelled expansion in the region, and given governments the cash to spend their way through the global economic downturn.

Cheap subsidised fuel has encouraged rapid energy consumption growth that some regional governments have struggled to meet.

OPEC’s top two producers Saudi Arabia and Iran would drive more than half the Middle East’s oil demand growth. The Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) expected demand growth in 2010 in the region of 320,000 barrels per day (bpd) or 4.5 percent, to reach a total of 7.55 million bpd, said Eduardo Lopez, a senior oil demand analyst at the IEA. That was over twice the IEA’s forecast 2010 global oil demand growth of 1.8 percent, the first growth year in three years after recession cut fuel use. PFC Energy estimates product demand to grow about 3.85 per-

cent in 2010.

Rising diesel and gasoline demand would spur demand growth of 130,000 bpd in top oil exporter Saudi Arabia in 2010, taking total demand for the Arab world’s largest economy to 2.76 million bpd. That was higher than demand for Brazil and close to Russia’s fuel consumption.

“In Saudi Arabia, the main demand driver comes from the transportation sector, although power generation is also important,” said Victor Shum an analyst with energy consultancy Purvin & Gertz Inc. Reserves accumulated during the oil price rally of 20022008 had given the Saudi economy a cushion to absorb the

blows the global crisis dealt the region over the past two years.

Steady gains in oil prices during 2009 meant that it had to draw less on those reserves than it would have in a lower price environment. Saudi Arabia’s real GDP growth is expected to be 3.8 percent in 2010, well up from 0.2 percent in 2009 as state spending remains high and private consumption picks up, a Reuters poll showed. The kingdom would cut diesel exports by 19 percent to around 105,000 bpd in 2010 as domestic demand absorbed more Saudi refinery output. Seasonal diesel demand peaks in the summer as the population run air conditioning units hard to counter soaring

desert temperatures. This year, that peak was likely to be higher than ever as power demand rises. “Diesel is on par with gasoline in terms of demand growth not only from the transportation but also as power demand continues to accelerate seasonality will increase,” said consultancy PFC Energy in a February Gulf Energy report. In Iran, the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter, demand would rise 110,000 bpd to 1.86 million bpd, up more than 6 percent of the year and reversing a contraction in 2009. Iran’s product demand shrunk 5.1 percent in 2009, with diesel accounting for nearly half this decline, according to PFC Energy. Insufficient supply from

domestic refineries and electrol issues have had an impact on demand growth in Tehran.

Despite its massive oil reserves, the Islamic Republic lacks the refineries to meet domestic demand. It imports the shortfall from international markets and then subsidises the price at the pump to offer some of the cheapest gasoline in the world. “Demand has been largely driven by transportation...downside risk (is) economic slowdown, political uncertainty (domestic and international),” Lopez said. The IEA is expecting Iran’s oil demand to grow by 6.3 percent, Lopez said.

Politicians in the United States have targeted this reliance on international supply as a weakness it may exploit through sanctions to put pressure on Tehran to halt uranium enrichment. The US and its allies suspect Iran covertly aims to develop atomic arms, while Tehran says its nuclear program is for electricity generation. The more demand increases, the more Iran depends on foreign fuel suppliers and the more exposed it is to US political pressure on suppliers to stop selling fuel to Iran.

“Iran’s refineries cannot keep pace with demand growth,” Shum said.” Imports have rapidly increased from

essentially none in 2005 to more than 100,000 bpd today.”

Smuggling too has played a part in Iran’s demand. The country’s gasoline is cheaper than its neighbours, encouraging exports.

Oil demand in the UAE is the tale of two contrasting economic stories in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. In the former, the end of a real estate boom and a more recent debt crisis has led to the delay or cancellation of hundreds of billions of dollars worth of construction projects, impacting diesel demand. But in Abu Dhabi, as in Riyadh, reserves fattened through windfall oil export earnings as the oil price rally allowed the government to continue spending.

Abu Dhabi is the capital of the seven-member federation of the United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is also a member.

The UAE’s product demand was pegged at around 304,000 bpd in 2010, up from 294,000 bpd in 2009, according to consultancy PFC Energy. Gas oil exports from the UAE are expected to dip about 3 percent because of the increased domestic demand.

“The demand is likely to be driven from the boom going on in Abu Dhabi. It would have been much higher if Dubai didn’t have its financial problems,” said a senior trader based in the Middle East. — Reuters

focus

Climate battle plays out in World Bank

By Lesley Wroughton

T

he United States and Britain are threatening to withhold support for a $3.75 billion World Bank loan for a coal-fired plant in South Africa, expanding the battleground in the global debate over who should pay for clean energy. The opposition by the bank’s two largest members has raised eyebrows among those who note that the two advanced economies are allowing development of coal-powered plants in their own countries even as they raise concerns about those in poorer countries.

While the loan is still likely to be approved on April 6 by the World Bank board, it has revealed the deep fissures between the world’s industrial powers and developing countries over tackling climate change. Both camps failed to reach a new deal in Copenhagen in December on a global climate agreement because of differences over emissions targets and who should pay for poorer nations to green their economies.

Some $3 billion of the loan to South African power utility Eskom will fund the bulk of the 4,800-megawatt Medupi coalfired plant in the northern Limpopo region and is critical to easing the country’s chronic power shortages that brought the economy to its knees in 2008. The rest of the money will go toward renewables and energy efficiency projects. The battle playing out in the World Bank was prompted by new guidance issued by the US Treasury to multilateral institutions in December on coalbased power projects, which infuriated developing countries including China and India.

The guidance directs US representatives to encourage “no or low carbon energy” options prior to a coal-based choice, and to assist borrowers in finding additional resources to make up the costs if an alternative to coal is more expensive. In a letter to World Bank President Robert Zoellick, board representatives from Africa, China and India said such actions “highlighted an unhealthy subservience of the decision-making processes in the bank to the dictates of one

member country”.

South Africa, together with Brazil, is a leader among developing countries in fighting climate change and foresees a peak in its greenhouse gas emissions between 2020 and 2025. By contrast, the United States is the only major developed nation with no legal target for cutting its own emissions.

To be fair, the Obama administration wants to cut emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels, or about 4 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, but that plan is stalled in the US Senate.

Britain is better off in lecturing about clean energy - its emissions were 19.5 percent below 1990 levels in 2008 - and closure of coal mines and a shift to natural gas primarily for economic reasons explain a large part of the fall. Eskom has proposed to develop Medupi with the latest supercritical “clean coal” and carbon storage technologies available on the market, which is used by most rich countries.

Still, Medupi will be a major polluter that could make it harder for South Africa to meet its emissions targets. A US Treasury official told Reuters the United States was in the process of reviewing the Eskom proposal and will develop a position that “is consistent with administration policy and with facts surrounding the project.”

World Bank Vice President for Africa, Obiageli Ezekwesili, said South Africa’s energy security was key because the country’s growth, or lack of it, was felt throughout Africa. “There is no viable alternative to safeguard Africa’s energy security at this particular time,” she told Reuters. “This is a transitional investment that they are making toward a green economy and that should count for something.”

But the politically connected Center for American Progress in Washington argued in a report last week that the World Bank is a standard-setter for development banks and should push sustainable economic development models in client countries. “This is a problem for an institution with the moral and financial responsibility to foster large-scale investment in sustainable economic development,” it said. — Reuters

Ethics angle missing in financial debate

By Tom Heneghan

T

he debate about fixing the financial crisis seems to be missing a key factor - a broad ethical discussion of what is the right and wrong thing to do in a modern economy. This omission stands out at a time when a survey by the World Economic Forum, host of the glittering annual Davos summits of the rich and powerful, says two-thirds of those queried think the crunch is also a crisis of ethics and values.

Voters in western countries may have a gut feeling that huge bonuses and bank bailouts are somehow unfair, but politicians seem unable to come up with a solid response that reflects it, according to a group trying to kickstart an ethics debate.

“People have strong emotions about right and wrong that sense of justice is hardwired into the way we view the world,” Madeleine Bunting, one of three founders of the Citizen Ethics Network launched in London last week, told Reuters.

“Our politics have lost the capacity to connect with that kind of emotion,” said Bunting, associate editor of Britain’s Guardian newspaper. “Politics has become very technocratic and managerial, all about who’s going to deliver more economic growth.”

The backlash against bank bail-outs has forced several chief executives of major banks to lose their bonuses this year.

Despite this, the Royal Bank of Scotland, 84 percent publicly owned, announced bonuses of 1 million pounds each to over 100 bankers last week. US President Barack Obama has proposed tighter regulations on banks but also said he didn’t begrudge the $17 million bonus awarded to JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO Jamie Dimon or the $9 million for Goldman Sachs Group Inc CEO Lloyd Blankfein because “they are very savvy

businessmen” and some athletes earned more.

Perhaps not surprisingly in Britain’s pre-election period, the Network - organised by Bunting, Adam Lent of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and writer Mark Vernon - had no problem getting top British politicians to contribute to the debate. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said people wanted a return to the “enduring virtues” of accountability, responsibility and fairness. “These values must infuse our response,” he wrote in the Network’s pages on the Guardian website.

“Politicians have shied away from these questions, for fear of seeming judgmental,” wrote Conservative opposition leader David Cameron. “It’s vital we find a way of talking about these issues without people feeling preached at.”

Although the Citizens Ethics Network started in Britain, where the financial crisis and an expense account scandal in parliament has fanned popular discontent, the mood it reflects seems to be much more widely spread. The World Economic Forum survey showing widespread concern about ethics in business and politics polled 130,000 people in France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey and the United States.

There have been countless calls for more ethical standards in business and politics, many from religious leaders, but the fact they don’t gain traction in the political debate is what spurred the Network’s founders to take their initiative.

Contributors to a pamphlet outlining the Network’s arguments saw the decline of religion leaving a moral vacuum in many western societies. “A terror of old-fashioned moralism has driven all talk of morality out of the public sphere,” philosopher Alan de Botton wrote. — AFP

NEWS

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Monday, March 8, 2010

Saudi women’s rights lag behind other Gulf nations DUBAI: Two years af ter Wajiha AlHuwaidar defied a Saudi ban on women driving by posting a video on the Internet showing her cruising in a remote area, she still dreams of getting behind the wheel like her other Gulf sisters.

Huwaidar’s brazen act on International Women’s Day 2008 was a symbolic gesture in the ultra-conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where women’s rights lag way behind those in other nations in the oil-rich Gulf. “I’m still dreaming of driving,” the women’s rights activist - whose 2008 You Tube video registered some 190,000 hits - told AFP in a telephone interview.

Unlike other Arab Gulf women, Saudi women still face an uphill struggle to gain political and social rights and need the consent of male guardians for almost everything, including obtaining a passport and travel. They are also forced to cover up from head to toe when in public, and due to strict segregation rules their work opportunities are severely restricted.

Huwaidar is confident however that women will get into the driver’s seat.

“Driving is going to happen during King Abdullah’s time. Maybe this year,” she said, adding that the 85-year-old monarch “wants to make history”.

The reign of the reform-minded Abdullah has produced many changes since he ascended the throne in 2005 including last year’s unprecedented nomination of a woman, Norah al-Fayez, to a ministerial post. He also inaugurated in September the kingdom’s first mixedgender university, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), in a move that infuriated radical Islamists.

The role of Saudi women was celebrated again in January when King Abdullah gave doctor Khawlah Al-Kurai a top medal in recognition of her research

work to fight cancer. “There has been a clear and strong political drive aiming to allow mixing between genders... which would open many doors to women,” said female lecturer at King Saud University, Hatoon Al-Fassi. But Fassi noted that because of the strict rules of segregation at the university, men and women academics cannot meet face-to-face but “over the phone”.

“The society is threatened. I don’t feel any clarity in the future of the Saudi woman,” she said, citing top radical cleric Abdul Rahaman Al-Barrak who last month issued a religious edict calling for those who promote mixing between genders to be “put to death”.

In other Gulf states, women are ahead in terms of political participation and freedom. In Kuwait, women gained the right to vote and stand for election in 2005 and made history in 2009 when four female lawmakers were voted into parliament. “These rights did not come easily.

They were a result of action, and a demand movement,” said Kawthar AlJawaan, the head of Kuwait’s Women Empowerment Centre. “The country and the society are open,” unlike in Saudi Arabia, she said.

But despite their political success, Kuwaiti women still face the ire of some Islamist MPs who insist they adhere to a strict Islamic dress code - although the constitution guarantees personal freedoms. “The issue of hijab (veil) was the last card being played by those opposing women’s political participation,” said Jawaan.

Women in the United Arab Emirates, who stick to the traditional dress code of a black abaya cloak topped mostly with a loose head cover, have also made great strides - and can cruise in fancy cars.

There are two women cabinet ministers in the UAE and several others hold top

posts in government departments, amid an apparent official drive to push them to the forefront of decision-making. “The (country’s) leadership has been supportive,” said Emirati political science lecturer Ibtisam Al-Ketbi.

But she admitted that in most Gulf countries, where democracy remains nascent or non-existent, men and women depend on the wish of the regimes in obtaining rights. “Apart from Kuwait, getting rights in these societies tend to take the form of grants that are initiated by the leadership,” she said.

Bahraini women, like their Kuwaiti counterparts, can dress as they wish and are represented by one woman in parliament. Qatar does not have an elected parliament but a woman is part of the government in the gas-rich nation. Oman was the first Gulf Arab country to give women the right to vote and run for public office in 1994.

But regardless of their achievements, said Ketbi, Gulf women, like most of their Arab sisters, are still “immature” when it comes to citizenship rights because they cannot pass their nationality to children born to foreign fathers. “This issue is ruled by a macho mentality,” she added.

Men also continue to have the upper hand when it comes to issues related to divorce and the custody of children, on the back of religious pretexts.

Meanwhile, a US study said women’s rights have inched forward in the Middle East, but gender inequality remains the norm in the region and in some countries the situation has taken a turn for the worse. “The Middle East remains the most repressive region when it comes to women’s rights but we have noticed some modest gains which have led to a cautious optimism in the fields of education, labor participation and vote participation,” said Sanja Kelly, author of the report. — AFP

Saraawi calls to scrap OCA deal Continued from Page 1 The lawmaker called on the finance minister to abrogate the agreement and reoffer the project in a new tender based on Kuwaiti laws. Saraawi has been campaigning against the contract for the past several years, claiming that it involved serious financial and administrative wrongdoings.

Meanwhile, MPs Rola Dashti and Aseel Al-Awadhi yesterday called for granting women their natural rights on the anniversary of International Women’s Day. Dashti said in a statement that Kuwaiti women have made major progress in the past few years, especially on the political front when four women won parliamentary elections, but they still face challenges like discrimination at work, domestic violence and others.

Awadhi recalled the two milestone verdicts issued last year by the constitutional court in favour of women to allow them to get a passport without the prior approval of their male guardians and not requiring female MPs to wear the hijab. Islamist MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei, speaking on behalf of the Reform and Development Bloc, called for approving a draft law for women’s social and civil rights proposed by the bloc and other MPs. Tabtabaei said the bill allows women to retire after 15 years of service, Kuwaiti housewives’ right for a monthly salary if they have children, and the right of divorced and widowed Kuwaiti women for a government house. He said the bloc will propose debating the bill on March 30.

Also, MP Faisal Al-Mislem yesterday submitted a number of questions to the information minister and asked to add the

replies to the grilling that was submitted last month by MP Ali Al-Deqbasi. Mislem asked the minister if the controversial AlSoor satellite channel or its owner Mohammad Al-Juwaihel have made any requests to the information ministry and what were these requests. The lawmaker asked if officials at the ministry discussed a proposal to ban the station, and if the proposal was rejected. He asked why was it rejected.

The Assembly’s financial and economic affairs committee meanwhile postponed its final decision on the privatization draft law because certain information the committee had asked for did not arrive. The committee is expected to meet later this week to complete the approval of the key bill that deals with the procedures to privatize public services and utilities except oil resources.

American Al-Qaeda spokesman arrested Continued from Page 1 He moved to Pakistan in 1998, according to the FBI, and is said to have attended an Al-Qaeda training camp six years later, serving as a translator and consultant for the group. He has been wanted by the FBI since 2004, and there is a $1 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction. The 31-year-old is known by various aliases including Yahya Majadin Adams and Azzam Al-Amriki. He has posted videos and messages calling for the destruction of the West and for strikes against targets in the United States.

The most recent was posted yesterday, praising the US Army major charged with killing 13 people in Fort Hood, Texas, as a role model for other Muslims. A US court charged Gadahn with treason in 2006, making him the first American to face such a charge in more than 50 years. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

He was also charged with two counts of providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. Gadahn has appeared in more than half a dozen AlQaeda videos. The video released yesterday appeared to have been made after the end of the year, but it was unclear exactly when.

In the 25-minute video posted on militant websites, Adam Gadahn described Maj Nidal Hasan as a pioneer who should serve as a role model for other Muslims, especially those serving Western militaries. “Brother Nidal is the ideal rolemodel for every repentant Muslim in the armies of the unbelievers and apostate regimes,” he said.

Gadahn was dressed in white robes and wearing a white turban as he called for attacks on what he described as “highvalue targets”. “You shouldn’t make the mistake of thinking that military bases are the only high-value targets in America and the West. On the contrary, there are countless other strategic places, institutions and installations which, by striking, the Muslim can do major damage,” he said, an assault rifle leaning up against a wall next to him.

Hasan has been charged in the Nov 5 shooting that killed 13 people at Fort Hood. The 39-year-old Army psychiatrist remains paralyzed from the chest down after being shot by two civilian members of Fort Hood’s police force. “Nidal Hasan is a pioneer, a trailblazer and a role-model who has opened a door, lit a path and shown the way forward for every Muslim who finds himself among the unbelievers,” Gadahn said.

In the latest video, Gadahn said those planning attacks did not need to use only firearms like Hasan, but could use other weapons. “As the blessed operations of September 11th showed, a little imagination and planning and a limited budget can turn almost anything into a deadly, effective and convenient weapon.” Gadahn said fighters should target mass transportation systems in the West and also wreak havoc “by killing or capturing people in government, industry and the media.”

He recommended finding ways to shake “consumer confidence and stifle spending” and noted that even unsuccessful attacks, such as the failed attempt to bomb a US airliner on Christmas Day, can bring major cities to a halt. “I am calling

on every honest and vigilant Muslim in the countries of the Zionist-Crusader alliance in general and America, Britain and Israel in particular to prepare to play his due role in responding to and repelling the aggression of the enemies of Islam,” Gadahn said.

Dawud Walid, the executive director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Southfield, Michigan, condemned Gadahn’s call for violence, calling it a “desperate” attempt

by Al-Qaeda’s spokesman to provoke bloodshed within the US. Walid, a Navy veteran, said Muslims have honorably served in the American military will be unimpressed by Al-Qaeda’s message aimed at their ranks. “We thoroughly repudiate and condemn his statement and what we believe are his failed attempts to incite loyal American Muslims in the miltary,” he said.

Imad Hamad, the senior national adviser for the American-Arab AntiDiscrimination Committee, based in Dearbon, Michigan, condemned AlQaeda’s message and said it would have no impact on American Muslims. “This is a worthless rhetoric that is not going to have any effect on people’s and minds and hearts,” he said. Al-Qaeda has used Gadahn as its chief English-speaking spokesman, and he has called for the destruction of the West and for strikes against targets in the United States. In one video, he ceremoniously tore up his American passpor t. In another, he admitted his grandfather was Jewish, ridiculing him for his beliefs and calling for Palestinians to continue fighting Israel. — AP

Kingdom determined to combat extremism Continued from Page 1 terrorist plots, eradicate the deviant groups, and dry up the sources of terrorism,” he said.

Saudi officials have broken up several plots to launch attacks inside the kingdom in the past year, rounding up numerous suspected militants and seizing weapons caches and bomb-making equipment, all linked to Al-Qaeda. In August however a Saudi militant from the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, pretending to turn himself into the authorities, snuck a bomb into the palace of Deputy Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef in an attempt to kill the top security official. The bomb, believed hidden in his underpants,

exploded very close to the prince, but killed only the bomber. The prince had only minor injuries.

King Abdullah also said that the oil giant would maintain its moderate policies which had helped limit the damage of the global financial crisis. “The kingdom has continued to be moderate in its approach to the global oil situation,” he told the Shura Council. Saudi Arabia “sought in the wake of the global financial and economic crisis to minimise the impact of the crisis on the stability of oil markets and on the interests of producing and consuming countries alike,” he said.

“We will continue to follow the approach of moderation and maintain the wealth God endowed us with,” Abdullah added.

The statement from the Saudi king

comes amid rising concern that US-led sanctions against Iran over its controversial nuclear program could disrupt the global oil markets. With Saudi production hovering at around nine million barrels a day, Saudi Arabia is by far the OPEC cartel’s largest oil supplier and the key swing producer, adding or reducing output to moderate sharp swings in the market.

But when the financial crisis broke out, prices shot up to nearly $150 a barrel in July 2008 before plummeting to below $40 a barrel in Jan 2009. Oil prices have hovered in the $70-80 a barrel range since July 2009, with New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, closing at $81.50 a barrel on Friday. — AFP

TEHRAN: Iranian Defense Minister Gen Ahmad Vahidi looks at Nasr 1 (Victory) missiles during inauguration of the production line of the missile yesterday. — AP

Iran begins production of short range cruise missiles TEHRAN: Iran announced yesterday that it has started a new production line of highly accurate, short range cruise missiles, which would add a new element to the country’s already imposing arsenal.

Gen. Ahmad Vahidi told Iranian state TV that the cruise missile, called Nasr 1, would be capable of destroying targets up to 3,000 tons in size. The minister said the missile can be fired from groundbased launchers as well as ships, but would eventually be modified to be fired from helicopters and submarines.

Western powers are already concerned about Iran’s military capabilities, especially the implications of its nuclear program. The US and some of its allies, as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency, fear Iran is trying to pro-

duce nuclear weapons, a charge Iran denies. The West is considering stiffer sanctions against Tehran to try to force it to halt uranium enrichment, a process that has civilian uses but can be also used for nuclear arms if the uranium is enriched over 90 percent. Iran also boasts an array of short and mediumrange missiles capable of hitting targets in the region, including Israel, U.S. military bases in the region and much of Europe.

Tehran frequently makes announcements about new advances in military technology that cannot be independently verified. Gen. Vahidi said the production of the cruise missiles, which took two years to develop, showed that sanctions on Iran have failed. He said the cruise

missiles would strengthen Iran’s naval power.

Cruise missiles are highly advanced, usually subsonic rocket-powered weapons that can hug the ground and hit targets with great precision. The US used large numbers of cruise missiles in its attack on Baghdad in 2002, launching most of them from warships in the Arabian Gulf. Iranian state TV showed a video of boxes in a warehouse containing several missiles. It also showed footage of Iran’s cruise missile test in 2007. That missile was apparently imported. Tehran began a military self-sufficiency program in 1992, under which it produces a large range of weapons, including tanks, missiles, jet fighters, unmanned drone aircraft and torpedoes. — AP

UN Hariri report gives hope: Saad Continued from Page 1 narrowing down the individual’s geographic origin and partially reconstructing the individual’s face”, the report said. The

bombing was widely blamed on Syria although Damascus has denied any involvement. A UN commission of inquiry said it had found evidence to implicate Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services but there

are no suspects in custody. Hariri, who arrived in Kuwait on Saturday for a two-day visit, held talks with HH the Amir and the prime minister on boosting relations and Kuwaiti aid to Lebanon. — AFP

Investment Dar mulls bankruptcy protection Continued from Page 1 The company maintains that 80 percent of creditors support the restructuring plan but that “a small minority of investors have continued to resist supporting the plan”. “Investment Dar would not seek financial support in making its repayments, but a legal framework to implement its well supported plan,” the company said. Chairman and CEO Adnan Al-Musallam insisted the move would serve the interests of the company and its shareholders. “Entry into the financial stability law will enable Investment Dar to implement the agreed restructuring plan by binding the small minority of dissent-

ing investors,” he said.

The rescue package, called the financial stability law, guarantees 50 percent of fresh loans banks provide to local firms as part of a plan to soften the impact of the global credit crunch. “The financial stability law ... will allow the agreed plan to be implemented, with a stay of legal claims from dissenting banks and investors which could frustrate the process,” Dar said. Credit Suisse is advising Dar on the restructuring plan.

In September, the company reached a standstill agreement with its creditors to suspend claims, but some creditors insisted on seeking legal recourse to reclaim debts. In the same month, Kuwait’s cen-

tral bank appointed a temporary administrator to oversee business at Investment Dar, which is believed to have debts of more than three billion dollars and has already defaulted. The company’s shares have been suspended from trading on the Kuwait Stock Exchange since last April 1 for failure to report 2008 financial results.

Like many Kuwaiti investment firms, Investment Dar, which in March 2007 bought 50 percent of Aston Martin, has been hit hard by the global economic downturn. In December, Kuwait’s top investment firm, Global Investment House, struck a deal with creditors to restructure loans worth over $1.7 billion. — Agencies

Iraq holds landmark vote as attacks kill 38 Continued from Page 1 “We don’t care about the bombs. The people will vote,” said Abbas Hussein, jangling a set of brown prayer beads with his index finger coated in purple ink, signalling he had voted in Mansour, a Sunni district of Baghdad.

Regional officials for the Independent High Electoral Commission said in initial forecasts that voter turnout was 50 percent or more in all but one of the 16 provinces it was able to provide figures for. Full election results were not expected until March 18, and after that it will likely take months of horsetrading before a new government is formed as no single political bloc is set to emerge dominant from the vote.

Baghdad bore the brunt of yesterday’s violence, with around 70 mortars raining down on mostly Sunni areas as people voted in the second parliamentary ballot since US-led forces ousted dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003. The cities of Fallujah, Baqouba, Samarra and several other areas were also hit by mortar rounds or bombs, many of them exploding near polling stations. Twenty-five of the dead perished when a rocket flattened a residential building in the north of the capital, and all the other deaths were in or near the city.

Rescuers pulled bodies from the rubble as a woman buried under debris screamed to be saved. “It is terrible that lives have been lost but it doesn’t change the course of the Iraqis,” said Ad Melkert, the UN special representative to Iraq. “There will be issues, but they are serious elections and many Iraqis have participated with

great conviction.” Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission said only two polling stations had to be closed briefly for security reasons.

A total of 110 people were wounded in the attacks which came despite 200,000 police and soldiers deployed in Baghdad and hundreds of thousands more across the country. An Al-Qaeda group, which sees the election as validating the Shiiteled government and the US occupation, warned Friday that anyone voting ran the risk of being attacked, heightening an already tense security situation.

Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki said the attacks “are only noise to impress voters but Iraqis are a people who love challenges and you will see that this will not damage their morale”. Khaled Abdallah, 35, was one of the thousands who queued up in the Sunni bastion of Fallujah to cast his ballot. “My vote today is a defiance of Al-Qaeda,” he told AFP. Sunni Arabs boycotted nationwide polls in 2005 in protest at the rise to power of the nation’s long-oppressed Shiite majority. That boycott deepened the sectarian divide and heightened unrest which killed tens of thousands of Iraqis in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion and which has only eased in the past two years. The election will usher in a government tasked with tackling myriad problems, including still high levels of violence, an economy in tatters and a culture of endemic corruption.

Seven years after the invasion, much of Baghdad remains bomb-damaged, most homes receive only a few hours of mains electricity a day and lack clean drinking water, and a quarter of the Iraqi population

is illiterate. The United States hopes the election will bolster Iraq’s democracy, making it a beacon in a region where free and fair elections are the exception, and pave the way to a smooth pullout of American troops.

Maliki, the Shiite head of the State of Law Alliance, is bidding to become the first Iraqi voted back into office at the will of the people who for decades had no choice but Saddam’s Baath Party. His opponents include Iyad Allawi, a Shiite former prime minister who heads the Iraqiya list, a rival secular coalition that has strong support in Sunni areas, who yesterday criticised the conduct of election organisers. “I’d like to record my objection to the performance of the IHEC,” the former prime minister said.

“There was major confusion inside and outside Iraq in the voting centres and that leaves a question mark over the IHEC’s role. “I demand a wide investigation from the new parliament and all senior members of the IHEC should be made accountable.”

Anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr, speaking at a rare news conference in Tehran, said holding an election under the “shadow of occupation” was illegitimate, but urged Iraqis to vote anyway to pave the way for “liberation” from US forces. Sadr galvanised anti-US sentiment after the 2003 invasion but faded from the political scene after vanishing, ostensibly to embrace religious studies in Iran, more than two years ago. Sadr’s Mehdi Army, once a feared militia, has stepped away from combat, but his political movement is seeking a comeback, running in harness with ISCI, its former

Monday, March 8, 2010

15

SPORTS

NHL results/standings NHL results and standings on Saturday.

Pittsburgh 6, Dallas 3; Boston 3, NY Islanders 2; Toronto 2, Ottawa 1 (SO); Washington 2, NY Rangers 0; Florida 4, Carolina 1; Tampa Bay 6, Atlanta 2; Phoenix 4, Anaheim 0; Colorado 7, St. Louis 3; Montreal 4, Los Angeles 2; San Jose 2, Columbus 1. (SO denotes shootout) Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L OTL GF GA PTS Pittsburgh 39 22 4 209 188 82 New Jersey 38 22 3 169 152 79 Philadelphia 33 26 4 192 172 70 NY Rangers 29 28 8 169 177 66 NY Islanders 26 31 8 169 206 60 Northeast Division Buffalo 34 20 9 172 160 77 Ottawa 36 25 5 181 189 77 Boston 29 23 11 156 162 69 Montreal 31 29 6 174 182 68 Toronto 20 32 12 167 217 52 Southeast Division Washington 44 13 8 257 182 96 Atlanta 28 25 10 194 205 66 Tampa Bay 27 26 11 172 196 65 Florida 26 28 10 168 186 62 Carolina 26 31 7 178 200 59 Western Conference Central Division Chicago 43 16 5 213 156 91 Nashville 35 24 5 180 183 75 Detroit 30 22 12 170 174 72 St. Louis 30 26 9 177 182 69 Columbus 25 29 11 170 209 61 Northw est Division Vancouver 39 23 2 207 164 80 Colorado 37 22 6 192 170 80 Calgary 31 24 9 161 163 71 Minnesota 31 27 5 176 180 67 Edmonton 20 38 6 160 221 46 Pacific Division San Jose 42 14 9 212 160 93 Phoenix 39 22 5 176 164 83 Los Angeles 38 22 4 194 175 80 Dallas 28 24 12 180 203 68 Anaheim 30 27 7 180 197 67 Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L).

GLENDALE: Scott Niedermayer No.27 of the Anaheim Ducks battles for a loose puck with Shane Doan No.19 of the Phoenix Coyotes during the third period of the NHL game. The Coyotes defeated the Ducks 4-0. — AFP

Penguins down Stars as Avalanche bury Blues PITTSBURGH: Sidney Crosby scored twice as the Pittsburgh Penguins scored the final five goals in a 6-3 victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday for their third consecutive NHL win since Olympic break ended.

Crosby scored the Penguins’ fourth and fifth goals to take the NHL lead with 44 on the season.

Alexei Ponikarovsky scored in his Penguins debut, and Jordan Staal, Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis also had goals.

Mike Ribeiro and Brandon Segal each had a goal and an assist, and Loui Eriksson scored his 25th goal for Dallas, which has lost three straight since the NHL resumed play.

Avalanche 7, Blues 3 At Denver, Chris Stewart completed his first NHL hat trick with a penalty shot and Milan Hejduk scored twice for Colorado in his return from a seven-week injury layoff as Craig Anderson made 39 saves in his team-record 20th consecutive start.

Stewart, who boosted his season total to 24 goals, had crossed the blue line on a

breakaway when beaten Blues defenseman Erik Johnson tripped him in a desperate attempt to stop him, leading to the penalty shot. TJ Galiardi and Matt Hendricks also scored. Alexander Steen scored twice, and David Perron added a goal for St. Louis.

Lightning 6, Thrashers 2 At Tampa, Florida, Steven Stamkos extended his franchise-record points streak to 16 games, and Antero Niittymaki remained unbeaten against Atlanta.

Stamkos had two goals — which gave him 40 for the season — and an assist. The center has 15 goals and 14 assists during his streak.

Niittymaki improved to 17-0-0 overall against Atlanta. Martin St. Louis, Paul Szczechura, Teddy Purcell — on a penalty shot — and Vincent Lecavalier also scored for the Lightning, who stopped a five-game losing streak. Niclas Bergfors and Colby Armstrong scored for Atlanta.

Scoreboard GEORGETOWN: Scoreboard from the second one-day international between West Indies and Zimbabwe in Guyana yesterday.

West Indies won by four wickets to level the five game series at 1-1.

Zimbabwe innings H. Masakadza c Miller b Roach 14 V. Sibanda run out 5 B. Taylor lbw b Gayle 47 T. Taibu c Chanderpaul b Miller 31 S. Matsikenyeri c Gayle b Miller 2 G. Lamb c & b Miller 23 E. Chigumbura c Deonarine b Roach 50 A. Cremer b Miller 17 P. Utseya not out 6 R. Price b Roach 0 C. Mpofu run out 0 Extras (b-1, lb-5, w-5) 11 Total (all out, 49.5 overs) 206 Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-34, 3-93, 4-100, 5-107, 6-180, 7-183, 8-205, 9-206, 10-206 Bowling: K.Roach 9.5-0-37-3; D.Bernard 4-122-0 (w-1); S.Benn 9-1-37-0; D.Sammy 5-017-0; C.Gayle 10-0-25-1 (w-1); N.Miller 9-043-4 (w-2); K.Pollard 3-0-19-0 (w-1) West Indies innings C. Gayle b Cremer 88 A. Barath lbw b Price 7 D. Bernard st Taibu b Price 1 S. Chanderpaul lbw b Lamb 10 A. Fletcher b Cremer 0 N. Deonarine not out 65 K. Pollard c Sibanda b Taylor 7 D. Sammy not out 9 Extras (lb-4, w-16, nb-1) 21 Total 208 (for six, 47.5 overs 208 Did not bat: S. Benn, N. Miller, K. Roach Fall of wickets: 1-44, 2-47, 3-82, 4-85, 5-168, 6-187 Bowling: P.Utseya 10-0-53-0; R.Price 8.5-031-2 (w-3); C.Mpofu 4-1-30-0 (w-4); G.Lamb 10-2-23-1 (w-2); A Cremer 10-0-44-2 (w-1); S.Matsikenyeri 2-0-8-0 (w-2); E.Chigumbura 2-0-9-0 (nb-1); B.Taylor 1-0-6-1.

Capitals 2, Rangers 0 At Washington, Eric Belanger scored his

first goal for Washington and fellow tradedeadline pickup Joe Corvo had an assist as the NHL leader beat New York to stretch its club-record home winning streak to 13 games.

With two-time league MVP Alex Ovechkin mired in his longest goal drought of the season — six games — the Capitals are finding scoring elsewhere. Eric Fehr put in his 17th goal off assists from Corvo and Tomas Fleischmann during a 5-on-3 in the first period, and Belanger doubled the lead in the second period. Jose Theodore made 30 saves for his first shutout in nearly a year.

Panthers 4, Hurricanes 1 At Sunrise, Florida, Michael Frolik and Kamil Kreps scored in a 1:11 span of the first period and Tomas Vokoun made 31 saves as Florida snapped Carolina’s winning streak at seven games.

Justin Peters made 26 saves while suffering his first career loss following three straight wins. Jussi Jokinen scored his 25th goal for Carolina.

Gayle force blow away Zimbabwe GEORGETOWN: A determined 88 from captain Chris Gayle led West Indies to a fourwicket win over Zimbabwe on Saturday to level the one-day series at 1-1.

Zimbabwe made 206 all out with Elton Chigumbura contributing 50 but West Indies surpassed their total with 13 balls to spare, although they were made to work by some smart spin bowling from the tourists.

Slow left-armer Ray Price trapped West Indies opener Adrian Barath lbw and then removed Dave Bernard with a superb stumping from keeper Tatenda Taibu as Zimbabwe looked for a repeat of Thursday’s surprise win.

Although Gayle was timing the ball well at the other end, the home side found themselves struggling at 85-4 after Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Andre Fletcher went cheaply. But local boy Narsingh Deonarine produced a steely display and put on 83 with

Gayle before a wild stroke from the skipper saw him bowled by spinner Graeme Cremer with the score on 168 for five.

There must have been some nerves in the West Indies dressing room after Kieron Pollard was caught in the deep off Brendan Taylor with an unnecessarily aggressive stroke.

However, Deonarine kept his cool to make an unbeaten 65, his best score in a oneday international, with partner Darren Sammy’s securing the win with a four.

The victory was the first one-day international victory for West Indies in 15 games and Gayle said he was glad to have avoided another embarrassing loss.

“It’s a relief. Hopefully this is the first of many to come. I must say Zimbabwe played really well to push us so far but I must commend the boys on coming back from the defeat,” he said. — Reuters

CHITTAGONG: England cricket team captain Alastair Cook (right) and teammate Jonathan Trott (left) run between the wickets during the three-day long match between Bangladesh A team and England. England were 68 loss for 3 wickets, chasing Bangladesh A score 202 for 9 wickets after the first day. — AFP

Sharks 2, Blue Jackets 1 At San Jose, California, Joe Pavelski scored with 4:40 remaining to cap the second straight third-period rally for San Jose in a win over Columbus.

After being blanked by Steve Mason for more than two periods, the Sharks finally broke through with goals from Dany Heatley and Pavelski in the third.

San Jose scored two third-period goals Thursday night to rally to a 3-2 victory over Montreal. Andrew Murray scored the lone goal for Columbus.

Coyotes 4, Ducks 0 At Glendale, Arizona, Ilya Bryzgalov made 32 saves for his seventh shutout of the season, and Wojtek Wolski scored his second goal in two games with Phoenix.

Wolski, acquired from Colorado on Wednesday before the trade deadline, added an assist, and Petr Prucha, Vernon Fiddler and Keith Yandle also scored to help the Coyotes win their second straight after a three-game losing streak.

Panthers 4, Hurricanes 1 At Sunrise, Florida, Michael Frolik and Kamil Kreps scored in a 1:11 span of the first period, and Tomas Vokoun made 31 saves as Florida snapped Carolina’s winning streak at seven games.

Cory Stillman scored late in the third period, and Kreps added an empty-net goal to help Florida win its second straight game after a seven-game losing streak.

Canadiens 4, Kings 2 At Los Angeles, Brian Gionta scored in the first minute, Benoit Pouliot connected in the opening minute of the third period and Dominic Moore put Montreal ahead to stay with a short-handed goal in the second.

Tomas Plekanek scored his 18th goal into an empty net with 1:11 to play, and Scott Gomez had two assists. Jaroslav Halak made 23 saves for the Canadiens.

Anze Kopitar scored his 30th goal of the season in his 300th NHL game, and Fredrik Modin scored his first goal for Los Angeles after being acquired from Columbus.

