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TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 JAMADA ALAWWAL 19, 1436 AH www.kuwaittimes.net ‘Urgent need’ Expat drivers Solar-powered Bangladesh for unified without valid plane begins knock England anti-jihadist license to round-the-world out, reach force: League2 be deported5 attempt27 quarterfinals20 Three MPs hand over Min 11º Max 30º High Tide unlicensed firearms 02:23 & 14:25 Low Tide 08:37 & 21:05

40 PAGES NO: 16455 150 FILS Panel to re-investigate Dow Chemical deal

KUWAIT: In an unprecedented scene, three MPs brought conspiracy theories their Kalashnikov submachine guns to the National Assembly building yesterday and handed it over to a spe- cial team from the interior ministry working to collect Intrigued by arms unlicensed firearms. MPs Nabeel Al-Fadhl, Abdulhameed Dashti and Abdullah Al-Tameemi said they wanted to support the interior ministry’s campaign to collect unli- censed firearms in implementation of a law that became effective less than two weeks ago. By Badrya Darwish Under the law, a four- month grace period is offered for people to surren- der firearms voluntarily, and after that interior ministry [email protected] teams have the right to raid and search homes and property for firearms. People he initiative by the Ministry of Interior to col- caught with unlicensed lect arms from the public is a great idea. But firearms after the grace peri- Thow successful will it be and how easy this task od face jail sentences of sev- turns out remain to be seen. It was impressive to see eral years, in addition to MPs coming forward to hand over their Kalashnikovs hefty fines. Both Dashti and Tameemi - of course done with lots of publicity to encourage Abdulhameed Dashti the nation. held their Kalashnikov high Arms collection is not an issue only in Kuwait, but as they entered the all over the world. In the US, there is a deep divide Assembly building and then told reporters that the law KUWAIT: HH the Amir and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al- was passed by the Assembly and it should be first over the personal possession of arms. It’s allowed Sabah (right), HH the Father Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani (left) and HH the Crown Prince applied to Assembly members. Interior Minister Sheikh legally to buy and bear arms, but they must be Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (center) attend the graduation ceremony of the 19th batch of Mohammad Al-Khaled Al-Sabah and head of the licensed. university-level officers and the 42nd group of non-commissioned officers at Ali Al-Sabah Military Academy Assembly’s interior and defense committee MP Abdullah Continued on Page 13 yesterday. — KUNA (See Page 3) Continued on Page 13 TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 LOCAL ‘Urgent need’ for unified anti-jihadist force: Arab League

CAIRO: Arab League chief Nabil al- Arabi called yesterday for the creation of a unified Arab force to battle the spread of Islamic extremist groups. “There is an urgent need for the creation of a multi-purpose common Arab military force... able to intervene rapidly to fight terrorism and the activities of terrorist groups,” Arabi told a meeting of league foreign min- isters in Cairo. He also stressed the importance of “cooperation in areas related to security protection and the exchange of information between Arab countries.” Arab League deputy chief Ahmed Ben Helli told reporters last week that the bloc’s leaders are expected to focus on the creation of such a com- mon force when they meet for its CAIRO: Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah (center) annual summit on March 28-29 in attends a foreign ministers meeting at the Arab League headquarters in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el- Cairo yesterday. — AFP Sheikh. He had said such a force was important as a “symbolic” show of Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al- Iraq, Lebanon, and Somalia, shedding deterrence at times of “conflict or dis- Khaled light on the Arab issues in the inter- asters”. Egyptian President Abdel Al-Hamad Al-Sabah led Kuwait’s national arenas, especially the Fattah Al-Sisi has also called for such a delegation that took part in the ses- Palestinian cause, the minister added. force, saying it is needed to confront sion. Earlier yesterday, Kuwait chaired He stressed Kuwait’s keenness on security threats in a region where the the meeting of the Arab League fol- supporting the joint Arab action, jihadist Islamic State group holds low-up committee on decisions and praising the coordination between KUWAIT: Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Kuwait Alexcey Solomatin visited Kuwait Times yesterday and resolutions of the Arab Summit at the the Arab summit’s presidency and the discussed matters of mutual concern with Editor-in-Chief Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan. — Photo by Joseph Shagra swathes of Syria and Iraq and has gained a foothold in Egypt’s neighbor ministerial level. The committee General Secretariat of the Arab Libya. He has suggested that a num- referred a comprehensive report on League. ber of Arab League members, includ- to the upcoming summit to be held Deputy Secretary General of the Lawyer says no proof ‘Jihadi ing Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United by the end of March. Arab League Ambassador Ahmed Arab Emirates and Jordan, are consid- Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled, stressed bin Helli on his part said in press ering supporting the idea. in a speech the importance of such remarks that the meeting discussed John’ is his client’s son Several Arab nations have joined committee as a means to implement the final report of the follow-up the US-led coalition carrying out air the decisions and resolutions perti- committee and obstacles facing the KUWAIT: A lawyer representing want to inform you that all of these Mohammed Emwazi’s name was strikes against IS in Syria. Egypt has nent to the Arab League. He applaud- implementation of the summit’s the father of a man identified as are not true and are figments of first disclosed by the Washington meanwhile launched its own strikes ed the efforts exerted by Kuwait in decisions, to be later forwarded to the masked killer in Islamic State the imagination of some of the Post, citing unidentified former against IS targets in Libya, where the following-up and implementing the the upcoming Arab League summit, beheading videos said on Sunday journalists and their irresponsible associates. Two US government jihadists last month murdered 21 league’s and the commitment shown to be held in Sharm El-Sheikh. The Western officials had presented no sources.” sources who spoke on condition of mainly Egyptian Coptic Christians by the member countries. foreign ministers and their represen- Kuwait headed a number of Arab tatives of Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, proof his client’s son was the so- anonymity confirmed to Reuters ministerial delegations that visited a Qatar, Mauritania, and Morocco that investigators believed he was Follow-up committee called “Jihadi John”. US media and number of Arab countries, including attended the meeting. — Agencies government sources have said the Jihadi John. First Deputy Prime Minister and black-clad militant who apparently Hashash did not say what will decapitated hostages including happen to the lawsuits he has Americans, Britons and Syrians in filed now that he has withdrawn the videos had been named as from the case. Last week, he told US committed to inform Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwait- Kuwaiti daily Al-Qabas that his born Londoner. client was interrogated by the GCC of Iran dialogue: Jarallah But Salem Al-Hashash, a lawyer interior ministry for three hours who represents Jassim Emwazi, before being released. Emwazi vis- KUWAIT: Washington is committed to week covered all regional issues, he denied his client’s son was the ited Kuwait several times, the last informing the Gulf Cooperation said. There was dire need to listen to same person who appeared in the time between January 18 and Council (GCC) countries about the the US views and to have consulta- Islamic State videos and was April 26, 2010, Al-Qabas said. A developments of the nuclear dialogue tions on these issues, Jarallah said. dubbed “Jihadi John” by western year later, he was denied entry to with Iran “as they come in”, Discussions covered “the fierce terror- Undersecretary of the Foreign ist attack targeting the Arab Nation, analysts because of his fluent Salem Al-Hashash Kuwait after his name came up Ministry Khaled Al-Jarallah said. either in Syria, Iraq, Yemen or Libya.” English. during investigations into attacks Jarallah quoted the US State Asked on a proposal on a nuclear “We would like to point out that He said he had initiated court in Britain. Alleged executioner Secretary John Kerry as saying that umbrella for the GCC states against until now, the Western intelligence cases against all those he said had Mohammed Emwazi was born in any nuclear agreement with Tehran potential danger, Jarallah said that the services have not provided suffi- defamed his client and that they Kuwait to a stateless family of would not be at the expense of the US has been reiterating its commit- cient evidence that Mohammed would be questioned. Hashash, Iraqi origin. His parents moved to GCC member states. The recent meet- ment to GCC security. On Yemen, Emwazi is the same as Jihadi John,” who took no questions at the news Britain in 1993 after their hopes of ing of the GCC Foreign Ministers with Jarallah hoped the dialogue among Hashash told journalists in Kuwait conference, provided no names or obtaining Kuwaiti citizenship Kerry was “good and very important”, Yemeni rivals could be shifted to City. any further details. He concluded were quashed. Emwazi was at the Jarallah said in a press statement after Riyadh. This will help all powers take “There are many rumours, sto- the press conference by saying he age of 6 when his family moved to he attended a lecture for Egypt’s for- part, he said, pointing to the deterio- ries and untrue tales that have had decided to stop representing Britain, and graduated with a mer Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmi at rating conditions in Sanaa. He noted been broadcast by various media Jassim Emwazi, a resident of computer programming degree Kuwait’s Saud Nasser Al-Sabah that relocating GCC embassies in and on social media about my Kuwait, citing “personal reasons” from the University of Diplomatic Institute yesterday. Yemen to the southern city of Aden Foreign Ministry Undersecretary client, Jassim Emwazi,” he said. “I that he did not clarify. Westminster. — Agencies The meeting held in Riyadh last was a “logistic decision.” — KUNA Khaled Al-Jarallah Sky News Arabia launches Kuwait bureau

