JEDDAH: The secretary-general of theworld’s largest bloc of Islamic countriessaid yesterday that the kidnapping ofmore than 270 Nigerian schoolgirls is a“barbaric” and “inhumane” act. IyadMadani, who leads the Organization ofIslamic Cooperation, spoke to AP in hisfirst interview with the media since offi-cially taking office in January. The kidnap-ping by the extremist group Boko Haramin Nigeria has prompted worldwide con-demnation, and Muslim scholars aroundthe world have called for the girls’ imme-diate release and safe return. The OIC andother Islamic bodies have said the acts ofBoko Haram do not represent Islam. “Thisis inhumane and barbaric,” Madani said.“They are simply criminal outlaws.”

Speaking from the OIC’s headquartersin the coastal city of Jeddah, SaudiArabia, he said such extremist groups“not only disavow their Islam, but theirhumanity”. “When an organization kid-naps young schoolgirls and claims thatthis is Islam and that Allah has orderedthis, and when they say they are acting inaccordance with Islam in offering thesekidnapped girls for sale, how could thatrelate to Islam, its holy book or anyIslamic doctrine?” he said.

The OIC is comprised of 57 Muslim-majority member-states that span acrossAfrica and Asia. It was established in1969, and Madani is the 10th secretary-general to head the institution. He is alsothe first Saudi at its helm. The organiza-tion faces challenges in presenting a uni-fied Muslim voice, particularly as parts ofthe Arab world are gripped in a seeming-ly endless cycle of sectarian violence.

Despite such divisions, Madani saysordinary Muslims feel a shared sense ofIslamic identity with one another thatsupersedes doctrinal orientation. Hedescribed Islam as a religion thatembraces a diversity of ideas, culturesand people. “This is the nature of Islam...which guides the OIC from within,” hesaid. “The roots of the problems are notin how we interpret or understand ourIslamic identity,” he added, but have to dowith politics, economics and governancewithin nations.

He said sectarian killings and extremistgroups like Boko Haram are a threat tothe essence of Islam and to co-existencewith non-Muslims who are a part of theculture and civilization of countrieswhere Muslims are the majority. “The OICis striving to have a strong and active rolein facing these extremist movements... sothat they are not associated with Islam orany Muslim country.” — AP

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Ajmi’s resignation to be accepted

How Assad seized momentum in war

Dr Dre: From LA gangsta rapper to Forbes top dog?

Bayern celebrate, Hamburg get lifeline

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Teen kills maid for

leaving family houseJakhour ‘gay’ party busted, 32 arrested

By A Saleh and Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: A teenager beat his family’s maid to death because sheearlier left their house in Saad Al-Abdullah, according to police inves-tigations. Police had apprehended the housemaid’s female employerafter the Ethiopian woman arrived dead at Jahra Hospital on Friday.The woman was questioned after head injuries and beat marks werenoticed on the victim’s body.

Investigations revealed yesterday that the perpetrator was thewoman’s 15-year-old son. According to investigators, the boy brutal-ly attacked the maid under the pretext that she left the family’shouse without permission. The circumstances behind the maid’sescape and return to her employer’s house are still unknown. Theteen’s mother is also expected to face charges for covering up thecrime.

Meanwhile, a security source said vice detectives raided a jakhour(animal pen) where homosexual parties for both genders were beingorganized. The source said that 32 men and women were arrested inthe pen in Kabd. Liquor and women’s clothing were also confiscated.

Separately, two more suspects - a Syrian and a Kuwaiti - werearrested in connection with an armed robbery in which two Indiansecurity guards were killed at the vegetable market in Sulaibiya lastmonth. The arrests were made after the first suspect, a Syrian man,gave police the identity and location of his accomplices. The primesuspect, a bedoon man, remains at large.

Investigations with the two Syrians revealed that they were bornstateless but later obtained Syrian nationality. The Kuwaiti man saidduring questioning that his involvement in the case was limited tokeeping the money stolen during the crime after one of the Syrianmen handed the cash over to him.

The Syrians confirmed that they were present at the crime scene.They said that the bedoon man fired all the 36 rounds in the maga-zine of an AK-47 at the victims. Both victims were Indian nationals -Sharangdharan was killed on the spot while his colleagueMuhammad Rashid Thangal died shortly after arriving at FarwaniyaHospital. Detectives reportedly escorted the three suspects to thescene to reenact the crime. KUWAIT: Pigeons gather around a roadside sprinkler to cool off yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

OIC slams ‘barbaric’ Nigeria kidnappings

Iyad Madani

JUBA: A ceasefire between South Sudan’sgovernment and rebels was due to comeinto effect yesterday following a deal toend a brutal five-month war that haspushed the country to the brink of geno-cide and famine. President Salva Kiir andrebel leader Riek Machar, a former vicepresident, met in the Ethiopian capital onFriday, shook hands and prayed together,and agreed to order a halt to fighting with-in 24 hours. Army and aid sources saidfrontlines appeared to be quiet.

The deal came as the United Nationsfood agency said there was only a “smallwindow of opportunity” to avert famine,and appealed for relief agencies - who havebeen subjected to armed attacks and loot-ing - to be allowed unfettered access. Intheir deal, the rivals “agreed that a transitiongovernment offers the best chance to thepeople of South Sudan” with the promise offresh elections for the world’s youngestnation, said Seyoum Mesfin, head mediatorwith the East African regional bloc IGAD.

Both sides also “agreed to open human-itarian corridors... and to cooperate withthe UN” to ensure aid is delivered, headded. Military officials from both sidessaid frontlines appeared to be quiet aheadof the deadline to implement the truce. Aceasefire had been agreed to in Januarybut quickly fell apart. South Sudanese armyspokesman Philip Aguer told AFP that thetruce appeared to already be in place,

information that was echoed by severalindependent aid sources. “As far as theinformation I have there are not any skir-mishes today. The rebels are under RiekMachar and it was Riek Machar whodeclared war against the government,” hesaid, adding however that he feared “otherforces not under the control of RiekMachar”.

The peace deal, which followed intenselobbying from world leaders andWashington slapping sanctions on seniormilitary commanders, came amid newreports of war crimes committed by bothsides and fears that a wave of ethnickillings could result in genocide. — AFP

S Sudan ceasefire

to begin after deal

ADDIS ABABA: Salva Kiir (left),President of South Sudan, and RiekMachar, SPLM opposition leader,hand over the cessation of hostilitiestreaty on Friday. — AFP

DUBAI: A bus overturned and hit a lorry parked on thehard shoulder of a motorway outside Dubai yesterday,killing 15 Asian workers on board, state media said. Thecrash happened on Emirates Road, a busy route thatconnects the capital Abu Dhabi to the north of theUnited Arab Emirates, bypassing Dubai itself. Police didnot immediately specify the nationalities of the dead inthe accident in the Dubai suburb of Ruwayyah.. — AFP

DUBAI: A severely damaged bus is seen follow-ing an accident on a motorway that killed 15Asian workers yesterday. — AFP

Dubai bus

crash kills

15 workers

HOMS: Syrians return to the Juret Al-Shayah district of this central city yesterdayafter the last Syrian rebels left the neighbourhood under an evacuation deal. — AFP

HOMS: Syrians streamed back into the ruins ofthe Old City of Homs yesterday, picking throughthe remains of their homes and trying to come toterms with the destruction. Thousands of peoplewalked through the devastated streets of theirformer neighbourhoods, some appearing shell-shocked by the scale of the damage. The influxcame a day after the last rebel holdouts left thearea under an evacuation deal that handed theOld City back to the government, granting it asymbolic victory.

The pullout leaves the rebels confined to a sin-gle district on the outskirts of Homs, Syria’s thirdcity once dubbed “the capital of the revolution”against President Bashar Al-Assad. Yesterday,Homs provincial governor Talal Al-Barazi declaredthe evacuated areas safe, after troops swept forexplosives. “Barazi announced that the Old City ofHoms is safe and free of weapons and insurgents

thanks to the sacrifices of the Syrian army,” statenews agency SANA said.

Residents quickly returned to see whatremained of their homes, and retrieve whateverwas left behind. Many were visibly distressed bythe scale of destruction, with rubble strewnacross streets and every building bearing scarsfrom the conflict that wracked the central cityonce home to 1.6 million people. Rebel forces inthe Old City were under government siege fornearly two years before the deal to evacuate, andregime troops shelled the area almost dailythroughout.

“I promised my wife that I would bring hersewing machine, and that’s what I’m doing,” saidJamil Habib, a retired teacher aged 77. He wept ashe surveyed his house - rebels had punched largeholes in the walls to allow them passage throughbuildings. “The destruction is just horrible,” said

37-year-old Rima Battah, in the Hamidiyeh districtof the Old City. “My husband went to our houseyesterday and found it destroyed. We came backtogether today to get our things,” she added, ges-turing to the five large bags of possessions.

Dozens of families were doing the same, gath-ering whatever clothes and keepsakes could besalvaged. Barazi told SANA he was forming com-mittees of residents to assess the damage. Someof those returning were already looking ahead toreconstruction. “Like in Vietnam, or Japan, orEurope, we will rebuild after the war,” said AbuRami Abaebu, a trader. “It’s as if there had been anearthquake, but now it’s over.” State media inter-viewed returning residents who expressed theirgratitude to the army and Assad. They filmedinside an Armenian church compound, part ofwhich the rebels has used as a headquarters andfield hospital. — AFP

Syrians stream back into Homs

L O C A LSUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

Photo of the day

Pigeons position themselves in thin slivers of shade during a hot summer day. — Photo by Joseph Shagra

By A Saleh

KUWAIT: MP Abdulhameed Dashti hasannounced plans to file a grilling motion againsta minister who he says has failed to perform hisduties. The lawmaker revealed these plans toPrime Minister HH Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah and informed him that another MP isexpected to join him in filing the grilling. He didnot mention the minister’s name or the grilling’stiming in his statement yesterday. Dashtiexplained that the minister was warned repeat-edly over errors he committed, but never actedto rectify the mistakes. He demanded that theminister resign or face an interpellation. Dashtialso indicated that two other ministers are on hisgrilling list “should they fail to act regarding vio-lations we pointed out to him”.

Parliament’s agendaFive parliamentary committees meet today to

discuss a variety of topics. The budgets commit-tee meets to discuss the 2014/2015 budgets forthe Kuwait Ports Association and PublicAuthority for Industry. Representatives from theFinance Ministry, Audit Bureau, as well as KPAand PAI are set to attend the meeting. The finan-cial committee meets meanwhile to discuss pro-posed amendments on the public tenders law,as Finance Minister Anas Al-Saleh, CabinetAffairs Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-AbdullahAl-Sabah and Central Tenders Committee repre-sentatives are set to attend.

Meanwhile, the investigations committee inthe North Zour power plant project resumes itsmeetings today with presence of director of thePartnership and Technical Bureau, the AssistantUndersecretary for Companies and LicensesAffairs at the Ministry of Commerce andIndustry, as well as director of the shareholdingcompanies’ department in the same ministry.

Preparations are ongoing in the meantime forTuesday’s session in which MPs are set to discussa number of hot topics, including resignations

submitted by Riyadh Al-Adasani, AbdulkareemAl-Kandari and Hussein Al-Quwaiaan.Lawmakers are expected to accept the resigna-tions, and do the same when they discuss theresignations of MPs Safa Al-Hashem and Ali Al-Rashed next week so that by-elections can beheld before the end of June.

The parliament is also set to discuss a requestto launch a probe in agricultural property distri-bution, the clean fuel project and weapon theftsfrom the Interior Ministry ’s warehouses.Furthermore, MPs are scheduled to discuss theGulf security pact, in addition to seven key draftlaws, including the public transportation author-ity and bedoon naturalization. The general beliefis that the government will ask MPs to postponea draft law that calls for naturalizing 4,000bedoons this year, in order to allow the CentralApparatus for Illegal Residents to resolve theissue.

The parliament could also allocate two hoursto study foreign investments based on a govern-ment request submitted recently. The discus-sion, which is expected to take place behindclosed doors, is meant to clarify MPs’ concernsover potential losses suffered in KuwaitInvestment Authority’s investments.

Maid shelterAl-Rai daily published yesterday a draft law

presented by MP Kamel Al-Awadhi that propos-es establishing at least one shareholding compa-ny for domestic labor recruitment. The proposalstipulates setting up a company whose job is torecruit domestic workers and provide them tosponsors, while at the same supervising shelterswhere maids can stay until their recruitment ordeportation procedures are finalized.

In other news, Deputy Prime Minister andInterior Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-KhalidAl-Sabah said that forgery cases discovered invehicle-related transactions have been referredto the Public Prosecution, Al-Qabas daily report-ed yesterday.

Dashti warns minister, threatens grillingTwo other ministers on grilling list

KUWAIT: Minister of Justice andMinister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs DrNayef Al-Ajmi submitted his resignationfrom the Cabinet on Thursday, the sec-ond time this year, Cabinet insidersrevealed. Ajmi asked to be relieved ofhis duties for health reasons in a letterto Prime Minister HH Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah. His resignation isexpected to be officially accepted asearly as today, said the sources whospoke to Al-Rai daily on the condition ofanonymity.

The Cabinet had rejected Ajmi’s res-ignation last month which he had sub-mitted for health reasons as well. Heresumed his duties after meeting HHthe Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-

Sabah, who reportedly asked him toremain in office. A report last week hadsuggested that Ajmi’s resignation wasnot denied, but was rather postponeduntil a final decision could be madewithin a couple of weeks.

Earlier this year, Ajmi’s nameappeared in a report released by the USTreasury undersecretary for terrorismand financial intelligence David Cohen,who accused him of having a history of“promoting jihad in Syria”. Ajmiacknowledged he had taken part infundraising campaigns for Syria, butinsisted they had been for humanitarianpurposes and not for Syria’s Al-Qaedaaffiliate Al-Nusra Front as alleged byCohen.

Justice minister’s resignation to be accepted

Dr Nayef Al-Ajmi

KUWAIT: A lawmaker criticized officials at theSalmiya police station for allegedly refusing tocooperate with a woman’s request to pressbattery assault charges, and announced plansto send questions to Deputy Prime Ministerand Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled Al-Sabah over the issue. Meanwhile,the Interior Ministry responded with a state-ment in which they indicated that an investi-gation was opened in the case that involves afemale shopper who says that she was brutallyassaulted by four women, whom shedescribed as tomboys, over a traffic dispute

outside a mall on Salem Al-Mubarak Street.The woman, a Lebanese national, said that

detectives at the Salmiya kept her waiting formore than four hours after she obtained amedical report of wounds she sustained dur-ing the attack. The woman eventually decidednot to press charges when she noticed thatpolicemen were not interested in looking intoher complaint, according to her statements.

MP Abdullah Al-Turaiji suggested that‘wasta’ or connections played a role in stallingthe case. “The investigation department atthe Salmiya police station refused to file a

case despite the fact that the complainantwas subjected to brutal assault at the handsof four ‘boyat’ (tomboys) in front of witness-es,” he said.

The lawmaker added that the detectives’actions of ignoring the medical report that thevictim provided was ‘unacceptable’, suggest-ing that they might have acted to ‘cover up’the case after receiving calls from people withinfluence. “We demand equal law enforcementbecause people are born free and thereforeshould not be subjected to enslavement,”Turaiji added.

MP slams Interior Ministry over woman’s assault

Kuwait hostsenergy conference

KUWAIT: An energy and environment conference is set tostart here today under sponsorship of Minister of Oil andMinister of State for National Assembly Affairs Ali Al-Omair.

The conference will be co-organized by Kuwait Society ofEngineers and Indian engineers working in Kuwait, Eng. IyadAl-Humoud, the chairman of the society, said in a press releasehere yesterday.

During the conference, the participants will discuss a hostof issues bearing on the future of energy in Kuwait, orienta-tions of energy and environment and relevant administrativeand engineering challenges, he said. The event will feature aspecialized exhibition to be organized by a number of localand international oil companies, Al-Humoud added.

He added that mega projects launched by oil companies inthe country mark a genuine jumping-off for development andrevamp of oil infrastructure utilities, leading up to a devel-oped economic base needed by the country for the comingstage. Topics and working papers to be discussed during theevent are hoped to give a real push to research activities forgigantic projects, he pointed out. —KUNA

KU signs MoU with Iranian university

TEHRAN: President of Kuwait University (KU) Dr AbdullatifAl-Bader signed here yesterday a memorandum of under-standing with President of Tehran University of MedicalSciences (TUMS) Dr Ali Jaafarian promoting the exchangeof teachers and students between the two universities.

Commenting on the visit to Iran by himself and a dele-gation from the KU accompanying him, Dr. Al-Bader toldKUNA that the visit was within KU’s plans to pursue friend-ship links with institutions of higher learning in the region,with an eye to exchange with them students and teachersand educational expertise. He said the delegation with himwas impressed with TUMS’s school of nursing which hesaid KU lacked at the present time, and was also impressedwith the college of agriculture at the University of Ferdousiwhen the delegation visited it in the Iranian city of Mashad.

He said that it was imperative that KU should have asimilar college of agriculture. —KUNA

L O C A LSUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Health is taking allprecautions necessary to ward off the onset ofCoronavirus in the country by, among othermeasures, forming a highly-specialized panel ofhealth experts to prepare well-researchedguidelines that can help the ministry in its planto fight this disease if it ever appears in Kuwait.

The ministry has also put together a team ofexperts whose task is to respond instantly withdiagnostic and treatment advice to any clinic,hospital, whether in the public or private sec-tors that might face potential cases of this dis-ease.

Only three cases have really been diagnosedwith the coronavirus in Kuwait and have beenpromptly dealt with.

The WHO, in its statistics about the perva-siveness of this disease worldwide, publishedlast April, noted that there have been 254 docu-mented cases of the disease, 93 of them endedin the death of the patients. The statistics alsoindicated that the country with the most casesis Saudi Arabia.

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) isa viral respiratory illness caused by a coron-avirus called MERS-CoV. Most people who havebeen confirmed to have MERS-CoV infection

developed severe respiratory illness. They hadfever, cough, and shortness of breath. Morethan 30 percent of these people died.

Flu symptomsMERS-CoV cases have been reported in sev-

eral countries, including Saudi Arabia, Malaysia,Jordan, Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates,Tunisia, the Philippines, and the United States.

The first confirmed cases were reported in anAmman hospital among health care workersand nursing staff in April 2012, where the caseswere determined to be H2H transmission. Latera 60-year-old male patient with acute pneumo-nia and acute renal failure, who passed away inJeddah, June 24, 2012. Egyptian virologist Dr. AliMohamed Zaki isolated and identified a previ-ously unknown coronavirus from the man’slungs. Dr Zaki then posted his findings onProMED-mail. The isolated cells showed cyto-pathic effects (CPE), in the form of rounding andsyncetia formation.

A second case was found in September 2012.A 49-year-old male living in Qatar presentedsimilar flu symptoms, and a sequence of thevirus was nearly identical to that of the firstcase. In November 2012, similar cases appeared

in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Additional cases werenoted, with deaths associated, and rapidresearch and monitoring of this novel coron-avirus began.

It is not certain whether the infections arethe result of a single zoonotic event with subse-quent human-to-human transmission, or if themultiple geographic sites of infection representmultiple zoonotic events from a commonunknown source.

A study by Ziad Memish of Riyadh Universityand colleagues suggests that the virus arosesometime between July 2007 and June 2012,with perhaps as many as 7 separate zoonotictransmissions. Among animal reservoirs, CoVhas a large genetic diversity yet the samplesfrom patients suggest a similar genome, andtherefore common source, though the data arelimited. It has been determined through molec-ular clock analysis, that viruses from theEMC/2012 and England/Qatar/2012 date to ear-ly 2011 suggesting that these cases aredescended from a single zoonotic event. Itwould appear the MERS-CoV has been circulat-ing in the human population for greater thanone year without detection and suggests inde-pendent transmission from an unknown source.

Ministry takes precautions against coronavirus

Experts panel to prepare guidelines

KUWAIT: 61 volunteers who are children of Gulf expats married to Kuwaiti womenwere accepted at the police school. They will go through classroom and practicalcourses for four months, on law and police topics, in addition to military and sportstraining.

KUWAIT: A new book by a Kuwaiti sports journal-ism has been released recently documenting themarch of sports media in Kuwait and sheddinglight on some of the most distinctive and influen-tial media personalities and figures in Kuwaitisports since its early beginnings in the 1930s untilcurrent year.

The 320-page book is entitled “Sports Media inKuwait: History and Accomplishments” and writtenby Zaid Zeyad Al-Serbel. It documents in details thedifferent stages of Kuwait’s sports media develop-ment on local, regional, and international levelssince 1928 and until early 2014.

In his introduction to the book, Minister ofInformation and Minister of State for Youth AffairsSheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah laudedthe author’s valuable initiative in writing “this spe-cial book” which preserves the identity and historyof sports media in Kuwait, adding it also motivatesthe new generation to continue this successfulmarch.

Sheikh Salman also said that Kuwaiti sportsmedia will remain a pioneering and up to the patri-otic responsibility, describing it as a windowthrough which sports movement overlooks on oth-ers, an eye of criticism to correct flaws and errors, amirror that reflects national accomplishments, anda carrier of the bright image of all its surroundings.

He also said that Kuwait has achieved succes-sive leaps through efforts exerted by national jour-nalists and media figures, particularly sports jour-

nalists along over 70 years filled with dedicationand achievements.

Sheikh Salman also expressed gratitude andappreciation of all loyal Kuwaiti efforts that con-tribute to raising Kuwait’s flag high at internationalevents of in different domains, including sportsmedia. He also pointed out that His Highness theAmir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah isone of the major figures that supported Kuwaitimedia march and success through his keenness inplacing Kuwait above any regard, and keepingpace with latest international and technologicaldevelopments of media in all its areas and forms.

His Highness the Amir urged spreading ofsports culture, inculcating educational, social, andhealth values, combating sports intolerance, hooli-ganism, illegal financial gain, and drugs, promotingspirit of fair play, and keeping up with latest tech-nology, Sheikh Salman said.

For his part, Al-Serbel, who also worked asEditor-in-Chief for the local affairs desk at KUNA,stated yesterday that the book contains a completerecord, word and image, of different stages ofKuwaiti sports media and its various outlets, as wellas achievements throughout the years. He dedicat-ed the book to His Highness the Amir, His Highnessthe Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-JaberAl-Sabah, His Highness the Prime Minister SheikhJaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, and to all ofthose who contributed in development of Kuwaitand Kuwaiti media. —KUNA

Book documents sports media

KUWAIT: Speaker of the National AssemblyMarzouq Al-Ghanem will attend the finals ofthe contest on knowledge of the Kuwaiticonstitution aimed at high schoolers, saidSecretary General of the Assembly Allam Al-Kanderi in a press statement yesterday.

He noted that the contest was being heldunder the dual sponsorship of the NationalAssembly General Secretariat and theMinistry of Education, adding that the ven-ue for the contest will be at the receptionhall in the National Assembly building.

The contest is open to all high schoolersfrom the public and private sectors and willtake place tomorrow.

Al-Kanderi said the contest aimed at dis-seminating awareness among students as tothe constitution and its value to society,emphasizing that the General Secretariatwas keen on spreading this awarenessamong not just high school students butalso employees of the government min-istries and agencies.—KUNA

constitution

awareness Contest

for students

p3.e$S_Layout 1 5/10/14 9:00 PM Page 1

L O C A LSUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

KUWAIT: A homicide investigation was openedin the death of a man whose body was found onBlajat beach Friday. Police and paramedics head-ed to the scene in response to an emergency callreporting an unconscious man. People in a near-by café called police after approaching a strangeobject on the beach, and discovering it was aman lying motionless. The 39-year-old Saudinational was pronounced dead shortly afterarriving at the Mubarak Hospital. Examinationsrevealed beat marks on the man’s body, suggest-ing that foul play was involved in his death.Investigations are ongoing.

Maid strandedA domestic worker faces a dilemma after her

employer refused to let her into his house,when she delivered a baby there. The Ethiopianmaid failed to provide documents to prove hermarriage against charges of adultery that heremployer pressed against her at Farwaniyapolice station. The case began around threeweeks ago when the man made an emergencycall saying that his maid delivered a baby insidethe bathroom in his house. An ambulancerushed to the man’s house located in Rabiya,

and took the maid along with her newborn toFarwaniya Hospital. They were discharged later,and the employer took the maid to the policestation immediately afterwards. The womansaid during questioning that she is marriedback home, but was not aware of her pregnan-cy when she came to Kuwait. Her employerargued she never said that she was marriedwhen she was hired, and she could not providedocuments to prove her legal marriage. Sheremained in police custody along with her childfor a few days, until both were taken to the hos-pital again when they needed medical atten-tion. The woman was eventually transferred tothe Psychological Medicine Hospital after suf-fering a nervous breakdown, while the babywas admitted in the intensive care unit inFarwaniya Hospital. Police are coordinatingwith officials at the Ethiopian embassy in orderto communicate with Ethiopian authorities toobtain evidence that the woman is legitimatelymarried.

Work mishapA worker died after falling from a high place

at a construction site in Mahboula. The Indian

national was working on the third floor of anapartment building, when he lost balance andfell to the ground, according to his coworkers’statements. Police arrived at the scene withparamedics after case was reported, but discov-ered that the man had already succumbed tohis injuries. Crime scene investigators took thebody to the forensic department after examin-ing the scene. No immediate evidence of foulplay was found through preliminary investiga-tions. Investigations are ongoing in the case.

Suicide attemptA maid was hospitalized in a critical condi-

tion after a botched suicide attempt at heremployer’s house, according to investigations.An ambulance rushed to a house in Qurain inresponse to an emergency call made lateThursday night. They found the 30-year-oldIndian woman unconscious and took her toAdan Hospital. She was diagnosed with bloodpoisoning and admitted in the intensive careunit. Preliminary investigations indicate thatthe woman consumed cleaning solution in anapparent suicide attempt. Investigations areongoing.

Homicide probe in man’s beach death

Maid stranded after baby delivery

KUWAIT: Warba Bank announced that aspecial space has been designated at TheAvenues to host and promote Warba Bank’slatest campaign, “E’tamid Warba & Transferyour Salary”, which will last until June 26. Atthe end of the campaign, customers willobtain the opportunity to win a MercedesG63 AMG with state-of-the-art design andperformance.

Speaking about Warba’s stand at TheAvenues, Adnan Al-Salem, Chief RetailBanking Group, said: “Warba Bank hasselected a special space at The Avenues;one of the most popular shopping placesin Kuwait, to apprise customers of the newmarketing campaign of salary transfer toWarba, and allow them the opportunity tosee the valuable Mercedes G63 AMG theymay win.”

“By transferring their salaries to Warbaduring the period of the new campaign,customers will have a chance; while Safwadistinguished salary customers whosesalaries are not below KD 1,500 will have adouble chance, to win the Mercedes.”

“Warba’s team will be present at thestand to communicate with the customers,

to introduce them to the mechanism ofenrollment in the draw, and respond totheir relevant enquiries,” concluded Al-Salem.

For more information on “E’tamid Warba& Transfer your Salary” campaign, pleasevisit Warba Bank’s stand at The AvenuesMall; contact the Customer Service Centerat 1825555; or visit your nearest WarbaBank branch.

Warba Bank, an Islamic Bank establishedby virtue of an Amiri Decree, was officiallyregistered in the Central Bank of Kuwait’sregister of Islamic Banks on April 5, 2010.The State of Kuwait, represented by KuwaitInvestment Authority (KIA), owns 24% ofthe bank’s total shares, while the remaining76% of shares, fully subscribed by the gov-ernment, has been equally allocated to allKuwaiti nationals. Warba Bank offers arange of customized Sharia compliant serv-ices and solutions which are availablethrough the banks three divisions of RetailBanking Group, Corporate Banking Group,and Investment and Treasury Group.Branching out in 7 strategic locations,Warba Bank has over 250 employees.

Warba Bank campaign to visit the Avenues

Gulf ambassadors’ return pending

panel discussionsKUWAIT: Ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and theUnited Arab Emirates to Qatar are set to return to Dohaafter technical committees in the Gulf CooperationCouncil finish their meetings within two to three weeks.

There is general agreement on the need for Qatar tochange its political and media approach, especially whendealing with certain issues such as Egypt and Syria, saidsources with knowledge of the discussions.

“The committees are investigating the reasons behindthe GCC conflicts frankly and transparently,” the sourcesadded.

Doha mentioned notes on the behavior of SaudiArabia, Bahrain and the UAE towards it, but at the sametime promised to ‘control’ its media approach through AlJazeera TV, and keeping Sheikh Yousuf Al-Qaradawi’s agi-tating positions away from the Gulf scene, said the sourceswho spoke to Al-Qabas on the condition of anonymity.

Asked about the reason why the GCC ministerial meet-ing in Riyadh today was canceled, the sources said that ithappened due to scheduling conflicts, and added that themeeting will be rescheduled at a later time.

ROME: Kuwaiti Ambassador SheikhAli Khaled Al-Jaber Al-Sabah dis-cussed means to pick up on Italy’sexpertise in the food industry duringa visit to the northern city of Parmaand ties between the two sides onthe cultural and tourism spectrums.

This occurred as the Mayor ofParma Federico Pizzarotti took theambassador on a tour of theEuropean Food Safety Authority(EFSA) in the city which lies in theEmilia-Romagna region of northernItaly.

The visit comes as both sides arepreparing to celebrate their GoldenJubilee anniversary since the start ofdiplomatic relations.

How Kuwait could cooperate with

Parma, which is known for its highquality internationally listed foods,namely meats and cheeses, and itsrich cultural and historic significance,was also a topic of discussion.

Mayor Pizzarotti, in the presence ofParma’s Minister of ProductiveActivities, welcomed increased indus-trial and investment cooperationbetween businesses from both sides,and expressed keenness at theprospect of hosting Kuwaiti delega-tions who could pick up on both thecity’s and the continent’s expertise onthe matter.

The Kuwaiti ambassador was alsotaken on a cultural day-trip aroundthe ancient city’s castles, walkwaysand squares. —KUNA

Kuwaiti envoy talks food industry cooperation

with Parma Mayor

L O C A LSUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

AMMAN: Kuwait’s Minister of Social Affairs andLabor Hind Al-Sabeeh said here yesterday theGCC member states have never spared any effortto promote and bolster inter-Arab cooperation.Addressing an Arab conference on social priori-ties, Al-Sabeeh who also doubles as minister ofstate for planning and development, said theGulf Cooperation Council (GCC) believes in thesignificance of Arab integration and cooperationas they are key for progress and prosperity.

Social responsibility is given increasing atten-tion in the GCC member states out of firm con-viction about the importance of promotingsocial partnership in the fulfillment of sustain-able social development responsibility tasks andresponsibilities, she said.

It is the responsibility of everyone, ratherthan the government alone, to promote devel-opment and ensure societal security and stabili-ty, given that civil society and the private sectoract as catalysts for genuine development, theminister added.

She pointed to belief in the possibility ofnotching development goals and purposes,believing that there are now positive indicationsfor this belief.

She underlined the necessity of exerting con-certed social work and committing to relevantresolutions and undertakings to achieve Arabdevelopment and welfare.

In this regard, the minister called for review-ing programs, policies and plans purposed tocope with the latest changes and variables andto improve the level of development and itsmechanisms and requirements.

She also called for setting out a roadmap forArab priorities of sustainable development inorder to create an integrated single entity thatcan fend off all possible negative effects and

contribute to the prevention of perils and risksthreatening people.

On her part, Egyptian Minister of SocialSecurity Ghada Wali said Arab countries have ful-filled only a few goals of sustainable develop-ment.

They have failed to face poverty and unem-ployment, to find jobs for young people, toensure gender equality or to promote women’sstatus, she lamented.

The government will continue offering sup-port for youth projects and initiatives in all fields,vowed Minister of Information and Minister ofState for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman SabahSalem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah.

Meanwhile, Kuwait Ministry of State for YouthAffairs supports initiatives that help youthachieve their aspirations and raise Kuwait’s flaghigh in international events, the Minister saidyesterday during his reception of the officials ofthe integrated program for career qualificationand guidance program, or Jahzeen project.

He added that the ministry is putting all itscapabilities in service of youth to encouragethem to harness their talents and increase theircreativity, as they are the backbone of the statedevelopment process.

For his part, Chief Manager of Jahzeen ProjectAbdullah Al-Hajri noted that the Jahzeen projectaims to qualify new graduates and job-seekersto meet the requirements of the labor market aswell as to guide them to choose the most suit-able job to be able to excel and be creative intheir future work.

Moreover, the program aims also at creating anew generation of highly-qualified, skilled andhard workers who will steer the national econo-my and state development in the future. —KUNA

Gulf efforts to boostArab cooperation

Conference on social priorities

US specialist in town to get stories from teenagers

KUWAIT: Myrtis Mixon (right) and Randall Imel during the interview at theUS Embassy.

Afghan envoy hails Kuwaiti relief efforts

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s humanitarian assistance andquick response to relief efforts for a devastatinglandslide in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan provincewas commended by its Ambassador to KuwaitAssadullah Hanif Balkhy yesterday.

The landslide, which struck just under a weekago, destroyed most of a village in the remotenortheastern Badakhshan province, leaving thou-sands displaced as a result.

It occurred as week-long heavy rains resultedin a flood, containing mud and rocks, whichswept onto the village located in a low valley, saidthe ambassador. After meeting Chairman of theKuwait Red Crescent Society Barjas Al-Barjas,Ambassador Balkhy commended the humanitari-an organisation’s efforts and its quick response toproviding relief for nations affected by hazardsand natural disasters.

He said he was grateful for the continuous“brotherly assistance” offered by Kuwait toAfghanistan, through the KRCS, noting that thisillustrates the strength of bilateral relations. Al-Barjas had been briefed on the best means possi-ble through which this relief could be distributedto the people on ground affected by the disaster.

He expressed Kuwait’s solidarity with theAfghan people during their ordeal, adding thatthe organization he heads will continue assumingits humanitarian responsibilities and cooperatingwith the international community to ease the bur-den. —KUNA

KUWAIT: The Commercial Bank of Kuwait announced presenting financialsupport to the Rumathiya Cooperative Society, to help support the society’ssocial activities. Picture shows Lina Darweesh, Regional Director of theIndividuals Banking Department (left) presenting the cheque to KhalidMandani, Rumathiya Co-op Society Treasurer.

By Nawara Fattahova

KUWAIT: US English Language as a Second LanguageSpecialist Dr Myrtis Mixon is visiting Kuwait as part of herthree-week trip and program that aims to get stories fromteenagers to be collected in a book. She spent five days inKuwait participating in a number of workshops on Englishand storytelling for students and teachers at various edu-cational facilities here, including Amideast, the College ofBasic Education and AUK among others.

On this occasion, the US embassy held a roundtablemedia interview at its premises on Thursday, during whichMixon spoke about her program. “I’m looking for stories ofteenagers who can send them to the embassy and they willget them to me. These stories will be collected in a bookthat will then be published and distributed here. In a previ-ous book, students wrote stories of something that hap-pened to them or they know about. For instance, one girl inRussia wrote the story of her grandmother and her experi-ences in the 1940s and 1950s during the World War II,where they were sent into exile and a Siberian woman wel-comed them. I have done similar programs in four countries- Nepal, Russia, Salvador and Kazakhstan,” she stated.

“We use these stories as content for a textbook. It wasan inspiration of someone in Russia, but since then I havedone it in Nepal. One was about someone’s name, andanother one about a friend that did not last but then madeup much later, about friendship or loss of friendship, abouta girl being good to a poor child and helping him to go toschool,” she added.

Telling stories makes students listen and speak a lot.“Hearing or listening may be the hardest thing. Hearingbecomes easy after years of study but writing is hard too.So I get them to interact over stories and writing, so I canget them do vocabulary and grammar in some exercisesand then comprehension and also discussions, as there is alot to discuss in stories. There’s also role-play. Stories arealways a good resource as they are fun,” explained Mixon.

Two-year programThis program is an inspiration for finding material that

will appeal to a teenage reader. “We are finding what theyare interested in and then getting them to write. It’s amaz-ing that they can write, even though their English may notbe good. They send it to me and I reply asking them to tellme more about the homeless man that you helped forinstance. Some seem very simple but they are written fromthe heart. I asked the teacher here not to correct them,because the teacher sometimes gets overzealous and maycorrect it and it will sound like teacher’s story and not astudent’s story. So we want stories written by teenagers upto 19 years old, so it may be a more sophisticated voice,someone who has an experience, more like a 17 year old,”she pointed out.

The project is very interesting and she hopes to finish itby September or October. “We will be able to get 50 stories.We are also asking for folktales and we are hopeful adultslike teachers do the translation. We are also looking for his-torical stories will be good for the history of Kuwait. Duringthis visit we are also working with teachers,” stressed Mixon.

Todd Bullock, Cultural Attache at the AmericanEmbassy, provided some information about the AccessProgram. “Our Access Program that Dr Mixon mentioned isa two-year program for Kuwaiti public schools studentsaged between 13 to 15, implemented by our partnerAmideast. Students go to Amideast for after-schoolEnglish classes. In addition to the classes, the embassy hasactivities for them. Sometimes we bring them here to theembassy or we arrange the visit of individuals such as DrMixon to work with them and give them practical skill touse their English - not just grammar and sentences, butalso storytelling as it’s very interactive,” he noted.

The book is funded by the US embassies and the USDepartment of State. “The Regional English LanguageOffice is based in Bahrain, and we support English lan-guage learning throughout the GCC. This is how the pro-gram was specifically funded to come to Kuwait, out of ourcooperation with this office to come to Kuwait to work notjust with Kuwaiti students but also Kuwaiti teachers,” headded.

Mixon has a BA in history from Trinity College, an MA inEnglish from Wichita State University, a TESL Certificatefrom New York State University, and an EdD in internationaland multicultural education from University of SanFrancisco. She has worked on teacher training and curricu-lum development in more than 20 countries, including inthe United States and abroad in Eastern and CentralEurope, the Middle East, Africa and South America. Shehas taught English at US high schools and colleges and ESLat universities on the east and west coasts. She is theauthor of eight ESL textbooks and is a frequent presenterat professional conferences. She is also a professional story-teller. She has taught ESL at the University of San Franciscosince 1992.

By Labeed Abdal

local@kuwaittimes.net

Foreign

interventions

Saudi Arabia’s Al-Watan daily argued in a recenteditorial that the policies of the Syrian regime— backed by foreign militias and Russian pro-

tection — of random bombardment and besiege-ment of cities and suburbs have started to ‘pay off ’,at least for now. The paper blames the UnitedNations and the international community as a wholefor failure to stop the crimes in Syria, and doingnothing more than a ceasefire in Homs where civil-ians have been starving under more than two yearsof blockade.

The paper then speculates that the Syrian crisiswas prolonged as part of a plot to extend the situa-tion until the presidential elections. The plotincludes Russia that handles all issues on the inter-

national scene while the Syrian regime and its allies,including Iran and sectarian militias, handle theinternal scene, according to the daily. In times ofinfightings in countries such as Syria, Iraq, and evenUkraine, I believe that it is important for people tobecome aware and alert regarding direct and indi-rect foreign interventions.

There are countries that look to improve theirglobal position with hope of becoming superpow-ers, taking advantage of struggles that their tradi-tional opponents are going through. Such countriesmake unjustifiable excuses to validate their inter-ventions, including ideological differences and ‘selfdefense’ claims based on principles of their own cre-ation.

The situation that the world is going throughrequires wise decision makers to stand against inter-national conflicts, and work for enforcing interna-tional safety and security that have gone throughalarming threats.

In my view

The paper then speculatesthat the Syrian crisis was prolonged as part of a plot

to extend the situation untilthe presidential elections.

L O C A LSUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

By Muna Al-Fuazai

local@kuwaittimes.net

Taxes in

Kuwait

Last week the minister of finance said that the gov-ernment will not enforce income tax on individu-als. As for subsidies, he stated that the government

has been reviewing this system, adding that some serv-ices such as diesel do not necessarily require to be sub-sidized because of the low number of beneficiaries andthat electricity is also included in the review. He indicat-ed that a report on those who benefit from subsidieswill be forwarded to the government for a final decisionas soon as it is completed. He made a point about thegovernment’s wish to ensure the rights of middle classpeople!

Now, no personal income tax is levied either onsalaries or on income from commercial activities.Taxation in Kuwait is governed by Amiri decree number3/1955 and this could be the main reason expatriatesare encouraged to work here, and it has helped manylocal companies to grow and make huge wealth. Notthat I agree completely with this, but this is happeningsince a long time.

What really attracts my attention are two things. First,the government clearly fears to even suggest a changeto commercial codes, even the one made in 1955 todevelop its vision over the subsidy system and who arethe ones who should or should not be involved.

Secondly, the government is assuring to protect therights of middle class people. But who are the middleclass here? How can the Kuwaiti government identifythose in the middle class and what criteria they areusing if no taxation is applied. I know that there is nopoverty line here and I surely have never heard aboutan official criteria being used to measure Kuwaitis whofall under that line or those who are categorized asmiddle class.

We all seem to know who are the richest familiesfrom appearances. But we don’t know about the size oftheir wealth except when Forbes magazine makes itsyearly survey of the richest people on earth. I personallybelieve that there is a need to set new lines in Kuwait todefine social classes. When a government official speaksabout them, we would all know who are they and thenwe can trust his word or not. Some reports have men-tioned that a family of five persons with a monthlyincome that is less than KD 1,000 is labeled as poor here.But that seems so general. What about bedoon families,who are labeled as non-Kuwaitis! Do you measure themas locals or not? More serious efforts are needed to beput in this field based on international guidelines.

Local spotlight

Iwatched the interview of the National Assemblyspeaker, and one should admit that it’s an event thatthose interested in the political situation cannot

avoid. It is very rare, over the past 20 years, for theKuwait National Assembly speaker to appear, while inoffice, in a live interview to express his political views onthe country’s events no matter what is his relation withit.

The interview was proceed-ed with a media campaign,that reminds you of electionatmosphere, so besides the TVchannel’s ads we receivedrepeated messages to remindus with the time, it was also onTwitter, and I do not know whythe interview was promoted,which did not have the issuesbeing waited for according tothe priorities’ survey that was prepared by the speakerhimself a few weeks ago.

The speaker’s ways, dialogue and sharp vocabularywas strange, as he directed them to his political adver-saries. May be the high voice he used was clear in histalk, and this is a case the viewer does not like to see in

the speaker, who is supposed to be neutral, centrist andtolerant with his adversaries before his supporters,because no matter how far his struggles go, he repre-sents the entire people, and not just a group.

The most dangerous part of the interview was thespeaker’s claim that there is a conspiracy to compromisethe country’s establishments, and he knows the parties

of the conspiracy and knowswho the “godfather” of it is. Ido not know how any citizen,apart from the parliamentspeaker, has such dangerousinformation, and announces iton TV instead of taking it, asan urgent matter, to the con-cerned judicial authorities tofoil this alleged conspiracy.

In summary, the speaker’sinterview, and some of his

parliamentary information, was not what we hoped for,and consider it a big mistake by Marzouq Al-Ghanem inhis political career, as he is known for being smart andrational. Mr Speaker, your friend is one who is honestwith you, so be careful not to lose your balance.

—Translated by Kuwait Times from Al-Qabas

A big mistake by Al-Ghanem

kuwait digest

By Walid A Al-Ghanim

In his book ‘The Devil’s Game’, Robert Dreyfuss quotes for-mer US ambassador to Saudi Arabia Charles Freemansaying that the Israeli security agency Shin Bet was

behind a project to found the Hamas organization to use itin disciplining the PLO, and maybe eventually destroying it.

Right under the eyes of the Shin Bet, Sheikh AhmedYaseen founded his Islamic Center in 1973 and started con-trolling over a hundred mosques in Gaza. According to theNew York Times reporter in Jerusalem David Sheller, theIsraeli military governor of Gaza Brig Isaac Serjeif usuallyboasted that his army financed Islamist mosques in theGaza Strip and that Israel had succeeded in turningPalestinian groups against each other to weaken and dividethem and eventually started getting rid of them one by onein a bid to ‘freeze’ their cause and pave the way to launchingthe NATO after the communal wars, which were the naturaldevelopment of the old British policy of ‘divide and rule’.

These wars aim at turning various ethnic, doctrinal, geo-graphic and cultural groups against their respective statesand having them demand independence and secession,forgetting that they had lived together in peace and harmo-ny for hundreds of years without any tension.

With the help of NATO and finance from an Arab state,Israel shifted these wars from a local inter-Palestinian levelto an Arab regional one because both levels have the samegoal - weakening the whole region, fragmenting and con-trolling it. Thus, Israel succeeded in convincing the US of lay-ing waste the Iraqi army. Iraq was consequently divided intothree smaller states and a fourth is developing. Iraq, busywith its civil wars, gave up the idea of fighting Israel. Thesame happened successfully in Libya, Sudan, Syria,Lebanon, Yemen and was about to decisively succeed inEgypt.

Communal conflicts use diverse creative methods thatare well-financed and unnoticeable until they alreadycause enough damage and achieve their goals. Theyinclude scientific studies that are presented to a certaingroup to provoke it to mutiny and rebellion, and at thesame time, another scientific study is presented to the cen-

tral government to provoke it to suppress those groups,thus creating a conflict between them with both havingacademic support from the studies without noticing theambush they both fell into with the eventual result ofchaos.

This method was used with the Amazigh in Algeriawhere special agendas were introduced provocatively suchas linking women’s liberty to pornography or secularismwith infidelity, which all resulted in more instability. Thiswas used in Jordan, for example. It also involved stagedviolence against religious minorities committed by agentswho had been recruited from amongst a Muslim majorityto act against Christians such as the case in Lebanon; Shiiteagainst Sunnis as in Iraq or Sunnis against Shiites such as inthe case of Bahrain. The ultimate result is shifting from astate of instability to chaos. Utilizing its dominance overinternational media, Israel is capable of portraying a limitedlocal crisis as an internationally severe one, such as the caseof South Sudan which ended in secession.

Unfortunately, the Arab Spring revolutions that amazedthe world failed to produce a single leader capable of steer-ing the massive public uprisings or understanding theirpossible consequences. Though amazing, these revolu-tions provided a golden opportunity to Israel who utilizedthem by directing local factions to destroy their own coun-tries through communal conflicts. It was very clear that theMuslim Brotherhood’s eagerness for power made themaccept US conditions that eventually served Israel’s inter-ests. Under more pressure, they also accepted dismantlingsovereign apparatuses and laying off the army to changeits focus from conventional wars to communal conflicts.

In addition, they accepted relocating Palestinians to thenorth of Arish as an alternative homeland in addition toallowing terrorists go back to Sinai where they could estab-lish a Muslim emirate that adopts armed violence. All of asudden, Egypt found itself suffering from the communalconflicts of which Israel is the first and prime winner. This asummary of the words written by the Egyptian writer AdelHammouda. —Translated by Kuwait Times from Al-Anbaa

Arab Spring revolutions

kuwait digest

By Abdul Mohsen Mohammed Al-Meshari

Bribe receivers, Irada Square, homeland dignity,Assembly storming, ousting Nasser Al-Mohammad,Assembly dissolution, new elections, strong opposi-

tion, appointing Jaber Al-Mubarak prime minister, AhmadAl-Saadoun speaker, Obaid grabs the limelight fromMusallam, the opposition dissociates, suspension of theconstitution for one month, the first Assembly nullification,return of the 2009 Assembly, dissolving the Assembly, ‘wewill not allow you speech’, escape of Musallam, oppositiondies, passing of the one vote, new elections, Al-Rashedspeakership, scrapping the second Assembly, new elec-tions, legendary Mohammad Al-Abdullah sends a paper,Ali Al-Omair walks out, Marzouq becomes speaker,Marzouq and Talal reconcile, the association becomes

legal, Ahmad returns, the opposition returns, Jassem goesto the prosecution, Nasser looks on, prosecution does notlike to get involved, the session is closed, Al-Watan andAlam Al-Youm closure, Musallam becomes expert in econ-omy and banks, Al-Wushaihi becomes modern, Ahmaddoes not want the leak, Nasser still watching, Riyadhresigns, Abdulkareem Al-Kandari catches up and resigns,then Safa, Ali Al-Rashed retires, Marzouq revives the oppo-sition, Al-Saadoun acts young, opposition lurks, oppositionsays the Assembly will be dissolved, congratulations!Because people are fed up with democracy and the talkabout it. People are demanding their share to get awayfrom your misery: Give us our share, and die with yourstruggles. —Translated by Kuwait Times from Al-Watan

Fed up with democracy

kuwait digest

By Abdallah Ghazi Al-Mudhaf

Al-A

nbaaMERS

The most dangerous partof the interview was the

speaker’s claim that there isa conspiracy to compromise

the country’s establishments.

Precautions

MARIUPOL: As two of the most tense regions in eastern Ukraineprepare to vote on declaring sovereignty, the country’s actingpresident is warning them against self-destruction. Today’s bal-lots seek approval for declaring so-called sovereign people’srepublics in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where pro-Russiainsurgents have seized government buildings and clashed withpolice and Ukrainian troops.

At least seven people died Friday in clashes in the city ofMariupol. The city remained on edge yesterday, with barricadesof tires blocking some streets in the city center. The referendumsare being conducted by the insurgent movements and are notregarded as legitimate by Kiev or the West. The elections chief ofthe insurgents in Donetsk, Roman Lyagin, was quoted by newsagencies as saying early voting in Mariupol and one other districthad begun early because of rising tensions there.

Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov, in comments post-ed on the presidential website yesterday, said supporters of inde-pendence for the east “don’t understand that this would be acomplete destruction of the economy, social programs and gen-eral life for the majority of the population.” “This is a step into theabyss for the regions,” he said. The hastily arranged referendumsare similar to the March referendum in Crimea that approvedsecession from Ukraine. Crimea was formally annexed by Russiadays later.

