case afterinitially sayingitcouldnotraisethe Thursday, hadcome underfireoverSatinah’s announced its decisiononawebsite media reports.Thegovernment, which director ofNGOMigrantCare, accordingto responsibility,” saidAnisHidayah, executive fact thatsavingacitizenis the country’s death bybeheading. ly physicallyabusedher.Shewassentencedto had actedinself-defenseafterherbossalleged- killing herSaudiemployerin2007butsaidshe migrant domesticworker,wasconvictedof ing heremployer.Satinah,a41-year-old days beforeshewastobeexecutedformurder- of itscitizensondeathrowinSaudiArabia,just ment’s decisiontopay$1.8millionfreeone Indonesia welcomedyesterdaythegovern- JAKARTA: his resignationoverhealthreasons,anewspaperreportedyesterday.—PhotobyYasserAl-Zayyat liament sessionatKuwait’sNationalAssembly.NayefAl-Ajmi,accusedbyUSoffundingjihadistsinSyria,hassubmitted KUWAIT: KuwaitiMinisterofJustice,Awqaf(Islamicendowments)andIslamicAffairs,NayefAl-Ajmitalksduringa par- in Sulaibiya found dead and newborn Asian woman Kuwait girlstabbedto “The governmentcannolonger ignorethe In in SUBSCRIPTION death byfatherinUK do Migrants’ rightsactivistsin 2 S

au 150 Fils AUDY PI ,21 AAAATAI5 45A No:16126 SATURDAY, 1435 AH JAMADA ALTHANIAPRIL 5,2014 5, Affairs Ministerresigns Kuwait Justice&Islamic nesia d Minister underUSfireoverSyriajihad i ‘b l ood p on bail.— brought before acourtbeforebeingreleased injuries weremade public.Theemployerwas rallies thisyearandgraphic photos ofher her employerinHongKongprompted mass omy annuallyinremittances. tribute millionsofdollarstotheIndonesian econ- Hong KongandSaudiArabia.These workerscon- working conditionsindestinationslikeMalaysia, search ofworkeveryyear,butoftenfaceabusive female Indonesianmigrantworkersgoabroadin Indonesian government.Hundredsofmostly the amountafteryearsofnegotiationswith ey” tosparethemaid’slife,butagreedlower had initiallydemanded$4millionin“bloodmon- headed afundraisingcampaign. money intime.Celebritiesandactivistsspear- The caseofanIndonesianmaid beatenby As allowedbySaudilaw,thevictim’sfamily a y Reuters s m tit-for-tat moves push amid Mideast peace US reviews $1.8 o ne 7 m PAGE y’

cent ofthePakistani people.”Foreignlabor he said.“Barbers andtailorsareonlyoneper- Pakistan includingdoctorsand engineers,” decision willhelprecruitskilled laborers from Kuwait PakistanFriendshipAssociation. “The the sidelinesofarecenteventhosted bythe be lifted. did notgiveaspecificdatewhen thebanwill ment ofPakistaniworkers”.Theambassador with theInteriorMinistrytoallowrecruit- follows afterthey“resolvedsimpleissues Ambassador Hassanaddedthatthedecision Kuwait MohammadHassansaidrecently. three-year break,Pakistan’sambassadorin for Pakistaninationalsverysoonaftera KUWAIT: Ambassador HassanspoketoAl-Rai daily Kuwait t 9-month-old accused o of attemptedmurder Kuwait willstartissuingworkvisas n P a

k

Cohen. — AFP AFP — Cohen.

Syria’s Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front as alleged by alleged as Front Al-Nusra affiliate Al-Qaeda Syria’s

they had been for humanitarian purposes and not for not and purposes humanitarian for been had they

taken part in fund-raising campaigns for Syria, but insisted but Syria, for campaigns fund-raising in part taken face Lanka T20 final, to World India cruise

attention and displeasure”. Ajmi acknowledged he had he acknowledged Ajmi displeasure”. and attention

ministers had followed Cohen’s comments “with great “with comments Cohen’s followed had ministers

statement released after Monday’s cabinet meeting said meeting cabinet Monday’s after released statement

media last month and had cut them short to head home. A home. head to short them cut had and month last media

reports of Cohen’s comments surfaced in the Kuwaiti the in surfaced comments Cohen’s of reports

said he had been undergoing tests in London when the when London in tests undergoing been had he said

on Monday, would consider his request tomorrow. Ajmi tomorrow. request his consider would Monday, on

sation that he backed terror,” Al-Rai reported. Al-Rai terror,” backed he that sation

post because of health problems which predated the accu- the predated which problems health of because post

last month. Ajmi said he had “asked to be relieved of his of relieved be to “asked had he said Ajmi month. last

States, parts of which were carried by the Kuwait press late press Kuwait the by carried were which of parts States,

the wrong direction,” Cohen said in a lecture in the United the in lecture a in said Cohen direction,” wrong the

His appointment to the cabinet in January was a “step in “step a was January in cabinet the to appointment His

year that Ajmi “has a history of promoting jihad in Syria.” in jihad promoting of history a “has Ajmi that year

financial intelligence, David Cohen, charged earlier this earlier charged Cohen, David intelligence, financial

newspaper reported. newspaper

asked to be relieved of his duties for health reasons, Al-Rai reasons, health for duties his of relieved be to asked

Ajmi, who strongly denies the US accusations, said he had he said accusations, US the denies strongly who Ajmi,

said yesterday. Justice and Islamic Affairs Minister Nayef Al- Nayef Minister Affairs Islamic and Justice yesterday. said

receiving the backing of fellow cabinet members, a report a members, cabinet fellow of backing the receiving

cial of promoting jihad in Syria, has resigned just days after days just resigned has Syria, in jihad promoting of cial KUWAIT: KUWAIT:

48

He said that the cabinet, which gave him its full support full its him gave which cabinet, the that said He The US Treasury Under Secretary for terrorism and terrorism for Secretary Under Treasury US The

istani A Kuwaiti minister, accused by a senior US offi- US senior a by accused minister, Kuwaiti A o could takeadvantage ofthenewmeasures. side Kuwaiton whether citizensofPakistan answers toquestionsraisedinside andout- the ambassador’sremarksseem toprovide are notincludedintherecent measure. But banned fromobtainingvisasin the Gulfstate and fiveothernationswhose citizensare gested thatKuwaitiembassies inPakistan around theworld.Anearlierreport hadsug- obtain visasthroughKuwait’sembassies announced thatitwouldallowforeignersto estimated between120,000-130,000. 1st. ThePakistanipopulationinKuwaitis and LaborisplanningtoreopenitonMay suspended, buttheMinistryofSocialAffairs recruitment intheprivatesectoriscurrently lift The stepcomesweeksafterKuwait v isas b Min Max an PAGE 12º 30º LOCAL SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014

Asian woman, newborn found dead in Sulaibiya By Hanan Al-Saadoun source said the woman had been dead for 14 hours.

KUWAIT: An Asian woman was found dead with Fake checkpoint her newborn child wrapped in a blanket near A security source said that a police officer was Sulaibiya pump. A security source said it received a arrested late on Thursday for erecting a fake a check- call about the dead body in Sulaibiya and when point in Kabd. The source said the man in dishdasha police arrived, they found the bodies covered with and bisht, was checking cars on Kabd Road. A patrol a blanket. Forensics doctor examined her body was sent to the area and arrested him after several and found her to be an unknown Asian. She was calls were made. It was found that the man was acting not wearing any clothes and was carrying a baby under the influence of alcohol. He was sent to the KUWAIT: The body of the Asian woman that was boy whose umbilical cord was still attached. The police prison in Nuzha area. found in Sulaibiya. Kuwaiti girl stabbed to death by father in UK Vehicle with liquor cartons stolen

KUWAIT: Following up the murder case immediately rushed to the hospital and bottles) of Red Label Whiskey in it, said of a female Kuwaiti student in that by tracing the blood trail, the security sources. Portsmouth, the UK, informed security policemen reached the girl’s apartment sources said that the girl was in to find her already dead. Wrong number Portsmouth for postgraduate studies The parent of a seven-year-boy was and that she was stabbed to death by Missing child found recently referred to relevant authorities her own father before he stabbed him- A 6-year-old child, who had been after his son kept calling the emergency self. The sources added that the murder reported missing by his mother while number 112, said security sources not- took place last Sunday noon in the she was shopping at Mubarakiya market ing that on indentifying the true caller’s apartment the girl rented on St Michael was later found by the police, said secu- identity, policemen rushed to the citi- Street. It took the police a few days rity sources noting that the boy was fol- zen’s house in Salwa. A case was filed. before they could interrogate someone lowing another woman mistaking her who had been hospitalized with several for his mother while his real mother was Juvenile run over stabs in nearby hotel who was thought hysterically combing the market in A juvenile citizen was run over by to be related to the murder. search for him. one of his schoolmates after a fight out- The sources added that the injured side a school, said security sources. The man only recovered Monday night Granddaughter bashed up driver, who was driving a relative’s vehi- when the police found out that he was A female citizen reported that, due to cle, said that he accidently ran over one the girl’s own father. However, the 60- family disputes after her parents’ of his assailants while trying to escape. A year-old father, who seemed mentally divorce, her own granddaughter was case was filed. unstable during interrogation, told the brutally beaten up by her father’s side police that he could not remember why grandmother, which caused her some Two arrested he had stabbed his daughter and that injuries, said security sources adding Two mentally disturbed citizens were on realizing what he did, he punished that the grandma filed a complaint and arrested on trying to drive through Al- himself by four stabs to his chest and a medical report. Further investigations Salmi land border exit without going abdomen. The man added that he left are still in progress. through standard procedures, said secu- the girl’s apartment and walked to a rity sources noting that on checking KUWAIT: Director of General cleanliness and Road nearby hotel leaving a trail of blood all Vehicle stolen their credentials, policemen found out Occupancy Department at Hawally governorate Abdelaziz the way and that he collapsed on enter- A search is on for an American vehi- that they were both mentally unstable. Al-Yahya. ing the hotel’s lobby. cle with CD license plate that was stolen The two men were referred to the psy- Rotten vegetables The sources added that he was in Salwa with 15 cartons (including 180 chiatric diseases hospital. confiscated Kuwaiti driver charged By Hanan Al-Saadoun

KUWAIT: Director of general cleanliness and road occupancy with friends’ death department at Hawally municipality Abdelaziz Al-Yahya said the roaming vendors team confiscated 12 boxes of mangoes, KUWAIT: A man was charged in the death According to them, a vehicle crashed into a policeman managed to avoid being hit. The 67 watermelons and several other vegetables and fruits in of his two friends who died in an accident light post in the area. They found that the man stopped in the middle of the confu- Zahraa area. Meanwhile Kuwait Municipality removed 21 loads on the King Fahad Highway. Paramedics accident has left a teenage driver dead and sion and the other officer seized the of leftovers, furniture and tents from camping areas, in addi- and police headed to the scene in response his companion injured. Preliminary investi- moment by reaching through the window tion to lifting 40 loads of leftovers from Sulaibikhat cemetery. to an emergency call and reported that a gations indicate that the accident hap- and switching the engine off. The man was vehicle lost balance and overturned. They pened due to high speed, which caused the overpowered and taken to the proper discovered that the accident left two men driver to lose control over his vehicle. authorities for further action. -Watan 7 tons of expired dead while the driver escaped with mild Investigations are ongoing. -Anba injuries. The prosecutor ordered the case to Brutal assault food confiscated be classified as homicide, based on the Fugitive charged Mubarak Al-Kabeer police are looking criminal investigators’ report which A fugitive faces attempted murder for a person who left a man in a critical con- KUWAIT: Emergency inspectors at the Kuwait City municipali- accused the driver of causing the accident charges among others after he tried to run dition following a brutal attack during a ty department confiscated seven tons of food items that are that led to his companions’ death. The over a police officer while he was being mugging reported recently in Sabah Al- unfit for human consumption stored in stores within the gov- Kuwaiti driver was put under arrest after arrested for previous charges including Salem. Local police were approached by a ernorate. receiving treatment and taken to the prop- possession of unlicensed firearm. The inci- Pakistani man who said that his relative was The amount includes four tons of ‘assorted food items’ and er authorities for further action. —Anba dent took place at a coffee shop’s parking assaulted by a man he was able to identify. three tons of ice-cream, all expired, according to Kuwait lot in Kuwait City. The suspect was He gave people the address of the suspect Municipality sources. The items were seized in an operation Teen driver dead approached in his car by patrol officers who who he said stole KD35 from his relative. carried out at a food supplier’s warehouse a week ago in An underage driver died while a 22- asked to see his IDs. Realizing that he will Police received a medical report from Al- cooperation with the imported foods department in the year-old man was injured in an accident be arrested, the man started his car’s Razi Hospital which shows that the victim municipality. “The items are being held pending test results reported recently in Saad Al-Abdullah. engine and attempted to drive away. The was diagnosed with wounds on his head before an official report is released,” said the sources who Paramedics and police rushed to the scene man drove towards one of the patrol offi- and right arm, as well as bruises on his right spoke to Al-Rai on condition of anonymity. — Al-Rai in response to an emergency call. cers, attempting to run him over, but the arm.-Anba LOCAL SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014 Forged documents found at Farwaniya Labor dept Psychological tests for labor recruitments mooted

KUWAIT: An undisclosed number of forged documents were discovered at the Farwaniya Labor Department, a senior official at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor announced recently. The documents include information altered illegally for salaries and driving license status, said Hameed Al-Shimmari, the Nightshift Director at the Farwaniya Labor Department. He added that proper legal procedures have been taken. In other news, Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Hind Al- Subaih issued a decree that approves the ‘organizational struc- ture’ for the Labor Public Authority, and names the offices that will operate under newly-appointed General Director Jamal Al- Dousary. The ministry is currently carrying out the process of shifting Labor department employees under the new authority, which is expected to start operating sometime this summer. The state-run body will handle expatriates workers’ recruitment in Kuwait, phasing out the flawed sponsorship system in the process. Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Hind Al-Subaih — KUNA ‘Negative impact’ their appropriate social roles. Separately, a Kuwaiti social activist reiterated demands “We hope to see the social roles in the Kuwaiti house which call local authorities to subject domestic helpers to a restored to their original status when domestic workers used to mandatory psychological test as part of the visa issuing proce- help in household works, and not play the main role in domes- dures, which already include passing a physical exam. tic works,” he said. “Housemaids now share a larger role in Calls to assess the mental status of recruited housemaids domestic works compared to retreated role for parents, which have increased in recent weeks after an Ethiopian maid was exposes an imbalance in social responsibilities. charged with the stab-murder of her employer’s daughter last Al-Utaiqi also stated that a lack of control on domestic labor month. “Maids’ crimes raise a lot of questions about the sound- recruitment created a ‘variety of cultures’ that negatively affect KUWAIT: The evening view of Kuwait City captured by the ness of the social status that the society lives in,” said Abdullatif the Arab and Muslim culture of the Kuwaiti society. lens of Joseph Shagra Al-Utaiqi, Chairman of the Kuwait Foundation for Family “Statistical information indicate that there are 900,000 non- Protection. Muslim expatriates in Kuwait who come from different coun- Al-Utaiqi believes the society in Kuwait and the Gulf region tries with diverse customs and beliefs, reflecting negatively on Citizens asked to return has become too dependent on domestic labor forces, which interaction inside the home,” he said. undeserved allowances requires efforts to spread awareness among citizens regarding — Al-Qabas, Al-Rai, Al-Watan KUWAIT: The department responsible for rent allowance at the Housing Authority requested from citizens who had Operation underway to nab received undeserved allowances to return them. The Department Director Yousuf Al-Kandry said there are a large number of citizens who received residential lands and kept 6,000 sentenced fugitives receiving rent allowance for several years without being enti- tled to them. He said that the Authority will recollect the paid rent allowances retroactive to the date of the building permit KUWAIT: A security team consisting of 100 police officers Finance Minister Anas Al-Saleh to allow the investigation they received, Al-Jarida reported. embarked on a mission to arrest 6,000 fugitives convicted in committee in North Zoor station contract to question the He said some people, for example, bought plots of land in various criminal cases who remain at large in Kuwait. persons involved in the contract before MPs are compelled residential areas in Abu Fateers, Funaitees and Messilah and This was reported by Al-Rai yesterday quoting a ‘high- to use their constitutional tools or write to the speaker to no building permits were issued. When the citizens received ranking security official’ who admitted that the process to ask the interior minister and public prosecution to reveal the the permits, they did not inform the Housing Authority and find and arrest the fugitives have been slow in past years. movement of those persons out of the country and force continued receiving the allowance. Al-Kanderi explained that “The reason for this is the fact that some officers lack experi- them to attend the committee investigations. the amounts to be recovered vary between KD 3000 and KD ence when it comes to implementing court orders,” said the Dashti said the committees summoned several persons 12000 from each person. source who spoke on the condition of anonymity. who signed the contracts but the reply was that two of The team has already been able to arrest some fugitives those who signed it now live outside Kuwait and a third New checkpoint rules since the operation started five days ago, and the arrests resigned. KUWAIT: The Interior Ministry Undersecretary Lt General rate is expected to increase, according to the source. He said the two have Kuwait iqamas and work at one of Suleiman Al-Fahad issued a decision that bans any checkpoint One of the fugitives, a man sentenced for life in prison, the companies that established the Zoor Station company. in any area or street to be set before an approval from the was detained a couple of weeks ago after he took part in Dashti said it took a long while and either the committee central operations is given. According to reports about the bedoons’ protests in Taima and Sulaibiya in which police must be allowed to question those responsible or we will be new checkpoint rules, a checkpoint must include a minimum officers were subjected to assault. forced to use all of our authorities. — Al-Watan of an officer and two patrol cars, Alaan reported. The sources added that there are around 6,000 other convicts sentenced are in police custody. Kuwait envoy to Mexico Warning on mall fight A member of Parliament warned against the repeat of meets senate president inviting singers and showbiz people to inaugurating malls as many things are against customs and traditions. He asked NEW YORK: Ambassador of Kuwait to Mexico Samih the Interior, Social Affairs and Commerce Ministries to Hayat met on Thursday with President of the Mexican implement the law and be strict in punishing violators. Senate Raul Cervantes Andrade and discussed ways of This call came after the visit of singer Saad Al-Majrad that bolstering bilateral ties between the two friendly coun- attracted a large number of women who thronged to see tries. him and listen to his songs. Kuwait Embassy in Mexico said in a statement that the Al-Majrid was shocked by a fight that took place in his meeting was held at the headquarters of the Senate in presence. It was said that a Kuwaiti youth picked up a fight central Mexico City. Hayat said the meeting aimed at fos- after he was irked by the number of women who were tering bilateral cooperation and coordinating at the bilat- drawn to the singer and danced with hm. Al-Rai eral level and on the international arenas between the two countries’ legislative authorities. The two men also tackled North Zoor station ways of activating work of the parliamentary committee KUWAIT: A policeman checks a vehicle at a checkpoint. between Kuwait and Mexico. — KUNA The image is used for illustrative purpose only. Member of Parliament Abdelhameed Dashti asked LOCAL SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014 Kuwait property sales surge in early 2014 Shortage of houses still poses a challenge

KUWAIT: While real estate sales in Kuwait exceeded $1 billion in the first month of 2014, a shortage of housing at the lower end of the market continues to represent a challenge. According to a recent report by the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK), property sales reached KD315 million in January, marginally down on the previous month, but up 24per cent year-on-year (y-o-y). Growth was driven primarily by activity in the investment sector, with monthly sales ris- ing to KD141m, equivalent to an 88per cent increase y-o-y. The number of transactions hit 197, up 76 per cent over the same month in 2013. The majority of transactions were account- ed for by individual apartments, followed by whole buildings (38 per cent) and plots of land (6 per cent). Investment properties are considered an alternative to the stock market and are largely made up of apartment com- plexes that cater to the expatriate population. Meanwhile, in the residential sector, which reflects the housing demand of the Kuwaiti population, sales dropped 2per cent y-o-y, to hit KD142 million. While the average sales val- ue climbed by 46 per cent in annual terms, the number of transactions fell 32per cent to 368, the lowest level since February 2013. A bird’s eye view of downtown Kuwait. The rise in average value appears to have ty to an increase in land distribution by the ed by the fact that under current legislation, Minister of State for Housing Affairs Yasser been driven at least in part by several large government over the past year. only Sharia-compliant institutions are permit- Abul said the government was serious about transactions, with three properties selling for The name change for the Kuwait Credit ted to provide mortgages, while personal addressing the housing shortage, saying that KD2 million each. Sales in the residential sec- Bank was announced in February. According loans have been limited by the central bank it would co-operate with the parliament to tor are largely made up of land plots, which to KUNA, the bank’s new strategy is focused so as not to exceed 40 times the borrower’s find a solution to what he described as a accounted for 60per cent of January’s transac- on providing more mortgages to Kuwait fami- monthly salary, with an upper limit of “very important issue”. tions in this segment. lies, as well as broadening the base of cus- KD70,000. This was followed by remarks on March 10 The balance of real estate sales were in the tomers to include more women. by Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs commercial segment, where nine properties All Kuwaiti nationals are legally entitled to Providing more low-cost housing Mohammed Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, where sold for a combined KD32.1 million. government-subsidized housing in the form Despite these financing challenges, who said the government, along with parlia- of interest-free loans from the Kuwait Credit demand for residential stock has exceeded ment, recognizes the importance of resolving Re-positioning of state mortgage bank Bank, which can be used to finance the con- supply for the past two decades, resulting in the issue. The state is committed to imple- In its report, the NBK noted state-owned struction or purchase of new homes. In 2013 a backlog of more than 100,000 units at the menting projects and speeding up the plan- Kuwait Credit Bank (formerly the Credit and the amount of financing per residence avail- Public Authority of Housing Welfare as of ning process, he said, while speaking at the Savings Bank) disbursed loans valued at able under this scheme was raised from 2012, according to a study carried out by the Kuwait Housing Conference. He suggested KD15.1million in January, up 45per cent y-o-y, KD70,000 to KD100,000, although this figure London School of Economics. that the private sector could play a larger while loan approvals reached KD27million, a is still considerably below the average price However, the state is well-aware of the role, in part through the establishment of rise of 79 per cent over the same month in of a villa. problem and is taking steps to provide more joint stock companies related to housing. 2013. NBK attributed the rise in lending activi- The challenge of financing is compound- low-cost housing to its citizens. On March 3, — Oxford Business Group EPA outlines national Corrupt bidding detected environment strategy in Capital Road ads tender KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Environment Public with relevant national, regional and interna- KUWAIT: Financial corruption seems to cloud means the winner would have to make a Authority (EPA) has outlined the second ambi- tional organizations to put the strategy in the tender for billboard advertising on public higher bid. “There are too any exclamations tious strategy for environment protection in effect. The EPA has recently developed highly roads, said informed sources noting that the about this first of a kind measure that would the coming years, announced Director of EPA’s sophisticated systems to monitor and analyze issue might soon turn into a ‘ball of fire’ in the subject the municipality minister to legal Research and Strategic Planning Office Huda environment data, Munayes said, referring to hands of Minister of State for Municipal accountability”, stressed the sources. “Such Al-Munayes yesterday. “The second national the Environmental Monitoring Information Affairs, Essa Al-Kandari unless he stops this manipulation cleared the way to one bidder environment strategy would meet the aspira- System of Kuwait (eMISK). public fund violation committed by influential applying under three different names”, said tions and demands of Kuwaitis regarding envi- The eMISK is initiated by EPA with aims to people who are trying to get the tender one the sources warning that some arrangements ronment preservation, pollution control, establish, build and maintain a comprehensive million less than the highest bid, which is still might have been already made with some retaining natural resources and achieving sus- geo-environmental database of Kuwait along KD 5 million less than the project’s book value. nominal bidders who only had themselves to The sources added that one entity had compete with. tainable development,” Munayes told KUNA. with an enterprise level GIS system for access, applied to the tender under three different Commenting on the issue, law experts She revealed that the new strategy includes update and analysis of the environmental data. company names that later on appeared to be said that in case of changing the tender condi- setting up integrated systems for environment The GIS is a geographic information system run by the same person. They added that the tions, the municipality should have reoffered preservation, air and water quality control, integrates hardware, software, and data for three fake companies made nominal bidding the tender for bidding to avoid any embar- waste recycling, marine and land preservation capturing, managing, analyzing, and display- with only KD1,000 difference between the rassing complaints that would get the minster and handling of hazardous chemicals and ing all forms of geographically referenced three biddings and finally win it for KD 8.8 mil- legally accountable for jeopardizing public materials. Munayes pointed out that the long- information. lion though a company that was excluded funds. term strategy identifies the required environ- GIS allows users to view, understand, ques- from bidding for already winning a contract in The experts also stressed that the excluded ment projects to realize its goals as well as the tion, interpret, and visualize data in many ways Farwaniya had made a KD 9.78 million bid- company had contacted the concerned minis- required financing for each project and goal to that reveal relationships, patterns, and trends ding for the same tender. ter offering the same bid (KD 9.78 million) or a be achieved. in the form of maps, globes, reports and charts. Further, the sources highlighted that the higher one, which made the municipality con- She added that the new strategy envisions A GIS helps answer questions and solve prob- municipality had changed the conditions of sult the finance ministry’s undersecretary who a series of new legislations to impose harsher lems by looking at the data in a way that is the tender and offered it for rebidding verbally responded saying that the tender penalties on air and water polluters and those quickly understood and easily shared. GIS tech- because the highest bid (KD 9.78 million) was should either be given to the winner or reof- harming the ecological system in the country. nology can be integrated into any enterprise still less than the project’s book value, which fered for bidding. —Al-Rai Munayes stated that the EPA will cooperate information system framework. — KUNA LOCAL SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014 Egypt’s tourism outlook bullish

Country offers tourists a safe environment: Minister

By Velina Nacheva of these numbers. This is especially true since more than two million tourists visited South Sinai Egypt has had historic ties with its fellow Arab most of the GCC citizens consider Egypt their and the Red Sea during the first quarter of 2013, nations and we are working towards reinforcing KUWAIT: In an exclusive interview with the second home, and while their numbers may while during the second quarter, the number of these special ties through such campaigns. Kuwait Times, Hisham Zaazou, Egypt’s Minister have been impacted, they have never stopped tourists reached more than 2.1 million - an of Tourism spells out the country’s recipe for visiting Egypt even during the phases of politi- increase of 4 percent. The third quarter - which KT: Can you provide some statistics about the success in tourism growth. Stressing the ways cal unrest. coincided with the 30th of June Revolution - saw tourist numbers in 2013 compared to of strengthening the bilateral relations between the arrival of 1.1 million tourists recording a 2012/2011 for example? Kuwait and Egypt in the tourism field, he says KT: What are your projections for tourism decrease of around 45 percent compared with the HZ: In collaboration with the Egyptian Tourism that both nations have a long standing bond in growth amidst the current situation? second quarter of 2013. During the fourth quarter, Authority, we have recently released some facts the historic, political, social and cultural fields. HZ: Having gone through several years of Egypt saw the arrival of 1.3 million tourists, an and figures related to the number of tourists visit- He also called for discussions on further bolster- socio-political change, we are confident on say- increase of 18 percent compared with the third ing the Governorates of the Red Sea and South ing the bilateral relations in the field of tourism ing that Egypt is regaining stability now that quarter of 2013 indicating a gradual recovery in Sinai. between the two countries. there are tangible steps towards carrying the the tourism industry reflecting the increased polit- Some 9.5 million tourists visited Egypt through- ‘Roadmap’ forward , such as successfully com- ical stability at the end of the year. out last year, with both these Governorates attract- KT: Since the start of the Arab Spring how pleting our constitutional referendum. We are In some models, countries would have to wait ing around 6.7 million tourists alone. has the turmoil in Egypt affected the tourism very optimistic in our outlook for the tourism several years for their tourist industry to recover, Egypt has received 96 thousand Kuwaiti tourists industry, one of the largest industries in the sector in Egypt this year. Our analysis of the but with the Egyptian tourism sector, it is safe to in 2012. We are happy to report that despite the country? trends in the number of tourists to visit Egypt say that it is a matter of one month between the political situation in the second half of the year, HZ: It is no secret that in any nation around indicates that the sector is capable of steady political unrest subsiding, and the numbers rising Egypt still hosted 83 thousand Kuwaiti tourists in the world, the socio-political climate has a recovery following any setbacks. once more. We are very optimistic. Not only does 2013. direct impact on tourism, and Egypt is no differ- Based on this, we expect the number of this sector have lots of potential, but it is also Despite the decrease in the number of tourists ent in this regard. However, Egypt enjoys a tourists to reach around 13.5 million in 2014 resilient in the face of any challenges. in 2013, which amounted to a fall of just under 18% rather unique situation whereby its tourism sec- when compared with 2012, we continue to main- tor is one of the largest and strongest around tain Egypt’s position as a safe tourist destination. the world. This is evident when assessing the Regardless of the current challenges that Egypt past three years where despite all challenges it faces, it is still considered the destination of choice faced; Egypt still managed to attract more than for many Arab and foreign tourists alike. 30 million tourists with over 20 percent visiting from the Arab world. KT: How many people previously employed by The Egyptian Tourism Industry’s resilience is the hospitality industry have lost their jobs and based on several factors, most importantly, the income? How much does the Egyptian economy diversity of the destinations within the country. depend on tourism? Not only are the destinations diverse in their HZ: The answer would be many. The Egyptian offerings, but also in their strategic geographic tourism sector currently employs 4 million people locations which are peaceful safe havens. sustains the livelihood of an estimated 16 million Egypt remains an important hub for all cul- citizens. With a steady revival of the industry, the tural, artistic and touristic events on the pan pressure on these individuals and families will Arab level and we are working towards main- decrease, and we are hopeful that this industry can taining its position as a prime safe tourist desti- provide job opportunities for many more into the nation in the Arab world and globally. future. The tourism industry’s contribution in numbers KT: A Kuwaiti delegation recently paid a visit is as follows - 11.3 percent of the GDP, and 14.4 per- to Sharm El Sheikh. What was the focus of cent of the Foreign Direct Investment. It employs your meetings with them and what were the 12.6 percent of the Egyptian labor force. specific decisions taken? HZ: The visit was in line with our strategy to KT: Where does the largest group of tourists to showcase Egypt as a safe destination and have Egypt’s Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou Egypt come from? Do you see a positive growth our fellow Kuwaiti media experience it for trend for these tourists or are there new markets themselves. We discussed our ways of strength- which can yield revenue of about $11 billion. If that are interested to send tourists to Egypt? ening our bilateral cooperation between both we achieve these numbers — we strongly KT: What campaigns/projects have you initiat- HZ: Egypt is a popular destination for holiday- nations that have a long standing bond at the believe that we will - the tourism sector will ed with the aim to encourage the flow of makers from Russia to Mexico, but patterns are historic, political, social and cultural levels. break its highest record in three years. tourists into Egypt? constantly changing and we cannot limit the influx A top priority on our agenda was to convey HZ: Both the Ministry of Tourism and the to one nation. the importance of credible, unbiased reporting KT: What was the impact of the tourism slump Egyptian Tourism Authority have been working However, we have been intrigued by India, on Egypt as a touristic destination. Being one of on Egypt’s economy and on the hospitality sec- tirelessly with all our international partners to pro- China, and South America as promising markets for the nations that provided this kind of reporting, tor in the last three years? mote and encourage tourism to Egypt from every growth. We have a strategic plan to target these we’ve expressed our appreciation for the HZ: The Egyptian economy as a whole suffered nation around the world. We have worked with markets in 2014 through increased collaboration Kuwaiti media’s active role in their coverage of due to the social and political change that the governments to ensure their concerns are with key travel agencies and tour operators as well Egypt. We concluded with an open invite for country has undergone since 2011. Since tourism addressed and we’ve also reached out to the peo- as other entities that would facilitate this process any other Kuwaiti media outlets and extended is ‘mega industry’ and one of the sectors that has a ple to raise their awareness of what Egypt has to and promote Egypt as a key touristic destination. this invite to the people of Kuwait who have direct correlation with other sectors such as hospi- offer them. long considered Egypt to be their second tality, transport, commerce and many others, any Besides partaking in international exhibitions KT: You have been a minister under two differ- home. slowdown in the tourism sector has an effect on and conventions, we’ve conducted a number of ent governments in Egypt. Did their approach to other sectors. bilateral visits. Since we truly believe in the fact promoting tourism differ and how? KT: Are Gulf tourists also declining in num- We see this effect as a great opportunity. As that ‘seeing is believing’ we’ve hosted, and we HZ: As with every government around the bers or is it just the western tourists that the tourism sector makes a slow but steady recov- continue to host media delegations from across world, agendas and priorities tend to be different, have detoured their holiday plans else- ery, we are very optimistic about the resulting the world so they can see Egypt first-hand and and are usually informed by a certain political ideol- where? positive effects on the hospitality sector as well as report on its safety as well as everything it has to ogy. So while there were slight differences in areas HZ: When a tourist destination faces a set- every other sector that directly benefits from a offer tourists. The resulting media coverage is of focus with different regimes, the Egyptian back, it is rather usual for the impacts on the flourishing tourism sector. both credible and unbiased. tourism sector was strong enough to have its own number of incoming tourists to be universal; Our most important campaign at the moment, identity. Being the mass economic force that it is, the difference between influxes from different KT: Would you say that there are signs of opti- which will be put into effect very soon, is the supporting this industry has been a priority on the nations is usually negligible. mism for tourism in Egypt in 2014? “Wahashtoona” campaign. “Wahashtoona” which agenda of every government. I remain confident While confidence was rising in the first half HZ: There is a common trend that has been directly translates into ‘we’ve missed you’ is direct- that no matter what differences in the tone of voice of 2013, the political situation witnessed from observed throughout the past three years. While ed at our fellow Arab nations. The campaign aims that any previous or future government have or will June-September 2013 had a sizeable impact on tourism is affected at times of political unrest, the to encourage tourism flow into Egypt from Arab adopt, there will always be one common message: the numbers of tourists from GCC countries. recovery rate is rather impressive. countries by offering them competitive packages Egypt has an undeniable historic, social and cultural With the beginning of 2014, we are expecting We’ve tallied and assessed the numbers of on ‘flight and stay’ at Egypt’s well known attrac- significance and it will remain a vital hub for an increased confidence and a steady recovery tourists from 2013 and the statistics reveal that tions. tourism from across the world.

SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014 ‘Black box’ detector C Africa Muslims trapped in India’s Modi eyes joins MH370 search 8 the ‘Alcatraz of Africa’ 9 final ascent to power 12

BETUNIA: A Palestinian protester throws a rock at Israeli police yesterday. — AFP Kerry calls for a ‘reality check’ Palestinians, Israelis trade blame for impasse

RABAT: US Secretary of State John Kerry said yesterday April deadline. Kerry flew to Jerusalem to try to find a solu- including Marwan Barghouti, jailed a decade ago over a Washington was evaluating whether to continue its role in tion. Just when he believed a convoluted deal was within spate of suicide bombings. Middle East peace talks, signaling his patience with the reach, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed 15 “(Abbas) should know that at this point in time his Israelis and Palestinians was running out. Speaking during international treaties, making clear he was ready to beat a demands are working against him. No Israeli will negotiate a visit to Morocco after a week of setbacks, Kerry said there unilateral path to world bodies unless he saw more move- with him at any price,” said Lapid, one of the more moder- was a limit to US efforts if the parties themselves were ment from the Israelis. ate voices within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s unwilling to move forward. “This is not an open-ended A senior Palestinian official, Nabil Shaath, told Reuters rightist coalition. Kerry has spent much of his first year as effort, it never has been. It is reality check time, and we that Abbas had not intended to upset Kerry, but rather to America’s top diplomat invested in the Middle East peace intend to evaluate precisely what the next steps will be,” shine a spotlight on Israel’s failure to release the prisoners. process, and has visited the region more than a dozen Kerry said, adding he would return to Washington on “I think (Kerry) will return because we have not abandoned times. Friday to consult with the Obama administration. the process,” said the veteran negotiator, speaking in He broke off twice from his current 12-day trip in US officials say Kerry had been blindsided by recent Ramallah, the Palestinians’ administrative capital in the Europe and the Middle East to see Israeli and Palestinian Israeli and Palestinian moves that had compromised under- West Bank. “We will continue these negotiations as we leaders in an apparent effort to salvage the peace negotia- takings made when they launched the latest round of talks agreed, and I wish for once that America’s patience runs tions. The talks have struggled from the start, stalling over aimed at ending their enduring conflict last July. “They say out-with Israel and not the Palestinians,” he added. Palestinian opposition to Israel’s demand that it be recog- they want to continue, neither party has said they have nized as a Jewish state, and over the issue of fast-growing called it off, but we are not going to sit there indefinitely,” Struggle Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Kerry said, making his bleakest assessment yet of talks that With both sides looking to blame the other for the Jerusalem. Palestinians want an independent state in he has dedicated a huge amount of energy to. impasse, Israel’s centrist finance minister, Yair Lapid, said Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem - lands captured The negotiations were catapulted into crisis at the he questioned whether Abbas wanted a deal, pointing to a by Israel in the 1967 war. While all parties say negotiations weekend when Israel refused to act on a previously agreed lengthy list of Palestinian demands published on Maan are the best path to peace, Palestinians say they may release of Palestinian prisoners unless it had assurances the news agency. These included lifting a blockade on the eventually resort to international bodies to force Israel to Palestinians would continue talks beyond an initial end- Gaza Strip, and freeing a group of high profile prisoners, make concessions. — Reuters INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014 Iraq Christians’ homes seized, unrest spikes BAGHDAD: As Iraq suffers its worst vio- Human Rights Organization, told AFP. by the home seizures, officials say, for Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako. Many of lence in years, gangs claiming ties to “Most of them are afraid of submit- reasons to do with tribal politics and those who left did not sell their proper- powerful militias have been comman- ting complaints to the government, because of the high number who have ties, ostensibly in the hope of returning deering empty homes in Baghdad with because they do not believe they can fled. one day. little official sanction, victims and rights protect themselves if they file a lawsuit Many empty homes that have been groups say. Militia leaders have dis- they are fearful of being kidnapped.” taken over were left by Christians who Legal system is ‘corrupt’ avowed the practice and insist they are Though kidnapping for political or took flight from Iraq, fearful of the near- And because Christians do not retain not behind it, while those affected-prin- financial motive is not as widespread as daily attacks that plague Baghdad and tribal affiliations in the way Arab cipally minority Christians-say the coun- it was during the worst of Iraq’s sectari- major cities. A community that once Muslims do, they have little recourse for try’s courts have done little to protect an war in 2006 and 2007, it remains a numbered more than one million resolving their disputes outside the Iraqi their property. “We have received persistent fear, particularly among nationwide, and upwards of 600,000 in legal system, which is often criticized for dozens of such cases,” William Warda, minority communities. Christian families Baghdad alone, has since fallen to fewer being corrupt and subject to manipula- head of the Baghdad-based Hammurabi have been disproportionately affected than 400,000 overall, according to tion. —AFP ‘Black box’ detector joins MH370 search

PERTH: A US Navy “black box” detector made its much-antici- pated debut in the oceanic hunt for flight MH370 yesterday but Australia’s search chief warned it was crunch time with the box’s signal set to expire soon. As the extensive search wore on, Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said he believed the country’s long-ruling regime was concealing information on the crisis, saying “the government knows more than us.” The Australian naval vessel Ocean Shield arrived with a “towed pinger locator” capable of homing in on signals from the black box, as 14 planes scoured the remote Indian Ocean search area for signs of a crash site. The plane disappeared March 8, and Australian authorities coordinating the search have rushed the device into place with the black box’s rough- ly 30-day location signal set to expire. Angus Houston, Australia’s former military chief and now coordinator of the eight-nation search, said “we’re now get- ting pretty close to the time when it might expire.” The plane went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board, confounding aviation experts and sparking criticism of Malaysian authorities who have been unable to explain how the jumbo jet vanished.

Undersea search commences Anwar said he was “baffled” by the Malaysian military’s fail- ure despite detecting the plane crossing back over the coun- CAIRO: Journalists and photo-journalists hold banners as they demonstrate in front of the journalists’ syndicate against try’s airspace following its mysterious detour. “Unfortunately repeated attacks on members of the press yesterday. —AFP the manner in which this was handled after the first few days was clearly suspect,” Anwar said in an interview with Britain’s Daily Telegraph. “Clearly information critical to our under- standing is deemed missing. I believe the government knows Spike in Iran executions more than us,” he added, without elaborating. Malaysian authorities believe satellite data indicates MH370 crashed in the Indian Ocean, far off western Australia. seen politically motivated Ocean Shield, which also bore an underwater drone vehi- cle capable of mapping the seafloor, joined in a search with the British navy’s hydrographic ship HMS Echo, which on Rouhani pre-occupied with nuclear talks, economy Thursday began scanning for black box transmissions. But BEIRUT: Within the small community of others fear that those who oppose Rouhani sor, the head of Iran’s Guardian Council, a despite days of exhaustively scouring the sea’s surface with minority Arabs where he lived in southwest and his negotiations with Western powers body that regularly disqualifies reform- planes and ships, no debris has been found to prove MH370 Iran, Hashem Shaabani was known as a over the country’s nuclear program are minded candidates for parliament, called for went down in the area, let alone pinpoint a crash site. teacher, an advocate for civil rights and a pushing the executions to weaken him. “It’s more executions of protestors. The man with Australian Commodore Peter Leavy admitted the undersea poet. But to the Islamic Republic he was very much a show of a threat by ideological the power to rein in extremists in the judici- search was a shot in the dark for hopes that a ping can be seen as a threat. Shaabani, 32, was arrested hardliners who want to demonstrate that ary and elsewhere, Supreme Leader picked up, adding that the two ships would need to move at in February 2011 and accused of belonging Rouhani’s election is not going to impact Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final excruciatingly slow speeds in the deep waters to improve the to an armed separatist group. His family had their domestic policies,” said Hadi Ghaemi, say on all state matters, has made no move chances.—AFP minimal contact with him after his arrest, executive director of the International to put a brake on the rise in executions. and in late January this year they received Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. “They Khamenei has given Rouhani his support for shocking news: Shaabani had been execut- know that these executions are going to be the negotiations with the West, and some ed. “It made me question why we live in a very closely monitored and condemned by believe he has sat on his hands over the exe- society where something like this can hap- the international community. They are cutions as a counterbalance to appease pen,” said a friend who asked not to be iden- undermining Rouhani both domestically hardliners. tified for personal security reasons. “It also and internationally.” “Khamenei is the ultimate balancer,” said made me think that we have a long road United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki- Trita Parsi, the president of the National ahead before we can reach democracy and Moon and top UN human rights officials Iranian American Council (NIAC). “He needs freedom.” Since president Hassan Rouhani, a have already condemned the rise. Last to make sure no one gets too popular and relative moderate in Iran, took office last autumn, Ali Younesi, Rouhani’s advisor for strong that they actually threaten him.” August, there has been a surge in execu- ethnic and religious minority affairs, told a Iran’s judiciary has regularly meted out capi- tions: at least 537 people have been execut- group of minority political leaders that tal punishment since the Islamic Revolution ed in the past eight months, nearly 200 of “extremists” were responsible for a rash of in 1979. In recent years, it has been second them since the beginning of this year, executions of Kurdish prisoners, according only to China in absolute numbers of prison- according to figures compiled by the Iran to a report on the Rooz Online news site. ers killed, according to Amnesty Human Rights Documentation Center. That Hardliners in Iran have long pushed for the International. Most are executed for drug BEIJING: Chinese relatives of passengers on the missing compares with a total for 2013 of 624, execution of those they see as a threat to the offences, but human rights activists say Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 pray after a meeting in a according to data gathered by the United system. In 2010, after an uprising against the many others appear to be political cases pray room at the Metro Park Hotel yesterday. — AFP Nations. Some human rights activists and election of Rouhani’s conservative predeces- intended to send a message.—Reuters INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014 Former Lebanon warlord to stand for president

BEIRUT: Former Lebanon warlord Samir Geagea, a Forces refused to join a new government finally Syria withdrew in 2005. Under the constitution, par- staunch opponent of Syria and the Shiite move- formed after 10 months of political wrangling, cit- liament chooses a president within a two-month ment Hezbollah, will stand for the presidency in ing Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria and its contro- period before the end of the incumbent’s term. May, his Christian Lebanese Forces party said yes- versial arsenal. Lebanese Forces deputy Georges Lebanese media have in recent weeks identified terday. Geagea, 61, was the only leader from the Edwan announced Geagea’s candidacy, saying the other presidential hopefuls as ex-president Amin 1975-1990 civil war ever jailed, but was released party’s decision to back him is based on an “urgent Gemayel, MPs Boutros Harb and Robert Ghanem, under an amnesty in 2005 after Syria withdrew need for radical change now”. The war in Syria has who are like Geagea members of the March 14 anti- from Lebanon, ending 30 years of domination over exacerbated sectarian tensions in Lebanon as the Syria movement. its tiny neighbor. Syria ended its military and politi- conflict has spilled over into the Mediterranean Other potential candidates are Hezbollah allies cal dominance under popular Lebanese and inter- country. Hundreds of people have been killed over Michel Aoun, a Christian leader and former army national pressure, but it continues to exert signifi- the past three years in clashes and bombings, chief, and MP Suleiman Frangiyeh. Lebanese presi- cant influence through allies, mainly Hezbollah. including a recent spate of car bomb attacks target- dents are always chosen from the Christian Geagea is one of Hezbollah’s key opponents in ing mostly Hezbollah strongholds. The situation Maronite community. Geagea spent 11 years in jail Lebanon, and has repeatedly demanded that the has been further strained as the number of before being released in July 2005. He was arrested movement, which never disarmed after the 15-year refugees from Syria has hit the one million mark in in 1994 in connection with a deadly bomb attack civil war, hand in its weapons. He has also Lebanon, a country of fragile resources and a native on a church. He was cleared in that case but hand- expressed support for the revolt against President population of just four million. ed four death sentences which were later commut- Bashar Al-Assad and denounced Hezbollah’s Geagea hopes to take over from President ed to life imprisonment for offences committed involvement in the deadly conflict, which is now in Michel Sleiman whose six-year term ends on May during the civil war which killed some 150,000 peo- Samir Geagea its fourth year. Last month, Geagea’s Lebanese 25 and who was the first head of state voted in after ple. — AFP Syria army steps C Africa Muslims trapped up operations in the ‘Alcatraz of Africa’

BEIRUT: Regime tanks and warplanes pounded besieged Mleiha east of Damascus yesterday, pressing a campaign ‘Only way out is death’ to take control of the opposition-held town, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Fierce fighting raged BANGUI: “This is hell within hell,” says power in this deeply troubled, land- Chad. Many fled here in desperate haste on the outskirts of Mleiha as rebels tried to defend it, the Ibrahim Al-Awad, his sandals sloshing locked nation. with just a few measly belongings as Observatory said a day after 22 opposition fighters were through red mud on his way through a He has lived in the Central African the sectarian violence suddenly killed in the army’s bombardment. According to the suburb of Bangui that has become a Republic for a decade, prospecting for engulfed neighborhoods that had lived Britain-based monitoring group, there were four air desperate refuge from sectarian vio- gold. “It’s good business,” he says. Gold peacefully for generations. The strikes yesterday on Mleiha, which like much of the lence. Ibrahim is headed for a mosque and diamonds are part of the natural International Organization for Migration Eastern Ghouta area east of Damascus has been under that now acts as a refugee camp for wealth of the CAR, but production of and the UN High Commissioner for army siege for nearly six months. around 2,500 Muslims fleeing attacks in such resources has been hampered by Refugees have sent staff to register can- Mleiha is strategically located near regime-held the Central African Republic’s capital decades of corrupt rule, coups, army didates for departure from Begoua, but Jaramana, which is frequently shelled by the rebels. State and beyond. uprisings, rebel insurgencies and strikes. most have an agonizing wait ahead of news agency SANA said Thursday that six children were As weeks of vigilante raids by mostly Most of the country’s population of them. killed in shelling on the Dikhaniyeh neighborhood there. Christian militias have threatened to about 4.6 million derives no benefit “They tell us now that we’ll have to An activist on the ground, Abu Saqr, told AFP via Skype turn into a full-blown genocide, many from the mineral wealth, while the lat- wait longer-two to four weeks,” says that “Assad’s regime has been trying for two days to of those sheltering in the mosque are est conflict has displaced about a quar- Ibrahim. There is no question of going storm” Mleiha. He claimed that the offensive “is being trapped inside, too scared to leave. ter of them and hundreds of thousands anywhere alone. The route out of town is repelled by the (rebel) Free Syrian Army”. Abu Saqr said “This is the Alcatraz of Africa,” says of people face starvation, according to carefully watched by anti-balaka fighters, fighting on the edges of Mleiha was “very fierce” and that Ibrahim. The rainy season has started in UN agencies and aid charities. who are liable to kill any Muslims without the rebels are up against government troops backed by Bangui, and Begoua, where the mosque a moment’s hesitation. Contingents of Syrian and Iraqi pro-regime militiamen. is located, has turned into a muddy ‘One way out’ French and African forces try desperately The army’s campaign to crush rebel bastions in the quagmire. It is close to PK 12, a point For now, everyone in Begoua is sim- to keep the road open and free from vio- Eastern Ghouta area began in March 2013, and its troops north of the city that provides the only ply thinking of escape. Ibrahim would lence, but their 8,000 troops are not blockaded the area completely in October. Hundreds of road out for tens of thousands of like to join his wife in Bambari, a town in enough to keep the peace. Ibrahim thousands of civilians are still living in Eastern Ghouta, Muslims fleeing the bloodshed. central CAR. Others hope to flee for the points out the road-turned into a stream suffering from severe food shortages in many towns and The tense PK 12 area has seen fre- provinces or join tens of thousands of by the downpour. “One way out - villages, as well as bearing the brunt of daily shelling. quent, murderous raids against Muslims refugees in neighboring Cameroon and towards death,” he says. — AFP Elsewhere, fighting resumed in Latakia in western Syria, by the “anti-balaka” militia in a cam- where rebels launched a major offensive two weeks ago paign of retribution for atrocities carried against several strategic positions in the heartland of out by mostly Muslim Seleka rebels who seized power for 10 months in March President Bashar al-Assad’s clan and his Alawite sect. 2013. Inside the gloom of the dingy Yesterday’s battles focused on a key hill known as mosque, many lie prone under blankets Observatory 45, whose summit saw fierce fighting, with vacant stares, scarcely reacting to according to the Syrian Revolution General Commission, a the sight of visitors. “This morning one network of activists on the ground. More than 300 fight- of us was shot dead by the anti-balaka ers on both sides have been killed in Latakia in the past and another was wounded,” Ibrahim two weeks, the Observatory says. Among them was whispers, pointing out a body covered Moroccan jihadist Ibrahim Benchekroun, a former by a white veil. He lifts a corner to show Guantanamo inmate. Better known as Abu Ahmad Al- a lifeless man named Aminou, who was Maghrebi, he had previously fought US troops in gunned down when he went out to buy Afghanistan after Al-Qaeda’s September 11, 2001 attacks sugar. on the United States, and was later detained in Pakistan. Stepping outside the mosque, In northwestern Syria, rebels took control of Babuleen Ibrahim is greeted by two men hooded and Salhiyeh in Idlib province, a year after regime forces against the downpour and armed with had taken them over, said the Observatory. At least 18 bows and arrows. Ibrahim is a leading troops were killed in the fighting. The rebel advance helps member of a protective district commit- tighten their siege on Wadi Deif army base, one of the tee set up by local Muslims, and these regime’s last significant positions in Idlib. In Aleppo in the farmers are using their ancestral north, at least two people were killed in an air strike on weaponry to help protect the area. the rebel-held Shaar district. Hundreds of people, mostly Ibrahim’s family origins are in Sudan. He civilians, have been killed in air strikes on rebel areas in speaks Arabic and finds that English Aleppo since the regime launched a major aerial offensive comes more easily to him than French, BANGUI:Children of the Muslim community pose outside a mosque in Bangui’s on the city in December. — AFP the language of the former colonial Begoua 3 district near the PK-12 neighborhood. — AFP INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014

Fear and uncertainty for Crimean Tatars under Putin

SIMFEROPOL: In the dying days of the Soviet to split from Ukraine. Central Asia. Nearly half of them died of starvation Union, Milyara Settarova was a young activist who This week the minority’s assembly, the Mejlis, and disease. The Tatars began returning to Crimea took part in historic demonstrations in Moscow agreed to cooperate with the peninsula’s new under Mikhail Gorbachev and became Ukrainian demanding Crimean Tatars be allowed to return authorities but also said they would consider con- nationals after independence in 1991. They have home from Central Asia, where they had been ducting their own plebiscite on broader autonomy. since experienced a cultural revival but still wrestle deported under Stalin. Twenty-seven years later, The Tatars’ spiritual leader Mustafa Dzhemilev, who with problems such as land ownership and continu- the feisty 51-year-old is up in arms again, protesting is a Ukrainian lawmaker, told a session of the UN ing exclusion. Some said they were encouraged by Russia’s takeover of Crimea. “I do not trust Russia,” Security Council this week his people were Ukraine’s pro-EU uprising, which ousted Moscow- said Settarova, who teaches her native language at extremely worried about their future and even their backed president Viktor Yanukovych in February. a university in Simferopol, the Black Sea peninsula’s lives. “The possibility is rather high of bloody inter- But that optimism turned to dread with Crimea’s main city. “I don’t believe that this state will give us ethnic conflicts, or to be more precise of the slaugh- subsequent absorption into Russia. Russian more rights than we already have,” she told AFP. ter of Crimea’s Tatars and ethnic Ukrainians which President Vladimir Putin sought to allay their fears, She said many Tatars have still not forgiven may unfold in Crimea in the coming days,” he said. saying Tatar would be elevated to the level of a Moscow for the horrors their families went through Citing the UN Refugee Agency, Dzhemilev said state language on the peninsula and steps taken to under deportation in 1944. Crimea’s 300,000 Tatars 5,000 Tatars had already fled the peninsula of some end their marginalization. Local authorities prom- largely boycotted a disputed referendum last two million people. Under Stalin, Tatars, a Turkish- ised them posts in the regional government. But month in which nearly 97 percent of voters-mainly speaking Muslim population, were accused of col- the Tatars insist that is not enough and seek a quo- from the region’s Russian-speaking majority-chose laborating with Nazi Germany and deported to ta system to ensure a share in power.—AFP Royal’s appointment slammed French power couple reunites - at Cabinet table PARIS: Is this a Cabinet meeting, or a family reunion? The new French government’s first meeting includes a man and woman who had four children together, split up in the public eye and are now back together in the political spotlight. Politically speaking, it’s not as awk- ward as it sounds. President Francois Hollande shook up the government this week after his Socialist Party suffered an electoral defeat in nationwide municipal elections. Among two new faces in the Cabinet is Segolene Royal, a KIGALI: A young woman and man hold the Kwibuka Flame longtime politician and the mother of Remembrance during a procession in Kigali, Rwanda, of Hollande’s children, as environ- on April 3, 2014, as the torch makes its way through the ment and energy minister. The two country’s 30 districts before being returned to the Kigali split up in 2007. Genocide Memorial on April 7. — AFP The new team held its first meet- ing yesterday in the Elysee Palace, with Royal and Hollande sitting No justice for almost directly across from each DR Congo massacres other. People close to the pair say they’ll keep things professional at RUTSHURU: Twenty years after the genocide of Rwanda’s the Cabinet table. Hollande’s and Tutsi minority, the massacres of Hutu civilians who fled Royal’s lives and careers have been interlinked since they met in the late across the border into the DR Congo remain a taboo subject PARIS: French President Francois Hollande (right front row) new French Prime in Kigali. In DR Congo’s restive east, however, the memories 1970s at the prestigious finishing school for France’s political elite, the Minister Manuel Valls, (center) and Environment and Energy minister Segolene Royal are painfully acute, of families rounded up and murdered, pose yesterday. — AP bodies dumped in mass graves, pregnant women disem- Ecole Nationale d’Administration. bowelled. The Tutsi-led Rwandan government sees as tanta- They entered parliament togeth- the presidency in 2012. rally, without one bothering the mount to negationism any suggestion that the victims of er in 1988, elected in different con- Royal’s appearance at the Cabinet other,” Bianco, who ran Royal’s 2007 genocide were themselves responsible for mass ethnic stituencies. They entered the presi- meeting would have been even more presidential campaign, told The killings in 1996-97. dent’s palace for the first time closely watched - or perhaps simply Associated Press. Kinshasa has never truly investigated the subject. But together a few years later as staffers unthinkable - a couple of months ago, Royal’s appointment has prompt- Roberto Garreton of Chile, the first to investigate the slaugh- to President Francois Mitterrand. As when Hollande was still living with ed criticism from those who fear she ter on behalf of the United Nations in April 1997, says he con- environment minister in 1992, Royal first lady Valerie Trierweiler. The two will have undue influence thanks to cluded fairly quickly that around 150,000 people had been did something unprecedented for a recently broke up amid reports that her special relationship with the slain on Congolese soil. The killings are blamed on forces of French politician: she gave birth he is having an affair with an actress. head of state, and who suspect she the post-genocide government in Kigali who backed a rebel while in government, to her fourth Royal says she’ll work with the presi- used that relationship to get the movement led by Laurent-Desire Kabila, the late father of cur- child. And then she shocked people dent in the most “natural and institu- job. Her allies say that’s unfair. rent DR Congo President Joseph Kabila. “There were many even more by inviting a TV camera tional” way possible. Entering and Royal’s appearance in government clues showing that the goal was to exterminate those who into the maternity ward. leaving yesterday’s meeting, the may not do much to help Hollande’s committed the genocide” against the Tutsis, Garreton told Royal said she did so “to help the media-savvy minister and political popularity - she hasn’t won an elec- AFP by telephone from Santiago. But, he added: “It wasn’t cause of women, at a time when survivor wore a broad smile. tion in seven years and is divisive to possible to say with certainty that there was a genocide,” that women are taking on more signifi- Hollande and Royal have been many French. But his new prime is, the willful extermination of an ethnic group. cant responsibilities.” Hollande talking more often in recent minister, Manuel Valls, is popular makes a guest appearance in the TV months, but only about political and hard-driving, and many are pin- Phony reconciliation meetings segment, joking about his big fami- issues, according to two people ning hopes on him to turn around Here in Rutshuru in the country’s east, a Congolese Hutu ly. Twice, Hollande and Royal com- close to Royal, former longtime law- the economy. Hollande and Royal told AFP: “They killed many! They set up barricades and if you peted to become the Socialists’ maker Jean-Louis Bianco and cur- will now meet once a week at the had a Hutu name they took you away (and) they killed you!” A presidential candidate. She landed rent parliament deputy Sebastien Cabinet table. They will have one- woman who gave her name only as Chiza said: “I saw a preg- the spot the first time, in 2007 - but Denaja. “Their relationship is com- on-one meetings, too, about car nant woman whose stomach had been cut open, and the lost the presidential race to conser- pletely calm, I think this will not emissions or nuclear power or any baby was beside her, still attached by the umbilical cord. The vative Nicolas Sarkozy. Hollande pose any problem to work together. of Royal’s other new responsibili- woman’s belly was full of flies.”— AFP then won the party nomination and I think that things will go very natu- ties. —AP Available at The Sultan Centre & Carrefour INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014 Man and myth collide India’s Modi eyes final ascent to power

VADNAGAR: Narendra Modi spent his childhood in a modest three- lord of men, a leader among leaders, and a king among kings”. A room dwelling made of mud and brick nestled in a narrow, crowded stocky but dapper figure who wears tailor-made traditional Indian lane in the western Indian town of Vadnagar. The tea stall his father clothes and sports a neatly trimmed white beard, Modi sat passively ran with the help of his sons is just as it was then, a small shed of as accolades flew. patched blue-grey tin on the platform of the ramshackle railway sta- For Jentibhai Thacker, who farms land outside the western Gujarati tion nearby. Fast forward nearly 60 years and Modi stands on the cusp town of Bhuj, that glowing endorsement hits the mark. Fifteen years of leading the world’s biggest democracy, after an election beginning ago his family worked on less than five acres: today, they grow fruit on on Monday that looks set to make his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) the 1,300 acres thanks to generous state subsidies, technical help with irri- country’s biggest. gation and reliable power supplies. Thacker is now selling his produce Family members, friends and ordinary people interviewed by overseas as well as at home, he is building a helipad to spray his crops Reuters in Modi’s native state of Gujarat put his remarkable journey with pesticide from the air, and he is looking to buy more land. down to single-minded ambition, an eye for opponents’ weaknesses Bhuj and the vast surrounding swamplands of Kutch were devas- and his grasp of economic management. Underlining how he divides tated by a magnitude 7.7 earthquake in January 2001 that killed more opinion, critics also speak of an authoritarian who at times rides than 20,000 people and toppled some 400,000 homes. Modi, who roughshod over the democratic process and espouses moderation became chief minister of the state later that year, went all out to while concealing an agenda less benign. One of the defining rebuild the region, introducing tax concessions to encourage devel- moments of Modi’s career was in 2002, shortly after he became opment and lure entrepreneurs. “For us, Modi has created a revolu- Gujarat’s chief minister, when more than 1,000 people, mostly tion,” said Thacker, who campaigns for a BJP victory when he isn’t Muslims, were slaughtered in mob violence. Modi has always vehe- tending to his bananas, strawberries and papayas. On a new four-lane mently denied that he allowed, or even encouraged, the bloodshed, expressway connecting Ahmedabad to Kutch signs of change are driven by a Hindu nationalist agenda, and a Supreme Court inquiry everywhere. The toll road is being widened, wind turbines dot the found no evidence to prosecute him. Throughout the election cam- countryside and factories belch out smoke. paign he has sought to project himself as moderate, not a champion of the Hindu majority. An analysis of 68 Modi speeches for the weekly Fierce critics magazine Outlook found that he did not utter the word “Hindu” once For all his popularity, Modi has critics. Ajitsinh Jadeja, a village chief and “development” came up more than 500 times. NEW DELHI: India’s opposition Bharatiya Janata Party’s near Bhuj, bemoans the onslaught of heavy industry in a region But suspicion lingers, particularly within India’s sizeable Muslim prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi waves at his sup- whose farmlands and traditional handicrafts he says are now under minority, many of whom fear a rise in communal tensions. “He talks in porters at an election rally. — AP threat. “We wanted development, but not like this. This is like a bull in several tongues,” said M Hasan Jowher, a rights activist in Gujarat. “He siblings. “We’ve come to accept it,” Prahlad explained. “Narendrabhai a china shop,” Jadeja sighed. He said a proposed steel plant in the area can be a rabid fundamentalist. I hope Indians make the right choice.” believes family ties have to be kept at a distance once he went into would further deplete water and land available for families to pursue Modi’s aides did not respond to a request for comment for this article. public life.” the centuries-old craft of block printing on fabric. A spokeswoman for the BJP, Nirmala Sitaraman, said Modi had “noth- The BJP’s spokeswoman rejected the criticism, saying the party ing to be defensive about” over the 2002 slaughter in Gujarat, and she Common touch always seeks to balance growth and environmental impact. rejected as “fear mongering” attempts to brand him as a fundamen- Modi’s humble roots are key to his popularity. Hundreds of mil- Detractors also pick holes in Gujarat’s economic report card and talist. lions of people live in poverty and there is anger at the ruling Modi’s reputation as an efficient administrator, arguing that the state Congress party led by the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, whose 10 years in was already doing well before he came to power. Opposing political Man or myth? power have coincided with a slump in economic growth and a spate parties have used different statistics to make their cases, although the Man and myth often collide when it comes to Modi. His presence of corruption scandals. Across Gujarat, and India, people admire consensus among independent experts is that Gujarat’s growth did is ubiquitous after a meticulously stage-managed election campaign Modi’s pursuit of industrial development in a state that, on a raft of accelerate under Modi. Claiming that he cares little for democracy, that has electrified the country and dominated the media, yet little is measures, is an economic powerhouse relative to the rest of the coun- Modi critics quote research showing Gujarat’s assembly has one of the known about his personal life. Narendra Damodardas Modi, now 63, try. Business leaders, both Indian and foreign, flock to a biennial gath- lowest number of sittings among India’s state legislatures since 2005 was born and brought up in Vadnagar, a town built on a hill in rural ering called “Vibrant Gujarat” that Modi launched in 2003 to attract and tends to rush through new laws. Gujarat’s minister of parliamen- Gujarat. The third child in a family of eight that struggled to make investment to his coastal state. Anil Ambani, a prominent billionaire tary affairs, Bhupendrasinh Chudasma, said the assembly meets for as ends meet, he ended his education after school and abruptly left industrialist, told the throng at last year’s event that their host was “a long as is needed. —Reuters home, only returning years later for his father’s funeral. One of his brothers, Prahlad Modi, who sells car tires in Gujarat’s commercial capital Ahmedabad, said that as boys they would carry kettles up and down trains standing at the station, offering passen- Q&A on India’s mammoth election gers cups of tea. Several people at the station said the tea story had been embellished for Modi’s election campaign to depict him as a NEW DELHI: India’s marathon nine-phase election kicks off Monday and will end on May 12 when hundreds of millions will have cast their man of the people, and in fact his father’s main business was a salt- ballots. AFP explains how it works and what is at stake. grinding shop at the entrance to the station. “This whole thing about Modi and his brothers selling tea is wrong. I have been here all my life Q. Why will it take so long? (BJP) set to be the biggest party in the next parliament, but their and I know it’s false,” said Bhagwaji Diwanji, a rickshaw driver. Almost 814 million adult Indians are eligible to vote, making it projections have been wrong in the past, most notably in 2004. It’s But Prahlad Modi said his version of events was “100 percent true”, the biggest election in history. Organizers say it would be impossi- difficult to accurately gauge the opinions of India’s mostly rural 1.2 and that the salt business came much later. The BJP’s Sitaraman said ble to operate and guard nearly 930,000 polling stations on a single billion people and its first-past-the-post system means minor doubts about the tea-boy narrative merely reflected a struggle by day. The local weather, festivals, harvesting period and school swings in sentiment can skew the results significantly. opponents to accept his humble birth. Since he rose to fame, breath- schedules are also taken into consideration to ensure each state less stories about the heroic exploits of young Modi have become goes to the polls at the most convenient date. Q. When will we know the results? folklore in Gujarat. One has it that, for a wager, he swam alone to They’ll be announced on May 16, four days after the last con- reach a submerged temple in the middle of a lake - and some say the Q. How do people vote? stituencies go to the polls. water was infested at the time with crocodiles. But at the small The Election Commission mandates a polling booth to be no Bhagavatacharya Narayanacharya school, principal AP Goswami said more than two kilometers (1.2 miles) from every voter. India uses Q. Is violence or corruption expected to be a major problem? there was nothing exceptional in Modi’s records: he was an average electronic voting machines which reduce the time taken to cast a Security personnel are deployed at every polling booth with the student, an all-rounder. vote and also allow for faster counting of ballots on the allotted tightest security reserved for the restive northeastern states and He did take a shine to drama, Goswami said, pulling a black-and- day-May 16. northwestern Kashmir, both home to decades-old separatist move- white photograph from a dog-eared 1966 album showing Modi with ments. There are also risks in remote Maoist-affected areas in east- a spear in his hand as he performed in a school play about a bandit Q. What’s at stake? ern and central India. Attempts at influencing voters through illicit fighting rapacious landlords. As a teenager, Modi joined the Rashtriya India is the world’s second-most populous country, a key mem- freebies such as liquor and cash are routine in Indian elections, Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a voluntary right-wing group that serves ber of the G20 global grouping and an increasingly important voice despite heavy penalties prescribed by the Election Commission both as the ideological incubator for “Hindutva”, a brand of Hindu for developing countries on issues from climate change to global against vote-buying. nationalism, and as the philosophical parent of the BJP. trade deals. It is also home to a third of the world’s poor while being A friend from those days, Chandubhai Rami, used to spar with the 10th-biggest economy globally. Domestically, surveys show Q. When will a new government take office? Modi using rattan sticks at RSS self-defense classes. He recounted how voters are fed up with corruption, worried about jobs and price ris- After the results are announced on May 16, if no one has a Modi figured out early that his opponent was weak when attacked es, and ready for a change of leadership after 10 years of centre-left majority of more than 272 seats, the president will ask the biggest from the left side. “He is good at picking up the weakness in an adver- rule by the Congress party. party to try to put together a coalition with smaller, regional parties. sary and then he attacks it until he wins,” said Rami. After Modi left This is likely to lead to days, and possibly weeks, of intense negotia- home, he adopted an ascetic lifestyle and dedicated himself to win- Q. How accurate are the pollsters? tions with the BJP currently seen as being short of the magic num- ning recruits to the RSS, virtually cutting ties with his family, they said. Today he still lives alone, and only occasionally sees his mother and They unanimously show the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party ber. — AFP INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014 India court orders first death sentences for multiple rapes MUMBAI: An Indian judge yesterday ordered three men to hang after law for being repeat rape offenders, which carries the death penalty. capital New Delhi. Police described the photographer’s attackers as they were convicted of two gang-rapes, the first death sentences to “There needs to be zero tolerance for such incidents,” Judge Shalini unemployed school drop-outs, while neighbors say they were a gang be handed down for multiple sex attacks since the law was tough- Phansalkar Joshi said as she announced the sentences. “A loud and of youths known for petty theft and drinking in the area. ened last year. The sentences were announced at a court in Mumbai clear message needs to be sent to society.” Special public prosecutor on the same day that a judge jailed 24 men in the southern state of Ujjwal Nikam confirmed to AFP that this was the first conviction for Legal marathon Kerala over the gang-rape of a schoolgirl who was repeatedly sexually repeat rape under the modified law. The men, dressed in jeans, While the three who were sentenced to death had been tried assaulted over a 40-day period in 1996. A series of mass protests over bowed their heads as they learnt their fate, while one of their mothers under a fast-track system, the outcome in Kerala was the culmination the levels of sexual violence prompted the government to amend the was removed from the court for swearing. of a marathon legal case which at one stage saw many of the defen- law last year and allow for harsher punishments for rapists, including The 22-year-old photographer was gang-raped while on assign- dants cleared. The then 16-year-old victim was abducted from her the death penalty for repeat offenders. The three who were sen- ment with a male colleague in the overgrown mill compound, close school and raped over a span of 40 days in 1996 in cars, homes and tenced yesterday had been found guilty of two attacks in July and to an upscale neighborhood as well as slums from which most of the hotel rooms, the court was told. In sentencing the men, Kerala High August last year at the same abandoned mill compound in Mumbai, rapists hailed. The phone operator, attacked in the same place, came Court judge KT Sankaran said the victim “had no chance to escape including an attack on a photographer that made global headlines. forward after reading about the photographer’s ordeal. from her captivity”. All but one of the men had been acquitted in 2005 Mohammed Salim Ansari, 28, Vijay Mohan Jadhav, 19, and Two other men have been jailed for life over the attacks: by the same court, but India’s Supreme Court ordered a retrial after Mohammed Kasim Hafeez Shaikh, 21, were convicted last month after Mohammed Ashwaq Sheikh in the telephone operator case and Siraj outraged women’s rights activists challenged the verdict. India’s legal a fast-track trial. They were subsequently handed life sentences for Rehmat Khan in the case of the photographer. A juvenile is being sep- system is notoriously slow, but its rape laws were toughened after the one of those assaults, the gang-rape of an 18-year-old phone opera- arately tried over the attack on the photographer, which sparked fatal gang-rape of a student in New Delhi in December 2012 sparked tor. But they were also convicted this week under a new section of the widespread anger in Mumbai, a city usually considered safer than the nationwide protests over the lack of safety for women. —AFP INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014 Pakistani baby accused of attempted murder

