DOHA: Qatar’s state-funded broadcasterAl-Jazeera yesterday announced a freshround of job cuts with around 500 posi-tions being lost, most of them at the net-work’s Doha headquarters.

On top of existing losses of 700 jobsfollowing an announcement earlier thisyear that Al-Jazeera America is to close, itmeans the broadcaster is set to shed morethan 20 percent of its global workforce. Intotal, the job cuts will reduce Al-Jazeera’sstaff numbers from around 5,200 to 4,000.

The cuts come at a time when gas andoil-rich Qatar is readjusting its spendingpriorities as it grapples with the globalslump in energy prices. Al-Jazeera saidyesterday that after a managementreview it was “expected that around 500positions worldwide will be impacted, themajority of which are in Qatar”.

Announcing the job losses in a statement,acting Director General, Mostefa Souag,said the cuts would allow the network “toevolve our business operation in order tomaintain a leading position and continueour recognized commitment to high qual-ity, independent and hard-hitting journal-ism around the world.

“While our decision is consistent withthose being made across the mediaindustry worldwide, it was difficult tomake nonetheless.” He added: “However,we are confident it is the right step toensure the network’s long-term competi-tiveness and reach.”

According to one Al-Jazeera official, upto 60 percent of the job cuts-300 posi-tions-could come at the broadcaster’sDoha base.

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LS Assembly panel rejectsproposal to raise charges

MP Dashti’s immunity lifted againBy B Izzak

KUWAIT: The National Assembly financial and econom-ic affairs committee yesterday rejected a governmentproposal to amend a 21-year-old law to give the gov-ernment the freedom to raise charges on public servic-es.The law issued in 1995 stipulates that the govern-ment cannot raise charges on public services withoutthe prior approval of the National Assembly. In its pro-posed amendment, the government sought to rest thedecision to raise charges on public services entirely inits own hands without the participation of the NationalAssembly.

Head of the panel MP Faisal Al-Shaye said the com-mittee rejected the amendment because of suspicionthat it violates the constitution as the Assembly’s legalcommittee had said. The government’s move was anattempt to increase charges on public services, mainlyelectricity and water, to boost non-oil revenues tofinance a shortfall in the budget due to the slump in oilprices.

Shaye also said that the committee did not discussthe government economic reform program and thegovernment’s request to raise prices of electricity andwater because the committee did not receive the twoissues from the government. As a result, the two issueswill not be debated at the assembly’s next sessiontomorrow but likely on April 12, thus further delayinggovernment measures to reduce subsidies on petroland public services. The government has been dis-cussing the sensitive issue with the National Assemblyfor the past two months. As part of a comprehensiveeconomic reform program, the government wants toraise prices of petrol by more than 50 percent and haspresented several scenarios for raising the prices ofelectricity and water.

Continued on Page 13

LAHORE: At least 65 people were killed and morethan 200 injured when an apparent suicide bombripped through the parking lot of a crowded park inthe Pakistani city of Lahore where Christians werecelebrating Easter Sunday, officials said. Dozens ofambulances were seen racing to the Gulshan-i-Iqbalpark, situated near the centre of the city of aroundeight million, with many women and childrenamong the dead and wounded.

Lahore top administration official MuhammadUsman said the toll had reached 65 people. “The res-cue operation is continuing,” he said, adding thatmore than 50 children were among the injured. Thearmy had been called in, he said, and soldiers wereat the scene helping with rescue operations andsecurity. Senior police official Haider Ashraf said theblast appeared to be a suicide attack, adding thatball bearings were found at the park.

A medical superintendent at Jinnah Hospital,who gave his name only as Dr Ashraf, told AFP thenumber of injured stands at more than 200 people,most of them are critical. “I fear the death toll willrise,” he added. He described a nightmarish scene atthe hospital, with staff treating casualties on floorsand in corridors. Provincial health advisor KhawajaSalman Rafique told AFP meanwhile that authoritieswere asking citizens to donate blood.

Javed Ali, a 35-year-old resident who lives oppo-site park, said the force of the blast had shattered hishome’s windows. “Everything was shaking, therewere cries and dust everywhere.

Continued on Page 13

65 killed in Pakistan blast

LAHORE: A woman injured in the bomb blast is comforted by a family member at a local hospital inLahore yesterday. — AP

Al-Jazeera to cut around 500 jobs

DOHA: Al-Jazeera English Channel staff prepare for the broadcast inside thenews room in Doha, Qatar. Al-Jazeera said yesterday it is slashing about 500 jobsworldwide little more than two months after shutting its US offshoot. — AP

DUBAI: The top security court in the United ArabEmirates yesterday sentenced 38 people to prisonin connection to a cell accused of plotting terror-ist attacks and seeking to overthrow the govern-ment to create an Islamic state. Prosecutors saidthe “Minaret Youth” cell included Emirati as wellas non-Emirati members, though the nationalitiesand names of all the accused have not beenmade public.

The group had also been charged with formingcommittees to recruit young Emiratis and of plan-ning to assassinate top government officials in theUAE, which is home to the Western-friendly city-states of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Some membershad also been accused of being members of theIslamic State group in Iraq and Syria and Al-Qaeda’sbranch in Syria, the Nusra Front.

The state-run WAM news agency reported thatthe Federal Supreme Court’s state security cham-bers sentenced 11 of the defendants to life inprison, though two were tried in absentia. Anothertwo were sentenced to 15 years, 13 were sentencedto 10 years, six to three years, two to five years, andfour to six months in prison.

Seven others were acquitted, according to WAM.The official report did not give details on what thedefendants had been found guilty of. The trial,which began late August, was not open to the pub-lic or members of the independent press.

Abu Dhabi-based The National reported on itswebsite yesterday that only two defendants plead-ed guilty in court.

Continued on Page 13

UAE finds 38guilty in

terror case

PALMYRA: A general view taken yesterday shows part of the ancient city ofPalmyra with the citadel in the background, after government troops recap-tured the UNESCO world heritage site from the Islamic State (IS) group. — AFP

PALMYRA, Syria: Syrian troops recap-tured the ancient city of Palmyra fromthe Islamic State group yesterday andpledged to build on the win with anadvance against other jihadist strong-holds. President Bashar Al-Assad hailedthe victory as an “important achieve-ment” as his Russian counterpart and keybacker Vladimir Putin congratulatedDamascus for retaking the UNESCOworld heritage site.

An AFP correspondent inside Palmyrasaid monuments destroyed by thejihadists-like the iconic Temple of Bel-were in pieces but that much of theancient city was intact. Residential neigh-borhoods in the adjacent modern townwere deserted and damage was wide-spread, the correspondent said.

A group of regime fighters took timeoff to celebrate their win and kicked

around a football in the middle of astreet strewn with debris. The jihadistssparked a global outcry after seizingPalmyra in May 2015 and setting aboutdestroying some of its treasured monu-ments.

But Syria’s antiquities chief yesterdaysaid the city’s priceless artefacts were inmuch better shape than feared. “Wewere expecting the worst. But the land-scape, in general, is in good shape,”Maamun Abdulkarim told AFP fromDamascus.

“We could have completely lostPalmyra... The joy I feel is indescribable.”The Syrian army said that Sunday’s victo-ry meant the city would now serve as abase to “broaden operations” against IS,including in its stronghold of Raqa andDeir Ezzor further east.

Continued on Page 13

Syria forces driveIS out of Palmyra

LOCALMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets with Mongolian ForeignMinister Lundeg Purevsuren. — Amiri Diwan and KUNA photos

His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah meets with Mongolian ForeignMinister Lundeg Purevsuren.

First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah meets withMongolian Foreign Minister Lundeg Purevsuren.

KUWAIT: His Highness the AmirSheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-JaberAl-Sabah received First DeputyPrime Minister and Minister ofForeign Affairs Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah andMongolia’s Minister of ForeignAffairs Lundeg Purevsuren. DeputyMinister of Amiri Diwan AffairsSheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah attend-ed the meeting, which took placeat Seif Palace yesterday. HisHighness the Prime Minister SheikhJaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah also receiving the visitingminister, in the presence of SheikhSabah Al-Khaled, Undersecretary ofHis Highness the Prime Minister’sDiwan Sheikha Itamad Khaled Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, AssistantForeign Minister for Asian AffairsAmbassador Ali Al-Saeed and

Kuwait’s Ambassador to MongoliaKhaled Al-Fadhli.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled discussed with hisMongolian counterpart means ofpromoting bilateral ties. The meet-ing, held at the Foreign Ministry’sheadquarters, also shed light onthe recent regional and interna-tional developments. The meetingwas attended Deputy ForeignMinister Ambassador KhaledSuleiman Al-Jarallah, AssistantForeign Minister at the minister’soff ice Ambassador Sheikh DrAhmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah, Ambassador Saeed andAmbassador Fadhli. Later, SheikhSabah Al-Khaled held a lunch ban-quet in the honor of the visitingminister.

Earlier yesterday, His Highness

the Amir received His Highness theCrown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, NationalAssembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem, His Highness Sheikh JaberAl-Mubarak, and Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled. Meanwhile, His Highnessthe Crown Prince received Ghanem,His Highness Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled,Deputy Prime Minister and InteriorMinister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, DeputyPrime Minister and Minister ofDefense Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah, Minister of Information andMinister of State for Youth AffairsSheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah and Minister ofState for Cabinet Affairs SheikhMohammad Al-Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah. — KUNA

Amir receives Mongolia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs

KUWAIT: Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-KhaledAl-Sabah meets with British Ambassador to Kuwait Matthew Lodge and head of theBritish embassy’s liaison office Lance Lindsay. — KUNA

Ministry of Interior’s Undersecretary Lieutenant General Suleiman Al-Fahad meetswith Japanese Ambassador in Kuwait Takashi Ashiki.

KUWAIT: Deputy Prime Minister andInterior Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah has praised thedeep-rooted cooperation ties with Britain.Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled, BritishAmbassador to Kuwait Matthew JamesLodge and head of the British embassy’sliaison office Lance Lindsay also discussed ahost of issues of common concern, theministry’s Security Media Department saidin a statement yesterday.

Lodge handed over to SheikhMohammad Al-Khaled an official invitationfrom Home Secretary Theresa May to visitBritain, to enhance bilateral security coop-eration, in light of regional and internation-al developments. Date of the visit will belater set. The British envoy appreciatedKuwait’s role supporting peace and securi-ty in the region.

JapanMeanwhile, means to boost bilateral

security cooperation were the focus of talksheld between Ministry of Interior ’sUndersecretary Lieutenant General

Suleiman Al-Fahad and the JapaneseAmbassador in Kuwait Takashi Ashiki.Fahad and the Japanese envoy discussedbolstering ties, especially in training, theministry’s Security Media Department saidin a statement, pointing to Japan’sadvanced expertise in the field.

The meeting also addressed regionaland international security developments.During the meeting, ambassador Ashikihighly appreciated hospitality shown to theJapanese diplomatic mission and commu-nity, both on the official and the popularlevels.

United StatesAlso yesterday, Deputy Foreign

Minister Khaled Suleiman Al-Jarallah dis-cussed with United States’ Ambassador toKuwait Douglas A Silliman bilateral ties.The meeting, held yesterday, also shedlight on the latest regional and interna-tional developments. Assistant ForeignMinister for North and South Americas’Affairs Reem Al-Khaled was present at themeeting. —KUNA

Interior Minister meets

UK envoy, liaison officer

Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Suleiman Al-Jarallah meets with US Ambassador toKuwait Douglas Silliman.

The US Embassy wishes to remind all nationalitieswho are able to travel to the United States via theVisa Waiver Program that as of 1 April, 2016 they

must have a valid electronic passport. This rule applieseven to those who possess a valid Electronic Systemfor Travel Authorization. The US Embassy strongly rec-ommends that all travelers check to ensure their pass-ports are valid electronic passports before they makearrangements to travel to the United States on the VisaWaiver program. Electronic passports have this symbol on their cover:

You can check if your passport is valid for travelunder the VWP by carefully reading the followingpage:https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/visit/visa-waiver-program.html.

Any traveler who does not have a valid electronicpassport is still eligible to travel to the United Stateswith a valid nonimmigrant visa issued by a US embassyor consulate. Such travelers will be required to appearfor an interview and obtain a visa in their passports ata US embassy or consulate before traveling to theUnited States. Information on visa applications can befound at: http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en.html.

A full list of countries participating in the VisaWaiver Program (VWP) can be found at the followinglink: http://ice2016orlando.org/host-travel-hotel/visacustoms/vwp/

Citizen or National of a VWP Designated Country:The following 37 countries are Visa Waiver Program

participants (as of 13 August 2015):Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Chile,

Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France,Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy,Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg,Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway,Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia,South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan andUnited Kingdom.

Visa Waiver

Program/ESTA,

travel to the

United States

KUWAIT: The GCC Youth Conference con-cluded Saturday with a series of recom-mendations to boost youth contribution topolicy decision-making and state develop-ment in Arab Gulf countries. Speaking toreporters following the closing session,Undersecretary of the Ministry of State forYouth Affairs Sheikha Zain Al-Sabahannounced the conference has called forthe foundation of GCC Youth Forum, to beaffiliated to the GCC General Secretariat.

She stated that the forum is meant toallow youth to partake in drawing andenforcing development policies. She hopedthe forum would be an effective partner tostate institutions in materializing sustain-able development goals. She added thatthe conference’s outcome and recommen-dations would be referred to the GCC youth

ministers meeting, scheduled April 6 inRiyadh, Saudi Arabia, for discussion andapproval. Sheikha Al-Zain thanked HisHighness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-AhmadAl-Jaber Al-Sabah for his sponsorship of theconference.

New philosophyMeanwhile, Director of the Department

of National Program for Preparing andQualifying Young Leaders at the Ministry ofState for Youth Affairs Dr Mashael Al-Janoubi said that the conferees have rec-ommended working out a new philosophyfor giving youth more spaces and opportu-nities to contribute to the development ofeducation and culture. The conferees rec-ommended a series of measures to expandpartnership between the state institutions

and youth entities, he said.Jaboubi noted that the conference

called for launching an interactive portalfor Gulf youth to facilitate interaction andexchange of expertise in entrepreneurshipand development projects. He added thatthe conferees underlined the need for newmechanisms to strengthen national identi-ty and harnessing the skills of youth cadresthrough a sophisticated training coursesand programs. They urged governments toembrace and offer all financial and techni-cal support to youth initiatives to ensuretheir success. They called for enhancingdialogue with youth to help enhance theirsense of belongingness to their countries.

Necessary measuresThe conferees also emphasized the

importance of taking to all necessary meas-ures to empower youth and enable themto participate in the state building andsociety development. Minister ofInformation and Minister of State for YouthAffairs Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah opened the first GCC YouthConference on Wednesday evening. Thefour-day event was co-organized by theMinistry of State for Youth Affairs and theGCC Secretariat under the theme of ‘YouthSpaces - Opportunities and Potential.’

In his inaugural speech, Sheikh Salmanurged intensifying the effort to bring theyouth of the GCC member countries closeto each other and enable them to shareexperience for attaining the objectives ofsustainable human development pro-grams. —KUNA

GCC conference envisages bigger role for youth in development

KUWAIT: Undersecretary of the Ministry of State forYouth Affairs Sheikha Zain Al-Sabah speaks at the con-ference. — KUNA

KUWAIT: The Tourism and Development: Reality and OutlookConference takes place on March 29 and 30, 2016 under aus-pices of Minister of Information and Minister of State for YouthAffairs Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud Al-Sabah. The conferencehas already attracted considerable attention from various sec-tors concerned with sustainable development, the organizingcommittee said in a statement.

The committee further stressed that officials from aviation,hospitality, recreation, services, culture, arts and media sectorshave already confirmed their participation in the conference.The committee also stressed that speakers on the second dayof the conference would include the Secretary General of theSupreme Council for Planning and Development Dr Khaled

Mahdi, MP Ahmad Lari, Fatwa and Legislation DepartmentAdvisor Huda Al-Shayeji, Chairman of the Board of theNational Fund for Small and Medium Entries Dr MohammadAl-Zuhair, Manager of the structural plan Saad Al-Muhailbiand the Ministry of Youth Affairs’ Assistant Undersecretary forYouth Projects Affairs Shafiq Al-Sayyed. The second sessionwill be presided by Leaders Group’s General Manager NabilaAl-Anjari.

The conference will be organized by the Leaders GroupCompany For Consultancy and Development in collaborationwith the information ministry’s tourism sector, the WorldTrade Organization (WTO), as well as local, regional and inter-national partners.

LOCA LMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

KUWAIT: (From left) Faisal Al-Drea’, Jassem Al-Habib and Nabila Al-Anjari speak at the press conference. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

By Faten Omar

KUWAIT: Leaders Group and the InformationMinistry’s Tourism Sector announced collaborat-ing to organize a conference on tourism titled‘Tourism and Development: Reality and Outlook.’The event, held under the motto ‘Tourism is aneed and a purpose’ takes place on 29-30 Marchat JW Marriott Hotel.

During a press conference held yesterday atKIPCO Tower, Jassem Al-Habib, AssistantUndersecretary for Tourism at the Ministry ofInformation, confirmed that the ministry ’stourism sector is going to highlight in this con-ference the role of public and private sectors inpromoting tourism in Kuwait. “Both sectors areinterested in giving the best ways to deal withfuture challenges related to the future of Kuwait,about its economy and the process of develop-ment,” he said. “Because of the drop in oil prices,

we believe that addressing this problem is notdone by going and fixing the past, but by goingforward toward the future and toward newresources.”

“In the second half of the last century, Kuwaitwas a touristic destination for many of citizens ofGulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries,” headded. “It was seen known as the ‘Pearl of theGulf’ at the time. Kuwait has a legacy in the fieldof tourism, and we can promote tourism againthrough the efforts of the public and private sec-tors, citizens and civil society.”

Dramatic impactNabila Al-Anjari, President of the Organizing

Committee of the conference and GeneralManager of Leaders Group for Consulting andDevelopment, said “The fluctuation of Oil pricesworldwide left a direct and dramatic impact onnational income, since oil represents more than

80 percent of Kuwait’s income.”She added that Kuwait needs serious

research and urgent solutions to diversifysources of income. “Tourism is a strategic optionto achieve several national goals economically,financially and developmentally, not to mentionthe importance of tourism and the entertain-ment industry as an outlet for the social, culturaland local sectors,” she said.

Anjari further stressed that this conferenceaims to take advantage of some of the leadingtouristic experiences and how to link tourismdevelopment plans, as well as discuss suggestedways and awareness campaigns on that regard.“We were keen to involve various agencies andmost of bodies that have direct or indirect rela-tions with tourism. A number of officials andrepresentatives from these parties will partici-pate to discuss the themes of the conference,”she pointed out.

Conference to discuss importance of

tourism for national economy, development

Dr Khaled Mahdi MP Ahmad Lari Huda Al-Shayeji

Tourism Conference to discuss National

Vision for Developed, Sustainable Tourism

Saad Al-Muhailbi

KUWAIT: Drastic fall of crude oil prices has brought tothe surface enormous difficulties facing Kuwait eco-nomic and financial decision-making authorities. Notonly so, the hardships have also revealed the effortsexerted to keep ripples of the international financial cri-sis at bay.

During recent times, when the oil prices were bullishhitting above the 100-point level, the national decision-making quarters and strategists were conducting stud-ies and forecasting possible hazards. Much of the inter-national praise for prudence and foresightedness hasbeen heaped upon the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) -namely by World Bank (WB), the International MonetaryFund (IMF) and top rating agencies.

The CBK has won international quarters’ confidenceand acclamation for maintaining Kuwait financial stabil-ity, steadying the monetary policy, as well as theKuwaiti dinar, the world’s most valuable currency, trad-ing at $3.3.

Standard and Poor’s rating agency, in a report issuedon March 16, 2016, hinted that the CBK supervisory pol-icy trimmed hazards facing the Kuwaiti banking sector,also noting amendments, introduced over the pastyears, on investment and banking regulations.

The CBK measures boosted the banks’ ability to with-

stand negative repercussions of the sharp drop of oilprices. Standard and Poor’s lowered rating for 10regional banks, however it maintained a highly positivemark for the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK).

Meanwhile, Moody’s Investors Service noted in areport on March 3rd that impact of Kuwait banking haz-ards on the State budget is very low noting that theKuwaiti financial sector has trimmed debts since out-break of the international financial crisis in 1988.

The Kuwaiti banks are well monitored by the CBKand Kuwait enjoys high credibility in terms of the finan-cial policy, where inflation has dropped after peaking in2008. Moreover, according to Moody’s, the exchangerating in Kuwait is much more flexible than the financialoperations in other GCC countries.

Fitch Rating said in a recent report that the CBK pru-dent policy has improved capitalization, liquidity andprofitability in the Kuwaiti banking sector. The IMFechoed the same views in a report issued on December2nd, also noting that the banking sector has proven it iscapable of withstanding impact of the bearish oil prices.The international fund reported that irregular loansrecorded in the Kuwaiti banking sector amounted to 2.6percent of the overall loan portfolio, and allocations forcovering the loans stood at 172 percent. —KUNA

Kuwait spared the worst,

thanks to the Central Bank

KUWAIT: Zain, the leading telecommuni-cations company in Kuwait, launched aninternal Clothes Donation campaign,where the company’s employees donat-ed over five tons of unused clothesthroughout three weeks to Syrianrefugees in collaboration with KuwaitSociety for Relief.

This initiative aimed at delivering onZain’s commitment to continually sup-port charitable causes as part of itsCorporate Social Responsibil ity andSustainability strategies, as well asencourage Zain employees to take part inthe spirit of giving and donate theirunused clothes to refugees who are inneed of support.

Zain believes in extending a helpinghand to support those who are lessadvantaged. The company stronglybelieves that similar charitable programshelp infuse a sense of responsibility intomembers of the society, to help supportthose who are in need of help.

Zain’s core values are built to give tothe less fortunate, and the company iskeen on participating in various internaland external charitable initiatives thatpromote the culture of giving and high-light how people can exert little effortwhile making a huge difference in others’lives.

The company’s collaboration withKuwait Society for Relief comes in linewith its Corporate Social Responsibilitystrategy that seeks to contribute to the

welfare of the society in several ways.Zain prides itself on its long-track ofrecords and contributions it has put inphilanthropic areas. The company strong-ly believes that such initiatives helpinfuse a sense of responsibility into mem-bers of the society, to help support thosewho are in need of help.

Zain staff donate over five

tons of clothes to refugees

Approved Market offers multiple choices to organic food fans

By Nawara Fattahova

KUWAIT: Eating healthy and organic food is becoming more popularby every passing day. The Approved Market, located at the SanabilTower is providing all kinds of healthy foodstuff. The grand opening ofthis store took place on Saturday and was attended by the AmericanAmbassador to Kuwait Douglas Silliman, as well as people seekinghealthy nutrition.

The grand opening took place after nine months following the softopening. “This is the first healthy store in the Gulf Cooperation Councilregion,” Fahad Al-Dhaher, General Manager of Approved Market toldthe Kuwait Times.

“All the available products here are approved by diet consultantFahad Al-Yahya. We have over 2,000 items available in the store, fromwhich around 70 percent are brought from the United States, while therest are brought from different countries.”

“Our wide range of products include snacks and beverages, dairy,breakfast cooking and healthy oils, spices, proteins, frozen seafood,and many others,” Dhaher added. “This is our only branch in the pres-ent time, thus we are planning to expand by the end of this year.” Aspart of this event, an exhibition was held in front of the store inside thetower, where many of the items were on display. Different agents ofvarious brands offered visitors a chance to taste their products and getfree samples, in addition to fitness challenges.

Fahad Al-Yahya (left) and US Ambassador Douglas Silliman inaugu-rate the event.

George Sassine, Altco General Manager (left) with Fahad Al-Dhaher,General Manager of Approved Market (center).

Staff of the Approved Market

Visitors seen at Altco’s booth at the exhibition.Rabie Qansou, General Manager of Food Vision (right) with GeorgeSassine, Altco General Manager US Ambassador Douglas Silliman tests a product at the event.

L O C A LMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

Photoo f t h e d a y

KUWAIT: Kuwait Dive Team of theEnvironmental Voluntary Foundation succeededyesterday in the removal of three tons of ship-wrecks, two tons of fishing nets and wastes from‘Niqaat Al-Shamlan’ or Shamlan harbor close toSouq sharq.

The team was able to lift the sinking boats byusing lifting belts and crane from the KuwaitMunicipality as well as water suction pumps inorder to remove them without damage, theteam’s marine operations’ officer Waleed Al-Shatti said. These wrecks and waste from boatsand fishing vessels affect the fish stocks inKuwait and harm the marine environment, hesaid.

Shatti called on boat owners and fishermento preserve the environment of the area, notingthe ongoing efforts of Kuwait Municipality,Fishermen Union, Kuwait ’s Port Authority,Coastguard, EQUATE Petrochemical Companyand volunteer divers. — KUNA

Divers remove wreckfrom Souq Sharq waters

GCC cultural committeediscusses mutual topics

RIYADH: The Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC)General Cultural Committee discussed yesterdayat its 43rd meeting some topics that interestmutual affairs of member states. On the side-lines of the meeting, Mohammad Abdel-Khaliq,a committee member and a senior at Kuwait’sNational Council for Culture, Arts and Letters,said that the committee deals with a number ofkey cultural topics, including the program ofenhancing the Gulf identity.

During the two-day meeting, confereesfocus on steps and developments on regula-tions of the joint cultural action, in addition toexecutive procedures on organizing culturalactivities and their plans for 2016/2017, he said.The meeting is expected also to discuss someother topics in this regard.

Farm developmentIn other news, Saudi Minister of Agriculture

Abdulrahman Al-Fadhli said that the agriculturalsector is one of the key economic sectors thatcontribute to finding investment or productive

opportunities that enjoy GCC backing and stimu-lation. In a keynote speech at the 27th meetingof the Agricultural Cooperation Committee ofthe Gulf Cooperation Council, the Saudi ministersaid the GCC member states are interested in thedevelopment and revamping of the agriculturalsector. He wished that the meeting could comeup with constructive recommendations to sup-port and promote inter-GCC cooperation in theagricultural sector. Meanwhile, GCC SecretaryGeneral Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani said foodsecurity in the GCC enjoys attention of all theleaders of the GCC member states. Addressingthe meeting, he emphasized that ensuring foodsecurity in the GCC is a fundamental element tothe provision of secure, stable, prosperous andsustainable environment for the GCC citizens.

He added that the GCC Secretariat had con-ducted a draft study for water security in theGCC countries as part of ongoing efforts exertedby the GCC Agricultural Cooperation Committeeto promote and develop agricultural, animal andfish resources. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Protecting human rights duringarmed conflicts is of paramount significance,Director of Kuwait Institute for Judicial andLegal Studies (KIJS) Adel Abdullah Al-Essa saidyesterday. In a speech at a Gulf CooperationCouncil (GCC) course on international humani-tarian law, Essa said “the issue of human rightsis of chief importance, at a time where theworld is beset with rampant conflict and tur-moil.” Essa noted that it is imperative, whilst inconflict, to choose certain modes of combatthat would ensure the safety of civilians.

Moreover, Deputy Head of Operations ofthe International Committee of the Red Cross(ICRC) Rania Mashlab said that Kuwait wasamongst the first nations to contribute tohumanitarian causes during the course of thelast 50 years. Kuwait’s humanitarian missions

have always aimed to assist victims of armedconflicts and civilians, who bear the brunt ofthe ill effects of war, Mashlab added.

She also underscored the importance ofadhering to international laws, at a time whereviolations of these laws have become thenorm rather than the exception, Mashlab not-ed. It is incumbent upon nations to dissemi-nate the tenets of international laws, so that toensure strict adherence to these laws, she said.

The session is a by-product of years ofcooperation between KIJS and the ICRC, onethat has yielded a number of fruitful programsand courses, Mashlab said. The five-daycourse, to feature participation of representa-tives of GCC nations, will tackle internationalhumanitarian laws and ways to implementthem. — KUNA

Institute highlights importance ofprotecting rights during conflicts

By Ben Garcia

KUWAIT: As Christians all over the world cele-brated Easter yesterday, the NationalEvangelical Church in Kuwait also held its tra-ditional sunrise service, this time with visitingpastor Gerald Golbeck. The new American pas-tor urged congregation to crucify their ownpersonal interest, self-desire and leave them inthe grave and rise up in victory. “Put to deathwhat we all want; like the messiah, deny selfand follow Him, nail all your personal interest,seal them in the grave and roll over with the

stone to locked them at the tomb,” he told thecongregation of more than a thousand atten-dees. The attendees were noticeably smallerthan previous sunrise services in the pastwhere late pastor Jerry Zandstra was yet a pas-tor. The pre and post war (invasion) pastordied in 2011.

Meanwhile, Golbeck was invited to see howhe could help to win back worshipers. He saidjust leave everything to God, because Heknows what our needs and wants in life. “Youknow, self-interest, causes partial hearing loss,and that is synonymous to partial death,” He

said. The new pastor also recalled the timewhen Mary visited the grave and found thetomb empty. “Sir if you take the body away,please tell me where you put him so I will goand get him; but he did not realize that theperson he was talking to was Jesus. She onlyrecognized Him when he talked, only oneword; Mary,” he said.

“So He knows our name, and when hecalled Mary, who was at that time in deep sor-row so in second, her sorrows turned into joy,because God knows our names, and you knowthe joy when you are in deep sorrow and

names are called and when you will get unex-pected call? He hears us even when we whis-per and he hears us when we shout. If you arein the situation right now, just leave every-thing to God, call Him and He will hear you,” hesaid. The service ended with the sharing ofbags of breakfast complete with the tradition-al Easter eggs.

‘Salubong’In the Holy Family Cathedral in Kuwait City,

the Filipino congregation also organized a tra-ditional ‘salubong’ (encounter) to celebrate

Easter Sunday rituals. It is usually held everyyear to commemorate the first meeting or theencounter between Virgin Mary, the mother ofChrist, and the resurrected Christ. It wasattended by thousands of Filipinos and peoplefrom other nationalities, officiated by Filipinopriest Reverend Father Ramon ‘Monching’Atanacio. The ritual was followed by SundayEaster Mass. “The encounter is not just a mereritual, it is an activity to remember the suffer-ing of Jesus Christ and the sorrow of a mother,”said Atanacio in the ceremony leading to theofficial Mass.

Christians in Kuwaitcelebrate Easter Sunday

KUWAIT: Pastor Gerald Golbeck accompanied by PastorNabil Atalla at the pulpit.

The congregation at the National Evangelical Church. The traditional ritual ‘salubong’ held at the Holy Family Cathedral in Kuwait City.

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti youngsters participate in a cultural activity to celebrate Kuwait’s heritage. — KUNA

By Attorney Fajer Ahmed

Legalese

Notice period, termination indemnity

and transfers

L O C A LMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

Today I will be answering questions regardingthe major concerns that I am receiving. I havediscussed notice periods, termination indem-

nity and transfers on multiple occasions before andin more detail, but I still receive a lot of questions. Sobear with me while I answer them.

But before I do so, before I lay out the law in frontof you, I want to make one thing clear. No matterhow many times I speak about these issues, youneed to talk about them. You need to confront thosethat are not treating you right. I can always provideyou with legal assistance and advice. The law is logi-cal, it has no space for mistreatments. So I urge youto talk up to those that are mistreating you at thework field, peacefully of course.

Notice periodQuestion: I have been working for a travel

agency for two years, and now I want to leave.How many days’ notice period do I have to give?

Fajer: The answer to your question depends on afew factors. I can see that you work for a privatecompany, so Kuwait’s Labor Law number 6 for 2010is applicable to your situation. With that said, thelaw differentiates between two different work con-tracts; definite and indefinite term.

For definite term, you can leave once your con-tract is over (make sure it is not automaticallyrenewable).

As for indefinite term, if your contract does notstate otherwise, the notice period is three months. Ishould also make clear that your notice should be inwriting, either via email or on paper (no texts orwhatsapp)!

Termination indemnity Question: is there an easy way of calculating

my termination indemnity? Can you pleaseexplain how I can calculate it?

Fajer: First of all, I would like to make it clear thatit is not a lawyer’s job to do the actual calculations.Even through the legal procedures, lawyers will notusually calculate. Instead, experts are called in to cal-culate the final amount (they are usually account-ants).

With that said, the principle of the calculations isnot that hard to master and I suggest that you calcu-late so you have a rough idea of your terminationindemnity amount.

This will depend on whether you have been ter-minated or you have terminated the contract.

In the event where you are terminated:* Less than 5 years of employment = 15 days’ pay

of your salary. * Between 5 to 10 years of employment = 30

days’ pay of your salary. The total amount should not exceed an amount

that is more than one year and a half of salary.In the event where you have terminated your

contract and it is an indefinite term contract:* 3-5 years of employment - half of the indemnity

mentioned above. * 5-10 years of - two thirds of the indemnity men-

tioned above. * 10 plus years - you will be entitled to your entire

indemnity.Let me give an example. You ended your indefi-

nite contract (with a three month notice period) andyour salary is KD 450 a month. You have been work-ing for seven years with this company. How much isyour termination indemnity? I have answered thisquestion by breaking it down to simple steps, as fol-lows:

1. Break down your salary into daily pay. You have26 working days per month. Therefore, you shoulddivide 450 by 26. That will average to KD 17.310

2. Calculate your termination indemnity as if youwere being terminated. That is 15 days’ pay for thefirst 5 years and one month pay for the remaining 2years .

15 x KD 17.310 x 5 = KD 1,298.1030 x KD 17.310 x 2 = KD 1,038.6Total = KD 2336.73. Calculate your termination indemnity accord-

ing to the fact that you have terminated the con-tract. For 7 years, that is 2/3 of the total above.

Work transferQuestion: I have been hearing in the news and

from word of mouth that you cannot transferanymore from one employer to another, and thatthe government is being strict because they donot want expats to live in Kuwait anymore. Is thistrue?

Fajer: Well, it is true that the procedures andrequirements for a work transfer are becoming moreand more strict, but it is not just for expatriates, it isfor nationals as well. I had to do a lot of paper work afew months ago at the Ministry of Social Affairs andLabor.

Now that does not mean that you cannot transferaccording to the law. Only those coming in as gov-ernment contractors or for work at the Free TradeZone will have difficulty transferring. They will needsignatures from both employers and the papers willneed to be submitted in their own certain area atthe Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor. Also, trans-fers will be difficult for those who have worked forless than a year in Kuwait.

For any legal questions or queries, emailask@fajerthelawyer.com.

Public Works Ministry to build bridge in

Arabian Gulf StreetKUWAIT: The Ministry of Public Works will build abridge linking Ta’awun and Balajat Streets with themajor aim of addressing traffic, a ministry official said.The project, to cost KD 13.997 million ($46 million), willreduce traffic congestion at the Bede’ roundabout bybuilding the 670-meter-long bridge over the round-about and link Ta’awun and Balajat streets, Ahmad Al-Hassaan, Assistant Undersecretary for RoadEngineering, said in a statement. He said the bridgewill have four lanes in total in addition to safety laneson both sides. Hassaan said the ministry was keen onmaintaining safety of its projects. — KUNA

Man sentenced to death for ex-wife

stab murderBy Meshaal Al-Enezi

KUWAIT: The criminal court yesterday sentenced a citi-zen to death for murdering his ex-wife in Salwa, saidsecurity sources. The man had stabbed the victim sever-al times when she was inside her vehicle. He alsocaused hand injuries to his son while he was trying tostop him. The suspect had waited outside the houseuntil the victim drove into the parking place andattacked her, according to investigations.

Medical errorA court yesterday sentenced a doctor and a nurse to

six months in prison for negligence and committingmedical errors that caused the death of a female citizenat a public hospital where they worked.

False newsThe court of appeal yesterday acquitted a blogger

who was accused by the state security department ofposting false news about arresting a person and defus-ing a bomb in an oil facility.

SlanderThe criminal court yesterday acquitted an Egyptian

man was charged with slandering His Highness theAmir. The ruling came after a mental assessment reportindicated that the man was mentally unstable.

Sit-inLocal activists plan to stage a sit-in this afternoon in

protest against the government’s failure to establishhousing projects at two blocks that the governmentrepossessed in Khaitan last year. The two blocks haveenough room to build 1,200 houses in addition to basicinfrastructure, said Meshaan Al-Hajri, official spokesper-son of a public campaign titled ‘When Will We Get aHouse.’ In other news, the South Metla’ residents’ com-mittee recently met to discuss the latest developmentsconcerning the area’s infrastructure contracts and prior-ities for the near future. Separately, Head of Ahmadicommittee at the Municipal Council Adel Allumai saidthat the committee agreed to adjust the Northern andEastern expansions at Wafra houses.

The Palace of Justice

By Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: A woman entered labor whileshe was in a boat in the middle of the seaas she was returning from Failaka island.The Kuwait Fire Services Department(KFSD) received a call about the incident,which happened as sea conditions wererough. Rescue men shortly arrived at thescene, but decided against transferringthe woman from the boat as a safety pre-caution. Instead, they guided the boat toRas Al-Ardh where paramedics were wait-ing to take the woman to the hospital. Afireman was injured when he fell in theboat and was taken to hospital.

No injuries in firesFiremen evacuated a house in Salwa

following a fire in a first floor apartment.KFSD received a call about the fire, andsouth Salmiya and Mishrif centersresponded. The fire was put out and noinjuries were reported. Meanwhile, fire-

men tackled a blaze in a Failaka islandchalet. The fire was contained, put out andkept from spreading.

SuicideCriminal evidence department person-

nel recovered the body of an Indian womanand sent it to the medical examiner for test-ing, in a case filed as suicide. A citizen hadreported that his housemaid had commit-ted suicide, so police were sent to the sceneand found the woman hanging dead from a

rope tied to the ceiling of her room.Investigations are ongoing in the case.

Labor law violatorsResidency affairs detectives arrested 22

Ghanaian nationals for violation of article20 of the labor law. The suspects werearrested inside a Fahaheel restaurant fol-lowing a report that they were holding an‘illegal party’ there. A total of six men and16 women, mostly domestic helpers, werearrested and sent to the proper authoritiesfor further action.

CampaignKuwait Municipality’s Public Relations

Department said the Environment AffairsDepartment and Yarmouk CleanlinessCenter participated in an awareness activi-ty held in Yarmouk. The event took place aspart of Kuwait Municipality’s support ofcampaigns that are carried out by volun-tary areas, government bodies and NGOsto protect Kuwait’s environment.

Woman rescued after enteringlabor during boat cruise

KUWAIT: A KFSD boat waits as a boat carrying a womanwho entered labor while returning from a trip toFailaka arrives to Ras Al-Ardh. Firemen extinguish a fire at a Failaka island chalet.

A firefighter receives treatment after injuring his armduring the pregnant woman’s rescue mission.

Firefighters tackle a blaze at a house in Salwa.

FROM THE ARABIC PRESSMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

CrimeR e p o r t

Theft

A contracting office owner accused his employee of steal-ing KD 1,500 in cash as well as documents that belong tothe office. According to a security source, the Kuwaiti mantold Fahaheel police station officers that his employeedenied the theft when he questioned him about it,although another employee testified against him.

Drug smugglingattempt foiled

KUWAIT: Abdaly customs officers foiled an attempt tosmuggle 500 grams of shabu (methamphetamine) hidden ina salt container. A customs officer said the drugs werecaught with possession of an Iraqi truck driver, who was tak-en to the relevant authorities to face charges. Meanwhile,Nuwaiseeb customs officers foiled an attempt to smuggletwo kilograms of hashish, caught with a passenger. The sus-pect was sent to concerned authorities.

Beggars caught

Ahmadi state security asked police to deal with threefemale beggars and a child, who were caught beggingfor money in a famous Ahmadi governorate market.Patrols were sent to the area and the three Syrian womenwere arrested. Police discovered that the child who waswith them is not related to them. Further investigationsrevealed that the women paid KD 15 per day for the timein which the kid was with them. The women and child arebeing processed for deportation. — Al-Rai, Al-Anbaa

Scam

A Saudi national was swindled by a citizen who tricked himinto believing that he would help him buy vehicle spare partsand car accessories. The man took KD 3,000 from the victimthen disappeared. The victim went to Mubarak Al-Kabeerpolice station afterwards and lodged a complaint. Detectivesare working on the case.

Al-Jarida

Al-Anbaa

By Dr Nermin Al-Houti

When the ancient Chinese wanted to live inpeace, they built the Great Wall of China,and believed that there will not be anyone

who could climb it because of its height. But duringthe first 100 years following its construction, Chinawas invaded three times. And each time, the landenemy legions were not in need to penetrate thewall or climb over it. Rather, they bribed the guardeach time and entered through the gate. This wasnormal because the Chinese were busy building thewall and forgot to ‘build the guard.’

Each one of us is a guard of his homeland. Thatshort story inspired many people, and sets an exam-ple for the listener, viewer and reader. Today, I amgoing to rely on it for the purpose of relaying themessage of this column. Our societies are losingmany values and principles that we were supposedto have instilled in the society and children to be thebest guards for their homes and countries.

Our societies have started to lose so much, andthat is the game of those who seek the fall of Arabcountries in the past, present, and future. Because ifwe wanted to destroy any civilization, we demolishthree foundations, which are: the family, education,examples and references. This is what happened inthe Arab World; the three foundations, which areessential for the building of its guards and for its civi-lization to remain, have collapsed.

The family is the first nucleus of the society.Family disintegration happens due to the absence ofa parent and the presence of children who could nothave someone to raise them right and correct theirmistakes. The majority became considering the fami-ly just as a social front to appear with in front of thesociety as a cohesive and loving family, bearing inmind that this is contrary to the truth. There are cas-es today in which both the father and mother wouldnot remember in which school stage the childrenare. Children became only a front for the fathers toshow that they are positive elements in the societyonly. But as for values and education, they were notinstilled in the country’s guards.

Education is the second point in the humanbeing’s life and the process of building the guard,but how? And where? That is the dilemma, becauseeducation receives most children who are not raisedcorrectly. So how can a teacher complete what par-ents planted so that he can harvest what is good forthe country, while he did not plant anything in thesoil of the guard? That is the sterile soil. But as for thefarmer, and we mean the teacher, lately we findexamples of teachers who do not know teachingsbasics!

Where is the teacher who the Prince of PoetsAhmad Shawqi wrote about: ‘Stand up for theteacher and glorify him, for the teacher’s status isalmost as high as that of a Prophet.’ That was our civ-ilization. But it became rare, in our reality and future,to find out who knows the meaning of educationand how to build a guard. The example and refer-ence is ours at this time, and it is only some tweetsand snaps, and other destructive ideas that areinstilled in the guards of the country!

In conclusion: My teacher ‘Abu Mubarak’ alwaystold me: “if the one who loves you advices youstrongly, do not feel bad. Rather, take benefit fromhis note, and him being adamant will not hurt you,and do not be like a person who broke many alarmclocks because they woke him up!”

— Translated by Kuwait Times

Al-Anbaa

By Adel Al-Ibrahim

The intense security campaigns being conducted bysecurity departments and the social support theyreceive are not only directed at expatriate labor to make

sure about their compliance with residency and work regula-tions. Rather, they are also directed at fugitives so that the citi-zen and expat feel that there is no place for any violator of thelaw.

Security statistics show that thousands of expats weredetained, while some of them were released after making surethey are not in violation of residency and labor rules and regu-lations, while several were deported for violation of those reg-ulations. And we have the right to ask where did those comefrom?

The answer is that the citizen is the one concerned in thefirst place with the presence of this large number of violatorsdue advantages given to him, which gives him the right as anindividual or owner of an establishment to bring in labor fromabroad via the Manpower Public Authority or the InteriorMinistry; the two areas were Kuwaiti citizens go to recruit laboreither based on Article 18 or Article 20 of the labor law.

Yet, this right has unfortunately been misused, and it still isdespite the strict rules in these two areas and the inspectiontours made on labor locations. This is what led to having secu-rity campaigns in residential, commercial, industrial and agri-cultural areas to make sure about expat labors’ compliance

with labor and residency laws. Yet, crackdowns uncoveredmany violators of those laws and sent them for deportation,which is the normal thing to do. But does the issue end here;by deporting the violating expat, and suspending the file ofthe company owned by the kafeel (sponsor)?

The truth of the matter is that the sponsor should be heldto account before the expat, not only by marking the file of hiscompany, but by referring him to court because he broughtthose laborers to Kuwait and left them in the street, which hurtthe country’s security and reputation. Those security cam-paigns happen under the eyes of international organization.Punishing the expat alone is a violation of the justice principle,and opens the door for some employers to continue to bringlaborers and leave them in the street, instead of use them forthe purpose they were brought for.

We are not talking about escaping and absconding cases,which have their own procedures and must be followed, sothe sponsor releases himself from responsibility. So, will we seea serious move to evaluate the rules of bringing expat labor,and a strict system that will hold the sponsor to account, andactivate measures against all those who harbor, hide oremploy a violating expat? This is what we hope for. Or will mat-ters be left as they are and we would only hear statements thatdo not change anything?

— Translated by Kuwait Times

Expats between security campaigns and sponsors

Buildingthe guard

Privatization billready in two weeksKUWAIT: Minister ofCommerce and IndustryDr Yousuf Al-Ali expectsthe privatization draft lawto be ready in two weeks,adding that the ministryis preparing its final formto submit it to theNational Assembly fordiscussion and approval.Ali said service sectors arecloser to privatization,most notably electricity,water, mail, and ports.Those sectors will beoffered to the private sector in two years followingstudies of mechanism to offer them for privatization,he said. — Al-Anbaa

Court blames Govtfor visa trafficking

KUWAIT: The criminal court recently passed a sen-tence that implies indirect condemnation of the meas-ures followed by the government in issuing residencyvisas. This came when the court acquitted a number ofdefendants who had been accused in a case describedas the largest visa forgery case, because the chargespressed against them did not match with the actionsactually did.

However, the court remarked that the documentspresented to it indicated the presence of a ‘hugeadministrative error’ that allowed using some excep-tions as general rules.

The court added that the abuse of some administra-tive measures and contradiction of specialties amongMinistry of Interior departments was behind malprac-tices concerning the issue of touristic visa permits,which eventually raised suspicions and led to bringingthe defendants to court. It added that the fact thatover 10,000 visas had been issued for only eight of thesuspects, support those suspicions.

Discussing the testimony of the first witness, aBrigadier in the police force, he told the court thatlaborers working in government projects are usuallybrought to Kuwait via tourist visas upon the approvalof the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MSAL). Thewitness also noted that such measures disregardedKuwait’s greater good and posed clear violation of lawsand regulations. Reconfirming that visa trafficking wasa crime against ethics and humanity, the court urgedconcerned administrative bodies to fix the error inorder to prevent it from happening against in thefuture, and sending innocent people to court or help-ing criminals escape justice. — Al-Qabas

KUWAIT: Official spokeswoman of theManpower Public Authority (MPA)Aseel Al-Mazeed said the authorityundertook the treatment of the marketplace situation since day one of itsestablishment, and preserves the rightsof laborers, which confirms Kuwait’skeenness on protecting workers in gen-eral. She said this is what the Kuwaitilaws and regulations confirmed, whileSocial Affairs and Labor Minister, StateMinister for Planning and DevelopmentAffairs Hind Al-Subaih laid the correctways to deal with the labor market’simbalance since she took over.

Mazeed said “I want to confirm thatthere is nothing in Kuwait’s laws what iscalled kafeel (sponsor), rather there is ajob, based on a contract signedbetween two parties, employers andemployees, and it is what links and reg-ulates the relation between the twosides.

Reform measuresMazeed said MPA took several

reform measures in this regard in coor-dination with Acting Director AhmadAl-Mousa and Deputy DirectorsGeneral. These measures include: mak-ing new rules to transfer work permits,rationalizing the issuance of work per-mits in a way that meets true needs ofthe employer, placing a new mecha-nism to estimate the private sector’sneeds of labor, in addition to forming acommittee with government authori-ties to place a new mechanism to esti-mate the labor of government projectswhich represents a large group of expa-triate labor in the market, and the com-mittee presented its recommendationsand are being implemented based on acertain time schedule.

She added that MPA also issued sev-eral regulatory decisions for small andmedium businesses, and designatedMubarak Al-Kabeer labor departmentas a model to register their files there,besides an inspection apparatus that isattached to MPA Director General’soffice, that is fast in inspecting files ofemployers.

Mazeed said that MPA also restoredthe committee of ruling on abscondingcomplaints once again to quicklydecide on cases in coordination withthe interior ministry. MPA also formedthe higher committee of labor transfer

disputes for workers on governmentcontracts to other government con-tracts in exchange of fees and weredecided by a ministerial decision,preparing a model work contract thatincludes the rights and commitmentsof both sides (employer and employ-ees), and it became effective since thestart of 2016.

AmendmentsMazeed said MPA prepared a draft

law to amend some of the private sec-tor labor law no, 6/2010, that includesamendment of article 57 related totransferring wages to banks, alsoamending some punishments men-tioned in the labor law by stiffeningpunishments according to the graveviolations committed by some employ-ers. And in order to put an end to someof what was going on by some unethi-cal workers at labor departments, andin coordination with the interior min-istry, offices that belong to the interiorministry at labor departments wereestablished to follow any manipulationby unethical persons, includingemployees, employers or mandoobs(company representatives). The MPAconcentrates on dealing with work sit-uation in departments and punish vio-lators, she said, adding that violatorsare sent for questioning and face legalprocedures.

As for the agricultural sector, shesaid a joint committee was formedbetween MPA and the Public Authority

for Agricultural Affairs and FishResources (PAAAFR), to inspect agricul-tural lands and make sure that laborersregistered on them are actually work-ing there. Also, a joint committee wasformed between MPA and the GeneralDepartment of Investigations to exam-ine files of violating employers andmake sure they are in good standingbefore sending them to investigationsdepartment, as the case was with viola-tors who were sent.

Regulating the marketplaceMazeed said that some of MPA’s

measures to regulate the marketplace,a decision on the condition of labortransfers from one employer to anoth-er, including:

Article 1:Labor brought in can be transferred

to the private sector according to thefollowing conditions:

1- Having one year elapsed on thework permit.

2- Employer’s approval of transferto another employer.

Article 2Laborers brought in with private

sector work permits for governmentcontracts and projects can be trans-ferred to work for the private sectoraccording to the following rules:

1- The end of the government con-tract for which the worker wasbrought.

2- The transfer should be limited toanother government contract for thesame employer, if available, or anothergovernment contract for anotheremployer, provided that the transfer islimited to technical labor decided bythe government entity that owns theproject.

3- The employer undertakes thecancellation of registered labor on thegovernment contract, which is notallowed to transfer in order to leave thecountry when the contract is over.

Article 3Work permits for the laborer

brought for sectors mentioned belowcan be transferred within the same sec-tor he was brought for after the elaps-ing of one year from the work permitdate and approval of the employer and

they are: Industry, agriculture, shep-herding, fishing. Transfer outside thosesectors is prohibited.