Maple Leafs 2, Senators 1 At Ottawa, Phil Kessel and Nikolai Kulemin scored on Toronto’s first two shootout attempts, and Jonas Gustavsson turned aside Ottawa’s two attempts.

Kessel, who scored his 22nd goal and had another potential goal waved off in the second, beat Pascal Leclaire with Toronto’s first shot in the tiebreaker, and Kulemin ended it when he converted the Maple Leafs’ second attempt.

Gustavsson stopped 22 shots in his first start since playing for Sweden during the Olympics. Chris Neil scored for Ottawa.

Bruins 3, Islanders 2 At Uniondale, New York, Marc Savard scored in the second period and Tim Thomas made 37 saves to lead Boston past New York in the opener of the Bruins’ season-high seven-game road trip.

Milan Lucic and David Krejci also scored for Boston. Josh Bailey and Matt Moulson scored for the Islanders. — AP

Armstrong looks to race more after Murcia result MURCIA: Lance Armstrong is likely to add an extra race to his Tour de France preparations following an average performance at the Vuelta de Murcia.

Armstrong finished seventh overall, 1 minute, 23 seconds behind winner Frantisek Rabon of Team HTCColumbia after yesterday’s final stage.

The seven-time Tour champion said he was not worried about the lukewarm result but that improvement was needed. “Worried would be too strong of a word,” Armstrong said yesterday.

“I’m aware of (my performance), but not too stressed.” Team RadioShack boss Johan Bruyneel said Armstrong could use an added race. His next event is the Milan-San Remo on March 20, and the most likely addition after that would be the Sarthe-Pays de la Loire in France from Apr. 6-9.

“In Lance’s case he needs more competition,” Bruyneel said. “His physical fitness overall is OK but he just needs to get the speed and acceleration.

Looking at Tour of Murcia in the past, he’s probably a bit ahead of what he was then.”

Armstrong has focused on improving his time-trial performance this offseason but several Tour frontrunners beat him at that event here, including secondplace Denis Menchov of Rabobank, Team Sky’s Bradley Wiggins in third and RadioShack teammate Andreas Kloden in fourth. Theo Bos of Cervello won Sunday’s stage while Rabon finished the five-stage race with an overall time of 16:01:24.

“My position (on the bike) was good but the power was not,” said Armstrong, who next travels to South Africa today to take part in a race next weekend to promote his cancer charity.

Armstrong has also hired a new director of sports science and training, Allen Lim, to improve his overall performance. Lim said the pair have worked hard to improve aspects ranging from his positioning on the bike to warmup protocols and nutrition. Lim said Armstrong was being weighed before and after each race to hammer home the idea of taking on more liquids and food during the race stage.

“I’d be a little more concerned if he was killing it right now,” said Lim, who is using Armstrong as his guinea pig for a team-wide plan. “I’ve spent the last two months with Lance, and now it’s about making that trickle down to the rest of the team.” Lim said that Armstrong’s genuine enthusiasm and passion for cycling was the biggest benefit to the team’s performance.

“He is genuinely one of the happiest guys I know.

He wakes up he’s happy, he wakes up and he’s motivated, ready to go and that’s infectious in the team,” Lim said. “Lance — he’s human coffee.”— AP

MURCIA: Radioshack’s Lance Armstrong of the US rides during the fourth stage of the Vuelta a Murcia cycling tour in Alhama de Murcia. — AP

Asashoryu breaks his silence TOKYO: Former sumo grand champion Asashoryu has broken his silence after quitting the sport amid a “booze-rage” probe by apologising to his former boss.

The 29-year-old Mongolian, whose birth name is Dolgorsurengiin Dagvadorj, was dressed in a suit and tie to make his first public comments since his retirement on Feb. 4.

“I’m Asashoryu-or was!” began the former ‘yokozuna’ in a brief speech reported by yesterday’s Japanese media. “I regret that while winning a lot of Emperor’s Cups I also caused trouble.”

Asashoryu, who was frequently in hot water during his controversial career, abruptly retired from the ancient sport last month following reports of a drunken scuffle outside a

Tokyo nightclub.

Sumo officials launched a probe into the allegations, prompting his decision to step down rather than face the humiliation of being fired.

“Thanks largely to your support I was able to win 25 Emperor’s Cups,” he told members of his former gym.

“I’m 30 this year and will do my best in my second life.”

Referring to a potentially awkward formal retirement ceremony, in which wrestlers have the top-knot of their hair snipped, on Oct. 3, the Mongolian hardman said: “I would humbly like to ask for your support one last time.”

Asashoryu, who fled Japan for a golfing vacation in Hawaii after his shock sumo exit, has been linked in local media with a possible future in Japan’s K-1 kickboxing. — Reuters

SPORTS

16

Monday, March 8, 2010

Karrie wins Ladies Masters

Karrie Webb in action at the Australian Ladies Masters.

Couples leads Newport Beach NEWPORT BEACH: Fred Couples moved into position for his second straight Champions Tour victory, shooting a 7-under 64 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead in the Toshiba Classic.

Couples, making his third start on the 50-and-over tour, had a 12-under 130 total on the Newport Beach Country Club course.

He won the ACE Group Classic on Feb. 14 in Florida and finished second behind Tom Watson in the season-opening event in Hawaii. Last week, Couples tied for 14th in the PGA Tour’s Phoenix Open.

Tom Lehman (65) and Taiwan’s Chien Soon Lu (67) were tied for second. Loren Roberts (67) and Ronnie Black (67) followed at 8 under, and defending champion Eduardo Romero (69), John Cook (66), Bob Gilder (66) and Mark Wiebe (71) were 6 under.

Couples and Lehman are first and second in driving distance for the event, though they are vastly different in driving accuracy.

Lehman is tied for eighth, while Couples is 73rd out of the 78 players.

Apparently, Couples didn’t need to hit fairways to score. He hit five of 14 fairways, but only made birdies on two of those holes,

Nos. 2 and 7.

“I drove it in the rough several times,” Couples said. “I wasn’t blasting them all over the golf course, but yes, I was three or four steps in the rough several times.” Play started two hours early to try and avoid rain, but there was still a suspension of 71 minutes because of a downpour early in the day.

That actually helped the leaders because the delay was before they teed off and when they began play, the greens were noticeably softer and much more receptive. The softer greens, though, were tempered by gusty wind.

“It was hard, it was cold,” Couples said.

“You are trying to draw them into the wind, then I just started hitting them hard. I was driving it so good yesterday.” Couples began the second round a stroke behind but was tied by the second hole after a 1-foot birdie putt. He took the lead with an eagle on the 549-yard, par-5 second, reaching the green with a 2-iron in two shots and making a 12-foot putt.

His birdie on No. 9 was set up by probably his best shot. He found the rough on the right off the tee and had several trees

between him and the green.

Couples then hit an 8-iron through a small gap in the trees that came to rest 4 feet from the cup. Couples’ driver cost him on 10, leading to his lone bogey of the day.

That allowed the field to creep closer and when Couples reached the 14th hole, there was a four-way tie with Lu, Lehman and Roberts. Couples broke the logjam with a 5foot birdie putt on the par-5 15th and extended increased his lead to two when he made a 20-footer from above the hole on No. 16.

Couples kept the margin at two when he made a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole.

It was one of only 12 birdies on the hole that yielded 41 birdies in the first round.

Couples is 50-under par on the Champions Tour and every one of his eight rounds has been 68 or lower. Lehman’s first full year on the Champions Tour is going equally well. He has eight rounds in the 60s and is 40 under through eight rounds, but catching the tour’s hottest player will be difficult. “I know he is going to be 20 or 30 yards past me on every tee shot,” Lehman said. “It’s good to see him playing well.”—AP

Villegas in control at Honda Classic MIAMI: Camilo Villegas emerged from a shaky back nine with a three-stroke lead after shooting a three-under 67 at the third round of The Honda Classic on Saturday.

The in-form Colombian, joint overnight leader with American Anthony Kim, charged out of the blocks with four birdies on the front nine, before stumbling with three bogeys to fall back into the pack at the PGA National Championship course.

Villegas recovered with two birdies, however, to finish with a total of 11-under, three strokes ahead of Fiji’s Vijay Singh and Australian Nathan Green.

“Four-under on the front was pretty

unbelievable the way it was playing,” Villegas told reporters. “And then a couple hiccups there on the back, which is-I mean, you always wish that didn’t happen, but it’s golf and they happen.”

Anthony Kim, who held a one-stroke lead with Villegas overnight, tumbled down the leaderboard with a three-over 73 after a double-bogey on the par-four sixth and three dropped shots from his last three holes. Villegas, who came third at last month’s WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and tied for eighth at the Phoenix Open, is chasing his third PGA Tour title after winning back-to-back tour-

naments in 2008.

The 28-year-old held firm on the course’s most difficult holes, taking a birdie on the 488-yard par-four sixth, where Singh and Kim both had doublebogeys. Villegas negotiated holes 15 through 17, known as the ‘Bear Trap’, with two pars and a birdie, as Kim stumbled to finish six strokes off the pace.

“I kind of knew what I had to do,” Villegas added. “I know (those holes) were going to be playing really tough, and just had to pick good targets, put good swings and that’s exactly what I did.”—Reuters

SWITZERLAND: Dominique Gisin of Switzerland (center) winner of an alpine ski, Women’s World Cup super-G, celebrates on the podium with second placed Lindsey Vonn of the United States (left) and third placed Julia Mancuso of the United States, in Crans Montana.—AP

Swiss Gisin steals the show CRANS-MONTANA: Dominique Gisin won her first World Cup race in more than a year in a Crans-Montana super-G yesterday, a day after a poor downhill left her wondering whether she would even take part.

Winner of two downhills last January, the 24-year-old Swiss beat Americans Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso in a windswept race, with weather conditions once again playing a major part.

Gisin, whose career has been hampered by injuries, won in a time of one minute, 24.14 seconds, beating Vonn by 0.15 seconds and Mancuso by 0.38.

“I can hardly believe it. Yesterday I

probably skied the worst downhill in my career and I even wondered whether it was worth starting today,” Gisin said.

“But I’m a fighter and I told myself I could not beat the wind but had nothing to lose. To win a super-G, which is not my best event, in front of my home crowd is just unbelievable,” she added.

Vonn, who narrowly won Saturday’s downhill on the same piste, was denied her 11th victory of the season and an American record of 33 World Cup wins but increased her overall World Cup lead over rival Maria Riesch.

With four races left at the World Cup finals in Riesch’s native resort of

Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the American downhill Olympic champion leads the German, who won the slalom and supercombined gold medals in Vancouver, by 245 points.

“My plan was to win both races here but I leave Crans-Montana with three globes in my pocket and it’s a good thing before Garmisch. “I’m still very nervous ahead of the finals. My aim there is to be OK in the technical events at last,” she said. Mancuso, winner of two medals in Vancouver, confirmed her return to form with her first World Cup podium in two years. The American’s last victory was more than three years ago.—Reuters

GOLD COAST: Karrie Webb won her seventh Australian Ladies Masters title yesterday, closing with a courserecord 11-under 61 for a sixstroke victory.

Webb, a stroke ahead of defending champion Katherine Hull and South Korea’s Lee Bo-mee entering the final round, finished at 26-under 262 on the Royal Pines course to match the tournament record she set in 1999.

Webb holed a 9-iron approach from about 125 yards for eagle on the par-4 seventh and made a 30-foot putt on No. 18 for her ninth birdie of the round. She broke the course record of 62 set last year by Kristie Smith.

Hull and Lee shot 66s to tie for second in the event sanctioned by Australian Ladies Professional Golf and the Ladies European Tour. Lee did not have a bogey in the tournament.

Webb said she thought about shooting 59. “When I stood on 16, I knew I had a four-shot lead, and then I was trying to work out how many under I was,” Webb said. “I thought it was 10-under ... I thought I could shoot 59, but I was too tired to get nervous about it.”

Webb said her fatigue resulted from the duel she had on each hole with Hull earlier in the round. “Katherine was pushing me all the way,” she said. “Just when I thought I created some breathing space, she came back with a birdie.

“I am really exhausted. On 13, I was 8-under on the day and still only had a two-shot lead. I was really starting to struggle, mentally tired. I just knew I had to dig deep and make some birdies coming in.”

Hull said Webb played “flawless golf.” “It was just rock solid,” Hull said. “She was swinging it well all day. I couldn’t make a putt coming in, but it was just absolutely clinic golf on Karrie’s part.”

South Korea’s Seo Heekyung (66) was fourth at 19 under, and compatriot Ryu Soyeon (70) followed at 15 under. American Amanda Blumenherst, the leader after the first two rounds, shot a 70 to tie for eighth, 13 strokes behind Webb.

Webb, who shot 64 on Saturday, had several threats to her lead early on the back nine Sunday. She sank a 7footer for par on the par-3 11th after hitting her tee shot in the bunker. Hull pulled within a stroke with a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-5 12th, but Webb matched her with a 10-footer, restoring her twostroke lead.

She took a three-stroke lead with four to play when she birdied the 14th and Hull left her birdie attempt short.

The 35-year-old Webb has won seven of the 21 Australian Masters held since 1990, and has played in 19 of them, giving her a winning percentage at Royal Pines of 36 percent. Her first win came in 1998, meaning she has won seven of the past 12.

Webb equaled Tiger Woods’ total as winner of the same tournament — Woods has won the WGC Bridgestone Invitational seven times. The PGA Tour says its record is held by Sam Snead, who won the Greater Greensboro Open eight times.

Gary Player won the Australian Open seven times, and the LPGA Tour says its record is five, held by three players — Annika Sorenstam (twice), Mickey Wright and Se Ri Pak. The Ladies European Tour says Webb’s total is a record, but two of her Royal Pines wins came when it was an LPGA event and not on the European tour. Sorenstam won the Swedish Open six times.

Laura Davies, who won the New Zealand Women’s Open last week for her 73rd worldwide title, finished with a 71 to tie for 25th, 18 strokes behind Webb. Davies will defend her Women’s Australian Open title next week at Commonwealth in Melbourne.

She will be joined by Webb, Blumenherst and Hull in another combined Australian and Ladies European Tour event. —AP

KUALA LUMPUR: Noh Seung-yul of South Korea shows off his trophy after winning the Maybank Malaysian Open golf tournament.—AP

Noh bags Malaysian Open title KUALA LUMPUR: South Korean teenager Noh Seung-yul demonstrated nerves of steel to win the Malaysian Open by one shot yesterday after a magical final-hole birdie.

The 18-year-old floated a superb chip shot from behind a hospitality marquee to within four feet as his four-under-par 68 edged out compatriot KJ Choi, who closed with a 69.

Noh finished with a winning total of 14-under 274 in Kuala Lumpur as the joint overnight leaders, Thai Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Britain’s Rhys Davies, slipped back with 71s.

“It was a good up-and-down,” Noh said of his finish at the 18th. “This week I’ve had three or four chip-ins for birdies and I also chipped it in today on number one.

“That kind of gave me a good vibe so I was able to close it out,” added Noh, who has now secured Tour cards in Japan, Asia and Europe after winning the $2 million co-sanctioned Asian and European Tour event.

“My ultimate goal is to try to make it on the US PGA Tour. Playing in Europe and Japan and Asia will definitely help me on the road to getting my US card.”

Noh stepped on to the final tee with a onestroke lead but hooked his drive badly before hitting his second shot on to the cart path running along the practice putting green.

With Choi having just birdied the 18th, Noh calmly chipped over a greenside bunker to leave himself a short putt for victory.

“Hats off to Seung-yul,” said Choi. “He had a fantastic round. I have no complaints. He is one of the most powerful young talents coming up. “The

way that he controls and hits the ball is like no other and I think he has a very bright future.”

Denmark’s Soren Hansen shot a 70 for a share of third with Kiradech and Davies, while Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee, who began the final round one off the lead, fell away with an even-par 72. Yesterday’s final round belonged to Noh, whose father caddied for him during the tournament at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.

“KJ asked me when my last win was,” he said.

“I told him it was in 2008 and he goes: ‘Well its about time you won!’ “For it to happen this week, I couldn’t think of a better situation.”

Meanwhile, Asia’s first major winner Yang Yong-eun will head the field at next month’s $2.5 million China Open golf tournament, which is cosanctioned by the OneAsia and European Tours.

South Korean Yang will be joined by Swede Henrik Stenson at the April 15-18 event at the Suzhou Jinji Lake International Golf Club, Jiangsu province, the China Daily reported.

China has been a happy hunting ground for the 38-year-old South Korean, who overhauled Tiger Woods to win last year’s US PGA Championship at Hazeltine.

“I have great memories of my breakthrough victory at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai in 2007,” said Yang. “To become the first Asian golfer to win a major was a huge achievement.

“With that success comes responsibility-an opportunity to help develop Asian golf on the world stage.” Stenson has also tasted victory on Chinese soil, winning the World Cup of golf with fellow Swede Robert Karlsson at Mission Hills in 2008.—Reuters

Guay clinches Super-G race KVITFJELL: Canadian Erik Guay claimed the first World Cup Super-G victory of his career yesterday. Guay, fifth in the downhill and the Super-G at last month’s Vancouver Olympics, clocked one minute 31.95 seconds as he registered his second win in a World Cup race.

Austrian Hannes Reichelt was second, 0.02 seconds adrift, with Olympic champion Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway and Swiss Tobias Gruenenfelder joint third.

“Obviously I would have loved to achieve this result at the Olympics but sometimes you’re on the right side and sometimes on the wrong side of luck,” said Guay, who also failed to make the downhill podium at the 2006 Olympics in Turin by 0.01 seconds.

“For us Canadians there was two much press, too many expectations in Whistler,” he told reporters. Guay registered his previous

World Cup victory in a downhill in GarmischPartenkirchen three years ago.

“In Kvitfjell you need to find the right balance between attack and smoothness. I worked very hard to achieve this,” he said.

Reichelt, who picked up a slight injury ahead of the Olympics, was only selected as a reserve for the Super-G in Vancouver.

Swiss Didier Cuche, winner of Saturday’s downhill on the same course, failed to finish as he suffered a body blow to his overall World Cup title chances.

Austria’s Benjamin Raich leads the overall standings on 1,020 points ahead of Swiss Carlo Janka on 973 and Cuche on 846 before the finals in Garmisch this week.

Swede Patrik Jaerbyn, 41, finished eighth only two weeks after being involved in a serious crash at the Olympics.—Reuters

NORWAY: Erik Guay of Canada in action during men’s World Cup Super G race in Kvitfjell. Guay finished the race in first place.—AP

SPORTS

Monday, March 8, 2010

17

Spain, Russia through to Davis Cup quarters

SYDNEY: Stefan Terblanche (front) of the Sharks of South Africa unloads the ball while being tackled by Luke Burgess of the Waratahs of Australia during their Super 14 rugby union match. —AP

Idle Bulls still on top of rugby’s Super 14 WELLINGTON: The Waikato Chiefs and Wellington Hurricanes failed to capitalize on a fourth-round bye for tournament leader South Africa’s Bulls, with both New Zealand teams suffering upset losses in rugby’s Super 14.

The defending champion Bulls had a one-point lead over the Chiefs and Hurricanes heading into the weekend, and retained first place as their closest rivals experienced their first losses of the tournament.

The Chiefs took a bonus point from a 23-18 loss to the Queensland Reds in their first home match of the season, drawing level with the Bulls on 15 points but having played an extra game. The Hurricanes went down 28-12 to the Cheetahs in their first match in South Africa, remaining a point behind the Bulls and Chiefs and now in a three-way tie with the Stormers and Canterbury Crusaders.

The Stormers beat the Otago Highlanders 33-0 for their third win in four games and the Crusaders beat the Auckland Blues 33-20 for a 3-1 record. The ACT Brumbies also moved to 3-1 with 12 points by beating the Lions 24-13 in Canberra.

Queensland and the Cheetahs both improved to 2-2 on the back of their wins, sharing that record with Auckland and the New South Wales Waratahs, who beat South Africa’s Sharks 25-21.

Otago is 1-3 after Saturday’s heavy loss at Cape Town while the Sharks, Lions and the Western Force — who also had a fourth-round bye — have yet to post a win.

Waikato opened up a 15-0 lead over Queensland after 21 minutes, led 18-13 at halftime, then stayed scoreless in the second half as a patient Reds team wore down its defense.

Wingers Sitiveni Sivivatu and Lelia Masaga and prop Sano Taumalolo scored tries for the Chiefs but All Blacks flyhalf Stephen Donald landed only one of five shots at goal, failing to drive home an early advantage. Taumalolo was later cited for a high tackle on Queensland flyhalf Quade Cooper and will face a judicial hearing in Wellington today. “If there’s a positive (from the loss) it’s that we’ve been shown that patience on attack will reap rewards,” Waikato coach Ian Foster said.

Meyer Bossman and Naas Olivier kicked seven penalties for the Cheetahs who were outscored two tries to one by the Hurricanes. The Cheetahs took a 12-5 lead into halftime and consolidated their advantage in the second half over an injury-hit Wellington side.

“We had real attitude on defense and today we also had it on attack,” said Cheetahs captain Juan Smith. “We seem to go from awful one week to being able to beat any team in the competition the next.” Center Ryan Crotty scored a gamebreaking intercept try to lift Canterbury to its win over Auckland, while flyhalf Daniel Carter won a kicking duel with former Crusaders teammate Stephen Brett.

Carter kicked seven goals from seven attempts — three conversions and four penalties for 18 points — while Brett, in his first match for the Blues against his former team — landed four penalties and a dropped goal. Crotty’s 56thminute try from an errant Auckland pass swung the match Canterbury’s way after it had led by a single point, 16-15, for 20 minutes. A try to Crotty’s midfield partner Robbie Freuan 10 minutes later put the game beyond doubt. —AP

MADRID: David Ferrer crushed Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2 6-4 6-0 to fire depleted champions Spain into the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup yesterday and set up a clash away to ninetimes winners France.

Ferrer’s victory in the firstround tie in Logrono gave Spain, missing injury casualties Rafael Nadal, Fernando Verdasco and Juan Carlos Ferrero, an unbeatable 3-1 lead as they bid for a third consecutive title.

Mikhail Youzhny booked Russia’s place in the last eight when he thrashed India’s Somdev Devvarman 6-2 6-1 63 in Moscow en route to a 3-2 win. The 2006 champions will next face Sweden or Argentina.

France, 2009 finalists Czech Republic and 2005 winners Croatia all progressed 3-0 on Saturday, the French defeating Germany in Toulon, Czech Republic ousting Belgium in Bree and the Croats seeing off Ecuador in Varazdin.

World number 16 Ferrer took the first set on the clay at the Plaza de Toros de la Ribera, before 19th-ranked Wawrinka stormed back to open a 4-1 lead in the second.

However, the Spaniard reeled off five straight games and Wawrinka lost his cool at 5-4 down, smashing his racket into the ground and incurring a point penalty.

The Swiss, leading his side in the absence of world number one Roger Federer, fell to pieces in the third set in the face of some brilliant play from Ferrer that delighted the boisterous red and yellow-clad Spanish fans. It was Spain’s 19th straight win in Davis Cup home ties stretching back to a defeat by Brazil in 1999.

“Playing here in front of your fans is the greatest thing for a tennis player,” Ferrer said in a television interview.

“The match against France will be a tough hurdle but I think we have the squad to keep this run going.” The Czechs will play Chile or Israel in July’s quarters, while Croatia will take on the United States or Serbia.

The tie between Chile and Israel in Coquimbo was rescheduled to start on Saturday because of the disruption caused by last weekend’s earthquake and the Chileans took both points in the opening singles for a 2-0 lead going into Sunday’s doubles.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, the world number two, can clinch victory when he plays American John Isner later on Sunday, while Argentina and Sweden face a fifth rubber showdown to decide their tie after being deadlocked at 2-2 in Stockholm. —Reuters

Mercedes boss plays down Schumi’s return

SPAIN: Picture taken on February 28, 2010 shows Mercedes German driver Michael Schumacher walking in the paddock during a training session at Catalunya’s racetrack. —AFP

BERLIN: With Michael Schumacher set to return to Formula One next weekend, Mercedes GP team boss Norbert Haug yesterday played down the expectation on his team ahead of the opening Grand Prix in Bahrain.

Seven-times world champion Schumacher will end his three-year hiatus from the sport at the eagerlyanticipated Bahrain race on March 14 when he turns out for the German outfit.

The 41-year-old signed a threeyear deal which will reunite him with team principal Ross Brawn, who masterminded all of his previous world drivers’ championships titles at both Benetton and Ferrari.

But Mercedes team boss Haug does not regard his outfit as amongst the favourites with McLaren’s Jenson Button set to begin the defence of his world crown in Bahrain alongside team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

“I do not see us as the favourites for the first race, but we are on the right path to be able to challenge at the top,” Haug told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung yesterday.

“But we haven’t won a single point yet and we want to make sure we can stand up for ourselves and give the answers on the track.

“In my opinion, we will not challenge for the podium in the first few races, but we will definitely show up

afterwards.”

With Schumacher coming out of retirement, media interest is intense in Germany where the former Ferrari driver is one of the nation’s favorite sons.

“When the seven-times world champion surprisingly decides to return, it is quite obvious where the media interest lies,” said Haug. “That could all change very quickly if Nico Rosberg wins a race or challenges for a podium place, we should not forget that.”

And Haug was quick to talk up the prospects of 24-year-old Rosberg, who finished seventh in the 2009 world drivers’ championship.

“I have never seen Nico (as being in Schumacher’s shadow),” said Haug.

“I cannot say which of the drivers will have their noses in front.”

But defending champion Button, who left the Mercedes team to join McLaren, said he expects Schumacher to be as strong on the track as ever. “Why not? Michael is as strong as he ever was,” Button told die Welt yesterday.

“Michael obviously had a few difficulties living without his passion.” On Wednesday, Schumacher and his wife Corinna will fly to Bahrain by private jet and will hold a press conference on Thursday with Rosberg before driving the track on Friday. —AFP

SPAIN: Switzerland’s Davis Cup tennis Stanislas Wawrinka (foreground left) and his fellow team Ives Allegro look at the ball during their doubles match first round of the Davis Cup against Spain’s Davis Cup Marcel Granollers and Tommy Robledo (background right) in the bullring of Logrono. —AP

Daniela sees off Dominika MONTERREY: Daniela Hantuchova came from a set down to defeat fellow Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 on Saturday in the semifinals of the Monterrey Open.

Second-seeded Hantuchova was to be looking for her fourth WTA title in yesterday’s final against either third-seeded Russian

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova or unseeded Latvian Anastasija Sevastova at the outdoor hard-court event.

Pavlyuchenkova and Sevastova was to play their semifinal late yesterday after their scheduled Saturday match was postponed due to heavy rain. Hantuchova, 26, improved her record against her 20-

year-old rival to 3-0 — two wins on hard court and one on clay. “I didn’t have a good start. It was difficult to find a way to win but I’m happy I was able to,” Hantuchova said.

“In the first set I didn’t take my opportunities, so from the second set I decided I had to be aggressive.

I was hoping it wouldn’t rain.” —AP

Phelps impressive in 200 IM

Michael Phelps in action in this file photo ANNAPOLIS: Fourteen-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps came within a half second of the US record in the 200-yard individual medley on Saturday, winning in 1 minute, 40.58 seconds in the Maryland swimming championships at the US Naval Academy.

Phelps had been scheduled to swim in two events Saturday, but chose to drop out of the 500 freestyle to concentrate on the 200 IM after swimming a 1:43.99 in his qualifying heat.

Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte set the US record of 1:40.08 in the 2007 Short Course Nationals, with Phelps finishing second in 1:41.32.

Though he missed breaking Lochte’s record, Phelps shaved over a second off his previous best time of 1:41.6, which he set in 2006.

That was a vast improvement from Friday, when Phelps posted a time that was more than 3 seconds off the US record in the 400-yard IM. “I felt good this morning in the pool. I was able to rest last night, have a good meal, a good night’s sleep, and then I was able to come in here and swim my best time by over a second.” said Phelps, who lives less than an hour from where he’s competing this weekend.

Phelps posted splits of 21.35 seconds in the butterfly, 24.92 in the backstroke, 29.61 in the breaststroke and 24.70 in the freestyle.

“For right now, that’s very good. I was a lot more focused than I was last night,” Phelps admitted.

“There are still parts I can improve in, but to be able to go out and swim my best time ever and come within half a second (of the US record), I am very pleased.”

Phelps was scheduled to swim in the 200 yard butterfly yesterday, a stroke and distance he considers to be his best.

“It has been my bread and butter since 2000 and it is the event in which I qualified for my first Olympics,” Phelps said of the 200 IM. “It’s a strong event for me, and I am coming in tomorrow in a very good frame of mind.” And based on Saturday’s performance, Phelps said he planned another sedate

evening.

“I am going to get a lot of rest tonight and a good night’s sleep, and see how I feel in the morning.

How I do in the morning (heats) will tell me a lot about how I’m going to do at night,” Phelps said.

Phelps was swimming as a member of the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, which is coached by his personal coach Bob Bowman.

“Michael had such a good morning in the 200 IM, and the other event (the 500 freestyle) was like three hours (actually two) later in the evening, so we decided to give him a rest and let him just concentrate on the 200 IM. Obviously it paid off,” said Bowman. “For him to be just a five-tenths off the record is a big step forward for us.”—AP

KSSC shooting tourney KUWAIT: Kuwait Shooting Sports Club (KSSC) will organize the Mustafa Karam Co. Cup next Thursday. March 11 for three days. The events will include: Skeet, trap, double trap, 10m pistol and rifle, 25m pistol, 50m prone free rifle and archery, for men, women and juniors.

KSSC secretary general Obeid Al-Osaimi sadi Mustafa Karam Co. event is one of the tournaments the club organizes as an appreciation to what it

extends to the club and its shooters, ever since the club was established.

Al-Osaimi said the timing of the tournament is very important in preparations for upcoming international championships, and to encourage the juniors to exert more efforts to be ready in the near future.

Registration for the tournament started Saturday March 6 and will continue until 6 pm Tuesday, March 9.

SPORTS

18

Monday, March 8, 2010

Suns scorch Pacers in game marred by fights The victory was the Spurs’ fourth straight and extended the Grizzlies’ skid at home to eight losses in a row. Six Spurs finished in double figures, including Matt Bonner who had 13 points, including shooting 4 of 7 from 3point range. George Hill added 11 and DeJuan Blair 10. O.J. Mayo led Memphis with 23 points, while Marc Gasol finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds.

PHOENIX: Amare Stoudemire scored 30 points for the third consecutive game as the Phoenix Suns beat the Indiana Pacers 113-105 on Saturday for the 1,900th victory in franchise history in a game marred by two fights and eight technical fouls.

Things got heated with 46.7 seconds remaining in the third period when the Pacers’ Earl Watson appeared to push the Suns’ Channing Frye. Indiana’s Danny Granger then took a swipe at Frye, who swung back.

The Pacers’ Roy Hibbert and the Suns’ Jason Richardson joined the altercation, and both were hit with technicals, along with Granger. Frye was assessed two technical fouls, an automatic ejection.

Indiana’s Josh McRoberts and Phoenix’s Louis Amundson scuffled midway through the second period when . Both received technicals. Early in the fourth quarter, Indiana coach Jim O’Brien was hit with a technical for arguing with officials.

Grant Hill added 22 points for the Suns, and Richardson had 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Granger led the Pacers with 24 points.

Mavericks 122, Bulls 116 At Chicago, Dirk Nowitzki scored 27 points, and Rodrigue Beaubois and Caron Butler added 24 each as Dallas beat Chicago to extend its seasonhigh win streak to 11 games.

Nowitzki scored 13 in the fourth quarter and the Mavericks hung on after watching a 14-point lead shrink to four, sending Chicago to its fourth straight loss.

Derrick Rose scored 34 points, but the Bulls simply couldn’t get the stops they needed. Dallas shot 56.3 percent and got 18 points from Shawn Marion to go with the big performances by Nowitzki, Butler and Beaubois.

Heat 100, Hawks 94 At Miami, Dwyane Wade scored 38 points, and Michael Beasley capped a big fourth quarter with seven consecutive points in the final two minutes, helping a short-handed Miami beat Atlanta.

Beasley scored 14 of his 22 points in the final period, and his late spurt gave the Heat a sixpoint lead. Atlanta failed to score on five consecutive possessions in the last three minutes, committing three consecutive turnovers during the stretch.

Wade made four 3-pointers, hit 14 of 18 free throws and added 10 assists. Quentin Richardson sank five 3-pointers and scored 22 points for Miami.

SALT LAKE CITY: Jazz guard Deron Williams (8) beats Clippers forward Travis Outlaw (34) to the loose ball during the second half of their NBA basketball game. —AP Bucks 92, Cavaliers 85 At Milwaukee, rookie Brandon Jennings scored 25 points as Milwaukee beat Cleveland while LeBron James watched from the bench and

limping noticeably off it.

Jennings, who said earlier this week maybe he’d stop shooting after several poor performances, hit five 3-pointers and went 6 of 14 from the field.

Antawn

NBA results/standings NBA results and standings on Saturday.

Charlotte 101, Golden State 90; Miami 100, Atlanta 94; New Jersey 113, NY Knicks 93; Dallas 122, Chicago 116; San Antonio 102, Memphis 92; Houston 112, Minnesota 98; Milwaukee 92, Cleveland 85; Phoenix 113, Indiana 105; Utah 107, LA Clippers 85.

Boston Toronto Philadelphia NY Knicks New Jersey Cleveland Milwaukee Chicago Detroit Indiana Orlando Atlanta Miami Charlotte Washington

Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L 39 21 32 28 22 39 21 41 7 55 Central Division 49 15 33 29 31 31 21 41 20 43 Southeast Division 43 20 40 22 32 31 30 31 21 38

PCT .650 .533 .361 .339 .113

GB 7 17.5 19 33

.766 .532 .500 .339 .317

15 17 27 28.5

.683 .645 .508 .492 .356

2.5 11 12 20

Western Conference Northwest Division Denver 41 21 Utah 40 22 Oklahoma City 37 24 Portland 37 27 Minnesota 14 49 Pacific Division LA Lakers 46 17 Phoenix 40 25 LA Clippers 25 38 Sacramento 21 41 Golden State 17 45 Southwest Division Dallas 43 21 San Antonio 36 24 Houston 31 30 Memphis 32 31 New Orleans 31 32

.661 .645 .607 .578 .222

1 3.5 5 27.5

.730 .615 .397 .339 .274

7 21 24.5 28.5

.672 .600 .508 .508 .492

5 10.5 10.5 11.5

Jamison had 30 points and 11 rebounds, but the Cavs lost their 10th straight dating to 2007 without James in the lineup.

Coach Mike Brown insisted his decision to sit James was for rest and had nothing to do with the previous night when the star twisted his right ankle.

Nets 113, Knicks 93 At New York, Devin Harris scored 31 points as New Jersey erased an early 16-point deficit to beat New York, improving the NBA’s worst record to 7-55.

Courtney Lee added 25 in his return to the starting lineup for the Nets, who are trying to avoid finishing with the worst record in NBA history.

They beat the Knicks for the second straight time, but have no more games against their almostas-hapless neighbors across the Hudson River. David Lee scored 23 points and Wilson Chandler had 20 for the Knicks, who set an NBA record for 3-point futility by missing all 18 attempts while losing for the 12th time in 14 games.

Spurs 102, Grizzlies 92 At Memphis, Tennessee, Richard Jefferson scored 18 points, and Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili added 17 each as San Antonio defeated Memphis.

Bobcats 101, Warriors 90 At Charlotte, North Carolina, DJ Augustin scored 19 points off the bench and Gerald Wallace added 18 before getting ejected as Charlotte pulled away late to beat Golden State and spoil Stephen Curry’s return home.

With much fanfare, the Charlotte native and former Davidson star played his first game as a pro here in front of sellout crowd that gave him a standing ovation and cheered most of his made baskets. Curry scored 25 points, but shot just 8 of 23 and the depleted Warriors faded in the fourth quarter in their fourth straight loss.

Rockets 112, T’wolves 98 At Minneapolis, Luis Scola had 25 points and a career-high 21 rebounds as struggling Houston beat Minnesota. Kevin Martin had 30 points and Aaron Brooks added 25 points and nine assists for the Rockets. Kevin Love had 20 points and 11 rebounds and Ryan Gomes scored 17 for the Timberwolves, who have lost five in a row and 11 of their last 12.

Jazz 107, Clippers 85 At Salt Lake, City, Mehmet Okur scored 27 points and Carlos Boozer got his 40th double-double of the season with 17 points and 17 rebounds to lead Utah over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Deron Williams had 10 points and 10 assists for the Jazz, who atoned for getting upset by the Clippers less than a week before and won a vital home game. The Clippers had lost at home the night before to Oklahoma City and fizzled in the second half, scoring just 13 in the fourth quarter. Drew Gooden had 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Clippers. —AP

WORCESTER: American gymnast Rebecca Bross competes in the floor exercise during the Tyson Cup Gymnastics competition. —AP

Devyatovsky, Bross win at American Cup WORCESTER: Russia’s Maxim Devyatovsky took advantage of US champion Jonathan Horton’s slip on parallel bars to win the American Cup, the first international event of the gymnastics season on Saturday.

Devyatovsky topped perhaps the deepest men’s field outside the world championships. The top five men were separated by less than two points.

American Rebecca Bross dominated the women’s competition as expected, finishing ahead of local favorite Alexandra Raisman of nearby Needham in a strong showing for the Americans.

“I wanted to go out there and do my best and try my hardest and do my routines,” said Bross, who was second

to U.S. teammate Bridget Sloan at last year’s world championships. “I did, and I’m very proud of that.”

Horton was the leader after four events. But he scored just a 13.70 after slipping off the parallel bars, falling .95 points behind Devyatovsky going into high bar, the final event.

“I was thinking, ‘There goes the American Cup,’ but I know my abilities on high bar and what I was capable of,” said Horton, the silver medalist on high bar at the Beijing Olympics.

“My routine on high was a little sloppy, not as good as I usually can do. I felt like I could come back and do a good job and maybe take the title away from him.” Horton scored a 15.35 on the high bar, but it wasn’t enough to

make up the deficit.

Devyatovsky, fifth in the all-around at last year’s worlds, had a 14.85 on high bar in a steady, but not overly spectacular showing. “I’m very, very happy,” Devyatovsky said, not needing the translator briefly.

“After I was leading I could see how the others were doing going into the final event, so I decided not to do my most complicated type bar,” Devyatovsky said through a translator. “I just tried to play it safe.”

American Chris Brooks was third on the men’s side and Germany’s Fabian Hambuechen, last year’s American Cup champ, finished fourth. Britain’s Daniel Keatings, the reigning world silver medalist in the allaround, was fifth. —AP

Loeb takes command in Mexico MEXICO CITY: Six-times world champion Sebastien Loeb took charge of the Rally of Mexico on Saturday, building up a lead of almost a minute after winning all but one of the stages on the second leg.

The Citroen driver started the day in third place, 27 seconds behind overnight leader Petter Solberg, but ended it 55.5 seconds clear of the Norwegian after eight wins from the day’s nine stages around the central town of Leon. Just 51.49km of competitive stages was to remain yesterday.