LAHORE: While many children his age are Yasin later fed him milk from a bottle while arrived in the area and assured them that no police reports was a common tactic still learning how to crawl, a nine-month-old fielding questions from reporters. injustice would be done. “But later we found employed by complainants in order to exert boy in Pakistan has been accused of “Everyone in the court was saying ‘How out that cases have been filed against us,” pressure on parties with whom they were attempted murder in a case observers say can such a small child be implicated in any he added. Judge Rafaqat Ali Qamar ordered involved in a dispute. He said: “It’s not com- highlights endemic flaws in the country’s case’? What kind of police do we have?” the the inspector to be suspended and granted mon for babies to be accused but it is com- legal system. Baby Mohammad Musa along 50-year-old labourer said. The charge is in the child bail, though he will have to appear mon for other family members to be with his father and other family members direct contradiction with Pakistan’s mini- at the next hearing on April 12.But Sadiq, accused,” he said. “What happens then is was booked for throwing rocks at gas com- mum age of criminal responsibility, which the lawyer, said the charges against the that vendettas are going on so everyone pany officials in the working-class Ahata was raised from seven to 12 years in 2013 child should have been dropped. “The court gets picked up and gets chucked in jail,” he Thanedaran neighborhood on February 1, except in terrorism cases. Yasin accused the should have simply referred the minor’s case added. Shoaib Suddle, a retired police chief, the family’s lawyer Chaudhry Irfan Sadiq police of fabricating the charges because to the High Court to drop the charges added that the system operates via ‘first told AFP yesterday. they were colluding with a rival party who against the innocent child and acquit him information reports’ that date back to Inspector Kashif Muhammad, who wanted to see the accused evicted from from the case,” Sadiq told AFP.”This case British colonial times, which give too much attended the alleged crime scene and has their land and had obtained an order to also exposes the incompetence of our police weight to allegations made by accusers. since been suspended, wrote in his report remove their gas connections. force and the way they are operating,” he “The moment they are able to file a com- that it was a case of attempted murder. “The police and gas company officials added. plaint, accusers expect that without any evi- Appearing in a packed court room with oth- came without any notice and started remov- dence people should be locked up and the ers accused in the case on Thursday, Musa ing gas meters from houses. Residents start- Inherent flaws investigation should follow, whereas the was seen crying as his grandfather ed protesting and blocked the road but end- Feisal Naqvi, a supreme court lawyer world over it is the other way around,” Muhammad Yasin held him on his shoulder. ed the protest when senior police officers told AFP the naming of family members in Suddle said. — AFP

US Army seeks clear 2 Western journalists motive for Fort Hood shooting rampage fired at in Afghanistan FORT HOOD: The US Army was searching on Friday for a clear motive for the second mass killing in five years at a Texas base, one of the largest in the United States. Ivan Afghan cop shoots German photographer dead Lopez, the 34-year-old soldier suspected of shooting dead three people and wounding 16 others before turning the KHOST: A veteran Associated Press pho- gun on himself at Fort Hood on Wednesday afternoon, tographer was shot dead and a reporter was battling mental illness, the Army said, but no motive wounded yesterday when an Afghan has been given. Lopez joined the service in 2008 and had policeman opened fire on them in east- served two tours of duty abroad, including four months in ern Afghanistan, the news agency said. Iraq in 2011, military officials said. He had no direct The attack took place on the eve of a involvement in combat and had not been wounded. presidential election that Taleban insur- There was a strong possibility a verbal altercation with gents have pledged to disrupt through a another soldier or soldiers preceded the shooting, campaign of bombings and assassina- Lieutenant General Mark Milley told reporters on Thursday, tions. The AP said photographer Anja adding there was no indication that he targeted specific Niedringhaus, 48, had been killed and people. The rampage is the third shooting at a military reporter Kathy Gannon, 60, wounded base in the United States in about six months that, along while they were sitting in their car. with a series of shootings in public places, such as schools Niedringhaus, an internationally and malls, has prompted a national debate over gun con- acclaimed German photographer, was trol regulations. It has also raised questions about security killed instantly, according to an AP at US military installations, such as Fort Hood, home to Television freelancer who witnessed the some 45,000 soldiers and airmen assigned to the 335- shooting. square-mile (870-square-km) base, along with thousands Canadian reporter Kathy Gannon, of civilian employees. “Obviously we have a gap. Anytime who is based in Islamabad and has cov- we lose an individual, something’s gone wrong. But... let ered war and unrest in Afghanistan for the investigators do their work,” US Defense Secretary 30 years, was wounded twice and was Chuck Hagel told reporters in Hawaii on Thursday. “I think receiving medical attention, the AP said. She was described as being in stable we have to be careful not to jump to any conclusions or try ZURICH: In this 2013 file photo Associated Press photographer Anja condition and talking to medical per- to frame this up in some kind of a social statement. We just Niedringhaus (right) and AP journalist Kathy Gannon, are pictured during a sonnel, it said. “Anja and Kathy together don’t know enough yet. And we will know what we need visit to the photo agency Keystone in Zurich, Switzerland. — AP to know to fix the problem,” Hagel said. have spent years in Afghanistan cover- ing the conflict and the people there. journalist Nils Horner, 51, outside a friends paid tearful tributes. “She was Victims improving Anja was a vibrant, dynamic journalist restaurant in Kabul. supposed to be ironclad, this just seems Military officials have so far ruled out terrorism as inspi- well-loved for her insightful photo- so incredibly wrong,” said Jonathan ration for the attack, but have said Lopez’s medical history graphs, her warm heart and joy for life. Shot by police Fowler, a correspondent at AFP who indicates unstable psychiatric and psychological condi- We are heartbroken at her loss,” AP The AP said Niedringhaus and previously worked with Niedringhaus at tions. He had been treated for depression and anxiety and Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll, speak- Gannon were travelling in a convoy of the AP. was being evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder. ing in New York, told the agency. election workers delivering ballots from Claire Nullis, spokeswoman for the The shooting sent shockwaves through a Central Texas The two journalists were in a remote the centre of Khost city to the outskirts, World Meteorological Office in Geneva community still reeling from a 2009 attack during which a small town on Afghanistan’s border in Tani district. The area borders and a former AP colleague of former army psychiatrist, Major Nidal Hasan, shot dead 13 with Pakistan when the attack took Pakistan’s lawless North Waziristan Niedringhaus, said she had been people and wounded 32 others. place. Taleban attacks on security forces region where many Al-Qaeda- and wounded before. “She used to shrug it Lopez, originally from Puerto Rico, had recently bought and civilians have been on the rise since Taleban-linked militants are based. The off and get on with life. She was very the gun he used, a Smith & Wesson .45-caliber pistol, at the start of the year ahead of Saturday’s two had arrived in a heavily guarded dis- affected by the recent death of an AFP Guns Galore, the same store in Killeen where Hasan vote when Afghans will elect a succes- trict compound shortly before the journalist who was shot with a couple of shopped. Three of the soldiers who had been listed in criti- sor to President Hamid Karzai who is attack. As they were sitting in the car his children and his wife in Afghanistan,” cal condition at Scott & White Hospital in Temple have barred by the constitution from running waiting for the convoy to move, a unit she told the briefing. shown “great signs of improvement”, a nursing supervisor again. commander walked up to the car, yelled “She was just the ultimate profes- said on Friday. Their conditions is now listed as serious. The assault on the AP journalists “Allahu Akbar” - God is Great - and sional. She was a very, very dear friend. Five patients have been discharged, with one patient stay- came just weeks after an Afghan jour- opened fire on them with his AK-47, the We would go swimming in the lake in ing on through Friday for tests. Among those killed was nalist with the Agence France-Presse AP said. He then surrendered to the oth- summer. We would go to Bains de 37-year-old Army Sergeant Timothy Owens, a recently- news agency was killed alongside eight er police and was arrested. Word of Paquis sauna in the winter. I will miss married native of Effingham, Illinois, who was shot in the other people when Taleban gunmen Niedringhaus’s death interrupted a UN her dearly as will AP and the whole pho- chest at close range, his mother-in-law told the Chicago opened fire inside a luxury hotel in the briefing in Geneva, where she was tographic world. “She was very modest. Sun-Times newspaper. —REuters centre of the capital, Kabul. Also in based. A former colleague proposed a She had a string of awards and she was March, a gunman shot dead Swedish minute of silence, and several of her very modest about it.” — Reuters Europe shares extend rally BoE’s Haldane says funds Nigeria poised to become Businesson M&A, ECB policy talk 16 can be ‘too big to fail’ 17Africa’s biggest economy 18 SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014 Lufthansa calls for reform to strike 19

TOKYO: A woman walks by an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, yesterday. Asian stock markets were little changed yesterday after the European Central Bank refrained from further easing of monetary policy and investors looked to the upcoming US jobs report for a new trading cue. — AP US maintains solid job growth pace Unemployment rate unchanged at 6.7%

WASHINGTON: US employers maintained a solid pace of The labor force participation rate, or the proportion of cy for some time to eliminate slack in the labor market. hiring for a second straight month in March, further evi- working-age Americans who have a job or are looking for The private sector accounted for all the employment dence the economy was shifting into higher gear after one rose to a six-month high of 63.2 percent from 63 per- gains in March, with the government adding no jobs. The being held back by a brutally cold winter. cent in February. private sector has now recouped all the jobs lost during the Nonfarm payrolls increased by 192,000 new jobs last An unusually cold and snowy winter slammed the econ- recent recession. month after rising 197,000 in February, the Labor omy at the end of 2013 and the beginning of this year. Manufacturing payrolls fell 1,000, breaking seven Department said yesterday. The unemployment rate was Growth was further undercut by efforts by businesses to months of gains. Factory job growth has been slowing unchanged at 6.7 percent, as Americans flooded the labor trim bloated inventories, the expiration of benefits for the since surging in November. But with auto sales accelerat- market. long-term unemployed and cuts to food stamps. ing sharply in March, hiring could rebound in the months Economists polled by Reuters had expected employ- But data ranging from manufacturing and services sec- ahead. Construction employment increased by 19,000. It ment to increase 200,000 last month and the unemploy- tor activity to automobile sales have signaled strength in was the third consecutive month of job gains for the sector ment rate to fall one-tenth of a percentage point. the economy as the first quarter ended. and occurred despite the housing market struggling to The payrolls count for January and February was revised The steady pace of job gains should allow the Federal climb out of a soft patch. to show 37,000 more job created during those months Reserve to continue scaling back its monetary stimulus and Average hourly earnings dipped by a cent in March, than previously reported. A Labor Department official said keep overnight interest rates near zero for a while. while the length of the workweek increased to 34.5 hours harsh weather had a slight impact on hours worked last Fed Chair Janet Yellen has argued the central bank from an average of 34.2 hours in February - another bullish month. needs to maintain a highly accommodative monetary poli- sign. — Reuters BUSINESS SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014

Under-fire finance chief McIlwee quits Tesco

LONDON: Tesco’s under-fire finance “The board is commencing a McIlwee became the focus of retail market for years, the 95-year-old chief Laurie McIlwee quit yesterday process to find a new chief financial investor disquiet in October after Tesco Tesco stunned the industry in 2012 days before Britain’s biggest retailer is officer with both internal and external shocked investors by reporting a col- when it issued its first profit warning in expected to announce another decline applicants being considered,” Tesco lapse in profits at its central European 20 years. It is expected to post another in profit and following months of spec- said in a statement. McIlwee became unit, which he had failed to signal. decline in profit when it publishes ulation about his future. CFO in January 2009 and had been Sources familiar with the situation 2013-14 results on April 16. Tesco, the world’s third-largest with the retailer since 2000. He had have previously told Reuters that some In common with Britain’s three oth- retailer which has been hit by fierce been the only other executive director investors were not happy with the way er leading grocers - Wal-Mart’s Asda, competition, said McIlwee had decided on the board alongside Chief Executive McIlwee interacted with them, and that Sainsbury’s and Morrisons. Tesco is to step down from the board and Philip Clarke. his position was under threat. being squeezed between the hard dis- resign from the company but had “After 14 years at Tesco I feel that Media reports have also said he has counters Aldi and Lidl and upmarket agreed to remain in his role to ensure a now is the right time for me to pursue clashed with Clarke over some areas of grocers. Waitrose and Marks & Spencer, smooth handover to his successor. new opportunities,” McIlwee said. strategy. Having dominated the British losing market share. — Reuters Europe shares extend rally on M&A, ECB policy talk Lafarge, Holcim surge on merger talks

PARIS: European stocks rose yesterday, gramme. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Juvet added that a quantitative easing boosted by M&A fever in construction, Zeitung reported the ECB had estimated programme could be the right step to speculation about further stimulus by that buying 1 trillion euros of assets over take, provided the authorities made sure the European Central Bank and US jobs a year would add 0.2 or 0.8 percentage the money went to companies, rather data that suggested a solid pace of hir- points to inflation, depending on the than being used to make banks buy up ing for a second month in a row. economic models used. sovereign bonds. NEW YORK: In this Thursday, photo, Trader Dudley Shares in Lafarge surged 8.9 percent “The question would be whether the Stocks also got a boost from the Devine, left, works on the floor of the New York Stock and Holcim rose 6.9 percent as the private debt market in Europe is big closely watched U.S. non-farm payrolls. Exchange. European stocks made modest gains yesterday world’s two largest cement makers said enough for QE,” the newspaper quoted It showed the United States added and Asian markets meandered as investors looked to the they are in merger talks. A deal could be someone whom it described as a central 192,000 jobs last month, just shy of the upcoming US job report for a fresh trading cue. — AP Europe’s biggest tie-up of the year to bank insider as saying. 200,000 forecast, after adding 197,000 in date creating a company with a stock The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top February. The unemployment rate market value of over $50 billion. European shares ended 0.6 percent remained 6.7 percent. Gold up ahead “On a geographical and industrial higher at 1,352.78 points, gaining “It’s mostly the positive revision for point of view, a merger would be mean- ground for the ninth session in a row February that’s a good surprise. It ingful,” Natixis analyst Abdelkader and hitting its highest level in 5 1/2 removes doubts about the pace of US of US data Benchiha said. “Lafarge is strong is years. growth,” said Alexandre Baradez, chief Africa and Middle East, where Holcim is market analyst at IG France. LONDON: Gold crept higher yesterday ahead of a US jobs report but almost absent. On the other hand, Expectations “But all this has been priced in prices were still set for their longest weekly losing streak in more than Holcim has a strong presence in Latin European stocks have rallied sharply already by the market, and with Wall six months as optimism about the US economy boosted the dollar America, where Lafarge is not estab- in the past three weeks, partly on expec- Street trading at record highs without and equities. US nonfarm payrolls data for March was due at 1230 lished.” Spanish and Italian shares also tations the ECB will act to counter low clear positive catalysts ahead, stocks GMT. Analysts polled by Reuters expect 800,000 jobs to have been created in March, which would be the highest in four months, after featured among the top gainers. Their inflation and partly on easing tensions may soon be ripe for a correction. If rising by 175,000 in February. The unemployment rate is seen falling advance accelerated during a late euro- between Russia and the West over there’s a pull-back in New York, Europe one-tenth of a percentage point to 6.6 percent. zone rally sparked by a report that the Ukraine. won’t be immune.” Spot gold was up 0.4 percent to $1,292.30 an ounce by 1145 GMT. European Central Bank has modelled “We know that there’s a push from After a positive open, US stocks It is on track for a third straight week of losses, its longest losing the economic effects of buying 1 trillion Germany to make sure the ECB does slipped yesterday, with the Nasdaq los- streak since September. It hit a seven-week low of $1,277.29 on euros ($1.37 trillion) of securities as part something,” said Michel Juvet, chief ing more than 2 percent, losing steam Tuesday. Gold futures for April delivery rose $8.90 to $1,293.40 an of a quantitative easing (QE) pro- investment officer at Swiss bank Bordier. following recent hefty gains. — Reuters ounce. “The gains we are seeing today are most likely temporary... trading is quite muted at the moment,” Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann said. “Our view is that we will see strong NFP data and that will probably lead to a further rise in the dollar, which should put pressure on gold again... the support that we are seeing stands at $1,280 and then in the $1,264-$1,268 area.” A weak jobs report could raise doubts that the underperformance seen in the first two months of the year was not entirely down to extreme cold weather, while a strong report could prompt speculation that the Fed will lift rates ear- lier than expected, analysts said. The dollar index steadied after hit- ting its highest level since Feb. 27, while European equities advanced for a ninth straight session. Against a background of stronger dollar and shares, gold prices drew some support from news that Iraq’s cen- tral bank said yesterday its gold reserves had reached 90 tonnes after buying 60 tonnes over the past two months. “We wonder where gold would otherwise have found its floor if the official sector bid hadn’t been in the market of late; we suspect a good deal lower,” UBS said in a note.

Physical lull Lack of physical demand from top consumer China has removed an element of support for gold prices lately. Shanghai prices, which were at a premium of over $20 an ounce to spot prices at the beginning of the year, are now at a discount of about $2. Banks in China have been importing less gold over the past month on waning demand, while cheaper prices at home due to a softer yuan also curbed overseas purchases of the precious metal, banking sources and traders said. In No. 2 buyer India, the central bank has indicated that it is con- sidering removing some of the curbs on gold imports - which could MOSCOW: Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn presents a budget sedan, the first model ever to be made in Russia under potentially ease premiums and boost demand. —Reuters the Datsun brand in Moscow yesterday. — AFP BUSINESS SATURDAY, APRIL 5 , 2014 Erdogan urges Turkey’s central bank to cut rates ANKARA: Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan 8.0 percent and 10.0 percent respectively. The January Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted Justice and Development called on the country’s central bank yesterday to cut hike came amid an escalating political crisis for Party (AKP) emerged strong from last Sunday’s local interest rates in order to stimulate the economy after Erdogan sparked by a graft probe targeting his inner elections in an election billed a vote of confidence on months of political crisis. circle, months after the country was also rocked by the leader sometimes dubbed “the Sultan”. “The central bank should hold an extraordinary mass anti-government protests. Turkey’s economy grew by 4.0 percent last year, meeting to cut (interest rates) ... just as they met previ- Erdogan-who has made a turnaround in Turkey’s official data showed this week, but analysts warned of ously to raise them,” Erdogan told a press conference. economic fortunes a keystone of his 11-year rule-on a slowdown after months of turmoil and ahead of The central bank, which is officially independent, Friday again pushed for lower rates that would boost presidential elections in August and legislative polls aggressively raised its key interest rates in January in a credit available for consumers and businesses. next year. Emerging economy currencies including bid to stem a steep drop in the country’s national cur- “Investors in Turkey will be eager once interest rates Turkey’s have also taken a beating due in part to the rency the lira. are lowered. More investments will be made,” said the US Federal Reserve’s decision to reduce stimulus meas- The overnight lending rate is now 12.0 percent, prime minister, adding that “we are doing quite well ures, which curbs the attractiveness of markets that while the borrowing and one-week repo rates are at right now in economic terms”. had offered higher returns. — AFP Bouygues boosts mobile bid for SFR

Project would involve industrial, institutional partners

PARIS: French telecom group included the Singapore sovereign lic deficit, has been bluntly critical Bouygues stepped up its bid to buy wealth fund GIC, the Ontario of citizens who keep their assets in mobile phone operator SFR from Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, the tax havens like Switzerland, Vivendi yesterday, launching a new French luxury products family Luxembourg or Guernsey. phase in a huge fight over market Pinault, and Reuben Brothers Ltd. Arnaud Montebourg, who has positions in France. Other investors would be the been promoted to economy minis- Bouygues, which also has big French insurance giant Axa, the ter in the government reshuffle this interests in television and construc- quasi-state savings and investment week, has publicly attacked Altice’s ATHENS: Protesting school teachers chant slogans in front of riot police tion, raised its cash offer by 1.85 bil- body Caisse des Depots et bid and Drahi himself. “Mr Drahi will blocking the entrance to the Ministry of Education in Athens, yesterday. lion euros to 15.0 billion euros Consignations, GIMD controlled by have to repatriate all of his posses- Since May 2010, Greece has depended on billions of euros in loans from the ($20.5 billion). However it lowered the Dassault industrial family, and sions and assets to Paris, to France,” other European countries that use the euro and from the International the stake Vivendi would get in the advertising display group JC the minister told Europe 1 radio last Monetary Fund. — AP entity which would emerge, to 10.0 Decaux Holding. month. Bouygues has tried to percent, saying this was worth Vivendi, a major media group evoke a possible regulatory prob- about 1.0 billion euros. which owns SFR, entered into lem for Vivendi selling SFR to Altice Friday is the last day of exclusive exclusive takeover talks with as the purchase of any company BoE’s Haldane says funds talks between Vivendi and rival bid- Numericable three weeks ago and that handles national security der Altice, which owns cable TV- which are due to end Friday. secrets by a foreign firm requires can be ‘too big to fail’ Internet operator Numericable but Vivendi is now due to state what it preliminary government approval. not a mobile network. Altice has intends to do, either sell SFR to Numericable, which is registered in LONDON: A top Bank of England supervisors. offered 11.75 billion euros in cash Numericable, enter exclusive talks France and is quoted on the Paris official put the world’s $87 trillion Haldane’s speech at the London and a 32-percent stake in the new with Bouygues on the basis of the stock exchange, already has gov- asset-management industry on alert Business School’s Asset Management entity. new offer, or float SFR on the stock ernment contracts. yesterday, saying it posed some of Conference broadens the regulatory The fate of SFR, which would market as it had at first considered The scrap over SFR is just a num- the same “too big to fail” risks that spotlight in Britain on asset managers have a big impact on the structure doing. ber of deals being done in the are being tackled by reforms at major from specific issues such as fees paid of mobile phone services in France European telecoms sector as firms banks. Unlike banks, asset managers by investors. Mutual funds - one kind against a background of consolida- Foreign ownership controversy try to ensure they have both such as Blackrock, Fidelity, Allianz of asset manager - say they pose no tion in European markets, is also The possibility that SFR could be mobile and home networks to offer and Axa do not make loans, which risks and point out that none of them sensitive politically. sold to Altice, a foreign-registered clients one-stop service. Britain’s would be them at risk if the borrow- failed or caused problems during the A takeover of SFR by Bouygues company owned by Frenchman Vodafone bought Spanish fibre- ers default, said the BoE’s executive 2007-09 financial crisis. would reduce the number of domi- Patrick Drahi who is resident in optic network operator Ono for 7.2 director of financial stability Andy nant operators back to three, rais- Switzerland, has generated consid- billion euros, after last year snap- Haldane said. Behemoths ing concerns among consumer erable political controversy. ping up Kabel Deutschland, “Yet their size means that distress The sector is already lobbying groups that the benefits of new The French government, which Germany’s largest cable operator at an asset manager could aggravate against draft plans by the Financial competition for customers would is struggling to bring down its pub- for 7.7 billion euros. —AFP frictions in financial markets, for Stability Board, the regulatory arm of be eroded. example through forced asset fire the Group of 20 economies, to desig- The launch of low-price services sales,” Haldane said in a speech likely nate funds over $100 billion as sys- in 2012 by the much smaller new to upset the funds sector. temically important and subject to fourth operator Free set in motion Haldane said he was not propos- extra supervisory requirements. ing action now but described asset Haldane said fund-management upheaval and a price war in the management as “the next frontier for assets may more than quadruple, to French mobile telecom market macro-prudential policy,” referring to $400 trillion, by 2050 as populations which has benefited consumers. the kind of specific controls on credit expand and get older and richer. In SFR’s incorporation into that central banks are imposing on Britain, their assets have grown from Numericable would however keep banks. “I don’t know at present less than 50 percent to more than four operators on the market, whether the case is sufficiently strong 200 percent of gross domestic prod- although strengthening SFR- for us as macro-prudential regulators uct since 1980. Numericable’s position as powerful to want to actively intervene,” he Haldane said recent trends have competitor capable of offering cus- said. “But what I can say with 100 per- seen “behemoths” moving into illiq- tomers a complete package of cent confidence is we need to better uid assets and index-linked, passively mobile, Internet, television and understand the market dynamics.” managed funds and away from the fixed-line telephone service. Haldane has gained a reputation usual actively managed funds in blue However some experts in the indus- for bold thinking as head of the BoE’s chips and government bonds. try have warned that the price war financial risk division. He is due to “These trends potentially have between the operators undermined take over as the Bank’s new chief implications for financial-market their ability to invest in ever-faster HONG KONG: Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying (R) economist in June. dynamics and systemic risk - for network infrastructure. stands on a boat as he visits the construction site of the Hong Kong- In the United States, the Federal example, greater illiquidity risk, Bouygues said that its project Zhuhai-Macao bridge off the Hong Kong coast yesterday. When Reserve is showing more interest in correlated price movements and would involve industrial and institu- completed by 2016, the bridge will be longer than the 38.4-kilome- asset-management firms, which so susceptibility to runs,” Haldane tional partners which would invest tre Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge in the southern United far have been regulated by securities said.— Reuters 2.85 billion euros. These partners States, which is often billed as the world’s longest. — AFP BUSINESS SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014 EU plans to limit anonymous trading in ‘dark pools’ LONDON: The European Union’s plan to some of the advantages of anonymous around 18 percent to 11.7 percent, accord- orders, with an algorithm used to deter- cap the number of shares that can be trad- trading, while remaining within the new ing to Thomson Reuters EMSR data. mine the price. ed anonymously could give traditional regulations. Meanwhile, Chi-X Europe has captured This could offer an advantage over stock exchanges such as Deutsche Boerse “Potentially, it would affect the way we 16.8 percent of the market, with 16.9 per- “dark pools,” where buyers and sellers sub- and the London Stock Exchange the do business if it became popular and pro- cent of that due to “dark” orders. TABB mit the price at which they would like to chance to win back some of the ground vided significant liquidity,” said Christopher Group, a consultancy, has estimated “dark trade, but may not be able to get the deal they have lost to new rivals. Hughes, equity dealer at Royal London pool” trading is equivalent to 11 percent of done if they cannot find a counterparty Anonymous dealing in private venues Asset Management, of the LSE’s proposal. the European stock market. prepared to do business at that price. known as “dark pools” has been a major Traditional exchanges were hit hard by Traditional exchanges have tried to “When you hit the 8 percent cap (for source of growth for new electronic share a series of EU reforms in 2007 which sought compete by creating their own anonymous anonymous trading)... what are the alter- trading companies such as Chi-X Europe to promote competition in equities trading. trading venues or striking partnerships with natives for executing larger trades if you and Liquidnet. The reforms led to the rise of new dealing those run by others. The LSE, for example, don’t have a dark pool, or access to one? An But EU regulators are concerned such venues which offered a wide range of trad- has its Turquoise platform, while Swiss intraday auction is one option,” Brian venues could be open to market manipula- ing options, often at a lower cost for stock exchange operator SIX Group has Schwieger, LSE’s head of equities, said. tion and that they take away liquidity from investors, including anonymous trading in partnered with “dark pool” operator “This is how we’re offering an alterna- public exchanges, potentially making them “dark pools.” Liquidnet since 2011. tive to dark pools; this is how we’re more volatile. These proved popular among investors But now regulators are clamping down responding to that.” As a result, they have drafted a set of who complain that when they execute a on anonymous trading, traditional The LSE, which already conducts auc- reforms that will limit the proportion of a large order on a public exchange, other exchanges are looking at new ways to win tions at the opening and closing of busi- company’s shares that can be traded dealers can see what they are doing and so back customers wanting to execute big ness, said its proposal was in response to anonymously to 8 percent. can move the price against them. In “dark orders. demand from clients and that it was cur- That could give traditional exchanges pools,” investors place buy or sell orders rently open for consultation. an opportunity to win back business, which anonymously, and are matched up auto- The auction option The new EU rules are due to be imple- some are already exploring. Last month, matically. The LSE believes an intraday auction mented by the end of 2016. But because the London Stock Exchange (LSE) said it Following the market liberalisation, the could be one such way. During the auction, analysts are unsure exactly how much was looking at introducing a “mid-session LSE has seen its share of European equities normal trade would be suspended and anonymous trading takes place, it is hard to auction,” as a way of offering investors trading drop from a leading position of buyers and sellers would be able to place gauge their likely impact.— Reuters Norway wealth fund to ramp up renewable energy investments OSLO: Norway’s wealth fund should nearly double its invest- ments in renewable energy to a range of $5 billion to $8.3 bil- lion and assess the risk to future returns posed by climate change, the finance ministry said yesterday. The investment shift is part of a series of government reforms of the fund - the biggest of its kind in the world - also including changes to its ethical guidelines and requiring it to prepare reports on its activities in emerging markets. Finance Minister Siv Jensen said the fund should take over responsibility from an independent ethics council for exclud- ing companies that break its investment mandate - a change that critics have said might undermine its ethical commit- ments. “We suggest that Norges Bank will be both responsible for corporate governance and the exclusion mechanism,” Jensen said in a statement. The finance ministry decides the mandate of the fund, which is managed by a division of the central bank. Jensen did not propose letting the fund invest in unlisted assets or infrastructure, despite some expectations she would DEAUVILLE: This file picture taken on August 9, 2004 shows a general view of a branch of the French home improve- give the fund more tools on top of its equity, bond and real ments store Mr Bricolage in Deauville. Kingfisher, Europe’s biggest home-improvements retailer, announced on estate portfolio. Thursday that it was in exclusive talks to buy Mr Bricolage to build upon its already strong presence in France. — AFP The centre-right government announced a major reform of the $860-billion fund after it took office in October. But it may struggle to win consensus support for the new ethical guidelines from parliament, where it has a minority of Nigeria poised to become seats and relies on the support of two small centrist parties, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals. Africa’s biggest economy “I am very sceptical about the closing down of the ethics council,” Christian Democrat Hans Olav Syversen, who heads the legislature’s finance committee, told Reuters. ‘Nothing will really change in real time’

Focus on investment returns LAGOS: Nigeria could leap-frog South Africa Although pockets of vast wealth exist, that countries rebase their gross domestic A government-appointed commission said in November to become Africa’s biggest economy this most of Nigeria’s 170 million people still live product calculations every five years to the fund, which invests the Nordic country’s revenues from oil weekend, when the results of a new way of on $2 a day while key services such as elec- reflect changes in the structure of produc- and gas production, should prioritise increasing its invest- calculating national output are announced. tricity and water remain notoriously poor. tion and consumption. ment returns over ethical considerations. Government statisticians will unveil the “Nothing will really change in real time. It But Nigeria has not recalculated GDP The fund, which has excluded 63 companies for not meet- new figures tomorrow, with widespread is not as if everyone is going to have twice as since 1990. Africa’s leading crude producer ing its ethical mandate, has undershot its 4-percent return-on- expectations that their recalculations will much salary,” Chuba Ezekwesili, an analyst has enjoyed high rates of growth, notwith- investment target since it was established in its current form catapult the continent’s most populous with the Nigeria Economic Summit group, standing widespread corruption, poor gov- in 1998. Until now the exclusions, including Walmart, Boeing , nation into top spot. told AFP. “It (the rebasing) is really more cos- ernance, rampant oil theft and a raging Rio Tinto and Lockheed Martin, have been recommended by The figures, which will include new and metic in nature. But, we do think it will Islamist insurgency in the north. the council and applied, in most cases, by the finance ministry. fast-developing sectors such as telecoms increase investment opportunity in Nigeria.” The annual growth rate averaged 6.8 per- Oeystein Doerum, chief economist at Oslo-based bank and the local film industry, Nollywood, Dawie Roodt, chief economist at the South cent from 2005 to 2013 and the economy is DNB Markets, said last year that dispensing with the ethics should give foreign investors a better picture Africa-based Efficient Group, added: “In term projected to grow this year at a rate of 7.4 council could lead to the fund excluding fewer companies on of the country’s economy. of infrastructure and strong monitoring sys- percent, according to the International ethical grounds. But analysts cautioned against viewing tems, South Africa is still a giant, miles ahead Monetary Fund. “The more independent the council on ethics is, the bet- the figures as a sign of development, noting of Nigeria.” That compares to a little over five percent ter,” Doerum told Reuters in November. “In other words, it that South Africa was still way ahead in between 2005 and 2008-9 in South Africa, should not be made into a section of the Norwegian central terms of gross domestic product per capita, Nollywood, mobile phones which has struggled to go beyond 3.5 per- bank.”—Reuters infrastructure and governance. United Nations statisticians recommend cent since. —AFP BUSINESS SATURDAY, APRIL 5 , 2014

Portugal ramps up fight against tax evasion with fancy cars draw

LISBON: Asked by an attendant if she wants a personal tax revenues in the medium term. 44, who works in a clothes store in Lisbon. invoice on a 15 euro purchase in a Lisbon pet shop, A study by AT Kearney consultants at the end of last Critics, including the consumer protection associa- Lucia Miranda excitedly addresses her tiny pooch: “Do year showed that the shadow economy accounted for tion, say the measure transforms citizens into revenue we want to win an Audi, au-au? Yes we do. Sure we about one-fifth of Portugal’s gross national product, or service agents and may also be used to monitor individ- want the invoice.” It may seem absurd, but the 56-year- over 31 billion euros. At 19 percent of GDP, that was ual spending by Portuguese, while the 2 million euros old notary is talking sense. A state draw offering fancy almost 7 points above western Europe’s average. The worth of cars would have been better spent on social cars on invoices issued with individual taxpayer num- study acknowledged that Portugal was a forerunner in projects and not on mid-range luxury cars. “It’s a way to bers has firmly grabbed the attention of the Portuguese taking measures to address tax evasion and fraud. control people and it can give a winner more - those hopeful to win and critics alike. Other measures in Portugal include greater use of headaches than joy, especially to elderly. I prefer the On April 17, the government will give away the first electronic invoicing, investment in technology and normal lottery,” said Armenio Coelho, a 60-year-old car two Audi A4 sedans in what will then be a weekly draw more tax agents, as well as small tax discounts on per- mechanic. The draw has given rise to dark humour. One for a year. “The Lucky Invoice” draw, which will be tele- sonal invoices, in force from last year. Electronic invoic- popular caricature depicts a queue of people in rags vised, is aimed at stimulating the fight against tax eva- es rose 25 percent in January from a year earlier to waiting their turn at a soup kitchen while a loudspeaker sion and the large shadow economy in cash-strapped around 365 million. above announces: “Will the owners of Audi A4s and A6s Portugal where the tax burden is at record levels after please move their vehicles”. years of austerity. The government says the number of Personal invoicing Weekly draws will dish out Audi A4 cars, worth some such invoices jumped 45 percent in January - the first Shop and cafe attendants contacted by Reuters say 35,300 euros, and several special draws will offer the month the bills qualified for the lottery - from a year they have not seen any sharp increase in personal pricier luxury A6 that costs around 48,000 euros. The earlier to 46 million. invoicing, although hopeful clients who want to take government picked the local distributor of Audis, SIVA, State Tax Secretary Paulo Nuncio told Reuters that part in the draw are not rare. in a tender over the closest competitor BMW. the steep rise “shows the growing level of consumer “They don’t come in droves. Those who ask for the Customers requesting a bill with their taxpayer num- adherence to the fight against the parallel economy.” invoices usually speak about the draw half in jest, like: ‘I ber on it in any business establishment automatically He estimated that new measures against tax evasion wouldn’t have enough money to service that car’ or ‘I’d qualify for a draw ticket per each 10 euros worth of pur- could add between 600 million and 800 million euros in have to sell it to pay my debts’,” said Bebiana Azevedo, chases.—Reuters Kenyan bank debts become transparent Bankers blame stricter application of CB rules