Article 4Work permits for workers brought

to work in the Free Trade Zone (FTZ), orwith foreign investors who are practic-ing the economic activities mentionedin law 116/2013 in regards to encour-aging direct investment in the state ofKuwait, and employers are committedto canceling work permits of thoselaborers to leave the country when thework relationship is ended.

Article 5Work permits can be transferred

without the elapsed period conditionand approval of the employer underthe following conditions:

1- Transfer labor employed locallyin all sectors, except for work permitsof labor used locally in the sectorsmentioned in article 3 of this decision,and labor used locally on governmentcontracts, which must have one yearelapse from the date of work permitissuance.

2- Dissolving, liquidating, bankrupt-cy or merging the business with anoth-er, or the change of its legal status, orits transfer through inheritance, will,gift, stale, or other legal means, provid-ed that is proven with a judicial andadministrative document.

3- Transfer workers in the govern-ment sector to the private sector andvice versa, taking into considerationregulations of interior ministry.

Article 6In cases when transfer is allowed

according to the rules of this decision,the worker can ask for the transfer ofhis work permit after the elapsing ofthree years since the issuance of thework permit without referring theemployer, while meeting the followingconditions:

1- Allowing the employer the warn-ing period stated in article 44 of theprivate sector labor law 6/2010.

2- The concerned labor departmentwill make sure when it receives theapplication for the transfer of the workpermit that a copy of the note sent bythe employee to the employer tellinghim about the warning period.

In case it was not possible for theemployee to prove granting theemployer the warning period men-tioned in article 44 of the said law, heshould submit a work permit com-plaint at the labor relations depart-ment in which he informs the employ-er, and the complaint’s date will beused as the start of the warning period,and the employer cannot submit astatement of not reporting to workduring the warning period.

Article 7In cases which work permit transfer

is allowed according to the rules of thisdecision, disputes of work permits willnot be considered before one yearelapses from the issuance date of thework permit, and the authority canapprove the application of work permittransfer without the approval of theemployer or reject the application sub-mitted by the employee, after dis-cussing the dispute by the concerneddepartment.

Article 8Family visa can be transferred for

work in the private sector for thosewho spent one continuous year in thecountry, with consideration of interiorministry procedures.

Article 9Labor brought with invitation to

work in the private sector cannot betransferred, and labor brought by com-mercial visas to work with employershaving contracts with the Americanmilitary are excluded from this condi-tion. The transfer should be doneaccording to the following conditions:-

1- The transfer should be for the samecontract the worker was brought for.

2- Payment of KD 200 extra fee.3- Compliance with the national

labor percentages decided by cabinetdecisions.

Article 10Domestic help cannot be trans-

ferred to work in the private sector, anddomestic help that is transferred towork in the private sector cannot betransferred before applying the rules ofthis decision until after the elapsing ofthree years from the date of issuing thework permit. — Al-Anbaa

No mediation, Kuwait onlyconveyed Iran’s wish: Envoy

MANAMA: Dean of the diplo-matic corps, Kuwait ’sAmbassador to BahrainSheikh Azzam Al-Sabahstressed that Kuwait’s recentefforts with Gulf CooperationCouncil (GCC) states camewithin His Highness theAmir’s keenness on consult-ing with fellow GCC leaders.Responding to a questionabout the nature of Kuwaitiefforts with GCC states con-cerning Iran, Sabah explained that Kuwait had received anIranian wish to ‘turn a new leaf of relations’ with GCCstates, adding that out of HH the Amir’s keenness on con-stant coordination with GCC leaders, the Iranian’s wishwas conveyed to them. “Nobody talked about mediationbetween Iran and GCC states at present,” he stressed, not-ing that everybody knows HH the Amir’s status and valueand that it was normal that this or that party may seek hishelp. “Everybody knows that Kuwait leadership does notmake compromises about matters of principle,” he under-lined. — Al-Rai

Ambassador Sheikh Azzam Al-Sabah

KUWAIT: Kuwait plans to launch acloud seeding project soon to provide asource of fresh water in the country, anofficial said yesterday. There is no exacttimetable for the project, which wouldbe carried out in cooperation with theEnvironment Public Authority (EPA),said Khaled Al-Shuaibi, the Ministry ofCommunication’s Assistant

Undersecretary for Aviation ServicesAffairs, Deputy Director Of The CivilAviation Department and Kuwait ’sEnvoy to the World MetrologyOrganization.

Shuaibi stressed that the project wasstill being studied jointly with Germanexperts to decide on its feasibility. “Thestudy is scheduled to be finished in

2016,” he underlined, pointing out thatin case the project succeeds, Kuwaitwould have to dig special channels tocollect rain water. He also denied anythe likelihood that the project wouldcreate any political problems withneighboring countries because it hadbeen already used in Saudi Arabia, theUAE, Jordan and Syria. — Al-Qabas

Cloud seeding in Kuwait Soon

Commerce Minister Dr Yousuf Al-Ali

No mention of kafeel in Kuwait’s laws: Official

KUWAIT: Official spokeswomanof the Manpower PublicAuthority (MPA) Aseel Al-Mazeed. — Picture courtesy ofAl-Anbaa

MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

Taiwan’s Nationalistselect their first female leader

Page 12

Pope criticizes ‘rejection’ of migrants in Easter messagePage 10

Trump details foreign policy views to NYT

‘America first’

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump described his for-eign policy as an “America first” approach thatwill stop the US from being systematically“ripped off,” he said in a lengthy interview pub-lished Saturday.

The phone interview with the New York Timeswas the most in-depth discussion so far on for-eign policy for the Republican frontrunner whohas spent his entire career in business.

During the conversation, he detailed hisviews on issues ranging from East Asian securityto Syria, the Islamic State group and relationswith allies such as Saudi Arabia. Trump said hewas not an isolationist, but described the UnitedStates as a poor debtor nation that dispropor-tionately funds international alliances such asNATO and the United Nations.

Similarly lopsided relationships exist withallies such as Japan, South Korea and SaudiArabia, he said. “We have been disrespected,mocked and ripped off for many many years by

people that were smarter, shrewder, tougher,” hetold the Times.

His plan“So America first, yes, we will not be ripped off

anymore. We’re going to be friendly with every-body, but we’re not going to be taken advantageof by anybody,” he said. Asked if Japan should beallowed to have nuclear weapons to protect itselffrom North Korea, Trump suggested that wouldbe an acceptable situation. “Would I rather haveNorth Korea have them with Japan sitting therehaving them also? You may very well be betteroff if that’s the case.” he said. Trump also said hewould withdraw US troops from Japan and SouthKorea unless the two Asian countries significantlyincreased their contributions to Washington forthe military presence.

“We cannot afford to be losing vast amountsof billions of dollars on all of this,” he said. Hethen slammed President Barack Obama’s admin-

istration for seeking a political exit for SyrianPresident Bashar al-Assad while simultaneouslyfighting the Islamic State group as “madness andidiocy.”

“I’m not saying Assad is a good man, ‘causehe’s not, but our far greater problem is notAssad, it’s ISIS,” he said. The real estate developersaid he would instead target the oil that pro-vides a significant portion of the extremistgroup’s funding, cracking down on undergroundbanking channels to cut off the flow of money.

Trump, who has repeatedly called for MiddleEastern allies to contribute boots on the groundin the fight against IS, said he would “probably”stop buying oil from countries like Saudi Arabiaunless they did so or reimbursed the UnitedStates for its role in the fight. Trump added thathe got most of his foreign policy information byreading various newspapers including the NewYork Times, which released a full transcript of theinterview. —AFP

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama is offering hisprayers for the families of the two Americans killed in thebombings in Brussels and telling Belgians that “Americahas their back” in the fight against terrorism. In his weeklyradio and Internet address, Obama is renewing his vow tocontinue the campaign against the Islamic State, whichtook credit for the attacks. He says U.S. officials are work-ing with allies to root out the group’s operations inEurope. Obama says US officials have ramped up intelli-gence cooperation and that FBI agents are in Belgiumassisting with the investigation into the bombings. Thepresident says he and allies will review the US-led air cam-paign and special operations against IS when world lead-ers gather in Washington next week for a summit onnuclear security. —AP

Obama tellsBelgians

‘America hastheir back’

ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE: President Barack Obama waves as he exits AirForce on Friday. —AP

WASHINGTON: Fresh from Democratic presiden-tial primary wins over the weekend in three USstates, Bernie Sanders yesterday claimed politicalmomentum he said could help him win the back-ing of Democratic power brokers in his race againstHillary Clinton. Sanders easily won nominatingcontests in Alaska, Washington and Hawaii onSaturday. His latest remarks reflect his plan to chipaway at Clinton’s commanding lead in the numberof delegates needed to win the party’s nomination.Interviewed yesterday by US broadcasters, Sanderssaid Democratic “super-delegates,” who can changetheir allegiance, might rally behind him becausesome polls suggest he has a better chance thanClinton of beating a Republican candidate.“Momentum is with us. A lot of these super-dele-gates may rethink their position with HillaryClinton,” said Vermont Senator Sanders on CNN’SState of the Union news program.

About 85 percent of the votes at the July 25-28

Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia,where a party nominee will be chosen to face theRepublicans in the Nov. 8 election, are being deter-mined by state nominating contests.

The other 15 percent is held by party powerbrokers who are free to vote as they like, meaningthey could hold the key in a tight contest. Super-delegates include party leaders and elected sena-tors, members of the US Congress, and governors.

After Saturday’s contests, the former secretary ofstate led Sanders by just under 300 pledged dele-gates in the race for the 2,382 needed to be nomi-nated. Adding in the support of super-delegates,Clinton had 1,712 delegates to 1,004 for Sanders,according to a tally by RealClearPolitics.com. The USsenator from Vermont needs to win up to two-thirds of the remaining delegates to catch Clinton,who will keep piling up delegates even when sheloses under a Democratic Party system that awardsthem proportionally in all states. —Reuters

Sanders claims momentum, eyes party power brokers

MAKHMUR: Iraqi families fleeing the violence in the northern city of Mosul arrive at the Kurdish checkpoint on Saturday. — AFP

I N T E R N AT I O N A LMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

MAKHMUR: Thousands of desperate civilians werefleeing fighting yesterday on the new front opened byIraqi forces against the Islamic State group south ofthe city of Mosul.

Families crammed in the back of pickup trucks,sometimes bringing dead and wounded with them,emerged from the dust after crossing the front lineand were met by Kurdish forces. Iraqi army troops andallied paramilitary fighters on Thursday launched amajor offensive aimed at retaking the northernNineveh province, the capital of which, Mosul, is the

main hub of IS in Iraq. The forces have been advancingfrom their base in Makhmur towards the town ofQayyarah, about 60 kilometers south of Mosul.

Growing numbers of civilians have been fleeingthe advance to Makhmur where they are being assist-ed by Kurdish peshmerga forces.”So far we havereceived around 3,000 people and the numbers aregrowing every day,” Ali Khodeir Ahmed, a member ofNineveh’s provincial council, told AFP in Makhmur. “Butthere are no services offered to them by the Iraqi gov-ernment, we have to put them up in a stadium in

Makhmur,” he said.The Iraqi government has describedthe advance as the first phase of what is expected tobe a long and difficult operation to retake Mosul, thecountry’s second city and the largest urban centre inIS’s cross-border “caliphate”. In the desert west ofMakhmur, dust storms were whipped up by the line ofvehicles fleeing IS-held territory, including a pickup car-rying four women and 10 children in the back.

‘Entire families have died’ A bearded man in a yellow dishdasha traditional

gown emerged from the dust, holding the body of ayoung girl wrapped in a blanket. “She is dead, she isdead,” he cried, his face caked in dust. His daughter,whose back was riddled with shrapnel when shellsrained down on their escape, was covered in blood.“Some entire families have died,” the father said.

The battle has so far focused on four villages westof Makhmur. Qayyarah, an area that includes a formerair base and an oil facility, lies to the west, on the otherbank of the Tigris River. Smain Nuweis fled the villageof Kharbardan with his family of seven squeezed intothe back of his Opel. “We have seen a lot of suffering,”the 28-year-old said. “And it got worse now with theshelling.” “IS will not allow the people to flee, they wantthem to stay,” said Nuweis, using an Arabic name for IS.

The provincial council official urged the govern-ment to do more for the flow of displaced people,who were given little more than water upon reachingthe peshmerga. “We need to open camps and provideurgent assistance. These people’s situation is very bad,they were barely able to take any belongings withthem,” said Ali Khodeir Ahmed. More than 3.3 millionpeople have been displaced by conflict in Iraq sincethe start of 2014, according to figures from the UnitedNations. — AFP

Thousands of Iraqis fleefighting south of Mosul

‘IS will not allow the people to flee’

Cairo ‘bows to pressure fromRome’ over student death probe

ROME: Egyptian detectives probing the murder of Italianstudent Giulio Regeni have agreed to extend the investiga-tion after pressure from Rome, Italian interior ministerAngelino Alfano said yesterday.

The Italian government vocally objected to Egypt’s insis-tence on Thursday that they had identified a criminal ganglinked to Regeni’s murder, after killing four members andfinding the student’s passport in one of the suspect’s apart-ments. Italian media and Western diplomatic sources inCairo have voiced suspicions that Egyptian security servicesk idnapped and tor tured to death the 28-year- oldCambridge University graduate student.

“It is important that in the face of our emphasis on thequest for truth, the Egyptians changed tack in a few hoursand told us that their investigations are continuing,” Alfanotold the Corriere della Sera newspaper. “Our investigatorsshould be directly involved, participating in questioningand evidence gathering... Our input is essential.”I repeat toGiulio’s parents and to the Italian public that the Italiangovernment will get the name of the murderers.”

Regeni disappeared in central Cairo on January 25. Hisbody was found nine days later on the side of a motorway,badly mutilated and showing signs of torture. According toItalian government sources, Prime Minister Matteo Renzipromised the student’s parents that Rome will continue toput pressure on Egypt to establish the facts of his death.

Quoted by Italian press, Regeni’s parents previouslysaid they were “injured and bitter” at the Egyptian author-ities’ latest attempt to explain their son’s murder. — AFP

MAKHMUR: Relatives sit next to the body of a girl who died during clashes between Iraqiforces and Islamic State group jihadists on Saturday. — AFP

BAGHDAD: Iraqi Christians gathered inBaghdad this weekend to mark Easter butcelebrations were tempered by fearsIslamic State would eradicate their shrink-ing community, even as the armylaunched a US-backed offensive to retakeMosul, their ancestral homeland.

In mid-2014, Christians in Mosul wereforced to flee when Islamic State seizedthe northern city and began destroyingcenturies-old religious sites, ending apresence that once numbered in the tensof thousands and dates back toChristianity’s earliest years.

US-backed Iraqi forces launched anoffensive against Islamic State last weektouted as the beginning of a broadercampaign to clear areas around Mosul,though progress has been slow. “We arethreatened with extinction. This is a harshword but every day we are being deplet-ed. Our people are travelling, migrating,”said Father Muyessir al-Mukhalisi, a priest

at Saint George’s Chaldean Church in eastBaghdad.

Like millions of other Iraqis forced toleave home by the jihadist group’s seizureof a third of the country, members of theChristian minority have moved fromnorthern towns and villages to the capitalor other cities, and many have joined themasses fleeing to Europe. Their numbershave fallen to a few hundred thousandfrom about 1.5 million before the US-ledinvasion in 2003.

Around 250 worshippers packed thepews for a Good Friday mass at theCatholic church fortified with concreteblast walls, concertina wire and armedpolicemen. Boys reenacted the crucifixionof Jesus Christ and the congregation sanghymns alternating between Arabic and avariant of the ancient Aramaic languagespoken by Jesus.

The church provides food and moneyto 45 families displaced from Mosul by

the ultra-hardline Sunni Muslim militants,who issued an ultimatum to Christians in2014: pay a tax, convert to Islam, or die bythe sword. The jihadists then strippedhundreds of Christian families of theirpossessions as they fled.

Huda Meti Saeed, 30, who attendedweekend services with her husband andthree young children, said her family leftMosul two years ago. An uncle livingthere was kidnapped and killed aroundthe same time. “We cannot return. Ourneighbours came and took our house.They wanted to take us hostage and takeall our valuables,” she said.

The family does not plan to emigratebut even if the militants are soonexpelled, Saeed said she ruled out takingher family back to Mosul, the largest cityin the north where Sunni and Shi’iteMuslims, Christians and Yazidis oncecoexisted. “Very few people are thinkingabout returning to Mosul,” she said.

TURN THE OTHER CHEEKBishop Basilio Yaldo preached against

retribution on Friday, telling worshippersthat Jesus’s message of forgiveness hadnever been more relevant than it is todayin Iraq.

Some Christians fight with the securityforces while others have taken up armsand formed militias to defend their landsagainst Islamic State on the plains ofNineveh near Mosul, but the cleric’s mes-sage seemed to resonate with attendees.

“Since we were young, we were raisedthat there should be love and tolerance,”Reem Paulis Saada, a 27-year-old churchvolunteer, said after the mass. “I will notseek revenge. What would I gain fromrevenge? It will come back to hurt me.”

Saada, a pharmacist who devotesmuch of her free time to the church,added that although she was not hopefulabout the future in Iraq, as one of the lastmembers of her family still living in the

country she felt bound to stay.Christianity in Iraq dates back to the

first century, when it was said theApostles Thomas and Thaddeus broughtthe Gospel to the fertile flood plains ofthe rivers Tigris and Euphrates. The coun-try is traditionally home to many differentEastern Rite churches, both Catholic andOrthodox, and their presence was once asign of Iraq’s ethnic and religious diversi-ty. But now Christians say they are oftendenied freedom of expression in the pre-dominantly Muslim country, and likemany Iraqis, lack security, basic servicesand economic opportunity.

“The issue is: what comes after theliberation of Mosul?” said Mukhalisi,the priest, suggesting the Baghdadgovernment needed to do more toprotect Christians in areas under itscontrol. “Thinking only about liberat-ing Mosul does not provide relief toChristians.” — Reuters

Iraqi Christians fear extinction, see no relief from Islamic State

JERUSALEM: An Israeli army murderinquiry into a soldier’s killing of a supineand wounded Palestinian assailant, the firstsuch legal proceedings in six months ofstreet violence, triggered friction yesterdaywithin Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu’s cabinet.

Video taken by Israel’s B’Tselem humanrights group showed the infantryman fir-ing on Thursday into the head of aPalestinian as he lay on the ground, stillmoving, in Hebron in the occupied WestBank. Minutes earlier, the Palestinian hadstabbed and wounded another soldier.

The soldier has been arrested on suspi-cion of murder, the military said, and couldbecome the first member of the Israeliarmed forces to be charged with murdersince a wave of Palestinian attacks, oftenmet with lethal response, erupted inOctober.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett, whoheads the far-right Jewish Home party inthe coalition government, cautionedagainst murder charges. Israeli media saidBennett sparred with Netanyahu over theissue at Sunday’s cabinet meeting.

The Hebron incident brought to the boila debate in Israel over whether excessiveforce has been used against Palestinianassailants. Palestinian leaders have accusedthe Israelis of routine extra-judicial killings- a charge that Israel denies. According toArmy Radio, the soldier arrived on thescene after other troops determined thePalestinian no longer posed any danger,and twice told comrades he “deserves todie”.

The infantryman’s family said he hadfeared the Palestinian might set off a hid-den bomb. Supporters circulated an onlinepetition demanding that he be decoratedfor bravery. “I state here that this soldier isnot a murderer, and that prosecution on amurder clause would be a total loss of con-

trol,” Bennett told Israel Radio in remarksechoed by other ministers, including fromNetanyahu’s rightist Likud.

“Someone got confused between thebad guys and good guys .. and I intend toensure that the soldier has a just trial andnot a show trial,” Bennett said. Netanyahu,on Thursday, responded to the shootingwith measured censure, saying the soldier’saction “does not represent the values ofthe IDF (Israel Defense Forces)”. He sound-ed even more circumspect on Sunday.

“IDF troops, our children, adhere to highmoral standards as they bravely fightblood-thirsty murderers in tough opera-tional circumstances,” he told his cabinet inbroadcast remarks. “I am certain that in anyevent, including the current incident, theinquiry takes all of the conditions intoaccount.”

The past six months has seen the worstperiod of sustained violence in the WestBank, Jerusalem and the Israeli interiorsince the second Palestinian uprising end-ed a decade ago. Palestinians have killed28 Israelis and two US citizens in knife, car-ramming or gun assaults. At least 190Palestinians, 129 of whom it says wereassailants, have been killed by Israeli forces.Many others were shot during clashes andprotests. Israel has stepped up trainingmeant to keep troops’ shooting accurateand restrained - including at nine hi-techranges where they respond with laser-fir-ing rifles to simulated Palestinian attackson an interactive screen.

“The first time the soldiers try it out, 30percent fail - either by freezing up, orthrough improper shooting of bystandersor of terrorists who no longer pose athreat,” Nadav Sheetrit, who runs the BagiraSystems Ltd simulator at Camp Tsurinfantry training base, told a visitingReuters reporter. By the second try, thepass rate is 99 percent, he said. — Reuters

Netanyahu at odds over probe of soldier in Hebron shooting

HEBRON: Relatives mourn next to the body of Ramzi al-Qasrawi, 21, aPalestinian man who was killed in a reported stabbing attack, during hisfuneral in the West Bank. — AFP

TRIPOLI: Sitting outdoors at a quietTripoli cafe, Libyans wonder how athird government could possiblytake up residence in a capital con-trolled by armed groups who rejectit. “The mood is tense and peopleare tired,” says Abu Ehab, sipping acup of green tea. “Having three gov-ernments is causing great prob-lems.”

Tripoli’s capital has been relative-ly calm since a militia alliance includ-ing Islamists seized it in mid-2014,but the expected arrival of a disput-ed UN-backed unity governmenthas raised fears of renewed violence.

Both of Libya’s rival authorities-the one in the capital and the otherthat in 2014 fled to the country’s fareast-have refused to cede power tothe new government under primeminister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj.”Ifthe (unity) government felt it hadpeople’s support here, it wouldcome and things would get better,”adds Abu Ehab, a 71-year-old biolo-gy professor. “But this will be diffi-cult. We will have to be patient andpray.”

Tripoli’s unrecognised adminis-tration on Friday announced a “max-imum state of emergency” after the

Tunisia-based presidential councilheaded by Sarraj said the govern-ment would soon start working inthe capital. In a coastal city whoseairport is controlled by forces loyalto a hostile local administration,some residents fear fighting willbreak out and have stocked up on

food in preparation.”No more than10 cans of tuna per person,” a sign inone shop reads.

Giant fan and parachute Others in the city can only imag-

ine how Sarraj’s government mightenter the capital. Some say Sarraj

will arrive by helicopter and set uphis government in the Palm Citybeach resort in the west of the city.Others picture him arriving by seabacked by international militaryforces.

Residents jokingly share the“news flash” that militias have set upa giant fan in the desert to create asandstorm to prevent Sarraj’s planefrom landing. One caricature circu-lating on Twitter shows the primeminister-designate arriving in a UN-marked parachute.

UN special envoy Martin Koblerwas on Wednesday prevented fromtravelling to Tripoli to work oninstalling the power-sharing admin-istration.Libya has descended intochaos since the 2011 ouster of long-time dictator Moamer Kadhafi,allowing jihadists including theIslamic State group to gain ground.

Western countries have agreedthat military action is needed toremove IS from Europe’s doorstep,but they want an installed unitygovernment to request help beforeformally intervening.

Disputed legitimacy But Libya’s rival parliaments have

failed to endorse the new govern-ment and observers question itslegitimacy. The council headed bySarraj earlier this month said itwould start working on the back ofa petition signed by a narrow major-ity of Libya’s elected lawmakers.

In Tripoli, the prospect of a work-ing unity government has at leastraised hopes of a way out of a col-lapsing economy. Queues haveformed in recent weeks from earlymorning outside Tripoli’s cash-strapped banks and the cost of liv-ing has increased. Begging isincreasingly common in the capital,much to the shock of its residents.

In one upper-class neighbour-hood, Fathi hands money to a familywho pulled up in a car outside hishouse asking for help. “How did weget here?” he asks. And even as thedisputed unity government adds tothe country’s disarray, some Libyanshave suggested a fourth alternative.

Around 100 protesters on Fridaygathered in the capital’s centre call-ing for a return to the monarchy thatruled the country before Kadhafiseized power in 1969.”The Libyanmonarchy unites us,” reads one graf-fiti on the walls of the capital. — AFP

Worries, jokes as Tripoli awaits new government

TRIPOLI: Libyans take part in a protest against the UN-backedunity government on Friday. — AFP

I N T E R N AT I O N A LMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

MEXICO CITY: An effigy of US presidential con-tender Donald Trump-a hated figure for many inMexico-was set ablaze late Saturday in a con-temporary twist on a Holy Week ritual.

A smiling figure of the billionaire Americanbusinessman went up in flames during theEaster eve “Burning of Judas,” a tradition in whichMexicans torch effigies of the devil-and of publicfigures they dislike.

In a neighborhood of the Mexican capitalcity, this year the devil took the form of Trump,who is notorious here for comments made dur-ing his presidential campaign accusing Mexicanimmigrants in the United States of being crimi-nals and rapists.

About 200 people attended the event lateSaturday, in which a six-foot (two-meter) papier-mache likeness of Trump wearing a blue suit,white shirt and red tie was torched. The figurewas created by Felipe Linares, who has beenmaking effigies for more than 50 years at aworkshop founded by his father in the early20th century.

This year he made likenesses of the devil,President Enrique Pena Nieto, Mexican goal-keeper Guillermo Ochoa and Trump-all of whichwent up in flames. Linares told AFP the likenessof Trump was chosen “because we don’t likehim. He speaks ill of Mexicans.”

He was referring to the real estate tycoon’sremarks on the campaign trail describingMexican migrants as criminals and rapists. TheHoly Week tradition of burning effigies isbelieved to symbolically dispel evil, while torch-ing the Judas figure exacts revenge for thedeath of Jesus.

Since making his remarks, Trump hasbecome a figure of scorn in Mexico. Some havemade pinatas resembling the Republican fron-trunner, while one artist produced shirts deco-rated with his image along with a vulgarity.

An opinion poll this month found some 61percent of Mexicans hold a negative opinion ofTrump, who has vowed to force Mexico to payfor a huge wall across the US border to stop ille-gal migration. —AFP

OSHKOSH: Donald Trump’s latest rudecomments about Ted Cruz’s wife are rais-ing new alarms among Republicansabout the party front-runner’s ability towin over women, especially in a poten-tial fall presidential match-up withHillary Clinton. Trump is under fire forjabs at Heidi Cruz, as the rivals engage inan increasingly bitter, personal battle forthe GOP presidential nomination.Hostilities reached a new high Fridaywhen Cruz accused Trump and “hishenchmen” of stoking false rumors thathe’d cheated on his wife. “We don’t want apresident who traffics in sleaze and slime,”the Texas senator told reporters inWisconsin. “We don’t want a presidentwho seems to have a real issue withstrong women.” Trump’s history of sexistcomments, from his “Apprentice” televi-sion program to racy interviews withradio host Howard Stern, have long beenseen by Republicans as a potential vul-nerability, especially in a general electionmatch-up with Clinton, who would bethe country’s first female president. Theissue took off in the first GOP debatewhen Fox News’ Megyn Kelly askedTrump about calling women “fat pig,”“dog” and other names. Her questionsparked a continuing quarrel betweenTrump and the network.

Multiple backlashes Trump also faced a backlash after he

was quoted in a “Rolling Stone” profileinsulting businesswoman Carly Fiorina,who endorsed Cruz after she droppedout of the 2016 Republican race. “Look atthat face!” Trump was quoted saying.“Would anyone vote for that? Can youimagine that, the face of our next presi-dent?!”

The issue reignited Wednesday afteran anti-Trump super PAC released an adfeaturing a risque photo of his wife,Melania, a former model, taken in a GQphoto shoot. “Meet Melania Trump. YourNext First Lady. Or, you could supportTed Cruz on Tuesday,” it read. Trumpresponded by falsely accusing Cruz ofrunning the ad and warning, “Be careful,Lyin’ Ted, or I will spill the beans on yourwife!” Cruz’s wife is a former GoldmanSachs investment manager and WhiteHouse aide, who served as economicpolicy adviser to President George WBush.

On Wednesday night, Trump escalat-ed things when he re-tweeted side by-side images of Cruz’s wife, with an

unflattering grimace, and Melania in agauzy, glamorous pose. “No need to ‘spillthe beans’” read the caption. “Theimages are worth a thousand words.” Atan event Thursday in Wisconsin, Cruzresponded by calling Trump “a snivelingcoward” who has a problem withwomen - particularly “strong women.”Cruz continued to dig in Friday, paintingTrump’s comments as part of a largerpattern of misogyny. “He’s directed theseattacks at Megyn Kelly. He’s directedthese attacks at Carly Fiorina. He’s direct-ed these attacks at Columba Bush, Jeb

Bush’s wife,” he said. Though Trump con-tinues to outdistance Cruz in the dele-gates that will decide the GOP nomina-tion, recent polls have shown the billion-aire’s favorability on the decline, particu-larly among women.

Negative opinion In a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal

poll, 70 percent of women had a negativeopinion of Trump. Nearly three quartersof women overall, and 39 percent ofRepublican women, had an unfavorableview of him in a recent CNN poll. “Healready had a gender gap prior to all this,”

said Republican pollster David Winston.“The potential for that to be bigger nowlooms on the horizon.”

Katie Packer, a former top aide to2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney, andthe founder of the anti-Trump OurPrinciples PAC, said all this spells troublefor the general election. Packer, whosegroup was behind a recent ad that fea-tures women of various ages readingcomments Trump has made aboutwomen, said Clinton remains vulnerableamong many women. However, shesaid, “If he loses women by 10 points

more than Mitt Romney, it’s not a ques-tion of whether or not he loses, it’s amatter of who does he sweep out withhim.”

Indeed, Trump’s latest tweeting strucka sour chord with some female suburbanvoters considered the key to victory inbattleground states such as Colorado “Hemakes all kinds of derogatory statementsagainst women, and I just don’t like tohear that,” said Ilse Lucas, 70, a retiredteacher’s aide who doesn’t consider her-self a Democrat or Republican. Shoppingin a suburb west of Denver, Lucas saidTrump’s comments could drive inde-

pendent voters like her to Clinton. Cruz,meanwhile, worked to send a distinctlydifferent signal Friday on a campaign tripahead of Wisconsin’s April 5 primary. Atan Oshkosh manufacturing plant, Cruzwas introduced by his wife, who praisedhim as her “best friend and partner.” Afterthe introduction, he gave her a long hugas the audience cheered. “In the last fewdays, Donald Trump has taken to attack-ing Heidi,” Cruz told the group, sparkingboos that echoed through the ware-house. “I’ll tell you something,” Cruz said. “Ithink Heidi is the most beautiful, brilliant,

amazing, fantastic, loving mom, anincredible wife and she’s my best friend inthe whole world and I love you with all ofmy heart.” It was a message that, for somevoters, couldn’t cover up the nasty fightbetween the two candidates. “I don’tknow what to say except that I’m disap-pointed in both of them,” said JenniferChurchfield, a 52-year-old Republicanfrom a suburb south of Denver. “The con-versation needs to be about the econo-my, jobs, education, foreign policy. Youknow, things that matter. “This is a non-debate,” she added. “What are theydoing?” —AP

Attacking Cruz’s wife could hurt Trump’s female votesRivals engage in increasingly bitter, personal battle

DANE: Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas and wife Heidi walk on stagebefore the candidate spoke at a campaign stop. —AP

MEXICO CITY: Mexican’s set fire to an effigy of US Republican presidentialcandidate Donald Trump yesterday. —AFP

Trump effigy set ablaze in Mexico Easter ritual

PARIS: Seven suspected Somali pirates aredue in court in Paris on Tuesday over thehijacking of a French yacht that left theowner dead and his wife facing a hellishkidnapping ordeal. Christian and EvelyneColombo had sold everything to maketheir dream voyage around the world. Butaround lunchtime on September 8, 2011,naval authorities received a distress signalfrom their “Tribal Kat” catamaran. They hadleft the port of Aden in Yemen five daysearlier and were heading for Oman, a jour-

ney that took them through notoriouslypirate-infested waters.

A German frigate found the boat sever-al hours later. There were bullet holes inthe deck and a pool of blood with a pairof glasses f loating in it . No one wasonboard. Two days later, a Spanish war-ship located the skiff suspected to belongto the pirates. They tried to approach butturned away when the attackers draggedEvelyne Colombo into view, a gun to herhead. —AFP

Somali pirates on trial in France for hijacking

I N T E R N AT I O N A LMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

ZURICH: Austria’s interior minister hascalled for tougher measures to protectthe European Union’s borders fromreturning jihadi fighters, Austrian news-paper Oesterreich reported yesterday.

“We know that more than 5,000 peo-ple traveled to Syria and Iraq to betrained or even to fight,” Interior MinisterJohanna Mikl-Leitner told the paper. “Soit’s more pressing than ever that EU citi-zens be systematically controlled at the

outside borders in the future,” she said.Disagreement over immigration and

border protection has divided theEuropean bloc as suicide bombings inBrussels on Tuesday and attacks in Parislast November have heightened securityconcerns amidst a wave of incomingrefugees.

Austria - the last stop before Germany,the top destination for migrants fleeingwar and poverty in the Middle East and

beyond - has come under fire for itstough immigration stance. Vienna hassaid it will introduce tougher checks at itsborder with Italy and has urged the EU tosend soldiers to Greece to police thebloc’s frontiers.

In a separate interview with Austriannewspaper OberoesterreichischeNachrichten yesterday AustrianChancellor Werner Faymann said GermanChancellor Angela Merkel’s policy of

upholding Germany as an asylum mag-net was unfair on Austria. He urged theGerman chancellor to speak out againstmigrants trying to break through variousborders to access the country.

“Merkel’s policy can cause damage toAustria. We don’t want to be Germany’sbuffer zone,” Faymann said. On Saturday,members of Merkel’s conservatives saidEurope urgently needed to improve theway its security agencies share informa-

tion, stoking a debate on how to tightensecurity while safeguarding data protec-tion.

“Faster communication is importantso that tips about possible attacks canbe quickly assessed and terrorist actscan be prevented if possible before theytake place or cleared up in a morefocused way,” Germany ’s EUCommissioner Guenther Oettinger toldthe daily Bild.—Reuters

Austrian minister calls for tighter border controls for EU citizens

DUBLIN: Thousands of soldiers march solemnly through the streets yes-terday. —AP

BRUSSELS: Belgium’s governmentsought to contain criticism of itshandling of the Brussels attacksyesterday but acknowledged thatneglect over decades had causeddeficiencies that have hamperedan effective response to violentextremism.

Interior Minister Jan Jambonsaid the government has invested600 million euros ($670 million)into police and security servicesover the past two years but said itsantiquated justice system andsecurity services were still laggingbehind. Jambon, whose offer toresign on Thursday was declinedby the prime minister, said errorswere made prior to the March 22suicide bombing attacks inBrussels that killed at least 31 peo-ple and wounded 270 others.

But, speaking on the VRT net-work, Jambon said hiring anti-ter-ror special ists and special izedequipment does not happen inweeks or months and insisted thatnew investments need time beforethey become visible to the public.

As international pressure onBelgium mounted for serving as anunwitting rear-base for extremistfighters who launched the Nov. 13massacres that left 130 dead inParis, the government has beenforced to defend its choices andthe actions of investigators.Lawmakers, meanwhile, aredemanding an inquiry.

Belgian police and the armyhave been deployed, sometimesaround the clock, at major build-ings and sites in the capital inincreasing numbers sinceNovember, when Brussels wentinto lockdown over fears that topParis suspect Salah Abdeslam hadreturned and was hiding there.

As it turned out, Abdeslam didreturn, but police did not find andarrest him until March 18, fourdays before suspects from his net-work exploded suicide bombs inBrussels.

Belgian investigators have beenslammed for not questioningAbdeslam long enough or hardenough after he was shot in theleg during his arrest. Police have

also been criticized for taking toolong to get to Zaventem airport onTuesday morning after two suicidebombers blew themselves upthere - and left an even biggerthird suitcase full of explosives.

“ There have been errors,”Jambon said yesterday, whenquestioned by VRT televisionabout his offer to resign. Jambonand Justice Minister Keen Goenswere grilled by lawmakers Fridayover how authorit ies fai led to

arrest suicide bomber Ibrahim ElBakraoui before he blew himself inthe packed depar ture hall atBrussels Airport.

Turkey has said that Bakraoui -whose brother Khalid was the sui-

cide bomber at the Maelbeek sub-way station on Tuesday - wascaught near Turkey’s border withSyria in 2015 and Ankara hadwarned Brussels and theNetherlands that he was “a foreignterrorist fighter.” Belgian authori-

ties said they did not know he wassuspected of terror-related activi-ties until after he was deported tothe Netherlands.

Jambon also said the Brusselssubway network had been told toshut off ser vices 20 minutesbefore the attack in the city ’sMaelbeek subway station - closeto European Union headquartersand the U.S. embassy. He did notfully explain why it was not closedin time, raising more questionsabout the efficiency of Belgium’ssecurity services.

“It serves no purpose lookingfor polemics, considering the cir-cumstances,” Jambon said.Yesterday, I talian police in thesouthern city of Salerno said theyhad arrested an Algerian wantedin Belgium for an alleged false IDcrime ring faci l itating i l legalmigration linked to the attacks inParis.

In the center of Brussels, a“march against fear” planned foryesterday was cancelled afterJambon asked people to stay awaysince police were too stretched toprovide security and were neededfor the ongoing investigations intothe Brussels attacks.

At the Maelbeek subway sta-tion, messages of sadness, solidari-ty and grief left for victims of thebomb attack there were being col-lected for storage in the Belgiancapital’s archives. The messageswere being laid out yesterday onabsorbent paper to dr y afterovernight rain and carefullystacked for transport. Those thatcan’t be taken for safekeepingwere being photographed.

“ We are tr ying to collect asmany documents we can find andthey will be preserved,” promisedhead archivist Frederic Boquet.Marina Queralt, who often walkswith her dog by the Maelbeek sta-tion, said the public response tothe attacks has been spontaneousand focused on peace. “Ever ymorning, every afternoon, (thesite) was packed with people whowanted just one thing: that peo-ple stop killing each other,” shesaid. —AP

Belgian minister says neglecthampered anti-terror fight

BRUSSELS: People react as they gather at a memorial site at thePlace de la Bourse on Saturday. —AP

DUBLIN: Thousands of soldiers marchedsolemnly yesterday through the crowdedstreets of Dublin to commemorate the100th anniversary of Ireland’s Easter Risingagainst Britain, a fateful rebellion thatreduced parts of the capital to ruins andinspired the country’s eventual independ-ence.

The Easter parade through Dublin fea-tured military ceremonies at key buildingsseized in Easter 1916, when about 1,200rebels sought to fuel a popular revoltagainst Ireland’s place in the UnitedKingdom.

The planned five-hour processionpaused at noon outside the colonnadedGeneral Post Office on O’Connell Street, therebel headquarters a century ago, wherecommander Padraig Pearse formallylaunched the revolt by proclaiming tobemused Dubliners the creation of a “provi-sional” Republic of Ireland.

A soldier in today’s Irish Defence Forces,Capt. Peter Kelleher, stood in front of therestored post office yesterday to read thefull, florid text of Pearse’s 1916 proclamation.

“In the name of God and of the deadgenerations from which she receives her oldtradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us,summons her children to her flag and strikesfor her freedom,” Kelleher said to an audi-ence that included Ireland’s leaders andscores of grandchildren of the rebels.

Many donned their ancestors’ EasterRising bronze service medals, which Irelandissued in 1941 on the rebellion’s 25thanniversary.

British forces, among them manyIrishmen focused on fighting Germany inWorld War I, were caught off guard by theseizure of largely unguarded buildings in1916. Most officers were attending horseraces in the Irish countryside. But Britainquickly deployed army reinforcements whowere cheered by some locals as theymarched into Dublin. Artillery based atTrinity College and a gunboat on the RiverLiffey which bisects the city shelled the postoffice and other rebel strongholds, forcingtheir surrender within six days.

The fighting left nearly 500 dead, most ofthem civilians caught in the crossfire or shot- by both sides - as suspected looters. Some126 British soldiers, 82 rebels and 17 policewere slain.

Many Dubliners opposed the insurrec-tion as an act of treason in time of war, butpublic sentiment swiftly swung in the rebels’favor once a newly arrived British Army com-mander decided to execute Pearse and 14other rebel leaders by firing squad inDublin’s Kilmainham Jail. A 16th figure,Roger Casement, who days before the EasterRising was caught trying to smuggleGerman weapons by sea to Ireland, washanged in London. —AP

Ireland recalls fateful EasterRising against British rule

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis yesterdayspoke out against the “rejection” ofmigrants and refugees during hisEaster message as Europe struggleswith its biggest migration crisis sinceWorld War II.

“ The Easter message of the risenChrist... invites us not to forget thosemen and women seeking a better future,an ever more numerous throng ofmigrants and refugees... fleeing from war,hunger, poverty and social injustice. “Alltoo often, these brothers and sisters ofours meet along the way with death or,

in any event, rejection by those whocould offer them welcome and assis-tance.”

The pontiff referred to Syria’s “lengthyconflict, with its sad wake of destruction,death, contempt for humanitarian law”,stressing his hope for peace talks set toresume next month between the govern-ment and opposition forces. “Good willand the cooperation of all will bear fruitin peace and initiate the building of a fra-ternal society,” he said to the crowdsgathered below the central balcony of St.Peter’s Basilica. —AFP

Pope criticizes ‘rejection’ of migrants in Easter message

IDOMENI: Hundreds of hopeful refugeesflooded back to Greece’s overwhelmedIdomeni camp on the border with Macedoniayesterday following rumors that the closedfrontier would be forced open.

The renewed influx came as Greek authori-ties were trying to evacuate an estimated11,500 people who were stranded at thesqualid camp after Balkan states slammed shut

their borders, cutting off the migrant route tothe European Union.

By late morning, around 250 people of allages had gathered by the railway tracks andthe border fence, singing and shouting slo-gans, an AFP correspondent said, in a largelypeaceful demonstration watched by around 50Greek policemen in riot gear.

“No violence, we just want to cross,” readone banner, while another said: “Freedom of

movement is everybody’s right.” The wave ofnew arrivals appeared to be triggered by arumor that international journalists and RedCross officials would help them force their wayacross the fence into Macedonia, a youngSyrian refugee told the Athens News Agency.

“We heard today that the border will openand we came here to cross,” he said. “They toldus the Red Cross and 500 journalists from all

over the world will be with us,” he said, withoutspecifying the source.

Another young Syrian refugee said his sister,who is living in Germany, read the same claimon the Internet and alerted him. “People havebeen here for a long time. I think it’s very dan-gerous to cross, especially for the children butwhat should we do?” 24-year-old QasimMosawy from Afghanistan told AFP. Dozens ofother migrants could be seen heading through

the fields towards the Idomeni crossing, an AFPreporter said.

‘Creating false hope’ “We are trying to step up our information

campaign to the refugees. Some people, forreasons we don’t understand, are creating falsehope,” said Giorgos Kyritsis, spokesman of theSOMP agency which is coordinating Athens’response to the refugee crisis.

Using loudspeakers, Greek officials toldthose gathering that the crossing wouldremain closed, repeating the message in bothArabic and Farsi, the Athens News Agency said.

Two weeks ago, hundreds of people werestopped by Macedonian troops after crossing asurging river on the border. Bypassing the regu-lar crossing, they tried to wade through theswift-flowing water, clinging to a rope strungbetween the banks in order to cross the frontier.

Three Afghan migrants, including a pregnantwoman, drowned. The rest were stopped byMacedonian troops and sent back to Greece,along with journalists travelling with them.

“Macedonia will not allow (the) reopeningof the Balkan route,” said Ivica Bocevski, a rep-resentative of President Gjorge Ivanov in thewake of the incident.

The bottleneck has left a total of around50,000 refugees and migrants stranded acrossGreece, which has stepped efforts to evacuateIdomeni.

On Friday and Saturday, 11 buses transport-ed around 600 refugees from Idomeni to othercamps in northern Greece. Those persuaded toboard the first buses were mainly parents withchildren who can no longer tolerate the diffi-cult conditions there.

But others are holding out at Idomeni.“People who have no hope or no money,maybe they will go,” said 40-year-old IraqiFatema Ahmed, who has a 13-year-old son inGermany and three daughters with her in thecamp. “But I have hope, maybe something bet-ter will happen tomorrow,” she added. —AFP

Migrants rush to Greek campon rumors border will open

IDOMENI: Migrants protest in front of anti-riot police at the Greek-Macedonian bor-der yesterday. —AFP

BERLIN: Europe’s security agencies arehunting for at least eight suspectsbelieved to have assisted with theIslamist attacks in Paris and Brussels, DieWelt am Sonntag newspaper reported.

Citing security sources, the papersaid the suspects, most of whom areFrench and Belgium citizens, arebelieved to be either in Syria or on therun in Europe. Die Welt said the sus-pects had been in contact with

Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the presumedringleader of the Paris attacks who waskilled by French police in a shootout onNov. 18, and Salah Abdeslam, the primesurviving suspect of the Paris attackswho was captured in Brussels earlier thismonth.

Germany’s Federal Criminal PoliceOffice (BKA) is involved in the manhunt,according to Die Welt. The BKA declinedto comment. —Reuters

Agencies hunting eight linked to Brussels and Paris attacks

VATICAN CITY: This handout picture released by the Vatican press officeshows Pope Francis addressing the crowd from the central loggia of StPeters’ basilica during the “Urbi et Orbi” blessing for Rome and the worldfollowing the Easter Sunday mass yesterday at St Peter’s square. —AFP

I N T E R N AT I O N A LMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

RAWALPINDI: Supporters of executed Islamist Mumtaz Qadri retreat from smoke after tear gas shelling by authorities during an anti-govern-ment protest yesterday. — AFP

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani police fired tear gas yes-terday at thousands of stone-throwing support-ers of an Islamist assassin, a month after he washanged for killing a provincial governor foralleged blasphemy.

The execution of Mumtaz Qadri on February29 was described by analysts as a “key moment”in Pakistan’s long battle against religiousextremism, but it has also exposed deep reli-gious divisions in the conservative Muslimcountry of 200 million.

An estimated 25,000 supporters of the for-mer police bodyguard gathered in Islamabad’stwin city Rawalpindi in the afternoon to offerprayers, before turning toward the heavily-bar-ricaded capital which was patrolled by hun-dreds of police and paramilitary soldiers.

Riot police carrying batons and shields firedtear gas to try to prevent them pushing closerto the city center. The protest has been almostentirely ignored by the Pakistani media, whichhas increasingly become subject to govern-ment-ordered news blackouts designed to pre-vent unrest from spiraling out of control.

Qadri was working as a bodyguard forPunjab governor Salmaan Taseer when he shot

him 29 times in 2011 over the governor’s call toreform the blasphemy law, which critics say isfrequently misused to oppress religious minori-ties.

On Saturday a group of angry men at aPakistani airport assaulted a former pop staraccused of insulting the Prophet Mohammed’syoungest wife, in the latest case of vigilante vio-lence linked to blasphemy.

Ex-singer Junaid Jamshed, who is now aprominent Sunni evangelist, was leavingIslamabad airport on Saturday night when hewas set upon by a group of around six men whowere waiting to attack him at the exit.

The incident was captured on mobile phonevideo and has ben widely viewed. The men,some wearing Western clothes and others intraditional shalwar kameez, were seen throwingpunches at the 51-year-old, who in addition tohis preaching work runs a chain of high-endclothing boutiques.

“You have committed blasphemy, hit him, hithim!” shouted one of the men. “We were look-ing for you,” said another. “He has disrespectedthe companions of Prophet Mohammed. He hasblasphemed against the Prophet.”

‘Enough madness’ Jamshed was forced to flee back into the air-

port. In a later Facebook posting, he said it wastime for the nation to decide it “will not let thesereligious fanatics prevail amongst us”.

A local police official confirmed the incidentand said the ex-singer had filed a complaint.Most Internet users condemned the violence onsocial media. “Get hold of the culprits and makean example of them. Enough of this madness inthe name of love,” wrote Facebook user KaramiElahi. Many pointed to the fact that police andsecurity seemingly failed to intervene, despitethe outbreak of violence at one of the country’sbusiest airports. A spokesman for the AirportSecurity Force was not available for commentdespite repeated attempts.

A blasphemy case was brought againstJamshed by the Sunni Tehreek religious organi-sation in December 2014, after a video of himappearing to make negative remarks about theProphet Mohammed’s youngest wife to make abroader point about women’s inherent flawswas widely shared. He publicly apologised andsought forgiveness and the case did not pro-ceed further. — AFP

Pakistan police clash with aidersof executed Islamist assassin

‘Will not let these fanatics prevail’

NEW DELHI: A Pakistani team arrivedin New Delhi yesterday to help investi-gate an attack on an Indian air forcebase that k il led seven soldiers inJanuary, a foreign ministry officialsaid.

India has blamed Islamist militantsfrom the Pakistan-based Jaish-e -Mohammed for the assault on

Pathankot air base in the northernstate of Punjab, which led to two daysof gun battles. Defense MinisterManohar Parrikar told parliament ear-lier this month it could not have beencarried out “without the (Pakistan)state’s support”.

It will be the first time Pakistan hastaken part in a probe of this kind with

arch-rival India, an Indian foreign min-istry source has said. India’s ForeignMinister Sushma Swaraj announcedplans for the visit after meetingPakistan’s foreign affairs adviser SartajAziz in Nepal earlier this month.

The foreign ministry official toldAFP the five -member team hadarrived from Pakistan and would start

work on Monday. The Hindu newspa-per said they had been given 15-dayvisas.

Other local media reports said theteam would be escorted by Indianinvestigators to the attack site andallowed to interview eyewitnesses.The rare targeting of an Indian mili-tary installation outside the disputed

region of Kashmir came days afterPrime Minister Narendra Modi’s sur-prise visit to Pakistan in December asa gesture of friendship.

The assault led to the postpone-ment of planned peace talks. Modiurged his Pakistani counterpartNawaz Sharif to take “firm and imme-diate action” over the raid. — AFP

Pakistani team arrives for air base attack investigation

DHAKA: Four Bangladeshis have beenkilled in gunfights between rival groupsin the war-torn Libyan city of Benghazi, aminister said yesterday.

State minister for foreign affairsShahriar Alam told AFP authorities didnot yet have full details on the dead.Alam said embassy officials had receivedthree bodies and they were being storedin a hospital in Libya. The fourth bodyhad not yet been recovered.