“It was a perfect day,” Loeb told the World Rally Championship website (www.wrc.com).

“No mistakes, I was on the limit all the time, trying to increase my lead. Now we have more than 50 seconds it should be perfect, but we have to stay on the road and avoid any mistakes. That’s the plan,” added the Frenchman.

Former champion Solberg, who drives a privately-entered Citroen, was unable to defend his lead after starting the day first and acting as ‘roadsweeper’ for the rest.

“Even the second time through it’s been

very, very slippery but I still think we’re doing well,” he said. “Yes, Loeb has taken a lot of time but we will see tomorrow how we do. I’ve been trying different things with the car today, some small details here and there and it feels good.”

France’s Sebastien Ogier, who drives for the Citroen junior team, was in third place after slowing deliberately towards the end to ensure he starts behind Solberg late yesterday. He was just 2.7 seconds adrift of the Norwegian.

Ford’s Finns Jari-Matti Latvala and championship leader Mikko Hirvonen were fourth and fifth, with the former likely to allow his team mate to go past on Sunday to help him in the drivers’ championship. Former Formula One champion Kimi Raikkonen crashed out on Friday.

“I had hoped for some good things from this rally, but it was only my seventh event and I am still learning,” said the Finn. “It’s normal that when you are learning anything you can get caught out by something unexpected.” —Reuters

Germany hold Dutch to open semis race NEW DELHI: Defending champions Germany played out a thrilling 2-2 draw with the Netherlands yesterday to throw open the semi-final race in the men’s field hockey World Cup. Dutch skipper Teun de Nooijer scored the equaliser four minutes before the final whistle to help his team share the points in a crucial group A match at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium.

With the last round of league matches on Tuesday, the Netherlands lead the group with 10 points, followed by Germany on eight, South Korea on seven and New Zealand on six.

The Dutch need a draw against the Koreans to take one of the two semi-final spots from the group. A Korean win could see the Asian champions advance.

Germany must secure full points from New Zealand to confirm their place, while the Black Sticks also need to win and hope the other results go their way.

European champions England have already taken a semi-final place from group B with Australia the favourites to grab the second spot.

The Netherlands led Germany 1-0 at half-time after Wouter Jolie deflected in his

team’s third penalty corner in the 23rd minute.

The Germans, seeking a hat-trick of World Cup titles to add to their Olympic gold medal won at Beijing, hit back with goals from Oliver Korn in the 43rd minute and Jan-Marco Montag in the 63rd.

As the minutes ticked away, de Nooijer pounced on a pass from the right and pushed the ball in past a stunned German goalkeeper Tim Jessulat.

“Its always good to get one point, rather than lose three,” said de Nooijer. “We were lucky to get that chance and took it. But we have to play well against the Koreans to make the semis.”

German captain Max Muller said he was disappointed to share points. “Great game, but wish we had won,” he said.

“We now have to wait till our last match to see how it goes.

“Australia are still the favourites to win the title.

Winning a third time is not on our minds. Its a young team and I am glad we are playing good hockey.”

Earlier, Jang Jong-Hyun scored three goals as South Korea routed lowly Canada 9-2 to keep their semi-final hopes alive.

Nam Hyun-Woo and You Hyo-Sik chipped in with two

NEW DELHI: German hockey players prepare to take a penalty-corner against Argentina during their World Cup 2010 match at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium.

Netherlands and Germany are drew 2-2. —AFP goals apiece for South Korea as the Asian champions ran circles around the hapless Canadian defence in the highscoring match.

The second half produced nine goals, two of them to Canada’s Philip Wright, after

the Koreans led 2-0 at the interval. “We needed this win badly and I am happy it all came together today,” said Korean coach Shin Seok-Kyo. “It will take a lot from our side, and also our rivals, to ensure we make it to the semi-

finals. We can only control what we do and that is to beat the Dutch.”

New Zealand’s chances of making the knock-out round suffered a setback when they lost 1-0 to Argentina in another group A match.

New Zealand, who would have moved to nine points had they beaten Argentina, paid dearly for a missed penalty stroke by Ryan Archibald three minutes before the interval.

Argentina, beaten in their

three previous games, earned the winner in the 55th minute through Facundo Callioni, who diverted in a pass from the right by Pedro Ibarra.

“Its disappointing to lose such a crucial game,” said New Zealand captain Dean Couzins.

“We knew this could be a vital match and that is how it turned out. We tried our best in the end to get the equaliser, but missed a few chances. “It now all boils down to other games, but we still need to overcome the Germans.” —AFP

SPORTS

Monday, March 8, 2010

19

IFAB decides to drop all technology experiments ZURICH: Goal-line technology will not be introduced in football for the foreseeable future after the sport’s rule-makers voted Saturday to end all experiments and allow humans to continue ruling on disputed decisions.

The International Football Association Board’s decision, which was opposed by the English and Welsh FAs, came after listening to presentations by leading developers of technologies that could assist referees.

“Technology should not enter into the game,” FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke said. “We should trust and keep football as a human game.” But as IFAB members were dining following its annual meeting, Premier

League club Birmingham had a goal disallowed in its FA Cup match against Portsmouth despite replays clearly showing that Liam Ridgewell’s header crossed the line before David James blocked the ball. Birmingham was trailing 2-0 at the time — and that’s how the quarterfinal finished.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said IFAB was wrong to end the experiment. “For me, it is difficult to understand, for one reason because you want as much justice as possible,” he said.

“If you love football you want the right decisions to be made.

“Today there was an incident again at the Portsmouth game and I just do not understand

why we rule that out. It is beyond comprehension for me that you can do that.” English FA chief executive Ian Watmore also supported the experiment.

“The credibility of football is always improved if you get the critical decisions right,” Watmore said. “There is enough evidence and enough quality of the technology to do an experiment that we could have learned from.”

At FIFA headquarters in Zurich, IFAB had been updated on the latest developments on goal-line technology from Cairos, which has developed a microchip ball, and Hawk-Eye, which uses a camera-based system. “The solution to these incidents (at Portsmouth) is here _

“He is one of the best. He is captain of Argentina, one of the best teams in the world. “The conversations we have had were very positive. The first thing is the player. He has really settled down now. Then there is the agent.

“He’s been very good when we have dealt with him in the past. Everyone knew that some clubs were interested in Javier but, talking with us, it was always fine.

“Will a deal be struck by the end of the season? I

Preview think so. I’m sure we will have (good) news about Javier and Pepe very soon.

“That will be very positive for the future. When I say 100 per cent (about Reina), that is because I know.” Spain keeper Reina has agreed a new, long-term deal and only the formalities of putting pen to paper remain before it will be officially announced.

“Pepe is a key player and everything is fine,” Benitez said ahead of Monday’s trip to the DW Stadium. “There are no problems with either him or Javier. Pepe is a great

character with great passion.

“I remember when he came here, people said to me ‘for England maybe he is not the best’ but, for me, he is the best in England. We want to keep him for a long time.”

Although Glen Johnson is close to returning from a serious knee injury which has ruled the England international out since December, Mascherano is expected to continue his role as emergency right-back at Wigan.

Liverpool cannot afford to drop points as they pursue a top four finish while Wigan desperately need points to ease their relegation worries.

Wigan have failed to record a victory in nine attempts against Liverpool since winning promotion to the Premier League in 2005, taking just two points from a possible 27.

But Benitez has warned his players to be wary of Wigan, who shocked titlechasing Chelsea at the DW Stadium earlier in the season.

“In the Premier League you don’t have too many easy games,” Benitez said.

“Wigan are in a battle to avoid relegation so it will be very difficult for us. They try to play football and they have

came from different parties (that) we should listen,” Valcke said. “But technology was put on ice two years ago and now it’s a decision not just to keep it on ice, but to just stop it.” FIFA, which holds four of the eight IFAB votes, led the opposition at the Zurich meeting and said mistakes will be part of football — even the World Cup final in July. “If we start with goal-line technology then any part of the game and pitch will be a potential space where you could put in place technology to see if the ball was in or out, whether it was a penalty and then you end up with video replays,” Valcke said.

“Let’s keep the game of football as it is.”

IFAB did leave open the possibility of imple-

menting an alternative system using an extra official behind each goal, which has been trialed this season in the Europa League. A special IFAB meeting will be held on May 17-18 to decide whether to allow the two extra officials to be used worldwide from next season.

That meeting could also give fourth officials a bigger role in time for the World Cup by allowing them to intervene if a player has been sent off by mistake, or serious foul play has been missed.

IFAB also deferred a decision on whether players who concede a penalty by denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity should still automatically be sent off. — AP

Real win Sevilla thriller

Benitez expects Mascherano to follow Reina’s commitment WIGAN: Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez heads into today’s crucial clash at Wigan confident Javier Mascherano will follow Jose Reina’s lead and commit his future to the club before the end of the season.

Mascherano has been offered a two-year extension to his current contract which, if he signs, would commit the Argentina captain to Anfield until 2014.

The midfielder’s future has been a source of debate for most of the season, particularly as Barcelona vigorously pursued his signature in the close-season.

Liverpool officials, though, have been in constant dialogue with Mascherano’s advisors and the latest talks, which took place on Thursday, were so positive that Benitez believes it is only a matter of time before the player signs on the dotted line.

Steven Gerrard, Dirk Kuyt, Yossi Benayoun and Daniel Agger have all committed their Anfield futures in recent months.

“Javier is more focused and I know he is happier,” Benitez said. “I have spoken with his agent and now Javier wants to improve and he wants to push us into the top four.

it’s not an issue that the technology isn’t working,” Cairos marketing director Oliver Braun said. “It’s frustrating for us because we have developed this system over so many years and IFAB encouraged us to develop the system.

They set up some criteria and said if they were met they would go with the technology.”

IFAB rejected any non-human intervention at its annual meeting two years ago, but the issue of technology was put back on the agenda after Thierry Henry’s handball in a World Cup qualifier helped France advance to the tournament at the expense of Ireland. However, the two systems considered by IFAB on Saturday only related to goal-line decisions. “The request

Javier Mascherano some strong players too, so I think we will have to respect Wigan.”

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez, who will give late fitness tests to Charles N’Zogbia and Paul Scharner, insists his side is capable of upsetting Liverpool despite a season of struggle.

“We know all about the quality Liverpool have in their side, the concepts they use and how strong they are as a team,” said Martinez.

“But we’re playing at home which gives us a great advantage, we’ve won big games here already this season, Chelsea being a prime example.” — AFP

Matches on TV (local timings) English Premier League Liverpool v Wigan..23:00 ShowSports 1 ShowSports 2 Spanish League Valencia v Racing...23:00 Al Jazeera Sport +2

MADRID: Rafael van der Vaart scored an injury-time winner as Real Madrid came back to beat Sevilla 3-2 and replace Barcelona at the top of La Liga on Saturday after the champions were held 22 in Almeria.

Sevilla stunned the home fans by taking a two-goal at the Bernabeu with an own-goal from Xabi Alonso and an Ivica Dragutinovic freekick early in the second half.

Real stormed back, netting twice in four minutes through Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos and the winner came when Van der Vaart scrambled the ball home in added time.

Barca twice came from behind to draw with Almeria thanks to a double strike from Lionel Messi, the second coming after Zlatan Ibrahimovic had been sent off in the 61st minute.

Real climbed into first place, level on 62 points with their archrivals but with a superior goal difference. Deportivo Coruna climbed to fifth on 41 points with a 3-1 comeback victory at home to lowly Tenerife thanks to goals from Juan Rodriguez, Andres Guardado and Diego Colotto.

The islanders have earned just two points on their travels all season and shipped 12 goals in their last three outings.

Sevilla spoiled a festive atmosphere at the Bernabeu, following the news of Barca’s draw in Almeria, by grabbing an early goal when Diego Capel’s cross

MADRID: Real Madrid’s Rafael Van der Vaart from The Netherlands (center) celebrates after scoring against Sevilla during their Spanish League soccer match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. — AP was turned into his own net by Alonso in the 10th minute.

Real peppered the Sevilla goal but ran into an inspired Andres Palop and, against the run of play, found themselves 2-0 behind after a bizarre strike just after halftime.

Dragutinovic’s speculative long-range freekick looked harmless but goalkeeper Iker Casillas was unsighted and the ball bounced inside the post.

Ronaldo started the fightback on the hour, clipping home a loose ball from close range and, after substitute Guti crashed an effort against the bar, Ramos headed in at a corner. Gonzalo Higuain hit the post and the bar, Raul got in the way of Ronaldo’s goal-bound

shot and Sevilla barely emerged from their own half.

It was the 92nd minute when Higuain headed goalwards, Palop was unable to hold the ball, and Van der Vaart slid in to score, sparking wild celebrations around the stadium. Barcelona, who left France striker Thierry Henry on the bench again, were undone after 12 minutes in Almeria when Domingo Cisma rose to head home from a corner.

Almeria keeper Diego Alves was in fine form and as Barca’s frustrations grew, coach Pep Guardiola was sent to the stands for disputing a decision.

Alves held firm until just before halftime when Barca won a

fortunate free kick on the edge of the area and the keeper could only watch as Messi’s superb effort curled into the top corner.

Almeria were back in front after the break when Carles Puyol turned Guilherme’s low cross into his own net. Four minutes later Barcelona’s Sweden striker Ibrahimovic was sent off when Cisma made the most of a tussle between the two.

Despite the setback Barca continued to press and, when Almeria failed to clear Pedro’s cross in the 66th minute, Messi hit his 19th league goal of the season from close range. But it was far from a vintage performance by the Catalans. — Reuters

www.kuwaittimes.net

Chelsea choke Stoke LONDON: John Terry had a rare moment of cheer yesterday scoring one and laying on the other as Chelsea marched into the FA Cup semi-finals with a 2-0 win over visitors Stoke City at Stamford Bridge.

Terry set up midfielder Frank Lampard to blast in a deflected shot in the 35th minute and his England colleague returned the favor in the 67th, his corner allowing the Blues skipper to head the second.

FA Cup

LONDON: Everton’s Jack Rodwell (left) vies for the ball against Hull City’s Deiberson Geovanni during their English Premier League soccer match at Goodison Park.—AP

Everton push Hull deeper into trouble EPL result/standings Everton 5 Everton 5 (Arteta 17, 39, Garcia 51-og, Donovan 82, Rodwell 86) Hull 1 (Cairney 32)

Hull 1 LIVERPOOL: Everton pushed Hull deeper into the relegation mire as Mikel Arteta’s double inspired a 5-1 rout of the Tigers at Goodison Park yesterday.

Spain midfielder Arteta scored his first goals of an injury-hit season either side of Tom Cairney’s equaliser and David Moyes’ side wrapped up the points thanks to Richard Garcia’s own goal and late strikes from Landon Donovan and Jack Rodwell.

While the Toffees still harbour hopes of a European place, Hull have only a grim struggle against relegation to occupy their minds.

Phil Brown’s side would have moved out of the Premier League’s bottom three with a draw but instead remain third bottom of the table.

Moyes handed defender Phil Jagielka his first start of an injury-plagued season, but Australia midfielder Tim Cahill failed a late fitness test on a calf problem.

Hull had an early opportunity as Garcia controlled a high

English Premier League table after yesterday’s match (played, won, against, points): Stoke Man Utd 29 20 3 6 67 2463 Blackburn Chelsea 28 19 4 5 65 2661 Bolton Arsenal 29 19 4 6 69 3261 West Ham Tottenham 28 14 7 7 50 2749 Sunderland Man City 27 13 10 4 52 3549 Wigan Liverpool 28 14 6 8 45 2848 Wolverhampton Aston Villa 26 12 9 5 37 2145 Hull Everton 28 11 8 9 44 4041 Burnley Birmingham 27 11 7 9 26 2840 Portsmouth Fulham 28 10 8 10 32 2938 ball from Stephen Hunt, but the midfielder’s shot was blocked

by Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard.

Moyes’ men turned the screw after that and Arteta fired wide before Leon Osman created a golden opportunity for Ayegbeni Yakubu.

Osman picked out Yakubu with a superb through-ball but the Nigerian’s shot hit a post with Boaz Myhill beaten. It was just a few moments before Everton were celebrating anyway as Arteta opened the scoring in the 17th minute.

Yakubu found space on the left and delivered a high cross which Arteta converted at the far post. Yakubu had played his part in Everton’s opener but he

squandered a golden opportunity to double Everton’s lead from the penalty spot.

Referee Lee Mason ruled that Yakubu had been fouled by Kamil Zayatte as the pair battled to reach Leighton Baines’ cross, but the Nigerian’s scuffed penalty was easily saved by Myhill.

Hull made the hosts pay as highly-rated young midfielder Cairney hit a superb equaliser in the 31st minute. Nick Barmby’s free-kick was headed out by Jagielka and Cairney controlled on his chest before lashing a half-volley across Howard.

Hull had barely settled back down when Victor Anichebe crossed from the right wing in the 39th minute and Steven Pienaar’s backheel was clamly

drawn, lost, goals for, goals 27 28 28 28 27 27 28 28 28 27

8 9 7 6 6 6 6 5 6 5

10 7 8 9 9 7 6 9 5 4

9 12 13 13 12 14 16 14 17 18

27 30 32 36 32 26 21 26 29 23

3234 4534 5029 4527 4427 5325 4624 5924 6023 4519

slotted home by Arteta.

Rodwell, introduced just before half-time for the injured Osman, had a strike deflected against a post early in the second half as Everton went for the kill. Their pressure was rewarded with a third goal in the 51st minute. Myhill flapped at an Arteta cross under the crossbar and Garcia couldn’t stop the ball bouncing off his head and into his own net.

Donovan, on loan from LA Galaxy, rubbed salt into Hull’s wounds when the American winger volleyed in a Baines cross in the 82nd minute. And Rodwell completed the demolition job four minutes later with a cool finish from Donovan’s cross.—AFP

Mallorca roll over Sporting 3-0 BARCELONA: Real Mallorca moved onto the fringes of the Champions League places after a comfortable 3-0 win over Sporting Gijon.

Their remarkable season continues and now sees them behind fourth placed Sevilla on only goal difference after the victory against an in-form Sporting side looking for their third consecutive victory.

A long range shot from Julio Alvarez surprised the Sporting keeper Juan Pablo Colinas to put Mallorca ahead and while they were always in control they did not extend the lead until the last 15 minutes when Victor Casadesus and Pierre Webo wrapped up the match. Bottom side Xerez won their first away match of the season with a 4-2 victory over Malaga.

Momo Figueroa put the visitors ahead from the penalty spot after just five minutes but it appeared as though Malaga were on track for victory after goals from Sergio Duda and Valmiro Valdo put them into the lead.

Xerez though enjoyed the luck which they have lacked for much of this season as Momo scored their second penalty and then Leandro Gioda and Fabian Orellana completed the scoring.

Keeper Diego Lopez was the hero as Villarreal drew 0-0 with Espanyol. The highly-rated shotstopper made several important blocks in the first half notably an effort from Jose Callejon from close range which he parried for a corner.

In the second half Espanyol were forced back by the expulsion of Callejon and while Villarreal pressed they were unable to create any clear-cut chances. Osasuna also drew 0-0 with Getafe after dominating the game and spurning a hatful of opportunities.—AFP

Spanish League results/standings Malaga 2 (Duda 40, Valdo 55) Xerez 4 (Momo 5-pen, 72, Gioda 76, Moreno 90+4); Osasuna 0 Getafe 0; Real Mallorca 3 (Julio Alvarez 12, Casadesus Castano 75, Webo 89) Sporting Gijon 0; Espanyol 0 Villarreal 0.

Spanish League table ahead of yesterday’s evening matches (played, won, goals against, points): Sporting Gijon 25 Real Madrid 25 20 2 3 67 20 62 Atletico Madrid 24 Barcelona 25 19 5 1 61 16 62 Almeria 25 Valencia 24 13 7 4 42 26 46 Espanyol 25 Real Mallorca 25 13 4 8 41 28 43 Malaga 25 Sevilla 25 13 4 8 38 28 43 Racing S 24 Deportivo 25 12 5 8 29 27 41 Real Zaragoza 24 Athletic Bilbao 24 11 4 9 32 30 37 Valladolid 24 Villarreal 25 9 6 10 36 37 33 Tenerife 25 Getafe 25 10 3 12 31 32 33 Xerez 25 Osasuna 25 8 7 10 24 26 31

drawn, lost, goals for, 8 7 10 28 8 6 10 37 7 9 9 29 7 7 11 18 6 9 10 31 6 7 11 24 6 6 12 29 3 11 10 27 5 5 15 21 3 6 16 18

32 37 35 32 33 37 47 42 52 46

31 30 30 28 27 25 24 20 20 15

Nuremberg stun Leverkusen BERLIN: Striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored twice yesterday as struggling Nuremberg inflicted a shock 3-2 defeat on Bayer Leverkusen, their first of the season, to dent their title aspirations.

With league leaders Bayern Munich drawing 1-1 at Cologne on Saturday, the defeat leaves Leverkusen three points off the pace in third, while Nuremberg escape the bottom three after surviving a desperate fightback.

Nuremberg’s win raises them up to 15th: disastrous news for bottom side Hertha Berlin, Nuremberg’s opponents next weekend in the capital, who are now six points adrift from safety and five points behind second-from-bottom Freiburg.

“I am overjoyed,” said Nuremberg’s ChoupoMoting, who is on loan from Hamburg. “I knew they had very good defenders, but I was 100 percent determined to put the ball in the back of the net.

“It was an important win, but every game is important for us from now on. They were special opponents, but so are Hertha Berlin next week.”

Nuremberg’s win was thoroughly deserved as the hosts enjoyed a 3-0 lead with less than 30 minutes left before Leverkusen fought back.—AFP

GERMANY: Nuremberg’s Breno (center) and Leverkusen’s Eren Derdiyok (front) and his teammate Stefan Kiessling (back) challenge for the ball.—AP

Cup holders Chelsea face Aston Villa in the Wembley semi-finals next month. The Blues remain in the hunt for a Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup treble.

Centre-half Terry was booed by the Potters’ fans and subjected to various chants about his extra-marital affair throughout.

However, the dethroned England skipper did not let it stop his match-winning efforts against a spirited Stoke, who were playing in their first FA Cup quarter-final in 38 years.

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti made three changes from the side beaten 4-2 here

by Manchester City on February 27.

Alex, Paulo Ferreira and Salomon Kalou came in for the suspended Michael Ballack, Joe Cole - who dropped to the bench - and Ricardo Carvalho, who failed a late fitness test.

Stoke were missing their influential centre-half Ryan Shawcross, who is suspended for the red-carded tackle which left Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey with a broken leg last weekend.

Both sides had scoring chances in the opening 10 minutes, with Blues winger Florent Malouda shooting wide and striker Nicholas Anelka cutting across the top of the penalty box and hitting a low shot at goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen.

Meanwhile Stoke fashioned a good opportunity from a set-piece, captain Robert Huth heading on for forward Mamady Sidibe to nod over the crossbar.

The Potters then gave their hosts a scare at a corner a quarter of an hour in, midfielder Dean Whitehead blasting a shot which evaded everyone except John Obi Mikel who cleared it off the goal-line.

However, Chelsea dominated the next 15 minutes, with Malouda, Branislav Ivanovic and striker Didier Drogba firing in speculative shots.

Anelka then stole the ball off Whitehead in the Stoke penalty box but his shot went across Sorensen’s goal.

Chelsea had centre-half Alex to thank at the other end as his precise tackle halted Tuncay’s charge into the Blues’ penalty box. But the Potters’ chance was against the run of play and Chelsea’s spell of dominance paid off.

Stoke failed to clear a Malouda corner and Terry laid the ball back to Lampard, whose drive from the edge of the box took a deflection as it flew in past Sorensen.

Sorensen pulled off the save of the half in stoppage time, diving low to tip a Drogba shot around the post following a Ferreira cross.

Lampard went close with an early second half effort and Drogba curled a free kick into Sorensen’s arms as Chelsea sought to build on their advantage.

With 30 minutes to go, Stoke manager Tony Pulis sent on Dave Kitson and former Mansfield winger Liam Lawrence for Tuncay and Sidibe in a bid to reverse the Potters’ fortunes.

Sorensen pulled off another excellent save, this time keeping out an Anelka header after Drogba’s cut-back. But from the second corner forced by the move, Terry arrived late to power Lampard’s setpiece at Sorensen, who could not stop the header going in.

After the final whistle, Terry gave his shirt to the crowd as he marched off triumphant.—AFP

LONDON: Chelsea’s John Mikel Obi (left) tackles Stoke City’s Mamady Sidibe during their sixth round FA Cup soccer match at the Stamford Bridge stadium.—AP

Carew hat-trick sink Reading READING: Aston Villa produced an incredible comeback as John Carew’s hat-trick helped them into the FA Cup semi-finals after a 4-2 win at Reading yesterday.

Martin O’Neill’s men looked in trouble in the first half at the Madejski Stadium as Republic of Ireland international Shane Long pushed Reading into a twogoal lead.

But Ashley Young found the net on 47 minutes and Carew then followed up by netting twice in quick succession to help Villa back to Wembley. He added a third from the penalty spot in the 90th minute to seal a remarkable revival. Championship outfit Reading sit just four points above the relegation zone in their division, yet had produced upsets against Liverpool and Burnley in previous rounds and held no fears ahead of this tie.

They took the game to their visitors in the opening stages and had the ball in the net after ten minutes when Jimmy Kebe fired home, but referee Mike Dean had already blown his whistle for an Aston Villa free kick.

Villa’s James Milner had an opportunity to test Reading’s Australian goalkeeper Adam Federici on 22 minutes. The ball fell to the England midfielder just outside the area, but he failed to keep his shot down. By now the game was beginning to pick up pace, and after Reading midfielder Jay Tabb had a volley deflected over, the home side took the lead.

The resulting corner was swung in by Brian Howard, defender Matthew Mills headed towards

goal, and Long got the final touch to divert beyond the grasp of Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel.

Carew swept the ball home first time from Milner’s free-kick, but to the annoyance of the forward, Reading’s entire back line had stepped up in time and left him in an offside position.

It could have been two-nil to the Royals soon after, only for Richard Dunne to block a Brian Howard side-footed effort that seemed destined for the net. Three minutes before the break Reading did double their lead, and it arrived in slick fashion.

Icelandic midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson fed Kebe down the right flank, and after racing away from his marker, the winger pulled back a cross for Long to slot past Friedel.

Villa were booed off by their supporters at the break and there will surely have been a dressing room inquest during the interval as poor marking led to both Long’s goals. But, within two minutes of the restart Villa were back in the game.

Following an error from Ryan Bertrand, Carew chipped the ball across the box, Carlos Cuellar’s miscued effort nudged into the path of Young who made no mistake.

Then on 51 minutes Villa were level. Stewart Downing cut inside Bertrand on the right side of the penalty area, delivered a perfect cross and Carew steered a header into bottom corner.

It was an astonishing turnaround and there was a further twist to come as Carew scored his second on 57 minutes.—AFP

Palermo eyeing Champions League ROME: Unheralded Palermo underlined their bid for a place in the Champions League next season as well as their burgeoning domestic title credentials with a 1-0 win over Livorno yesterday.

The three points, garnered courtesy of Fabrizio Miccoli’s goal nine minutes from the end, took the Sicilians into fourth place in Serie A, two points clear of Juventus, who Palermo had seen off in Turin last weekend. Juve slid back a place into fifth having won 2-1 at Fiorentina on Saturday.

Sampdoria are sixth, a point further back, after a 21 home win over Lazio.

The visitors took a seventh-minute lead through Sergio Floccari but quickfire ripostes around the half hour mark from Stefano Guberti and Giampaolo Pazzini proved enough for Samp to take the three points.

While Palermo rise, so Napoli are sliding back and their top four aspirations took a knock after a 2-1 loss at Bologna, for whom Marcelo Zalayeta and Brazilian Adailton were on target inside the opening 12 minutes. Leandro Rinaudo scored Napoli’s consolation as they dropped to seventh, five points adrift of Palermo, after a run of just four points from a possible 18 in their last six outings.

Champions Inter Milan were set to extend their three-point lead at the top of the table over neighbours AC Milan with an evening home win over midtable outfit Genoa.

Inter are sitting pretty after Milan, for whom David Beckham appeared for just 18 minutes from the bench, and AS Roma cancelled themselves out in a goalless stalemate Saturday at the Olympic Stadium. Milan coach Leonardo insisted his men can overturn their 3-2 Champions League deficit against Manchester United next week.

“I have great faith in this team, many times I’ve asked a lot of them. We believe in ourselves, we have to win well at Old Trafford and we’ll go there trying to score goals.” Elsewhere yesterday, Cagliari, hoping for a Europa League finish, dropped home points in a 2 2 draw with struggling

Italian League results/standings ROME: Italian Serie A results yesterday: Sampdoria 2 (Guberti 29, Pazzini 36) Lazio 1 (Floccari 7); Bari 1 (Castillo 20) Chievo 0; Bologna 2 (Zalayeta 7, Adailton 12) Napoli 1 (Rinaudo 14); Cagliari 2 (Lazzari 9, Cossu 74) Catania 2 (Mascara 31-pen, Maxi Lopez 35); Palermo 1 (Miccoli 81) Livorno 0; Atalanta 0 Udinese 0; Siena 1 (Vergassola 69) Parma 1 (Biabiany 35); Inter Milan v Genoa - late kickoff Italian league table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Inter Milan AC Milan Roma Palermo Juventus Sampdoria Napoli Cagliari Genoa Bari Chievo Fiorentina Parma Bologna Udinese Catania Lazio Livorno Atalanta Siena

26 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 26 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27 27

17 7 2 52 22 58 16 7 4 46 26 55 15 7 5 45 29 52 13 7 7 38 31 46 13 5 9 42 36 44 12 7 8 34 33 43 10 11 6 35 31 41 11 6 10 43 36 39 11 5 10 44 43 38 9 8 10 32 34 35 10 5 12 26 27 35 10 5 12 33 33 35 9 7 11 28 37 34 9 7 11 32 37 34 7 7 13 32 39 28 6 10 11 29 33 28 5 11 11 22 30 26 6 5 16 17 37 23 5 7 15 22 38 22 5 6 16 28 48 21

Catania to remain two points behind Napoli, while Bari beat Chievo 1-0 in a midtable meeting.

Atalanta and Siena did their hopes of avoiding the drop little good with home draws, 0-0 against Udinese and 1-1 against Parma respectively.—AFP

ITALY: Palermo’s Simon Kjaer of Denmark (left) vies for the ball with Livorno’s Romano Perticone during the Italian League soccer match.—AP

Bahrah Trading signs deal with Navistar Int’l

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Kuwait Energy finds new oil in Egypt

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China faces new pressure to let currency edge up

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Monday, March 8, 2010

www.kuwaittimes.net

Iceland votes ‘no’ to debt deal for failed bank Govt to talk to Britain, Netherlands on new deal Weekly commodity update

Euro, sterling struggle for ‘dead cat’ bounces

By Nick Beecroft

T

he euro’s reaction to the latest Greek developments has resembled nothing more than the proverbial ‘dead cat’ bounce. The package of measures recently announced by Greece was meant to draw a line under the debt concerns which have bedevilled euro since its recent 25th Nov 2009 high against the dollar at 1.5144.

The market has been awash with stories warning of massive short euro positions and had been looking for a revival in the euro’s fortunes if Greece came through with credible, substantive budget cuts. Well Greece has supposedly done that, but the Euro has struggled to limp up from a low of 1.3436 on Wednesday this week to 1.3600; a tiny bounce in the context of a fall from 1.5144, and hardly indicative of a market caught horribly short.

Perhaps we should call this a ‘tote katze’ bounce, as the beneficial effects of the Greek announcement have been somewhat undermined by the rigorous denials coming out of Berlin that Germany would end-up footing Greece’s bills, there is also the problem of the Constitutional Court’s somewhat equivocal view of whether it would even be legal for Germany to provide such aid.

Some had hoped that the Greek announcement would end the euro’s troubles, but a 150 pip bounce, after a 1700 pip fall, tells its own story.

Sterling is part of the same story and is also failing to bounce against the dollar, (or the euro), in any meaningful fashion. This morning is seeing a quiet ‘lull before the storm’ market, as traders wait for the release of all-important US employment data this afternoon, but one wonders what respite they can bring for the euro or the pound against the dollar; very good figures may strengthen the dollar, due to increased expectations of more rapid US interest rate hikes, whereas bad figures may cause a flight to the dollar as a safe haven, as the market reduces risk across the board.

Nick Beecroft is senior FX Consultant at Saxo Bank

DP World shares rise on equity sale report DUBAI: DP World shares rose to a three-week high yesterday after a newspaper report said it may offer new shares to shareholders and troubled parent Dubai World could sell an additional stake.

The port operator, which has a market capitalization of about $6.7 billion, is considering offering 5 percent of its shares in a rights issue, while its mother company could offer a 10 percent stake to the public, a move which could raise $1 billion, local daily The National reported.

Citing unidentified senior sources at the company, the report said DP World was aiming to become part of the FTSE 100 share index in a bid to boost liquidity and raise the stocks free float shares to 35 percent.

A DP World spokeswoman declined to comment. “We believe the appetite for equity in the potential new listing is likely to be solid, given the emerging market exposure and excellent cash flow generation offered by the stock, partially offsetting its perceived Dubai risk premium,” said Ian Munro, MAC Capital head of research, in a note to clients.

The company, whose shares currently trade on the Nasdaq Dubai market, could seek a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange as soon as the second quarter of this year, it said in January.

Since listing on Nasdaq Dubai-formerly the Dubai International Finance Exchange-in November 2007, DP Worlds shares have struggled. The stock rose as much as 6.2 percent, but were up 4.96 percent at 1110 GMT to $0.425 yesterday, down about 67 percent on its IPO price of $1.30.

DP World is one of the largest port operators in the world and is 77 percent owned

by Dubai government-linked conglomerate Dubai World, but is not included in its parent company’s $22 billion debt restructuring plans. Dubai World rocked global markets last November when it asked for a delay on paying $26 billion in debt linked to its main property units.

DP World reported in October a 6 percent fall in thirdquarter container volumes and said its 2009 results would be in line with market expectations despite a challenging fourth quarter. —Reuters

REYKJAVIK, Iceland: Voters in tiny Iceland defied their parliament and international pressure, resoundingly rejecting a $5.3 billion plan to repay Britain and the Netherlands for debts spawned by the collapse of an Icelandic bank.

According to results released yesterday, just over 93 percent of voters said “no” in Saturday’s ballot, while only 1.8 percent voted “yes.” The rest were blank or spoiled ballots. The results were based on a count of all but 2,500 of the 143,784 votes cast.

Despite the vote, the Icelandic government said it would continue talks with Britain and the Netherlands on a new agreement. The two nations want to be reimbursed for money they paid their citizens with deposits in Icesave, an Internet bank that collapsed in 2008, along with most of Iceland’s banking sector.

Ordinary Icelanders say the repayment schedule was too onerous. Some blew whistles and set off fireworks in the center of the capital, Reykjavik, as the referendum results were announced.

“This is a strong no from the Icelandic nation,” said Magnus Arni Skulason, cofounder of a group opposed to the deal.

“The Icelandic public understands that we are sovereign and we have to be treated like a sovereign nation — not being bullied like the British and the Dutch have been doing.” The overwhelming margin reflects Icelanders’ simmering anger at bankers and politicians as the island nation struggles to recover from a financial meltdown.

President Olafur R. Grimsson — who sparked the referendum by refusing to sign the repayment deal agreed by Iceland’s parliament — said Icelanders resented having to pay for the actions of a few “greedy bankers.” He said, however, the British and Dutch would get their money back eventually. The two countries have already offered Iceland more favorable repayment terms than the deal voted on Saturday.

“The referendum was not about refusing to pay back the

REYKJAVIK: People protest outside the Icelandic Parliament Reykjavik on Saturday. Protesters on the streets demanded the government do more to improve conditions in Iceland. —AFP money,” Grimsson told the BBC. “Iceland is willing to reimburse those two governments, but it has to be on fair terms.” Iceland, a volcanic island with a population of just 320,000, went from economic wunderkind to fiscal basket case almost overnight when the credit crunch took hold.

After a decade of dizzying economic growth that saw Icelandic banks and companies snap up assets around the world, the global financial crisis wreaked political and economic havoc. Iceland’s banks collapsed within a week in October 2008, its krona currency plummeted and a wave of popular protest toppled the government. The new left-ofcenter government has been trying to negotiate a plan to

repay $3.5 billion to Britain and $1.8 billion to the Netherlands as compensation for funds that those governments paid to around 340,000 of their citizens who had accounts with Icesave, an Icelandic Internet bank that offered high interest rates before it failed along with its parent, Landsbanki.

Failure to settle the dispute could have repercussions for Iceland’s economic recovery.

The International Monetary Fund has agreed to loan Iceland $4.6 billion, and the agreement is linked to repaying its international debts.

The months taken to reach the original Icesave deal were responsible for holding up the first tranche of IMF funds last year.

L ast-minute talks on

now that the referendum was over. Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager said he was disappointed the agreement had been rejected, but called the referendum “an internal matter for Iceland.” The Dutch Finance Ministry said in a statement that it and Britain were committed to finding a solution “in line with international standards.”

British Treasury chief Alistair Darling said his country was prepared to be flexible, and acknowledged it would be “many, many years” before Britain was repaid. Many Icelanders remain angry at Britain for invoking anti-terrorist legislation to freeze the assets of Icelandic banks at the height of the crisis, prompting the worst diplomat-

ic spat between the two countries since the Cod Wars of the 1970s over fishing rights.

There also have been fears that Britain and the Netherlands would take a hard-line stance on Iceland’s application to join the EU and refuse to approve the start of accession talks until an Icesave deal is signed into law.

Darling struck a conciliatory note yesterday. “You couldn’t just go to a small country like Iceland with a population the size of (the English town of) Wolverhampton and say: ‘Look, repay all that money immediately,”‘ he told the BBC. “So we’ve tried to be reasonable. The fundamental point for us is that we get our money back.” Lawless reported from London. —AP

Papandreou seeks French backing to solve debt crisis PARIS: Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou headed to Paris yesterday, the third stop of a four-city tour seeking firmer European Union and US support for harsh austerity measures that have sparked violent protests at home.

Athens is adamant that it has done all it can with the new measures to reduce its massive 12.7 percent budget deficit.

It is now seeking concrete actions from European partners to calm markets and bring down the country’s high borrowing costs, which are about twice that of Germany’s. Papandreou, who visited Luxembourg and Berlin on Friday, is

likely to find a sympathetic ear in his meeting Sunday evening with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. He then flies to Washington for talks with President Barack Obama on Tuesday.

Papandreou’s Socialist party came to power in October and shocked Europe by quickly revising the government’s budget deficit to 12.7 percent of gross domestic product for 2009 from below 4 percent earlier that year. “The situation we inherited was worse than our worst nightmare,” Papandreou said in a statement. Sarkozy, for his part, said Greece’s euro-zone partners could not

abandon it because doing so would defeat the very purpose of the 16-nation common currency project. “If we created the euro, we cannot abandon a euro-zone country — otherwise it wasn’t worth it to create the euro,” Sarkozy said at a Paris agricultural fair Saturday. “That’s why I’m supporting Greece.”