KUWAIT: Under the patronage of Sheikh considerably benefit from this liberal policy neighboring Arab and Islamic nations. Today Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Humoud Al- to provide objective, on-the-ground news also marks a momentous occasion for us at Sabah, Minister of Information and Minister coverage.” Sky News Arabia when we come closer to of State for Youth Affairs in Kuwait, and in the Commenting on the opening of the new you in the hope of providing more accurate presence of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al- Kuwaiti bureau, Faisal Al-Qinai, Secretary and more immediate on-ground reporting.” Mubarak Al-Sabah, Minister of State for General of Kuwait Journalists Association, Commenting on Kuwait’s significance and Cabinet Affairs and Dr Bader Hamad Al-Essa, said: “We congratulate Sky News Arabia on its leadership in the Arab cultural and media Minister of Education and Minister of Higher the opening of its offices in Kuwait. The facili- landscapes, Bouran said: “Kuwait has always Education, Sky News Arabia inaugurated its ty will allow the channel to provide compre- been present in all our news platforms since new bureau in Kuwait. hensive, up-to-date reporting of news in the we first launched the channel in Abu Dhabi. The opening event held on 8 March was country. Supporting Arab and international The Kuwaiti news landscape has been central attended by senior Kuwaiti officials, ambas- media organizations is a major priority for to us as it has been to the region and the sadors and thought leaders, as well as key the Kuwaiti Ministry of Information. And, we world. Launching our Kuwait bureau today personnel from Sky News Arabia, local, believe the arrival of global media organiza- complements our plans to enhance our pres- regional and international media representa- tions such as Sky News Arabia will reinforce ence in many Arab and foreign capitals. tives. the credibility of the Kuwaiti media industry “Sky News Arabia will utilize all its capabil- The new bureau is anticipated to further on a global level, and eventually ensure the ities and partnerships with the Kuwaiti strengthen Sky News Arabia’s reach and sustained development of the country.” media to deliver a comprehensive coverage presence in Kuwait, a key Arab and interna- of the landscape in Kuwait and its interna- tional media market and a country that plays tional significance. Our platforms will convey a significant role in defining the Arab media On-ground reporting the Arab voice to the world and play their landscape. For his part, Nart Bouran, Head of Sky role effectively to serve societies.” In his keynote address, Sheikh Salman News Arabia, expressed his appreciation to The launch ceremony concluded with Sabah Al-Salem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah said: Sheikh Salman for gracing the opening cere- Nart Bouran honoring Sheikh Salman Al- “Since its inception, Sky News Arabia has mony and commended the hospitality, sup- Sabah with the Sky News Arabia shield for his served a pivotal role in regional media with port and cooperation extended by the presence and participation. Sky News Arabia its transparent and unbiased reportage. The Kuwaiti government. He also thanked the also honored a number of institutions and channel has consolidated its position in the Kuwait Journalists Association and Kuwait media personalities including Faisal Al-Qinai, media landscape through its invaluable con- University for their efforts in this regard. Secretary General of Kuwait Journalists tributions to the development of thought Bouran said: “I congratulate our beloved Association, renowned sports journalist and culture in the Arab region. Kuwait has a brothers in Kuwait for the 54th National Day Khaled Al-Harban and Kuwaiti actress Hayat Information Minister Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud Al-Sabah and Head of Sky News Arabia predominantly open media environment, and the 24th Liberation Day. We wish a El-Fahad in celebration of International Nart Bouran honoring actress Hayat Al-Fahed. and we are confident Sky News Arabia will bright future for your country, as well as the Women’s Day.