“They died in clashes between twoLibyan groups in Benghazi on Saturday,”Alam said. An est imated 20,000Bangladeshis are believed to be workingin Libya even though Dhaka some sixmonths ago banned the sending of work-

ers to the war-racked country.Last year two Bangladeshi workers

were abducted by suspected IslamicState militants from a southern Libya oil-field. They were freed after more thantwo weeks. Libya has descended intochaos since the 2011 ousting of longtimedic tator Moamer K adhafi , a l lowingjihadists including the Is lamic Stategroup to gain ground in the oi l -r ichcountry.

The country has had two rival admin-istrations since mid-2014 when an armedalliance overran the capital, setting up itsown authority. The government backedby the internationally recognized parlia-ment fled east. — AFP

Four Bangladeshis shot dead in Libya

BEIJING: A Chinese writer linked to theinvestigation of an online petition call-ing for the Chinese president’s resigna-tion has been released, his lawyer con-firmed on Saturday.

Jia Jia, who was taken away by policeon March 15 from a Beijing airport, onFriday night informed friends in a pri-vate social media group of his safety. Hislawyer Yan Xin confirmed that Jia wasfree, had met his wife and - although hewas staying in a hotel - could returnhome any time.

“Thank you, everyone,” Jia posted inthe social media. “I dare not forget yourconcerns.” Jia, who has declined mediainterviews, apparently is part of a high-profile investigation into an anonymousletter that criticized President XiJinping’s rule and called for him to stepdown. It briefly appeared on the gov-ernment-controlled news siteWatching.cn in early March. “We don’tthink Comrade Xi Jinping has the abilityto lead the party and the country intothe future. We don’t think he’s suitableto be the general secretary of the party,”said the letter, which was signed by“Loyal Communist Party Members” anddated March 2016. It went to demandXi’s resignation, criticizing him for con-solidating too much power and makingwrong decisions that led to China’sstock turmoil.

The president of Watching.cn, LiWanhui, two top editors - includingEditor-in-Chief Ouyang Hongliang - andtwo site technicians have been reportedto be out of contact for days andbelieved to be under investigation. Nineother technicians working for a technol-ogy firm that provides support to thesite also are reported missing.

China’s State Internet InformationOffice referred inquiries about the letterand Watching.cn to the rulingCommunist Party’s propaganda commit-tee for the western region of Xinjiang,which directly supervises the news site,but the propaganda office there claimed

no knowledge of the matter.Li, the president of Watching.cn, also

is the chief editor of ts.cn, the news siterun by Xinjiang’s propaganda office.Chinese overseas media, quoting insidesources, say the news site is fallingapart, but its newsroom in a downtownBeijing office building appeared to beoperating normally this week. Its jour-nalists declined to speak to TheAssociated Press about their editors andthe future of the site, which waslaunched last year to promote Xi’s eco-nomic plan of “One Belt, One Road.” Theplan is aimed at increasing China’s over-seas investment and trade.

Wen Yunchao, a prominent overseasChinese activist, said he had come underpressure from Chinese authorities toadmit his connection to the letter. TheNew York-based critic said that authori-ties in his southern Chinese home coun-ty of Jiexi have been holding his elderlyparents and a younger brother sinceTuesday in an apparent act of coercion.

“But I cannot admit things that havenothing to do with me,” Wen wrote onhis Twitter account. Calls to the localpolice were unanswered on Saturday.On Friday, Amnesty International calledon Chinese authorities to stop harassingdissents’ family members, saying suchunlawful tactics made a mockery ofChina’s claims to respect the rule of law.

Jia’s friends believe the writer mighthave unwittingly implicated himselfwhen he warned Ouyang, a closefriend, about the publication of the let-ter. Yan said he hoped that Jia’s releaseis proof that his client had nothing todo with the letter. For several days fol-lowing Jia’s disappearance, there wasno word at all about the writer, addingto public anxiety about his where-abouts and raising questions overChina’s rule of law when authoritiesfailed to account for Jia’s situation in atimely manner. It was only five days lat-er when Yan learned from airport policethat Jia was taken away. — AP

BEIJING: In this 2005 photo released by Mo Shangshan, Chinese writer JiaJia sits on a horse at a resort. — AP

ISLAMABAD: A video showing agroup of angry men at a Pakistani air-port assaulting a former pop staraccused of insulting the ProphetMohammed’s (PBUH) wife has goneviral, in the latest case of vigilante vio-lence linked to blasphemy.

Junaid Jamshed, one of the pio-neers of Pakistani pop in the 1980s,was leaving Islamabad airport onSaturday night when he was set uponby a group of around six men whowere waiting to attack him at the exit.

The men, some wearing Westernclothes while others are dressed intraditional shalwar kameez, are seenthrowing punches at the 51-year-old,who is now a high-profile Muslimevangelist and also runs a chain ofclothing boutiques. “You have com-mitted blasphemy, hit him, hit him,”shouts one of the men in the mobilephone footage.

“We were looking for you,” saysanother. “He has disrespected thecompanions of Prophet Mohammed.He has blasphemed against theProphet.” Jamshed was forced to fleeback into the airport, and later postedon Facebook: “Its about time v as anation decide that v will not let thesereligious fanatics prevail amongst us.They will be exposed n brought totask.”

A local police official in Rawalpindiconfirmed the incident and said theex-singer had filed a complaint. Most

Internet users condemned the vio-lence on social media. “Get hold ofthe culprits and make an example ofthem. Enough of this madness in thename of love,” wrote Facebook userKarami Elahi.

Many pointed to the fact thatpolice and security seemingly failedto intervene, despite the outbreak ofviolence at one of the country ’sbusiest airports. A spokesman for theAirport Security Force was not avail-able for comment despite repeatedattempts.

Blasphemy is a hugely sensitiveissue in the mainly Muslim country.The law is often invoked againstminorities and the poor by thosewishing to settle personal scores,according to rights group.

Jamshed’s case is more unusual. Avideo of him appearing to make neg-ative remarks about the ProphetMohammed’s youngest wife to makea broader point about women’s inher-ent flaws was widely shared in late2014, which led to a blasphemy casebeing brought against him.

He publicly apologized and soughtforgiveness, and the case did not pro-ceed further. Jamshed was once oneof Pakistan’s best loved pop singers,famous for hits such as “Dil DilPakistan”. Now bearded and seen intraditional attire, he often appears onTV adverts to give products religiousendorsements. — AFP

Mob attack former Pakistansinger accused of blasphemy

Chinese writer linked to president resignation letter freed

Afghan official says Talebangun down provincial judge

KABUL: An Afghan official says insurgentshave killed the top judge on a provincialappeals court. Jawed Salangi, spokesman forthe governor of the eastern Ghazni province,said yesterday that Mohammad Anwar wasambushed and shot while in neighboringWardak province the day before.

The Taleban claimed responsibility for thekill ing in an email sent to reporters.Insurgent attacks on Afghan security forcesand officials have intensified across thecountry in the past year. Judicial officialshave long been Taliban targets. Anwar’skilling comes days after the nomination of anew attorney general, Farid Hamidi.

Hamidi is a former human rights commis-sioner whose appointment has to beapproved by parliament. President AshrafGhani has struggled to fill key security posts,with ministers of defense and interior actingin their positions. —AP

Tampa officerwounded during shootout expected

to surviveTAMPA: A police officer who was woundedduring a shootout in a hotel parking lot inFlorida is expected to survive. Tampa Policespokeswoman Andrea Davis said 53-year-oldJose Rodriguez likely owes his life to his bul-letproof vest. The two suspects were bothshot and killed. Rodriguez, who’s been an offi-cer for 13 years, was shot Saturday afternoon.

Officials received a 911 call from someonewho saw two men fighting at a gas station.Police said Sunday that one of the suspects,51-year-old Leroy King, was dead when offi-cers arrived.

The other suspect, 46-year-old PatrickMatthew McManamon, fired at officers. Theyfired back. It wasn’t known what started theinitial altercation. — AP

JALALABAD: Taleban fighters hold their weapons before surrender-ing them to Afghan authorities yesterday. — AP

Man released due to false IS alarm

VIENNA: An Iraqi man hauled off an easy Jet flight inVienna just before takeoff after a passenger thought hemight be an Islamic extremist, has been released, officialssaid yesterday.

“There was nothing suspicious found and he has beenallowed to continue his journey,” interior ministryspokesman Karl-Heinz Grundboeck told AFP. “The onlything outstanding is a detailed analysis of his mobilephone,” he said of the incident which took place onSaturday.

A woman sitting next to him on the London-boundplane had alerted cabin crew after seeing what shethought could be messages related to the extremistIslamic State (IS) group on his phone.

All passengers had to disembark while the Airbus andall bags were checked. It finally took off three hours laterbut without the man or the woman, who were ques-tioned. The incident comes as Europe steps up securityfollowing Tuesday’s bombings in Brussels, which killed 31people and were claimed by IS. — AFP

MANILA: A raging fire on the Philippineshighest mountain forced hundreds of peo-ple to flee from the peak by foot, officialssaid yesterday.

Firefighters dug ditches that were sev-en-feet (two meters) deep in their battle tocontain the blaze, which began Saturdayafternoon and was ongoing 24 hours later,to stop it from spreading on the touristhotspot of Mount Apo.

There were no reported injuries andnearly all of the 1,000 tourists who were onthe mountain were evacuated by noon

Sunday, provincial disaster official HarryCamoro told AFP. Mount Apo towers overthe main southern island of Mindanao, at3,142 metres above sea level, and is hometo forest reserves and the breeding groundfor the Philippines’ national bird, theendangered monkey-eating eagle.

It is common for searing summer tem-peratures to start fires on the mountain,Camoro said, however the cause of theblaze had not been determined. Air forcehelicopters were deployed on Sunday tosurvey the damage, he added. — AFP

I N T E R N AT I O N A LMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

KUALA LUMPUR: Leaders from acrossMalaysia’s political spectrum said yesterdaythey plan to present a petition to the coun-try’s Islamic royalty seeking the removal ofscandal-plagued Prime Minister Najib Razakover a corruption crisis.

The highly unusual grouping of heavy-weights from the ruling party, the oppositionand civil society groups was formed in earlyMarch, when it issued a call to “save” Malaysiafrom disaster by removing Najib.

A succession of speakers pressed thatdemand during a rally attended by severalhundred supporters yesterday, accusingNajib of using his office to thwart scrutiny ofthe graft allegations and avoid justice.

“(Najib’s) leadership undermines the veryexistence of our institutions,” said formerprime minister Mahathir Mohamad, aroundwhom the movement has coalesced. “Wewant the rule of law and the actions of Najibhas destroyed it. He no longer deserves to bethe prime minister,” he said at the gatheringnear the capital.

The 90-year-old Mahathir, who dominat-

ed Malaysia as premier for 22 years beforeretiring in 2003, has for months spearheadedcalls for Najib’s removal. Najib, 62, is underpressure over allegations that billions of dol-lars were stolen from a state firm he founded,and over his own acceptance of a mysterious$681 million payment from overseas. Hedenies accusations that the huge paymentwas siphoned off from the now-strugglingstate firm, 1Malaysia Development Berhad(1MDB), saying he is the victim of a politicalconspiracy.

PM fuels anger But Najib has fuelled anger and suspicion

by curbing investigations, purging criticsfrom the government and cracking down onmedia reporting on the subject. The outragehas been strong enough to unite formerlybitter political foes such as Mahathir andleaders of opposition parties in the push toremove Najib. There is as yet no indicationthat the movement will succeed. Najib hastightened his grip on the United MalaysNational Organization (UMNO), the powerful

party that has dominated Malaysia sinceindependence in 1957, and there have beenno major UMNO defectors to the movementsince it was launched.

Swiss authorities said recently up to $4 bil-lion may have been stolen from Malaysianstate firms, mainly 1MDB, and that they wereinvestigating possible fraud and money-laun-dering. American, British, Singaporean andHong Kong authorities are also scrutinizing1MDB-related money flows.

Najib at first denied receiving the $681million payment in 2013. But his governmentnow says it was a gift from the Saudi royalfamily and most was given back. The Saudishave not confirmed that claim, however, anda Wall Street Journal investigative report inearly March said the payment likely originat-ed from 1MDB. Mahathir said the anti-Najibcoalition had obtained 100,000 signatures fora petition demanding his removal. It wouldseek one million and then present the peti-tion to a council of the Islamic sultans whoserve as the ceremonial rulers of nineMalaysian states. — AFP

HONG KONG: It is just over a year since ErwianaSulistyaningsih’s Hong Kong employer was jailedfor horrific abuse of her maid in a case thatmade headlines around the world.

After pictures of Erwiana’s extensive injurieswent viral in 2014, the young Indonesianbecame the face of a movement determined toforce change for the army of more than 300,000migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong.

Although she never admitted her guilt,employer Law Wan-tung was jailed for six years,a triumph for quietly spoken Erwiana who washeld up as a hero. Both she and migrant rightscampaigners hoped the high-profile case wouldbring enough pressure on authorities in HongKong and Indonesia to improve conditions formigrant domestic workers, known locally as“helpers”.

A year on, they say it has not. Visiting HongKong for the launch of a documentary about hercase and the plight of other maids in the city,Erwiana broke down in tears in front of the audi-ence of mostly Indonesian women, some ofwhom also wept, as she spoke of her ongoingfrustration.

“I hear stories of abuse, cheating andexploitation by recruitment agencies, many dif-ferent cases, and not just women,” Erwiana, 25,told AFP in an interview.”We haven’t seen anychanges yet. There are still so many cases ofmigrants who never get justice.” Most of HongKong’s foreign domestic workers are fromIndonesia and the Philippines.

Erwiana and fellow campaigners say workers’home countries and receiving countries mustclamp down on the private recruitment agen-

cies that extract exorbitant fees from migrants,plunging them into debt before they even starttheir jobs.

Workers’ passports are routinely kept by theiragencies or employers, to stop them from run-ning away. Abolition of the hated “live-in” rule inHong Kong, which forces migrant domesticworkers to live with their employers, making italmost impossible to escape abusive house-holds, is another key demand.

Campaigners have argued these pointsrepeatedly, even before Erwiana’s case, but theyhave fallen on deaf ears with authorities. Areport released earlier this month by HongKong’s Justice Centre said one in six migrantdomestic workers in the city-around 50,000 peo-ple-were in “forced labor”.

Its findings come after a report by the UNCommittee Against Torture in December urgedHong Kong authorities to reform laws in order toprotect victims of forced labor and trafficking. “Ifeel sad. I remember my experiences. The caseskeep coming and coming,” says Erwiana.

‘There is hope’ The new film launched Sunday, entitled

“Erwiana: Justice For All”, was shot by HongKong-based US filmmaker Gabriel Ordaz and willinitially be screened at universities in the city.

Ordaz says he is taking the movie to film festi-vals in the hope of getting the message outinternationally. The documentary recounts talesof women who have been pushed by poverty toleave their home countries in a bid to create abetter life for their families.

It also revisits the horrors of Erwiana’s experi-

ence, revealed during her trial-she was impris-oned, starved and when her body was so weakthat she could no longer control her bodily func-tions she was forced to wear a diaper.

Erwiana is now studying economics and busi-ness back home and is working as a counselorand advisor to migrant workers. She says shefinds it difficult to breathe through a still brokennose, her feet are scarred and she receives coun-seling.

She is no longer frightened of loud noises asshe was in the immediate aftermath of theabuse, but says she has trouble focusing formore than 20 minutes. “My mind just goesblank,” she says. It is speaking about her mother,who also worked as a domestic worker in Brunei,which brings her to tears at Sunday’s screening.

“Every day I wished she could return so shecould raise us, her own children... my mother,and millions of women and men, were forced towork overseas because of poverty and nodecent jobs in our home countries,” she told theaudience. But despite her frustrations, Erwianasays there is still hope.

Hundreds of supporters gathered in HongKong’s Victoria Park Sunday afternoon to chatwith Erwiana in the sunshine. Since her casecame to light, she says many migrant domesticworkers have contacted her to discuss their ownsituations. Erwiana helps put them in touch witha network of NGOs in various countries. “They(the workers) feel that there is a way to helpthem,” she told AFP. And while there are stillmany hurdles to overcome, Erwiana says cam-paigners must not give up. “If we don’t take careof ourselves, no one will,” she says. — AFP

Opponents of Malaysian PM step up to oust him‘He no longer deserves to be the PM’

HONG KONG: Former Indonesian maid Erwiana Sulistyaningsih (C) speaks during an event yesterday. — AFP

TAIPEI: Taiwan’s China-friendlyNationalist Party has elected its firstfemale leader after ousting her as itspresidential candidate ahead ofJanuary elections that were won bypro-independence rivals.

The Kuomintang had ditchedHung Hsiu-chu as her abrasive styleand strongly pro-China positionswere seen as alienating voters. Theveteran legislator and former teacherwas elected as leader over three othercandidates yesterday and likely facesa difficult time rebuilding the partyafter its January electoral defeat.

Hung takes over from Eric Chu,who was the party’s eventual presi-dential candidate and who resignedas party chairman after the defeat.Chinese President Xi Jinping congrat-ulated Hung from Beijing, saying he

hoped the two parties would contin-ue to oppose “Taiwan independence,”according to the official Xinhua NewsAgency.

Beijing claims the self-governingisland of Taiwan as its own, and rela-tions between the two improvedunder the Nationalists, which gov-erned Taiwan over the last eight yearsand promoted pro-China policies.

The independence-leaningDemocratic Progressive Party’s candi-date, Tsai Ing-wen, won the presiden-tial election, and her party alsogained a decisive parliamentarymajority. Tsai, who will be inaugurat-ed as president in May, has refused tomeet Beijing’s demand that sheendorse its claim that Taiwan and themainland are part of a single Chinesenation. — AP

Taiwan’s Nationalists elect

their first female leader

‘Nothing has changed’

says abused HK maid‘I still hear stories of abuse’

SHAH ALAM: Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (C) standsfor the national anthem during a rally yesterday. — AFP

Philippine mountain fire

forces hundreds to flee

TAIPEI: Then-Taiwan’s ruling Nationalist Party presidential candidateHung Hsiu-chu delivers a speech during a press conference on Oct. 6,2015. — AP

TOKYO: Katsuka Okada (C), leader of the main opposition DemocraticParty, and the party’s parliament members wave blue handkerchiefsduring the party’s inauguration ceremony yesterday. — AFP

TOKYO: Yesterday twoJapanese opposition partiesmerged to form a new group-ing intended to put pressure onPrime Minister Shinzo Abe’sconservative ruling partybefore the upper house elec-tion this summer.

The Democratic Party ofJapan (DPJ), the main opposi-tion party, and the smallerJapan Innovation Party mergedto create the “Minshinto” party,which will have a total of 156lawmakers in the upper andlower house.

It will still be far smaller thanthe coalition led by Abe’sLiberal Democratic Party (LDP),which controls a majority of the

upper house and more thantwo-thirds of the lower house.

The new party ’s name inEnglish will be the DemocraticParty. The DPJ-a broad centre-left grouping-ousted the LDPafter more than half a centuryof conservative dominance in ahistoric election landslide in2009. But after coming to pow-er it l imped along underunpopular prime ministers andlost public support, with Abe’sLDP regaining power in 2012.

“We must realize that thiswill be our last chance for achange in the regime,” saidKatsuya Okada, a former for-eign minister who leads thenew party — AFP

New opposition party launched in

Japan ahead of summer electionDOHA: The retrial in a high-profile caseof a Qatari man accused of killing aBritish teacher was adjourned yesterdayafter the defense lawyer failed to showup in court.

The case of Badr Hashim KhamisAbdallah Al-Jabar was adjourned untilMay 1 because of the legal no-show,despite the victim’s mother flying 5,200(3,200 miles) kilometres to attend thebrief hearing. Jabar told the court thatno defence team was present as “mylawyer was not informed about today’shearing”. The judge then pushed thecase back a further five weeks.

Jabar was init ial ly sentenced todeath two years ago after being con-victed of stabbing and killing LaurenPatterson, 24, in October 2013 andburning her remains in a desert loca-tion. The victim was also sexuallyassaulted, according to evidence givenin court. Last February, however, Qatar’s

highest court, the Court of Cassation,threw out the conviction and sentence,ordering a retrial.

Jabar maintained he had accidental-ly stabbed Patterson after a row whichshe had started. Lauren’s mother Alisontold AFP she would attend the nexthearing despite her disappointmentyesterday. On her Facebook page, shedescribed proceedings yesterday as “ajoke”. “Case deferred till the 1st May rea-son: the murderer turned up late spoketo judges saying he didn’t realise hehad to be here on this date and hislegal counsel wasn’t there,” she postedonline.

“Funnily enough I saw his lawyer inthe corridor and this was confirmed byanother party. Feeling upset, angry,frustrated yet again.” She has raisedmore than $37,000 (around 33,000euros) through crowdfunding for herlegal battle. — AFP

Defense no-show delays

Qatar murder retrial

NEWSMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

Continued from Page 1

“After ten minutes I went outside. There was humanflesh on the walls of our house. People were crying, Icould hear ambulances.” He added: “It was overcrowdedbecause of Easter, there were a lot of Christians there. Itwas so crowded I told my family not to go.” Pakistan hasbeen battling a homegrown Islamist insurgency since2004, with groups such as the Pakistani Taliban routine-ly carrying out attacks as part of their struggle to over-throw the government.

But Lahore, Pakistan’s cultural capital on the coun-try’s eastern border with India, has been relatively morepeaceful in recent years. On social media Pakistaniswere retweeting the call for blood donations, whileFacebook activated its “Safety Check” for Lahore.

Chaos in capital Yesterday ’s blast came as the army was also

deployed on the streets of the capital Islamabad afterthousands of protesters clashed with police in chaoticscenes, throwing stones and setting a container on fire.

The demonstrators were supporters of Islamist assas-sin Mumtaz Qadri, who was hanged on February 29 forkilling a Punjab governor over his call for blasphemyreform. Analysts called the execution a “key moment” inPakistan’s long battle against religious extremism. But ithas also exposed deep religious divisions in the conser-vative Muslim country of 200 million.

Earlier yesterday an estimated 25,000 supporters ofthe former police bodyguard gathered in Islamabad’stwin city Rawalpindi to offer prayers. They then turnedtoward the heavily-barricaded capital, which waspatrolled by hundreds of police and paramilitary sol-diers.

Riot police carrying batons and shields fired tear gasto try to prevent them pushing closer to the city centre.Some protesters set fire to a container while chantingslogans.

A military spokesman said late yesterday eveningthat the army had been deployed to secure the RedZone around Parliament. Nationwide, overall levels ofmilitant violence have fallen since the army began amajor offensive against Taleban and Al-Qaeda strong-holds in the country’s northwest border areas in 2014.

Last year saw the lowest number of civilian and secu-rity forces casualties since 2007, the year the umbrellaPakistani Taleban group was formed. But militants arestill able to carry out major attacks from time to time. Atleast 16 people were killed and more than two dozenwounded when a bomb blew up inside a bus inPeshawar, the main city of Pakistan’s insurgency-wracked northwest on March 16.

And yesterday’s blast in Lahore saw the highest num-ber of casualties since a suicide bomber blew himselfup, killing 55 people at the main Pakistan-India bordercrossing at Wagah in an attack claimed by the Jamat-ul-Ahrar faction of the Taleban. — AFP

65 killed in Pakistan blast

Contined from Page 1

In another key issue, the National Assembly’s legaland legislative affairs yesterday approved a requestby the public prosecution to lift the parliamentaryimmunity on controversial Shiite MP AbdulhameedDashti. The committee agreed to lift the immunity ofthe lawmaker on two accounts, one for criticizingBahrain, a member of Gulf Cooperation Council(GCC), and the other for falsely accusing a foe incourt.

The National Assembly will review the committee’srecommendations and could approve or reject them.The Assembly has already lifted the immunity ofDashti on several occasions for the public prosecu-

tion to be able to interrogate him on various counts,mainly for criticizing Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Last week, the public prosecutor issued a warrantto arrest Dashti, who is currently outside the country,to be interrogated for criticizing Saudi Arabia, thebiggest GCC state. Dashti is believed to be in Syriacurrently as he was seen among a delegation of sup-porters for Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

It is not immediately known whether or not Dashtiwill return to Kuwait where he is facing jail terms forseveral years on several charges, amid a debate onwhether the National Assembly can expel him fromthe Assembly. Dashti’s membership can be stripped ifhe fails to attend without a valid reason five consecu-tive Assembly sessions.

Assembly panel rejects proposal to raise...

Continued from Page 1

The official told AFP that job losses could begin to beenforced within the next week, and most would be innon-editorial positions. Staff members were apparentlytold yesterday that Al-Jazeera English would be spared.One employee at the network, who did not wish to benamed, told AFP that the job losses were expected butthat had created “a lot of paranoia” among staff as theywaited to be officially told. “We have been waiting for thisannouncement. Since the middle of January we weretold next week, then next week, there was a lot of specu-lation.”

Al-Jazeera media network broadcasts in several lan-guages. It has around 80 bureaus worldwide and Al-Jazeera English reaches 270 million homes every day,says the broadcaster. Al-Jazeera Arabic is watched by 27million viewers daily while its online channel “AJ+” hasreceived some 1.2 billion views since launching lastSeptember.

The latest job losses come at a time when Qatar, amajor gas and oil producer, has seen its revenues dropsharply as energy prices nosedived. Qatar has alreadyforecast a budget deficit of more than $12 billion in2016, its first in fifteen years.

In addition, the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thaniwarned last December of “wasteful spending, overstaffingand a lack of accountability” across Qatar. The current finan-cial issues are probably the greatest the network has facedsince it began broadcasting 20 years ago. Khaled Hroub,professor of Middle East politics and Arab media atNorthwestern University in Qatar, said the broadcasterneeded a “shake-up” but the cuts sent out a “bold message”.“I think by this decision, Qatari officials attempt to deliver abold message to everyone, including their own citizens,that a current policy of huge cuts and vigilant spending isvery serious, due to the continuation decline in oil prices.“Applying these cuts even to Al-Jazeera, one of the mostcherished institutions in the country, sends a warning thatnobody and no institution could be spared.” — AFP

Al-Jazeera to cut around 500 jobs Continued from Page 1

The National said the group’s leader, Khalid AbdullaKalantar, had been a preacher at a mosque in Dubaiwho encouraged and promoted extremism. In recent

years, the UAE has clamped down on even nonviolentIslamist groups, sentencing dozens of opposition fig-ures to prison. The UAE is part of the US-led coalitioncarrying out airstrikes against extremists from IslamicState group in Syria and Iraq. — AP

UAE finds 38 guilty in terror case

Continued from Page 1

Backed by a barrage of Russian air strikes, Syriantroops and allied militia launched a major offensive toretake Palmyra this month. The city is both a symbolicand strategic prize for Assad’s forces, as it provides con-trol of the surrounding desert extending all the way tothe Iraqi border. At least 400 IS fighters were killed inthe battle for the city, the Syrian Observatory forHuman Rights said. On the government side, 188troops and militiamen were killed.

“That’s the heaviest losses that IS has sustained in asingle battle since its creation” in 2013, the director ofthe Britain-based monitoring group, Rami AbdelRahman, told AFP. He said two cars packed with explo-sives blew up in the afternoon, one west of Palmyraand the other northeast of the city.

After seizing Palmyra last year, IS blew up two of thesite’s treasured temples, its triumphal arch and a dozentower tombs, in a campaign of destruction thatUNESCO described as a war crime.

The jihadists used Palmyra’s ancient theatre as a ven-ue for public executions and also murdered the city’s82-year-old former antiquities chief. A military sourcetold AFP on Sunday that IS militants had retreatedtowards the east as the army made its final push.

Army sappers defused roadside mines in both themodern part of the city and in the old ruins.

Syrian state television broadcast footage from insidePalmyra’s famed museum, showing jagged pieces ofsculptures on the ground and blanketed in dust. IS,behind a string of attacks in the West including lastweek’s Brussels bombings, is under growing pressure

from Syrian and Iraqi forces determined to retake bas-tions of its self-proclaimed “caliphate”.

On Thursday, the Iraqi army announced the launchof an offensive to eventually recapture second cityMosul, held by the jihadists since June 2014. UnitedNations chief Ban Ki-moon told reporters in neighbor-ing Jordan that he was “encouraged” by the recaptureof Palmyra.

Russian forces, which intervened in support of long-time ally Assad last September, were heavily involvedin the Palmyra offensive despite a major drawdown lastweek. Russian warplanes carried out 40 combat sortiesaround Palmyra in the last 24 hours, striking 117 “ter-rorist targets” and killing 80 IS fighters, Moscow’sdefence ministry said yesterday. Putin telephonedAssad to congratulate the Syrian leader, adding that“successes such as the liberation of Palmyra would beimpossible without Russia’s support,” a Kremlinspokesman said. Assad said the victory was “freshproof of the efficiency of the Syrian army and its alliesin fighting terrorism”.

IS and its jihadist rival, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front, are not party to a landmark ceasefire inSyria since February 27. The month-long truce hasbrought relative quiet to many areas across Syria,where more than 270,000 have been killed and millionshad fled their homes in the last five years.

Palmyra, northeast of Damascus, drew some 150,000tourists a year before Syria’s civil war and is known toSyrians as the “Pearl of the Desert”. Syrian officials,including antiquities chief Abdulkarim, have vowed torebuild the ancient monuments. “Palmyra will return tothe way it was,” he said. — AFP

Syria forces drive IS out of Palmyra

RIYADH: He’s had no salary for six months, he cannot pay his chil-dren’s school fees and his permit to reside in Saudi Arabia hasexpired. But Robert still holds out hope that things mightimprove for him and thousands of other workers at Saudi OgerLtd, the once-mighty construction giant led by Lebanon’s billion-aire former prime minister Saad Hariri.

Delayed receipts from a Saudi government whose oil rev-enues collapsed over the past two years have left employees ofthe company struggling to survive while they wait to be paid,Robert and other sources say. Other contractors are also affected,but sources say problems at the 38-year-old Saudi Oger go deep-er than the kingdom’s current economic strains.

“Already when I worked at Saudi Oger there were delays insalary payments to local employees,” a former staffer told AFP. “Itseems the situation got worse.” Saudi Oger employs around50,000 people of various nationalities, from managers to labour-ers, and Robert said the salaries of nearly all have been delayed.But at six months without a pay cheque, he is among thelongest-suffering.

“I don’t have money,” he said. “It’s hard.” The veteran employeeof Saudi Oger says he has “no choice” but to stay with the firmbecause he cannot find another job. Robert, whose name hasbeen changed because he asked for anonymity, said the compa-ny promised in a letter that salaries will flow at the end of March.

“It’s a desperate situation,” a well-informed source said,describing expatriate families facing a similar plight to Robert’s.“They can’t pay for the tickets” to even fly home, the source said,

adding that many senior officers of Saudi Oger support familiesin Lebanon, meaning remittances to that country will be affect-ed. He also noted the impact on Saudi Oger’s lower-incomeworkers. The informed source said poor management “is one ofthe main problems” at Saudi Oger, but this has been compound-ed by the economic challenges of a kingdom confronting a pro-jected budget deficit of $87 billion this year. France’s embassy,concerned for the many French employees at the company, senttwo letters to the firm, which responded with its promise to startpaying the salaries.

“The thing is, do they have the funds to keep their promises?”the informed source asked. “The group’s treasury has for a longtime been badly run,” said a Lebanese businessman who works inthe kingdom.

He said the plight of the Hariri family company raises twoquestions: “Will Saudi local banks continue to finance Saudi Oger,and secondly, will the Hariri clan manage to enlist an investorwilling to provide new investment?” The Hariris have been a polit-ical and economic force in Lebanon for decades.

Saad Hariri, whose political bloc is close to Saudi Arabia andthe West, was catapulted into Lebanese politics 11 years ago afterthe assassination of his father Rafiq. Longstanding problems atSaudi Oger peaked as tensions escalated this year betweenSunni-dominated Saudi Arabia and its Shiite rival Iran, whichback opposing sides in wars in Syria and Yemen. Tehran also sup-ports Hezbollah, the Shiite militant group leading a powerfulLebanese political bloc in opposition to Hariri’s faction. — AFP

Workers suffer in Saudi as Hariri firm falters

DUBAI: Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE Vice President and Ruler of Dubai presents anancient ring discovered in UAE which inspired the new logo design for the Dubai Expo 2020, during an offi-cial ceremony in Dubai, United Arab Emirates yesterday. Reem Ebrahim Al-Hashimi, Emirati Minister of Stateand Managing Director for the Dubai World Expo 2020 Bid Committee stands at left. — AP

A N A L Y S I SMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

By Clare Byrne

Six suicide attacks in eight months and a spat withRussia have added to concerns for the Turkish econ-omy as tourists flee, taking billions of dollars in

spending elsewhere, and foreign investors skirt the trou-bled country. Days after a suspected Islamic State jihadistblew himself up on a top shopping street in Istanbul,hotels, restaurants and retailers in the city are countingtheir losses.

Shops and restaurants on Istiklal Street, the usuallybustling two-kilometre-long pedestrian artery targeted inthe March 19 attack, complain of a sharp drop in businesssince the bombing, which killed four foreigners andinjured dozens. The attack on Istiklal-the beating heart ofTurkey’s biggest city-emphasised the security threat afterthree deadly suicide attacks in the capital Ankara.

While financial markets have so far reacted with relativesangfroid to the terror wave, analysts say the bloodshed isputting strain on Turkey which is already battling highinflation and mid-term economic uncertainty. “There couldbe large economic costs from these attacks, particularly interms of long-investment and the tourism sector,” WilliamJackson, senior emerging markets economist at CapitalEconomics in London, said.

Tourism hit Western tourist numbers have slowed since Turkey

began to come under sustained attack from IS jihadistsand Kurdish rebels last July. The industry’s headachesworsened when Turkey shot down a Russian jet on itsborder with Syria in November, nearly eradicating the

key annual influx of Russian tourists.Hikmet Eraslan, chairman of the upmarket Dosso

Dossi hotel chain in Istanbul, told AFP he had beenforced to halve room prices to try attract visitors. “Wehad to let people go to reduce costs. What else can youdo? We have to live,” Eraslan said.

The recently renovated Golden Age hotel, which liesjust a few minutes walk from the scene of Saturday’sblast, is also struggling to fill its 180 rooms, only half ofwhich were occupied this week, mainly by Iranians cele-brating New Year. “Our general manager just came backfrom (the International Tourism Trade Fair) in Berlin. Hesaid no-one wanted to come to Turkey,” an employeetold AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Inan Demir, an analyst at Turkey’s Finansbank, said heexpected tourism revenue to drop under 17 billion dol-lars in 2016, down from 21 billion in 2015 (3 percent ofGDP), worsening Turkey’s already gaping currentaccount deficit and adding to unemployment of over 10percent. Foreign arrivals in January were already down20-percent year-on-year.

Investor confidence shaken Foreign investors, too, are likely to be “much warier

about coming to Turkey, both physically and in terms oftheir portfolio allocations,” Demir said, predicting “a sig-nificant adverse shock to the Turkish economy”. Furthertarnishing the image of the country of 78 million areconcerns over the alleged authoritarian drift of PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdogan.

In dramatic scenes earlier this month, the authoritiesseized Zaman, a opposition newspaper linked to

Erdogan’s arch-enemy the exiled cleric Fethullah Gulenwhile the military is battling the rebel Kurdistan WorkersParty (PKK) in the southeast.

Capital Economics’ Jackson said the crackdown waslikely to further dent already declining levels of foreigninvestment. “When business and legal decisions appearto be politically motivated it is obviously very concern-ing for foreign investors because it creates uncertainty,”he said. Yet the economy has also showed signs ofresilience, with energy importer Turkey helped by thepersistently low price of oil and gas.

Industrial production surprised to the upside with a5.6 percent increase in January, while economic confi-dence rose in March after a three-month decline. Butthere are many pitfalls ahead and Finansbank’s Demirsaid he believed investors would be closely watchingwho replaces Turkey’s respect outgoing central bankgovernor Erdem Basci when his term expires nextmonth.

Erdogan has repeatedly called for interest rates to belowered, ignoring economists’ calls for rates to be hikedto rein in inflation which stood at 8.8 percent inFebruary. Amplifying the concerns of markets, the bankpruned a key interest rate by 25 basis points at its latestmonetary policy meeting.

For Demir, the bank’s failure to raise rates “is illustra-tive of the impact of politics on macro-economic policymaking in Turkey”. The choice of new governor would bea key test of the bank’s independence, he said, warningthat appointing someone who “plays to the tune ofErdogan’s advisors” would likely “change investor senti-ment for the worse.” —AFP

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For a few short days, President Barack Obama wasAmerica’s man in Havana, his challenges to PresidentRaul Castro stunning Cuban citizens who mused

openly in the streets about the possibility of politicalchange.

Obama’s public call for a more democratic Cuban futuremarked a watershed moment in a country where question-ing the government’s authority is not tolerated. Decades ofbitterness between leaders seemed to fade as Obama andCastro laughed it up at a baseball game. US businesseswere flocking in droves, touting new approval to bringAmericans and their dollars to Cuba.

As Obama’s aides jubilantly boarded Air Force One,Castro showed up on the tarmac to see Obama off. TheWhite House saw it as an affirmation that the visit was a suc-cess, even by Castro’s admittedly different standards. Yet akey question remained unanswered after Obama departedthe communist island: How much of it will last?

“We shouldn’t kid ourselves that they’re going to all of asudden tolerate dissent,” said Michael Posner, Obama’s for-mer assistant secretary of state for human rights anddemocracy. “This is a very ostracized regime. They’ve beenin power a long time. They don’t really have any instinctsfor reform. It’s going to be a struggle.” The first clues couldcome next month during the Communist Party Congressmeeting in Havana, a forum for unveiling major changes.An announcement of greater political freedoms or reform-minded economic steps would suggest that Obama’s strat-egy was starting to bear fruit.

Under the glare of global attention, Castro did little topublicly undermine Obama. After all, Obama enjoysimmense popularity in Cuba. Images of a young blackpresident strolling through Old Havana seemed to res-onate with Cuba’s racially diverse people, forming a power-ful contrast with the aging Castro. In the days ahead,though, that public spotlight will dim, giving Castro anopening to return to business as usual should he sochoose. Though he’s taking modest steps to open upCuba’s economy and relax certain social restrictions, thereare still no indications Castro plans to make any of thechanges to Cuba’s single-party system that Obama advo-cated.

“We will continue to speak out loudly on the thingsthat we care about,” Obama said near the end of his visit.Central to Obama’s strategy is to raise the Cuban people’sexpectations, driving up pressure on Castro’s governmentto accelerate the pace of change. Wary Cuban officialshave picked up on the tactic, with some regardingObama’s entreaties as a post-Cold War attempt to coerceCuba with diplomacy instead of the threat of force.Ahead of his trip, Obama’s aides said a key goal was tomake his rapprochement with Cuba irreversible. He leftthe island with plenty of indications that tipping pointcould be in sight.

Soon, as many of 110 commercial flights between theUS and Cuba will take off daily, bringing millions ofAmericans to the country and further exposing Cubans tothe outside world. With Americans hungry for a taste ofHavana, Obama is banking on the notion that it will beincredibly unpopular for the next president to tell them tocancel their vacations. Famed US hotel chains Starwoodand Marriott are poised to take over hotels in Cuba afterstriking deals with Havana and getting permission fromWashington, and Google is making a major play on theisland as well. Brian Chesky, CEO of online lodging serviceAirbnb, told reporters in Havana that Cuba is his compa-ny’s fastest-growing market.

“There comes a point where reversing it will seem like avery crazy idea,” said former Commerce Secretary CarlosGutierrez, a Republican who left Cuba as an exile at age six.“I think we’re just about at that stage.” Though Obamaadvanced his goal of normalizing US-Cuba relations, itwasn’t without political risk. His visit was roundly deridedby supporters of the US trade embargo, who accusedObama of rewarding a repressive government. It’s an issuewith resonance in the presidential race, where Republicancandidate Ted Cruz, whose father is Cuban, is livid aboutObama’s policy while front-runner Donald Trump vows tonegotiate a better deal.

“Today is a sad day in American history,” Cruz said whileObama was in Havana. Both Democratic candidates,Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, support Obama’sapproach.

Obama has also been unable to remove the key irritantfor Cuban officials and citizens alike: The US embargo,which has squeezed Cuba’s economy for generations.There are few signs Congress will accede anytime soon toObama’s calls for repealing the sanctions. —AP

Issues

Obama sees tide shifting in Cuba, but can it last?

By Josh Lederman

Terror wave hits fragile Turkish economy

By David Courbet and Claire Rosemberg

The sole person charged so far inBelgium’s terror attacks, Faycal C,lived in a four-story townhouse on a

quiet residential street a stone’s throwfrom the EU’s headquarters. Listed as an‘art nouveau’ wonder by turn-of-the-19th-century Belgian architect Franz Tilley, itlies just a few hundred yards away fromthe huge European Commission build-ings.

On a l ist of tenants by the door isscrawled the name “Faycal Cheffou”, butno one answers the bell.

Until police showed up on Thursday tosearch the Cheffou flat, “it’s always beencalm around here,” says a baker whoseshop is a couple of doors away. “We’d nev-er have imagined anything like this,” sheadds. I t ’s al l quiet other wise “chezCheffou” on this Easter Sunday. The neigh-bors are either out, on holidays or avoid-ing the press. A source close to theinquiry told AFP this weekend that FaycalCheffou was the man charged with terror-ist murder Saturday but named only asFaycal C. by the federal prosecutor. Thesource refused to comment however onwhether he was the same man capturedon video footage Tuesday in the companyof the two airpor t suicide bombers,Ibrahim El Bak raoui and NajimLaachraoui.

So the question in everyone’s mind iswhether Faycal is or isn’t “the man in thehat”, glasses and light-coloured coat seenwheeling a trolley with a large black baglike the other two, but whose device didnot go off. He is however the first andonly person yet to face terrorist chargesover the bloodiest attacks ever to strikethe symbolic capital of Europe.

In the Brussels media world, FaycalCheffou claimed to be a freelance journal-ist who took a special interest in refugees.But he was accused last year by BrusselsMayor Yves Mayeur of trying to recruitj ihadists among asylum-seekers andmigrants living at a refugee centre set upby local charities and NGOs at Maximilien

park near the nor thern rai l station.Mayeur considered him to be “dangerous”and repeatedly tried without success tohave him legally expelled from the centre.Finally in September the mayor issued aban to keep him out of the park.

A YouTube video from 2014 shows him

presenting himself as a freelance reporterconcerned with the plight of hungr yMusl im asylum-seekers at theSteenokkerzeel migrant centre.

His head shaved, wearing a s l ightbeard and glasses, he says the refugees

are celebrating the holy Ramadan monthof fasting but that the authorities arerefusing to provide them with food afternightfall, which is the only time whenthey can eat. “After 10:00 pm these peoplefind themselves with nothing to eat, com-pletely forgotten by the rest of the world,”

he says on the video. “This is a lack ofrespect for human rights.”

“I am concerned by the shouts and thenoise I can hear as they are crying forhelp.” Faycal was arrested late Thursdayclose to the federal prosecutor’s office

with two others after their car was tailedby police, and “has been charged withtaking part in a terrorist group, terroristmurder and attempted terrorist murder.”

Police found no explosives or weaponsat his home. The baker says she never methim but she thinks that the man in the

middle of a picture the police showed herused to come regularly to the shop. Twoof her customers who lived in the samebuilding as the suspect told her he was“very nice” and that no one had any ideaof what was going on. —AFP

Terror suspect a stone’s throw from EU

BRUSSELS: People gather to pay a tribute outside the stock exchange in Brussels yesterday which has become an unofficialshrine to victims of the March 22, terror attacks, was invaded by some 200 far-right football hooligans. —AFP

BARCELONA: Nairo Quintana of Colombia held on to his lead over AlbertoContador to win the Tour of Catalonia for the first time yesterday. Quintanasuccessfully defended his seven-second advantage over the Spaniard in yes-terday’s final stage, an eight-lap ride through 136.4 kilometers(84.7 miles) up and down the Montjuic hill overlookingBarcelona. Russian rider Aleksei Tsatevich won the seventhstage in a sprint with Primoz Roglic of Slovenia. Movistarrider Quintana stayed close to Contador from the start onSunday and his lead was never in jeopardy. He finished withthe same seven-second advantage he carried into the clos-ing stage. Quintana took the overall lead in the Pyrenees onThursday. Daniel Martin of Ireland, the 2013 winner, fin-ished third overall - 17 seconds behind Quintana.Defending champion Richie Porte of Australia was fourth.The weeklong race in northeastern Spain attracted some ofcycling’s top riders, including Tour de France championChris Froome, who finished eighth overall, 46 sec-onds behind Quintana. — AP

S PORTSMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

CAIRO: Egypt’s top administrative court yesterdayordered that the board of Egyptian Football Federationbe dissolved following allegations of rigging during the2012 election of its members.

The judgement, which is f inal and can not beappealed, ordered Egypt’s minister of youth and sports todissolve the board. Two candidates who had participatedin the October 11, 2012 election for the federation’sboard had filed a case alleging that the results wererigged at that time. Election for the federation’s nextboard is scheduled for September 2016.

The same court also ordered on Sunday the dissolu-tion of Cairo-based Al-Ahly club’s board over similar rea-sons. In November, a lower court had ordered Al-Ahly’sboard be dissolved, but an appeal was filed against thatorder. Yesterday, the higher court upheld the earlier ver-dict.— AFP

Court orders Egypt soccer board close

LONDON: British boxer Nick Blackwell has been placed in aninduced coma after losing a domestic title fight. Saturday’s Britishmiddleweight belt contest at London’s Wembley Arena sawBlackwell stopped in the tenth round by Chris Eubank Jr, the sonof former world champion Chris Eubank, after the ringside doctorruled a closed left eye meant he could not continue. The 25-year-old Blackwell was subsequently carried out of the ring on a

stretcher and was still in hospital, under observation, yesterday.British Boxing Board of Control general secretary Robert Smith said:“I spoke to one of the doctors yesterday morning and he said there

is a bleeding of the brain. “He’s in intensive care, he’s in aninduced coma and he is resting and being looked after by theexperts. “It’s a very normal procedure. They put you in a coma

to get the swelling to go down. There’s no time-scale.Now it’s just a matter of waiting and seeing.” Worldheavyweight champion Tyson Fury tweeted his best

wishes to Blackwell on Saturday: “Will u all pray for@nickblackwell02 please ASAP as he has been takento hospital, God be with him.” —AFP

British boxer in coma after brain injury

Quintana wins Tour of Catalonia

WELLINGTON: The Crusaders endedthe Sharks’ unbeaten record and theChiefs overcame some serious travel-related obstacles to firm as favoritesfor a Super Rugby title after the week-end’s fifth round of matches.

The manner of their victories wasstarkly different: the Christchurch-based Crusaders needed a last-minutetry to beat the Sharks’ 19-14 in Durbanwhile the Chiefs ran in seven second-half tries in Hamilton to take a bonuspoint from a 54-10 win over theWestern Force.

The Crusaders’ only loss this seasonwas to the Chiefs in the first round andtheir wins since over the Blues, theKings and the Sharks have shown asteady improvement, especially intheir attacking game.

After beating the Crusaders, theChiefs stumbled in a 36-32 home lossto South Africa’s Lions, but have sinceachieved the immense feat of winningsuccessive matches in South Africa,Argentina and New Zealand.

Those wins have placed them atopthe overall table after five rounds, apoint clear of compatriots theHighlanders and two ahead of the ACTBrumbies, who recovered from lastweek’s loss to the Stormers with a 25-18 win over the Cheetahs inBloemfontein.

The Chiefs face the Brumbies nextweekend in a top-of-the-table clash.After their unexpected loss to theLions the Chiefs had to travel to SouthAfrica where they beat the Kings inPort Elizabeth, cross the Atlantic tobeat the Jaguares in the first-everSuper Rugby match in Argentina, thenreturn home to beat the Force.

In the course of those matches theytraveled more than 20,000 kilometers(12,000 miles) and they achievedSaturday’s win at home though theyhad 12 front-line players out withinjury. That left them with a makeshiftbench, incorporating several playerswho had yet to play a Super Rugbymatch and veteran flyhalf StephenDonald, recalled to the colors after afive-year absence.

EARLY PENALTYThe bench still made an impact in

the second half. American-born wingerTony Pulu scored a try with his firsttouch in Super Rugby and Donaldkicked the last conversion. “I suppose acouple of weeks around the world witha pretty tough travel schedule bondsthe boys together,” captain Sam Canesaid.

All Blacks captain Kieran Readscored the try in the 71st minute whichclinched the Crusaders’ win over theSharks in Durban. The Crusaders hadbeen stung by two intercept tries towinger Lwazi Mvovo but took controlof territory and possession and pro-ceeded to wear down the Sharks.

The Brumbies opened a 17-pointlead over the Cheetahs but tired in thelast quarter and just held on to win asthe home side, with a try to SergealPetersen and a late penalty, took a los-ing bonus point. Brumbies coachStephen Larkham hailed the contribu-tion to the win of flanker and WallabyDavid Pocock.

“I thought David Pocock had atremendous game, one of the bestgames I’ve seen him have,” Larkhamsaid. “Both his work at the breakdownand in the contact area was outstand-ing.”

The Highlanders had their secondstraight win in Australia, producing asuperb defensive performance to beatthe Melbourne Rebels 27-3.

Japan’s Sunwolves were again nar-rowly denied their first win in SuperRugby, losing 30-27 to South Africa’sBulls in Singapore, two weeks after los-ing 32-31 to the Cheetahs at the samevenue.

The Hurricanes led by only twopoints at halftime, 19-17, before goingon to take a bonus point from a 42-20win over the Kings, who remain win-less after five rounds.

The Stormers took over in the SouthAfrican conference lead with a 13-8win over the Jaquares, handing thenew Argentinian side its second homeloss in a row at Buenos Aires. — AP

Crusaders, Chiefs post victories in Super Rugby

BUENOS AIRES: Jaguares’ full back Joaquin Tuculet (2nd-L) vies for the ball with Stormers’ centre Juan de Jongh (C), during their Super Rugby match at Jose Amalfitani stadium in BuenosAires, Argentina on Saturday.—AFP

KUWAIT: Nasser Al Attiyah - FIA Vice President headstoday for FIA meeting - MENA. The meeting will beattended by the presidents of federations and clubs ofMENA, the meeting is expected to discuss many issuesrelated to mechanic sport and the agenda of the 3days meetings hosted by Algeria, in addition to a num-ber of workshops pertaining the motorsport activities.

About the nature of the meeting, Al Attiyah praisedthe prominent role displayed by El Hady Weld Ali-Minister of Youth & Sport - Algeria and Chihab Baloul -president of FASM - and the members of FASM for facil-itating all possibilities in order to have a successfulevent, which is considered the first of its kind in NorthAfrica, such event would highlight the prominent roledisplayed by MENA federations and clubs to push thewheel of motor sport in the region.