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, who is also expected to attend the Papandreou-Sarkozy meeting along with her Greek counterpart, George Papaconstantinou, says the talks will focus on how Greece’s new austerity plan will be enacted. —AP

Dubai bourse revises new tick system for stocks

Iran faces steep gasoline troubles TEHRAN: A senior Iranian oil official said yesterday that increased gasoline rationing imposed late last year has failed to reduce domestic demand, an acknowledgment that reflects the OPEC nation’s economic struggles as it faces possible new sanctions. Farid Ameri, the head of Iran’s National Distribution Oil Products Company, said gasoline consumption had remained unchanged this year despite a 20 percent cut in fuel rations since December.

“To meet the shortage, we need to import 22 million liters per day (5.8 million gallons) of gasoline and nine million liters (2.38 million gallons) of gasoil per day,” Ameri was quoted as saying on Shana, the Oil Ministry’s Web site. —AP

Icesave broke down last week, despite the debtor countries saying they had offered better terms for a new deal — including a significant cut on the 5.5 percent interest rate in the original deal. That would have required each Icelander to pay around $135 a month for eight years — about a quarter of an average four-member family’s salary.

Despite the referendum result, both sides said they were confident a deal would eventually be reached. The Icelandic government said in a statement there had been “steady progress toward a deal” in the past few weeks, and Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir said officials would resume talks with Britain and the Netherlands

New trading rules to be introduced on March 11

ATHENS: A man stands by the Greek National Printing House in Athens on Saturday bearing a banner ‘Occupation’. Several dozen interior ministry staff occupied the Greek National Printing House to prevent the latest austerity measures from being published in the government gazette. —AFP

DUBAI: Dubai Financial Market, the Arab world’s only listed exchange, will revise changes to the way it lists stocks, it said in an emailed statement yesterday.

In an abrupt u-turn, the bourse said only stocks worth less than 1 dirham would trade to three decimal places from March 11, instead of two today. DFM said on March 4 stocks worth less than 10 dirhams would qualify for the above change. For securities valued above 10 dirhams, the minimum decimal fraction would have been reduced to 0.01 dirham

from 0.05 dirham, but this amendment has also been put on hold.

The DFM offered no explanation for the u-turn and was not immediately available for comment, but some brokers have welcomed the decision to phase in reforms more gradually.

“It’s a sensible move,” said Mohammed Yasin, Shuaa Securities chief executive. “All the talk was about changing the tick system for stocks below 2 dirhams - that’s where the most effect would be - to go to three decimal places for stocks

near 10 dirhams is too much.”

He said brokers’ order systems would be adapted to trade to three decimals and so any other changes the DFM later chose to make would be simple to apply.

Around a quarter of the DFM’s stocks ended yesterday at less than 1 dirham, so under the current system these stocks move a minimum 1 percent. Day traders’ favorites such as Union Properties and Deyaar are valued at less than 0.5 dirhams, so move a minimum 2 percent up or down, increasing volatility. —Reuters

BUSINESS

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Monday, March 8, 2010

Another jewel in the crown of Al-Sayer Group

Oman Air all geared up for ITB 2010

Bahrah Trading signs distributor deal with Navistar International KUWAIT: Al-Sayer Group continued its quest to offer the best products to the Kuwait market by signing an exclusive deal with Navistar International last month.

Navistar International is recognized as the largest truck manufacturer in the United States and is known for having some of the best trucks on the road today. It offers a complete range of vehicles to meet any need.

In the presence of Nasser Al-Sayer, Musaed Al-Sayer, Faisal Al-Sayer and Mubarak AlSayer, Vice President of NAVISTAR INTERNATIONAL - USA Bernardo Valenzuela explained, “We produce the best product, the best service, and we are proud of it. With our new partner in Kuwait, we will guarantee to fulfill that promise in Kuwait with excellence. We intend to sell in Kuwait as many as the market will accept. Our line ranges from medium to heavy duty trucks and buses. Our strategy implies that we target

at first stage the government sector through tender to supply equipment such as oilfield application trucks and drilling equipments, etc.” Also present from Navistar International was Arshad Khan.

Navistar International

Managing Director commented, “Navistar and Al-Sayer being a powerful combination, customers will benefit from the unparalleled depth and scope of support provided by this collaboration”.

Al-Sayer Group prides itself

not only in the quality of the product its stocks, but also the service it offers to their clients.

“Customer satisfaction is our main focus in any business endeavor we undertake, and since Navistar is a newcomer to Kuwait - we shall make sure that all spare-parts are available to ensure excellence in after-sales service,” said Nasser Al-Sayer.

Mubarak Al-Sayer added: “This agreement with Navistar is another jewel in the crown of Al-Sayer Group. We are thrilled to acquire the distribution agreement of Navistar products in Kuwait. We shall support it by all our resources to conquer existing competing brands. The road is difficult and full of obstacles, yet we shall put our heads together to make this business endeavor work successfully and overcome all obstacles.”

Mubarak elaborated: “We shall provide Kuwait market with the long anticipated trucks from Navistar, supported by excellent after sales services,

with competitive prices. The trucks have long been in the region through already running 20,000 trucks. They have been tested in KSA, Iraq and Afghanistan. The vehicles and their engines have endured extreme heat and extreme cold conditions only to prove that Navistar has designed its products to operate perfectly in any weather condition,” he added.

Mubarak added, “Bahrah Trading Company, the Al-Sayer Group’s affiliate, with their long exposure and experience in the heavy equipment and truck field are well prepared to handle Navistar products and take full advantage of the potential of the product.

In such a demanding market Navistar International is seen to be the complete solution to all transport needs. With the sterling range of products coupled with Al-Sayer’s exemplary customer service, this partnership will truly revolutionize the Kuwaiti market.

MUSCAT: Oman Air, the national carrier of sultanate of Oman, will be participating at the ITB Berlin 2010 Convention, which will take place from 10 to 14 March.

Peter Hill, Oman Air’s Chief Executive Officer, who will head the Company’s delegation to the event, said that ITB provided a unique opportunity to meet current and new business partners from every corner of the globe.

Peter Hill added: “The proactive measures initiated by the Ministry of Tourism in promoting Oman as a distinctive destination along with Oman Air’s convenient flights to the German cities of Munich and Frankfurt and superior services on board have ensured an increase in the number of tourists to Oman. This year, our focus at ITB will be on the new services and products that have been positively viewed and reviewed by everyone. We will also be announcing the new destinations we have planned for this year. Since the commencement of the first direct flights from Oman to Germany in autumn 2009, Oman Air has established close partnerships in the German travel and tourism industry and has successfully positioned the new benchmarksetting product on the market.

Steadily rising figures and an increasing load factor demonstrate the success of Oman Air in Frankfurt and Munich.”

One of the highlights will be CEO Peter Hill’s participation in a panel discussion held during ITB Future Day at the ITB

New features of the summer season 2010 presented ● Two new exclusive intercontinental service routes: Milan Malpensa-Miami (3 weekly frequencies, starting on 3 June) and Rome Fiumicino-Los Angeles (5 weekly frequencies, starting on 5 June), thanks to which Alitalia will be the only company to offer direct service from Italy to Florida and the East and West coasts of the United States; ● An increase in the frequency of flights between Rome Fiumicino and Tokyo Narita (two further weekly frequencies starting on 5 June, for a total of 9 weekly frequencies). Alitalia affirms itself as the main carrier also to Japan for service provided, with 16 weekly frequencies and service from Rome and Milan; ● Two new international service routes from Rome Fiumicino- to Malaga (7 weekly frequencies) and Vienna (14 weekly frequencies), starting on 28 March;

● Seasonal routes from Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate to Lampedusa and Pantelleria (from June to September); ● The reestablishment of VeniceCagliari service (4 weekly frequencies); ● Air One’s innovative service from Malpensa to 9 domestic destinations (Bari, Brindisi*, Naples, Lamezia Terme*, Catania, Palermo, Trapani*, Alghero* and Olbia*) and 5 international (Cairo, Tunis, Tirana, Palma de Mallorca* and Ibiza*). *New destinations From and to Malpensa, the new Smart Carrier Air One will offer service at extremely competitive prices but with a level of service superior to that of low-cost carriers. In fact, passengers will receive, without additional charges, seat booking, baggage checkin, MilleMiglia miles, web and airport check-in, with the possibility of purchasing tickets both directly- on the

new Internet site: www.flyairone.it and the dedicated call center (at the number 199.20.70.80) - and through travel agencies.

Fares will start at €25 for domestic flights and €69 for international ones.

The network of destinations will grow quickly, with 10 new service routes (9 of which international) already in 2011.

Air One will provide service out of Malpensa with more than 200 flights weekly (250 in July and August) with a fleet of 5 of the latest generation Airbus A320, with seating for 180 passengers.

Thanks to the new integrated service, the Alitalia Group forecasts that it will double passenger traffic at Malpensa in three years: from 1.5 million in 2009 to 3 million in 2012.

In 2010, the Alitalia fleet will receive delivery of 10 new Airbus A320 (for short and medium haul service) and the first two new Airbus A330 that the company will station in Malpensa starting in June for intercontinental flights.

Convention, the world’s largest tourism convention known as the leading think tank in the industry. Hill will be talking on the topic “Luxury Tourism: Does this market segment still work.”

Oman is proving to be a big hit with Western tourists for whom the sun and sea are major attractions together with the incomparable hospitality that Omanis are so well known for.

With Oman Air’s direct service to cities like Paris, Frankfurt, Munich and London, there has been a further increase in the number of visitors to Oman. At this ITB, Oman Air will be showcasing mainly the luxury cabin product of the new Airbus wide-body fleet.

Among the other services and products showcased would be Oman Air Stopovers, which are attractive short-stay hotel packages available from all over

the Oman Air Network, irrespective of the class of travel.

With the option of luxury 5-star hotels or convenient 4-star hotels for business travel and even Resort Hotels for that perfect leisure break, Oman Air Stopovers are now enhanced to provide holiday-makers even more options and value-formoney. Oman Air will also be promoting the Visit Oman Arabian Pass (VOAP) that offers the most convenient, flexible and cost-effective way to explore Oman and the other Arabian Countries.

Finally, the recent milestone achievement by Oman Air, when it became the first airline in the world to offer mobile phone services and internet Wi-Fi access on board its fleet, will also prominently feature at the Convention.

VIVA Kuwait offers special local roaming, international call rates Telecom player launching Bahrain network KUWAIT: In order to celebrate the launch of VIVA in Bahrain, VIVA Kuwait is offering an exclusive one-month promotion for customers travelling to Bahrain. Local charges for customers who roam on VIVA Bahrain’s network will apply. VIVA Kuwait customers calling internationally to Bahrain can also enjoy local, and significantly reduced rates.

Bahrain is currently one of the most popular roaming and international call destinations for VIVA Kuwait customers.

Rana Rsheed, Marketing Director of VIVA Kuwait, said, “ We are pleased to offer our customers the opportunity to connect on VIVA Bahrain’s network, and we are confident that because it is now possible, more of our customers will choose VIVA Bahrain when they travel to the Kingdom of Bahrain.”

To prepare for its launch, VIVA has invested hundreds of millions of dinars to develop the telecommunications infrastructure in Bahrain through its voice, data transfer and high-speed Internet services.

Alitalia and Air One at the Italian Tourism Exchange MILAN: Marco Sansavini, Director of Sales, Distribution and Customer Care for Alitalia, Lorenzo Caporaletti, Manager of Air One Malpensa and Marco D’Ilario, Manager of Sales Italy for Alitalia, today at the Italian Tourism Exchange (BIT), presented the new features of Alitalia’s 2010 summer schedule and Air One’s new service from Malpensa.

With the new summer schedule (that will take effect on 28 March), the Alitalia Group will fly to 82 destinations with 140 routes and approximately 2500 weekly frequencies, increasing the number of seats available per kilometer flown (ASK) by 5.5% compared to the 2009 summer season.

Starting on 28 March, the Alitalia Group will provide service to 14 intercontinental destinations, 40 international destinations and an even wider coverage of the domestic network with 28 destinations served.

The main new features of the Alitalia Group’s summer network are the following:

Peter Hill

Rana Rsheed, Marketing Director of VIVA Kuwait

Saudi Maaden, Daelim project to cost $41m JEDDAH: Saudi Arabian Mining Co (Maaden) said preliminary work on a petrochemical project in Jubail with South Korea’s Daelim Industrial Co will cost about $41 million.

In end-December, both firms signed a deal to launch the Jubail project, a petrochem-

ical joint venture with Sahara Petrochemicals Co. “This project is expected to cost 154 million riyals ($41 million) to cover the costs for the first nine months,” Maaden said in the statement on the Saudi bourse website yesterday.

The joint venture, expect-

ed to have a capacity of 250,000 tons per year (tpy) of caustic soda and 300,000 tpy of ethylene dichloride, is due to be completed in the third quarter of 2012, the firm said.

Caustic soda is a feedstock used for the refining of bauxite to alumina. —Reuters

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

.2830000 .4310000 .390000 .2660000 .2760000 .2580000 .0045000 .0020000 .0782480 .7623490 .4020000 .0750000 .7473510 .0045000 .0500000 CUSTOMER TRANSFER RATES .2876000 .4330180 .3924000 .2681540 .2784080 .0527230 .0402120 .2604490 .0370440 .2052300 .0032410 .0062860 .0025230 .0034030 .0042130 .0783410 .7632490 .4067440 .0767320 .7473850 .0062860 TRANSFER CHEQUES RATES .2897000 .4360760 .2700530 .0772210

.2940000 .4400000 .3980000 .2740000 .2840000 .2650000 .0075000 .0035000 .0790350 .7700110 .4180000 .0790000 .7548620 .0072000 .0580000 .2897000 .4360760 .3951710 .2700530 .2803800 .0530960 .0404970 .2622890 .0373060 .2066830 .0032640 .0063300 .0025400 .0034270 .0042430 .0788410 .7681160 .4096250 .0772210 .7521510 .0063300

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. Japanese Yen Indian Rupees

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES 3.259 6.294

Pakistani Rupees Srilankan Rupees Nepali Rupees Singapore Dollar Hongkong Dollar Bangladesh Taka Philippine Peso Thai Baht Irani Riyal - Transfer Irani Riyal - Cash

3.407 2.522 3.949 206.700 37.230 4.172 6.273 8.856 0.301 0.292 GCC COUNTRIES Saudi Riyal 77.081 Qatari Riyal 79.412 Omani Riyal 750.900 Bahraini Dinar 767.640 UAE Dirham 78.720 ARAB COUNTRIES Egyptian Pound - Cash 56.500 Egyptian Pound 52.710 Yemen Riyal 1.363 Tunisian Dinar 208.740 Jordanian Dinar 408.200 Lebanese Lira 193.900 Syrian Lier 6.312 Morocco Dirham 35.670 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES US Dollar Transfer 288.900 Euro 395.100 Sterling Pound 435.230 Canadian dollar 280.620 Turkish lire 188.540 Swiss Franc 270.130 Australian dollar 261.200 US Dollar Buying 287.000 GOLD 20 Gram 221.000 10 Gram 113.500 5 Gram 59.000

Bahrain Exchange Company COUNTRY Australian dollar Bahraini dinar Bangladeshi taka Canadian dollar Cyprus pound Czek koruna Danish krone Deutsche Mark Egyptian pound

SELL CASH 266.400 768.520 4.410 284.400 567.500 15.800 53.800 167.800 56.280

SELL DRAFT 264.900 768.520 4.174 282.900

208.200 52.729

Euro Cash Hongkong dollar Indian rupees Indonesia Iranian tuman Iraqi dinar Japanese yen Jordanian dinar Lebanese pound Malaysian ringgit Morocco dirham Nepalese Rupees New Zealand dollar Nigeria Norwegian krone Omani Riyal Pakistani rupees Philippine peso Qatari riyal Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa Sri Lankan rupees Sterling pound Swedish krona Swiss franc Syrian pound Thai bhat Tunisian dollar UAE dirham U.S. dollars Yemeni Riyal 10 Tola Sterling Pound US Dollar

398.000 37.910 6.590 0.035 0.296 0.261 3.300 410.220 0.195 88.100 47.400 4.260 205.700 2.183 50.200 750.690 3.550 6.440 79.820 77.160 208.200 41.590 2.776 442.000 41.600 273.100 6.400 9.180 217.900 78.850 289.400 1.390 GOLD 1,231.010 TRAVELLER’S CHEQUE 440.000 289.000

396.500 37.760 6.330

408.490 0.194 88.100 3.960 204.200 750.510 3.420 6.260 79.490 77.160 208.200 41.590 2.526 440.000 271.600 8.040 78.850 289.000

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd US Dollar Canadian Dollar Sterling Pound Euro Swiss Frank Cyprus Pound Bahrain Dinar UAE Dirhams Qatari Riyals Saudi Riyals Jordanian Dinar Egyptian Pound Indian Rupees Pakistani Rupees

289.050 278.515 443.415 400.625 268.420 708.480 766.505 78.675 79.305 77.110 407.980 52.725 6.260 3.405

Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Pesso Japanese Yen Thai Bhat Syrian Pound Nepalese Rupees

2.520 4.180 6.270 3.240 8.770 5.568 3.922

Kuwait Bahrain Intl Exchange Co. Currency

Rate per 1000 (Tran)

US Dollar Pak Rupees Indian Rupees Sri Lankan Rupees Bangladesh Taka Philippines Peso UAE Dirhams Saudi Riyals Bahraini Dinars Egyptian Pounds Pound Sterling Indonesian Rupiah Nepali rupee Yemeni Riyal Jordanian Dinars Syrian Pounds Euro Candaian Dollars

289.050 3.425 6.335 2.530 4.180 6.310 78.760 77.250 768.000 52.695 442.800 0.0000314 3.930 1.550 410.300 5.750 399.200 287.600

Al Mulla Exchange Currency

Transfer rate

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

288.400 398.350 438.350 282.400 3.255 6.305 52.678 2.524 4.170 6.257 3.407 767.380 78.675 77.010

BUSINESS

Monday, March 8, 2010

23

Qatar Airways’ fleet size rises to 80 aircraft HYDERABAD: Qatar Airways yesterday celebrated another milestone in its remarkable short history announcing its fleet size has grown to 80 aircraft - double the size of five years ago.

The airline has inducted its 15th Boeing 777 into the fleet and maintains a delivery schedule of more than one new aircraft a month, retaining its status as one of the world’s fastest growing airlines.

The newest Boeing 777-300 Extended Range aircraft will serve long-haul routes from the airline’s operational hub of Doha, capital of the State of Qatar. The aircraft is part of a larger order for more than 220 different aircraft worth over $40 billion placed in recent years.

With the fleet set to grow to 120 aircraft by 2013 and current global network of 86 destinations also expected to rise to 120 by 2013, Qatar Airways is continuing its expansion strategy with vigor.

“Yet again, Qatar Airways is demonstrating its continued commitment to growth, a strategy set in 1997 when the airline was launched under the auspices of the Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani ,” said Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker.

Addressing the media in Hyderabad during India Aviation 2010, the country’s second International Exhibition and Conference on Civil Aviation, Al Baker said Qatar Airways was forging ahead with expansion at an unprecedented rate.

Carrier celebrates continued growth at India Aviation Air Show

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker addresses the media at a press conference during the India Aviation 2010 Air Show in Hyderabad

Qatar Airways cabin crew attract the mediaís attention prior to the airline’s press conference in Hyderabad

He was speaking as Qatar Airways debuted at this year’s Air Show with a dedicated chalet showcasing its award-winning Five Star hospitality and displaying two aircraft - a Boeing 777-200 Long Range version and a Bombardier Challenger 300, which is part of

and introduce new routes which is continuing as planned despite the industry facing challenges amid the current global economic climate,” said Al Baker.

“Qatar Airways set out a long-term vision to be a world leader with innovative inflight

the airline’s new corporate jet subsidiary, Qatar Executive.

“Just five years ago, Qatar Airways operated 40 aircraft. Today our fleet has doubled in size to 80 aircraft. As our fleet increases, we are able to raise capacity on existing services

service using the most modern and efficient aircraft in the skies today. This is what gives us an edge over our competitors and, rest assured, we will maintain and step up our momentum to reach our ultimate goal of being the Best Airline in the World.”

Last week, Qatar Airways embarked on its aggressive 2010 expansion program with the launch of daily non-stop flights between Doha and Bengaluru (Bangalore), the State capital of Karnataka. It was the first of several planned new route launches this year.

Beginning March 30, scheduled flights are set to be introduced to the Danish capital of Copenhagen; April 5 sees the Turkish capital Ankara coming on line; April 26 is the launch date of daily flights to the Japanese capital, Tokyo; June 7 sees Barcelona added to the network.

Formerly known as Bangalore, flights to Bengaluru take Qatar Airways’ Indian capacity up to 71 services a week spread across 11 key points - Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Trivandrum, Cochin, Kozhikode, Goa and Amritsar.

Qatar Airways’ Boeing 777-200LR passenger aircraft on static display in Hyderabad during the five-day Air Show features a total of 259 seats (42 seats in Business Class in a 2-22 configuration and 217 seats in Economy in a 3-3-3 configuration). The Boeing 777-200LR flies on ultra long-haul routes of up to 17 hours non-stop, such as Doha to Houston and Melbourne. With 32 Boeing 777s on order, including passenger and cargo aircraft, these will form the backbone of the airline’s long haul fleet. The aircraft operates on many longhaul routes and also serves selected destinations in India and across Asia.

Kuwait Energy finds new oil in western Egyptian desert Another milestone for KEC’s exploration efforts

GBI signs with Batelco to land sub-sea cable system in Bahrain MANAMA: Gulf Bridge International (GBI), the Middle East’s first privately owned submarine cable operator, announced that Batelco, the Kingdom of Bahrain’s leading communications provider will provide a landing station for the new sub-sea cable being installed by Gulf Bridge International The GBI Cable System, which will utilize the latest subsea fiber cable technology, will connect all the countries of the Gulf region to each other and provide onward connectivity to Europe and Asia. The launch of the GBI Cable System will see Telecom operators and other communications companies, both in the region and globally, benefit from greater choice, value, diversity and resilience.

Batelco Chief Executive Bahrain Gert Rieder said that Batelco is thrilled to sign this agreement with GBI. This will significantly enhance Batelco’s resilience and diversity in providing world-class connectivity for residents of Bahrain with world-wide destinations.

Hamad Al-Mannai, GBI’s Executive Vice Chairman commented “It is with great pleasure we announce today the landing of the GBI cable system in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The Kingdom has been one of the most liberalized Telecom markets in the region and we are glad to conclude this agreement with Batelco and for us to be a partner in the advancement of the overall ICT sector in the Bahrain.”

“This agreement will not only benefit the Kingdom of Bahrain but all the countries in the region” said Ahmed Mekky, GBI’s CEO. “We believe that increased choice, capacity and competition for international bandwidth are essential for

sustained growth in the region. The agreement with Batelco, brings GBI one step closer to delivering all three. I am confident that GBI will change the telecoms landscape in the Middle East and play a positive role in facilitating future economic growth” Batelco has previously invested in 3 international cable systems FLAG, SEA-ME-WE 3 and SEA-ME-WE 4 and a satellite earth station to provide international voice, data and internet services to its customers across the Kingdom.

Batelco has also invested in three diverse paths (SFO, FALCON and FOG) to access such international connectivity. Such network resilience and diversity is considered ‘best practice’ in the telecommunications industry globally and has served Bahrain well in the past minimising disruption to telecommunications services over the years.

“Such investment forms part of Batelco’s $1.4 billion outlay toward building the Kingdom of Bahrain’s communications infrastructure. The Company’s ongoing strategy is to continue investing in new infrastructure and innovative technology for Bahrain and ensure the Kingdom remains the most desirable IT and Communications hub across the region,” concluded Rieder.

Scheduled to launch in 2011 and designed to operate for up to 25 years, the GBI Cable System will connect all the Gulf countries via a core ring, which can re-route traffic thereby increasing resilience. With a design capacity of up to 5 terabits per second on certain cable sections, the GBI Cable System will have the capability to meet the rapid growth in demand that has been forecast for traffic originating and terminating in Gulf.

CBK and The ONE join hands Exclusive offer for credit card customers KUWAIT: During the month of February, the Commercial Bank of Kuwait held a special campaign to all their credit card customers on all furniture and accessories from The ONE. The campaign included a 10% discount to CBK Credit Card customers on top of the 70% discount already offered by The ONE. Ramzi Sabboury - Executive Manager, Marketing & Research Dept said during an interview, “We are keen on offering our customers the cream of the market to meet their demands and show appreciation to their loyalty. As we are in constant communication with our customers, we realized the high demand for furniture and home accessories that plays a major role during our everyday lives.” Sabboury also stated, “It was a great opportunity for CBK to establish and maintain a strategic partnership with The ONE; both of us will be working closer throughout 2010 and in the years to come to provide the best shopping experience for their valued customer.

It is also important to note that since the customers’ benefit is our top priority the Commercial Bank of Kuwait has prepared new products and services and many campaigns for 2010.”

During the event, CBK representatives were available and to interact with their customers at The ONE - Marina Branch to further explain the products, and clarify the promotion itself. The representatives also enlightened the customers on

the various retail stores that also offer discounts noting that events will be held throughout the year.

Ramzi Sabboury — Executive Manager, Marketing & Research Dept

KUWAIT: Kuwait Energy Company, one of the fastest growing independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in the Middle East, yesterday announced the discovery of a new oil well in the northern area of Burg El-Arab (BEA) field in the Egyptian western desert, one of its producing assets in Egypt’s Western Desert. The newly discovered well BEA N-1X is located in a separate fault block in the northern part of the field. The well was production tested on December 22, 2009 and produced at an initial rate of 280 barrels of 33 API oil per day with no water.

KEC believes that there is excellent exploration potential within the Burg El-Arab block, both in the current producing horizons as well as in the deeper Jurassic formation.

KEC made this discovery only two months after taking over operatorship. The operatorship of BEA was transferred from Gharib Oil Fields to KEC on August 4, 2009 as part of the agreement whereby KEC acquired a further 25% working interest from Gharib Oil Fields, increasing KEC’s total working interest in the BEA field to 75%.

KEC Deputy Chairman and

Iran to start offering bonds of 1bn euro on March 9

KEC Deputy Chairman and CEO Sara Akbar CEO, Sara Akbar, said: “The new discovery is another milestone for KEC’s exploration efforts in Egypt.

We continue to work closely with the Egyptian government on development and exploration plans. We are proud of our Exploration and Operations team in Egypt and its high-quality technical expertise. This discovery is a result of their ongo-

ing efforts.

“Our aggressive exploration and production plans go hand-inhand with our continuous and intensive focus on health, safety and environmental issues. I am particularly happy, in this context, to announce that our team in Egypt has achieved one-year of incident-free operations, and I would like to thank all our staff for this achievement”.

KFH spent KD 450m in retail market in 2009: Al-Khaled KUWAIT: The AGM for the Commercial Sector at Kuwait Finance House (KFH) Ahmed AlKhaled said that boosting the economy through increasing sales in local market is one of KFH’s priorities, since KFH’s expenditure in 2009 in the local market reached more than KD 450 million. This shows KFH’s ability to offer various services and products that suit the clients and the suppliers.

He highlighted the important role of the government in boosting the market during financial crunches, such as in 2009, through increasing the level of expenditure, especially that the economic status is linked to levels of expenditure and the support offered by financial institutions, such as providing the necessary liquidity and investment opportunities through offering new projects. He mentioned that the execution of social, housing, and economic services by the government will significantly boost the local economy, which will increase the ability of the individuals to buy the commodities they need, in addition to the incentives in the market of consumer financing, such as the incentives offered by the suppliers that attract many clients that include discounts at certain periods. He asserted that banks and financial institutions in Kuwait have played prominent roles in limiting the profound effects of the crisis.

Al-Khaled added that KFH launched a marketing campaign last year about murabaha, which

Ahmed Al-Khaled included the products offered by the commercial sector in order to raise the awareness among the clients and all the segments of the Kuwaiti society concerning these products and to attract new clients segments and increasing the market share, in addition to cementing the concept that murabaha is a financing tool that can meet the requirements of various clients.

He went on to explain that the clients’ needs for products and various services encourage them

to buy, in addition to other less known factors, such as the constant development of the social, cultural, and economic requirements of the clients. He described the Kuwaiti market as one of the most robust markets in the area, despite the financial crisis, in addition to the presence of branches for foreign banks in Kuwait. He mentioned that KFH has more than 4000 suppliers, and that KFH is keen on providing them with logistic services and financial requirements.

TEHRAN: Iran will start offering bonds worth a total of 1 billion euros ($1.36 billion) on March 9 to help fund development of its energy sector, the Oil Ministry’s website SHANA reported yesterday.

It would represent a rare bid by the Islamic Republic, which is under UN and US sanctions over its disputed nuclear work, to raise capital in this way.

Analysts say Iran needs funds to help modernize and expand its oil and gas sector, but particularly Western companies are increasingly wary of investing in the major oil producer due to the nuclear dispute.

The bonds, designed to help finance development of phases 15-18 of Iran’s South Pars natural gas field, will have a maturity of three years and an interest rate of 8 percent, SHANA said, citing the head of state Bank Mellat, Ali Divandari.

They will be offered both to domestic and foreign investors, SHANA reported, adding they would be available at Iranian banks abroad.

Bank Mellat is handling the bond issue.

“These bonds will be available for sale starting March 9 for a period of 120 days ... it is predicted that they will be sold before the assigned sale date due to the attractiveness of the interest rate paid on them,” Divandari said.

Economy Minister Shamseddin Hosseini last week said Iran planned to release 1.5 billion euros worth of bonds on March 6, including 1 billion euros for South Pars phases 1518.

Hosseini said the bonds

would be issued as part of Iran’s national budget for the next Iranian year, starting on March 21, and would be guaranteed by the state National Iranian Oil Company and issued by its affiliate Pars Oil and Gas Company.

South Pars contains about half of the estimated 28 trillion cubic meters of the country’s gas reserves.

Iran has the second biggest gas reserves in the world after Russia, but sanctions and other factors have slowed its development as an exporter.

Iran has struggled for years to find the cash and the technology to develop its energy sector as sanctions and political pressure have kept foreign firms away.

It has increasingly shifted to Asian countries to develop its oil and gas fields. State-owned Asian firms are less susceptible to Western pressure to stay away from the Iranian market and are eager for energy supplies from the Islamic state to feed future growth.

The United States and its European allies have been trying to pressure Iran to suspend its disputed nuclear program, which the West fears is a cover to build bombs.

Tehran says its atomic work is for peaceful purposes and will not be halted.

The United States, which imposes sanctions on most trade with Iran since its 1979 Islamic revolution, is pushing for a fourth round of UN penalties on Iran because of its refusal to halt sensitive atomic work. — Reuters

Dubai’s 2009 gold imports down 15% DUBAI: Dubai’s gold import volumes in 2009 totalled 576 tons, a 15 percent decline compared to a year earlier, a statement from the Dubai Commodities Centre said yesterday.

Branded as the city of gold, Dubai has seen weak demand from the gold retail sector over the past year, as the high price of the yellow

metal coupled with the economic crisis curbed consumer spending.

In terms of value, gold trade in Dubai stood at $29 billion in 2009, matching the value of trade a year earlier, the statement said.

Gold exports from Dubai were 403 tons in 2009, a 9 percent increase from a year earlier, it added. —Reuters

24

BUSINESS

Monday, March 8, 2010

GLOBAL DAILY MARKET REPORT

Dubai World hopes Profit-taking hits KSE stocks lift emirate’s index KUWAIT: The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) and its major indicators ended the first trading session of the week in the red yesterday. Profit-taking seen in the banking sector pushed the stock prices down.

Global General Index (GGI) shed 1.62 points (-0.77 percent) during yesterday’s session to reach 207.45 points.

Furthermore, the KSE Price Index lost 22.40 points (- 0.30 percent) and closed at 7,413.10 points. Market capitalization was down KD264.55mn to reach KD33.91bn.

Market breadth During the session, 136 companies were traded.

Market breadth was skewed towards decliners as 55 equities retreated versus 40 that advanced. A total of 112 stocks remained unchanged during the trading session.

Trading activities ended on a negative note yesterday as volume of shares traded on the exchange decreased by 20.50 percent to reach 576.72mn shares. In addition, value of shares traded dropped by 25.21 percent to stand at KD87.99mn. The Investment Sector was the volume and value leader accounting for 46.94 percent of total market volume and 37.31 percent of total value.

International Financial Advisors saw 163.84mn shares changing hands, making it the volume leader. The same company was also the value leader, with a total traded value of KD18.59mn.

In terms of top gainers, Advanced Technology Company was the top gainer for the day, adding 9.62 percent and closed at KD0.570.

On the other hand, Gulf

MIDEAST STOCK MARKETS

Cables & Electrical Industries Company shed 5.38 percent and closed at KD1.760, making it the biggest decliner in the market yesterday.

Regarding Global’s sectoral indices, they ended on a mixed note with Global Food Index being the top decliner for the day. The index ended the day down 1.89 percent backed by heavyweight Kuwait Foodstuff Company (Americana) ending in the red. The scrip was the only decliner in the sector, shedding 2.50 percent and closed at KD1.560.

Global Banking Index ended the day with a 1.32 percent decline, making it the

second biggest loser in the market.

Heavyweights National Bank of Kuwait and Kuwait Finance House ended the day down 1.49 percent and 1.59 percent, respectively. In addition, Gulf Bank was the biggest decliner in the sector with a 2.60 percent drop in value to close at KD0.375.

In terms of advancers, Global Insurance Index took the top spot with a 0.26 percent gain backed by Gulf Insurance Company, the only gainer in the sector with the rest of the companies being unchanged. The scrip ended the day up 1.15 percent and closed at KD0.440.

Global’s special indices ended on negative note with Global Small Cap Index being the top decliner. The scrip ended the day down 1.42 percent backed by National Slaughter Houses Company and Safwan Trading & Contracting Company ending the day down 5.15 percent and 4.95 percent, respectively.

Oil news The price of OPEC basket of twelve crudes stood at $76.42 a barrel on Thursday, 4/3/2010, compared with $76.52 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

Market news Palms Agro Production Company’s Board of Directors recommended a cash dividend at 8 percent of par value or 8 fils a share for the FY ended on 31/12/2009, to shareholders of record on the general meeting date. This proposal is pending the approval of shareholder meeting.

Gulf Cable & Electrical Industries Company board recommended a cash dividend at 50 percent of par value or 50 fils a share for the FY ended on 31/12/2009, to shareholders of record on the general meeting date. This proposal is pending the approval of shareholder meeting.

DUBAI: Dubai’s index made its largest gain for six weeks yesterday, bolstered by market talk that Dubai World’s debt restructuring would be more favorable to lending banks than previously thought.

Firm oil prices and endof-week gains on world markets lifted other regional bourses. Dubai climbed 2.3 percent in its biggest gain since Jan. 25, breaking above a key resistance at 1,615 points and analysts forecast further gains in the short-term.

“People are saying an announcement may soon come from Dubai World and what’s being offered will not be as bad as feared, so some investors are building positions now to stay ahead of the curve,” said Mohammed Yasin, Shuaa Securities chief executive.

Dubai World is restructuring around $22 billion of debts, with an announcement expected this month.

DP World rose 4.9 percent after a newspaper report said it may offer new shares to shareholders and parent Dubai World could sell an additional stake as part of its plan to list on the London Stock Exchange.

“We believe the appetite for equity in the potential new listing is likely to be solid, given the emerging market exposure and excellent cash flow generation offered by the stock, partially offsetting its perceived Dubai risk premium,” Ian Munro, MAC Capital head of research, wrote in a note.

Arabtec rose 3.9 percent after its chief finance officer told Reuters the builder’s $1.7 billion stake sale to Aabar Investments would be completed in April.

Aldar Properties climbed 0.6 percent, easing away from Thursday’s eightmonth low, despite offering a reduced dividend, with the stock seen as over-sold.

Aldar was one of seven Abu Dhabi entities downgraded

by Moody’s last week.

Saudi Arabia’s index hit a 19-week high as Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) rose 0.5 percent to a fresh 16-month high, boosted by firm oil prices.

“Oil is a key driver here in Saudi Arabia - the market is still largely driven by oil dynamics,” said Asim Bukhtiar, senior investment analyst at Riyadh Capital.

“There are attempts to diversify the market, but investor confidence is based on oil prices.”

Crude reached its highest close since early January on Friday and world stocks rose after US employment data beat forecasts and China said it was targeting 8 percent GDP growth in 2010.

“Recent GDP forecasts from China and India are positive for oil consumption to remain firm in 2010 and that has implications for regional economies and corporate earnings,” said Ali Khan, managing director and head of brokerage at Arqaam Capital.

National Bank of Kuwait fell 1.5 percent a day before

its capital increase was set to be implemented, which will dilute existing shareholdings.

“There are investors who like the stock, but think it is better to sell today and buy back tomorrow,” said Essa Al-Hasawi, a dealer at Noor Financial Investment Co. “Kuwait’s uptrend is still in place and today is just some profittaking.”

Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) rose 1.4 percent, tracking weekend gains on its global depositary receipts to lift Egypt’s index.

HIGHLIGHTS DUBAI The index rose 2.3 percent to 1,622 points.

EGYPT The index rose 0.4 percent to 6,807 points.

SAUDI ARABIA The measure climbed 0.3 percent to 6,560 points.

KUWAIT The measure fell 0.3 percent to 7,413 points.

ABU DHABI The benchmark rose 0.8 percent to 2,747 points.

OMAN The index rose 0.5 percent to 6,683 points.

BAHRAIN The index rose 0.2 percent to 1,506 points.

— Reuters

BUSINESS

Monday, March 8, 2010

25

Impressive learning program at Dubai Lynx 2010 New evening networking events DUBAI: The Dubai International Advertising Festival, now in its 3rd year, is the premier awards and must-attend event for the advertising and communications industry in the MENA region. Taking place at The Palladium, a new state-of-the-art venue in Dubai Media City, Dubai Lynx offers an amazing learning program that provides the MENA region with world-class speakers, the latest global industry thinking, local insights and an array of new networking opportunities where delegates can meet and engage with their peers.

Over two days, 15 and 16 March, 32 renowned speakers - international creatives and clients from 25 companies will present 16 seminars that will offer insight and inspiration and four workshop sessions providing delegates with the opportunity to enjoy a more in-depth and handson learning experience in small and more collaborative groups.