NAIROBI: Kenyan lenders look set to chalk up more bad debts Compounding the effects after they ticked up last year as higher rates bit and payments Tighter regulations or stricter enforcement compounded were withheld from government contractors during the east the trailing effects of the country’s macro-economic shocks of African country’s political transition. 2011, which sent commercial rates rocketing past 25 percent, But the short-term pain may herald long-term gain as and the impact of a political transition after elections in March. another factor has been added to the bad loan mix - stricter KCB, which is the largest lender by assets in East Africa’s enforcement by the central bank of its own prudential rules. largest economy, said its non-performing loans jumped to 8.1 This holds out the promise of greater transparency as percent last year from 6.7 percent. Equity, ranked as the FRANKFURT: Cancelled flights are being displayed on a board investors will obtain a more accurate view of the state of the biggest bank by the number of depositors, saw its bad debts at the airport in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, where books and the quality of bank debt. jump to 5.19 percent from 3.1 percent in the previous year. pilots of German airline Lufthansa demanding better pay and “It will be very clear when looking at the numbers that Oigara said some KCB customers faced difficulties after gov- retirement conditions staged a strike on April 2. Pilots of these are the true numbers of non-performing loans, and ernment payments were delayed by several months. The out- German airline Lufthansa began a strike, forcing the carrier therefore when reviewing a bank you can take a bolder posi- going government of then-president Mwai Kibaki stopped pay- to cancel most of its flights for three days and grounding as tion,” said Francis Mwangi, an analyst at Standard Investment ing contractors well before the March 2013 election to prevent many as 425,000 passengers. — AFP Bank. He also said a more no-nonsense enforcement would irregularities - such as payments for goods never supplied - help ensure banks are more prudent when it comes to lend- while attention was diverted by the transition. Lufthansa calls for ing. “Much more importantly, it means banks have to be President Uhuru Kenyatta took several months after his watchful about their lending practices.” April swearing-in ceremony to form a proper government, Kenyan lenders reported 80.6 billion shillings ($932.33 mil- meaning contractors were only paid in the fourth quarter. reform to strike lion) in non-performing loans last year, 5 percent of total lend- The delays had a knock-on effect on the sensitive building ing, up from 4.7 percent in the previous year, according to the and construction sector, Oigara added. FRANKFURT: The head of Lufthansa called for a reform of workers’ central bank. Analysts said the data, although no cause for Executives in the industry said they were hopeful their bad right to strike yesterday as the biggest strike in the airline’s history alarm, opened the banks up to increased scrutiny, after five debts would start to fall with this chapter behind them. entered its third and final day. While Lufthansa chief executive years of stellar growth in which some lenders doubled their “By June, we are very confident that NPLs will come back to Christoph Franz insisted that the right to strike was a constitutional loan books. around 4 percent or below 4. Most of them have started per- right, “from our point of view, there must be a guarantee that criti- “It is something that one needs to continue assessing espe- forming but we are unable to mark it as performing because cal infrastructure is kept up and running. cially as credit is picking up,” said Ragnar Gudmundsson, the we have to wait for six months,” Mwangi, the CEO of Equity, “And that includes railways and air traffic control,” Franz told the International Monetary Fund’s representative in Kenya. said. He said he expected the bank to close this year with bad business daily Handelsblatt in an interview. Bankers partly blame the stricter application of central debts at the traditional level of around 3 percent. Lufthansa’s pilots have been on strike since Wednesday, ground- bank rules on debt tolerance for the rise in known bad debts. Oloo, the publisher of the banking survey, cast doubt on ing most of the airline’s flights and leaving as many as 425,000 pas- Joshua Oigara, chief executive of KCB Bank, and his coun- this sort of benign forecast. “With the high interest rates that sengers without a connection. terpart at Equity, James Mwangi, said they were now required were there, there is a pack of non-performing loans that many Lufthansa cancelled around 3,800 flights on Wednesday, to write back distressed loans once they had been serviced for banks are holding at the moment and it will take a while before Thursday and Friday as a result of the walkout by pilots who are six months, up from a period of three in the past. banks are able to get them out of their books.” demanding better pay and retirement conditions. Other sources in the banks who did not wish to be named Habil Olaka, chief executive of the Kenya Bankers While the walkout is expected to cost Lufthansa tens of millions said what had really happened was that the central bank had Association (KBA), defended the lenders, saying there was no of euros (dollars), no travel chaos has ensued because Lufthansa started ensuring that rule, which was always on the books, cause for concern. “We haven’t even developed a trend yet,” he was able to warn passengers in advance and help them make alter- was now being followed more closely. said, adding the numbers were for just one year. native travel arrangements. The end result will be a rise in bad loans - or a more accu- He also blamed the rise in bad debts on banks diversifying The strike has come under heavy fire from politicians and indus- rate reflection of the situation. “(Bad debts) are obviously to tap into high-yield segments like lending to small and medi- try, but a poll by ARD public television showed that the majority of going to grow because of the new regulations,” said Ochieng um enterprises (SMEs) “where the real opportunities are”. Germans supported the pilots’ industrial action. As many as 55 per- Oloo, publisher of Kenya’s annual banking survey. “The downside is that you are bound to incur more expo- cent of those surveyed said they understood the pilots’ position ver- Central Bank Governor Njuguna Ndung’u said the rule on sure to credit risk,” he said. KCB has been shifting to lending to sus 42 percent against, the poll found. Nevertheless, the level of reporting of bad debts was always contained in the prudential SMEs and consumers in a bid to diversify its loan book, which is support is still much lower than two years ago when 75 percent of guidelines, declining to comment on whether enforcement traditionally focused on big firms who borrow in dollars and Germans said they understood a strike by cabin staff. —AFP had been stepped up in 2013. pay low interest rates. — Reuters BUSINESS SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014

Joyalukkas Group’s Mall of Joy set to open today

THRISSUR: The multi-billion dollar global conglomerate, Mehandi, Hair braiding, North Indian snacks through gift ferent shapes and sizes Joyalukkas, has announced the opening of their first mall, the coupons received with every purchase. The inaugural celebra- • World renowned brands will be available at John Paul Mall of Joy in Thrissur, Kerala. This opening will commence the tion of Mall of Joy will last for 50 days. Watches foray of the global conglomerate into the business of develop- Mall of Joy, Thrissur will offer ample parking space for a ing malls. The grand opening of Mall of Joy, Thrissur is sched- shoppers convenience. Designed by architects and interior 5. ME (Mary & Elza) Cosmetics uled today. Various dignitaries and VIP’s are scheduled to designers of international repute, Mall of Joy will offer shop- • Offers a range of cosmetics and enticing fragrances that is attend the grand opening celebration. pers the perfect fusion of old and new to compliment the cele- every woman’s dream. The business of malls is in line with the Joyalukkas Group’s bration spirit in shopping. • Houses Internationally acclaimed names in women’s fra- objectives to make strategic investments into various niche “With Mall of Joy, we are venturing into and setting a new grance and beauty care businesses. The Joyalukkas Group currently operates across 10 path in the mall business. Customers have always blessed • The best of international and Indian brands will make ME ther countries around the world and its business interests include Joyalukkas with their loyalty and blessings and we hope they preferred destination for cosmetics and perfumes Jewelry Retail, Fashion & Silks, Money Exchange, Luxury Air enjoy this new spirit of celebration shopping we are creating Charter, Realty and Malls. for them,” added Joy Alukkas. Joyalukkas Group has planned a 6. Digital Plus • The complete electronics store The group is lead by its dynamic chairman, Joy Alukkas who total of seven malls across various locations in Kerala and Tamil • A paradise for the tech passionate started his business with a single jewelry showroom in the UAE. Nadu to be built within a period of two years. • House a host of brands and choices in electronics and house Joy Alukkas is considered a pioneer in the jewelry retail busi- Each retail concept is specialized and caters to a particular hold appliances ness and has created a successful business empire which cur- category, however designed in a seamless integrated style to • Laptops, mobile phones, tablets, accessories, printers, refriger- rently employees over 6000 people world-wide. give shoppers a one shop experience. The details of the 10 ators, microwaves, food ‘Mall of Joy’ by Joyalukkas will be the first mall in India to be retail concepts housed within Mall of Joy are... processors, air-conditioners • you name the gadget, Digital themed around ‘celebration’ shopping and will house a fasci- World has it for you nating mix of retail concepts that plan to offer the best of 1. Joyalukkas • The World’s favourite Jeweller. ‘Latest at the lowest price’ is the motto of Digital World brands and products in a unique format. The Mall is designed • Globally renowned jewellery retail chain Homeland • Cutlery and home accessories to make a dream to offer a seamless connectivity of the various retail concepts • Popular for a breathtaking choice in all types of precious jew- home housed within the mall so that shoppers can easily move from ellery • A choice of items that can adorn the various nooks and corner one to the other. The flagship concept of the Mall will be the • Offers over One Million choices in gold, diamond, precious of a home globally renowned Joyalukkas Jewellery and Jolly Silks, which stone, polki, platinum & • Multi-purpose crockery items that will help shoppers make a enjoys a global following of over 10 million customers. pearl statement in their homes “We have utilized our global knowledge and understanding • Specialised in wedding, festival and special occasion jewellery • Shoppers can get every type of cutlery and home accessories in retail and shopping to build Mall of Joy, which is a truly • Assure best price and 100% guarantee on all products sourced from the best world-class creation. We have also identified a unique theme of • Choice of jewellery offered includes Ethnic, Ethno• spots around the world ‘celebration’, since I believe every shopping trip is a celebra- Contemporary and Latest tion. Mall of Joy stands for a celebration of choice, celebration International Collections. 8. Planet Walk • The hub to your dream in footwear of fashion and celebration of every happy occasion in a per- • Trendy Footwear and bags that will make a shopper want son’s life, such as weddings, festivals, birthdays, anniversaries 2. Jolly Silks • The new destination for fashion more and others,” said Joy Alukkas, Chairman, Joyalukkas Group. • A renowned destination in the world for Fashion & Silks • Planet Walk is a house for Footwear, bags and accessories that Mall of Joy is targeted at the growing affluent residents of • Offers a choice of silk sarees, dress materials and readymade meets all the Thrissur who have a modern outlook to life and believe in fashion demands and expectation of every lifestyle shopping for the best. The mall is set to make a considerable • Jolly Silks has a wide presence in the Gulf with showrooms in • The finest choices and brands will be housed in an interna- positive change in the way residents of Thrissur are used to Muscat, Kuwait and Sharjah. tional standard ambience shopping, with a unique mix of 10 retail concepts that cater to • Offers a wide range of branded apparels from men, women 9. Joyalukkas Money Exchange • Your favourite Money all the needs and aspirations of every shopper. The 10 retail and kids Exchange concepts that are housed within Mall of Joy are Joyalukkas • The extensive and exclusive range for women includes • The favourite money exchange of millions of people in the Jewellery, Jolly Silks, John Paul watches, ME cosmetics, Michelle Designer Silk Sarees, Lehenga Cholis, Churidars, Kurtas and middle-east Baby Shop, Planet Walk, Digital Plus, Home Land, Silver Center Formal Dress Materials for Weddings, Occasions and Daily • For currency exchange to various innovative currency related and Joyalukkas Money Exchange. wear. services, Joyalukkas Every week popular film stars will visit Mall of Joy to add Money Exchange is the world standard in money exchange more color to the celebration of Mall of Joy. The official inaugu- 3. Michelle Baby shop service ration of Jolly Silks will be held on 12th April by its brand • A brand new retail concept created to cater exclusively to kids Best rates, Quick service and various other innovative exchange ambassador Vidya Balan, the official inauguration of fashion related services will Joyalukkas Jewellery will be held on 29th April by its brand • Will house a choice of brands and fashion that will bring a add to your experience and convenience at Mall of Joy ambassador Suresh Gopi, the official inauguration of smile to every mothers face Joyalukkas Money Exchange will be done by its brand ambas- and a glow in every kids eyes 10. Silver Center sador Jayaram on 26th April, and the official inauguration of • Offers readymade clothes, accessories and gift items for kids, A vast collection for silver ornaments the other retail sections will be done by famous film stars, new-born to 10 years Assured best price and 100% guarantee for every purchase Sudeep, R. Madhavan and Allu Arjun on 3rd May, 17th May and Old Special and separate collection for silver ornaments, coins, 24th May respectively. deities and art decors Attractive prizes are await customers on each week. The 4. John Paul Watches • Trendy, Chic, Elegant, Stylish customers have a golden chance of receiving attractive prizes Watches and Sun Glasses 11. Curry and Bakers from famous film stars in each week when they purchase from • An exclusive collection of watches, ranging from individual A spot to enjoys tongue thrilling taste while having mind Mall of Joy. The prizes will be distributed by the Super Stars at ones for men, women and thrilling shopping experience 5pm in each week. The customers have the opportunity to children, as well as those special wedding pairs. Enjoy varieties of cakes, snacks and bake items freshly prepared enjoy more than 15 entertainments such as face painting, • Home to fashionable sun glasses and spectacle frames of dif- by master chefs. 2014 SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 5, APRIL SATURDAY, www.kuwaittimes.net

Kurt Cobain remembered, 20 years after his death Page 25

A model wears a creation by Black by Lozanne show, at Mexico Fashion Week in Mexico City, Thursday. — AP

FiveFive ‘Game‘Game ofof Thrones’Thrones’ destinationsdestinations fansfans shouldshould visitvisit PAGE 26 SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014 K-Pop stars big Beethoven, Mozart in Japan bridge manuscripts on show in Poland diplomatic divide ne wrote neatly and methodically, the other crossed things out and Otore pages up in frustration. Beethoven and Mozart may be two of the greatest composers of all time but they could not have arrived at the same point by means more different. The personalities of the deaf German legend and the Austrian child prodigy come alive through a collec- tion of their musical manuscripts now on show in Poland’s southern city of Krakow. “Mozart was very tidy. He wrote without making any changes. Beethoven on the other hand, that’s another story,” said Zdzislaw Pietrzyk, director of the library organizing the show. “His manuscripts were messy, there are crossed out sections, Members of South Korean K-Pop group “CRAYON corrections. And that passion is reflected in POP” pose during a press conference prior to attend- his symphonies and music,” he told AFP. ing the K-Pop chart show “M Countdown” at the Krakow’s Jagiellonian Library picks out a dif- Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Kanagawa prefec- ferent selection of musical works from its ture. — AFP vaults to display each year alongside evening concerts performed during the housands of K-Pop fans flocked to a major concert by annual Beethoven Easter festival. top South Korean music stars in Japan this week, with This year’s collection of several dozen Torganizers and fans alike calling it a “bridge” for two works by various composers, on display The Beethoven manuscript of Grosse Fuge in B flat major, Op 133 for string nations locked in a never-ending diplomatic squabble. The until April 22, includes a sketch for quartet shown in Krakow’s Jagiellonian Library. — AFP K-Pop juggernaut has been spreading around the world Beethoven’s 9th symphony and the origi- build on a view also reflected in their points to its own losses. Warsaw says it lost with South Korean music, television and movies making a nal handwritten score of Mozart’s Piano big splash in countries with few ties to Seoul. But the coun- appearances: Mozart always pictured with half a million works of art during the war Concerto No. 27 in B-flat major. “You can a perfect wig and Beethoven shown with a that today would be worth around $20 bil- try’s offerings are particularly loved across the sea in Japan really see that Beethoven was human and whose own unique culture has long been a hit with South mad mop of hair. Their manuscripts on lion (15 billion euros). The Polish govern- he did really, really suffer when he did not show in Krakow were originally stored in ment returned several manuscripts to East Koreans, despite historical animosities and territorial dis- find the right idea again or when he putes. the Prussian State Library in Berlin but the Germany in 1977 as a gesture of goodwill changed his mind or he made a mistake,” Nazis removed them during the Second between the two then communist states. That mutual love was on display in Yokohama, south of said German pianist Hinrich Alpers, who Tokyo, on Wednesday as a slate of acts including Supernova, World War to protect them from Allied Many Poles including musicologists, histori- performed at this year’s Beethoven festival. bombing. ans and politicians reacted with dismay. teenage girl band sensation Crayon Pop and crooning boy “He was very, very upset and the way he band 2PM performed for screaming Japanese fans, includ- They were moved to a Benedictine Hinrich Alpers argues that the location is crossed out things was very fierce and bru- monastery in Silesia, which after the war inconsequential as long as the manuscripts ing young girls and some middle-aged men. Kurumi Hagi, a tal sometimes. He even ripped the paper 17-year-old fan of 2PM, was among the 9,600 capacity became part of Poland. They were subse- are visible. “It’s most important really that and had to glue in a new page,” he told quently transferred to Jagellonian these things don’t disappear in somebody’s crowd packed into the concert put on by popular South AFP. Korean music television show M Countdown. University in Krakow. Germany has for years private collection in a vault or somewhere Legal ownership called for the return of the manuscripts, but where nobody can see them or touch them “When I feel tired, I just need to see them to feel lively The composers’ distinct working styles again,” Hagi said. “Their performance gives me energy.” Poland argues it has legal ownership and anymore,” he said. — AFP Another huge fan of the six-boy band is Hagi’s mother, who landed a backstage pass, while 40-year-old Kan Yokoyama can’t get enough of the group Girl’s Day. “I am totally Late Motown icon Marvin Gaye hooked by Girl’s Day,” he said. “I met them at one recent fan meeting, and (band member) Hyeri showed me how to dance. She was so sweet, and I’ve been huge fan of her ever remembered on 75th birthday since.” The event was held as relations between Tokyo and Seoul are at their worst level in years, mired in emotive dis- putes linked to Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule, particularly amily, friends and fans of Marvin Gaye us,” recalled Jimmy Falwell, whose own doo- record label founded by Berry Gordy that revo- Japan’s use of South Korean “comfort women” as sex slaves came together Wednesday to pay joyful wop group the Velons is still in business after lutionized pop music in the 1960s, cranking out in wartime brothels. In an illustration of sensitivities, South Fhommage the late Motown legend and 56 years. hits in the same production-line manner that native Washingtonian on what would have But, Falwell told AFP, “Washington wasn’t General Motors turned out cars. His first solo hit, Korea’s national publicly-funded broadcaster KBS this week been his 75th birthday. Gaye was shot and that good on supporting a lot of the music we “Stubborn Kind of Fellow,” charted in 1962, fol- banned Crayon Pop’s latest song because of a Japanese killed by his father on the eve of his 45th birth- were doing at that time. Most artists had to lowed by such songs as “Can I Get a Witness,” word contained in its lyrics. day in 1984, leaving behind a remarkable leave Washington to get their success.” Fame “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” and string of hits-led by “Let’s Get It On,” “I Heard It awaited the young Gaye at Motown, the Detroit “Ain’t That Peculiar.” —AFP Musical diplomacy Through the Grapevine” and “Sexual Healing”- Hawkish Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last week that remain pop, funk and soul classics. held his first summit with South Korean President Park “When it comes to DC, there’s nothing big- Geun-Hye, an occasion in the Hague hosted by US President ger, nothing better than Marvin Gaye,” pro- Barack Obama, whose administration is increasingly frustrat- claimed local radio DJ Guy Lambert, emcee of ed by incessant sniping between its two major Asian allies. a birthday soiree at Marvin, a bar-restaurant Park stood stone-faced at a press conference where Abe honoring the nearly two years Gaye lived in tried his hand at speaking Korean, and one-on-one talks Belgium. Spotted in the diverse 200-strong appear a long way off. A dispute over islands in the Sea of crowd were Gaye’s youngest sister Zeola, who Japan, which Koreans call the East Sea, and Abe’s tendency sang backing vocals on his 1977 dance hit to flirt with historical revisionism have also aggravated ten- “Got to Give it Up,” and his longtime friend sions. Demonstrations by Japanese far-right nationalists and music arranger Gordon Banks, who on against Koreans living in the country are another distraction. guitar led a lively jam session on Marvin’s al But the concert’s organizer said South Korea’s spreading fresco stage. of so-called soft power through music and pop culture Performing as well were members of Gaye’s very first combo, the Marquees, a doo- could help bring the combative neighbors together. “Since wop quartet that came together in 1959 in the we are a cultural industry company, we believe we can do Washington basement recording studio of something small that government won’t and can’t do,” said pioneering rhythm and blues guitarist Bo Gordon Banks, Marvin Gaye’s music director and band member, puts his guitar Shin Hyung-Kwan, executive producer of CJ E&M’s music Diddley. “Marvin goes all the way back with away after performing at the Marvin Bar and Restaurant April 2, 2014 in channel Mnet. —AFP us. We used to do talent shows at Dunbar Washington, DC during the 7th annual Marvin Gaye Day celebration to honor high school and Marvin played drums behind the 75 birthday of singer and song writer. — AP SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014

Janelle Monae, center, performs alongside holograms of M.I.A. during a launch Janelle Monae performs during a launch party for the Audi M3. party for the Audi M3 on Thursday in West Hollywood, Calif. — AP photos M.I.A., Janelle Monae perform hologram duet ingers M.I.A. and tion and video mapping up there.” A life-size holo- both said they’d try the tech- ‘Under the Skin’ Review Janelle Monae shared technology than Tupac gram of the British rapper nology again. “I think if you Sthe stage during sepa- Shakur’s hologram debut at joined Monae onstage with can have artists be a holo- rate concerts on opposite the annual Coachella music an original addition to her gram and you can access it, A is for ‘Alien’ and coasts through the magic of festival in 2012. M.I.A. and song “Q.U.E.E.N.” Wearing a and you have them life-size, holograms. M.I.A. performed Monae performed together spangled top and pants rem- in your house, it could be ‘Arthouse’ in this oblique in New York with a 3-D pro- in person to help create the iniscent of C-3PO, M.I.A. kind of cool,” M.I.A. said by jection of Monae Thursday holograms, but each saw the appeared to dance and sing, phone. “It’s definitely cool for night while Monae sang on results for the first time her image at times bathed in us and it’s cool for me. I Johansson puzzler the West Coast with M.I.A.’s onstage. colored lights. Monae’s holo- could be in 10 places at likeness. Both artists have “I wish I were in the audi- gram sang a verse of M.I.A.’s once.” The technology has t’s currently a given that Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space ideas for how they might use ence because I’m sure it “Bad Girls” with her at New been prohibitively expensive Odyssey” is a classic, and generations of critics and film stu- performance holograms looked cooler from the audi- York’s SIR Stage 37. and cumbersome to use on Idents have collectively deduced its storyline over the years. But beyond their bi-coastal duet, ence, but it felt great,” Neither artist got to see tour, she said: “I hope they if you go back and read reviews and commentary from 1968, which was sponsored by Monae said after closing her what their own hologram get it together to the point there was a whole lot of “What the hell was THAT?” going around. Audi to launch its A3 model. 40-minute set at Quixote looked like (“I’m going to go that it’s accessible.” —AP Expect a similar amount of confoundedness over “Under the The high-tech duet required Studios by singing with a online and see if I could see Skin,” the first film from writer-director Jonathan Glazer (“Birth,” more advanced 3-D projec- hologram. “I felt M.I.A.’s spirit it,” Monae confessed), but “Sexy Beast”) in a decade. Offering little dialogue and even less in the way of explanation, this is a movie that’s going to engender enthusiasm from certain quar- ters and head scratching from others. Pharrell Williams, Zimmer The plot I feel secure in proclaiming its artistry but less so about my interpretation of what actually create ‘Spidey’ opera happens in this movie. Here’s the plot of “Under the Skin” as I understood it, but don’t quote irector Marc Webb and famed composer Hans Zimmer me - and if you’re sensitive assembled a supergroup of influential recording artists, about spoilers, skip the next five Dincluding the “Happy” chart topper Pharrell Williams, for paragraphs: The film opens with “The Amazing Spider-Man 2.” The hope was that everyone working shots of space, and stars form- together would spark creativity, but Zimmer had no idea how far ing circles and ellipses and that creativity would go until Williams took a walk around the eclipses. The soundtrack is a frenzied soundscape of stringed block. “We wrote an opera. So, who would’ve thunk it?” Zimmer instruments, and we eventually hear Scarlett Johansson forming said. “It just came out of a conversation with Marc that came out of sounds and reading alphabetical lists of words, like someone all these ideas and suddenly, you know, there was this great learning a language, and those circles become what appears to moment where (Pharrell) was so excited because of all these ideas. be a human eye. A mysterious man on a motorcycle (Jeremy I could see all of these ideas sort of flying in his head and he said, McWilliams - at least I think so, since there are no character names ‘Stop. I just have to walk around the block, literally.’ We sat there in the credits and the actors are listed in the order in which they and he walked around the block and came back with two pages of appear) recovers what appears to be a hooker’s dead body at the lyrics. Amazing. It was amazing but it was that sort of environment.” side of the road and puts it in a van. In a mysterious room, an alien (Johansson) strips the clothes off the other woman and puts them Other members of Spidey’s supergroup included Johnny Marr, on. The alien goes to a department store and buys makeup and a founding member of The Smiths, and Michael Einziger, founder fur coat in order to become more attractive. and guitarist for Incubus. The soundtrack also includes a collabora- She begins driving around in a van, looking for solitary men. tion between Alicia Keys and Kendrick Lamar. Williams said things Photo shows Pharrell, left, and Hans Zimmer pose at The Others, she picks up in a nightclub. The men wind up with her in came together despite the presence of these high-end musicians Standard Hotel during press day for their collaboration on dark rooms where they essentially sink into the floor and drown from all parts of the music world. “Yeah, it was very harmonious,” the soundtrack for “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” in Los as they follow a disrobing Johansson to their doom. One night, he said in an interview last week. “The atmosphere, it wasn’t a clash Angeles. — AP she picks up a lonely young man with facial disfigurement, per- of the egos. It was more like everything just fit into place in a really ion styles with Zimmer in a dark brown metallic suit and Williams in haps from Proteus syndrome. She seduces him, but appears to wonderful way and of course Hans being at the helm of what we one of his famous black oversized hats, a letterman jacket, jeans have more compassion for him than for her previous victims. He would call leadership. He allowed for everyone to have a voice and and several gold chains - the two see eye-to-eye when it comes to does not die but instead escapes into a field naked, where the for everyone to have their creative space and for that space to creating music. Williams said he learned there is no ceiling. man on the motorcycle apprehends him and throws him in the count.” “You are supposed to be creative, but you are supposed to do trunk of a car. The alien, meanwhile, winds up in a small Scottish That creativity spilled over into the film, which opens May 2, as something that is going to be harmoniously and kinesthetically town, apparently unable to speak or remember her mission or Webber became so inspired by the work he made a change in the rewarding to the film,” Williams said. “It’s almost like when you add consume food. (Is she being punished for going off-mission? Or movie. “I suppose I don’t think it’s a secret anymore but suddenly the visual and the audio together is where you get the third brand does she begin dying the moment she stops hunting down suste- the Sinister Six were sort of introduced into the movie because we new element that is introduced and that is the feeling. But when nance?) A man gives her his coat and tries to help her out, but had a theme for them and it became irresistible to go and shoot those two are separate, you are hard-pressed to get to the feeling. eventually a violent encounter with another man brings her true these scenes,” Zimmer said. While Zimmer and Williams come from So I feel like in this particular situation we had enough room to sort nature to light. —Reuters different worlds - evidenced at the interview by their opposite fash- of create music and have it be expansive from the inside.” — AP SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014 9 memorable quotes from David Letterman

This Jan 15, 1993 file photo shows talk-show host David Letterman announces his new contract with CBS television for his new show ‘The Late Show with David Letterman,’ in New York. — AP photos appearance in 2011. 3- “Joaquin, I’m sorry you couldn’t be here tonight.” - Letterman to Joaquin Phoenix after the “Walk the Line” star’s bizarre 2009 interview in which he claimed he was dropping acting to become a hip-hop musician. 4- “This doesn’t smell right. This is not the way a tested hero behaves. Somebody’s putting something in his Metamucil.” - Letterman after Republican presidential candidate Sen John McCain canceled his appearance at the last minute in 2008. 5- “How’d you like being in jail?” - Letterman to Paris Hilton fol- lowing her prison time in 2001. 6- “If you didn’t believe it before - and it’s easy to understand how you might have been skeptical on this point - if you did- n’t believe it before, you can absolutely believe it now: New York City is the greatest city in the world.” - Letterman dur- ing his monologue on his first show back after the Sept 11 attacks in 2001. 7- “While I was gone, I had quintuple bypass surgery on my heart. Plus, I got a haircut.” - Letterman during his mono- logue on his first show after heart surgery in 2000. This June 29, 2010 file photo shows David Letterman riding a go kart powered by the reaction from mixing 648 Mentos candies 8- “I can’t thank you enough for that.” - Letterman after Drew into 108 two-liter bottles of Coke while taping a segment for ìThe Late Show with David Lettermanî in New York. — AP Barrymore flashed her breasts to him on his birthday in 1995. ine memorable quotes from David Letterman, who with Conan O’Brien following the fellow talk show host’s 9-”I wanna thank you folks for coming in for this run-through Nannounced he’s retiring from “Late Show” on Thursday: mix-up with Jay Leno in 2012. show. Thank you very much. This, of course, will never see 2- “You’re going to be sick for weeks. You won’t be out of the the light of day. You won’t miss a thing tonight.” - Letterman 1- “I think the longer we just sit here, the more uncomfortable it egg for a month.” - Letterman to Lady Gaga after the out- to the audience after Madonna repeatedly cursed during an will make Jay.” - Letterman after sharing awkward silence landish pop star put his notes in her mouth during an interview in 1994. — AP Review Ledisi wows with latest album espite multiple Grammy nomina- Dtions, being one of Michelle Obama’s This 2005 file faves and having a voice that is among photo, originally the most beautiful you will hear today, supplied by the Ledisi still hovers far below the radar of Rolling Stones, music’s mainstream listeners. Her latest shows members of studio album, “The Truth,” probably isn’t the group, from going to change that, but it should: It’s a left, Charlie Watts, gem that deserves to be heard. Ledisi’s Keith Richards, voice is a multifaceted jewel that gives Mick Jagger, and the album much of its sparkle: She’s bold Ron Wood posing during a photo but never brash, scats without over shoot. —AP trilling and can curl your toes with the bending of a single note. Even when she’s giving someone the emotional heave-ho, Rolling Stones tour as on “Like This,” you’ll be more mesmer- ized by her performance than the pathos of the situation: If only all relationships lost its bloom. But it’s not all sugarcoated of Australia back on could end with a Ledisi soundtrack. gloom. If Ledisi sounds alluring while he Rolling Stones on Friday announced in Australia and New Zealand for their patience Ledisi co-wrote all but one of the singing through bitterness, she’s irre- Ttheir tour of Australia and New Zealand, and understanding at this time.” Jagger’s songs on “The Truth,” a rich blend of sistible when she’s doing the wooing, which was postponed after the suicide of Mick American girlfriend L’Wren Scott committed grown-folks R&B - sensual, soulful and which she does for a good part of the Jagger’s girlfriend, has been rescheduled for suicide in her New York apartment on March heartfelt, without the over sexualized album with songs like the up-tempo October and November. “The rescheduled 17, just after the band arrived in Perth for the content, brand placements and ridicu- “Blame You,” the funky “Rock With You” Australia/New Zealand tour will take place first date of their “14 On Fire” tour Down lous lyrics. On “88 Boxes,” she sings and “Missy Doubt.” The album’s best between 25 October to 22 November 2014,” Under. They were also due to play in Adelaide, about the pain of a union ending. The moment? “Lose Control,” where she the veteran British rockers said on the band’s Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Auckland. title track is another sweet-sounding almost outdoes Beyonce with this sultry website, with exact dates for each city to be Jagger had been with Scott for 13 years. A song with a bitter message, as Ledisi bedroom romp. It will surely make you released soon. coroner said the model-turned-fashion design- comes to terms with a love that has long do what the song title suggests. — AP “The Rolling Stones wish to thank their fans er, who was 49, had hanged herself. — AFP SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014 Kurt Cobain remembered, 20 years after his death

urt Cobain changed Win Butler’s world. Billie Joe Armstrong thought the KNirvana frontman was his generation’s John Lennon and Paul McCartney. And Beck thinks he owes a debt of gratitude to the singer-guitarist for opening the world’s ears to a thriving, but little-heard underground scene. It’s been two decades since Cobain took his own life on April 5, 1994, at age 27, yet he remains an important cultural touch- stone for those he influenced and entertained in his short-lived career. The Associated Press spoke with a handful of musicians about their In this 1993 file photo, lead singer of memories of Cobain as the anniversary of his Nirvana Kurt Cobain is photographed. suicide approached. Some knew him, some watched him from afar. All were touched in they’re smoking cigarettes in the back and some way profound and unforgettable. they didn’t have money for nice clothes, all Beck experienced Nirvana long before the sudden those kids socially were in a weird everyone else. He ran into the band three way on the same level as everyone else,” years before Nirvana’s “Nevermind” changed Butler said. “I was sort of like a weird kid who pop music. He had never heard of the band, didn’t know where I fit in or whatever and just the opening act on a three-band bill, the top to have that kind of voice be that big in cul- draws now lost to memory. “I have a memory ture, I feel like that was a magical period of This Dec 13, 1993 file photo shows Kurt Cobain of the Seattle band Nirvana performing alternative music where we had Jane’s of them coming out and he had his middle in Seattle, Wash. — AP photos finger up, was giving his middle finger to the Addiction and R.E.M. and Nirvana, it was like audience,” he said. “ ... I’d seen a lot of punk popular when “Smells Like Teen Spirit” ripped generation as Lennon and McCartney were to seeing these kind of freaks from all the differ- shows and I’d seen a lot of bands when I was the fabric of pop music was already there. theirs. “You know, the guy just wrote beauti- ent cities of North America and you’re like, oh younger where the shows were pretty aggres- “And I can tell you, any situation I’ve been in ful songs,” Armstrong said. “When someone wow.” sive or confrontational, but there was some- and many of my peers I’ve seen coming up, goes that honestly straight to the core of who thing completely different about this. I playing for audiences who’ve never heard of they are, what they’re feeling, and was able to ‘Sleeps With Angels’ remember he had a smile on his face, there you, you don’t get people’s attention at all,” kind of put it out there, I don’t know, man, it’s Butler still takes cues from Cobain and was a kind of playfulness, but it was also a lit- he said. “Usually they’re talking or going to amazing. Nirvana. After winning the 2010 Grammy tle menacing, and I remember the minute the bathroom in those kinds of situations, but Award for album of the year, Butler and his they started playing, the entire audience they had the audience from the first note. Last rock ‘n’ roll revolution band delivered a completely unexpected fol- erupted in a way I hadn’t seen before.” Even if they had never become successful, I I remember hearing it when ‘Nevermind’ low-up album last year that ignored the lure of would still remember that. It made a big came out and just thinking, we’ve finally got pop possibilities - much like Nirvana did when impression. I remember at the time thinking, our Beatles, this era finally got our Beatles, it recorded the band’s final album, the polariz- ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ Everything that would make the band ‘What is this? Something’s going on here,’ and and ever since then it’s never happened ing “In Utero,” in 1993. I was a fan after that.” again. That’s what’s interesting. I was always “Imagine Nirvana having the biggest Billie Joe Armstrong remembers being out thinking maybe the next 10 years. OK, maybe record in the world and spending nine days on Green Day’s first tour in 1990 and encoun- the next 10 years, OK, maybe. ... That was truly and coming back with this super-raw album tering the band’s graffiti in a string of tiny the last rock ‘n’ roll revolution.” with pretty acoustic songs and crazy metal clubs out West. He’d heard of Nirvana Like Armstrong, Win Butler was moved songs,” Butler said. “I don’t know, just artisti- through its Sub Pop releases, including its when he first heard “Nevermind” in 1991. So cally ‘In Utero’ was a constant source of inspi- debut album, “Bleach,” but thought little of it was everyone in the Arcade Fire frontman’s ration. It stands the test of time so well, and at the time. A year later, Nirvana was known world growing up in Texas. “All the sudden ‘All Apologies’ is one of the most beautiful throughout the world. Cobain became some- the whole kind of social dynamic at my junior songs ever written, I think.” thing of a tortured poet laureate, a figure high changed where these kind of misfit kids Cobain enjoyed a kind of feedback loop Armstrong thinks was as important for his who maybe come from a broken home and with those he admired, and got the attention of Neil Young - a major touchstone for the grunge movement - before his death. Young has often chafed under the requirements of fame as well, and understands some of what Cobain was experiencing. The singer-song- writer was so moved by Cobain’s death, he recorded the album “Sleeps With Angels,” and still wonders what might have happened if he had been able to talk to Cobain before he died. “Well, you know, it’s a hard thing to deal with,” Young said. “I guess Kurt felt too much. I think it’s sad that he didn’t have anybody to talk to that could’ve talked to him and said, ‘I know what you’re going through, but it’s not too bad. It really isn’t bad. Just (expletive) blink and it will be gone. Everything will be all right. You’ve got a lot of other things to do. Why don’t you just take a break? Don’t worry about all these (exple- tive) who want you to do all this (expletive) you don’t want to do. Just stop doing every- thing. Tell them to get (expletive) and stay A woman looks at a photo of late singer away.’ That’s it. That’s what I would have told Kurt Cobain, as part of the exhibition ‘The him if I had the chance. And I almost got a Last Shooting’ on March 28, 2014 at the Graffiti seen under a bridge in Kurt Cobain Park in Aberdeen, Washington on April 1, chance, but it didn’t happen.” — AP Addict gallery in Paris. — AFP 2014, near the house where Cobain lived and committed suicide. SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014