Al Attiyah said that such a meeting is consideredthe first of its kind in North Africa and also consideredone of the most important meetings in MENA, such asthe meeting held before in Qatar, Jounieh and Kuwait,its importance lies also in the attendance of Jean Todt -FIA president, and the volume of files to be discussedin the meeting especially in this critical time and thehard circumstances that the region is currently wit-nessing.

Al Attiyah added that there will practical discus-sions for the regulatory rules and articles of theseevents which are organized in MENA, aiming at betterfuture for the motorsport, such discussions are mainlybased on FIA regulations. It is worth saying that Egypt,Yemen, Sudan, Oman and Qatar have apologized forattending the meeting.

BAGSHOT: Eddie Jones is expecting a hardtime from his Australian compatriots when hereturns in June aiming to lead England tomore success.

But the tough-talking Tasmanian, who ledthe Wallabies for four years including a homeWorld Cup final defeat by England beforebeing ousted, is relishing the “intense” atmos-phere of a tour down under and trying tobuild on England’s recent Grand Slam success.

Jones knows all too well that while gettingEngland to complete a Six Nations cleansweep in his first season in charge was a fairlydifficult hill to climb, overcoming Australia inthe first-ever three Test series there betweenthe two nations will be considerably harder.

Asked if he expects to be targeted by the

Australian media as a potential ‘traitor’, Jonesreplied: “I am a target here (England) so it isnot going to make much difference!

“That’s part of the game. If it does helptake some of the pressure off the players thenthat can only be a good thing. It doesn’t both-er me.

“I think they will be respectful about whatwe have done regarding the Grand Slam. Well,as respectful as Australians can be! “It defi-nitely sets things up for a fantastic series onJune 11 (the date of the first Test, in Brisbane),and that’s very important.”

Jones, who took over after hosts Englandwere knocked out of last year’s World Cup inthe pool phase following a 33-13 defeat byAustralia, added: “It’s nice to go down there

with what they will see as a resurgent Englandteam.

“Australia had France out there two yearsago and, to be quite honest, the three Testswere quite morbid. They weren’t great. Francedidn’t front up at all. They were pretty poorevents and the crowds were poor.

“But they are going to see an England sidefull of energy, full of life, that wants to playpositive rugby and is going to take it to theAussies. It is going to be a tough and intensetour but it will also be an exciting one.”

With his England players back at theirrespective clubs for the run-in to the EnglishPremiership season, Jones’ biggest worry isavoiding any sort of injury crisis between nowand the end of May when the squad fly out.Despite a first Grand Slam in 13 years, andinstalling a clinical winning attitude in a shorttime, Jones will not be happy unless he turnsEngland into the global game’s dominantforce.

HARTLEY WARNING One man he both praises but warns is

England captain Dylan Hartley, who must con-tinue to prove his worth if he wishes to keephis place as the team’s first-choice hooker.

Hartley must first complete his post-con-cussion protocol following the bang on thehead that meant he missed the closing min-utes of England’s 31-21 Slam-clinching winagainst France in Paris on March 19 before hereturns to club action with Northampton. TheNew Zealand-born front row missed the WorldCup completely after former coach StuartLancaster kicked him out of the squad for thelatest in a long line of disciplinary offences,only for Jones to make him captain.

“As a player he has been adequate but hehas got to improve and keep improving,” saidJones. “He’s done very well as captain. It’s nothow well he speaks or what school he went toor can he write poetry. That has got nothing todo with leadership. It is all about the ability toinfluence people.

“When I took up the job, I spoke to peopleabout Dylan and the captaincy and the gener-al consensus was that he would be a positivechoice.

“It was obvious England missed Dylan a lotduring the World Cup. “He’s not the greatestplayer in the world but he plays with his hearton his sleeve and people follow him.” — AFP

Al Attiyah flies toAlgeria to head

FIA meeting - MENA

Nasser Al Attiyah

Jones braced for rough ride in Australia

BRISBANE: The New South Wales Waratahsedged past arch-rivals Queensland Reds 15-13in a dour Super Rugby clash in Brisbane yes-terday.

The Waratahs scored two tries to one buttrailed the Queenslanders until 12 minutes togo when Wallabies fly-half Bernard Foleykicked a penalty to put his side in front.

The win means the Waratahs stay in touchwith runaway Australian conference leadersACT Brumbies, but they had to use all theirexperience to see off a brave Queensland sidethat is yet to have a win this season.

The Reds have improved each week sincethey sacked coach Richard Graham and, onthe back of a superior scrum and line-out,they almost pulled off an upset.

“It was a really tough grind,” Waratahs cap-tain Michael Hooper conceded. “We did somereally good things but we were falling back onsome poor things we’ve done previously.“We’re rolling on but hopefully we can get asnowball effect and go from there.”

Hooper said the Waratahs had adapted tothe conditions better than their opponents.“We changed our game plan which workedreally well for us-kicking to the corners andplaying for position.”

The Reds have had a dominant scrum allseason and they quickly took control in the

opening stages of yesterday’s match.They won a series of scrum penalties on

the NSW line before New Zealand referee BenO’Keefe eventually lost patience and awardedthe home side a penalty try 10 minutes intothe match. The Reds tried to push home theadvantage but Waratahs fullback Israel Folaunarrowed the gap with a try in the corner fol-lowing a superb break up the middle fromWaratahs No 8 Jed Holloway.

FOLEY SEALS IT The Reds looked like taking a 7-5 lead into

half-time only to switch off while in attack andlose the ball at the back of the ruck.

Foley gathered the ball and set sail for theQueensland line. He was eventually broughtdown but NSW moved the ball quickly andFolau strolled over untouched to give the visi-tors a 12-7 lead at the break. The Reds contin-ued to play through their forwards in the sec-ond half and caused some problems, butwhenever they moved the ball to the backsthe movement broke down. Jake McIntyrebooted two penalties to put Queensland infront, but the experience of a NSW side featur-ing a host of Wallabies proved enough, andwhen the Reds forwards were penalised forfailing to release a tackled player, Foleystepped up and made no mistake.—AFP

Waratahs edge past arch-rivals Reds

S PORTSMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

Nadal retires in 3rdset at Miami Open

KEY BISCAYNE: Andy Murray of Great Britain plays a match against Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan during Day 6 of the Miami Open presented byItau at Crandon Park Tennis Center on March 26, 2016 in Key Biscayne, Florida. —AFP

MIAMI: Something didn’t look right about thetennis ball in Andy Murray’s grasp and when helooked at it he discovered it was from thewomen’s tour, not the men’s.

That second-set revelation, and taking theball out of play, helped the British world numbertwo finish off a 6-3, 7-5 triumph Saturday overUzbekistan’s 76th-ranked Denis Istomin at theATP and WTA Miami Open.

Murray, the 2012 US Open and 2013Wimbledon champion, seeks a third Miami title.He won in 2009 and 2013 and was runner-up toNovak Djokovic in 2012 and last year. The ballcontroversy began when Murray, trying to avoidbeing broken in the fifth game of the second set,noticed the ball in his hand bore a red logo usedonly on a WTA ball, not the black one on ATPballs. “I just saw it as I was about to bounce theball,” Murray said. “There was just a women’s ball.I had just hit two balls long. They are smaller,livelier balls and when you are just about toserve at break point down, you don’t want to usea completely different ball.

“I was a bit frustrated over that.” Murray saidhe could not be certain that the women’s ball

was the one used when he hit two crucial shotslong to set up Istomin’s break chance.

But the 28-year-old Scotsman did complainto chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani of Swedenthat he and Istomin likely had been playing withthe improper ball, one designed to go farther,for at least a couple of points.

The ball was taken out of play but some spec-tators whistled their irritation, seeing Murray’stalk as a delay tactic. “I felt like he should saysomething to the crowd because it looked like Iwas stalling intentionally. I did have an issue,” hesaid. “It ’s not his fault. He can’t see if it ’s awomen’s ball or not. It’s difficult.”

An upset Murray netted a forehand to giveIstomin the break and a 3-2 lead. Murray gaveLahyani an earful when he came to sit down.“For me, that’s not good enough,” Murray said.“Unacceptable. It’s not right.”

“I’m hitting the ball long because it’s thewrong ball. You know how different the ballsare.” “The point stands,” Lahyani replied. “It’s thesame for both.” Murray responded by breakingback in the next game, denying Istomin on abreak point in the 11th game with a backhand

drop volley and breaking again in the finalgame, Istomin netting a forehand to end mattersafter 98 minutes.

But Murray still had no idea how the women’sball got mixed among those used by the men,speculating that it lurked in flower beds near thecourt after a women’s match and was found andinserted by ballpersons.

“I don’t know where it came from,” he said.“Throughout the day a bunch of balls end up inthe flower beds. It could have come from them.”

DIMITROV NEXT FOR MURRAY Next to face Murray is Bulgarian 26th seed

Grigor Dimitrov. Murray has a 6-2 career recordagainst Dimitrov, having won their past threemeetings, most recently in last year’s round of 16at Cincinnati. “He had a match point and a bunchof chances to win that one but I was able to turnit around,” he said. “I’ll have to be a little bit moredisciplined than I was tonight. “It’ll be a toughone. He’s a top quality player.” Dimitrov beatMurray in a 2014 Wimbledon quarter-final toend the Briton’s reign as tournament champi-on.— AFP

Murray gets on the ball to advance at Miami Open

Ko seizes Kia Classic lead

LOS ANGELES: Defending champion Rory McIlroy birdied four of thelast six holes in a 4 and 3 win over Chris Kirk on Saturday to book a semi-final showdown with Jason Day at the WGC Match Play in Texas.

Day advanced with a 3 and 2 victory over Brooks Koepka. The victorymeans the Australian will regain the world number one ranking fromAmerican Jordan Spieth, who was ousted Saturday morning in theround of 16 by South African Louis Oosthuizen.

McIlroy, seeded third, reached the semi-finals of the elite event forthe third time in his career. He took a quick lead over Kirk with an 11-footbirdie putt at the opening hole, but his three-putt bogey at the ninth letKirk square the match.

McIlroy responded emphatically, with birdies to win the 10th, 12th,13th and 15th-all with putts from within 10 feet. “I was a little annoyedgoing from the ninth green to the 10th-letting Chris get back into it witha three-putt on nine,” McIlroy said.

“But after that I was four-under for my next six holes and that wasenough to get the job done.” McIlroy, who edged Zach Johnson 1 up toreach the quarters, admitted he has more than a title repeat on his mind.

“It’s great for my confidence, especially with the Masters only a cou-ple of weeks away,” he said. “To get a good run in this tournament, whichis my last competitive start before Augusta is really pleasing.”

Day’s amazing weekDay, the 2014 winner, had three birdies and an eagle against Koepka.

He took the lead with a seven-footer at the third, but Koepka birdied thenext two to grab the lead.

The American couldn’t find another birdie, however, and Dayregained the lead with a seven-foot birdie at the 10th and added aneagle at the 12th before winning the 15th with a par.

Day, who had downed Brandt Snedeker 3 and 2 on Saturday morn-ing, said he expected the clash with McIlroy to be “a lot of fun” althoughhe’s hoping the weather will be warm for the benefit of his injured back.

“It’s been a bit of an up and down week, especially emotionally,” saidDay, whose back was so bad after his first-round win on Wednesday hethought he might have to withdraw. “It’s been quite amazing to be ableto start the week and not really thinking I’m going to be able to playwith what happened Wednesday. And turn around I’m number one inthe world on Saturday.

“It’s a strange feeling,” he said. “I’m glad I stuck it out.” The other semi-final pits Spain’s’ Rafael Cabrera Bello against Oosthuizen. Oosthuizen,seeded 16th, followed up his 4 and 2 win over Spieth with a 2 and 1 tri-umph over eighth-seeded American Dustin Johnson.

Cabrera Bello, who advanced to the quarters when South Korea’s AnByeong-Hun retired with a sore neck while 4 down through 11, beatRyan Moore 2 and 1 to reach the final four. The Spaniard, ranked 54th inthe world and seeded 52nd, never trailed against Moore, who had justone birdie after producing four on the front nine in a 4 and 3 victory overPatton Kizzire in the morning.

Oosthuizen reached the semi-finals after losing in the quarters thelast two years. He trailed Johnson much of their match, but sealed it witha 21-foot birdie putt at 17.

SWING STRUGGLESBut it was Oosthuizen’s morning match that made headlines. Spieth

hadn’t trailed in three round-robin matches. “I got to the range thismorning and I was hitting some slices with my irons, which is bizarre,”Spieth said. “I just tried to compensate somehow on the golf course. Igot away with it on the first couple of holes and then it got the best ofme.” Spieth, who hadn’t made bogey at the first six holes in his first threematches, bogeyed the fourth to fall 1 down. Oosthuizen held onto the

lead as Spieth scrambled through a stretch that included two birdies,two bogeys and a double bogey, with the South African nabbing threebirdies in the last five holes to seal it. — AFP

McIlroy books WGC Match Play s-final against Day

AUSTIN: Jason Day of Australia makes birdie on the first hole duringhis semifinal match with Rory McIlroy at the World GolfChampionships-Dell Match Play at the Austin Country Club yester-day in Austin, Texas. — AFP

CARLSBAD: Lydia Ko took sole possessionof the lead after shooting a bogey-free 67and Lee Min-Jee aced a 275-yard par four inthe third round of the Kia Classic. Worldnumber one Ko, of New Zealand, is at 14-under overall and has a three shot leadover Park Sung-Hyun (68), Brittany Lang(70), and Jenny Shin (71) in the LPGA Tourevent.

“You don’t get that many opportunitieswhere you’re going into the final roundwith a few-shot lead,” Ko said. “But I’ll takeit. I’d rather be a couple shots ahead than acouple shots behind.”

The day was special for Australia’s Lee asshe made a hole-in-one on the 16th at theCarlsbad course. Lee becomes just the sec-ond in history to hit a hole-in-one at a par-four on the LPGA Tour, following Jang Ha-Na’s albatross earlier this year in theBahamas. Park carded five birdies in a rowbefore a stumble on the par-five 17th holewith a double bogey. Park rebounded andfinished her round with a birdie on the18th, putting her in a tie for second place.Ko holds the 54-hole lead for the 10th timein her career. She has won four of thosetournaments.

If she holds on Sunday it will be her firsttitle of 2016 and the 11th of her career. Shehas had two runner-up finishes this year.Lang is seeking her second career LPGAwin. Second round leader Shin is lookingfor her first victory, as is Park.

World number two Park In-Bee shot a 70and is in sole possession of fifth at 10-under, four shots adrift of Ko. Norway’sSuzann Pettersen climbed up the leader-board with a 66. She is tied for seventhplace and Candie Kung shot the low round

of the day with a 65. Kung is in a tie for 10thplace. — AFP

KEY BISCAYNE: Rafael Nadal slumped in achangeover chair, the blood pressuregauge strapped to his mighty left arm serv-ing as a scoreboard.He was on the verge ofdefeat, and a few points later he retiredfrom a match for the first time in six years.

Nadal faded in the subtropical heat andconceded after falling behind in the thirdset of his opening match Saturday at theMiami Open against Damir Dzumhur.

The No. 5-seeded Nadal trailed 2-6, 6-4,3-0 when he called it quits after losing apoint to fall behind 30-15. He had earlierconsulted with a trainer between gamesthree times, and had his blood pressurechecked. Nadal said he started feeling bad-ly at the end of the first set. “It was gettingworse and worse and worse,” the Spaniardsaid. “I get a little bit scared - too dizzy. I feltI was not safe, so I decided to go. I wantedto finish the match, but I seriously couldn’t.”

His departure left the draw withoutthree of the five highest-seeded men. No. 4Stan Wawrinka lost to Andrey Kuznetsov 6-4, 6-3, and No. 3 Roger Federer withdrewFriday because of a stomach virus.

In the night session, No. 2 Andy Murraywon his opening match against DenisIstomin, 6-3, 7-5. Eight-time championSerena Williams avoided the upset bug andseemed unfazed by the weather. The SouthFloridian earned her 20th consecutive vic-tory at Key Biscayne and reached the fourthround by beating Zarina Diyas 7-5, 6-3.”Ilive down the street, and I’m used to theseconditions,” she said. “Even though it was alittle humid, I’m used to it and I love thisweather.”

Nadal’s match lasted less than two

hours, but the temperature approached 90degrees and was even higher on the sun-baked stadium hardcourt.

Nadal said he felt fine before the matchand wasn’t sure whether he was contract-ing an il lness. “Hopefully it ’s just theextreme conditions,” he said. “It’s tough forme, because I felt I was playing well. It’s ahard accident. That’s life.”

Nadal later pulled out of doubles.The 14-time Grand Slam champion

hasn’t won a tournament since August. Butit had been 443 matches since he retired -in the 2010 Australian Open quarterfinalsagainst Andy Murray. Key Biscayne remainsone of the biggest tournaments Nadal hasnever won. He’s 0-4 in finals.

Dzumhur is a 23-year-old Bosnian whowas a child actor before he decided tofocus on tennis. Ranked 94th, he ralliedwith a variety of tactics, including half adozen drop shots for winners and an occa-sional serve and volley.

Nadal had to work hard from the start,failing to convert nine break-point chancesduring a marathon second game beforeDzumhur double-faulted to lose serve.

The heat also bothered the 154-poundDzumhur, who consulted with a trainer fol-lowing the first set.

“It was really tough to play,” he said. “Ifelt really tired and heavy and in somemoments dizzy.” No. 30-seeded ThomazBellucci retired from his match after twosets because of dehydration. In othermen’s play, No. 13 John Isner double-faulted on his final two service pointsand lost to qualifier Tim Smyczek 6-2, 2-6,7-6 (5). — AP

KEY BISCAYNE: Serena Williams, of the United States, returns a shot from ZarinaDiyas, of Kazakhstan, at the Miami Open tennis tournament in Key Biscayne, Fla.,Saturday. Williams defeated Diyas 7-5, 6-3. — AP

FLORIDA: Serena Williams won her 750thcareer match to stay on track for her ninthMiami Open title when she beat ZarinaDiyas of Kazakhstan 7-5 6-3 in the thirdround in Florida on Saturday.

The world number one improved hercareer record to 750-125, seventh on theall-time list and just three match winsbehind Lindsay Davenport’s 753. MartinaNavratilova sits atop the all-time list with1,442 wins.

The 34-year-old Williams will meetRussian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourthround. The 15th seed defeated France’sCaroline Garcia 4-6 6-2 7-6(6).

Unlike the last time they met, whenWilliams required 54 minutes and Diyaswon just two games, the 22-year-old Kazakgave the American some trouble in theheat and humidity of Miami.

Williams jumped out to a 4-0 lead in thesecond set, only to see Diyas rally and winthree straight games. But the 21-timesgrand slam champion steadied to close outthe match.

“I think she called her coach and theyused a different strategy,” Williams said in acourtside interview.

“I was able to figure it out after a littlebit. She played well, especially to be ranked97th. She has a bright future because she’sso young. But I really wanted to close itout.” Williams and Kuznetsova were joinedin the fourth round by Poland’s AgnieszkaRadwanska, Romanian Simona Halep, SwissTimea Bacsinszky, Russian EkaterinaMakarova and wild-card Heather Watson ofGreat Britain. Makarova, the 30th seed,upset eighth seed Czech Petra Kvitova 6-46-4. —Reuters

Serena takes another step to Miami title

KEY BISCAYNE: Timea Bacsinszky, ofSwitzerland, celebrates after winning apoint against Ana Ivanovic, of Serbia, atthe Miami Open tennis tournament inKey Biscayne, Fla., Saturday. Bacsinszkydefeated Ivanovic 7-5, 6-4. — AP

S PORTSMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

NEW DELHI: South Africa batsman HashimAmla insisted his team’s World Cup dreamlives on, saying the top Proteas stars are stillhoping for glory in the near future.

Apart from their Champions Trophy tri-umph in 1998, South Africa have never won amajor International Cricket Council eventsince their post-apartheid return in 1991.

Faf du Plessis’ side have already exited theWorld Twenty20, even before their final groupgame against Sri Lanka today, their World Cup

jinx striking again. “Well listen, this team willwin a World Cup or ICC tournament at somestage, I think we have won one in 1998,” Amlatold reporters at New Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla.

South Africa haven’t enjoyed much successof late, with a T20 series loss against Australiaheading into the world event, where the sidehave lost two of their three matches so far.

“It’s an unfortunate situation that we havefound ourselves in. Certainly as a team wehaven’t played our best cricket,” admitted

Amla. With Amla, AB de VIlliers and DaleSteyn, the Proteas have seen the ‘golden gen-eration’ fail to claim a global title. Amlaassures the big boys will hang around for awhile.

“Lot of us feel we have a few more yearsleft in us, so the Champions Trophy is nextyear and it would be great if we could maketo the next World Cup, that will be ideal,” saidAmla.

“We take it as it comes. As long as you are

fit and healthy, scoring runs and the form isgood and you want to perform for the teamthen you can make it,” he added.

With the chokers tag hanging around theirnecks after a series of narrow defeats in thelast two decades, South Africa didn’t do theirreputation any good after going down incrunch games this time around.

The Proteas’ hopes of clinching a first inter-national trophy were dented in their openingmatch, when England chased down a record

230 runs to win.They survived a scare to beat minnows

Afghanistan by 37 runs, but lost a thrillerwhen the West Indies successfully chased 123with just two balls to spare, and Sri Lanka’sdefeat to England on Saturday sealed theirfate.

“We haven’t had a game where our battingand our bowling has clicked in the samegame consistently enough and that has beenour biggest downfall,” Amla said. — AFP

Amla insists current SA stars can still win a global title

NAGPUR: Afghanistan’s cricketers celebrate their win over West Indies in the ICC World Twenty20 2016 cricket match in Nagpur, India, yester-day. — AP

NAGPUR: Afghanistan skipper AsgharStanikzai hailed his underdog side after theirhistoric six-run victory over the powerful WestIndies at the World Twenty20 match inNagpur yesterday. Afghanistan had failed toqualify for the semi-finals heading intoSunday’s match, but were determined to takehome a consolation victory against the WestIndies, who had already made the final four.

Stanikzai paid credit to his never-say-diecharges especially batsman NajibullahZadran, named man-of-the-match, afterAfghanistan notched up their first ever Super10 victory at a World T20.

Stanikzai said his side, who had lost threestraight group stage matches, had learnt “somuch” at the T20 and would now head homeand “work on our weaknesses”.

“We knew the conditions but the bowlersand fielders played very well. We know aboutour team’s strengths, we have experienced somuch at this WT20.” After being sent into bat,Stanikzai’s side posted a respectable 123/7,with Najibullah smashing an unbeaten 48against the 2012 World T20 champions. TheWest Indies, who had a perfect record head-ing into the match with three straight wins,warned that they were not going to let upagainst Afghanistan. But their run chase gotoff to a shaky start, with opener Evin Lewisdismissed for a duck, and some excellentAfghanistan spin bowling led by 17-year-oldRashid Khan (2-26) meant the wickets keptfalling.

SPECTACULAR, TUMBLING CATCHWith the West Indies needing 10 runs from

the final over, Najibullah sprinted severalmetres along the boundary to take a spectac-ular, tumbling catch and claim CarlosBraithwaite for 13, just when he looked likebringing the West Indies home, as he haddone against South Africa on Friday. SamuelBadree and an injured Andre Fletcher couldonly manage to push the total to 117 in thethree remaining deliveries.

Despite the loss, the West Indies still fin-ished top of Group One, and will play eitherAustralia or India, who clash later in GroupTwo, in the semi-finals.

Captain Darren Sammy said the loss wouldnot derail his side’s campaign for the title,describing the loss as a “banana skid” on theroad to the finals. “Obviously we are disap-pointed but we are not going to let thisdampen our spirits, we played well, we justneed to find a way to chase down those smalltotals,” he said.

“We have two more steps to take, and wejust had a slight banana skid in the race, andwe just have to regroup and come backagain.” After being sent in to bat, Najibullahtop scored for Afghanistan, striking four foursand one six in his 40-ball knock to bringcheers from the small but vocal crowd.

Afghanistan had lost all of their previousSuper 10 matches, but they have won newadmirers in India with their aggressive andcarefree brand of cricket that has causedsome anxious moments for their opponents.Opener Mohammad Shahzad made a confi-dent 24, but was caught off leg-spinnerBadree, trying to heave over the infield, just ashe was looking exciting. Asghar Stanikzai also

made a handy 16. The skipper shuffled downthe wicket to smash a six over long on, butwas caught the next ball by Dwayne Bravo offBadree attempting the same shot.

As the wickets started to tumble thanks tosome strong fielding, 23-year-old Najibullahheld his nerve, guiding Afghanistan past the120 mark and to what proved a winning total.— AFP

Afghanistan’s Stanikzai hails

historic win over Windies

AfghanistanMohammad Shahzad c Benn b Badree 24Usman Ghani b Badree 4Asghar Stanikzai c Bravo b Badree 16Gulbadin Naib c Bravo b Sammy 8Samiullah Shenwari c Sammy b Benn 1Najibullah Zadran not out 48Mohammad Nabi c Samuels b Russell 9Shafiqullah Shafaq c Fletcher b Russell 4Rashid Khan not out 6Extras: (2lb, 1w) 3TOTAL: (for 7 wickets) 123Overs: 20.Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-33, 3-50, 4-52, 5-56, 6-90, 7-103Did not bat: Amir Hamza, Hamid Hassan.Bowling: Andre Russell 4-0-23-2 (1w), Samuel Badree 4-0-14-3, Carlos Brathwaite 2-0-21-0, Sulieman Benn 4-0-18-1, Dwayne Bravo 4-0-28-0, Darren Sammy 2-0-17-1.

West IndiesJohnson Charles b Hassan 22

Evin Lewis c Khan b Hamza 0Andre Fletcher not out 11Marlon Samuels b Khan 5Denesh Ramdin st Shahzad b Khan 18Dwayne Bravo lbw b Nabi 28Andre Russell run out 7Darren Sammy c Sami b Naib 6Carlos Brathwaite c Zadran b Nabi 13Samuel Badree not out 2Extras: (1lb, 2w, 2nb) 5TOTAL: (for 8 wickets) 117Overs: 20.Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-33, 3-38, 4-79, 5-89, 6-98, 7-107, 8-114.Did not bat: Sulieman Benn.Bowling: Amir Hamza 4-0-9-1, Mohammad Nabi 4-0-26-2, Hamid Hassan 2.4-0-19-1 (2nb), Rashid Khan 4-0-26-2,Samiullah Shenwari 4-0-22-0 (1w), Gulbadin Naib 1.2-0-14-1.Result: Afghanistan won by 6 runs.

SCOREBOARD NAGPUR, India: Scoreboard Sunday from the World Twenty20 Group 1 game between West Indies and Afghanistanat Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium:

NEW DELHI: Skipper Angelo Mathewspleaded for patience from Sri Lankan crick-et fans and administrators after the reign-ing champions crashed out of the WorldTwenty20 at the group stages. Sri Lanka’ssurrender of the trophy they won in 2014 isfurther evidence of their decline in the lasttwo years, a process accelerated by theretirements of batting legends KumarSangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene.Now down at eight in the T20 rankings, SriLanka had a disastrous showing at therecent Asia Cup and came into the sixthedition of the World T20 tournament afterrecently changing their coach and captain.Following a less than convincing win overminnows Afghanistan in their openingmatch, they were then badly beaten by theWest Indies before Saturday’s narrow 10-run defeat to England.

Mathews, who is already Sri Lanka’s Testcaptain, was appointed skipper of the T20team on the eve of the tournament afterveteran fast bowler Lasith Malinga failed toshake off a knee injury.

“It’s been a disappointing few monthsfor all of us. We have let down our fans, welet down the whole country. And wehaven’t played good cricket at all. We arereally disappointed,” he said at a press con-ference after Saturday’s defeat.

“All we can do is stick to the combina-tion, not try and change the team toomuch. Try to pick about 20 players and, youknow, revalue then after six months, givethem the opportunity to settle down andthen try and see what they have come up

with in term of performances.”

MALINGA IRREPLACEABLE Sri Lanka’s selectors were all sacked just

ahead of the tournament, adding to thesense of turmoil within Sri Lankan cricketafter South African Graham Ford returnedlast month to take over as team coach.Ford has warned that Sri Lanka faces a“huge” rebuilding task with other veteranmatch-winners such as spinner RanganaHerath, 38, and opener Tillakaratne Dilshan,39, also expected to step away in the nearfuture. The retirements of Jayawardeneand Sangakkara, the two highest run-scor-ers in the history of Sri Lankan Test cricket,have added to the burden on Mathewswho is now the team’s premier batsman.

After playing a brave innings of 73 in thedefeat against England after seeing hisside reduced to 15 for 4, Mathews said thateveryone had to accept that it would taketime to fill such a big void.

“Hasty decisions will not solve this mat-ter, so we have got to try and be patient,”he said. All-rounder Thisara Perera said onFriday that Sri Lanka could take years to getover the retirement of Sangakkara andJayawardene while warning that Malingawas irreplaceable.

Perera described the slingy Malinga as aone of a kind, saying a player such as himwould “never, never come” again. Althoughthey are out of the running for the semi-finals, Sri Lanka still have one last groupmatch against South Africa, who are alsoeliminated in New Delhi. —AFP

Mathews urges patience

after S Lanka T20 exit

NEW DELHI: South Africa’s Hashim Amla kicks a football during a training session onthe eve of the World T20 cricket tournament match between South Africa and SriLanka at Feroz Shah Kotla cricket ground in New Delhi yesteday. — AFP

NEW DELHI: England opener Jason Royand fast bowler David Willey have beenfined at the World Twenty20 after emotionsspilled over during their win over Sri Lankaon Saturday.

Both players gave solid performancesduring England’s nailbiting 10-run victoryover Sri Lanka in New Delhi to secure aplace in the semifinals.

But Roy was fined 30 percent of hismatch fee for swearing and then throwinghis bat and helmet upon leaving the field,after being given out lbw for 42 off 39 balls.

The International Cricket Council (ICC)said on Sunday that Roy had shown “dis-sent at an umpire’s decision during aninternational match”.

Willey, meanwhile, who took 2-26, wasfined 15 percent of his fee after giving acolourful send-off to Milinda Siriwardanawhen the Sri Lankan was dismissed imme-diately after hitting the seamer for six.

The ICC said he breached the code ofconduct for “actions or gestures which dis-parage or which could provoke an aggres-sive reaction” from a batsman on their dis-missal.

Both players admitted the offences dur-ing a meeting with match referee JeffCrowe, the ICC said in a statement.

England are now likely to face NewZealand in a semi-final encounter in Delhion Wednesday, with the West Indies havingalready qualified from their group. —AFP

England’s Roy,

Willey fined

MOHALI: India’s Smiriti Mandhana, center, walks back after being bowled out by Afy Fletcherof West Indies during their ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2016 cricket match in Mohali, India,yesterday. — AP

S PORTSMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

LONDON: Cambridge ended a run ofthree straight defeats by Oxford with vic-tory in the 162nd edition of theUniversity Boat Race in London onSaturday.

The heavier and more experiencedcrew, Cambridge were the favourites forthis year’s renewal on the 4 miles, 374yards (6.8 km) course between Putneyand Mortlake on the River Thames.

Victory saw the Light Blues extendtheir overall lead in a race first run in

1829 to 82 wins to 79.On a day when rough water had

played havoc with the precedingwomen’s race, Cambridge were aheadalmost from the start and althoughOxford hung on grimly they neverlooked at any stage as if they wouldovertake their ancient rivals in this latestcontest between England’s two oldestuniversities. Cambridge, who won thetoss, had the early advantage of theSurrey bend in their favour were suffi-

ciently far ahead of the Dark Blues tomake it across to the safety of theMiddlesex riverbank in increasinglychoppy water. Maintaining a goodrhythm, Cambridge won in a time of 18minutes and 38 seconds, finishing two-and-a-half lengths ahead of Oxford. Bycontrast, in the women’s race Oxfordwon by a huge margin of 24 lengthsafter Cambridge almost sank in roughwater.

This was only the second time the

women’s race had been run on the samecourse as the men’s and gave Oxfordtheir fourth win in a row and 13th victo-ry in 17 years.

Oxford, recovering from a slow start,and by the time they reachedHammersmith Bridge, Cambridge werealready starting to take on water that allbut overwhelmed their boat’s pumpingsystem.

By contrast, the Dark Blues got out ofthe turbulent stream in time and headed

for safety near the Middlesex riverbank.Cambridge almost came to a stand-

still, the pumping system in their boat allbut overwhelmed and it seemed theymight emulate the unfortunate 1978Light Blue men’s crew in suffering anembarrassing sinking.

But although given the option ofstopping by the race umpire, they car-ried on albeit they finished 71 secondsadrift of Oxford, who won in a time of21:49. —AFP

Cambridge end losing Boat Race streak

WASHINGTON: Petteri Lindbohm #48 of the St. Louis Blues passes the puck around Andre Burakovsky #65 of the Washington Capitals in the sec-ond period at Verizon Center on Saturday in Washington, DC. — AFP

WASHINGTON: Jake Allen made 32 saves withregular starter Brian Elliott back home resting asthe St. Louis Blues beat the NHL-leadingWashington Capitals 4-0 on Saturday night fortheir fourth consecutive shutout. St. Louis wonfor the 10th time in 12 games and kept pacewith the Dallas Stars atop the Central Division.Kyle Brodziak, Colton Parayko, VladimirTarasenko and Patrik Berglund scored for theBlues, who have their sights on the division titleand the top seed in the Western Conference.With six games left, they’re tied with the Stars,who beat the Sharks in San Jose. The Capitalswould’ve clinched the Presidents’ Trophy with apoint but now must wait until at least Monday.

PENGUINS 7, RED WINGS 2Carl Hagelin scored twice and Phil Kessel had

a goal and four assists to help Pittsburgh routDetroit. Pittsburgh boosted its chances of earn-ing a 10th straight trip to the playoffs and hurtDetroit’s quest to extend its postseason streak to25. The Penguins have won seven of eight, stay-ing ahead of the New York Islanders for the thirdguaranteed spot from the Metropolitan Division.The Red Wings started the day a point behindBoston for third place in the Atlantic. Detroit isalso in a closely contested race with theIslanders and Philadelphia to be the two wild-card teams that earn spots when the seasonends in two weeks.

PANTHERS 5, LIGHTNING 2Jaromir Jagr had a goal and an assist while

Roberto Luongo made 33 saves as Florida tookover first place in the Atlantic Division by beat-ing Tampa Bay. Vincent Trocheck, Jiri Hudler,Jonathan Huberdeau and Jussi Jokinen alsoscored for the Panthers, who have a two-pointlead over the Lightning. Tampa Bay got goalsfrom Tyler Johnson and Steven Stamkos. TheLightning were without right wing NikitaKucherov, who took a shot off his foot in a 7-4win over the New York Islanders on Friday night.Right wing Ryan Callahan, defenseman AntonStralman and center Valtteri Filppula also sat forTampa Bay with injuries.

STARS 4, SHARKS 2Mattias Janmark returned to the lineup from

injury and got his first career two-goal gamewhile Antti Niemi made 34 saves against his for-mer team as Dallas beat San Jose. Patrick Sharpadded a power-play goal and Jamie Benn scoredan empty-netter to help the Stars remain in firstplace in the Central Division by winning for thefourth time in five games. Niemi, traded toDallas last offseason after five seasons in SanJose, got the win in his first start in two weeks.Joel Ward scored a short-handed goal andTomas Hertl also scored for San Jose. But theSharks’ late rally fell short in their third straightregulation loss at home, once again delayingtheir playoff clinching. Martin Jones made 13saves. Janmark had missed six games with anupper-body injury and wasn’t certain he’d returnto the lineup until after taking the pregameskate against the Sharks. His return was wel-comed by the Stars as he scored the first twogoals of the game to help lead them to victory.

DUCKS 4, SENATORS 3, OTRickard Rakell scored a power-play goal in

overtime as Anaheim finished with four straightgoals to beat Ottawa. Ryan Getzlaf, JakobSilfverberg and Hampus Lindholm scored for theDucks, who trailed 3-0 after two periods.Frederik Andersen made 29 saves. Mike

Hoffman, Erik Karlsson and Chris Neil scored forthe Senators, who have lost three straight. CraigAnderson stopped 35 shots. Hoffman wasawarded a penalty shot early in the third periodbut lost the puck and never challengedAndersen. From that point on, it was allAnaheim. Getzlaf opened the scoring for theDucks, tucking one under the crossbar at the 5-minute mark, and Silfverberg made it a one-goaldeficit after scoring at 11:31. Lindholm tied thegame in the final minute of the third.

ISLANDERS 4, HURRICANES 3, OTCal Clutterbuck scored a deflected goal with

13.8 seconds left in overtime as New York beatCarolina. Clutterbuck had two goals, with his firsttying it 30 seconds into the third period. NikolayKulemin had a goal and an assist and Kyle Okposoalso scored for the Islanders, who have won twoof three over a four-day span. Victor Rask, JeffSkinner and Jeff McClement scored during a sec-ond-period flurry for the Hurricanes. Jean-Francois Berube made 33 saves for New Yorkwhile Eddie Lack stopped 27 shots for Carolina ina matchup of desperate Metropolitan Divisionteams. Clutterbuck took a pass from Brock Nelsonand unleashed a shot from between the circlesthat clipped off Carolina defenseman JaccobSlavin’s chest and got past Lack.

BRUINS 3, MAPLE LEAFS 1Zdeno Chara snapped a 20-game goal

drought as Boston ended a season-long five-game losing streak with a victory over Toronto.The win created some much-needed space inthe Eastern Conference playoff race for Boston,currently third in the Atlantic Division with 88points and now three points up on Detroit.Patrice Bergeron and Matt Beleskey also scoredfor the Bruins. Ben Smith found the back of thenet for the Leafs. Tuukka Rask made 25 saves,topping Jonathan Bernier, who gave up twogoals on 32 shots.

WILD 4, AVALANCHE 0Zach Parise scored twice and Devan Dubnyk

made 29 saves for his 19th NHL shutout asMinnesota beat Colorado in a pivotal gamebetween two teams contending for the finalWestern Conference playoff spot. JordanSchroeder also scored and Mikael Granlundadded a short-handed goal into an empty net to

help the Wild move five points ahead ofColorado for eighth place in the playoff race.Parise remains red hot as he followed up his hattrick on Thursday night with two more goals,including one in the second period of a scorelesscontest that sent the Wild on their way to theirfifth straight win. This was a crushing blow to theplayoff chances of the Avalanche. They have atougher schedule with all seven of their remain-ing games against teams headed to the postsea-son. The Wild play three of their final six contestsagainst teams with no postseason shot.

RANGERS 5, CANADIENS 2Chris Kreider had two goals and an assist as

New York beat Montreal. Derick Brassard had agoal and two assists for the Rangers and J.T.Miller and Derek Stepan also scored. In his firstgame at the Bell Centre, Rangers backup goal-tender Antti Raanta made 24 saves for his 10thwin of the season. Lars Eller and Phillip Danaulthad goals for Montreal. Mike Condon stopped14 of 19 shots before being pulled in the secondintermission. Ben Scrivens made four saves inthe third. The Rangers beat Montreal for the firsttime since Nov. 23, 2014.

PREDATORS 5, BLUE JACKETS 1Shea Weber and James Neal each had a goal

and an assist to lead Nashville over Columbus.Mattias Ekholm, Craig Smith and Calle Jarnkrokalso scored for the Predators, who have won fiveof six. Roman Josi had three assists and has 44this season, setting a franchise record for adefenseman. Pekka Rinne made 18 saves.Nashville is 32-5-4 at home against Columbus.Boone Jenner had the lone goal for the Jackets,who have lost three of four.

SABRES 3, JETS 2Sam Reinhart tied the game and then set up

Jack Eichel’s go-ahead goal 4:07 into the thirdperiod, rallying Buffalo over Winnipeg. The lossmathematically eliminated the Jets from playoffcontention in a matchup of teams out of thepostseason picture. The rebuilding Sabres drewon their youth movement, which produced allthree goals. Newly signed forward HudsonFasching rounded out the scoring. Nikolaj Ehlersand Andrew Copp scored for the Jets, whosquandered a chance to win three straight forthe first time this season. — AP

Blues beat Capitals for

fourth consecutive SO

Eastern ConferenceAtlantic Division

W L OT GF GA PTSFlorida 42 24 9 216 184 93Tampa Bay 43 27 5 211 182 91Boston 40 28 8 222 207 88Detroit 37 27 11 192 206 85Ottawa 34 33 9 217 234 77MontrÈal 34 36 6 201 221 74Buffalo 31 34 10 179 202 72Toronto 27 36 11 181 217 65

Metropolitan DivisionWashington 53 16 5 232 174 111NY Rangers 43 24 8 217 196 94Pittsburgh 41 25 8 211 184 90NY Islanders 40 25 9 208 192 89Philadelphia 36 25 13 193 197 85New Jersey 36 31 8 169 190 80Carolina 32 28 15 183 204 79Columbus 30 37 8 194 233 68

Western ConferencePacific Division

Dallas 45 22 9 247 218 99St. Louis 45 22 9 203 185 99Chicago 43 25 7 209 186 93Nashville 39 23 13 210 190 91Minnesota 37 28 11 206 189 85Colorado 38 33 4 200 212 80Winnipeg 31 38 6 192 220 68

Central DivisionLos Angeles 45 25 5 206 175 95Anaheim 41 23 10 194 177 92San Jose 41 28 6 219 196 88Arizona 34 34 7 197 221 75Calgary 31 38 6 205 238 68Vancouver 27 34 13 169 214 67Edmonton 30 41 7 193 232 67Note: Overtime losses (OT) worth 1 pt and not includedin loss column (L).

NHL Results/Standings

Toronto 1, Boston 3; MontrÈal 2, NY Rangers 5; Ottawa 3, Anaheim 4 (OT); Tampa Bay 2, Florida 5; Washington 0, St.Louis 4; Carolina 3, NY Islanders 4 (OT); Calgary 1, Chicago 4; Nashville 5, Columbus 1; Arizona 2, Philadelphia 1; LosAngeles 6, Edmonton 4; Detroit 2, Pittsburgh 7; San Jose 2, Dallas 4; Colorado 0, Minnesota 4; Buffalo 3, Winnipeg 2.

El Sherbini makes history for

Egypt with British Open win

KINGSTON UPON HULL: Nour ElSherbini became the first Egyptianwoman to win the 94-year-old BritishOpen title when she overcome her com-patriot Nouran Gohar in five tight gamesyesterday.

Gohar, aged only 18, had been tryingto become the youngest women’s win-ner, but after a match full of unusuallyhard hitting she was beaten 11-7, 9-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8.

For the second time in the tourna-ment Gohar suffered a bleeding kneewhich required treatment, and after anine-minute delay Sherbini produced abrilliant forehand counter-hit and thentwo more heavy, accurate forehanddrives to close it out.

“It ’s really weird to hear that I amchampion,” said Sherbini, who played inthe 2012 final but is still only 20. “The lasttwo points depended on such a smallmargin.

“I’m very proud be the first Egyptian(woman) to win. It’s a huge thing and

hopefully other Egyptians will make usproud.” With the men’s final later beingbetween two of her compatriots, thatsentiment was certain to be realisedsoon.

Mohamed El Shorbagy, the defendingchampion, was taking on Ramy Ashour,who became the first Egyptian in almost50 years to take the title when he wonthree years ago.

In a thrilling final game, Sherbini waswarned for a collision early on, and thenfrustrated by a controversial “no let” deci-sion which helped Gohar to reduce athree-point deficit to one at 6-7.

It was still one point, at 7-8, whenSherbini pointed out that her alreadybadly cut knee had started bleedingagain, and she was obliged to leave thecourt.

“I am very sad,” Gohar said, bravelyholding back the tears while still oncourt. “I was so close. But it was my firstfinal and I didn’t quite have the experi-ence to win it.” — AFP

LONDON: Britain’s Kell Brook said hewanted a fight against rival world champi-on Danny Garcia after making short workof his International Boxing Federation wel-terweight title defence with a second-round stoppage of Canada’s Kevin Bizieron Saturday.

Victory in front of his home crowd inSheffield, northern England, saw Brookextend his perfect professional record to36 wins from 36 bouts with 25 knockouts.

But the speed with which Brookstopped his game, if outclassed, opponentwas sure to raise questions about how theIBF managed to select Bizier as a manda-tory challenger for the title.

“I have been training a long, long time.I wanted to warm up into it and have anall out war, but he couldn’t stand up to it,”Brook told Sky Sports after victory bytechnical knock out in two minutes and 15seconds of the second round.

“I want the big fights. I have my manda-tory out of the way. I have power that canknock heavyweights out,” he added afterhis third title defence. “That is what wehave to do now-make a big fight.”

Brook has yet to have a career-definingcontest against a major name such asAmerican fighter Garcia and, pressed onwho he wanted to face next, the 29-year-old said: “I want that WBC (World BoxingCouncil) belt, Danny Garcia.

“Or Manny Pacquiao, or Timothy

Bradley,” he added, with the latter twoboxers facing each other in a couple ofweeks’ time. This was Brook’s first fightsince May last year after he suffered a bro-ken rib following a traightforward winover compatriot Frankie Gavin. Brookstunned Shawn Porter of the United Statesto win the title in August 2014, but wasout of action for more than a year follow-ing injuries sustained in a stabbing inci-dent in Tenerife.

A routine victory over Romanian Jo JoDan followed before the defeat of Gavin.Bizier entered the ring having won 25 ofhis 27 professional bouts but, significantly,his record included two defeats by Dan,both via split decisions, in 2013 and 2014.

Right from the opening bell he demon-strated an alarming lack of head move-ment, with Brook landing some solidpunches and causing a cut above hisopponent’s eye. By the early stages of thesecond round, blood was pouring fromBizier’s nose and it was not long beforeBrook rocked him with a powerful headshot and then sent the 31-year-old to thecanvas with a flurry of punches.

Bizier, never previously knocked out inhis career, got back up only for Brook tofloor him again moments later.

Midway through the second count, thereferee stopped the contest with 45 sec-onds of the round remaining and Bizier inno position to continue. —AFP

Kell Brook

Brook eyes Garcia bout after

speedy world title defence

Nour El Sherbini (right) in action.

S PORTSMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

JOHANNESBURG: Cameroon twicecame from behind on Saturday to take agiant step towards African Nations Cupqualification and Morocco are also oncourse for the finals after making a win-ning start under new coach HerveRenard.

Youssef El Arabi converted a 26th-minute penalty as Morocco won 1-0 atCape Verde Islands, the leading Africanteam in the world rankings, to go three

points clear in Group F as they kept up a100 percent record.

Renard, who has won two of the lastthree Nations Cup titles, was appointedBadou Ezaki’s successor last month.

Leaders Cameroon maintained a five-point advantage over third-placed SouthAfrica in Group M after the two formerchampions slugged it out for a 2-2 drawin Limbe.

Nicolas N’koulou scored the second

for Cameroon, playing their first gameunder new coach Hugo Broos, afterHlompho Kekana had put South Africa2-1 up early in the second period with aremarkable effort from inside his ownhalf. Saturday’s ties, marking the halfwaypoint of qualifying for the 2017 finals inGabon, also yielded victories for BurkinaFaso, Democratic Republic of Congo,Namibia, Senegal and small IndianOcean island nations Mauritius and

Seychelles. Jonathan Pitroipa’s penaltyhanded Burkina Faso a 1-0 win overUganda and a share of top spot in GroupD alongside their opponents.

Democratic Republic of Congo arefirst in Group B after beating Angola 2-1in front of 90,000 fans in Kinshasa thanksto a first-half penalty by Cedric Bakambuand a second-half scorcher from substi-tute Elia Meschack.

Angola replied with a late penalty.

Senegal have a 100 percent recordafter overcoming Niger 2-0 in Dakar withgoals from Mohamed Diame and OumarNiasse while Group K rivals Namibia tri-umphed 3-1 in Burundi. Mauritius beatRwanda 1-0 and Seychelles also had arare victory, 2-0 at home to Lesotho.

Qualifiers continue on Sundaythrough until Tuesday by which timefour of the six rounds of preliminarieswill have been completed.—Reuters

Cameroon and Morocco closer to Nations Cup qualification

BERLIN: England’s Harry Kane, left, is challenged by Germany’s Jonathan Tah during a friendly soccer match between Germany and England inBerlin, Germany, Saturday. — AP

PARIS: Eric Dier scored a dramatic stoppage-time winner as England rallied from two goalsdown to stun world champions Germany 3-2in Saturday’s international friendly in Berlin.Russia and Poland stepped up their prepara-tions for Euro 2016 with thumping victoriesover Lithuania and Finland, while Austria over-came tournament newcomers Albania 2-1.

In Berlin, a minute’s silence was observed inmemory of the victims of the Brussels terrorattacks, with both sets of players wearingblack armbands in honour of Dutch greatJohan Cruyff who passed away on Thursday atthe age of 68. Toni Kroos gave Joachim Loew’smen a 43rd-minute lead at the OlympicStadium with a crisp left-footed drive that beatJack Butland, who was then immediatelystretchered off with a leg injury, at his nearpost. After seeing a first-half effort incorrectlyruled out for offside, Mario Gomez doubledGermany’s advantage on 57 minutes by head-ing home a Sami Khedira cross for his firstinternational goal in almost four years. ButHarry Kane halved the deficit four minutes lat-er as the Tottenham striker produced a pieceof skill befitting Cruyff to fire beyond a help-less Manuel Neuer.

Substitute Jamie Vardy made an immediateimpact after replacing Danny Welbeck, withthe Leicester City forward superbly flickinghome Nathaniel Clyne’s right-wing cross on 74minutes.

England should have gone ahead afterVardy pounced on a loose pass inside theGermany area, only for Dele Alli to blaze overwith the goal gaping. But Dier ensured RoyHodgson’s side weren’t left to rue that miss asthe Tottenham midfielder powered home aheader from Jordan Henderson’s corner in the91st minute to complete a remarkable turn-around. “We played brilliant today. I thoughtwe fully deserved the win,” Kane told ITV.

“We had a lot of chances that on anotherday we probably could have scored two more.We’re all buzzing. We never gave in and what anight.” Earlier Russia, who will face England intheir opening match of the EuropeanChampionship, cruised to a 3-0 victory overLithuania in Moscow with goals from FedorSmolov, Aleksandr Golovin and DenisGlushakov. Poland have again been drawnalongside title frontrunners Germany at thissummer’s finals, having already faced them inqualifying, and strolled to a morale-boosting5-0 demolition of Finland in Wroclaw. Rennesmidfielder Kamil Grosicki and Verona wingerPawel Wszolek both netted twice apiece withFilip Starzynski also on target as star strikerRobert Lewandowski came on for the final 27minutes.

Austria co-hosted the 2008 finals withSwitzerland and booked their place at thisyear’s edition after dropping just two pointsduring qualifying in a group that also featuredSweden and Russia.