NBK Academy welcomes 12th batch of newly hired young Kuwaitis

KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) Kuwaitis by offering them a range of career recently welcomed the twelfth batch of and professional development opportuni- newly hired young Kuwaitis in the NBK ties. Academy. NBK Academy aims to train and NBK Academy programs run for four develop the professional skills of young months and are specially tailored to pro- Kuwaitis as part of NBK’s strategy to attract vide trainees with theoretical and practical and develop national human resources. skills covering the different aspects of the NBK organized a special welcoming cer- banking industry in addition to on job emony for the newly hired employees. The training. ceremony was attended by Salah Yousef Al Annually, NBK offers many training pro- Fulaij, NBK-Kuwait Chief Executive Officer grams for employees including Shabab and Emad Ahmad Al Ablani, NBK General program, and the first of its kind NBK High Manager, Human Resources Group, along Fliers Program. NBK also organizes execu- with other NBK officials. tive training programs in line with the NBK Academy is the first initiative of its bank’s commitment to developing and kind in the private sector in Kuwait, and is investing in its key resource and human part of NBK’s strategy to attract young capital. NBK officials in a group picture with NBK Academy newly hired staff. TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 LOCAL

KUWAIT: (From left) His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Sheikh Jaber Al-Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Ali Al-Ghanim, His Highness the Father Amir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and the former parliament speaker Jassem Al-Kharafi. (Right) His Highness the Father Amir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani writes down as His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah looks on. —Photos by the Amiri Diwan and Fouad Al-Shaikh

Army graduates are seen during a parade at the ceremony. His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah con- A graduate is cheered by his friends. gratulates a graduate from the commandos division as Kuwait Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Mohammad Khaled Al-Kheder looks on. Amir patronizes university level officers’ graduation In the presence of Qatar’s Father Amir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir and Supreme Commander National Flag handover between officers of the 42nd and Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, HH Sheikh Nasser Al- He hailed HH the Amir for being granted the UN title, of the Armed Forces Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al- 43rd batches, then the graduated officers lined up in the Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, HH the Prime Minister Humanitarian Leader. “This is a title on our chests all; peo- Sabah yesterday patronized and attended, in the presence ceremony’s main yard. Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Deputy ple and army,” said Brig Kheder, indicating that the acade- of HH the Father Amir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa HH the Amir’s motorcade was warmly greeted upon Amiri Diwan Affairs Minister Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah, my has modified its curriculum, with consideration to vari- Al-Thani, the graduation ceremony of the 19th batch of arrival at the ceremony venue by Deputy Prime Minister senior State officials, a large number of commissioned offi- ous “external challenges.” university-level officers and the 42nd group of non-com- and Defense Minister Sheikh Khaled Jarrah Al-Sabah, Chief cers and citizens. Brig Kheder praised the leading staff of the faculty, missioned officers at Ali Al-Sabah Military Academy. of the Kuwaiti Army General Staff Lieutenant General which has hosted students from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia HH the Amir distributed awards to students of top Mohammad Khaled Al-Kheder, Defense Undersecretary Brave army and Jordan. Turning to the graduates, he urged them to grades and profound performance during the broad cere- Jassar Abdulrazzak Al-Jassar, Deputy Chief of Staff The academy chief, Brigadier Mohammad Ahmad Al- safeguard the country and remain faithful to Kuwait and mony, then the students’ commander, Major Abdulrahman Lieutenant General Sheikh Abdullah Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al- Kheder, after the National Anthem, addressed the ceremo- HH the Amir. “Maintain your allegiance to HH the Amir, Fahad Al-Selahi, recited the graduation legal oath. His Sabah, the academy head Brigadier Mohammad Ahmad ny starting with tribute to Their Highnesses the Amir and disregarding any tribal or sectarian affiliations; be always Highness proceeded to the Amiri Hall, where he was greet- Al-Kheder, members of the Military Defense Council and the Crown Prince and the other senior leaders, saying the ready for sacrifices to protect security of the State of ed by officers who presented him, as well as to HH the academy chiefs. officers have graduated, armed with knowledge, faith, con- Kuwait and sanctity of its territories.” He called on the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, The event was attended by HH the Crown Prince, fidence, faithfulness to Almighty Allah, the homeland and graduates to abide by the guidelines of HH the Amir, seek with memorial awards. National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Ali Al-Ghanim, the HH the Amir. “Now they are ready to join the brave army, to sharpen their military and academic skills and renew The ceremony got started with the National Anthem, Parliament former speaker Jassem Al-Kharafi, senior ready to sacrifice their souls in defense of the homeland the pledge to the top leaders to enhance the academy then Quranic recitation, a military parade, followed by the sheikhs, Deputy Chief of the National Guards Sheikh and its dear soil and the wise leadership.” level higher. —KUNA Zain continues community partnership with Qout Market

KUWAIT: Zain, the leading telecom- Zain’s partnership with this distinc- included an art installation, where vis- munications company in Kuwait, tive initiative comes as part of the itors had the chance to express their announced the continuation of its company’s Corporate Social positive feelings by engaging in live community partnership with the sec- Responsibility and Sustainability painting. Visitors enjoyed the experi- ond season of Qout Market, which strategies, which largely focus on ence as they showed off their talents was recently held. The market is con- encouraging local youth talents in in a wonderful family-oriented atmos- sidered Kuwait’s largest artisanal pursuing their ambitions and devel- phere. farmers gathering, and looks to sup- oping their small businesses, ulti- Qout Market is distinguished from port local food producers and crafts- mately contributing to the develop- other youth gatherings in the high men in showcasing their products to ment of national economy. standards of the products and servic- the public. At the market, Zain’s participation es offered by participants, as it is the first and only community-based farm- ers’ market to support local farmers and artisans in Kuwait. Visitors can find locally produced food products and handicrafts with the view to encouraging people to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Zain remains dedicated to support- ing events that showcase the talents of young people in Kuwait, and encouraging outstanding projects and ideas. This is one of the main rea- sons why the company recently launched the third edition of the Zain Great Idea program, which aims at investing in the creative abilities of young Kuwaiti entrepreneurs, prepar- ing them to engage in the business world through the nurturing of inno- vation within their businesses.