Five ‘Game of Thrones’ destinations fans should visit

n the bleak and dismal break between seasons of “Game of Mediterranean island, such as the Mdina Bridge, Pjazza along with King’s Landing’s waterside garden in Season 3 Thrones”, what better way for fans to keep in the spirit of Mesquita, and Verdala Palace are all located close to one anoth- which was located at the Trsteno Arboretum. Iproceedings than by visiting one of the exotic lands where er. filming for the program took place? Following are locations 4. Iceland where the show’s incest, pillaging, and frequent death run riot. San Anton Palace Malta Volcanic but frozen, Iceland truly is the Land of Ice and Fire. The article below is an edited version of a blog compiled by the Lord Stark’s announcement to Cersei that he knew of her Barren, alien, beautiful but brutal, this mysterious landscape is travel site GoEuro.co.uk, and contains some spoilers. incestuous secret was filmed in the Dominican St Dominic the perfect location for the land Beyond The Wall. Line Monastery, after it was transformed into the Gardens of the Red Producer Chris Newman said they wanted as much of the 1. Northern Ireland Keep. His subsequent comeuppance took place nearby at Fort scenery to be as true to life as possible, and that they weren’t Much of the fictitious land of Westeros is located in Manoel. Many similar structures close by were used, such as Fort “doing anything in post-production to add mountains or snow Northern Ireland. Winter may have just left the Emerald Isle, but St Angelo where Arya chasing the cat beneath the castle was or anything”. given Ireland’s average 300 rainy or cloudy days a year, many of filmed. As the capital of the Seven Kingdoms, Malta housed the the locations filmed here were used to depict Winterfell, the Iron Throne for some time. Fittingly, one of the venues for this Myvatn Lake, Iceland north, and other less sunny parts of the Seven Kingdoms. was the San Anton Palace, in real life a residence of the island’s Filming spots included Ho\foabrekkuheioi, the Myrdalsjokull president. One of the few drawbacks of Mdina as a set is that it glacier, the Vatnajˆkull glacier - Europe’s largest ice cap- and Dark Hedges, Northern Ireland lies inland, unlike its seaside Westeros counterpart, and could Lake Myvatn which, although a protected area, is easily accessi- Those who want to tread the same grounds as the Family therefore only be used to depict interior shots of the city. ble for visitors. Annual events hosted here include the Icelandic Stark should explore the area of Downpatrick, County Down, marathon. The lake is littered with unusual lava formations, apt- where Castle Ward was used to film parts of the family home. Azure Window, Gozo ly known as “black castles”. While a majority of scenes were Nearby Audley’s Castle and Woods were the location for the Just a short boat trip away, the natural backdrop of the filmed at the Lake, Iceland’s Skaftafell National Park was also family’s war encampment in Season One. Further north you’ll Azure Window, located on Malta’s smaller sister island Gozo, put to good use. find the setting for Castle Black - the abandoned was used as the setting of Daenerys Targaryens’s wedding to While the life of an actor may seem glamorous, those who Magheramorne quarry which is currently under proposal to be Khal Drogo. The area is still free for tourists to explore, howev- were involved in Icelandic scenes had to brave severely cold turned into a centre for adventure sports. Nearby Redhall Estate er, part of the reason Malta was not utilised in following sea- conditions. The scene where John Snow fights Qhorin Halfhand appeared in both Seasons Two and Three under various guises, sons was due to disputes between island officials and the pro- near the end of Season Two took place on a cliff with a 500 m- including as the inn where Catelyn Tully captured Tyrion duction crew over damage that may have been inflicted upon (1,500 ft-) drop, the snow so deep the actors kept sinking into it Lannister before taking him to her twisted sister in Eyrie. (For the natural wonder. Uber-fans looking to recreate the scenes during an exhausting two-day shoot. bonus fan points, the rock formations that make up Eyrie actu- for their own special day will be relieved to know that wed- ally lie in Greece and had the castle grafted onto them). dings are still allowed here. Perhaps just hold back on the hun- 5. Morocco With eerie in mind, Ballymoney’s Dark Hedges provided the dreds of horses, weapons, and fighting, to avoid further deteri- Heading back to a more comfortable environment, Morocco backdrop for the iconic Kingsroad. As one of the most pho- oration. was used as the primary setting for many of Daenerys’ travels in tographed sites in Ireland, their dramatic appearance was per- Season Three. This was actually a revisit for the production fect for the award-winning series. It seems Ireland’s rugged ter- 3. Croatia team to the area - it was originally used as King’s Landing in the rain is pretty adaptable as a mythological setting, with Sandy The second season saw filming of King’s Landing moved to unaired pilot. Brae Path at Newry and Mourne used as the site of the twin Croatia, specifically Dubrovnik and Lokrum. With Dubrovnik horse statues marking the entrance to the Dothraki holy being a seaside walled city, similar to the Westeros capital, the Ait Benhaddou ground. There’s something especially fantastic about this area, crew were offered additional opportunities to film exterior shots Although some of the shots here were used to represent as the Mourne Mountains are said to have inspired CS Lewis’s as well as the interior shots they had been limited to in Mdina. King’s Landing in the third season, the historic city of Ait “The Chronicles of Narnia”. Our final tip for Northern Ireland is Benhaddou, a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, was to head to the Caves of Cushendun, County Antrim, where one Old town Dubrovnik and Lokrum Island utilised to represent Yunkai, or the Yellow City travelled to by of the more disturbing scenes from Season Two was filmed: The surrounding waters were put to good use, providing the The Mother of Dragons. The beautifully sandy citadel, known Melisandre’s birthing of the shadow baby. The area itself is setting for the epic Battle of Blackwater, whilst Fort Lovrijenac widely for its kasbahs, is no stranger to the limelight, having quaint and scenic. became the new Red Keep. Sections of Qarth in the Essos conti- been a backdrop for blockbusters such as Lawrence of Arabia, nent were also filmed here, with the Minceta Tower used as the The Mummy, and Gladiator. 2. Malta exterior of the House of The Undying. Another shooting location is Essaouira, Western Morocco, Leaving Ireland and heading south to warmer climes, we find Many other parts of Qarth were filmed on the nearby island also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the series it ourselves in Malta, a landscape that constituted much of King’s of Lokrum, including the botanical gardens, used for outdoor served as the location for the slave-trading city of Astapor, and Landing in Season One. The country’s former capital Mdina was scenes such as the welcome party thrown by Xaro. Lokrum housed the Plaza of Pride and the Palace of The Good Masters. used to represent the central city of Westeros to great effect; the itself is said to be cursed, so much like the characters in In real life, this little city is buzzing with culture, its historical many well-preserved, historical buildings fit perfectly with the Thrones, you would be wise to visit but not to stay. Back on the beauty and stunning sea views preserved thanks to strict build- theme of exotic, medieval grandeur. Local structures on the mainland, the gates of Qarth were constructed in Dubac quarry, ing restrictions.-Reuters SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014

A general view shows part of the Tifoultout Kasbah cinema set near Ouarzazate. A general view shows part of the ‘Atlas corperation studios’ cinema set near Ouarzazate in southern Morocco. — AFP photos Morocco’s movie ‘Mecca’ seeks return to glory days

uarzazate in southern Morocco was once dubbed the Arab Spring uprisings. “It has made the cost of filming in Morocco “Mecca” of the film industry for its studio facilities and the more expensive for big companies, so some films were shot in Ostark beauty of its locations, with many Hollywood block- places like Israel and Spain instead,” Semmar said. busters shot there. “Laurence of Arabia” (1962, Peter O’Toole, In an almost lunar landscape dotted with small oases, the Omar Sharif), “The Sheltering Sky” (1990, Debra Winger, John imposing Tifoutout Studio, built by Italians in 1994, “is now a Malkovich), “Kundun” (1997, Martin Scorcese), “Gladiator” (1999, ruin,” says resident Said Soussou. Robert M Young’s 1995 film Russell Crowe, Oliver Reed) and “Babel” (2006, Brad Pitt and Cate “Solomon and Sheba” starring Halle Berry and Jimmy Smits was Blanchett)... All of them feature scenes shot at Ouarzazate, which shot there, but the Italians then “sold it to our tribe when they left lies at the foot of the scenic High Atlas Mountains. in 1997. But that was then and this is now. Its film industry is in the dol- Because of the crisis of recent years, some parts are dilapidat- drums, needing fresh winds to get it moving again. The famous ed,” says another commentator, Mohamed Hbibi. “There are more town lost its appeal to international film-makers as economic cri- crows here now than film-makers.” With a decrepit wall as a back- sis and the turmoil of the Arab Spring swept across the region. As drop, Soussou looks up at the ceiling of a half-destroyed dome the North African winter ends, and some snow still graces the that was used for David Betty’s TV movie “The Bible Project” in mountain peaks, a small group of people attends a casting call at 2009. “Tifoutout can look like the architecture of ancient Studio Atlas, one of the town’s largest. Jerusalem,” he says. “But there is little value in that anymore.” Ouarzazate’s lengthy affair with showbiz has life in it yet. “I began going to the cinema in 1967,” says Larbi Agrou, who was in Diversity of locations “Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra” in 2000. “For the past three “Even when a film-making company does arrive, it fixes the bit or four years there’s no longer been a rush by producers to get it’s interested in, gives the tribe five or six hundred euros and their films shot. “Most people who work in films here also have then leaves again,” he says. Most of the movie income has gone other trades to keep them going-farmers, blacksmiths, carpen- on “building a mosque and irrigation ditches.” Ouarzazate’s for- ters. But without tourism and the cinema, Ouarzazate would be tunes contrast with the boom Morocco’s own, heavily state-fund- dead,” he says. ed movie industry is enjoying, with 22 feature films made in the past year, compared with around five a decade ago. ‘More crows than film-makers’ Celebrated recent productions include “God’s Horses” by the Agrou says the first encouraging signs of a revival appeared French director of Moroccan origin Nabil Ayouch, which won a last year, and that 2014 “is starting rather well”. Ouarzazate is prize at Cannes in 2012. Another was “They are the Dogs” by known for attracting big-budget historic epics with large casts, director Hicham Lasri, which won a special jury prize for Arab fea- and already Nicole Kidman and Tom Hanks have visited since the tures at the Dubai International Film Festival in December. Like beginning of the year. “Let’s hope it lasts,” says Aziz, another most Moroccan films, however, these are low-budget movies hopeful at the casting call, rubbing his hands. “There are already about the gritty realities of life in the North African country, with four films in production here.” little need for expensive desert studios, says Semmar, the film And that means work for hundreds of people in Ouarzazate. In critic. 2005 alone, mega-productions such as “Indigenes” (Days of Glory) Abderrahman Drissi, deputy president of the Ouarzazate Film by Rachid Bouchareb, and Robert Dornhelm’s “The Ten Commission, grouping representatives of the Moroccan Cinema Commandments” were filmed there. Fast forward to 2010, the Centre and the tourism ministry, believes the authorities have a year the Arab Spring broke out with an uprising to oust a dictator responsibility “to save this beautiful plateau.” But he also remains in Tunisia, and nothing on a similar scale was shot at Ouarzazate optimistic about the future. “The diversity of locations means it’s between then and last year. A major factor behind that, according easy to sell to major producers,” he says. — AFP to Moroccan film critic Adil Semmar, was the rising insurance Photo shows a man walking in part of the Tifoultout Kasbah costs caused by security problems in the region, notably after the cinema.

Photo shows the ‘Atlas corperation studios’ cinema set. SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014 OSN strengthens investment in premium Arabic content, production

SN, the region’s leading pay-TV network, has “OSN’s portfolio of Arabic content features some- once again reinforced its credentials as the thing for everyone, highlighting values that res- Oundisputed home of premium Arabic enter- onate with the Arab community. We have made tainment, with investment in 15 brand-new shows huge investments in long format dramas which including the highly-anticipated OSN-produced Arab audiences love and look forward to. Our line- reality series Mousameh Karim, starring George up will have viewers hooked with the biggest Kordahi. names in the industry, bold new stories, fresh con- Mousameh Karim marks OSN’s second original cepts and the latest content found nowhere else. production this year following the extremely well- “Our Ramadan showcase is extremely special received El Boss, underscoring the broadcaster’s with a focus on content that epitomises the essence commitment to support the region’s burgeoning of the month at the same time showcasing new con- entertainment industry through investment in Arab cepts that appeal to women.” Ramadan on OSN will production and talent. be headlined by Al Khatiaah featuring Sherif Salama, Based on the extremely popular international renowned action drama star and ambassador of format ‘You’ve Got Mail,’ which has been loved by OSN’s ‘Live More’ CSR campaign; and the Sirine audiences in more than 20 countries worldwide, Abdelnour and Maxim Khalil starrer Seirat Hob. OSN’s Arabic adaptation will see George Kordahi’s return to television after four years in a never-seen- Plenty to look forward before role. At a press conference held earlier today, Al Khatiaah narrates Yaseen’s story highlighting Arab superstars George Kordahi, Sirine Abdelnour, the trials and tribulations in his life following an and Sherif Salama, starring in Mousameh Karim, encounter with an old colleague, soon after his Seirat Hob, and Al Khatiaah, respectively shared a divorce. Seirat Hob is an enchanting love story that sneak peek on what viewers can expect over the guarantees to melt even tough hearts. Set in the next few months on OSN Ya Hala HD. touch the hearts and minds of viewers as it reaches Hareem Al Sultan which returns with Season 4 on modern Arab world, the show provides all the frills David Butorac, Chief Executive Officer, OSN, said: out to estranged family members and friends with April 21st, while the second season of Intiqam, star- and thrills expected from a romantic drama. “Since the inception of OSN’s flagship Arabic chan- the aim to reunite them. A show full of surprises and ring Beren Saat, has been back since April 1st and Other Ramadan highlights on OSN Ya Hala HD nel, OSN Ya Hala HD, we have been committed to moments that people will easily relate to, viewers will continue through Ramadan. include thriller series, El Ekhwaa which returns with provide a platform that not only showcases can expect heartache, drama and bursts of emotion. Doubling its investment in exclusive content Season 2 starring the Arab world’s biggest TV per- unmatched content but also elevates the region’s George Kordahi said: “From experience, a great especially for the Holy Month of Ramadan, MENA sonalities, Taim Hassan and Amal Bashosha; Gulf television industry. We have made significant show is not only one that increases viewership; it is viewers can look forward to nine brand new and drama, Intiqam Aziz starring Naif Al- Rashid will investments in Arabic content, talent and produc- one that also provides a social and moral message. exclusive dramas across OSN Ya Hala HD, OSN Ya bring to light sensitive issues affecting the region; tion to make sure we provide an unparalleled line- Mousameh Karim is based on the pillars of forgive- Hala Shabab HD and OSN Ya Hala Drama HD. From while the captivating Maysa’a Moghrabi stars in up of entertainment and we will continue to bring ness and love and I am very pleased that OSN leading Gulf dramas featuring the biggest names to Kabel Lelkaser, a story about love, heartbreak and the best in Arabic content to our subscribers.” entrusted me to present what will be a game- returning seasons of popular shows, MENA viewers tragedy. Fans of Hiba Regl El Ghurab can look for- changing reality series. I thank OSN for their trust in will be spoilt for choice. ward to Season 2 as it premieres this Ramadan with Moral message me and I am confident the show will be a huge suc- the multitalented Emmy Samir Ghanim taking view- Highlighting the importance of forgiveness, cess with viewers across the Arab world.” Big names ers on new adventures. There’s plenty more to look George Kordahi’s long awaited return to television Also premiering this April are the most sought- Khulud Abu Homos, Executive Vice President, forward to - all new and exclusive only on OSN Ya in Mousameh Karim premieres today. The show will after Turkish shows including the hugely followed Programming and Creative Services, OSN, added: Hala HD. NIVEA wins consumers’ hearts in the Middle East

eiersdorf MENA is delighted to sumers across the Gulf and are judged day skin care brand. We are committed announce that NIVEA DeoStress on a range of factors including usage, to providing innovative products that BProtect for females, NIVEA In- satisfaction, purchase intent and inno- delight consumers and improve their Shower Body Lotion, NIVEA Men vation. Patrick Hoven, Marketing lives. We stand by our values of offer- Original Range and NIVEA Men Shower Director Beiersdorf Middle East and ing high quality products that deliver Care have all been voted ‘Product of North Africa, said: “We are very proud what we promise and reliable skin care the Year’ at the prestigious Product of to have won not one, but four awards. brand in the region. the Year 2014 Gulf Edition awards. This is a true testimony that NIVEA is The NIVEA In-Shower Body Lotion is The awards are voted for by con- the preferred and most trusted every- a revolutionary innovation in the Body Lotion category that offers consumers an easy way to moisturize while in the shower. The unique water-activated well-groomed, confident man in any must either demonstrate innovation in formula that works like a conditioner is culture feels good and is therefore best design, function, packaging and must designed to be used after the shower prepared to face the day with confi- have been launched within the last 18 gel, leaving skin feeling hydrated and dence. NIVEA Men Original Range months. A carefully selected commit- silky soft, even after towel drying. includes shaving gels, face wash and tee made up of renowned experts NIVEA Deo Stress Protect for scrub, and moisturising creams. With from various fields including industrial, females is the only product available to the unique formulas used to revive marketing and media, select the range help counteract stress sweating. The and refresh every shower, NIVEA Men of products which are entered into the antiperspirant contains an innovative Shower Care- NIVEA’s Vitality Fresh categories. A survey is then sent out to and proven formula that combines Shower Gel, Energy Shower Gel and a representative sample of consumers Stress Protect Actives with a zinc com- Pure Impact Shower Gel - gained con- who provide detailed feedback and plex to provide extra protection sumer preference in this year’s voting the products with the best comments against stress sweating with 48 hour category. and most votes from the public are the protection. Founded in 1987, the ‘Product of winners in each category. The awards NIVEA Men, which gives men the the Year Awards’, recognizes the best play a pivotal role in reinforcing the right tools to look good and feel great new products on the market through importance of competition among top every day. NIVEA MEN believes that a an independent process. The products brands in the Middle East. SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014

Employees at Nigerian job-finder site Jobberman are seen at work in the up market A model is prepared backstage by make-up artist Tom Pecheux at the ‘Made in Lagos suburb of Lekki. — AFP photos Africa: By Arise Magazine’ fashion show in New York. It’s worth it: Beauty firms chase Africa cosmetics boom

igeria’s Kuddy Cosmetics began as a one- television, products that aim to dominate must Ikota shopping complex in Lagos’s rapidly new thing,” she said. Any producer who is flexi- woman business run out of a suitcase, be designed specifically for local consumers- expanding Lekki neighborhood, which resem- ble and willing to cater to Nigerians can succeed Nwith Kudirat Fashola bringing beauty especially their hair and skin. bles the suburban US in places and is home to in the country, she said, explaining that sales had products back from the United States in her lug- many members of Nigeria’s new upper-middle increased dramatically for the Turkish cosmetics gage. More than 20 years later, her daughter A growing opportunity class. Customers entering the shop often voice Bio Balance. She attributed that to her Turkish Zainob helps run the company which now Sub-Saharan Africa currently accounts for just interest in purchasing big name US brands like partners also being based in an emerging mar- wholesales leading beauty brands, is flooded three percent of global beauty products sales Olay and Black Opal but can be persuaded to ket, which meant they understand some of the with requests from companies anxious to crack but that share is expected to grow at double the buy a lesser known brand if it promises some key challenges Nigerian businesses face. As a result, the fast-growing cosmetics market in Africa’s rate of the market, L’Oreal said earlier this month. value-added criteria. they were “very easy to work with”, she added. most populous country. In 2013, the French firm posted a 52-percent rise She specifically cited a well-documented Customers may like the sound of a product on 2012 sales in the region. “This market is going preference among some black African woman ‘Made in France’ but they will happily buy to become very significant,” L’Oreal’s director for for skin-lightening products. “With skin care, it Turkish. It just “requires having to push them a the Middle East and Africa, Geoff Skingsley, said has always been about lightening... This is not a little bit,” Fashola said. — AFP in a statement. To reach its stated goal of over- taking Unilever as the highest-selling brand in sub-Saharan Africa, L’Oreal has begun reinforc- ing its existing commercial hubs in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. CND brand launch in Kuwait In addition to its existing production plants in Kenya and South Africa, the group is also looking by Global Distribution Group at the feasibility of opening a third facility in west Africa, although Nigeria would be an unlikely very impressive ‘launch’ of CND - as education programs, followed by a live- choice given its woeful electricity supply. Models get their hair done backstage ahead Creative Nail Design, was recently held demonstration highlighting on nail enhance- Aat the Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel, ments and nail arts. of the ‘Darkie’ show during Cape Town fash- Adapt to local market ion week. by Global Distribution Group. Owned by Al- In totality, the CND launch was an altogeth- For L’Oreal, research is crucial to growing its Ghanim Corp Company. Global Distribution er informative, interesting and delightful expe- African market share, including at a facility in Group is the exclusive CND Co Distributor in rience for everyone present. The following South Africa which the company said “enables Kuwait. CND collections were launched on this day: the group to evaluate formulas for the specific Present on the occasion were representa- Open Road Spring Collection: CND Shellac needs of consumers in the region” particularly tives from CND USA and UAE, leading person- Power Polish: Wear your individual style on hair and skin. The company said that 60 percent alities and professionals from Kuwait’s beauty your nails this season with new CND Shellac 6 of its sales in sub-Saharan Africa were from prod- market, including beauty salons and nail bars; Colors. CND Shellac manicures and pedicures ucts designed specifically for Africans, priced as well as representatives from the press provide mirror shine and 14-day flawless wear. anywhere from a few cents to under $10 per media; in addition to a number of guests and VINYLUX weekly polish: Match your toes unit. Bestsellers include “Dark and Lovely”, which well-wishers in Kuwait. The event commenced with your fingers with six VINYLUX Open Road has become the world’s top-selling hair straight- with a detailed CND PowerPoint presentation shades that match the new CND Shellac ener kit, according to the group. on new CND products launches in 2014 as well shades. A 2012 study of the color cosmetics market in Models get their hair done backstage ahead South Africa by the Euromonitor group lent sup- of the ‘Darkie’ show during Cape Town fash- port to the notion that offering innovative prod- ion week. ucts tailored to local demands had far more influ- ence on sales than brand loyalty. A prominent “They love Nigeria. Every week I get emails... example was the success of a daily hydration (International) brands see it as a large, growing cream that offered built-in sun protection. market,” the 26-year-old told AFP. The trend Describing South African customers as “fickle” applies across sub-Saharan Africa, where global and with “weak brand loyalty”, Euromonitor pre- companies see a region poised for sustained eco- dicted products that increasingly offer a combi- nomic growth over the next decade and a poten- nation of benefits will likely become bestsellers. tial middle class boom. The world’s top cosmetic producer L’Oreal, for example, is looking to boost Flexibility key both sales and production across the region as it Fashola said that description could easily battles for a larger share of a developing market. apply to Nigerian consumers as well. While But industry experts say that winning the loyalty wholesale generates the bulk of Kuddy of Africans in the cosmetics sector poses unique Cosmetics’ revenue, the company also has a challenges. Unlike a bottle of beer or a flat screen small retail shop. The outlet is in the sprawling TECHNOLOGY SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014 White House defends ‘Cuban Twitter’

WASHINGTON: The Obama administration on Thursday defend- ed its creation of a Twitter-like Cuban communications network to undermine the communist government, declaring the secret program was “invested and debated” by Congress and wasn’t a covert operation that required White House approval. But two senior Democrats on congressional intelligence and judiciary committees said they had known nothing about the effort, which one of them described as “dumb, dumb, dumb.” A showdown with that senator’s panel is expected next week, and the Republican chairman of a House oversight subcommittee said that it, too, would look into the program. An Associated Press investigation found that the network was built with secret shell companies and financed through a foreign bank. The project, which lasted more than two years and drew tens of thousands of subscribers, sought to evade Cuba’s stran- glehold on the Internet with a primitive social media platform. First, the network was to build a Cuban audience, mostly young people. Then, the plan was to push them toward dissent. Yet its users were neither aware it was created by a US agency with ties to the State Department, nor that American contractors were gathering personal data about them, in the hope that the information might be used someday for political purposes. It is unclear whether the scheme was legal under US law, which requires written authorization of covert action by the pres- ident as well as congressional notification. White House The image shows a pre-release version of Windows 8.1 on a tablet in Los Angeles. A new, yet-unnamed Windows update spokesman Jay Carney said he was not aware of individuals in the is expected this spring, just months after the Windows 8.1 update came out. —AP White House who had known about the program. The Cuban government declined a request for comment. USAID’s top official, Rajiv Shah, is scheduled to testify on Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations State Department and Foreign FireChat ignites new way to Operations Subcommittee, on the agency’s budget. The subcom- mittee’s chairman, Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, is the senator who communicate on phones called the project “dumb, dumb, dumb” during an appearance Thursday on MSNBC. The administration said early Thursday that it had disclosed the initiative to Congress - Carney said the pro- Mesh networking to allow a myriad of devices to connect gram had been “debated in Congress” - but hours later the narra- tive had shifted to say that the administration had offered to dis- SAN FRANCISCO: A new mobile mes- tries, including in regions where Internet will eventually be able to make mesh cuss funding for it with the congressional committees that saging application called FireChat is access is inadequate or expensive. networking work on phones running on approve federal programs and budgets. empowering nearby smartphone users different operating systems. As the “We also offered to brief our appropriators and our authoriz- to stay in touch even when there’s no Mesh networks mesh networking software improved, ers,” said State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf. She added cellular service or Internet connection. Google is among the big Internet Benoliel realized Open Garden needed that she was hearing on Capitol Hill that many people support In just two weeks since its release on the companies intrigued with mesh net- to come up with application to demon- these kinds of democracy promotion programs. And some law- iPhone, FireChat already has provided a working’s potential to bring more of the strate what the technology could do. In makers did speak up on that subject. But by late Thursday no flicker of hope for people pining for world online. Sundar Pichai, Google’s that practical sense, FireChat is similar to members of Congress had acknowledged being aware of the more effective, secure and affordable executive in charge of Android, has the word processing and spreadsheet Cuban Twitter program earlier than this week. Harf described the ways to communicate. That’s because touted mesh networks as a way to con- programs that Microsoft released program as “discreet” but said it was in no way classified or the free messaging app harnesses a nect wearable computers, such as the decades ago to help broaden the appeal covert. Harf also said the project, dubbed ZunZuneo, did not rise technology called wireless mesh net- company’s Glass eyewear. Mesh net- of its Windows operating system for per- to a level that required the secretary of state to be notified. working, which might someday allow a works also could be used to bring a sonal computers, said Christophe Neither former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton nor myriad of devices to connect like links in wide variety of everyday appliances Daligault, Open Garden’s marketing John Kerry, the current occupant of the office, was aware of a chain. online, helping to build an Internet of chief. ZunZuneo, she said. The technique might someday be things instead of just websites. FireChat’s development was driven In his prior position as chairman of the Senate Foreign used to tie together thousands of FireChat’s reach so far is limited. by the popularity of other mobile mes- Relations Committee, Kerry had asked congressional investiga- devices with built-in radios and make it When connecting off the grid, iPhone saging apps such as Snapchat and tors to examine whether or not US democracy promotion pro- possible to be online without having to app users have only been able to send WhatsApp that enabled smartphone grams in Cuba were operated according to US laws, among other pay for the access. It could also enable text and photos to other FireChat users users to text and send pictures to their issues. The resulting report, released by the Government online communications in remote areas within a range of 30 to 100 feet. Later friends and family without having to pay Accountability Office in January 2013, does not examine whether or disaster zones without Wi-Fi or cellu- this year, Open Garden plans to upgrade smartphone carriers. Like texts and pho- or not the programs were covert. It does not say that any US laws lar signals. Furthermore, FireChat’s iPhone app so off-the-grid tos sent on Snapchat, nothing transmit- were broken.—AP the conversations in these so-called users will be able to hopscotch through ted through FireChat is saved. All con- “off-the-grid” networks can’t be easily a daisy chain of devices to extend the tent evaporates once the app is closed. hacked into by spies and mischief mak- reach of a local network. If this works, a FireChat also allows all its users to ers or shut down by governments trying FireChat user sitting in the right-field remain anonymous, another feature to stifle free speech. “We trying to create bleachers of a baseball game would be that is becoming popular on a variety of networks built by the people for the able to text with a friend on the other mobile messaging apps, such as Wickr people,” said Micha Benoliel, CEO of side of the stadium if enough other and Rumr. Open Garden, maker of the FireChat iPhone users in the ballpark also are on There still aren’t enough people app. Open Garden, a San Francisco start- FireChat. This extended range will be using FireChat to ensure users will find up with just 10 employees, is taking available immediately on FireChat’s someone nearby to message. To pique another step toward its ambitious goal Android app because Open Garden people’s interest in the app, FireChat with Thursday’s release of a FireChat released a mesh networking app for that offers an “everyone” option that allows app for Android phones. operating system nearly two years ago. users to enter a digital chat room with FireChat could be an even hotter FireChat’s iPhone app piggybacks on up to 80 other random users located in commodity on Android given the demo- an often overlooked feature called the the same country. This option requires a graphic differences between that plat- Multipeer Connectivity Framework that Wi-Fi or cellular connection. form’s user base and the typical iPhone Apple Inc. included in its latest mobile Dailigault concedes FireChat’s chat owner. The app already has been operating system, iOS 7, released last room isn’t as high-minded as mesh net- installed on more than 1 million iOS September. Apple says more than 80 working. “We are finding a lot of people devices. percent of people using its mobile are using it when they are just looking Many smartphones running on devices rely on iOS 7. for something to do for a few minutes,” Google Inc.’s free Android software are For now, Android phones and Dailigault said. “Some of the discussions US Agency for International Development (USAID) cheaper than Apple Inc.’s iPhone. That iPhones with the FireChat app won’t be there are turning out to be more inter- Administrator Rajiv Shah, speaks during the launch of the US has made Android phones the top-sell- able to engage in off-the-grid conversa- esting than anything they can find on Global Development Lab, on Thursday in New York.—AP ing mobile devices in less affluent coun- tion. Open Garden, though, believes it Facebook.” — AP TECHNOLOGY SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014 Mozilla chief quits amid controversy

SAN FRANCISCO: The chief of Firefox browser maker passage of a California law banning gay marriage, a source of inspiration and ongoing help doing what Mozilla is stepping down in the face of controversy move he has never publicly retracted. “We know why we do,” Eich said in the post. stirred by his support of a California bill to ban gay people are hurt and angry, and they are right: it’s His appointed sparked calls for his removal, and marriage. Brendan Eich voluntarily surrendered his because we haven’t stayed true to ourselves,” Baker popular dating website OKCupid posted a message role as chief executive of Mozilla, a corporation said. “We didn’t move fast enough to engage with asking visitors to use browsers other than Firefox. owned by a non-profit foundation of the same name, people once the controversy started. We’re sorry. We Firefox is a communally created browser challenging according to a blog post by executive chairwoman must do better.” Baker, indicating a replacement has rivals backed by Apple, Google and Microsoft. Last Mitchell Baker. not yet been determined, said Mozilla supports year, Firefox released an upstart smartphone operat- Eich’s appointment had triggered outrage in the equality and freedom of speech. ing system aimed at challenging the Apple and typically open-minded community devoted to Eich was appointed chief of Mozilla last month, Google duopoly in the mobile gadget market. improving and spreading free Firefox open-source saying in a blog post that he would do his best to Firefox OS will power a new category of $25 smart- Web browsing software. The backlash sprung from take Mozilla to new heights. “People around the phones for developing countries, the California-based news of a cash donation he made in 2008 to support world are our ultimate cause at Mozilla, as well as Mozilla Foundation announced in February. —AFP

Wall St debates if high-speed trade rigs market

NEW YORK: Regulators have sharpened scrutiny of high- speed trading in the wake of criticism that architects of the cutting-edge practice have rigged the market against ordi- nary investors. The issue was vaulted to the forefront of public debate by best-selling business author Michael Lewis, who published a book Monday arguing that the stock market has been “rigged” against small investors by stock exchanges, large Wall Street banks and high-speed traders. The FBI acknowledged that it has undertaken a probe of high-speed trading, while the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission pointed to its own probes a day later on Tuesday. The New York attorney general and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission are also investigating. In “Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt,” Lewis recounts the story of Brad Katsuyama, a Royal Bank of Canada trader who was puzzled about why his stock transactions became more costly after they were ordered. After investigating the trades, Katsuyama blamed high- speed traders, who employ algorithmic formulas and whip- speed transmission lines to buy and sell stock. “It all hap- pens in infinitesimally small amounts of time,” Lewis said in an interview about his book Sunday on the “60 Minutes” tel- evision news program. “They’re able to identify your desire to buy shares in Microsoft and buy them in front of you and sell them back to you at a higher price.” Tim McCormack, of Boston, exposes a QR code on his camera to a Liberty Teller ATM while purchasing bitcoins at South Lewis joins a chorus of critics who say high-speed trad- Station train station, in Boston. —AP ing firms have tilted the market to win commissions and guaranteed profits at the expense of average investors. Critics argue that high-speed trading firms have succeeded by building computer servers in close proximity to key trad- Yahoo adds more security ing hubs in New York and Chicago and, in some cases, in the exchanges themselves. to thwart surveillance Haves and have-nots “The US stock market was now a class system of haves SAN FRANCISCO: Yahoo has added joined Yahoo Inc. less than a month ago had been secretly infiltrating the lines and have-nots, only what was had was not money but more layers of security in its effort to as part of the company’s anti-snooping that transfer information overseas. speed (which led to money). The haves paid for nanosec- shield people’s online lives from govern- crusade. Yahoo and other major tech- Yahoo still lags behind Google’s encryp- onds; the have-nots had no idea that a nanosecond had val- ment spying and other snooping. The nology companies such as Google Inc. tion efforts. In an interview Wednesday, ue,” Lewis wrote in the book. But supporters of high-speed measures announced Wednesday and Microsoft Crop. have made online Stamos said Yahoo hasn’t been able to trading say Lewis and others are mischaracterizing how the include the completion of a system that security a top priority during the last 10 move as fast as it wants because many technology functions and the intent behind the system. encrypts all information being transmit- months amid a series of revelations of its services rely on content and ads They also note that some of the most criticized practices are ted from one Yahoo data center to about US government programs that provided by thousands of other compa- entirely legal. another. The technology is designed to have vacuumed up personal informa- nies, including some that aren’t con- For example, leading exchanges do permit high-speed make the emails and other digital infor- tion about millions of Web surfers in an vinced that they need to encrypt. traders to station equipment on site, but say such a benefit mation flowing through data centers effort to thwart terrorism. The wide- For that reason, Yahoo’s widely used is open to any investor. “Those are services that according indecipherable to outsiders. Search ranging surveillance has been outlined news, sports and finance sections still to our regulator we have to offer equally to all types of requests made from Yahoo’s home page in documents leaked to the media by aren’t automatically encrypted. Visitors traders, including retail investors,” said a person familiar are also now automatically encrypted, former National Security Agency con- to those services can trigger an encrypt- with the exchanges’ thinking who requested anonymity. and the Sunnyvale, California, company tractor Edward Snowden. ed service by typing in “https” before “Everybody can enjoy those services if they pay.” is promising to make it more difficult for The technology industry’s indignant the website’s address. Yahoo is confi- “It is unfair and irresponsible to say that the stock market unauthorized intruders to hack into oth- response has been driven by financial dent that it will be able to persuade its is rigged simply because some market professionals use er services, including video chats, within self-interest as well as an aversion to content and advertising partners to take technology and enhance competition,” said William O’Brien, the next few months. Yahoo strength- government prying. Most Internet serv- the steps needed to enable automatic president of BATS Global Markets. O’Brien and other high- ened the security of its email in January. ices make money from ads that could be encryption of those services later this speed advocates say that high-speed trading is essential to “Whether or not our users under- more difficult to sell if spying fears cause year. providing market liquidity and to conduct efficient trades. stand it, I feel it’s our responsibility to their audiences to shrink. “Some partners already understand The firms play an important role between those who hold keep them safe,” Alex Stamos, Yahoo’s Yahoo, which has more than 800 mil- this is the way the wind is blowing,” the stock and those wishing to buy. Katsuyama, who has recently hired chief information of secu- lion worldwide users, vowed late last Stamos said. “We are moving to a world joined Lewis at times during this week’s book-promotion rity, told a small group of reporters. year to encrypt its data centers by March where all content is encrypted all the media blitz, left RBC to launch his own exchange.—AP Stamos, a former security consultant, 31 after reports that the US government time.” — AP TV listings SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014