In Vienna, Marcel Koller’s side defeated anAlbania team heading to their first major tour-nament courtesy of early strikes from MarcJanko and Martin Harnik, with Ermir Lenjanipulling one back for the visitors.

Hungar y wil l also travel to France inJune after a 30-year finals absence, andBalazs Dzsudzsak struck 11 minutes fromt i m e i n B u d a p e s t to c a n ce l o u t M a r i oMandzukic’s first-half opener in a 1-1 drawwith Croatia. —AFP

England stun Germany, Russia, Poland cruise

LONDON: Outstanding performances bythree attacking players in England’s 3-2comeback win over Germany on Saturdayhas sparked renewed debate about whereinjured captain Wayne Rooney fits in for theEuro 2016 finals.

After Roy Hodgson’s team fell 2-0behind to the world champions in Berlin,the Premier League’s two leading scorersthis season, Tottenham Hotspur’s HarryKane and Leicester City ’s Jamie Vardy,brought England level with superb goals.

Many observers, including Germany’sformer World Cup-winning captain LotharMatthaeus, made teenager Dele Alli theman of the match in what Hodgson calledhis best night as England manager.

Alli, 19, played in the ‘No.10’ role justbehind the main striker, which is arguablyRooney’s most effective position.

When playing as a lone striker, theManchester United captain has oftenlooked isolated and become frustrated by alack of involvement, tending to drop toodeep to seek the ball.

Before injuring a knee againstSunderland on Feb. 13 Rooney was on agood run, but still has only seven leaguegoals this season-like Alli-compared to

Kane’s 21 and Vardy’s 19. “I am a big fan ofWayne Rooney, but today we didn’t misshim in the game,” Matthaeus said duringlive television coverage.

SURPRISE PACKAGEGeoff Hurst, whose hat-trick won

England the 1966 World Cup final againstWest Germany, believes Vardy could be asurprise package in the EuropeanChampionship finals in France.

“He’s come from nowhere, a very goodlevel-headed guy who’s very sensible, veryintelligent,” Hurst told the BBC on Sunday.

“Either Harry Kane or Vardy definitelydeserve their place with the season they’vehad. “And Alli has made an impact not justat club level but in internationals.”

Under-achievers at recent internationaltournaments, England have often beencriticised for taking players who were not100 per cent fit-including Rooney at the2006 World Cup.

Trevor Brooking, the FA’s director offootball development from 2004-14, toldthe BBC the most important thing forRooney was to be fully fit this time.

“The starting point is get himself fitbecause he’s not an automatic choice tocome back in, with the side as they havedone without him,” he said. “He’s not quitecracked tournaments for England.

WARM-UP GAMES“You’ve got three warm-up games in

May and June and Wayne’s got to provehe’s worth his place,” added Brooking.

“It’s very tempting to have Kane and Allias automatic choices if they stay fit andcontinue playing like they are. Then you’vegot the option to bring Jamie Vardy on.”

With 51 international goals, Rooney isEngland’s record scorer and his 109 appear-ances make him the country’s fourth mostcapped player. Solutions to the selectiondilemma could include playing him on theleft of the midfield three, where he hassometimes operated for United, or drop-ping Alli deeper, which might limit theTottenham man’s effectiveness.

Suddenly, however, the prospect ofRooney catching Steven Gerrard (114 caps)and David Beckham (115), let alone goal-keeper Peter Shilton (125) looks less than aformality. — Reuters

Rooney faces battle to regain England place after Berlin win

WASHINGTON: The pressure is on coachJurgen Klinsmann and the United States asthey host Guatemala tomorrow aiming tobounce back from an embarrassing 2-0defeat in Guatemala City in 2018 World Cupqualifying.

Klinsmann blamed “lack of focus” for thedefeat in Guatemala City, which left theUnited States in third place in Group C inthe fourth round of qualifying in North andCentral America and the Caribbean (CON-CACAF). Guatemala outplayed the visitorsthroughout and took advantage of lethar-gic US defending to score both goals.

Klinsmann, already criticized in the wakeof last year’s semi-final Gold Cup exit andConfederations Cup playoff defeat,appeared unhappy with his team’s effort.

But plenty of pundits pointed to his ownpuzzling lineup choices as a contributingfactor.

Klinsmann, juggling after injuries toMatt Besler, John Brooks and FabianJohnson, started Geoff Cameron at full-back rather in the more central role heoften plays for Stoke.

DeAndre Yedlin, who plays at right-backwith Sunderland, started in midfield and

Mix Diskerud was in an unfamiliar defen-sive midfield role. “I think it was a lack offocus, concentration, and wrong decisions,”Klinsmann said. “We have to take responsi-bility for it, every one of us, coaches, play-ers, and move on and get it done onTuesday. “We always said that World Cupqualifying is a long road, a tricky road, a dif-ficult road.”

They’ll get a chance to start moving for-ward again when they host Guatemala inColumbus, Ohio, needing a win to gainground on group leaders Trinidad andTobago, who with seven points leadGuatemala by one-and are heavy favoriteshosting winless St. Vincent and theGrenadines on Tuesday. In other matchesTuesday, Group A leaders Mexico go for afourth win in as many matches when theyhost Canada on the heels of their 3-0 victo-ry in Vancouver on Friday. Honduras, bot-tom of Group A, will try to gain groundwhen they host El Salvador.

In Group B, leaders Costa Rica hostJamaica and Panama host Haiti. The toptwo teams from each of the three groupsadvance to the final six-nation round ofqualifying. — AFP

HERNING: Denmark’s Pierre Emile Hoejbjerg (L) and Ragnar Sigurdsson of Iceland viefor the ball during the friendly football match Denmark vs Iceland in Herning,Denmark. — AP

Klinsmann, USA under scrutiny ahead of Guatemala rematch

Wayne RooneyJOHANNESBURG: Kenyan police firedtear gas to disperse protesting spectatorsafter a stunning 1-0 home defeat by min-nows Guinea-Bissau yesterday in a 2017Africa Cup of Nations qualifier. Troubleerupted at the Nyayo National Stadium inNairobi when the visitors snatched a latelead through a disputed Sanchez Semedogoal. Harambee Stars players and sup-porters believed the ball did not cross theline and TV replays were inconclusive.

Play was temporarily halted by theZimbabwean referee and Kenya are set tobe punished by the African FootballConfederation (CAF). Victory completed adouble over Kenya for traditional whip-ping boys Guinea-Bissau, ranked 18 placeslower in Africa, after a home 1-0 win fourdays ago.

Gaining maximum points lifted theteam from the Portuguese-speaking WestAfrican country to the top of Group E, onepoint ahead of co-favourites Congo andZambia, who drew 1-1 in Brazzaville.

The match produced the same resultand the same scorers as the first meetingin Zambia last Wednesday.

Both goals came after goalmouthscrambles with Jordan Massengo givingCongo an early second-half lead andWinston Kalengo equalising. Zambiaalmost won at the death with aChristopher Katongo shot deflected on to

the roof of the net.Guinea-Bissau have seven points with

two qualifying rounds to come in Juneand September, Congo and Zambia sixeach and Kenya one. All group winnersare guaranteed places at the 2017 tourna-ment in Gabon, but just the best two of 11runners-up in the four-team groups jointhem. The withdrawal of cash-strappedChad Sunday after three consecutivedefeats has reduced Group G to threeteams, meaning only one from Egypt,Nigeria and Tanzania can make it.

Egypt have four points, Nigeria two andTanzania one in the revised standingsahead of a Tuesday clash between thePharaohs and Super Eagles in Alexandria.

Should record seven-time Africanchampions Egypt win, Nigeria will beeliminated and miss the finals for the thirdtime in four editions. Ghana, runners-upto Ivory Coast in the last Cup of Nations,surrendered a perfect 2017 qualifyingrecord when held 0-0 by Mozambique inMaputo. A sleep-inducing affair producedhardly any clearcut chances with bothteams showing the effects of having toplay twice in four days.

Botswana avenged a midweek Group Dloss in the Comoros by winning 2-1 inFrancistown and Benin went top of GroupC by trouncing South Sudan 4-1 inCotonou. —AFP

Police fire tear gas as Guinea-Bissau stun Kenya

BRAZZAVILLE: Congolese defender Arnold Davy Bouka Moutou (L) and Congolese midfielderSagesse Babele (R) try to contrast Zambian left winger Lubambo Musonda during the 2017Africa Cup Nations qualification football match between Congo and Zambia at the KinteleStadium in Brazzaville, yesterday. — AFP

16Murray gets on the ball to advance at Miami Open

MONDAY, MARCH 28, 201619

Rooney faces battle to regainEngland placeafter Berlin win

Afghanistan’s Stanikzai hails historic win over Windies Page 17

MOHALI: India’s MS Dhoni, left, and Virat Kohli run between the wickets during their ICC World Twenty20 2016 cricket match against Australia in Mohali, India, yesterday. — AP

MOHALI: Virat Kohli smashed a masterful 82 to guide India toa six-wicket win against Australia in their final World Twenty20Super 10 game yesterday and set up a semi-final against WestIndies in Mumbai.

Kohli resurrected India with his unbeaten 51-ball knock froma seemingly tricky position as the hosts sprinted home in theend with five balls to spare.

“That performance certainly has to be in my top three butprobably it is top right now because I’m a bit emotional,” saidKohli. “A lot was riding on us playing at home and with thecrowd you want to give them as much entertainment as possi-ble.” India’s bowlers pulled Australia back from a blistering startto restrict them to 160 for six wickets after Australia won thetoss and opted to bat.

Hosts India, inaugural World T20 champions in 2007, andreigning 50-over title holders Australia had won two matcheseach, with their only loss coming against New Zealand in theSuper 10 stage. New Zealand face England in the other semi-final. India needed 39 from the last three overs when Kohlidecided to show his class which has earned him accolades asone of the world’s best current batsmen.

He smashed James Faulkner, who took Australia’s best T20figures during a five-wicket haul in the last match, for two foursand a six as the left-arm paceman leaked 19 runs.

Kohli then hit Nathan Coulter-Nile for four boundaries in the

next over to bring down India’s target to just four runs off thefinal six balls with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni finishing itoff with another four off Faulkner.

Earlier, Australia’s Aaron Finch (43) and Usman Khawaja (26)smashed the bowlers to all corners of the ground after Smithdecided to bat on a pitch that was used for the women’s gamebetween India and West Indies earlier yesterday.

Left-handed Khawaja’s first six scoring shots were all bound-aries, four of them coming against paceman Jasprit Bumrah inone over, with Australia racing past 50 before the completionof the fourth over.

Finch, Australia’s captain in the format before he wasreplaced by Smith shortly before the tournament, thenlaunched into India’s bowling mainstay Ravichandran Ashwin,hitting the off-spinner for two consecutive sixes over long-on.

But some smart bowling from left-arm spinner RavindraJadeja and part-timers Yuvraj Singh and Hardik Pandya, whopicked up two wickets, in the middle overs halted Australia’sprogress as they struggled to hit the boundaries.

Dangerman Glenn Maxwell (31) took his time at the creasebut got out just as he started opening his arms. WicketkeeperPeter Nevill smashed Pandya for a four and a six off the lasttwo balls as Australia, yet to win the World T20 title, took 15runs in their final over to ensure India had to score more thaneight runs an over in their chase. — Reuters

Kohli carries India to World T20 semis

Australia: Usman Khawaja c Dhoni b Nehra 26Aaron Finch c Dhawan b Pandya 43David Warner st Dhoni b Ashwin 6Steve Smith c Dhoni b Singh 2Glenn Maxwell b Bumrah 31Shane Watsonnot out 18James Faulkner c Kohli b Pandya 10Peter Nevill not out 10 Extras (lb2, w11, nb1) 14 Total (6 wickets, 20 overs) 160 Did not bat: Adam Zampa, Nathan Coulter-Nile, JoshHazlewoodFall of wickets: 1-54 (Khawaja), 2-72 (Warner), 3-74(Smith), 4-100 (Finch), 5-130 (Maxwell), 6-145(Faulkner)Bowling: Nehra 4-0-20-1, Bumrah 4-0-32-1, Ashwin,2-0-31-1, Jadeja 3-0-20-0, Singh 3-0-19-1, Pandya 4-0-36-2

India: Rohit Sharma b Watson 12Shikhar Dhawan c Khawaja b Coulter-Nile 13Virat Kohli not out 82Suresh Raina c Nevill b Watson 10Yuvraj Singh c Watson b Faulkner 21Mahendra Singh Dhoni not out 18Extras: (lb3, w2) 5Total: (4 wickets; 19.1 overs) 161Did not bat: Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja,Ravichandran Ashwin, Ashish Nehra, Jasprit BumrahFall of wickets: 1-23 (Dhawan), 2-37 (Sharma), 3-49(Raina), 4-94 (Singh)Bowling: Hazlewood 4-0-38-0, Coulter-Nile 4-0-33-1,Watson 4-0-23-2, Faulkner 3.1-0-35-1, Maxwell 2-0-18-0, Zampa 2-0-11-0.Result: India win by six wickets.

SCOREBOARDMOHALI, India: Scoreboard of the Australia and India World Twenty20 match at the Punjab Cricket Associationground in Mohali yesterday.

NEW ORLEANS: New Orleans Pelicans guard Toney Douglas (16) goes to the bas-ket against Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas (17) in the first half of anNBA basketball game in New Orleans, Saturday. — AP

NEW ORLEANS: DeMar DeRozan scored 23 pointsand Patrick Patterson had 16 as the Toronto Raptorsended a two-game losing streak, beating the NewOrleans Pelicans 115-91 on Saturday to tie a franchiserecord with their 49th victory of the season. Torontowas never pushed by the Pelicans, who were down tojust nine players on the active roster because ofinjuries. The Raptors shot 53 percent from the floorand the defense was nearly as good, holding NewOrleans to just 43 percent shooting. Norman Powellscored 15 points and Luis Scola 12 for the Raptors,who set the franchise mark for wins last season. WithNew Orleans’ top five scorers on the bench due toinjury, Alonzo Gee led the Pelicans with 18 points.

CAVALIERS 107, KNICKS 93LeBron James had 27 points, 11 rebounds and 10

assists for his third triple-double of the season whileKevin Love added 28 points and 12 rebounds as theCleveland Cavaliers beat the New York Knicks. Jamesrecorded his 42nd career triple-double and movedwithin three points of Dominique Wilkins for 12thplace on the NBA’s scoring list. Even with Kyrie Irvingresting, the Cavaliers easily bounced back from a lossin Brooklyn on Thursday, shutting the Knicks down inthe first half and pulling away when the lead gotdown to 10 in the fourth quarter. Carmelo Anthonyscored 28 points after a brutal start for the Knicks,who were coming off a home-and-home sweep ofChicago. Kristaps Porzingis had 19.

HAWKS 112, PISTONS 95Paul Millsap had 23 points and nine rebounds as

the Atlanta Hawks ended the Detroit Pistons’ five-game winning streak. The Hawks have won 13 of theirlast 16 and moved a game ahead of Miami atop theSoutheast Division. Tobias Harris scored 21 points,and Andre Drummond had 19 points and 17

rebounds for Detroit but the Pistons couldn’t recoverfrom a poor first quarter. Atlanta never trailed and ledby as many as 20 in the fourth. Jeff Teague had 12points and 12 assists and Kent Bazemore added 17points for Atlanta.

NETS 120, PACERS 110Brook Lopez scored 23 points and Bojan

Bogdanovic added 18 as the Brooklyn Nets beat theIndiana Pacers. Sergey Karasev scored a career-high17 points for the Nets, who took a 104-102 lead onBogdanovic’s 3-pointer with 5:41 remaining in thegame. Lopez then scored nine consecutive points forBrooklyn before Bogdanovic nailed a contested 3-pointer to put Brooklyn ahead 116-110 with 39 sec-onds remaining. Paul George then missed a 3-pointerwith 25 seconds remaining, sealing the win forBrooklyn. George finished with 27 points for thePacers.

MAGIC 111, BULLS 89Orlando journeyman center Dewayne Dedmon

scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed 13rebounds while Jason Smith added 14 off the benchas the Magic dealt the Chicago Bulls a blow to theirfading playoff hopes. Elfrid Payton scored 15 pointsand had 10 assists and Evan Fournier added 12 pointsfor the Magic, who ended a six-game losing streak.The Bulls (36-36), fighting to climb back into theeighth and final playoff spot in the EasternConference, dropped their third straight game. TajGibson, who dominated in the paint, led the Bullswith 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting.

JAZZ 93, TIMBERWOLVES 84Gordon Hayward scored 16 of his 18 points in the

fourth quarter as the Utah Jazz finished a five-gameroad trip with victory over the Minnesota

Timberwolves. Hayward had just two points on 1-of-6shooting in the first three quarters. But he shot 6 of 9in the fourth and Derrick Favors chipped in with 19points and five rebounds to get the Jazz a much-needed victory as they make a push for the playoffs.The Jazz (36-37) entered tied with Dallas for eighth inthe Western Conference and have won seven of theirlast nine. Ricky Rubio scored 23 points on 9-of-12shooting for the Timberwolves, who missed a chancefor their first three-game winning streak since Nov.27. The Wolves shot 38 percent and fell to 2 -12 on thesecond night of a back-to-back.

THUNDER 111, SPURS 92Kevin Durant scored 31 points and Russell

Westbrook added 29 to help the Thunder defeat theshort-handed San Antonio Spurs. Enes Kanter had 20points and 10 rebounds and Serge Ibaka added 15points and eight rebounds for Oklahoma City, whichwon its seventh straight. It wasn’t the late-seasonshowdown that was anticipated when the schedulefirst came out - the Spurs rested Kawhi Leonard,LaMarcus Aldridge, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili andTony Parker. David West and Jonathon Simmons eachscored 17 points for the Spurs.

HORNETS 115, BUCKS 91Nicolas Batum scored 23 of his 25 points in the

first half as the Charlotte Hornets used a 3-point bar-rage to rout the Milwaukee Bucks 115-91. MarvinWilliams added 21 points and Kemba Walker had 18for the Hornets, who won three of four games in theseason series. Charlotte connected on 16 of 29 3-pointers against Milwaukee in this one, a 55 percentclip. John Henson had 19 points and Jabari Parker 15for the Bucks, who have lost five straight and six ofseven. Milwaukee made just four of 16 (25 percent)from 3-point range. — AP

Raptors tie team mark with 49th win, beat Pelicans 115-91

BusinessMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

National Agencies Group receives PlatinumPrestige Award

Page 22ECB leads parade, Fed strolls the other way

Page 24 Mercedes-Benz new SUV range

Page 26Jobs at pre-recession levels in 10 US statesPage 25

DJIBOUTI: Casual laborers load goods in the port of Djibouti yesterday. The Port of Djibouti is located at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, at the intersection of major international shipping lines connecting Asia, Africa andEurope. —AFP

BEIJING: The tycoon who is offering$43 billion for Swiss agrochemicalsgiant Syngenta keeps a low profile, butis China’s most aggressive dealmaker.Ren Jianxin, chairman of state-ownedChemChina, is behind most of China’sbig foreign acquisitions, from Italiantire brand Pirelli to Norwegian chemi-cal supplier Elkem and KraussMaffei, aGerman industrial machinery maker.

Since 2010, Ren has splashed out aneye-popping $63.9 billion on foreignassets, some 60 percent more than theNo 2 Chinese buyer, according toDealogic, a financial data provider. It isunusually ambitious, but Ren is anunusual figure - a private entrepreneurwho built an empire by gobbling upmore than 100 state-owned enterpris-es. ChemChina, also known as ChinaNational Chemical Corp., already is oneof China’s biggest companies, with $45billion in 2015 revenue. Its 140,000employees include 48,000 abroad in140 countries. Its acquisitions reflectthe appetite of cash-rich but youngChinese companies for foreign tech-nology and brands. Some want tosharpen their competitive edge athome. Others want to get into moreprofitable global markets as Chineseeconomic growth slows.

Drawing from experience Chinese acquisitions include

Swedish automaker Volvo, Frenchtourism company Club Med and theAmerican cinema chain AMC. Ren, 58,started out by founding a maker ofsolvents, Bluestar Co, with sevenemployees in 1984 in the northwest-ern city of Lanzhou, far from China’seastern industrial heartland. The Pirelliwebsite calls him “the pioneer ofChina’s modern cleaning industry.”

Unlike other state industry man-agers who are career bureaucrats, Rencan draw on that experience to talk toforeign executives, said AndreLoesekrug-Pietri , chairman of ACapital, a private equity fund inBeijing. He said Ren also has recruiteda handful of Western executives, bring-ing in knowledge of foreign businesscultures.

At a news conference withSyngenta’s president in February, Ren“looked like an investment banker. Hetalked to reporters. That makes a dif-ference,” said Loesekrug-Pietri. “Theyrealize that today, money alone doesnot buy you love. It’s the way you pres-ent your strategy that is key.”

In the mid-’90s, Ren began takingcontrol of a string of small govern-ment chemical producers. The stateretained ownership while Ren was giv-en management powers as theCommunist Party tried to revive mon-ey-losing industries. According to

news reports, he avoided layoffs bytransferring idle employees to noodlerestaurants owned by his company.

In 2004, the party bestowed onBluestar’s patchwork empire the elitestatus of a national-level state-ownedenterprise. Today, it is one of 106 com-panies controlled directly by theCabinet, alongside PetroChina Ltd. andChina Mobile Ltd.

In another pioneering move,ChemChina sold 20 percent of a sub-sidiary, China National Bluestar Group,to US private equity fund BlackstoneGroup for $600 million in 2007. Thecompany said it was the first direct for-eign investment in a Chinese state-owned enterprise. Ren lacks the fameof e-commerce pioneer Jack Ma ofAlibaba Group or of Wang Jianlin, theWanda Group chairman who agreed inJanuary to pay $3.5 bil l ion forHollywood film studio LegendaryEntertainment.

Last month, Hong Kong’s SouthChina Morning Post newspaper calledRen the “mystery man” behindChemChina. He “may be the mostimportant dealmaker you’ve neverheard of,” the newspaper said. Abroad,Ren’s buying spree began in 2006 withAdisseo, a French maker of food addi-tives, and Qenos, an Australian suppli-er of polyethylene. ChemChina boughtFrance’s Rhodia Global Silicone thenext year, becoming the No. 3 produc-er of organic silicon.

In 2011, China National BluestarGroup paid $2 billion for Elkem, a mak-er of silicon and carbon parts. In theUnited States, ChemChina has so faravoided major acquisitions. But ChinaNational Bluestar Group has manufac-turing, sales or research sites inCalifornia, Georgia, New Jersey,Pennsylvania and South Carolina. Thecompany reported $2.4 billion in USrevenues last year.

Premium brands ChemChina’s approach shows

Chinese companies are increasinglywilling to pay what it takes to obtainpremium brands, instead of bargain-shopping and possibly being stuckwith underperforming assets. Lastyear, it stumped up $7.7 billion for a

majority stake in Pirelli. ChemChinaalready has its own tire brand, Aeolus,but it is low-priced and little-knownabroad, while Pirelli commands premi-um prices.

Ren’s first offer of 449 Swiss francs($460) per share for Syngenta, valuingthe company at about $42 billion, wasrejected, according to the South ChinaMorning Post. Citing unidentifiedsources, it said he raised that to 480Swiss francs ($491), which the boardendorsed. To pay for it, ChemChina haslined up $50 billion in lending fromChinese and foreign banks, accordingto the business magazine Caixin.

ChemChina would gain access toSyngenta’s advanced fertilizer and oth-er agrochemical technology at a timewhen rising Chinese incomes areboosting demand for food, creatingnew profit opportunities for suppliers.Also, taking on Syngenta could helpRen stay in charge as Beijing carriesout plans to cut the total number ofmajor state-owned companies to asfew as 53 through mergers. That canend the careers of managers at com-panies that wind up being absorbedby bigger rivals. “There is a race forsize,” said Loesekrug-Pietri. “The biggerand more international you are, thebigger the chance you will be theacquirer, rather than the target, inthese mergers.”

In a possible hurdle to the deal,members of the US Senate agriculturecommittee called for a review by theCommittee on Foreign Investment inthe United States. Led by the TreasuryDepartment, it looks at possiblethreats to national security. The law-makers asked Treasury Secretary JacobLew to include the Department ofAgriculture and the Food and DrugAdministration in the review.

“We believe that any foreign acqui-sition of an important US agriculturalasset should be reviewed closely forpotential risks to our food system,” thesenators said in a letter Thursday toLew. They cited possible “conse -quences for food security, food safety,biosecurity and the highly competitiveUS farm sector as a whole.” — AP

Meet China’s most aggressive dealmaker

Tycoon behind Syngenta bid keeps low profile

DHAKA: The new governor of Bangladesh’s centralbank has sent formal letters to the New York Fed, aswell as central bank and money laundering chiefs inthe Philippines, asking them to help recover its stolen$81 million, a senior central bank official said yester-day. The news came as Finance Minister Abul MaalAbdul Muhith said the government was waiting tohear the recommendations of an investigation com-mittee to decide whether the central bank should file asuit against the Fed after one of the biggest cyberheists in history.

Unknown hackers breached the computer systemsof Bangladesh Bank in early February and attemptedto steal $951 million from its account at the FederalReserve Bank of New York, which it uses for interna-tional settlements. Some attempted transfers wereblocked, but $81 million was transferred to accounts inthe Philippines belonging to casino operators.

The central bank official told Reuters that FazleKabir, who became governor a week ago, had askedthe NY Fed chief and the heads of the Philippines cen-tral bank and money laundering agency to assistBangladesh in retrieving the funds. Kabir asked theFed to investigate if there had been any lapses orwhether it had any involvement in the heist, the offi-cial said.

Kabir sent separate letters to the ambassador ofBangladesh at the UN headquarters, and its perma-nent representative, urging them to pursue the NYFed. The previous central bank governor, AtiurRahman, resigned earlier this month after detailsemerged in the Philippines that $30 million of themoney was delivered in cash to a casino junket opera-tor in Manila, while the rest went to two casinos.

“In his letters the new governor sought all kind ofhelp from them to retrieve the stolen money as we arefollowing multiple efforts for the sake of the country,”the official said. Last week Bangladesh also formallysought assistance from the US Federal Bureau ofInvestigation to track down the cyber crooks.

Bangladesh has appointed law firms to weigh itsoptions vis-‡-vis the NY Fed. “We will wait till the rec-ommendations of the government-formed investiga-tion committee,” Finance Minister Abul Maal AbdulMuhith told Reuters yesterday, referring to a three-member committee headed by Mohammad FarashUddin, a former central bank governor. “We will actas per its recommendations.” Earlier this monthMuhith said Dhaka might resort to suing the Fed torecover the money: “The Fed must take responsibili-ty,” he said. — Reuters

Bangladesh asks NY

Fed to help retrieve

stolen money

MUSCAT: Oman’s Public Authority forCivil Aviation (PACA) will raise feescharged for air traffic through the sul-tanate, the authority’s chief executiveMohammed Al-Zaabi told the officialOman News Agency. The decision is partof a series of steps by Oman to strength-en state finances as it grapples with a bigbudget deficit caused by low oil prices. InJanuary it cut domestic gasoline pricesubsidies; earlier this month it raisedprices of water for state, commercial andindustrial users, and it is about to cut liq-uefied petroleum gas subsidies for such

users. The new aviation tariff is expectedto increase PACA’s revenues by morethan 25 percent, improving the sector’scontribution to the state budget, Zaabisaid in a statement. He told Reuters bytelephone late on Saturday that the newtariff would be based not merely on theweight of aircraft, as at present, but alsoon other factors such as distance. “Thisyear we were expecting revenues of 50million Omani Rials ($130 million). Withthe new tariff we expect to add around30 percent more. We expect another 15million Rials.” —Reuters

Oman to increase air traffic

fees in state revenue push

KUWAIT: KIA Motors Corporation has hon-ored National Agencies Group, a subsidiaryof Abdulaziz Al-Ali Al-Mutawa Group ofCompanies and the Authorized KIA MotorsDistributor in Kuwait, with the renownedPlatinum Prestige Award, placing it amongthe top 3% of KIA Dealerships& BusinessPartners available in 172 countries aroundthe world.

The award, which is the highest recogni-tion of its kind made available to KIA distrib-utors, assesses the customer satisfactionexperience in four major areas: the distribu-tor’s facilities, management, operations andperformance. The assessment is carried outby KIA Motors Corporation in Korea using acomprehensive evaluation method.

“The Platinum Prestige Award is a great

source of pride for National Agencies Group.This honor would not have been possiblewithout the confidence placed in us by ourvalued customers and the relentless effortof our team, who is committed to uphold-ing the high service standards set by KIAMotors Corporation,” said Mr. Ahmed Al-Mutawa, Chairman &CEO of Abdulaziz Al-AliGroup of Companies.

He added: “We know from experiencethat reaching the top is easy. The real chal-lenge is staying there, and with God’s help,we will work tirelessly to find new ways tocontinuously enhance the service experi-ence for every KIA customer.”

The aim of the Platinum Prestige Awardis to motivate partners around the world toensure excellence at every point of interac-

tion with customers, in-line with the KIAMotors slogan; “The Power to Surprise”. Foryears, KIA Motors Corporation has beenfocused on consolidating its leadershipposition amongst automotive manufactur-ers by hiring top talent in the fields of cardesign, engineering and technology. As aresult, over the past decade, KIA hasbecome associated with distinctive design,excellent quality and outstanding perform-ance.

National Agencies Group transmittedthis success to the local market by placingKIA Motors as the 3rd best-selling automo-tive brand by adopting a strategy of puttingthe customer first, employing a highly-pro-fessional team & continuously upgrading itsfacilities.

B U S I N E S SMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

EXCHANGE RATES

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EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIESUS Dollar Transfer 302.900Euro 341.070Sterling Pound 431.330Canadian dollar 229.990Turkish lira 106.280Swiss Franc 313.240Australian dollar 230.510US Dollar Buying 301.700

CURRENCY BUY SELLEurope

British Pound 0.422066 0.431066Czech Korune 0.004503 0.016503Danish Krone 0.041328 0.046328Euro 0.333313 0.341313Norwegian Krone 0.031739 0.036939Romanian Leu 0.086889 0.086889Slovakia 0.009030 0.019030Swedish Krona 0.032470 0.037470Swiss Franc 0.304108 0.314308Turkish Lira 0.099864 0.110164

AustralasiaAustralian Dollar 0.219557 0.231057New Zealand Dollar 0.196927 0.206427

AmericaCanadian Dollar 0.222749 0.231249US Dollars 0.298800 0.303300

US Dollars Mint 0.299300 0.303300

AsiaBangladesh Taka 0.003444 0.004018Chinese Yuan 0.045208 0.048708Hong Kong Dollar 0.036981 0.039731Indian Rupee 0.004316 0.004706Indonesian Rupiah 0.000019 0.000025Japanese Yen 0.002601 0.002781Kenyan Shilling 0.003106 0.003106Korean Won 0.000249 0.000264Malaysian Ringgit 0.071174 0.077174Nepalese Rupee 0.002871 0.003041Pakistan Rupee 0.002686 0.002966Philippine Peso 0.006433 0.006713Sierra Leone 0.000067 0.000073Singapore Dollar 0.217777 0.223777South African Rand 0.013612 0.022112Sri Lankan Rupee 0.001714 0.002294Taiwan 0.009184 0.009364Thai Baht 0.008266 0.008816

ArabBahraini Dinar 0.796879 0.804879Egyptian Pound 0.030721 0.035839Iranian Riyal 0.000084 0.000085Iraqi Dinar 0.000195 0.000255Jordanian Dinar 0.423217 0.430717Kuwaiti Dinar 1.000000 1.000000Lebanese Pound 0.000152 0.000252Moroccan Dirhams 0.020670 0.044670Nigerian Naira 0.001249 0.001884Omani Riyal 0.780333 0.786013Qatar Riyal 0.082488 0.083701Saudi Riyal 0.079887 0.080837Syrian Pound 0.001284 0.001504Tunisian Dinar 0.146100 0.154100Turkish Lira 0.099864 0.110164UAE Dirhams 0.081487 0.082636Yemeni Riyal 0.001369 0.001449

UAE Exchange Centre WLL

CURRENCIES TELEX TRANSFER PER 1000Australian Dollar 201.91Canadian Dollar 219.82Swiss Franc 306.95Euro 336.85US Dollar 299.90Sterling Pound 431.04Japanese Yen 2.67Bangladesh Taka 3.817Indian Rupee 4.375Sri Lankan Rupee 2.083Nepali Rupee 2.732Pakistani Rupee 2.860UAE Dirhams 0.08161Bahraini Dinar 0.7970Egyptian Pound 0.03819Jordanian Dinar 0.4265Omani Riyal 0.7788Qatari Riyal 0.08269Saudi Riyal 0.07994

Rate for Transfer Selling RateUS Dollar 303.050Canadian Dollar 230.175Sterling Pound 429.250Euro 339.545Swiss Frank 296.880Bahrain Dinar 801.730UAE Dirhams 82.750Qatari Riyals 83.695

Saudi Riyals 81.490Jordanian Dinar 426.905Egyptian Pound 34.030Sri Lankan Rupees 2.075Indian Rupees 4.536Pakistani Rupees 2.887Bangladesh Taka 3.855Philippines Pesso 6.536Cyprus pound 577.215Japanese Yen 3.675Syrian Pound 2.375Nepalese Rupees 3.835Malaysian Ringgit 75.950Chinese Yuan Renminbi 46.900Thai Bhat 9.560Turkish Lira 105.020

GOLD20 Gram 246.64010 Gram 126.2405 Gram 63.970

KUWAIT: Agility yesterday announced its2015 financial results, reporting a net prof-it of KD 53 million, or 46.41 fils per share,an increase of 5% over the same period in2014. Revenue for the year stood at KD 1.3billion. EBITDA stood at KD 100 million.

For fourth quarter 2015, Agility report-ed a net profit of KD 14 million with anearnings-per-share of 12.44 fils, anincrease of 5% over the same period in2014. Revenue for the quarter stood at KD322 million and EBITDA at KD 27 million.

Board of Directors RecommendationThe Agility Board of Directors has pro-

posed a dividends distribution of 30% (30fils per share) for the fiscal year 2015, sub-ject to the approval of the Annual GeneralMeeting. The Board also announced thatAgility will pursue a treasury share buy-back “program” to repurchase up to 10% ofits share capital, in compliance with therules and the regulations set forth by theCMA and other relevant regulatory author-ities.

The Agility Board authorized repurchas-es, from time to time, at a price the Boardbelieves to be well below the intrinsic val-ue of the company. Agility CEO TarekSultan said: “Shareholders’ returns are notlimited to dividends. They also can be

enhanced through the acquisition ofshares by the company. The decision topursue a buyback program demonstratesour belief that the true value of the com-pany is greater than the current marketvalue and that repurchased shares will beaccretive to remaining shareholders.”

The buyback program will entail vari-ous mechanisms, such as a tender offer orpurchases through the open market. Thecompany will make the announcement ofthe price and the size of the share buybackat the time of the offer.

Agility consolidated resultsSultan said: “Agility made good

progress in 2015 but still has a demandingroad ahead to make it the leading compa-ny we all desire. In 2015, we were able togenerate KD 105 million cash from opera-tions, a 68% improvement from last year.We improved our free cash flow by KD 6million to reach KD 31 million in 2015,despite challenging economic times. Ourlonger-term target is to reach an EBITDA ofUSD 800 million by 2020. Our efforts todefine a clearer strategy and improve exe-cution are paying off in stronger customerrelationships, an expanding emergingmarket footprint, a sharper focus, and amore disciplined management approach.”

Agility’s Global Integrated Logistics (GIL)GIL revenue for 2015 was KD 997 mil-

lion, a 6% decline from 2014. Revenue wasaffected by challenging and volatile marketconditions and by exposure to currencyfluctuations. On a constant currency basis,revenue declined by 2%.

GIL net revenue on a constant curren-cy basis improved by 3%, and marginsexpanded to 25% in 2015 from 23% in2014. The improvement resulted from con-tinued growth in contract logistics and bet-ter performance within the freight forward-ing business, particularly ocean freight. Airfreight volumes softened towards the endof 2015, but ocean freight volumes andyields improved, driven by better commer-cial discipline.

“GIL’s roadmap remains the same. Itsaim is to improve operational performancethrough technology-driven transformation,stronger commercial performance and bet-ter efficiency,” Sultan said. “GIL’s strategyand improved execution are paying off. Thechallenge is to further accelerate improve-ment to deliver results.”

Agility’s Infrastructure GroupFor 2015, revenue for Agility ’s

Infrastructure Group increased 4% to KD314 million, when compared with 2014.

Revenue for Agility’s Real Estate businessgrew 9% from 2014. Agility maintains astrong real estate platform in Kuwait, but isalso actively developing holdings in otherGulf countries and Africa.

“Agility has made significant invest-ments in the Infrastructure companies overthe last two years in order to ensure thefoundation for future growth. We continueto believe in the long-term opportunitiesthat the Infrastructure companies have totap into niche segments in emerging mar-kets,” Sultan said.

Agility’s Real Estate business expects toopen its first logistics and distribution parkin Accra, Ghana shortly. National AviationServices, Agility’s aviation services compa-ny, recently secured a contract to provideservices in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. UPAC,which specializes in real estate develop-ment and facilities management, hasentered into a partnership to develop theReem Mall on Abu Dhabi’s Reem Island.

Financial Performance for 2015● Agility’s net profit stood at KD 53 mil-

lion, a 5% increase from KD 51 million in2014. EPS was 46.41 fils, compared with44.19 fils a year earlier.

● EBITDA stood at KD 100 million, virtu-ally flat from 2014.

● Agility’s revenue for 2015 stood at KD1.3 billion, a decrease of 4% from KD 1.4billion in 2014. Net revenue increased 4%from 2014.

● GIL’s revenue stood at KD 997 million,a 2% decrease from 2014 if adjusted forcurrency impact.

● Infrastructure’s revenue was KD 314million compared with KD 303 million in2014, a 4% increase from 2014.

● Agility enjoys a healthy balance sheetwith a net cash position of KD 33 million asof Dec. 31, 2015 (KD 60 million in 2014) andfree cash flow of KD 31 million for full year2015 (KD 25 million in 2014).

Closing“For 2016, we see a mixed picture

clouded by slower growth in emergingmarkets, ongoing sluggishness in theEurozone, geopolitical instability in variousparts of the world, and the continuation oflow oil prices. Given those conditions, weknow we have to stay focused and disci-plined,” Sultan said. “But in the medium tolonger term, we believe in our ability togrow our market share and footprint inemerging markets to serve growing con-sumer demand. I am confident in our strat-egy and our ability to meet our 2020 EBIT-DA target of $800 million.”

Agility’s financial results for full year and Q4 2015

SACRAMENTO: California legislators and laborunions have reached a tentative agreement that willtake the state’s minimum wage from $10 to $15 anhour, a state senator said, a move that would make forthe largest statewide minimum in the nation by far.“This is not a done deal,” Sen. Mark Leno, a Democratfrom San Francisco, told The Associated Press onSaturday. “Everyone’s been operating in good faithand we hope to get it through the Legislature.”

Leno said if an agreement is finalized, it would gobefore the Legislature as part of his minimum-wagebill that stalled last year. If the Legislature approves aminimum-wage package, it would avoid taking theissue to the ballot. One union-backed initiative hasalready qualified for the ballot, and a second, compet-ing measure is also trying to qualify.

Leno did not confirm specifics of the agreement,but most proposals have the wage increasing about adollar per year until it reaches $15 per hour. The LosAngeles Times, which first reported the deal, said thewage would rise to $10.50 in 2017, to $11 an hour in2018, and one dollar per year to take it to $15 by2022. Businesses with fewer than 25 employeeswould have an extra year to comply.

At $10 an hour, California already has one of thehighest minimum wages in the nation along withMassachusetts. Only Washington, DC, at $10.50 perhour is higher. The hike to $15 would make it thehighest statewide wage in the nation by far,though raises are in the works in other states thatmight change by the time the plateau is reached in2022. — AP

Deal reached to take California

minimum wage to $15 an hour

LOS ANGELES: In this Tuesday, July 21, 2015 file photo, workers hold a rally in Los Angeles in sup-port of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors’ proposed minimum wage ordinance. — AP

National Agencies Group receives

Platinum Prestige Award from KIA

DUBAI: Egypt’s stock market edged up in earlytrade yesterday after central bank GovernorTarek Amer said he had pumped $22 billion intothe banking system to clear goods piled at ports,while Saudi Arabia’s bourse fell on weak cementand telecommunications shares.

Amer’s remarks on Saturday were taken as apositive sign that authorities were taking aggres-sive action to ease Egypt’s hard currency short-age, though he did not give details of where hewas obtaining the money or how he wouldresolve the shortage in the long term. TheEgyptian index climbed 0.4 percent in the open-

ing 50 minutes of trade, buoyed by propertydevelopers such as Emaar Misr, which added 2.6percent.

But Arabian Cement dropped 2.2 percentafter reporting a 26 percent fall in 2015 consoli-dated net profit. Commercial International Bank(CIB) slipped a further 1.1 percent; it haddropped 1.3 percent on Thursday after the cen-tral bank placed a time limit on the tenures ofchief executives of commercial lenders, a deci-sion which is expected to force managers includ-ing CIB’s Hisham Ezz al-Arab to resign their posi-tions. — Reuters

Egypt up after central

bank dollar injection

BUSINESSMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

B U S I N E S SMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

LONDON: When Morocco’s central bank cut inter-est rates on March 22, it joined a parade of 46 oth-ers that have eased monetary policy at least oncesince the beginning of 2015. Perhaps more tren-chantly, it was also the 15th time this year - stillless than a quarter old - that a central bank haseased policy in some form. Taiwan and Turkeyhave since taken that up to 17. The parade is clear-ly still on the march, with the European CentralBank waving the baton somewhere out in front.The US Federal Reserve, however, is strolling theother way, having raised rates.

The coming week should underline why, inboth cases The 19-nation euro zone will releaseinflation data for March on Thursday and it isexpected to show prices fell on an annual basis for

the second month in a row. American exception-alism should be on display the day after, with U.S.monthly jobs data showing continued, if perhapsnot overwhelming, growth.

Year-on-year inflation For the euro zone, a Reuters poll shows year-

on-year inflation coming in at -0.1 percent, asmaller fall than the -0.3 percent in February, butstill an actual fall in prices. While some may arguethat this is not real deflation - that is, it is neitherdeeply embedded nor yet deterring consumersfrom buying on the grounds that things will getcheaper - it is a far cry from what the EuropeanCentral Bank wants it to be. The ECB seeks to haveinflation running at just below 2.0 percent, some-

thing it has not had since early 2013. It is for thatreason - as well as the fragility of growth - that thebank this month expanded its money-printingand cut rates.

The impact will for the most part not be seen inThursday’s data, but some are skeptical that any-thing will change soon, and another fall in priceswill do little to encourage a belief that things areon the mend. “Most concerning (in the global out-look) is the renewed deterioration in the inflationoutlook in the euro area and Japan,” Barclays econ-omist Christian Keller said in a note. “Oil and othertransitory factors play a role, but second-roundeffects and worsening expectations can turn thisinto a persistent trend, moving the 2 percent infla-tion targets further out of reach.”

Jobs and ratesThe US payroll figure, meanwhile, is

expected to come in at 200,000 new jobs -which is less than the previous month’s242,000 but still solid in terms of the past sixyears or so. The issue here is not so muchjobs, given that the US unemployment rateis a relatively low 4.9 percent. Rather, it iswhether the economic climate is conduciveto another Fed interest rate hike.

There have been some mixed messageslately. Fed chair Janet Yellen sounded sur-prisingly dovish to some after the March 16

rate meeting but since then, other policymakers have been pretty forceful, leading toexpectations of at least two more hikes thisyear. Philadelphia Fed President PatrickHarker, for example, has said his colleaguesneed to “get on with it” and raise rates again.

How the jobs data plays into that wasclear from the Fed’s last policy statement onMarch 16. “A range of recent indicators,including strong job gains, points to addi-tional strengthening of the labor market,” itsaid, adding that inflation had also pickedup. The ECB should be so lucky. — Reuters

ATLANTIC CITY: In this Sept 10, 2014 file photo, job seekers create resumes at the NJDepartment of Labor’s resume clinic in the Atlantic City Convention Center. Ten USstates still have not regained all the jobs they lost in the Great Recession, even aftersix and a half years of recovery, while many more have seen only modest gains. — AP

ECB leads parade, Fed strolls the other way

B U S I N E S SMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

KUWAIT: Abdulmohsen Abdulaziz AlBabtain Co, the authorized distributor ofInfiniti in the State of Kuwait, showcased itsmost advanced flagship Infiniti Q70 Sedanat the Al Hamra Mall for five days to pro-vide esteemed mall visitors to experienceits bold design, meticulously crafted luxuri-ous interior and instant opportunity tobook an exclusive test drive.

Infiniti Q70 has always been a corner-stone for Infiniti Al Babtain catering tohigh-end luxury customers and strength-ening the brand’s image through HALOmodel status. The redesigned Infiniti Q70was launched less than a year back in July2015, and the uptake for the new modelhas been strong.

Promising performance, the new Q70 isequipped with the 3.7-liter V6 engine, ratedat 329 hp @ 7,000 rpm and 363 Nm oftorque. The refined aluminum-alloy DOHC24-valve engine is equipped with VariableValve Event & Lift (VVEL(r)) that combineshydraulic-controlled variable valve timingand electronically controlled variable valve

lift on the intake side to help improve per-formance and response. Also available isthe 5.6-litre V8 engine that delivers 402 hp@ 6,000 rpm and 550 Nm of torque.

All the engines are matched to anadvanced 7-speed automatic transmission,which allows for sportier shifts during spir-ited driving. Solid magnesium paddleshifters are also available. Further cus-tomization is obtained from the uniqueInfiniti Drive Mode Selector that allowsdrivers to select from varied driving modes- Standard, Eco or Sport - and the integrat-ed control system will adjust throttle sensi-tivity and transmission mapping to helpoptimize performance with a starting price12,750 KWD.

The Infiniti portfolio offers an extensiveline-up of vehicles that ranges from sedans,sports and specialty vehicles, crossovers tofull size SUV to meet the diverse needs ofpremium customers. The entire portfolioshares a common DNA that blends aggres-sive bold styling with breath-taking pres-ence and exhilarating drive performance.

Infiniti Al Babtain welcomes the Infiniti Sedan

Q70 to Al Hamra Mall

KUWAIT: Kuwait Finance House (KFH) wonthree awards from Islamic Finance NewsMagazine (IFN), which are “Best Islamic Bankin Kuwait 2015”, “Kuwait Deal of the Year” forits participation in National Industries HoldingKWD 85 million Commodity Murabaha whereKFH’s share of the deal amounted to KD 25Mn, and Turkey Deal of the Year related to theKT Kira Sertifikalari Varlik Kiralama RM800 mil-lion Sukuk Wakalah.

Deputy General Manager Private Bankingat KFH, Abdullah Al Mejhem stated on thesideline of receiving the awards in the awardsceremony held in Dubai, that KFH managedto offer an integrated system of technical,financial, and banking services, not to men-tion meeting the expectations of its clients.

He added that the bank has vast experience inbalancing Shariah requirements with the lat-est in banking technology.

He emphasized KFH’s leadership in thefield of Islamic banking, since it was the firstIslamic bank in Kuwait, and highlighted thebank’s fruitful efforts in expanding in variousmarkets, which allowed it to become the bestIslamic bank in the world.

Al-Mejhem stressed the importance ofoperating as planned in all markets, whilefocusing on the local market, indicating thatall of KFH’s global success would have neverbeen attainable, if the bank did not have a sol-id platform and high level of professionalism.KFH has an impeccable record in arrangingsukuk deals and leading financing for develop-

ment projects in several vital sectors, whichcontributes in boosting the national economy.

It is noteworthy that KFH has been select-ed for the prizes by IFN’s judging panel thatgroups a number of experts in the Islamicbanking industry through an intensive evalu-ation process according to a set of principlesand financial indicators. IFN is a wellrenowned institution in the Islamic bankingindustry which publishes various studies andarticles around the banking sector. It is affiliat-ed to RED money, the foremost globalprovider of specialized Islamic financial mediaservices across three core divisions of events,publishing and training. Established in 2004,the firm has offices in Dubai and KualaLumpur.

KFH wins ‘Best Islamic Bank in Kuwait 2015’ award from IFN

Al Mejhem receiving the award

UNITED STATESFed Speakers cautiously

optimisticAfter a fairly quiet week in terms

of data and trading, markets turntheir attention to Fed speakers,where both Atlanta FederalReserve President Lockhart andRichmond President Lacker wereon the wire. Both speakers took onan optimistic tone and maintainedtheir confidence in US inflationreaching its target of 2% over themedium term.

Lockhart reasoned that theongoing job market improvementwould eventually drive price gains,and maintains that there is suffi-cient economic momentum to jus-tify a rate hike at one of the comingFOMC meetings.

Lacker reasoned that currentinflation is depressed by transitoryfactors such as falling oil pricesand the rising dollar. Given thatsuch drivers cannot continueindefinitely, he noted that head-line and core inflation should startto move back toward the 2% tar-gets and the FOMC should beready to respond appropriately.

This week’s US data was sub-dued across the board. Existinghome sales numbers declinedmore than forecast, driven by ashortage of supply rather thandemand, as low inventory and alimited selection of homes appearto have constrained sales. InChina, PBoC governor ZhouXiaochuan pointed out risks posedby excessive corporate leverage,stating that corporate lending as aratio to GDP had become too high.

On the foreign exchange side,this week was relatively quietmainly due to the major eventstaking place in Europe and theshort trading Easter week. TheEuro started the week at the1.1268 level and dropped to reacha low of 1.1142. The currency end-ed the week near the low at1.1160.

The Sterling Pound remains in ano man’s land while the UK contin-ues to face weak economic dataand stream of UK political noises.Pro “Brexit” politicians argued thatmigration leaves Britain vulnerableto attack, while figures in theopposing camp, including PrimeMinister David Cameron, said thatbeing part of the economic andpolitical union aids security. Afterstarting the week near the high of1.4476, the Pound spent the weekdropping to close on Friday at1.4135.

The Yen remains volatile tradingbetween a low of 111.20 and ahigh of 113.30. The currency per-formance continues to be highlynegatively correlated with theJapanese equity markets, andinvestors continue to sell the rallyin the Dollar while awaiting poten-tial further actions from the Bankof Japan.

On the commodities side, aftera strong four week’s performance,commodities seem to reach anexhaustion point for now. Oil mar-kets seem to find a stable phasearound the current levels on hopesfor an output freeze by major pro-ducers. Brent closed the week at$41.03, while West Texas at $39.46.Sentiment continue to swing onnews of additional drop in thenumber of US operating rigs lastmonth while expectations contin-ue to build ahead of a potentialmeeting between OPEC and non-OPEC producers later this month.