This year’s speakers include: Ahmed El-Azizi, Vice President Marketing of PepsiCo MEA Barry Cupples, CEO of Omnicom Media

Group Asia Pacific Carter Murray, Chief Marketing Officer, Worldwide Account Director Nestlé, Publicis Worldwide Chuck Porter, Co-Chairman of Crispin Porter + Bogusky David Nobay, Creative Chairman, Droga5 Australia John Hunt, Worldwide Creative Director of TBWA\ Worldwide Mark Fiddes, Executive Creative Director, Draftfcb London Mark Tutssel, Chief Creative Officer of Leo Burnett Worldwide Prasoon Joshi, Executive Chairman; Regional Executive Creative Director, Asia Pacific of McCann Worldgroup, India Additionally, delegates at Dubai Lynx 2010 will have the chance to be motivated by some of the most creative advertising from across the globe at an exhibition of winning pieces from Cannes Lions 2009, Eurobest 2009, Spikes Asia 2009 and of course view the Dubai Lynx 2010 Shortlist.

Dubai Lynx registration opens on Sunday 14 March at 1pm followed by the first of the new networking events. At 5pm at The Palladium, The National presents Art & Copy, the regional premier screening of the powerful new film about advertising and inspiration, which will be introduced by The National’s founding editor, Martin Newland. Directed by Doug Pray, Art & Copy reveals the work and wisdom of some of the most influential advertising creatives of our time such as Dan Wieden, Lee Clow and Hal Riney, among others, whose work has profoundly impacted our culture by grabbing the attention of millions with their brilliant campaigns but yet are virtually unknown outside their industry. Art & Copy is a dynamic exploration of art, commerce, and human emotion.

On Monday 15 March, at the end of the first day of seminars and workshops, delegates can catch up with old acquaintances and make important new contacts at a reception hosted by Guardian News held at The Palladium, the venue of the Festival.

The Dubai Creative Club is hosting an exclu-

sive party on Tuesday 16 March for all Dubai Lynx delegates at the new Media One hotel located close to the Festival venue, offering an amazing opportunity for MENA’s creative community and international attendees to meet, share ideas and have an enjoyable evening after the 2nd day of seminars and workshops.

The 2010 Dubai Lynx winners will be revealed at the famous Dubai Lynx Awards Ceremony and Dinner, the highlight of the year for the MENA’s advertising community which takes place at The Palladium, the evening of Wednesday 17 March.

Discover which campaigns have earned awards and join in the celebration with 1,300 like-minded industry peers. The awards ceremony will be presented this year by TV presenter and head of programming and production of Al AAn TV, Roula Debes. “We are very excited about this year’s Dubai Lynx program. It’s an intense agenda with some hot topics presented by a host of world-class speakers. We’ve also injected the fun element by introducing some equally important networking opportunities central to this business,” said Steve Lane, Dubai Lynx Festival Director.

Beijing could raise yuan value to ease strains

China faces new pressure to let currency edge up BEIJING: China faces mounting pressure from trading partners to loosen currency controls and is giving signs it might raise the value of the yuan to ease strains on its fast-growing economy. A stronger yuan could help China’s leaders achieve their goal of making the economy more self-sustaining by boosting consumer buying power and reducing dependence on exports and investment. It

TOYOTA CITY: Employees of Toyota Motor Co listen to Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota Motor Co, during a Toyota’s crisis meeting in Toyota city on Friday.— AP

Toyota disputes critic who faults electronics NEW YORK: Toyota Motor Corp plans today to try to undercut suggestions that its electronics systems caused the sudden acceleration problems that led to the recall of more than 8 million vehicles.

The automaker plans an event in which it will seek to debunk a critic who claims faulty gas pedals did not cause the sudden acceleration.

Toyota will aim to duplicate the scenario created

by David W. Gilbert, a professor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Gilbert told Congress on Feb. 23 that he was able to recreate sudden acceleration in a Toyota vehicle by manipulating its electronics.

The company is calling in the director of Stanford University’s Center for Automotive Research to try to refute the claims. Toyota said Stanford professor Chris Gerdes will show that the malfunctions Gilbert produced “are completely unrealistic under real-world conditions

and can easily be reproduced on a wide range of vehicles made by other manufacturers.”

Stanford’s Center for Automotive Research is funded by a group of auto companies, including Toyota. Toyota also has hired a consulting firm to study whether electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The firm, Exponent Inc., released an interim report that has found no link between the two.

The event planned today is part of a broad campaign by the world’s biggest automaker to discredit critics, repair its damaged reputation and begin restoring trust in its vehicles.

On Friday, a congressional committee questioned Toyota’s efforts to find the causes of the problems. It also questioned whether the company had sufficiently investigated the issue of electronic defects. Toyota executives will also address recall issues at its annual suppliers meeting in Kentucky tomorrow.— AP

ATHENS: Protesters and police try to help a riot policeman, center, partially obscured, after an attack by masked youths outside the Council of State, Greece’s highest administrative court, in central Athens on Friday.— AP

Survey: Greeks divided on austerity measures ATHENS: Greeks are ambivalent about a new austerity package announced this week and are against most of the specific measures — unless they affect people they consider privileged, according to a new survey released.

In a survey published Saturday in newspaper To Vima, 47.9 percent of those polled said they disagreed with the austerity package, compared with 46.6 percent who supported the plan.

The package’s passage by the country’s parliament on Friday sparked demonstrations that turned violent. Unions plan more demonstrations and have called for a general strike on March 11.

The 4.8 billion ($6.5 billion) package of tax hikes and spending cuts unveiled by Prime Minister George Papandreou on Wednesday aims to bring the country’s deficit down from 12.7 percent of economic output in 2009 to 8.7 percent in 2010, on its way to reducing it further to 2 percent in 2012.

Asked about specific measures, respondents backed pay cuts of 7 percent for Greece’s presi-

dent, prime minister and ministers by a wide margin of 93.2 percent, and 65.2 percent backed a 12 percent cut in civil servants’ bonuses. A small majority of 51.2 percent said they agreed with a 5 percent cut in state spending for infrastructure project. By contrast, respondents opposed cuts in civil servants’ salaries, with 60.3 percent against, a freeze in pensions, with 67.4 percent opposed, and a §200 million cut in education spending, with 74.3 percent opposed.

Those surveyed backed a special consumption tax on luxury items such as expensive cars, yachts and jewelry, with 94 percent in support, and an increase in taxes on tobacco and alcohol, with 82.6 percent approval. They rejected a rise in fuel tax, by 63.8 percent, an increase in value added tax rates, at 64.2 percent, and the imposition of a special consumption tax on electricity, with 85.7 percent. The poll queried 1,044 people on Friday. No margin of error was published. The newspaper said an “expanded version” of the survey will be published yesterday.— AP

Some American lawmakers are calling for punitive tariffs on Chinese goods if Beijing fails to act. Analysts say Beijing might allow the yuan to rise against the dollar before the middle of this year. But they say any increase will be gradual and do little to narrow US and European trade deficits and create jobs. “Even if China starts to appreciate, the possibility is it will be very slow and gradual, without an immediate impact on trade,” said Nicholas Consonery, an analyst in Washington for Eurasia Group, a consulting firm. On Friday, Premier Wen Jiabao said in a speech to China’s legislature that the yuan will be kept “basically stable” at an “appropriate and balanced” level this year, though he gave no explanation of what that would mean.

Beijing tied the yuan to the dollar for decades but broke that link in 2005 and allowed it to rise by about 20 percent through late 2008. The government slammed on the brakes after the crisis hit and has held its currency steady against the greenback to help exporters compete as a plunge in global demand wiped out millions of Chinese factory jobs.

The United States and Europe downplayed currency complaints as they worked together with Beijing to revive global growth. But facing pressure to create jobs, they and governments as far-flung as Brazil have renewed demands for China to act.

President Barack Obama vowed in early February to “get much tougher” in trade disputes with China and to press for an end to currency regimes that he said depress export prices and put US companies at a disadvantage. The US Treasury has the option of declaring Beijing a currency manipulator in a report due out in April, which could set the stage for a complaint to the World Trade Organization and possible sanctions on Chinese goods. Last year’s US trade deficit with China was $227 billion, down 15 percent from 2008 but among the highest ever.

The 27-nation European Union reported a 65 billion euro ($88 billion) deficit with China for the first half of 2009.

A bipartisan group of 15 American senators urged US

could narrow China’s politically volatile trade surplus, making the flood of foreign money pouring into the economy more manageable. A change might also help defuse tensions with the United States, Europe and other trading partners that complain an undervalued yuan makes China’s exports unfairly cheap and hurts foreign competitors, possibly prolonging the global economic crisis.

BEIJING: Communist China’s former leader Mao Zedong on 100 yuan, or renminbi (rmb), notes in Beijing. China expects its budget deficit to rise about 10 percent this year to 1.05 trillion yuan ($154 billion).— AFP Commerce Secretary Gary Locke in a Feb 25 letter to investigate whether Beijing improperly helps Chinese companies by holding down the yuan. They said it is undervalued by up to 40 percent.

A stronger yuan would help Beijing get back on track to boosting household spending power after its 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus package helped China to rebound quickly from the global crisis but worsened the tilt toward relying on investment to create jobs.

Chinese leaders worry that reckless overspending on unneeded factories and other assets could lead to financial problems, while the country can no longer count on double-digit annual export gains to drive growth. But they face a daunting potential pitfall: A stronger yuan might hurt exports and cost jobs, fueling social tensions, while spending by China’s consumers might not rise fast enough to fill the gap.

“They are in a difficult balancing act,” said Michael Pettis, an associate professor of finance at Peking University’s

Guanghua School of Management. “The steps that need to be taken to rebalance the economy worsen the unemployment problem, and the steps that are taken to resolve unemployment worsen the imbalance.” Analysts say a rise in the yuan could begin before the middle of this year if export growth, which revived in December, stays on track.

That might coincide with the June meeting of the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, where the Americans are expected to make currency a priority. It would let Beijing’s envoys respond to US complaints by saying it was already taking action. In a signal Beijing might be about to act, President Hu Jintao used the term “speed up” 50 times in a Feb. 3 speech to refer to building a consumption-based economy.

“There is an urgency about this. They realize this investment- and export-based economy needs to be balanced,” said Citigroup economist Ken Peng.

But currency policy changes aren’t expected during the twoweek annual meeting of China’s

ceremonial legislature that ends in mid-March — a high-profile event when communist leaders try to prevent any shocks to business. Analysts say a likely scenario is a small one-time rise in the yuan’s value against the dollar, followed by a gradual, long-term increase to allow exporters of shoes, toys and other low-profit goods to adapt to tougher conditions.

China took a similar approach in 2005, when it revalued the yuan by 2 percent in a single day, then allowed a gradual, tightly controlled upward crawl that saw it gain about 5 percent annually.

“It’s impossible for them to revalue in a sharp one-off move,” Peng said. “If you do a one-time adjustment of 5 percent, that will put a lot of businesses into the red instantly, so that’s not something they are willing to do.” In a possible effort to prepare the public for a change, government researchers have been quoted in the state press discussing possible approaches to a revaluation. A commentary in the China Securities Journal news-

paper by Zhang Ming, a finance specialist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the yuan might be allowed to rise by 5 percent this year.

Yet even if Chinese goods get more expensive in dollar terms, that won’t drive American job growth because US factories no longer make what China supplies, said UBS economist Dong Tao in a report this month. He said business would shift instead to Malaysia, Mexico or other lowcost suppliers.

“Unless the US rebuilds its manufacturing base, China’s loss would not be the US’s gain,” Tao wrote. And the array of tensions with Washington over Taiwan, Tibet and the Internet could complicate Beijing’s timing by making some leaders reluctant to look like they were giving in to pressure, said Citigroup’s Peng.

“It will be very difficult for Chinese authorities to justify why they are allowing the currency to appreciate now,” Peng said. “Appreciation is still viewed as some sort of a concession.” — AP

Saudi Arabia, Syria discuss investments DAMASCUS: An official in the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) and Syria’s transport and housing ministers discussed SFD’s contribution in funding investment projects in Syria.

According to a press release issued by the Syrian Transport Ministry, SFD’s Executive Director Yousef Al-Bassam discussed with Transport Minister Dr Yarub Bader Saturday evening possible cooperation between the ministry and

the fund. The fund realizes the importance of the Arab railway project which will activate Arab joint action, AlBassam said.

On his part, Bader said that the European Investment Bank agreed to fund economic feasibility studies on connecting the railway project with Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

The studies will be ready by the end of 2010, he added. Meanwhile, Syria’s

Construction and Housing Minister Omar Ghalawanji discussed with AlBassam possible cooperation in the establishment of seven plants to treat sewage waste, costing about SYP 9.2 billion.

Al-Bassam told reporters that SFD contributed in funding more than 14 development projects in Syria and that it was keen on funding new projects.

Ghalanjawi expressed hope that the

Saudi fund would be a major partner in executing such projects in Syria. The ministry plans to establish about 300 sewage waste treatment plants in different Syrian provinces, he pointed out.

One of the ministry’s priorities is to protect water resources, he emphasized.

SFD funded development projects in 47 countries. One Syrian pound equals about $0.0217. — KUNA

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BUSINESS

Monday, March 8, 2010

New local ownership rules rattle Zimbabwe business HARARE: Zimbabwe’s fragile recovery could be undermined by a new local ownership law that economists say will frighten off desperately needed foreign investment.

Under the law, which took effect Monday, foreign companies valued at more than 500,000 US dollars must divest 51 percent of their shares to non-white locals within five years.

They have 45 days to report their efforts at complying with the rule. The biggest targets include local subsidiaries of British banks Barclays and Standard Chartered, as well as mining companies such as Impala Platinum, AngloPlatinum, and Rio Tinto.

“For foreign investors, this is a severe

warning that this is not the country you can invest in at the moment,” said Tony Hawkins, professor at the University of Zimbabwe’s school of business.

“The so-called unity government is deeply split over the regulations and there is a lot of uncertainty about what shape they are going to take,” he added.

Industry Minister Welshman Ncube said Wednesday that the cabinet would review the law, but that does not suspend the measures, which have sharply divided what is an already strained unity government.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, the former opposition leader who became premier one year ago, has declared the law “null and void” because it was passed by

the previous parliament in 2007 but not enacted until now.

His Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) accused President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party of trying to cash in on foreign business. “ZANU-PF simply wants to create a new arena for looting and abuse,” the MDC said, saying the measure would only benefit “the well-connected elite and the ZANU-PF chefs.”

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, the main labour body, also voiced fear that the law “could lead to a creation of new minority blacks who will just replace the minority whites (who owned the business previously).”

Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980, insists the law will end colonial-

era disparities in the economy. “Our indigenization program, like the land reform program, is designed to correct historical imbalances in the ownership of our resources,” Mugabe said last weekend.

Those remarks did little to reassure investors. Since 2000, most white-owned farms in Zimbabwe have been forcibly resettled by Mugabe supporters in a violent and politically charged campaign.

Farm production, once the backbone of the economy, has plunged. Mining, which become Zimbabwe’s main production sector, now appears to be in the firing line.

Since the law was published one month ago, Zimbabwe’s stock market has tumbled about 10 percent, while mining shares have plunged 20 percent.

Foreign companies already have headaches working in Zimbabwe. Food giant Nestle briefly suspended operations in December over a dispute about buying milk from Mugabe’s family farm.

South African retailer Shoprite backed out of a possible deal to buy Zimbabwe’s OK Bazaars for reasons never made public.

After a decade of economic collapse, marked by world-record hyperinflation that ended only one year ago, most Zimbabweans are struggling to survive.

But the head of the indigenization program, David Chapfika, said the government would provide financing to buy shares-while insisting that the scheme was not nationalization.

“We are not going to be involved in pol-

itics. The idea is to grow, grow, grow and expand the economic cake for everybody,” he said.

Zimbabwe struggles just to its pay civil servants but Chapfika said government would raise money with a new tax on companies or by floating international bondseven though the government cannot honor bonds already issued.

“We need indigenization but the way they are trying to do it with these regulations will only kill the economy completely,” independent economist Eric Bloch said.

“This will frighten away all foreign investors, local investors and all lines of credit required to recover the economy. As it stands, it’s a total disaster.” — AFP

Dust settles on annual results season

British bank bosses shun bonuses to avoid backlash LONDON: Faced with public outrage over excessive bankers’ pay, the bosses of Britain’s five biggest banks have taken the unprecedented step of spurning bonuses worth millions of pounds. As the dust settles on the annual results The chief executives of Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered all decided to renounce their bonus entitlements for 2009, with some even donating their rewards to charity. “I am not surprised by the behavior of bank chief executives,” said senior strategist Howard Wheeldon at BGC Brokers in London.

“They are seeking to carry the responsibility, if not the can, for the part that their respective banks may or may not have been responsible for, in the mess that we have seen unfold over the past two years or so.” He told AFP: “They are of course responding to public opinion too-but they are also seeking to protect their senior staff who are, after all, legally entitled to receive all that has been previously agreed that they will earn.”

While bosses relinquished their bonuses, remaining senior staff at the banks will still receive bumper financial rewards on top of their salaries-even after the government decided to slap a 50-percent tax rate on bank employee bonuses above 25,000 pounds (27,700 euros, $37,600).

The so-called “supertax” could generate more than 2.5 billion pounds in taxation revenues, according to a recent survey by the Financial Times. Last week, the head of global banking titan HSBC pledged his bonus to charity despite rising profits at the Asia-focused group as he sought to deflect public criticism over the controversial issue of executive pay.

HSBC, which unlike many rivals received no state bailouts, said chief executive Michael Geoghegan would donate up to four million pounds to charity in what was described as a personal decision.

HSBC’s move was swiftly followed by Standard Chartered, whose chief execu-

season, analysts said the sector was keen to fix its battered reputation after being accused of helping to spark the global financial crisis that dragged the world into a painful recession.

HONG KONG: Customers leave the banking hall at HSBC headquarters in Hong Kong. The chief executives of Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered all decided to renounce their bonus entitlements for 2009, with some even donating their rewards to charity. — AFP tive Peter Sands decided to give his 2.1million-pound bonus to charity. This too the group called a personal decision.

Sands made the gesture despite guiding the emerging markets bank to record profits and income during 2009. Standard Chartered said: “Like most bankers, we are conscious that the world has changed and that we must work together with

regulators, governments and the rest of the industry to secure a better financial system, if we are to support the global recovery and to focus on the socially-useful aspects of banking.

“The issue of bonuses has been much in the spotlight ... We pay for good performance and we do not reward failure.

And we have continued to produce record

income and profits on a sustained basis,” the bank added.

Bank bosses are eager to defuse public anger about the bonus culture, which many observers blame for encouraging the kind of excessive risk-taking that tipped the world economy into crisis.

Barclays threw down the gauntlet to its rivals when it declared that top executives had dropped their bonuses. That set the tone for other banks because Barclays survived the global financial crisis intact, without taxpayer handouts, and also saw its profits rocket by 114 percent in 2009.

The state-rescued Lloyds Banking Group followed suit last week when its chief executive Eric Daniels revealed he would not collect his annual bonus of 2.3 million pounds.

Lloyds, which is 41.3-percent state owned after being bailed out with billions of pounds of taxpayers’ cash, said it was “mindful of the ongoing public debate on the issue of bonuses in the banking sector.”

Royal Bank of Scotland, which is 84percent state-owned, also announced that its chief executive Stephen Hester would waive his bonus of 1.6 million pounds despite narrowing losses in 2009.

However, banks have still dished out bonus pools to their best workers, arguing that some of their top talent could jump ship if they were not paid the going rate.

RBS said it was determined that there would be “no reward for failure” and pointed out that “senior executives responsible for the overall losses”-such as former chief executive Fred Goodwinhad left the company.

Britain’s banking landscape has undergone huge changes since 2007, with major lenders such as RBS and LBG partly nationalized in the wake of the financial crisis. — AFP

Thailand’s rice farmers fret about free trade PATHUM THANI, Thailand: For many farmers in Thailand’s rice belt, agreements between Asian countries to reduce trade barriers have not brought all the benefits that national leaders promised.

“We are afraid of the free trade area,” says Chatree Radomlek, a 37-year-old farmer in Pathum Thani, about an hour’s drive north of Bangkok but a world away from the capi-

tal’s glitzy hotels and restaurants. A rural community where local people boast of the nutritional benefits of eating field mice, its green paddies help make Thailand the world’s biggest rice exporter.

But where humid weather and new farming technologies used to dominate local farmers’ conversations, free trade is now the hot topic. A free trade area between the Association of

Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Thailand is a member, and China took full effect on January 1, liberalizing billions of dollars in trade and investments in a market of 1.7 billion consumers.

It is the world’s largest free trade area by population, eliminating barriers to investment and tariffs on 90 percent of products. “If cheap rice comes to Thailand from other countries,

it might make our prices go down. I think the government should set up measures to protect us,” says Chatree, looking out from under a wide-brimmed hat.

He says that rice from neighboring Cambodia and Laos is “inferior” but that it could flood the Thai market, possibly leading Thai consumers to buy imported rice instead and lowering domestic prices for his

PATHUM THANI: A Thai farmer taking a break from farming rice fields in Pathum Thani province, north of Bangkok and part of the country’s rice belt. For farmers in Thailand’s rice belt, agreements between Southeast Asian countries to reduce trade barriers is not everything their countries’ leaders have promised. — AFP

grains. Another fear is that middlemen could mix Thai rice with lesser varieties of the imported grain, hurting the quality of Thailand’s product. Bangon Radomlek, 57, says she has worked the rice fields since she was ten and adds, with a grin, that although the work is tough, “it’s a life with freedom.”

“But I don’t like free trade,” she says. “We only want to export. We don’t want to import.

We want to be the sole producer.” Rice is big business in Thailand. The country’s Foreign Trade Department says that the nation exported 8.57 million tons of rice in 2009, worth five billion dollars. It expects that the country will ship more than nine million tons in 2010. The importance of rice to the economy led to a spat in recent months with fellow ASEAN member the Philippines, one of the world’s biggest rice importers.

Bangkok wanted Manila to lower import tariffs on Thai rice to comply with the ASEAN free trade area but the Philippines said it could not afford to, fearing that freer trade would undercut its own rice industry.

Thailand’s Commerce Ministry said the two countries had now struck a deal for the Philippines to buy 376,000 tons of Thai rice until 2014 without applying any of the usual 40 percent tariff.

The Philippines has the option, however, of not buying the rice if it produces enough for domestic consumption or finds a better price elsewhere. Manila will lower its tariff to 35 percent in 2015. — AFP

SEPANG, Malaysia: A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft on the tarmac of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang. Not long ago Malaysia Airlines was on life support, forced to sell off its headquarters and firing thousands of staff to avoid bankruptcy, but analysts are now bullish about its prospects. — AFP

Malaysia Airlines flying high after sweeping reforms KUALA LUMPUR: Not long ago, Malaysia Airlines was on life support, forced to sell off its headquarters and firing thousands of staff to avoid bankruptcy, but analysts are now bullish about its prospects.

The Malaysian flag carrier sank to its lowest ebb in 2005 when it racked up losses of 1.3 billion ringgit ($386 million) over nine months.

The dismal performance forced the introduction of sweeping reforms which saw the airline slash staff and unprofitable routes and sell noncore assets. Malaysia Airlines finally swung into the black in 2007. Despite the global financial crisis that then hit, grounding many weak airlines, analysts are upbeat on the Malaysian carrier’s fortunes, especially after it posted net profits of 490 million ringgit last year.

“We are optimistic,” Hafriz Hezry Harihodin, an aviation analyst from AmResearch, said, saying an extensive fleet renewal was expected to have a positive impact on yields from 2011. The turnaround plan has been a success, “especially in terms of bringing down unit costs, improving efficiency and strengthening balance sheets,” he said.

Under the revamp, the airline launched lowfare campaigns to fill up empty seats, imposed a recruitment freeze and embarked on efforts to boost passenger loads and expand its network more strategically. It has ordered 35 mediumrange B737-800s, with the first to be delivered this year, as well as six Airbus A380s and 25 fuelefficient A330-300s-giving Malaysia Airlines one of the youngest fleet of any Asian carrier.

It expects to make annual savings of 300 million ringgit after receiving the first 15 A330-300s wide-body aircraft, which are scheduled for delivery between 2011 and 2016.

“They will save quite a lot of money because of

the low maintenance and low fuel consumption,” said Angeline Chin, an aviation analyst from TA Securities.

“We believe Malaysia Airlines has already reached its trough and is on its recovery path despite the flat yield growth,” she said.

Other analysts however warned there was still a risk of more hiccups in the carrier’s journey to financial health. “We believe the airline sector is poised for improvement prospects in 2010, in line with the recovery in the global economy, but not without some speed bumps along the way,” Joshua Ng, from RHB Research, said in a report.

“A mild rebound in the global economy will not materially stimulate demand for air travel.

“Over the short term, new capacity will continue to hit the market, intensify competition and capping yields,” he added. Juliana Ramli, of Hwang DBS Vickers, said that despite a brighter long-term outlook for the carrier, 2010 will remain a challenging year for Malaysia Airlines.

“Although demand is likely to be on uptrend, yields also need to improve to pass on rising jet fuel prices,” the aviation analyst said in a report.

“We do not expect dramatic improvement in yield this year considering that growth may be partly dampened by additional capacity coming into the market, which could further intensify price war.”

AmResearch’s Hafriz maintained a positive outlook for Malaysia Airlines, saying it would also ride on the Asia-Pacific’s strong traffic recovery compared to other regions.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said last month that Asia-Pacific has overtaken North America as the world’s largest air travel market with 647 million passengers in 2009. — AFP

Prudential eyeing Asia’s coming insurance boom SINGAPORE: Asia’s insurance industry is set to boom thanks to rising incomes, a growing middle class and ageing populations, explaining the allure behind Prudential’s costly bid for AIA, analysts said.

And cultural biases that have made insurance a taboo subject in Asia, because of its association with death, are also fast disappearing, they said.

“The prospect for growth is tremendous,” said Francis Koh, a finance professor at the Singapore Management University.

“The income levels of most Asian countries are rising.

Asians are also ageing and living longer. These two trends indicate the need for more insurance for health and retirement,” he said.

“As the cost of education increases over the years and parents would want their children to have tertiary education, there will be an increase in the need for education insurance plans.” Koh said Asia’s younger generation has become more open to taking up insurance policies, compared with their elders who superstitiously shied away from the subject.

“Just like the way the older generations of Chinese would not wear black as it is a sign of mourning, this cultural norm does not hold for the younger

JAKARTA: A signboard of the Jakarta office of AIA, the Asian arm of troubled US giant AIG is seen in the Indonesian capital yesterday. Asia’s insurance industry is set to boom thanks to rising incomes, a growing middle class and ageing populations, explaining the allure behind Prudential’s costly bid for AIA, analysts said. — AFP generation as black is cool.”

Britain’s Prudential and AIA, the Asian arm of troubled US giant AIG, last week agreed to a deal worth 35.5 billion dollars that would be the insurance sector’s biggest-ever takeover.

The buyout would transform Prudential into the world’s top non-Chinese insurer by market capitalization, ahead of major competitors Allianz and AXA. Prudential’s stock price has slumped as

investors fret over a massive share dilution to fund the deal, and over whether the company is overpaying for AIA. But the acquisition would see Asia generate the lion’s share of Prudential’s global earnings, just as the region is taking off for the industry as a whole.

Consulting firm McKinsey forecasts that Asia will account for 40 percent of the growth in the global life insurance industry in the next five years. — AFP

TECHNOLOGY

Monday, March 8, 2010

27

Gadgets galore as Somali pirates spur booming sector NAIROBI: Somali pirates raked in an estimated 60 million dollars in 2009 but the Indian Ocean’s ransom hunters have also spurred a much larger industry of ship protection devices.

As the 36,000 ships that bottleneck into the Gulf of Aden each year try to dodge marauding pirates and keep a lid on insurance premiums, an astonishing array of inventions has cropped up on the flourishing market. With obstacles remaining to the deployment of onboard security personnel, a myriad of hoses, nets, lasers, radars-from million-dollar high-tech systems to gadgets straight out of a Harry Potter wizard shophave been developed. “Some of this will, I think, find a place in the market because it

answers the need for companies to do something, short of arming crews or bringing armed security onboard,” said security expert Jake Allen. “Never mind that many of these inventions don’t work or are easily defeated by pirates,” added Allen, a senior risk advisor with US-based The NoLu Group and the author of an ebook entitled “Security Contracting”.

With very few companies willing to incur the extra cost of opting for the safer route around the Cape of Good Hope, some shipping firms will be under increasing legal pressure to take basic security precautions.

So it’s gadgets galore at scores of specialised security fairs across the world, where start-ups run by navy veterans all

offer the ultimate pirate-proof invention with a fancy acronym.

One company peddles the Anti-Pirate Water Cannon System and another markets “non-lethal slippery (or anti-traction) foam” as the trick that will frustrate pirates even after they successfully board their prey.

A British company markets a net to snare the pirates’ propellers for 450 dollars (330 euros) per metre without shipping.

Other solutions include evolutions of age-old hidden-spikes-and-hot-oil defensive tactics, such as 9,000-volt electrical wiring or a “hot water curtain” to defend the deck from grapnel-wielding sea-jackers.

There are various cheap DIY ways of “rigging” a ship with nets, traps, barbed

wire and dummy security guards.

Maritime security forums on the Internet are awash with suggestions for outlandish contraptions such as glue cannons, robot anti-pirate boats and 50-dollar starpointing green lasers that cause “reversible eye damage”.

More seriously considered-and costlysolutions developed by Europe’s largest defence company BAE include dazzle guns that incapacitate assailants 1,000 yards (metres) away and a state-of-the art early warning radar system.

However there is a dearth of recorded occurrences during which any of these devices were successfully used against Somali pirates.

One exception is the long range acoustic device (LRAD), a crowd-control sonic blaster that can be used to convey messages or emit unpleasant “deterrent tones”. It was also used at the Pittsburgh G-20 meeting last year. The legality of many of these “less lethal” weapons is also contested and Hans Tino Hansen, managing director of Denmark-based Risk Intelligence, argued that the perceived market for such systems may be higher than the real one.

“From our customer base, we can see that systems that have dual functionality are preferred to security only systems-this could be remote controlled thermal imaging systems or real water canons,” he said.

“In the ever-growing range of nonlethal weapons on offer, some are much less effective than the blurb tries to convey and can even be dangerous when they are operated,” said Olivier Halloui, operations manager at French-based maritime safety firm Surtymar.

“The end goal of protection measures is to delay the pirates’ boarding and commandeering of the ship. Simple and cheap setups can turn out to be effective if a suspicious boat is spotted early,” he explained.

The naval missions patrolling Somali waters regularly remind seafarers that ships respecting recommended corridors and best management practices laid out by the industry rarely get attacked. — AFP

‘We never support hacking attacks’

China to punish hackers, says no Google complaint BEIJING: China has pledged to punish hackers who attacked Google if there is evidence to prove it, but said it has yet to receive any complaint from the world’s top search engine. Google sent shockwaves across business and political circles in

SAN FRANCISCO: In this Jan. 27, 2010 file photo, the Apple iPad is examined after its unveiling at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Apple said yesterday, its much-anticipated iPad tablet will hit US store shelves on April 3. — AP

Videogame makers racing to develop iPad games WASHINGTON: As an electronic reader, Apple’s iPad has been touted as a possible “Kindle killer” but what has videogame makers buzzing is the potential of the touchscreen tablet computer as a gaming platform.

“It’s going to be a really powerful handheld game console,” said Asbjoern Soendergaard, founder and chief executive officer of Tactile Entertainment. “It’s going to be an awesome gaming experience.”

Soendergaard’s Denmarkbased company is building a pet simulation game for the iPhone called “Pocket Creatures” and he said the iPad will allow the game developers to add “features that we only thought we could a year ago.”

The iPad’s larger screen, rich graphics and processing power has videogame and application developers around the world racing to put the final touches on programs for the iPad in time for when it hits the stores next month.

Free and paid applications for the iPhone-more than 150,000 to date-helped make the smartphone a smash hit and developers are hoping for similar success with the iPad, which goes on sale in the United States on April 3 and in nine other countries at the end of the month.

“We’re very excited about the iPad because it gives us more room to play,” said Brian Meehan, the head of worldwide product development at Sourcebits, a company focused on mobile applications and gaming with offices in Atlanta and Bangalore, India.

“It’s got a larger screen obviously and more CPU,” Meehan said of the iPad’s central processing unit, what Tactile’s Soendergaard described as the “power under the hood.”

Besides games, one of Sourcebits most successful products is “Knocking Live Video,” which allows iPhone owners to share live video with each other and has attracted over 750,000 users in just three months.

“We’ll ultimately build that out for the iPad,” Meehan said.

“For gaming, the iPad’s going to be kind of in a bit of a world of its own,” he added.

“If you look at Sony’s PSP and all the other portable gaming devices they may be a little bit bigger than the iPod Touch or the iPhone but they’re all in that same size area.

“Now you have this device that’s also going to be able to connect to (the Internet),” he said. “That in itself is a big playing field for everybody in the gaming world.”

Soendergaard said the iPad is “different from the iPhone where you have your personal

apps” and predicted it will be “a family device, a shared device.

“On the multi-player side it’s going to be really exciting,” he said. “Maybe you can play board games on it.”

Mike Rasmussen of Durham, North Carolina-based Republic of Fun, publisher of “Slug Wars” and other iPhone titles, agreed, saying the iPad opens up all kinds of new possibilities for game makers.

“It’s about the right size to place down on a table between four people,” said Rasmussen, whose title at Republic of Fun is “el presidente” in keeping with the name of his company.

“We’ve really started thinking about it as kind of the ultimate board game device which can create really interactive, fun, multi-player experiences for groups of people that just are not possible on a device like the iPhone.”

Game makers are not the only ones bullish about the iPad. So are financial analysts and application developers.

“We were able to demo the (iPad) at the launch event and were impressed by the gaming

and e-book experience in particular,” said Ben Reitzes, an analyst at Barclays Capital.

“We found the gaming experience to be far superior to the smaller screen platforms and wouldn’t be surprised if gaming popularity turned out to be one of the gadget’s big surprises,” Reitzes said in a research note on Friday.

PointAbout, a Washingtonbased technology company which has built iPhone applications for the White House, the US Coast Guard and The Washington Post among others, is looking to adapt its popular AppMakr service to the iPad. AppMakr can make iPhone applications for as little as 199 dollars and has been used to build 3,800 iPhone programs in just the six weeks since it was launched, said PointAbout cofounder and chief operating officer Daniel Odio.

“We will probably end up adding iPad into AppMakr so that people can build low-cost iPad apps,” Odio said. “I imagine it’s going to take us three to six months to do that but it is our goal.” — AFP

Google had never filed a report to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology over the cyber attacks or sought negotiations, Vice Minister Miao Wei was quoted as saying by state news agency Xinhua late on Saturday.

“If Google has had evidence that the attacks came from China, the Chinese government will welcome them to provide the information and will severely punish the offenders according to the law,” Miao said.

“We never support hacking attacks because China also falls victim to hacking attacks,” he said.

Google also never informed the ministry that it was planning to withdraw from China, Miao added, speaking on the sidelines of the annual session of parliament.

“If Google decides to continue its business in China and abides

by China’s laws, it’s welcome to stay,” he said, vowing to continue providing a sound investment environment for foreign investors and protect their legitimate rights.

“If the company chooses to withdraw from the Chinese market, it must go through certain procedures according to the law and regulations and deal with customers’ problems that may arise.”

A Google spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Last Friday Minister of Industry and Information Technology Li Yizhong said China was in consultations with Google to resolve the issue. Li did not elaborate.

The dispute about Internet censorship has added to tensions over issues ranging from trade and the Chinese currency, to US arms sale to self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own, and a recent meeting between US President Barack Obama and Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

The hacking issue made headlines again in late February after reports in the Western media that the attacks had been traced to two schools in China, and the writer of the spyware used had been identified as a Chinese security consultant in his 30s with government links.

The Chinese government has denied Google’s accusation that the hackers were based in China, calling the claim “groundless.” —Reuters

January when it declared it would stop censoring Chinese search results, and threatened to pull out of China—the world’s largest online community with 384 million users at the end of last year—over hacking and censorship concerns.

WOLFSBURG: Exhibition visitors check out an interactive robot at the exhibition “Robo & Co.” on show at the science museum in the northern German city of Wolfsburg. — AFP

US school tech workers on leave amid webcam probe PHILADELPHIA: Two information-technology workers at a suburban Philadelphia school district that secretly activated webcams on students’ school-issued laptops are on paid leave amid an FBI wiretap investigation. Lower Merion School District officials insist the move is not meant to suggest wrongdoing by the veteran employees.

They have said the webcams were only activated to find missing laptops, and not for any rogue purpose. “Placing them on administrative leave with pay is not a reflection of any wrongdoing on their part. It is a standard, prudent step in an investigation such as this one,” the district said in a statement Friday, confirming a Philadelphia Inquirer report.

Technician Michael Perbix and systems coordinator Carol Cafiero were put on administrative leave two weeks ago, after a student’s lawsuit revealed the district prac-

tice of taking webcam photos and screen shots when laptops are reported lost or stolen.

The district admits it remotely activated 42 webcams in the last 14 months, successfully locating 18 of the computers. School officials have declined to describe the resulting photographs, or say if any were taken inside student homes. The district has halted the practice amid the lawsuit and both state and federal criminal probes. In the civil suit, Harriton High School student Blake Robbins accuses school officials of invading his privacy by photographing him in his bedroom without permission. A vice principal later approached him, he said, and warned that school officials — based on webcam photos in their possession — suspected him of selling drugs. Robbins denies the drug allegation. He claims Vice Principal Lindy Matsko mistook the Mike & Ike candies he

enjoys for illicit pills. “Ms. Matsko does not deny that she saw a Web-cam picture and screenshot of me in my home,” the 15-yearold Robbins said in a statement he read last month outside his family’s home. “She only denies that she is the one who activated the Web cam.” Hours earlier, an infuriated Matsko read her own statement aloud at her lawyer’s office. She insisted that she never monitored students through the webcams or authorized anyone else to do so. She stopped short, though, of addressing whether she saw the webcam photos of Robbins or spoke to him about suspected drug use.

Robbins’ lawyer hopes to have the suit certified as a class-action suit, but nearly 500 district parents have joined a group formed to fight such a move. They are angry about the webcam fiasco, but also concerned about the financial impact of a large classaction award. — AP

Visitor numbers up at world’s top high-tech fair

WASHINGTON: The Google Nexus One smartphone is shown in this file photo in Washington, DC. Apple announced last week that it had filed a lawsuit against HTC, maker of the Nexus One smartphone from Google, accusing the Taiwan company of infringing on 20 iPhone patents. — AFP

BERLIN: The worldís biggest high-tech fair, the CeBIT, welcomed more visitors than last year, organisers said yesterday, despite the crisis wracking the economy and the IT industry.

Over the five days of the fair, in the northern German city of Hanover, a total of 334,000 people visited the stands showcasing the latest gadgets and technology.

Compared to the first five days of last year’s fair, which ran for a total of six days, this represented a 3.7-percent rise, said Hartwig von Sass, a CeBIT spokesman.