KUWAIT: The Kuwait Journalists Association (KJA) concluded a training course organized in coopera- tion with the Public Authority for Youth and Sports (PAYS), and titled ‘Principles of Online Journalism.’ Journalist Ali Farzat lectured in the 3-day course, which featured 30 trainees. Faisal Al- Qana’ie, KJA’s Secretary General and Acting President, awarded the participants with certificates at the end of the course. TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 LOCAL Three shades of green: Women tell stories of their success Women’s Day talk organized at AUK

Dr Al-Anoud Al-Sharekh Dalaa Al-Moufti Shurooq Amin

By Faten Omar Sharekh said adding “Even the media is that this is a man’s world where men not helping in changing that image nor can’t understand yet that women can do KUWAIT: Shurooq Amin, Dalaa Al- replace it with a powerful image of whatever man can. Moufti and Dr Al-Anoud Al-Sharekh, women. Schools do that as well by three women, proved strong and suc- teaching our children that women are A man’s world cessful, shared stories about the obsta- not efficient leaders. For example, Amin, Kuwaiti artist and writer, who cles they face in their respective careers schools teach mommy stays at home, has been painting and writing poetry for as women, and how they overcame daddy goes to work; Mommy cooks and more than 20 years, had her exhibition them. The three of them shared their cleans daddy reads a book.” held in Kuwait City in 2012 and titled, ‘It’s success stories during an event to cele- Moufti, Kuwaiti author and colum- a Man’s World’, shut down within three brate Women’s Day at the American nist, said she cried and felt like left with hours of its opening for exhibiting ‘inap- University of Kuwait on Sunday evening. broken heart when someone criticized propriate’ content. “Yes, this man’s world. Dr Sharekh, academic and specialist her until she decided to face the ‘woman As a woman, I should deal with bullying, in Arab feminist theory, described how haters all the way up’. “My husband hearsay and rumors. The men-oppo- she was inspired by female leaders begged me to stop writing if I can’t han- nents accused me that I called the police which made her self-confident. Sharekh dle it, but I insisted in keeping up to shutdown my exhibition, in order to talked about women in Kuwait and how instead of giving up,” she said. attract the media,” she said. “The media KUWAIT: Editor-in-Chief of Al-Arabi magazine Adel Abduljader honors Minister of Information and Minister of they finally got through the ‘female rev- and men were surprised by my State for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud at the forum. — Photo by Joseph Shagra olution’ in 2009 when they chose the Huge criticism ‘overnight success’ and they ignored my first women MPs and Kuwait decided “At first when I started to write about long career and what I had done all that it is time to make women partici- my family it was ok with the society. But these years. Even when BBC interviewed pate in the parliament. when I started to explore further, I faced me they thought that I have some sort 14th Al-Arabi Magazine a huge criticism. Women writers can’t of ‘wasta’ to get in the hard talk show,” ‘Ideal female’ talk about politics, religions and sex. Amin said. In the art exhibition Amin “The ideal female is stereotyped as a Only men can do that! In Arab countries, opened at Ayyam Gallery in Dubai forum underway weak person that she can’t lead or being the kitchen is her place. This is racism. International Financial Centre (DIFC), she in men’s job like in the army. Even when When a woman succeeds in writing, recalled, she used flowers as a motif in she made her presence in the parlia- men say women are not creative. They many of the paintings which represent- By Faten Omar od. “Our brothers are suffering from approach taken by Kuwait through ment she can’t access to the Diwanya are just saying what happened to them ed hope and the possibility of some- wars and terrorism, and we have to decades of tolerance and the spirit of where men discuss their own topics,” in their writing,” she said. She asserted thing yet to bloom. KUWAIT: Minister of Information and work together in order to stop this peace, until the Amir was named a Minister of State for Youth Affairs bloodshed that can only happen when humanitarian leader and Kuwait a Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud yesterday we spread awareness of patriotism humanitarian center. “Kuwait has said that the 14th Al-Arabi Magazine and love without discrimination or always been proactive in its initiatives KPC board meets to discuss forum on the ‘culture of tolerance and intolerance,” he said. He pointed out to encourage science, culture, litera- peace’ is dedicated to His Highness that the effort of government of ture and the arts, and through this Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the Kuwait and its people over more than forum today we encourage local, clean fuel project funding Amir of Kuwait and humanity. The six decades is evidence on how keen regional, Arab and international insti- three-day forum kicked off yesterday the state and its people are to adopt a tutions to continue their activities in KUWAIT: Kuwait Petroleum lutants. In February 2014, KNPC award- The Clean Fuels Project aims to raise at the Sheraton Hotel. humanitarian initiative to “achieve the service of mankind and the eleva- Corporation (KPC) discussed the fund- ed the KD 4.7 billion project to a con- total capacity to 800,000 bpd, while In his opening speech, Sheikh peace for our children and our broth- tion of human beings,” Abduljader ing mechanisms for the clean fuel proj- sortia of British, Japanese and US com- Kuwait plans to shut Shuaiba. Kuwait Salman said Al-Arabi magazine is an ers in the region and our friends in the added. ect in a board of directors meeting on panies. The project will see the upgrade awarded Foster Wheeler with the man- ambassador of Arab culture since it was world”. Sheikh Salman asked people to He stressed that the magazine Sunday. The project aims to boost of two of Kuwait’s three refineries - agement and service contract for the founded by HH the Amir, the humani- adopt the message of tolerance and through the themes of this forum is capacity at oil refineries, run by Kuwait Mina Abdullah and Mina Al-Ahmadi. clean fuels project in Dec 2012 in a deal tarian leader, adding that the maga- peace. putting researchers, observers and National Petroleum Company, and The current production capacity of the worth around $500 million. According zine’s mission is to spread literature, readers on the right track and informs make production more environmental- two refineries is around 730,000 barrels to the KPC website, work on the CFP is knowledge and the arts. He added that Journey of reflection them about future ideas that are ly-friendly through upgrading refineries per day, while the capacity of Kuwait’s going according to plan and is sched- the values and principles sponsored by Editor-in-Chief of Al-Arabi maga- worth the hard work in order to while reducing sulphur and carbon pol- third refinery at Shuaiba is 200,000 bpd. uled for completion by 2017. Kuwait need support to become gener- zine Dr Adel Salem Abduljader said establish this noble idea, stressing al principles for all people. the forum is a journey of reflection on that the magazine is trying to spread Sheikh Salman noted the Arab the concepts of tolerance, peace and the culture of tolerance, peace, litera- world is going through a difficult peri- values. It is the definition of the ture and art. Cabinet congratulates women on Int’l Day KUWAIT: The cabinet yesterday ship between both public and private 28-29 March 2015. voiced sincere congratulations to sectors, two air service agreements It was also notified of messages HH Kuwaiti women on the occasion of the between Kuwait and China and Lao the Amir received from Spanish King International Women’s Day (IWD), hail- People’s Democratic Republic. Felipe VI, President of Kazakhstan ing their vital role in societal develop- Afterwards, the cabinet was Nursultan Nazarbayev, French Foreign ment. apprised of two reports by the Kuwait Minister Laurent Fabius, inviting him At its weekly meeting held under Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) to visit the three countries as part of His Highness the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Electricity and good bilateral ties. Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Water on the causes of recent power The cabinet was also informed of Al-Sabah, the cabinet appreciated cutoff at some areas in Kuwait and an invitation from French Prime Kuwaiti women’ distinguished efforts to recurrence in the future, the Minister Manuel Vals to HH the Amir achievements in various fields as well minister added. The ministers further to visit France. The meeting welcomed as their sacrifices and resistance dur- approved a draft decree appointing a visit due to Kuwait on 11 March by ing the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Mohammad Yusuf Yaqoub as assistant Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs director-general of the Direct Abrahamyan and an accompanying Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al- Investment Promotion Authority, delegation. Mubarak Al-Sabah said in a statement together with another draft decree Meanwhile, the cabinet was following the meeting. It also voiced appointing 215 officers in the Kuwaiti briefed by the Prime Minister on the confidence in Kuwaiti women’s ability army as of March 9, 2015. outcome of a Kuwait visit by Danish to overcome their challenges and to Prime Minister Helle Thorning- live up to responsibility for building Arab Summit Schmidt leading a delegation to dis- society, promoting their position and The cabinet was informed about a cuss means of consolidating bilateral making more achievements, he said. message from Egyptian President ties. Finally, the cabinet discussed The cabinet then approved a draft Abdelfatah Al-Sisi inviting HH the issues and topics put on the agenda decree on the statute of Law 24/2012 Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber of the National Assembly and reports on the Public Anti-Corruption Al-Sabah to attend the 26th Arab on the latest Arab and international Authority, a draft decree on partner- Summit due in Sharm Al-Sheikh on developments. —KUNA Two Malayalis win Kerala theatre awards