On the precious metals front,Gold remains well supported in allthis week’s European events.Although the situation in Chinaseems to have reached some calmfor now, the latest Brussel’s attackkept gold prices well supported.On the other side, the latestspeeches from Fed members haveput some pressure on the preciousmetal as investors seem to havestarted pricing a higher possibilityof a Fed rate hike this year.

Chicago national activity indexpaints a bleak picture

The Chicago Fed national over-all activity index fell from +0.41 inJanuary to -0.29 in February. Alltheir major categories of the indexfrom economic growth to produc-tion and employment dropped inFebruary. According to the report,growth in national economic activ-ity was slightly below its historicaltrend. The economic growth sug-gested subdued inflationary pres-sure from economic activity overthe coming year.

Industrial Production decreasedby 0.5% in February after increas-ing by 0.8% in January.Manufacturing on the other handincreased by 0.2%after rising by0.5% in January. While employ-ment increased by a small 0.03points, lower from +0.19 inJanuary, the contribution of per-sonal consumption and housingcategory moved down to -0.09 inFebruary from -0.05 in January.

Disappointing US PMIThe latest figure from Markit

shows that the US manufacturingsector is still in a slow-growth state.Manufacturing PMI releasedTuesday came at 51.4 for Marchbelow economists’ expectation of51.9. While the report showedsome improvement in the rate ofoutput, new business and hiring, itremains that inventories fell at thesteepest pace in over two years.According to the report, “US facto-ries continue to endure their worstspell for three and a half years.

Headwinds include reducedspending by the struggling energysector, the strength of the dollar,persistent weak global demandand growing uncertainty causedby the looming presidential elec-tion.”

Disappointing housing figures The National Association of

Realtors said that existing homesales dropped 7.1% to an annualrate of 5.08 million units, the lowestlevel since November. Economistshad forecasted a drop by3% to apace of 5.31 million units inFebruary. The data has beenvolatile in recent months. However,housing continues to be supportedby the overall state of the economyand a growing labor market, whichis starting to push up wage growth.In February, the number of unsoldhomes on the market rose 3.3%from January to 1.88 million units1.1% from a year ago.

Fed members cautiously optimistic

“In my opinion, there is suffi-cient momentum evidenced by theeconomic data to justify a furtherstep at one of the coming meet-ings, possibly as early as the meet-ing scheduled for end of April.”

In a speech given this week,Federal Reserve Bank of AtlantaPresident Dennis Lockhart said thatsteady US economic growth couldjustify increasing short-term inter-est rates as soon as next month.Despite not holding a voting seaton the FOMC, Lockhart said that“the center of the committee ispretty uniform at the moment.” Healso supported the Fed’s latestdecision to leave interest ratesunchanged given the recent finan-cial-market volatility and signs of

global weakness.Another nonvoting member,

Richmond Fed Lacker, was also onthe wires this week stating that USinflation is likely to accelerate incoming years and move toward theFederal Reserve’s 2%. According tothe official, “the recent data oninflation, because they have comein firmer than expected, suggeststhat upside risks to inflation haveincreased maybe not significantly,but I think noticeably and material-ly.” He added that he expected coreinflation firmer this year than lastyear and close to 2% in 2017. Healso said that the evidence indi-cates that inflation expectationsremain “well-anchored”.

Europe ECB’s Chief economist said additional negative rates

still on the table Peter Praet, the member of the

ECB’s executive board said lastweek, “If new negative shocksshould worsen the outlook or iffinancing conditions should notadjust in the direction and to theextent that is necessary to boostthe economy and inflation, a ratereduction remains in our armory.”His view differs with that theEuropean Central Bank chief MarioDraghi who has recently impliedhe doesn’t expect further rate cuts.

Eurozone growth expands forfirst time in three months

The Eurozone recovered somemomentum at the end of the firstquarter, growing at the fastest rate

since December 2015. EurozonePMI rose from 53.0 in February to53.7 in March. The improvementwas a welcomed reversal of thedeclines seen in the prior twomonths. However, the average PMIreading for the first quarter of 53.4indicated a slight slowdown in thepace of economic activity.Additionally, France CompositeOutput Index posted 51.1, up from49.3 in February; higher outputwas indicated across both themanufacturing and service sectors.However, Germany CompositeOutput Index was unchangedfrom February’s five-month low.On the contrary, while solidgrowth of activity was maintainedin the service sector; manufactur-ers reported the lowest rise in out-put since November 2014.

German economic sentiment on the rise

German business and investormorale both rose in March asresilient consumer sentimenthelped Europe’s largest economyride out concerns of a global slow-down. Ifo economic institute saidits business climate index, rose to106.7 from 105.7 in February.Additionally, the ZEW Indicator ofEconomic Sentiment increasedslightly in March 2016. The indexhas improved by 3.3 points com-pared to the previous month. Thehead of the ZEW ResearchDepartment said, “The uncertaintylinked with the future economicdevelopment and with the exter-nal value of the Euro continues tocall for caution.”

UK inflation rates unchangedUK CPI inflation came in at 0.3%

year on year in February,unchanged from January’s rate.

Likewise, core CPI inflation wasunchanged at 1.2%. The maindownward contribution to changein the CPI yearly rate came fromthe transport sector where prices,overall, were unchanged betweenJanuary and February this yearcompared with a rise of 0.4%between the same 2 months ayear ago. The main upward contri-bution to the change in the CPIyearly rate between January andFebruary 2016 came from foodand beverages where prices, over-all, rose by 0.1% between Januaryand February 2016, compared witha fall of 0.2% between the same 2months a year ago.

UK house prices on the rise UK House price growth

improved during January 2016.According to the Office forNational Statistics, the average UKhouse price rose 7.9% over theyear, as the ongoing supply short-age in some areas drove priceseven higher. Rising house prices,which are growing faster thanincomes in most areas of the UK,have pushed owning a homebeyond the affordability of manyfirst-time buyers.

ASIAPBOC concerned about

high debt levelPeople’s Bank of China

Governor Zhou Xiaochuan sound-ed his concerns over rising debtlevels in speech at the ChinaDevelopment Forum in Beijing onSunday. Corporate lending as a

ratio to gross domestic producthad become too high and thecountry must develop more robustcapital markets he said. Oneoption mentioned was to channelmore savings into the capital mar-kets, which would help reduceleverage in the corporate sectorand boost equity financing. Theoverall message was that the PBoCwould press ahead with necessarystructural reforms even as eco-nomic growth slows.

Japan PMI pointing to a weak GDP

Japan manufacturing PMI thisweek showed the first contractionin the industry since June 2015.The Index came back at a disap-pointing 49.1 after new exportorders dropped sharply. The globalslowdown is taking its toll on theeconomy as this marks the fifthstraight decline in exports forJapan. Analysts expect growth torebound modestly this currentquarter but concerns about globaldemand has led some to predictanother contraction will pushJapan back into recession.

Australia housing slowing downThe Australian Bureau of

Statistics released its housing priceindex for the December quartershowing a 0.2% increase for thequarter and an 8.7% increase froma year earlier. The total value ofAustralia’s 9.6 million residentialhomes increased $31.6 billion to$5.9 trillion. The modest increaseshows that housing price growth isslowing in 2016. While Sydney wasby far the best performing marketfor the year, it was one of the worstthis quarter, falling 1.6% markingits first decline since March of2012.

NBK WEEKLY MONEY MARKET REPORT

Fed rate hike still on the table for April

WASHINGTON: Ten US states still have notregained all the jobs they lost in the GreatRecession, even after six and a half years ofrecovery, while many more have seen onlymodest gains. The figures help illustratethe uneven nature of the economicrebound since the Great Recession endedin June 2009.

They also suggest why many Americansfeel the improvement has passed them by.Ongoing economic anxiety, despite somedata suggesting the economy has recov-ered, is fueling much of the support forinsurgent presidential candidates such asDonald Trump and Bernie Sanders.Wyoming had 3 percent fewer jobs lastmonth than it did in December 2007, whenthe recession began, the Labor Departmentsaid Friday. That is the biggest percentagedecline among the states. Alabama’s jobtotal trails its pre-recession level by 2.7 per-cent, followed by New Mexico, where jobtotals are 2.6 percent lower.

Some larger states are also still behind.New Jersey has nearly 1 percent fewerjobs than it did at the end of 2007, andMissouri is just below its pre-recession lev-el. The other five are: Mississippi, Nevada,Maine, Connecticut, and West Virginia.Other states have notched very smallgains that likely trail population growth.Illinois has 8,600 more jobs than it did inDecember 2007, a gain of just 0.1 percent.Arizona’s job count is up just 9,200, or 0.3percent. And Ohio has added 58,100 jobs,or 1.1 percent.

Greater hiring All those gains are far below the 4 per-

cent increase in jobs nationwide fromDecember 2007 through February 2016,according to government figures. Three-fifths of states have seen job gains belowthat national average. Some areas haveseen much greater hiring. Four states haverecorded double-digit increases in theirtotal payrolls, along with Washington, DC:North Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Colorado.

The oil and gas drilling boom has liftedNorth Dakota’s job count by more than 20percent, even though falling energyprices have caused significant layoffs inthe past year. Texas has also benefitedfrom the energy boom, as well as greaterhigh-tech hiring in cities like Austin. Utahand Colorado have also benefited fromfast-growing information technologycompanies.

The data also shows how the decline inthe unemployment rate in some states hasexaggerated the improvement in theireconomies. The rate in Michigan, for exam-ple, fell to 4.8 percent last month, downfrom 5.9 percent a year ago and one-tenthof a point below the national average. YetMichigan’s job count has increased just 1.6percent since the recession began, lessthan half the nationwide gain. Its unem-ployment rate has fallen in large partbecause many of those who lost jobs havesince given up looking for work. When peo-ple stop job-hunting, they are no longercounted as unemployed. —AP

Jobs at pre-recession levels in 10 US states

b u s i n e s sMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

KUWAIT: The name long synonymous withexceptional automotive achievement, Mercedes-Benz continues to bridge the gap between on-road excellence and off-road dominance with itsextended new SUV family. AR Albisher and ZAlkazemi Co, the authorized general distributorfor Mercedes-Benz in Kuwait welcomes the newspring season with a showcase of the full SUVrange in its showroom.

Mercedes-Benz’s legendary all-wheel-drivetechnology allows driver confidence and controlin any season or road condition. From a sandyincline to a challenging corner, 4MATIC all-wheeldrive makes the most of available traction by pre-cisely engaging all four wheels. More than lettingall four tires do the work equally, 4MATIC featuresa number of advanced and quick-thinking inno-vations to empower each wheel individually asconditions change.

“Promising the superior safety, craftsman-ship and performance of Mercedes-Benz withthe capabilities of an off-roader; Mercedes-BenzSUVs have long been a favorite across theregion,” said Michael Ruehle, Chief ExecutiveOfficer, AR Albisher and Z Alkazemi Co “Fromthe compact GLA to the uncompromising G-Class, the entire Mercedes-Benz SUV range art-fully combines luxury and performance with all-round qualities of a tough, leisure-time com-panion. Now is the perfect time to enjoy theoutdoors, and Mercedes-Benz SUVs and explor-ing go hand in hand,” he added.

G-Class: The legend lives onMercedes-Benz’s classic off-roader is begin-

ning another chapter in a success story thatspans more than 35 years. With its continuouslyimproved technology and high-class equipmentspecification, this all-terrain icon has consistentlysatisfied the highest expectations of off-roadfans. True to this tradition, a new 4.0-litre directlyinjected V8 biturbo engine celebrated its worldpremiere in the G Class with all models nowoffering up to 16 percent more power and up to17 percent lower fuel consumption

The 8-cylinder powerplant in the G 500 can

point to an exclusive heritage. It is based on thenew generation of V8 engines developed byMercedes-AMG that have already coaxed excep-tional levels of performance out of theMercedes-AMG GT and Mercedes-AMG C 63. Foruse in the G-Class, the V8 has been modified todeliver 310 kW (422 hp) with torque of 610 Nm.Other standout attributes include a sponta-neous response and high tractive power madepossible by two turbochargers, which instead ofbeing configured on the outside of the cylinderbanks, are now arranged between them in the V- the so-called “hot inside V”. This layout allows acompact design and optimal response.Maximum strength with lowest possible weightis guaranteed by the aluminum crankcase of theV8 engine. The cylinder bore surfaces featureDaimler’s NANOSLIDE(r) technology, whichmakes them twice as hard as conventional cast-iron liners. This minimizes both internal frictionand fuel demand.

As is typical of the G-Class, the new modelsretain the familiar sturdy basis of body and lad-der-type frame, which still offers generousreserves to cope with the increased power. Alsoretained is the unrivalled off-road performancewith permanent all-wheel drive, low-range gear-box and three differential locks that can beengaged/disengaged while on the move.

GLA: Fit for off-road excursionsProgressive in design, serene in day-to-day

motoring and with good off road capability: awanderer between automotive worlds, theMercedes Benz GLA reinterprets the compactSUV segment in convincing style. It light footed-ly masters all day-to-day challenges and is alsorobust enough for off-road excursions.

The combination of powerful-distinctivedesign, exclusive appointments as well assuperior engine power and driving perform-ance is unique: the most powerful series-production four-cylinder engine in the worldputs 265 kW (360 hp) and 450 Newtonmeters on the road. The new GLA 45 AMGhigh-performance SUV also shines with low

emission and fuel consumption figures.The first Mercedes-Benz in the fast-growing

compact SUV segment is highly maneuverablearound town (length x width x height: 4417 x1804 x 1494 millimeters), lively on country andpass roads and dynamic and efficient on themotorway (Cd figure 0.29). The high-qualityappointments, developed with a loving atten-tion to detail, and the flexible interior clearlyposition the GLA as a compact premium SUV.

As a serene day-to-day companion the GLAhas a flexible and variable interior. The rear seatbackrests can not only be folded down com-pletely, but are also adjustable for angle ifrequired. The large luggage compartment (421 -1235 liters) is well laid-out and can be loadedwithout difficulty thanks to the low loading silland the wide tailgate, which opens and closesautomatically as an option.

GLC: Comfort and spaceThe GLC is in top form. Under all operating

conditions the new mid size SUV excels with theoutstanding safety that is a hallmark of thebrand, the latest assistance systems and energyefficiency. Fuel consumption has been cut by upto 19 percent compared with the previous mod-el. At the same time, the AIR BODY CONTROLmulti-chamber air suspension that is withoutparallel in this segment, the extended range ofDYNAMIC SELECT dynamic transmission modesand the 4MATIC permanent all-wheel driveincrease not only the ride comfort, but also thevehicle’s sporty agility - whatever surface it isdriving on.

The GLC may represents a departure from itsprogenitor - the G-Class - in terms of appearance,however, on a technical level it sets new bench-marks in all disciplines and the mid-size SUV’s off-road capabilities remain as outstanding as ever.The paradigm shift in the area of design affectsnot only the outside appearance. The modelchange also signals a marked upgrade for theinterior. The new design idiom combines sensualpurity with dynamic sportiness and embodies anew interpretation of modern luxury. In addi-

tion, a considerably more spacious interior awaitsthe occupants and their luggage.

Offering two engine variants, the GLC 2504MATIC and the GLC 300 4MATIC offer a 4-cylin-der petrol engine with direct injection and tur-bocharging. The former comes with the OFFROAD Line exterior that includes 19-inch multi-spoke light alloy wheels, radiator grille with twinlouvres and chrome inserts, bumpers with achrome-plated underguard at front and rear, twochrome-plated tailpipes, polished aluminiumtrim and roof rails in anodized aluminum. TheGLC 300 4MATIC comes with the sporty AMGLine exterior - with distinctive AMG body styling,19-inch AMG wheels, chrome package, andenhanced performance and driving dynamicsthanks to the sports. The nine-stage 9G-TRONICautomatic transmission comes as standard onthe GLC 250 4MATIC and the GLC 300 4MATIC,offering an impressively high shift speed andperfect transitions for energetic sprinting as wellas with gentle, barely perceptible gear changesfor enjoyable cruising

GLE: Driving performance for any terrainUpdated name, extended model range and

even more power: the new Mercedes- GLE is anSUV prepared for any occasion. Celebrated forefficiency, performance and its incredible rangeof equipment, the new GLE is more attractivethan ever.

Thanks to the 4MATIC permanent all-wheeldrive system available as standard, the GLE deliv-ers outstanding dynamics and precise handling,even in tough driving conditions. The advan-tages of the new GLE include best on-road andoff-road handling, outstanding spaciousness andhigh levels of active and passive safety. The newGLE is available in four models: The GLE 4004MATIC and the GLE 500 4MATIC and the high-performance SUV models, the Mercedes-AMGGLE 63 4MATIC and the GLE 63 S 4MATIC.

Providing added sportiness and dominance,the GLE 63 is also available with AMG power, witha 5.5-litre twin-turbo V8 engine guaranteeing itsdriver an exclusive experience. Reaching from 0-

100 km/h in 4.3 seconds, it offers sports car agili-ty and spontaneous throttle response. In addi-tion to the basic variant developing 410 kW (557hp), there is also the highly sporty AMG GLE 63 S-Model to choose from, which is rated at 430 kW(585 hp).

The fusion of CoupÈ and SUV, the GLE CoupÈimpresses with expressive proportions. Availablein two models, the AMG GLE 63 CoupÈ and AMGGLE 63 S CoupÈ offer a powerful, hand-built AMG5.5-litre V8 biturbo engine and a wealth of AMG-tuned enhancements that add unrivalled per-formance to its sleek coupÈ styling.

GLS: First class under all conditionsSuccessor to the GL, the new GLS (coming in

April 2016) also sets standards in the world ofSUVs as it confirms its position as the “S-Classamong SUVs”. The only full-fledged seven-seaterin the premium SUV segment boasts ample spa-ciousness and combines luxury with impressivelevels of comfort, agile dynamics and also best-in-class safety. Whether put to everyday use orventuring off the beaten track - the GLS meets allrequirements effortlessly and comfortably.

Compared with its predecessor, the new gen-eration features improved efficiency, extendedDYNAMIC SELECT transmission modes, the latestevolutionary stage of the air suspension systemAIRMATIC with enhanced damping system ADS,the nine-speed 9G-TRONIC automatic transmis-sion, state-of-the-art assistance systems and thelatest telematics generation with internet access.More power, more dynamics and more equip-ment are also offered by the new Mercedes-AMGGLS 63 4MATIC. With a peak output of 430 kW(585 hp), discrete suspension and the revisedAMG SPEEDSHIFT PLUS 7G-TRONIC transmission,it represents the pinnacle of the GLS modelseries. Features which come as standard includethe AMG DYNAMIC SELECT transmission modeswhich provide optimum flexibility and the rear-biased AMG Performance all-wheel drive. TheGLS 63 4MATIC also shows strength of characterwith its updated design featuring the AMG brandlook and high-quality interior.

Mercedes-Benz new SUV range: Extraordinary off-road ability meets handcrafted luxury

KUWAIT: Gulf Bank has announced that itsTrio Quarterly draw is scheduled to takeplace 3 days from today at 1pm, 31 March2016, on Marina FM’s Diwaniya Show. 3Draws will take place at the same time andlocation. The Al Danah draw will be for cashprize of KD200,000. While the Salary & RedAccount draws include a brand newCadillac CTS and cash prizes up to KD1,000.The draw event will be held in the presenceof a representative from the Ministry ofCommerce and Industry.

To participate in the Al Danah draws,customers must have an Al Danah accountcontaining at least KD 200. Customers canopen a new Al Danah account at any one ofthe 55 Gulf Bank branches in Kuwait. Thosewho already have an account can increasetheir chances of winning by increasing their

deposits. This will also increase theirchances of winning one of the two KD1,000prizes, which are drawn each working day.

Furthermore, new Red Account or Salaryaccount customers who open an accountand transfer their student allowance orsalary will also be eligible to enter themonthly cash draws for a chance to also winup to KD 1,000. In addition, the quarterlycar draw will be for 1 lucky winner who willhave a chance to win a new Cadillac CTS.

For further information about the AlDanah, Salary and Red accounts and prizedraws, visit one of Gulf Bank’s 55 branches,or call Gulf Bank’s Customer Contact Centeron 1805805. General information aboutGulf Bank’s products and services, can alsobe found at the Bank’s website at www.e-gulfbank.com

3 days left until the Quarterly Trio draw

DUBAI: Malabar Gold & Diamonds, one of the world’slargest gold and diamond jewelry retailer, donatedDh10 million (US$2.72 million) to Al Jalila Foundationto support research in genetic diseases and disorders,as part of the company’s strong Corporate SocialResponsibility initiatives.

Malabar Gold & Diamonds operation is spreadacross 9 countries in the world. As a CSR strategy, theyspend 5% of their earnings from the business back tothe same society. In the UAE, as the basic necessitiesare taken care of by the government, the Group seesthe need is in the field of medical research. The con-tribution for research will ultimately reach to theentire world population, in particular to developingcountries where genetic diseases are more severe.

Genetic diseases and disorders, coupled with rarediseases are a major cause of concern for mankind.More than 350 million people worldwide - that ismore than the total population of the Middle Eastand higher than the US population - suffer from rarediseases, 80 per cent of which are linked to geneticdisorders.

MP Ahammed, Chairman of Malabar Group, hand-ed over a cheque of Dh10 million to the Board ofTrustees of Al Jalila Foundation at a ceremony. “Itgives me immense pleasure to announce our smalland humble contribution of Dh10 million (US$2.72million) to Al Jalila Foundation to support research ingenetic diseases and disorders in the United ArabEmirates - a nation that has developed so much insuch a short time,” MP Ahammed, Chairman ofMalabar Group, said.

“The move reflects our gratitude to the UnitedArab Emirates - a great nation of great people that areblessed with visionary leadership. As a major retailerin gold and diamond jewelry, Malabar Gold &Diamonds has benefitted from the world-class infra-structure, ease in doing business, safety and security

provided by the government of the UAE.“Needless to say that we are also blessed with and

inspired by the vision of His Highness SheikhMohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-Presidentand Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai -who has created a safe haven for businesses and peo-ple to live and work in harmony regardless of theircultural, religious and social differences.”

Malabar Gold & Diamonds is the flagship compa-ny of Malabar Group, a leading diversified Indian busi-ness conglomerate. The company, owned by morethan 1,700 shareholders, which excels in quality prod-ucts and services, has more than 9,000 professionalsworking for its continued success. It was rankedamong the top 5 jewelry retailers globally.

Dubai is a melting pot of cultures, societies andreligions, Ahammed, himself a visionary entrepreneur,said. “This is our way of saying a big ‘Thank you’ to ourbrothers and sisters of the UAE - who have remained

so hospitable to us,” he added. “The contribution ispart of our corporate culture of sharing and caringwith our stakeholders - the customers and the society- and our continuous efforts in giving back to thesociety.”

Al Jalila Foundation, a global philanthropic organi-zation dedicated to transforming lives through med-ical education and research, was founded by His

Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid AlMaktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of theUnited Arab Emirates (UAE) and Ruler of Dubai inApril 2013, to position Dubai and the UAE at the fore-front of medical innovation.

Al Jalila Foundation promotes medical educationand research by investing in the UAE’s medical treat-ment capabilities; it provides scholarships to nurturea home-grown generation of medical professionalsand supports ground-breaking research that address-es health challenges prevalent in the region.

Malabar Gold & Diamonds contributes Dh10 million fund to Al Jalila Foundation

t e c h n o l o g yMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

DIMONDALE: Michigan State Police Sgt Matt Rogers and Trooper Don Zinzbring the Aeryon SkyRanger in for a landing during a demonstration of thenew Unmanned Aircraft System at the State Police training track inDimondale, Michigan. —AP

WASHINGTON: Stroll around theoffice or neighborhood six times aday, and earn $1.50 toward yourhealth insurance. Step up activity abit more and bring the total to$1,400 annually.

The catch: you need to wear aspecial activity tracker that moni-tors steps taken, “intensity” levelsand other physical indicators.That’s the offer in a new insuranceproduct marketed byUnitedHealthcare, the second-largest US health insurer, one ofmany programs aimed at boostingphysical fitness and reducinghealth insurance costs for employ-ers and employees.

“One of the greatest challengeswe have is how to incentivize andmotivate individuals to beaccountable for their own heathand well- being,” said Steve Beecyof UnitedHealthcare. He called theTrio Tracker device, introducedwith technology partnerQualcomm, “a game-changer.”

Across the US, employers arestepping up the use of technologyin “wellness” programs thatencourage healthier lifestyles.Wellness programs aren’t new, buttechnology like activity trackershas transformed them with moreprecise measurements and auto-mated uploads to verify activity.

A survey of more than 200 largeemployers by the NationalBusiness Group on Health found37 percent used activity trackers in2015 and another 37 percentplanned to adopt the technologyin coming years.

“There is a strong interest (inthe use of technology) because ofthe impact on an employer’s long-term health care costs,” said ScottMarcotte of Xerox HumanResources, which participated inthe study. Makers of activity track-ers such as Fitbit and Jawbonehave been expanding their effortsto be part of corporate wellnessprograms. One of the biggest tie-ups was announced last year whenUS retail giant Target said it wouldoffer free or discounted Fitbittrackers to its more than 300,000employees.

‘Gamification’ As a further incentive, Target

said it would allow teams ofemployees which log the mostaverage daily steps to collect morethan $1 million for local non-profitorganizations. This strategy of pro-viding financial incentives forhealthy activity is known in theindustry as “gamification.”

Jimmy Fleming of the consult-ing group Healthy Wage saidfinancial incentives can make a dif-ference in spurring healthierbehaviors. “We have a lot of clientswho want to subsidize the pro-gram and make it free, but it’s lesseffective,” Fleming said. “There has

to be both a carrot and a stick.”One program being offered

through health services firmVitality Group provides an AppleWatch for $25, a fraction of theretail cost. But employees must“pay” for the device by completingworkouts and gym visits eachmonth.

Growth in such programs overthe past few years coincides with

incentives to meet Obamacaregoals on preventive care, and withnew research suggesting thatmore activity can ward off manymedical ailments.

Data mining But the new programs raise

questions about private data col-lected and stored by insurers. Whileemployers and insurers must com-ply with US privacy regulations sothat health data cannot be seen orused by employers, critics still worry.“Technology is outpacing the legal

protections in place,” said BradleyShear, a Washington lawyer special-izing in privacy.

“While some employee wellnessprograms and the data collectedmay be protected under (federal pri-vacy law), others may not be.” Areport this year by the University ofToronto’s Citizen Lab warned ofpotential problems. For example,there have been situations where

fitness tracker-related informationwas introduced in sexual assaultcases or personal injury claims.

“Such data, if it can be manipu-lated, brings such evidence intoquestion as well as the broadertrustworthiness of fitness trackerdata ... there are also concerns thatthe radios in fitness trackers couldbe used to monitor their wearers’movements,” the report said.Barbara Duck, a technology consult-ant who writes a blog on health pri-vacy, said the financial incentivesare not worth it. Duck said that

although insurers cannot sell or dis-close personal health data, “they canput a score on your head and sellthat.” “It’s not about making youhealthier in the long run, it’s aboutcollecting more data to sell and toscore you with,” she said. Also, someemployees will feel compelled toparticipate because they cannotafford the financial penalties if theydon’t, Duck said. Sales of wearable

tech devices surged nearly 200 per-cent in the third quarter of last yearto 21 million units, according to thelatest IDC survey. Some surveysshow as many as 20 percent ofAmericans use a fitness tracker. IDCanalyst Lynne Dunbrack said it willtake time to see if fitness trackerstake hold in the workplace andachieve their goals. “Part of the chal-lenge with these programs is thatthe ones who tend to use it themost and stay with it are not the tar-get population for the chronic prob-lems,” she said. —AFP

US wearable tech takes aim at healthcare costs Employers stepping up use of technology in ‘wellness’ programs

NEW YORK: United Healthcare executives Jean McGann and Chuck Cerniglia (right) pose wear-ing special activity trackers at their office in New York. —AFP

BOSTON: That buzzing sound overhead maysoon signal the arrival of the 21st-centuryversion of a guy in a hardhat and buckettruck. State transportation departments areincreasingly studying the use of drones foreverything from inspecting bridges to clear-ing car accidents.

Michigan transportation officials are set tobegin a two-year study. Minnesota has testeda drone to help conduct safety inspections ofbridges. Vermont is using federal grant dol-lars to study the use of drones to monitor riv-er flooding and figure out how much materi-al is needed to fix roads.

And in Massachusetts, a group has alsobeen looking at the pros and cons of droneuse, from potential threats to their possibleuse surveying construction projects. Thestates are among 33 that have studied orused drones, helped develop drone polices,or aided in drone research. That’s accordingto a new survey by the American Associationof State Highway and Transportation Officials,which represents departments of transporta-tion in all 50 states, Washington, DC, andPuerto Rico.

The Michigan study is part of a longerreview. In 2014, state transportation officialsthere conducted a study with the MichiganTech Research Institute that found dronespotentially useful for a range of transporta-tion tasks, from assessing bridge decks andmonitoring traffic to processing thermal dataand inspecting confined spaces.

The first study determined that drones aresafe, reliable, less expensive and help keepworkers out of harm’s way, said Steven Cook,a Michigan Department of Transportationengineer. “A traditional bridge inspection forexample typically involves setting up workzones, detouring traffic and using heavyequipment,” Cook said in a statement.“(Drones) can get in and get out quickly.”

Michigan officials estimate that a standardbridge deck inspection takes eight hours, acrew of four people and heavy equipment ata cost of about $4,600. The same inspectionwith a drone takes two people just two hoursat an estimated cost of about $250.

At the University of Vermont, researchersusing federal grant money are developing

programs to letdrones estimate how much fillit will take to repair a damaged roadway byfeeding images collected from above the sitethrough a computer program. Drones aren’twelcome everywhere. The Massachusettsgroup includes representatives from theMassachusetts Department of TransportationAeronautics Division, as well as the attorneygeneral’s office and the state highway divi-sion - an acknowledgement that drones andairplanes don’t always mix.

Pilots are increasingly worried aboutdrones operating too close to airports or inflight paths, fueling fears of a midair collision.A report released last year counted at least241 reports of close encounters betweendrones and manned aircraft, including 28 inwhich pilots had to veer out of the way.

Massachusetts officials say that whilethey’re exploring how to develop workplaceapplications for drones, they also need towork with the Federal AviationAdministration to resolve statutory and regu-latory issues. All drone testing must beapproved by the FAA.

According to the AASHTO survey, severalstates have said the application process toresearch drones can take months. The FAAhas already been looking ahead to a timewhen drones are routinely employed forbridge inspections and other uses. Last year,the agency proposed rules to let small com-mercial unmanned aircraft - under 55 pounds- perform tasks like aerial photography andcell tower inspections. FAA AdministratorMichael Huerta said at the time that theagency was trying to be flexible and maintainsafety “without placing an undue regulatoryburden on an emerging industry.”

The proposed rules would require com-mercial operators to pass a knowledge testand federal security check. Operators wouldhave to keep drones within eyesight. Casesof flyaway drones getting stuck in trees orhitting buildings have soared. Last year, adrone that its operator lost control of flewover the White House fence and crashed onthe lawn before Secret Service agents couldblock it. New federal regulations for commer-cial drone testing could be released thissummer. —AP

Traffic backed up? Bridge out? More states deploying drones

TRENTON, NJ: Jared Schumacher isamong the hundreds of thousands of NewJerseyans who routinely use electronicdevices to text, listen to music or do othertasks as they walk outdoors.

But if a “distracted walking” measurerecently proposed by a state assembly-woman eventually becomes law, theTrenton man and others like him could befacing fines or even jail time.

“I admit that I’m usually listening tomusic, talking on my phone or textingwhile I’m walking around,” the 20-year-oldsaid while responding to a text as hewalked along a street in the state capitallast weekend. “I’ve never hurt myself, butI’ve seen people walk into poles or trip overa big crack in the sidewalk.”

Experts say distracted walking is a grow-ing problem around the globe, as peopleof all ages become more dependent onelectronic devices for personal and profes-sional matters.

They also note pedestrian deaths havebeen rising in recent years. Eleven percentof all fatalities in 2005 involved pedestrians,but that number rose to 15 percent in2014.

The rise in deaths coincides with statesintroducing bills that target pedestriansand/or bicyclists. For instance, a bill pend-

ing in Hawaii would fine someone $250 ifhe or she crossed the street with an elec-tronic device. In recent years, similar billshave failed in states including Arkansas,Illinois, Nevada and New York.

“Thus far, no states have enacted a lawspecifically targeting distracted bicyclists orpedestrians,” said Douglas Shinkle, trans-portation program director for the NationalConference of State Legislatures. But headded that “a few states continue to intro-duce legislation every year.”

The measure recently introduced byNew Jersey Assemblywoman PamelaLampitt would ban walking while textingand bar pedestrians on public roads fromusing electronic communication devicesunless they are hands-free. Violators wouldface fines of up to $50, 15 days imprison-ment or both, which is the same penalty asjaywalking. Half of the fine would be allo-cated to safety education about the dan-gers of walking and texting, Lampitt, aDemocrat, said.

Some see the proposal as an unneces-sary government overreach, while otherssay they understand Lampitt’s reasoning.But most agree that people need to bemade aware of the issue rather than takingfor granted that nothing bad will happento them. —AP

New Jersey lawmaker: Punish people for texting while walking

SAN FRANCISCO: OMG! Did you hear aboutthe artificial intelligence program thatMicrosoft designed to chat like a teenage girl?It was totally yanked offline in less than a day,after it began spouting racist, sexist and oth-erwise offensive remarks.

Microsoft said it was all the fault of somereally mean people, who launched a “coordi-nated effort” to make the chatbot known asTay “respond in inappropriate ways.” To whichone artificial intelligence expert responded:Duh! Well, he didn’t really say that. But com-puter scientist Kris Hammond did say, “I can’tbelieve they didn’t see this coming.”

Microsoft said its researchers created Tay asan experiment to learn more about comput-ers and human conversation. On its website,the company said the program was targetedto an audience of 18 to 24-year-olds and was“designed to engage and entertain peoplewhere they connect with each other onlinethrough casual and playful conversation.”

In other words, the program used a lot ofslang and tried to provide humorous respons-es when people sent it messages and photos.The chatbot went live on Wednesday, andMicrosoft invited the public to chat with Tayon Twitter and some other messaging servicespopular with teens and young adults.

“The more you chat with Tay the smartershe gets, so the experience can be more per-sonalized for you,” the company said. Butsome users found Tay’s responses odd, andothers found it wasn’t hard to nudge Tay intomaking offensive comments, apparentlyprompted by repeated questions or state-ments that contained offensive words. Soon,Tay was making sympathetic references toHitler - and creating a furor on social media.

“Unfortunately, within the first 24 hours ofcoming online, we became aware of a coordi-nated effort by some users to abuse Tay’scommenting skills to have Tay respond ininappropriate ways,” Microsoft said in a state-

ment. While the company didn’t elaborate,Hammond says it appears Microsoft made noeffort to prepare Tay with appropriateresponses to certain words or topics. Tayseems to be a version of “call and response”technology, added Hammond, who studiesartificial intelligence at NorthwesternUniversity and also serves as chief scientist forNarrative Science, a company that developscomputer programs that turn data into narra-tive reports.

“Everyone keeps saying that Tay learnedthis or that it became racist,” Hammond said.“It didn’t.” The program most likely reflectedthings it was told, probably more than once,by people who decided to see what wouldhappen, he said.

The problem is that Microsoft turned Tayloose online, where many people consider itentertaining to stir things up - or worse. Thecompany should have realized that peoplewould try a variety of conversational gambitswith Tay, said Caroline Sinders, an expert on“conversational analytics” who works on chatrobots for another tech company. (She askednot to identify it because she wasn’t speakingin an official capacity.) She called Tay “anexample of bad design.”

Instead of building in some guidelines forhow the program would deal with controver-sial topics, Sinders added, it appears Tay wasmostly left to learn from whatever it was told.“This is a really good example of machinelearning,” said Sinders. “It’s learning frominput. That means it needs constant mainte-nance.”

Sinders said she hopes Microsoft willrelease the program again, but only after“doing some work” on it first. Microsoft saidit’s “making adjustments” on Tay, but therewas no word on when Tay might be back.Most of the messages on its Twitter accountwere deleted by Thursday afternoon. “c u soonhumans need sleep now so many conversa-tions today thx,” said the latest remainingpost. —AP

How chatbot learned a little too much online

The Microsoft Corp logo outside the Microsoft Visitor Center in Redmond,Washington. —AP

WASHINGTON: A pedestrians text messages while crossing the street indowntown Washington. A New Jersey lawmaker is targeting distractedwalking. The proposed measure would ban walking while texting andbar pedestrians on public roads from using electronic devices unlessthey are hands-free. —AP

KFAR PINES: A woman works at the BOL (Breath Of Life) Pharma greenhouse in the country’s second-largest medical cannabisplantation, near Kfar Pines in northern Israel. — AFP photos

H E A LT H & S C I E N C EMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

WASHINGTON: Federal officials areencouraging generic drugmakers toreformulate their painkillers to makethem harder to abuse, the latest in astring of steps designed to combat abuseof highly-addictive pain drugs likecodeine and oxycodone. The Food andDrug Administration published draftguidelines outlining testing standards forharder-to-abuse generic painkillers. Theagency has already approved five brand-name opioid pain drugs which aredesigned to discourage abuse. The cur-rent version of OxyContin, for example, isdifficult to crush, discouraging abusersfrom snorting or dissolving the tablets toget high.

But these abuse-deterrent painkillersrepresent a small fraction of the marketfor opioid pain drugs, which is dominat-ed by low-cost generics. The FDA draftguidelines released Thursday outlinestudies needed to show that generic opi-oids have the same anti-abuse propertiesas their brand-name counterparts.Generic drugs receive a streamlined

review process at the FDA, which helpsspeed their path to market and reducethe prices passed onto consumers.

Generally, manufacturers only need showthat their products are chemically equiv-alent to the original version, rather thanconduct new clinical studies in patients.

Thursday’s proposal comes just daysafter the FDA said it would add a newboxed warning - the most serious type -to some 175 immediate-releasepainkillers, including both branded andgenerics. That action is one in a series ofmeasures promised by new FDACommissioner Dr Robert Califf, who wasconfirmed by the Senate last month.Califf ’s confirmation was held up bySenate lawmakers who said the agencyneeded to do more to combat opioidabuse. For years, the agency only mademodest changes to the drugs, emphasiz-ing the need to keep medications acces-sible to patients with chronic pain.

In its announcement, the FDAacknowledged that evidence on the ben-efits of abuse-deterrent opioids is stillemerging. “We recognize that abuse-deterrent technology is still evolving andis only one piece of a much broader strat-

egy to combat the problem of opioidabuse,” Califf said in a printed statement.“But strongly encouraging innovation to

increase access to generic forms of abuse-deterrent opioid medications is an impor-tant element in that strategy.” — AP

NEW YORK: Music can powerfully influ-ence mood, and for older people, the neg-ative depictions of aging in most popularmusic can be a downer, researchers say.They analyzed images of aging conveyedin 76 songs whose lyrics invoke the topic.Most images were negative, they found.“We’re aware that the number of peopleover age 60 will probably double by 2050,and we’re very keen that that aging experi-ence is a positive one,” said lead authorJacinta Kelly of Anglia Ruskin University inCambridge, UK. In music, aging is oftenassociated with dependency and frailtyand physical decline rather than withattractiveness, Kelly told Reuters Health byphone.

“What we’re trying to get across is thatthis kind of bitterness or hostility is pro-moted or conveyed and it’s not a trivialthing to explore,” she said. “You can absorbnegativity and it can have consequencesfor your health.” Harboring hostile attitudestoward aging can have negative effects oncardiac health, while a positive outlook canactually improve longevity by five to sevenyears, she said. The researchers searchedlyrics databases for English languagesongs relating to age or aging, settling on76 relevant songs, mostly from the US andUK, with an average of nine songs record-ed each decade between the 1930s andtoday. The number of relevant songsincreased sharply in the 2000s.

They found three major categories ofdepictions of aging: “contented and cele-brated,” “pitiful and petulant” or “frail and

flagging.” Only 21 songs, including DustySpringfield’s “Goin’ Back” and Bob Dylan’s“Forever Young” took a positive view ofaging, while 55 took a negative view,according to the results in the Journal ofAdvanced Nursing. The rest characterizedolder people as self-pitying and lacking inself-esteem, as in Kris Kristofferson’s“Feeling Mortal” and Leonard Cohen’s“Because Of” or with fear and loneliness, asin Celine Dion’s “All By Myself.”

The study “demonstrates one aspect ofageism in society and in popular culture,”said Gerard M Fealy of the UniversityCollege Dublin College of Health Sciences,who was not part of the new study. “Wetend to identify older people with negativeterms,” Fealy told Reuters Health by phone.“And with chronological age as opposed towho they are as people.”

Our society “valorizes youth” and mar-ginalizes the aged, which can evenshape public and social policy, he said,citing, for example, recent suggestionsby economists in Ireland that older peo-ple whose children have left home couldbe incentivized to sell their homes tohelp ease the housing crisis, makingmore space available for younger peo-ple. “I would never wish to censor musiclyrics, not in any way,” Fealy said. “But wecan create a counter discourse to redresssome of the ageism.” “Most older peoplehad a past that was interesting, exciting,and valuable,” and most young people, ifthey’re lucky, will one day be old, Fealysaid. — Reuters

Popular music often takes

negative view of aging

WASHINGTON: Dr Robert Califf,President Barack Obama’s nominee tolead the Food and Drug Administration,testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington,before the Senate Health, Education,Labor and Pensions Committee hearingon his nomination.

BUENOS AIRES: Chile has confirmed itsfirst case of the Zika virus having been sex-ually transmitted, the health ministry saidin a statement on its website on Saturday.The virus is linked to thousands of suspect-ed cases of birth defects in Brazil. The newcase in Chile is that of a 46-year-old womanwhose partner was infected while in Haiti.Chile, where the mosquitoes that transmitthe virus are not found, has confirmed 10cases of Zika involving people infectedoutside the country.

There is growing evidence that suggestsa link between Zika and microcephaly inbabies. The condition is defined by unusu-ally small heads that can result in develop-mental problems. Brazil said it has con-firmed more than 900 cases of micro-cephaly and considers most of them to berelated to Zika infections in the mothers.US health officials recommend that womenwait at least two months, and men at leastsix, before attempting to conceive afterinfection with Zika. — Reuters

Chile reports its first

sexually transmitted Zika case

KFAR PINES, Israel: With its moat, wall, barbedwire, armed guards and security cameras, thefacility could be mistaken for a military base if itweren’t for the pungent odor of marijuana in theair. Here, on the outskirts of a quiet village innorthern Israel, 50,000 plants of 230 varietiesgrow at the country’s second-largest medicalcannabis plantation. “For cannabis, we are in thepromised land with a good climate, 300 days ofsunshine each year and perfect levels of humidi-ty,” said Tamir Gedo, head of BOL Pharma, a com-pany authorized by the Israeli health ministry togrow and distribute medical cannabis.

The recreational use of cannabis is illegal inthe Jewish state, but for the past 10 years its ther-apeutic use has not only been permitted but alsoencouraged. Last year, doctors prescribed theherb to about 25,000 patients suffering from can-cer, epilepsy, post-traumatic stress and degenera-tive diseases. The purpose is not to cure them butto alleviate their symptoms. The use of cannabisin medicine divides doctors around issues ofaddiction and behavioral problems such asaggression. Nevertheless, it has long been knownto revive lost appetite and to help in treatingsleep disorders, anxiety and inflammation, itssupporters say.

They say much research remains to be donebut it is advancing faster in Israel, where authori-ties allow human clinical trials, than in many oth-er countries.

Entrepreneurs, investors and researchers areincreasingly entering the business and searchingfor the holy grail of medicinal marijuana: a puri-fied form of the drug with minimal side-effectsand which can be administered in accurate doses.Inside the fortified premises of BOL (Breath OfLife) Pharma are laboratories and greenhouses,with each plant monitored by software thatremotely controls its biochemical parameters.

Growing cannabis for medical use demandscareful supervision of active ingredients such astetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which gives recre-ational users their high but is not recommendedfor all patients, particularly children. “With thesupport of the (health) ministry, which has alwayshad a pioneering attitude to this issue, we havebuilt up expertise in clinical trials and we can

share it with companies in the United States andEurope,” said Gedo. He cites initial results of trialson patients with Crohn’s disease, which is charac-terized by chronic inflammation of the intestine,diarrhea and recurrent abdominal pain.

A world hash hub? Forbidden to export its cannabis plants, Israel

is concentrating instead on marketing its agro-nomic, medical and technological expertise inthe hope of becoming a world hub in the field.The prestigious Hebrew University of Jerusalemhas just opened a cannabis research center join-ing 19 other teams from local academic institu-tions. About 200 industry players gathered in TelAviv this month for Canna Tech, an internationalconference on the industry.

Suited salespeople, some a little red-eyeddespite a ban on consumption laid down by theorganizers, exhibited products including elec-

tronic cannabis cigarettes, cannabis-basedcreams and ointments and a remedy for drymouth. Some startups are focused on the plant’sby-products, others on user accessories, but afew have bigger ideas. “Look at what has hap-pened in the past two years, the speed at whichlegalization of cannabis is advancing,” said SaulKaye, head of the first Israeli incubator forcannabis industry startups.

“We’re not going to miss this opportunity,and seeing what the first investors are puttingon the table, we feel that it is going to be verybig.” In January, US tobacco giant Philip Morrisploughed $20 million into Israeli company Syke,which produces precision inhalers for medicalcannabis. At the same time, Israeli firm Eybnaannounced it had isolated therapeutic organiccompounds from the plant without the psy-choactive ingredients which make unprescribeduse illegal. — AFP

Israel sees heady future

for medical marijuana‘For cannabis, we have a good climate and perfect levels of humidity’

KFAR PINES: A woman works on the BOL (Breath Of Life) Pharma greenhouse.

KFAR PINES: A woman prepares marijuana plants for smoking at theBOL (Breath Of Life) Pharma laboratories.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland: File photo shows the Food & Drug Administrationcampus in Silver Spring, Md. — AP photos

FDA outlines standards for anti-abuse generic painkillers

LONDON: Choosing an active way to getto work could make a big difference in howmuch weight creeps on in middle age, alarge UK study suggests. Studying tens ofthousands of commuters over age 40,researchers found that people who droveto work weighed more and had a higherpercentage of body fat than those who gotto work by walking, biking or public trans-portation. Those who commuted by bicy-cle were the leanest of all, but even takingthe train was linked to lower body weightand body fat, the authors report in TheLancet Diabetes and Endocrinology.

“We know that exercise protects againstobesity and chronic diseases. However, weall struggle to fit enough of it into our busylives,” said lead author Ellen Flint of theLondon School of Hygiene and TropicalMedicine. “This study shows that peoplewho manage to build physical activity intotheir daily commute have significantly low-er body weight and healthier body compo-sition than those who commute by car,”Flint told Reuters Health by email.

In the US, about one third of adults areobese and no more than about 18 percentcommute to work by walking or biking,according to the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention. To examine linksbetween commuting mode and bodyweight, the study team used data from theUK Biobank on 157,000 middle-agedBritish adults, collected between 2006 and2010. Body fat was assessed in two ways:body mass index (BMI), which is a ratio ofweight to height, and body fat percentage.

Car travel was the most commonmethod of commuting, with 64 percent ofmen and 61 percent of women reportingthey drove for all or part of their commutes.Four percent of men and 7 percent ofwomen exclusively walked to work, while 4percent of men and 2 percent of womencycled or mixed cycling with walking.

Overall, 23 percent of men and 24 percentof women used an active commutingmethod either exclusively or as part of amix of transport methods. Men and womenwho commuted to work by any means oth-er than driving had lower body fat percent-age and BMI compared to adults who com-muted by car, researchers found.

Cyclists and driversEven after accounting for a wide range

of characteristics and lifestyle informationabout the participants, active commutingmethods were linked to lower body weightand body fat. The biggest difference wasseen between cyclists and drivers. Menwho biked to work averaged nearly twoBMI points less and were about 11 poundslighter than those who drove. Women whobiked were about 1.65 BMI points less and9.7 pounds lighter than those who com-muted by car. Factors outside of individu-als’ control can influence their commutingchoices, noted Dr Lars Bo Andersen ofSogn and Fjordane University College inNorway, who wrote a commentary on thestudy. But, he said, people need to knowthat everyday health choices make a differ-ence in the long run.

“The average person gains 1-2 poundseach year after the age of 30 years,”Andersen said by email. “This trend will beprevented by simple things such as choos-ing the active travel, small changes innutrition, etc.” In his commentary,Andersen emphasized that communitiesneed to help people make healthier choic-es. “The community can provide the envi-ronment and especially the infrastructurewhich makes it possible to cycle and walk,”Andersen told Reuters Health. “Switchingfrom car commuting to a less sedentaryroutine allows us to build more habitualphysical activity into the daily routine,” saidFlint. — Reuters

Driving to work linked

to a fatter middle age

KFAR PINES: A woman works at the BOL (Breath Of Life) Pharmagreenhouse.

FRANCE: Nikita, a 9-year-old Lion and his 3 white lions cub look at wrapped pack-ages on Easter at the zoo in La Fleche, northwestern France yesterday. — AFP

H E A LT H & S C I E N C EMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

FLAGSTAFF, Arizona: A steel arch bridge amid a land-scape known for its red rock formations has become thefocus of a mental health and suicide prevention cam-paign after an increase in jumpers. Four people diedafter jumping from the historic Midgely Bridge last year -twice as many as any other year in the past decade. Theparking lot next to the bridge now has a sign showing ahotline number for those contemplating suicide. Thesign went up in September, and more are on the way.

City officials are urging the Arizona Department ofTransportation to look into other options so that the sitedoesn’t gain the same notoriety of the Golden GateBridge in San Francisco or the Rio Grande Gorge Bridgein northern New Mexico. “What we’re trying to do isthrow a lifeline,” Coconino County sheriff’s Chief DeputyJim Driscoll said. “If someone is there thinking about it,maybe they’ll just stop and call the number. Maybe theyjust need someone to listen to them.”

The bridge is listed on the National Register ofHistoric Places and is incorporated into Sedona’s logo. Itspans a chasm off Oak Creek Canyon with a rock forma-tion that resembles a steamboat in the background.Local officials have been talking about ways to stem the

number of people who kill themselves at the bridge. TheMental Health Coalition Verde Valley formed a suicideprevention task force for increased awareness of mentalhealth issues and training on crisis situations. The mayorand the fire district in Sedona reached out to the state,which owns the bridge, and suggested fencing along itor netting between it and the rocky ground below.