With the IT sector recovering gingerly from a disastrous 2009, where sales dropped by 4.3 percent, exhibitor numbers dipped to just below the 4,200 mark. This was around half the number of firms at the CeBIT during the dot-com boom around the turn of the century. — AFP

HANOVER: A visitor plays the computer game “Counterstrike” at the world’s biggest high-tech fair, the CeBIT in the northern German city of Hanover. Some 4,157 companies from 68 countries are displaying their latest gadgets at the fair taking place from March 2 to 6, 2010. — AFP

28

HEALTH & SCIENCE

Monday, March 8, 2010

Cambodia drug-resistant malaria stirs health fears PAILIN: In a dusty village near the ThaiCambodia border, 24-year-old Oeur Samoeun sits on a dark green hammock recovering from a strain of malaria that has resisted the most powerful drugs available. Ravaged by days of fever and chills, he is considered lucky: the parasite has left his body. But for many others, the potentially deadly disease never quite disappears.

His province of Pailin is the epicentre of strains of malaria that have baffled healthcare experts worldwide, raising fears a dangerous new form of malaria could already be spreading across the globe.

“The fear is what we’re observing right now could be the starting point for something worse regionally and globally,” said Dr. Charles Delacollette, Mekong Malaria Programme Coordinator at the World Health Organisation.

A New England Journal of Medicine study last year showed that conventional malaria-fighting treatments derived from artemisinin took almost twice as long to

clear the parasites that cause the disease in patients in Pailin and others in northwestern Thailand, suggesting the drugs were losing potency in the area.

That is echoed by US development agency USAID, which says artemisininbased combination therapy is “now taking two to three times longer to kill malaria parasites along the Thai-Cambodian border than elsewhere.” The agency has helped to monitor the situation in the area for years.

The disease transmitted via mosquito bites kills more than 1 million people worldwide each year and children account for about 90 percent of the deaths in the worst affected areas of sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia.

The studies shine a spotlight on the remote province of Pailin, a former stronghold of ultra-communist Khmer Rogue rebels and once reknown for blood-red rubies and lush forests.

Pailin is the origin of three drug-resistant malaria parasites over the past five

decades. Thanks to prolonged civil conflict, dense jungles and movement of mass migrants in the gem mines in the 1980s and 90s, the strains multiplied and dispersed through Myanmar, India and two eventually reached Africa.

Few can say why it is a hotbed for drugresistant malaria but experts point to a combination of sociological factors and a complicated history spanning the Khmer Rouge era when 1.7 million people, nearly a quarter of Cambodia’s population, perished from execution, overwork or torture during their 1975-79 rule.

Driven from the capital, the rebels waged an insurgency from western Cambodia with Pailin one of their last holdouts until their defeat in the late 1990s.

“During the Khmer Rouge era, people came here illegally and when they get malaria, they go to the market, buy pills and self-medicate,” Sophal Uth, a Pailinbased field officer for non-profit Malaria Consortium said. “It was difficult for the government to control.” With weak public

health infrastructure and rising malaria cases, Cambodia made malaria drugs available over the counter more than a decade ago. Most Cambodians don’t have access to public health services and rely on private medical centres.

The strategy carried risks. Easy access reduced the number of cases but also led to incorrect dosages and substandard or counterfeit medicine, which instead of killing the parasites only make them stronger.

For some like Oeur, a migrant worker who likely caught malaria on a logging trip or while sleeping in his rickety shed without a mosquito net, artemisinin-based medicine still works.

Artemisinin, derived from the sweet wormwood, or Artemisia annua plant, is the best drug available against malaria, especially when used in artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) medicines made by firms such as Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG and France’s Sanofi-Aventis.

After three days of ACT, Oeur is weak

Chinese experts stress need for basic health care Health reform is under scrutiny at ongoing meetings BEIJING: Improving basic medical services through better training of staff is crucial to fixing and restoring public trust in China’s ailing health system, senior experts said yesterday.

The high cost and poor availability of health services are among the biggest complaints of the Chinese public.

China last year announced it would be pumping in 850 billion yuan ($124 billion) to reform

the system over three years to provide basic medical coverage and insurance to all of the country’s 1.3 billion people.

“The current problem is that many people think that community health facilities have increased, but the ability of doctors to treat illnesses has not strengthened,” Gao Chunfang, director of the No. 150 Hospital of the People’s Liberation Army, said on the

sidelines of the annual meeting of China’s legislature. “The level of distrust that patients feel toward community health facilities has grown.” That distrust has led to serious overcrowding at city-level public hospitals where the treatment is perceived as better. Gao said such hospitals should deploy doctors to assist community medical staff in treating patients and receive lower-

level health workers for training at hospitals.

Health reform is under scrutiny at the ongoing meetings of the legislature and its advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, of which Gao and four other health experts who briefed reporters yesterday are members. Premier Wen Jiabao has made boosting social security for lower-income Chinese a

priority, pledging to address concerns about education, affordable housing and jobs.

The government plans to build thousands of county and township hospitals and ensure that each of the country’s nearly 700,000 villages has a clinic.

It also seeks to expand state health insurance, control prices for essential medicines, and reduce unnecessary prescriptions. — AP

MANILA: Women dressed as pregnant mothers parade along a street in Manila’s Chinatown district yesterday to protest against imported Chinese cosmetics. Philippine health authorities last month banned several Chinese-made facial creams and skin whitening lotions because they were found to contain mercury beyond allowable limits. — AFP

Einstein’s theory of relativity on display

Madrid anti-abortion protest draws thousands MADRID: Thousands of anti-abortion demonstrators thronged central Madrid yesterday to protest against changes to Spanish law which will make it easier for women to seek a termination.

Well-heeled protesters, many accompanied by small children and bearing heart-shaped red balloons with the slogan “The Right to Live”, marched for the second time in six months against the changes, due to become law in July.

Media estimated the crowds in the thousands. The previous march in October drew tens of thousands in one of the largest demonstrations since anti-war protests in 2003 and 2004.

The bill has galvanised opposition to Spain’s minority Socialist government and its Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, criticised for his handling of a deep economic crisis marked by high unemployment.

Demonstrators, many waving Spanish flags, marched under banners reading: “ZP (Zapatero) 007: Licence to kill” and “Spaniards in support of life”.

Although decriminalised in 1985, abortion is currently only allowed under Spanish law in cases of rape, if a foetus is damaged or if the pregnancy could endanger the physical or mental health of the mother. The new law will allow abortion in most cases up to the 14th week of gestation without risk of prosecution for women seeking termination for whatever reason.

“No woman can be sent to jail for terminating her pregnancy or threatened with that. That’s the difference,” said Prime Minister Zapatero at a political rally on Saturday.

The government has accelerated the transformation of conservative, Catholic Spain into a liberal society during its six years in power with legal gay marriage and a reduced role for religion. While the number of abortions has doubled in the past decade, the practice is controversial in the traditionally Catholic country. — Reuters

JERUSALEM: A man visits an exhibition showcasing the original manuscript of Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity at the Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Jerusalem yesterday. The rare exhibition will display, for the first time, the complete 46page original manuscript of Einstein’s historic theory. — AFP

JERUSALEM: The complete original manuscript of Albert Einstein’s “General Theory of Relativity” was to go on display for the first time yesterday in an exhibition by the Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

The 46-page work, which revolutionised scientists’ understanding of the universe and underpinned a century of major discoveries, was penned by Einstein in Berlin in 1916 and donated to Jerusalem’s Hebrew University during its inauguration in 1925.

“One can almost look over Einstein’s shoulder while he was at work, his elegant handwriting, the corrections and equations, the erasures and additions,” the exhibit’s curator Hanoch Gutfreund said ahead of the opening.

“The comments that are added to numerous pages shed light on Einstein’s basic ideas, the challenges he faced and the difficulties he encountered.”

The theory advanced an entirely new model of space, time and gravity that paved the way for the development of space-age technologies, including Global Positioning Systems (GPS).

Einstein, who won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1921, had helped to establish the university during the early days of the British-ruled Palestine Mandate. He later declined an offer to become Israel’s president in 1952. The exhibition will run until March 25. — AFP

but parasite-free. The Mekong River region of Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos use ACTs against the “falciparum” parasite, the most severe form of malaria, as suggested by the World Health Organisation.

“Artemisinin is the most effective antimalarial we have left,” Dr. Chansuda Wongsrichanalai of USAID’s office of public health in Bangkok said. “We don’t have any ideal alternatives available and ready to for use in a control programme right now.” Pailin’s gem mines are gone and so are most foreign migrants and the troops.

Severe deforestation has left most hill tops barren. Yet the parasites are as virulent as ever. Most of its inhabitants have had malaria at least once in their lives.

Malaria experts, weary of being called alarmists, are quick to point out ACTs still work-they are just taking longer. The WHO isn’t even calling it drug-resistance, they preferred to use the term “altered response” or “tolerance to artemisinin.”

“From a public health perspective, I

don’t think it really matters much if it’s resistance or something else given that at the end of the month, patients are returning to the health facility with the same malaria,” Dr. John MacArthur, chief of the President’s Malaria Initiative at the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Potential fallout from ACT resistance led the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to fund a $22.5 million containment programme. Cambodia will also receive $102 million from The Global Fund to fight malaria in the next five years.

The Gates Foundation programme aims to use screening, bed nets and grass-roots muscle to contain the parasites along the border area and eliminate them before they can spread further.

Last November, Malaria Consortium said studies show artemisinin resistance already may be present in Myanmar, China and Vietnam, where between 12-31 percent of patients still had the parasite in the system after three days of treatment. — Reuters

Burden of AIDS hits Zimbabwe’s women HARARE: Since testing positive for HIV six years ago, Cecilia Chinhamo has endured a torrent of verbal abuse from her husband.

“My husband shouts at me and calls me a walking corpse,” said the 30-year-old Zimbabwean vegetable vendor.

“I can only cry when he says that. What else can I do?”

Like many Zimbabwean women with HIV, Chinhamo battles to convince her husband to get tested himself or to use a condom, raising fears for the future of their four-yearold daughter.

“My husband’s problem is he thinks he is fit,” she said.

“He refuses to get tested, insisting he is negative. At times he agrees to use condoms, but it’s not easy every time.”

She struggles to make ends meet by selling vegetables in Chitungwiza, a working-class suburb outside Harare, and depends on remittances from her sister who works as a bank teller in neighbouring South Africa.

Of the 1.6 million Zimbabweans with HIV, 55 percent are women, according to government statistics.

Women often suffer doubly, not only from the disease, but from abuse from their spouses and isolation by their communities, said Carol Mubira, of the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) research team.

Mubira’s group studied the living conditions for women with HIV in Argentina, Cambodia, Moldova, Morocco, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Their findings, released at a recent conference here, revealed that even efforts to prevent the spread of HIV can pose problems for women, who are often reluctant to tell anyone that they have the disease.

“In some cases a woman, who because of her HIV status will not breastfeed, is labeled a witch by her in-laws because they do not understand the problems of mother-to-child transmission,” Mubaira said.

“In term of our customs, a woman who does not breastfeed is deemed to be a witch.

So that woman is shunned by her relatives and community.

HIV positive women are still being stigmatized.”

More often than not, according to Mubaira the women are “effectively shunned by their communities, isolated and become lonely.”

ZIMBABWE: A file picture shows a woman as she takes part in an HIV/AIDS march in the streets of Harare on May 19,2006 in remembrance of those who have succumbed to the disease since its appearance. Since testing positive for HIV six years ago, Cecilia Chinhamo has endured a torrent of verbal abuse from her husband. —AFP Zimbabwe’s national AIDS plan for 2010 says women and girls are particularly vulnerable to the disease.

“They may be compromised in their ability to ward off unwanted sexual attention or negotiate safe sex,” it said.

“Increasing levels of poverty lead some women into casual or commercial sex work, while male norms allow for multiple and concurrent partnership, including casual and commercial sex.”

The shortage of anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs to treat the disease gives people little incentive to reveal their HIV status.

Zimbabwe imposes an AIDS levy on workers’ salaries, money intended to help fight the disease.

But with unemployment

estimated at 85 to 90 percent, the money raised is not enough to meet the programme’s needs.

Government uses a portion of its Value Added Tax to import medications, which cost 18 to 80 US dollars for a month’s supply for one patient.

But civil servants earn only about 150 dollars a month.

Currently 180,000 people are receiving medication from the government’s programme, although experts say 600,000 people need treatment.

“By the end of the year, we hope to have 300,000 people on the ARV roll out programme,” Health Minister Henry Madzorera said. “We are discussing with some organisations, but to overcome the ARV shortages, this may take some time.” — AFP

CHAD: A picture taken on March 3, 2010 shows US actress and UNICEF envoy Mia Farrow (C) holds a baby while talking to women about the importance of polio vaccination in Mao at the launch of a polio vaccination campaign. Mia Farrow visited Goz Beida to highlight the start of a nationwide polio vaccination campaign that it being launched at the end of this week. — AFP

30

WHATʼS ON IN KUWAIT

Monday, March 8, 2010

IWG celebrates International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day

Marwa Barakat (left), Carla Foote (centre), Mariam Noor (right). — Photos by Joseph Shagra

Esmeralda De Fernandez (2nd left), Narjes Al-Shatti (centre), Kadi Iye Kamara (2nd right) Mayisa Abdelhaleem (right).

By Rawan Khalid KUWAIT: The International Women’s Group(IWG) celebrated International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day at the Radisson Blu Hotel yesterday. Baidoun Company sponsored the event. Two makeup designers from LANCOME held a special make-over session with two female volunteers.

Karen Henry, President of The International Women Group(IWG) welcomed guests for breakfast. Narjes AlShatti, a board member of the International Women group said, “The International Women Group meeting in March coincides with the International Women’s Day. This anniversary is considered rewarding for all the women across the world for the roles that they played to develop societies.”

“We are also celebrating Mother’s Day

A group photo IWg members

Yasmine AlZaid (left), Fawziya bu Noor (centre) Adjana Kabassi.

Elza Worbs(left), Narjes Al-Shatti (centre), Sajon Skathria.

because a mother lays the foundation of a society. She produces real wealth,” Narjes added.

Esmeralida Sanchez De Fernandez, the Venezuelan Ambassador’s wife said, “I’ve been here in Kuwait for almost 10 years and I am the only ex-president of IWG who has been here. I served as president in 2001, and actually I enjoyed it. Today, we are celebrating International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day in Kuwait. In Venezuela, the International Women’s Day is celebrated with a meeting, and talk is delivered on politics for the women’s rights. In Venezuela, women are granted many rights.”

“Mother’s Day is celebrated in Venezuela on the second Sunday of May, and normally the family goes out for lunch so that the mother doesn’t have to cook that day,” Esmeralida says.

Karen Henry the president giving her speech.

IWG members

Rhada Muhmood (left), Elsie Quhaimeh.

From left: Yvonne Al-Hashem, Nazi Dashti, Pst Rulh Aifno, Shelly Bains, Karin Andresson.

KOC organizes Safe Driving campaign he Kuwait Oil Company organized a three-day “Safe Driving” campaign at the Ahmadi stadium, with the aim of reducing traffic accidents and raising awareness about the rules related to safe and careful driving.

The campaign was opened by the KPC CEO, Saad Al-Shuwaib, who underscored the collective responsibility to preserve the lives of people through education and strict adherence to proper traffic rules. He commended the company’s efforts in addressing issues pertaining to society.

For his part, C&MD, Sami Al Rushaid, delivered a speech in which he stressed that maintaining the safety of employees is a key priority for the company.

“Therefore,” he added, “The company has applied effective measures to reduce traffic acci-

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dents, such as installing cameras and speed monitoring devices in company vehicles, as well as improving the road network. He added that traffic violations are considered in terms of bonuses and may lead to disciplinary actions. For his part, Team Leader, Health, Safety and Environment (North Kuwait) Abdullah Abdul Salam, spoke of the high rates of traffic accidents to unacceptable levels, which has prompted the company to organize campaigns to raise awareness about safe driving procedures.

The fire team, Ahmadi Hospital and several contracting companies took part in the event and made demonstrations on the various methods of saving lives. The campaign also included an exhibition of photographs of real traffic accidents.

ICS (lower primary wing) holds English elocution competition

Pastcos releases directory ala St. Thomas College Old Students Association [Pastcos] Kuwait Chapter conducted grand releasing ceremony of its directory alongwith the New Year & X-Mas celebrations on 22 Jan 2010, at Orma auditorium Abbassiya. The chief guest for the ceremony was internationally well reputed Statistics Professor & Researcher Dr K.K. Jose Kanichukattu; Principal, St. Thomas College Pala. The Chief Guest explained the various roles, duties and contributions of Alumni for their parent institutions and reminded that the alumni working abroad is the ambassadors of the college. He also received the 4 scholarships instituted by Pastcos Kuwait Chapter for the 4 meritorious poor students in Pala St Thomas College during the time of Diamond Jubilee of the college. The ceremony started with welcome speech of Tomy Cyriac Kanichukattu, general secretary followed by presidential address

by Lalgi George, the president. Also Pastcos remembered the contributions and traditionally honored all the founders and senior members like Mohan George, Santosh Tom, Josekutty Mathew, Sunny Joseph, George Joseph Kanjamala, Kuriakose K Mundiyanickal, Jacob Palakeel, M.P. Sen, George Varghese, Zacharias Joseph, Alex Chandy, Mathew Joseph etc.., Finally Treasurer Sunny Joseph Kurisummootil expressed vote of thanks to all.

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he English elocution competition of the Lower Primary Wing of Indian Central School was an event which enabled the children to ward off their stage fear as well as initiate their experience into the world of public speaking. Two students from each section of the classes were chosen for the finals. The topic for Class I students was “Charity begins at home”

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and that of Class 2 was “God helps those who help themselves”. The children administered a good performance and it reflected the sincere toil of the teacher conveners who gave adequate support and guidance to them. Nahla Majeed of Class I, Emerald House and Ankita Elizabeth of Class II, Emerald House were the two triumphant who bagged the first position.

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WHATʼS ON IN KUWAIT

Monday, March 8, 2010

Indian Public School holds Thanksgiving day

AWARE announcement Peace Circle Taster: Wednesday, 10th March by Asiya Mohammed, 6-8pm. Are you interested in changing the world? Or better yet, changing yourself? Join us to experience the very first peace circle in Kuwait to learn how peace is created, how it is destroyed and how to ‘be the change you want to see in the world”. Asiya is a recent graduate from the London School of Economics with her Masters in Comparative Politics. Please note; this is a women’s only forum. Seating is limited. Reservations required. For reservations contact AWARE by Tel: 2-5335280 or visit us online at www.aware.com.kw emails may be sent to info@aware.com.kw AWARE Address: Surra, Block 3, Surra St., Villa 84.

■■■■■■■ Azerbaijan cultural evening: Join us as the Azerbaijan Embassy share the history, culture and geography of this most remarkable country. Experience the tastes, sights and sounds of Azerbaijan on Wed. 17th March from 6-9 pm. For further details, contact AWARE by Tel: 2-5335280 or visit us online at www.aware.com.kw emails may be sent to info@aware.com.kw ■■■■■■■ Kuw aiti Diw aniya Tour: Guided Tour 6-9 pm: Join us on this first-time tour to an elite Kuwaiti Diwaniya after visiting the organization which plans for the complete application of Islamic Law in the State of Kuwait, known as “The Supreme Consultative Committee on the implementation of the provisions of Muslim sharia law.” On March 15. Seating is limited. For reservations contact AWARE by Tel: 2-5335280 or visit us online at www.aware.com.kw ■■■■■■■ Muhammad (PBUH): Legacy of a Prophet This documentary film tells the life story of the seventh century prophet who changed world history in 23 years and continues to shape the lives of more than 1.2 billion people. Three years in the making, the film takes viewers not only to ancient Middle Eastern sites where the Prophet’s story unfolds, but into the homes, mosques and workplaces of some of America’s estimated seven million Muslims to discover the many ways in which they follow the Prophet’s example. “a candid, thoughtful, flowing, visually stunning film...that is as timely as documentaries get” - Howard Rosenberg, Los Angeles Times. For details contact AWARE

by Tel: 2-5335280 or visit us online at www.aware.com.kw emails may be sent to info@aware.com.kw

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n the beautiful cool evening of 17th February 2010 I.P.S family celebrated the ‘Thanksgiving Day’ along with the distinguished dignitaries and the extended I.P.S family.

The programme commenced with Kuwait National Anthem, showing our respect and allegiance towards the country we live in. It was followed by the Arabic and English prayer; dedicating everything to God Almighty. Kenneth A. Rodrigues, the school principal delivered the welcome address. The words of the address com-

bined with the beauty and warmth of the dance filled the air with an aura of awe and splendour.

Next the traditional lamp was lit by R.Kuppaima, the chief guest; Mrs Susan Roy, guest of honour; Humaidi, the school sponsor and Dr Hanouf Humaidi. Kuppanna, addressed the gathering with his thought provoking and life kindling words of wisdom. The audience ravished the flavour and spice of the Punjabi dance which proclaimed that life is not full of cares but life is to enjoy. The semi musical play sent forth a message - ‘Joy in

giving, rather than taking’. The spellbinding music and songs, the fervent acting, the spectacular costume, the meaningful theme touched the hearts of young and old. This was followed by the Arabic dance which took everyone on a magic carpet to Lebanon. The mesmerizing music and swaying girls reflected the sheer beauty of Lebanon. The symphony of school band which followed next, proved that I.P.S has music in its finger tips and songs that outreached beyond the walls of I.P.S. Next item of this evening was the

‘National Integration dance’ ‘Pray for India’ which depicts the Unity of Indians inspite of its diversity. The colourful dance left a sweet savour in the hearts , for Mother India. The Indian National Anthem proved that our roots are very strong and our loyalty and love towards our nation are everlasting. Vote of Thanks was given by Mrs Rachel Thomas.

The programme was compered by Mohammed Jamma and Alia Akbar Kazi. Hats off to all the teachers of the middle wing!

ExxonMobil, Kuwait Energy announce Kuwait Science Fair winners n an evening celebrating Kuwait’s brightest young and aspiring scientists from high schools across Kuwait, winners of the Second Annual Kuwait Science Fair were announced during an event held at Salwa Sabah Al-Ahmad Theater and Hall and attended by Sheikh Ahmad AlAbdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the Minister of Oil, Minister of Information, and Chairman of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.

The winners were announced following a three-day assessment during which students of the ‘Best 100’ presented their projects to the Kuwait Science Fair’s panel of judges. The panel is made up of six professionals in the oil and gas industry as well as scientific fields. Judges spent ten minutes assessing each project during the final stage of the competition.

The top ten winners were awarded by a panel chaired

by Sheikh Ahmad Al-Sabah, and comprising Kuwait Science Fair Managing Director Ms. Aseel Al-Turkait, representatives of the founding companies, ExxonMobil Exploration & Production Kuwait Limited and Kuwait Energy Company, and this year’s platinum sponsors: Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), and Kuwait United Facilities Management (KUFM).

The winners are: Winner 1: Amna Hisham Tarkhan — Project: What is more detrimental to the growth and development of plant seedlings: argilah or cigarette? School: The English Academy Winner 2: Nour Mahmoud Al Sharekh and Dana Marzouq Saeid Project: The effect of highlighter color on the ability to memorize.

Winner 3: Aisha Khaled Al-Deyouli, Jameela Al-Nakkas and Moudhi Al-Kuhail — Project: Natural gum and digestion.

Winner 4: Mariam Majeed — project: Food Colouring.

Winner 5: Ananyo Bagchi — Project: What factors affects visual, linguistic auditory and tactile memory?

Winner 6: Shoug Mohammed Al-Duraie, Asmaa Abdullah Al Ahmad, Sabeeka Abdul Rehman Al Wazzan — Project: Fresh or Frozen Winner 7: Mohammed Ali Abdullah — Project: Biomagnetism Winner 8: Fatemah Al-Zahra’a Meerza, Daniel Abd Assamad — Project: Can constant exposure to electro magnetic field affect health?

Winner 9: Mohammed Al-Bahnasawi — Project: Growing plants in different colored lights Winner 10: Abdulaziz Fuad Al-Rubaian — Project: Environmentally Friendly Chimneys The winners of the special recognitions are: Winner of the Most Creative Project: Mohammed Ali Abdullah — Project: Biomagnetism

Announcements

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Winner of the Most Innovative Project: Dev Agarwal — Project: Optical Fiber Lighting Winners of the Most Educational Project (a tie between the following two projects): Ananyo Bagchi — Project: What factors affect visual, linguistic auditory and tactile memory?

Israa Al-Kandari and Dima Al-Shayji — Project: Identifying the Scientific Terms, Response, and Adaptation - Winners of the Most Energetic Group: Azbi AlShammeri and Laith Al-Nashwati — Project: Yes I Can Breathe in Space Winner of the Most Environmentally Conscious Project: Abdulaziz Fuad Al-Rubaian — Project: Factory Smoke is Friendly to the Environment The winners of the category prizes are: Winner of the Biological Sciences category: Amneh Hisham Tarkhan — Project: Which is more detrimental to the growth and development of plant seedlings: argilah or cigarette?

Winner of the Environmental Sciences/Ecology category: Abdulaziz Fuad Al-Rubaian — Project: Environmentally Friendly Chimneys.

Winner of the Physical Sciences category: Fatemah AlZahra’a Meerza, Daniel Abd Assamad — Project: Can constant exposure to electro magnetic field affect health?

MARCH 26 Ugadi carnival: Kalanjali Kuwait plans to organize Carnival & Musical Nite of Sri Koti, on 26th March 2010, in American International School - Maidan Hawally, on the occasion of UGADI Telugu New Year’s Day. Sri Koti with his troupe from Hyderabad will present some of his hits. Kalanjali plans to conduct “Painting Competition” for school children & adults, as well as “RANGOLI Competition” for ladies, “Salad Cutting Competitions” for MEN during this occasion. There will be an Inter-School “Youth Festival Competition” among the Indian School Children. Schools interested in participating can contact us. Persons interested to keep Game Stalls, Food Stalls and ready to participate in various games & sports, or present any musical talents / perform any talents, can send an email to kalanjaliq8@gmail.com or contact 55457286 for further details.

Winner of the Earth Sciences category: Eman Mohammad Duwaidar — Project: End of the World 2012 Sheikh Ahmad Al-Sabah, said: “Education is a tool that arms nations against challenges, and by supporting today’s young minds we are taking an active role in improving the nation’s future. The Kuwait Science Fair competition has offered, for the second time in a row, an opportunity for students to explore and advance in the field of science through experimental projects. The competition encourages innovation at a very young age and invests in developing the capabilities of our youth. I am proud to endorse such an educational program that contributes to fruitful thinking and knowledge.”

Kuwait Science Fair Managing Director, Ms. Aseel AlTurkait, said: “We are very proud of the students that competed in the Kuwait Science Fair this year, as they have shown great enthusiasm and commitment to their science projects. Choosing the best ten projects was extremely challenging as many of the participating students devoted months experimenting with very creative ideas. The Kuwait Science Fair competition will continue in the coming years to encourage more students to raise the bar of knowledge and excellence in Kuwait.”

Winners of the fourth to the tenth place received two certificates, as a recognition to their ranking and participation in the competition. All students with projects that

CRYcket 2010: The 13th annual crycket tournament is scheduled to be held on Friday, 26th March 2010 at the KOC Hockey Grounds, Ahmadi. This tournament is organized by FOCC (Friends of Cry Club). Friends of CRY Club (FOCC) is associated with CRY (Child Rights and You), India and its main objectives are to create awareness of the underprivileged Indian children, help restore their basic rights, strive to provide support in personal development of the Indian children in Kuwait and bring out the qualities of social commitment in them. FOCC has been organizing CRY awareness programmes for children through its two annual events - CRYcket (Cricket match for children below 14 years organized annually since 1997) and CRY chess tournament (for children of all ages organized annually since 2005) - and ‘Brain Bang’ programme which is an ongoing bi-weekly Accelerated Learning activity. CRYcket will be played by 24 teams of children and about

made it to the ‘Best 100’ received a participation prize.

The first prize winner, Amneh Hisham Tarkhan, of the competition received a scholarship in the discipline of her choice from the Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST), in addition to KD750 in cash, two certificates for participation and ranking, KD100 in vouchers, a first place trophy, as well as an internship at Schlumberger.

The finalist’s school, The English Academy, received a computer lab from Schlumberger and will be admitted into Schlumberger’s Excellence in Educational Development program (SEED), which works to educate students on global issues influencing their future and topics that include water conservation, energy usage, and climate change.

This is done through direct interaction with Schlumberger engineers and scientists, available in seven languages, namely Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

The second prize winners, Nour Mahmoud Al Sharekh and Dana Marzouq Saeid, will also be offered an internship at Schlumberger and will receive KD500 in cash, two certificates for participation and ranking, KD100 in vouchers and a second place trophy.

The third prize winners, Aisha Khaled Al-Deyouli, Jameela Al-Nakkas and Moudhi Al-Kuhail, will receive KD350 in cash, two certificates for participation and ranking, KD100 in vouchers and a third place trophy.

ExxonMobil Exploration & Production Kuwait Limited President, Dr. John Hoholick added: “Oftentimes, students just need a little motivational push to explore new ideas and challenge themselves. For the second year in a row, the Kuwait Science Fair continues to invite and inspire students in an educational, competitive environment. Today, not only have these students showcased their theories, but they’ve shared real scientific solutions for all of us to learn from.”

Kuwait Energy Company CEO, Mrs. Sara Akbar, said: “At Kuwait Energy, we believe it is our role to offer students opportunities to learn more outside the confinement of the classroom, to explore fields that inspire them like science, math, geography and geology. The Kuwait Science Fair competition brings opportunities that inspire our youth to grow from students into experts and leaders of their desired field. They will then learn to contribute in the development of their country through research, discoveries or leading successful companies in the future.”

Kuwait United Facilities Management Deputy CEO, Mr. Ahmad Yousef Al-Kandari, said: “The private sector has an important role to play in building a strong educational base for the development of our community; this is why we joined the Kuwait Science Fair this year, to sup-

500 spectators are expected for this special one-day event. The deadline to receive the registration forms is 18th March 2010, however registration may be close earlier if the available slots of 12 teams in each category are filled. A colourful souvenir will be released to mark the 13th year of FOCC’s activities in Kuwait. For details how to become a sponsor and/or to advertise in the Souvenir or to volunteer as a FOCC member, pls visit www.focckwt.org or email focckwt@yahoo.com APRIL 16 Friends of Kannur holds drama competition: Friends of Kannur Expatriates Association (FOKE) is arranging a drama competition for their forthcoming fifth anniversary celebration.

Competition will be held on April 16th at Daiya Auditorium.

Applications are invited from all art lovers in Kuwait to participate

port its commitment to engaging students in math and science. We were impressed by all the projects presented this year and we wish all students the best of luck in the pursuit of their careers in the years to come.”

The Gulf University for Science and Technology Vice President, Dr. Fahad Al-Zumai, said: “We are very honored to welcome the first prize winner at GUST and to offer her an educational platform that will help kick off her career. Students this year showed great enthusiasm and creativity in their projects and we look forward to receiving more winners from the Kuwait Science Fair competition in the coming years, as they have always shown great educational drive.”

Schlumberger General Manager, Maen Al-Razouqi explains: “At Schlumberger, we have a global commitment to invest in education in the countries we operate in and here in Kuwait, we are taking the opportunity to recognize the promising talents in math and science. By offering students internship opportunities at Schlumberger and enrolling the first prize winner’s school into Schlumberger’s Excellence in Educational Development (SEED), we are giving them a chance to interact with our engineers and scientists on various challenges in the world. We look forward to partnering with the competition next year.”

The Kuwait Science Fair competition is the largest nation-wide competition encompassing over 150 schools in Kuwait and was founded by ExxonMobil Exploration & Production Kuwait Limited and Kuwait Energy Company in 2008 in a shared commitment to generate student interest and excitement in math and science and to help inspire Kuwait’s future scientists and innovators. The second annual Kuwait Science Fair launched this year under the theme ‘Yes, I Can!’ with visits to government and private schools to encourage students to enroll in the competition with a project idea until November 22, 2009.

The ‘Best 100’ projects were announced on the December 6, 2009 to continue the competition in its second phase during which students developed their science projects under the supervision and guidance of the Kuwait Science Fair team of science and math teachers and experts.

Following last year’s success, the second annual Kuwait Science Fair competition is supported by platinum sponsors, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and Kuwait United Facilities Management (KUFM), gold sponsor Cinescape, hotel sponsor Marina Hotel, and partners Schlumberger Kuwait and Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST).

The third annual Kuwait Science Fair competition will launch on 10 October 2010 with even more prizes.

in this drama competition. Drama should be in Malayalam language and should be less than 40 minutes duration. All those who wish to participate in this competition are requested to submit their application along with a copy of their script before February 15th 2010.

For further details you may contact 65071434, 99860832.

MAY 6 2010 Mayflower Ball: The Social & Cultural Exchange Group a multi-lingual, multi-cultural association will present the Mayflower Ball Dinner Dance & Beauty Pageant contest at a gliterring venue with a live music band from the western coast of India and renowned DJs. A galaxy of prizes awaits for the participants and to learn more about the show to be held on Thursday, 6th May 2010, watch out for more details in your favourite newspaper.

TV PROGRAMS

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Monday, March 8, 2010

Orbit / Showtime Listings

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00

11:30 Jimmy Two-Shoes 12:00 Kid vs Kat 12:30 Phineas & Ferb 13:00 Aaron Stone 13:25 Power Rangers Jungle Fury 13:50 Pokemon DP: Battle Dimension 14:20 NEXT X U.S SHORTS 14:30 Jimmy Two-Shoes 15:00 American Dragon 15:30 Yin Yang Yo 16:00 Phineas & Ferb 16:30 Kid vs Kat 17:00 Power Rangers Jungle Fury 17:30 American Dragon 18:00 Zeke & Luther 18:30 Aaron Stone 19:00 Iron Man: Armoured Adventures 19:25 Kid vs Kat 20:00 Zeke & Luther 20:30 The Suite Life of Zack & Cody 21:00 Phineas & Ferb 21:30 Pokemon DP: Battle Dimension 22:00 Phineas & Ferb 22:25 Iron Man: Armoured Adventures 22:50 Power Rangers Jungle Fury 23:15 New SpiderMan

Kathy Griffin Prison Break Inside the Actors Studio Dawson’s Creek Prison Break Supernatural No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Kathy Griffin Criminal Minds Cold Case Inside the Actors Studio Murdoch Mysteries No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Supernatural Inside the Actors Studio Prison Break Criminal Minds Cold Case Kathy Griffin Damages Big Love Saving Grace Supernatural True Blood

00:50 The Real Lost World 01:45 Whale Wars 02:40 Untamed And Uncut 03:35 Untamed And Uncut 04:30 Animal Cops Philadelphia 05:25 Night 05:50 Night 06:20 Animal Cops Houston 07:10 Rspca: On The Frontline 07:35 Dolphin Days 08:00 Wildlife SOS 08:25 Pet Rescue 08:50 Wolverine 09:45 Corwin’s Quest 10:40 Rspca: Have You Got What It Takes?

11:05 All New Planet’s Funniest Animals 11:30 All New Planet’s Funniest Animals 11:55 Monkey Life 12:20 Shamwari: A Wild Life 12:50 Animal Precinct 13:45 Vet On The Loose 14:10 Pet Rescue 14:40 Animal Cops Philadelphia 15:35 Wildlife SOS 16:00 Rspca: Have You Got What It Takes?

16:30 Wolverine 17:25 All New Planet’s Funniest Animals 17:50 All New Planet’s Funniest Animals 18:20 Britain’s Worst Pet 18:45 Animal Battlegrounds 19:15 I’m Alive 20:10 The Heart Of A Lioness 21:10 Animal Cops Houston 22:05 Untamed And Uncut 23:00 I’m Alive 23:55 Animal Cops Philadelphia

00:20 01:10 01:55 02:55 03:45 04:40 05:10 05:40 06:10 06:40 07:20 07:40 08:00 08:15 08:45 08:50 09:00 09:20 09:40 09:55 10:25 10:30 10:40 11:25 11:55 12:25 13:15 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:45 16:15 16:45 17:15 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 21:45 22:15

Hustle Doctor Who The Life Of Mammals Casualty Casualty Doctors Doctors Doctors Doctors Doctors Balamory Fimbles The Roly Mo Show Tikkabilla Yoho Ahoy Little Robots Balamory Fimbles The Roly Mo Show Tikkabilla Yoho Ahoy Little Robots Bargain Hunt A Year At Kew A Year At Kew Space Race The Weakest Link Eastenders Doctors Bargain Hunt Cash In The Attic Red Dwarf Red Dwarf The Weakest Link Doctors Cash In The Attic Hustle Antiques Roadshow The Weakest Link Doctors Eastenders

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

The Clothes Show Saturday Kitchen Saturday Kitchen Living In The Sun Coleen’s Real Women 10 Years Younger The Clothes Show Saturday Kitchen Saturday Kitchen Living In The Sun Coleen’s Real Women Antiques Roadshow Cash In The Attic Usa Hidden Potential

Downloading Nancy on Show Movies 09:45 Gary Rhodes’ Local Food Heroes 10:30 Gary Rhodes’ Local Food Heroes 11:30 Living In The Sun 12:15 Antiques Roadshow 13:15 What Not To Wear 14:00 Gary Rhodes’ Local Food Heroes 14:45 Gary Rhodes’ Local Food Heroes 15:40 Daily Cooks Challenge 16:15 Daily Cooks Challenge 16:45 Cash In The Attic Usa 17:15 Hidden Potential 17:45 Antiques Roadshow 18:50 Antiques Roadshow 19:45 Daily Cooks Challenge 20:15 Daily Cooks Challenge 20:40 Masterchef Goes Large 21:05 Saturday Kitchen 21:30 Saturday Kitchen 22:00 Cash In The Attic Usa 22:20 Cash In The Attic Usa 22:40 Cash In The Attic Usa 23:00 Coleen’s Real Women 23:45 The Naked Chef

00:30 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:30 13:45 15:30 17:15 19:00 21:00

Rosemary’s Baby-PG15 Almost Famous -PG15 Almost Famous-PG15 Under The Same Moon-PG West Side Story-PG15 As Good As It Gets-PG15 The Truman Show-PG15 Millions-PG15 Napoleon Part 1-PG Dad Savage-PG15 Ma Place Au Soleil-PG15

00:00 Ross Kemp - Return To Afghanistan 01:00 Destroyed In Seconds 01:30 Destroyed In Seconds 02:00 Smash Lab 02:55 Fifth Gear 03:20 Fifth Gear 03:50 American Chopper 04:45 How Does It Work 05:10 Destroyed In Seconds 05:40 Destroyed In Seconds 06:05 Extreme Explosions 07:00 Man Made Marvels Asia 07:55 Beetle Crisis 08:20 Campervan Crisis 08:50 Street Customs 2008 09:45 How Do They Do It? 10:10 Mythbusters 11:05 Ultimate Survival 12:00 American Loggers 12:55 How Do They Do It? 13:25 How Does It Work 13:50 American Chopper 14:45 Miami Ink 15:40 Mythbusters 16:35 Dirty Jobs 17:30 American Loggers 18:30 Street Customs 2008 19:30 Destroyed In Seconds 20:00 How Do They Do It? 20:30 How Do They Do It?