But organizers of the eastern vote have said that only later willa decision be made on whether they would use their nominalsovereignty to seek full independence, absorption by Russia or tostay part of Ukraine but with expanded power for the regions.Turchynov and Ukraine’s interim government came to power inFebruary following the ouster of Russia-friendly president ViktorYanukovych after months of protests in Kiev. Moscow and manyin Ukraine’s east denounce the government as a nationalist juntaand allege that it intends to trample on the rights of easternUkraine’s Russian-speakers. More than 30 people have beenreported killed as Ukrainian forces mount offensives to retakesome eastern cities now under the effective control of insurgents.

In the remarks issued yesterday, Turchynov said the govern-ment was willing to negotiate with representatives of the east,but not with anyone he called “terrorists whose task is thedestruction of the country, a task put forth by their masters.” Kievclaims Russia is fomenting or directing the unrest in the east, withthe goal either of destabilizing Ukraine or finding a pretext forinvasion.

Meanwhile, pro-Russian militants held eight Ukrainian andone Swiss Red Cross workers hostage for seven hours in the rebeleastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, beating one before freeingthem early yesterday, a Red Cross official said. A spokesman forthe self-styled “Donetsk People’s Republic”, which is holding a ref-erendum today on breaking with Kiev, said the workers had beendetained on Friday evening by rebel activists on suspicion ofespionage. He could not clarify the nature of the accusations lev-eled against them or say where they had been held.

Jacques Barberis, deputy head of the International Red Crossmission in Ukraine and a Swiss national, said that he was in thegroup of nine volunteers from Donetsk and Kiev arrested in theRed Cross building in Donetsk. Barberis said one person wasbeaten by militants. “I can confirm one (person) was beaten, he isnow at home... others are well,” he told Reuters by phone.

The treatment of the others from the group was “not bad,”Barberis said, adding he and volunteers from Kiev should returnto the Ukrainian capital by mid-day today. Red Cross headquar-ters in Geneva said simply that there had been “some kind of inci-dent last night”.

Another Ukrainian Red Cross official in Kiev who asked not tobe named, said that the institution had sent a report about theevent to the Interior Ministry. He did not elaborate. The Donetsk-based Novosti Donbassa website said the hostage takers hadalso seized large stores of medicine from the Donetsk office. TheRed Cross website said medication had been delivered on May 7to Donetsk head office for distribution in the region, where therehas been heavy fighting in recent days between pro-Russian mili-tants and Ukrainian security forces. — Agencies

SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

Yemen braces for Qaeda reprisals

Page 8

India poll campaign ends with conflicting visionsPage 11

SLAVYANSK: An armed pro-Russian fighter poses at a checkpoint near the eastern Ukranian city of Slavyansk yesterday. — AFP

Ukraine president decries sovereignty

Militants hold Red Cross workers for 7 hours

SANAA: Yemeni security forces were on high alert yester-day for more Al-Qaeda reprisals over an offensive againstthem, after militants killed five presidential guards andambushed the defense minister’s convoy. The interior min-istry said security forces in Sanaa had been reinforced, par-ticularly around government installations and embassies. Itadded that new checkpoints had been set up around thecity to “block all terrorist acts” and that security forces wereworking “around the clock... to preserve security in the capi-tal.”

There were also fears that reprisals might be carried outin the central province of Baida, one of three where thearmy has been pursuing a campaign against jihadists sinceApril 29. On Friday, suspected Al-Qaeda militants attackedthe presidential palace in Sanaa, killing five guards and trig-gering a fierce gunfight as they hit back at the offensiveaimed at crushing them.

President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi was not at the palacewhen gunmen attacked a checkpoint manned by guardsoutside the compound, a security source told AFP. Hadi,whose government has stepped up a war on Al-Qaeda inthe Arabian Peninsula-a merger between the network’sSaudi and Yemeni branches-uses the palace only for meet-ings.

Sanaa has been on alert for days, and tensions rose after

the army said troops had entered Azzan, a jihadist bastionin southern Shabwa province, prompting the United Statesto close its Sanaa embassy on Thursday. That night securityforces killed Al-Qaeda commander Shayef Mohammed SaidAl-Shabwani, one of the network’s most wanted leaderssuspected of masterminding the abduction of Westerndiplomats, in a gunfight near the presidential palace.

On Friday, Defense Minister Mohamed Nasser Ahmadand two senior security officers escaped unharmed whengunmen ambushed their convoy as they returned from atour of the south. Ahmad has vowed to crush Al-Qaedafighters in Yemen and on Friday told troops in Shabwa andAbyan that the offensive will continue until “the last crimi-nal and evil” militant is killed.

The army launched its offensive on April 29 againstAQAP strongholds in the contiguous provinces of Shabwa,Abyan and Baida, and claims it has inflicted heavy losses onthe jihadists. AQAP is regarded by Washington as Al-Qaeda’s most dangerous franchise and has been linked tofailed terror plots in the United States.

‘Sleeper cells’ On Monday, the interior ministry warned that “huge

losses” in jihadist ranks “will push Al-Qaeda to commit hys-terical and desperate acts.” Officials said yetserday morningthat the situation was relatively calm in Shabwa and Abyan,but state news agency Saba reported without giving detailsthat “seven terrorists” had been killed in the two provinces.Meanwhile, a tribal source said that, as government forcesclose in on their strongholds in Shabwa and Abyan, Al-Qaeda fighters had taken refuge in Al-Kur, a mountainousarea linking them and Baida.

On Friday night, Baida Governor Ahmed Al-Shaddadiissued a statement in which he did not rule out that thoseelements, as well as “sleeper cells in Baida might commitacts of vengeance.” He urged residents to cooperate withsecurity forces and “denounce all suspect movements by...those who had fled fighting in Abyan and Shabwa.”

AQAP leader Nasser Al-Wuhayshi vowed, in a rare videoappearance posted online in April, to attack Western “cru-

saders” wherever they are. Al-Qaeda uses the term cru-saders to refer to Western powers, especially those whichhave intervened militarily in Muslim countries, such asBritain, France and the United States.

The jihadists took advantage of an Arab Spring-inspireduprising that forced autocratic president Ali Abdullah Salehfrom power to seize large swathes of southern and easternYemen. The army recaptured several major towns in 2012but has struggled to reassert control in rural areas, despitethe backing of militiamen recruited from tribes. — Reuters

I N T E R N AT I O N A LSUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

ISTANBUL: An angry Turkish Prime Minister TayyipErdogan heckled the head of the country’s barassociation yesterday, accusing him of rudeness forspeaking critically of the government at a judicialceremony before storming out of the hall. Tensionsbetween Erdogan and his political foes remain highafter bitterly contested local elections in March thatErdogan’s ruling AK Party won and amid expecta-tions he will seek the presidency in another elec-tion in August.

Erdogan has had a difficult year that includedthe biggest anti-government protests in decadesover his perceived authoritarianism and a corrup-tion scandal that implicated family members andcabinet ministers. His response, a sweeping shake-up of the police, prosecutors and judges, promptedaccusations of political meddling.

Erdogan interrupted a speech in Ankara byMetin Feyzioglu, chairman of the Union of TurkishBar Associations, saying his remarks were politicaland full of untruths. Feyzioglu had called for a moreindependent judiciary and questioned the govern-ment’s handling of the aftermath of a 2011 earth-quake that killed more than 600 people in thesoutheastern province of Van.

“You are speaking falsehoods ... How could therebe such rudeness?” Erdogan shouted, and stood upto gesticulate in anger at Feyzioglu, who wasonstage at a podium and refused to stop speaking.The scene was broadcast by CNN Turk television.

Erdogan also expressed frustration that Feyzioglu,who has also been an outspoken critic of the crimi-nal prosecution of the government’s foes, had bro-ken protocol by speaking for an hour.

It was an unusual outburst even for Erdogan,Turkey’s most popular leader in a half-century,whose tough talk are part of his appeal for manyTurks. Last month, the head of the ConstitutionalCourt denounced “excessive” political criticism ofhis tribunal in a speech attended by Erdogan, whoremained stonily silent but said later he was “sad-dened” by Chief Justice Hasim Kilic’s words.

At the 2009 World Economic Forum in Davos,Switzerland, Erdogan left the stage after clashingwith Israeli President Shimon Peres in what wouldaugur a split between the two allied nations thatpersists today. The three-time premier has yet toannounce a run for the presidency, but his interestin the top job is widely accepted. At a meeting ofthe ruling AK Party later yesterday, Erdogan saidthe party would present a candidate by the middleof June or before, later than he had initially said.

Though largely ceremonial, the presidency isstill the nation’s most prestigious post and washeld by modern Turkey’s founder Mustafa KemalAtaturk. “If you love politics so much, then takeoff your (judicial) robe, enter the political arenaand prove yourself,” Erdogan said of Feyzioglu atthe AK Party meeting in comments aired live byCNN Turk. — Reuters

Turkey’s Erdogan heckles lawyer’s speech, storms out

ANKARA: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (left) and Chief of Staff Necdet Ozel (right)leave a meeting yesterday. — AP

Violence kills

20 in Iraq

BAGHDAD: Violence in Iraq, including the shelling of amilitant-held city, a suicide bombing and shootings,killed 20 people yesterday as officials tallied votes fromlast month’s parliamentary election. The bloodshed ispart of the worst protracted surge in unrest since a brutalSunni-Shiite sectarian war killed tens of thousands in2006 and 2007, sparking fears Iraq may be slipping backinto all-out conflict.

Shelling in Fallujah, which has been held by anti-gov-ernment fighters for more than four months, killed 11people and wounded 20, according to Dr Ahmed Shamiof the city’s main hospital. The source of the fire was notimmediately clear. The casualties come a day after Iraqiforces launched an operation to retake areas nearFallujah, which lies just a short drive west of Baghdad, inpreparation for an eventual assault.

Security forces claimed to have killed 50 militants in aseries of operations around Fallujah yesterday, accordingto interior ministry spokesman Brigadier General SaadMaan, who added that they had also destroyed severalinsurgent hideouts. For months, the authorities havetrumpeted wide-ranging anti-militant operations, insist-ing they are making an impact, and have been quick toblame external factors such as the civil war in neighbor-ing Syria for the rise in bloodshed.—AFP

Yemen braces for Qaeda reprisals

New checkpoints in place to ‘block terrorist acts’

SANAA: A Yemeni woman has her fingerprint scanned atan election registration center yesterday. — AFP

MOGADISHU: Somalia needs help airlifting basic sup-plies to towns recently retaken by African Union-ledforces because Islamist insurgents who were drivenout from those areas are blocking aid convoys, thepresident told Reuters in an interview. PresidentHassan Sheikh Mohamud accused the Al-Shabaab mili-tants of trying to create food shortages in newly “liber-ated areas” to turn locals against the state - and saidthe aid would show people the benefit of returning togovernment control.

“This is the Al-Shabaab propaganda ... and why theyare stopping the movement of goods,” he said inMogadishu after talks with major donors on Friday onspeeding up the pace of the rebuilding effort. “(An) air-lift is very, very important.” African troops workingwith Somalia’s army have completed the first phase ofa campaign to retake territory still in Al-Shabaab’shands after it was routed from Mogadishu in 2011.

But officials said the towns cleared of Al-Shabaabmilitants are in a dire state. Any food stocks have beenemptied, driving people away. Some centers lookmore like ghost towns, said one Western diplomat,which “is not a very positive picture”. It highlights thechallenge Somalia faces in countering an Islamistinsurgency that increasingly involves guerrilla tactics,while trying to build loyalty to central government in astate fractured by clan rivalries and two decades ofwar.

The president said another obstacle to reachingretaken areas was the onset of rains, making poorquality roads impassable even in places Al-Shabaabwere not operating. He said donors had promised torespond, adding that helicopters were not needed tomake a “huge food delivery” but were required forbasic nutrition for children and the weak.

The World Food Program was considering contract-ing a helicopter dedicated to humanitarian needs, asUN helicopters in Somalia now have multiple tasks,including logistical support for troops, such as evacu-ating injured, the diplomat said. Although the firststage of the new campaign launched this year had notmet all targets, Mohamud said 3 million people andnine towns had been brought under government con-trol. He said Al-Shabaab still controlled “a large propor-tion of rural areas”. Extending control beyond urbancenters and into the countryside where rebels easilymelt away has been a persistent challenge for AfricanUnion peacekeepers, who are still the main bulwarkagainst rebels although Somali troops fight with them.

Grumbles about progress“The second phase of the operation of course will

focus on sifting out Al-Shabaab even from the ruralareas,” Mohamud said. The slow pace of change in thenation and ongoing hardship for many has fuelled criti-cism of the president, prompting a group of more than100 lawmakers to submit a petition this week demand-ing he quit. Security failings were a big complaint.

The president rebuffed parliamentary critics, sayingnew joint operations between Somali security agenciesand African forces was breaking down rebel networks inMogadishu, where a spike in attacks particularly aroundFebruary included an assault on the presidential palacein the heart of the city. “Security should not be politi-cized,” he said, adding it was tough to stop all suicideattacks in a city of 2 million people. Mohamud has alsobeen buffeted by criticism of his government’s financialmanagement, after two central bank governors quit lastyear with questions raised about graft in governmentand the award of some contracts.

The government has dismissed reports of corruption.But the president said a new Financial GovernanceCommittee comprising three Somali members andthree picked by donors, was restoring confidence.Diplomats said reviewing contracts and offering recom-mendations on such issues were part of its mission.

“International partners showed that they are nowmore confident in the system than before, and furtherreforms will be coming in the financial sector,”Mohamud said after Friday’s talks, adding he hoped formore direct budget support. Qatar and Turkey alreadyprovide direct aid to state coffers, but Western donorsare more wary. Norway supports budget spending via afacility set up with World Bank help that, one donorsource said, could be expanded in coming months.

Despite a wobble in international support forMohamud over financial management concerns in pastmonths, donors at Friday’s showed support for the pres-ident in his battle with lawmakers, saying Somalia need-ed continuity at the top. “The idea of delaying every-thing or stopping everything and changing institutionsand people at this stage is not something that any ofthe international partners were thinking is a very goodidea,” said one senior Western diplomat at the talks.Attendees at Friday’s talks promised to speed up deliv-ery of projects in several key areas, such as security,humanitarian work and financial management issues,by June in part to help ease public dissatisfaction aboutthe pace of progress. — Reuters

Somali prez wants aid airlift

for towns retaken from rebels

I N T E R N AT I O N A LSUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

JOHANNESBURG: South African police said yes-terday they arrested around 60 rioters after vio-lent protests in a Johannesburg township amidallegations of voter fraud in elections thatreturned Nelson Mandela’s ANC to power.Rivalry reminiscent of the twilight of apartheidhad flared up between the African NationalCongress and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) short-ly after the polls on Wednesday.

The IFP and EFF parties have made claims ofvote-rigging in Johannesburg’s Alexandra town-ship, where angry residents on Friday burnedtires and barricaded roads, and the army wasdeployed to help quell the unrest, police said.“Since yesterday (Friday) 59 people have beenarrested for public violence,” police spokesmanNeville Malila told AFP.

Police used stun grenades and rubber bulletsto disperse a crowd of up to 400 people, saidMalila. “Last night there was army deployment,”he said, adding that police remained in therestive former blacks-only area. No casualtieswere reported and national police spokesmanSolomon Makgale said the rest of the countrywas calm.

The military left the township yesterdaymorning, defense ministry spokesman SiphiweDlamini confirmed. An AFP photographer sawarmored police vehicles patrolling streets lit-tered with debris and charred remains of elec-tion posters.

ANC provincial spokesman Nkenke Kekanablamed the Inkatha Freedom Party for theprotests after it lost key constituencies inAlexandra in the vote. “For the first time since1994 the ANC managed to win those voting dis-tricts from the IFP. That is the source of the vio-lence,” he told AFP. He also accused the IFP ofpreventing election officials and ANC represen-tatives from leaving a government building inthe area on Thursday.

“They blocked them from coming out of theoffices,” Kekana said. “The IFP must just acceptthat people in that area chose the ANC insteadof them.” “It’s anarchy and it’s completely unac-ceptable,” he added, also accusing new left-lean-ing party the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)of supporting the IFP. “There is a history of vio-lence in that part of Alex in the past and wedon’t want to go back to that,” said Kekana.

‘Mafia tactics’ Thousands died in clashes between ANC and

IFP supporters in the early 1990s during negotia-tions to end white-minority rule. Alexandra wasone of the hotspots in the fighting between theliberation movement and its white-government-funded rival. But a senior IFP election organizerdenied the protests stemmed from old rivalries.

“In Alexandra it’s not about the IFP and theANC,” said Muzi Ntuli. “There were irregularitiesduring the voting process,” he told AFP. The IFP

complained to the Independent ElectoralCommission (IEC) after it spotted boxes carryingballots transported in a car with ANC-branding,he said. “Unfortunately they didn’t give us anyclarity so that’s why people are angry.” He alsodenied that election officials were blocked fromleaving the area on Thursday.

“Our (party) members were inside the gatetrying to get clarity from the IEC,” he said.“Unfortunately the police arrested our leaders inthe area yesterday (Friday) and now the situationis very tense.” Meanwhile, EFF leader JuliusMalema called on township residents to acceptthe outcome, while accusing the ANC of unspec-ified “mafia tactics” to win the vote in theGauteng province.

Gauteng, which houses key citiesJohannesburg and the capital Pretoria and hasthe largest number of voters, was the slowest toreport results. “They’ve had to use mafia tacticsto win Gauteng,” Malema said at a news confer-ence of the ruling party, whose youth wing heheaded until the ANC expelled him two yearsago. “People in Alexandra, we call on you toaccept defeat,” he said. “Don’t put South Africainto ashes because of election outcomes.”Completed vote counting results showed theANC won 62.15 percent of the national ballots,while main opposition Democratic Alliancecame in second with 22.23 percent, the EFF thirdand the IFP a distant fourth. —AFP

Unrest in S Africa after pollsPolice use rubber bullets, stun grenades on protesters

NEW YORK: The unidentified remainsof those killed on Sept 11 returned tothe World Trade Center site in asolemn procession on a foggy yester-day morning. The remains left theOffice of the Chief Medical Examineron Manhattan’s East Side shortlybefore 7 am in three city vehicles.They were accompanied by policeand fire department vehicles withlights flashing but no sirens.Construction workers paused as themotorcade passed, and about 10 fire-fighters stood in the cool breezesaluting the vehicles as they arrived.The remains will be transferred to arepository 70 feet underground inthe same building as the NationalSeptember 11 Memorial Museum.

Like many decisions involving thesite of the nation’s worst terroristattack, the disposition of the uniden-tified remains has been contentious.A group of victims’ family memberswho say the remains should bestored in an above-ground monu-ment separate from the museumprotested the procession. About adozen wore black bands over theirmouths at the site yesterday. “It’s hor-rible. I am so angry. I am so angry. I

am outraged,” said Sally Regenhard,whose firefighter son was killed atthe trade center.

‘Treat them with respect’“The human remains of my son

and all of the 3,000 victims should bein a beautiful and respectful memori-al, not in the basement of a museum,”she said. Rosemary Cain, who alsolost her firefighter son at the tradecenter, was also upset about thetransfer. “I don’t know how much ofhim is down here; if it’s one little inch,I want it treated respectfully,” she said.“I want it above ground. I don’t wantit to be part of a museum. I don’twant it to be part of a freak show.”Other family mem-bers support theplans, which havebeen in the works foryears. Lisa Vukaj, wholost her 26-year-oldbrother, said the newhome for theremains is “a fittingplace until technolo-gy advances” andnew techniques areavailable to identify

their loved ones. Vukaj, who gotemotional as the flag-draped casketswere taken inside the center, said shedidn’t like that some victims’ relativesturned what should have been asolemn event into “a political thing.”

“Just come in, pay your respects,be here, have your emotions anddon’t make it political,” she said.Uniformed officers from the New YorkPolice Department and FireDepartment of New York and the PortAuthority police carried the threecaskets into the repository. The facili-ty will be available for family visitsbut will be overseen by the medicalexaminer. Officials hope thatimprovements in technology will

eventually lead to the identificationof the 7,930 fragmentary remains.

The death toll stemming from theattacks at the World Trade Centerstands at 2,753. Of those, 1,115, or 41percent, have not been identified.Monica Iken-Murphy, whose husbandwas a bond broker in the NorthTower, said she hopes his remains willeventually be identified. “Every yearthey identify someone,” she said. “Lastyear they identified a male andfemale in their 40s. I could be next,and I’m optimistic that he could beone of those. Even if he isn’t, I feel heis home. This is where he took his lastbreath, his last step. This is where helost his life.” — AP

NEW YORK: Relatives of victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks stage a protest, as unidentified remains of some of the victims in the attacksare escorted to a repository at Ground Zero yesterday. —AFP

9/11 remains returned to World Trade Center site

This photo shows what authorities say is a hot-air balloon that was believed to havecaught fire and crashed in Virginia. —AP

DOSWELL: The body of one occupant of ahot air balloon that caught fire after strik-ing a power line and crashed has beenrecovered and police searched yesterdayfor two others feared dead, Virginia StatePolice said. The three were in a balloonFriday night that witnesses said crashedamid screams for help from those in theballoon. The body was found in a heavilywooded area shortly before midnight, statepolice spokeswoman Corinne Geller saidyesterday. The balloon and gondola carry-ing the pilot and two passengers have notbeen found, she said.

Because of the time elapsed since thecrash about 8 pm Friday, the search for thetwo other occupants has shifted from a res-cue operation to a mission to recover theremains, Geller said. More searchers werecalled in yesterday. Police received eyewit-ness reports that two occupants either fellor jumped from the burning balloon after itstruck the power line.

Carrie Hager-Bradley said she saw theballoon in flames on her way home fromthe grocery store and heard people yelling,according to WWBT TV. “They were justscreaming for anybody to help them,” thestation quoted her as saying. “‘Help me,help me, sweet Jesus, help. I’m going to die.

Oh my God, I ’m going to die,’” Hager-Bradley said she heard one person scream-ing.

The crash occurred near the MeadowEvent Park in rural Caroline County, wherethe Mid-Atlantic Balloon Festival was beingheld. The area is about 25 miles (40 kilome-ters) north of Richmond. The festival wasscheduled to begin officially yesterday, butwas holding a special kickoff event Fridayfor about 740 people. Organizers canceledthe rest of the festival.

Twenty balloonists from the Mid-Atlantic region were to participate in theweekend festival, said Greg Hicks, aspokesman for Meadow Event Park. “It’s justa shocking situation for everyone,” Hickssaid. Some hot air balloons landed safely inDebra Ferguson’s yard, The Free Lance-Starof Fredericksburg reported. She said one ofthe men in the balloons pointed up atanother still in the air and said he thoughtit might be in trouble. “As soon as welooked up, the thing blew up right there,”Ferguson told the newspaper. “All I heardwas, ‘Oh my God, Oh my God,’ and all yousaw was the top of the balloon still flying,but all of the basket was gone. All of theflames just disappeared. ... It was like amatch - poof - and then it was gone.” —AP

Hot air balloon catches fire

VATICAN CITY: Pope Paul VI, who didmuch to modernize the Roman CatholicChurch but pronounced a ban on artificialcontraception which was widely defied bythe faithful, has moved a step closer to

sainthood with Pope Francis’ official con-firmation of a miracle. The date for thebeatification was set for Oct 19, theVatican said yesterday, a day after Francisformally certified the miracle said toinvolve a risky birth in California.Beatification is the last formal step beforepossible sainthood.

During his pontificate from 1963 to1978, Paul made landmark progress inimproving Catholics’ relationship withother Christians. But he disappointedmany Catholics who werehoping for liberalization ofchurch teaching on sexual-ity. After much consulta-tion and, reportedly, per-sonal anguish, Paul VIenshrined the church’steaching against artificialcontraception in the 1968encyclical “Humanae Vitae”(“of human life”).

The issue is amongmany expected to getscrutiny in a special meet-ing of bishops called at theVatican in October to dis-cuss family life. The beatifi-cation ceremony wouldcome at the end of thegathering. One miracle isrequired for beatification,and traditionally a secondfor canonization. TheVatican, as is its custom,didn’t give details aboutthe miracle which must becertified by doctors as hav-ing no medical explana-tion.

Italian media have reported that themiracle was that of a boy born healthy inCalifornia despite the diagnoses in 2001of the rupture of the fetal bladder andabsence of amniotic liquid. The motherreportedly refused an abortion andprayed for Paul VI’s intercession at the urg-ing of a nun. The baby was born a monthprematurely and is now a healthy adoles-cent, the news reports said.

Like John Paul II, Paul VI was hard topeg as progressive or conservative. Bothwere conservative on sexual issues, butenthusiastically embraced the thrusttoward ecumenism set in motion by theSecond Vatican Council. Vatican II openedthe way for Mass to be said in local lan-guages instead of in Latin. Its reforms alsoinspired many nuns, especially in theUnited States, shed their long robes infavor of knee-length skirts and aban-doned the head-coverings that were theirorders’ dress code for centuries.

Paul, who like John Paul took up travel-ing to distant lands, ended nearly a mil-lennium of estrangement betweenCatholics and Orthodox Christians whenhe journeyed to Jerusalem in 1964 andembraced Patriarch Athengoras, then theOrthodox leader. Paying tribute to thatbold gesture, Francis later this month willgo to Jerusalem and pray together withthe current Ecumenical Patriarch,Bartholomew I.

Paul VI disposed of many of the privi-leged trappings of the papacy, anticipat-ing Francis’ disdain for stuffiness andfanciness at the Vatican. Paul got rid ofscores of Italian nobles from the papal“court” who had privileges dating backcenturies. He still allowed use of the papalthrone, and looked frail and uncomfort-able as he arrived for the funeral of assas-sinated Italian politician Aldo Moro inRome in 1978 in the chair perched on theshoulders of 12 men. He was under firefrom the Moro family who thought hedidn’t do enough to save the leaderdespite having made a public plea “on myknees” for Moro’s release by Red Brigadeskidnappers.— AP

Late Pope Paul VI closer to sainthood

This file photo taken on June 21, 1963,shows Pope Paul VI portrayed after hiselection, with white Pontifical robe andpectoral cross. — AP

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

SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

LAGOS: US First Lady Michelle Obama yesterdaydenounced as an “unconscionable act” the kidnap-ping of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls byIslamic militants as a mobilized international com-munity helped Nigeria search for them. For the firsttime standing in for President Barack Obama on hisweekly yesterday morning address, MichelleObama said she and her husband were “outragedand heartbroken” over the mass abduction of thegirls from their school dormitory in a remote cornerof north Nigeria last month.

Their sentiments were shared by “millions ofpeople across the globe,” she said. This violence“was not an isolated incident ... it’s a story we seeevery day as girls around the world risk their lives topursue their ambitions,” Michelle Obama said. “Thisunconscionable act was committed by a terroristgroup determined to keep these girls from gettingan education - grown men attempting to snuff outthe aspirations of young girls.”

On April 14, 276 schoolgirls were abducted inthe northeastern Nigerian town of Chibook, witheight more seized from Warabe on May 5. Three

weeks later 223 girls are still missing. The Islamistmilitant group Boko Haram claimed responsibility,and threatened to “sell” the girls into slavery. Theabductions have sparked offers of help from theUnited States, Britain, France and China.

Seven military officials from the US Africa region-al command AFRICOM along with a StateDepartment expert arrived in Nigeria on Friday, andthree FBI personnel and four others from State andthe USAID aid agency were due in the country yes-terday. “They’ll be providing technical and investi-gatory assistance, helping with hostage negotia-tions, advising on military planning and operationsand assisting with intelligence and information,”State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

Among the help on offer would be intelligence-sharing as the teams work to track down the girls,who range in age from 16 to 18. Britain saidWednesday it would send a small team to Nigeria toconcentrate on planning, coordination and adviceto local authorities rather than operations on theground to look for the girls.

France also has offered to send a specialized

team while China promised to supply “any usefulinformation acquired by its satellites and intelli-gence services” to Nigeria. Nigerian PresidentGoodluck Jonathan, whose long silence after theabductions was sharply criticized, said Friday that asearch team was already at work in Sambisa forest,near Chibok, with remote sensors trying to locatethe kidnappers and their victims. The United Statesand officials in Chibok voiced concern that the girlsmight have been moved to neighboring Chad andCameroon to be sold. But Jonathan said Friday thathe believes the girls were still in Nigeria, possibly inthe Sambisa forest.

Global media campaign The abductions have also led to a growing social

media campaign with the hashtag#BringBackOurGirls joined by public figures andcelebrities. The Financial Times yesterday publishedan open letter signed by 50 leading personalities,including former world leaders as well as the singerBono, Bill and Melinda Gates and Nobel Peace Prizelaureate Muhammad Yunus who have called on the

international community to do everything toensure the return of the pupils. “We urge all local,national and regional governments, with the fullsupport of the international community, to dedi-cate their expertise and resources...to#BringBackOurGirls,” it read.

Other signatories of the letter were the formerpresidents of Brazil, Mexico, Mozambique,Mauritius, Tanzania, Botswana, Liberia, Cape Verde,and Ireland along with CNN founder Ted Turner,Virgin founder Richard Brandson, Unilever CEO PaulPolman and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu.Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala alsosigned the letter, as have numerous United Nationsofficials. The UN Security Council said Friday themass kidnappings “may amount to crimes againsthumanity” under international law, but made noexplicit reference to charges in the InternationalCriminal Court. The 15 members of the council saidthey would follow the situation and consider“appropriate measures” to take against Boko Haram.The statement urged their immediate release, with-out conditions. — AFP

Michelle Obama slams kidnapping of Nigerian girls

TEGUCIGALPA: The cry of the grandmother was gut-wrench-ing as she watched the burial of her grandson, the secondkilled in just days in a horrific wave of violence against chil-dren in Honduras. Kids, even very young kids, are often killedif they refuse to join powerful street gangs, a scourge plagu-ing the poor Central American nation reputed to be theworld’s most violent place.

The wave of murders is one of the most pressing problemsfacing the new government of President Juan OrlandoHernandez. “Don’t leave me, my children!” the woman cried.This second grandson was only seven years old. He was shotand tortured, his body found wrapped in a sheet and dumpedin a vacant lot in San Pedro Sula, north of the capital,Tegucigalpa.

The grandmother and the mother of the child were alreadyin shock after the death three days earlier of another of theirchildren, aged 13, in similarly grisly circumstances. In thespace of a month, six more school-age children were mur-dered in San Pedro Sula, and authorities say the reason wasthe same-they had refused to join a street gang.

In an interview with the newspaper El Heraldo, Hernandezsaid the killings could be a backlash against his government’ssecurity policy. “I pray to God that it is not true that this issueof the children is a response to what we have been doing,” hewas quoted as saying.

Last week in San Pedro Sula, members of gang called theMara Salvatrucha (MS-13) burst into a youth detention center,overpowered guards and detonated a grenade, killing fivemembers of the rival Mara 18 (M-18). That same day, farthernorth in the town of Limon, a man stabbed a 13-year-old girlto death, and also killed her siblings aged 10, seven and two.

The heart-breaking scene of the grieving grandmotherconsumed with pain was broadcast on television. Hondurashas the world’s highest homicide rate, 79 per 100,000 inhabi-tants, according to the Violence Observatory at the NationalUniversity, but the latest news has shocked the country.

Trapped by violence The deaths have unleashed criticisms of the government’s

military-led security policy. Hernandez launched this iron-fist-ed approach to crime after taking power on January 27. Thepresident has said the country is already starting to see achange, with fewer murders. But human rights groups disputethis. An average of 86 children and youths under the age of 23have been killed per month since January 27.

That is 6.2 percent more than under the previous govern-ment, says Casa Alianza, an NGO that works to protect chil-dren. Guadalupe Ruelas, director of Casa Alianza, told AFPthere is “suspicion that there is a pattern of social cleansing” inwhich government authorities might be involved.

Furthermore, many minors are forced by gangs to collectextortion payments and killed if they refuse. Bertha Oliva,coordinator of Committee of Relatives of Missing Detainees,said the new leader’s first 100 days had been “shaped by thekilling of children.” But Hernandez rejects the criticism.“Criminals now know they are surrounded, they know there islittle they can do, they know that many of their bosses arebeing captured,” he said. “If there are consequences, we willface them.”

Controversial military strategy As soon as he took power Hernandez sent thousands of

police and soldiers to areas controlled by gangs and drug traf-fickers. He blocked cell phone coverage from jails from whichcriminals operate. Then he created “Guardians of theHomeland”, a program in which children receive training invalues to keep them away from the street gangs.

It aims to educate 100,000 youths in a year but it has beencriticized for having an overly militaristic approach. Severaldays ago in Tegucigalpa, the UN’s special rapporteur forcrimes against children, Najat Maalla M’jid, urged the govern-ment to adopt urgent measures.

Sociologist Eugenio Sosa says Hernandez wants to show

he is “making an effort” and people are giving him the benefitof the doubt so far. But, he warned: “The death of children iscausing great impact in society.

“The facts make it necessary to review that military strate-gy, mainly because children and youths are involved,” saidMirna Flores, head of the sociology department at theNational University. Even for a country like Honduras that is soaccustomed to bloodshed, she said, “what is happening isvery serious.” — AFP

TAMARA: Members of the Mara 18 youth gang remain at the national penitentiary in Tamara, 25 km north ofTegucigalpa, Honduras in this photo. — AFP

Kids murdered in Honduras

for refusing to join gangs

86 youngsters killed per month since January

MORELIA: Vigilantes who have battleda drug cartel in western Mexico faced adeadline yesterday to store their gunsor join a police force amid divisions andrecriminations within the movement.The authorities are handing out uni-forms to vigilantes who have agreed tosign up to a new rural police force inthe lush agricultural state ofMichoacan. The units will make theirdebut in the towns of Buenavista andTepalcatepec, two of the first munici-palities that revolted last year againstthe cult-like Knights Templar gangbecause local police failed to protectthem.

The federal government, which hastolerated the vigilantes, has warnedthat anybody found carrying weaponsillegally after the deadline would bearrested. The rise of the vigilantemovement, which spread to some 30towns, brought fears that it could turninto a dangerous paramilitary force.President Enrique Pena Nieto, whodeployed thousands of troops toMichoacan last year to restore order,said he expected the vigilantes to dis-band or join the police. “It’s an agree-ment, and I expect it to be respected,”said Pena Nieto, who is facing one ofhis biggest security challenges inMichoacan.

Divided movement The transition comes amid deep

divisions within the vigilante move-ment, accusations that it is infiltrated bycartels and the recent arrest of one of itsfounders. Authorities have also foundseveral cases of criminals posing as vigi-lantes. Late Friday, 135 “pseudo-vigi-lantes” were arrested in La Mira, nearthe port of Lazaro Cardenas, after clash-ing with troops, a state security officialtold AFP. On Thursday, the council ofself-defense forces in more than 30towns announced the dismissal of itschief spokesman, Jose Manuel Mireles.The council accused him of makingpublic statements without clearancethat undermined the movement. It alsosaid “recent actions” by Mireles had costthe lives of five civilians, but it did notelaborate. Authorities said Friday theyare investigating whether Mireles had arole in the deaths.

Mireles could not be reached forcomment. Another founder of themovement, Hipolito Mora, was arrestedin March on charges that he wasbehind the murders of two fellow vigi-lantes. He rejects the charges. Mireles, atall, mustachioed doctor, told a radiostation this week that the vigilantemovement was divided and infiltratedby criminals. —AFP

Mexican vigilantes face

deadline to join police

CHUQUIAPAN: An armed female member ofthe Self-Defense Council of Michoacan (CAM)patrols a checkpoint set up by the self-defense group in western Mexico. — AFP

Chelsea Clinton

receives doctorate

from Oxford

WASHINGTON: Former President Bill Clinton andformer Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clintonare in Oxford, England, this weekend to attend thegraduation ceremonies of their daughter, Chelsea.Chelsea Clinton received her doctorate degree ininternational relations yesterday from the presti-gious British university. Her father was a Rhodesscholar at Oxford from 1968 to 1970. The gradua-tion ceremony comes as her mother is consideringa potential 2016 presidential campaign.

The 34-year-old Clinton is reaching a number ofmilestones this year. In addition to her doctorate,Clinton and her husband, Marc Mezvinsky, areexpecting their first child in the fall. And she hastaken a more public role at her family’s Bill, Hillaryand Chelsea Clinton Foundation, where she servesas vice chairwoman.

If her mother runs for president, the youngerClinton could be an asset in connecting withyounger voters and members of her generation. Alongtime advocate for public health, Clinton hasplayed an active role in developing policies at thefoundation to address childhood obesity, HIV andAIDS, and childhood diarrhea around the globe.

During an appearance at the annual South bySouthwest festival in March, Clinton noted thatmore than 750,000 children die around the worldevery year because of severe dehydration due todiarrhea, an issue her family’s foundation hopes toaddress.

“We have to do whatever we can to ensure thatno child dies of diarrhea,” she said. Clinton’s disser-tation examines international global governancestructures with a focus on global health. At thefoundation, she has worked closely with theAlliance for a Healthier Generation and the ClintonHealth Matters Initiative.

The younger Clinton, a special correspondentfor NBC News, is a graduate of Stanford Universityand holds master’s degrees from Oxford andColumbia University’s Mailman School of PublicHealth. During an appearance on ABC’s “JimmyKimmel Live!” in April, the former president notedthat once his daughter receives her doctorate, shewill have four degrees.

“She’ll have as many as her parents do - com-bined,” Bill Clinton said. “When she was younger,the way all kids are, she thought she knew morethan I did about everything. But alas, in mydotage, it turned out to be true!” — AP

I N T E R N AT ION A LSUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

JOINT OPERATIONSWAFRA - KUWAIT

SAUDI ARABIAN CHEVRON INC.(SAC) / KUWAIT GULF OIL COMPANYJoint Operations (Saudi Arabian Chevron Inc. / Kuwait Gulf Oil Company), announces the under-mentioned Public Tenders for procurement of materials.

Kuwaiti and Saudi Merchants, registered with either Company wishing to participate in any of the under-mentioned Tenders are invited to collect the Tender documents from Purchasing Section, Purchasing & Logistic Division, Administration Building, Ground Floor, Joint Operations,

11 MAY 2014 up to 26 MAY 2014 for a non-re-fundable fee mentioned against each tender.

Account No. 1001132057.

The closing date for the following Tender will be on Monday, 2 JUNE 2014 @ 09:00 AM.

S.NO. TENDER NO. MATERIALS FEES (IN KD)

1

2

3

4

5

1516368

1519877

1521927

S/F GOULD PUMP

OIL PUMP PACKAGE

PIPES, SS

15

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COMPUTERS & ACCESSORIES

PESHAWAR: The head of the Pakistani Taleban ismaking a last-ditch bid to stamp his authority onthe increasingly divided insurgency by ordering atop commander sacked, Taleban sources said yes-terday. Taleban head Maulana Fazlullah movedagainst Khan “Sajna” Said on Friday after weeks ofbloody infighting in the powerful Mehsud tribe thatsupplies the bulk of the Pakistani Taleban fighters,they said. Scores of men have been killed.

The risk for Fazlullah is that Said might ignorehim and battle on. Said is trying to wrest control ofthe Mehsud tribe - with its many weapons andlucrative smuggling routes and extortion business -from rival Shehryar Mehsud. The factional fightinghas complicated attempts by the Pakistani govern-

ment to end the insurgency through peace talks itproposed in February. Some commanders are infavor of talks but others vowed to continue theirinsurgency.

“It’s a test case for Maulana Fazlullah and his shu-ra,” a Taleban commander said, referring to themovement’s leadership council. “It will determinetheir future.” “If Sajna is convinced and he stopsfighting, it conveys a good message to rest of theTaleban factions,” he said. “Otherwise it will be asetback for Fazlullah if Sajna refuses to obey hiscommand.” Fazlullah has repeatedly appealed invain to the two Mehsud rivals to stop fighting. Anearlier peace deal brokered by the powerfulHaqqani network of fighters fell through, undercut-

ting the militants’ ability to mount attacks againstsecurity forces.

Challenged authorityNotorious for ordering the attempted killing of

schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai, Fazlullah is thefirst non-Mehsud leader of the Pakistani Taleban andhas struggled to impose his authority on the power-ful tribe. He faced many challengers to become chiefof the Pakistani Taleban last year after the death ofthe previous head in a drone strike. He has been hid-ing in Afghanistan since then.

But the time has come to exert his authority, a sen-ior member of the Taleban said. “Senior members ofTehrik-e-Taleban Pakistan had tired of appealing (to

the two rivals) to stop their clashes,” he said. TheTaleban sources said Fazlullah turned to an influentialhardline commander, Khalid Omar Khorasani, toappoint a new commander in place of Said, whowants to join the peace talks.

Khorasani, who opposes the talks, ordered thedecapitation of 23 hostages from a government para-military force shortly after Islamabad announced itspeace initiative. Taleban commanders said Khorasanihad been chosen to appoint a successor not justbecause of his hardline reputation, but because of hisability to unite various factions. “All militant leadersrespect him for his sacrifices in organizing all the mili-tant factions and that’s why Fazlullah gave him thisdifficult task,” a Taleban commander said. — Reuters

Taleban chief asserts authority

NEW DELHI: Ruling Congress party leaderRahul Gandhi warned yesterday of anIndia divided by caste and creed if theHindu nationalist opposition wins power,as campaigning ended in the nation’smulti-stage election. Gandhi sought tomuster a final show of Congress strengthin the holy Hindu city of Varanasi with theparty struggling to snatch victory fromthe jaws of a widely forecast electiondefeat by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The BJP “only wants to divide people,make people fight each other,” Gandhitold a rally in temple-studded Varanasi,one of the last constituencies due to votein tomorrow’s final day of balloting. Theresults of the marathon election will beknown Friday. Varanasi is being contestedby Narendra Modi, a charismatic but divi-sive politician who is tipped to lead theBJP to power after a decade in oppositionand be India’s next prime minister.

Modi, an indefatigable campaignerwho has travelled 300,000 kilometers(180,000 miles) in the last eight monthsspeaking to 437 rallies-in addition toaddressing 1,350 rallies as a hologram-according to the BJP. Modi’s high-techcampaign is believed to mark the firsttime holograms have been used to reach

voters in an Indian election campaign.Modi, projecting himself as a political out-sider who will overhaul India’s political sta-tus quo, launched a blistering attack yes-terday on the Gandhi dynasty-a dominantgoverning force for most of India’s historysince independence from Britain.

‘Mother-son government’ Modi, 63, derisively referred to

Congress campaign leader Gandhi andhis party president mother, Sonia, as the“mother-son government” and appealedfor a “good, strong mandate in Delhi towork for the people.” “People, till the timeyou end these dynastic politics, thingswon’t improve,” Modi said to cheers inRobertsganj, another part of politicallypivotal Uttar Pradesh state going to thepolls tomorrow.

The BJP was already scenting victory,predicting “a clear majority” nationally.Top party organizer Amit Shah forecastthe BJP and allies would get 300 seats inthe 543-seat parliament. Indian opinionpolls, while sometimes spectacularlywrong in the past, also suggest the Hindunationalists are set to score a strong victo-ry. Shah said the electorate had supportedthe BJP “irrespective of caste (and) reli-

gion”, seeking to dispel notions thatModi’s muscular Hindu nationalism was astumbling block for voters.

In the last days of the campaign, Modihas tried to cast off the BJP’s religion-based image, pushing an agenda of goodgovernance and economic growth in con-trast to the left-leaning Congress’s pop-ulist pitch. “I believe in one India, the bestIndia,” said Modi, chief minister of thrivingGujarat state, who is popular among busi-ness and middle-class voters frustrated bya sharp economic slowdown, high infla-tion and corruption scandals.

Still, 12 years ago, few would haveguessed Modi would be in line to be pre-mier after riots swept Gujarat during hisearly time as chief minister, killing at least1,000 people, most of them Muslims. TheBJP leader was never charged withwrongdoing but many critics allege he didtoo little to stop the bloodshed.

The Gandhi family has been making alast-ditch campaign push with Rahul, hismother and sister, Priyanka, all on the hus-tings. Yesterday, Rahul reaffirmedCongress’s commitment to “empower-ment of the poor”, charging that a BJPgovernment would not “benefit anyonebut business”. — AFP

India poll campaign ends with conflicting visions

BJP only wants to divide people: Gandhi

VARANASI: India’s ruling Congress party Vice President Rahul Gandhi, (center) displays the victory symbol as theparty’s candidate Ajay Rai, (right) waves to supporters during an election campaign rally yesterday. — AP

KARACHI: A series of small earth-quakes hit southern Pakistan onFriday, killing at least one person andinjuring 30 others, officials said. Threeshallow quakes struck near the city ofNawabshah in Sindh province in thespace of an hour starting at 3:51 am(2251 GMT Thursday), sending fright-ened residents running into thestreets praying for their lives.

The most powerful tremor wasmeasured at 5.0 magnitude, an officialin the meteorological departmenttold AFP. An emergency was declaredat the city ’s hospitals and district

offices, with schools and collegesclosed down, he said. Around 100houses in Nawabshah were damaged.

Work was under way to assess theextent of the damage caused by thequakes, which were also felt in severalnearby small towns includingSakrand, Daur, Daulat Pur and Bandhi.Asif Arain, a Nawabshah resident, said:“The shaking woke us and we ran outof home reciting verses from theQuran. “Then we felt another jolt, thatwas even more terrifying. I felt sick.” Alocal administration official, Ir fanKathio, told AFP that at least one per-

son had died and 30 others wereinjured, including women and chil-dren.

“We received 30 injured in our hos-pital, of whom one 71-year-old mandied of his injuries,” MohammadHashim, a senior doctor atNawabshah’s civil hospital, told AFP. Hesaid the condition of five of the injuredwas critical. Taj Colony neighborhoodin Nawabshah was the worst affected,resident Ghulam Mustafa told AFP.

The roofs of many of the housesthere had crumbled, he said, withelectricity supplies to the area disrupt-ed. The quake was followed by twoaftershocks measuring 4.7 and 4.9magnitude with epicentres northeastand northwest of Nawabshah, themeteorology official said. The USGeological Survey measured the threequakes at magnitudes 4.5, 4.3 and 4.6.

The quakes all struck at a relativelyshallow depth of around 15 kilome-ters (9.5 miles). Pakistan straddles partof the boundary where the Indian andEurasian tectonic plates meet, makingthe country susceptible to earth-quakes.

A devastating 7.6-magnitudeearthquake hit Pakistan-administeredKashmir in October 2005, killing morethan 73,000 people and leavingaround 3.5 million homeless. LastSeptember a 7.7-magnitude hitAwaran district in southwesternBaluchistan province, killing at least376 people and leaving 100,000 oth-ers homeless. — AFP

One dead, 30 injured in southern Pakistan quakes

NAWABSHAH: A Pakistani mother tends to her injured daughter as she istreated at a hospital following an earthquake. — AFP

KARACHI: A judge in southernPakistan asked police yesterday tofile formal charges against an FBIagent arrested there after allegedlycarrying ammunition and threeknives onto an airplane, an investiga-tor said. FBI agent Joel Cox, free on 1million rupees ($9,800) bail,appeared along with his lawyerbefore Judge Mohammed AliMemon in Karachi, the capital ofsouthern Sindh province, KhalidMahmood told The Associated Press.

Mahmood said police told thejudge during a brief hearing theyneeded more time to file formalcharges. Memon told police to sub-

mit the charges against Cox on May19. The FBI agent is expected to beback to the court that day. Coxarrived in Karachi on May 1 and wasdetained Monday after officialsfound him with the ammunition,knives and electronic devices as hewas preparing to board a flight toIslamabad.

The arrest is a new strain on rela-tions between Pakistan and the US.The US needs Islamabad to help con-tain militancy on the border withAfghanistan, but the two countrieshave been uneasy allies since theSept 11, 2001, terror attacks. Their tieshave been tested by incidents like

CIA contractor Raymond Davis shoot-ing and killing two Pakistani men inLahore in January 2011. The US uni-laterally killed Osama bin Laden inthe Pakistani city of Abbottabad inMay 2011 and American forces acci-dentally killed 24 Pakistani troopsalong the Afghan border the sameyear. US drones strikes in the countryalso have angered Pakistanis.Mahmood said the FBI agent’s pass-port was with police, although nocourt has issued an order to stop himfrom traveling abroad. Pakistani offi-cials have said they found that Coxhad no criminal intention in carryingthe bullets during the flight — AP

Pak court asks police to charge FBI agent

ISLAMABAD: The lawyerdefending a Pakistani doctorjailed after helping the CIAfind Osama bin Laden is quit-ting the case because of deaththreats and alleged US inter-ference in the trial, the lawyersaid yesterday. “I am gettingthreats on a regular basis. Notonly is my life in danger, myfamily is also in danger. I havetherefore decided to quit,”lawyer Samiullah Afridi said.

Afridi is representing Dr.Shakil Afridi, who was jailed for33 years after helping the CIAfind the Al-Qaeda chief. BinLaden was hiding in Pakistanuntil US Navy Seals killed himin a 2011 raid. The raid - andDr. Afridi’s jail sentence -severely strained relationsbetween the United Statesand Pakistan, its nominal ally.

Afridi’s sentence was lateroverturned. He is still in jailand undergoing a retrial, buthis lawyer said the US govern-ment was unduly interfering.“The government of Americais putting a lot of pressure onthe Pakistani government forthe release of Dr. Shakil Afridi,”he said.

“Our mission and our wishalso was to get him released,but our courts are free and theyhave to work according to a setprocedure. I therefore did notlike America’s unjustified pres-sure.” A US embassy spokes-woman was not immediatelyable to comment on the allega-tions. Relations between twoallies were icy after the binLaden raid. — Reuters

Pak lawyerquits

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

SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

BEIJING: Protesters in eastern China clashedwith police at a rally against plans to build ahuge waste incinerator that residents fear will beharmful to their health and add to pollution.Choking smog blankets many Chinese cities andthe environmental degradation resulting fromthe country’s breakneck economic growth isangering its increasingly well-educated andaffluent population.

Two of the protesters told Reuters that thedemonstrations, which have lasted for more thantwo weeks, turned violent with hundreds of police

descending onto the streets of Yuhang, close tothe tourist city of Hangzhou. “There have certainlybeen injuries,” one of the protesters, Wu Yunfeng,said by telephone. “The police have closed downthe roads into Yuhang and locked the site down.”