04:15 Storage Hunters 05:20 Scrapheap Challenge 06:10 Extreme Forensics 07:25 Fish Warrior 04:40 Game Of Pawns 06:10 What’s That About? 07:00 I Was Murdered 08:20 Swamp Men 05:05 How Do They Do It? Turbo 07:00 Human Body: Ultimate Machine 07:25 I Was Murdered 09:15 World’s Weirdest: Funny Farms Specials 07:55 Freaks Of Nature 07:50 I Was Murdered 10:10 Moray Eels: Alien Empire 06:00 One Man Army 08:20 Freaks Of Nature 08:15 I Was Murdered 11:05 One Ocean 00:45 Monsters Inside Me 07:00 The Big Brain Theory 08:45 What’s That About? 08:40 Murder Shift 12:00 Hooked 01:35 Untamed & Uncut 00:30 Crime Stories 07:50 Ben Earl: Trick Artist 09:40 What’s That About? 09:30 Murder Shift 12:55 Betty White Goes Wild! 02:25 Shamwari: A Wild Life 01:30 My Ghost Story 08:40 Mythbusters 10:30 What’s That About? 10:20 Murder Shift 13:50 How Human Are You? 02:50 Shamwari: A Wild Life 02:30 Britain’s Darkest Taboos 09:30 Dual Survival 11:20 What’s That About? 11:10 Murder Shift 14:45 America The Wild 03:15 Tanked 03:30 When Life Means Life 10:20 Bear Grylls: Escape From Hell 12:10 What’s That About? 12:00 Disappeared 15:40 Great Migrations 04:05 Treehouse Masters 04:30 Private Crimes 11:10 Yukon Men 13:00 How Tech Works 12:50 Extreme Forensics 16:35 Wild Amazon 04:55 Animal Cops Philadelphia 05:00 Beyond Scared Straight 12:00 Gold Divers: Under The Ice 13:30 Sci-Trek 13:40 Extreme Forensics 17:30 Bears Of Fear Island 05:45 Animal Clinic 06:00 The First 48 12:50 Gold Divers: Under The Ice 14:20 Sci-Trek 14:30 Extreme Forensics 18:25 Predator CSI 06:35 Steve Irwin’s Wildlife Warriors 07:00 Crime Stories 13:40 Gold Divers: Under The Ice 15:10 Rocket City Rednecks 15:20 True Crime With Aphrodite 19:20 Hooked 07:00 Steve Irwin’s Wildlife Warriors 08:00 Crime Stories 14:30 Gold Divers: Under The Ice 15:35 Rocket City Rednecks Jones 20:10 How Human Are You? 07:25 My Cat From Hell 09:00 Crime Stories 15:20 Gold Divers: Under The Ice 16:00 Kings Of Construction 16:10 True Crime With Aphrodite 21:00 Betty White Goes Wild! 08:15 Too Cute! 10:00 Homicide Hunter 16:10 Gold Divers 16:50 Freaks Of Nature Jones 21:50 America The Wild 09:10 Gator Boys 11:00 Homicide Hunter 17:00 Gold Rush 17:15 Freaks Of Nature 17:00 True Crime With Aphrodite 22:40 Great Migrations 10:05 Call Of The Wildman 12:00 Homicide Hunter 17:50 Alaska Gold Diggers 17:40 Brave New World Jones 23:30 Wild Amazon 10:30 Swamp Brothers 13:00 Homicide Hunter 18:40 Gold Divers 18:30 Powering The Future 17:50 On The Case With Paula Zahn 11:00 Bondi Vet 14:00 Homicide Hunter 19:30 Dual Survival 19:20 Joe Rogan Questions Everything 18:40 Forensic Detectives 11:55 Untamed China With Nigel 15:00 The FBI Files 20:20 Bear Grylls: Escape From Hell 20:10 Human Body: Ultimate Machine 19:30 Forensic Detectives Marven 16:00 The FBI Files 21:10 Yukon Men 21:00 Freaks Of Nature 20:20 Forensic Detectives 12:50 Swamp Brothers 17:00 The FBI Files 22:00 Container Wars 21:25 Freaks Of Nature 21:10 Forensic Detectives 13:15 Swamp Brothers 18:00 The FBI Files 22:25 Game Of Pawns 21:50 Storm Chasers 22:00 Disappeared 13:45 Swamp Brothers 19:00 The FBI Files 22:50 Game Of Pawns 22:40 Squeamish 22:50 American Greed 14:10 Swamp Brothers 20:00 The FBI Files 23:15 Game Of Pawns 23:05 Squeamish 23:40 I Married A Mobster 14:40 Swamp Brothers 21:00 Curious & Unusual Deaths 00:30 The Daily Show With Jon 23:40 Game Of Pawns 23:30 Space Pioneer 15:05 Swamp Brothers 21:30 The First 48 Stewart 15:35 Swamp Brothers 22:30 Gangs Of Britain... 01:00 The Colbert Report 16:00 Swamp Brothers 23:30 Gangland 01:30 It’s Always Sunny In 16:30 Swamp Brothers Philadelphia 16:55 Swamp Brothers 02:00 The League 17:25 Swamp Brothers 02:30 Eastbound & Down 17:50 Swamp Brothers 03:00 Last Man Standing 00:30 Scorned: Crimes Of Passion 00:00 Chelsea Lately 18:20 Tanked 00:20 The Gadget Show 03:30 New Girl 19:15 My Wild Affair: The Seal Who 01:20 American Greed 00:30 The Dance Scene 04:00 All Of Us 00:45 How Do They Do It? 02:10 Scorned: Crimes Of Passion 00:55 The Dance Scene Came Home 00:30 Fast N’ Loud 01:10 Powering The Future 04:30 The Tonight Show Starring 20:10 Animal Maternity Ward 01:20 Classic Car Rescue 03:00 Couples Who Kill 01:25 E!ES Jimmy Fallon 02:00 Brave New World 03:45 Nightmare Next Door 03:15 E!ES 21:05 Great White Shark: Uncaged 02:10 Overhaulin’ 2012 02:45 Mythbusters 05:30 Better Off Ted 22:00 My Wild Affair: The Seal Who 03:00 You Have Been Warned 04:30 Murder Shift 04:10 E!ES 06:00 The War At Home 03:35 Sci-Trek 05:20 Forensic Detectives 05:05 Extreme Close-Up Came Home 03:50 Border Security 04:30 Space Pioneer 06:30 My Name Is Earl 22:55 Animal Maternity Ward 05:30 Extreme Close-Up 07:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers 23:50 Untamed & Uncut 06:00 Secret Societies Of Hollywood 08:00 All Of Us 07:50 Style Star 08:30 Better Off Ted 08:20 E! News 09:00 Last Man Standing 09:15 Fashion Police 09:30 Enlisted 10:15 E!ES 10:00 The Michael J. Fox Show 11:10 E!ES 10:30 My Name Is Earl 12:05 E! News 00:20 Doctors 11:00 The Tonight Show Starring 13:05 The Drama Queen 00:50 Casualty Jimmy Fallon 14:05 The Drama Queen 01:40 Walk On The Wild Side 12:00 The War At Home 15:00 Giuliana & Bill 02:10 Bedlam 12:30 All Of Us 16:00 Giuliana & Bill 03:00 The Secret Diaries Of Miss Anne 13:00 Better Off Ted 17:00 Eric And Jessie: Game On Lister 13:30 My Name Is Earl 17:30 Eric And Jessie: Game On 04:30 Walk On The Wild Side 14:00 New Girl 18:00 E! News 05:00 Tweenies 14:30 Enlisted 19:00 E!ES 05:20 Teletubbies 15:00 The Michael J. Fox Show 20:00 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills 05:45 Bobinogs 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon 20:30 Keeping Up With The 05:55 Show Me Show Me Stewart Kardashians 06:15 Tweenies 16:00 The Colbert Report 21:30 Fashion Police 06:35 Teletubbies 16:30 The War At Home 22:30 E! News 07:00 Bobinogs 17:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers 23:30 Chelsea Lately 07:10 Show Me Show Me 18:00 How I Met Your Mother 07:30 The Weakest Link 18:30 How I Met Your Mother 08:15 David Copperfield 19:00 Cougar Town 09:05 Rev. 19:30 Two And A Half Men 09:35 Friday Night Dinner 20:00 The Tonight Show Starring 10:00 The Omid Djalili Show Jimmy Fallon 10:30 My Hero 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 11:00 Doctor Who 00:00 Fight Science 11:45 Me & Mrs Jones 21:30 The Colbert Report 01:00 Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey 22:00 Saturday Night Live 12:15 David Copperfield 02:00 A Man Among Bears 13:10 Casualty 23:00 Eastbound & Down 03:00 Mega Factories 23:30 Late Night With Seth Meyers 14:00 Eastenders 04:00 Apocalypse: The Second World 14:30 Eastenders War 15:00 Eastenders 05:00 Somewhere In China 15:30 Eastenders 06:00 Mega Factories 16:05 Friday Night Dinner 07:00 Family Guns 16:30 Friday Night Dinner 08:00 Fight Science 00:00 Psych 16:55 Friday Night Dinner 09:00 Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey 01:00 Graceland 17:20 Doctor Who 10:00 A Man Among Bears 02:00 Survivor: Cagayan 18:10 David Copperfield 11:00 Mega Factories 03:00 Breaking Bad 19:00 Being Erica 12:00 Situation Critical 08:00 Necessary Roughness 19:45 Alan Carr: Chatty Man 13:00 Doomsday Preppers 14:00 Necessary Roughness 20:30 The Town 14:00 Doomsday Preppers 19:00 Bones 21:20 Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle 15:00 A Traveler’s Guide To The 20:00 Criminal Minds 21:50 Pramface Planets 21:00 Helix 22:20 Me & Mrs Jones 16:00 Nat Geo’s Most Amazing Photos 22:00 Sons Of Anarchy 22:50 Ideal 16:30 Nat Geo’s Most Amazing Photos 23:00 Breaking Bad 23:20 David Copperfield 17:00 Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey 18:00 Nordic Wild 19:00 The Border 20:00 Apocalypse: The Second World War 00:00 BBC World 21:00 Somewhere In China 01:00 BBC World 22:00 The Border 23:00 Dangerous Encounters 01:00 Good Morning America 02:00 BBC World 04:00 Rescue Me 03:00 BBC World 05:00 Good Morning America 04:00 BBC World 07:00 The Bachelor 05:00 BBC World 14:00 C.S.I. New York 06:00 BBC World 15:00 Live Good Morning America 07:00 BBC World 19:00 24 08:00 BBC World 20:00 Red Widow 09:00 BBC World 00:20 Wild Hawaii 21:00 Zero Hour 10:00 BBC World 01:10 Shark Men 22:00 Rescue Me 11:00 BBC World 02:00 Fish Tank Kings 23:00 Hemlock Grove 12:00 BBC World 02:50 Ape Man 13:00 BBC World 03:45 America The Wild 14:00 BBC World 04:40 Unlikely Animal Friends 15:00 BBC World 05:35 Blue-Collar Dogs 16:00 BBC World HELLBOY ON OSN MOVIES HD ACTION 06:30 Monster Fish TV listings SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014

00:00 The Devil Inside-18 06:00 The Expatriate-PG15 02:00 Gangs Of Brooklyn-18 08:00 Steel Magnolias-PG15 04:00 Hellboy-PG15 10:00 Fun Size-PG15 06:00 The Dark Knight Rises-PG15 12:00 Hitchcock-PG15 Chris Evans finds 08:45 Nitro Circus: The Movie-PG15 14:00 Frankenweenie-PG 10:30 Batman: The Dark Knight 01:15 The Mortician-18 16:00 Steel Magnolias-PG15 Returns Part One-PG15 03:00 Breaking And Entering-18 18:00 What To Expect When You’re 12:15 Premium Rush-PG15 05:00 Angels Crest-18 Expecting-PG15 07:00 Underground: The Julian fame ‘demanding’ 14:00 Nitro Circus: The Movie-PG15 20:00 Colombiana-PG15 15:45 Prometheus-PG15 Assange Story-PG15 22:00 Evil Dead-R 18:00 Premium Rush-PG15 09:00 Here On Earth-PG15 20:00 Dead Man Running-PG15 10:45 Ed Wood-PG15 ith a suit of stars and stripes, A: It wouldn’t be so bad if it was all 22:00 Vehicle 19-PG15 13:00 Twist Of Fate-PG15 15:00 Beasts Of The Southern Wild- and a loyal Marvel fan base in one nut, if I had one giant confer- PG15 behind him, actor Chris Evans ence and we all talked once. There is 01:00 PGA European Tour Weekly W 16:45 Ed Wood-PG15 01:30 Live ITU World Triathlon Series once again brandishes the shield of no question you can throw my way 00:00 For A Good Time, Call-18 19:00 Life Happens-PG15 04:00 PGA European Tour Weekly superhero Captain America in a new that I haven’t answered 30 times 02:00 Hot Rod-PG15 20:45 The Door In The Floor-18 04:30 Live ITU World Triathlon Series 04:00 Hotel Transylvania-PG 22:45 Schindler’s List-18 07:00 Live NRL Premiership film. In real life, the actor finds himself today. That’s the problem. It’s a very 06:00 Father Of The Bride-PG15 09:00 Total Rugby at odds with the demands of fame. mundane. It’s very tedious. It’s a real 08:00 A Thousand Words-PG15 09:35 Live Super rugby Walt Disney Co’s Marvel Studios sequel chore. But in the grand scheme of 10:00 Father Of The Bride Part II-PG15 11:40 Live Super rugby 12:00 Hotel Transylvania-PG 01:00 Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth- 13:30 NRL Premiership “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” things, I’m not flipping burgers. I’m not 14:00 Charlie And The Chocolate 15:30 Total Rugby Factory-PG PG15 out in US and Canadian theaters on in the coal mines. It’s one thing if you 03:00 Arthur 3: And The War Of Two 16:00 Live Super rugby 16:00 Father Of The Bride Part II-PG15 18:05 Live Super rugby Friday, thrusts the patriotic superhero are talking in a room to people who 18:00 Drillbit Taylor-PG15 Worlds-PG 05:00 Midnight In Paris-PG15 20:10 Live Super rugby into battle with an elusive enemy. The want to ask you genuine questions 20:00 Superbad-18 22:00 Bellator MMA 22:00 For A Good Time, Call-18 06:45 Anna Karenina-PG15 film catches up with Captain America’s about the movie. Unfortunately, peo- 09:00 Salmon Fishing In The Yemen- alter-ego Steve Rogers after he ple aren’t always interested in those. PG15 11:00 Five-PG15 emerged from being frozen for 70 They are waiting for you to slip up. 13:00 White House Down-PG15 years and helped save New York in They want a headline. You make some 15:15 Moonrise Kingdom-PG15 00:00 Super Rugby 17:00 Salmon Fishing In The Yemen- 02:00 WWE SmackDown 2012’s blockbuster superhero ensem- foolish statements, then there’s a 01:00 The Intouchables-PG15 PG15 04:00 Live Bellator MMA 2014 ble “The Avengers.” Rogers is now liv- headline they can sell. Press is not 03:00 The Woman In The Fifth-PG15 19:00 G.I. Joe: Retaliation-PG15 06:00 Trans World Sport 05:00 Cinderella PT 1-PG15 ing in Washington and adjusting to always simply promoting something 21:00 The Mortal Instruments: City Of 07:00 Amlin Challenge Cup 07:00 Cinderella PT 2-PG15 09:00 Sevens World Series Highlights modern life. The former soldier has you worked hard on. Press is about not 09:00 The Intouchables-PG15 Bones-PG15 23:15 The Raven-18 09:30 Live NRL Premiership 11:00 Argo-PG15 11:30 Live NRL Premiership joined the spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and putting your foot in your mouth to 13:00 The Lady-PG15 13:30 Total Rugby teams with the Black Widow (Scarlett afford other people to try and tear you 15:15 Old Stock-PG15 14:00 PGA Tour Johansson) to unravel a conspiracy. down. 17:00 The Music Never Stopped-PG15 17:30 Inside The PGA Tour 19:00 Wish You Were Here-PG15 00:00 The Expatriate-PG15 18:00 NHL The 32-year-old Evans talked to 21:00 Texas Killing Fields-PG15 02:00 Sky Force-FAM 20:00 Live PGA Tour Reuters about what drives Captain Q: You seem pretty at ease. Do 04:00 Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away-PG 23:00 4:44 Last Day On Earth-18 America, dealing with the press, and you worry that you are going to slip what makes him feel like a kid again. up and say something you wish you hadn’t? Q: What has changed about A: Always, and that’s the problem. Captain America in the sequel? You want to try and attack these ques- A: He has always been a servant for tions with candid honesty, but you the people. The problem now is given can’t do that because not every inter- the current technological advance- view is going to come and meet you ments, in order to preserve the free- with the same sense of genuine curios- dom that we try to promise people, ity. A lot of press, they are wolves in you may have to bend the rules in sheep’s clothing. As a result I feel order to keep people safe. There is a guarded, and as a result, you don’t get great line in the movie that (S.H.I.E.L.D. the truth. That’s unfortunate. director) Nick Fury says, “S.H.I.E.L.D takes the world as it is, not as we’d like Q: You have a couple other proj- it to be.” That’s a tough concept for ects coming up. One is “1:30 Train,” Cap to swallow. which you are directing and starring in. Why did you want to direct it? Q: What do you think makes him A: Acting, you are one small piece stand out among the Marvel charac- of the puzzle. I wanted to be involved ters? in a few more of those choices. I really A: His fight for morality. He puts wanted to build a movie. I wanted to himself last. For the most part, the set shots. I wanted to cast characters. I majority of other superheroes in the wanted to pick music. I wanted to world, their personal conflict is the actually construct the film. main conflict. I think Cap tries to not burden other people with his own Q: You said you are going to take issues. a little break from acting. What are you going to do? Q: There seems to be a humility A: I’d like to direct. I just enjoyed it. about him or a reluctance. Is that You know when you are a kid and you part of the character? get a hobby? You find something you A: There is certainly a level of self- like, and you wake up on a free day, lessness. He has no desire for fame or and it’s the first thing you think about? accolades. You just wake up and you run to do it. Directing was that thing I felt. I love Q: Is there any parallel to your life acting and I’ll still act. But I think when in that? You were reluctant to take I have a little more free time from the this role. Marvel universe, I will probably try and A: Sure. Acting is great. It’s one of pursue that first. my first loves. Acting doesn’t come without strings attached. Enjoying act- Q: You always play the hero. ing is different than navigating fame. Would you ever want to play the At times, it can be a bit of a challenge. bad guy? A: I would love to. I hope I get that Q: In a previous interview, you opportunity. Maybe I can direct some- said you hate doing press for your thing where I get to play the villain. movies. Why? Why not? — Reuters SUPERBAD ON OSN COMEDY WHAT’S ON SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014 Safir Hotel & Residences Kuwait - Fintas celebrates Earth Hour

afir Hotel & Residences Kuwait areas. Guests were informed of this has ‘gone dark’ again this year, global environmental awareness Smarking the annual celebration event, hence allowing them to take of Earth Hour in support of the global part in Earth Hour observances at initiative created by the World their own preference. Wildlife Fund (WWF), which has been Saif Eddin Mohammed, the duplicated by many around the world General Manger of the hotel said, to prove how the world can unite to “Safir Hotel & Residences Kuwait’s help save the environment to create a commitment goes beyond one hour. better future. For the fourth consecu- It continuously makes a positive dif- tive year, Safir Hotel & Residences ference to the environment by devel- Kuwait - Al Fintas turned off its lights oping a sustainable and environmen- for one hour last Saturday, 29th tally friendly hotel, along with a num- March 2014 to show its solidarity and ber of initiatives such as remaining as support of the Earth Hour. paperless as possible.” By using candles and other non- The Safir Fintas management, electrical lighting, Safir Hotel & associates and guests took part in Residences Kuwait turned off selec- lighting candles at the hotel lobby, in tive lights, including the decorative, an effort to mark the celebration of faÁade, restaurant and other public this important event.

Announcements

Soorya India Festival on April 10 oorya Kuwait Chapter will present ‘Soorya India SFestival 2014’ at 7 pm on April 10 at the Indian Community School Auditorium, Senior, Salmiya. This time, Soorya is coming up with a mix of three oldest dance forms of India - a Bharatanatyam recital by well- known danseuse Dakshina Vaidyanathan, a Mohiniyattam recital by exponent Aiswarya Warrier and an Odissi performance by leading Odissi dancers Arupa Gayatri Panda and Pravat Kumar Swain. In addi- tion, a solo fusion by Mridangam maestro Kuzhalmannam Ramakrishnan will also be presented. Indian Ambassador Sunil Jain will inaugurate the festi- val that aims to promote international integration through culture. Entry is free.

KSNA Ad-Hoc committee d-Hoc committee of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka AAkademi’s (KSNA) Kuwait Chapter will be reconsti- tuted at a meeting at 4 pm on Thursday, April 10 at Indian Community School (Senior), Salmiya which will be presided over by KSNA Chairman Soorya Krishnamoothy. Malayali associations in Kuwait are requested to depute one or two representatives of their associations to participate in the meeting.

IOC Arts Festival ndian Overseas Congress (IOC) will conduct Arts IFestival 2014 on April 10, 11, 2014 at the United Indian School, Abbassiya. Preparations are on to host this mega event among the Indian expatriates in Kuwait. Entry forms are also available on request through email. Entry forms can be sent to fax no. 24331461. Filled entry forms can be emailed to: Write to us [email protected]. Also, the final registration SEND US YOUR date has been extended till Saturday, 5 April 2014. All Indian children are invited to participate in the various INSTAGRAM PICS Send to What’s On competitions to be held on April 10, 11, 2014 at the United Indian School, Abbassiya. hat’s more fun than clicking a beautiful upcoming events, birthdays or picture? Sharing it with others! Let other Super hit play Wpeople see the way you see Kuwait - celebrations by email: ankaar Arts super play will be staged after 5 years through your lens. Friday Times will feature snap- Fby public demand’’Biwi Jawaan Miya Pareshan on shots of Kuwait through Instagram feeds. If you [email protected] April 19, Saturday from 6 -9 pm at the Indian want to share your Instagram photos, email us at Embassy. [email protected] Fax: 24835619 / 20 WHAT’S ON SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014

Kuwait Marriott Hotels celebrates Earth Hour 2014

he JW Marriott Hotel Kuwait City, empty plastic bottles to help in making a dif- Courtyard by Marriott Hotel Kuwait City ference. In doing so, 600 kWh was saved at Tand Arraya Ballroom managed by the Courtyard by Marriott, 250 kWh at Arraya Marriott International participated in the ballroom and 640 kWh at JW Marriott. Earth Hour - a global environmental aware- Marriott guest’s participation in the initiative ness event organized on March 29th - to send was optional through a letter which was sent a powerful message about environmental to their rooms in addition to elegant posters awareness and care for the planet. All three displayed in the hotel’s lobby. properties successfully observed Earth Hour “Being part of a global movement that by taking energy-saving measures for one full unites diverse communities and organiza- hour from 7 pm to 8 pm, while also helping in tions from all corners of the globe to partici- waste management, further underscoring the pate in securing a sustainable future for the company’s international commitment to envi- planet, falls in line with our ongoing Spirit to ronmental sustainability. Serve environmental programs,” expressed Numerous measures were taken such as George Aoun, Cluster General Manager for turning off exterior signage lighting; dimming Kuwait Marriott Hotels. “We are excited to or turning off non-essential interior lighting, help people in Kuwait to contribute directly public areas, office areas and the Marriott and more securely to causes that matter to staff housing complex, while also collecting them,” he added.

Jamaicans celebrate a splash of colours in school’s Social Studies subjects. HEALTH SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014

Panic in the kitchen: UK digests new fruit and veg advice

LONDON: It was with a heavy heart, and some panic, sugar. Questions have been raised about the results but was trending this week. Another added, with an air of that Britons digested new advice this week that their they have sparked a flurry of debate in a land which, fatalism: “I don’t much like fruit, my daughter doesn’t struggle to eat enough fruit and vegetables had just got while no longer fuelled by sausages and chips, still has much like veg. My husband likes doughnuts.” harder. Over the past decade, Britain has absorbed if not some way to go. Only around a quarter of adults current- For all Britain’s top restaurants, the celebrity chefs and adopted the idea of five a day, the target endorsed by ly manage five a day, according to National Health television cooking programs on virtual loop, Britons have the state-run National Health Service (NHS) for a healthy, Service (NHS) data, while other research puts the figure firm tastes-and they are not for fruit and vegetables. The balanced diet. But now researchers at University College at one in 10. nation eats 6.4 billion sandwiches and consumes ready London (UCL) have advised this should be increased to at “Are they having a laugh?” wrote one newspaper meals on 1.6 billion occasions every year, according to a least seven to cut the risk of death from cancer or heart commentator in response to the UCL results, echoing recent survey by research group Kantar Worldpanel. Add disease. people around the country as they surveyed the dismal to that more than 1.1 billion pizzas, 1.6 billion pies and The recommendation is directly aimed at Britain, contents of their fridges. “I can’t even do five a day, let pasties, 1.5 billion roast dinners, 578 million bowls of which has one of the highest rates of heart disease in alone seven. It’s an early grave for me,” said one woman spaghetti bolognese and 308 million plates of lasagne, Europe, a fact blamed in part on a diet high in fat and on popular parenting website Mumsnet, where the issue and the national picture is clear.—AFP Experts cast worried eye on Ebola spread

PARIS: Virologists say they are deeply worried Jonathan Ball, a professor of molecular virology by the unprecedented Ebola epidemic in West at England’s University of Nottingham said. Africa which has claimed more than 90 lives and “Large numbers of people living at high den- may now also have struck north into the Sahel. sity really helps infectious diseases spread.” A rare but extremely dangerous virus, Ebola is There is no vaccine or cure for Ebola. An epi- historically rooted in central Africa, although it demic has to be stopped by isolating suspected has also caused past outbreaks in Uganda to the cases in ultra-clean conditions and quarantining east. Except for a non-fatal case in Ivory Coast in those who had been in contact with them. This 1994, when a lab researcher was infected while is a big ask in countries where monitoring net- examining a dead chimp, Ebola had not previ- works are weak and basic materials like isolation ously been found in the west of the continent. tents, rubber gloves, soap and bleach may be How it got there is puzzling experts. The scarce. viral species now causing havoc is the Zaire UN agencies and the medical charity Doctors Jaysea Devoe strain of Ebola, which slays between 70 and 90 Without Borders, commonly known by its percent of those it infects and was last reported French initials MSF, are helping to fight the out- California tweening: The in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2009. break. Since the start of the year, Guinea has “When I heard about the outbreak, my initial reported 134 suspected cases of Ebola, of whom suspicion was that it could be the Ivory Coast 84 patients died. In neighboring Liberia to the making of a 12-year-old yogi species,” said Thomas Geisbert, an expert on south of Guinea, there have been 14 reported haemorrhagic fevers at the University of Texas cases, seven fatal. To the north of Guinea, the ENCINITAS: Jaysea Devoe is a yoga instructor uate high school, you have a career path cho- Medical Branch (UTMB). “It turned out to be the Sahel state of Mali said Thursday it had three who has the challenging job of teaching fidg- sen.’” Jaysea told her father she wanted to Zaire species, which has never been connected suspected cases. The patients had been isolated ety preschoolers the ancient practice, but teach yoga and when she said it was 200 with West Africa,” Geisbert told AFP by email. and were improving. once her charges get going, she says, “they hours of training, “We were like ‘Whoa.’” “She “I am very concerned, because I think we still really start to focus and listen.” Devoe knows was just adamant about doing all the home- don’t know how the virus got into this region or Fruit bat worries a thing or two about childhood and focus, for work and never wanting to miss a class,” Rick the size of the boundaries of the affected area.” Baize pointed to the fruit bat, suspected to she is only 12 years old and just recently says. “We were just really thrilled and very Sylvain Baize, who heads France’s National be a natural “reservoir” where the Ebola virus became a certified yoga instructor after com- honored that they allowed her to do it and Reference Centre for haemorrhagic fever, said holes up. It can spread to animal primates and pleting 200 hours of teacher training. She is that she pulled it off.” the outbreak “is serious-by all accounts, it is not humans who handle infected meat-a risk given believed to be the youngest certified female under control.” the informal trade in “bushmeat” in forested yoga instructor in the United States. Ready for adults and injuries “It’s worrying because it’s the first time Ebola central and west Africa. Among humans, the In addition to her pint-size students aged 4 Jaysea now works at a donation-based has emerged as a human epidemic in west virus can spread through contact with infected to 6, Devoe teaches teens and fellow tweens yoga studio and found $136 in the donation Africa,” he said. Baize noted the “wide disper- blood, body fluids and tissue. Symptoms include in her California beach town of Encinitas and box after her first class. She was trained to sion” of patients and also a case cluster in the muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in is about to start a family yoga class. Oh, and teach adults yoga and is ready for moms and Guinean capital, Conakry, which added to the extreme cases, organ failure and unstoppable she just told her dad she wants to look into dads in her new family class. And she feels complexity of tackling the epidemic. Past out- bleeding. “The likeliest hypothesis is that the making eco-friendly yoga mats. completely prepared to deal with the injuries breaks of Ebola have generally happened in epidemic (in West Africa) is linked to the intro- “I feel like I want to do this for a long time that often crop up in the practice of yoga. remote rural areas, which makes their contain- duction of the virus with the fruitbat as an inter- because I love teaching so much,” says Devoe, “We have learned so many variations of all the ment easier. “That Ebola has found its way to mediary, although this still has to be confirmed,” the picture of a California beach girl, with poses to do if people do have injuries or to densely-populated urban areas is a concern,” Baize said. — AFP long blond hair and long legs to match. But prevent injuries,” she says with a confident Jaysea is not alone in her entrepreneurial zeal. tone. Her twin brother is a sponsored competitive School doesn’t start until 9:45 am or 10:30 surfer and works at a surfboard fin manufac- am, so she has time to do her practice every turing company. Her 15-year-old brother is a morning at home for an hour. “I turn music on “professional water man,” a spear fisherman, and I like flowing with the music, it is called rod and reel angler and surfer who also teach- sun salutation ... that is probably one of my es and has sponsors. favorite parts,” Jaysea says. Rick Devoe says Encinitas, 25 miles (40 km) north of San he’s not surprised Jaysea chose yoga. “Jaysea Diego, happens to sit at the junction of laid- is just really Zen-y,” he says. “She’s got this back beach life, high-octane sports and entre- spiritual side to her. She’s always been preneurial gumption. Skateboarder-turned- intrigued by the moon and nature.” businessman Tony Hawk and Olympic gold As if teaching yoga on a donation basis snow boarder Shaun White are both based in to preschoolers, teens and families and cre- Encinitas. With so much opportunity around, ating a yoga mat side business wasn’t the Devoe parents, Rick and Julie, decided enough for a 12-year-old girl, Jaysea also less time should be spent at school and found volunteers every week at a local organic an accommodating institution for their kids’ farm. And then there’s time for play. When plans. it’s sunny and the Pacific Ocean is what she “They only go to school three days a week calls “glassy,” she surfs or paddleboards and we told them ‘You have to figure out with best friend Miely. No parental guidance what you want to do and you’ve got four days needed. “We live right by the beach, right GUINEA: Staff of the ‘Doctors without Borders’ (‘Medecin sans frontieres’) medical aid organi- to do it,’” says Rick, who manages bands and down the staircase, so we just go down zation carry the body of a person killed by viral haemorrhagic fever, at a center for victims of surfers. “‘And hopefully by the time you grad- there, yeah,” says Jaysea. — Reuters the Ebola virus in Guekedou. — AFP

SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014

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In case you are not travelling, your proper cancellation of bookings will help other passengers use seats