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

Sci-Fi Science Sci-Fi Science The Future Of...

Future Weapons Future Weapons Sci-Fi Science Sci-Fi Science The Future Of...

What’s That About?

Patent Bending Engineered Thunder Races Ten Ways Sci-Fi Science

10:25 Sci-Fi Science 10:55 How Stuff’s Made 11:20 Stuntdawgs 11:50 The Colony 12:45 Green Wheels 13:10 One Step Beyond 13:40 Ten Ways 14:35 Sci-Fi Science 15:00 Sci-Fi Science 15:30 Nextworld 16:25 How Stuff’s Made 16:55 Thunder Races 17:50 Brainiac 18:45 Giant Of The Skies: Building Airbus A380 19:40 Nyc: Inside Out 20:30 Mega Builders 21:20 How It’s Made 21:45 How It’s Made 22:10 Mythbusters Specials 23:00 Nyc: Inside Out

00:00 Suite Life On Deck 00:20 Kim Possible 00:45 Phineas & Ferb 01:10 Fairly Odd Parents 01:35 Replacements 02:00 Wizards Of Waverly Place 02:25 Little Einsteins 02:45 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 03:10 Handy Manny 03:35 Lazytown 04:00 Jonas 04:25 Suite Life On Deck 04:50 Wizards Of Waverly Place 05:15 Hannah Montana 05:40 Sonny With A Chance 06:00 Higglytown Heroes 06:10 My Friends Tigger And Pooh 06:35 Handy Manny 07:00 Special Agent Oso 07:20 Imagination Movers 07:45 Lazytown 08:10 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 08:35 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 09:00 Handy Manny 09:25 Special Agent Oso 09:45 Brandy & Mr Whiskers 10:10 Fairly Odd Parents 10:35 Hannah Montana 11:00 I Got A Rocket 11:25 Wizards Of Waverly Place 11:45 Phineas & Ferb 12:10 Suite Life On Deck 12:35 Replacements 12:55 American Dragon 13:20 Hannah Montana 13:40 Kim Possible 14:05 Fairly Odd Parents 14:30 Jonas 14:55 Replacements 15:15 Phineas & Ferb 15:40 Kim Possible 16:00 Wizards Of Waverly Place 16:25 Wizards Of Waverly Place 16:45 Sonny With A Chance 17:10 Sonny With A Chance 17:35 Hannah Montana 18:00 Hannah Montana 18:30 Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs 20:00 Phineas & Ferb 20:25 Wizards Of Waverly Place 20:55 The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody 21:20 The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody 21:45 The Replacements 22:00 American Dragon

07:00 Yin Yang Yo 07:25 Iron Man: Armoured Adventures 07:50 Kid vs Kat 08:15 Power Rangers Jungle Fury 08:40 The Suite Life of Zack & Cody 09:05 American Dragon 09:30 Kid vs Kat 10:00 Pokemon DP: Battle Dimension 10:30 Zeke & Luther 11:00 Phil Of The Future

02:00 04:00 06:00 06:30 07:00 07:30 09:30 11:30 13:30 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:30 18:00 19:40 21:20 23:00 23:50

Live From The Red Carpet Live From The Red Carpet Behind The Scenes Behind The Scenes Behind The Scenes E! After Party Live From The Red Carpet Live From The Red Carpet Live From The Red Carpet Behind The Scenes Behind The Scenes E!es E!es Live From The Red Carpet Live From The Red Carpet E! After Party Dr 90210 Wildest Tv Show Moments

00:40 01:30 02:20 03:10 04:05 05:00 05:55 06:20 07:10 07:35 08:00 08:50 09:40 10:05 10:30 11:20 12:10 13:00 13:50 14:40 15:30 16:20 17:10 17:35 18:00 18:50 19:40 20:30 21:20 22:10 23:00 23:50

Deadly Women Undercover Murder Shift Serial Killers Deadly Women Undercover Amsterdam Vice Fbi Files Ghosthunters Ghosthunters Forensic Detectives Fbi Files Real Emergency Calls Real Emergency Calls The Prosecutors Forensic Detectives Fbi Files Mystery Er The Prosecutors Extreme Forensics Forensic Detectives Fbi Files Real Emergency Calls Real Emergency Calls The Prosecutors Forensic Detectives Fbi Files Mystery Er The Prosecutors Extreme Forensics Forensic Justice Dr G: Medical Examiner

01:25 House Of Games 03:05 Year Of The Dragon 05:15 Youngblood 07:00 Castaway 08:55 The Secret Of NIMH 10:15 Home Is Where The Hart Is 11:40 Ski Patrol 13:10 Babes In Toyland 14:45 Popi 16:35 A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum 18:10 The Hawaiians 20:20 The Mechanic 22:00 Something Wild 23:50 Echo Park

00:00 Better Off Ted 00:30 Will and Grace 01:00 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 01:30 The Colbert Report 02:00 Best of Late night with Jimmy Fallon 03:00 Saturday Night Live 04:30 Life & Times of Tim 05:00 Better Off Ted 05:30 Best of Late night with Jimmy Fallon 06:30 Tyler Perry’s House of Payne 07:00 Home Improvement 07:30 Malcolm in the Middle 08:00 Coach 08:30 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 09:00 The Colbert Report 09:30 Drew Carey 10:00 Everybody Loves Raymond 10:30 Frasier 11:00 Til’ Death 11:30 Eight Simple Rules 12:00 Best of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson 13:00 Will and Grace 13:30 Tyler Perry’s House of Payne 14:00 Home Improvement

14:30 Malcolm in the Middle 15:00 Coach 15:30 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 16:00 The Colbert Report 16:30 Drew Carey 17:00 Everybody Loves Raymond 17:30 Frasier 18:00 Eight Simple Rules 18:30 Til’ Death 19:00 Billable Hours 19:30 Will and Grace 20:00 Best of Late night with Jimmy Fallon 21:00 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 21:30 The Colbert Report 22:00 Monday Stand Up night 23:30 Life & Times of Tim

00:00 The Martha Stewart Show 01:00 Downsize Me S1 02:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 03:00 The Monique Show 04:00 Huey’s Cooking Adventures 04:30 Fresh 05:00 The Tonight Show with Jay Leno 06:00 GMA Weekend (Repeat) 07:00 Moms Get Real / Now you know / Amplified 08:00 Parenting 08:30 Job Club 09:00 The Martha Stewart Show 10:00 Jimmy Kimmel Live!

11:00 Downsize Me S1 12:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 13:00 The Martha Stewart Show 14:00 Huey’s Cooking Adventures 14:30 Fresh 15:00 GMA Live 17:00 Ahead of The Curve 17:30 Nature’s Edge 18:00 Eat Yourself Sexy 18:30 10 Years younger S3 19:00 The View 20:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 21:00 Jimmy Kimmel Live!

22:00 The Tonight show with Jay Leno 23:00 Moms Get Real / Now you know / Amplified

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 PG15 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

Downloading Nancy-18 The Understudy-PG15 Igor-PG The Forbidden Kingdom-PG15 Perfect Holiday-PG Frozen River-PG15 Danielle Steel’s Safe HarbourUncross The Stars-PG Perfect Holiday-PG Beverly Hills Chihuahua-PG 45 R.P.M.-PG15 Paul Blart Mall Cop-PG15

01:00 03:00 05:00 07:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00

They Wait-PG15 South Of Hell-18 Dragon Heart-PG The Glass House-PG15 The Flash-PG Chocolate-PG15 From A Place Of Darkness The Flash-PG The Other Side-PG15 Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead-18 The Patriot-PG15

00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00

This Is Not A Test-PG15 The Good Life-PG15 Bridal Fever-PG Parenthood-PG15 King’s Ransom-PG15 Ghostbusters II-PG Heartbreakers-PG15 Trapped In Paradise-PG15 This Is Not A Test-PG15 Art School Confidential-PG15 Bachelor Party 2-18 The Moguls-18

00:30 First Kid-PG 02:10 Tracy Beaker - The Movie Of Me-FAM 04:00 Laura’s Stern-FAM 06:00 Hey Arnold! The Movie-PG 08:00 Mucha Lucha! Return Of El Malefico-FAM 10:00 Tracy Beaker - The Movie Of Me-FAM 12:00 Barbie As The Princess And The Pauper-FAM 14:00 First Kid-PG 16:00 Little Hercules In 3-D-PG15 18:00 Madagascar 2-PG 20:00 Robin Hood: The Invincible Knight-FAM 22:00 Barbie As The Princess And The Pauper-FAM

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

The Ex-list C.S.I: Miami Sex and the City Sex and the City Smallville C.S.I Every Body Loves Raymond My Name is Earl Emmerdale

06:30 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 23:30

Coronation Street Sons of Anarchy Every Body Loves Raymond My Name is Earl Smallville The Beast C.S.I Emmerdale Coronation Street Every Body Loves Raymond My Name is Earl The Ex-list C.S.I: Miami Sons of Anarchy Smallville Emmerdale Coronation Street Ugly Betty Desperate Housewives C.S.I Sons of Anarchy Sex and the City Sex and the City

01:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 17:30 18:00 18:30 20:00 21:00

Premier League Premier League Premier League Futbol Mundial Premier League World Premier League Classics Premier League Futbol Mundial Premier League Classics

03:30 ICC Cricket World 04:00 Mobil 1 04:30 Futbol Mundial 05:00 Premier League 07:00 Super League 08:45 Super League 10:30 Mobil 1 11:00 Weber Cup Bowling 12:00 Futbol Mundial 12:30 Premier League World 13:00 Scottish Premier League 15:00 Super 14 17:00 Weber Cup Bowling 18:00 Mobil 1 18:30 World Sport 19:00 Premier League Classics 19:30 European PGA Tour Highlights 20:30 Mobil 1

00:00 02:00 06:00 06:30 07:00 09:00 09:30 10:00 10:30 12:30 13:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 20:30 22:30

Super 14 Premier League Darts World Sport Premier League Classics Scottish Premier League World Sport Premier League World Premier League Classics Super 14 World Hockey Weber Cup Bowling Live FIH Hockey World Cup Live FIH Hockey World Cup Live FIH Hockey World Cup Mobil 1 Super 14 Goals On Monday

00:15 02:15 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:30 11:00 12:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 18:00 21:00

NCAA Basketball WWE Vintage Collection Bushido UFC - The Ultimate Fighter UFC - The Ultimate Fighter UFC - The Ultimate Fighter WWE Bottomline FIM World Cup Tough Guy Race NCAA Basketball Bushido WWE Bottomline Red Bull Air Race WWE SmackDown WWE NXT UFC 109 UFC - The Ultimate Fighter

00:40 01:30 02:20 03:10 04:00 04:55 05:50 06:40 07:30 08:20 09:10 10:00 10:55 11:50 12:40 13:30 14:20 15:10 16:00 16:55 17:50 18:40 19:30 20:20 21:10 22:00 22:55 23:50

Ax Men 2 Extreme Trains Dogfights Ice Road Truckers 3 Nazi Britain Dead Men’s Secrets Deep Wreck Mysteries Ax Men 2 Extreme Trains Dogfights Ice Road Truckers 3 Nazi Britain Dead Men’s Secrets Deep Wreck Mysteries Ax Men 2 Extreme Trains Dogfights Ice Road Truckers 3 Nazi Britain Dead Men’s Secrets Deep Wreck Mysteries Ax Men 2 Extreme Trains Dogfights Ice Road Truckers 3 Deep Sea Salvage Ax Men Battle Stations

00:00 00:30 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 06:30 07:00 08:00 08:30 09:00 10:00 10:30 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 15:30 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 21:00 22:00

Ruby Ruby What I Hate About Me My Celebrity Home How Do I Look?

Split Ends Dr 90210 Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane Area How Do I Look?

Style Star Style Her Famous My Celebrity Home Style Star Dress My Nest Peter Perfect Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

Ruby: The First 100 Pounds Clean House Clean House Comes Clean Dress My Nest How Do I Look?

Split Ends Dallas Divas And Daughters Style Her Famous Running In Heels Kimora: Life In The Fab Lane Split Ends Clean House Giuliana And Bill

01:04 01:45 02:00 02:45 08:04 08:45 13:04 13:50 16:04 16:45 18:00 18:45 20:04 21:00

Africa Playlist Urban Hit Playlist Sound System Playlist Urban Hit Playlist Latina Playlist Urban Hit Playlist Hit US Playlist

00:00 Globe Trekker 01:00 Julian And Camilla’s World Odyssey 02:00 Intrepid Journeys 03:00 Raider Of The Lost Snow 03:30 Skier’s World 04:00 Angry Planet 04:30 Photoxplorers 05:00 Cruising The Spirit Of Adventure 06:00 Globe Trekker 07:00 Globe Trekker 08:00 Globe Trekker 09:00 Travel Today 09:30 Rudy Maxa’s World 10:00 Distant Shores 10:30 Distant Shores 11:00 Chef Abroad 11:30 Entrada 12:00 Planet Food 13:00 Globe Trekker 14:00 Chef Abroad 14:30 The Thirsty Traveler 15:00 Feast India 15:30 Entrada 16:00 Angry Planet 16:30 Photoxplorers 17:00 Globe Trekker 18:00 Skier’s World

00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 09:00 11:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 19:00 20:00 21:00

Sunday Soul Storytellers Foo Fighters Vh1 Rocks Vh1 Music Vh1 Hits Vh1 Music Aerobic Top 10 Manic Street Preachers Music For The Masses Vh1 Pop Chart Vh1 Music Music For The Masses Vh1 Music Vh1 Viewer’s Jukebox

00:00 Bondi Rescue 00:30 Cruise Ship Diaries 01:30 Jailed Abroad 02:30 Jailed Abroad 03:30 Cycling Home With Rob Lilwall 04:00 Finding Genghis 04:30 Lonely Planet 05:30 Bondi Rescue 06:00 Bondi Rescue 06:30 Cruise Ship Diaries 07:30 Jailed Abroad 08:30 Jailed Abroad 09:30 Cycling Home With Rob Lilwall 10:00 Treks In A Wild World 10:30 Madventures 11:00 Chasing Time 11:30 Word Travels 12:00 Word Travels 12:30 Pressure Cook 13:00 Pressure Cook 13:30 Cruise Ship Diaries 14:30 Bondi Rescue 15:00 Destination Extreme 15:30 Surfer’s Journal 16:00 Treks In A Wild World 16:30 Madventures 17:00 Chasing Time 17:30 Word Travels 18:00 Word Travels 18:30 Pressure Cook

01:00 El Cortez-PG15 03:00 Over Her Dead Body-PG15 05:00 Northern Lights-PG 07:00 The Good Heart-PG15 09:00 Fred Claus-PG 11:00 Barack Obama: The Man And His Journey-PG 13:00 Stan Lee: Mosaic-PG 15:00 Diamonds Pt 1-PG15 17:00 Fred Claus-PG 19:00 Talk To Me-PG15 21:00 Balibo-PG15 23:00 Underworld: The Rise Of The Lycans-18

00:55 02:55 05:00 07:30 08:00 10:15 12:05 13:45 17:25 19:25 21:10 23:00

A Hole In The Head Lust For Life Kelly’s Heroes The Screening Room The Unsinkable Molly Brown High Society The Wizard Of Oz Gone With The Wind Little Women Travels With My Aunt Mrs. Soffel Cat On A Hot Tin Roof

Underworld: The Rise Of The Lycans on Super Movies

Star Listings (UAE Timings) STAR Movies 20:35 Tuck Everlasting 22:05 Carny 23:35 Rocketman 01:10 Four Weddings And A Funeral 02:45 Planet B-Boy 04:25 Tuck Everlasting 05:55 Carny 07:25 Rocketman 09:00 Four Weddings And A Funeral 10:35 Keeping Up With The Steins 12:05 VIP Access 12:35 In Tranzit 14:25 Dim Sum Funeral 16:00 Xtra Credit 17:30 Carrie 19:05 Supernova STAR World 20:00 90210 20:50 Married With Children 21:00 Ugly Betty 21:50 Different Strokes 22:00 Ghost Whisperer 22:50 Married With Children 23:00 Criminal Minds S2 23:50 Married With Children 00:00 Ugly Betty

00:50 01:00 01:50 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 07:30 08:00 08:30 09:00 09:50 10:00 10:50 11:00 11:50 12:00 12:50 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:50 15:00 15:50 16:00 17:00

Different Strokes Ghost Whisperer Married With Children 90210 [V] Tunes [V] Tunes [V] Tunes 7th Heaven The Goode Family The King Of Queens According To Jim According To Jim Criminal Minds S2 Married With Children Brothers & Sisters Different Strokes 90210 Married With Children Ugly Betty Married With Children The King Of Queens The Bold And The Beautiful 7th Heaven Different Strokes Brothers & Sisters Married With Children [V] Tunes Criminal Minds S2

18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30

The Goode Family The King Of Queens According To Jim According To Jim

Granada TV 20:00 Fallen 21:30 Shampoo 22:00 Weather From Hell 23:00 Come Dine With Me (Primetime Series 1) 00:00 The Jeremy Kyle Show 01:00 Come Dine With Me (Primetime Series 1) 02:00 Crime Monday: Fallen 03:30 Shampoo 04:00 Total Emergency 05:00 Emmerdale 05:30 Coronation Street 06:00 The Jeremy Kyle Show 07:00 Come Dine With Me (Primetime Series 1) 08:00 Crime Monday: Fallen 09:30 Shampoo 10:00 Total Emergency 11:00 Emmerdale 11:30 Coronation Street 12:00 The Jeremy Kyle Show 13:00 Trinny And Susannah Undress (Series 1) 14:00 Crime Monday: Rough Diamond (Series 1)

15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 1)

Shampoo Emmerdale Coronation Street The Jeremy Kyle Show Trinny And Susannah Undress (Series 1) Crime Monday: Rough Diamond (Series

Channel [V] 21:00 [V] Tunes 22:00 [V] Plug 22:30 The Playlist 23:00 Loop 00:00 Backtracks 01:00 Double Shot 02:00 [V] Plug 02:30 The Playlist 03:00 Loop 04:00 [V] Special 05:00 [V] Tunes 06:00 Double Shot 07:00 Backtracks 08:00 Loop 09:00 [V] Plug 09:30 Double Shot 10:00 Backtracks 11:00 [V] Tunes 12:00 [V] Plug

12:30 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:00

The Playlist Loop The List Keys To The VIP Backtracks [V] Tunes [V] Plug The Playlist Loop The List

Fox News 20:00 America’s News HQ 21:00 America’s News HQ host Shannon Bream 23:00 Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace (repeat) 00:00 The O’Reilly Factor(repeat) 01:00 America’s News HQ hosts Gregg Jarrett and Julie Banderas 03:00 FOX News Sunday with Chris Wallace (repeat) 04:00 FOX Report Sunday host Julie Banderas 05:00 Huckabee with Mike Huckabee 06:00 Hannity with Sean Hannity 07:00 Geraldo At Large with Geraldo Rivera 08:00 Huckabee with Mike Huckabee 09:00 Hannity with Sean Hannity 10:00 Geraldo At Large with Geraldo Rivera

11:00 FOX News Sunday with Chris Wallace (repeat) 12:00 War Stories with Oliver North 13:00 Bulls and Bears (repeat) 13:30 Cavuto On Business (repeat) 14:00 FORBES on FOX (repeat) 14:30 Cashin’ In (repeat) 15:00 FOX & Friends First Live 16:00 FOX & Friends Live 18:00 America’s Newsroom 19:00 America’s Newsroom National Geographic Channel 20:00 Hunter Hunted -Dolphin Attack S2-4 21:00 Theme Week -Situation Critical : Moscow Theatre Siege 23:00 Theme Week -Situation Critical : Apollo 13 00:00 Air Crash Investigation -Behind Closed Doors S5 01:00 ABOUT ASIA -Taiwan To The World : The Pigeon Game 02:00 Locked Up Abroad -Hooked In Havana 03:00 Cliffhangers -Saving Bart 04:00 The Living Edens -Etosha: African’s Untamed Wilderness 05:00 ABOUT ASIA -Taiwan To The World : The Pigeon Game

Monday, March 8, 2010

33 ACCOMMODATION Sharing accommodation available for Keralite or Indian bachelor in Sharq Kuwait City with all facilities. Contact: 97964063. (C 20419) Sharing accommodation available in Farwaniya from 1st April in a flat with facilities kitchen, A/C, cupboard, satellite, buses convenient.

Contact: 66021273/97449273, 24751664. (C 20418) Flat for rent with furniture 2BR, 2 toilet + kitchen, hall, 2 balconies, new building with reserved car parking decent location very close to Salmiya RC Church & Takkar Bhelpuri shop. Contact: 66764062. (C 20424) Single room with separate toilet wanted for an executive preferably with decent Christian family. Contact: 66764062. (C 20423) 8-3-2010 Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya for Keralite Christian couple/working ladies in a CAC 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom flat, near Rainbow center/Eden store from March 25.

Contact: 97143449. (C 20417) Sharing available in studio room with Mangalorean Catholic bachelor close to Khaitan cinema Garnatha.

Contact: 66036893.

(C 20416) 7-3-2010 Sharing accommodation available in Sharq near

Amiri hospital, in 2BHK CAC separate bathroom with Keralite family, for family, working ladies or executive bachelors. Contact: 97675851.

6-3-2010 Abaraq Khaitan, single room available for executive bachelor / lady opp Kuwait clinic beside the main road, new building, from 1st April. Contact: 97523316/ 24745162. (C 20411) 5-3-2010 Sharing accommodation available for couples or working ladies in Abbassiya. Please contact: 66538532. (C 20404) Accommodation available for non-smoking bachelor in 2 BR CA/C flat in Abbassiya near Integrated School.

Contact: 97199124.

(C 20407) Sharing accommodation available for Indian bachelor to share with other Indian bachelors at Salmiya behind Apollo hospital in CA/C building. Contact: 97961405. (C 20405) Room available to share with a working lady at Salmiya, close to Indian Community senior school, working ladies/girls. Contact: 66231580. (C 20408) 4-3-2010

(fully furnished room) available for an executive bachelor with Keralite family, near Classic typing center, Abbassiya. Call 66829585.

(C 20401) Sharing accommodation available with food for 2 Goan or Manglorean bachelors to share with a Goan family in Abbassiya. Contact: 66269035. (C 20399) Nangangai langan 2 pilipinang bed spacer sa Salmiya, likod ng Gulf Mart. tumawag sa 99101530 or 99132471. (C 20400) 3-3-2010

FOR SALE 2002 model GMC Envoy, white, sunroof, full options very good condition, KD 1,650. Contact: 99098766.

(C 20421) 8-3-2010 Items for sale in a 2 bedroom central AC flat in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh, it in adjacent to Integrated Indian School and Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan.

Contact: 66482318.

(C 20414) 7-3-2010 Audi TT 2008 convertible black and red turbo mileage 40,000 km with best condition, special order from Al Ghanim. Tel: 99983300.

(C 20410)

97201151. (C 20413) 5-3-2010 1997 Mercedes Benz Class for sale, insurance up to 14th Feb 2011. Please contact: 99256044.

Corolla 1.8 2003 model, totally maintained by Al Sayer, all 4 tyres new top condition, price KD 1800. Phone: 97848077. (C 20403) 4-3-2010

MATRIMONIAL Orthodox parents (in Kerala during April) invite proposals for their son 27/172 cm, M.Com PGDBA employed in MNC at Kuwait from parents of Orthodox/Jacobite/ Marthoma girls suitably qualified and employed at Kuwait. Contact email: thekalloors@gmail.com (C 20415) 7-3-2010 Proposals invited for a well qualified Marthomite boy, 28 years and working as an HR - officer at a hospital in Kuwait. BSc nurses working at MOH or any other professionals preferred. Interested candidates may contact with full details and photo to: anishvarghese_81@yahoo.co.in (C 20412) 5-3-2010

CHANGE OF NAME I, Santokh Singh Tung Pritam Singh, holder Indian Passport No: G2644269 hereby change my name to Santokh Singh Tung.

(C 20409) 5-3-2010

BABY SITTING Baby sitting available near Carmel School, Khaitan, with motherly care, and flexible timing.

Contact: 66434840, 66436458, 55283525. (C 20422) 8-3-2010

SITUATION VACANT

Sharing accommodation available in Abbassiya for Keralite couples only KD 50/month.

Contact: 97145592. (C 20402) Sharing accommodation

Furniture and household items, flat with two bedroom sitting dining balcony two full toilets extra kitchen table and cabinet, central A/C available near City Center Salmiya.

Contact:

Live-in Indian driver required for an Indian family with transferable residence 18 or 20.

Contact: 22406645. (C 20406) 4-3-2010

No: 14661

Flight Schedule Arrival Flights on Monday 08/03/2010 Airlines Flt Route Royal Jordanian 802 Amman Kuwait 544 Cairo Turkish A/L 772 Istanbul Gulf Air 211 Bahrain DHL 370 Bahrain Emirates 853 Dubai Etihad 305 Abu Dhabi Qatari 138 Doha Air France 6782 Paris Jazeera 503 Luxor Jazeera 637 Aleppo Jazeera 527 Alexandria Jazeera 529 Assiut Kuwait 412 Manila/Bangkok British 157 London Kuwait 416 Jakarta/Kuala Lumpur Jazeera 481 Sabiha Falcon 201 Bahrain Kuwait 382 Delhi Jazeera 161 Dubai Kuwait 302 Mumbai Kuwait 332 Trivandrum Fly Dubai 053 Dubai Kuwait 676 Dubai Kuwait 284 Dhaka Emirates 855 Dubai Arabia 121 Sharjah Iran Air 605 Isfahan Qatari 132 Doha Etihad 301 Abu Dhabi Iran Air 619 Lar Gulf Air 213 Bahrain Jazeera 447 Doha Jazeera 165 Dubai Jazeera 113 Abu Dhabi Egypt Air 610 Cairo Jazeera 457 Damascus Kuwait 672 Dubai Royal Jordanian 800 Amman United A/L 982 Washington Dc Dulles Jazeera 257 Beirut Kuwait 562 Amman

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

Saudi Arabian A/L Kuwait Qatari Kuwait Mihin Lanka Etihad Emirates Gulf Air Saudi Arabian A/L Jazeera Jazeera Jazeera Arabiia Srilankan Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Kuwait Jazeera Jazeera Singapore A/L Kuwait Fly Dubai Indian Oman Air Middle East Jet A/W Egypt Air KLM DHL Jazeera Gulf Air Emirates Qatari Jazeera Jazeera Lufthansa India Express Pakistan Jazeera

500 744 134 546 403 303 857 215 510 493 239 367 125 227 104 166 542 502 786 614 674 177 459 458 512 061 993 647 402 572 618 0443 372 183 217 859 136 429 117 636 389 205 263

Jeddah Dammam Doha Alexandria Colombo/Dubai Abu Dhabi Dubai Bahrain Riyadh Jeddah Amman Deirezzor Sharjah Colombo/Dubai London Paris/Rome Cairo Beirut Jeddah Bahrain Dubai Dubai Damascus Singapore/Abu Dhabi Tehran Dubai Chennai/Mumbai Muscat Beirut Mumbai Alexandria Amsterdam Bahrain Dubai Bahrain Dubai Doha Bahrain Abu Dhabi Frankfurt Kozhikode/Mangalore Lahore/Peshawar Beirut

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

Departure Flights on Monday 08/03/2010 Airlines Flt Route Jazeera 528 Assiut Tunis Air 328 Dubai/Tunis Indian 576 Goa/Chennai Pakistan 240 Sialkot/Islamabad Lufthansa 637 Frankfurt Turkish A/L 773 Istanbul DHL 371 Bahrain Emirates 854 Dubai Etihad 306 AbuDhabi Qatari 139 Doha Air France 6782 Dubai/Hong Kong Jazeera 164 Dubai Royal Jordanian 803 Amman Jazeera 112 Abu Dhabi Jazeera 446 Doha Gulf Air 212 Bahrain Jazeera 456 Damascus British 156 London Kuwait 545 Alexandria Jazeera 256 Beirut Fly Dubai 054 Dubai Kuwait 671 Dubai Kuwait 561 Amman Arabia 122 Sharjah Kuwait 101 London/New York Emirates 856 Dubai Iran Air 604 Isfahan Qatari 133 Doha Etihad 302 Abu Dhabi Gulf Air 214 Bahrain Iran Air 618 Lar Kuwait 165 Rome/Paris Kuwait 743 Dammam Kuwait 541 Cairo Jazeera 492 Jeddah Jazeera 366 Deirezzor Jazeera 238 Amman Kuwait 501 Beirut Kuwait 785 Jeddah Egypt Air 611 Cairo Jazeera 458 Damascus Kuwait 673 Dubai

FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION 161

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

Royal Jordanian Jazeera Kuwait Saudi Arabia A/L Kuwait Qatari Jazeera Etihad Mihin Lanka Emirates Gulf Air Jazeera Arabia Saudi Arabian A/L Jazeera Srilankan Jazeera Jazeera Kuwait Kuwait Saudi Arabia A/L Fly Dubai Kuwait Kuwait Oman Air Middle East Jet A/W Egypt Air KLM Gulf Air DHL Kuwait Kuwait Emirates Kuwait Falcon Qatari Kuwait Jazeera Jazeera Jazeera Kuwait United A/L

801 Amman 176 Dubai 511 Tehran 501 Jeddah 613 Bahrain 135 Doha 426 Dubai 304 Abu Dhabi 404 Dubai/Colombo 858 Dubai 216 Bahrain 262 Beirut 126 Sharjah 511 Riyadh 116 Abu Dhabi 228 Dubai/Colombo 428 Bahrain 428 Bahrain/Dubai 283 Dhaka 361 Colombo 457 Abu Dhabi/Singapore 062 Dubai 343 Chennai 351 Cochin 648 Muscat 403 Beirut 571 Mumbai 619 Alexandria 0443 Bahrain/Amsterdam 218 Bahrain 373 Bahrain 801 Cairo 675 Dubai 860 Dubai 381 Delhi 102 Bahrain 137 Doha 301 Mumbai 480 Sabiha 526 Alexandria 502 Luxor 411 Bangkok/Manila 981 Washington Dc Dulles

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

SPECTRUM

34 CROSSWORD 921

Monday, March 8, 2010

Calvin Aries (March 21-April 19) Extra responsibility

comes with almost everything you do now; romance, creativity or children. Have patience . . . you are up to whatever task is placed before you!

High-level differences of opinion or outlook represent an important area of change in your life now. This extends to fundamental religious or philosophical beliefs that cry out for re-examination in the light of new information and influences.

Educational projects require much study and may also involve travel later this year. Fresh insight comes to you through mass media, such as broadcasting, publishing, advertising; giving you a whole new perspective.

There is a basic drive to appreciate and taste life. Anti-gravity technology has you mesmerized and you may be involved in some research.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Your communicative

abilities are accented now. This is an excellent time to sway others to your cause through speeches or clever arguments—your thinking is most lucid and grasping. Be careful, though, from taking it to the extreme. Independence, as well as anything unusual or different, is valued now. This is a perfect time to be assertive in decision-making where a move or elderly relative’s care comes into play. You have all the drive you could want for today. It should be easy to channel this liveliness into positive ways. The diet and nutrition of family members can be very important. You teach others by the ways you walk through life. Your own path is open and clear. There is the possibility of new visions this evening.

Pooch Cafe

ACROSS 1. The longer of the two telegraphic signals used in Morse code.

4. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient Semitic peoples.

8. A constellation in the southern hemisphere near Telescopium and Norma.

11. A self-funded retirement plan that allows you to contribute a limited yearly sum toward your retirement.

12. Primitive chlorophyll-containing mainly aquatic eukaryotic organisms lacking true stems and roots and leaves.

13. United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters.

14. An unabridged dictionary constructed on historical principles.

15. Large elliptical brightly colored deep-sea fish of Atlantic and Pacific and Mediterranean.

16. A nucleic acid that transmits genetic information from DNA to the cytoplasm.

17. The seventh month of the Moslem calendar.

20. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.

22. An official prosecutor for a judicial district.

23. A nucleic acid consisting of large molecules shaped like a double helix.

26. Having undesirable or negative qualities.

28. Blood cells that engulf and digest bacteria and fungi.

29. Offering fun and gaiety.

31. A correctional institution used to detain persons who are in the lawful custody of the government (either accused persons awaiting trial or convicted persons serving a sentence).

34. A soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal.

35. The Mongol people living the the central and eastern parts of Outer Mongolia.

39. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.

41. A public promotion of some product or service.

43. Overgrown with ivy.

44. An ugly evil-looking old woman.

46. (prefix) Indicating difference or variation.

49. A master's degree in business.

50. The elementary stages of any subject (usually plural).

51. The United Nations agency concerned with atomic energy.

52. Cooking utensil consisting of a wide metal vessel.

53. The cry made by sheep.

54. The act of scanning.

55. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.

DOWN 1. French couturier whose first collection in 1947 created a style (tight bodice and narrow waist and flowing pleated skirt) that became known as the New Look (1905-1957).

2. A particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography).

3. A pilgrimage to Mecca.

4. African tree having an exceedingly thick trunk and fruit that resembles a gourd and has an edible pulp called monkey bread.

5. Any high mountain.

6. Any culture medium that uses agar as the gelling agent.

7. The syllable naming the sixth (submediant) note of a major or minor scale in solmization.

8. A city in northern India.

9. Type genus of the Ranidae.

10. By bad luck.

18. A radioactive element of the actinide series.

19. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group.

21. A flexible container with a single opening.

24. A silvery soft waxy metallic element of the alkali metal group.

25. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.

27. East Indian tree bearing a profusion of intense vermilion velvettextured blooms and yielding a yellow dye.

30. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).

32. A resident of Ohio.

33. A room equipped with toilet facilities.

36. A rye bread made with molasses or brown sugar.

37. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables.

38. A city in southern Turkey on the Seyhan River.

40. A small cake leavened with yeast.

42. A platform raised above the surrounding level to give prominence to the person on it.

43. A long-playing phonograph record.

45. Aircraft landing in bad weather in which the pilot is talked down by ground control using precision approach radar.

47. Resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects.

48. A unit of length of thread or yarn.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) Car repairs, equipment, documents, contracts, letters and your nervous system may be in need of tender loving care today. Start at the top and work through the list meticulously. You will be finished in no time and your nervous system will be happier for the work that is completed. Relax. In the future, consider planning your meals according to your health needs. Check to make sure you are getting enough of the foods that produce red blood cells and good bones.

If you want to take a vacation soon—make your plans for after the fifteenth of this month. You may naturally attract people with sob stories—particularly considering the placement of the moon and the stars just now. Help others and make a conscious effort to cultivate positive-minded friends.

Non Sequitur

Cancer (June 21-July 22) Your financial sector as well as the buildup of relationships is highlighted now.

Business and relationship issues can be cloudy just now.

You may find it difficult to get any clear understanding on matters of importance. Better budgeting is in the forecast and the time to plan is now. Your personal life flows more easily now and while you are in a focused frame of mind, you would be wise to mend any hard feelings with others. If you wait you might not feel as pleasant or as capable of thinking straight. You will find yourself weeding through and getting rid of some negative patterns that have slowed your progress. You will see some closure to some long-time frustrations now. Matters of love will be full speed ahead!

Leo (July 23-August 22) Lots of creative people were born under your birth sign—you may be amazed as you review the list. You are appreciative of the miracles around you and can express your artistic talents easily. It may now be time to begin a new hobby or a new routine or even a new exercise plan. Take steps in that direction today. This afternoon is an excellent time to spend with friends. If you have nothing planned, you may interest others in some chess or board game or some other entertainment. You are always ahead of the trends and can get into some fun conversations with friends. You enjoy showing off your up-to-date knowledge, but should take care that you do not brag too much. Someone has to lead us gently into the creativeness of tomorrow.

Zits

Virgo (August 23-September 22) Your eagerness to succeed is high today. If you throw that charm around, just about anything you want to do can be achieved and enjoyed. This may mean becoming involved in some active sports or digging for treasure around your city. You are known for making miracles happen and others could learn from your positive thinking. If you find yourself particularly nervous or experiencing fatigue, you might consider introducing some supplements that will help your physical well-being. A good certified clinical nutritionist or naturopathy doctor can lead you in the right direction. You inspire others a great deal this month so be very careful of your actions. Enjoy a walk after the dinner hour tonight and look at how the seasons are changing.

Libra (September 23-October 22) Today, you prepare for a new project in the work place tomorrow.

You may be interviewing with someone that is of importance, like the CEO of a company or a popular musician. Try not to be too naive or awe-struck with someone’s notoriety. There could be some problems with rules, electricity and electronic equipment this evening. With your attention to the matter, an answer will present itself in no time. The key word here is attention.

You are smart to prepare ahead for the scheduling of activities before any difficulties occur. You are comfortable and confident about next week now that you have made the preparations. Family members are talkative and agreeable. A loved one has your attention this evening.

Mother Goose and Grimm

Scorpio (October 23-November 21) This is a good time

to seek improvement of your finances—you will begin to gain ideas on how to better prepare for the future.

Some sort of convention or counseling program begins today. There is a lot to learn and you may even get permission to make a tape recording of the most important help aid ideas. While you are in this learning mode, there could be some ideas for new business opportunities. Do not be afraid to network and take all the literature so you can check it out later. You can be most persuasive yourself and may find yourself making a few family decisions this evening. You and a friend or relative may talk over what you have learned. The situation is natural and lends itself to your self-expression.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) Out with friends today, you may find yourself looking for an opportunity to meet someone new. Friends will introduce you to some exciting people today. There is a tendency to over-whelm your imagination. If you spend all of your time at the sideshow, the main tent will be gone; so-to-speak. Take a chance and ask someone out for a dinner date next week—you will enjoy the company. Elder people in your family may demand some of your time. You will graciously help them; they may not have any other way to obtain the help they need. This evening is a good time to conference with a siblings or other family member.

Shared responsibilities are rewarding and bring people together. There is a lot of chatter this evening about positive results.

Yesterday’s Solution

Capricorn (December 22-January 19) In

yester

Yesterday’s Solution

to

INTERNATIONAL CALLS Kuwait Qatar Abu Dhabi Dubai Raas Al Khayma Al-Shareqa Muscat Jordan Bahrain Riyadh Makkah - Jeddah Cairo Alexandria Beirut Damascus Allepo

00965 00974 009712 009714 009717 009716 00968 009626 00973 009661 009662 00202 00203 009611 0096311 0096321

Tunisia Rabat Washington New York Paris London Madrid Zurich Geneva Monaco Rome Bangkok Hong Kong Pakistan Taiwan Bonn

0021610 002127 001212 001718 00331 004471 00341 00411 004122 0033 00396 00662 00852 0092 00886 0049228

Word Sleuth Solution

planning a budget today, family members may decide to each have their own financial books available. They will keep their own records in good condition and be helpful when it is time to do the tax report. You face many responsibilities in relationship with loved ones. Helping others learn about finances and budgeting will be a step in the right direction. Set all this aside in the afternoon and play games—or weather permitting, enjoy some outdoor exercise. You will be entering a phase of heightened sensitivity and romantic dreaming. Your creativity is inspired—exploit it. This could mean you become published through song or word or with some, a business proposal. Talk to young people about an awareness of balance in their daily life.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18) You may decide you will take over someone else’s job today—like a plumber or an electrician . . . don’t. There are people that know things and will take risks that you should probably not take. If you need this type of worker or an installer to come into your home, it would be good to have this happen while you are at home today. This is a time of enthusiasm and new beginnings. Be careful of a tendency to impulsiveness and make snap decisions. New business, contracts and proposals are all possibilities during this next week—get plenty of rest and find ways to keep yourself stress-free. You may decide to visit a library, museum or book store later this afternoon. Check out possibly adding more vitamin supplements to your diet.