By Sajeev K Peter

KUWAIT: Two Malayali expats from Kuwait bagged theater awards insti- tuted for by the state government body Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi (KSNA), the state academy for the promotion of music and drama, following a drama competition held for the Gulf Malayali Diaspora. Sunil Cherian won the best scriptwriter award once again for penning the play ‘Eee Choottonnu Kathichu Tharuo’ (Would you light this torch?) for Nirbhaya Theatre, Kuwait while Treesa Treesa Wilson Chirayath Sunil Cherian Wilson Chirayath bagged the best actress award for her performance in drama Kootayma, Qatar won the best Sangeetha Nataka Akademi under the the same drama. Interestingly, Cherian play award and the second prize went chairmanship of Soorya was chosen for the award for the sec- to Sanskriti, Qatar. Suresh Krishnamoorthy initiated the festival ond year in a row. Pennookkara from Bahrain bagged the in 2014 to promote and recognize Four plays were staged during a best director award while Firoz P P M expatriate theatre artistes from Kerala. two-day theater festival in Kuwait on won the best actor award. Manoharan A three-member judging panel deput- Feb 25 and 26 under the aegis of the Pavaratty was chosen this year for a ed by the KSNA comprising Sreejith Kuwait Chapter of the Kerala special jury award. Ramanan, Sudheer Parameswaran and Sangeetha Nataka Akademi, said Vijay Altogether 10 dramas were staged C K Haridasan toured the three coun- Karayil, its chairman, in a press release in Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait during tries during the festival and evaluated yesterday. the theater festival held from February the plays staged by the Gulf Malayali The drama staged by Janakeeyaa 25 to March 2, 2015. The Kerala diaspora. TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 LOCAL Unpaid workers go on strike ‘starving from no salary’ ‘We ask shops to give us chicken feet’

By Ben Garcia same, chicken feet. We also beg some just need the salary to send to my Filipinos outside to give us some food. family. They are hungry too, they KUWAIT: Around 200 laborers, 100 of Thank God they understand us, there need food also if they don’t want me them Filipinos, stopped work to are Filipino groups helping, but we are to work after they pay us, I’ll go back protest nonpayment of salary. The not eating every day, they are giving home, but they need to pay my com- laborers were employed by a local us food but not enough,” said Marvin. pensation,” added Marvin. construction company subcontracted “They did this to us one time last to various government projects in No decision year but we stopped (working) and Kuwait. The workers have not been The workers have filed a com- the company addressed our salary paid for three months. “We are not plaint with the Ministry of Social issues immediately. Now, we are receiving our salary for months so we Affairs and Labor but so far no deci- hopeless because the company is not are hungry, we need food to eat,” said sion has been taken. cooperating anymore; we are in lim- Dindo, one of about 100 Pinoy workers “The problem now is that we have bo,” he added.