Arrival Flights on Saturday 5/4/2014 KAC 176 Geneva/Frankfurt 17:45 SYR 342 Damascus 10:55 Airlines Flt Route Time FDB 8053 Dubai 17:45 QTR 1071 Doha 11:00 QTR 1084 Doha 00:05 JZR 777 Jeddah 17:50 KAC 521 Al Najaf 11:15 JZR 239 Amman 00:20 IZG 4161 Mashhad 18:00 KAC 541 Cairo 11:30 JZR 267 Beirut 00:25 KAC 542 Cairo 18:15 GFA 214 Bahrain 11:35 JZR 539 Cairo 00:30 QTR 1080 Doha 18:25 KAC 501 Beirut 11:40 DLH 637 Dammam 00:35 FDB 063 Dubai 18:45 KAC 165 Rome/Paris 11:45 SAI 441 Lahore 1:35 KAC 104 London 18:45 IAW 158 Al Najaf/Baghdad 12:00 RJA 642 Amman 01:45 IRA 669 Mashhad 18:50 TSY 302 Beirut 12:00 GFA 211 Bahrain 01:55 JAV 621 Amman 18:50 JZR 776 Jeddah 12:15 UAE 853 Dubai 02:25 ABY 129 Sharjah 18:55 MSC 402 Alexandria 12:20 ETD 305 Abu Dhabi 02:30 KAC 618 Doha 18:55 JZR 176 Dubai 13:10 JAI 576 Kochi/Abu Dhabi 02:35 GFA 217 Bahrain 19:05 IRM 1189 Mashhad 13:15 THY 764 Istanbul 02:40 KAC 774 Riyadh 19:15 JZR 124 Bahrain 13:30 FDB 067 Dubai 03:05 KAC 502 Beirut 19:20 MSR 580 Sohag 13:50 PIA 239 Lahore 03:05 KAC 674 Dubai 19:25 MSR 611 Cairo 14:00 MSR 612 Cairo 03:15 KNE 474 Jeddah 19:25 THY 767 Istanbul 14:10 OMA 643 Muscat 03:20 KAC 742 Dammam 19:30 UAE 872 Dubai 14:15 QTR 1076 Doha 03:25 JAI 572 Mumbai 19:35 FDB 058 Dubai 14:35 MSC 401 Alexandria 04:00 KAC 614 Bahrain 19:35 IRM 1187 Tehran 14:40 THY 770 Istanbul 04:35 OMA 647 Muscat 19:55 KAC 561 Amman 14:45 DHX 170 Bahrain 05:10 KAC 562 Amman 20:00 MSC 4402 HRG 14:50 FDB 069 Dubai 05:50 FDB 061 Dubai 20:05 QTR 1079 Doha 14:55 KAC 412 Manila/Bangkok 06:15 DLH 634 Frankfurt 20:15 MSR 576 Sharm el-Sheikh 15:00 JZR 529 Asyut 06:35 MEA 402 Beirut 20:15 GFA 222 Bahrain 15:05 BAW 157 London 06:35 JZR 189 Dubai 20:25 KAC 673 Dubai 15:05 KAC 416 Jakarta/Kuala Lumpur 06:40 MSR 618 Alexandria 20:30 IRC 527 Mashhad 15:30 KAC 382 Delhi 07:30 AXB 489 Kochi/Mangalore 20:35 KAC 617 Doha 15:30 KAC 204 Lahore 07:35 KLM 415 Amsterdam 20:55 KNE 473 Jeddah 15:35 JZR 503 Luxor 07:40 ALK 229 Colombo 21:10 KAC 773 Riyadh 15:50 FDB 053 Dubai 07:45 UAE 859 Dubai 21:15 JZR 188 Dubai 15:50 KAC 206 Islamabad 07:50 ETD 307 Abu Dhabi 21:30 SVA 505 Jeddah 16:00 KAC 302 Mumbai 07:50 QTR 1074 Doha 21:30 ABY 128 Sharjah 16:15 QTR 1086 Doha 07:55 GFA 219 Bahrain 21:45 KNE 471 Jeddah 16:30 KAC 352 Kochi 08:05 KNE 480 Taif 22:00 KNE 463 Madinah 16:30 KAC 344 Chennai 08:20 FDB 059 Dubai 22:00 KAC 741 Dammam 16:30 UAE 855 Dubai 08:25 TSY 303 Beirut 22:00 KAC 613 Bahrain 16:35 KAC 362 Colombo 08:45 AIC 975 Chennai/Goa 22:25 KNE 481 Taif 16:40 ABY 125 Sharjah 08:50 KAC 786 Jeddah 22:40 RJA 641 Amman 16:55 KAC 284 Dhaka 08:55 UAL 981 Bahrain 22:40 KAC 785 Jeddah 17:00 IRM 1186 Tehran 09:10 FDB 8051 Dubai 22:45 JZR 266 Beirut 17:05 ETD 301 Abu Dhabi 09:30 JZR 157 Dubai 22:55 QTR 1073 Doha 17:20 FDB 055 Dubai 09:35 JZR 185 Dubai 22:55 TBZ 5484 Mashhad 17:30 SYR 341 Damascus 09:55 JAI 574 Mumbai 23:20 JZR 538 Cairo 17:40 QTR 1070 Doha 10:00 THY 772 Istanbul 23:45 ETD 304 Abu Dhabi 17:45 GFA 213 Bahrain 10:40 NIA 252 Alexandria 17:50 IAW 157 Baghdad/Al Najaf 11:00 Departure Flights on Saturday 5/4/2014 UAE 858 Dubai 18:15 MSC 405 Sohag 11:20 Airlines Flt Route Time SVA 511 Riyadh 18:15 JZR 325 Al Najaf 11:25 AIC 976 Goa/Chennai 00:05 GFA 216 Bahrain 18:20 JZR 165 Dubai 11:50 JAI 573 Mumbai 00:20 JZR 184 Dubai 18:20 IRM 1188 Mashhad 11:50 KLM 413 Amsterdam 00:55 FDB 8054 Dubai 18:30 JZR 241 Amman 12:40 JZR 502 Luxor 01:30 JZR 156 Dubai 18:35 UAE 871 Dubai 12:45 DLH 637 Frankfurt 01:35 UAL 982 Bahrain 18:40 MSR 610 Cairo 13:00 THY 773 Istanbul 02:20 JZR 238 Amman 18:45 MSR 579 Sohag 13:05 SAI 442 Lahore 02:35 IZG 4162 Mashhad 19:00 THY 766 Istanbul 13:10 UAE 854 Dubai 03:45 QTR 1081 Doha 19:25 IRM 1184 Shiraz 13:30 FDB 068 Dubai 03:45 FDB 064 Dubai 19:25 KAC 672 Dubai 13:40 MSR 613 Cairo 04:15 ABY 120 Sharjah 19:40 QTR 1078 Doha 13:45 ETD 306 Abu Dhabi 04:20 JAV 622 Amman 19:50 MSC 4401 HRG 13:50 OMA 644 Muscat 04:20 GFA 218 Bahrain 19:50 FDB 057 Dubai 13:55 QTR 1077 Doha 04:25 IRA 666 Esfahan 19:55 KAC 546 Alexandria 14:15 PIA 240 Sialkot/Islamabad 04:35 KNE 475 Jeddah 20:15 MSR 575 Sharm el-Sheikh 14:15 MSC 406 Sohag 05:00 KAC 285 Dhaka 20:15 GFA 221 Bahrain 14:20 QTR 1085 Doha 05:20 JAI 571 Mumbai 20:35 JZR 779 Jeddah 14:20 THY 765 Istanbul 06:00 FDB 062 Dubai 20:50 SVA 500 Jeddah 14:30 JAI 575 Abu Dhabi/Kochi 06:30 KAC 361 Colombo 20:50 IRC 526 Mashhad 14:30 FDB 070 Dubai 06:30 KAC 331 Trivandrum 20:50 KNE 472 Jeddah 14:40 RJA 643 Amman 06:35 OMA 648 Muscat 20:55 JZR 357 Mashhad 14:50 GFA 212 Bahrain 07:00 KAC 351 Kochi 21:05 KAC 522 Al Najaf 14:55 JZR 240 Amman 07:05 MEA 403 Beirut 21:15 KAC 788 Jeddah 15:00 THY 771 Istanbul 07:10 JZR 552 Alexandria 21:15 KNE 470 Jeddah 15:35 JZR 164 Dubai 07:15 MSR 607 Luxor 21:25 ABY 127 Sharjah 15:35 KAC 545 Alexandria 07:20 KAC 543 Cairo 21:30 KNE 462 Madinah 15:45 JZR 324 Al Najaf 08:05 AXB 490 Mangalore/Kochi 21:35 TBZ 5483 Mashhad 15:50 BAW 156 London 08:25 DHX 171 Bahrain 21:50 RJA 640 Amman 15:55 FDB 054 Dubai 08:25 KLM 415 Dammam/Amsterdam 21:55 KNE 460 Riyadh 15:55 JZR 778 Jeddah 08:45 ETD 308 Abu Dhabi 22:15 KAC 118 New York 16:00 QTR 1087 Doha 08:55 ALK 230 Colombo 22:20 JZR 535 Cairo 16:05 JZR 356 Mashhad 09:00 UAE 860 Dubai 22:25 QTR 1072 Doha 16:15 JZR 534 Cairo 09:15 KAC 381 Delhi 22:30 JZR 125 Bahrain 16:25 KAC 671 Dubai 09:25 QTR 1075 Doha 22:40 ETD 303 Abu Dhabi 16:45 ABY 126 Sharjah 09:30 FDB 060 Dubai 22:40 NIA 251 Alexandria 16:50 KAC 787 Jeddah 09:35 KAC 301 Mumbai 22:40 UAE 857 Dubai 16:55 UAE 856 Dubai 09:50 GFA 220 Bahrain 22:45 SVA 510 Riyadh 17:15 ETD 302 Abu Dhabi 10:15 KNE 461 Riyadh 22:50 UAL 982 IAD 17:25 FDB 056 Dubai 10:15 FDB 8052 Dubai 23:30 GFA 215 Bahrain 17:30 IRM 1185 Shiraz 10:20 KAC 205 Islamabad 23:35 JZR 177 Dubai 17:45 KAC 101 London/New York 10:25 KAC 411 Bangkok/Manila 23:40

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw) SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014

3. The post at the top or bottom of a flight of stairs. 4. The elementary stages of any subject (usually plural). CROSSWORD508 5. As the agent of or on someone's part. 6. (botany) Of or relating to the axil. 7. Entangled or hindered as if e.g. in mire. 8. Part of the perianth that is usually brightly colored. 9. Morally bad or wrong. 10. A widely distributed system consisting of all the cells able to ingest bacteria or colloidal particles etc, except for certain white blood cells. 11. The expensive white fur of the ermine. 12. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey). 13. Singing jazz. 14. Stable gear consisting of either of two curved supports that are attached to the collar of a draft horse and that hold the traces. 22. Large swift fly the female of which sucks blood of various animals. 25. The herd of horses from which those to be used the next day are chosen. 27. (informal) Of the highest quality. 29. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism. 31. An associate degree in nursing. 32. Cheese containing a blue mold. 33. (Sumerian) Consort of Dumuzi (Tammuz). 34. A woman's dress style that imitates the caftan cloaks worn by men in the Near East. 36. Any of the equal portions into which the capital stock of a corporation is divid- ed and ownership of which is evidenced by a stock certificate. 37. Wild sheep of northern Africa. 38. An independent ruler or chieftain (especially in Africa or Arabia). 39. A light touch or stroke. 40. According to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC). 43. A Loloish language. 47. Someone who operates a barge. 48. A narrow republic surrounded by Senegal in West Africa. ACROSS 50. The capital and chief port of Qatar. 1. (of light) Lacking in intensity or brightness. 53. Any of numerous local fertility and nature deities worshipped by ancient 4. A unit of current equal to 10 amperes. Semitic peoples. 12. The residue that remains when something is burned. 56. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light. 15. A lyric poem with complex stanza forms. 57. Either of two folds of skin that can be moved to cover or open the eye. 16. A supporter who accepts something as true. 59. A port city in southwestern Iran. 17. Aircraft landing in bad weather in which the pilot is talked down by ground 60. A trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group. control using precision approach radar. 64. A city in northern India. 18. Legal document setting forth rules governing a particular kind of activity. 65. Consideration in dealing with others and avoiding giving offence. 19. The principles of a body of 19th century English reformers who advocated bet- 66. A city in northwestern Syria. ter social and economic conditions for working people. 67. An informal term for a father. 20. Thigh of a hog (usually smoked). 69. Advanced in years. 21. An organization of countries formed in 1961 to agree on a common policy for 70. English monk and scholar (672-735). the sale of petroleum. 72. A health resort near a spring or at the seaside. 23. Of or relating to or involving an area. 73. South American wood sorrel cultivated for its edible tubers. 24. Feeling or showing extreme anger. 75. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth. 26. Cheap showy jewelry or ornament or clothing. 78. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group. 28. A metric unit of volume equal to one tenth of a liter. 30. Liquid containing proteins and electrolytes including the liquid in blood plas- ma and interstitial fluid. Yesterdayʼs Solution 35. A member of the Siouan people formerly living in Missouri in the valleys of the Missouri and Osage rivers. 41. The inner and longer of the two bones of the human forearm. 42. The dull explosive noise made by an engine. 44. Lacking or deprive of the sense of hearing wholly or in part. 45. Someone who is morally reprehensible. 46. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables. 49. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa. 51. A very light colorless element that is one of the six inert gasses. 52. A small cake leavened with yeast. 54. A silvery soft waxy metallic element of the alkali metal group. 55. Health care for the aged. 58. The ninth month of the Moslem calendar. 61. An official prosecutor for a judicial district. 62. Full of trivial conversation. 63. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake Chad. 68. English essayist (1775-1834). 71. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey). 74. A condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of expe- rience that is taken as true by many people. 76. Electrical conduction through a gas in an applied electric field. 77. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling). 79. In bed. 80. The seventh and last day of the week. 81. The great hall in ancient Persian palaces. 82. A quantity of no importance.

DOWN Challenging Maze 1. The West AFrican language of the Wolof people in Senegal. 2. (Babylonian) A demigod or first man.

Daily SuDoku Yesterday’s Solution Sports SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014

AL capsules NL capsules Yankees get first win the season

HOUSTON: Rookie Yangervis Solarte had three hits in his first major league start and Derek Jeter drove in a run to give the New York Yankees their first win this sea- son, 4-2 over the Houston Astros on Thursday. Solarte singled during a two-run third inning that put New York up 2-1. He doubled in the fifth and scored on a single by Jeter to make it 3-1. Houston cut the lead to one in the bottom half before Solarte came through again, this time with a single that drove in Ichiro Suzuki. Solarte also had a nifty defensive play at third when he grabbed a liner hit right at him by Jose Altuve for the third out in the eighth. Ivan Nova (1-0) allowed two runs and six hits in 5 2-3 innings. David Robertson, who took over as closer for Mariano Rivera, pitched a perfect ninth for his first save. Houston starter Brett Oberholtzer also went 5 2-3 innings, allowing five hits and three runs.

RED SOX 4, ORIOLES 2 David Ortiz had three of Boston’s 12 hits off Wei-Yin Chen as the Red Sox got an effective pitching perform- ance from Felix Doubront and four relievers. Xander Bogaerts also had three hits for the Red Sox, who took two of three in the season-opening series between AL East rivals. Boston finished with 14 hits, 12 of them sin- gles. Matt Wieters had three hits for the Orioles, and Chris Davis had two hits and scored twice. Doubront (1- 0) allowed two runs and six hits in 5 2-3 innings, and Boston’s bullpen maintained its 0.00 ERA with 3 1-3 innings of three-hit relief. Koji Uehara needed only sev- en pitches to retire the side in the ninth for his first save. Chen (0-1) gave up four runs in 5 2-3 innings.

RAYS 7, BLUE JAYS 2 Chris Archer threw six solid innings and Evan Longoria hit a three-run homer as Tampa Bay split a PHOENIX: Hunter Pence #8 of the San Francisco Giants slides in to score an eighth inning run against the Arizona four-game series with Toronto. Archer (1-0) allowed two Diamondbacks during the MLB game at Chase Field on April 3, 2014 in Phoenix, Arizona. — AFP runs and four hits in his first start since he agreed to a $25.5 million, six-year deal Wednesday. The contract includes club options for 2020 and 2021 that could raise the value to $43.75 million. Longoria tied Carlos Pena Cardinals take 2 of 3 in series for first on the Rays’ career home run list with 163 on his seventh-inning shot off Esmil Rogers that put Tampa CINCINNATI: The St Louis Cardinals overcame another innings and fell behind in a 30-pitch first. He wound up Bay ahead 7-2. Toronto’s Brandon Morrow (0-1) gave up long delay and two homers from Todd Frazier on allowing just the two runs and six hits in six innings with four runs and seven hits over five innings in his first start Thursday, holding on to beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-6 and three walks and five strikeouts including his final four bat- since May 28. take two of three in their season-opening series. The first ters. Wheeler (0-1) gave up three runs and seven hits in six pitch was delayed 3 hours, 42 minutes because of rain. The innings. TWINS 10, WHITE SOX 9 Cardinals then emerged from their two-game hitting Chris Colabello had a career-high six RBIs and slump by knocking Homer Bailey (0-1) out of the game in MARLINS 8, ROCKIES 5 Oswaldo Arcia hit a go-ahead triple as Minnesota avoid- the fifth inning. Jhonny Peralta homered to get it going. Giancarlo Stanton singled home the go-ahead run with ed a season-opening sweep. Trailing 9-8 heading into Lance Lynn (1-0) gave up Jay Bruce’s two-run homer and two outs in the eighth inning, capping a comeback to the ninth, the Twins scored twice off Chicago closer Frazier’s solo shot during five innings. help the Marlins beat the Rockies. Casey McGehee had Matt Lindstrom (0-1), who blew his first save chance in two hits and three RBIs for the Marlins, who scored 27 two opportunities. Trevor Plouffe hit a tying RBI single GIANTS 8, DIAMONDBACKS 5 runs while winning three of four games in the season- with two outs before Arcia’s triple off the wall in center Angel Pagan hit a three-run home run in San opening series. The Marlins were 1 for 15 with runners in gave Minnesota a 10-9 lead. Glen Perkins picked up his Francisco’s five-run eighth inning as the Giants rallied to scoring position for the afternoon before Christian Yelich first save after squandering Minnesota’s lead beat Arizona in a game that was halted briefly in the top of made the score 5-all in the eighth with a two-out RBI sin- Wednesday. He got Paul Konerko to ground to third to the first due to a swarm of bees in the outfield. Paul gle off Matt Belisle (0-1). AJ Ramos (1-0) pitched a perfect end the game, giving manager Ron Gardenhire his Goldschmidt and Mark Trumbo each hit two-run home eighth. Steve Cishek followed with a scoreless ninth for 999th career win. Caleb Thielbar (1-0) allowed Marcus runs and Arizona led 5-3 after seven, but the Giants teed his 31st consecutive converted save opportunity, and his Semien’s go-ahead homer in the eighth. off on reliever Will Harris (0-1) in the eighth to take three of second this year. four games from the Diamondbacks. Brandon Belt hit his ATHLETICS 3, MARINERS 2 third home run of the series and Brandon Hicks had a CUBS 3, PIRATES 2 Coco Crisp homered leading off the bottom of the pinch-hit solo shot for the Giants. Jean Machi (2-0) got one Jason Hammel pitched two-hit ball into the seventh 12th inning to lift Oakland over Seattle. Crisp, who out for the victory. inning as the Cubs edged the Pirates for their first win of scored the tying run with two outs in the eighth inning, the season. Hammel (1-0) allowed a run, struck out five hit a towering home run off Seattle reliever Hector NATIONALS 8, METS 2 and walked one in 6 2-3 innings to help the Cubs avoid Noesi (0-1) on an 0-1 pitch. The ball landed just above Tanner Roark recovered from a shaky first inning as an their worst start in 17 years. Emilio Bonifacio went 2 for 4 the out-of-town scoreboard in right field. It’s the sixth emergency starter in place of ailing Jordan Zimmermann and scored twice to continue his torrid start. The Chicago game-ending hit of Crisp’s career. Yoenis Cespedes and as the Nationals rallied past the Mets for an opening three- center fielder hit 11 for 16 (.688) during the opening three- Sam Fuld also drove in runs for Oakland, which rallied game sweep. Ryan Zimmerman tied his career high with game series. Wandy Rodriguez (0-1) struggled early in his from two runs down for its first walkoff win of the sea- four hits. Zimmermann, 19-9 last year, was fine Wednesday first start in 10 months but settled down late. The left-han- son. Drew Pomeranz (1-0), the fifth A’s pitcher, worked but developed a fever overnight and was throwing up. der allowed three runs on five hits with a walk and five one scoreless inning for the win. — AP Roark (1-0) got just two swings and misses in the first two strikeouts. — AP SPORTS SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014 Boat Race - slick, sponsored but still amateur

LONDON: The 160th Boat Race between the universities of Oxford over 4.2 miles. It was famously disrupted in 2012 when an anti-elit- Multi-national lineups and Cambridge takes place on the River Thames in London tomor- ism protester Trenton Oldfield swam between the boats, forcing Amateur or not, the Boat Race line-ups have impressive CVs. Three row, an event rich in tradition-and well-worn accusations of profes- the race to be re-started. Cambridge holds the historical edge at of Oxford’s nine competitors are Olympic medalists and there are a sionalism. The Light Blues of Cambridge and the Dark Blues of present, with 81 wins to 77 by Oxford. Although the race now has handful of junior world champions. Rupert Wood, a teenager who Oxford have been training on the Thames since last weekend, the global appeal and a major US bank for a sponsor, the Cambridge rows for Dulwich College, a private school in London, was watching crews carefully avoiding each other. Tomorrow, hundreds of thou- crew insisted it had lost nothing of its tradition-and its amateur sta- the teams go through their paces-and dreaming of one day taking sands of spectators will line the banks of the river to watch the two tus-in their eyes. part. “This is the old question, do these students get admitted for their crews composed of eight rowers and a cox. “Things changed in the nineties with the sponsors. Both univer- rowing talent or for their intellectual capabilities? Some of them may But taking a break from intensive training this week, both crews sities have recruited professional coaches, physiotherapists, biome- be there thanks to rowing,” he conceded. Tomorrow, only two Britons were keen to stress that there is more to their lives than rowing-and chanics specialists and dieticians. But the rowers are still amateurs. will take part, alongside six Americans, two Canadians, two New that the rigorous academic standards of Britain’s two most presti- They’re not paid,” said Chris Baillieu, who won the race with Zealanders and a German. Nothing new there, said Chris Baillieu. “It gious universities apply to them too. “Sometimes I just can’t train Cambridge a record four times in the 1970s. As proof, he said he was already the same 40 years ago. There have always been foreign- them because they have too many things to do,” Cambridge coach was putting up the Cambridge rowers at his home, in contrast to ers. They don’t come only for rowing,” he said. “Our German is study- Steve Trapmore, who won a rowing gold medal for Britain at the the luxury hotels of professional sportsmen. Technology has made ing for a PhD in theoretical physics.” Steve Trapmore is convinced that 2000 Sydney Olympics said. dramatic changes to the race over the years, with wooden boats if the sponsorship ended and the corporate hospitality tents no So it’s a pre-dawn start to fit in the first training session. “We replaced by fibre-glass. The rowers’ bodies have undergone a trans- longer came, the race would go on. “The race would still happen if wake up at 5.30 am. We train around 3-4 hours a day. We row 25 formation too-this year the Cambridge team averages 1.97 meters there were no TV and no sponsors. It’s two crews trying to beat each miles a day,” said Cambridge captain Steve Dudek, a 25-year-old (6.6 feet) in height and 92 kilograms (203 pounds), roughly the other. And that’s what it’s all about,” he said. True to form, asked what American. After the morning session, the rowers rush to lectures, same as their Oxford rivals. “A long time ago, they trained for two or were the differences between the two crews, Trapmore could not then it’s back on the water in the afternoon before hitting the three months,” said Trapmore. “Now, they start training in October. resist giving a partisan answer. “The only difference,” he said with a books again. The Boat Race was created in 1829 and is now rowed It lasts six or seven months.” smile, “is that Cambridge is better.”— AFP

LONDON: In this file picture, the Oxford University boat crew (left) pull ahead in the closing stages of the race to beat the Cambridge University crew during the annual boat race on the River Thames in London. The 160th Boat Race between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge takes place on the River Thames in London tomorrow, an event rich in tradition-and well-worn accu- sations of professionalism. — AFP

Racing Spring Classics Vintage Tidal Bay bids set to explode

PARIS: Some of the greatest cyclists in the self on the gruelling Spring Classics, start- to emulate Red Rum world will begin the battle for the main ing with the two Northern Classics on the Spring Classics when the Tour of Flanders cobbles: Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. LIVERPOOL: Tidal Bay can become the first top weight could cause him problems. However, his amateur rider gets underway tomorrow. The likes of In reality, the Spring Classics began since Red Rum in 1977 — and, at 13 the oldest horse in Sam Waley-Cohen is a master over the fences and Fabian Cancellara, Tom Boonen and Peter with Milan San-Remo a few weeks ago over 90 years-to win the world’s greatest steeplechase, showed that again on Thursday when riding in the Sagan will be among the favourites in and last weekend’s Gent-Wevelgem but it some of the oldest and most prestigious is only with the advent of the Flanders- the Grand National today. Tidal Bay, who would be the colours of his father Robert he guided Warne to victory races on the professional cycling calendar. Roubaix double on successive weekends same age as Sergeant Murphy when he won in 1923, in the amateurs Grand National, The Foxhunters Chase While the Spring Classics cannot match that these historic races really kick into will face 39 rivals including former 2011 Cheltenham for his third win in the race. Waley-Cohen, who has a the prestige of the Tour de France, they gear. Cancellara, Boonen and Sagan come Gold Cup champion Long Run over the fearsome 30 good record in the National having finished second, can surpass it in terms of excitement. And into these two races having already fences, which despite being modified over the years fourth and fifth in four starts, said he believes his gal- they do so with a largely different cast. stretched their legs and showed their still represent the greatest challenge in jumps racing. lant little horse will take to the fences. Tour champion Chris Froome as well as form at San-Remo, where Cancellara was Tidal Bay has got better with age and this season he Grand Tour specialists such as Alberto second, and Gent-Wevelgem, where has finished third in the Welsh National and a fine sec- Headgear not required Contador, Vincenzo Nibali or Nairo Sagan was third and Boonen fifth. Sagan ond in the Irish Gold Cup. While his previous foray in “I think the size of the fences and the fact they are Quintana won’t be there challenging for also won E3 Harelbeke and that makes the National saw him get only as far as the 10th fence, something he’s never seen before will help with his victory but the fields are no less impres- him the favourite in terms of current form, trainer Paul Nicholls, who won with Neptune Collonges concentration, I don’t think he’ll need any headgear,” sive for their absence. although his two main rivals have the in 2012, has always believed in his chances and his said the 31-year-old, who is a dentist by profession. “It’s Swiss Cancellara and Boonen, of experience and history to ensure they can jockey Sam Twiston-Davies dismissed the doubts con- a race that has been very kind to me and as Long Run Belgium, as ever, will start as two of the never be overlooked. cerning him as being too old. “Tidal Bay is no normal has had such an impact on the life of everybody in our main favourites having claimed between But it won’t just be about those three 13-year-old,” 21-year-old Twiston-Davies told BBC family, it would be amazing if he could win it.” For them 12 of the last 18 editions of Flanders as several other riders have showed their Sport. “It wouldn’t worry me at all about his age and Henderson the National represents the one major race and Paris-Roubaix since 2005. Of the six potential. German sprinter John what the statistics say. His form is very solid. He was he has yet to win despite going close on several occa- occasions when it wasn’t either who won, Degenkolb won Gent-Wevelgem and will second in an English Hennessy, then an Irish one. “If sions and the 63-year-old has another live contender in three times it was one or the other’s team- be confident if he can last the pace over anything the handicapper has given him a bit of a Triolo d’Alene, who won the top class Hennessy Gold mate who did so. Their main competition the 260km of either De Ronde or the Hell chance.” Cup last November. Waley-Cohen for his part believes this time around should come from of the North to be still in with a chance Long Run should give Tidal Bay a run for his money Teaforthree represents the greatest danger, and a Slovak Peter Sagan, a hugely talented when the line approaches. Alexander at Aintree, but the Nicky Henderson-trained horse has decent run in the Gold Cup suggests he can improve cyclist who has already won the Tour de Kristoff won a sprint finish at San Remo looked a shadow of the class act he was in previous on last year’s third place behind outsider Auroras France green jersey twice and is tipped to where British sprint king Mark Cavendish years and his tendency to go in low to ordinary fences Encore. —AFP one day take an overall triumph at a went too soon and could finish only fifth, Grand Tour. But first he must prove him- while Sagan was down in 10th. —AFP SPORTS SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014 Scott eyes Masters repeat, world’s top ranking

AUGUSTA: Before winning his first major title defeat Angel Cabrera last April, achieving a “I take a lot of positive stuff out of it,” Scott reads,” Scott said. “You need to be certain and I at last year’s Masters, Adam Scott endured the dream that narrowly escaped his boyhood said. “I somewhat achieved what I wanted. It just wasn’t 100 percent on.” Scott led by a frustration of squandering a four-shot lead in idol, Greg Norman, numerous times. Now the was good to be back in the mix. “My short tournament-record seven strokes at Bay Hill the last four holes to lose the 2012 British Adelaide-born defending champion will try to game just wasn’t there (in the last round) so after 36 holes, having made several putts from Open to Ernie Els. So after squandering a last- become the first repeat Masters winner since that needs to be tightened up and probably beyond 20 feet, and he led by three entering day lead to lose at Bay Hill when a win would Tiger Woods in 2002. The only others to shows that I need to do a bit more work on it the final round, although he was level with have made him world number one for the first achieve the feat were Jack Nicklaus and Nick to hold up under the pressure.” Learning that eventual winner Matt Every by the time he time, the 33-year-old Australian now comes to Faldo. lesson at the Arnold Palmer Invitational was made the turn on Sunday. Augusta National hoping the top ranking spot “I feel like this should be the peak time in humbling, but better there than at Augusta It was the second painful 54-hole edge is also a dream that has been only delayed, not my career,” Scott said. “I have got to create National. “Everyone is just excited to go,” Scott Scott had squandered in the past few months, denied. “If nothing else, it’s a good reminder these chances more often and I’ve got to take said. “We don’t know what it’s going to hold also losing the Australian Open late last year on how much putting practice I need to do for them more often than I have. I’ve got to start and it always produces something. “It will be when he led by four as the last round began. “I going to the Masters and just how important it closing at a better rate than ever before. So exciting for me going there feeling like I’m need to do a little more work on my putting is,” Scott said. I’m very hungry.” And while Scott failed to playing pretty good. Who knows what can because the last couple of times in this posi- “If I think back to last year, I made every dethrone 14-time major champion Woods happen again?” tion it has not been as sharp as I would like,” putt that you expect to in that last round and from the top spot by winning at Bay Hill, it’s As Scott prepared to challenge the leg- Scott said. “It was nice the first couple of days ultimately that’s maybe what gave me the clear with Woods absent following surgery for endary undulating greens at Augusta National, but it’s a different story when you’ve got to hit chance to win.” Scott became the first Aussie a pinched nerve in his back, and Scott playing he pondered how he handled reading greens a lot of six- and 10-footers with the pressure to capture the green jacket symbolic of solidly, claiming the top spot might be, as was under pressure at Bay Hill with the top ranking on. “I’m taking confidence anyway from just Masters supremacy when he sank a 12-foot winning a major after a heart-breaking near at stake. “After missing a couple putts over the some good play, but some opportunities you birdie putt on the second playoff hole to miss, only a matter of time. last couple of days, doubts creep into your have got to take.”—AFP

New generation Haas and Hoffman size up Masters share Houston lead HOUSTON: Bill Haas and Charley Hoffman green jackets topped a jam-packed first-round leader- AUGUSTA: Top-ranked Tiger Woods is injured and absent, reign- board at the US PGA Tour’s Houston Open ing Masters champion Adam Scott has squandered his past two on Thursday on seven-under par 65. Haas’s 54-hole leads and 2012 Masters winner Bubba Watson needed 22 round was highlighted by an eagle at the months to win again. So it’s no wonder a rising generation of par-five fourth hole at the Golf Club of young stars, many of them seeking their first major crown, like Houston. He added six birdies and one their chances to challenge for a green jacket at next week’s 78th bogey while Hoffman had seven birdies Masters tournament. and no bogeys as the two afternoon Of the past 19 major champions, 15 were first-time winners, starters took a one-shot lead over Matt including the past three to claim green jackets-Watson, Scott and Kuchar, Keegan Bradley, JB Holmes, Erik South African Charl Schwartzel, who birdied the last four holes to Compton and Jim Renner. win in 2011. World number one Woods, a 14-time major champi- Kuchar hit all 18 greens in regulation on on chasing the career record 18 majors won by Jack Nicklaus, will his way to a bogey-free six-under 66. miss the Masters for the first time since his 1995 debut as an ama- teur following surgery to repair a pinched nerve. But he can take Bradley also played without a bogey-as did credit for inspiring the new breed, the very people who might the other two players in his group, five- prevent him from ever catching Nicklaus. time major winner Phil Mickelson and for- “We all grew up watching Tiger and you are seeing his genera- mer US Open champion Webb Simpson. “It tion play now and they are not afraid to go win tournaments,” was the first time I remember that happen- 2011 PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley said. More than ing, certainly in my career,” Mickelson said. 20 players are set to make their Masters debut this year, what “Not to have any bogeys in the group is could be the largest such group since the 1960s. US prodigy pretty special.” Jordan Spieth, PGA season money leader and treble winner The group teed off on 10, and Bradley, a Jimmy Walker and US standouts Harris English, Matt Every and former US PGA Championship winner who Billy Horschel are in their first Masters. So are such global talents notched a runner-up finish at Bay Hill last as Sweden’s Jonas Blixt, Dutchman Joost Luiten, Canada’s month, nabbed his first birdie of the day at Graham DeLaet, Frenchman Victor Dubuisson and Zimbabwe’s the 13th, then added three in a row from Brendon de Jonge. Few courses provide a better benefit for experience over the the 15th. “I hadn’t been making any putts, layout than Augusta National, where undulating greens and local and it seems like the putter just kind of knowledge figure to make this year’s practice rounds a schooling woke up right about now, which is really a session for newcomers hungry for advice on targets, and places good time of year for it to do that,” said to avoid, from Masters veterans. The only debut winner since the Bradley, who is among many in the field second Masters in 1935 was Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979, but that does using this tournament to hone their games not keep newcomers like Patrick Reed, a self-proclaimed world for the first major of the year, the Masters top-5 player with three PGA wins since mid-August, from think- at Augusta National next week. ing they might be adding to their wardrobe collection on April After the group of five players sharing 13. “I don’t put it past myself,” Reed said. “I’m definitely not third place on 66, another 10 players were going to say I don’t have a chance of winning. I feel like I do, but tied on five-under 67, a group that includ- I’m going to have to put four really good rounds together. ed 2011 Masters champion Charl “Whoever shows up at an event nowadays has a chance to win.” Schwartzel of South Africa, 2009 British Tiger ‘pushed us harder’ Open winner Stewart Cink and Spain’s So where did he get such confidence? From watching Woods Sergio Garcia. Simpson and Mickelson since his record-smashing 1997 Masters triumph. “We grew up were among a big group on 68. Mickelson, watching Tiger, what he has done. That has pushed us harder to who will be seeking a fourth Masters green want to reach our goals,” Reed said. “We basically want to play jacket next week, got his final tune-up off the game how he has done in the dominant fashion that he has to a solid start. He said the injury to his done. “Just that killer instinct and the will to win-I’ve worked right oblique muscle, which had forced really hard on becoming mentally strong and not letting things him to withdraw from the Texas Open last around me distract me as much. That’s something he has been SAN DIEGO: Jordan Spieth reacts as his tee shot flies to the left of the week, had responded well to treatment. “I amazing at and something I’m really working on. I’ve tried to take fairway on the fourth hole of the South Course at Torrey Pines during feel a lot better four or five days later,” the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament in San from him.” No stage in golf offers better drama than Sunday’s Mickelson said. “It doesn’t hurt anymore. It back nine at Augusta National, a crucible that brought Woods Diego. The rookie class at Augusta National might be the strongest just feels sore as opposed to a kind of and reigning British Open champion Phil Mickelson their first ever for the Masters, from Jimmy Walker and Patrick Reed to Victor major titles.— AFP Dubuisson and Jordan Spieth. — AP painful experience.”— AFP SPORTS SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014 Bouchard ousts Venus at the Family Circle Cup