Pisces (February 19-March 20) You may work extra hard most of the time, but today it is time to relax.

Rebel against restlessness and allow yourself to enjoy the world around you. There could be an opportunity to learn a creative activity or to teach a child a fun game. Write a poem about the first pelican you ever saw or a short story. An item you have been looking to purchase may show up in a magazine today. You could order over the phone but instead, use this item’s price as a guideline for the stores near you. Gathering new information will help you to find a better price. Check out your nutrition needs and concentrate on keeping a more natural chemical balance in the body. You look forward to the workweek now.

INFORMATION

Monday, March 8, 2010

35 FIRE BRIGADE Operation Room 777 Al-Madena 22418714 Al-Shohada始a 22545171 Al-Shuwaikh 24810598 Al-Nuzha 22545171 Sabhan 24742838 Al-Helaly 22434853 Al-Fayhaa 22545051 Al-Farwaniya 24711433 Al-Sulaibikhat 24316983 Al-Fahaheel 23927002 Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh 24316983 Ahmadi 23980088 Al-Mangaf 23711183 Al-Shuaiba 23262845 Al-Jahra 25610011 Al-Salmiya 25616368

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THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR CIVIL INFORMATION Automated enquiry about the Civil ID card is 1889988 AIRLINES

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ADDRESS Fahaeel Makka St Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd

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25622444 25752222 25321171 25739999 25757700 25732223 25732223

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22434064 22435865 22544200 22547133 22515277 22616662 25714406 22530801

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22617700 25625030/60

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Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr.

Zahra Qabazard Sohail Qamar Snaa Maaroof Pradip Gujare Zacharias Mathew

25710444 22621099 25713514 23713100 24334282

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat Psychiatrists Dr. Esam Al-Ansari 22635047 Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan 22613623/0 Gynaecologists & Obstetricians: Dr Adrian Harbe 23729596/23729581 Dr. Verginia s.Marin 2572-6666 ext 8321 Dr. Fozeya Ali Al-Qatan 22655539 Dr. Majeda Khalefa Aliytami 25343406 Dr. Ahmad Al-Khooly 25739272 Dr. Salem soso 22618787 General Surgeons: Dr. Abidallah Behbahani 25717111 Dr. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer 22610044 Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher 25327148

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(2) Plastic Surgeon Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada)

25655535 Dentists:

Dr Anil Thomas

3729596/3729581

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar

22641071/2

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed

22562226

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22561444

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22619557

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22525888

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25653755

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25620111

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Internist, Chest & Heart: DR.Mohammes Akkad 24555050 Ext 210 Dr. Mohammad Zubaid MB, ChB, FRCPC, PACC Assistant Professor Of Medicine Head, Division of Cardiology Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital Tel: 25339667 Dr. Farida Al-Habib MD, PH.D, FACC Consultant Cardiologist Tel: 2611555-2622555 Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri 25633324 Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan

Internists, Chest & Heart: Dr. Adnan Ebil 22639939 Dr. Mousa Khadada 22666300 Dr. Latefa Al-Duweisan 25728004 Dr. Nadem Al-Ghabra 25355515 Dr. Mobarak Aldoub 24726446 Dr Nasser Behbehani 25654300/3

Physiotherapists & VD: Dr. Deyaa Shehab 25722291 Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees 22666288

25345875

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22636464

Dr. Mohammad Al-Shamaly 25322030 Dr. Foad Abidallah Al-Ali

22633135

Endocrinologist: Dr. Abd Al-Naser Al-Othman 25339330 Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari

25658888

Dr. Kamal Al-Shomr

25329924

Psychologists/Psychotherapists Soor Center Tel: 2290-1677 Fax: 2290 1688 info@soorcenter.com www.soorcenter.com Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, Ph.D. 2290-1677 Susannah-Joy Schuilenberg, M.A. 2290-1677 William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677 Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Kuwait Airways Wataniya Airways Jazeera Airways Jet Airways Qatar Airways KLM Air Slovakia Olympic Airways Royal Jordanian Reservation British Airways Air France Emirates Air India Sri Lanka Airlines Egypt Air Swiss Air Saudia Middle East Airlines Lufthansa PIA Alitalia Balkan Airlines Bangladesh Airlines Czech Airlines Indian Airlines Oman Air Turkish Airlines

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0093 00355 00213 00376 00244 001264 001268 0054 00374 0061 0043 001242 00973 00880 001246 00375 0032 00501 00229 001441 00975 00591 00387 00267 0055 00673 00359 00226 00257 00855 00237 001 00238 001345 00236 00235 0056 0086 0057 00269 00242 00682 00506 00385 0053 00357 0090392 00420 0045 00246 00253 001767 001809 00593 0020 00503 0044

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00240 00291 00372 00251 00500 00298 00679 00358 0033 00594 00689 00241 00220 00995 0049 00233 00350 0030 00299 001473 00590 001671 00502 00224 00592 00509 0031 00504 00852 0036 0034 00354 0091 00873 0062 0098 00964 00353 0039 00225 001876 0081 00962 007 00254 00686 00965 00996 00856 00371 00961 00231 00218 00370 00352 00853 00389

SPECTRUM

36

ienna Miller is moving to America for the summer. The 28-year-old actress - who reconciled her romance with actor Jude Law at the end of last year while they were both starring in theatre productions on New York’s Broadway - has reportedly agreed to travel back to the US to stay with the ‘Alfie’ star while he works on his new movie

S

‘Contagion’. A source told the Mail on Sunday newspaper: “Sienna is determined to make it work with Jude this time. “She doesn’t want to let him out of her sight.

She loves him and wants them to stay together, so she is prepared to move wherever he is.” It was recently claimed that Jude - who saw his engagement to Sienna end in 2005 when he slept with his

children’s nanny - has asked the actress to move into his London home. While the Factory Girl’ star agreed, cautious Sienna has insisted on keeping her own house in case things go wrong again. A source said: “Jude has promised there will be no affairs and Sienna demands total honesty. “If either one is unhappy she has told him they must end it.” Jude and Sienna spent the fes-

Monday, March 8, 2010

tive period on the Caribbean island of Barbados together with his three children, Rafferty, Iris and Rudy, from his marriage to Sadie Frost. Last year, Jude became a father for the fourth time after American model Samantha Burke fell pregnant following a brief relationship.

iane Kruger won’t marry again until she is 50. The 33year-old actress - who is dating former ‘Dawson’s Creek’ star Joshua Jackson - was previously married to Guillaume Canet for five years and says the end of their union taught her that getting wed isn’t necessarily meaningful for a successful relationship.

She said: “I don’t think I’ll marry again. Because I’ve realized commitment is important and no matter what paper you’re going to sign, if that commitment ceases to be there you’ll get out of the marriage anyway.

“You know, I might get married at 50 or 60, when it actually means something to say ‘for the rest of my life’.”

Despite dating Joshua for almost four years, Diane admits they have never really discussed his views on marriage. She added: “Josh is very cool either way... Well no, it’s never come up.” Diane recently admitted she wants to have children with Joshua. The German beauty - who starred in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Inglourious Basterds’ - said: “I know that one day I’ll have kids and I’ll show them the movie and they’ll say, ‘Mom was pretty cool. She didn’t suck.’”

D

Bettany impresses kids aul Bettany flew his children to the ‘Legion’ film set so they would think he was “cool”. The actor - who raises Kai, 12, and Stellan, six, with wife Jennifer Connelly - invited the trio out to visit him while he was working on the action movie,

P

because he wanted his sons to be impressed with his “tough” screen persona and behave themselves. He said: “I made them fly out to watch me so they’d think I was enormously cool and tough. And they will now do whatever I tell them to, because they think I can do a butterfly twist!” Although the film - in which he plays an angel trying to save the world - was like nothing Paul had ever worked on before, he loved trying something new. He explained: “I loved it. I’d never made an action movie before. It was such a great experience and I loved doing it.

It felt fun. It was exactly what it was and I loved doing it. “I was learning how to spin around in the air - a lot of wire stuff and a lot of fighting. I wouldn’t say I know kung fu... they wrap a wire around you, and this guy yanks it, and you fly up in the air and spin and because of gravity you can’t help but land on your feet. Then you go and look at playback on the monitor, and you look like Bruce Lee!”

heryl Cole’s friend Brian Friedman wants her to move to Los Angeles so he can find her a new boyfriend. Cheryl Cole’s friends want to find her an American boyfriend. Pals of the ‘Parachutes’ singer - who recently split from her soccer star husband Ashley Cole amid claims he had cheated on her with several women - are determined to help raise her spirits by not letting her stay single for long.

Choreographer Brian Friedman - who works with the Girls Aloud beauty on UK TV talent show ‘The X Factor’ told the News of the World newspaper: “She deserves a great guy. Hopefully she’ll find him. I don’t know Ashley well. I only see him every once in a while at the show, but Cheryl’s my friend. So I have her back.

“When news came out about me moving her to LA, I’ve been getting non-stop contact from top guys in this city asking me to set them up with Cheryl.

“When - or actually if - she is ever ready to date someone, of course I will hook her up.” It has also been claimed that

C

Streepʼs film doubts

marry again

Kruger won’t

Cole’s matchmaker pals

dancer Derek Hough - who was pictured leaving the star’s hotel in the early hours of the morning when she fled to the US following her marriage split - is determined to win over Cheryl.

A source said: “He’s not used to women saying no to him and plans to use all his charms to win her round.” Cheryl is said to be seriously considering a move to Los Angeles, where she can throw herself into work in order to get over her heartbreak. Her friend Soulshock real name Carsen Schack revealed they chatted about the move when she appeared on Denmark’s version of TV talent show ‘The X Factor’, on Friday.

Soulshock - who is a judge on the program- told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: “I had a good chat to Cheryl for about an hour before the show. “She didn’t want to talk about Ashley.

She was speaking about LA and how she really wanted to get back there and start working on new songs. “Cheryl is using her work as a real focus at the moment. She’s a very professional artist and there is nothing that will get in her way.”

Osbourne quits alcohol for fiance

elly Osbourne gave up alcohol for fiance Luke Worrall. The presenter - who got engaged to the model in March 2009 stopped drinking altogether once she met Luke and believes he has made her a “better person”.

She said: “He’s turned me into a better person.

He really has. I didn’t care before I met Luke. I was out every night, drunk. I didn’t have somebody to be a better person for and then that all changed when I met Luke.” The 25-year-old star is now completely teetotal because she doesn’t trust how she might behave after she’s had a few drinks. She explained to more! magazine: “I don’t drink at all. Even a glass of wine at dinner would probably mean me going home, getting s**t-faced and then being on drugs and doing something stupid that I have to spend the next three months apologizing for. “I don’t like drink-

K

ack Nicholson made his friends urinate in his garden. The Oscar-winning actor was showing a group of male pals around his Hollywood Hills home when he asked them to make sure they relieve themselves outside - to stop wild racoons coming too close to his property. According to the National Enquirer magazine, he said: “Hey, whenever you guys have to go, feel free to come out here and urinate in the yard.”

The group thought the 72-yearold screen legend was making a joke and burst out laughing. But Jack quickly reassured them: “No, seriously, it helps keeps the raccoons away!” The veteran movie star isn’t normally so concerned about keeping wild animals away. He recently revealed he was considering being eaten by vultures when he dies. He quipped: “I’ve had several ideas. Once I thought it would be nice to be buried under a large statue that is at least ten meters high. Then I liked the nature of the Indians who haul their bodies up into the trees so that they are eaten by the birds.”

J

eryl Streep doesn’t believe all her films are good.

The 60-year-actress, who has won two Academy Awards and is nominated for another this year, is pleased with the way her career has panned out, even though she isn’t a fan of all her work. She said: “I feel very privileged, very lucky and very happy, though I don’t think that every film I’ve ever done is brilliant. “I’m not a producer - I just take interesting things that have come along.”

Meryl also admits she wanted to take a break following her last movie ‘It’s Complicated’ with Alec Baldwin. She said: “Since finishing my last film I feel the need to stop for a moment and breathe, because I’ve worked so very hard in the last two and a half years. “I’d usually make one film a year, maybe two, then two years would go by with no films and now I’ve just made seven back to back. “Sometimes if you give that much you have to settle it down and let the field go fallow for one year, like the farmers do.”

M

ing that much as I hate throwing up and the taste of alcohol. I’d look at somebody who has a halfempty glass in front of them and think, ‘How can they leave that?’ whereas mine, it’s like ‘Glug’ and it’s gone. ‘Can I have another one? I’ll be alright.’ “ Kelly is so focused on staying sober she does her best to stop herself from being around alcohol as she doesn’t want to be tempted. She explained: “In the culture in England it’s hard to explain to people you don’t want to drink, as they look at you like you’re f***ing crazy.

There have been times the hotel I’m staying in has sent up three bottles of champagne and I send them back. What am I going to do with it staring at me in a bucket? I don’t want it.” Kelly has been in rehab three times, most recently to seek help for a dependency on prescription drugs.

Nicholson made his friends urinate in his garden

SPECTRUM

Monday, March 8, 2010

37

Music & Movies

French bestow high honor on Stevie Wonder singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder was awarded on Saturday one of France’s top cultural honors, which he dedicated to his deceased mother 30 years after he was tapped to receive it. “I receive this honor in memory of my mother and in memory of all of those that have made it possible for me to stand here today,” said an emotional Wonder, clad in marine blue striped suit, as he received the Commander of Arts and Letters award from French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand.

“As I was ... listening to what you were saying, I had a flash in my memory, the memory of 1964, when I came to Paris, France for the first time. I came with my mother,” 59-year-old Wonder told Mitterrand. His mother died in 2006. Standing next to Mitterrand was former culture minister Jack Lang, who first named Wonder for the medal that has been bestowed over the years to personalities ranging from South African writer

US

French singer Sliimy performs on stage.

All awardees stand on stage at the end of the 25th Victoires de la Musique yearly French music awards ceremony on March 6, 2010 at the Zenith concert hall in Paris. — AFP

eviews ARTIST: MIGUEL BOSE ALBUM: CARDIO pop icon in his native Spain since the ‘70s, Miguel Bose is no stranger to lycra and headbands. And though he maintains that the title of his new album, “Cardio,” is a reference to the Greek word for “heart,” these tracks are destined for workout playlists throughout the Spanish-speaking world.

From the bouncy electropop title track to the echoes of the Ziggy Stardust phase of his idol David Bowie on “Hay?” to the Bollywood-tinged “Ayurvedico,” Bose’s seductive frivolity is in full force. The lusty rap “Jurame” was inspired by the 2009 humanitarian Paz Sin Fronteras concert Bose organized with Juanes in Havana, and “Eso No” is a poignant power ballad that could be an anthem for his gay followers. “Cardio,” the follow-up to his 2007 hit album, “Papito” (a duets album honoring his 30-year career), is brimming with retro flavor. While his music might not be completely original, Bose overcomes any thin spots in his repertoire with his personal flair, a charming combination of sophistication and camp.

A

ARTIST: LIL WAYNE ALBUM: REBIRTH il Wayne’s long-awaited new album, “Rebirth,” is his first full-length release since the multimillion-selling “Tha Carter III” in 2008, and the rapper’s first attempt at recording a true rock record.

Tame punk-driven guitar licks may eclipse hard basslines, while Wayne maintains his willingness to be lyrically venturesome. The adolescent angst of lead single “Prom Queen” is just one of his rudimentary musings, and on the almost suicidal-sounding “Runnin”“ (featuring newcomer Shanell), he despairingly sings, “I’m runnin’ out of time, I’m runnin’ out of space/Feel like I’m runnin’ round, but I’m runnin’ in place.” “Rebirth” also finds Wayne exploring speedy pop-punk rhythms (“The Price Is Wrong”), but he still favors the balancing act between Auto-Tuned wailing and unhinged MC’ing (“Paradice”). Although the cleaner melodies and pop polish seem to mute the rapper’s stream-of-consciousness salvos, he shines on “Drop the World,” featuring Eminem.

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ARTIST: JOANNA NEWSOM ALBUM: HAVE ONE ON ME t’s hard to imagine folk singer-songwriter Joanna Newsom following up her five-song, 55-minute 2006 sophomore album, “Ys,” with an even more ambitious release.

Spanning 18 tracks and three discs, Newsom’s third effort, “Have One on Me,” ups the ante not only in quantity but also in musical diversity. The majestic arrangements of “Ys” are expanded, with crackling drums on the new track “Good Intentions Paving Company” and a lonely horn section on “You and Me, Bess.” Other songs, like “‘81,” feature little more than a twinkling harp and vocals, but Newsom’s songwriting evokes the same hypnotizing effect as early Joni Mitchell. The most powerful tracks combine sparseness and excessive instrumentation, as in the slow build of “Baby Birch.” Newsom’s wispy singing style may still be too inaccessible for some, but hardcore fans will savor the growing vocal confidence during the two-hour-plus running time. In an era of quick musical fixes, “Have One on Me” is a spacious artistic statement too original to pass up.

I

ARTIST: BLAKE SHELTON ALBUM: HILLBILLY BONES lake Shelton’s sixsong “Hillbilly Bone” may be a marketing and sales experiment by Warner Bros. Records, but fans of the Oklahoman artist won’t be disappointed. The title-track lead single (featuring Trace Adkins) is a rollicking, redneck celebration of all things stereotypically Southern, including F-150s, blue jeans and fiddles. And although “Kiss My Country Ass,” which conjures Hank Williams Jr. and honky-tonks, won’t go down as the most original song in history, it’s still a fun listen. On “Almost Alright,” Shelton channels the carefree island feel of Jimmy Buffett while singing about getting over a lover with the help of a couple of beers. The album’s highlight is “Delilah,” inspired by his girlfriend Miranda Lambert’s dog of the same name. —Reuters

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French singer Sliimy performs on stage.

Nadine Gordimer, British actor Roger Moore and Lebanese diva Fairuz.

“As citizen, administrator and culture minister I just called to say we love you,” Mitterrand told Wonder, mixing French and English and referring to one of Wonder’s biggest hits which featured in the film The Woman in Red. Mitterrand praised Wonder as “music’s familiar genius.” A political activist who fought for Martin Luther King day (signed into law in 1983) honoring the slain civil rights leader, Wonder more recently backed US President Barack Obama’s run for office in 2008.

During the ceremony, he made a pitch for Obama’s push to extend health coverage to millions of uninsured Americans. “I’m very encouraged you have it here, in this country,” he said, referring to France’s near-universal coverage.

“Don’t change.” Wonder was also expected to receive a lifetime achievement award at a French ceremony Saturday night. —AFP

ʻAlice in Wonderlandʼ enchants North American box office im Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” broke through the looking glass all the way to the top of the North American box office chart this weekend with a whopping 112 million dollars in takings, according estimates. The liveaction, CGI (computer generated imagery), 3D version of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson’s classic fantasy tale starring Johnny Depp and Australian Mia Wasikowska has become the highest grossing film released on a weekend in the January-March period. The seventh Burton-Depp collaboration ended Martin Scorsese’s two-week reign at the top of the box office with “Shutter Island,” which took second place with 13 million dollars, according to preliminary data from box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

Crime drama “Brooklyn’s Finest,” starring Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke and Don Cheadle as three burnt-out cops transformed by the same violent assignment opened in third place with 12 million dollars. The Bruce Willis action comedy “Cop Out” fell from second to fourth in its

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second weekend, raking in nine million dollars. Fifth place went to “The Crazies,” about the military’s containment of a man-made virus that causes permanent insanity and death. The film took 7.0 million dollars in its second weekend.

Falling two spots to sixth place but still raking in millions, was science-fiction epic “Avatar,” the high-

est-grossing film of all time with more than two billion dollars worldwide to date. In its 12th week on North American release, Canadian James Cameron’s film made another 7.0 million dollars. The Oscar-nominated movie was followed by mythological adventure-fantasy “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” based on Rick

Riordan’s book and starring Pierce Brosnan and Uma Thurman.

The movie earned five million dollars in its fourth week. Romantic ensemble “Valentine’s Day,” starring Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Garner and Jessica Alba amongst others scooped 4.3 million dollars in its fourth week for eighth place. Ninth place with 3.5

Oscar hopeful Sandra Bullock crowned worst actress he day before she is favored to win an Oscar, Sandra Bullock was crowned Saturday with the dubious title of worst actress of 2009.

Bullock, whose drama “The Blind Side” has made her the odds-on favorite to claim the best actress Oscar, was given a Razzie Award for worst female performance in “All About Steve.” No performer has ever won a Razzie and an Oscar the same year.

Unlike most Razzie honorees, Bullock showed up to collect the award, dragging a cart of DVDs to hand out to members who she accused of never seeing the dud movie.

“Thank you for ruining my career with a very bad decision,” Bullock told the group, while threatening to read her dialogue from the role “until 4 in the morning.” The actress played a socially awkward designer of newspaper crosswords, who falls in love with a cameraman (Bradley Cooper) and stalks him in the movie. Organizers of the Razzies, an annual event that began in 1980 to spoof the glitzy Oscars, which take place Sunday, also named Bullock and Cooper the worst screen couple of 2009.

Hollywood stars are rare sight-

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List of 2009 Razzie winners: Worst picture: “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Worst actor: The Jonas Brothers (“Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience”) Worst actress: Sandra Bullock (“All About Steve”) Worst supporting actor: Billy Ray Cyrus (“Hannah Montana: The Movie”) Worst supporting actress: Sienna Miller (“G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra”) Worst screen couple: Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper (“All About Steve”) Worst screenplay: “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Worst director: Michael Bay (“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”) Worst remake/rip-off or sequel: “Land of the Lost” —Reuters

Thomas Haden Church, left, Sandra Bullock, center, and Bradley Cooper are shown in a scene from ‘All About Steve.’ —AP photos

Actress Sandra Bullock accepts her Razzie award for worst actress in a feature film.

ings at the Razzies, but in 2005, Halle Berry claimed her award for “Catwoman,” and brought along the Oscar she previously won for her role in “Monster’s Ball.” The Razzies this year also turned their inside Hollywood sarcasm on one of the biggest box office hits of 2009, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” The critically panned blockbuster was named worst film, and organizers bestowed a second trophy of shame on its director, Michael Bay. Special awards were given for the past decade.

The 2000 film “Battlefield Earth,” based on the writings of Scientology creator L. Ron Hubbard, was named worst picture of the decade. “I especially want to thank the dozens and dozens of people who went to see the movie,” said JD Shapiro, a brave “Battlefield” writer who showed up to collect the award.

Comedian Eddie Murphy, who has had several box office duds in recent years, and Paris Hilton were named the worst actor and actress of the 2000s, respectively. The so-called “winners” were determined by mailing ballots to 657 voters in the United States and 19 foreign countries.

Writter JD.Shapiro accepts his Razzie award for worst film of the decade, the feature film “Battlefield Earth”.

million dollars went to “Crazy Heart,” a low-budget drama about a washed-up country singer struggling to rebuild his career, starring Jeff Bridges in the Oscar-nominated lead role. Romantic tearjerker “Dear John,” an adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel, took tenth place with three million dollars in its fif th week. —AFP

Paisley OK after on-stage tumble at US concert

rad Paisley is recovering after he tripped on stage and took a tumble during a concert in South Carolina. Spokeswoman Darlene Bieber said in a news release that the country star was singing his encore finale — “Alcohol” — when he fell Saturday night, but he got back up and finished his show. He was checked out at a Charleston hospital and released early Sunday morning.

Paisley was left with only some bad bruises, but he wrote on his Twitter page that he “hit hard. And I mean freaking hard.” The 37-year-old kept fans updated with several tweets on the Web site, quipping that doctors told him he “was a very brave boy.” Paisley, a native of West Virginia, was performing in Charleston to promote his latest album, “American Saturday Night.” —AP

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ʻBoggy Creekʼ filmmaker Pierce dies at 71 harles B Pierce, an independent filmmaker whose inexpensively made documentary-style drama “The Legend of Boggy Creek” influenced the hit film “The Blair Witch Project” decades later, has died at age 71.

Pierce, who grew up in Arkansas and made his films mostly in that state, died Friday at a Dover nursing home, according to Wayne Anglin of Anglin Funeral Home at Dover. A cause of death could not be obtained. Pierce was born in Indiana, but moved to southwest Arkansas with his family as a child, according to a daughter, Amanda “Amy” Squitiero. He grew up in Arkansas and as an adult lived in nearby Texarkana, where he ran an advertising agency. But it was his 1972 lowbudget movie that gained him fame.

“He really did change the face of filmmaking,” Arkansas Film Commissioner Christopher Crane told the Texarkana Gazette. “With his model, many filmmakers became successful with the drive-in creature feature, so to speak.”—AP

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Monday, March 8, 2010

Fashion

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erformance art-which saw Dutch design duo Viktor & Rolf strip a pup tent-shaped former supermodel down to the size of a Playboy bunny in front of an audience of thousands-rang in Saturday day four of the City of Light’s eight-daylong ready-to-wear week. Besides the odd-but-compelling display, other highlights of the day included the world-beat vibe at Jean Paul Gaultier, where a band made up of such disparate elements as a Russian balalaika and an accordion provided the sound track for a globetrotting show, that drew on patterns, designs and aesthetics from as far afield as Mongolia, Finnish Lapland and Mexico.

Azzaro delivered a sober and appealing collection of black, white and rhinestone Parisienne chic, with looks that seemed to be channeling the timeless appeal of Mademoiselle Coco Chanel. Cacharel, on the other hand, disappointed with a collection of middle-market looks that showed about as much flair for design as The Gap. Spanish leather maestros Loewe delivered a lovely-but-unadvernturesome collection of Forties-inspired skirt suits paired with veiled toques and bizarre fur-adorned stilettos.

Dozens of vocal anti-fur activists amassed outside of Gaultier’s central Paris headquarters, where the one-time enfant terrible of French fashion holds his runway shows, although the fur on his runway was kept to a minimum. Fur took center stage at Viktor & Rolf, where the designers undressed and then dressed supermodel Kristen McNameny like a Russian stacking doll, zipping the garments piled onto her down to size zero with a complex system of zippers and drawstrings as they dressed a rotating cast of other models. On stage. In front of an audience of thousands. In the end, the bespeckled pair’s experiment with performance art was worth it. Their 15 minutes onstage won them among the day’s heartiest applause. The French capital’s ready-to-wear displays move into day five on Sunday with shows by storied-and-hot French houses Givenchy and Celine, the queen of knits, Sonia Rykiel, Dior designer John Galliano’s signature line, and Chanel and Fendi uber-designer Karl Lagerfeld’s eponymous line.

JEAN PAUL GAULTIER It was a whirlwind world tour, with stops in such farflung locales as Mongolia, Myanmar, Mexico, Ukraine and China. Each of the looks, which worked ethnic touches and motifs onto streetwear, was a journey unto its own: A slim Chinese dress was paired with an oversized hoodie sweatshirt, curly toed Turkish slippers, stacking neckrings from the Kayan people of Myanmar and an oversized turban in African wax print cotton.

The final look paired a long-sleeved leotard knit with Tibetan motifs-or were they Sami patterns from Lapland?

— with masses of chunky silver jewelry from the Persian Gulf, a gold lame turban and an oversized backpack in fur. A live band with components as diverse as the outfits-and included both an accordionist, an Afro-Caribbean drummer and a balalaika, accompanied the show-which opened to strains of France’s national anthem, “La Marseillaise.” “I am influenced by life, by travels, by people’s roots, whether they happen to be my roots or not,” Gaultier, France’s onetime enfant terrible, told journalists after the show.

“Everything is about mixture.” The strongest pieces in the collection were the ones that pushed that mixture to the maximum, mashing all the diverse influences into a sort of puree in which none was distinguishable: Hybrid hats that started with a Tibetan base and were crowned with something like a Tunisian chechia or a Turkish fez; a red knit vest in Mongolian fur with in a pattern that was either from Eastern Europe or East Asia. The collection drew heavily on the mindblowing Mexican-themed haute couture show Gaultier fielded last January, but sadly fell slightly

ViCtor & rolf

short of that level of brilliance. Still, it was a great trip.

ViKtor & rolf As the soundtrack of industrial racket clanked overhead, the model, Kristen McNameny, appeared in her tent-like incarnation at the top of the runway. She waddled over to a rotating platform, set into the middle of the catwalk, and Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren started stripping off layer after layer, like the skin of an onion or Russian stacking dolls. Wearing their trademark plastic-framed nerd eyeglasses, the designers transferred each removed layer-first maxigreatcoats and oversized fox fur coats; then lighter parkas hung with swinging drawstrings-onto another model, who then walked the catwalk.

After McNameny was pared down to a strapless bustier, the pair repeated the process in reverse: stripping the other models and piling the layers back on to the formerly eyebrow-less top model. The crowning look was an oversized bustle in stiff tulle that was stripped off an evening look and hung round McNameny’s neck, like an oversized collar on her industrial refrigerator-sized greatcoat. It was a novel exercise, and the crowd of fashion insiders-many of whom had sat through more than 100 conventional shows in New York, London and Milan over the past month-hooted enthusiastically.

But the spectacle itself distracted attention away from the clothes, which were basically big, bulky and black.

(Though it must be said, they were remarkably engineered: Enormous when they were peeled off McNameny, Snoeren and Horsting transformed them into a model-tiny size through a system of zippers and drawstrings.) Still, perhaps keeping the clothing in the background was exactly the point of the exercise.

CaCharel Following a series of revolving appointments at the French heritage label, the fashion world had high hopes for Cedric Charlier, the designer who showed his first collection for the house last season. That show garnered positive reviews, but Saturday’s display-a hodgepodge of Mod-influenced looks and trompe l’oeil prints-left many in the audience disappointed. Besides a few unique dresses, including a cocktail number with covered in a layer of black fabric with cutouts like a paper snowflake or a long black dress that got progressively more transparent, the closer the hemline-it was unclear why much of it was on the catwalk in the first place. How the black A-line skirt paired with the ribbed long-sleeve crewneck sweater, for example, got there was perfectly confounding. One of the highlights of the display, which was held in a cavernous former bank on Paris’ tony Place Vendome, actually happened before the start of the show, when an audience member dressed in head-to-toe leopard print lay down catwalk, confounding the security guards who triedunsuccessfully-to get him to choose a more conventional spot. Another unforgettable moment was at the end, when the glass-covered catwalk filled with dry ice and overflowed in a cloud of thick white mist onto the pit of photographers.

—AP

CedriC Charlier for CaCharel

JeaN PaUl GaUltier

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Fashion

Sex y scuba divers in latex leggings at Lagerfeld

German designer Karl Lagerfeld acknowledges the public after his autumn-winter 2010/2011 ready-to-wear collection show yesterday in Paris.— AFP or his signature label’s fall-winter 2010-11 ready-to-wear collection yesterday, Chanel and Fendi designer Karl Lagerfeld went deep sea diving, layering high-necked coats in dense wools that resembled neoprene over latex leggings. The tops were cut close to the

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body like scuba suits and had inserts of shiny vinyl panels. The models also wore wide vinyl headbands in their windswept bouffants. Even the evening looks, beaded dresses fitted with bodice belts, were worn with the vinyl leggings-which fitted over glossy stiletto heels.

As per usual at Lagerfeld, the collection was mostly black on black, with a handful of looks in rich chocolate tones.

Highlights of the collection included a

high-necked, cap-sleeved shirt worn with a black vinyl pencil skirt and leggings and a tunic in shimmery material with fancy origami folds at the neckline and a nipped waist. Beth Ditto, singer of the US band Gossip and a frequent guest at Lagerfeld’s shows, called the collection “amazing,” though she quickly added, “but I don’t want to talk like someone who knows something about fashion because I really have no idea.” —AP

Owner Yoshihiro Nomura holds one-year-old male standard poodle ‘Cream’ on his back during a dog fashion show called ‘Odaiba Wan Wan Collection 2010’ at the Aqua City in Tokyo, yesterday.

—AP

www.kuwaittimes.net

(Right) Newly-crowned Miss Russia 2010 Irina Antonenko poses for a picture with her two runners-up in Moscow late on March 6, 2010. Eighteenyear-old Antonenko is from the Siberian city of Yekaterinburg.

(Left) Newlycrowned Miss Russia 2010 Irina Antonenko adjusts her crown. —AFP

Controversies big and small dog Oscars contenders nti-war, anti-imperialist, antiSemitic, anti-social, racist: this year’s Oscars best picture contenders have faced a barrage of criticism from groups and commentators eager to exploit the media frenzy surrounding the Academy Awards to draw attention to their causes. While science-fiction blockbuster “Avatar” and Iraq war drama “The Hurt Locker” have been battling criticism on a number of fronts, controversies have also attached themselves to best picture nominees “Precious,” “District 9,” “An Education,” “The Blind Side” and “A Serious Man.” The environmental, anti-war, antiimperialist themes of James Cameron’s “Avatar,” which tells the story of peaceloving blue aliens defending their home

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from war-mongering American soldiers, has infuriated conservatives. Columnist John Podhoretz of the Weekly Standard has branded the film-the highest-grossing film of all time with more than two billion dollars since its release-as “antiAmerican.” “The conclusion does ask the audience to root for the defeat of American soldiers at the hands of an insurgency,” Podhoretz wrote. “So it is a deep expression of anti-Americanism kind of.”

But public health activists have also taken a pot-shot at “Avatar,” angry at scenes in the film where the character played by Sigourney Weaver is seen puffing on a cigarette. “There is very, very strong epidemiological evidence that the more smoking kids and young adults see in movie, the more likely they are to

smoke,” Stanton Glantz, professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, told AFP. “Avatar would have been just as good a movie without Sigourney Weaver smoking cigarettes in the beginning.

“To say that you needed to show a scientist in a spaceship smoking cigarettes in the year 2154 in order to be realistic in a movie which was essentially animated, it’s ridiculous.” Cameron rejected the charge however saying he wanted Weaver’s character to be “off-putting and even unpleasant.” “She’s not meant to be an aspiration role model to teenagers,” he said.

Meanwhile “The Hurt Locker,” a tense drama about the activities of a bomb disposal unit in Iraq, has faced a barrage of late criticism from veterans who have

complained it inaccurately portrays their profession.

“The depiction of our community in this film is disrespectful,” said Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. “We are not cowboys. We are not reckless. We are professionals.” Science-fiction nominee “District 9” meanwhile infuriated the Nigerian government for its portrayal of murderous Nigerian criminal gangs operating in the Soweto-like townships where the film is set.

“Why do they want to denigrate Nigerians as criminals, cannibals and prostitutes who sleep with extra-terrestrial animals,” said Nigeria’s Minister of Information Dora Akunyili. The film was banned in Nigeria, which demanded an

apology from studio Sony. Other controversies surrounding best picture nominees are more surprising. Independent drama “Precious” was accused of being “brazenly racist” by New York Film Critics Circle chairman Armond White for its depiction of an obese, illiterate, sexually abused black teenager from Harlem.

The film’s African-American director Lee Daniels admitted to being baffled by the criticism. “These are people that I know,” he said of the film’s characters.

“My movie is the truth. It’s absolutely colorless.” Equally unexpected was criticism of British nominee “An Education,” where a villainous Jewish character was compared to “the parasitical Jew of Nazi propaganda films” by a critic in the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles.

Lakme fashion week

The timing of the controversies during Oscar seasons invites inevitable speculation that some are part of dirty tricks conspiracy. However Fredell Pogodin, a Los Angeles public relations executive who has worked on Oscar campaigns for foreign language and documentary films, says the rash of headlines are the result of a compliant media as much as timing. “I think journalists are always looking for something to write. You’re always looking for some new angle,” Pogodin told AFP. “That said, if I have a complaint or I am an interested party in something, this is a good time of year to get my word out.

I’m not saying that they don’t have legitimate complaints. But I do know that at this time of year the media will be responsive.” —AFP

Arab director of Oscar film says heʼs no Israel envoy he Arab co-director of an Israeli film nominated for an Academy Award has scandalized the Jewish state by saying that he does not see himself as representing the country at Sunday evening’s awards ceremony. The film “Ajami”, directed by Israeli Arab Scandar Copti and his Jewish colleague Yaron Shani is a contender in the best foreign film category. It portrays Jews and Arabs in the mixed Ajami district of south Tel Aviv, divided not only by religion but also by clan and ethnicity yet thrown together in the neighborhood’s criminal underworld. “I am not the Israeli team and I am not representing Israel,” Copti told Israel’s Channel 2 TV in an interview from Hollywood Sunday ahead of the awards ceremony.

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Models display designer Swapnil Shinde’s creations on the third day of Lakme fashion week summer/resort 2010 in Mumbai, India, yesterday. — AP photos

This undated file image released by Inosan Productions shows Scandar Copti, second from right, the Israeli Arab co-director of the Oscar-nominated Israeli film “Ajami”, who also play in the movie, during a scene from “Ajami. —AP Models showcase creations by Indian designer Asmita Marwa on the third day of Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) Summer/Resort 2010 in Mumbai yesterday. The bi-annual LFW is in its 11th year, featuring creations by over 50 designers until March 9. —AFP

“I cannot represent a country that does not represent me,” he added. The remarks brought howls of outrage from cabinet ministers, legislators and a member of the Israeli Film Academy. Copti is one of Israel’s 1.5 million Arab citizens, the descendants of Palestinians who remained in the Jewish state after the 1948 Middle East war that followed its creation.

While the law defines them as fully equal with the Jewish majority, Arab citizens report widespread discrimination and a dearth of government funding for Arab towns and villages.

Israeli Film Academy member Uri Barabash, whose 1984 film “Beyond the Walls” was an Oscar nominee, said Copti’s comments were likely to stir up anti-Jewish feeling. “This is fuel for an anti-Semitic bonfire,” he told Israeli Army Radio.

While Israeli media have been rooting vigorously for Ajami, Copti’s remarks led Science and Technology Minister Daniel Hershkowitz, of the rightwing Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home) party to say that an Israeli win could give Copti a platform for views more suited to the militant Palestinian Hamas organization.

“The person who directed the film with Israeli funding may cover himself with Hamas flags tonight. If the film wins an Oscar, this may be a Pyrrhic victory for the State of Israel,” Israeli news site Y-Net quoted Hershkowitz as saying. Culture Minister Limor Livnat said Copti would never have made it to Hollywood without Israeli government funding for his film. “Without the state’s support, Copti would not be walking on the red carpet tonight,” she said in a statement. —AFP