Materials shortage The Filipinos are employed as foreman, electrician, plumber, duct- ing, AC technician and plumbers. Workers are paid between KD 120 to KD 220. “The problem is that even KUWAIT: MP Abdulhameed Dashti walks past the media holding his weapon before handing it over to the company fails to provide us with security officers at the National Assembly building in Kuwait City yesterday, after the Interior Ministry the materials needed for the con- announced a four month-long amnesty to collect unlicensed weapons in the country. People can sur- struction, they are asking for the render their weapons and ammunition at 38 centers around Kuwait during the four-month period progress in the project but most of without facing legal action. —Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat the materials needed in the construc- tion site are incomplete,” he said. As for their demands, Marvin told Kuwait Times that they want to be paid every month as per the law. “If Illegal drivers they want us to go back to work, they need to provide us with the regular Some of the workers participating in the strike. salary. We should receive the salary on a monthly basis. If they want us to who are on-strike to protest for non- been working without salary for leave, they should provide us with the to be deported payment of salary. months. We already complained full compensation. We had loans back During the past few weeks, the against the company. Today, we went home too, and we want to fulfill our workers say they survived with the to the embassy, and the embassy obligations,” he said. The company By Nawara Fattahova help of friends and most of the time representative called the company to was contacted for this story but they roam around Khaitan and ask about our predicament; the refused to comment. Farwaniya looking for fresh chicken embassy advised us to go back to Nonpayment of salaries, along KUWAIT: The Ministry of Interior has again announced shops to ask for free chicken feet. “We work because they might accuse us with ill treatment, harsh living condi- plans to deport all expatriates caught driving without a ask shops to give the chicken feet so of abandoning work, but how can we tions and other mistreatment are valid driver’s license in Kuwait. we can survive and have something to continue working without food? That common complaints of migrant Brigadier General Adel Al-Hashsash, Head of Public eat,” said Marvin, 49, who is a foreman is what we told the embassy. I am workers in Kuwait. Labor strikes, Relations and Moral Guidance at the Ministry of Interior, at the company. “It’s really hard to live going to meet my Filipino colleagues however are illegal and those strik- told the Kuwait Times that the decision was made previ- like this. But we have to survive; we today, and I will ask them if they wish ing can face jail time, fines and ously but had not been applied. He said that the Interior just cook it in various ways, but all to go back to work or not. As for me, I deportation. Ministry has now decided to implement the decision effective immediately. “This decision does not apply to those who have licenses but have expired or were confiscated,” he told Crimes No intention to the Kuwait Times yesterday. “This decision applies on report increase bread prices those who never had a valid license. There is no such procedure as paying a fine or being arrested instead.” KUWAIT: Brigadier General Adel Al-Hashsash “Starting from today, if any expat driver is caught at speaks at a press conference yesterday at the By A Saleh any checkpoint or stopped by policemen and doesn’t National Assembly, where three lawmakers handed KUWAIT: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry yester- have a valid driving license, he will be deported,” added over their weapons as part of the ongoing weapons day denied reports about intentions to increase bread Al-Hashash. collection campaign. prices in Kuwait, said informed sources. Notably, rumors The Kuwaiti government has in recent months have been circulating about intentions to increase the expanded the list of offenses for which expatriates can tions’ - which do not require a court hearing - to such price of a bag of bread from 50 fils to 70 fils, which was be deported to include running red lights, driving with- things as barbecuing on the seaside in non designated strongly denied. out a valid driver’s license. Various government bodies areas and expat teachers caught helping students to have also threatened to extend ‘administrative deporta- cheat on exams. Nursing Society slams extortion Chairman of the Kuwait Nursing Society Bandar Nashmi Al-Enezi called for immediately investigating what it described as ‘systemized bribes’ collected by some compa- nies hiring nurses. He added that these companies have been taking advantage of nurses’ need for steady jobs and extorted KD 7,000 per nurse to be hired. “These companies must be punished to protect Kuwait’s image,” he stressed.

Handicapped authority opens in Jahra The parliamentary special needs committee met repre- sentatives from the health ministry, the public authority for Bomb found at the handicapped and a technical committee responsible for determining disability types. Committee member MP Bneid Al-Gar hotel Saud Al-Huraiji said that the committee discussed reducing the total service of public servants wishing to retire to take By Hanan Al-Saadoun care of a disabled person from 20 to 15 years for men and from 15 to 10 for women. He added that MoH’s undersec- KUWAIT: Dai’ya police found a bomb inside a bag at a Bneid retary said that a project to build a special hospital for the Al-Gar hotel. Police officers received a call about a bomb in disabled in Jahra was pending and that the handicapped the hotel warehouse, sources said. Explosive experts authority would open branches in Jahra. checked the bag and found materials suspected of being explosives. The hotel manager said the bag belonged to a Fake shampoo seized guest who left it and did not yet claim it. The hotel is being combed to make sure it is free of any suspicious material. KUWAIT: Inspection teams from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry have seized bogus shampoo during search of stores in local markets. Sheikh Nimer Fahad Al-Malek Al-Sabah, the assis- tant undersecretary, said yesterday that the teams found 2,000 packs of bogus shampoo in Al-Abdali and 400 others in the capi- tal, confiscating the forged products. The name of the bogus shampoo was not released. Sheikh Nimer affirmed that such inspection missions would continue and warned violators of sub- mission to the commercial prosecution. — KUNA Cold front this week KUWAIT: Kuwait is forecast to witness belated cold northern winds starting from today following a generally warm peri- od, said meteorologist Adel Al-Saadoun. Saadoun said the coming week-long cold is locally branded ‘bard al-ajouz,’ alluding to a wide-spread story about an old female shep- Tree falls on parked cars herd who sheared her sheep wool prematurely, and when A large tree fell on several parked cars on the middle of the weather suddenly turned cold, she lost her livestock. The a road causing severe traffic jam across Kuwait meteorologist also indicated that the weather would not be University, Khaldiya campus. Sources said the parked as cold as it was in January and February. —KUNA cars belonged to the students.