CHARLESTON: Venus Williams couldn’t dig herself out of a hole this time and lost to Eugenie Bouchard 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-4 at the Family Circle Cup on Thursday. The 33-year-old Minnesota beat Williams had fought back in each of her first two matches to advance. She seemed to follow the same game-plan in this one, rallying from a set down to win the second set SMU to win NIT and lead 2-1 in the third. That’s when the 20-year-old Canadian, took over, breaking Williams’ serve twice down NEW YORK: Richard Pitino held his 3-year-old daughter in his the stretch including the final game. “She played a lot arms as his Minnesota team cut down the net at Madison more consistently than I did,” Williams said. “I think my Square Garden. “Richard, get up there!” yelled his famous errors really hurt me a lot today. Just a lot of up and father, Rick, the Hall of Fame coach at Louisville. First, the kid down, a lot of errors.” had others in mind. “The assistants!” he shouted back. Spoken Williams’ defeat was part of a difficult day for past like a coach who listened closely at the dinner table and ate up champions of the clay-court event. Along with 2004 win- every last lesson. Austin Hollins hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with ner Williams, two other previous Family Circle champs in 46.1 seconds left and Minnesota won the NIT championship Sabine Lisicki (2009) and Samantha Stosur (2010) lost Thursday night, beating SMU 65-63 to give the Pitino family its third-round matches. Lisicki, the fourth seed, fell to latest postseason tournament title. German countrywoman Andrea Petkovic 6-1, 6-0. Stosur, Hollins scored 19 points and Andre Hollins had 14 for the seeded seventh, was beaten by No. 9 seed Lucie Safarova Golden Gophers (25-13), who took home the trophy for the 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. third time. They also won the National Invitation Tournament The only previous winner of the five entered - two- in 1993 and ‘98, though the second one was vacated because time defending champion Serena Williams was ousted on of an NCAA rules violation involving player eligibility. “We Tuesday night - still around in the quarterfinals was No 2 made some big-time plays,” Richard Pitino said. “Austin made a seed Jelena Jankovic, the 2007 winner here who defeated big-time 3. We gutted it out. That is a very good team. They’re a Croatia’s Ajla Tomljanovic, 7-5, 6-1. Bouchard finished off really good team. They deserve to be in the NCAA tournament. Venus Williams by reaching her opponent’s drop shot I’m really proud of our guys. I’m so happy for our seniors. They and pushing it into the open court for her first victory get to walk off this court with a win.” over the seven-time Grand Slam champion. “I think I’ve With Rick Pitino sitting near his son’s bench at Madison shown to myself how mentally strong I can be,” said Square Garden, Minnesota made up for a blowout loss to Bouchard, seeded sixth at the Family Circle. “Today was Stanford in the NIT final two years ago and finished with a really a mental battle. It was a bit ugly at times and tough flourish in its first season under the 31-year-old Pitino. “I think on the court, but I fought through it.” it’s one of the highlights of my life,” Rick Pitino said on the Especially in two key stretches when it looked as if the court afterward. “He’s a brilliant young man.” After dad was 33-year-old Williams was ready to take control. Bouchard knocked out of the NCAAs last week when the defending was ahead 5-3 in the opening set when Williams rallied champion Cardinals were beaten by rival Kentucky in the and held two set points in the tiebreaker. But Bouchard Sweet 16, it was left to the younger Pitino to bring home a title won the next four points, including a crisp backhand for a in April. That’s exactly what he did, defeating SMU and Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown - old enough to be his grandfather. winner to secure the set. When Williams moved on top in “It was a character win,” Richard Pitino said. Nic Moore had the third set, Bouchard did not panic but dug in to move 17 points and Nick Russell added 15 for the Mustangs, who led on to her third quarterfinal round this year. “I’ve just kind by seven with less than 6 minutes to play. “Got to give a lot of of raised my game a little bit and was extra solid on those credit to Richard and his team,” Brown said. “They were really important points,” Bouchard said. well prepared. Got down seven and I thought he got their kids Bouchard will next face Jankovic, who at No 8 in world to dig in a little bit. We didn’t handle prosperity very well. Had is the highest-ranked player remaining in the tourna- some terrible turnovers in the guts of the game, and I think it ment. Jankovic has reached the Family Circle quarterfinals turned the game around.” Andre Hollins hit three of four free in six times since her championship run seven years ago. throws in the final 16.3 seconds to keep help keep Minnesota She’s been beaten by a Williams sister each of the last two in front. DeAndre Mathieu scored all 13 his points in the sec- years, falling to Venus in 2012 and to Serena in last year’s ond half for the Gophers. Austin Hollins was selected the tour- championship finals. nament’s Most Outstanding Player. “Ah, man it feels great,” he Jankovic struggled early as the 20-year-old said. “It’s a blessing to be able to finish the season on a win. Tomljanovic fought off a set point to tie the opening set Few teams get to do that.” The 73-year-old Brown has turned at 5-all. Jankovic then won eight of the next nine games things around in two seasons at SMU, and his latest reclama- to move forward. “I missed that overhead on my set tion project was the favorite going into the NIT after being one point, which was kind of frustrating, and we leveled it at 5 of the last teams snubbed by the NCAA tournament. 5,” Jankovic said. “But I was able to stay calm and regroup Minnesota also shrugged off the disappointment of being left and finish that set. So that was very important.” Venus CHARLESTON: Venus Williams reacts during her match against out of the 68-team field. Both schools received a No 1 seed in Williams’ loss ends a run of recent success for her family Eugenie Bouchard, of Canada, during the Family Circle Cup the NIT and made the most of it, winning three home games on theses courts. Sister Serena was the two-time defend- tennis tournament in Charleston, SC. — AP apiece to advance to New York. ing tournament champion before losing Tuesday night. Venus played with the Washington Kastles on the green clay to win the 2012 World Team Tennis title. Venus Williams had been bothered by an illness that she RUGBYU CUP PREVIEW said limited her endurance this week. She had to come from behind in her first two matches here to face Bouchard and did not have enough stamina to wait out Irish, French set for titanic clash her opponent’s solid, flat ground strokes. “That kind of made it more challenging. I mean I think normally I would PARIS: The European Cup resumes today — will start as warm favourites against a talent, it’s just a massive uphill task for probably be able to challenge the points a little bit longer after taking a rest while the Six Nations was Toulouse side that has failed to fire this sea- us.”They struggle at times, but I think they’re and just make her play more shots and just be more will- played out and two Irish giants will bid to son both domestically and in this competi- in some ways a little bit like the French team, ing to play longer points,” said Williams, who reached the repeat the national side’s success over France tion, which saw them even lose at home to they have class across the park.” semifinals here last year before falling to sister Serena, the by beating French opponents. Two-time the weakest of the Irish provinces Connacht in eventual champion. champions Munster get things underway the pool stages. However, Munster come into Freeflowing, attacking style Others advancing included third-seed Sara Errani, who with a mouthwatering home game against it on the back of a chastening Celtic League While Toulouse are struggling even to outlasted Peng Shuai, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5). Errani will play four-time winners Toulouse while three-time defeat to arch rivals Leinster last weekend, a make the end of season French champi- Swiss qualifier Belinda Bencic, who topped Elina Svitolina winners Leinster-who are waiting to see performance their 34-year-old lock Paul onship play-offs-defeat to Toulon last week- of the Ukraine, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6 1. Petkovic will face Safarova whether talismanic centre Brian O’Driscoll will O’Connell classed as “really poor”. O’Connell, end was their 11th of the season-there have of the Czech Republic for a spot in the semifinals. For be fit are away at holders Toulon on Sunday. who captained Ireland to the Six Nations tro- been signs in recent matches the familiar Safarova, the victory moved her to 9-2 all-time against The other two quarter-finals are today. phy which they clinched with an impressive freeflowing attacking style is beginning to 2011 U.S. Open champion Stosur. No. 12 seed Daniela Last season’s beaten finalists Clermont 22-20 win over the French in Paris, discounted click. “We will be going to Limerick to pass the Hantuchova and Jana Cepelova will square off in the defend a remarkable run of 74 successive Toulouse’s inconsistent form. “If you look at ball. We will be going there to play positive quarterfinals. Hantuchova defeated Teliana Pereira 6-2, 6- wins at their Marcel-Michelin ground against Toulouse, the quality of player they have, the rugby,” said head coach Guy Noves. “For sev- 3 while Cepelova continued his surprising run with a 7-6 English outfit and two-time winners Leicester size of the men they have, it’s an absolutely eral weeks now I have been insisting that they (4), 3-6, 6-3 victory over 13th-seeded Elena Vesnina. while a third Irish province Ulster, who won mammoth task for us,” said O’Connell. “It’s play like that. If we are to win it will be by Cepelova knocked off Serena Williams in the tourna- the trophy in 1999, host another English side great to be at home but it’s an incredible passing the ball around not by closing down ment’s biggest stunner.— AP Saracens. Munster-winners in 2006 and 2008 team with incredible players and incredible the game, that is for sure.”—AFP SPORTS SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014

Transfer chaos cloud SPANISH LEAGUE PREVIEW the Camp Nou vote Alonso expecting MADRID: Barcelona’s 164,000 members will have the chance to vote today to decide whether the club should go ahead with an ambitious 600 million euro ($827 mil- lion) plan to redevelop the Camp Nou. However, the surprises in La Liga project could be hijacked by a wave of bad publicity suf- fered by the Barcelona board in recent months. On Wednesday the club were hit with a 14-month ban on signing players by FIFA for breaching rules on the sign- MADRID: Real Madrid midfielder Xabi ing of players under the age of 18. Alonso believes his side still have every Spanish League table The news follows the controversial signing of Brazilian chance of claiming the La Liga title this star Neymar last year which led to Sandro Rosell resign- year despite falling into third place with MADRID: Spanish league table ahead of the weekend’s matches (played, won, ing as the club’s president in January and the club being just seven games remaining. Los drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): charged with tax fraud. New president Josep Maria Blancos’ city rivals Atletico Madrid lead the way on 76 points, one ahead of Atletico Madrid 31 24 4 3 69 22 76 Celta Vigo 31 10 6 15 34 44 36 Bartomeu has tried to insist that the importance of the Barcelona 31 24 3 4 89 2575 Malaga 31 9 8 14 31 39 35 project means it should not be used as a referendum on Barcelona in second with Real a further two points behind the Catalans. Things Real Madrid 31 23 4 4 86 32 73 Granada 31 10 4 17 28 42 34 the current board, despite the fact the refused to call Athletic Bilbao 31 16 8 7 53 34 56 Rayo Vallecano 31 10 3 18 34 68 33 new elections when Rosell resigned. “It is a project that are further complicated for Carlo Ancelotti’s men because they have an Sevilla 31 14 8 9 55 46 50 Elche 31 7 11 13 25 42 32 will last for the next 50 or 60 years, therefore it cannot be Real Sociedad 31 14 8 9 54 44 50 Getafe 31 8 7 16 29 48 31 something tied to this board,” he said in an exclusive inferior head-to-head record against both Atletico and Barca meaning they Villarreal 31 14 7 10 51 37 49 Valladolid 31 6 12 13 32 50 30 interview with AFP last month. Espanyol 31 11 7 13 34 3640 Almeria 31 8 6 17 33 58 30 “All that we have done is for the club, we have worked can’t afford to even finish level on points with either of their title rivals. Valencia 31 11 7 13 44 45 40 Osasuna 31 8 6 17 26 52 30 at it, done the studies and now we are putting forward Levante 31 10 10 11 29 38 40 Real Betis 31 5 7 19 27 61 22 an informative and democratic campaign to the mem- Two defeats in consecutive games to bers. The important thing for us and everyone else is that Barcelona and Sevilla last month have the referendum is the club’s project, not the board’s.” cost Real dearly, but they have bounced results so the fans are thrilled with the Marc Bartra alongside Javier Mascherano However, there has been opposition to the project by back with two comprehensive wins over team. We need to recover as quickly as for the a crucial period that will encom- certain section of the Barca support who see it as a move Rayo Vallecano and Borussia Dortmund possible because it will be a difficult pass the title run-in as well as the Copa to further commercialize the club’s name. and Alonso is hoping there will be more game and we can’t do anything other del Rey final against Real Madrid and the Of the proposed 600 million euro budget, 200 mil- surprises to come in the final few weeks than win.” return leg away to Atletico on lion will come from adding a sponsor’s name to the his- of the season. “The teams that beat us Cristiano Ronaldo was forced off Wednesday. Martino is expected to toric Camp Nou title. The rest of the funding will be were in great form, we didn’t play well in towards the end of Real’s 3-0 win over rotate his squad for the visit of Betis with generated by a 200 million euro loan and part of the two games and we committed errors Dortmund on Wednesday due to a slight Alex Song, Adriano, Pedro Rodriguez and nearly 500 million euro income that the club already that we paid very heavily for,” he told the knee injury, but Alonso is confident he Alexis Sanchez set to feature. generates annually. club’s website. “In the league we have will be fit to start against Sociedad. Atletico’s top scorer Diego Costa will The plans include putting a roof on Europe’s largest lost the advantage that we had, but we “Cristiano did the right thing in coming be also sidelined this weekend due to a football stadium and increasing its capacity further from need to keep fighting because there off as a precaution, but I don’t think he hamstring problem he picked up against 99,000 to 105,000, as well as building a new multi-pur- could be surprises. will have any problems in playing on Barca, despite the injury not being as pose indoor arena, a new stadium for the Barca B team, “My personal performance is tied to Saturday. Today he trained normally serious as first feared. Arda Turan could office and parking facilities. the team. It was not good news for us, with the team.” Atletico Madrid and also be missing for Diego Simeone’s men Should the project get the green light, the club insist but that is football. We were behind Barcelona have more serious injury prob- as continues to be plagued by a sports that supporters will be able to enjoy a significantly more before and we came back.” Madrid face lems to overcome as they host Villarreal hernia, whilst captain Gabi is suspended. comfortable matchday experience than is possible in arguably their most difficult league and Real Betis respectively today. It is also another important weekend at the nearly 60-year-old stadium. Moreover, a drastic game remaining this season when they Barca defender Gerard Pique will miss the foot of the table as nine teams are improvement to the club’s hospitality services will cre- travel to face Champions League chasing the next four weeks after suffering a hair- separated by just six points in the bot- ate greater income from one of the few revenue sources Real Sociedad on Saturday and, as a for- line fracture in his right hip during the tom half. Six of those sides go head-to- they currently fall behind their rivals on the European mer Sociedad player, Alonso knows what Catalans 1-1 draw against Atletico in the head as Rayo Vallecano host Celta Vigo, stage. Income which can in turn be used to bolster the to expect in San Sebastian. “Anoeta is first leg of their Champions League quar- Granada travel to Malaga in an playing staff. — AFP always difficult. They have had two sea- ter-final on Tuesday. Gerardo Martino Andalusian derby and Elche welcome sons playing well and enjoying great will therefore be pressed into pairing Getafe. — AFP

ITALIAN LEAGUE PREVIEW Roma maintain their slim hopes

MILAN: Roma travel to Cagliari tomorrow hoping In 2000, Sven Goran Eriksson’s Lazio trailed Juve ‘The Perugia incident’ “If Juve get over their next two games, it’s all over.” to maintain slim hopes of a last-ditch title charge by nine points with eight games remaining and In the wake of the past week’s events, the Roma’s midweek win also took their lead over but have Serie A history, as well as a determined went on to reduce the deficit to just two points ‘Perugia incident’ has been dusted down and giv- Napoli, in third, to nine points ahead of Napoli’s vis- Juventus side against them. Rudi Garcia’s side heading into the final match. Lazio’s only chance en an airing, although the general feeling is that a it to a Parma side chasing Europa League qualifica- reignited hopes of a first scudetto since 2001 with was to secure a win over Reggina and for Perugia repeat won’t be on the cards this season. “It’s total- tion meaning the second automatic Champions a 4-2 win over Parma on Wednesday in a game to defeat Juventus. As Lazio won 3-0, a downpour ly different this time. I don’t think there will be League qualifying spot is getting closer for Garcia’s that had been postponed earlier this season. The at the Juve game forced a long delay and added to another Perugia,” former Juve midfielder Alessio men. It has underlined Napoli’s need for a win win reduced the gap to leaders Juventus to eight already existing final-day tension. Perugia, much to Tacchinardi told Corriere dello Sport. “This year tomorrow and on-loan Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe points and although no Italian side has managed everyone’s surprise, took the fight to Juve and ulti- Conte’s side will prevail, even if Roma are having Reina says they won’t give up on the second auto- to overcome such a deficit with seven games mately secured a 1-0 win when Alessandro Calori an amazing season. So far, there haven’t been any matic place until it’s no longer possible. “We won’t remaining Roma are reinvigorated. “Juventus are beat ‘keeper Edwin van der Sar. similar scenarios to what happened 14 years ago. give up until we’re no longer in contention mathe- doing really well, so are Napoli, but we’re still matically,” said the Spaniard. “Plus, there are still ambitious and we won’t give up,” said Bosnian other achievements to attain such as finishing with midfielder Miralem Pjanic. “In football, anything Italian Serie A table the club’s biggest points total.” can happen.” Parma’s midweek defeat meant they still sit two Roma’s bid was given fresh impetus last week MILAN: Italian Serie A table ahead of weekend matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, points off Inter, who host Bologna in one of two when Juventus succumbed to a 2-0 defeat at goals against, points): games Saturday-the other being the Verona derby Napoli, a setback which coach Antonio Conte part- Juventus 31 26 3 2 67 22 81 AC Milan 31 11 9 11 47 43 42 between Chievo and Verona.However Roberto ly blamed on his side’s endeavours in the Europa Roma 31 22 7 2 62 17 73 Sampdoria 31 11 8 12 40 43 41 Donadoni’s side will be without strikers Antonio League. Juventus, who beat Lyon 1-0 in the first Cassano and Amauri, midfielder Gargano and Napoli 31 19 7 5 59 32 64 Genoa 31 10 9 12 34 39 39 leg of their quarter-final on Thursday, are even defender Alessandro Lucarelli. AC Milan, mean- more determined to make the final of this season’s Fiorentina 31 15 7 9 49 33 52 Udinese 31 11 5 15 34 42 38 while, will be without Ghanaian midfielder Michael competition as the May 14 final will be held at Inter Milan 31 12 13 6 49 33 49 Cagliari 31 7 11 13 29 41 32 Essien for their trip to Genoa on Monday due to a their own ground.Although no team has over- Parma 31 12 11 8 51 41 47 Chievo 31 7 6 18 26 46 27 right thigh injury. Clarence Seedorf’s side currently come an eight-point deficit with seven games to Atalanta 31 14 4 13 37 39 46 Bologna 31 5 11 15 24 48 26 sit 11th, 39 points behind leaders Juventus, 22 play, the memory of Juve’s dramatic scudetto loss Lazio 31 12 9 10 40 40 45 Livorno 31 6 7 18 34 58 25 behind third-placed Napoli in the final Champions to Lazio on the last day of the 1999-2000 cam- Verona 31 13 4 14 46 52 43 Sassuolo 31 5 6 20 29 61 21 League spot and seven behind Inter who occupy paign has drawn comparisons. Torino 31 11 9 11 45 40 42 Catania 31 4 8 19 23 55 20 the final Europa League spot. —AFP SPORTS SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014

Pellegrini revolution EPL PREVIEW key to City success Chelsea seek to resurrect MANCHESTER: Manchester City defender Aleksandar Kolarov believes the attacking philos- ophy adopted by manager Manuel Pellegrini has creaking title challenge also helped his side become tighter at the back ahead of their Premier League clash with LONDON: After a damaging loss to Paris Saint- place if City win at home to Southampton “We always have the belief that we are Southampton today. City are the second most Germain in the Champions League, Chelsea earlier today. going to win,” said the Argentine, who prolific team in the Premier League with 80 goals will seek to resurrect their creaking title chal- Last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Arsenal has not lost against the 2012 champions this season with only leaders Liverpool (88) hav- lenge in the Premier League against Stoke City brought a run of four straight victories to in two previous encounters. ing found the net more often. today. Jose Mourinho’s side went down 3-1 at an end for Manuel Pellegrini’s side, but “We know we are going to be facing a the Parc des Princes in the first leg of their Pellegrini’s title-chasers have also conceded they remain favourites for the title ahead very tough side in Manchester City, a side quarter-final on Wednesday and they have just 28 goals which gives them the second mean- of next weekend’s showdown at that is definitely a candidate to win in the also conceded the initiative in the Premier Liverpool. City could have top scorer Premier League and are one of the best est defence in the division behind Chelsea (24) League after two defeats in their last three Sergio Aguero back from a hamstring teams in England and Europe. “Despite and as a result their goal difference of 52 is the games. Last weekend’s shock 1-0 loss at Crystal injury for the game at the Etihad Stadium, that we are still going with the belief that best overall. Serbia international Kolarov believes Palace saw them knocked off the league sum- but Southampton manager Mauricio we are going to play our game and we are defending, particularly in the full-back areas, has mit by Liverpool, who they now trail by two Pochettino says that his side will not be going to get something out of that become easier because of the attacking intent points, while third-place Manchester City are cowed. game.” —AFP shown by City, who trail leaders Liverpool by four two points behind with two games in hand. points but remain favourites to win the title with Mourinho declared Chelsea’s title challenge two games in hand. over after their defeat at Selhurst Park, but English League table “As a full-back I have to think of defending,” with Liverpool not in action until tomorrow, said Kolarov. “But if you have a winger against victory over Stoke would at least take the LONDON: English Premier League table ahead of the weekend’s matches you for example, it is difficult for him if you are London club back to the top of the table. (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): always attacking, because he has to follow you. “I Stoke, however, are in excellent form, having haven’t had a lot of problems defensively. There taken 13 points from a possible 15 to climb to Liverpool 32 22 5 5 88 39 71 Hull 32 9 6 17 33 40 33 are good players round, but if you are always 10th place, and manager Mark Hughes has Chelsea 32 21 6 5 62 24 69 Norwich 32 8 8 16 26 51 32 attacking and running, he has to follow you and challenged his players to maintain their Man City 30 21 4 5 80 28 67 Crystal Palace31 9 4 18 20 39 31 Arsenal 32 19 7 6 56 37 64 West Brom 31 5 14 12 36 48 29 then he doesn’t have a lot of power to attack you. momentum until the end of the campaign. Everton 31 17 9 5 49 31 60 Cardiff 32 6 8 18 29 6126 “I have also been creating chances, and personal- “Now we have put ourselves in a really strong position to achieve what we set out to do at Tottenham 32 17 5 10 40 44 56 Sunderland 30 6 7 17 28 48 25 ly feel I have been having a good season - I hope Man Utd 32 16 6 10 52 38 54 Fulham 32 7 3 22 31 73 24 it can finish this way.” Kolarov was second-choice the start of the year,” the Welshman said on Thursday. “It is about making sure we capi- Southampton32 13 9 10 49 40 48 for the left-back position behind Gael Clichy Newcastle 32 14 4 14 38 47 46 Notes: top four teams qualify for next under previous manager Roberto Mancini, but talise on the position we have put ourselves in for these last six games.” Stoke 32 10 10 12 37 45 40 season’s UEFA Champions League; has featured more than the France international West Ham 32 10 7 15 36 42 37 fifth-place team qualifies for UEFA this season. While top spot remains within reach for Chelsea, the closeness of the title race means Aston Villa 31 9 7 15 34 46 34 Europa League; bottom three teams The 28-year-old has made 37 appearances so that they could kick off against Stoke in third Swansea 32 8 9 15 45 48 33 relegated to Championship. far, which equalled his best tally for City set in his debut campaign of 2010-11, even though he admitted he almost left the club last year. “Last season, because I didn’t play a lot, I was thinking Young wants United to maybe it was a good thing for me to move,” Kolarov added. “I had a couple of opportunities but in the end I refused everything because I did- maintain momentum n’t want to leave here when I hadn’t shown peo- ple what I could do. “Now I have this opportunity NEWCASTLE: Ashley Young has urged his was substituted during the Bayern match with ues to recover from a knee injury, while there and have shown what I can do, so for me person- Manchester United team-mates to carry the feel- a groin problem. Moyes’ men are set to be are doubts over defenders Jonny Evans (calf) ally this is a victory.” City are set to have Sergio good factor from an impressive performance without striker Robin van Persie who contin- and Chris Smalling (hamstring). —AFP Aguero available as they look to get their title bid against Bayern Munich into their clash with Newcastle today. David Moyes’ side held their own back on course against Southampton after a 1-1 against Champions League holders Bayern on draw at Arsenal last time out. Tuesday as they ground out a 1-1 draw which keeps MATCHES ON TV The Argentina forward has been out for three them in with a chance of progressing to the last weeks with a hamstring injury he sustained in four in next week’s quarter-final second leg in City’s Champions League exit to Barcelona at the Germany. English Premier League GERMAN LEAGUE Nou Camp. But Aguero has stepped his return in After a traumatic season at Old Trafford, the Man City v Southampton 14:45 Werder Bremen v Schalke 04 16:30 training this week and is set to be involved when possibility of salvaging some pride has lifted spirits beIN SPORTS 9 HD Dubai Sports the Saints visit the Etihad Stadium. Pellegrini is and England winger Young is hopeful his side can Newcastle v Man United 17:00 Stuttgart v SC Freiburg 16:30 likely to name Aguero on the bench in order to maintain that upbeat mood when they return to beIN SPORTS 9 HD Dubai Sports domestic action at St James’ Park. “We’ve got to Augsburg v Bayern Munich 16:30 ease him back from the injury and ensure he is Chelsea v Stoke City 19:30 keep the momentum going,” Young said. “We want beIN SPORTS 9 HD Dubai Sports available for the run-in, particularly his side’s top- to take three points from the weekend into the sec- Nuremberg v Borussia M 16:30 of-the-table clash with Liverpool next Sunday. City ond leg against Bayern and then see how things go. ITALIAN LEAGUE Dubai Sports otherwise have virtually a clean bill of health with “I can’t wait to go to Munich, we’ve given ourselves Chievo Verona v Hellas Verona 19:00 Eintracht Frankfurt v Mainz 16:30 defenders Micah Richards and Matija Nastasic a massive chance. “We’re in with a great shout, and beIN SPORTS 3 Dubai Sports as long as we add to the performance we gave at (both knee) the only other injury concerns. beIN SPORTS 3 HD Dortmund v Wolfsburg 19:30 Old Trafford, hopefully we can go through.” Dubai Sports Yet Southampton will not lack confidence, Internazionale v Bologna 21:45 despite City’s intimidating home record. Mauricio United’s veteran midfielder Ryan Giggs has been a much-needed steadying influence of late beIN SPORTS 3 FRENCH LEAGUE Pochettino, the Saints manager, is unbeaten in beIN SPORTS 3 HD two games against City since arriving in England and team-mate Rafael da Silva insists he remains PSG v Stade Reims 18:00 one of the club’s most dangerous attacking players beIN SPORTS 5 SPANISH LEAGUE in the second half of last season. And he maintains despite his advancing years. The 40-year-old beIN SPORTS 5 HD his side will not lack motivation despite apparently Welshman has combined a coaching role with play- Atletico de Madrid v Villarreal 17:00 Lorient v Evian Thonon 21:00 having little to play for in terms of league position. ing at Old Trafford this season, and Moyes has been beIN SPORTS 2 beIN SPORTS 1 “We have our brand of pressure to be honest,” he selective when using the midfielder. Giggs has fea- beIN SPORTS 2 HD beIN SPORTS 1 HD said. “We have the pressure to win and that’s tured 21 times for United so far this campaign, but Barcelona v Real Betis 19:00 Guingamp v Montpellier 21:00 always our focus because we’re very demanding according to Rafael he still frightens opposition beIN SPORTS 2 beIN SPORTS 6 and we’re very ambitious and that’s what we defenses. “Ryan is still hard to defend against,” beIN SPORTS 2 HD beIN SPORTS 6 HD want, we always want to win. “We know that Rafael said. Real Sociedad v Real Madrid 21:00 Toulouse v Lille 21:00 Manchester City will also have their own pressure “Three years ago, it was unbelievably hard. He is beIN SPORTS 2 beIN SPORTS 5 still an incredible dribbler of the ball, cutting in and beIN SPORTS 2 HD beIN SPORTS 5 HD because they want to carry on being close to the out, and it’s hard to work out what he is going to top of the table, so both teams are going to have Rayo Vallecanov Celta de Vigo 23:00 Girondins v Stade Rennes 21:00 do. “Sometimes you think he will dribble in one beIN SPORTS 8 an added pressure I think.”— AFP beIN SPORTS 4 direction and then he shoots.” United are hopeful beIN SPORTS 4 HD beIN SPORTS HD 8 Giggs will be available to face Newcastle after he SPORTS SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014 Juventus grab Europa advantage Basel crush Valencia 3-0; Porto, Benfica win first legs

LONDON: Juventus left it late before putting a foot in the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday, edging a stubborn Olympique Lyon 1-0 with a goal from Leonardo Bonucci as Basel, Porto and Benfica also grabbed first-leg wins. Swiss side Basel took a huge step towards a second successive last-four appearance as Matias Delgado scored twice and Valentin Stocker netted a third in injury time in a 3-0 win over Valencia played behind closed doors. Porto and Benfica made it a good night for the Portuguese with 1-0 wins over Sevilla and AZ Alkmaar respectively ahead of next week’s return legs. Eliaquim Mangala scored with a header in the 31st minute for Porto, who finished with 10 men, at home to Spanish side Sevilla while Eduardo Salvio volleyed home three minutes after halftime to give Benfica victory in the Netherlands. Lyon coach Remi Garde said ahead of the quarter-final tie that his injury-hit side had a mountain to climb if they wanted to get past Serie A champions and triple winners Juventus. For 85 minutes, however, the two teams went toe-to-toe in an edgy encounter where chances were at a premium and the fear of defeat seemed to trump any desire to cast off the shackles. The best chance of a cagey first half fell to Serie A top scorer Carlos Tevez after six min- utes but he headed wide to extend a European goal drought that stretches back to April 2009. Lyon’s best two opportunities arrived in the first half when Steed Malbranque forced a good save from Gianluigi Buffon and Jimmy Briand lifted a good chance over from close range. Juventus, eight points clear at the top of Serie A, showed their quality in restricting the hosts to minimal sights of goal and then snatching a late victory that puts them in the box seat ahead of the return leg in Turin. The French side failed to clear a cross from the left and the ball PORTO: Porto’s Colombian forward Jackson Martinez (left) kicks the ball next to Sevilla’s defender Fernando Navarro landed at the feet of Bonucci who was left with a simple during the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals first leg football match FC Porto vs Sevilla FC. — AFP finish. “In the first half we struggled to find enough spaces to play our football while after the break we didn’t risk any- thing other than on set pieces,” Bonucci told Mediaset. “Lyon ran very hard in the first half but in the second we were able to bring home a very important victory.” PSG’s Cavani steps

Muted atmosphere Basel’s clash with Valencia was played behind closed up in Ibra absence doors after fan trouble in the Swiss team’s last-16 tie in Salzburg but the muted atmosphere did little to hamper the hosts who took the lead after 34 minutes, Delgado PARIS: Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint- but he has only three in an injury-hit host Nantes tomorrow, with the princi- finding the net with a precise finish from the edge of the Germain will hope that record signing 2014 and earlier this week he admitted pality club’s coach Claudio Ranieri area. That was the first goal Valencia had conceded in 400 Edinson Cavani can fill the void left by his displeasure at having to play on the sweating on the fitness of Layvin minutes of Europa League action but their back line was the absence of injured top scorer Zlatan wing in a 4-3-3 formation. “For a striker Kurzawa, Joao Moutinho and James breached for a second time four minutes later when the Ibrahimovic as they prepare to host who is used to finishing chances, having Rodriguez. Lille are just six points same player finished from close range. Reims today. The meeting with the club to fulfil other tasks is not easy,” he told behind Monaco in third but they face a Stocker gave Basel a comfortable lead to defend in the from the Champagne country comes in sports daily L’Equipe, before adding: tricky test at Toulouse, whose five-game between the two legs of the Champions “There are things that I need to talk unbeaten run means that a top-five fin- tie when he lifted the ball over Valencia keeper Vicente League quarter-final against Chelsea, about with the club, things that need to ish, and possible European qualification, Guaita in stoppage time. Porto went into the game against with Laurent Blanc’s side leading 3-1 be done differently.” is not out of the question. “Europe is not Sevilla having won their last three matches at home ahead of Tuesday’s return at Stamford Paris are on a club record-breaking a taboo word for us and it’s great that including a 1-0 victory over Napoli in the last 16. They took Bridge. run of 10 consecutive wins in all compe- the players are talking about it,” said the lead after 31 minutes when Mangala headed home And given that the capital club sit 13 titions and have not lost at home in the Toulouse coach Alain Casanova last emphatically from Ricardo Quaresma’s superb cross from points clear of nearest challengers league since November 2012, so it week. “But talking about it and actually the left. Sevilla came back into the match in the second Monaco at the top of the table with just would be a huge shock if they failed to going out and doing it are two different half and Carlos Bacca tested the Porto keeper with a low seven games left, Blanc is bound to give record a positive result this weekend. things.” strike while substitute Kevin Gameiro should have put the a rest to some of his key players with Opponents Reims have twice reached The south-western side are poor at rebound in but skewed his shot wide. Chelsea in mind. One man who will defi- the European Cup final themselves, home, though, having won just one of nitely miss the game is Ibrahimovic, who including in the first ever final in 1956, their last eight games in front of their The game ended on a sour note for the hosts when is set for a spell on the sidelines after when they were beaten 4-3 by Real own fans. Fresh from winning last midfielder Fernando was sent off for his second booking coming off in the second half against Madrid at the Parc des Princes. These week’s Rhone derby at Lyon, Saint- with four minutes remaining. Alkmaar were the only quar- Chelsea with an injury to the back of his days their aims are rather more modest, Etienne in fourth continue their push for ter-finalists who remained unbeaten from the group stage right thigh. “I just hope he comes back but they are enjoying an excellent sea- a podium finish and a Champions this season and would have taken the lead against last sea- quickly because we will need him,” son under coach Hubert Fournier and League berth when they host Nice, son’s runners-up Benfica were it not for two good stops admitted Blanc of the Swede, who has come into the weekend just a point while Lyon go to struggling from Artur. The visiting keeper saved with his legs to deny scored a club record 40 goals in all com- behind Marseille in sixth. “It will be diffi- Valenciennes in between the two legs of Aron Johannsson and then acrobatically kept out a swerv- petitions so far this season. cult, we can’t hide that. But we are their Europa League quarter-final ing effort from Steven Berghuis in the first half. The Dutch However, one man who stands to going to the Parc to get a result,” insist- against Juventus. Meanwhile, Lorient side fell behind three minutes after the restart when Salvio benefit from Ibrahimovic’s misfortune is ed Reims’ Cape Verde winger Odair entertain Evian amid ongoing uncertain- Cavani, the Uruguayan who cost 64 mil- Fortes. ty about the future of their long-serving showed excellent technique to control a volley after some lion euros (£52.9m, $87.7m) from Napoli Elsewhere, second-placed Monaco coach Christian Gourcuff, who has been comically bad defending by the home team resulted in AZ last summer. Cavani has scored 21 goals will look to bounce back from a shock linked with a move to take over the keeper Esteban saving from Oscar Cardozo.— Reuters altogether in his debut season in France, defeat at Evian last weekend when they Algerian national team.—AFP Juventus grab Europa League advantage 47 SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014 APRIL SATURDAY, SportsSports

SCOREBOARD

MIRPUR, Bangladesh: Scoreboard after India beat South Africa by six wickets in the second semi-final of the World Twenty20 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday. South Africa won the toss and opted to bat India innings South Africa innings R. Sharma c du Plessis b Hendricks 24 Q de Kock c Dhoni b Kumar 6 A. Rahane c de Villiers b Parnell 32 H. Amla b Ashwin 22 V. Kohli not out 72 F du Plessis b Ashwin 58 Y. Singh c de Villiers b Tahir 18 JP Duminy not out 45 S. Raina c du Plessis b Hendricks 21 AB de Villiers c R. Sharma b Ashwin 10 MS Dhoni not out 0 D. Miller not out 23 Extras (w-9) 9 Extras (b-1, lb-3, w-3, nb-1) 8 Total (four wickets; 19.1 overs) 176 Total (four wickets; 20 overs) 172 Did not bat: R. Ashwin, R. Jadeja, A. Mishra, B. Did not bat: A. Morkel, D. Steyn, B. Hendricks, I. Kumar, M. Sharma Tahir, W. Parnell Fall of wickets: 1-39 2-77 3-133 4-167 Fall of wickets: 1-9 2-44 3-115 4-129 Bowling: Duminy 3-0-29-0 (1w), Morkel 2-0-17-0, DHAKA: Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh (left) picks up batsman Virat Kohli (top) as captain Mahendra Bowling: Kumar 4-0-33-1 (1w), M. Sharma 3-0-34-0, Steyn 3.1-0-36-0 (2w), Hendricks 4-0-31-2 (3w), Singh Dhoni watches after India won the ICC World Twenty20 cricket tournament second semi-final Ashwin 4-0-22-3 (1w), Jadeja 2-0-8-0, Raina 4-0-35- Parnell 3-0-33-1 (2w), Tahir 4-0-30-1 (1w) India won match against South Africa yesterday. — AFP 0 (1w), Mishra 3-0-36-0 (1nb) by six wickets India reach World T20 final Sri Lanka, India face off in Dhaka DHAKA: Virat Kohli hit an imperious half-century to help who played just three dot balls in his innings. South helped to 172-4 with Du Plessis scoring a 41-ball 58 for his India upstage South Africa by six wickets in the second African captain Faf du Plessis praised India and Kohli. “We fifth Twenty20 fifty. He added 71 for the third wicket with semi-final in Dhaka yesterday to cruise into the World put up a good total but the bad thing is, MS and his team Jean-Paul Duminy who made an unbeaten 40-ball 45 to Twenty20 final. Chasing 173 to win, the former champi- know how to chase,” said Du Plessis. “They have done it bolster the innings. Du Plessis, who missed South Africa’s ons were led by a swashbuckling knock of 72 not out by many times and Virat played a great innings.” Kohli last game against England because of a slow over-rate Kohli as they strolled to the target with five balls to spare. smashed five boundaries and two sixes off 44 balls in a suspension, hit five boundaries and two towering sixes as This becomes India’s second final in five World Twenty20s brilliant display of batting, highlighting India’s strength at the duo negotiated an Indian spin quartet with aggres- after they won the inaugural event held in South Africa in chasing a target. sive batting. South Africa lost opener Quinton de Kock 2007. (six) in the first over before Hashim Amla and Du Plessis They meet Sri Lanka in the final in Dhaka tomorrow. In S Africa’s bowlers blunted took the score to 44 in the fifth over. contrast, South Africa, regarded as perennial chokers in He hit paceman Dale Steyn for a boundary to seal the But Ravichandran Ashwin, who took 3-22 in his four crucial matches, yet again failed to reach any world level win much to the jubilation of a packed Shere Bangla sta- overs, put the brakes on South Africa’s progress, claiming final since their readmission into cricket in 1991. dium. Kohli and the other Indian batsmen blunted South Amla (22) and then dangerman AB de Villiers (ten) off a Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who will lead India to a triple Africa’s best bowlers, leg-spinner Imran Tahir-joint high- miscued pull shot which was smartly held by Rohit crown if his team win the final with the 2011 World Cup est wicket-taker so far in the tournament with 12 — and Sharma at long leg. In between du Plessis and Duminy (50 overs) and 2013 Champions Trophy in the bag, paceman Steyn with authority. Tahir managed just one batted with guts to take South Africa to 115 before praised the run chase. “Everybody saw that the wicket wicket for 30 runs in his four overs while Steyn went for Ashwin bowled du Plessis off a miscued sweep. Duminy, was better than those we have played on, and they 36 in 3.1 overs. Kohli brought up his seventh T20 fifty with who hit three sixes and a four, added another 43 for the believed they could chase this down. It is not just the self- a huge six off Tahir and despite the loss off Yuvraj Singh unbroken fifth wicket with Andrew Miller (23 not out) to belief, but the belief in each other that is crucial,” said (18) and Suresh Raina (21) kept the run-chase smooth. help South Africa add 106 in the last ten overs. Leg-spin- Dhoni, praising Kohli. Rohit Sharma made a 13-ball 24 with a six and four ner Amit Mishra, India’s most successful bowler in the “There are not many who are as consistent as Virat. It is boundaries and Ajinkya Rahane scored 32 off 30 balls. Super-10 stage, went for 36 runs in his three overs with- great to have him at number three,” said Dhoni of Kohli South Africa, who batted after winning the toss were out taking a wicket.— AFP