Another protester, who declined to give hername, said several police cars had been over-turned. A police officer, reached by telephone,said the demonstration had already ended. Hedeclined to provide further details. Reuters wasunable to reach the local government for com-ment. On Friday, the official Hangzhou Daily news-

paper defended the construction of the incinera-tor, saying the technology it would use was safeand up to standard.

Hangzhou, capital of prosperous Zhejiangprovince and best known in China as the site of afamous lake, has seen its luster dimmed in recentyears by a recurrent smog problem. Pictures onChina’s Twitter-like Weibo site showed police fight-ing with protesters and at least two protesterswith blood streaming down their faces. Anotherpicture showed several hundred people surround-ing a large group of police. “We don’t want our

children and grandchildren to get cancer. Give usback our beautiful home,” read one letter ofprotest carried on Weibo.

Reuters was not able to independently verifythe pictures’ authenticity. About 90,000 “mass inci-dents” - a euphemism for protests - occur eachyear in China, triggered by corruption, pollution,illegal land grabs and other grievances. Late inMarch, hundreds of residents of the southerntown of Maoming staged protests against plans tobuild a petrochemical plant there, for fear it wouldcontribute to pollution. — Reuters

Protesters in China clash with police over pollution

BANGKOK: Supporters of Thailand’s belea-guered government gathered yesterday on theoutskirts of Bangkok, saying they were deter-mined to safeguard democracy as rival anti-gov-ernment protesters pressed their campaign inthe city. Thailand’s politicians have been unableto forge a compromise over a nearly decade-long split between the royalist establishmentand a populist former telecommunicationstycoon, whose sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, wasousted as prime minister on Wednesday.

Her sacking by the Constitutional Court fornepotism followed six months of sometimes vio-lent anti-government protests that have unnervedinvestors, frightened away tourists and dentedgrowth in Southeast Asia’s second-biggest econo-my. Yingluck’s supporters have derided herremoval as a “judicial coup”. Her brother, formerprime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted ina military coup in 2006.

“This is a dictatorship that masquerades as ademocracy,” Sombat Thammasuk, 44, a “redshirt” supporter of Thaksin and Yingluck, said atthe rally. A government security official saidabout 50,000 people had joined the rally andmore were expected. They gathered under asweltering sun and many said they were pre-pared to stay for days to press for an election.

“Although it is hot out here our anger is hot-ter, we are boiling with anger. I am ready to givethis fight everything I’ve got,” said Sombat A dayafter Yingluck was thrown out of office she wasindicted by an anti-corruption agency for negli-gence over a rice subsidy scheme that ran uphuge losses. The upper house Senate is expect-ed to impeach her for that, which would result ina five-year ban from politics.

But Yingluck’s Puea Thai party still runs acaretaker government and is hoping to organizea July 20 election that it would probably win.Anti-government protesters want the govern-ment out, the election postponed and reformsto end Thaksin’s influence.

Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, a former

deputy premier in a government run by the pro-establishment Democrat Party, called his sup-porters out onto Bangkok’s streets on Friday forwhat he says will be a final push to get the gov-ernment out. He then wants to install a “people’scouncil” to oversee reforms aimed at excludingThaksin from politics. “The caretaker govern-ment is unlawful, which means at this stage,Thailand has no real government,” Suthep toldreporters at a rally.

He called on the upper house Senate, the

judiciary and Election Commission to appoint aneutral prime minister. Suthep’s supporters heldrallies and blocked some roads yesterday butthere were no reports of violence. Both the pro-and anti-government camps have armedactivists within their ranks and the rival proteststhis weekend, even though they are far apart,have raised fears of trouble.

‘Will not stand for it’Jatuporn Prompan, leader of the “red shirt”

supporters of Thaksin and Yingluck, toldreporters at the pro-government rally Suthep’sproposal was “impossible”. “It is clear that Suthepthinks there is no government ... that he is look-ing to the Senate to install a neutral prime minis-ter. This is illegal,” Jatuporn said.

“If they install an interim prime minister wewill escalate our fight for sure. We will not standfor it,” he told Reuters. Thaksin lives in self-exileto avoid a jail term handed down in 2008 for cor-ruption but has been a major influence over hissister’s government. He won huge support inthe north and northeast with pro-poor policies,rallied provincial power brokers to his party andwas increasingly seen as a challenge to theBangkok-based establishment.

He or his loyalists have won every electionsince 2001. But his enemies say he is corrupt andbuys votes and they want to change electoralrules before new polls. The army, which hasstaged numerous coups since the end ofabsolute monarchy in 1932, has stayed out ofthe turmoil but substantial violence would raisethe possibility of military intervention.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 86, the world’slongest-reigning monarch, has stepped in todefuse previous crises but has not commentedon this one since it blew up late last year. Oneundercurrent of the crisis is deep anxiety overthe issue of royal succession. The king spent theyears from 2009 to 2013 in hospital. CrownPrince Vajiralongkorn does not command thesame devotion as his father. — Reuters

Thai government supporters

rally to ‘defend democracy’

Caretaker govt illegal: Protest leader

HO CHI MINH CITY: A Vietnamese protester holds up a placard and shouts slogans duringa protest rally against China outside the Chinese Consulate yesterday. — AP

NAYPYIDAW: Myanmar President Thein Sein (left) and his wife wait onstage for the arrival of ASEAN leaders at a welcome dinner as part of the 24thASEAN summit at the Myanmar International Convention Center yesterday. — AFP

HANOI: Vietnamese anger toward China is run-ning at its highest level in years after Beijingdeployed an oil rig in disputed waters. That’sposing a tricky question for Vietnam’s leaders: Towhat extent should they allow public proteststhat could morph into those against their ownauthoritarian rule? At one level, the rulingCommunist Party would like to harness theanger on the street to amplify its own indigna-tion against China and garner international sym-pathy as naval ships from both countries engagein a tense standoff near the rig off the ParacelIslands in the South China Sea.

But Vietnam’s government instinctively dis-trusts public gatherings of any sort, much lessones that risk posing a threat to public order.And they also know that members of the coun-try’s dissident movement are firmly embeddedinside the anti-China one, and have used theissue to mobilize support in the past. Yesterday,around 100 people protested outside theChinese Consulate in the country’s commercialcapital, Ho Chi Minh City, watched on by a largecontingent of security officers. Dissident groupshave called for larger demonstrations today inHo Chi Minh City and in Hanoi, the capital.

The two Asian nations have a history of con-flict going back 1,000 years, and the streets ofVietnam’s cities are named after heroes in thosefights. In the more recent past, the navies havetwice had deadly engagements in the SouthChina Sea. There was a brief but bloody borderwar in 1979. All have a created a deep well of

mistrust toward China among ordinaryVietnamese. Yet the two countries share aCommunist ideology and close economic ties,making the China-Vietnam relationship highlysensitive topic. The latest round of tension - theworst since 1988, when 64 Vietnamese sailorswere killed in a clash with the Chinese navy - hadled to fresh and awkward questions over thatrelationship, a normally taboo topic in the state-controlled media.

“It’s time for the Communist Party of Vietnamto reconsider all its policy toward Beijing ...Vietnam should immediately abandon Beijing asan economic and a political model,” Huy Duc,one of Vietnam’s best known bloggers, wrote ina recent post. “Hopefully, the drilling rig 981 inci-dent will awaken the Communist Party ofVietnam to be on the side of the people anddrive out the Beijing expansionists.”

A statement widely circulated on Facebookand dissident blogs called for protests todaymorning in Hanoi outside the Chinese Embassyand a Chinese cultural center in Ho Chi MinhCity. In past years, authorities have onlyallowed anti-China demonstrators to walkaround a lake in downtown Hanoi. “Facing thedanger of Chinese aggression appropriatingthe sacred East Sea, the source of livelihood ofthe Vietnamese over generations, we are deter-mined not to compromise,” according to astatement posted alongside the protest callthat used the Vietnamese term for the SouthChina Sea.—AP

street protests

test for Vietnam

NAYPYIDAW: Myanmar parades its once-isolated cap-ital to international leaders this weekend, hosting alandmark summit of Southeast Asia’s regional bloc asreforms see the country strut onto the world stage.The long-cloistered country’s debut as chair of theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) pres-ents the diplomatic newcomer with a delicate chal-lenge amid soaring maritime tensions between mem-bers Vietnam and the Philippines and an increasinglyassertive China. Leaders began arriving on the eve ofthe summit as foreign ministers worked on drafting aunified statement on recent incidents in the SouthChina Sea that have stoked international concern.Observers said Myanmar-at the helm of ASEAN for thefirst time in its 17-year membership-was steering amoderate course among the different views.

“There are some disagreements but I thinkMyanmar is handling it very well as a neutral chair,”one diplomat said. A new quasi-civilian regime thattook power in 2011 has thrust the country into theinternational limelight, with reforms including freeingpolitical prisoners and welcoming opposition leaderAung San Suu Kyi into parliament.

Myanmar’s year-long chairmanship is a challengefor ASEAN, which has seen its ability to present a cohe-sive stance in the past tested by some members’ loyal-ties to regional heavyweight China. Hanoi onWednesday accused Chinese ships of attackingVietnamese patrol vessels near a controversial oil rig inthe South China Sea. On the same day, Philippine

police said they had seized a Chinese fishing boatelsewhere in the sea, which is crisscrossed by strategi-cally important shipping lanes and vast potential ener-gy reserves. China claims sovereign rights to almost allof the disputed waters. Beijing has long been thelargest investor in Myanmar and was a rare ally duringthe country’s years in the diplomatic wilderness underthe junta. The country should strive not to let its closerelationship with China “mar its neutral and even-handed leadership”, said Simon Tay, chairman of theSingapore Institute of International Affairs, adding thatthis would “not be easy”.

In 2012, China’s ally Cambodia caused consterna-tion when it was ASEAN head by refusing to takeBeijing to task over its assertive maritime stance.Singapore Foreign Minister K Shanmugam said yester-day that it was imperative that ASEAN present a uni-fied front, even if it did not take sides in the rows.“Neutrality doesn’t mean staying silent. We can’t staysilent,” he told reporters, adding that the bloc’s “credi-bility” had suffered in recent years over the issue.

‘Political dignity’ Myanmar was forced to renounce the rotating

ASEAN presidency in 2006 because of the militaryregime’s failure to shift to democracy. But it hasskipped ahead of Laos to take the rudder this year,indicating an enthusiasm to showcase its revampedinternational image in the run up to crucial 2015 elec-tions that are seen as a key litmus test of reforms.

Myanmar has won praise for its democratizingefforts from the international community and has wel-comed a series of global leaders, including USPresident Barack Obama. “Both the country and thepeople are now enjoying a high level of political digni-ty,” government spokesman Ye Htut told AFP. Theremoval of international embargoes has also raisedhopes of an economic boom in the country, leftimpoverished after decades of mismanagement bythe junta. Foreign firms, drawn by huge naturalresources and an estimated 60 million potential con-sumers, are already dipping their toes into the market.According to state newspaper New Light of Myanmarthis week, foreign investment created 90,000 jobs inthe 2013/14 financial year.

Rajiv Biswas, an economist at IHS Global Insight,said the country was “one of the last great frontiermarket opportunities for many Western firms”, butproblems including weak governance and poor infra-structure meant it was still a “challenging” businessenvironment. Naypyidaw bears the signs of the coun-try’s evolving aspirations. The “Abode of Kings” roseout of remote scrubland after a sudden, costly, deci-sion by the military to shift the capital from Yangon toMyanmar’s parched central region in 2005.Unconstrained by conventional notions of scale ordesign, the city sprawled across the tropical hinterlandin an architectural smorgasbord of vast governmentbuildings and hotels, linked by lonely multi-lane high-ways.—AFP

Myanmar diplomatic debut tested by China sea spats

SEOUL: Divers have retrieved two more bodiesfrom the wreck of the South Korean ferry thatsank last month, as conditions on the ship fur-ther deteriorated, officials said yesterday. Thebodies were found late Friday in the inverted,submerged ship, bringing the confirmed deathtoll from the April 16 disaster to 275, CoastguardSpokesman Ko Myung-Suk told journalists.Twenty nine are still unaccounted for.

Divers have now swept through most of theship, which is resting on its side at a depth ofmore than 40 meters (132 feet) off the country’ssouthern coast. But as days go by, they areretrieving fewer and fewer bodies. The divershave also reported that partition walls on theship have started warping and are at risk of col-lapsing, which would further complicate theirwork, a government task force said in a state-ment.

The divers have been under immense pres-sure from the authorities and the victims’ fami-lies to retrieve all the trapped bodies as quicklyas possible. They face enormous hazards andchallenges, including near-zero visibility, strongcurrents and often treacherous weather condi-tions.

A storm warning was likely to be raised later,Ko said. “But the government will push throughwith the search operations”, he said. The Sewolwas carrying 476 people when it sank after list-ing sharply to one side. Of those on board, 325

were children from a high school in Ansan Cityin the southern suburbs of Seoul who were onan organized trip to the southern resort island ofJeju.

Initial investigations suggest the ferry wascarrying up to three times its safe cargo capacity.The ferry had been habitually overloaded, inves-tigators said. The Sewol’s regular captain, whowas off duty on the day of the accident, has toldprosecutors that the ferry operator-ChonghaejinMarine Co-”brushed aside” repeated warningsthat the 20-year-old ship had stability issues fol-lowing a renovation in 2012.

A court warrant was issued late Friday toarrest the head of Chonghaejin, Kim Han-Sik,Prosecutor Yang Jong-Jin told AFP yesterday. Hefaces charges of manslaughter through negli-gence and breaches of vessel safety laws,Yonhap news agency said.

The latest move brought to five the numberof Chonghaejin officials arrested over the disas-ter. Meanwhile, there has been no let-up innationwide mourning over the catastrophe. Thegovernment said more than 1.65 million peoplehad paid their respects at memorial placesacross the country since the mourning periodbegan. At a public park in Ansan, a focal point ofnational mourning, some 2,000 students fromvarious high schools in the city held a candlelitvigil on Friday night for the victims, with yellowribbons tied to their arms. — AFP

Divers find more bodies

in S Korea ferry disaster

SEOUL: A mother and her daughter hold candles during a rally to pay tribute to thevictims and missing passengers of the sunken ferry Sewol yesterday. — AP

BANGKOK: A Thai pro-government “Red Shirts’protester attends a rally yesterday. — AFP

By Zeina Karam

Two years ago, it seemed almost inevitablethat Syrian President Bashar Al-Assadwould be toppled. Despite a fierce military

crackdown, people were still taking to the streetsin exuberant anti-government protests andrebels were pressing their fight deeper into thecapital, even placing a bomb inside a high-levelsecurity meeting that killed top regime officialsincluding Assad’s brother-in-law.

Western leaders predicted Assad would fall infew months. Almost no one thinks that now. Ashe prepares for elections through which he is setto claim another seven-year mandate for himself,the 48-year-old leader appears to be on a contin-uously upward path in the three-year-old con-flict. A look at how Assad has managed to seizethe momentum in the civil war:

Hezbollah Joins the FightThe Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group

joined the fight in Syria publicly and earnestly inmid-2013. With thousands of experienced guer-rillas and experts, the group has been instru-mental in helping Assad’s overstretched forcesgain ground around the capital, Damascus, andin strategic Syrian towns and villages in ruggedmountains near the border with Lebanon.

Army UnitedDespite major defections early in the con-

flict, the Syrian military remains a potent force.There is no sign of significant fractures amongAssad’s lieutenants, and his inner circle hasremained largely cohesive and united. Assadhas also bolstered his military over the past yearwith the creation of paramilitary troops includ-ing the National Defense Force, a pro-govern-ment militia that draws heavily from Syria’sminority communities and reportedly receivestraining from Iran.

Uneven FightThe Syrian government has enjoyed

unchecked use of its aircraft to poundopposition-held areas with missilesand crude explosives. The oppositionhas pleaded with the internationalcommunity for more than two yearsto provide weapons with which toshoot down government warplanes.

But the West has deep con-cerns that any lethal assis-tance could end up in thehands of extremists, and

President Barack Obama hasdesperately sought to avoid

embroiling the U.S. in anotherwar after more than a decade

of fighting in Afghanistan andIraq.

Chemical Weapons DealIn August 2013, Syria’s key ally

Russia stepped in to avert US militarystrikes against regime targets by clinch-

ing a deal that would rid Syria of its chemi-cal weapons stockpile following a toxic gasattack near Damascus that killed hundreds.Obama had said the use of chemical weaponswas a “red line” that would trigger a harshresponse. His waffling and change of course

on the threatened airstrikes enragedSyrian opposition members and

emboldened Assad.

Jihadis versus ModeratesThe already divided umbrel-

la group of rebel factions backedby the West, the Free Syrian

Army, has seen its fortunes sinkeven further over the past year

with the rise of militant groups andal-Qaida-inspired extremist factions.

Since the beginning of the year, the two sideshave turned their guns on each other in fight-ing that has killed thousands of people. Thegroup’s moderate leadership lost the confi-dence of the US and its allies, particularly afterIslamic extremists seized a weapons shipmentlast year, leading to the temporary suspensionof U.S. aid shipments. Foreign fighters fromevery corner of the earth have flocked to Syria- a result of ever-increasing radicalization onall sides - dampening the West’s support forthe rebellion.

Siege and ReconciliationThe exit of hundreds of rebels from the city

of Homs last week gives Assad a geographiclinchpin in central Syria from which to launchoffensives on rebel-held territory in the north.But the cease-fire agreement also highlights anew Syrian government tactic. Such dealshave seen weary rebels turn over theirweapons to authorities in exchange for aneasing of suffocating blockades that have pre-vented food, medicine and other staples fromreaching rebel-held areas. That has enabledAssad’s troops to be shifted to fighting frontselsewhere in the country and allowed thegovernment to present itself abroad as aresponsible actor actively trying to brokerpeace at home.

Rebel SponsorsArab sponsors have increasingly clashed

over the level and type of assistance theyshould offer the Syrian rebels. The cracks inwhat was once solid Arab support for therebels are mostly rooted in long-simmeringtensions between Saudi Arabia and Qatar.Saudi Arabia and its allies accuse Qatar ofsending weapons to Islamic militant fightersthat clash with more moderate rebel fac-tions. —AP

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An Apple buy-out of hip headphone makerBeats Electronics could expand the iPhonemaker’s lucrative domain and play into plans

for its next big thing, analysts said. Apple’s reportedmulti-billion-dollar acquisition of Beats, seeminglyconfirmed by Beats founder Dr. Dre in a video clipposted to YouTube, could make Apple’s covetedgadgets more enticing and broaden its “eco-system”for selling music and other digital content. Appleand Beats both declined to comment on the reportsof a $3.2 billion takeover deal but rapper and busi-ness mogul Dre boasted in the clip of becoming“the first billionaire from hip-hop.”

Apple likely sees mobile audio as a growingopportunity and wants to not only Beats’ musicstreaming service also to cash-in on delivering pre-mium listening experiences from earphones or wire-less speakers to in-car sound systems, according toanalysts. The premium headphone market in theUnited States grew 20 percent last year while salesof wireless speakers more than doubled, accordingto industry tracker NPD. Beats was reported to haveclaimed 60 percent of the billion-dollars spent ontop-end earphones in the US last year.

“The association with Beats allows Apple toextend their ecosystem,” NPD analyst Ben Arnoldtold AFP. Bringing Beats into the Apple fold wouldprovide opportunities to weave iTunes Radio serviceinto more devices, and even spread the App Storefor mini-programs to other products, according toArnold. “I could see a connection with Apple TV,”Arnold said of Beats technology. “You pair the AppleTV with a wireless speaker or sound bar and thatfurther builds their presence in the living room.”

Rumors have swirled for years that an innovative-ly overhauled Apple TV was being created at theCupertino, California-based maker of iPhones, iPads,iPods, and Macintosh computers. Much speculationof late has focused on Apple getting into the wear-able computing market, perhaps with an Internet-linked watch. To that end, headphones are arguablyamong the first wearable technology gadgets.

‘Head-scratcher’Still, some analysts considered the idea of Apple

paying billions of dollars for Beats a “head-scratch-er”. Apple could license audio technology, or eventurn to its own engineers to create their own for farless money, analysts contended. If the target wasBeats streaming music service, said to have a rela-tively small number of users, a broader audiencecould be gotten with a buy of Spotify or Rhapsody.A possible explanation is that Apple wants to buy itsway into fashion with young Beats fans, given thatApple devotees tend to be older adults, accordingto independent Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle.

Such a take-over could also be a sign that Appleis pushing back release of its keenly-anticipatednext big thing to “make it perfect” and buying Beatsis a shot at giving the company new rhythm, theanalyst said. Apple shares were down slightly morethat one percent to $581.91 on the rumor, evidentlybecause “people are having a hard time wrappingtheir heads around” why the company would write abig check for Beats, according to Enderle.

“This is puzzling,” Forrester analyst Frank Gillettsaid of an Apple buy of Beats. “Maybe there issomething we can’t see; some technology not yeton the market,” he continued. “The whole idea thatthis is about headphones makes absolutely nosense to me.”

Apple would buy not only the Dr Dre brand ofheadphones and other sound equipment but alsothe music streaming service that Beats Electronicslaunched recently, known as Beats Music. The dealvalued at $3.2 billion would mark the biggest acqui-sition ever carried out by Apple and promptedquestions by analysts regarding the evolution of thecompany without its iconic co-founder Steve Jobs,who died in 2011.

Jobs was known for his drive to exquisitely fusetechnology and design, and for masterfully market-ing Apple creations. “They never backfilled Steve,and buying companies that are trendy is not goingto fix this,” Enderle said of Apple. —AFP

Issues

Washington Watch

Beats buy could broaden

Apple’s reach

A N A L Y S I SSUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

By Dr James J Zogby

Iwas deeply disturbed last week when US Secretary ofState John Kerry, in response to criticism from formerSenate colleagues, felt compelled to walk back his warn-

ing that Israel risked becoming an “apartheid state” if it failedto make peace with the Palestinians. What troubled me mostwas that Kerry, after acknowledging that many Israelis haveoffered the same warning, apologized for using the word“apartheid” saying that “it is a word best left out of the debatehere at home.” In other words, Israelis can have this debate,but we can’t.

This affair brought to mind a comment I heard from for-mer Senator Joseph Lieberman back in 2000 in which heacknowledged that it was easier to debate issues like settle-ments and Jerusalem in the Israeli Knesset than to have thesame debates in the US Senate. The question is, how can theUS lead Israeli-Palestinian peace-making when we can’t criti-cize Israel or have an honest debate about their policies?

For more than two decades now America has assumed foritself a unilateral role in Israeli-Palestinian peace-making.During all that time our leadership has repeatedly been test-ed. And all too often, we have come up short. Our inability topursue peace, independent of domestic political considera-tions, has had dramatic consequences. Not only have wefailed to help resolve the conflict, we have also contributedto a deterioration in the political environment in both Israeliand Palestinian societies and to harming the image of ourcountry in much of the world. Even when presidents havetried to make a difference, as many have, going back toPresident Ford, they have been slapped down by a Congressmore focused on short term political expediency than pro-tecting the long-term interests of the United States. In theprocess they have repeatedly compromised our nation’s stat-ed commitment to universal human rights and democracy.

In the eyes of much of the world, we have become like thecrowd in Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Emperor’s NewClothes”. We see only what we want to see, and deny whatwe find uncomfortable to acknowledge. For decades, weturned a blind eye to the daily realities confrontingPalestinians living under a brutal and humiliating occupation.

Even when we did acknowledge these abuses of humanrights, we failed to demonstrate the resolve needed to chal-lenge Israeli behavior.

It is not merely a problem of our weakness and inability topublicly criticize Israel. It is as if we cannot bring ourselves tosee Palestinians as full and equal human beings and to standup and defend them when their rights are so flagrantly vio-lated. We decry settlements when they are announced, thencall them “realities” when they are built. In other conflictsaround the world: we defend innocent civilians who are vic-timized by collective punishment; we defend those who areimprisoned without charge or expelled from their homeswithout any due process; we decry “ethnic cleansing” andother violations of international human rights law; and wemaintain that it is the right of refugees to return to theirhomes and to reclaim lost property. But we do not accept thesame rights for Palestinians. We have put Israel above the law,an exception to the rules; and we have acted as if Palestinianshave no rights at all. Nations who aren’t furious with our dou-ble-standard toward Israel just dismiss our policies with arueful “well that’s the way the US is.”

The result of this gross imbalance in our approach to theIsraeli-Palestinian conflict is everywhere in evidence. Bothsocieties have become driven by pathologies that we haveeither enabled or encouraged by our policies. Israelis behavelike spoiled children, while Palestinians behave like abusedchildren.

Listening to the debate inside Israel is as instructive as it isdepressing. To be sure, there are Israelis who continue tochampion human rights for Palestinians, but they do nothave the upper hand. Within the ruling government coali-tion, the dominant trend is to reject any recognition ofPalestinian rights and any acceptance of even the most mini-mal withdrawal from the occupied territories. Not unlikespoiled children, they have internalized the fact that there areno sanctions for bad behavior. Congress will always havetheir back, giving them what they want.

Meanwhile, Palestinians have internalized the idea thatnothing they ever do will be good enough to earn the sup-port of the United States. For them, there is no reward forgood behavior. Since Congress will never have their back,

moderate Palestinian leader feel exposed and vulnerable,while hard-liners are emboldened to act out their anger andfrustration, oftentimes in outrageous and deplorable ways.

US military leaders, from Generals Schwartzkopf and Zinnito Patreaus, not caught up in the mind-numbing game of ourpolitics have been warning us for decades that our failure topress for a just peace continues to cause grave damage toour standing and our ability to work with Arab allies to pro-tect our interests. With the “peace process” at an impasse,America has a choice to make. Instead merely of pushing foran extension of open-ended negotiations, it is time to decidewhether we can muster the resolve to put our foot down andspeak the truth to Israelis about their behavior and its conse-quences. Congress may scream and political operatives maysquirm, but if we are serious about peace then we must showthe way with decisive leadership.

Coddling the Israeli right, only emboldens them - theyknow how to take advantage of an opening and play fortime. Firm pressure from America, will empower progressiveIsraelis who understand the deep hole being dug by theirirredentist leaders. They should be supported in their effortsto make change. A firm challenge from America will helpspur needed debate and change in Israel.

A decisive stand by America will also empower progres-sive Palestinians who are, at this point, under siege fromIsrael, on the one side, and Palestinian extremists and cynics,on the other. Moderates have little to show for their effortsand desperately need support. With America showing seri-ousness and resolve, we will strengthen the hand ofPalestinians who have chosen the path of peace, non-violentresistance, and negotiations.

Will all this come to pass? While I’m not counting on it, Iknow that without such leadership, we will surely fail. If wecannot muster up the strength to challenge Israel and play aconstructive role in peace-making, then we ought to get outof the way and let the Palestinians take their case to theInternational Criminal Court and let the world communitydecide how to resolve this conflict that has lasted too longand taken too many Israeli and Palestinian lives.

NOTE: Dr James J Zogby is the President of the ArabAmerican Institute

The choice we face, the debate we must have

How Assad seized momentum in war

SUNDAY, MAY 11 2014

BARCELONA: Caterham have parted company with technical director MarkSmith and replaced him with a committee, the Formula One team said yes-terday. The Malaysian-owned team, who have struggled to make anyimpression this season and are last in the standings after four races, said ina statement that Smith had left with immediate effect.

“A new Technical Committee has been formed to oversee all technicaland operational aspects of the team’s activities on and off track,” it added.“John Iley, Jody Egginton and Gerry Hughes will now each take responsibili-ty for specific areas of the team’s operational activities.”

Smith joined Caterham, a team that has yet to score a point in FormulaOne, in 2011 and took over the technical department from Mike Gascoyne

in 2012.Formula One underwent huge technical changes over the

European winter, with a new V6 turbo hybrid power unit replac-ing the old V8s and revised aerodynamic regulations.

Smith and his design department were under added pres-sure to deliver results with team owner Tony Fernandes say-

ing before the season started that he could walk away fromthe sport unless Caterham showed significant improve-

ment.—Reuters

Smith leaves Caterham F1KINGSTON: West Indies all-rounder Darren Sammy announced his retire-ment from test cricket on Friday after he was replaced as captain by wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin.

The 30-year-old Sammy, who played in 38 tests and all but eight of themas skipper, remains the captain of the West Indies Twenty20 team and alsointends to continue playing ODI cricket.

“Darren Sammy has formally notified the West Indies Cricket Board(WICB) of his decision to retire from test cricket,” the WICB said in a state-ment. “Sammy has also informed the board of his decision to continue tomake himself available for selection for the other formats of the game.

“Sammy, in his communication to the board thanked the directors, theselectors and team management for the confidence shown in him as a play-er and captain which he served as from October 2010 to May 2014.”While he is well-liked and a respected figure, Sammy often bat-ted low down the order in test cricket and his medium-pacebowling was much less effective than in shorter forms of thegame.

That raised some critics to question whether the St Lucianmerited a place in the team despite generally positive views of hisinfluence as captain. —Reuters

MELBOURNE: Australia will throw more money at top medal prospectsto prepare for the 2016 Rio Olympics after the sports-mad nationslumped to its worst medal tally in 20 years at the London Games. Sportsminister Peter Dutton said 650 of Australia’s best athletes would benefitfrom a newly designed program that reallocates A$1.6 million ($1.5 mil-lion) directly to the brightest medal hopes and emerging talents.

That would come from a re-designed Direct Athlete Support (DAS)program of A$48 million over four years, Dutton said in a statement.

The means-tested scheme would mean the top medal prospectscould be in line for up to a 30 percent hike in funding, he said. “Moredirect funding through the Australian Institute of Sport for potentialOlympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games medallists is an impor-tant part of Australia’s plan to remain on the podium of world sport,”Dutton said.

Australia has traditionally punched above its weight at the Olympics,finishing sixth in the medals table at the 2008 Beijing Games and fourth atAthens and Sydney, but the 10th-placed haul at London prompted localmedia to slam sports authorities for wasting taxpayers’ money.—Reuters

Aussies to splash cash on medal prospects

S P O RT S

Ramdin to captain Windies

CINCINNATI: Joey Votto hit a game-ending solohomer, and the Cincinnati Reds shut downNolan Arenado in a 4-3 win over ColoradoRockies on Friday night.

Votto drove a 3-0 pitch from Boone Logan (1-1) over the wall in center for his fifth homer.Votto’s fourth career game-ending shot traveledan estimated 437 feet.

Arenado went 0 for 3, snapping his hittingstreak at a club-record 28 games, the longest inthe majors this season. But Arenado walked andscored on Justin Morneau’s tying double in theninth, handing Jonathan Broxton (1-0) his firstblown save in six opportunities.

Cincinnati’s Johnny Cueto went eight innings,giving him five consecutive starts of eight ormore innings. He gave up five hits and two runswith one walk and eight strikeouts.

YANKEES 5, BREWERS 3Masahiro Tanaka pitched into the seventh

inning, Yangervis Solarte hit a three-run homerand New York beat Milwaukee in the interleaguematchup.

A fan jumped out of the left-field stands andwalked briskly toward Derek Jeter’s spot atshortstop while the Brewers were batting in thesixth inning. Jeter didn’t appear to notice untilthe fan was within an arm’s length or so. Jetercalmly took a few steps away as several securityguards rushed in to tackle the person.

Jeter has said he will retire after this season.Tanaka (5-0) allowed two runs and seven hits inhis first interleague game. The Japanese right-hander struck out seven and walked one. Tanakaalso struck out in each of his first three majorleague at-bats.

GIANTS 3, DODGERS 1Madison Bumgarner pitched eight superb

innings and Brandon Crawford hit a two-runhomer, leading San Francisco past Los Angeles.

The Giants’ 12th victory in 15 games came ata cost. Brandon Belt broke his left thumb whenhe was hit by Paul Maholm’s first pitch of thesecond inning. The first baseman, who leads theclub with nine homers, ran the bases until theinning was over but was replaced on defense byJoaquin Arias.

The Giants were leading 3-0 when Yasiel Puighomered to center with one out in the sixth,after taking a called third strike his previous timeup and leaving Justin Turner stranded at thirdbase. As soon as Puig made contact, he flippedthe bat away, walked a few feet toward first baseand began a slow trot around the bases.

PADRES 10, MARLINS 1Jedd Gyorko hit two home runs off Jose

Fernandez and San Diego snapped a three-game losing streak. Gyorko came into the gamehitting just .146, but connected for a two-runshot in the second and a grand slam in the sixth.The six RBIs set a career high.

The Padres, who came in averaging a majorleague-low 2.6 runs per game, had their highest-scoring game since a 12-2 victory over Arizonaon Sept. 25.

Fernandez (4-2) was charged with six runsand six hits in five-plus innings. The right-han-der, who won the NL Rookie of the Year awardlast season, was 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA in his previ-ous four starts.

Tyson Ross (4-3) was working on a shutoutbefore Marcell Ozuna homered in the seventhinning. The righty allowed four hits and struckout eight in seven innings.

PIRATES 6, CARDINALS 4Neil Walker had three hits, including a go-

ahead three-run home run in the seventh

inning, and drove in four runs to powerPittsburgh past St. Louis.

Walker ’s seventh homer came off CarlosMartinez (0-2) and rallied the Pirates from a 4-3deficit for their third straight victory.

Pittsburgh beat St. Louis for the 10th time in13 games at home. St. Louis had gone ahead inthe top of the seventh on Jhonny Peralta’s solohome run, his eighth. Allen Craig’s three-runhome run, his fourth, accounted for theCardinals’ other runs.

Justin Wilson (1-0) struck out the only batterhe faced, Matt Adams, to end the top of the sev-enth. Mark Melancon pitched a scoreless ninthfor his third save.

BRAVES 3, CUBS 2Freddie Freeman’s single up the middle

drove in Jason Heyward from second base in the10th inning and Atlanta recovered from CraigKimbrel’s blown save to beat Chicago.

Kimbrel couldn’t hold a 2-1 lead in the ninthafter Julio Teheran allowed only one hit - MikeOlt’s homer - in eight innings. Wesley Wright (0-1) walked Heyward to lead off the 10th. Heywardstole second base. Wright issued an intentionalwalk to Justin Upton before Freeman ended the

game with his single. Heyward slid home withthe winning run as Ryan Kalish’s throw from cen-ter field was off target. Luis Valbuena led off the10th with a single to right field off Alex Wood (3-5), who then recorded three straight outs in hisfirst relief appearance of the season.

PHILLIES 3, METS 2Marlon Byrd sliced an RBI double just inside

the right field line in the 11th inning, andPhiladelphia beat New York in a game of manysquandered opportunities.

Chase Utley had three hits and scored all thePhillies’ runs, two on singles by Domonic Brown,to help Philadelphia end a four-game skid andbeat the Mets for the first time in six meetings.

Carlos Torres (2-2), the Mets’ seventh pitcher,gave up a one-out double to Utley and inten-tionally walked Ryan Howard. Byrd, who playedfor the Mets last season, reached low and awayto send an opposite-field liner inside the foulline to score Utley. The Phillies left the basesloaded, only fitting as the teams combined tostrand 32 runners in a game that took 4 hours,39 minutes. Jonathan Papelbon earned his 10thsave. Mario Hollands (1-1) got the win.—AP

Reds edge Rockies

ARLINGTON: Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts (left) is knocked backwardsafter tagging out Texas Rangers’ Leonys Martin as Martin was trying to steal secondin the fourth inning of a baseball game. —AP

ARLINGTON: Yu Darvish came oh, soclose again. The Japanese ace fell oneout shy of a no-hitter for the second timeFriday night, giving up only a ninth-inning single to David Ortiz in the TexasRangers’ 8-0 victory over the Boston RedSox.

Rookie second baseman RougnedOdor, positioned in shallow right field,made a diving attempt but the ball wasout of his reach. If the Rangers had notshifted their infield - a standard practiceagainst Ortiz - it probably would havebeen a routine grounder to second.

Darvish lost a perfect-game bid withtwo outs in the ninth inning last seasonagainst Houston. This time, he bent hisknees and put his glove on his hips afterthe base hit. Texas manager RonWashington then made a slow walk tothe mound, with the 45,392 in atten-dance cheering and chanting “Yuuuuuu!”Darvish (3-1) struck out 12 and walkedtwo while throwing 126 pitches. Bostonstarter Clay Buchholz (2-3) allowed sixruns and 10 hits over 4 1-3 innings.

ANGELS 4, BLUE JAYS 3Raul Ibanez hit a tiebreaking sacrifice

fly in the ninth inning, Mike Trout con-nected for a solo homer and the Angelswon their fifth straight game in Toronto.

Erick Aybar had three hits and scoredtwice, including the decisive run in theninth, as the Angels won for the eighthtime in nine meetings with the Blue Jaysand halted Toronto’s season-long win-ning streak at five games.

Aybar tripled off Brett Cecil (0-3) tobegin the ninth and Trout reached safelywhen first baseman Edwin Encarnacioncouldn’t find the bag after taking thethrow on Trout’s infield grounder. AlbertPujols was intentionally walked to loadthe bases for Ibanez.

Joe Smith (2-0) got the win despitegiving up a tying home run to Jose Reyesin the eighth and Ernesto Frieri finishedfor his fourth save in six chances.

ORIOLES 4, ASTROS 3Steve Pearce and Manny Machado

homered, and the Orioles won a season-high fourth consecutive game. Baltimore(19-14) is five games over .500 for thefirst time this season.

Meanwhile, the Astros have lost six ofseven. Orioles starter Wei-Yin Chen (4-2)allowed two runs and five hits in seveninnings. Tommy Hunter allowed a run inthe ninth before finishing for his 11thsave in 12 chances. Pearce went deep forhis third homer in four games.

Machado hit his first home run sincereturning from offseason knee surgeryon May 1. Orioles outfielder NickMarkakis went 3 for 4 and extended hishitting streak to 16 games. Chris Carterhit his fifth home run of the season forthe Astros. Jerome Williams (1-2) got theloss.

TWINS 2, TIGERS 1Phil Hughes pitched seven scoreless

innings, and the Twins beat JustinVerlander for the first time in over fouryears. Kurt Suzuki hit a two-run single offVerlander (4-2) in the seventh. Hughes(4-1) allowed eight hits in his fourth con-secutive win.

Hughes threw 86 pitches, and thengave way to the bullpen. Casey Fienpitched the eighth, and Glen Perkinsallowed a run in the ninth but held on forhis ninth save in 10 chances.

Verlander allowed two runs and sevenhits in seven innings. He struck out fiveand walked two. The start of the gamewas delayed 27 minutes by rain.

The injury-plagued Twins snapped athree-game losing streak. Star first base-man Joe Mauer sat out a fifth straightgame. He’s been dealing with backspasms.

INDIANS 6, RAYS 3Mike Aviles hit a three-run homer dur-

ing a five-run seventh inning, CoreyKluber went 6 2-3 effective innings, andthe Indians stopped a seven-game roadlosing streak.

Cleveland also got solo homers fromAsdrubal Cabrera and Michael Brantley.Kluber (3-3) allowed two runs and ninehits with nine strikeouts.

Jake Odorizzi struck out a career-high11 and gave up five hits in five shutoutinnings for the Rays, who have lost sixstraight at home. Brantley homered offJoel Peralta (1-3) before Yan Gomes hitan RBI single and Aviles had his three-runshot against Brandon Gomes as theIndians went ahead 6-2 in the seventh.Cody Allen got one out for his first save.

ROYALS 6, MARINERS 1Jason Vargas pitched seven scoreless

innings and Kansas City had 16 singles inthe victory. Vargas (3-1), who pitched forthe Mariners for four seasons from 2009to 2012, allowed three hits and walkednone. He is 3-1 with a 1.59 ERA in fourcareer starts against his former team.

Salvador Perez, Eric Gordon and EricHosmer had three hits apiece for theRoyals. The Mariners have two runs and10 hits over the past three games.Brandon Maurer (1-1) pitched 7 1-3innings for Seattle, but was charged withsix runs, four earned, and 14 hits.

INTERLEAGUEWHITE SOX 9, DIAMONDBACKS 3Alexei Ramirez hit a grand slam in

Chicago’s seven-run fourth inning, andJose Abreu hit his major league-leading13th homer to lead the White Sox to thewin.

Abreu was the designated hitterbecause of a nagging left ankle injury.He went 3 for 4 and leads the AL with 37RBIs. Tyler Flowers also homered for theWhite Sox, who pounded out 15 hits.

Chicago right-hander Andre Rienzo(3-0) allowed three runs and four hits in 52-3 innings. Arizona’s Brandon McCarthy(1-6) allowed nine hits and seven runs -all in the fourth inning. Gerardo Parra hita two-run homer in the third for theDiamondbacks.

ATHLETICS 8, NATIONALS 0Oakland’s Tommy Milone tossed eight

innings of two-hit ball for his first win ofthe season. Brandon Moss homered andfinished with three RBIs, and YoenisCespedes and John Jaso each hit a soloshot to back Milone’s gem. The left-han-der struck out seven and walked three.

Milone (1-3) left after 108 pitches,and Fernando Rodriguez tossed a score-less ninth in his first appearance in themajors since October 2012 after rehab-bing from elbow ligament replacementsurgery. Moss and Cespedes connectedon consecutive pitches in the fifth asthe AL West-leading A’s foiled DougFister ’s season debut. Fister (0-1)allowed nine hits and seven runs in 4 1-3 innings. —AP

Rangers pound Red Sox

American LeagueEastern Division

W L PCT GB Baltimore 19 14 .576 - NY Yankees 19 15 .559 0.5 Toronto 18 18 .500 2.5 Boston 17 18 .486 3 Tampa Bay 15 21 .417 5.5

Central DivisionDetroit 20 11 .645 - Chicago White Sox 19 18 .514 4 Kansas City 17 18 .486 5 Cleveland 17 19 .472 5.5 Minnesota 16 18 .471 5.5

Western DivisionOakland 21 15 .583 - Texas 19 17 .528 2 Seattle 18 17 .514 2.5 LA Angels 17 17 .500 3 Houston 11 25 .306 10

National LeagueEastern Division

Atlanta 19 15 .559 - Miami 20 16 .556 - Washington 19 16 .543 0.5 NY Mets 16 18 .471 3 Philadelphia 16 18 .471 3

Central DivisionMilwaukee 22 14 .611 - St. Louis 18 18 .500 4 Cincinnati 16 18 .471 5 Pittsburgh 15 20 .429 6.5 Chicago Cubs 12 22 .353 9

Western DivisionSan Francisco 23 13 .639 - Colorado 22 16 .579 2 LA Dodgers 19 18 .514 4.5 San Diego 16 21 .432 7.5 Arizona 13 25 .342 11

MLB results/standingsBaltimore 4, Houston 3; Pittsburgh 6, St. Louis 4; LA Angels 4, Toronto 3; Minnesota 2, Detroit 1; Cincinnati 4, Colorado3; Philadelphia 3, NY Mets 2 (11 Innings); Cleveland 6, Tampa Bay 3; Atlanta 3, Chicago Cubs 2 (10 Innings); Texas 8,Boston 0; Chicago White Sox 9, Arizona 3; NY Yankees 5, Milwaukee 3; Oakland 8, Washington 0; Kansas City 6, Seattle1; San Francisco 3, LA Dodgers 1; San Diego 10, Miami 1.

ARLINGTON: Home plate umpire Mark Ripperger watches as Texas Rangers’ Robinson Chirinostags out Colorado Rockies’ Michael McKenry (8) who was trying to score from third on aCharlie Blackmon fly out in the seventh inning of a baseball game.—AP

PONTE VEDRA BEACH: Ice-coolMartin Kaymer produced a controlleddisplay to stay in front of the chasingpack at the Players Championship onFriday, but American Jordan Spiethwas in hot pursuit just one shotbehind. Germany’s Kaymer, who tied

the course record with a sizzlingnine-under-par 63 on Thursday, fol-lowed up with a second-round 69 topost a 12-under total of 132 in thePGA Tour ’s flagship event widelyregarded as the unofficial fifth major.

Young gun Spieth, at 20 one of

the most exciting prospects in thegame, fired a superb bogey-free 66 tooccupy second place with compatriotRussell Henley (71) a further threestrokes back at eight under. Breezyweather on another hot day at theTPC Sawgrass made the par-72Stadium Course a more difficultprospect for the players, and Kaymerwas delighted to remain at the topafter mixing five birdies with twobogeys.

“I didn’t hit as many fairways asyesterday but I managed my wayquite nicely around the golf course,”the 29-year-old from Dusseldorf toldreporters after covering the backnine in two-under 34.

“I had a couple of nice up-and-downs and two longer putts went in,so I kept it really well together.Overall, 12 under par. I ’m verypleased. “It was a little difficult today.I thought it was already gusty in themorning, and the pin positions werea little bit tougher than yesterday.”

Kaymer has not won a tourna-ment since the Nedbank GolfChallenge in South Africa at the endof 2012, but has gained confidence

from his improving form over thepast month.

“I have had a lot of good finishes,”said the former world number one.“The way I have played golf, I am veryhappy over the last four or five weeksespecially. The next step is just put-ting yourself in contention, andhopefully win.”

LEAD TRIMMEDKaymer, whose only PGA Tour vic-

tory came at the highest level withhis playoff win at the 2010 PGAChampionship, birdied two of the lastfour holes to seize an early five-strokelead before that was trimmed bySpieth in the afternoon.

“Solid round from tee to green,”said Spieth, the 2013 PGA Tour rookieof the year who tied for second at lastmonth’s Masters where he was bid-ding to eclipse Tiger Woods bybecoming the event ’s youngestchampion.

“I felt like today was one of mybest ball-striking days I’ve had in along time. Very stress-free, and I’d liketo have a round like that the next twodays.” —Reuters

Kaymer maintains lead at Players Championship

PONTE VEDRA BEACH: Martin Kaymer of Germany, hits from a sandtrap on the 14th fairway during the second round of The Playerschampionship golf tournament.—AP

p15_Layout 1 5/10/14 9:32 PM Page 1

S P O RT SSUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

By Abdellatif Sharaa

KUWAIT: The second Embassies andDiplomatic Missions Soccer Tournament willkick off this evening at Bayan Youth Center,under the patronage of Sheikh Ahmad Al-Mansour, Chairman of the Board andManaging Director of the Public Authority forYouth and Sports.

Deputy Director General for Sports AffairsAhmad Al-Khazal, and Director of Sports for

all department Dawood Al-Dawood will alsobe present. Twenty teams will participate andthe tournament will continue until May 18th.

Today’s matches will see Russia take onTunis at 8:00 pm, then America againstJordan at 8:30 pm. Sudan and Eretria will faceoff at 7:30 pm. All three matches are withinthe first group. Meanwhile in the secondgroup Nigeria will face Bangladesh andAzerbaijan will play against the UnitedNations.

The draw resulted in placingRussia, USA, Tunis, Jordan and Eretria in

the first group.Iraq, Bangladesh, Azerbaijan, Nigeria and

United Nations in the second.Chad, Senegal, Turkey, and Indonesia in

the third.While Egypt, Morocco, Palestine, Arab

Establishment for Investment Guarantee andBurkina Faso in the fourth group.

Director of the sports for all department at

PAYS, said the authority is keen on holdingsuch tournaments to increase ties betweenKuwait society with the diplomatic missions inKuwait on one hand, and between the mis-sions themselves. He said PAYS ChairmanAhmad Al-Mansour and Director of SportsAffairs Ahmad Al-Khazal are keen on ensuringthe success of this tournament. Representativeof the Jordan Embassy Anas Al-Debei said theembassy is keen on participating in KuwaitForeign Ministry activities in appreciation of

the brotherly relationships between Kuwaitand Jordan. He said PAYS supervision of thetournament gives it strong administrative andtechnical importance. Al-Debei said Jordanembassy seeks to top the tournament.

Meanwhile Iran Embassy representativeJaafar Ghulam Hussein said the goal behindparticipating is to strengthen ties with repre-sentatives of accredited diplomatic missionsand form friendships between those withsame profession.

Embassies soccer tourney kicks off todayEmbassies reprtesentatives during the draw. Embassies football tournament draw.

LOS ANGELES: Forward Kevin Durant scored 36points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished outsix assists as the Oklahoma City Thunder beatthe Los Angeles Clippers 118-112 in Game Threeof their Western Conference semi-finals series onFriday.

The victory moved the Thunder into a 2-1lead in the best-of-seven series and after beingblown out by 17 points in the opener, OklahomaCity have rallied well to take the initiative goinginto Sunday’s Game Four in Los Angeles.

“We knew that this team is a really great pass-ing team and in the first game they picked usapart,” Durant told reporters. “I think we did agood job of weathering the storm throughoutthe game (tonight) and sticking together andwe’re going to have to do that even more nextgame if we want to win. It’s going to be proba-bly the toughest game of the series.”

Point guard Russell Westbrook scored 23points and dished out 13 assists for the Thunder.He also had eight rebounds, just missing hisfourth triple-double of the playoffs.

Clippers forward Blake Griffin scored 34points, pulled down eight rebounds and hadthree blocks for Los Angeles, who lost for thefirst time in 36 games when carrying a lead intothe fourth quarter at home. They led 90-86 atthe final break.

Point guard Chris Paul had 21 points and 16assists for Los Angeles, while guard JamalCrawford came off the bench to score 20 points.Oklahoma City held a 106-101 lead with fourminutes remaining in the game after a put-backdunk by forward Serge Ibaka, who finished with20 points and six rebounds.

Griffin had cut the Thunder’s lead to 108-107with 2:23 remaining but a Westbrook three-pointer and a Durant jumper gave OklahomaCity a 113-107 advantage with 1:23 left, a margintoo great for Los Angeles to overcome.

Both teams shot well from the free throw line,with the Thunder converting 24-of-28 attempts(85.7 percent) compared to 21-of-24 (84 percent)for the Clippers.

Meanwhile, the Indiana Pacers acknowledgedthe unsightly nature of their latest win againstthe Washington Wizards, but All-Star forwardPaul George will be happy if the remainder ofthe series continues in a similar slogging man-ner.

The Pacers held the Wizards to 30 points in

the second half, pulling away to win 85-63 onFriday and take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-sevenEastern Conference semi-finals.