“There has to be some recognition at the state levelthat there is an absolute opportunity to mitigate theimpact, whether it be as far reaching as expandingspending on mental health research or some sort ofbarrier device,” Sedona Fire Division Chief Ed Mezulissaid. Transportation spokesman Dustin Krugel said thedepartment is committed to promoting safety butwould have to consider the historical and structurallimitations of the bridge in deciding what steps to take.Barbara Litrell, facilitator at the Mental Health Coalition,said the group is working with the community to talkto school children, residents and organizations aboutthe effects of mental illness and warnings signs for sui-cide. “So much of the work has to happen before theyget to the bridge,” she said. “The bridge is almost like it’stoo late.” — AP

NEW YORK: Although extremely preterm birthis no longer the death sentence it once was,many of the tiniest preemies still struggle inschool and have a harder time as adults, twonew studies suggest. One study focused on themost vulnerable subset of preemies: those bornat no more than 28 weeks gestation. More thanhalf of these infants went on to have moderateto severe cognitive deficits and had academictest scores well below average. The secondstudy looked at babies born before 32 weeksgestation. By the time they reached adoles-cence and adulthood, these individuals weremore likely than their peers born full term tothink that health problems lowered their quali-ty of life.

“In terms of extremely preterm infants, thereare multiple reasons why we are seeing deficitsand poor performance later,” said Dr MargaretKern, a researcher at the University ofMelbourne who wasn’t involved in the studies.“Biologically, there is a lot of key developmentthat occurs across the cycle, and when that iscut off very early it raises risk - like an uncookedcake, there isn’t enough time for things to cometogether fully,” Kern said by email. Some of thesame things that may have contributed to theirearly arrival may also make it harder for pre-emies to get help in overcoming developmen-tal deficits, Kern added.

“There are a whole host of related issuesinvolved, including less knowledge and educa-tion by the mother and father, if involved in thelife at all, which often is not the case, and poor

nutrition and other health behaviors,” Kern said.Soon after birth, premature infants often havedifficulty breathing and digesting food. Somepreemies also encounter longer-term chal-lenges such as impaired vision, hearing, andcognitive skills as well as social and behavioralproblems.

Prolong pregnancyThe life-saving medical care these infants

receive in neonatal intensive care units can con-tribute to developmental deficits, said JillZwicker, a pediatrics researcher at the Universityof British Columbia who wasn’t involved in thestudies. “At this time of rapid brain develop-ment, these infants are exposed to proceduresfor their medical care, such as heel pokes todraw blood, tube insertions to help thembreathe, medications etc.,” Zwicker said byemail. “Exposure to these invasive procedures isassociated with slower brain development andpoorer cognitive outcomes.”

Some drugs and procedures can prolongpregnancy to avoid early arrivals or at least helppreterm infants arrive closer to full term, RobertJoseph, lead author of the study on academicoutcomes, said by email. It’s possible that inflam-mation may increase the risk of developmentalproblems, and scientists are working to under-stand how these things are connected and devel-op treatments to address the affects of inflamma-tion after birth, Joseph added. The studies pub-lished in Pediatrics were not designed to provecause and effect, however. — Reuters

Tiniest preemies strugglewith school and adult life

ARIZONA: This undated photo shows Midgley Bridge in Sedona. — AP

Arizona bridge becomes focus of suicide prevention campaign

CONNERSVILLE, Indiana: One of Indiana’s fourlegal needle exchange programs operates out ofa cramped 10 foot-by-10 foot office in the base-ment of the local courthouse in Fayette County,which is struggling with a hepatitis C outbreakamid the state’s growing opioid-abuse crisis.Though just seven intravenous drug users addict-ed to heroin are enrolled in the program, PaulaMaupin, Fayette County’s public health nurse,expects that to grow to 75 to 100 participants inthe next year or so. The problem is, lawmakersbanned state funding for the exchanges whenthey legalized them last year, even as Indiana’sworst-ever HIV outbreak struck in another county.

The four counties - Fayette, Madison, Monroeand Scott - that won state approval for theirexchanges after that law took effect last May arecash-strapped and in largely rural areas. They hadto scramble to find money from nonprofits, foun-dations, donations or county coffers to run theprograms, which provide intravenous drug userswith clean syringes and collect used ones toreduce needle-sharing and prevent the spread ofHIV, hepatitis C and other diseases. But local offi-cials are hoping federal funding can give them aboost.

Fayette County turned to the Comer FamilyFoundation and the Washington-based advocacygroup AIDS United, which provided $23,000.Although its exchange won state approval inAugust, it didn’t open in Connersville, about 50miles east of Indianapolis, until November. “What

we’ve got, it’s fine for now,” Maupin said Thursdayas she stood next to baskets of clean syringes,packaged cotton balls and other supplies. “Butwhen we have the amount of people I’m expect-ing, we’re going to burn through that moneypretty quick.”

Syringe exchangesState Rep Ed Clere, a New Albany Republican,

acknowledged that the state funding ban is “areal barrier” that counties must overcome, butthat it’s necessary to win the votes of lawmakers.“Without the change in law, syringe exchangeswouldn’t have been possible, period,” he said ofthe legislation he authored, which requires thestate health commissioner to review and eitherapprove or reject the creation of exchanges forcounties that seek them.

Clere said he’s hopeful that Congress’ move inDecember to soften a longtime ban on federalfunding for needle exchanges, made in responseto the nation’s opioid abuse crisis, will open aflow of federal dollars to help the countyexchanges pay employees’ salaries, rent officespace and support other aspects. That money,however, can’t be used to buy clean needles. TheCenters for Disease Control and Prevention is stilldrafting rules for applications for federal funding.“The devil will be in the details” of the CDC’sprocess to identify priority areas for funding, saidBeth Meyerson, co-director of the Rural Centerfor AIDS/STD Prevention at Indiana University.

“Obviously they’re not going to have fundingfor every county that wants to initiate a syringeexchange locally. And many of these counties arevery poor,” she said. Fayette County is amongthem, having seen several factories close inrecent years. And Meyerson said she expectsmore than 20 other Indiana counties to seekapproval for a needle exchange.

Scott County, about 30 miles north ofLouisville, Kentucky, was at the heart of the HIVoutbreak that spurred the change in Indiana’slaw. It’s operated its exchange since April 2015 -initially under an executive order signed by GovMike Pence and later under the new law. Twohundred people are actively participating in thecounty’s exchange, public health nurse BrittanyCombs said, and nearly 400 have signed up totake part.

Combs said the HIV outbreak - the worst inIndiana history with nearly 190 people infectedand driven largely by people abusing a liquefiedform of the prescription painkiller Opana - has“definitely been stopped” by the needleexchange and robust local education efforts tar-geting IV drug users. It has remained afloat withgrants and donations from several groups,including $10,000 from the Indiana Family HealthCouncil, but will need much more in the yearsahead. She hopes federal dollars can arrivesometime this year to boost the county’s efforts.“That would really be great. We’re kind of in awaiting game right now,” Combs said. — AP

Indiana counties must fund needle exchanges sans state help

CONNERSVILLE, Indiana: Paula Maupin, the public health nurse foreastern Indiana’s Fayette County, holds one of the syringes providedto intravenous drug users taking part in the county’s state-approvedneedle exchange program. —AP photos

CONNERSVILLE, Indiana: Paula Maupin discusses the county’s state-approved needle exchange program, in the county courthouse.

W H AT ’ S ONMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

Appeal forInformation about Kuwaiti Resistance

FightersTo whom it may concern

This is an appeal on behalf of MarshalByiers, a Scottish gentleman who lived inKuwait during the 1980s. While here, helived with his family in Fahaheel city, morespecifically, in a building owned by KhalifAl-Fulaij.

Marshall worked for a company calledEW Sable, and was trapped in Kuwait dur-ing the Iraqi invasion. He was heldhostage by the Iraqi forces for a brief peri-od of time. He was eventually put in con-tact with members of the KuwaitResistance by Larry Banks at the BritishEmbassy. While Mr Byiers never met theresistance fighters in person, they spokeover the phone and they provided himwith food, cigarettes, and a small radio atgreat personal risk to them self. The menwho knew him would likely be in their 50snow. His personal friend was a Kuwaitigentleman names Sami Al Dabbous, whowe’re having trouble locating.

After the war, Marshall returned toScotland. We are a group of filmmakerswho are currently working on a documen-tary that narrates Marshall’s story, and, after26 years, we are flying him back to Kuwaitfor the first time, for what will probably bequite an emotional closure to his journey.

Marshall would really like to meet theperson that helped him during the Iraqioccupation. Marshall is due to arrive toKuwait on April 4-9. The documentary tellshis story and we would like the opportuni-ty to tell the story from the side of the manwho helped him. If you or anybody else hasany personal history with this story or any-body involved in it, please contact us at thefollowing email Hamadaam@vcu.edu orphone number (965) 6668-0061.

As the T20 world cup heats up in the sub-continent, Kuwait is witness to anothercricket fever - the Al Mulla Exchange

Champions Trophy 2016. The tournament sawthe semi-finals clashes on March 18 at theSulabiya Cricket Ground.

Friends Eleven Kuwait took on TCR to scripta decisive win. After electing to bat, the TCRput on a competitive score of 93 from 15overs. Friends Eleven replied in style spear-headed by an unbeaten 42 off 17 balls byman-of-the-match Umar. His blazing perform-

ance saw his team cruise to victory with 6wickets to spare.

In the second match, tournament favorites,Team Abbasiya upended AMX Eleven. It was adominating performance in all departments.In the first innings, Abbasiya bowlers made

short work of AMX restricting them to 84 for 9in 15 overs. Their reply was a stunning displayof batting prowess by Abassiya captain,Sakeer. They scampered home with 8 wicketsin hand.

Following the wins, Team Abassiya will be

meeting Friends Eleven Kuwait in the muchawaited finals. The tournament champions willreceive a cash prize of KD 750. The runners upwill get KD 500 and the second runners up KD200. This is the biggest prize money given forany cricket tournament.

Friends Eleven Kuwait to face Team Abbasiya in ‘Al Mulla Exchange Champions Trophy’ finals

Gulf University for Science and Technology’s (GUST)Global Studies Center (GSC) organized a lecture oncampus last week, entitled “Declining Oil Prices and

Regional Implications”. The lecture, which was delivered byDr Bassam Fattouh, Professor at the School of Oriental andAfrican Studies (SOAS) in London, UK, provided insights toGUST students, staff, faculty, and the public about this per-tinent issue.

Director of the Global Studies Center, Dr MartinRosenstock, said, “The GSC organizes talks by local and

international experts on crucial and timely issues, andthere are few matters of more importance for Kuwait todaythan the developments in the international oil market”.

Dr Bassam Fattouh examined the latest developmentsin the oil market and their implications by placing themwithin a broader historical context. He then discussed therole of OPEC and its current position of uncertainty, as wellas the potential resilience of GCC economies to weatherthe low-price environment in both the short and long-term. Time was allotted at the end of the lecture for a Q&A

session to open a dialogue and share information.Dr Fattouh is one of the leading experts on the interna-

tional oil market, and the social and political implicationsof fluctuations in the price of oil. He has published widelyon oil, energy, and security in the Middle East including avariety of articles on the international oil pricing system,OPEC pricing power, security of Middle Eastern oil sup-plies, and the dynamics of oil prices and differentialswhich have appeared in notable publications such asEnergy Economics, The Energy Journal, Journal of

Development Economics, Oxford Review of EconomicPolicy, among others.

The GSC regularly holds sessions with renowned speak-ers on a variety of different, culturally relevant topics,including recent talks by Dr Daniel Brumberg of SciencesPo on “US-Arab Relations in a Time of Crisis”, and anotherby Professor Toby Dodge, Director of the Kuwait Programat the London School of Economics on the “Rise of theIslamic State, the Future of Iraq, and Risks to the GulfStates”.

GUST hosts expert to discuss declining oil prices and its regional implications

The Tajikistan dance group (Lola) enthralled the audience with their superb performance at a packed hall of Salmiya theatre over the weekend. The two hour perform-ance was held under the patronage of Minister of Information Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Homoud with the cooperation of national council of culture arts & let-ters. The performance coincided with Tajikistan new year called (Nowruz Festival ) which means beginning of Persian new year. The 56 member team of the group hasperformed in twenty countries. —Photos by Joseph Shagra

W H AT ’ S ONMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

As part of its ongoing commitment to thecommunity, The Sultan Center organized avisit to NBK Children’s Hospital to celebrate

the International Happiness Day with children inhopes of spreading happiness, uplifting their spir-its and putting smiles on their faces.

The visit, held on Mar 21st 2016, provided amemorable day for the children and the TSC team.A rich entertainment program was organized withvarious activities including games, contests, mag-ic show, balloon twisting, along with the children’sfavorite cartoon characters and an exciting clown

show. The TSC team spent quality time with chil-dren including those who could not be part of theactivities due to ongoing treatment.

The occasion was a true celebration for bothchildren and parents who spent a memorable andfun-filled day. Commenting on TSC’s initiative, LisaAl Gharib, Marketing Manager at TSC expressed,“We wanted to bring the joys to the children, andwe hope that with this visit we brightened theirday with a gift of hope. They are an incrediblegroup of children whose courage and determina-tion inspire us all, she added. With its overall con-

tributions and efforts to the society, The SultanCenter has a long standing commitment to sup-porting the community in which it operates.

In accordance to its social corporate responsi-bility and on the occasion of the International Dayof Happiness, The Sultan Center organized a seriesof events across its stores to share this day ofHappiness with all its customers and staff and bepart of the worldwide day of happiness.

TSC stores organized a variety of activitiesincluding, face painting, smiley characters, a selfiebooth, balloons, and a ‘Smiley Wall” where cus-

tomers had the opportunity to express them-selves in terms of what makes them Happy, whilethe stores were themed for the occasion. TSCHead Office Staff also seized the opportunity tospend the day in the store helping and connect-ing with customers and staff, while joining in thefestivities.

Lisa Al Gharib, Marketing Manager at TSC com-mented: “TSC organized this event to take part inthe International Happiness Day while celebratingwith customers and staff, it is a day to celebratethe happiness that exists within each of us and

share it with those around us. Commenting onthis initiative Hani Ismael Director of HR com-mented that this activity had a positive impactacross the organization, staff was enthusiastic toparticipate fostering a true sense of team spirit”.

TSC initiative stems from its commitment toshare this day with the community while seizingthe opportunity to inspire and uplift people andmake them smile. TSC has been at the forefrontin its social commitment by designing eventsand activities for the communication which isoperates.

TSC celebrates International Happiness Day at NBK Children’s HospitalTSC promotes happiness and celebrates with customers

By Meshaal Al-Enezi

Chairlady of Kuwait Society for the Ideal Family, Sheikha Fareeha Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah stressed that the ideal mother award had come a long way in promoting its vision on family awareness andexcluding all forms of violence and enhancing the concept of being a good citizen. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a special ceremony held to honor the ideal mothers for 2016 in the presence ofHH the PM’s spouse, Sheikh Sharifa Al-Jassim, Sheikha Fareeha said that the society showed a great deal of care for families by highlighting successful role models and encouraging related national initia-

tives made by NGOs with the ultimate goal of enhancing women’s status.

Kuwait Society for the Ideal Family holds award ceremony for mothers

Visa Waiver Program/ESTA and

travel to the US

The US Embassy wishes toremind all nationalities whoare able to travel to the

United States via the Visa WaiverProgram that as of 01 April, 2016they must have a valid electronicpassport. This rule applies even tothose who possess a validElectronic System for TravelAuthorization. The US Embassystrongly recommends that all trav-elers check to ensure their pass-ports are valid electronic passportsbefore they make arrangements totravel to the United States on theVisa Waiver program.

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T V PR O G R A M SMONDAY, MARCH 28 , 2016

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THE SIGNAL ON OSN MOVIES HD

THE EXPENDABLES 3 ON OSN MOVIES HD

00:15 The Best Man Holiday02:30 I Love You Beth Cooper04:15 The Love Punch06:00 Happy Gilmore08:00 The Bounty Hunter10:00 The Love Punch12:00 Charlie And The ChocolateFactory14:00 Orange County16:00 The Bounty Hunter18:00 John Tucker Must Die20:00 Cadillac Man22:00 The Worldʼs End

02:00 October Sky04:00 Bugsy06:15 When A Man Loves AWoman08:30 Powder10:30 We Are Family12:30 Ed Wood15:00 Grand Central17:00 Powder19:00 Julie And Julia21:00 How I Live Now23:00 Venus In Fur

01:00 The Lovers03:00 Divergent05:30 The Signal07:15 So Undercover09:00 Divergent11:15 A Madea Christmas13:00 The Hobbit: The Battle OfThe Five Armies15:30 Some Girls17:00 The Expendables 319:15 Lucy21:00 Preservation23:00 Home Sweet Hell

01:15 Pim And Pom: The BigAdventure02:45 Egon And Donci04:15 Blue Elephant 206:00 Tom And Jerry: Santaʼs LittleHelpers07:00 Jungle Book: MowgliʼsAdventure09:00 The Heart Of The Oak10:45 Marco Macaco12:30 Egon And Donci14:15 Cher Ami16:00 Dixie And The ZombieRebellion18:00 The Heart Of The Oak20:00 Scooby-Doo! Moon MonsterMadness22:00 Cher Ami23:30 Dixie And The ZombieRebellion

00:30 State Of Grace02:45 Desperately Seeking Susan04:30 Jakob The Liar06:25 Nobodyʼs Fool08:10 If Itʼs Tuesday, This Must BeBelgium09:50 One Summer Love11:30 The Secret Of Santa Vittoria13:45 Big Screen14:00 Hackers15:45 One More Time17:20 It Runs In The Family18:45 Seven Years In Tibet21:00 Night Manager22:00 Mortal Thoughts23:45 Raging Bull

00:45 Gator Boys01:40 Hunt For The TasmanianTiger02:35 Wildest India03:25 Bahama Blue04:15 Wildest Arctic05:02 Sharks Under Glass05:49 Biggest And Baddest06:36 Meet The Sloths07:25 Americaʼs Cutest Pets08:15 Big Fish Man09:10 Treehouse Masters10:05 Tanked11:00 Americaʼs Cutest Pets11:55 Dr. Dee: Alaska Vet12:50 Big Fish Man13:45 Gator Boys14:40 Treehouse Masters15:35 Tanked16:30 Echo And The Elephants OfAmboseli17:25 River Monsters (Best OfSeries 1-5)18:20 From WAGs To Riches19:15 Tanked20:10 Echo And The Elephants OfAmboseli21:05 Treehouse Masters22:00 From WAGs To Riches22:55 Gator Boys

01:00 U.F.O.03:00 Battleship05:30 Oblivion07:45 The Hulk10:15 The Outsider12:00 Forget And Forgive13:30 Oblivion15:45 12 Rounds17:45 The Hulk20:15 Guardians Of The Galaxy22:30 Sin City: A Dame To Kill For

00:15 Eastenders00:50 Silent Witness01:40 Silent Witness02:35 Silent Witness03:25 Doctors03:55 Eastenders04:25 Stella05:10 Father Brown06:00 Doctors06:30 Doctors07:00 Eastenders07:30 Stella08:20 Call The Midwife09:15 Doctor Who10:05 Doctors10:35 Eastenders11:05 Father Brown11:55 Stella12:45 Call The Midwife13:40 Doctor Who14:30 Doctors15:05 Eastenders15:35 Stella16:20 Call The Midwife17:20 Doctor Who18:10 Casualty19:10 Father Brown20:05 Prey21:00 Happy Valley22:50 Father Brown23:40 Casualty

00:00 High Flyers00:30 Bloomberg Businessweek01:00 First Up With Angie Lau02:00 First Up With Angie Lau03:00 Trending Business04:00 Trending Business05:00 Asia Edge06:00 Bloomberg Best07:00 Charlie Rose08:00 Countdown09:00 Countdown

00:00 News Update00:30 Dialogue01:00 News Update01:15 China 2402:00 Americas Now03:00 News Update03:30 China InSight04:00 News Update04:30 Assignment Asia05:00 News Update06:30 Dialogue07:00 News Hour08:00 Americas Now09:00 News Update10:30 Sports Scene11:00 Global Business12:00 News Update12:30 Culture Express13:00 Africa Live14:00 News Update14:30 Dialogue15:00 News Update

00:00 The Rundown01:00 Asia Squawk Box04:00 Asia Street Signs06:00 CNBC Originals07:00 Capital Connection08:00 Squawk Box Europe11:00 Europe Street Signs12:00 Worldwide Exchange13:00 U.S. Squawk Box16:00 Squawk On The Street18:00 U.S. Squawk Alley19:00 Fast Money: Half TimeReport20:00 U.S. Power Lunch22:00 U.S. Closing Bell

00:00 The Haunting Of...01:00 The Haunting Of...02:00 Killers: Behind The Myth03:00 Britainʼs Darkest Taboos04:00 O.J. Speaks: The HiddenTapes06:00 The FBI Files07:00 The FBI Files08:00 Homicide Hunter09:00 Beyond Scared Straight10:00 Evil Up Close11:00 Crimes That Shook Britain12:00 Nightmare In Suburbia13:00 The First 4814:00 Homicide Hunter15:00 Motive For Murder16:00 The FBI Files17:00 Crimes That Shook Britain18:00 Nightmare In Suburbia19:00 The First 4820:00 Homicide Hunter21:00 Evil Up Close22:00 Britainʼs Darkest Taboos23:00 Gangsters: Americaʼs MostEvil

00:20 Fast Nʼ Loud01:10 Manhunt With Joel Lambert02:00 Manhunt With Joel Lambert02:50 Killing Fields03:40 Whatʼs In The Barn?04:05 The Liquidator04:30 Garage Gold05:00 How Do They Do It?05:30 Chasing Classic Cars06:00 Outback Truckers06:50 Wheeler Dealers07:40 Fast Nʼ Loud08:30 Whatʼs In The Barn?08:55 The Liquidator09:20 Garage Gold09:45 How Do They Do It?10:10 Chasing Classic Cars10:35 Misfit Garage11:25 Street Outlaws12:15 Extreme Car Hoarders13:05 Extreme Collectors13:30 The Liquidator13:55 Garage Gold14:20 Outback Truckers15:10 Wheeler Dealers16:00 Fast Nʼ Loud16:50 Chasing Classic Cars17:15 How Do They Do It?17:40 Gold Rush18:30 Diamond River Hunters19:20 Dynamo: Top Ten Moments

00:30 Missing In Maui: ADisappeared Special01:20 True Crime With AphroditeJones02:10 Swamp Murders03:00 Deadline: Crime WithTamron Hall03:45 Deadly Affairs04:30 Missing In Maui: ADisappeared Special05:20 The Will06:10 The Will07:00 Dr G: Medical Examiner07:50 On The Case With PaulaZahn08:40 Fatal Encounters09:30 Murder Shift10:20 Deadly Affairs11:10 True Crime With AphroditeJones12:00 The Will12:50 I Almost Got Away With It13:40 California Investigator14:05 Dr G: Medical Examiner14:55 Fatal Encounters15:45 On The Case With PaulaZahn16:35 Murder Shift17:25 I Almost Got Away With It18:15 The Will

00:20 Sci-Trek01:08 Invent It Rich01:55 Da Vinciʼs Machines02:42 Mighty Ships03:29 Mighty Ships04:16 Mega Builders05:03 Food Factory05:25 Food Factory05:50 Food Factory06:13 Food Factory06:37 How Do They Do It?07:00 How Do They Do It?07:23 Superhuman Showdown08:08 Sci-Trek08:53 Mighty Ships09:38 How Itʼs Made10:00 How Itʼs Made10:23 Da Vinciʼs Machines11:08 Stephen Hawkingʼs GrandDesign11:53 Mighty Ships12:38 Superhuman Showdown13:23 How Itʼs Made13:46 How Itʼs Made14:10 Sci-Trek14:57 Da Vinciʼs Machines15:44 Stephen Hawkingʼs GrandDesign16:31 Building The Biggest17:18 Sci-Trek18:05 Penn & Teller Tell A Lie18:50 You Have Been Warned19:40 Stephen Hawkingʼs GrandDesign20:25 How Itʼs Made20:50 How Itʼs Made21:15 Sci-Fi Science21:37 Sci-Fi Science22:00 You Have Been Warned22:45 Stephen Hawkingʼs GrandDesign23:35 Penn & Teller Tell A Lie

00:30 Aircrash Confidential03:35 Anthony Bourdain: NoReservations04:20 Anthony Bourdain: NoReservations05:50 Anthony Bourdain: NoReservations06:35 Chasing Classic Cars07:00 Anthony Bourdain: NoReservations07:50 Bush Pilots08:40 Extreme Engineering09:30 Gunslingers10:20 Origins10:45 Chasing Classic Cars11:10 Anthony Bourdain: NoReservations12:00 Bush Pilots12:50 Extreme Engineering13:40 Gunslingers14:30 Origins14:55 Chasing Classic Cars15:20 Anthony Bourdain: NoReservations16:10 Bush Pilots17:00 Extreme Engineering17:50 Gunslingers18:40 Origins19:05 Chasing Classic Cars19:30 Disaster On K220:20 Anthony Bourdain: NoReservations21:10 Extreme Engineering22:00 Disaster On K222:50 Gunslingers23:40 Modern Sniper

14:55 Dog With A Blog15:20 Dog With A Blog15:45 Miraculous Tales OfLadybug & Cat Noir16:10 Violetta17:00 The Next Step17:25 Austin & Ally17:50 Dog With A Blog18:15 Mako Mermaids18:40 Gravity Falls19:05 Miraculous Tales OfLadybug & Cat Noir19:30 Violetta20:20 The Next Step20:45 Good Luck Charlie21:10 Good Luck Charlie21:35 H2O22:00 Binny And The Ghost22:25 Sabrina Secrets Of ATeenage Witch22:50 Sabrina Secrets Of ATeenage Witch23:10 Hank Zipzer23:35 Binny And The Ghost

15:15 China 2416:00 News Update16:15 Global Business17:00 News Update17:15 World InSight18:00 Asia Today18:30 Culture Express19:00 News Update19:30 Spectrum Asia20:00 Africa Live21:00 Global Business21:30 Dialogue22:00 News Update22:15 China 2423:00 News Update23:15 World InSight

00:00 The Grace Helbig Show00:30 WAGs01:25 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills02:20 E! News03:15 Stewarts And Hamiltons04:10 The E! True Hollywood Story05:05 E! Entertainment Special06:00 Keeping Up With TheKardashians06:55 Keeping Up With TheKardashians07:50 Style Star08:20 E! News09:15 Giuliana & Bill10:15 Giuliana & Bill11:10 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills11:35 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills12:05 E! News13:05 Dash Dolls14:05 Hollywood Cycle15:00 Keeping Up With TheKardashians16:00 Keeping Up With TheKardashians17:00 Stewarts And Hamiltons18:00 E! News19:00 Keeping Up With TheKardashians20:00 Botched21:00 Christina Milian Turned Up22:00 WAGs23:00 Sex With Brody23:30 Fashion Bloggers

00:00 Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives00:30 Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives01:00 Rev Runʼs Sunday Suppers01:30 Rev Runʼs Sunday Suppers02:00 Tia Mowry At Home02:30 Tia Mowry At Home03:00 Cutthroat Kitchen04:00 Follow Donal... To Europe04:30 Follow Donal... To Europe05:00 Chopped06:00 Man Fire Food06:30 Man Fire Food07:00 Man Fire Food07:30 Man Fire Food08:00 Chopped09:00 Barefoot Contessa: Back ToBasics09:30 Barefoot Contessa: Back ToBasics10:00 The Kitchen11:00 Anna Olson: Bake11:30 Anna Olson: Bake12:00 Chopped13:00 The Pioneer Woman13:30 The Pioneer Woman14:00 Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives14:30 Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives15:00 Man Fire Food15:30 Man Fire Food16:00 Chopped17:00 The Kitchen18:00 Anna Olson: Bake18:30 Anna Olson: Bake19:00 Chopped20:00 Iron Chef America21:00 Amazing Wedding Cakes22:00 Mystery Diners22:30 Mystery Diners23:00 Save My Bakery

02:00 The Boat Race03:00 Super Rugby05:00 Trans World Sport06:00 Live NRL Premiership08:00 Live NRL Premiership10:00 Golfing World11:00 Live NRL Premiership13:00 Trans World Sport14:00 AFL Premiership16:30 HSBC World Rugby SevensHighlights17:00 Gillette World Sport17:30 World Rugby18:00 Golfing World19:00 World Golf ChampionshipsHighlights20:00 Trans World Sport21:00 Top 14 Highlights21:30 NRL Premiership23:30 World Golf ChampionshipsHighlights

00:00 Community00:30 Hot In Cleveland01:00 The Nightly Show With LarryWilmore01:30 Family Guy02:00 South Park02:30 South Park03:00 Mad Love03:30 The Goldbergs04:00 Two And A Half Men04:30 The Tonight Show StarringJimmy Fallon05:30 My Name Is Earl06:00 The Bernie Mac Show06:30 Community07:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers08:00 Two And A Half Men08:30 My Name Is Earl09:00 Mad Love09:30 Grandfathered10:00 Brooklyn Nine-Nine10:30 Community11:00 The Tonight Show StarringJimmy Fallon12:00 The Bernie Mac Show12:30 Two And A Half Men13:00 My Name Is Earl13:30 Community14:00 The Goldbergs14:30 Grandfathered15:00 Brooklyn Nine-Nine15:30 Hot In Cleveland16:00 The Nightly Show With LarryWilmore16:30 The Bernie Mac Show17:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers18:00 Mad Love18:30 The Goldbergs19:00 The Grinder19:30 Brooklyn Nine-Nine20:00 Comedians20:30 Community

00:00 Bates Motel01:00 Scandal02:00 House Of Cards03:00 The Last Kingdom04:00 Bones05:00 Good Morning America06:00 Suits07:00 2408:00 The Night Shift09:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show10:00 Bones11:00 2412:00 Coronation Street12:30 Coronation Street13:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show14:00 Live Good Morning America16:00 Suits17:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show18:00 The Night Shift19:00 Scandal20:00 Recovery Road21:00 Quantico22:00 Rosewood23:00 Allegiance

00:00 AFL Premiership02:30 Gillette World Sport03:00 Live NHL06:00 World Rugby06:30 Gillette World Sport07:00 Live AFL Premiership10:00 Gillette World Sport10:30 World Rugby11:00 NHL13:00 NRL Premiership15:00 Golfing World16:00 WWE Bottom Line17:00 WWE Superstars18:00 WWE Main Event19:00 WWE Experience20:00 WWE Afterburn21:00 This Week In WWE21:30 World Golf ChampionshipsHighlights22:30 PGA Tour Highlights

00:05 Art Attack00:30 Henry Hugglemonster00:45 Calimero01:00 Zou01:15 Loopdidoo01:30 Art Attack01:55 Henry Hugglemonster02:05 Calimero02:20 Zou02:30 Loopdidoo02:45 Art Attack03:10 Henry Hugglemonster03:20 Calimero03:35 Zou04:00 Art Attack04:25 Henry Hugglemonster04:35 Calimero04:50 Zou05:00 Loopdidoo05:15 Art Attack05:35 Henry Hugglemonster05:50 Calimero06:00 Zou06:20 Loopdidoo06:35 Art Attack07:00 Calimero07:10 Zou07:25 Loopdidoo07:40 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse08:05 Sofia The First08:30 Goldie & Bear08:45 Jake And The Never LandPirates09:10 The Lion Guard: Return OfThe Roar10:00 Sofia The First10:30 Goldie & Bear11:00 Miles From Tomorrow11:25 Bambi 213:00 Sofia The First13:25 Miles From Tomorrow13:50 Jake And The Never LandPirates14:15 Sheriff Callieʼs Wild West14:40 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse15:10 Miles From Tomorrow15:35 Jake And The Never LandPirates16:00 Sofia The First16:25 Jungle Cubs16:50 The Lion Guard: Return OfThe Roar17:40 Goldie & Bear18:05 Miles From Tomorrow18:30 Sofia The First18:55 Doc McStuffins19:10 Jake And The Never LandPirates19:35 Miles From Tomorrow20:00 Goldie & Bear20:30 Sofia The First21:00 Bambi 222:30 Loopdidoo22:50 Zou23:05 Henry Hugglemonster23:20 Calimero23:35 Zou23:50 Loopdidoo

09:30 On The Move10:00 On The Move11:00 The Pulse12:00 Bloomberg Surveillance13:00 Bloomberg Surveillance14:00 Bloomberg Go15:00 Bloomberg Go17:00 Bloomberg Markets18:00 Bloomberg Markets:European Close19:00 Bloomberg Markets20:00 Bloomberg Markets21:00 Bloomberg Markets22:00 Bloomberg Markets23:00 Whatʼd You Miss?

20:10 The Liquidator20:35 Garage Gold21:00 Gold Rush21:50 Diamond River Hunters22:40 Alaska: Battle On The Bay23:30 Wheeler Dealers

19:05 Deadly Affairs19:55 True Crime With AphroditeJones20:45 California Investigator21:10 Who On Earth Did I Marry?22:00 Swamp Murders22:50 True Nightmares23:40 Who On Earth Did I Marry?

00:20 Pawn Stars Australia00:45 Pawn Stars Australia01:10 American Restoration01:35 American Restoration02:00 Duck Dynasty02:25 Duck Dynasty02:50 American Pickers03:40 Shipping Wars04:05 Shipping Wars04:30 Pawn Stars05:00 Hunting Hitler06:00 American Restoration06:25 American Restoration06:50 Counting Cars07:40 Ax Men08:30 Storage Wars08:55 Swamp People09:45 Down East Dickering10:35 American Pickers11:25 Hunting Hitler12:15 Pawn Stars12:40 Pawn Stars13:05 Shipping Wars13:30 Shipping Wars13:55 Pawn Stars14:20 Pawn Stars14:45 Pawn Stars Australia15:10 Pawn Stars Australia15:35 Storage Wars16:00 American Pickers16:50 American Restoration17:15 American Restoration17:40 Counting Cars18:30 Hunting Hitler19:20 Duck Dynasty19:45 Duck Dynasty20:10 Pawn Stars20:35 Pawn Stars21:00 Storage Wars21:25 Storage Wars21:50 Aussie Pickers22:40 The Curse Of Oak Island23:30 Storage Wars23:55 Storage Wars

00:10 Lee Chanʼs World Food Tour00:35 Lee Chanʼs World Food Tour01:00 East Bites West01:25 My Sri Lanka With PeterKuruvita01:50 Maximum Foodie02:15 Eat Street02:40 Eat Street03:05 Meat v Veg03:30 No Ordinary Women04:20 Top Tables, Top Cities04:45 Top Tables, Top Cities05:10 Fearless Chef06:00 American Food Battle06:25 Rustic Adventure Argentina06:50 East Bites West07:15 My Sri Lanka With PeterKuruvita07:40 Maximum Foodie08:05 Eat Street08:30 Eat Street08:55 Meat v Veg09:20 No Ordinary Women10:10 Valentine Warner EatsScandinavia10:35 Poh & Co.11:00 Baking Good, Baking Bad11:25 Baking Good, Baking Bad11:50 American Food Battle12:15 Rustic Adventure Argentina12:40 East Bites West13:05 My Sri Lanka With PeterKuruvita13:35 Maximum Foodie14:00 Eat Street14:30 Eat Street14:55 Meat v Veg15:25 No Ordinary Women16:20 Top Tables, Top Cities16:45 Top Tables, Top Cities17:15 Fearless Chef18:10 American Food Battle18:35 Rustic Adventure Argentina19:05 Meat v Veg19:30 No Ordinary Women20:25 Top Tables, Top Cities20:50 Top Tables, Top Cities21:15 Fearless Chef22:05 American Food Battle22:30 Rustic Adventure Argentina22:55 East Bites West23:20 My Sri Lanka With PeterKuruvita23:45 Maximum Foodie

21:00 Hot In Cleveland21:30 The Nightly Show With LarryWilmore22:00 Married22:30 South Park23:00 South Park23:30 Comedians

00:10 The Chase01:05 Emmerdale01:30 Emmerdale02:00 Coronation Street02:30 Big Starʼs Little Star03:25 Tracey Ullmanʼs Show03:55 Raised By Wolves04:20 The Jonathan Ross Show05:15 Whoʼs Doing The Dishes?06:10 Whoʼs Doing The Dishes?07:00 Tracey Ullmanʼs Show07:30 Grantchester

08:25 The Jonathan Ross Show09:20 Big Starʼs Little Star10:15 The Chase: CelebritySpecials11:10 Ant & Decʼs Saturday NightTakeaway12:30 Whoʼs Doing The Dishes?13:25 Emmerdale13:50 Eggheads14:20 Coronation Street14:45 Big Starʼs Little Star15:35 Come Dine With MeCouples16:30 Tracey Ullmanʼs Show17:00 Raised By Wolves17:25 The Doctor Blake Mysteries18:20 Emmerdale18:45 Coach Trip19:10 Coronation Street19:35 Come Dine With MeCouples20:30 Tracey Ullmanʼs Show21:00 Raised By Wolves21:25 The Doctor Blake Mysteries22:20 Coronation Street22:50 Emmerdale23:15 Whoʼs Doing The Dishes?

06:00 Boyster06:10 Super Matrak06:35 Super Matrak07:00 Star vs The Forces Of Evil07:25 K.C. Undercover07:50 Supa Strikas08:15 Annedroids08:40 Lab Rats09:10 Kirby Buckets09:35 Guardians Of The Galaxy10:00 Lab Rats: Bionic Island

10:25 Lab Rats: Bionic Island10:50 K.C. Undercover11:20 K.C. Undercover11:45 Supa Strikas12:10 Supa Strikas12:35 Gamers Guide To PrettyMuch Everything13:00 Disneyʼs Descendants15:00 Cars Toons15:10 Guardians Of The Galaxy15:15 Rocket Monkeys15:40 Guardians Of The Galaxy16:05 Star vs The Forces Of Evil16:30 Kirby Buckets16:55 Gamers Guide To PrettyMuch Everything17:25 K.C. Undercover17:50 Supa Strikas18:15 Lab Rats18:40 Mighty Med19:10 Annedroids19:35 Phineas And Ferb20:00 Kirby Buckets20:25 Disneyʼs Descendants22:25 Phineas And Ferb22:40 Disney Mickey Mouse23:00 Programmes Start At6:00am KSA

ClassifiedsMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

Kuwait

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

DIAL161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Arrival Flights on Monday 28/3/2016Airlines Flt Route TimeTHY 772 Istanbul 00:10MSC 415 Sohag 00:10JZR 267 Beirut 00:20FDB 069 Dubai 00:55KKK 6506 Istanbul 00:55DLH 635 Doha 01:00MSC 501 Alexandria 01:05QTR 1086 Doha 01:15JZR 539 Cairo 01:20PGT 858 Istanbul 01:40RJA 642 Amman 01:45ETH 620 Addis Ababa 01:45GFA 211 Bahrain 02:15ETD 919 Abu Dhabi 02:20CEB 018 Manila 02:20UAE 853 Dubai 02:25OMA 643 Muscat 03:05FDB 067 Dubai 03:15MSR 612 Cairo 03:15ETD 305 Abu Dhabi 03:15QTR 1076 Doha 03:25PGT 860 Istanbul 03:30KAC 544 Cairo 03:40DHX 170 Bahrain 05:10THY 770 Istanbul 05:15JZR 529 Asyut 06:00PAL 668 Manila/Dubai 06:25BAW 157 London 06:40FDB 5061 Dubai 07:15KAC 412 Manila/Bangkok 07:20KAC 382 Delhi 07:30KAC 206 Islamabad 07:45FDB 053 Dubai 07:50KAC 302 Mumbai 07:50KAC 354 BLR 08:00KAC 154 Istanbul 08:00KAC 352 Kochi 08:20KAC 362 Colombo 08:20UAE 855 Dubai 08:25KAC 284 Dhaka 09:00ABY 125 Sharjah 09:05ETD 301 Abu Dhabi 09:05IRA 667 Esfahan 09:15QTR 1071 Doha 09:30FDB 055 Dubai 09:40UAE 873 Dubai 10:40GFA 213 Bahrain 10:40AXB 889 Mangalore/Bahrain 10:55MEA 404 Beirut 11:00JZR 561 Sohag 11:25FDB 075 Dubai 12:25MSC 401 Alexandria 12:30UAE 871 Dubai 12:45MSR 610 Cairo 13:00THY 766 Istanbul 13:10KAC 672 Dubai 14:00QTR 1078 Doha 14:05KNE 231 Riyadh 14:10

FDB 057 Dubai 14:20GFA 221 Bahrain 14:20SVA 500 Jeddah 14:30KAC 540 Sharm el-Sheikh 14:50KNE 529 Jeddah 14:55KAC 742 Dammam 14:55KAC 788 Jeddah 15:00ETD 303 Abu Dhabi 15:10OMA 645 Muscat 15:10ABY 127 Sharjah 15:35UAE 857 Dubai 15:45RJA 640 Amman 16:00FDB 051 Dubai 16:10QTR 1072 Doha 16:15KAC 118 New York 16:30KAC 562 Amman 16:55SVA 510 Riyadh 17:15GFA 215 Bahrain 17:30JZR 177 Dubai 17:45JZR 777 Jeddah 17:50QTR 1080 Doha 17:55SYR 341 Damascus 18:00MSR 620 Cairo 18:30KAC 502 Beirut 18:35KAC 774 Riyadh 18:35KAC 786 Jeddah 18:35KAC 618 Doha 18:55KAC 542 Cairo 18:55KAC 104 London 19:00UAE 875 Dubai 19:05GFA 217 Bahrain 19:05FDB 063 Dubai 19:10KAC 614 Bahrain 19:10ABY 123 Sharjah 19:15JAI 572 Mumbai 19:35KAC 156 Istanbul 19:45KAC 674 Dubai 19:45FDB 059 Dubai 19:50DLH 634 Frankfurt 20:05KNE 382 Taif 20:10MEA 402 Beirut 20:15OMA 647 Muscat 20:20JZR 189 Dubai 20:25QTR 1088 Doha 20:35FDB 5053 Dubai 20:55ETD 307 Abu Dhabi 21:05UAE 859 Dubai 21:15ALK 229 Colombo 21:20QTR 1082 Doha 21:55GFA 219 Bahrain 22:00ETD 309 Abu Dhabi 22:10AIC 975 Chennai/Goa 22:25BBC 143 Dhaka 22:40THY 764 Istanbul 22:55JZR 185 Dubai 22:55MSC 403 Asyut 23:00JAI 574 Mumbai 23:20JZR 239 Amman 23:20FDB 071 Dubai 23:35KLM 411 Amsterdam/Dammam 23:40

Arrival Flights on Monday 28/3/2016Airlines Flt Route TimeAIC 982 Ahmedabad/Chennai 00:05BBC 044 Dhaka 00:10JAI 574 Mumbai 00:25FDB 072 Dubai 00:30PIA 206 Lahore 00:40MSC 404 Asyut 00:55MSC 416 Sohag 01:05THY 773 Istanbul 01:40DLH 635 Frankfurt 02:00THY 765 Istanbul 02:45ETH 621 Addis Ababa 02:45PGT 859 Istanbul 02:55UAE 854 Dubai 03:45OMA 644 Muscat 04:00KKK 6505 Istanbul 04:05FDB 068 Dubai 04:05ETD 306 Abu Dhabi 04:10MSR 613 Cairo 04:15ETD 920 Sharjah 04:20PGT 861 Istanbul 04:30QTR 1077 Doha 04:35CEB 019 Manila 04:50JZR 560 Sohag 05:00RJA 643 Amman 06:25QTR 1087 Doha 06:30THY 771 Istanbul 06:45GFA 212 Bahrain 06:50FDB 070 Dubai 07:05FDB 5062 Dubai 07:55BAW 156 London 08:25FDB 054 Dubai 08:30KAC 539 Sharm el-Sheikh 08:50KAC 671 Dubai 09:15KAC 787 Jeddah 09:30ABY 126 Sharjah 09:45UAE 856 Dubai 09:50ETD 302 Abu Dhabi 10:00IRA 666 Esfahan 10:15FDB 056 Dubai 10:40QTR 1072 Doha 10:45KAC 501 Beirut 11:00KAC 155 Istanbul 11:00KAC 561 Amman 11:20KAC 165 Rome/Paris 11:25KAC 741 Dammam 11:35GFA 214 Bahrain 11:35AXB 890 Mangalore 11:55MEA 405 Beirut 12:00KAC 541 Cairo 12:05KAC 103 London 12:10UAE 874 Dubai 12:10JZR 776 Jeddah 12:15KAC 785 Jeddah 13:00JZR 176 Dubai 13:10FDB 076 Dubai 13:10MSC 402 Alexandria 13:30MSR 611 Cairo 14:00THY 767 Istanbul 14:10

UAE 872 Dubai 14:15PAL 669 Dubai/Manila 14:45KAC 773 Riyadh 15:00KAC 673 Dubai 15:05GFA 222 Bahrain 15:05FDB 058 Dubai 15:05KNE 381 Taif 15:10KAC 617 Doha 15:15QTR 1079 Doha 15:15SVA 501 Jeddah 15:45JZR 188 Dubai 15:50KNE 530 Jeddah 15:55KAC 613 Bahrain 16:00OMA 646 Muscat 16:10ABY 128 Sharjah 16:15ETD 304 Abu Dhabi 16:20RJA 641 Amman 16:55FDB 052 Dubai 17:00JZR 266 Beirut 17:10QTR 1073 Doha 17:25UAE 858 Dubai 17:40JZR 238 Amman 17:45SVA 511 Riyadh 18:15JZR 184 Dubai 18:20GFA 216 Bahrain 18:20JZR 538 Cairo 18:30SYR 342 Damascus 19:00QTR 1081 Doha 19:05MSR 621 Cairo 19:30GFA 218 Bahrain 19:50FDB 064 Dubai 19:50ABY 124 Sharjah 19:55KAC 361 Colombo 19:55KAC 283 Dhaka 20:30FDB 060 Dubai 20:30UAE 876 Dubai 20:35JAI 571 Mumbai 20:35KAC 331 Trivandrum 20:45DLH 634 Doha 20:50KAC 353 BLR 20:55KAC 543 Cairo 21:00KAC 351 Kochi 21:00KNE 234 Riyadh 21:10MEA 403 Beirut 21:15OMA 648 Muscat 21:15QTR 1089 Doha 21:45DHX 171 Bahrain 21:50ETD 308 Abu Dhabi 21:55ALK 230 Colombo 22:20KAC 381 Delhi 22:25FDB 5054 Dubai 22:25UAE 860 Dubai 22:25KAC 301 Mumbai 22:30KAC 345 Ahmedabad 22:55GFA 220 Bahrain 23:00KAC 205 Islamabad 23:00ETD 310 Abu Dhabi 23:05QTR 1083 Doha 23:20KAC 411 Bangkok/Manila 23:25

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY(24/03/2016 TO 30/03/2016)

SHARQIA-1KUNG FU PANDA 3 1:00 PMKUNG FU PANDA 3 3:00 PMKUNG FU PANDA 3 5:00 PMKUNG FU PANDA 3 7:00 PMTHE INVITATION 9:00 PMTHE INVITATION 11:00 PMTHE INVITATION 1:00 AM

SHARQIA-2BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 11:45 AMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 2:45 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 5:45 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 8:45 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 11:45 PM

SHARQIA-3BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 1:45 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 4:45 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 7:45 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 10:45 PM

MUHALAB-1THE INVITATION 12:00 PMKUNG FU PANDA 3 2:00 PMKUNG FU PANDA 3 4:00 PMKUNG FU PANDA 3 6:00 PMKUNG FU PANDA 3 8:00 PMTHE INVITATION 10:00 PMTHE INVITATION 12:05 AM

MUHALAB-2ZOOTOPIA 11:30 AMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 2:00 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 5:00 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 8:00 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 11:00 PM

MUHALAB-3BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 12:15 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 3:15 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 6:15 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 9:15 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 12:15 AM

FANAR-1THE INVITATION 12:45 PMTHE INVITATION 2:45 PMTHE INVITATION 4:45 PMTHE INVITATION 6:45 PMTHE INVITATION 8:45 PMTHE INVITATION 10:45 PMTHE INVITATION 12:45 AM

FANAR-2KUNG FU PANDA 3 1:00 PMKUNG FU PANDA 3 3:00 PMKUNG FU PANDA 3 5:00 PMKUNG FU PANDA 3 7:00 PMKUNG FU PANDA 3 9:00 PMLONDON HAS FALLEN 11:00 PMLONDON HAS FALLEN 1:00 AM

FANAR-3BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 12:00 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 3:00 PMROCKY HANDSOME- Hindi 6:00 PMROCKY HANDSOME- Hindi 9:00 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 12:05 AM

MARINA-1TRIPLE 9 11:45 AMKUNG FU PANDA 3 2:00 PMKUNG FU PANDA 3 4:00 PMKUNG FU PANDA 3 6:00 PMKUNG FU PANDA 3 8:00 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 10:00 PMTRIPLE 9 1:00 AM

MARINA-2BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 12:15 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 3:15 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 6:15 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 9:15 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 12:15 AM

MARINA-3KUNG FU PANDA 3 12:00 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 2:15 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 5:15 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 8:15 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 11:15 PM

AVENUES-1KUNG FU PANDA 3 11:30 AMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 1:30 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 4:30 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 7:30 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 10:30 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 1:30 AMTHU+FRI+SAT+WED

AVENUES-2LONDON HAS FALLEN 1:00 PMLONDON HAS FALLEN 3:15 PMZOOTOPIA 5:30 PMLONDON HAS FALLEN 7:45 PMLONDON HAS FALLEN 10:00 PM

BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 12:45 AMTHU+FRI+SAT+WEDLONDON HAS FALLEN 12:15 AMSUN+MON+TUE

AVENUES-3BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 12:00 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 3:00 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 6:00 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 9:00 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 12:05 AM

360º- 1BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE -3D 1:00 PMKUNG FU PANDA 3 2:00 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE -3D 4:00 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE -3D 7:00 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE -3D 10:00 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 1:00 AMTRIPLE 9 1:00 AM

360º- 2THE HALLOW 11:45 AMTHE HALLOW 2:00 PMTHE HALLOW 4:15 PMTHE HALLOW 6:30 PMTHE HALLOW 8:45 PMTHE HALLOW 11:00 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 1:15 AMTHE HALLOW 1:15 AM

360º- 3THE INVITATION 1:00 PMTHE INVITATION 3:15 PMTHE INVITATION 5:30 PMTHE INVITATION 7:45 PMTHE INVITATION 10:00 PMTHE INVITATION 12:15 AM

AL-KOUT.1BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 11:30 AMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 2:30 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 5:30 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 8:30 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 11:30 PM

AL-KOUT.2BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 12:45 PMKUNG FU PANDA 3 1:45 PMKUNG FU PANDA 3 3:45 PMKUNG FU PANDA 3 5:45 PMKUNG FU PANDA 3 7:45 PMBATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE 10:00 PMTRIPLE 9 1:00 AM

ACCOMMODATION

LOST

CHANGE OF NAME

SITUATION WANTED

Furnished central A/Croom available for an exec-utive bachelor near SharaAmman roundaboutSalmiya with all facilities. 2bathrooms, neat and clean,calm and quiet area withKeralite Christian familyfrom May 1st. Contact:66418746. (C 5152)25-3-2016

It is notified for the infor-mation that my originalqualifying examinationcertificate of main second-ary examination of year2014 and roll number8106820 issued by CBSEhas been actually lost.Name of the candidateAnan Sadiq, full address:Awtad Complex, flat 9-C,street-123, MahboulaBlock-1, Kuwait, Mobile:00965597249207. (C 5151)

Job required for networktechnician 1 1/2 year expe-rience in Kuwait, mobileoperator. Seeks suitableposting. Tel: 96065514.(C 5153)

25-3-2016

Rashid holder of IndianPassport No. Z1845012 293,Saheli Nagar, Zainab Villa,Udaipur, Rajasthan, herebychange my name toRashida Shoyab Hussain.(C 5154)28-3-2016

MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

As you gather the mail and sort through the bills this morning you remaincautiously optimistic. You are smart to consider the long haul. Wait a little while beforeyou decide to buy yourself a present. Meditation today brings about some real insight-positive. Refinement and relationships are the keys to emotional satisfaction for younow. Harmony and beauty are deeply satisfying-you may want to plant flowers, plantherbs and hang curtains that will let in more light around your living quarters. Again,wait for a few days after your birthday and then you can attempt these things. Closepersonal ties to other people are a focal point for your afternoon. When the time of cel-ebrations are over this afternoon, more begin tonight!