Drug dealer caught Drugs Authorities arrested a Sri Lankan man with 5,000 narcotic pills following information received by the depart- ment. The drugs were found in his house.

Fire at grocery store A fire broke out in a grocery store at dawn yesterday. The fire was contained and put out before spreading to nearby areas after Um Al-Haiman fire center was quick to respond. Investigations are being conducted to determine the cause of fire.

Appeal on arrest on social media Interior Ministry security information department said it is checking on the news over satellite channels and social media about the appeal of a citizen who alleged she was jailed in Salwa police station unfairly. The woman said a dispute over a parking spot in a hotel evolved to a verbal exchange, prompting the male citizen to com- plain to police, who called her in for questioning. The department said the woman was detained at the orders of the investigator based on the complaint of the citizen. It said the investigator released the citi- zen on the same day. The woman called her family to intervene and release her but she verbally insulted the police officer and the com- plainant. Investigations are still going on. TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 From the Arabic press

Crime Al-Jarida Report Turbulent times Officer accused for women of molestation By Prof Ghanim Al-Najjar KUWAIT: A Syrian woman accused a police lance corporal of suggestively caressing her in his car. According to espite the apparent progress made in reports, the officer stopped the car the woman was driving women’s rights worldwide, women’s situa- and asked her for her license. The woman alleged that the Dtions are still deteriorating in various coun- officer asked her to get into his patrol car and was sur- tries around the world, where women are still being prised by him touching her body. The woman went to excluded, change is very slow and social upheaval Nugra police station and reported the incident. in this regard is temporarily postponed. In spite of Investigations are underway. what appears to be a steady growth of international awareness of women rights in the form of the many international agreements, measures and pledges, Child killed in home mishap things are still bad and even retreating in many An Egyptian child died when a refrigerator fell on him countries where women are still legally, socially and at his parents’ residence. The four-year-old was playing culturally considered second-class citizens. Women near the fridge when it fell on him and caused bleed- and children still form the majority of victims of ing from his nose and mouth. His family took him to wars and armed conflicts. Jahra Hospital where he was declared dead. Though we have achieved an outstanding break- through in Kuwait by approving women’s voting Sisters-in-law fight rights in May 2005, when a major change happened in the government’s political practices after these A citizen accused her sister-in-law of beating her and caus- ing a wound in the head during a family fight at her in- rights had remained frozen for over 44 years and laws’ house in Qairawan. Sources said the woman went to rejected by both the government and most law- Qairawan police station with a medical report and filed a makers including those who claimed to be for liber- complaint. Al-Jarida ties and equality. Such an achievement could not have been reached unless some behind the scenes bargains were made. Man steals from car Though the country has joined a treaty to elimi- A man from Jahra complained that an unidentified nate all forms of discrimination against women for person stole KD 500 and a smart phone from his car, Hammad hopeful on around 20 years now, actual measures are still very as he was smoking a shisha at a Jahra cafe. The man sluggish. Though much of the blame is directed said he was surprised to find his car broken into and against both the government and the parliament in reported it after noticing the theft. Jahra detectives electoral draft law this regard, there is a real problem in terms of the are investigating. dominant culture concerning women and their roles in building balanced societies. Therefore, we Council (GCC) book fairs, prompting criticism from find that most women’s gains have been made Man fends off thieves KUWAIT: MP Saadoun Hammad called for a change in the electoral system to allow voters to cast one vote authors and book lovers. The criticizers said that the through courts and judicial proceedings rather than An Indian expat was admitted to Mubarak Hospital when within their electoral constituencies and another in ministry’s action adds a new phase of restrictions in the through political decisions. he was hit on the head with a gun by a thief who attempt- country, and is an abuse against Kuwaiti writers at a For instance, issued related to gender discrimina- ed to rob him along with an accomplice in Salmiya. A secu- another one would create a balance between votes in various constituencies. Speaking to local daily Al-Anbaa, time when liberties have been defeating censorship, at tion against women were not amended or annulled rity source said the sound of gunshots led them to a except by court orders. Discrimination in accepting Salmiya building where they found an Indian expat Hammad also stressed that lawmakers have welcomed least through cyberspace. the proposal and that in case the government abstains A number of Kuwaiti writers whose novels are women at the university was not cancelled until wounded in the head. He alleged that two persons one of the affected female students went to court. attacked him and attempted to rob him while entering the from voting on amending the electoral system, the new banned said that their books had already been Article 15 of the passports law depriving women building and upon resisting, one of them hit him with the proposal would be passed either way. - Al-Anbaa approved for sale in GCC states except in Kuwait, which pistol’s heel before fleeing. Detectives are investigating. banned them because of what they described as a ‘par- the right to get their own passports was only can- Vote buyers still at large alyzed censorship apparatus.’ Notably, the most recently celled by a constitutional court ruling, and some The Sentences Implementation Department is coor- banned books included a novel titled ‘Mother Hessa’s MoI officials still refuse to put this ruling into prac- dinating with criminal detectives to arrest both Saud Mice’ by Saud Al-Sanoussi; ‘Roses For You...Thorns for tice, which calls for an investigation if the MoI is Ex-convict attacks woman really serious in law enforcement. Adan detectives arrested an ex-convict for attacking a Sahoud Al-Mutairi and Mushari Al-Hussaini who are Me’ by Dr Suleiman Al-Shatti; ‘Never Tell Your Dreams’ by Women could not have joined the judiciary with- Filipina woman, sources said, adding the arrest was made wanted to serve a three year jail sentence. Abdul Wahab Al-Hammadi; ‘Tango Smell’ by Dalaa Al- following a fierce resistance from the suspect when the Based on police information, the two are still in the Moufti; ‘Stray Memories’ by Abdullah Al-Busais and the out going to court in 2002 and they could not have detectives raided his house in Masayel. According to country, but are hiding, security sources said. Mutairi ‘Ninth Cloud’ by Mahmoud Shaker. - Al-Jarida been treated