“This was probably the ugliest game of thepost-season thus far,” George, who scored 23points, said after Indiana held Washington to itsfewest points in franchise history.

“This is our style of basketball. Every now andthen this team is fortunate to get hot offensively,but what we do is play defense.”

Center Roy Hibbert added 14 points for thetop-seeded Pacers, who began taking controlwith a second-quarter run and outscored theWizards 26-12 in the third quarter.

The NBA’s biggest curiosity because of theirinexplicable laboring in recent weeks, the Pacershave won two straight in the best-of-sevenseries.

Indiana led 34-33 at halftime thanks to a 13-1spurt late in the second quarter. After the

Wizards briefly pulled ahead at 37-36, Indianaripped off 12 straight points starting with guardGeorge Hill’s three-pointer. The run ballooned to23-7 as the Pacers’ staunch defense stymiedWashington from all angles. “I didn’t feel com-fortable playing in that because they were slow-ing the ball down a little bit,” said guard BradleyBeal.

The 20-year-old led the Wizards with 16points, but finished 6-for-19 from the field.Power forward Nene missed 11 of 14 attempts asWashington shot 32.9 percent from the field.“We had the worst offensive night,” Nene said. “Itlooked like we tried to miss shots.”

Washington’s two lowest scoring games ofthe regular season came against Indiana.Inability to push the pace certainly played afactor. Both teams scored eight fast-breakpoints, a statistic that favored the grindingPacers. —Reuters

Thunder storm to victory

LOS ANGELES: Clippers forward Jared Dudley (left) forward Glen Davis (center) and OklahomaCity Thunder center Steven Adams, battle for a rebound in the second half of Game 3 of theWestern Conference semifinal NBA basketball playoff series. —AP

MINNESOTA: Wild left wing Matt Cooke (left) celebrates after Wild right wing JustinFontaine scored on Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford (right) during thefirst period of Game 4 of an NHL hockey second-round playoff series. —AP

CHICAGO: Diminutive defenseman JaredSpurgeon enjoyed a big night as the home-loving Minnesota Wild remained unbeatenin the playoffs at the Xcel Energy Centerwith a 4-2 victory over the ChicagoBlackhawks on Friday.

The 5ft-9in (1.75m) blueliner had a goaland an assist as the Wild tied up their best-of-seven Western Conference semi-finalseries at 2-2 against the defending StanleyCup champions.

Spurgeon helped break a 2-2 tie in thesecond period, setting up right wingerNino Niederreiter’s go-ahead goal, andthen scored on a power-play in the thirdperiod for Minnesota, who improved to 5-0at home in the post-season.

Right wingers Justin Fontaine and JasonPominville also scored for the Wild, whogot 18 saves from goaltender I lyaBryzgalov. Chicago, which was shut out inGame Three, showed more offensive spark,twice rallying to tie the game on goals byleft winger Patrick Sharp and center MichalHandzus. Goalie Corey Crawford made 27saves. “They get the crowd into it, and theyget energised,” Blackhawks coach JoelQuenneville told reporters. “But they playhard in their building and they’re good intheir building, and they check well so it’s

tough to get momentum in here.”Wild coach Mike Yeo added: “There were

a lot of responses tonight. For me a greatresponse was by (Bryzgalov) too. He makesa huge save on the breakaway and anotherhuge save in the third period.” Spurgeon,who had five goals in 67 regular seasongames, got his third goal in 11 playoffgames early in the third on a man advan-tage after Blackhawks defenseman MichalRozsival was called for closing his hand onthe puck.

“Any guy can be that guy on any givennight, and if you get a chance to make thatplay and are able to capitalise it’s great forthe team,” Spurgeon said.

Meanwhile, the New York Rangersstaved off elimination from the Stanley Cupplayoffs with an emphatic 5-1 road winover the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday.

Derick Brassard scored two goals as NewYork built a big early lead in Game Five andthe Rangers padded their margin with alate empty netter. However, the Penguinsare still in the box seat with a 3-2 lead inthe best-of-seven Eastern Conference semi-final series. Game Six will be played in NewYork today. The winner of the series willplay either Boston or Montreal in theEastern Conference final series.—Reuters

Wild overcomeBlackhawks

BELFAST: German Marcel Kittel made a well-timed attack in the closing sprint to take a rain-soaked second stage of the Giro d’Italia yester-day, as Orica-GreenEdge rider Michael Matthewsclaimed the pink jersey from team mate SveinTuft. Team Giant-Shimano sprinter Kittel madehis move after the final hard bend to hit thefront 150 metres from the line, taking his firstGiro stage after a 219km-long ride that left

Belfast and swept through County Antrim beforefinishing back in the Northern Ireland capital.

Australian Matthews finished eighth in thefinal bunch sprint but leads the general classifi-cation after his Orica team won Friday’s teamtime trial around the streets of Belfast.

A small group consisting of Sander Armee,Andrea Fedi, Jeffrey Romero Corredor andMaarten Tjallingii broke away early but as therace made its way back towards Belfast the pelo-ton caught up, overtaking Tjallingii with 3.5kmleft after the Dutchman had made a short-livedbreak.

Meanwhile, former Tour de France championBradley Wiggins says he’s looking forward totackling the Tour of California that starts today,claiming it’s an opportunity to fly the Sky flagStateside.

“It’s an important event for the team and wewant to put in a good performance in front ofthe American fans and our co-owners 21stCentury Fox,” said the Briton, who was amongthe field of 128 cyclists announced for the eight-day, 710-mile (1,144 km) race that will start onSunday in the California capital of Sacramentoand conclude on May 18 in Thousand Oaks, westof Los Angeles.

Other elite riders in the field include OmegaPharma-QuickStep’s Mark Cavendish of Britainand Cannondale’s Peter Sagan, the Slovakianwho holds the record for the most Californiastage victories at 10. Wiggins’s star has dimmedsomewhat since his outstanding year in 2012,when he became the first Briton to win the Tourde France and followed it up with a time-trialgold at his home Olympics in London.

He suffered a disastrous 2013 when he pulledout of the Giro d’Italia due to illness and thenmissed defending his Tour title with an injury.

He also had to watch as Chris Froome suc-

ceeded him as Tour champion and firmly estab-lished himself as the Team Sky leader.

After finishing ninth at Paris-Roubaix lastmonth, Wiggins vowed to earn his place on theSky team to support reigning champion Froomein the Tour de France in July.

First, however, comes California. “Riding inCalifornia is definitely something different and anice alternative to the traditional racing pro-gramme in Europe,” Wiggins said in commentsposted on the Team Sky website. “There are a lotof passionate cycling fans in the States and thisis one of the only chances we get to ride in frontof them. We’re all looking forward to it.”

BMC’s Tejay van Garderen won the 2013 Tourof California, but the American won’t be back todefend his title. After retiring from the Tour deRomandie, where he had crashed hard in theprologue, he said he would take a break hopingto return to racing at the Criterium du Dauphine.

Peter Stetina, who lives in Santa Rosa,California, will lead BMC, returning to the racefor the first time since 2010. “I have never actual-ly been in a protected role like this, so it will be anew opportunity that I have been chomping atthe bit for and one that I am excited for,” Stetinasaid. This year’s ninth edition of the Tour ofCalifornia features a 20.1 kilometer time trial inFolsom as Monday’s stage two, and a pair ofmountain-top finishes at Mount Diablo StatePark in stage three and Mountain High in stagesix. It concludes with a circuit race in ThousandOaks, in rolling country west of Los Angeles.Stetina predicted the time trial will becrucial.”Mount Diablo is not very steep until thevery final, so I think there are going to be biggertime gaps for the time trial than on Diablo,” hesaid. “And then Mountain High is a hard climb.You definitely have to have a good time trial tocontend for the overall.”—AFP

Kittel takes second stage of Giro d’Italia

BELFAST: Giant-Shimano rider Marcel Kittelfrom Germany, celebrates as he crosses thefinish line to win Stage two of the 2014 GiroDíItalia, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. —AP

Stiverne, Arreola meet in rare US heavyweight showdown

LOS ANGELES: Bermane Stiverne and ChrisArreola will square off in a rematch for thevacant World Boxing Council belt whenthey meet Saturday in the first heavy-weight championship bout on US soil since2009. “I believe that I am going to bringthe excitement back (to the heavyweightdivision),” Stiverne said. The heavyweightclass is traditionally boxing’s glamour divi-sion. But title fights in North America havebeen rare in recent times because of a lackof serious challengers to the Klitschkobrothers, Vitali and Wladimir.

When Canada’s Stiverne and Arreolastep into the ring at the Galen Center arenaon the University of Southern Californiacampus they will be fighting for the WBCbelt vacated by Vitali in December. Vitalisurrendered the title so he could concen-trate on his presidential campaign in hisnative Ukraine.

In September 2009 in Los Angeles, Vitaliclobbered Arreola in the last heavyweighttitle fight in the US. Las Vegas hasn’t hosteda heavyweight title fight since 2006.

The 35-year-old Stiverne, who was bornin Haiti but grew up in Montreal, is seekinghis second straight win over Arreola.Stiverne won their first fight in April 2013,breaking Arreola’s nose en route to an easyvictory. He also knocked Arreola down inthe third round.

Arreola vowed to get his revenge atThursday’s news conference. “I am going tomess you up. You are going to rememberme. This Mexican is going to do it,” who wasborn in the Los Angeles but considers him-self Mexican. The winner could eventuallyget a shot at Wladimir Klitschko. He holdsthe IBF/WBA/WBO belts and the WBC is theonly one missing and keeping him fromunifying all the titles. —AFP

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S P O RT SSUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

Photo of the day

A competitor performs during the Red Bull Dirt Conquers in Guadalajara, Mexico .—www.redbull.com

BARCELONA: Lewis Hamilton putMercedes on pole position for theSpanish Grand Prix yesterday witha fourth successive win and theoverall championship lead beck-oning today.

Team mate Nico Rosberg, whois four points clear of Hamilton buthas finished runner-up in the lastthree races, qualified second withAustralian Daniel Ricciardo start-ing third for champions Red Bull.

Hamilton, celebrating his fourthpole of the season and 35th of hiscareer with a time 0.168 secondsquicker than the German, wil lwrest the overall lead fromRosberg if he wins for the first timeat the Circuit de Catalunya.

“I didn’t know whether I’d beable to get it but right at the end Ijust had to eke out absolutelyeverything and more from the car,”said Hamilton, who had beenslower than Rosberg in final prac-tice.

“To have the kind of perform-ance we have, I have never reallyknown that before. I ’m over-whelmed, I’m so happy,” added the2008 champion, whose dominantteam have taken every pole andwon all four races so far this year.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, win-ner in front of his home fans lastyear, qualified seventh and behindteam mate Kimi Raikkonen insixth. Finland’s Valtteri Bottasstarts fourth for Williams, withFrenchman Romain Grosjean fifthfor Lotus.

Red Bull ’s quadruple worldchampion Sebastian Vettel will line

up in 10th place on the grid afterstopping on track in the f inalphase of the session.

Vettel has switched to a differ-ent chassis for the start of theEuropean season after a difficultopening four races in Asia and theMiddle East but his luck has, if any-thing, taken a turn for the worse.

He managed only four laps inFriday practice before being side-lined by an electrical problem andyesterday the gremlins returned atthe crucial point. “I left the garage

and lost second gear,” said the 26-year-old, who has been overshad-owed by new team mate Ricciardo.

“It was clear there was a prob-lem but I still had third gear andabove so I thought I’d try withoutsecond gear. But by Turn One, I’dlost all the other gears.”

McLaren, without a point fromthe last two races, also had prob-lems with Danish rookie KevinMagnussen unable to set a laptime in the second phase due to apower unit problem and qualifying

15th. Team mate Jenson Buttonwill start eighth.

Qualifying was twice redflagged, the second stoppage trig-gered by Vettel’s failure and thefirst coming right at the start whenVenezuelan Pastor Maldonadospeared his Lotus into the wall.

Maldonado will be at the backo f t h e gr i d , a l o n g w i t h To roRosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne who hasa 1 0 p l a ce p e n a l t y a f te r a nunsafe release from the pits onFriday. —Reuters

Hamilton on pole for Spanish Grand Prix

MONTMELO: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain thumbs up after setting the pole position, flankedby second fastest time Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg of Germany (left) and third fastest time Red Bull driv-er Daniel Ricciardo of Australia after the qualifying session ahead of the Spain Formula One Grand Prix atthe Barcelona Catalunya racetrack. —AP

ICC declares DPLunsanctioned cricket event

KUWAIT: Kuwait Cricket is alerting its reg-istered players, clubs and officials of anunsanctioned cricket event in the UAEunder the name of The Desert PremierLeague which is scheduled to be played inDubai and Abu Dhabi this month .

Kuwait Cricket informs that the organ-izers of this event have not obtainedapproval from the ICC member host coun-try Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) to stagethis tournament. Consequently, the ECBhas not approved and sanctioned thisevent. Therefore it has been deemedDisapproved Cricket according to ICCRegulation 32.

Kuwait Cricket, which is also a recog-nized ICC member country, is bound bythis regulation and issues notice to everyplayer, person and club under its jurisdic-tion from par ticipating in thisDisapproved Cricket tournament. If thereis any breach then Kuwait Cricket will becompelled to impose appropriate discipli-

nary sanctions on the said individual, clubor organization under its jurisdiction. Thiswill include being deemed ineligible toparticipate in cricket matches and eventsplayed under its jurisdiction for a specifiedperiod.

Kuwait Cricket further informs everyardent cricketer, club and organizer aboutICC regulation 32A which states that rep-resentation in the National Team for par-ticipation in any form of an ICC recognizedInternational Cricket event shall alwaystake priority over participation in any oth-er form of domestic or overseas cricket.Therefore the release of players for repre-senting the National Team to play inInternational Cricket shall be mandatoryon domestic clubs and organizers.

Copy of full details of ICC regulation 32and 32A can be obtained from KuwaitCricket Director General Asad Baig person-ally or via email @ director.general@kuw-aitcricket.org

PARIS: Karakontie is favorite to landtoday ’s French 2,000 Guineas atLongchamp for French-based English train-er Jonathan Pease. Running in the Niarchoscolours, Karakontie emerged as one of lastseason’s top two-year-olds, winning theend-of-term Group 1 Prix Jean-LucLagardere at Longchamp.

Narrowly beaten on his prep for thePoule d’Essai des Poulains he is reported tobe in good shape for this stiff classic test.“He’s been in very good form since his trial,that did exactly what we wanted it to do interms of fitness,” reported Alan Cooper, theowner’s racing manager.

Cooper added: “We’ll just have to seewhat happens this weekend but he hasbeen doing everything right at home andwe’re really looking forward to it.”

Master French trainer Andre Fabre, suc-cessful in last weekend’s English 1000Guineas, has a strong-looking team inGodolphin’s Decathlete and Galiway, whohas ground to make up on Karakontie afterfinishing behind him in last month’s warm-up. French hopes of keeping the prize athome are boosted by the presence ofKiram, an eye-catching close second in hisprep in Maisons-Laffitte last month.

English hopes rest with End of Line, LatHawill, and Muwaary. The last named istrained by John Gosden, who saddled thebeaten favorite in last week’s English 2000

Guineas, Kingman.In contrast to Kingman, Muwaary is

something of an unknown quantity, gradu-ating to Group 1 company for the first time.

“He looks a very promising horse, butstepping up from a handicap to a GroupOne is clearly a very big step,” said AngusGold, racing manager to owner Hamdan AlMaktoum.

The only Irish contender is AidanO’Brien’s classy Giovanni Boldini, edged outin last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turfand fourth in the UAE Derby at Meydan inDubai in March.

Irrespective of how they fare in thePoulains, British hopes are high of winningthe French 1000 Guineas on the same card.

The cross-channel raiding party is spear-headed by trainer Brian Meehan’s J Wonder,who has been kept back especially for thistrip to the outskirts of Paris.

She advertised her claims when makinga winning start to her three-year-old careerat Newbury and Meehan reported: “I thinkshe’s a tremendous filly. She’s got so muchtalent.

“She’s had all of the autumn and winteroff and she couldn’t do much more thanwhat she did at Newbury. “She’s a reallysmart filly and she’s going to run a hugerace today.” J Wonder will have the assis-tance of top French jockey ChristopheLemaire on board.—AFP

Karakontie seeks to repel raiders in 2000 Guineas

CANBERRA: Jake White had a losing returnto Canberra as the ACT Brumbies groundout a 16-9 win over Super 15 leadersCoastal Sharks yesterday.

The Brumbies scored the only try of adour match in wet conditions with an over-emphasis on field kicking from both sides.Lock Sam Carter scored the sole try surgingthrough a hole in the Sharks defence off ashort pass from scrum-half Nic White in the63rd minute.

The Durban team’s chances were nothelped by an off-night from theirSpringbok goalkicker Frans Steyn, whomissed three penalty attempts and wasastray with his general kicking.

White’s return to Canberra added spiceto the top-of-the-table showdown, afterthe former World Cup-winning Springbokcoach quit the Brumbies halfway through afour-year contract after steering theCanberra-based side to last year’s Super 15final.

It was a triumph for former Wallaby fly-half and now coach Stephen Larkham,whose Brumbies side shaded the Sharks ina physical forwards-dominated contestwith both teams obsessed with kicking forfield position.

There was a total of 98 kicks in the stop-start match with very little ball in handattacking movements.

“We had our chances in the beginningto get the scoreboard rolling and maybecreate a bit of distance, but we missedthose,” White said.

“The game goes in momentum. Whenwe had the momentum we lost it and

when they got the momentum they tookcharge of it. “I ’m sure we’ll play theBrumbies again this year so you’d ratherwin the next one.” While Steyn was havingproblems, finishing with three penaltiesfrom six attempts, Christian Lealiifano land-ed three penalties and a conversion fromseven shots to keep the home side aheadin the second half.

Two of Lealiifano’s penalty attempts hitthe upright, but in the end it didn’t provecostly for the Brumbies. The Sharks took alosing bonus point out of the defeat to leadthe competition by one point on 36 pointsfrom defending champions Waikato Chiefs(35) and the Brumbies (34).

“It was a hugely rewarding result, anytime you get a win over the Sharks is good,especially in the context that they havebeen leading the competition this year,”Brumbies skipper Ben Mowen said.

“The boys had to dig deep in tough con-ditions but I thought we managed it well.”It was the Brumbies’ fifth straight win athome this season, while the Sharks nowhead to New Zealand for two tough match-es against the Canterbury Crusaders andAuckland Blues.

The Brumbies are likely to be withoutwinger Joe Tomane for some weeks with asuspected fractured eye socket after a colli-sion with a teammate in a tackle in the firsthalf.

The Brumbies, who lead the Australianconference by five points, now head off fora two-match tour to South Africa, begin-ning with the Central Cheetahs inBloemfontein next weekend.—AFP

Brumbies win over Sharks

CANBERRA: Sibusiso Sithole of the Sharks makes a pass during the Super 15 RugbyUnion match between the Sharks and Brumbies. —AFP

DUNEDIN: A fast-flagging Otago Highlanders escaped with the nar-rowest of victories to put their season back on track with a 23-22 vic-tory over the Golden Lions in their Super 15 clash in Dunedin yester-day. The Highlanders led 23-0 at half-time but failed to score a pointin the second half as the Lions stormed back with the outcome hing-ing on a conversion attempt by replacement fly-half Elton Jantjiesafter the final whistle. The ball hit the posts and bounced back ontothe field, and an appeal by Lions captain Warren Whiteley for the kickto be taken again because the Highlanders had charged too soonwas turned down by Australian referee Angus Gardiner.

The victory put the Highlanders, who lost last week in South Africato the lowly Stormers, just five points behind the New Zealand con-ference leaders Waikato Chiefs but with a game in hand.

However, for the Lions the wafer-thin loss meant further misery.After starting the season strongly, they have now lost five in a rowalthough they still remain third in the South African conferencebehind the Coastal Sharks and Northern Bulls.

In the high-paced game, the Highlanders were immediately onthe board when Richard Buckman scored the first of his two tries bywrong-footing the defence down the right wing.

The Lions had enough possession to be threatening and pro-duced every variation in their playbook only to be constantly stalledby the well-drilled Highlanders who gradually edged away with apenalty and drop goal by Hayden Parker.

The Highlanders broadened the buffer in the last four minutes ofthe half when they punished the Lions with two quick tries.

The first, from turnover ball, produced Buckman’s second try whenhe outsprinted the Lions defence after Phil Burleigh had booted theball 50 metres downfield.

Then on the stroke of half-time, replacement Gareth Evans scoredin the corner after Ben Smith had shredded the Lions’ defensive line.

But the short turn around after the journey back from South Africaduring the week began to take its toll on the Highlanders from themoment play resumed. Two minutes after the restart Francois deKlerk drove over to cap a series of pick-and-goes by a Lions pack ableto find holes where the Highlanders tight five should have been.

Marnitz Boshoff landed the conversion but then crucially, the nor-mally reliable kicker, missed his next two shots at goal when LionelMapoe and Armand van der Merwe scored to leave the Lions sixpoints down at 23-17. On the stroke of full-time, Courtnall Skosanscored in the corner but Boshoff’s replacement Jantjies was unable toseal the game.—AFP

Highlanderstame Lions

Force see off CheetahsBLOEMFONTEIN: Western Forcefly-half Sias Ebersohn kicked 13points against former team CentralCheetahs yesterday in a 23-16 vic-tory that lifted them to fourth onthe Super 15 standings.

The playmaker, who moved toAustralia after failing to hold a reg-ular starting place at the SouthAfrican franchise, potted two con-versions and three penalties fromfive shots at goal.

Full-back Jayden Hayward andleft-wing Nick Cummins scored atry each for the Perth outfit, wholed 16-6 at half-time. No. 8 BoomPrinsloo was credited withCheetahs’ push-over try, whichJohan Goosen converted and thefly-half also goaled three penaltiesfrom four attempts.

The result completed a dismalweekend for South African sidesagainst Australasian opponentswith Golden Lions losing at OtagoHighlanders and Coastal Sharks atACT Brumbies.

Victory at Free State Stadiumcontinued a fairy-tale season fortraditional southern hemispherechampionship strugglers Force. Itwas the seventh win in 10 outingsfor the Michael Foley-coached sideand they are just five pointsbehind combined table paceset-ters Sharks.

Force are even closer to the topof the Australian conferencestandings, lying three points adriftof former champions Brumbies.

Success has been achievedlargely through the inspirationalcaptaincy of flanker MattHodgson, teamwork, outstandingdefence and attacking oppor-

tunism. These qualities were evi-dent in Bloemfontein althoughHodgson spent 10 minutes in the‘sin bin’ after slapping the ballfrom the grasp of Cheetahs’ scrum-half Sarel Pretorius.

During his time on the sideline,Cheetahs scored a converted try toleave just three points betweenthe teams on a chilly evening.

But Cummins also dotted downwhile Force were numerically dis-advantaged and Ebersohn con-verted with a superb angled kick.A 23-13 lead for the westAustralian side was trimmed toseven points when Goosen kickeda penalty and the Cheetahsthought they scored a second trythrough prop Coenie Oosthuizen.But New Zealand referee ChrisPollock, who ruled out a first-halftry by Force centre Kyle Godwinfor accidental offside, said thehuge forward rolled the ball overthe line.

Furious South African coachNaka Drotske shook his head indisbelief when the decision wasmade, but his team wasted severaltry-scoring chances.

Cheetahs camped inside theForce ‘22’ for lengthy spells duringthe closing stages, but could notbreach the defensive web spun bythe visitors.

The only consolation for thehome team was a losing bonuspoint, which lifted them off thebottom, one point above compa-triots Western Stormers. However,Stormers have a chance to reversethe placings later Saturday whenthey face fellow South AfricansNorthern Bulls in Pretoria.—AFP

S P O RT SSUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

MANCHESTER: Manchester Citymidfielder Fernandinho has nodoubts his side have the compo-sure to capture a second PremierLeague title in three years whenthey host West Ham Unitedtoday.

Four straight wins, includingWednesday’s 4-0 victory overAston Villa, mean that City effec-tively need only a draw againstSam Allardyce’s team on the sea-son’s final day to secure thechampionship.

While City are two pointsclear of Liverpool, who hostNewcastle United, their goal dif-ference is superior by 13 goals.Manuel Pellegrini’s side haverecovered well after their titlehopes were hit by a 3-2 defeat atLiverpool and a 2-2 draw athome to then-bottom clubSunderland.

Their recent run has put themin control of their own fate andFernandinho has no worriesabout the team’s attitude goinginto the West Ham match.

“A lot has been changing atthe top of the table over the lastfew weeks,” said the Brazil mid-fielder, who has been named inhis country’s World Cup squad.

“A lot of results have beengood for us, but bad for the oth-er two. This was our first chanceto go to the top of the table. Thewhole squad is calm. Every train-ing session is about doing whatwe do and keeping calm. “Maybethere was a few nerves in thefirst half against Aston Villa, butin the second half we changedslightly the way we play, andscored four goals.

“That’s great for us. In thenext couple of days we’ll be justthe same: we’ll keep calm andhope that we play a very goodgame today.” A minor leg prob-lem has obliged Fernandinho tostart City’s last two matches fromthe bench, but striker SergioAguero has recovered from agroin injury that forced him tomiss the victory against Villa.

SPOIL CITY’S CELEBRATIONS Pellegrini is also confident

that nerves will not be a problemfor his side. The Chilean says thathis team, who clocked up 100league goals for the seasonagainst Villa, are only concernedwith three points and are notinterested in simply trying to geta draw.

“Every team must play everygame to win,” said the City man-ager. “It doesn’t matter in whichconditions they are playing.Every team must want to win.

“I think it is very important forthe manager to be calm, to try torepeat what we did the wholeyear. Preparing the game here isone game more. We must pre-pare the same way.”

West Ham manager SamAllardyce will take charge of thefinal game of the season againsta backdrop of growing uncer-tainty surrounding his future.

The London club securedtheir top-flight status with victo-ry over Tottenham Hotspur lastweekend, but reports have sinceemerged that the club’s ownersare planning changes inresponse to fan discontent aboutthe team’s playing style.

“I heard rumors,” Allardycesaid. “The only thing I can say is Ispoke to (co-owner) DavidSullivan yesterday (Thursday)about arranging our usual end-of-the-season meeting to gothrough the pre-season andbudgets and what’s going tohappen, and had no indicationof my position being underthreat. “Speculation is part of thegame. Whether it becomes areality, only time will tell.”

The manager intends to seeout the season in style and hasmade it clear he would like tospoil City’s celebrations. “At thismoment in time, from a neutral’spoint of view, I think everybodywould like to see Liverpool winit,” he said. “From a personalpoint of view, I ’d like to seeSteven Gerrard win it. It’s the lastthing he hasn’t quite achievedfor Liverpool and he’s a one-clubman. But obviously they’ve let itslip out of their hands.”—AFP

‘Calm’ Man City ready to seize title destiny

LONDON: Manchester City’s Samir Nasri races for a ball in this filephoto. —AP

Jose Mourinho

CARDIFF: Jose Mourinho’s thoughts arealready turning to next season afterChelsea’s interest in the Premier Leaguetitle race was ended before their final-daytrip to Cardiff City.

Mourinho’s team will face Ole GunnarSolskjaer’s relegated side at the CardiffCity Stadium today knowing they arealmost certain to finish the season in thirdposition. But while qualification for theChampions League has been assured,Blues boss Mourinho is clearly frustratedthere will be no silverware at StamfordBridge this season.

Chelsea’s challenge has fallen shortbecause of their failures in front of goal,particularly in costly defeats toSunderland, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace.

Mourinho’s priority is now to remedythat weakness in the transfer market andthe Portuguese coach has confirmed aleading goalscorer is his main target.

Atletico Madrid’s Diego Costa isbelieved to be a priority, along with ParisSaint-Germain pair Edinson Cavani andEzequiel Lavezzi. And Mourinho said: “Astriker is something we have been speak-ing about for a long time.

“In December and January, when peo-ple were asking and trying to understandwhy we weren’t bringing one in, I said it’ssomething we were working on andpreparing for the long-term future, notjust an immediate solution to try to helpus for the rest of the season.

“It’s normal that we are going to bringa striker, it’s normal we want to improve.“We have good strikers, we have goodplayers and we are not in a desperate situ-ation, but every team wants the summerwindow to improve.

“And one area where we want toimprove, which we’ve made clear sinceJanuary, is the striker’s position. We havethree at the moment, normally one iscoming and one is leaving.”

Mourinho expects the World Cup todelay Chelsea’s efforts to strengthen andhe added: “More and more, if the windowis open until 31 August people delay, they

react and wait to see what is happeningwith their own players.

“It’s very difficult to finalise deals early,especially with the World Cup. Now theplayers disappear and go to the WorldCup so it’s more of a time to find a direc-tion and analyse details.

“To decide the project for next season,the project for the transfer window andmake the deals happen.” Out-of-contractpair Frank Lampard and John Terry areunlikely to make the trip to south Walesbecause of injury, while Samuel Eto’o isalso a doubt.

Cardiff ’s fate has already been con-firmed and the club will drop back intothe Championship after a solitary seasonin the Premier League.

The campaign has been marked by anumber of bitter twists and turns, princi-pally surrounding the relationshipbetween club owner Vincent Tan andMalky Mackay, the manager who guidedthe club to promotion before beingsacked in December.

The relationship between the pair hadgrown acrimonious and Mackay was pur-suing legal action against Tan beforeunexpectedly dropping the action thisweek and offering an unreserved apologyto his former employer.

In a statement Mackay said: “My thanksto those at the club and the fans whohave supported me during my time inWales. “If I have caused any offence toanyone during this time, especially toVincent Tan, then I apologise withoutreservation.”

Solskjaer’s priority is now to look for-ward to next season and skipper StevenCaulker admits performances this seasonhave not been good enough. “We can’tpoint fingers, we’re a team in there andwe’re all united,” he said. “We know that wehave to go again against Chelsea, be strongand put a performance on for the fans. “Wewere not good enough on the pitch. We’vegot to hold our hands up and take respon-sibility for the way we’ve performed in toomany games this season.”—AFP

Mourinho plans overhaul after troublesome season

Rodgers: Liverpooltitle bid ‘not over’

LIVERPOOL: Liverpool manager BrendanRodgers says that his side will not giveup on the Premier League title despitethe odds being stacked against them ontoday’s final day.

Rodgers needs leaders ManchesterCity to lose at home to West Ham Unitedand for his side to beat Newcastle Unitedat Anfield to become the first Liverpoolmanager to oversee a top-flight champi-onship success since 1990.

Rodgers is clinging to the hope thatWest Ham-and former Liverpool strikerAndy Carroll-can pull off a dramaticupset to bring the title to Anfield.

“It’s certainly not over,” said Rodgers,who will welcome back midfielderJordan Henderson from suspension. “Theexpectancy is on Manchester City to win,but it won’t be easy for them. We knowthat’s a tough game. “West Ham havesome really talented players. If you cango to Tottenham and win 3-0, you cancertainly go to Manchester City and win,especially with guys like big Andy upfront and the quality he has.

“They also have a really good defen-sive record, which shows they are a diffi-cult team to play against.” Liverpool’s latecollapse to draw 3-3 with Crystal Palaceon Monday night allied to City’s mid-week 4-0 win over Aston Villa has shiftedthe balance of power even further in thedirection of the Etihad Stadium. Butwhether results go Liverpool’s way ornot, Rodgers believes that his team willbuild on their progress from seventhplace last season to a guaranteed top-two finish and a place in the ChampionsLeague. “I want to congratulate my play-ers on this season,” he said.

“We have had a remarkable seasonand the players have put Liverpool onthe world map again in terms of what weare looking to achieve here as a club.

‘ONLY THE BEGINNING’ “ The performance level has been

exceptional throughout the course of the

season and come Sunday we will fight tothe very end. If we win the game andend up not winning the title, to finishsecond to the richest team in the historyof sport really shows the measure andprogress we have made here.

“For us it’s really only the beginning. Ihave had two years here and we havebeen progressing. This year we’ve madea step. I see and hear that other teamswill improve, but I think we will improvedramatically as well next season.

“ The young players have gonethrough an experience that can onlybode well for them for the future. Playerslike Steven Gerrard, 33 years of age andit’s his first sample of this type of run-in,and he will be better next year also.”

Newcastle will be without Senegalesestriker Papiss Cisse, who is expected tobe sidelined for several months afterundergoing surgery on a fracturedkneecap on Thursday.

Newcastle have not won at Anfieldsince 1994, but despite that record,under-pressure manager Alan Pardewsays that his side will not make life easyfor Liverpool.

“We have to make sure we uphold theintegrity of the league and give them ashard a game as we can. We desperatelywant to win,” said Pardew.

“It’s going to be a great atmospherebecause Brendan Rodgers has done anunbelievable job. For me, he’s got a greatchance to be manager of the year, andrightly so.”

Pardew is not in such a healthy posi-tion, but he hopes that forthcoming talkswith club owner Mike Ashley will safe-guard his position and lead to improve-ments next season.

“It’s very important to talk about theseason. In the first half we were one ofthe best in the Premier League, there’s nodoubt about that,” he said. “In the secondhalf, we weren’t, and it wasn’t goodenough for this club. We need to facethat and find a solution.”—AFP

SOUTHAMPTON: Ryan Giggs will takecharge of Manchester United for the finaltime against Southampton today and is stillundecided about whether to continue hisplaying career next season. Netherlandscoach Louis van Gaal is reportedly set to benamed as David Moyes’s permanent suc-cessor as United manager next week fol-lowing Giggs’s spell in temporary charge.

During that time, United have won twoand lost one of their three matches underthe veteran Welsh midfielder, with victoriesagainst Norwich City and Hull City comingeither side of a home defeat to Sunderland.The trip to St Mary’s for United’s last gameof a traumatic campaign also marks thefinal appearance of Nemanja Vidic, the clubcaptain who will join Inter Milan in theclose-season, while fellow veteran defend-ers Patrice Evra and Rio Ferdinand are alsocoming to the end of their contracts andGiggs may be on the way out too.

The 40-year-old has only started sixPremier League games this season and he

remains uncertain if he will play on or gointo management elsewhere if there is noroom for him in Van Gaal’s plans at OldTrafford. “I don’t know, my stance hasn’tchanged,” Giggs said when asked if hewould retire.

“I am going to take a holiday as soon asthe season finishes and discuss with familyand friends what to do next. “My prioritiesare Southampton and getting ready forthat. It is not something I am thinking toomuch about.

“It is a tough game and it is their lasthome game and just like we tried to do, wetried to end it on a high. It is going to be atough game but one I am looking forwardto.”

GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE While Giggs could be saying farewell to

United today, the match may also offer aglimpse into the future. Asked aboutSouthampton’s England internationalsAdam Lallana and Luke Shaw, who havebeen linked with moves to United, Giggsadded: “They are exciting players.

“Lallana has been about for a bit, beenat the club right through the differentleagues. Luke Shaw has come to the forethis year and done really well.”

Wayne Rooney and Phil Jones are set tomiss the match with respective groin andshoulder injuries, but Giggs maintains theywill be fit to feature in the World Cup forEngland.

Giggs is refusing to give up on a place inthe Europa League despite United needingTottenham Hotspur to lose at home toAston Villa to give them a chance of finish-ing sixth.

United trail Spurs by three points buttheir goal difference is far superior. Giggsadded: “That was the disappointing thingabout losing to Sunderland.

We had seen Tottenham get beat so itwould have been in our hands. I maintainmy stance, we want to be in Europe.” LikeLallana and Shaw, the future ofSouthampton manager MauricioPochettino has been questioned with theArgentine linked with a move toTottenham.

Pochettino’s success in keeping his sidein the top half of the table for almost all thecampaign has won admirers, but the man-ager insists there will be no distractionwhen Saints wrap up their campaign. “Idon’t think it would be wise for us to getahead of ourselves right now,” he said.

“I think we just need to focus on theamazing season that we’ve had. “Therereally is nothing to decide. I still have onemore year on my contract and I reallyhaven’t spoken about it. “I don’t really get itbecause it hasn’t come from me, theserumors have come from outside. “We’veachieved the best season in the PremierLeague in the history of this football clubso I think that translates as not being dis-tracted at all by these rumors.” —AFP

Decision day for Giggs

Manchester United’s interim managerRyan Giggs takes a free kick in this filephoto. —AP

English Premier LeagueMan City v West Ham 17:00beIN SPORTS 9 HDCardiff v Chelsea 17:00beIN SPORTS 12 HDLiverpool v Newcastle 17:00beIN SPORTS 10 HDNorwich v Arsenal 17:00beIN SPORTS 5beIN SPORTS 5 HD

Italian Calcio LeagueAtalanta v AC Milan 13:30beIN SPORTS 3beIN SPORTS 3 HDTorino v Parma 16:00beIN SPORTS 4beIN SPORTS 4 HDLivorno v Fiorentina 16:00beIN SPORTS 1beIN SPORTS 1 HDSampdoria v Napoli 16:00beIN SPORTS 3beIN SPORTS 3 HDRoma v Juventus 21:45beIN SPORTS 3beIN SPORTS 3 HD

Spanish LeagueBilbao v Sociedad 18:00beIN SPORTS 1beIN SPORTS 1 HDGranada v Almeria 20:00beIN SPORTS 6beIN SPORTS 6 HDAtletico v Malaga 20:00beIN SPORTS 2beIN SPORTS 2 HDBetis v Valladolid 20:00beIN SPORTS 1beIN SPORTS 1 HDElche v Barcelona 20:00beIN SPORTS 5beIN SPORTS 5 HDGetafe v Sevilla 20:00beIN SPORTS 10 HDEspanyol v Osasuna 20:00beIN SPORTS 4beIN SPORTS 4 HDCelta v Real Madrid 20:00beIN SPORTS 8 beIN SPORTS HD 8

Matches on TV (Local Timings)

S P O RT SSUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

MILAN: Ghanaian substitute Emmanuel Badu hitan injury-time equaliser for Udinese in a 2-2draw at Verona yesterday to potentially scupperthe home side’s chances of Europa League quali-fication. Verona, one of six teams chasing two ofSerie A’s three places in the competition, hadprovisionally sneaked into the Europa zone aftergoals by Luca Toni, from the spot, and EmilHallfredsson had given them a 2-1 lead by the54th minute.

Veteran striker Antonio Di Natale reducedarrears for the northeners on 56 minutes amidwhat was a pulsating and balanced game at theBentegodi stadium.

But barely five minutes after replacing defen-sive midfielder Allan in the 87th minute, Badubrought the Andrea Mandolini’s men back downto earth by firing a daisycutter past Verona‘keeper Rafael in the first minute of injury time.

Instead of moving up to sixth, Verona remainninth on 54 points, the same as Milan, who areeighth, and seventh-placed Parma, ahead oftheir respective matches away to Atalanta andTorino.

Juventus secured their third consecutivescudetto last weekend and are away to Roma,second and 11 points adrift, today. A win wouldsee Antonio Conte’s visitors amass 99 points andthus beat Inter’s Serie A record of 97 for theirtitle-winning 2007 season, with one game in theseason remaining.

Roma are assured of the second automaticChampions League qualifying spot while Napoli,away to Sampdoria on Sunday, will play in nextseason’s competition if they successfully negoti-ate the qualifying stages. Fiorentina, in fourth,have secured the first Europa League spot butare away to a Livorno side today fighting for itstop-flight survival.

Inter, in fifth, host Lazio in their final homegame of the season later Saturday knowingdefeat would deal a huge blow to their chancesof qualifying for the Europa League.

Inter, Italy’s last Champions League winners,in 2010, missed out on Europe altogether thisseason after a dismal showing in the previouscampaign.

This season, the sixth-placed finisher in SerieA will also qualify for the Europa League via theItalian Cup, won by Napoli over Fiorentina lastweek.—AFP

Badu dents Verona’s Europa League hopes

Emmanuel Badu

Juventus 36 31 3 2 76 23 96- champions

Roma 36 26 7 3 72 23 85Napoli 36 21 9 6 67 36 72Fiorentina 36 18 7 11 62 42 61Inter Milan 36 14 15 7 57 36 57Torino 36 15 10 11 55 45 55Parma 36 14 12 10 55 45 54AC Milan 36 15 9 12 54 46 54Verona 37 16 6 15 61 63 54Lazio 36 14 11 11 52 50 53Atalanta 36 14 5 17 40 48 47

Sampdoria 36 12 8 16 43 54 44Udinese 37 12 7 18 43 54 43Genoa 36 10 11 15 38 46 41Cagliari 36 9 12 15 34 49 39Sassuolo 36 8 7 21 38 68 31Chievo 36 8 6 22 31 53 30Bologna 36 5 14 17 27 55 29Catania 36 6 8 22 30 64 26Livorno 36 6 7 23 39 74 25Top three qualify for Champions League. Fourth andfifth for Europa League. Sixth also for Europa Leagueafter Italian Cup was won by Napoli over Fiorentina.Bottom three are relegated.

Verona 2 (Toni 14-pen, Hallfredsson 54) Udinese 2 (Di Natale 56, Badu 90+1).

Playing laterInter v Lazio

Playing todayAtalanta v Milan, Bologna v Catania, Cagliari v Chievo, Livorno v Fiorentina, Sampdoria v Napoli, Sassuolo v Genoa,Torino v Parma, Roma v Juventus.

Italian Serie A table after yesterday’s early match (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):

Italian Serie A results/standings

Lionel Messi

MADRID: Four-time World Player of theYear Lionel Messi has urged his Barcelonateammates not to miss out on the secondchance they have been gifted to retaintheir La Liga title.

Barca seemed all but out of the title raceafter conceding a last-minute equaliser todraw 2-2 at home to relegation-threatenedGetafe last weekend.

However, leaders Atletico Madrid subse-quently lost 2-0 away at Levante, whilstReal Madrid have drawn twice againstValencia and Valladolid in the past week toleave them in third place, four points adriftof Atletico with just two games to play.

Barcelona remain three points adrift ofDiego Simeone’s men themselves, but willwin the league if they win their tworemaining games away to Elche on Sundayand then when Atletico visit the Camp Nouon the final weekend of the season.

“We are in a better position today thanwe were a few weeks ago,” said Messi. “Wecan see that we have an opportunity to winthe league. We need to take advantage ofthis moment and not let it escape.” GerardoMartino’s men are sure to face a tough taskthis weekend, though, as Elche are in needof points themselves as they sit just threepoints above the relegation zone and haveyet to be beaten at home in nine leaguegames so far in 2014.

Barca will again be without the injuredGerard Pique, Jordi Alba and Neymar,although all three are hopeful of being fitfor the potential title decider againstAtletico next weekend.

However, should Barca fail to win thisweekend, Atletico can mathematically sealtheir first title in 18 years with victory overMalaga at the Vicente Calderon.

Atletico have injury worries themselvesas top scorer Diego Costa looks set to missout due to a hamstring injury, which couldyet endanger his participation in the clash

with Barcelona and in the ChampionsLeague final against Real Madrid on May24. Diego Godin is also suspended for LosRojiblancos, but right-back Juanfranreturns from suspension having missed thedefeat at Levante.

However, forward Adrian Lopez stillbelieves home advantage should beenough to edge his side closer to the title.“We know that we are very strong at homein front of our own fans,” he said on Friday.“It is a key game. With all that we are play-ing for to get three points on Sundaywould be a huge step forward. “We knowthe atmosphere will be incredible. The fansare going to be very excited havingwatched what has been a great season forus and it could end in a great and happyway for everyone.” David Villa is likely toreplace Costa with Raul Garcia moving for-ward from the midfield role he hasdeployed in recent weeks to make spacefor the return of Arda Turan.

Real Madrid need to win away to CeltaVigo to maintain any hope of catchingAtletico, but are likely to be without a hostof first-team regulars, including CristianoRonaldo.

The current World Player of the Yearlimped off with a minor muscular problemless than 10 minutes into Real’s 1-1 drawwith Valladolid on Wednesday and isunlikely to be risked with the ChampionsLeague final against Atletico just twoweeks away.

Pepe and Angel di Maria also picked upinjuries against Valladolid, but Gareth Baleshould return after missing the trip to theJose Zorilla with a knock.

At the bottom, Osasuna could join RealBetis in being mathematically relegatedshould they lose away to Espanyol and anytwo of Getafe, Valladolid and Almeria winwhen they face Sevilla, Betis and Granadarespectively.—AFP

Messi urges Barca to foil Atletico title party

MILAN: Champions Juventus could break moreSerie A records with a win at Roma today as asix-team battle for Europa League places, andthe relegation fight, continues in Italy.

Juventus claimed their third consecutivescudetto without kicking a ball last weekendwhen closest challengers Roma crashed 4-1 atCatania.

Antonio Conte’s men then celebrated their30th official title with a 1-0 win at home toAtalanta which handed the Turin giants a record31st win of the season and broke Inter’s previ-ous record of 30 (2007).

Inter’s 97-point tally for their title-winningseason in 2007 is also there for the taking. Juvehave amassed 96 and with two games remain-ing could become the first champions to finishon 100 points or more. Juventus prevailed 3-0 athome against Roma earlier in the campaign butthe Bianconeri have twice suffered defeat ontheir travels to top four sides, away to Fiorentina(4-2) and then Napoli (2-0), this season. Andafter the ignominy of last week’s 4-1 reverse inSicily, coach Rudi Garcia expects Roma to makeamends in what is the Giallorossi’s final homegame of the season.

“Today we’ll thank the fans for the supportthey’ve given us this season,” said Garcia. “The

match will also serve as a yardstick for next sea-son, to show that we still give 100% even whenthere’s nothing to play for. “Only by playing wellcan you beat the top teams in the league.”

Although Juventus and Roma have qualifiedfor the Champions League group stages, uncer-tainty reigns at both clubs. Garcia, barely 10months after arriving at the Olympic Stadium, isreportedly mulling his future as he awaits con-firmation that the club will invest in players fornext season.

Conte, whose side crash out of theChampions League at the group stages, is set tohold talks with clubs chiefs in the coming days.

“Next week, after the Roma game, we’ll besitting down with Conte to talk about his futureat the club,” said Juventus CEO Beppe Marotta.

Napoli secured third place and a place in thequalifying stages of the Champions Leaguewhen closest challengers Fiorentina werestunned on Tuesday as visitors Sassuolo claimeda precious 4-3 away win that could help staveoff relegation.

However Rafael Benitez’s men, 3-0 winnersover Cagliari the same night, are in danger offinishing their season, and beginning next, on alow note. Napoli’s Cup victory over Fiorentinalast Saturday was marred by the shooting of

three fans. Napoli have since been handed atwo-game stadium ban which means they willplay their final match of the season, at home toVerona, and the first home game of next season,behind closed doors.

Napoli and Fiorentina, the latter fourth andalready qualified for the Europa League, willhave nothing but pride to play for when theyvisit Sampdoria and Livorno respectively today.

But for six teams sitting below them the sea-son is far from over. Because Napoli andFiorentina are already qualified for Europe, theEuropa League spot usually offered to the Cupwinners (Napoli) will go to the team that finish-es sixth.

With two games remaining, six teams canstill mathematically finish in fifth or sixth withParma and Milan (54) and Verona and Lazio (53)only three and two points adrift of fifth-placedInter (57) respectively, with Torino sixth on 55.

Sassuolo’s midweek win pushed them twopoints clear of the drop zone and a home winagainst Genoa would prove another hugeboost.

But with only six points separating themfrom basement side Livorno, relegation for thebottom three sides could ultimately be decidedon the final day of the season. —AFP

Juve sight records as Europa, relegation dominate League

GLASGOW: Hibernian face a battle to stayin the Scottish Premiership after a 1-0defeat at home to Kilmarnock in their finalgame condemned them to 11th positionand a relegation play-off.

Terry Butcher’s side needed to win atEaster Road on the final day to leapfrogKillie and secure their top-flight status aftera terrible run of results.

However, former Rangers striker KrisBoyd fired past Ben Williams in the 44thminute for his 22nd goal of the season toseal safety for Kilmarnock.

Hibs have won just once in their past 18matches and are in real danger of joiningEdinburgh rivals Hearts in relegation to theChampionship.

The Easter Road side will now face atwo-legged play-off final against eitherHamilton Academical, Falkirk or Queen ofthe South on May 21 and 25.

Hibernian boss Butcher apologised tothe Hibs support, who vented their angeroutside Easter Road after the defeat. “Wehave to keep going, we’re not relegated,we’ve got two games left that can ensurewe stay in the Premiership,” Butcher said.

“The last four games the players havebeen totally committed, and they’ve playedvery well. They played well again today butonce again it’s Hibernian nil.

“It’s soul-destroying, it’s disappointing,it’s heartbreaking, we’re all devastated

because of where we’ve finished and wejust haven’t put enough goals in the backof the net.

“We’ve got 10 days now until the firstplay-off match and we’ll work on it, we’llwork very hard. “It’s hard to look forward tothese games because it feels like you’vebeen slapped in the face, and I can only saysorry to the Hibs fans because we’ve putthem through the wringer, and we’re putthrough the wringer on the sidelines aswell because it just would not go in.”

Kilmarnock manager Allan Johnstonthought his side deserved to win. “It wasnervy but you could see how much itmeant to them. They are always a threatfrom set pieces but we defended well,”Johnston said. “Kris Boyd is a massive playerand his experience is invaluable. Now Ihope to start planning for next season.”

City rivals Hearts, who would have fin-ished three points above Hibs if it hadn’tbeen for their 15 points deduction forentering administration, finished the sea-son with a 1-1 away to St Mirren.

In yesterday’s other match Ross Countyclaimed seventh spot with a 3-2 win awayto Partick Thistle, who finished tenth.

The final games will be played onSunday, with champions Celtic entertainingScottish Cup finalists Dundee United andAberdeen hosting Motherwell in a decisivegame for second place.—AFP

Hibs face fight for survival

NORWICH: Arsene Wenger admitshe still has more work to do in theclose-season before Arsenal will beat the level required to win thePremier League again.

Wenger’s side led the table forlong periods of the season, but fad-ed badly as the pressure mounted

and injuries began to take their toll.In the end, Arsenal were relieved toseal a top-four finish andChampions League qualification forthe 17th successive year.