Aries (March 21-April 19)

STAR TRACK

A light heart begins the day and others may find you especially witty andeccentric. You may have insights or breakthroughs with regard to your living situationor life circumstances. You may have heard a few perfect jokes recently and just can’twait to try them out on others-laughter happens. Be willing to adjust to changes andoffer to help your lover with some project today. There may be more to your romancethan you know right now. The wait could be worth the time. This should be an amoroustime, with a genuine desire to both give and receive. Neither of you will feel whole with-out the other. There could be a temptation, however, to make too much or too little ofthe relationship-keep a perspective and be patient.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

You may want to discuss long-distance travel plans with your loved ones. Ifyou ever had a day to make a great first impression-this is it. Additionally,

this is a great day for working with others whether you are in a place of business, lectur-ing, performing or some other interesting activity. Your warmth can build confidenceand helps solve problems. If anyone is watching, they could be favorably impressed.Spend more time this afternoon in making your relationship last. You have a lot to gainfrom a long-term commitment. You may need a big push to help this relationship meldtogether into one. This is not the best time to go looking for someone new.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

Mental stimulation via a two-way communication should be a great deal offun. You will have fun with any kind of repartee. You will feel especially

close to a loved one, or any other kind of partner. You will find it easy to get somethingoff your chest that may have been difficult before. Romance can make you a bit nervous.Come to think of it, romance can make us all nervous! You may discover the advantageof romance. You are ending a difficult time and a renewed love relationship can be adelightful way to become otherwise absorbed. It is amazing how the problems are verymuch thinned when a loved one is available for hugs and kind conversation. Things maynot be as bad as you think. New skates will take you back to old and fun memories.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

Leo (July 23-August 22)

Creative visualization is one of the most positive ways to deal with changeand you could teach others to use some of your techniques. Energy-follows-thought isone way to think of your ability to reach your goals. Once you make up your mind toaccomplish something, you can do anything. This is one reason schools have cheerlead-ers to lead the sports team forward to a winning result. Use your creative visualizationwhen you want to create a better life or when you need to adapt to changes. This posi-tive thinking could also be used to help you find ways to increase your income. You haveplans to enlarge the area in which you live and it might involve a spa or a sunroom orsome other light and enjoyable place.

Virgo (August 23-September 22)

Close relationships have a big impact on your life. A partner has a mes-merizing impact on you . . . Very compelling. Encourage your partner to express his or hertalents. You might be looking for ways to help a parent or loved one in an important way,or doing any number of wise and helpful things for others that eventually feels very, verygood. After your responsibilities have been met and completed, it is likely that you willseek some fun activity that will include friends. You work and play hard and seem to goat a fast speed in whatever you choose to become involved. If you slow yourself just a bit,you will find loads of fun just waiting to happen. If you are married, it would be smart toinvite your main squeeze along for the fun.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

This is another day that you will accomplish much, whether you are aloneor with others. You are logical and can convince others of anything-almost.

Strong-minded people are attracted to you because you are a winner in whatever youchoose. You are very curious and enjoy challenges-today is a good day for new discover-ies and new possibilities. This could mean travel, technical discoveries, hobby or enter-tainment, like magic or theater. Your influence on others will be phenomenal-a bit of aresponsibility! You work as hard as you play and you can be angry as strongly as you arehappy. Be wise now in your actions, as you are leading many. Careful, it would be easy tobecome impatient. Look for fun ways to relax.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

You may decide to take a break from your chores this sunday to enjoy thegreat outdoors. Perhaps you would enjoy a short tripif you feel inclined to

spend lots of money, don’t. Wait a while longer before splurging-there are some forgot-ten or unexpected bills. You could be most persuasive with others at this time and youenjoy interacting with your friends. You are slow to judge and many of your friendsappreciate and respect you. The situation is a natural for self-expression, allowing yourparticular thoughts and ideas to blossom. You show a great deal of interest in all familymatters, particularly concerning your living environment. You may be encouraged torefinish some piece of furniture or to paint. You will have help.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

Your emotional orientation is in working with people. Your expertise mayput you in a bracket of your own. You have been busy in the workplace this last week.One would think you would want to take a day off from all the problem solving. You,however, seem as busy as ever-helping family members or friends or your favorite groupto make money-charity perhaps. This may involve a food drive, a garage sale or any num-ber of other ways to earn money in fun ways. The end results are successful. Try to keepan open mind with others. If your mind becomes totally preoccupied with one particularthought, try to shake it loose by reading the phone book out loud or singing one of yourfavorite tunes. Where you are is where you need to be.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Others value you for your ability to make practical decisions, which meansif you do not want to be volunteered to do something unpleasant, volun-

teer for something you will enjoy. Perhaps there are not enough teachers in your reli-gious circle and you find yourself volunteering to help out today. Clear decisions affect-ing others could be made now. Your emotions or the feelings of those around you maybe very clear-a nice time. You could find that you are appreciated or valued for your feel-ings or your ability to act and get things done. You may be moved to appreciate and dis-cover the beauty in your life and in those around you. A new romantic possibility isaround the corner-perhaps today. Enjoy the company of friends tonight.

Aquarius (January 20- February 18)

CROSSWORD 1209

ACROSS1. Type genus of the family Myacidae.4. An observation station that is set up tomake sample observations of something.11. An aggressive remark directed at a per-son like a missile and intended to have atelling effect.15. A former agency (from 1946 to 1974) thatwas responsible for research into atomicenergy and its peacetime uses in the UnitedStates.16. A member of the Caddo people who for-merly lived in the Dakotas west of theMissouri river.17. Harsh or corrosive in tone.18. The syllable naming the sixth (submedi-ant) note of a major or minor scale insolmization.19. Letter carrier's shoulder bag.20. God of death.21. Greek poet who is said to have originatedGreek tragedy (sixth century BC).23. Small tree of dry open parts of southernAfrica having erect angled branches suggest-ing candelabra.25. A doctor's degree in theology.28. Tropical American tree producing cacaobeans.31. Essential oil or perfume obtained fromflowers.32. Type genus of the Anatidae.36. Absent without permission.38. Large sweet juicy hybrid between tanger-ine and grapefruit having a thick wrinkledskin.39. Mercifulness as a consequence of beinglenient or tolerant.41. British slang.44. (Norse mythology) One of the Aesirknown for his beauty and skill with bow andskis.45. A river in northeastern Brazil that flowsgenerally northward to the Atlantic Ocean.47. (the feminine of raja) A Hindu princess orthe wife of a raja.49. A constellation in the southern hemi-sphere near Telescopium and Norma.50. Relatively small fast-moving sloth.51. Call before a court to answer an indict-ment.53. Alcoholic drink from fermented cider(`cider' and `cyder' are European (especiallyBritish) usage for the fermented beverage).56. The branch of engineering science thatstudies the uses of electricity and the equip-ment for power generation and distributionand the control of machines and communi-cation.57. Being one more than one hundred.58. A white linen liturgical vestment withsleeves.60. A lateen-rigged sailing vessel used byArabs.63. An ancient city on the Nile in Egypt.66. United States musician (born in Japan)who married John Lennon and collaboratedwith him on recordings (born in 1933).68. Squash bugs.71. Having a gradual increase in width.73. Given or having a specified name.75. A sharp projection on an edge or surface.76. A disorderly crowd of people.77. A member of an Indian people formerlyliving along the Gulf coast of Louisiana andTexas.79. A nucleic acid consisting of large mole-

cules shaped like a double helix.80. Look at with amorous intentions.81. Of or relating to a basin.82. A river in north central Switzerland thatruns northeast into the Rhine.

DOWN1. A milkshake made with malt powder.2. Not only so, but.3. A dull persistent (usually moderatelyintense) pain.4. The Greek lyric poet of Lesbos.5. (botany) Relating to a plant of the familyAraceae.6. A young woman.7. A proportion multiplied by 100.8. The mints.9. A period marked by distinctive characteror reckoned from a fixed point or event.10. Myth about the ultimate destruction ofthe gods in a battle with evil.11. Armor plate that protects legs below theknee.12. The United Nations agency concernedwith civil aviation.13. A pen that has a small metal ball as thepoint of transfer of ink to paper.14. Mild yellow Dutch cheese made in balls.22. Russian Soviet leader.24. A soft white precious univalent metallicelement having the highest electrical andthermal conductivity of any metal.26. Soviet physicist who worked on low tem-perature physics (1908-1968).27. A state in the eastern United States.29. Physically and mentally fatigued.30. English novelist (born in Poland) notedfor sea stories and for his narrative technique(1857-1924).33. A group of southern Bantu languages.34. Report or maintain.35. Any plant of the genus Silene.37. The 16th letter of the Hebrew alphabet.40. Of or relating to or resembling a bull n.42. English actor noted for his portrayals ofShakespeare's great tragic characters (1789-1833).43. Canadian hockey player (born 1948).46. A small cake leavened with yeast.48. American professional baseball playerwho hit more home runs than Babe Ruth(born in 1934).52. A unit of absorbed ionizing radiationequal to 100 ergs per gram of irradiatedmaterial.54. A card game for 2 players.55. A member of the Algonquian people ofMaine and southern Quebec.59. 1 species.61. Relating to the deepest parts of theocean (below 6000 meters).62. Polish filmmaker (born in 1929).64. Work doggedly or persistently.65. Make high-pitched, whiney noises.67. A strategically located monarchy on thesouthern and eastern coasts of the ArabianPeninsula.69. The capital and largest city of Yemen.70. Any culture medium that uses agar as thegelling agent.72. A light touch or stroke.74. A federal agency established to coordi-nate programs aimed at reducing pollutionand protecting the environment.78. A hard gray lustrous metallic elementthat is highly corrosion-resistant.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

34s t a r s

Daily SuDoku

Wordsearch Puzzle

There could be a disagreement concerning travel or home this morning;however, by this evening there will be compromises that make you happy. You couldseek advice on any subject in question today and tomorrow. You can handle many sub-jects at once. Be wise however, in not extending your energies too far. You restrict yourperspectives to areas of examination or study instead of action and you have a tendencyto observe situations rather than actually doing anything about them. This opens you upto wonderful opportunities in some form of counseling. Success is available. Medicine,scientific research, psychology, psychiatry and electronics are good vocations for you toconsider. Tonight you could consider adding to your music collection.

This easy, calm day should find everything running in a smooth manner.Interaction with an older person may occur today. Creating helpful activi-

ties for this young-at-heart individual is a wise contribution to this person’s needs. Youare at the end of a major, long-term cycle in your life and could be heading into somechanges while still clinging onto past memories. Faith and love will steer you throughthis time. Your completeness genuinely depends upon somebody else and you do notwant to be alone. You will find the perfect marriage when you set aside the games ofyouth. If you want to be taken seriously, express yourself outwardly and show a gratefulheart. Keep a tight rein over your extra expenses.

Yesterday’s Solution

informat ionMONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

Ahmadi Sama Safwan Fahaeel Makka St 23915883Abu Halaifa Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd 23715414Danat Al-Sultan Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd 23726558

Jahra Modern Jahra Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 24575518Madina Munawara Jahra-Block 92 24566622

Capital Ahlam Fahad Al-Salem St 22436184Khaldiya Coop Khaldiya Coop 24833967

Farwaniya New Shifa Farwaniya Block 40 24734000Ferdous Coop Ferdous Coop 24881201Modern Safwan Old Kheitan Block 11 24726638

Hawally Tariq Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St 25726265Hana Salmiya-Amman St 25647075Ikhlas Hawally-Beirut St 22625999Hawally & Rawdha Hawally & Rawdha Coop 22564549Ghadeer Jabriya-Block 1A 25340559Kindy Jabriya-Block 3B 25326554Ibn Al-Nafis Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St 25721264Mishrif Coop Mishrif Coop 25380581Salwa Coop Salwa Coop 25628241

OphthalmologistsDr. Abidallah Al-Mansoor 25622444Dr. Samy Al-Rabeea 25752222Dr. Masoma Habeeb 25321171Dr. Mubarak Al-Ajmy 25739999Dr. Mohsen Abel 25757700Dr Adnan Hasan Alwayl 25732223Dr. Abdallah Al-Baghly 25732223

Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT)Dr. Ahmed Fouad Mouner 24555050 Ext 510Dr. Abdallah Al-Ali 25644660Dr. Abd Al-Hameed Al-Taweel 25646478Dr. Sanad Al-Fathalah 25311996Dr. Mohammad Al-Daaory 25731988Dr. Ismail Al-Fodary 22620166Dr. Mahmoud Al-Booz 25651426

General PractitionersDr. Mohamme Y Majidi 24555050 Ext 123Dr. Yousef Al-Omar 24719312Dr. Tarek Al-Mikhazeem 23926920Dr. Kathem Maarafi 25730465Dr. Abdallah Ahmad Eyadah 25655528Dr. Nabeel Al-Ayoobi 24577781Dr. Dina Abidallah Al-Refae 25333501

UrologistsDr. Ali Naser Al-Serfy 22641534Dr. Fawzi Taher Abul 22639955Dr. Khaleel Abidallah Al-Awadi 22616660Dr. Adel Al-Hunayan FRCS (C) 25313120Dr. Leons Joseph 66703427

For labor-related inquiries and complaints:

Call MSAL hotline 128

Sabah Hospital 24812000

Amiri Hospital 22450005

Maternity Hospital 24843100

Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital 25312700

Chest Hospital 24849400

Farwaniya Hospital 24892010

Adan Hospital 23940620

Ibn Sina Hospital 24840300

Al-Razi Hospital 24846000

Physiotherapy Hospital 24874330/9

Kaizen center 25716707

Rawda 22517733

Adaliya 22517144

Khaldiya 24848075

Kaifan 24849807

Shamiya 24848913

Shuwaikh 24814507

Abdullah Salem 22549134

Nuzha 22526804

Industrial Shuwaikh 24814764

Qadsiya 22515088

Dasmah 22532265

Bneid Al-Gar 22531908

Shaab 22518752

Qibla 22459381

Ayoun Al-Qibla 22451082

Mirqab 22456536

Sharq 22465401

Salmiya 25746401

Jabriya 25316254

Maidan Hawally 25623444

Bayan 25388462

Mishref 25381200

W Hawally 22630786

Sabah 24810221

Jahra 24770319

New Jahra 24575755

West Jahra 24772608

South Jahra 24775066

North Jahra 24775992

North Jleeb 24311795

Ardhiya 24884079

Firdous 24892674

Omariya 24719048

N Khaitan 24710044

Fintas 23900322

GOVERNORATE PHARMACY ADDRESS PHONE

Plastic Surgeons

Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalaf 22547272

Dr. Abdal-Redha Lari 22617700

Dr. Abdel Quttainah 25625030/60

Family Doctor

Dr Divya Damodar 23729596/23729581

Psychiatrists

Dr. Esam Al-Ansari 22635047

Dr Eisa M. Al-Balhan 22613623/0

Gynaecologists & Obstetricians

DrAdrian arbe 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. Amer Zawaz Al-Amer 22610044

Dr. Mohammad Yousef Basher 25327148

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

Paediatricians

Dr. Khaled Hamadi 25665898

Dr. Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rashed 25340300

Dr. Zahra Qabazard 25710444

Dr. Sohail Qamar 22621099

Dr. Snaa Maaroof 25713514

Dr. Pradip Gujare 23713100

Dr. Zacharias Mathew 24334282

Dermatology

Dr. Mohammed Salam Bern University 23845955

Dentists

Dr Anil Thomas 3729596/3729581

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar 22641071/2

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed 22562226

Dr. Abidallah Al-Amer 22561444

Dr. Faysal Al-Fozan 22619557

Dr. Abdallateef Al-Katrash 22525888

Dr. Abidallah Al-Duweisan 25653755

Dr. Bader Al-Ansari 25620111

Neurologists

Dr. Sohal Najem Al-Shemeri 25633324

Dr. Jasem Mola Hassan 25345875

Gastrologists

Dr. Sami Aman 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

Physiotherapists & VD

Dr. Deyaa Shehab 25722291

Dr. Musaed Faraj Khamees 22666288

Rheumatologists:

Dr. Adel Al-Awadi 25330060

Dr. Khaled Al-Jarallah 25722290

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 25339667

Consultant Cardiologist

Dr. Farida Al-Habib 2611555-2622555 MD, PH.D, FACC Inaya German Medical Center Te: 2575077 Fax: 25723123

Soor CenterTel: 2290-1677Fax: 2290 1688

info@soorcenter.comwww.soorcenter.com

Psychologists/Psychotherapists

PRIVATE CLINICS

William Schuilenberg, RPC 2290-1677Zaina Al Zabin, M.Sc. 2290-1677

Kaizen center25716707

Noor Clinic23845955

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MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

l if e s t y l eF A S H I O N

Models parading creations during “AsahiKasei China FashionDesigner Creativeawards” 2016/17 A/W collection Show designedby Liu Sicong at ChinaFashion Week in Beijing. — AP/AFP photos

Models parade creations fromthe d’nim Chen Wen JeanswearCollection, designed by ChenWen at China Fashion Week inBeijing yesterday.

MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

l if e s t y l eM U S I C & M O V I E S

Janet Jackson on Saturday returned to thestage after a four-month hiatus for mysteri-ous health reasons, bringing her energetic

dance show to Dubai. The pop superstar per-formed in the Gulf emirate as the entertainer toclose the Dubai World Cup, the world’s mostlucrative horse race. She went ahead with theshow following a series of cancellations whichincluded an abrupt delay of the entire Europeanportion of her “Unbreakable” tour.

With a troupe of choreographed dancers glid-ing behind her, Jackson put on a medley of hitsincluding her classic “Control” and the morerecent and funkier “All Nite (Don’t Stop).”Jackson-whose 2004 performance at anothersporting event, the Super Bowl, was marred bythe exposure of her breast-left open no chanceof a similar “wardrobe malfunction” in theMuslim emirate, wearing an arms-length blackjumpsuit with an oversized necklace.

Jackson last year released “Unbreakable,” herfirst album since the death of her brotherMichael Jackson in 2009, and embarked on a

major tour. But until Dubai, she had not per-formed since November 22 in Japan. OnChristmas Eve, she announced a delay in herNorth American tour, saying that she needed anurgent operation.

The 49-year-old revealed no other detailsabout her health but later issued a statement todeny speculation that she was suffering fromcancer. With her European tour off, she is notdue to perform again until May 14 in Las Vegasas she resumes performances in North America.

Jackson has ties to the Gulf as she marriedWissam Al-Mana, a billionaire businessman fromQatar, in a private ceremony in 2012. Her latebrother moved temporarily to Bahrain at the invi-tation of a prince as the King of Pop tried to evadethe media glare following his 2005 acquittal onchild molestation charges.

Janet Jackson helped reshape the concertlandscape in the late 1980s with her “Control” and“Rhythm Nation” tours, considered landmarks fortheir elaborate dance routines and messages ofempowerment. — AFP

US singer Janet Jackson performs during the Dubai World Cup horse racing event at the Meydan racecourse in the United Arab Emirate ofDubai. — AFP photos

Janet Jacksonreturns to stage in Dubai

French rocker Johnny Hallyday’s decisionto press ahead with his concert inBrussels on Saturday despite security

concerns was met with a deafening roar ofapproval from fans seeking respite from atraumatic week. The 72-year-old singer,known as France’s answer to Elvis Presley,highlighted his Belgian roots as he took tostage for the latest leg of his “Staying Alive”tour, delighting a sold-out crowd deter-mined to have a good time after the horrorof Tuesday’s airport and metro attacks. “Partof my blood is French through my motherand the other part is Belgian through myfather,” he told the 11,000-strong audience,which responded with chants of “Johnny,Johnny, Johnny!”

In a still shell-shocked nation, fans saidthe concert was their way of showing theywould not give in to fear. “If we give in topanic, we’d never go anywhere anymore. I’mnot worried, I trust the security services and...Johnny!” said Lindsey, enjoying the musicwith a beer in her hand. Coming just fourdays after Belgium’s worst-ever terror attacks,which left 31 dead, security at the gig wasboosted significantly, with police and evensoldiers deployed at the Palais 12 venue.

“We have tripled the number of staff andare have police and army reinforcements,”Stefan Feldbusch, security coordinator atPalais 12, told AFP. “Everyone is beingsearched, which is not necessarily the caseusually.” In stark contrast to Hallyday, US popstar Mariah Carey has cancelled her upcom-ing gig in the wake of the attacks, citingsecurity fears. Living up to the old adage thatthe show must go on, Hallyday kicked off hisgig in typically flamboyant fashion, steppingout of a giant skull as red lasers and smokefilled the stage, to loud cheers from the audi-ence. Clad in his trademark leather trousers

and wearing sunglasses, France’s favoriterock ‘n’ roller then belted out some of hisbiggest hits, including “Gabrielle” and“Quelque chose de Tennessee”. Brussels resi-dent Michel, wearing a Johnny Hallyday T-

shirt, said he had come to the concert to “for-get this terrible week”. “When you seeJohnny, you’re not afraid anymore.” WhileHallyday has never achieved widespreadfame abroad, he is a musical icon at homeand has sold more than 100 million recordsin his decades-long career. In a sign of theageing star’s enduring appeal, Saturday’sperformance was broadcast live in some 300cinemas in France. — AFP

French rocker JohnnyHallyday brings musical

solace to grieving Brussels

French singer Johnny Hallyday performs on stage in Brussels. — AFP photos

Nathalie Loriot from French Lafayette rock band holds a Belgian flag as she per-forms on stage prior to the concert of French singer Johnny Hallyday.

French singer Johnny Hallyday (left)performs on stage.

The second trailer for “Teenage Mutant NinjaTurtles: Out of the Shadows” has arrived withplenty of loud noise and feel-good brother-

hood from the relentlessly upbeat terrapin crime-fighters. Laura Linney’s character asks at onepoint, “Who are you-superheroes?” The response:“Just four brothers who love this city.” The trailercomes two months before Paramount releasesthe film on June 3, on the same day that themovie took to the stage at WonderCon in down-town Los Angeles. Combat plus wisecracksabound as Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo,Leonardo and Megan Fox return with StephenAmell playing vigilante Casey Jones.

“Bringing back the mohawk-good for you,”one of the turtles deadpans to the villain Bebop,who does indeed sport a purple mohawk. DaveGreen directs and Michael Bay, Andrew Form,Bradley Fuller, Scott Mednick and Galen Walkerare producing. Will Arnett, William Fichtner, BrianTee, Tyler Perry and Brittany Ishibashi also star.Form and Fuller took the stage at WonderConalong with Fox and Amell on Friday, where theydebuted an extended look at Casey Jones’ intro-duction, in which Fox’s April finds herself cor-nered by Shredder’s goons, only to be saved by afew well-aimed hockey pucks courtesy of amasked Casey. A fast-paced fight-sequence

ensues, in which Casey still manages to find timeto flirt with April. Form and Fuller also revealedsome news on the panel: the villainous Krang,who will make his debut in “Out of the Shadows,”will be voiced by Fred Armisen. The sequel alsowill introduce Tyler Perry’s Baxter Stockman, acharacter that the producers always wanted tohave in the film franchise. As “the lead scientist ofTCRI, he’s working with Shredder, and he’sresponsible for helping mutate Bebop andRocksteady,” Form said. They also discussed whatwent into making Bebop and Rocksteady, theTurtles’ longtime adversaries.

“They’re dumb and fun, we call them the knuck-leheads - they throw haymakers, that’s it, it’s easy tododge them,” Form said of Shredder’s henchmen.Amell revealed that Casey “has beef to settle” withBebop and Rocksteady, and that the vigilante is “aguy who feels like the system and doing things theright way have failed him, so he’s lashing out.” SinceCasey is a corrections officer in the film, the produc-ers eschewed the character’s iconic long hair, butAmell assured fans that they have time to buildtowards all the Casey Jones iconography that fanshave come to know and love over the years, and con-firmed that he does get to wield a variety of sportsequipment, from a hockey stick to cricket and base-ball bats, over the course of the movie. — Reuters

‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the

Shadows’ debuts new trailer

Zayn, formerly of OneDirection, is appealing

on solo debut

Wait, Zayn was in One Direction? You’ll ask yourselfthat question after listening to his solo album.“Mind of Mine” - which comes a year to the day

he officially announced he was leaving 1D - is a mostlydownbeat R&B-pop adventure that shows Zayn has sometrue star quality. It’s a departure from the pop groovesOne Direction have become known for, and Zayn’s newsongs - in the vein of Chris Brown, Frank Ocean and recentJustin Bieber - are appealing. There isn’t a bad tune in thebatch of 14 tracks.

“It’s You” is a pretty, falsetto-heavy slow groove; “BeFour”is addictive and catchy; “Truth” feels like a neo-soul song ofthe early 2000s; and on “She” and “Fool for You,” the singerreminds you why he did well on “The X Factor,” where 1Dformed in 2010. Malay, the producer who worked heavilyon Ocean’s Grammy-winning “channel ORANGE,” also workshis magic on Zayn’s album, as do producers Levi Lennox,xyz, Alan Sampson and MakeYouKnowLove. It may be agroup of names you don’t recognize, but that’s a goodthing for Zayn. While his album’s sound isn’t particularlynew, it’s unique and tailor-made for Zayn. He’s heading inthe right direction. — AP

‘Have you got a mouthful?” The dish inquestion is deep-fried fish sperm,which Rene Redzepi-owner of one

of the world’s top restaurants, Noma-is order-ing his apprentices to taste. That’s about assexy as the culinary documentary “Ants on aShrimp” gets. Chronicling Redzepi’s project tocreate a 14-course menu in Japan, Dutchhelmer Maurice Dekkers devotes most of hisfilm to the celebrity chef’s extensive foraging,while his abstemious staff harps on about theonerous pursuit of perfection; one crucialmissing ingredient, however, is the joy of eat-ing or cooking. Although gourmands maycomplain about too much foreplay and notenough food porn, it’ll still be devoured bytube and on-demand platforms.

The 42-year-old, El Bulli-trained Redzepi iscredited with reinventing Nordic cuisinethrough his daring use of freshly foragedingredients; a signature dish consists of rawlangoustine sprinkled with ants. Under hisstewardship, the Copenhagen-based Nomawas ranked the best restaurant in the world in2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014 by Restaurantmagazine, despite having earned only twoMichelin stars. At the start of 2015, Redzepitemporarily closed down Noma anddecamped with his core team to Tokyo’sMandarin Oriental, his second stunt since run-ning a pop-up restaurant at Claridge’s inLondon in 2012.

Claustrophobic dungeonOn the first day of setting up, the team is

rattled to find the kitchen located three floorsbelow ground, while the layout of the diningarea is less than appealing. “This is unbeliev-able, and I mean it in a bad way,” Redzepi says.For a large part of the film, audiences have tostick with the staff in this claustrophobic dun-geon, watching Redzepi raking his chefs LarsWilliams, Rosio Sanchez, Thomas Frebel, DanGiusti and Kim Mikkola over the coals for notmeeting his exacting standards. “Our work isnot to succeed but to fail day after day,” saysThomas, with more pride than frustration.

There’s not much footage of food prepara-tion; nor can lay audiences gauge what exqui-site flavors the chefs are aiming for, given theMasonic way they communicate: “This tastes

good but it’s not working” is one of Redzepi’smany cryptic pronouncements. Moments thatopen a window onto Noma’s particularity overingredients occur only during the team’s ven-tures into the Nagano forest to forage for wildplants. However, watching them nibble onfreshly picked leaves or mushrooms oozingslime-and licking bits of soil with the expres-sion of someone fitted with new dentures-doesn’t exactly fill one with wild anticipationto see them served a plate.

When you have one of the world’s bestchefs in a country where washoku (traditionalJapanese cuisine) enjoys UNESCO IntangibleCultural Heritage status, one naturally won-ders what synergy might emerge. However,when the chefs venture into the Tsukiji fishmarket, the results-ramen and fish grilled overan irori sunken hearth-are not exactly off thebeaten path. Their interactions with locals,including restaurant patrons, gourmets andother chefs, are also kept to a minimum, andnothing said by Japanese individuals is grant-ed enough significance to be subtitled.

Okinawa wild rosesAfter so much anticipation, the presenta-

tion of the 14 courses flashes by in a hastyslideshow at the end. While all the dishes havea Japanese accent, such as cuttlefish sobawith a dipping sauce of Nagano pine treesand Okinawa wild roses, few of them lookmouth-watering-not even a tart piled with 45freshwater clams that took 13 people fourhours to shell. Others look and sound almostoff-putting, like black garlic leather, birch cepand scallop fudge-the latter two looking likedry bark and a scrubbing sponge, respectively.

Apparently 50,000 bookings were received,though they were able to cater to only 3,000over the five-week period-without a singleshot of patrons’ reactions as they savor thefood, or any comments from food critics. Oneis supposed to just take it on good faith whenRedzepi proclaims that responses are positive.It helps to have seen Pierre Deschamps’ docu-mentary “Noma: My Perfect Storm,” whichoffers a more intimate picture of Redzepi’scareer and philosophy, depicting him as a sortof real-life version of Bradley Cooper’s chefprotagonist in “Burnt.” — Reuters

‘Ants on a Shrimp’Film Review

Robert De Niro is removing the anti-vacci-nation documentary “Vaxxed” from thelineup of his Tribeca Film Festival, after

initially defending its inclusion. “Vaxxed: From Cover-up to Conspiracy,” was

set to be part of the film festival when itopened next month. The decision to includethe film by anti-vaccination activist AndrewWakefield came under fire, particularly sinceWakefield’s contention that the measles,mumps and rubella vaccine have a link toautism have been discredited.

While De Niro on Friday defended the deci-sion to include the film, he released a state-ment Saturday saying he had reversed his deci-sion. De Niro, who has a child with autism, saidhe had hoped to provide an opportunity for

conversation around an issue “that is deeplypersonal to me and my family.” However, hesaid after he and Tribeca organizers reviewedit, “We do not believe it contributes to or fur-thers the discussion I had hoped for.” He saidmembers of the scientific community also hadreviewed it with him.

“The festival doesn’t seek to avoid or shyaway from controversy. However, we have con-cerns with certain things in this film that wefeel prevent us from presenting it in the festivalprogram,” he added.

A statement from Wakefield, the film’s direc-tor, and Del Bigtree, its producer, decried DeNiro’s decision, saying they didn’t get a chanceto defend themselves against critics of the film.“We have just witnessed yet another exampleof the power of corporate interests censoringfree speech, art and truth,” the statement read.“Tribeca’s action will not succeed in denyingthe world access to the truth behind the film‘Vaxxed.’” The Tribeca Film Festival runs fromApril 13 to April 24. — AP

Niro’s Tribeca festival pulls anti-vaccination film

File photo shows Robert De Niro attends anews conference in Macau. — AP

MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

l if e s t y l eF E A T U R E S

A woman looks at an installation artwork created by Chinese artist Stella Zhang at Art Basel in HongKong. — AP photos

The artwork “Cloison a lames reflechissantes” created by Argentina artist Julio Le Parc is dismantled afterthe exhibition closing at Art Basel.

Asia’s biggest exhibition of modern andcontemporary art brought together 239galleries from 35 countries and territories

in Hong Kong, which has emerged as the region’stop art trading hub. Organizers of Art Basel HongKong, which closed Saturday, shrugged off con-cerns about whether China’s slowdown and a

shaky world economy are dampening global artdemand.

“Maybe I think collectors will ask a lot morequestions before they agree to a sale, but I think... it just feels like everyone is very excited aboutthe art world,” said Adeline Ooi, Art Basel’s Asiadirector. The show is an offshoot of the annual

contemporary art fair in Basel, Switzerland. Theshow began in 2008 as ART HK and was boughtthree years ago by the same group that runs theArt Basel and Art Basel Miami Beach fairs. It’s thebiggest of a week of art-related events in HongKong that has attracted celebrities and billion-aires from around the world. — AP

Art and art lovers blendtogether in Hong Kong

A man walks besidean artwork

“Transfuser” createdby British sculptorAntony Gormley.

A woman looks at the artwork “Monica Cross Legged with Beads” created by Tom Wesselmann.

A woman walks behind the artwork “Cloison a lames reflechissantes” created by Argentina artist Julio Le Parc.

A woman walks beside an artwork by Argentina artist Tomas Saraceno. Two men walk beside an artwork “Laura” created by Spainish artist JaumePlensa.

A man walks beside the artwork “Trans-Aimilios”, bottom left, created byJapanese artist Kohei Nawa.

A woman walks beside “Warlord’s Family,” an artwork created by Chineseartist Xu Zhen.

A man looks at the artworks by Chinese artist Cai Lei.

History revealed in

little Petrain the rain

History revealed in

little Petrain the rain

MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

l if e s t y l eF E A T U R E S

At the aptly named Planete Chocolat, theshelves are laden with enticing Eastertreasures for shoppers: bunnies with

bows, pastel-wrapped eggs and elegant boxesof pralines. Swannee Vranckx, a clerk at theshop near Brussels’ main square, said shewould normally have seen 50 to 100 cus-tomers by midafternoon in the days beforeone of the biggest holidays of the Christianyear. But after the bombing attacks that shat-tered the tranquility of Belgium’s capital, only

a handful had come in search of Easter treats.While the city’s chocolatiers are quick to

offer condolences to the victims of thetragedy, they are equally fast to express theirconcerns about the future. Their livelihoodsdepend on people from around the globestreaming into their shops to indulge in theirworld-famous goodies - and they know thattourists don’t go places they don’t feel safe.“I’m sure it will happen - people will canceltheir trips,” Vranckx said. “They think it is aplace for terrorists.”

The March 22 attacks that killed 31 people

and wounded 270 are only Brussels’ latestbrush with violence. Just days before thebombings, Belgian and French police arrestedSalah Abdeslam, the chief suspect in the Nov13 attacks that left 130 people dead in Paris, inhis Brussels hideout. In May 2014, three peo-ple were killed when a gunman targeted theJewish museum of Belgium. The notion thatBelgium, a small Western European nation of11 million, might become known for terrorismis shocking to many here. This is a place where

US. President Barack Obama says it was “easyto love a country known for chocolate anddrink.”

Belgian chocolatiers shipAnd at Easter, the nation’s sweet tooth is on

full display: shop windows are crammed withchocolate. Belgians are said to eat more than 8kilograms (17.6 pounds) of the stuff every year- ranking them among the world’s top con-sumers. The country traces its love affair withchocolate to King Leopold II’s control of theCongo in the late 19th century, which provid-

ed the country with a ready supply of cocoa.Things really began to take off after 1912,when the son of a Swiss pharmacist createdthe first filled chocolates, which he called pra-lines, at his family’s Brussels factory.

Today, Belgian chocolatiers ship their waresaround the world and Brussels shopkeeperscompete with artistic window displays inhopes of luring in tourists on their way to theart museums or the Grand Place, the UNESCOworld heritage site. This year, not far fromthere, residents and visitors alike gathered toremember the victims and scrawl messages ofsadness and hope in the aftermath of theattacks. The bombings will cut consumerspending on recreation, leisure and tourism

but they are likely to have only a short-termimpact on the whole Belgian economy,according to Francesca Peck, an economist atIHS Global Insight in London. The losses maybe magnified because the attacks occurred soclose to the long Easter weekend, whenrestaurants and bars are typically busy.

Economic activityAs a result, the Belgian economy is expect-

ed to grow 1.45 percent this year, down from aprevious forecast of 1.6 percent, IHS estimat-ed. But the slowdown will probably be tempo-rary, as it was after the November attacks inParis, where shoppers refused to change theirhabits in the face of terror threats, Peck said.

“As terrible as the events in Brussels havebeen, economic activity is typically prettyresilient to terrorist attacks,” she wrote.

Belgians, though, are worried about whatthis means for the longer term - will people inJapan, the United States and China changetheir minds about visiting their beloved cob-blestone streets and classic European cafes?Shopkeepers were just beginning to hopethings were about to improve as the monthsafter the Paris attacks had passed uneventfully.Now all bets are off. At the sleek Neuhaschocolate shop near from the Grand Place,manager Tim Verstraeten could only shake hishead. “We don’t know what is going to hap-pen,” he said. — AP

Belgians fear attacks will hurt tourismChocolate and drinks:

Photos show Chocolate Easter Eggs on display in a shop near the EU Commission in Brussels. — AFP photos

The serenity of Cui Ruzhuo’s ink land-scapes is a far cry from the turmoil ofChina’s contemporary art market. But he

can bank on his own status as the country’sbest-selling living artist. Cui’s works reflect tra-ditional Chinese forms and subjects, repletewith largely monochrome mountains, lakesand trees. Little known in the West, his worksfetched a total of more than $120 million atpublic auctions last year, up 69 percent, evenas the overall market plummeted, according towealth publisher the Hurun Report’s newly-released China art list.

“When an artist is creating, a very impor-tant point is to definitely be sincere andresponsible towards your own art,” Cui said atthe launch of the document. “Do not just seeyour works as products,” he added. Cui is in aposition where he can afford to proclaim him-self on the moral high ground. But he acknowl-edged that he watched the market “quiteclosely”, before lauding multi-billionaire artcollector Wang Jianlin as a man with “personalcultivation”.

Connoisseurs fear that in a system wheremoney dominates the conversation aroundvalue, artistic quality risks being sidelined.“China’s art market is a chaotic mess. Peopleare always looking for a standard by which tojudge works, but art isn’t like the Olympics,”said artist, columnist and curator Xie Chunyan.“You measure a long jump in meters, but artisn’t that simple-money is one metric, but it’snot the only criteria.” Hurun Report chairmanRupert Hoogewerf said that the art list wasintended as a guide for someone like him, wholoves “the idea of being interested in art” but“lacks a deep understanding of it”. “These peo-ple are looking to become more educated andcultured and are looking to get into the artworld,” he said of China’s nouveau riche entre-preneurs, “but where to start?”

Flying in circles China’s contemporary art market is riddled

with systemic flaws and inconsistencies, insid-ers say. The country’s system of museumsremains weak, and critics are regularly offered“red envelopes” of bribe money in exchangefor positive reviews, aiding unchecked specu-lation. Hoogewerf admitted that the auction

statistics his list depended on were “far from”perfect. “It’s well known that a lot of the auc-tion prices might be ramped, and some of theworks are never paid for at the end of it,” hesaid. “There are a lot of problems.”

It is a phenomenon that threatens qualityand development, according to artists and crit-ics. “An art world that focuses on money canonly spit out artists of high net worth-not pro-found or truly great artists,” lamented Li Mo,

calligrapher and history researcher at BeijingUniversity. “The art market and artistic cre-ation are like two wings of a bird-if the creativewing is atrophied and the money-making oneis strong, our art world can only fly in circles.”

Test of time Auction sales for China’s top 100 living

artists totaled $565 million last year, accordingto Hurun Report, down 45 percent on 2014.The fall was largely due to a collapse in vol-ume, rather than average prices, with 6,863works auctioned over the course of the year,compared to 15,921 in 2014. China’s contem-porary calligraphy and painting businessremains immature and subject to individualdistortions, said long-time art analyst QiJianqiu. The “deformed market” of years past,he said, was based heavily on gifting practicesand had been hard hit by slowing economicgrowth and an anti-corruption campaignunder President Xi Jinping. —AFP

Chinese artist Cui Ruzhao (second left) waits with other artists during a pressconference in Beijing.

Painting by numbers: What value in China’s art market?

Chinese artist Cui Ruzhao poses inBeijing. — AFP photos

Recent heavy rains caused flash floodsacross the Hashemite Kingdom ofJordan, forcing authorities to close the

gates of the famed Petra ruins to tourists whowere soggy and surly from the downpour. Theiconic site boasts gargantuan temples, canalsand statues carved into red cliff walls nearly2,000 years ago by Al-Anbat, an ancient Arabculture now known as the Nabateans. But onthat day, water surged dangerously fast pastthe ruins. Yet still, a handful of adventuroustourists heard the siren call of the ancients,and struck out 9 kilometers north (5.6 miles) toPetra’s smaller sister site, Little Petra.

Once, these sites were watering holes onthe punishing desert route of traders ladenwith goods to the Indian Ocean, the Red Seaand the Mediterranean. Now, tourists travelthe world to see the temples and hike theNabatean routes recently connected to a 600-

kilometer (372-mile) path called the JordanTrail. At Little Petra’s entrance, locals sold plas-tic ponchos and umbrellas to bands of shiver-ing tourists. White mist poured over themountains, obscuring the temples inside into“the cold canyon,” Little Petra’s name in Arabic,Siq Al-Barid. A thin, submerged footpaththrough a crack in the rock was the only wayin. During the storm, a calm silence resoundedbut for the rain’s patter, the howling wind andvisitors’ giggles and splashing.

A French family gingerly forded a gurglinggully swollen with mud. An elderly womanfrom Milan plodded down the canyon in shoeswrapped in plastic bags. The only warmth wasthe smoky hearth of Aouath Amarin’s hot minttea served at his trinket shop atop the slickstaircase at the end of the canyon. “A lot ofpeople never see it like this,” said Ian Weir,standing out of the rain inside one of the

Nabatean temples next to friend GraemeKinkead. With Petra rained out, the two 28-year olds from Belfast, Northern Ireland, werepleasantly surprised by Little Petra’s dampgrandeur. Wrapped in hot pink and brightblue ponchos, the pair beamed at the well-worn carved stones. Kinkaid said the rainrevealed the Nabateans’ long-lost secret.

They once carved channels and cisternsinto the cliffs to catch and collect the aridregion’s scant rainfall, “so that life was possiblehere,” he said. With this water-wealth, theNabateans securely straddled trade routesuntil Romans conquered the area, and theybegan to fade into history.

What remains are ruins attracting tourists,roads used by hikers and locals, and cisternsstill catching rain. Their desert adaptations stillwork today - if one knows where to look dur-ing a rainstorm. — AFP

Sun peaks out ofrain clouds to light

up the famousmonastery in Petra

southern Jordan. — AP photos

Hikers gaze across a valley at sheep grazing on a steep slopenear the village of Beit Edis and the Roman ruins of Pella alongthe Jordan Trail.

Jordan Trail cartographer Amjad Shahrour sits atop a donkey onthe footpath between Little Petra and the famous monastery inPetra southern Jordan.

39Chocolate anddrink: Belgians fear attacks willhurt tourism

MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

Colorful skull figures are displayed for sale during Holy Week celebrations in Mexico City on March 26, 2016. For many years Mexicans have made cardboard figures representing all forms of evil, which are then torched commemo-rating the “Burning of Judas,” a tradition in which Mexicans torch effigies of the devil, politicians and others they dislike on the eve of Easter Sunday. An effigy of US presidential contender Donald Trump-a hated figure for many inMexico-was set ablaze late on March 26 in a contemporary twist on a Holy Week ritual. — AFP

Nigerian Thelma West is a raregem in the diamond world asa woman in a male-dominat-

ed sector with few Africans, despitethe continent being the main sourceof the precious rocks. The first in herfamily to work in diamonds, West isused to being an outsider, havingbeen raised in a Jewish family in acountry where Jews number fewerthan 50,000 out of a population ofaround 180 million.

“I’m the only Nigerian Jewishwoman in the trade, and I don’t knowof other African women in the busi-ness,” the 32-year-old told AFP at herLondon-based business as she greet-ed customers with a broad smile andsparkling diamonds on her handsand wrists. Discretion and securityare essential, with the anonymous-looking building guarded by anencrypted intercom system and areinforced door, all under the gaze ofa bank of security cameras.

Lagos to Antwerp After attending the most presti-

gious international school in Lagos,West travelled to Britain aged 16 tofinish her education. “I wanted tobecome an engineer because at thattime in Nigeria, you had to choose asolid career, such as doctor, lawyer,engineer,” she told AFP. But, as thesaying goes, “Diamonds Are Forever”and the sparkle of the stones, whichhad captivated West since childhood,was an irresistible allure. “My mumhad loads of jewelry,” said the daugh-ter of a Guinness drinks companyemployee mother and a propertydeveloper and industrialist father.

“We were always playing with herjewelry box and she would always

clean her jewels, and I would help.”West headed for Antwerp, the world’sdiamond capital, aged 17 despite“not knowing anybody” in theBelgian city. There, she enrolled atthe internationally renowned HogeRaad Voor Diamant school to honeher skills. “Even though you go toschool, most of your knowledgecomes from working with diamondsday-to-day,” she said.

After trying for six months in vainto secure an internship, she waseventually taken under the wing ofan Orthodox Jew diamond dealer,who worked with her every eveningafter school for a year. She was thenrecruited by one of the biggest dia-mond suppliers in Europe based inSpain. “It was being sent in at thedeep end,” she recalled. “I was 19 and

I was responsible for every single dia-mond the company had”. Teaming upwith school friends from Lagos whohad moved into investment banking,West set up her own business inLondon to trade the precious stone.

Exclusive client list Metal tongs in hand, West

explained the secrets of some of herstock. “Diamonds have fire,” saidWest. “That stone is too flat but it’sgot a lot of life in it, it was cut about100 years ago,” she said, pointing toone tiny rock.

“This one cost just over £100,000($141,000, 126,000 euros), it’s got alow color but it has been cut perfect-ly so it reflects light in such an amaz-ing way.” Fewer than 50 clients, 12 ofwhom are investors, have access to

West’s knowledge. “I can find a dia-mond and call them and say ‘we haveto buy this diamond, trust me’ andthey follow me,” she said.

Her multinational client base-intro-duced by word-of-mouth-includesSwiss, Russians, Ghanaians, Nigeriansand “a handful of French”. Helped by a10-woman team, West creates all ofher company’s products, which comewith a lifetime guarantee. Her mostambitious creation was a custom-made necklace worth around £2 mil-lion. She plans to open a workshop inNigeria, “where I’ll train girls in the artof making jewelry”. West gives littleaway but also said she is creating “arevolutionary tool” that will help peo-ple in her business. “That tool shouldbe part of every diamond dealer andevery shop”. — AFP

Nigerian businesswoman: A cut above in macho world of diamonds

Here is Little Red Riding Hood, rifle slungover her shoulder, confidently stridingthrough the forest. Now we see her

granny, taking aim with a shotgun at the BigBad Wolf. What’s that? You don’t recall yourfavorite Brothers Grimm characters packingheat? Then you must not have read the ver-sions of classic fairy tales that have beenreworked by the National Rifle Association, tohelp empower children by teaching them thatwell-armed citizens-even in the world of story-books and make-believe-can protect them-selves from those who would do them harm.

The powerful US gun lobby has long madeinitiatives for children-the next generation offuture gun owners-a key part of its outreach.The NRA has taken its efforts-controversially-astep further by reworking some of the classicsfrom children’s literature. “Most of us probablygrew up having fairy tales read to us as wedrifted off to sleep. But how many times haveyou thought back and realized just how, well,grim some of them are? Did any of them evermake your rest a little bit uneasy?” the NRAwrote on its website. “Have you ever wonderedwhat those same fairy tales might sound like ifthe hapless Red Riding Hoods, Hansels andGretels had been taught about gun safety andhow to use firearms?”

‘Twist’ on the classics The NRA enlisted writer Amelia Hamilton

“to present her twist on those classic tales.” Thegirl in the story stands little risk of beingdevoured by a wolf, armed with a firearm asshe traverses the forest en route to her grand-mother’s house. “Red felt the reassuring weightof the rifle on her shoulder,” when she crossespaths with the wolf. “His wolfish smile disap-peared for a moment when his eyes fell on her

rifle,” however. When he tries to engage her inconversation, “she shifted her rifle so that it wasin her hands and at the ready. The wolf becamefrightened and ran away.”

The girl’s grandmother finds that a gunaffords protection not just in the deep dark for-est, but at home too, when the wolf shows upthere looking to make her his meal. “The wolfleaned in, jaws open wide, then stopped sud-denly,” the story reads. “Those big eyes lookeddown and saw that grandma had a scattergunaimed right at him. “I don’t think I’ll be eatentoday,” said Grandma, “and you won’t be eatinganyone again.” Hamilton told US television thatshe was surprised that the tales have been criti-cized by some who fear they try to make gunsseem appealing to children. “The stories arereally also for adults and it’s all about safety,”the author told CBS television earlier this week.“I was surprised by the fact that it seems like alot of people didn’t read them before criticiz-ing,” she said.

Three Little Pistol-packin’ Pigs? “Little Red Riding Hood” was the first fairy

tale to be reworked, back in January. Next inline is an upcoming retelling of “The ThreeLittle Pigs.” The NRA also has put onlineHamilton’s reimagined version of the Hanseland Gretel tale. In her retelling, the impover-ished brother and sister, eager to help findfood for the family, head off into the woods.“Fortunately, they had been taught how safelyto use a gun and had been hunting with theirparents most of their lives,” the NRA version ofthe fable goes. “They knew that, deep in theforest, there were areas that had never beenhunted where they may be able to hunt forfood. They knew how to keep themselves safeshould they find themselves in trouble.” —AFP

Red Riding Hood packs heat in US gun group’s reinvented fairytale

The NRA has taken its efforts-controversially-a step further by reworking someof the classics from children’s literature. — nrafamily.org

Nigerian-Jewish diamond cutter and dealer, Thelma West, poses for a photograph with a selection of dia-mond encrusted rings in her office in London. — AFP photos

Nigerian-Jewish diamond cutter and dealer, Thelma West, poses for aphotograph holding a cut diamond, valued at GBP 100,000, in her office.

Nigerian-Jewish diamond cutter and dealer, Thelma West, poses for aphotograph with a selection of diamond encrusted rings in her office.