Should Arsenal, who end theseason at Norwich City on Sunday,add FA Cup success and end the

club’s nine-year trophy drought,the campaign will be regarded as aqualified success.

But Wenger, whose side faceHull City at Wembley on May 17,concedes more improvements areneeded if Arsenal are to sustain atitle challenge next season.

The Gunners go into the finalround of matches seven pointsadrift of leaders Manchester Cityand seven points clear of Everton infifth, and Wenger said: “We have tocontinue to develop as a team. Wehave bridged a big gap from lastseason and we want to be betternext season.

“How can we do that? We havehard work in the summer toachieve that. “My team has shown aremarkable mental stamina andconsistency in their attitude and Iam very proud of the way theyresponded. “We are looking atsome aspects where we canimprove internally and we will workvery hard during the summer to dothat.”

Jack Wilshere will return to theArsenal squad for the first time inover two months after the Englandmidfielder broke his foot on inter-national duty, but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain remains sidelinedwith a groin injury. French midfield-er Abou Diaby could make his firststart for the north London club inover 15 months after recoveringfrom a serious knee injury.

NORWICH NEED A MIRACLE While Wenger focuses on a

bright future, Norwich are prepar-

ing for the official confirmation thattheir three-year stay in the PremierLeague is at an end.

The Carrow Road club’s relega-tion was effectively sealed thisweek when Sunderland beat WestBromwich Albion, leaving third-bottom Norwich three pointsbehind Albion with a vastly inferiorgoal difference. It would take amathematical miracle for Norwichto beat the drop and the focus nowswitches towards who will be hand-ed the job of leading the Canariesin the Championship next term.

Neil Adams was put in chargefor the final five games of the sea-son when the club dispensed withthe services of Chris Hughton.

But the news that Malky Mackay,a former Norwich player, is nowavailable after ending his legalaction against Cardiff following hisdismissal earlier in the season hasimmediately seen the Scotsmanlinked with the job.

However, Adams, the formeryouth team coach, is keen toremain involved with the first team.“I have got my fingers crossed and Iam hopeful that I am able to carryon in some capacity, hopefully asthe manager, if that was not to bethen obviously I would have to lookat it as and when,” he said.

“I don’t know what is going tohappen, but it is something I amcomfor table doing, I feel I amsuited to it, and have the skill setto do it. “I made the step up tofirst-team football and it is some-thing you don’t want to step backfrom.”—AFP

Wenger eyes Arsenal improvement

Arsene Wenger

SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

1917Badu dentsVerona’s EuropaLeague hopes

‘Calm’ Man City ready to seize title destiny Page 18

Hamilton onpole for SpanishGrand Prix

GERMANY: Munich’s players celebrate with the trophy after winning the German Soccer Championships defeating VfB Stuttgart in the season’s last match in the Allianz Arena in Munich. —AP

BERLIN: Bayern Munich celebrated their 24thBundesliga title, which they secured on March25, with a closing win yesterday whileHamburg’s hopes of remaining in the Bundesliganow hinge on the play-offs. Bayern rounded offtheir Bundesliga campaign with a 1-0 win overStuttgart, their 29th victory of the season com-ing courtesy of an injury time goal from ClaudioPizarro.

Pep Guardiola’s titleholders, knocked out ofthe Champions League semi-finals by RealMadrid, will now focus on next Saturday’sGerman Cup final against Borussia Dortmund.

“For the Catalan that I am, the first time isspecial,” said Guardiola. “After such a successfullast season (when Bayern won the league,Champions League and German Cup) it’s verygood,” he added.

“If we play with the same passion as weshowed in the second half we can get pastDortmund.” While Bayern focus on the Cup finalHamburg face a nervy play-off before theirrecord-breaking Bundesliga status is assured.The only side never to have been relegated in

the Bundesliga’s 51-year history will play theteam which finishes third in the second divisionin a two-legged play-off.

Hamburg, crowned European champions 31years ago, assured their place in the play-offsdespite a 3-2 loss at Mainz 05. They finished theregular season on 27 points and had Schalke 04and Hoffenheim to thank for keeping theirBundesliga future alive.

Schalke dished out a 4-1 beating toNuremberg and Hoffenheim saw off basementclub Eintracht Braunschweig 3-1, to ensure it wasNuremberg and Eintracht that were relegated.

They finished with 26 and 25 points respec-tively. Hamburg’s plight is all a far cry from theirglory days when Felix Magath, now the managerof relegated English Premier League sideFulham, grabbed the only goal in the Germanside’s 1-0 final win over Juventus to lift theEuropean Cup in 1983. That was a side coachedby legendary Austrian Ernst Happel, the manwho led the Dutch to the 1978 World Cup final inArgentina and who won league titles in four dif-ferent countries.

In stark contrast, the Hamburg of 2013/2014are already on their third coach after MirkoSlomka took over in February.

In a reflection of the instability, Thorsten Finkhad only lasted until September while Bert vanMarwijk, the former Dutch national team coach,was axed after the winter break.

At the top of the table meanwhile Bayernwere joined as automatic qualifiers for next sea-son’s Champions League by runners-up BorussiaDortmund (4-0 winners over Hertha Berlin) andSchalke 04. And Bayer Leverkusen beat WerderBremen 2-1 to ensure a fourth place finish and aChampions League play-off spot.

Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski con-tributed a brace in the defeat of Hertha to takehis tally for the season to 20 goals and earn himthe Bundesliga’s top-scorer of the season hon-ours.

“I’m thrilled to win this trophy, especially onthe last day with a 4-0 win,” he said. Bayern’sCroatian international Mario Mandzukic came insecond with 18 goals with Nuremberg’s JosipDrmic one goal back in third. — AFP

Bayern celebrate title with win

Bayern Munich 34 29 3 2 94 23 90 - champions

Dortmund 34 22 5 7 80 38 71Schalke 34 19 7 8 63 43 64Bayer 34 19 4 11 60 41 61Wolfsburg 34 18 6 10 63 50 60Moenchengladbach 34 16 7 11 59 43 55Mainz 34 16 5 13 52 54 53Augsburg 34 15 7 12 47 47 52Hoffenheim 34 11 1112 72 70 44Hanover 34 12 6 16 46 59 42Hertha Berlin 34 11 8 15 40 48 41Werder Bremen 34 10 9 15 42 66 39Eintracht 34 9 9 16 40 57 36

Freiburg 34 9 9 16 43 61 36Stuttgart 34 8 8 18 49 62 32Hamburg 34 7 6 21 51 75 27Nuremberg 34 5 1118 37 70 26

- relegatedBraunschweig 34 6 7 21 29 60 25

- relegatedNote: Top three qualify directly for theChampions League, fourth goes into the play-offs, fifth, sixth and seventh into Europa League.The bottom two sides are relegated and theteam finishing 16th has a two-legged play-offagainst the side which finishes third in the sec-ond division.

Bayern Munich 1 (Pizarro 90+2) VfB Stuttgart 0; Schalke 04 4 (Matip 6, Neustadter 45, Draxler 75,Chinedu Obasi Ogbuke 90+2) Nuremberg 1 (Drmic 90+1); Bayer Leverkusen 2 (Toprak 33, Son 53)Werder Bremen 1 (Gebre Selassie 21); Hanover 96 3 (Huszti 45, Rudnevs 65, Prib 80) Freiburg 2 (Schmid50, Zulechner 78); VfL Wolfsburg 3 (De Bruyne 30, Perisic 68, Knoche 81) Borussia Moenchengladbach 1(Kramer 64); Hoffenheim 3 (Rudy 15, Firmino 64, Volland 70) Eintracht Braunschweig 1 (Hochscheidt88); Mainz 05 3 (Soto 7, Malli 65, Okazaki 82) Hamburg 2 (Lasogga 12, Ilicevic 84); FC Augsburg 2(Klavan 29, Hahn 79) Eintr. Frankfurt 1 (Joselu 15); Hertha Berlin 0 Dortmund 4 (Lewandowski 41, 80,Jojic 44, Mkhitaryan 82).

German league table after yesterday’s final round of matches ahead of the play-offs (played, won,drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):

German League results/standings

MADRID: Rafa Nadal continued his sereneprogress in pursuit of consecutive MadridOpen crowns when he swept past Spanishcompatriot Roberto Bautista 6-4 6-3 yester-day to reach the final.

The world number one, chasing a 63rdcareer title and a 44th on clay, has not beenon top form on his favoured surface thisyear, losing in the quarter-finals in MonteCarlo and Barcelona.

However, he has shown glimpses of hisdominant best in front of adoring fans inthe Spanish capital, where he is yet to dropa set, as he warms up for a tilt at a record-extending ninth French Open title startingat Roland Garros in Paris at the end of themonth.

Nadal’s semi-final victory against theunheralded Bautista ended the world num-ber 45’s best run at a Masters event and setup a clash today with either anotherSpaniard, fifth seed David Ferrer, who beathim in the Monte Carlo quarter-finals, orJapanese 10th seed Kei Nishikori.

Nadal said his performance was furtherconfirmation of his improving form afterFriday’s fine win against sixth-ranked CzechTomas Berdych in the last eight.

“After I think a great match yesterday, tohave the confirmation today that theimprovement is real is very good news forme,” he told a news conference.

“And being in a final here in a difficulttournament at home after losing twoweeks in a row in the quarter-finals meansa lot to me,” added the 27-year-old

Majorcan, who was also champion inMadrid in 2010 and in 2005 when it was anindoor hard court event. “This is greatnews in order to go out and play tomor-row’s match but also for what may come inthe future.”

OPENING BREAKNadal broke Bautista’s serve in the open-

ing game at the Magic Box arena but hisgutsy compatriot fought back to level at 3-3before immediately losing his serve again.

Bautista looked to have crumbled in theface of a barrage of fierce Nadal drives inthe second set but raised his game to breakfor 4-2.

Nadal, who will be contesting his 90thcareer final on Sunday, broke serve for afifth time in the ninth game and sealed vic-tory on his first match point with a raspingforehand down the line.

Bautista will break into the top 30 for thefirst time thanks to his performance inMadrid. He upset Argentine Juan Martin delPotro at this year’s Australian Open andclaimed a second top-10 scalp of the sea-son when he beat Berdych in the secondround at the Indian Wells Masters event.

“It ’s been a beautiful week for me,”Bautista said. “I have the feeling that I couldhave played today’s match a little bit bet-ter,” added the 26-year-old, who was facingNadal for the first time. “I’m happy withwhat I’ve been doing recently so I hopethat the rest will keep on going in the sameway.” — Reuters

Nadal cruises into final

MADRID: Maria Sharapova recovered from a second-set wobble todispatch third seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1 6-4 yesterday and setup a Madrid Open final clash against rising talent Simona Halep.

Sharapova, a former world number one now ranked ninth who hashad a poor year by her high standards, has shown glimpses of herdominant best on the clay in the Spanish capital this week with theFrench Open starting in Paris later this month.

Pole Radwanska, the world number three, struggled to cope withthe Russian’s powerful ground strokes as Sharapova, runner-up toSerena Williams in Madrid last year, took a step closer to a 31st careertitle. After comfortably winning the opening set and racing into a 3-0lead in the second, Sharapova had to deal with a spirited Radwanskafightback when she won four games in a row before prevailing tosecure a meeting with Halep, the fourth seed.

The 22-year-old Romanian fought back from a set down to oustfifth-seeded Czech Petra Kvitova 6-7(4) 6-3 6-2. Sharapova’s chancesof going one better than 2013 were boosted when Williams, theMadrid champion the past two years, withdrew on Friday with athigh injury.

“I’ve done a really good job of transitioning from the hard to theclay and really improving physically and recovering well from matchto match,” Sharapova told a news conference.

“I really challenge myself to improve on clay courts because thatwas never my favorite surface in the beginning of my career,” addedthe 27-year-old, French Open champion in 2012.

“I feel really good physically. I put in a lot of matches in the lastfew weeks but that’s what I want. “I missed four or five months of theseason last year (with a shoulder injury) and I wanted to come in tothis year and play as many matches as I can.”

By reaching the final, Halep has already achieved her best result ata WTA premier event as she chases an eighth career title.

A girls singles champion at the French Open in 2008, she alsolooks to be hitting form on clay ahead of claycourt major. “I’m very

excited that I can play my biggest final tomorrow, I hope that myemotions will be down and I can play,” Halep told a news conference.

“It was a very tough match today, I couldn’t believe that I cameback again. “Tomorrow I expect another very tough match. Maria is achampion and she knows how to manage the finals.” — Reuters

SPAIN: Maria Sharapova from Russia serves the ball during a MadridOpen tennis tournament match against Agnieszka Radwanska. — AP

Sharapova oustsRadwanska

BusinessSUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

Kuwait’s consumer sectorgrows the fastest

Page 23

Kuwait non-oil growth firms up

Page 25S&P’s affirms NBK’sratings at A+ with Stable Outlook

Page 22Moody’s upgrades GIC’s ratings

Page 26

NAYPYITAW: A worker decorates the main entrance to Myanmar International Convention Center, the venue for the 24th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit, in Naypyitaw. Myanmar hosts the 24th ASEAN Summit for thefirst time in Naypyitaw on May 10-11. — AP (See Page 12)

KUWAIT: Commercial Bank of Kuwaitannounced an operating profitbefore provisions for the first quarterof KD 24.6 million (1Q2013: KD 24.7million). The bank allocated about KD19 million of these profits as specificand judgmental provisions againstthe loan and investment portfoliosresulting in a net profit of KD 5.4 mil-lion for three months to 31st March2014, an increase of KD 4.6 millioncompared to the net profit of KD 0.8million during 1 Q2013.

The bank endeavors to underpinits provisions in view of its prudentpolicy of building a strong provisionbase and its proactive recognition of

any problems pertaining to loan andinvestment portfolios. Total provi-sions held with the bank againstproblem loans as at the end of the1st quarter amounted to KD 130.4million with the provision coverageratio of 335 percent (December 2011:92 percent, December 2012: 169 per-cent and December 2013: 367 per-cent). This loan provision coveragepercentage is among the best per-centages in the Kuwaiti banking sys-tem and exceeds the prevailing per-centage in the banking sector.

As regarding the Non-performingloans - NPL to total loan portfolioratio which is considered as one of

the important measurement indica-tor of loan portfolio quality in banks,this ratio fell from 2.9 percent in1Q2013 to 1.5 percent in 1Q2014(December 2011: 6.69 percent,December 2012: 2.76 percent andDecember 2013: 1.35 percent), thebank explained that it endeavors tomaintain this ratio at its minimumlevel during the current year, andemphasizing that this ratio which isthe best in the Kuwaiti banking sec-tor is a true reflection of the bank’songoing efforts to reduce its NPLratio. It is worth noting that this ratiois evidently lower than the ratio pre-vailed in Kuwait banking sector

which stood at 3.2 percent as at theend of 2013.

Commenting on the bank’s finan-cial results, Yaqoub Al-Ebrahim thebank’s official spokesman said thattotal assets at the end of March2014 reached KD 3.9 billion withshareholders equity of KD 562.3 mil-lion (December 2013: KD 553.0 mil-lion). The capital adequacy ratio atthe end of March 2014 is 18.78 per-cent which exceeds the minimum12 percent required by the CentralBank of Kuwait, and is more thantwice the minimum ratio mandatedby Basel Committee. Additionally,the bank is preparing to issue subor-

dinated bonds of KD 120 million inthe near future which will solidifythe Bank’s capital base on the onehand and boost its business activi-ties and operations on the otherhand.

The bank continues to demon-strate its cost leadership with opera-tional efficiency, a competitiveadvantage for the bank, where thebank continues to maintain one ofthe lowest cost/income ratios amongKuwaiti banks at 26.8 percent for the1Q 2014. Despite the fact that thisratio is higher than that reported 1Qlast year, yet it remains among thelowest in the banking sector.

CBK posts KD 5.4m net profit for Q1 2014

Total assets at end of March 2014 reach KD 3.9bn

Yaqoub Al-Ebrahim

BEIRUT: The International Monetary Fund forecastsLebanon’s economy will grow by 2 percent in 2014 anda “modest 4 percent over the medium term,” despitetwo years of violence, political paralysis and a hugerefugee influx. But with heavy pressures weighing onthe economy, the IMF also said in a report published onFriday that Lebanon should “urgently strengthen poli-cies” and its fiscal priority should be to “put public debton a sustainable downward path”.

Political jockeying and sectarian tensions haveslowed or stalled action needed to tackle Lebanon’sfinancial problems. Public sector wage strikes andwidespread power cuts continue in Lebanon, causingfurther strain on government spending.

Lebanon’s primary budget turned negative in 2012and deteriorated further in 2013 to 141 percent of GDPas the government came under pressure to spend andeconomic activity dropped, the IMF report said. Itadded that policy decisions, such as a VAT exemption ofgasoline and a cost of living adjustment for public sec-tor employees, had also contributed to the rising deficit.

The IMF called for salary scale adjustments to be con-tained with no retroactive payments, something publicsector workers have been calling for in regular protests.The Fund further said the small Mediterranean coastal

country was losing competitiveness and should focuson reducing electricity subsidies. “Plans to strengthengeneration capacity, switch to natural gas and increaseelectricity tariffs should be implemented without fur-ther delay.”

Lebanon, still struggling to recover from its own1975-1990 civil war, has found its internal rifts aggravat-ed by the conflict in Syria, whose sectarian divisionsmirror its own. Lebanon’s economic growth dropped toabout 1.5 percent in 2013 from an average of eight per-cent a year from 2007 to 2010. A million Syrian refugeeshave entered Lebanon, whose own population is fourmillion, and rebels have moved into border regions totake refuge from forces loyal to Syrian President BasharAl-Assad. In February, divided politicians in Lebanonended a year-long government vacuum by forming acabinet. But another political vacuum looms this monthas Lebanese lawmakers have failed in three attempts tochoose a president.

“Given the political impasse, the lack of reforms hasamplified the macroeconomic imbalances. The fiscalposition, in particular, has worsened, with adverse con-sequences for public debt,” the report said. “It is there-fore important to urgently strengthen policies andmake progress on key structural reforms.” — Reuters

IMF: Lebanon economy to

grow 4% in medium term

Economy under pressure from Syria war, refugeesGENEVA: Swisspartners said yesterday it would pay a$4.4-million fine to avoid prosecution over its pastassistance to US tax dodgers, with Washington hailingthe asset manager for its “extraordinary cooperation.”“The US tax issue is resolved,” the Zurich-based assetmanager’s parent company the LichtensteinischeLandesbank (LLB Vaduz) said in a statement.

Swisspartners and the US Justice Department hadsigned a “non-prosecution agreement” on Friday,Liechtenstein’s oldest bank said, stressing that provi-sions had already been made to cover the multi-mil-lion-dollar fine and it would not impact the assetmanager’s earnings. The agreement is part of a USpush to find tax dodgers and punish the banks thathelp them. Fourteen Swiss banks, including CreditSuisse, the country’s second-biggest, are officiallyunder US criminal investigation, while many othersare opting to acknowledge past wrongs and acceptfines to avoid prosecution.

According to US authorities, Swisspartners hadbetween 2001 and 2011 assisted US clients “in open-ing and maintaining undeclared foreign bankaccounts,” leading to an approximate loss to the UStaxman of $900,000. Under the agreement signedFriday, the company will compensate that amount,as well as $3.5 million more representing the fees itearned in helping US clients skirt the law.

“Swisspartners doesn’t have to pay any other finesor financial penalties,” spokesman Cyrill Sele told AFP

by email. US Deputy Attorney General James Colehailed the company, which had voluntarily handedover around 110 files on clients who were not com-pliant with US tax laws.

“The extraordinary cooperation of Swisspartnershas enabled us to identify US tax cheats who havehidden behind phony offshore trusts and founda-tions,” he said in a Justice Department document.

LLB Vaduz meanwhile said that now that the UStax issue had been resolved it would move aheadwith its previously announced plans to sell off itssubsidiary.

Yesterday’s announcement came as Credit Suisse isexpected soon to be slapped with fines of at least$1.0 billion, as well as possible criminal charges. Adamning US Senate report found that Credit Suisse atits peak in 2006 had more than 22,000 US customerswith Swiss accounts whose assets stood as high as$12 billion-mainly undeclared to US tax authorities.

Chief executive Brady Dougan apologized inFebruary to US senators for the bank’s actions, con-ceding it had undertaken elaborate efforts to gainnew, secret American clients, but blamed the wrong-doing on a small band of rogue employees.

In 2009, Switzerland’s largest bank UBS was forcedto acknowledge it had used Swiss banking secrecylaws to help its US clients avoid paying taxes athome, and had to dish out a $780-million fine to UStax authorities. — AFP

Swisspartners pays $4.4m to

avoid US tax fraud charges

SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

EXCHANGE RATES

Bahrain Exchange Company

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co.

Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd

ASIAN COUNTRIESJapanese Yen 2.763Indian Rupees 4.700Pakistani Rupees 2.855Srilankan Rupees 2.155Nepali Rupees 2.936Singapore Dollar 227.340Hongkong Dollar 36.309Bangladesh Taka 3.620Philippine Peso 6.348Thai Baht 8.651Irani Riyal transfer 0.271Irani Riyal cash 0.273

GCC COUNTRIESSaudi Riyal 75.083Qatari Riyal 77.364Omani Riyal 731.420Bahraini Dinar 747.840UAE Dirham 76.679

ARAB COUNTRIESEgyptian Pound - Cash 39.155Egyptian Pound - Transfer 39.484Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.314Tunisian Dinar 176.130Jordanian Dinar 397.610Lebanese Lira/for 1000 1.889Syrian Lira 2.007Morocco Dirham 35.627

EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIESUS Dollar Transfer 281.450Euro 391.500Sterling Pound 478.470Canadian dollar 260.840Turkish lira 135.610Swiss Franc 321.110Australian Dollar 266.250US Dollar Buying 280.250

GOLD20 Gram 245.00010 Gram 124.0005 Gram 64.000

COUNTRY SELL CASH SELLDRAFTBelgian Franc 0.007321 0.008321British Pound 0.468834 0.477834Czech Korune 0.006155 0.018155Danish Krone 0.048290 0.053290Euro 0.385519 0.393519Norwegian Krone 0.043395 0.048595Romanian Leu 0.081297 0.81297Slovakia 0.008048 0.018048Swedish Krona 0.039238 0.044238Swiss Franc 0.314833 0.325033Turkish Lira 0.133273 0.140273

AustralasiaAustralian Dollar 0.252955 0.264455New Zealand Dollar 0.237951 0.247451AmericaCanadian Dollar 0.251432 0.259932US Dollars 0.277650 0.282000US Dollars Mint 0.278150 0.282000

AsiaBangladesh Taka 0.003280 0.003880Chinese Yuan 0.043977 0.047477Hong Kong Dollar 0.034241 0.036991Indian Rupee 0.004323 0.004724Indonesian Rupiah 0.000020 0.000026Japanese Yen 0.002672 0.002852Kenyan Shilling 0.003321 0.003321Korean Won 0.000264 0.000279Malaysian Ringgit 0.082477 0.088477Nepalese Rupee 0.002996 0.003166Pakistan Rupee 0.002651 0.002931Philippine Peso 0.006320 0.006600Sierra Leone 0.000069 0.000075

Singapore Dollar 0.221606 0.227606South African Rand 0.021029 0.029529Sri Lankan Rupee 0.001842 0.002422Taiwan 0.009185 0.009365Thai Baht 0.008369 0.008919

ArabBahraini Dinar 0.740892 0.748892Egyptian Pound 0.036365 0.039465Iranian Riyal 0.000078 0.000079Iraqi Dinar 0.000180 0.000240Jordanian Dinar 0.393164 0.400664Kuwaiti Dinar 1.0000000 1.0000000Lebanese Pound 0.000137 0.000237Moroccan Dirhams 0.025225 0.049225Nigerian Naira 0.001189 0.001824Omani Riyal 0.725785 0.731465Qatar Riyal 0.076680 0.077893Saudi Riyal 0.074497 0.075197Syrian Pound 0.001747 0.001967Tunisian Dinar 0.172319 0.180319Turkish Lira 0.133273 0.140273UAE Dirhams 0.075728 0.076877Yemeni Riyal 0.001279 0.001359

UAE Exchange Centre WLL

COUNTRY SELL DRAFT SELL CASH Australian Dollar 265.70 262.70Canadian Dollar 261.11 262.11Swiss Franc 325.65 323.65Euro 394.20 395.20US Dollar 281.05 284.05Sterling Pound 478.87 481.87Japanese Yen 2.82 2.84Bangladesh Taka 3.622 3.892Indian Rupee 4.682 4.982Sri Lankan Rupee 2.153 2.588Nepali Rupee 2.928 3.463Pakistani Rupee 2.854 2.790UAE Dirhams 76.59 77.05Bahraini Dinar 748.04 750.11Egyptian Pound 39.54 40.14Jordanian Dinar 400.01 405.66Omani Riyal 730.91 738.21Qatari Riyal 77.61 78.16Saudi Riyal 75.08 75.48

Rate for Transfer Selling RateUS Dollar 281.500Canadian Dollar 259.510Sterling Pound 475.750Euro 391.810Swiss Frank 320.975Bahrain Dinar 749.235UAE Dirhams 76.620Qatari Riyals 78.200Saudi Riyals 75.340Jordanian Dinar 396.715Egyptian Pound 40.115Sri Lankan Rupees 2.154Indian Rupees 4.679Pakistani Rupees 2.852Bangladesh Taka 3.622Philippines Pesso 6.322Cyprus pound 691.420Japanese Yen 3.750

Syrian Pound 2.900Nepalese Rupees 3.880Malaysian Ringgit 87.040Chinese Yuan Renminbi 45.395Thai Bhat 9.680Turkish Lira 134.045

Today, there’s more job searchmythology than even theancient Greeks could have imag-

ined. Some of the most persistentmyths are also the most dangerousones, and following them could sabo-tage your job search efforts. Here, thecareer experts at Bayt.com, the MiddleEast’s leading job site, present seven ofthese job search myths and the realitybehind each one:

Myth #1: I don’t need an online pub-lic profile; everyone knows me.Truth: Your friends may know you,

but your acquaintances who wouldlike to know you better probably relyon Google and other search enginesfor more information about you. Infact, the Bayt.com ‘Personal Brandingin the Middle East and North Africa(MENA)’ poll, September 2013, revealsthat nine in 10 MENA professionals runan online search for people they havemet, or are about to meet. Furtherdata from the same poll also indicatesthat 61 percent of professionals saythat their company checks the profilesof new recruits online before hiringthem. Take the time to invest in a topquality public profile on a leadingregional professional platform, such asBayt.com People, so that you can con-trol how others perceive you.

Myth #2: It’s enough to just have an onlinepublic profile; no need to apply to jobs.

Truth: Yes many jobs do get filledthrough the Search mechanism onleading job sites for sure, especially atthe senior end of the spectrum.However, many employers also favoractively job hunting talent and profes-sionals who show a real interest intheir company. 54 percent of profes-sionals classify themselves as activejob seekers who actively apply to jobs,compared to 46 percent who havetheir CV online and wait for employersto contact them. Moreover, candidatesneed to differentiate themselves byevery means possible to potentialemployers including by gettingreferred, endorsed and ranked on keyprofessional platforms like Bayt.comSpecialties.

Myth #3: Applying to all jobs advertisedout there is the surest way to get a job.

Truth: Relying on a splatter-guneffect when applying to jobs is thesurest way to bring down your jobapplication relevancy score (checkyour Bayt.com account Workspace forthis helpful feature), which is ultimate-ly not great for your job search or yourconfidence.

Employers want relevance above allelse. Job sites like Bayt.com have asophisticated set of search, sortingand filtering tools that ensure thatonly the relevant CVs are viewed andcontacted.

To get notified when a job relevantto your skills and experience is pub-lished, simply set up a weekly job alertfor your account on the website.

Myth #4: The best way to prepare foran interview is a good night’s rest.Truth: Employers are interested in

candidates who have researched theircompany and industry and are familiar

with the latest news, trends and mar-ket insights. Take the time to do yourhomework and to understand whatthe company, job and industry are allabout. Visit Bayt.com’s Companies andSalaries platforms to learn more aboutthe company, and do a thoroughonline search so you know what toexpect at the interview and have somegood questions prepared.

Myth #5: Leading job sites are toocompetitive; I don’t stand a chance.

Truth: 80 percent of professionalsthink the Internet is a ‘very impor-tant’ mode of sourcing candidates asper the Bayt.com ‘Modern Job Searchin the MENA’ poll, November 2013.

Employers are indeed armed withextremely powerful tools to sift andsearch through CVs on a leading jobsite like Bayt.com, and to identify keystrategic fit CVs in no time. However,Bayt.com has recently released awhole suite of new tools and datainterfaces that give job seekers anunprecedented advantage by high-lighting key information related totheir individual CV and job search,and giving them key insights to helpnavigate their individual job search.CVs that are rich in relevant key-words and professionally put togeth-er are always at an advantage.

Myth #6: Employers never contact me;the job site must be withholding my CV.

Truth: Leading job sites likeBayt.com have done us all a favor byensuring the employer and job seekerare always in direct contact and com-munication with each other. Theinstant a public CV or Public Profile isposted on Bayt.com it becomes imme-diately accessible to employers whocan contact the professional directlyand immediately should they chooseto. Similarly, applications to job post-ings are received directly by employ-ers without any involvement or inter-mediation by the job site itself.Remember, employers receive manyhundreds of applications for any jobso it is not always possible for them torespond to each and every one, but onBayt.com you can get real-timeinsights in your personal Workspaceon how often your CV is beingsearched for and viewed.

Myth #7: After the interview, theball is in the employer’s court.

Truth: Employers are busy people.You may have truly impressed in theinterview but you still need to followup with a thank you letter and a con-firmation of your interest in the com-pany if you wish to remain top ofmind.

Many great interviewees fail to selltheir interest in the company enoughand employers usually lean towardsenthusiastic professionals who arepassionate about the company andtheir potential role in it. By all meansfollow up politely and professionallyafter the interview and keep an opendialogue with companies that interestyou so your application remainswarm.

Myths and realities of job

searching in Middle East

Bayt.com report

Al Mulla Exchange

Currency Transfer Rate (Per 1000)US Dollar 281.150Euro 392.250Pound Sterlng 476.000Canadian Dollar 258.000Indian Rupee 4.680Egyptian Pound 39.510Sri Lankan Rupee 2.152Bangladesh Taka 3.618Philippines Peso 6.335Pakistan Rupee 2.848Bahraini Dinar 748.800UAE Dirham 76.550Saudi Riyal 75.100*Rates are subject to change

B U S I N E S S

KUWAIT: Standard & Poor’s, the international credit rating agency, affirmedthe long-term credit ratings of National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) at A+ with aStable Outlook. In its latest report on NBK, Standard & Poor’s pointed out thatNBK’s major rating strengths include its leading commercial position in thedomestic market, strong capitalization on the back of good earning capacity,and more resilient asset quality than that of its peers.

The agency added that NBK’s business position is strong and will remainstable, underpinned by its leading position in Kuwait, long track record ofgood and stable performance, as well as good and experienced manage-ment. Standard & Poor’s assessed NBK’s capital and earnings as “strong”.

Earlier last month, Moody’s Investors Service also said in its credit opinionreport that NBK is well positioned to take advantage of new business oppor-tunities as the Kuwaiti government’s development plan begins to gain trac-tion in 2014 with more infrastructure projects being tendered than in previ-ous years. Moody’s stressed that NBK is one of the few local banks with thecapacity to structure and underwrite large capital market transactions and isalso a leader in trade finance. NBK has historically acted as lead-financer forthe majority of public contracts awarded to foreign companies, and thebank’s size places it in a preferential position to exploit larger credit opportu-nities compared to its domestic peers. NBK has consistently been awardedthe highest credit ratings in the region by the major international ratingagencies: Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings. NBK is the only Arabbank to be listed among the world’s 50 safest banks eight times in a row.

S&P’s affirms NBK’s ratings

at A+ with Stable Outlook

UK FM ready for ‘hard

negotiation’ with PfizerUK’s open economy has benefited from foreign investment

LONDON: Britain is ready for “hard negotiation” toensure Pfizer sticks to specific promises on jobsand science under the US drugmaker’s proposedtakeover of AstraZeneca, its finance minister said.

“I think it would be extraordinary not toengage with AstraZeneca or Pfizer,” GeorgeOsborne told BBC radio yesterday. He stressedBritain was an open economy that had benefited“enormously” from past investment by foreigncompanies, such as Tata Motors and Nissan in thecar industry, and AstraZeneca itself had grown bytaking over foreign firms.

Although the country’s second-biggest drug-maker AstraZeneca has rejected a $106 billionapproach from Pfizer in what would be the largestforeign takeover of a British company, the USgroup is expected to continue its pursuit. Osbornesaid there was there was “a lot of speculationabout another bid coming”. Pfizer is currentlyweighing its next move, which could be a higheroffer next week.

“We are an open economy, we benefit fromthat. But our national economic interest when itcomes to a very big takeover like this is who’sgoing to be providing the science and the jobsand the manufacturing,” Osborne said. Pfizer’s pastrecord of cutting jobs after swallowing smallerrivals such as Wyeth, Warner-Lambert andPharmacia has stirred up a political storm andfuelled concerns among scientists about theimpact of any deal on British science.

Pfizer has already given a five-year commit-ment to complete AstraZeneca’s new researchcentre in Cambridge, retain a factory in the north-western English town of Macclesfield and put afifth of its research staff in Britain if the deal goesahead.

But the US firm has also said it could adjust itspromises if circumstances change “significantly”,prompting demands for more water-tightpledges.

Osborne’s comments follow a call by DeputyMinister Nick Clegg on Friday for binding commit-ments from Pfizer. “Pfizer have given assurancesabout the jobs they’d create in Britain and the sci-ence they’d do in Britain. We have to make surethose are real promises that we can hold them to,”Osborne said.

“That’s precisely what I’m doing and theCabinet Secretary (Jeremy Heywood) is doing inengaging with both these companies ... I’m pre-pared, on the specifics, to get in the room and havea hard negotiation.”

Retaliation fearsWhile most scientists, trade unions and the

opposition Labour Party have lined up against thePfizer bid, business leaders are worried that anypolitical moves to stop it going ahead could dam-age British interests. “If the British governmentintervenes, it will send the worst possible signal toglobal business and repudiate a three-decadecommitment to a free and open economy,” SimonWalker, director general of the Institute of

Directors, wrote in an opinion piece in the Timesnewspaper yesterday. “It would invite retaliationfrom other countries where British businesses havetaken over major companies.”

The British government has not ruled out theidea of subjecting the Pfizer takeover plan to aformal “public interest test”, although competi-tion lawyers believe the European Commissionwould probably block any such attempted inter-vention. —Reuters

NEW YORK: Pfizer faces growing politicalpressure at home and in Britain as speculationmounts on whether the US pharmaceuticalgiant will sweeten its buyout offer for Britishcompany AstraZeneca.

Late this week, two US governors pressedPfizer about the impact on jobs in their states,while a US senator called for an overhaul ofthe tax code to discourage deals like Pfizer ispursuing, which would move the new compa-ny’s headquarters to Britain, avoiding payingbillion of dollars in US taxes.

Pfizer, the world’s largest pharmaceuticalcompany, also faces tough questions inBritain, where officials fear the deal coulderode the country’s research base. Pfizer chiefexecutive Ian Read next week will testifybefore a parliamentary panel in his second tripto London since launching the AstraZenecacampaign on April 28. Analysts said the criti-cism from politicians, while unwelcome, isprobably less important to the outcome thanwhether Pfizer increases its bid for a secondtime. So far, AstraZeneca has said the propos-als, the latest for $106 billion a week ago, “sub-stantially” undervalues the company and donot merit entering merger talks. British regula-tors have set May 26 as the deadline for Pfizerto either raise its bid, launch a hostile takeoveror abandon the effort.

“They clearly need to increase the bid towin over the shareholders,” said Jeff Loo, ananalyst at S&P Capital IQ, who thinks thechances of the deal are about 50-50. In a jointletter to Read, the governors of Maryland and

Delaware cited a pledge from Pfizer to Britishofficials to keep 20 percent of the combinedcompany’s research and development staff inBritain.

“We are concerned because, despite ourrequests, we have received no correspondingassurances about retaining jobs and researchand development in our states,” said MarylandGovernor Martin O’Malley and DelawareGovernor Jack Markell.

“Our concern is exacerbated by Pfizer’s his-tory of closing US research facilities, includingsites in Michigan and Illinois, after closing onprevious corporate transactions.”

Pfizer has about 3,100 employees inMaryland and 2,600 in Delaware. “Pfizer hasspoken with the governors and we under-stand and appreciate their concerns,” a Pfizerspokesman told AFP, without providing fur-ther details. Before Pfizer’s acquisition ofWyeth in 2009, the two companies employeda total of 129,226 people, but at the end of2013, the combined company listed just77,000 workers.

Some of the jobs eliminated went withdivestitures. Since the Wyeth deal, Pfizer soldoff major divisions on child nutrition (5,400jobs) and pill casings (2,900 jobs), and spun offits animal-health unit Zoetis (9,800 jobs).Senator Ron Wyden, in an op-ed in Friday’sWall Street Journal, said the proposed dealunderscores the need for the United States torevise its tax code to eliminate incentives forcompanies to relocate overseas to lower theirtax bill. —AFP

Pfizer under growing

pressure in US, Britain

B U S I N E S SSUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

KUWAIT: The consumer sector contin-ued to grow more rapidly than the restof Kuwait’s economy, though growth isexpected to slow going forward. Whilehousehold debt growth remained in thedouble-digits, it has moderated over thelast twelve months. Point-of-sale spend-ing growth also maintained a robustpace despite some moderation, as thebenefits of the 2011 and 2012 salaryhikes faded. Meanwhile, employmentgrowth appeared stronger in 4Q13 fol-lowing a bout of weaker figures earlier in2013. At the same time, accelerating eco-nomic growth appears to be boostingskilled expat employment. Household’sdebt growth slowed to 15.1 percentthrough February, down from a 18.7 per-cent peak in June last year. Personal facil-ities excluding credit for the purchase ofsecurities rose to KD8.7 billion. Much ofthe weakness in February’s debt increasewas due to the settlement and write-offof Family Fund loans which began thatmonth. We estimate that the family fundshaved KD 50 million off household debtin February; we expect March to see astill larger impact.

Spending robustConsumer spending remained rela-

tively robust, though it has begun to

moderate as well. Point-of-sale transac-tions (POS) in 4Q13 were up by 14 per-cent from a year ago, the slowest pace inover a year. If consumers’ cash with-drawals (ATM) are also included, spend-ing softened to 9.1 percent in the finalquarter of 2013.

Employment among Kuwaiti nation-als remained relatively steady, thoughthe latter part of 2013 saw some pickup.

First-time civilian hires (first-time PIFSSregistrations) amounted to 12,300 in2013, down from just over 13,000 theprior year. Still, net civilian employmentgrowth was steady at 4.4 percent y/y(304,500 total employed). Though thenumber of first-time hires by privateemployers was stable, net employmentgrowth in the sector picked up to 8.1percent from 5.9 percent a year ago.

Skilled expat job growth has alsobeen accelerating, seeing its strongestpace since 2009 on the back of briskereconomic growth. Employed non-Kuwaitis with at least a secondary educa-tion rose by 10,300 during 2013, morethan double the figure the year before.Both the private and public sectors arebehind this trend.

The consumer sector is expected to

continue to moderate in 2014 from afaster pace in previous years, thoughgrowth will remain healthy. Householddebt growth is expected to moderatefurther while measures by the govern-ment to boost household income arelikely to be limited. Still, employmentgrowth should pick up pace, supportedby the improving economic outlook thisyear and next.

Kuwait’s consumer sector grows the fastest

NBK ECONOMIC REPORT

WASHINGTON: US Treasury Secretary JacobLew will urge China to play by the rules eco-nomically when he meets top officials in Beijingnext week, officials said. Lew will spend Tuesdayin talks with Chinese counterparts, with China’sreform agenda, the coming annual US-ChinaStrategic and Economic Dialogue, and “efforts tolevel the playing field for US workers and firms”on the stated agenda.

“As China continues to grow, our top prioritywill continue to be to encourage China to do soin a way that is fair, balanced and consistentwith the international rules,” a senior Treasuryofficial told reporters in a briefing about thetrip. The official said Washington wants Beijingto strengthen the protection and enforcementof intellectual property rights, including stop-ping trade secret thefts. The US also wantsChina to improve opportunities for Americanbusinesses to enter its markets, including open-ing up to investment in the services sector.

“There are a host of issues that the secretarywill want to raise, all of which are important tomaking the relationship more balanced andfair.” It will be Lew’s third trip to China since tak-ing up the Treasury position in February 2013.On April 30, the Office of the US TradeRepresentative singled out China’s efforts tosteal US trade secrets as “significant concern” inan annual report that again branded the coun-try as a top violator of intellectual propertyrights.

Also last month, the Treasury warned Chinaover the recent fall in the value of the yuan cur-rency, saying the slide could “raise particularly

serious concerns” if it represents a reversal inBeijing’s commitment to a more free-floatingyuan.

“Obviously China’s exchange rate policy isimportant to us. It’s important that they contin-ue to move towards a market-determinedexchange rate,” the official said.

Lew said he would encourage China to con-tinue implementing long-term economic

reforms, even as the country is going through arough patch currently.

“What they can’t do is treat the long-termreforms as something that they can just put off,”he told Bloomberg TV. “They know that theireconomy, if it doesn’t move more toward mar-ket-determined prices... is not going to givethem the medium- and long-term growth theyneed.” —AFP

US likely to urge China to

play fair economically

Lew to discuss China’s reform agenda in Beijing

KABRIWALA: A Pakistani farmer looks on as he waits in a line of trucks carryingwheat before selling the produce to the government in Kabirwala yesterday.Pakistan has contributed 26,000 metric tons of wheat worth $10 million to subsidiesfrom the World Food Program to bolster emergency food assistance to almost 1 mil-lion people displaced in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on the country’snoth-western border with Afghanistan. — AFP

WASHINGTON: Timothy Geithner saysin a new memoir that he repeatedlyoffered to resign as Treasury secretaryin the aftermath of the financial crisisand at one point suggested that HillaryRodham Clinton be among those con-sidered to replace him. PresidentBarack Obama rebuffed Geithner’s sug-gestion, and he remained at Treasuryuntil 2013.

Geithner’s memoir will be pub-lished next week. On Thursday, The APbought an early copy.

Geithner recalls his offers of resigna-tion in “Stress Test,” which explores histurbulent four years at Treasury. Duringhis tenure, the Obama administrationconfronted the worst recession andmost severe financial crisis since theGreat Depression. He portrays his offersto resign as reflecting his uncertaintyabout whether he was up to the

immense challenges of the job.Ultimately, Geithner concludes that theeconomy stabilized under his watch.

In several sections of his memoir,Geithner writes of internal conversa-tions about who might replace him in apost he had been initially reluctant toaccept. When his nomination ran intochallenges over his tax filing problems,Geithner offered to pull his name fromconsideration. He writes that he latervolunteered several times to stepdown from the Cabinet post if adminis-tration officials felt that doing so wouldboost Obama’s standing at a perilousmoment for the economy.

In proposing that the White Houseconsider Clinton as a successor in 2010,Geithner cited her star power as secre-tary of state. Among the other namesGeithner suggested was Jack Lew, whosucceeded him last year.

By his own acknowledgement,Geithner seemed an awkward fit asTreasury secretary, neither an econo-mist nor a banker nor a natural publicspeaker.

He found himself unable to quellwhat he calls the public’s “OldTestament” outrage at bankers whoreceived federal aid and cashed out-sized bonus checks after the financialmeltdown that erupted in 2008. Atleast one of those bankers, JPMorganChase CEO Jamie Dimon, offered tohelp the administration rewrite the reg-ulations overseeing the big banks,Geithner writes. The administrationdeclined Dimon’s offer.

Clinton’s husband, former PresidentBill Clinton, advised Geithner that pub-licly criticizing prominent bankers, suchas Goldman Sachs’ CEO Lloyd Blankfein,wouldn’t appease ordinary Americans.

“You could take Lloyd Blankfein intoa dark alley, and slit his throat, and itwould satisfy them for about two days,”Geithner recalled Clinton telling him.“Then the blood lust would rise again.”

Geithner notes that easy moneyand risky behavior fueled the housingbubble and led to the financial crisis.Deceit and fraud by some financialinstitutions, he writes, were a compo-nent of the mania. But they weren’t itsprimary cause.

No Treasury secretary since theDepression confronted so many finan-cial threats at once. When Geithnerbecame Treasury secretary in January2009, the economy had sunk into adeep recession. Unemployment wassurging, and the financial system wasteetering. Having previously led theFederal Reserve Bank of New York,Geithner had worked to craft the gov-ernment’s early response to the finan-cial crisis. The crisis erupted in the fall of2008 with the fall of investment bankLehman Brothers and the government

takeover of mortgage giants FannieMae and Freddie Mac

Geithner’s supporters said hedeserved credit for helping steady thebanking system, restore investor confi-dence and avert a complete meltdown.His critics countered that his policiesconsistently favored big banks andneglected ordinary Americans, includ-ing many struggling to save theirhomes after a wave of foreclosures fol-lowed the housing bust.

In his memoir, Geithner pushesback against such criticism. He writesthat it would have been impossible tofix the economy without first shoringup the banking system and restoringconfidence. This, he writes, was themost urgent task. A banking panicwould have defeated the administra-tion’s efforts to help the economyrecover.

He acknowledges that the govern-ment’s efforts to help troubled home-owners keep their homes were inade-quate. But he argues that no “game-changing housing plan” that wouldhave offered Americans substantialrelief existed for Geithner’s team toembrace.

Geithner rejected the idea of fixingbanks by nationalizing them or lettingthe weakest firms fail. Instead, hewrites, while vacationing on a beach inMexico, he fleshed out a plan for using“stress tests” to see how much addi-tional capital banks would need to sur-vive a financial catastrophe.

If banks struggled to pass thesetests, they would have to raise capitalprivately or be forced to accept sup-port from the government. Geithnerwrites that this strategic choice was keyto salvaging the financial system. In thebook, Geithner addresses his biggestpublic relations disaster - his firstspeech as Treasury secretary on Feb.10, 2009.—AP

Geithner memoir: He made

repeated offers to resign

Then-Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. The memoirs from formerSecretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Geithner will be thelatest installments in an often awkward Washington ritual: one-timeconfidants signing big book contracts to examine a presidency that isongoing and policy decisions that still are being implemented. —AP

LONDON: Britain’s Co-operative Bank saidyesterday it had completed a 400 millionpound ($674 million) fundraising to bol-ster its capital position. The capital raise,which was launched on Friday, is subjectto shareholder approval at a generalmeeting that will be held in due course,the bank said in a statement.

“This capital will strengthen the Bankfor our customers and enable us to contin-ue with our business plan, which aims toreturn the bank to its roots as a bankfocused on our retail and SME customerswith values and ethics at the heart of whatwe do,” said Chief Executive Niall Booker.

The Co-operative Group’s stake in thebank will fall to just above 20 percent as aresult of the capital raise, down from 30percent previously. Co-op Group cededcontrol of the bank to bondholders includ-

ing US hedge funds last year as a result ofa recapitalization to plug a 1.5 billionpound funding gap. Two of those - hedgefunds Silver Point and Perry Capital - havebeen granted the right to nominate adirector to the board of the bank for aslong as they hold a stake of at least 5 per-cent.

Booker said the Co-op Group’s dimin-ished shareholding would not affect thebank’s ethical focus, which includes com-mitments such as not lending to weaponsmakers. “Values and ethics remain at theheart of the bank’s business, as evidencedby the fact they are embedded in thebank’s articles of association, and this issupported by our shareholders who rec-ognize the impor tance of this to thefuture of the bank and its customers,” hesaid. — Reuters

UK’s Co-op Bank completes

400m pound fundraising

LISBON: The Portuguese economy received adouble boost as ratings agency Moody’sraised its debt rating one notch to Ba2, hoursafter fellow agency Standard & Poor’s upgrad-ed the country’s credit outlook.

The announcements provided a timelyvote of confidence after Lisbon announcedon Sunday it will make a clean exit from itsmulti-billion-euro EU-IMF bailout package,following in the footsteps of Ireland by fore-going a credit line. Portugal’s Prime MinisterPedro Passos Coelho on Thursday said Lisbonwould present its plans for the country’sfinancial future on May 17, the day it exits itsthree-year 78-billion-euro ($108 billion)bailout program.

Unlike Ireland, however, Portugal hasalready managed to return to debt marketsbefore the end of its aid program. Moody’s, inraising Portugal’s debt rating said a furtherupgrade was possible as the country beginsto pull away from its financial crisis.

“Portugal’s fiscal situation has improvedmore rapidly than initially targeted and thepublic debt ratio will start declining this year,”Moody’s said. A Ba2 rating leaves Portugal injunk bond territory, two notches belowinvestment grade.

Moody’s noted that the country’s fiscaldeficit had been reduced by one percentagepoint more than expected last year, “indicat-ing the government’s strong commitment tofiscal consolidation”.

‘Sizeable cash buffers’ Portugal has already managed to return to

debt markets before the end of its aid pro-gram. Moody’s said Portugal will not likelyneed to lean on the European StabilityMechanism for more protective support afterit exits its bailout program. “Portugal has

regained access to the public debt marketsand in addition the government has built upsizeable cash buffers.”

Its economic recovery “is gaining momen-tum, with signs of broadening beyondexports, which continue to perform strongly”.Moody’s said it has the country now underreview for another upgrade, adding that thegovernment’s creditworthiness “can improve”in the short term.

Earlier Friday Moody’s rival Standard &Poor’s upgraded the outlook for Portugal’screditworthiness, citing the bailed-outnation’s unexpectedly strong economic anddeficit-cutting performance. Standard &Poor’s said it had raised the outlook to “stable”from “negative” for Portugal’s long-term sov-ereign debt, which is rated at a junk-bondequivalent BB, and its short-term sovereigndebt, which is rated at B.

Faster recovery than projected “The economy and the labor market are

recovering faster than we projected, with bet-ter-than-expected budgetary performance,”the New York-based rating agency said in astatement. Portugal’s recession in 2013 hadbeen shallower than expected, helpingLisbon to curb the general governmentdeficit to the equivalent of 4.9 percent of eco-nomic output in 2013, unexpectedly beatingits 5.5-percent target, Standard & Poor’s said.

Lisbon snatched an economic lifelinefrom the European Union and InternationalMonetary Fund in 2011 in return for enact-ing budget-slimming austerity measures,which sparked mass popular protests. “Thegovernment has fully implemented theterms of the EU-International MonetaryFund economic adjustment program,”Standard & Poor’s said. —AFP

Double ratings boost for

Portuguese economy

US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew

B U S I N E S SSUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

KUWAIT: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) ended last week in thered zone. The Price Index closed at 7,406.40 points, down by0.33 percent from the week before closing, the WeightedIndex decreased by 0.16 percent after closing at 492.03 points,whereas the KSX-15 Index closed at 1,200.47 points down by0.20 percent. Furthermore, last week’s average daily turnoverincreased by 11.05 percent, compared to the preceding week,reaching KD 22.58 million, whereas trading volume averagewas 150.97 million shares, recording a decrease of 10.63 per-cent.

The stock market indicators closed in the red zone for thethird consecutive week, in light of the return of the politicalconflicts to negatively influence the traders’ psychologicalbehavior, in addition to the absence of the positive motivatorsand the drop in the purchasing desire of many investors, wait-ing for some improvements or appearance of positive indica-tors to push them towards purchase.

Moreover, the stock market witnessed, during most of theweek’s sessions, selling pressures that included many stocks,both large-cap and small-cap, in addition to the presence ofthe speculative operations to affect the trading activity aswell, which caused the general index to decline to its lowestlevel in many months in one daily session, in particular since9th September 2013. Also, the decline in the purchasing pow-er that the stock market witnessed last week by few tradersand the investment portfolios, lowered the liquidity to verylow levels, as it recorded its second lowest level during thisyear in one session last week.

On the contrary, the purchasing and collection operationswere not absent during last week’s trading activity, as the mar-ket was able to realize gains in few sessions, supported by therandom purchasing operations performed on some stocks,especially the ones that disclosed positive first quarter finan-cial results, mainly in the Banking sector.

On the other hand, the stock market is still witnessing awatch state in general, waiting for the listed companies firstquarter financial results, among fears by investors of somecompanies to fall behind the disclosure period given, whichlegally ends by the end of the current week.

For the annual performance, the price index ended lastweek recording 1.57 percent annual loss compared to its clos-ing in 2013, while the weighted index increased by 8.82 per-cent, and the KSX-15 recorded 12.58 percent growth.

Sectors’ indicesEight of KSE’s sectors ended last week in the red zone,

three recorded increases, whereas the Health Care sector’sindex closed with no change from the week before. The BasicMaterials sector headed the losers list as its index declined by1.43 percent to end the week’s activity at 1,175.47 points. TheFinancial Services sector was second on the losers’ list, whichindex declined by 1.03 percent, closing at 1,036.14 points, fol-lowed by the Insurance sector, as its index closed at 1,132.07points at a loss of 0.75 percent. The Consumer Goods sectorwas the least declining as its index closed at 1,300.88 pointswith a 0.35 percent decrease.

On the other hand, last week’s highest gainer was theTechnology sector, achieving 2.02 percent growth rate as itsindex closed at 983.36 points. Whereas, in the second place,the Consumer Services sector’s index closed at 1,117.97 pointsrecording 0.91 percent increase. The Industrial sector came in

Kuwait stocks bearish amid selling pressureBAYAN WEEKLY MARKET REPORT

third as its index achieved 0.50 percent growth, ending theweek at 1,156.34 points.

Sectors’ activityThe Financial Services sector dominated total trade volume

during last week with 280.35 million shares changing hands,

representing 37.14 percent of the total market trading vol-ume. The Real Estate sector was second in terms of tradingvolume as the sector’s traded shares were 30.80 percent of lastweek’s total trading volume, with a total of 232.50 millionshares.

On the other hand, the Financial Services sector’s stocks

were the highest traded in terms of value; with a turnover ofKD 29.41 million or 26.05 percent of last week’s total markettrading value. The Banking sector took the second place as thesector’s last week turnover was KD 25.21 million represented22.34 percent of the total market trading value. — Preparedby the Studies & Research Department, Bayan Investment Co.

WALL STREET WEEKLY OUTLOOKNEW YORK: US stock investors are finding the value of stayingclose to home. Even as the US economy barely grew in early 2014,companies with a domestic orientation have on balance deliveredbetter first-quarter sales and profit growth than their globally ori-ented peers. RBC Capital Markets found that sales growth amongcompanies with a high percentage of their revenue coming fromthe United States was three times stronger than those with a big-ger international sales mix. Earnings growth was six times asrobust. US-focused names had bigger upside surprises on boththe top and the bottom lines. “With the US economy vaultingenergetically out of its winter cold spell but China looking evenmore beset by gravitational forces ... the two-speed developedmarket-vs-emerging market global recovery ... is growing moreclear and present,” analysts at Nomura wrote in a note to clients.

Companies with US-oriented revenue rank among the year’sleading advancers in the S&P 100 Index. Anadarko PetroleumCorp, which gets more than three-fourths of its revenue from theUS market, is up nearly 27 percent in 2014. In its latest quarter, thecompany’s revenue grew 50.1 percent, representing an upsidesurprise of almost 50 percent compared with expectations.

Utilities are 2014’s runaway outperformers, with the S&P utili-ties index up nearly 11 percent. Utilities also have some of thehighest US revenue exposure. The stock of Exelon Corp is up 32.2

percent in 2014; in its latest quarter, Exelon posted revenuegrowth of 17 percent, good for an upside surprise of 28 percentrelative to analysts’ forecasts.

Power sector-focused funds have attracted inflows of almost$2 billion in 2014, according to Thomson Reuters’ Lipper, thoughthe sector is also favored as a defensive or dividend play, offeringan average yield of 3.7 percent. Conversely, technology compa-nies have the highest percentage of foreign revenue exposure,according to Standard & Poor’s. The group, which has sold offrecently on concerns that valuations are stretched, has had out-flows of $1.25 billion this quarter, according to Lipper.

Qualcomm Inc and Broadcom Corp have more than 94 per-cent of sales coming from abroad and both disappointed in theirmost recent results, with Chinese growth a major factor. The weekahead will feature earnings from several companies representingboth the domestic-leaning and international camps. AppliedMaterials, which gets about 80 percent of its revenue from abroad,will report results next week. Analysts expect the company to postrevenue growth of 19 percent. Deere & Co, which gets 63 percentof its sales domestically, is set to report earnings on Wednesday,while Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the largest of a slew of retailers report-ing next week, is due to post results on Thursday. Wal-Mart gets71 percent of its revenue from the United States. — Reuters

NEW YORK: US stocks finished the week with solid gains yes-terday, but it was not enough to lift the tech-rich NasdaqComposite Index into the black for the week. The Nasdaq,which has underperformed compared to the other two lead-ing indices since early March, fell 52.03 (1.26 percent) for theweek to 4,071.87. The S&P 500 slipped 2.66 (0.14 percent) to1,878,48, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 70.45(0.43 percent) to 16,583.34. The week was relatively light interms of economic indicators. US Federal Reserve Chair JanetYellen made a pair of appearances before congressional pan-els, reiterating a fairly upbeat outlook for the economy, whilehighlighting the need to keep benchmark interest rates low.

Investors also kept an eye on continuing violence inUkraine, where separatists in the east of the country plan togo ahead with an independence vote today.

Alan Skrainka, chief investment officer at CornerstoneWealth Management, said the week’s most striking develop-ment was the decline in the Nasdaq, which indicatesinvestors are still worried that high-flying tech stocks areovervalued. “We continue to see a rotation out of the Internetstocks into some of the more traditional stocks that may ben-efit from the improvement in the economy,” Skrainka said.

Investors fear “they own the wrong stocks,” he added.Some of the stocks most closely identified with the tech sec-tor’s surge endured some ugly moments.

Twitter sank nearly 18 percent to an historic low Tuesdayafter the expiration of a so-called lockup period, whichbanned sales by company insiders after its public offering.Twitter finished the week down 17.9 percent. Shares TeslaMotors, another high-flyer, sank after the electric-car manu-

facturer gave a disappointing outlook on second-quarterdeliveries and profits. Tesla finished the week 13.6 percentlower. Other technology names to suffer big declines follow-ing disappointing earnings reports included AOL (-13.4 per-cent for the week) and FireEye (-33.8 percent). PeterWahlstrom, senior analyst for technology at Morningstar, saidthe earnings season, now nearly finished, was “lackluster” forthe tech sector and filled with “inconsistent” results.

“You’re looking for broad-based strength. You’re not see-ing that,” Wahlstrom said. “There are areas that are perform-ing well. There are areas that are not performing well and, onaverage, investors would have wanted more.”

In other corporate news, US retailer Target announcedthat chief executive Gregg Steinhafel was stepping down inthe wake of a huge data breach, while Italian auto giant Fiat

Chrysler unveiled an ambitious $7 billion plan to relaunch thehigh-end and sporty Alfa Romeo line. In deal news, Frenchgroup Publicis and Omnicom of the United States announcedthey had abandoned merger talks on what would haveformed the world’s largest advertising company.

The two sides fought over who would be the combinedfirm’s chief financial officer and which company would legallybe deemed the acquirer for a transaction that had been heavi-ly billed as a “merger of equals,” according to a report in theWall Street Journal. Less resolved at week’s end was the statusof a potential acquisition by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer ofBritish company AstraZeneca, which has so far rejected threerequests to enter talks. Pfizer chief executive Ian Read will tryto quell opposition to the deal in Britain at an appearanceTuesday before a British parliamentary panel.—AFP

Mixed week for US stocks as tech equities slump

Keep an eye on companies where US revenue rules

NEW YORK: Trader Michael Zicchinolfi, foreground left, and specialist Anthony Rinaldi (right) work on the floor of theNew York Stock Exchange. Stocks are drifting lower in early trading on Friday as US corporate earnings wind down. —AP

B U S I N E S SSUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

NBK ECONOMIC OVERVIEW & OUTLOOKKUWAIT: Real non-oil growth is expected toremain broadly steady at 4-5 percent per yearover the next two years. Activity in the con-sumer sector - which has been the backbone ofthe non-oil economy in recent years - will mod-erate, though receive support from the govern-ment’s estimated KD 0.4 billion debt write-offfor Kuwaiti nationals. Meanwhile, we look for anotable improvement in the pace of infrastruc-ture project activity, a gradual pick-up in banklending and a more determined effort by theauthorities to pursue much-needed economicreforms. If these things can be achieved, theeconomy could start to gather considerablemomentum sometime in 2015, paving the wayfor faster growth thereafter.

Private sector output began to grow againin 2012 after a steep fall between 2007 and2011. It may be due a good run as the legacy ofthe financial crisis continues to fade. Oil sectoroutput, meanwhile, is projected to decline by 2percent in 2014 for the second year in a row.This is a smaller decline than the 4 percent wehad previously expected. Oil prices held up wellduring 1Q 2014, not least due to cuts in outputby key OPEC members themselves (includingKuwait). With the period of traditional seasonalweakness in oil markets now fading, and cuts inproduction having already taken place, Kuwait’soil output could yet surprise on the upsidegoing forward. Oil sector officials recently stat-ed that Kuwait’s production capacity has beenincreased to 3.3 million barrels per day (mbpd)from 3.2 mbpd. With output currently below 2.9mbpd (chart 3), this has provided additionalbreathing room for previously tight sparecapacity.

Project implementationThe period covering the government’s 4-year

development plan - FY2010/11 to 2013/14 - hasnow passed, and progress on implementing theKD 31 billion in infrastructure and other spend-ing was disappointing. A new developmentplan is expected to be unveiled over comingmonths, and we are hopeful that executionrates will be much improved. This is partlybecause political conditions now seem moreconducive, but also because the new plan islikely to be a less ambitious affair. Plans for many

of the previous projects are likely to be rolledover, with ground work already done or inprogress.

Large projects at the most advance stagesinclude the $13 billion Clean Fuels Project,which aims to upgrade and expand productionat two of Kuwait’s aging oil refineries. After themain contracts were signed in April, work isexpected to begin in earnest later in the year. Inaddition, a similar-sized contract to build a newrefinery is targeted to be signed later in 2014.Away from oil, work should soon begin on thecountry’s first large Public Private Partnership

project - the $2 billion North Al-Zour power sta-tion. The concurrent execution of these and oth-er projects in the transport, health, educationand housing sectors should go some way toreversing Kuwait’s poor record on domesticinvestment in earlier years, and closing the infra-structure gap with some of its Gulf neighbors.

Real estateActivity in the real estate sector gathered

considerable steam in 2013, and momentumhas continued into this year. Sales reached arecord KD 3.7 billion in 2013, up 18 percent y/y.The strength came from average transactionsizes, which rose 37 percent y/y (unadjusted forproperty type, size, or location. See chart 5).Strong sales levels are being driven by a combi-nation of housing shortages, the sector’s attrac-tiveness as an asset class (amidst the soft per-formance of the local stock market), improved

business optimism and purchases of commer-cial property by government support funds.

Strong demand and supply constraints -partly linked to a shortage of developed land -should keep price pressures in the residentialsector in particular very firm over comingmonths. Indeed, concerns over prices andaffordability levels may escalate. A recent cabi-net decision to consider the purchase of proper-ty by expatriates has some way to go beforebeing potentially implemented, but in any case,would be unlikely to have a meaningful impacton the market in the near-to-medium term.

Public financeAlthough official figures are not yet avail-

able, government spending is estimated tohave risen by around 3 percent in FY2013/14,much lower than in most previous years. Theslowdown was partly affected by a boost tosalaries & wages in FY12/13, which was notrepeated last year. The draft budget forFY2014/15 projects a further modest 3 percentrise in spending, including a sharp 20 percentfall in capital expenditures. But given thebroader improved context for governmentand infrastructure projects, we think that theoutlook for capex is better than this numbersuggests. Note that capex in the oil sector, forexample, does not appear on the govern-ment’s budget.

That said - and although the spendingnumbers may well be revised significantlybefore they are finalized- the small projected

rise is a further sign that fiscal policy hasentered into a less expansive phase than inthe past, partly reflecting sustainability issues.In the near-term, the fiscal surplus, at 19 per-cent of GDP this year, will remain extremelylarge, and the budget breakeven oil price forFY14/15 is one of the lowest in the GCC, at$70 pb. However government officialsacknowledge that reform of the expensivesubsidy system and rising public sector wagebill is needed in order to reduce fiscal vulnera-bilities - and economic inefficiencies - goingforward.

InflationDespite robust growth in consumer activi-

ty, consumer price inflation has remainedmodest in the 2.5 - 3.0 percent y/y range formuch of the past year.(Chart 8.) The two keycomponents, food and housing rents, arerunning at higher rates of 3-4 percent y/yand have therefore provided upward pres-sures. Excluding these items, inflation is low-er, at 2.1 percent y/y in February 2014. We doexpect inflation to edge up into the 3-4 per-cent range over the next 2 years, partly onfirming pressures from the food and housingsegments. ‘Underlying’ inflation could alsoedge higher, but is expected to be kept incheck by a slight softening of consumeractivity and the continued strength of thedinar on a trade-weighted basis. So far, thereare few signs of rising pipeline inflationarypressures from the wholesale price index.

Money and creditBank credit growth has edged higher over

the past few months and is finally showingsigns of recovering from its post-financial crisissoftness. Overall credit growth stood at 7.3 per-cent y/y in February, up from 4.8 percent y/y ayear earlier and an average of 6.2 percent in2013.(Chart 10.)Consumer lending continues tolead the way at 15 percent y/y (excluding loansfor securities purchases), although this has infact slowed from a peak of 19 percent y/y lastyear and may slow further as the impact of thedebt write-off appears in the data. Moreencouragingly, lending to businesses has accel-erated, and should continue to strengthen asbroader investment levels rise. Credit growthoutpaced private deposit growth in February - arare occurrence in recent years.

The Central Bank of Kuwait has maintainedits main policy lending rate - the discount rate -at 2 percent since October 2012. Further cutshave been mooted, but it is broadly consideredthat additional cuts would do relatively little tostimulate demand in the economy. Conditionsin the banking sector remain solid, helped bystrong liquidity levels and healthy growth inoperating income.

Financial marketsFollowing a lackluster 2013, the Kuwait

Stock Exchange got off to a strong start in2014, with the value-weighted index gaining 7percent in 1Q14. The rally was primarily drivenby large caps and in particular bank stocks. Inaddition to the more upbeat economic outlookand improved corporate profitability, the mar-ket was supported by the imminent increase inKuwait’s weight in a number of frontier index-es. The larger capitalizations and banks in par-ticular are expected to benefit most from thispickup in activity.

The exchange rate has strengthened consid-erably over the past four years, rising some 8percent on a trade-weighted basis (NBK calcula-tions). The Kuwaiti dinar is pegged to a basketof currencies, of which the US dollar is the sin-gle most important component. The strengthof the trade-weighted dinar has been driven bythe rising US dollar. By contrast, the dinar hasmostly softened against the dollar.

Kuwait non-oil growth firms up on

improved project implementation

KUWAIT: Kuwait Financial Centre “Markaz”recently released its Monthly MarketResearch report. In this report, Markaz exam-ines and analyzes the performance of equitymarkets in the MENA region as well as theglobal equity markets.

The Dubai Index closed above the 5,000level this month, the first time since Aug2008, as the market, along with its peers inAbu Dhabi and Doha, is set to be elevatedfrom frontier to emerging status by MSCI inMay. Investors scooped up banking, realestate and construction shares in anticipa-tion of increased dividend payouts.

In the first four months of 2014, theDubai Financial Market has registered a YTDincrease of over 50 per cent, after it morethan doubled in 2013. Despite the high P/Eratio, which has led to skepticism amonginstitutional investors, the Dubai market isbeing driven mainly by thousands of indi-vidual local and regional retail investors,who believe that the good times will carryon. The right to host the World Expo 2020also fuelled expectations of increase in gov-ernment spending.

April 2014 was a positive month for theequity markets in the MENA region, as mostindices ended the month on a positive note.Bahrain’s benchmark hit the highest level inthree years, closing at 1,427 points in April,as both local and regional investors tookadvantage of relatively cheap valuations ofBahraini companies. In particular, the ArabBanking Corporation witnessed a monthly

rise of 36 per cent in April, driving the mar-ket fortunes. The S&P GCC index moved up2.8 per cent in the month of April to close at134 points. The S&P Pan Arabian CompositeLargeMid Cap Index rose by 5.3 per cent toclose at 191 points. While market liquidityimproved in the GCC, value traded declinedin Egypt, Morocco and Jordan.

P/E of Dubai and Qatar witnessed a riseof over 7 per cent in the month of April.Dubai has the highest P/E in the region at19.6x, followed by Kuwait at 19x. Bahrain,Jordan, Morocco, and Oman have dividendyields over 4 per cent. With relatively low P/Evalues and high dividend yields, Bahrain,Oman and Abu Dhabi markets might beoffering value. Saudi Arabia, Morocco andQatar have high price-to-book ratios(around 2x), while Jordan and Bahrain havelow P/B ratios.

Overall market turnover improved from$63bn in March to $92bn in April. More than94 per cent of value traded is accounted forby Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar. Abu Dhabi,Qatar and Bahrain witnessed the biggestmonth-on-month increase in value traded atover 80 per cent each respectively.

IPO Umm Al-Qura Cement Company (Saudi

Arabia), Egyptian Chemical Industries -KIMA (Egypt) and Egypt Kuwait HoldingCompany (Egypt) are new IPOs that are cur-rently undergoing subscription. The UmmAl-Qura Cement Company has offered

27.5mn shares at SAR 10 each, representinga 50 per cent stake in the company. KIMAhas offered just over 90mn shares at anissue price of EGP 5 each, representing a31.25 per cent stake. Egypt Kuwait HoldingCompany has planned to raise $109mn byissuing 136mn shares, a stake of 16.25 percent. Subscriptions closed for Markaz (UAE)on April 24. The company offered 275mn

shares at AED 1.03, representing a 55 percent stake.

Global equitiesGlobal equities rose level in April, as the

MSCI world index rose by 0.8 per cent toclose at 1688. At 50.4, China’s manufactur-ing PMI increased marginally from 50.3 inMarch, but was lower than market expecta-

tions of 50.5. Export orders were also down,indicating a slowdown in economic activity,leading to a 0.35 per cent drop in theShanghai Index on account of investor pes-simism. The MSCI EM index ended themonth flat at 995, staying level from Marchend. Anxious anticipation of corporateresults pulled down the Nikkei Index, whichclosed the month at 14,304 points, falling

3.5 per cent from March.IPE Brent registered a marginal increase

in the month of April, posting a rise of 0.3per cent, as the market continued to moni-tor the global economic situation. Oil pricescontinued to remain above $100/bbl atmonth’s close, closing at $108.07/bbl. Goldprices witnessed a marginal 0.6 per cent risein April, closing at $1291 up from $1284 inMarch.

Fears of escalating conflict with Russia,countered the positive quarterly earnings oftechnology, healthcare and constructioncompanies in the US, leading to a tepid riseof 0.6 per cent in the S&P 500 index.Consumer confidence reached its highestlevel in nine months, due to renewed opti-mism of the economy as a whole, despiterising unemployment and marginaldecrease in manufacturing PMI. Escalatingtensions between Russia and Ukraine, notwithstanding, European markets performedwell during the month of April. FTSE, CACand DAX rose by 2.8 per cent, 2.2 per centand 0.5 per cent respectively, due toexpanding business and manufacturingactivity.

Kuwait Financial Centre KPSC “Markaz”,established in 1974, has become one of theleading asset management and investmentbanking institutions in the Arabian GulfRegion with total assets under managementof over KD 975 million as of December 31,2013 ($3.5 million). Markaz was listed on theKuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) in 1997.

‘Markaz’ Report: MENA markets surge back in April 2014

B U S I N E S S

SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

KUWAIT: The Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC)announced yesterday that Moody’s Credit RatingAgency upgraded its Long Term ratings by 3 notch-es to A2, from the previous Baa2 rating. Moody’salso upgraded GIC’s Short Term ratings to P1, thehighest in that category. All ratings carry a Stableoutlook.

The positive action by Moody’s is based on there-categorization of GIC as a MultilateralDevelopment Bank (MDB) and the resulting changein rating methodology. The action from Moody’sreflect the agency’s recognition of GIC’s strongownership structure and public policy mandate. Italso indicates the corporation’s strong financial con-dition, prudent strategic initiatives and favorablefuture prospects. Commenting on the recent actionby Moody’s, Ibrahim Al-Qadhi, CEO, said “The effortsmade by the Shareholders, the Board, and theExecutive Management have borne fruit.”

He added “this upgrade is likely to have a posi-

tive impact on the overall performance of the cor-poration by reduced funding costs. This action by aleading international rating agency is an indicationof their trust in the robust financial condition of GIC.I am hopeful that the corporation will continue onits path of good performance and growth.” GICposted a profit of $165 million for the financial yearending 31st December 2013, up 25 percent com-pared to the $131 million earned in the 2012. Froma financial strength perspective, the Tier 1 capitaladequacy ratio reached 36 percent, comfortablyexceeding the international and regional require-ments while its leverage, in terms of debt to equity,stood at a conservative 1.1 times. Furthermore,GIC’s liquidity and liability profiles are quite robust.

Established in 1983, GIC is a regional financialinstitution owned entirely and equally by the sixGCC states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, SaudiArabia and the UAE. It is headquartered in the Stateof Kuwait.

Moody’s upgrades GIC’s ratings

by multiple notches to A2

Al-Qadhi: Achievement reflects sound strategy

GIC CEO Ibrahim Al-Qadhi

KUWAIT: Al-Mazaya Holding Company haslaunched a wholly-owned joint stock compa-ny to capitalize on the abundant opportuni-ties presented by the buoyant Turkish realestate sector.

Mazaya Turkey was established after exten-sive research over a period of nine monthsinto the long-term viability of the Turkishproperty market and will initially target resi-dential sector investments before moving intorelated fields such as property managementservices, engineering, exhibitions and confer-ences. The company was created in accor-dance with all relevant Turkish laws and regu-lations.

Al-Mazaya Holding Group CEO Eng.Ibrahim Al Saq’abi said the launch of MazayaTurkey signalled his company’s enthusiasmfor both establishing operations in Turkey anddiversifying revenue streams.

He said: “Mazaya Turkey will help us toachieve ambitious Group growth targets overthe coming years, while enabling us to geo-graphically diversify our portfolio of opera-tions and assets, in line with our longstandingstrategy”. “The Turkish property story is anexciting one. We believe the fundamentals arethere to sustain growth for the long-termwhile the market is sufficiently transparentand regulated to provide security to investorsand buyers alike”.

“Al-Mazaya has a strong track record of realestate investment and development excel-lence, and we look forward to working with allrelevant stakeholders in Turkey over the com-ing weeks and years. Together, we believe wecan achieve outstanding results.”

Eng Al-Saq’abi added he was impressed

with the efforts of Turkey’s government tocreate the conditions necessary for direct for-eign investment (FDI). He said: “Few othercountries in the region enjoy the demograph-ic opportunities currently experienced byTurkey, combined with both economicgrowth and political stability. Turkey is under-going a remarkable transformation and welook forward to building long-lasting relation-ships with the people of this great country.”

Jim Yolcu was appointed CEO of MazayaTurkey. He brings more than fifteen years’industry experience to the position. Yolcusaid: “Al-Mazaya is one of the leading namesin the development and management of realestate in the Middle East. We believe Mazaya

Turkey will soon occupy a similar position ofreputational leadership in Turkey, consistentlydelivering excellence and offering expertise inall areas of operation”.

“We are excited about this new chapter inthe Al-Mazaya story and look forward to con-tributing vigorously to the Turkish economyby creating jobs and bringing investmentfrom all over the world. Together, we canachieve great things.”

In recent years, Turkish real estate hasenjoyed one of the fastest rates of apprecia-tion in the world, often achieving double digitgrowth, fuelled by strong GDP performanceand government initiatives to open the mar-ket.

Al-Mazaya Holding launches Turkish

Property vehicle Mazaya Turkey

A subsidiary company will focus on residential developments

KUWAIT: Al-Muzaini Exchange Co, Kuwait’sleading Exchange and Remittance Company,announced yesterday the daily winners of theCash Promo draws. The second draw was con-ducted on 8 May 2014 at the ConsumerProtection Andallus Department under thesupervision of Ahmad Al-Hamad representa-tive from the Ministry of Commerce.

The lucky winners of KD 100 cash prize forthe period of 1 May - 7 May 2014 are:

Jennifar Mata - Qurain co-op Mostafa Mahrous - Maidan hawalliAbdulla Salem - Reqee Abeer Mossa- Reqa co-opEid Al-Harbi - JahraAli Taleb - Heteen co-opAli Habeeb- Airport

Upon using any of Al Muzaini’s serviceswhich consist of Western Union, Drafts,Money transfers, Travelers Cheques, Couriers(DHL), or Bank Notes, customers will automat-ically be included in the draw. Al-Muzaini haslaunched this promotion with an aim to offerits customers, extended opportunities to ful-fill their dreams in an easy and simple man-ner.

The third draw is scheduled to take place

on 15 May, while the fourth draw will be con-ducted on 22 May, followed by the fifth drawon 1 June, and the final draw on 9 June 2014.Al-Muzaini advises everyone to take advan-tage of this promotion by using any of itsservices for a chance to become a winner.

Al-Muzaini Exchange Company, a pioneerand leader in the foreign exchange businessin Kuwait for over 70 years now with networkbranches that spans over 60 branches locatedacross Kuwait. To ensure customer satisfac-tion, arrival and departure sections of theKuwait International airport and the SheikhSaad airport guarantee 24 hours 7 days aweek full service.

Al-Muzaini Exchange Company providescustomers a broad range of services thatincludes issuing checks and collection ofchecks drawn on foreign banks and the saleand purchase of foreign currencies and remit-tances (to all parts of the world), DHL relatedservices while also benefitting from WesternUnion’s varied services that are on offer.

For further information on any of Al-Muzaini Exchange Company’s services cus-tomers are urged to visit their nearest branch,call the company’s call center on 1888818, orlog on to the company’s website www.muzai-ni.com.

KUWAIT: Gulf Bank held its Al Danah daily draws on May 4,2014, announcing the names of its winners for the week ofApril 27 to May 1. The Al-Danah daily draws include drawseach working day for two prizes of KD1000 per winner.

The winners were: (Sunday 27/04): Yousef Zohair Ibrahim Al-Mutawa, Farah

Khaled Hassan Abbas Atta Allah(Monday 28/04): Samar Mohammed Ghloum Abdullah,

Mustafa Mahmoud Al-Masri(Tuesday 29/04): Bader Nasser Ali Al-Houti, Muhsan Ali

Hussain Al-Qattan(Wednesday 30/04): Maleeha Jassem Mohammed Al-

Shammali, Faisal Nasser Bahatei(Thursday 1/05): Mohammed Abdullah Abdulaziz Al-

Habeeb, Faisal Fahed Abdullah Al-AsousiGulf Bank’s Al- Danah 2014 draw lineup includes daily

draws (2 winners per working day each receive KD1000).Al- Danah’s 2nd Quarterly draw for 2014 will be held in

June (KD250,000, KD125,000, and KD25,000) and cus-tomers are encouraged to maintain their balances in Al-Danah to ensure they increase their chances of winning.

Gulf Bank’s Al-Danah allows customers to win cashprizes and simultaneously encourages them to save mon-ey. Chances increase the more money is deposited and thelonger it is kept in the account.

Al-Danah also offers a number of unique servicesincluding the Al-Danah Deposit Only ATM card whichhelps account holders deposit their money at their con-venience; as well as the Al-Danah calculator to help cus-tomers calculate their chances of becoming an Al-Danahwinner.

To be part of the Al-Danah draws, customers can visitone of Gulf Bank’s 58 branches, transfer on line, or call theCustomer Contact Center on 1805805 for assistance andguidance. Customers can also log on to www.e -gulfbank.com/aldanahwinners, to find out more about Al-Danah and who the winners are.

Gulf Bank announces winners

of Al-Danah daily draws

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co

announces second batch of

winners of ‘Cash Promo’ draw

KUWAIT: Burgan Bank announced yesterday the intro-duction of an exciting discount program through ‘TheEntertainer’ promotional booklet for all of its PremierBanking customers. The booklet is designed to suit thelifestyle needs of its distinguished customers byacquainting them with instant access to a wide range ofprivileges around the world.

Now, Premier Banking customers are entitled toenjoy the value added benefits through 60 exclusivediscount coupons reaching up to 50 percent discounts,that fall under the ‘buy one get one free’ program atlocal and international restaurants, hotel and spa’s, retailshops and kids entertainment centers.

‘The Entertainer’ promotional booklet has beenintroduced as part of the bank’s wide range of valuableprivileges and benefits that is especially designated forPremier customers.

To find out more about Burgan Bank’s latest promo-tions or any of its products and services, customers are

urged to visit any of the bank’s branches, or contact thecall center on 1804080.

Established in 1977, Burgan Bank is the youngestcommercial Bank and third largest by assets in Kuwait,with a significant focus on the corporate and financialinstitutions sectors, as well as having a growing retailand private bank customer base. Burgan Bank has fivemajority owned subsidiaries, which include Gulf BankAlgeria - AGB (Algeria), Bank of Baghdad - BOB (Iraq &Lebanon), Jordan Kuwait Bank - JKB (Jordan) TunisInternational Bank - TIB (Tunisia), and fully ownedBurgan Bank - Turkey, (collectively known as the“Burgan Bank Group”). The Bank has continuouslyimproved its performance over the years through anexpanded revenue structure, diversified fundingsources, and a strong capital base. The adoption ofstate-of-the-art services and technology has positionedit as a trendsetter in the domestic market and withinthe MENA region.

DETROIT: Actor Dustin Hoffman made Alfa Romeotrendy for Americans by driving a red Spider 1600in the 1967 movie “The Graduate,” but Alfa salesnever took off in the North American market andthe company ultimately pulled out. Fiat ChryslerAutomobiles, Alfa’s current owner, this weekrevealed a strategy for the sporty Italian brand torace from zero to 150,000 sales in just four years.But industry experts, some citing the more thantwo decades it took Volkswagen’s Audi brand toachieve that market level, say the plan is overlyambitious.

“It is mathematically possible for Alfa to sell150,000 in North America by 2018, but so is win-ning the lottery,” LMC Automotive analyst JeffSchuster said.

Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne and his teamrevealed their strategy for Alfa Romeo on Tuesdayas part of a five-year plan to establish Fiat Chrysleras a strong global automaker. But Fiat SpA’s sharesfell so quickly on Wednesday that trading in themwas suspended briefly.

Critics of the Alfa rejuvenation plan, includinginvestors, industry analysts and bankers, cite con-

cerns about distribution, the challenge of bringingeight new models to market in such a short timeframe and the intense competition of the market.

This is not the first time Marchionne said Alfawas coming to the United States. In January 2013,he said “for sure” it would return that year with the4C sports coupe. The car is now expected to makeit to the U.S. market later this year, followed by ahigher-volume model in late 2015. Industryobservers say Marchionne had better have hisback-up plan ready. “One hundred fifty thousandsales; what’s Lincoln doing this year? And they’retrying,” said a banker who asked not to be named,referring to Ford’s luxury brand, which sold about82,000 vehicles last year.

Fiat’s plan depends on several elements thatleave observers cold, starting with selling Alfa vehi-cles through Fiat show-rooms. “Alfa will only work ifit’s got a dedicated facility or it is paired withanother luxury brand,” said Jim Ziegler, a US autodealer consultant. “You can’t have the same salesteam selling $17,000 cars from one brand and$60,000 cars from another. It just doesn’t work thatway.” Fiat Chrysler is expected to sell Alfas at its

best-performing Fiat dealers, as well as high-endMaserati dealers. Fiat dealers number 344 in NorthAmerica, while Maserati locations total 91.

Harold Wester, CEO for Alfa and Maserati, raisedeyebrows when he said eight new Alfa modelswould be introduced from late 2015 through 2018.“They’ve got to develop in the space of four yearsan entire portfolio of vehicles,” AutoTrends analystJoseph Phillippi said. “That’s a huge engineeringchallenge.”

While the US luxury market is growing, the com-petition is fierce. Mirko Mikelic, senior portfoliomanager for Clear Arc Capital, said it is hard tobelieve Alfa Romeo “will come in and startmuscling out” rivals. Among them are well-estab-lished brands such as Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz andBMW, which are only making it tougher for com-petitors as they push down market to vehiclesstarting as low as $30,000, analysts and bankerssay.

Alfa’s planned North American return after leav-ing in 1996 was preceded by the re-introduction ofFiat in 2011. However, sales of the subcompact Fiat500 have disappointed and Fiat dealers are strug-

gling with only two models to sell. Fiat sales in theUnited States and Canada were about 51,000 lastyear. In acknowledging that the company’s overallplan for the 2014 to 2018 period is aggressive,Marchionne said he understood Wednesday’s near-ly 12 percent drop in the stock price. “We’ve had aphenomenal run in 2014 ... and I am not surprisedthat people took some money off the table,” hesaid.

Marchionne also said he can “pull the plug” onthe plan to invest 5 billion euros ($7 billion) toremake Alfa. That did not make investors feel anybetter about an overall plan that includes the goalof boosting annual global sales by about 60 per-cent from 2013 to 7 million vehicles.

Fiat Chrysler also intends to boost its US marketshare to 15.8 percent from 11.4 percent last year.That would position it for second place, and ana-lysts and bankers say Ford Motor Co and ToyotaMotor Corp will not let anyone pass them withouta fight. Even believers know they are taking achance. “Whoever bets on Fiat today, bets on a pos-sibility, on a potential,” said Roberto Lottici, fundmanager at Ifigest. — Reuters

Fiat Chrysler’s lofty target for Alfa Romeo unrealistic: Experts

Burgan Bank offers ‘The Entertainer’

promotional booklet to its

premier banking customers

t e c h n o l o g ySUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

EMC Corporation yesterdayannounced it has entered into adefinitive agreement to acquire pri-

vately-held DSSD, Inc Menlo Park-basedDSSD is the developer of an innovativenew rack-scale flash storage architecturefor I/O-intensive in-memory databasesand Big Data workloads like SAP HANAand Hadoop. The transaction is expectedto close in the second quarter of 2014,subject to customary closing conditions.Financial terms were not disclosed. Thetransaction is not expected to have amaterial impact to EMC GAAP or non-GAAP EPS for the full 2014 fiscal year.

Menlo Park-based DSSD will operate asa standalone unit within EMC’s EmergingTechnology Products Division reporting toChirantan “CJ” Desai. DSSD President andCEO Bill Moore, formerly SunMicrosystems’ Chief Storage Engineer, ZFSco-lead and 3Par’s first employee, will leadthe DSSD business within EMC. AndyBechtolsheim, who is also Chairman andChief Development Officer of Arista

Networks, and formerly a co-founder ofSun Microsystems, will serve as DSSD’sstrategic advisor.

Cracking the code As customers take advantage of the

mega trends of social, mobile, cloud andBig Data, it will become critical to storeand analyze the vast amounts of data thatdo not fit into main memory. Havingassembled one of the most accomplishedsystems and storage engineering teams inSilicon Valley, DSSD has cracked the codeon this dilemma.

Andy Bechtolsheim said, “Theprospects of what EMC and DSSD canachieve together are truly remarkable. Weventured out to create a new storage tierfor transactional and Big Data applicationsthat have the highest performance I/Orequirements. Working together withEMC, DSSD will deliver a new type of stor-age system with game-changing latency,IOPS and bandwidth characteristics whileoffering the operational efficiency of

shared storage.”David Goulden, CEO of EMC

Information Infrastructure, said, “EMCestablished a relationship with DSSDmore than a year ago. EMC led the SeriesA investment in DSSD and has remainedan active development partner. We’re nowthrilled to be joining forces with Andy, Billand the entire DSSD team. While flashstands among IT’s most disruptive tech-nologies, its impact and opportunity willbecome even more pronounced as cus-tomers enter the 3rd Platform of IT.Complementary to our market-leadingall-flash and hybrid storage portfolio,DSSD will unlock an abundance of newpossibilities for customers as they buildout their infrastructures to support theemerging tier of next-generation in-mem-ory and Big Data workloads.”

Products based on the new DSSD rack-scale flash storage architecture areexpected to be available in 2015 and willbe optimized for:

• In-memory databases (eg SAP HANA,

GemFire, etc.)• Real-time analytics (e.g. risk manage-

ment, fraud detection, high-frequencyapplications, Pivotal HD, etc.)

• High-performance applications usedby research and government agencies(e.g. genomics, facial recognition, climateanalysis, etc.)

Customers desiring a platform capableof delivering unprecedented performancefor I/O- intensive Big Data and in-memoryapplications like SAP HANA and Hadoopwill choose DSSD rack-scale flash storageas the fastest tier in their multi-tier storagearchitecture.

EMC flash leadershipDSSD will complement EMC’s flash-

based systems and software portfoliowhich began with EMC’s early entry intoflash storage in 2008 when it became thefirst to integrate Flash drives into enter-prise storage arrays. In the first quarter of2014 alone, EMC sold more than 17petabytes of flash capacity, which was up

over 70 percent over the first quarter of2013. After less than two months of gen-eral availability in the fourth quarter of2013, EMCXtremIO catapulted to a mar-ket-leading position, comfortably surpass-ing every other all-flash array. More than70 percent of all EMCVMAX and EMCVNX2systems now ship with flash capacity. Withthis portfolio of offerings to accommo-date the variety of applications for flash,including EMC’s fully-automated flash tier-ing software, EMC stands as the industryleader in enterprise flash storage.

EMC Corporation is a global leader inenabling businesses and service providersto transform their operations and deliverIT as a service. Fundamental to this trans-formation is cloud computing. Throughinnovative products and services, EMCaccelerates the journey to cloud comput-ing, helping IT departments to store, man-age, protect and analyze their most valu-able asset - information - in a more agile,trusted and cost-efficient way.

EMC to acquire DSSD, extends flash storage leadership

Appeals court breathes new

life into Oracle-Google battle

‘Software commands can be copyrighted’SAN FRANCISCO: An appeals court on Fridaybreathed new life into Oracle’s big-money law-suit against Google by ruling that software com-mands can be copyrighted just like classicbooks. The case stems from 2012 trial, in whichOracle claimed Google owed them billions indamages for using parts of the Java program-ming language in its Android smartphone oper-ating system.

The case is being closely watched in SiliconValley, where some champions of Internet free-dom worry that extending copyright protectionto these bits of code, called application pro-gramming interfaces, or APIs, would threateninnovation. A panel of three judges in the USFederal Circuit Court of Appeals concluded thatthe trial court in 2012 erred and that it is boundto afford APIs protection under copyright laws“until either the Supreme Court or Congress tellsus otherwise.”

“We’re disappointed-and worried,” theElectronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) said in ablog post about the appeals court decision.

“The implications of this decision are signifi-cant, and dangerous.” The EFF and other groupsworry the decision could herald an explosion inlegal battles over software spreading to copy-rights in how code is written.

Could go to Supreme Court In the 2012 trial before US District Court

Judge William Alsup California business softwaretitan Oracle accused Google of infringing onJava computer programming language patentsand copyrights Oracle obtained when it boughtJava inventor Sun Microsystems in a $7.4 billiondeal in 2009. Oracle argued that it held copy-rights to how the APIs worked even if differentstrings of code were used to orchestrate thetasks.

In the fast-paced land of Internet innovation,it has been common for software writers to puttheir own spins on APIs that mini-programs useto “talk” to one another. Google denied theclaims and said it believes mobile phone makersand other users of its open-source Android oper-ating system are entitled to use the Java tech-nology in dispute.

“When there is only one way to express anidea or function, then everyone is free to do soand no one can monopolize that expression,”Alsup said in his ruling last year.

“So long as the specific code used to imple-ment a method is different, anyone is free underthe Copyright Act to write his or her own code tocarry out exactly the same function or specifica-tion of any methods used in the Java API.”

But the appellate judges disagreed and sentthe case back to Alsup. Google could appeal tothe full appeals court panel and even pursue itto the US Supreme Court.

Fair use Appeals judges indicated in their ruling that

Google might prevail on the legal grounds that“fair use” made it acceptable. “Google can focuson asserting its fair use defense, and hope thatfair use can once again bear the increasing bur-den of ensuring that copyright spurs, rather thanimpedes, innovation,” the EFF said.

“We’re confident that it can, but it shouldn’thave to.” Oracle depicted the appeals court deci-sion as “a win for Oracle and the entire softwareindustry that relies on copyright protection tofuel innovation and ensure that developers arerewarded for their breakthroughs,” its generalcounsel, Dorian Daley, said in an email responseto an AFP inquiry.

“We are extremely pleased that the FederalCircuit denied Google’s attempt to drasticallylimit copyright protection for computer code,”he added. But Google said it was “disappointed”by the ruling, “which sets a damaging precedentfor computer science and software develop-ment, and are considering our options.” Googleunveiled the free Android operating system twoyears before Oracle bought Sun.

The outcome of the original trial left Oracleeligible for a relative pittance in damages basedjurors finding that it misused nine lines of Javacode in Android in an inconsequential win forOracle. —AFP

QAZVIN: Qazvin Azad University students assemble the rectangular Havin-2, or Brilliant Sun, in Qazvin, Iran. The flat, rectangular Havin-2,drove for tests alongside slightly larger gas-powered motor vehicles outside the capital, Tehran, ahead of the eight-day, 1,700-mile (2,700-kilo-meter) race that will take it from Austin, Texas to Minneapolis. — AP

TEHRAN: Clouds may still linger over relationsbetween Washington and Tehran, but that’s notstopping a group of Iranian students and theirteachers from gearing up for a summer road tripthrough the American heartland. Fueled by the sunand their hopes to shine in a first for the IslamicRepublic, the 19-strong team is preparing to bringan Iranian solar car to compete in the United Statesfor the first time, in the American Solar Challengein July. The flat, rectangular Havin-2, or BrilliantSun, drove for tests alongside slightly larger gas-powered motor vehicles last week on a stretch ofhighway in Iran’s mountainous north, ahead of theeight-day, 1,700-mile (2,700-kilometer) race thatwill take it from Austin, Texas to Minneapolis,Minnesota.

While the engine and photovoltaic panels areimported, the team designed and developed aMaximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) system forthe car, which interconnects inverters, batterychargers and other devices to optimize its photo-voltaic cells.

Farkhondeh Naziri, 20, in charge of electronicson the project and the only female member of theteam from Qazvin Azad University, said they plan

to optimize the car’s absorption of solar energybased on the route it plans to take. “We first do asimulation of the actual race course and study theweather conditions there. Then we try to calculatewhat the sun’s angles would be during the eight-days,” she said. The 220-kilogram (485-pound) vehi-cle is 4.5 meters (15 feet) long, 1.8 meters (6 feet)wide and 1.1 meters (4 feet) tall, with a cockpit-likecanopy for the driver. With photovoltaic cells cover-ing some 6 square meters (65 square feet) of itssurface, the car’s lithium-Ion batteries can drive itup to four hours between 90 to 150 kph (56 to 93mph). The car’s predecessor, the Havin-1, ranked17th in the 2011 World Solar Challenge in Australia.The team is sponsored by an Iranian bank and a carbattery producer, which paid some $150,000 tobuild the car. Attendance in the event, includingtravel, is expected to cost the same amount.Professor Beitollah Akbari, who manages theHavin-2 team, said he believes the project couldhelp advance the cause of clean energy in a coun-try where generous state subsidies have encour-aged massive use of motor vehicles.

“Our young scholars and university studentscan significantly contribute to Iran’s economic

growth, particularly in the field of clean energiesthat can help us reduce dependency on oil.Especially now that our country is in dire need ofcutting off reliance on energies derived from oil byall means.”

Last month, Tehran cut a portion of its energyand fuel subsidies in order to bring prices closer tointernational levels, nearly doubling some prices atthe pump and testing public support for suchmeasures in a country battered by inflation andeconomic sanctions imposed over its contestednuclear program. Subsidies have kept the cost ofgasoline artificially low, and were blamed for mak-ing petrol cheaper than bottled mineral water. Thecuts aim to release government money for produc-tion and infrastructural projects in order toimprove efficiency and bolster the economy.

Transportation expert Masoud Mohajer saidsolar energy could potentially be a good invest-ment for the government, given that the countryhas more than 300 sunny days a year to powerthe cells. “As Iran cuts energy and fuel subsidies,solar energy, which is available almost all acrossthe country, will be able a good alternative,” hesaid. —AP

Iran students gear up solar

car for US challenge

BOSTON: Beats Audio equipment is arranged for a photo next to an Apple laptop atBest Buy in Boston on Friday. Apple is orchestrating a $3.2 billion acquisition ofBeats Electronics.—AP

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple is orchestrating a$3.2 billion acquisition of Beats Electronics,the headphone maker and music stream-ing distributor founded by hip-hop star DrDre and music industry impresario JimmyIovine, according to a published report.

Citing people familiar with the negotia-tions, The Financial Times says Apple couldannounce the deal as early as next week. Inits report posted online late Thursday, thenewspaper warned the talks could still col-lapse if the two sides cannot agree onsome final details. Both Apple Inc and BeatsElectronics declined to comment to TheAssociated Press.

The potential acquisition would addBeats Electronics’ popular line of head-phones and music streaming service to anApple line-up that already includes digitalmusic players and the iTunes store, theworld’s top music retailer. If the deal is com-pleted, it would be by far the largest pur-chase in Apple Inc.’s 38-year history. TheCupertino company has traditionally seenlittle need to buy technology from othercompanies, reflecting Apple’s confidence inits ability to turn its own ideas into revolu-tionary products such as the Mac comput-er, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad.

But Apple hasn’t released a break-through product since its former CEO andchief visionary, Steve Jobs, died in October2011. The innovative void has increased thepressure on Jobs’ hand-picked successor,Tim Cook, to prove he is capable of sustain-ing the success and growth that turnedApple into the world’s most valuable com-pany and a beloved brand.

Cook has shown a willingness to spendmore of Apple’s money than Job ever did.Among other things, Cook began payingApple stockholders a quarterly dividendand has progressively committed more

money to buying back the company’sshares. Apple’s pursuit of Beats Electronicsis the latest indication that the company ishaving trouble generating growth on itsown. Apple already sells Beats Electronicsgear in its stores, giving the companyinsights into how much the trendy head-phones and other audio equipment appealto its customers.

The negotiations also are taking place asthe music market increasingly tilts towardstreaming and away from the downloadsthat once drove the success of Apple’s digi-tal music store, iTunes.

US revenue from downloads - whichiTunes dominates - dropped 1 percent to$2.8 billion in 2013, while streaming musicrevenue from the likes of Pandora andSpotify soared 39 percent to $1.4 billion,according to the Recording IndustryAssociation of America.

While downloads still command 40 per-cent of the market, streaming revenue nowaccounts for 20 percent of total revenue, upfrom just 3 percent in 2007.

Beats Electronics LLC was founded inSanta Monica, California in 2008 by Dr. Dreand Jimmy Iovine. Its headphones weremanufactured by Monster Cable until thetwo companies parted ways in 2012. Theheadphones have become a bit of statussymbol worn by celebrities as well asaudiophiles.

In 2012, Beats bought streaming musicservice MOG, which it transformed andrelaunched as Beats Music earlier this year.The launch was fueled by a landmark part-nership with AT&T that allowed up to fivefamily members to pay $15 a month for theservice as long as they were AT&T wirelesscustomers. The deal broke the industrymold of charging each person $10 permonth. —AP

Apple on verge of buying

Beats for $3.2bn: Report

Beats co-founder Iovine could

be key Apple deal ingredient

NEW YORK: When music producer JimmyIovine pitched his friend Steve Jobs on astreaming music service in 2003, the Applefounder was unconvinced.

Now, 11 years later, Jobs’ successor lookspoised to pay generously for a more evolvedversion of that service, and to bring on boardIovine into the bargain, betting that he canbring Apple some of the same creative flairthat has made him a legend in the music busi-ness. Iovine, CEO and co-founder of the Beatsheadphones and music streaming serviceApple is close to buying for $3.2 billion, is bestknown as the co-founder of Interscoperecords, a rap music pioneer which has sincebranched out to include acts like Lady Gagaand U2.

If he does join Apple, the 61-year-old pro-ducer could lend a hand to CEO Tim Cook andtry to bolster its subscription music services -which have yet to catch fire - as well as atiTunes, which has seen growth in downloadsvirtually evaporate.

A source familiar with the deal said Iovinewould likely leave his record label and joinApple to run Beats, but it hasn’t been deter-mined if he would take on a greater role. It alsoisn’t yet clear whether Beats would operate asan independent unit or to whom its executiveswould report.

After working as a sound engineer forartists such as Bruce Springsteen, Iovine in1989 co-founded Interscope, which becameone of the largest US music labels. It took a beton rap music that was controversial at the

time, given the music’s explicit lyrics. The polit-ical uproar eventually prompted Time Warnerhaving to sell the label. It was bought byUniversal Music Group, in 1995.

“He’s one of these guys that bring intangi-bles,” said Bill Werde, entrepreneur atGuggenheim Digital and former editorialdirector at Billboard magazine. “Sometimesyou need a jolt of energy and Jimmy is certain-ly a guy who can provide that.”

In a Jan 2013 interview with AllThingsD,Iovine said he pitched a subscription service toApple’s Jobs around 2003, but the SiliconValley icon was not keen on it right away. Still,Iovine is said to be have been close to Jobsand helped him broker deals to co-marketproducts such as a U2-branded iPod and musicvideos by the rapper 50 Cent holding an iPod.

Iovine founded Beats in 2006 with rapperDr Dre and its big, distinctive headphonesfound wide distribution, including in Applestores. The brand launched a music streamingservice earlier this year. It remains a fledglingventure although it has gotten attention forwhat some say is a unique ability to personal-ize music. Iovine met with Apple CEO Tim Cookin March 2013 to discuss the music service.

Iovine’s music industry relationships will bevaluable to Apple because they could makelicensing for a future streaming service easier.The company’s iTunes’ revenue, which includesapps and books in addition to music, hasdecelerated, with growth dropping below 10percent in the most recent quarter, accordingto BTIG Research.—Reuters

H E A LT H & S C I E NC ESUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

MUNSTER: The first American diagnosed with amysterious virus from the Middle East wasreleased Friday from a northwestern Indiana hos-pital after health officials determined the patient“poses no threat to the community.”

The patient is considered fully recovered andhas been cleared by health officials to travel, ifnecessary, after testing negative for Middle EastRespiratory Syndrome, or MERS, the Indiana StateDepartment of Health said in a statement.

Community Hospital chief medical informationofficer Dr. Alan Kumar said hospital officials com-pleted their discharge plans for the patient withthe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

and Indiana health officials.“The patient has tested negative for MERS, is

no longer symptomatic and poses no threat to thecommunity,” Kumar said in the statement.

MERS belongs to the coronavirus family thatalso includes the common cold and SARS, orsevere acute respiratory syndrome.

The virus appears to be unusually lethal - bysome estimates, it has killed nearly a third of thepeople it sickened. That’s a far higher percentagethan seasonal flu or other routine infections. But itis not as contagious as flu, measles or other dis-eases. There is no vaccine or cure, and there’s nospecific treatment except to relieve symptoms.

Multiple tests The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

said the patient is an American man. He flew fromRiyadh, Saudi Arabia, to the United States on April24, with a stop in London. He landed at Chicago’sO’Hare International Airport and took a bus toIndiana, health officials said.

He went to the Munster hospital’s emergencyroom April 28 with a fever, cough and shortness ofbreath.

Health officials said in Friday’s statement thatmultiple tests done at different times by theIndiana State Laboratory and the CDC “were nega-tive for the presence of ongoing MERS infection in

the patient.”That statement said no additional cases of

MERS have been identified.Though the virus is not highly contagious, the

hospital has isolated at home 50 employees iden-tified as having come in contact with the manbefore he was diagnosed. Friday’s statement saidthose staffers remain off duty and in temporaryhome isolation “and are being closely monitoredfor symptoms.”

Those workers will not be allowed to return towork at the hospital until after the MERS “incuba-tion period and confirmed negative laboratoryresults,” the statement said. — AP

American MERS patient released from hospital

PERIJEDOR: A Norwegian Red calf waits for food inside a farm in the village ofKozarac, near Bosnian town of Perijedor. — AP

LOS ANGELES: The US food industry ’sresponsibility in fueling rising obesity levels isput under the microscope in a documentaryreleased in the United States this weekend.“Fed Up” examines why, while there is a boomin gym membership and a surge in shoppersseeking low-fat alternatives on supermarketshelves, two out of three Americans are over-weight.

“Obesity has been a problem for the last 30years and I think we are reaching the breakingpoint,” director Stephanie Soechtig said in aninterview ahead of the film’s US release.

“At the end of the day, I think it comesdown to money, I thinks there’s a lot of moneyin the food industry and it influences politics,unfortunately.”

The film, which opened on limited releasein US cinemas Friday, shows how the foodindustry has managed to persuade US author-ities to recommend that 25 percent of caloriescome from sugar.

The World Health Organization says the fig-ure should be 2.5 times less.

“I think we can say that the government isright now more interested in making moneythan taking care of its society,” Soechtig said.

Resist the temptationThe problem is not unique to the United

States. The WHO has also sounded the alarmin Jordan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africaand Venezuela, among other countries wheremore than 30 percent of the population isobese or overweight.

In the movie, three children recount theirefforts to combine diet and exercise to fightthe flab. Despite their best efforts, they con-tinue to gain weight as processed, sugar-richfoods are all around them.

At school, the lunchtime cafeteria offers amenu of pizzas, nachos and hot dogs.

The documentary criticized the fact that in2006, 80 percent of high schools had con-tracts with soft drink companies and in 2012,half of all schools served fast food.

First Lady Michelle Obama has weighed inon the issue with her “Let’s Move!” campaign,and politicians have put pressure on foodcompanies to reduce sugar levels.

But brands like Coca Cola, Pizza Hut andPepsi have not disappeared from school refec-tories and corridors.

‘We can change’Nutritionists have been warning about the

problem of obesity for decades. The issues arewell known by experts: sedentary lifestyles,high-calorie diets and poor policy choicesamong them.

“There are a lot of good people in the gov-ernment trying to do really good things,” saidthe filmmaker. “But there are a lot of peoplethat have financial interests. So I think oncepeople hear what’s been going on, it will gal-vanize people to get involved and makechanges in their own lives and make bigger

changes.” The data is striking: in 1980, therewere no cases of type 2 diabetes in childrenand teens aged eight to 19 in the UnitedStates.

Two decades later, there were 57,638 casesrecorded. “Fed Up,” which Soechtig first pre-sented at the Sundance Film Festival inJanuary, insists that parents can help reversethe trend.

“We can change the food industry, tochange its way by not buying its products andwe can pressure our politicians by voting forpoliticians that support the same needs anddesires that will make us a better society,”Soechtig said. “Parents are incredibly power-ful. They also need to create a safer environ-mental at home and make sure the food isavailable for their kids.” And she said: “This isthe kind of fight parents and kids need to do.Kids are future voters. I think anyone needs toget involved.” — AFP

Obesity crisis at breaking point

Two out of three Americans overweight

Director Stephanie Soechtig

KOZARAC, Bosnia-Herzegovina: Thereis reason to envy Jusuf Arifagic’s cows.

In a country where half of the popula-tion is living in poverty, his animals sleepon mattresses in a barn with a computer-ized air conditioning and lighting sys-tem. They are bathed regularly, get amassage whenever they feel like it andreceive the occasional pedicure.

Relaxing music - sometimes classic,sometimes local serenades - makes suremilking is not stressful.

“Nobody should envy my cows.Everybody should just realize that thevisa for the future is science,” said JusufArifagic, the 52-year-old farmer every-body around Kozarac in northwesternBosnia is talking about.

Arifagic brought the concept of pam-pering cows from Norway where he livedas a refugee after fleeing from Bosnia’s1992-95 war.

More milkAfter years of negotiations with both

countries, Arifagic invested 8 millioneuros ($11 million) into the luxury farmthat started four months ago with theimportation of 115 Norwegian Red Cows- a tough and hornless animal bred overthe past 75 years to produce more andbetter milk. His plan is to expand to 5,000cows, creating the biggest facility inEurope for this type of animal.

He wants other farmers in Bosnia tofollow suit so Norway can one day movesome of its diary production to Bosnia.That would avoid the high heating costs

during six months of Norway’s harshwinter and would help reduce Bosnia’salmost 40 percent unemployment rate.

Arifagic and his 25 employees moni-tor every corner of the rubber-flooredbarn on computer screens. The huge halllooks almost empty, as most of the ani-mals prefer to hang out by the six auto-matic car wash-style brushes, enjoyingmassages. A computer regulates thetemperature, the quality of air and thelighting, keeping the cows healthy.

Arifagic’s calculation: Pampered cowsgive five liters more of milk a day.Multiply that by hundreds of cows and“although initially expensive, advancedtechnology really pays off in just a fewyears,” he said.

Veterinarian inspector Velibor Kesicsays Arifagic’s concept is also making hisjob easier by showing other farmers howto reduce infectious diseases.

The luxury cow treatment has certain-ly stunned the neighbors in Kozarac.

“My barn can’t compare to his,” saidfarmer Dervis Menhovic, whose familykeeps seven cows squeezed into a tradi-tional barn next to his house. “His is ahotel.”

The new facility holds another, maybeeven more important benefit for Bosnia.Both Serbs and Bosniaks work atArifagic’s farm - the entrepreneur has notime for the animosities of the past.

“We live, work and create here,” hesaid. “For the first time since the war,young and educated people are return-ing to Kozarac.” — AP

Norwegian cows get fullpampering in Bosnia

MEXICO CITY: A man wearing a Mexican wrestling mask with the design of a marijuana leaf smokes a joint during a rally calling for the legaliza-tion of marijuana in Mexico City. —- AP

DENVER: The city of Denver is urging the ColoradoSymphony to call off a series of pot-themedfundraising concerts, saying that even though mar-ijuana is now legal in the state, the drug cannot besmoked at events. The newly announced series isstrictly BYOC, or “bring your own cannabis,” and isbeing sponsored by some of the state’s burgeoningmarijuana businesses.

It’s set to begin May 23, with the first of three

small fundraising performances at a Denver artgallery, which will feature a separate smoking areafor attendees. It culminates with a fourth concert atthe famed Red Rocks Amphitheater, where mari-juana consumption is technically illegal, thoughoften indulged in. Attendance is limited to ages 21and over.

But the Denver city attorney’s office issued let-ters Thursday warning the orchestra that the series

could violate state laws against public consump-tion of marijuana. The city says the private artgallery may be considered a public space understate law. The city warned that it may not be able toissue event permits that would allow the concertsto occur, The Denver Post reported.

The series is part of efforts by Colorado’s loneprofessional orchestra to reach out to a younger,more diverse audience. — AP

Symphony urged to cancelcannabis concerts

WASHINGTON: A federal appeals court yes-terday rejected an industry challenge tostronger health standards for soot.

The US Court of Appeals for the District ofColumbia Circuit says the Clean Air Act givesthe Environmental Protection Agency sub-stantial discretion in setting air quality stan-dards.

The revisions followed a determination bythe EPA that existing standards for fine partic-ulate matter did not sufficiently protect pub-lic health. Fine particles can lodge deeply intolungs and cause serious health problems.

The appeals court ruled 3-0 that theindustry simply had not identified any way inwhich the EPA acted unreasonably. The courtsaid the EPA offered reasoned explanationsfor how it approached and weighed the evi-dence

The National Association of Manufacturersargued that the EPA’s revision to the standardwas unreasonable.

The EPA eliminated a provision that couldresult in a standard that was not sufficientlyprotective of sensitive individuals. It alsorequired the installation of additional moni-tors near heavily trafficked roads in urbanareas where more than 1 million people live.

The industrial challengers said the EPA

failed to request comment on whether torevise the standards and that it afforded toomuch weight to studies finding statisticallysignificant associations between particulatematter and adverse health effects.

The challengers “simply have not identi-fied any way in which EPA jumped the rails ofreasonableness in examining the science,”Judge Brett Kavanaugh ruled.

The ruling is the second recent victory forthe EPA.

Last month, the Supreme Court backedfederally imposed limits on smokestack emis-sions that cross state lines and burden down-wind areas with bad air from power plantsthey can’t control.

Environmental groups praised Friday’s rul-ing. Nick Morales, lead counsel on the casefor Earthjustice, said the court ruling will savetens of thousands of lives and more than abillion dollars in health related costs everyyear. Earthjustice intervened in support ofthe EPA.

“The national air quality standards for par-ticulate pollution that were affirmed by thecourt today provide a bedrock scientific foun-dation to ensure healthier, longer lives for ourfamilies,” said Environmental Defense Fundattorney Peter Zalzal. —-AP

SEATTLE: A federal lawsuit is challenging Washingtonstate’s authority to tax marijuana as long as marijuanaremains illegal under federal law.

The case arises from the state’s attempt to collect salestaxes from a medical marijuana dispensary in Bellingham.But lawyer Douglas Hiatt, who filed it late Thursday, saidit could throw a wrench in Washington’s plans for collect-

ing taxes on recreational marijuana, too.The author of Washington’s recreational pot law,

Alison Holcomb, disagreed. She doesn’t expect the law-suit to get very far.

Hiatt is representing the dispensary’s operator, MartinNickerson, who is simultaneously being prosecuted crim-inally for marijuana distribution and targeted by the state

Department of Revenue for not collecting and remittingtaxes on the pot he was allegedly distributing. Nickersoncan’t pay the tax without incriminating himself in thecriminal case, in violation of his constitutional rights,Hiatt argued.

Furthermore, the state, which says Nickerson owesmore than $62,000, has seized more than $800 from his

bank account. Hiatt said it’s important to get an answerfrom a federal court about whether the state took thatmoney legally.

Hiatt opposed Washington’s recreational marijuanalaw and argues any meaningful drug law reform mustcome at the federal level. Nevertheless, he said he doesn’twant to “look like the guy spoiling the party.”—AP

Can Washington tax marijuana?

Court upholds stronger soot standard

H E A LT H & S C I E NC ESUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

W H AT ’ S ONSUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

Kuwait Engineers’ Forum (KEF)will conduct a TechnicalConference & Exhibition (KINET-

IC 2014) today from 8 am to 3.15 pmon the theme ‘Trends in Energy &Environment: Engineering &Management Challenges’ at RadissonBlu Hotel, Arabian Gulf Road, Kuwait.Minister of Oil and Minister of State

for National Assembly Affairs Dr AliSaleh Al-Omair will inaugurate theTechnical Conference. Sunil Jain,Ambassador of India, Kuwait willdeliver the opening address. AhmadAl-Jemaz, Deputy Chief ExecutiveOfficer - KNPC will give the keynoteaddress at the opening session.

Arun Balakrishnan, Chairman

Scientific Advisory Committee to Govtof India Ministry of Petroleum &Natural Gas & former Chairman ofHindustan Petroleum Corporation,Ayad Al-Humoud, Chairman, KuwaitSociety of Engineers and MohammadAl-Basry, Team Leader Information,KOC will felicitate the function. YousefAl-Bucker, Manager, ExportOperations - KOC will release theKINETIC 2014 technical journal in theinaugural function. KEF GeneralConvener Suresh Krishnan will presideover the function.

Addressing a press conference inAbbassiya on May 7, the organizerssaid that the conference wouldinclude speakers of eminence from Oil& Gas, petrochemicals, environmentregulatory bodies, governmental bod-ies and other industries. Presentationsand special sessions on focus areaswill be given by experts, professionalsand manufacturers. The event willhighlight the trends and emergingchallenges in the areas of energy,environment and management,which has special relevance to Kuwait.

ICSK Amman branch celebrates World Earth Day

KEF to hold ‘KINETIC 2014’ today

Elementary students at Fawzia Sultan International School (FSIS) performed their latest musicalplay, titled Peter Pan, an adaptation of the original piece, that showcased students talents in danc-ing, singing and acting before an audience of parents and staff members.

Artist Johnarts Kalabhavan is presenting a caricature to award winning south Indian singerVijayalakshmi in a recent function in Kuwait. Johnarts is awaiting his world record of presenting carica-tures to VIPs on stage approved.

Forum of Cad Users elected, under the leadership of Salim Raj co-coordinator S Ratheesh Kumar, webmaster Shaheer RU, welfare convener D’silva John, Jt Convener Shaji Kutty, Bindu Santhosh Kumar,Sheeba C. Wilson as executive members.

W H AT ’ S ONSUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

The Middle East’s leading travel andhospitality operators were honored atthe annual Business Traveler Middle

East Awards 2014 this week. The RadissonBlu Hotel, Kuwait shone in the Kuwait cate-gory winning as the magazine’s premium-travelling readers voted Radisson Blu as the‘Best Business Hotel in Kuwait’. Heinz Beck,the award-winning Michelin-starred chef,who recently launched Social by Heinz Beckat the Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah,presented the awards at the new, luxuriousfive-star resort.

With more than 300 travel industry man-

agers present, the event was hosted byMotivate and Panacea Publishing. IanFairservice, Managing partner and GroupEditor-in-Chief of Motivate said this year’swinners were a pleasant mix of establishedand new operators. “Our readers have sidedwith many of the well-known operators,which once again have delivered consistentlyhigh service levels amid increasing competi-tion, while warming to the new propertiesthat are embracing innovative and contem-porary concepts,” he said. Full coverage of thisyear’s awards will appear in the May/Juneissue of Business Traveller Middle East.

Radisson Blu honored at Business Traveler

Middle East Awards 2014

The Omaiya Bint Qais Middle School for Girls in Dhahar celebrated the opening of the science laboratories and workshopsrecently. Samah Showqi presented a workshop about Students Motivation Methods.

Kuwait’s leading remittance and foreign exchange com-pany, LuLu Exchange Company yesterday opened itsbrand new outlet in Fahaheel region. The exchange

house which is keen to expand its network and to enhance itscustomer outreach now has a total branch count of twelve inthe country. This is also the Exchange’s second outlet inFahaheel region. The new branch will increase conveniencefor customers reinforcing the company’s customer-centric

strategy of providing quality services to its clients. HisExcellency Sunil Jain, Ambassador of India to Kuwait inaugu-rated the new branch located behind NBK (National Bank ofKuwait) on Dabbous Street in Fahaheel, in the presence of thesenior management of LuLu Exchange and other dignitaries.

Commenting on the opening, Adeeb Ahamed, Director -LuLu Exchange Company, Kuwait said, “In line with our plans toincrease our branch network coverage, we are very proud to

open new branch in Fahaheel to meet all of our customers’remittance needs and to provide them with efficient moneyexchange services. The opening of the new branch will meetthe strong demand we are witnessing from existing andpotential customers in this area.”

“This branch is dedicated to the service of our valued cus-tomers. LuLu Exchange is keen on building a strategic networkacross Kuwait, considering the needs of customers as well as the

changing market dynamics. Our expansion is based on extensivemarket research and our confidence in long- and short-term eco-nomic indicators in the State of Kuwait. We at LuLu Exchangefacilitate financial transaction services that are secure, instant andcompliant through state-of-the-art systems that deliver flexibility,speed, reliability, and transparency,” Ahamed added. At presentthe exchange house has branches in Al Rai, Abbasiya, Fahaheel,Farwaniya, Mahaboula, Mangaf, Mirgab, Dajeej and Mubarikiya.

LuLu Exchange expands outreach with new branch

T V PR O G R A M SSUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

EXCESS BAGGAGE ON OSN MOVIES HD ACTION

TED ON OSN MOVIES COMEDY HD

00:00 Doctor Who00:45 Mad Dogs01:30 Threesome01:55 The Weakest Link02:40 Being Erica03:30 Alan Carr: Chatty Man04:15 The Weakest Link05:00 Nuzzle & Scratch: Frock n Roll05:20 The Green Balloon Club05:45 Poetry Pie05:50 Nina And The Neurons: InThe Lab06:05 Bobinogs06:15 Nuzzle & Scratch: Frock n Roll06:35 The Green Balloon Club07:00 Poetry Pie07:05 Nina And The Neurons: InThe Lab07:15 Last Of The Summer Wine07:50 King Edward VII: King OfPleasure08:40 Doctor Who09:25 The Weakest Link10:10 Absolutely Fabulous10:40 Me & Mrs Jones11:10 Last Of The Summer Wine11:40 The Weakest Link12:25 King Edward VII: King OfPleasure13:15 Doctor Who14:00 Doctors14:30 Doctors15:00 Doctors15:30 Doctors16:00 Doctors16:30 Doctor Who17:15 King Edward VII: King OfPleasure18:05 Upstairs Downstairs19:00 Me & Mrs Jones19:30 Absolutely Fabulous20:00 Silk20:50 Waking The Dead21:45 Rev.22:15 Alan Carr: Chatty Man23:00 Being Erica23:45 Me & Mrs Jones

00:00 The Hot Potato-PG1502:00 Ted-1804:00 Dating Coach-PG1506:00 Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot-

01:00 Age Of Heroes-PG1502:45 Oblivion-PG1505:00 The Cold Light Of Day-PG1507:00 Hitchcock-PG1509:00 Midnight In Paris-PG1510:45 Oblivion-PG1512:45 Lovestruck: The Musical-PG1514:30 The Dark Knight Rises-PG1517:15 Midnight In Paris-PG1519:00 Now You See Me-PG1521:00 Fast & Furious 6-PG1523:30 Broken City-18

01:00 Dark Tide03:00 Dream House05:00 The Woman In The Fifth07:00 The Speed Of Thought09:00 Anna Karenina11:15 The Host13:30 The Wild Girl15:00 Reviving Ophelia17:00 The Forger19:00 Stuck In Love21:00 The Impossible23:00 Buried

01:45 Wish You Were Here-PG1503:15 American Gangster-1806:00 Timer-PG1507:45 Hoosiers-PG09:45 The Flowers Of War-PG1512:15 The Lucky One-PG1514:00 Cool It-PG1515:30 Will-PG17:15 The Lucky One-PG1519:00 Switchback-PG1521:00 50/50-PG1523:00 Between Us-PG15

00:00 Moonrise Kingdom02:00 The Last Stand04:00 One Life06:00 Ice Age: Continental Drift08:00 Girl In Progress09:45 The Arrangement11:15 The Last Stand13:00 Neverland16:00 Girl In Progress17:45 White House Down20:00 Our Idiot Brother

01:00 Trans World Sport02:00 Live NHL05:00 NRL Premiership07:00 Live NRL Premiership09:00 Live Super Rugby11:00 ICC Cricket 36011:30 PGA Tour18:00 NHL20:00 Live PGA Tour

00:00 Chelsea Lately00:30 The Spin Crowd00:55 The Spin Crowd01:25 Secret Societies OfHollywood03:15 THS04:10 Beyond Candid With Giuliana05:05 Extreme Close-Up05:30 Extreme Close-Up06:00 15 Remarkable CelebrityBody Bouncebacks07:50 Style Star08:20 E! News09:15 Scouted10:15 The Drama Queen11:10 Eric And Jessie: Game On11:35 Eric And Jessie: Game On12:05 E! News13:05 Beyond Candid With Giuliana14:05 Keeping Up With TheKardashians15:00 Keeping Up With TheKardashians16:00 Giuliana & Bill17:00 Giuliana & Bill18:00 E! News19:00 Fashion Police19:30 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills20:00 Keeping Up With TheKardashians21:00 Keeping Up With TheKardashians22:00 Eric And Jessie: Game On22:30 Eric And Jessie: Game On23:00 Hello Ross23:30 Chelsea Lately

02:30 NRL Premiership04:30 ICC Cricket 36005:00 Super Rugby07:00 Trans World Sport08:00 Live NRL Premiership10:00 Futbol Mundial10:30 Total Rugby11:00 Live HSBC Sevens WorldSeries 20:00 Futbol Mundial20:30 ICC Cricket 36021:00 Trans World Sport22:00 IndyCar Series

00:15 Sutures-1802:00 Cherry Falls-1803:45 The Bourne Legacy-PG1506:00 Grosse Pointe Blank-PG1508:00 Excess Baggage-PG1510:00 Romancing The Stone-PG1512:00 Sins Expiation-PG1514:00 Excess Baggage-PG1516:00 40 Days And Nights-PG1518:00 Sins Expiation-PG1520:00 Starship Troopers: Invasion-1822:00 Silent House-PG15

00:00 Starship Troopers02:15 Sutures04:00 Cherry Falls05:45 The Bourne Legacy08:00 Grosse Pointe Blank10:00 Excess Baggage12:00 Romancing The Stone14:00 Sins Expiation16:00 Excess Baggage18:00 40 Days And Nights20:00 Sins Expiation22:00 Starship Troopers: Invasion

01:15 Moomins And The CometChase02:45 Camp Nowhere04:30 The Adventures Of DonQuixote06:00 A Cat In Paris07:30 Arthur’s Missing Pal09:00 Wreck-It Ralph11:00 A Cat In Paris12:30 Shrek 214:15 Back To The Sea16:00 Snowflake , The White Gorilla18:00 Wreck-It Ralph20:00 Jelly T21:45 Back To The Sea23:30 Snowflake , The White Gorilla

01:00 IPL04:30 ICC Cricket 36005:00 IPL Highlights06:00 IPL Highlights07:00 IPL Highlights08:00 IPL Highlights09:00 ICC Cricket 36009:30 IPL Highlights10:30 IPL Highlights11:30 IPL Highlights12:30 IPL Highlights13:30 Live IPL17:00 ICC Cricket 36017:30 Live IPL21:00 ICC Cricket 36021:30 IPL

00:05 The Great War Diaries00:55 The Great War Diaries01:45 Finding Bigfoot02:35 How Stuff’s Made

01:20 Ant And Dec’s SaturdayNight Takeaway02:25 Come Dine With Me Ireland02:55 Emmerdale05:00 The Hungry Sailors05:55 Four Weddings UK06:45 Ant And Dec’s SaturdayNight Takeaway07:50 Tom Daley Goes Global08:45 Blandings09:20 Dirk Gently

00:20 Planet Carnivore01:10 Search For The GiantOctopus02:00 Monster Fish02:50 Megafish03:45 Touching the Dragon04:40 Predator CSI05:35 Animals Gone Wild06:30 The incredible Dr. pol07:25 Tiger Man08:20 Bite Me With Dr. Mike Leahy09:15 World’s Weirdest Pets10:10 Kangaroo Kaos11:05 Monster Jellyfish12:00 Monster Fish12:55 Monster Fish13:50 Hooked14:45 Man-Eater of The Congo15:40 Wild Florida16:35 Wild Florida17:30 I, Predator18:25 World’s Weirdest19:20 Monster Fish20:10 Monster Fish21:00 Hooked21:50 Man-Eater of The Congo22:40 Wild Florida23:30 Wild Florida

00:30 The Daily Show With JonStewart01:30 Saturday Night Live02:30 Weeds03:00 Dads03:30 The Neighbors04:00 Seinfeld04:30 The Tonight Show StarringJimmy Fallon05:30 My Boys06:00 The Goodwin Games06:30 Friends07:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers

00:45 Rogue Sharks01:35 Animal Cops South Africa02:25 Rogue Sharks03:15 Preposterous Pets04:05 Animal Maternity Ward04:55 Animal Cops South Africa05:45 Treehouse Masters06:35 Wildlife SOS07:00 Steve Irwin’s Wildlife Warriors07:25 My Cat From Hell08:15 Too Cute!09:10 Gator Boys10:05 Call Of The Wildman10:30 Swamp Brothers11:00 Tanked11:55 Treehouse Masters12:50 Andes: The Dragon’s Back13:45 The Beauty Of Snakes14:40 Cheetah: Race To Rule15:35 The Last Lion Of Liuwa16:30 The Real Lion Queen17:25 Elephants In The Room18:20 Treehouse Masters19:15 Gangland Killers20:10 Shamwari: A Wild Life20:35 Shamwari: A Wild Life21:05 Shark After Dark22:00 Gangland Killers22:55 Shamwari: A Wild Life23:20 Shamwari: A Wild Life23:50 Untamed & Uncut

03:00 How Stuff’s Made03:25 How Stuff’s Made03:50 How Stuff’s Made04:15 How Stuff’s Made04:40 How It’s Made05:05 How It’s Made05:30 How It’s Made06:00 How It’s Made06:30 How It’s Made07:00 Fast N’ Loud07:50 Wheeler Dealers08:40 Extreme Car Hoarders09:30 Gold Rush10:20 Klondike11:10 Gold Divers12:00 Destroyed In Seconds12:25 Destroyed In Seconds12:50 Destroyed In Seconds13:15 Destroyed In Seconds13:40 How It’s Made14:05 How It’s Made14:30 How It’s Made14:55 How It’s Made15:20 How It’s Made15:45 Baggage Battles16:10 Baggage Battles16:35 Baggage Battles17:00 Baggage Battles17:25 Baggage Battles17:50 Border Security18:15 Border Security18:40 Border Security19:05 Building The World Cup19:55 Mythbusters20:45 Treehouse Masters21:35 You Have Been Warned22:25 Gold Rush23:15 Klondike

10:15 The Jonathan Ross Show11:10 The Chase12:00 Agatha Christie’s Poirot13:35 Four Weddings UK14:30 Blandings15:00 Tom Daley Goes Global15:55 Vera17:45 Come Dine With Me Ireland18:15 The Chase19:00 Tom Daley Goes Global19:55 The Hungry Sailors20:50 Vera22:35 Ant And Dec’s SaturdayNight Takeaway23:35 Come Dine With Me Ireland

08:00 Seinfeld08:30 My Boys09:00 Dads09:30 Cougar Town10:00 Melissa & Joey10:30 Friends11:00 The Tonight Show StarringJimmy Fallon12:30 Seinfeld13:00 My Boys13:30 Friends14:00 The Neighbors14:30 Cougar Town15:00 Melissa & Joey15:30 The Daily Show With JonStewart17:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers18:00 Dads18:30 The Neighbors19:00 2 Broke Girls19:30 Melissa & Joey20:00 Men At Work20:30 Parks And Recreation21:00 The Daily Show GlobalEdition21:30 The Colbert Report GlobalEdition23:00 Weeds23:30 Men At Work

01:25 Telefon-PG03:05 Westworld04:30 The Yellow Rolls-Royce-PG07:00 It Happened At The World’sFair-FAM08:45 Ben-Hur-PG12:15 The Yellow Rolls-Royce-PG14:15 A Patch Of Blue-PG16:00 Return Of The Gunfighter-PG17:40 Cheyenne Autumn-FAM20:15 The Prisoner Of Zenda-FAM22:00 Shaft In Africa23:45 Straight Time-18

00:00 Counting Cars00:30 Counting Cars01:00 Shipping Wars01:30 Shipping Wars02:00 American Restoration02:30 American Restoration03:00 Storage Wars03:30 Storage Wars04:00 Storage Wars04:30 Storage Wars05:00 Storage Wars05:30 Storage Wars06:00 Storage Wars06:30 Storage Wars07:00 American Restoration07:30 American Restoration08:00 American Restoration08:30 American Restoration09:00 American Restoration09:30 American Restoration10:00 American Restoration10:30 American Restoration11:00 Counting Cars

Director Ayoade and ‘The Double’

Richard Ayoade, director of “The Double,” is incrediblysoft-spoken. Of course, reticent filmmakers are not arare breed, but his humble whispers qualify as a sur-

prise given the strength of his comedic voice. He was presi-dent of the famed Footlights comedy group at Cambridgein the late ‘90s, where he worked alongside the likes of JohnOliver (his vice president) and David Mitchell (of “PeepShow” fame). With classmate Matthew Holness, he createdthe character Garth Marenghi, an insufferable and remark-ably untalented horror writer who nonetheless was a best-selling author.

The character ultimately got its own TV series, “GarthMarenghi’s Darkplace,” a purposely awkward and hilariouslypainful send-up of 1980s medical dramas with actionmovie cliches. It only lasted one season (and a subsequentspinoff ), but has become a cult classic. The series alsohelped Ayoade, who played a hospital administrator/TVproducer in the show, score the role for which he is mostfamous: Moss, the geeky tech wiz opposite Chris O’Dowd inGraham Linehan’s comedy “The IT Crowd.”

While working on that show, Ayoade began collaborat-ing with Avi Korine (brother of “Spring Breakers” directorHarmony Korine) on a semi-modernized screenplay adap-tation of Dostoyevsky’s novella “The Double.” They put it onthe back burner while Ayoade made his directorial debuton the critically acclaimed coming-of-age film “Submarine,”which helped “The Double” pick up steam, cast membersand financing. Ayoade’s version of “The Double” is set in apunishing bureaucratic nightmare world, where the gearsof capitalism grind the sad occupants of Soviet-like utilitari-an buildings. It was in fact shot in an old, crumbling busi-ness estate outside of London, the sort of place that wentup after World War II and serviced many people, few ofthem happy.

But the movie, which stars Jesse Eisenberg, has a per-verse comedy to it. Eisenberg plays a sad and timid mannamed Simon who one day meets a man who looks exactlylike him - only he’s the only one that realizes that this guy,who is far more outgoing and charming, is hisdoppelg‰nger. This version of Simon - also played byEisenberg - rises quickly in their company and romancesSimon’s crush, played by Mia Wasikowska (old Ayoadefriend O’Dowd also has a role here). As you might imagine,this causes madness on many different levels. Ayoade satdown with TheWrap last week to discuss his film and career.TheWrap: The movie is much funnier than it should be, bythe look of it or subject matter. How do you sneak inhumor?

Richard Ayoade: I think the idea of it is funny, just saying,“Do you notice any similarities between us in that way?” “No...” That always struck me as funny, and I think Dostoyevskyalways meant it as funny, and it’s funny that (Eisenberg)gets it into that kind of rage, the kind of impotent personbattling against the world, which I think Larry David andLouis C.K. do. “Notes From Underground” could be a “CurbYour Enthusiasm” episode in a way. This awful dinner date,this awful dinner with his friends where he gets humiliated,and this other thing where he becomes obsessed withsomeone who bumps into him and he wants to bump backinto him, this is like a “Seinfeld” episode. So I think it’s inher-ent in there, and black situations are often funny to me.

How did you do the actual double work with Eisenberg?We didn’t do face replacement. It was either old-fashionedsplit screen or motion control, which I guess has beenaround since the ‘80s or maybe even late ‘70s. He does onecharacter and then you pick a take and then he performsthe other character with an earpiece, so you never see thescene until afterwards. It’s hard to do technically, becauseit’s almost like recording the second track of music, youhave to lock in precisely the timing - both verbally becausewe wanted the characters to overlap, which is hard to do,and then also them looking at one another the right way.

It sounds like an impossible way to act. It’s everythingyou wouldn’t want. He managed to be technically precisebut still have the spontaneity you need. But Jesse is great.He’s very funny, and I think in some ways, it’s unusual for anactor to be as intelligent for Jesse, so that can come acrossas, I don’t know � in a way, part of what you come to expectfrom actors is utter transparency, that you can just witnessthem and somehow you’re in a funny way above them, youcan see through them but they don’t know what your’ethinking. Whereas Jesse isn’t transparent in an interviewthat way, he’s not a complete open book, but you know, Ithink that’s good, it means that he isn’t at the mercy of oth-ers. So how do you direct or know you have the take if youdon’t know what the scene will look like until after?

You don’t exactly see it, but you have a pretty good ideaof it. You rehearse with an acting double. What you don’thave is that sense of seeing the scene and making adjust-ments, in that way you often do, where you say let’s do arun through and see how it is. So in post, were there a lot oftimes where you didn’t have what you needed? It was fine.There was this one scene in the film where the two of themwere walking down this very long corridor and it lookedlike it was all out of sync. That would have been bad,because there’s no options, there’s no coverage. But it wasjust an error in the way it loaded in. This movie feels time-less, in that it’s hard to tell when it’s set - aside from the factthat it doesn’t feel like today’s world. I guess inherent to thisnovella, it feels predigital to me. It needed to exist in aworld where work was important and inescapable andwhere people didn’t have options. I guess the idea of mod-ern life is these infinite possibilities that are open to you -maybe they aren’t really, but there’s the appearance of flu-idity. —Reuters

00:00 Wild Florida01:00 Rescue Ink02:00 Banged Up Abroad03:00 Hard Time04:00 Inside Combat Rescue05:00 The Border06:00 Sea Patrol07:00 Wild Russia08:00 Wild Florida09:00 Rescue Ink10:00 Banged Up Abroad11:00 Hard Time12:00 Family Guns13:00 The Border14:00 Sea Patrol15:00 Animal Intervention16:00 Wild Florida17:00 Rescue Ink18:00 Banged Up Abroad19:00 Wild Florida20:00 World’s Toughest Fixes21:00 The Known Universe22:00 Alaska Wing Men23:00 Brave New World

00:00 Graceland01:00 Castle02:00 Sons Of Anarchy03:00 Nip/Tuck04:00 Bones05:00 Criminal Minds06:00 Graceland07:00 Devious Maids08:00 Zero Hour09:00 Criminal Minds10:00 Castle11:00 Bones12:00 Emmerdale12:30 Coronation Street14:00 Zero Hour15:00 Graceland16:00 Emmerdale16:30 Coronation Street17:00 American Idol18:00 Zero Hour19:00 Burn Notice20:00 Top Gear (US)21:00 Witches Of East End22:00 Supernatural23:00 Nip/Tuck

PG1508:00 Tin Cup-PG1510:15 A Heartbeat Away-PG1512:00 Dating Coach-PG1514:00 A Thousand Words-PG1516:00 A Heartbeat Away-PG1518:00 10 Things I Hate About You-PG1520:00 Detention-1822:00 The Hot Potato-PG15

22:00 The Baytown Outlaws23:45 Girl In Progress

11:30 Counting Cars12:00 Counting Cars12:30 Counting Cars13:00 Counting Cars13:30 Counting Cars14:00 Counting Cars14:30 Counting Cars15:00 Storage Wars15:30 Storage Wars16:00 Storage Wars16:30 Storage Wars17:00 Storage Wars17:30 Storage Wars18:00 Storage Wars18:30 Storage Wars19:00 Storage Wars Texas19:30 Storage Wars Texas20:00 Ultimate Wheels21:00 Big History21:30 Big History22:00 Pawn Stars22:30 Pawn Stars23:00 Big History23:30 Big History

00:10 Sister Wives00:35 Sister Wives01:00 Here Comes Honey Boo Boo01:25 Here Comes Honey Boo Boo01:50 Bizarre ER02:15 Bizarre ER02:40 Long Island Medium

03:05 Long Island Medium03:30 Long Island Medium03:55 Long Island Medium04:20 What Not To Wear05:10 What Not To Wear06:00 Super Soul Sunday07:00 What Not To Wear07:50 Secret Eaters08:40 Iyanla, Fix My Life09:30 Toddlers & Tiaras10:20 Say Yes To The Dress10:45 Say Yes To The Dress11:10 Cake Boss11:35 Jon & Kate Plus 812:00 Little People, Big World12:25 Super Soul Sunday13:15 Here Comes Honey Boo Boo13:40 Here Comes Honey Boo Boo14:05 World’s Worst Mum14:55 Extreme Couponing All-Stars15:20 Cake Boss15:45 What Not To Wear16:35 Toddlers & Tiaras17:25 Say Yes To The Dress17:50 Say Yes To The Dress18:15 Jon & Kate Plus 818:40 Little People, Big World19:10 Super Soul Sunday20:05 Extreme Couponing All-Stars20:30 Cake Boss21:00 Ultimate Shopper21:55 Craft Wars22:50 Long Island Medium23:15 Sister Wives HoneymoonSpecial

KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY(08/05/2014 TO 14/05/2014)

SHARQIA-1THE LOVE PUNCH (DIG) 1:00 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 3:00 PMTHE LOVE PUNCH (DIG) 5:45 PMSALEM ABO OKHTO (DIG) (Arabic) 7:45 PMTHE LOVE PUNCH (DIG) 9:45 PMSALEM ABO OKHTO (DIG) (Arabic) 11:45 PM

SHARQIA-2THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 1:45 PMJUNGLE SHUFFLE (DIG) 4:30 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG-3D) 6:30 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 9:15 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 12:05 AM

SHARQIA-3JOE (DIG) 1:00 PMTINKER BELL AND THE PIRATE FAIRY (DIG) 3:30 PMTHE QUIET ONES (DIG) 5:30 PMJOE (DIG) 7:30 PMJOE (DIG) 10:00 PMTHE QUIET ONES (DIG) 12:30 AM

MUHALAB-1JOE (DIG) 1:30 PMTINKER BELL AND THE PIRATE FAIRY (DIG) 4:00 PMTHE QUIET ONES (DIG) 6:15 PMJOE (DIG) 8:15 PMTHE QUIET ONES (DIG) 10:45 PMJOE (DIG) 12:45 AM

MUHALAB-2THE LOVE PUNCH (DIG) 1:45 PMSALEM ABO OKHTO (DIG) (Arabic) 3:45 PMTHE LOVE PUNCH (DIG) 5:45 PMSALEM ABO OKHTO (DIG) (Arabic) 7:45 PMSALEM ABO OKHTO (DIG) (Arabic) 10:00 PMTHE LOVE PUNCH (DIG) 12:05 AM

MUHALAB-3THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 2:00 PMJUNGLE SHUFFLE (DIG) 5:00 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 7:00 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG-3D) 9:45 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 12:30 AM

FANAR-1TRACKS (DIG) 1:15 PMRIO 2 (DIG) 3:30 PMSALEM ABO OKHTO (DIG) (Arabic) 5:45 PMSALEM ABO OKHTO (DIG) (Arabic) 8:00 PMSALEM ABO OKHTO (DIG) (Arabic) 10:15 PMTRACKS (DIG) 12:30 AM

FANAR-2TINKER BELL AND THE PIRATE FAIRY (DIG) 12:30 PMTINKER BELL AND THE PIRATE FAIRY (DIG) 2:30 PMJOE (DIG) 4:30 PMJOE (DIG) 7:00 PMJOE (DIG) 9:30 PMJOE (DIG) 12:05 AM

FANAR-3BRICK MANSIONS (DIG) 12:30 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 2:15 PMTRACKS (DIG) 5:00 PMTRACKS (DIG) 7:15 PMTRACKS (DIG) 9:30 PM

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 11:45 PM

FANAR-4THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 1:45 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 4:30 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 7:15 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 10:00 PMIN THE BLOOD (DIG) 12:45 AM

FANAR-5THE LOVE PUNCH (DIG) 2:00 PMNO FRI+SATJUNGLE SHUFFLE (DIG) 2:00 PMFRI+SATJUNGLE SHUFFLE (DIG) 4:15 PMTHE LOVE PUNCH (DIG) 6:15 PMTHE QUIET ONES (DIG) 8:15 PMTHE LOVE PUNCH (DIG) 10:15 PMTHE QUIET ONES (DIG) 12:15 AM

MARINA-1JUNGLE SHUFFLE (DIG) 1:30 PMJUNGLE SHUFFLE (DIG) 3:30 PMJOE (DIG) 5:30 PMTRACKS (DIG) 8:00 PMJOE (DIG) 10:15 PMJOE (DIG) 12:45 AM

MARINA-2THE LOVE PUNCH (DIG) 1:45 PMSALEM ABO OKHTO (DIG) (Arabic) 3:45 PMTHE QUIET ONES (DIG) 5:45 PMTHE LOVE PUNCH (DIG) 7:45 PMSALEM ABO OKHTO (DIG) (Arabic) 9:45 PMTHE LOVE PUNCH (DIG) 12:05 AM

MARINA-3THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 1:00 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 4:00 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG-3D) 6:45 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 9:30 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 12:15 AM

AVENUES-1THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 2:30 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 5:30 PMNO FRI+SATSpecial Show “THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG)”5:30 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 8:30 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 11:30 PM

AVENUES-2THE QUIET ONES (DIG) 1:15 PMTHE QUIET ONES (DIG) 3:30 PMTHE QUIET ONES (DIG) 5:45 PMTHE QUIET ONES (DIG) 8:00 PMTHE QUIET ONES (DIG) 10:15 PMTHE QUIET ONES (DIG) 12:30 AM

AVENUES-3SALEM ABO OKHTO (DIG) (Arabic) 12:30 PMSALEM ABO OKHTO (DIG) (Arabic) 2:45 PMSALEM ABO OKHTO (DIG) (Arabic) 5:00 PMSALEM ABO OKHTO (DIG) (Arabic) 7:15 PMSALEM ABO OKHTO (DIG) (Arabic) 9:45 PMSALEM ABO OKHTO (DIG) (Arabic) 12:05 AM

NO SUN+TUE+WEDAVENUES-4JOE (DIG) 1:15 PMTHE LOVE PUNCH (DIG) 3:45 PMJOE (DIG) 5:45 PMSpecial Show “TINKER BELL AND THE PIRATE FAIRY (DIG)” 5:45 PMJOE (DIG) 8:15 PMTHE LOVE PUNCH (DIG) 10:45 PMJOE (DIG) 12:45 AM

360 º- 1JOE (DIG) 1:00 PMJOE (DIG) 3:30 PMJOE (DIG) 6:00 PMJOE (DIG) 8:30 PMJOE (DIG) 11:00 PM

360 º- 2TRACKS (DIG) 1:45 PMTRACKS (DIG) 4:15 PMTRACKS (DIG) 6:45 PMTRACKS (DIG) 9:15 PMTRACKS (DIG) 11:45 PMNO SUN+TUE+WED

360 º- 3TINKER BELL AND THE PIRATE FAIRY (DIG) 2:00 PMTINKER BELL AND THE PIRATE FAIRY (DIG-3D) 3:45 PMTINKER BELL AND THE PIRATE FAIRY (DIG) 5:45 PMTINKER BELL AND THE PIRATE FAIRY (DIG-3D) 8:00 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 9:45 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 12:30 AMNO SUN+TUE+WED

AL-KOUT.1THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 1:30 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 4:15 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 7:00 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 9:45 PMTHE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (DIG) 12:30 AMNO SUN+TUE+WED

AL-KOUT.2SALEM ABO OKHTO (DIG) (Arabic) 1:45 PMTHE LOVE PUNCH (DIG) 4:00 PMSALEM ABO OKHTO (DIG) (Arabic) 6:15 PMTHE LOVE PUNCH (DIG) 8:30 PMSALEM ABO OKHTO (DIG) (Arabic) 10:30 PMTHE LOVE PUNCH (DIG) 12:45 AMNO SUN+TUE+WED

AL-KOUT.3JUNGLE SHUFFLE (DIG) 1:30 PMRIO 2 (DIG) 3:30 PMJUNGLE SHUFFLE (DIG) 5:45 PMTRACKS (DIG) 7:45 PMTRACKS (DIG) 10:00 PMTRACKS (DIG) 12:15 AMNO SUN+TUE+WED

AL-KOUT.4JOE (DIG) 12:30 PMTHE QUIET ONES (DIG) 3:00 PMJOE (DIG) 5:00 PMTHE QUIET ONES (DIG) 7:30 PMJOE (DIG) 9:30 PMJOE (DIG) 12:05 AM

Kuwait

ClassifiedsSUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

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

DIAL161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION

Arrival Flights on Sunday 11/5/2014Airlines Flt Route TimeQTR 1084 Doha 00:05JZR 239 Amman 00:20JZR 267 Beirut 00:25JZR 539 Cairo 00:30PGT 858 Istanbul 01:25THY 764 Istanbul 01:40RJA 642 Amman 01:45ETH 620 Addis Ababa 01:45GFA 211 Bahrain 01:55UAE 853 Dubai 02:25ETD 305 Abu Dhabi 02:30JAI 576 Kochi/Abu Dhabi 02:35FDB 5067 Dubai 03:05MSR 612 Cairo 03:15QTR 1076 Doha 03:25QTR 1084 Doha 00:05JZR 239 Amman 00:20JZR 267 Beirut 00:25JZR 539 Cairo 00:30PGT 858 Istanbul 01:25THY 764 Istanbul 01:40RJA 642 Amman 01:45ETH 620 Addis Ababa 01:45GFA 211 Bahrain 01:55UAE 853 Dubai 02:25ETD 305 Abu Dhabi 02:30JAI 576 Kochi/Abu Dhabi 02:35FDB 5067 Dubai 03:05MSR 612 Cairo 03:15QTR 1076 Doha 03:25CLX 732 Luxembourg 03:40JZR 553 Alexandria 04:10KAC 544 Cairo 04:10THY 770 Istanbul 04:35DHX 170 Bahrain 05:10FDB 055 Dubai 05:50QTR 8632 Doha 05:55KAC 412 Manila/Bangkok 06:15BAW 157 London 06:35FDB 053 Dubai 07:00KAC 382 Delhi 07:30KAC 206 Islamabad 07:50KAC 302 Mumbai 07:50QTR 1086 Doha 07:55SVA 512 Riyadh 07:55KAC 332 Trivandrum 08:00KAC 352 Kochi 08:05KAC 286 Dhaka 08:15UAE 855 Dubai 08:25KAC 362 Colombo 08:45ABY 125 Sharjah 08:50IRA 665 Shiraz 09:25ETD 301 Abu Dhabi 09:30FDB 5055 Dubai 09:35QTR 1070 Doha 10:00

GFA 213 Bahrain 10:40MEA 404 Beirut 10:55IRC 6507 Shiraz 11:00JZR 151 Dubai 11:50JZR 561 Sohag 12:00SYR 341 Latakia 12:20UAE 871 Dubai 12:45IRC 528 Ahwaz 12:50MSR 610 Cairo 13:00THY 766 Istanbul 13:10KAC 742 Dammam 13:30KAC 672 Dubai 13:40QTR 1078 Doha 13:45GFA 221 Bahrain 14:20SVA 500 Jeddah 14:30KNE 472 Jeddah 14:40UAE 857 Dubai 14:55KAC 788 Jeddah 15:00ABY 127 Sharjah 15:35RJA 640 Amman 15:55FDB 051 Dubai 15:55JZR 787 Riyadh 16:15QTR 1072 Doha 16:15ETD 303 Abu Dhabi 16:45SVA 510 Riyadh 17:15UAL 982 IAD 17:25GFA 215 Bahrain 17:30JZR 153 Dubai 17:45JZR 777 Jeddah 17:50JZR 483 Istanbul 17:55KAC 542 Cairo 18:15RBG 553 Alexandria 18:20QTR 1080 Doha 18:25KAC 786 Jeddah 18:30KAC 166 Paris/Rome 18:40AXB 393 Kozhikode 18:55ABY 129 Sharjah 19:00KAC 618 Doha 19:00GFA 217 Bahrain 19:05KAC 774 Riyadh 19:15KAC 502 Beirut 19:20MSR 606 Luxor 19:30KAC 102 New York/London 19:35JAI 572 Mumbai 19:35KAC 674 Dubai 19:40OMA 647 Muscat 19:55KAC 562 Amman 20:00FDB 5061 Dubai 20:05MEA 402 Beirut 20:15DLH 636 Frankfurt 20:15FDB 063 Dubai 20:15KAC 514 Tehran 20:50KLM 417 Amsterdam 21:05ALK 229 Colombo 21:10UAE 859 Dubai 21:15KAC 172 Frankfurt 21:15QTR 1074 Doha 21:30

ETD 307 Abu Dhabi 21:30JZR 135 Bahrain 21:45GFA 219 Bahrain 21:45AIC 981 Chennai/Hyderabad/Ahmedabad 22:25UAL 981 Bahrain 22:40JZR 157 Dubai 22:55BBC 043 Dhaka 23:10JAI 574 Mumbai 23:20THY 772 Istanbul 23:45PIA 205 Lahore 23:50

Departure Flights on Sunday 11/5/2014Airlines Flt Route TimeAIC 976 Goa/Chennai 00:05JAI 573 Mumbai 00:20UAL 981 IAD 00:25DLH 635 Frankfurt 01:35THY 773 Istanbul 02:20ETH 621 Addis Ababa 02:45PGT 859 Istanbul 02:55FDB 5068 Dubai 03:45MSR 613 Cairo 04:15ETD 306 Abu Dhabi 04:20QTR 1077 Doha 04:25QTR 1085 Doha 05:20UAE 854 Dubai 05:30JZR 560 Sohag 05:35CLX 732 Hong Kong 05:45THY 765 Istanbul 06:00RJA 643 Amman 06:05JAI 575 Abu Dhabi/Kochi 06:30FDB 056 Dubai 06:35THY 771 Istanbul 06:50GFA 212 Bahrain 07:00JZR 150 Dubai 07:15QTR 8632 Lahore 07:25FDB 054 Dubai 07:50BAW 156 London 08:25SVA 513 Riyadh 08:55QTR 1087 Doha 08:55KAC 171 Frankfurt 08:55KAC 671 Dubai 09:25ABY 126 Sharjah 09:30KAC 787 Jeddah 09:35JZR 482 Istanbul 09:45UAE 856 Dubai 09:50KAC 117 New York 10:00ETD 302 Abu Dhabi 10:15FDB 5056 Dubai 10:15IRA 664 Shiraz 10:25KAC 741 Dammam 10:30QTR 1071 Doha 11:00KAC 541 Cairo 11:30GFA 214 Bahrain 11:35KAC 501 Beirut 11:40MEA 405 Beirut 11:55IRC 6508 Shiraz 12:00JZR 776 Jeddah 12:15

KAC 103 London 12:30JZR 786 Riyadh 12:50KAC 785 Jeddah 13:00JZR 152 Dubai 13:10SYR 342 Latakia 13:20IRC 529 Ahwaz 13:50MSR 611 Cairo 14:00THY 767 Istanbul 14:10UAE 872 Dubai 14:15KAC 561 Amman 14:45QTR 1079 Doha 14:55GFA 222 Bahrain 15:05KAC 617 Doha 15:15KAC 673 Dubai 15:20KNE 473 Jeddah 15:35SVA 503 Madinah/Jeddah 15:45KAC 773 Riyadh 15:50ABY 128 Sharjah 16:15KAC 513 Tehran 16:20FDB 051 Dubai 16:35RJA 641 Amman 16:55JZR 266 Beirut 17:05QTR 1073 Doha 17:20JZR 538 Cairo 17:40ETD 304 Abu Dhabi 17:45UAE 858 Dubai 18:15SVA 511 Riyadh 18:15GFA 216 Bahrain 18:20JZR 156 Dubai 18:20UAL 982 Bahrain 18:40JZR 238 Amman 18:45JZR 134 Bahrain 18:50RBG 554 Alexandria 19:00QTR 1081 Doha 19:25ABY 120 Sharjah 19:40GFA 218 Bahrain 19:50AXB 394 Kozhikode 19:55MSR 619 Alexandria 20:30KAC 283 Dhaka 20:30JAI 571 Mumbai 20:35FDB 5062 Dubai 20:50KAC 361 Colombo 20:50OMA 648 Muscat 20:55DLH 636 Dammam 21:00FDB 064 Dubai 21:15MEA 403 Beirut 21:15DHX 171 Bahrain 21:50KLM 417 Dammam/Amsterdam 22:05ETD 308 Abu Dhabi 22:15ALK 230 Colombo 22:20UAE 860 Dubai 22:25KAC 343 Chennai 22:30QTR 1075 Doha 22:40KAC 301 Mumbai 22:40GFA 220 Bahrain 22:45KAC 351 Kochi 23:00KAC 205 Islamabad 23:35KAC 411 Bangkok/Manila 23:40KAC 415 Kuala Lumpur/Jakarta 23:50

CHANGE OF NAME

MATRIMONIAL

No: 16162

24835616/7 ,24833199

I, Sarfraz Hussain, holder ofIndian Passport No. F8709331 hereby change myname to Sarfraz HussainDiwan as per Gazette ofGujarat State, India. (C4718)9-5-2014

I, Mohdmed Shabeer,Indian Passport No:J5340171, hereby changemy name to MohamedShabeer. (C 4716)

CSI parents working inKuwait invite proposals fortheir son 28/182,Mechanical Engineer work-ing for Kuwait University,from parents of God fearinggirls from Kuwait. Email:quick_lilloo@yahoo.com (C 4713)7-5-2014

REQUIRED

Laborer to work incar wash to wipe

cars, salary KD 80 and commission KD 200,

article 18 andtransferable residence,

no experience required. Contact: Mr Abrar,mobile: 97804195.

ACCOMMODATION

Sharing accommodationavailable for decent execu-tive bachelors at Abbassiyanear United Indian School(Kalabhavan building) sep-arate bathroom/ balcony,rent KD 75. Tel: 50903076.(C 4717)10-5-2014

This could be one of your more romantic days. Correct choices and the bestpath for you may be available without realizing it; take time to ponder your plans. Youmay think that by saying very little, you leave people thinking you are mysterious andimportant to get to know, but that only lasts a short while. A few important words how-ever, can leave a much more positive impression for a very long time. Practice makes per-fect and a social function this evening would be the perfect time to show others yourappreciation of them in your life. The cycle now dawning in your life emphasizes stability,substance, practicality, and the concept of value–value in the material as well as psychos-piritual sense. You may find a little music relaxing this evening.

You are in a position to show just how much you trust and respect a lovedone today. You will employ any manner of means to change a negative to a positive.Giving your complete attention to a personal situation, you are able to promote a healingwhere emotional concerns are involved. You may find yourself analyzing your life situation.Conversations of an inspiring kind may be in order with a young person or others aroundyou. This is a time when you can put your practical insights into words and convey them toothers. Your intuition is strong and you may enjoy the company of young people throughsome intellectual games or trivial pursuit. Music, art and all forms of sports can be enjoyedthis evening.

You may find yourself more than a little greedy today. Your current appre-ciation for just about everything may lead you to overspend or indulge too much. You willmake better choices today if you maintain your ability to sense quality and choose accord-ingly. Today you may talk with a friend that has found depression hard to overcome. Manytimes this sort of situation calls for the request of a medical review because a body canchange medical needs. Psychologically, you will learn and be encouraged that it is theindividual that determines his or her self-worth and how he or she feels; you are positiveand upbeat. Teach truth and watch for the culprit of overgeneralization. You are very lov-ing and understanding of others. Change is inevitable.

This can be a very superficial day. It may not be possible for you to pene-trate anything remotely meaningful or moving just now. Errands seem to go nowhereand projects are in need of tools or parts in order to see their completion. Stores may nothave what you need and a general lack of cooperation from others can be exasperating.You may even find that your ideas do not get the support you feel you need.Abandoning your own plans, you may decide to help someone else this afternoon andyou find that much can be accomplished. If you want, a trade-out could be arranged. Youmust be cautious during this time when there are concerns or an interest in charities.Before giving to a charity, make sure it is an authentic charity with good references.

Today focuses more on relationships and possessions. Others may find youfrugal when it comes to possessions, always limiting your purchases to what is essentialand has value–or worth. This same theme carries through in your response to people. Youdo not tend to lavish affection or sentiment; you tend to keep your comments short andsimple. An important relationship, perhaps with an older person or someone in authority,may come into focus today. There could be some tension or sense of opposition requiringcompromise or negotiation on your part. Although this could be an opportunity forunderstanding and even growth, it could be important to show your appreciation ofanother person’s time and efforts toward your progress.

A promise is a promise and the earlier you get started the more fun you canpack into the day. This may mean a young person or mate wants to go to some event orthat an exercise group meets this morning. Whatever the case, you gain from the eventsthat unfold as the day moves along. Social contact later today will call for a little rest and achange of clothes. Plans ahead of time have been fun and helpful and finally a specialtime is either now or very close. You still have a little time to gather whatever you need forthis event, which may mean a gift or some special favor for the host or hostess. This maymean food, music or flowers, etc. You are at your most elegant. Music, laughter and goodtimes with friends complete this busy day.

Friends and neighbors fill up most of your hours this day. You appreciateyour friends and enjoy the interactions that occur now. Happy when in control, you willenjoy managing anything practical. You are fearless in action and not afraid to use pow-er. You will have your way today through your magnetic and perhaps controversial per-sonality. You can be very charming and enchant others to come under your spell. This isalso a period of intense creativity for you. This creative intensity is good for music, poet-ry, art and politics. There is a great passion of emotions and purpose. You enjoy homeand family and rely on them for support and encouragement.

SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

Aries (March 21-April 19)

STAR TRACK

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

Leo (July 23-August 22)

Virgo (August 23-September 22)

Libra (September 23-October 22)

Religion, philosophy and higher knowledge will be the base of most conver-sations today. You are mentally and physically willing to meet the demands

of this day. You are helpful to all who need your assistance but by the afternoon you maybe looking forward to home. The youth in your family need attention as much as theadults so be sure to ask these young people questions that involve a little thinking. Thiswill result in some fun conversations between an adult and young persons. This may meanyou need to ask who they saw this day and what they have planned or want to plan for thesummer. Games and movies and sports make for fun contributions as well as some newdiscovery or talent. Smile, you have a beautiful family.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

You are able to enjoy and value your own life situation today. You couldfind that you are appreciated or valued for your way of thinking. You may

be surprised at the support you receive from others. A friend may want to get your feed-back today on some very personal and emotional issues. You will be able to be under-standing and helpful. You are able to cut through the red tape and help your friend to seea truth. Now through the twentieth of this month, there are good times to set aside for avacation or a short trip. Start to plan now where and what you might want to do. If youhave family members, be sure to include them in the decision making. If those dates arenot acceptable for others, you may want to make that time for yourself.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

This is a good time to make renovations or do a bit of spring-cleaning. Yourenthusiasm is catching and others will want to help when they see you hard

at work. There is a need to gain appreciation for your good deeds when this project iscompleted. This can be a productive time emotionally–penetrating conversations willbring insights. There is time this evening for romance. You may be able to look back ontoday as a time of deepening relationships and positive feelings. Your emotions and thefeelings of those around you are clear. You are creative and there is much pride in whatyou involve yourself with today. You may be able to enjoy and value your own life situa-tion or feel especially kind toward a friend or loved one.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Aquarius (January 20- February 18)

CROSSWORD 544

ACROSS1. An arithmetic operation performed onfloating-point numbers.5. The application of plaster.12. The compass point midway betweensouth and southwest.15. A collection of things (goods or works ofart etc.) for public display.16. Produced under conditions involvingintense heat.17. A flat wing-shaped process or winglikepart of an organism.18. The granite-like rocks that form the outer-most layer of the earth's crust.19. A switch made from the stems of the rat-tan palms.20. Insectivorous usually semiaquatic web-footed amphibian with smooth moist skinand long hind legs.22. A white or colorless vitreous insoluble sol-id (SiO2).24. Used in combination.26. The officer below the master on a com-mercial ship.27. Genus of tropical plants with creepingrootstocks and small umbellate flowers.28. Minute floating marine tunicate having atransparent body with an opening at eachend.29. A firm open-weave fabric used for a cur-tain in the theater.32. Any piece of cord that conveys liquid bycapillary action.36. Any of several tall tropical palms native tosoutheastern Asia having egg-shaped nuts.38. An uproarious party.39. British composer (1857-1934).41. A native or inhabitant of Yugoslavia.45. A narrow way or road.46. A constellation in the southern hemi-sphere near Telescopium and Norma.47. Possible to sell.50. Sweet pulpy tropical fruit with thick scalyrind and shiny black seeds.51. A landlocked republic in northwesternAfrica.52. Small terrestrial lizard of warm regions ofthe Old World.53. A sharp projection on an edge or surface.54. Fermented alcoholic beverage similar tobut heavier than beer.57. Capital and largest city of Cuba.62. A heavy odorless colorless gas formedduring respiration and by the decompositionof organic substances.63. An esoteric or occult matter that is tradi-tionally secret.71. Of or relating to Oman or its people.74. (Babylonian) God of storms and wind.75. 4-wheeled motor vehicle.76. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling).78. Acute ulceration of the mucous mem-branes of the mouth or genitals.79. A unit of electrical resistance equal to theresistance between two points on a conduc-tor when a potential difference of one voltbetween them produces a current of oneampere.80. Extreme mental retardation.81. Winning all or all but one of the tricks inbridge.

DOWN1. (heraldry) An ordinary consisting of a broadhorizontal band across a shield.2. Being two more than sixty.3. A translucent mineral consisting of hydrat-ed silica of variable color.4. A person active in party politics.

5. English theoretical physicist who appliedrelativity theory to quantum mechanics andpredicted the existence of antimatter and thepositron (1902-1984).6. Title for a civil or military leader (especiallyin Turkey).7. Become or cause to become soft or liquid.8. A man who is the lover of a girl or youngwoman.9. French dramatist (born in Romania) whowas a leading exponent of the theater of theabsurd (1912-1994).10. The 13th letter of the Greek alphabet.11. A change in the electrical properties of theskin in response to stress or anxiety.12. The capital and largest city of Yemen.13. Having a long narrow cut.14. English tennis player who won maywomen's singles titles (born in 1945).21. The dilated portion of a canal or ductespecially of the semicircular canals of theear.23. Any of several plants of the genusCamassia.25. East Indian tree bearing a profusion ofintense vermilion velvet-textured blooms andyielding a yellow dye.30. Of or relating the leg from the knee to thefoot.31. Provide with choice or abundant food ordrink.33. A state in the Rocky Mountains.34. A family of North American Indian lan-guage spoken in southwestern United States.35. A genus of tropical Asian and Malaysianpalm trees.37. When dried yields a hard substance usede.g. in golf balls.40. A strong-smelling plant from whose driedleaves a number of euphoriant and hallucino-genic drugs are prepared.42. A white soft metallic element that tarnish-es readily.43. (neurology) Of or relating to the vagusnerve.44. Not only so, but.48. A room or establishment where alcoholicdrinks are served over a counter.49. A unit of luminous flux equal to theamount of light given out through a solidangle of 1 steradian by a point source of 1candela intensity radiating uniformly in alldirections.55. Eurasian perennial bulbous herbs.56. A loose sleeveless outer garment madefrom aba cloth.58. (informal) Of the highest quality.59. A small constellation in the polar region ofthe southern hemisphere near Dorado andCarina.60. Of a light yellowish-brown color n 1.61. Port city in the United Arab Emirates onthe Persian Gulf.64. A woman hired to suckle a child of some-one else.65. A commercial leavening agent containingyeast cells.66. Consideration in dealing with others andavoiding giving offence.67. A small cake leavened with yeast.68. A material effigy that is worshipped as agod.69. God of love and erotic desire.70. Mild yellow Dutch cheese made in balls.72. A sweetened beverage of diluted fruitjuice.73. Related by blood.77. The square of a body of any size of type.

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

Yesterday’s Solution

WORD SEARCH PUZZLE

34s t a r s

Daily SuDoku

You are brilliant when it comes to insights into the mind, psychology andmotivation–whether it is yours or others’. Your intensity is obvious and some may preferto keep their distance rather than subject themselves to your laser eye. Nothing is passedover without being turned inside out. Your analytical powers are superb–you enjoy find-ing new avenues of inner growth. You have a great mental drive and lavish great energyon mental pursuits of all kinds. Ideas, words, books, etc., can be pursued with great gusto.Since you are such a social animal, opportunities will be available to communicate ingroups today.

You may find yourself being put to good use by your friends early this morn-ing but it should go smoothly. You could be helping with young people

today as your fruitful imagination can create many distractions that are helpful when car-ing for children. This can be an expansive, creative and even romantic phase for you. Thisis certainly a good time to relax and be with loved ones and friends. Family, home, rela-tives and real estate play a bigger part in your life. You may be moved to appreciate anddiscover the beauty in your life and in those around you. Planning a garden and includingothers in the process can become a grand way to gain closeness in your relationships. Youmay decide to complete some studies this evening.

inf or m at ionSUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

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

Al-Madeena 22418714

Al-Shuhada 22545171

Al-Shuwaikh 24810598

Al-Nuzha 22545171

Sabhan 24742838

Al-Helaly 22434853

Al-Faiha 22545051

Al-Farwaniya 24711433

Al-Sulaibikhat 24316983

Al-Fahaheel 23927002

Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh 24316983

Ahmadi 23980088

Al-Mangaf 23711183

Al-Shuaiba 23262845

Al-Jahra 25610011

Al-Salmiya 25616368

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

(1) Ear, Nose and Throat (2) Plastic Surgeon

Dr. Abdul Mohsin Jafar, FRCS (Canada) 25655535

Dentists

Dr Anil Thomas 3729596/3729581

Dr. Shamah Al-Matar 22641071/2

Dr. Anesah Al-Rasheed 22562226

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

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

Afghanistan 0093Albania 00355Algeria 00213Andorra 00376Angola 00244Anguilla 001264Antiga 001268Argentina 0054Armenia 00374Australia 0061Austria 0043Bahamas 001242Bahrain 00973Bangladesh 00880Barbados 001246Belarus 00375Belgium 0032Belize 00501Benin 00229Bermuda 001441Bhutan 00975Bolivia 00591Bosnia 00387Botswana 00267Brazil 0055Brunei 00673Bulgaria 00359Burkina 00226Burundi 00257Cambodia 00855Cameroon 00237Canada 001Cape Verde 00238Cayman Islands 001345Central African 00236Chad 00235Chile 0056China 0086Colombia 0057Comoros 00269Congo 00242Cook Islands 00682Costa Rica 00506Croatia 00385Cuba 0053Cyprus 00357Cyprus (Northern) 0090392Czech Republic 00420Denmark 0045Diego Garcia 00246Djibouti 00253Dominica 001767Dominican Republic 001809Ecuador 00593Egypt 0020El Salvador 00503England (UK) 0044Equatorial Guinea 00240Eritrea 00291Estonia 00372Ethiopia 00251Falkland Islands 00500Faroe Islands 00298Fiji 00679Finland 00358France 0033French Guiana 00594French Polynesia 00689Gabon 00241Gambia 00220Georgia 00995Germany 0049Ghana 00233Gibraltar 00350Greece 0030Greenland 00299Grenada 001473Guadeloupe 00590Guam 001671Guatemala 00502Guinea 00224Guyana 00592Haiti 00509Holland (Netherlands) 0031Honduras 00504Hong Kong 00852Hungary 0036Ibiza (Spain) 0034Iceland 00354India 0091Indian Ocean 00873Indonesia 0062

Iran 0098Iraq 00964Ireland 00353Italy 0039Ivory Coast 00225Jamaica 001876Japan 0081Jordan 00962Kazakhstan 007Kenya 00254Kiribati 00686Kuwait 00965Kyrgyzstan 00996Laos 00856Latvia 00371Lebanon 00961Liberia 00231Libya 00218Lithuania 00370Luxembourg 00352Macau 00853Macedonia 00389Madagascar 00261Majorca 0034Malawi 00265Malaysia 0060Maldives 00960Mali 00223Malta 00356Marshall Islands 00692Martinique 00596Mauritania 00222Mauritius 00230Mayotte 00269Mexico 0052Micronesia 00691Moldova 00373Monaco 00377Mongolia 00976Montserrat 001664Morocco 00212Mozambique 00258Myanmar (Burma) 0095Namibia 00264Nepal 00977Netherlands (Holland)0031Netherlands Antilles 00599New Caledonia 00687New Zealand 0064Nicaragua 00505Nigar 00227Nigeria 00234Niue 00683Norfolk Island 00672Northern Ireland (UK)0044North Korea 00850Norway 0047Oman 00968Pakistan 0092Palau 00680Panama 00507Papua New Guinea 00675Paraguay 00595Peru 0051Philippines 0063Poland 0048Portugal 00351Puerto Rico 001787Qatar 00974Romania 0040Russian Federation 007Rwanda 00250Saint Helena 00290Saint Kitts 001869Saint Lucia 001758Saint Pierre 00508Saint Vincent 001784Samoa US 00684Samoa West 00685San Marino 00378Sao Tone 00239Saudi Arabia 00966Scotland (UK) 0044Senegal 00221Seychelles 00284Sierra Leone 00232Singapore 0065Slovakia 00421Slovenia 00386Solomon Islands 00677

INTERNATIONALCALLS

SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

l if e s t y l eG O S S I P

The reality TV star’s mother Kris Jenner admitted she has taken a step back from her daughter’s life to let her get on with it -and she hasn’t even seen the wedding dress. Speaking to E! News, she said: “Kim and Kanye have done this all on their ownand they’ve had the best time planning it and I know nothing ... I have not seen her wedding dress, I don’t know how she

looks in it. “I’ll see it for the first time when she puts it on at her wedding.” It is a change of pace for Kris, who is a self-confessed“control freak” and admitted she has had to learn to “sit back and relax” while her daughter takes care of the wedding plans. Sheadmitted: “I’m really excited. I’ve never been able to just go some place and relax and enjoy the ride and let everybody else worryabout everything because I’m such a control freak. “So this has been a little bit of a lesson. It’s a bit hard for me to let go and it’san exercise of patience and I’m sorta a control freak so to sit back and relax...this isn’t easy for me either! “I’m going into this witha great deal of excitement. I was a little bit curious at first and now I’m just like OK, just let it go, breathe and enjoy.”

Kim, Kanye planning their wedding ‘alone’

Katie Price oblivious ofHayler, Pountney affair

The former glamour model - who recently discovered her husband washaving a “full blown sexual affair” with her married best friend - didn’tpick up on the spark between the pair, according to a house guest.

Jemma Henley - who spent four months at their home - told The Sun newspa-per: “To get attention she would laugh at Kieran’s jokes and stroke his arm -you could cut the sexual tension with a knife. “There were looks that wentunseen by Katie - but I didn’t miss them. How she didn’t see this coming isbeyond me. Jane was always giggly around Kieran and she didn’t try to hide it.“But if there is one person Katie trusted is Jane - she could do no wrong in hereyes. Maybe she left them alone one too many times. Jane was once me sheliked his muscles.” Jemma explained how Katie and Jane were “like sisters”, butthinks the star’s bridesmaid was influenced by “jealousy”. She said: “There werelike sisters. If there is one person Katie would die for it is Jane. I really feel forKatie in all this. “These are the two people closest to her. This is the ultimatebetrayal ... Jane has lived in Katie’s shadow for 12 years - that’s a long time toplay second fiddle. “She was jealous and that has led to her bedding Kieran.”Chris Martin on a

date with ChungThe Coldplay singer - who split from his wife Gwyneth

Paltrow last month after 10 years of marriage - is said tohave gone out for a meal with the model in New York. A

source told The Sun newspaper: “Alexa and Chris did see each oth-er in NYC, briefly. “Friends think it’s definitely developing into arelationship. But Alexa’s a cool girl. She’s not going to make herselflook stupid. “They like each other and have a lot in common butlife’s a bit tricky for Chris at the moment.” It was recently reportedthe ‘Viva la Vida’ hitmaker has been “angry” at how his breakupunfolded so publicly, and has reconsidered whether to ever getmarried again. An insider previously said: “It’s a tough time forChris and he absolutely hates having his dirty linen washed inpublic. “He’s a very private person. Chris isn’t comfortable talkingabout it, feels like he’s let himself down and is also angry with theway the split unfolded.”

Mila Kunis struggling with morning sickness

The 30-year-old actress is said to be pregnant with her firstchild with her boyfriend, and rumored fiancé, AshtonKutcher, and although she’s struggling with nausea, he’s

said to be helping her through. A source said: “Mila’s been suffer-ing from morning sickness and is feeling exhausted, but she saysAshton has been her rock. He’s been cooking her breakfast inbed. He’s even hired a masseuse to give her daily massages and,at night, he rests his head beside her bump and talks to thebaby.” Reports have suggested that the ‘Friends with Benefits’ staris expecting a baby girl with Ashton - who she first met on theset of ‘That 70s Show’ in 1998 -and although she’s struggling withthe side effects of pregnancy she’s said to be happier than ever.The source told Britain’s Closer magazine: “Mila’s so excited to bea mum, she’s telling friends her and Ashton are more in love thanever.” The Hollywood couple are also reportedly looking forwardto expanding their brood once their first baby is born. The sourceadded: “Ashton can’t wait to be a dad; he’s always wanted chil-dren. Mila wants at least four and he’s keen too.”

Rita Ora was ‘so scared’ when she met Bayonne

The 23-year-old singer - who signed with Jay Z’s Roc Nation in 2009, the same year she madea cameo on the rapper’s ‘Young Forever’ video - was thrilled to finally meet her label boss’wife and insists she was more amazing than she’d anticipated. She told Heat magazine: “Oh

my gosh, I was so scared. She’s like the idol I’ve always wanted to meet. I always thought shewasn’t human and that she just plugged herself into a socket at night and sleeps standing up, orsomething. But she was incredible - so kind, so honest, so caring and so approachable.” Rita haslanded her big Hollywood break with a role in the most-anticipated film of the moment, the adap-tation of kinky bestseller ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’, in which she plays S&M-loving billionaire ChristianGrey’s little sister Mia. However, the platinum blonde bombshell recently insisted things weren’thot and heavy on set because leading actor Jamie Dornan is such a down-to-earth family man.She said: “No, it was incredible, cause his wife was there and he just had a kid so it was a very fami-ly orientated kind of thing, obviously when it’s on set the kid stays at home.”

Diane Keaton was ‘addicted to food’The 68-year-old actress, who suffered with an eating disor-

der in her twenties, admits she would snack on calorifictreats and the make herself vomit and, although she no

longer makes herself regurgitate food, she believes she willalways be an “addict in recovery”. Speaking on ‘The Dr Oz Show’,she said: “It was, of course, the lowest point of my life ... I was afat person, I was an obese person, who had somehow trickedmyself and managed to hide it. So when you’re living with a liefor four years ... all I did was feed my hunger, so I am an addict.It’s true. I’m an addict in recovery, I’ll always be an addict. I havean addictive nature to me.” However, the blonde beauty insistsshe’s no longer addicted to food and has switched her attentionto her adopted children Duke, 13, and Dexter, 18. She added:“Now it’s [my addiction is] work orientated or trying to raise mychildren as best I can, even though they’re teenagers and notreally children anymore. “But really, I identify with those people[bulimics] and I feel for them.”

SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

l if e s t y l eG O S S I P

Kate Hudson doesn’t dress for Matt Bellamy approval

The 35-year-old actress admits she likes to look nice for herself and her girlfriends, rather than for the Muse front-man, whom she has been dating for four years. Speaking to E! News, she explained: “Matt’s not fussy. Matt likesfeminine. Sometimes I’ll come out in something low cut and tight, but if I come out in like a flowy dress, Matt

likes that. But I don’t dress for Matt! I dress for my girlfriends! I dress for me and my girlfriends. “Girls dress for eachother, don’t we? Guys don’t really care what we wear and they don’t get it.” Meanwhile, the blonde beauty, who hasbeen engaged to Matt for three years, recently admitted she would like to get married “sooner rather than later”. Shesaid: “We still don’t have any plans to get married, but eventually we will... probably sooner rather than later.”However, Kate - who has 10-year-old son Ryder from her marriage to Chris Robinson and two-year-old son Binghamwith Matt - has already ruled out this summer for kick-starting her wedding plans because both she and her beau aretoo busy with their globe-trotting careers at the moment.

Chrissy Teigen wants to have ‘a lot’ of children

The 28-year-old model thought she would have alreadystarted a family with her husband John Legend by now,but she insists when they do take their relationship to the

next level, she wants a brood like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.Speaking on HuffPost Live, she explained: “I swear to you, Ithought I would’ve had one [a family] by now. So, hopefullywe’ll just have this Angelina-Brad-type brood. I would love that... I definitely want a lot of kids, though, and he [John] does aswell.” Angelina and Brad have adopted children Maddox, 12,Pax, 10, and Zahara, nine, as well as biological children Shiloh,seven, and five-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox, and Chrissyinsists she too will adopt in the future as well. When asked if sheand John would adopt children, she replied: “Oh definitely, ofcourse, very open to that.” The brunette beauty, who marriedthe ‘All of Me’ hitmaker last year after six years of dating, wouldlike to have at least four children and has already started imag-ining her life with the youngsters running around.

Jaime King spent years trying to have a baby

The ‘Hart of Dixie’ star welcomed her first child James into the world inOctober with her husband Kyle Newman, but she admits conceiving the tottook almost half a decade. Speaking to ABC News, she explained: “This baby

was a long time in the making and I feel like the universe put a little extra magicdust in him. He’s, like, the happiest, most joyful, social and loving [baby].” The 35-year-old actress believes her pregnancy was a “blessing” and she was determinedto enjoy it, but also make sure her baby was happy and healthy. She explained:“Everything takes on a new meaning. It took a long time to get pregnant-for methe baby was such a blessing that the most important thing for me was that I wasactive. I was never obsessive about dieting or exercise. I didn’t care how much Igained. I just wanted to make sure he was healthy.” The blonde beauty has beentaking James - whose Godmother is Jessica Alba - to work with her because shewants him to know that his mother is looking after him.

Harry Styles shows off his new tattoo The One Direction hunk unbuckled his belt and pushed down his skinny jeans during a performance at Parque Olimpico in

Rio de Janeiro to give fans a look at the ‘Brasil!’ inking on his left groin, showing his adoration for the country. A fan caughtthe moment on camera and thousands of girls can be heard screaming in a video posted on YouTube as the cheeky pop star

twists around to flash the audience. The 20-year-old singer has a number of designs, including a roulette wheel, a butterfly on hischest and a new feather inking, and it seems he’s not ready to end his mission to cover himself in tattoos. Harry and his OneDirection bandmates - Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan - kicked off their ‘Where We Are Tour’ last monthand appear to be enjoying their time in South America. They recently ran into trouble after hosting a roof top party at the FasanoHotel in Ipanema when residents complained about the noise and even phoned the police.

Whoopi Goldberg to make a reality show The 58-year-old actress will produce the series through her One Ho

Productions along with 44 Blue Productions, and will focus the program onher daughter Alex Martin, 40, who has three children in their teens and 20s,

and her best friend Leisa. According to Deadline, the show will follow Alex as shetries to reinvent herself both personally and professionally with the help of her hus-band Bernard and Leisa, whose father is actor Lee Weaver. Whoopi said: “I wantedto tell the story of two best friends who experience all of the major phases of awoman’s life together. “Alex and Leisa have been friends since they were 17 and areboth children of famous people, and are now approaching 40. “My daughter justbecame a grandmother and her daughter just turned 24 and they are just trying tofigure their lives out. “This is really the story of an all-American family for a newgeneration; it looks a little different than the storybooks, but it’s filled with love andlaughter.” The show will begin when Alex’s 24-year-old daughter moves back inwith her parents, along with her fiance and their baby daughter Charli Rose.

Nick Lacheyfinds his wife

sexier than ever The 40-year-old singer loves watch-

ing spouse Vanessa caring for their19-month-old son Camden and says

the little boy has brought out a new sideto her personality. He said: “My wife’smaternal side is a new dynamic to herpersonality - and it’s definitely made hereven sexier.” The couple - who married inJuly 2011 after five years of dating - doteon their little boy but also treasure theiralone time when Camden goes to bed.Vanessa explained to Parents magazine:“We put on some music or a favorite TVshow, pour a glass of wine, have dinner -that’s our ‘alone time’ “When you’ve gotthe little one between you, it’s not asromantic as when the two of you arealone.” And it doesn’t matter where in theworld they are, the pair always stick to aschedule to get their son to sleep by7.30pm. Vanessa said: “Whether we’re inNew York or Cincinnati or on vacation, aslong as he gets his story, sound machine,and song, he’s good.” Both Vanessa, 33,and Nick are keen to have more children,but will wait a while so their offspringdon’t have to “share” friends - though theywon’t leave it too late.

SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

l if e s t y l e

Head of the Cannes jury Jane Campion made her name por-traying complex, strong-willed female protagonists andknows from first-hand experience that the festival is a place

where careers are made. The New Zealand director, the only womanever to win the top Palme d’Or Prize with “The Piano”, was a littleknown arthouse film-maker when she brought her movie to theFrench Riviera in 1993. The New Zealand-set movie about a mutepianist and her daughter starring Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, SamNeill and Anna Paquin, went on to pick up three Oscars and was ahuge critical and commercial hit.

After being named as head of the jury earlier this year, Campion,60, described the festival as a “mythical and exciting” place where“amazing things can happen”. At Cannes, she said, “actors are dis-covered, films are financed, careers are made”. “I know this becausethat is what happened to me,” she added. Born in Wellington in NewZealand, the second of three children, Campion grew up in a the-atrical family. But despite this early exposure-her mother was awriter and actress, her father a theatre director and producer-Campion did not set out to become a film-maker.

Instead, she studied for a degree in anthropology in NewZealand before concentrating on art in both London and Sydney.Only later did Campion find her calling at the Australian FilmTelevision and Radio School between 1981 and 1984. Campion firstcame to Cannes in 1986 when she won best short film with “Peel”. In1989, her first feature film “Sweetie”-the story of a young woman’sdifficult relationship with her unstable sister-was selected to com-pete for the Palme d’Or and she returned with “An Angel at myTable” (1990), based on the autobiographies of New Zealand authorJane Frame.

‘Indefatigable pioneer’Many of Campion’s films revolve around themes of gender bal-

ance and throughout her career critics have singled her out forbringing qualities of innovation, imagination and intelligence to herwork. Announcing her as the head of the 2014 jury, Cannes festivalorganizers called Campion a “major film-maker and indefatigablepioneer”. In the just published French book “Jane Campion by JaneCampion”, film historian Michel Ciment said each of Campion’s films

had “as its centre a protagonist who fights for her... autonomy”.Movies exploring familiar Campion themes include “The Portrait ofa Lady” (1996), an adaptation of the Henry James novel starringNicole Kidman, and “Holy Smoke” (1999) in which Kate Winslet playsa woman who experiences a spiritual awakening on a trip to India.

Campion also cast Meg Ryan in “In The Cut” (2003) as a New Yorkwriting professor who has an affair with a detective investigating alocal murder. As well as features, Campion has branched out intodocumentaries such as “Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story”(2006) about a Japanese student kidnapped by a North Koreanagent in 1977. Most recently, she followed the many others in filmnow looking to the small screen as a place for more creative free-dom. Her television mini-series “Top of the Lake” about a detective,played by Elizabeth Moss, who returns to her home town and findsherself investigating a child abuse case, was a hit with audiencesand also won a string of awards. — AFP

Jane Campion: ‘Indefatigable pioneer’ of film

With winter behind us, herald the seasonwith Bossini’s SS’14 collection for kids. Inthis collection there are no compromises

on comfort; the very stylish collection for kids is ahaven of trends that range from florals, pastels tohappy light denims and color chinos. With a hint ofnautical and a dash of neons the collection is suitedfor a wide audience.

With something for everybody the kids collec-tion will bring out the naughty streak in your littleone. Bright graphic tees with happy doodles makethem trendsetters on the playground and at school.Polka dotted pants, stripe denim skirts, cute printeddresses and smart denims are some of the keylooks of the season. With must have season colorslike blue, brown and ruby reds along with subdued

classy shades of pink, orange and yellow theBossini collection is a must-have in your new sea-son wardrobe. So head to your nearest Bossinistore.at Hawally (Al Othman Centre), Fahaheel (AjialMall), Farwaniya (Mugathir Complex), Khaldiya Co-op , Qortuba Co-op and all Centrepoint Stores andshop the Kids collection.

Bossini SS’14 Kids collection

It is a long way from the rough streets of south Los Angeles to becom-ing the world’s richest hip hop star. But that is the path likely set to betaken by Andre Young-better known as Dr Dre-helped by some very

cool headphones. The 49-year-old rapper turned producer and entre-preneur would top Forbes’ hip hop rich list after striking a $3.2 billiondeal to sell Apple the company he co-founded eight years ago, BeatsElectronics.

The agreement, which has not yet been finalized, would boost his networth to some $800 million, according to Forbes. Some reports suggestDre could soon become the world’s first hip-hop billionaire. He wouldpip Sean “Diddy” Combs who was the previous top dog with $700 mil-lion, as well as Jay Z, now in third place with $520 million, followed byBryan “Birdman” Williams on $160 million. “Hip hop is now central toAmerican popular culture,” Robert Thompson, professor of popular cul-ture at Syracuse University in New York state, told AFP after the deal wasreported Friday.

“If you get a hip hop artist who can establish a name and a basis offame and wealth and then they’re smart enough to .. make sorties intoother parts of the culture .. that seems a typical American story”. Alongthe way Dre has discovered and worked with some of the biggest acts inmusic, including Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Combs and others and pio-neered gangsta rap as well as west coast G-Funk. He has also won sixGrammy awards, including becoming the first hip-hop producer to forProducer of The Year in 2001. But it all started in the tough south LAneighborhood of Compton, where he was born Andre Romell Young inFebruary 1965, to parents who divorced while he was barely out of shorttrousers.

Compton was well known for gang violence but also for producinghip hop groups and rappers, including gangsta rap group N W A formedby Young and Ice Cube, making their name with its debut album in 1988“Straight Outta Compton.” The record by the band was criticized for vio-

lent language and triggered a warning from the FBI. In 1990 he left thegroup to form Death Row Records, releasing his solo debut “The Chronic”in 1992 to huge commercial success. In 1996 he again left to formAftermath Entertainment. Shortly after that, rappers Tupak Shakur andNotorious B I G were murdered, triggering Dre to lay low for a few years.

His comeback came after releasing his second studio album in 1999,when he was credited with discovering white rapper Eminem. His 2001Grammy success propelled him up the financial rankings, as he increas-ingly moved towards producing and business-co-founding BeatsElectronics in 2008 with partner Jimmy Iovine. The firm makes audioequipment, including the ubiquitous headphones taken up by celebri-ties and sports stars. In 2012 many were seen at the London OlympicGames. On Friday, news reports emerged that Apple is preparing a $3.2billion buyout of Beats Electronics, in what would be the iconic computergiant’s biggest acquisition yet.

The Financial Times said Apple would buy not only the headphonebrand and other sound equipment but also the firm’s recently launchedmusic streaming service, known as Beats Music. “If this goes through andDr Dre moves up the ( Forbes) list .. it’s not going to be so much for hiship hop artistry,” said pop professor Thompson. “It’s going to be forbranching out into ... the whole Beats thing, because he thought Applesheadphones were inferior,” he said. Dre himself appears confident thedeal will go through. In a video posted on YouTube he brags about thedeal with actor Tyrese Gibson, who says Forbes needs to update its hiphop rich list, released only a few weeks ago. “The first billionaire in hip-hop, right here from the ... West Coast,” he tells the camera. — AFP

Dr Dre

Dr Dre - from LA gangsta

rapper to Forbes top dog?

SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

l if e s t y l eF a s h i o n

Models present creationsby designer Sana Abbasduring a Bridal CoutureFashion show in Karachi,Pakistan yesterday.

(Top & above) Models present creations by designerZainb Chottani during a Bridal Couture Fashion showin Karachi yesterday.

PakistanBridal CoutureFashion show

A model displays acreation forFall/Winter 2014collection bydesigner MACH &MACH during theFashion Week inTbilisi.

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Models display creations for Fall/Winter 2014 collection by Salle de Mode duringFashion Week in Tbilisi. — AFP Photos

A model displays creation for Fall/Winter2014 collection by Sallede Mode during FashionWeek in Tbilisi. — AFP Photos

38Dr Dre - from LA gangsta rapper to Forbes top dog?

SUNDAY, MAY 11, 2014

Singer Mariya Yaremchuk representing Ukraine performs the song ‘Tick-Tock’ during a rehearsal of the Eurovision Song Contest Final in the B&W Halls in Copenhagen, Denmark. — AP

Politics look set to take centre stage at this year’sEurovision contest in Copenhagen, with theRussian contestants facing boos in a final

bookies say could see a bearded Austrian dragqueen triumph. Since the contest was launched in1956, some results have given off more than a whiffof politics and the 2014 event in the Danish capital islikely to be no exception, with the Ukraine crisisspilling over into the competition. Russia’sTolmachevy Sisters were jeered on Tuesday when itwas announced that they had made it to the finaland connoisseurs of the pageant’s inner workingspredict Ukraine’s entry could benefit from sympathyvotes.

Things didn’t get any easier this week for theRussia act after Eurovision buffs claimed to haveunveiled a Ukrainian subtext in one of the verses oftheir song “Shine”. “Living on the edge, closer to thecrime, cross the line a step at a time,” the song goes.The lyrics went viral among Eurovision fanatics when

it was suggested they were a reference to Russia’sannexation of Crimea in March, after a referendumcalled for the Ukrainian territory to come underMoscow’s rule. The crisis, which has since shifted toother parts of eastern Ukraine, is widely tipped toboost support for Ukrainian singer MariyaYaremchuk.

Message to RussiaUkrainian boxing champion turned opposition

leader Vitali Klitschko called on Eurovision nations tovote for Ukraine in a show of support. “Just like sport,music has the power to unite people... it would be anamazing message if European viewers gave specialsupport to the Ukrainian contestant,” he told Germannewspaper Bild. Despite a long history of incidentsthat suggest otherwise-last year Azerbaijan’s failureto vote for ally Russia prompted a president-orderedrecount-the performers themselves insist Eurovisionis all about the music.

“I have lots of friends, relatives in Ukraine,” said Ela

Steinmetz, the half-Ukrainian singer of Germanhopefuls Elaiza, in an interview with AFP. “Of courseI’m afraid of threats to Ukraine. But I think inEurovision, people must vote with the heart, notwith the head. “This is about the best artist, regard-less of nationality,” she said. Conchita Wurst, the hir-sute alter ego of Austrian performer Tom Neuwirth,will represent his homeland with the Bond theme-like ballad “Rise Like a Phoenix.”

In Russia, Belarus and Ukraine petitioners havedemanded that the 25-year-old drag queen bedropped from the competition, while the leader ofAustria’s right-wing FPOe party has called the act“ridiculous”. “I have very thick skin. It never ceases toamaze me just how much fuss is made over a littlefacial hair,” Wurst said. But the singer won over view-ers with her performance in Thursday’s semi-finaland shot up the bookies’ table. Armenia’s Aram MP3,another frontrunner, stirred controversy earlier thisweek when he reportedly said Wurst’s lifestyle was“not natural”-a comment the stand-up comedian lat-er claimed was a joke. “I have to say that if it’s a jokeit’s not funny ... but he apologised and that’s fine forme,” Wurst said.

Cultural divideHighlighting a cultural divide between eastern

and western Europe, the city of Copenhagen saidthree gay couples from Russia tied the knot there aspart of a Eurovision-related event celebrating 25years of same-sex unions in Denmark. Other artiststipped to vie for the top spots are Swedish balladeerSanna Nielsen and Dutch country duo The CommonLinnets. Audiences in Britain and France routinelycomplain that their countries suffer from a lack ofEuropean voting allies and tend to take the competi-tion less seriously than the countries of the formereastern bloc that joined in the 1990s.

“Everything could be political but we don’t reallycare, because we are artists and what we are doing ismusic,” said Lorent Idir from France’s Twin Twin. IfFrance wanted to win-a feat it hasn’t accomplishedsince 1977 — its artists needed to add a bit more“fun and color,” he suggested. The mainstreamappeal of the Eurovision Song Contest has grownover the past two decades after strict rules onsinging in the national language and performingwith an orchestra were scrapped. It has also benefit-ted from the popularity of TV talent shows, and sev-eral of this year’s artists have previously competed inprograms like The X Factor.

The growing size of the event, and a desire bysome countries to use it to showcase themselves tothe rest of the world, has led to soaring costs.According to some estimates, the price for regenerat-ing Azerbaijan’s host city Baku in 2012 was aroundone billion dollars (720 million euros). Danish broad-caster DR has pledged to spend around 190 millionkroner (25.5 million euros, $35.4 million) onEurovision, which last year drew an audience of 170million viewers. Elsewhere in Europe, broadcasterscontinue to struggle with budget cuts and Bulgaria,Cyprus and Serbia have all said they will not be com-peting this year. — AFP

Ukraine crisis, bearded drag

queen vie for Eurovision limelightArtist Tim Sharp cannot explain why his colorful work

has such appeal, or how the cheeky superhero hefirst drew when he was a child, Laser Beak Man, has

won fans around the world and become a television series.“Drawing makes me really happy, doesn’t it mum,” is all hesays, as his mother Judy sits beside him in Sydney’s HydePark. “Colors can make me happy. Am I doing well mum?”Sharp, who turns 26 this month, was first diagnosed asautistic when he was three years old. At the time, his moth-er was told he would never talk, go to school or feel realaffection for her. One doctor encouraged her to put himinto an institution and move on.

Judy knew her son was intelligent and loving, but itwasn’t until she began drawing pictures to communicatewith him that he seemed to “switch on”. The first time shedrew, Tim grabbed her hand and pushed it towards thepencil for her to pick it up and keep drawing. “And that initself was a major interaction, he hadn’t done that before.”The discovery was a breakthrough, meaning day-to-dayactivities such as going to another child’s birthday party,which had once made Tim deeply anxious, became man-ageable once shown to him in pictures.

“Now I was able to show him the sequence of what youdo-we go, we take the present, we blow out the candles,we sing ‘Happy Birthday’, and then we leave. “And as soonas the candles were blown out we had to leave,” she says,laughing. “But he didn’t scream for the hour or so beforethat so it made a difference that way.” Once Tim startingdrawing, it was quickly clear he had his own quirky style. “Idon’t know that it was Picasso or anything like that, therewas just something about it for a four-year-old,” Judy says.“What he tended to draw tended to have a lot of personali-ty to it. And then he liked to watch me draw, which was abig thing because I couldn’t maintain his attention on any-thing else.”

‘Filthy, disgusting birthday’ When he was 11, Tim told his mum that he wanted to

be his creation-Laser Beak Man-when he grew up. It wasaround this time Tim and his younger brother were goingto a birthday party and set about making a card. “We didn’thave any money for the card. So we made the card. I said,‘We’ll put Laser Beak Man on the front. And I said to Tim,‘What would Laser Beak Man say?’ What does he say? “Havea filthy, disgusting birthday”. “And we put that inside andwe gave it to our friend who happened to have a friendwho worked in the disability arts scene who said, ‘This isjust brilliant’. You have to make cards of this.’”

For Tim, Laser Beak Man was an extension of his love forsuperheroes such as Batman, Spiderman, Superman andthe X-Men. “He’s always in my paintings,” he explains of thecreations which often involve a pun-such as one called“Everyone is Beautiful’ in which the superhero is surround-ed by the number 1, or “Shut the Duck Up” which has aduck with its mouth tied shut and Laser Beak Man holdinga cooked bird on a platter. In another entitled ‘How toMake Mona Lisa Smile’, Laser Beak Man is pictured moon-ing the famous subject as he paints her portrait.

Tim’s work had instant appeal, and at 16 he wasselected for the Very Special Arts Festival in Washingtonfor people with disabilities. Judy mortgaged their houseto make sure he could get there. Since then, Tim, whouses pencils and crayons to create his bright designs onthe family ’s k itchen table, has won fans such asHollywood star Cate Blanchett and had a music festivalstaged in his honor in Nashville, Tennessee. Laser BeakMan has also inspired an animated television seriesscreened by the Cartoon Network and the AustralianBroadcasting Corporation. For Judy, one of the greatthings about Tim’s art is that it has showed that accept-ance of people with disabilities has improved. “Lots ofthings have happened that we never thought wouldhappen,” she said. “Every day is exciting.”— AFP

Autistic Australian an artistic hero

Singer Conchita Wurst, representing Austria, performs the song“Rise Like a Phoenix” during a rehearsal for the second semifinalof the Eurovision Song Contest in the B&W Halls in Copenhagen,Denmark. Born Thomas Neuwirth, the performer challenges con-ceptions of masculine and feminine beauty. — AP

Australian artist Tim Sharp sits with his mother Judy in Sydney’s Hyde Park. Artist Tim Smart cannot explain whyhis colorful work has such appeal, or how the cheeky superhero he first drew when he was a child, Laser Beak Man,has won fans around the world and become a television series. — AFP