equally like unmarried men in terms reports, the Filipina told Adan police that she was sexually and Hussaini were convicted for buying votes during of rent allowance until the constitutional court attacked by her sponsor in his Masayel residence. He said the previous elections, which led to issuing a sentence Students have ‘poor’ skills ruled that this violates article 29 of the constitution. detectives called the suspect and asked him to report at to jail them for three years. - Al-Rai The school period will be 45 minutes long and there Women still have a long way to go to achieve cul- the station. A warrant was obtained after the culprit will be seven Arabic language classes a week instead of tural, social and political justice without which we refused to report and the detectives arrested him. The Ministry bans Kuwaiti novels the previous nine, the Education Ministry announced. would never have a balanced society. suspect confessed to the charges and is being sent to the The Ministry of Information banned Kuwaiti novels Dr Saud Al-Harby, the Acting Education Undersecretary public prosecution. —Al-Rai that had been already approved by Gulf Cooperation unveiled the new plan for the elementary state and said the start of the school day will be at 7:30 am and ends at 1:30 pm, which does not exclude the idea of increas- Al-Qabas ing the hours of the school day. Harby said they did not discard the opinion of any- one who participated in the preparations, but added Using sharia that when it comes to opinion there will be a ‘compro- mises’ for the sake of unanimous agreement. “Our stu- dents are poor at reading and writing. The Arabic lan- selectively guage classes need not be according to the number of periods, but by the teaching plan and content,” he said. By Abdellatif Al-Duaij Two classes would be designated for holy Quran in the five classes, Harby said. The same would be for do not think that MP Abdulhameed Dashti was Islamic Studies. Arabic classes are reduced from nine to right when he defended the decision of the eight periods for first, second and third grades, and to legislative committee at the National Assembly seven periods for fourth and fifth grades. — Al-Rai I to approve the waiving of fines for delinquent debtors, not because this write-off has nothing to do with shariah, which he tried to hide behind, Al-Anbaa and not because it has nothing to do with the constitution or economic laws, but simply because those whom the committee wanted to Generations lost relieve have taken “what they deserve and more”. That means the write-off of debts and schedul- By Nermin Al-Hoti ing their debts a few years earlier was basically an economic and political mistake as well as a crime hen we used to hear or read about drugs in against public funds, and now they are audacious- the past, and those who use them, it was ly demanding, or hoping, for writing off the delay Wsomething strange and abnormal in the fines and their inability to pay their debts despite society, but today the phenomenon has became an the facilities that were given to them, as well as illness that has affected the majority of youth, and is years and years of forgiveness and their lumpish the ghost that is now in control of many youth’s behavior. brains. The issue is not what they are using and how Yet, of course, those concerned are excused, they take it, and it is not about who brings the illu- because each citizen here believes that he has the sion called drugs to them. right to own all what he get his hands on from the Our issue today is not limited to one area, but it funds of the welfare state, by legal means or trick- has many tentacles. The youth are the future, and ery. The “ownership” has become a national right from here our theatrical plot starts if we want its protected by current customs and traditions of events to simulate our reality. the Kuwaiti people, with regret. This is why mem- When we want to write about our situation, we bers of the legislative committee at the National should ponder over several questions, the most Assembly agree with the proposal to write off the important of which are: How was their upbringing fines of the delinquent debtors. within the family? Family supervision? What are the That is why Dashti stands to justify this regret- activities given to our children in schools? Are arts ful write-off, relying on the Islamic sharia, consid- and culture taught in our curricula? What about mil- ering that debtors pay interest that is not itary education for our children? Where is the role of approved by sharia which the MP is relying on. the state in encouraging youth activities and skills? First and frankly, Islamic sharia has nothing to do Where is supervision over shops and cafes? Is there with this, and is not supposed to have anything media or educational awareness? These are some with the matter, as the MP indicated or adopted. principles one keeps in mind. We have a constitution and civil laws that decide It becomes clear to us, from some of the prob- the relationship between people. lems we mentioned, that our issue revolves around Secondly, the origin of the difficult debts prob- one aspect. If we succeed in setting a well-studied, lem is selling on credit, which is allowed in long-term and implementable strategy, our play will Dashti’s sharia. Selling on credit is more danger- have a happy ending, but if we make a bad choice ous and harmful than interest. Interests are limit- in who prepares it, then the result will be what we ed and are under the supervision of financial and are seeing now - the loss of future generations. commercial establishments. Selling on credit is If we have brains that have some kind of innova- open from 10 to 1,000 percent, and there is no tion and creativity and look towards the future, we supervision and no limits, and that is why we had would find a foolproof strategy to develop the the Manakh problem (Manakh was the collapse of youth that patrols and immunizes them against all the secondary stock market in the 1980s), as it that waste their minds. But, because of our lack of was produced by the religious awakening, and innovative brains, we find that the lack of a develop- many people resorted to using real estate in sales ment plan was not limited to the youth, rather the on credit. society as a whole, which made our youth look for Thirdly, and this is more important, when the what do away with their brains to escape from idle government and members of the National time. If we present some solutions, we find that our Assembly rejected the write-off of debts of simple issue has the reasons that give positive results. What citizens, they even refused to write off the inter- we see today is the absence of government from ests, and they have the right to do this. So it is the youth’s role, and making some bogus plans that strange for ‘sharia’ to help those with money, officials manipulate for propaganda’s sake, and this while it goes absent and maybe even neglected made drugs the way of our children. when the issue concerns the simple and weak among citizens. Chad and Niger move to attack Boko Haram

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TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 Activists reflect on Syria’s downward spiral A look at the escalation from protests to horror

BEIRUT: Abed Hakawati spends his days in a devas- opened fire on a protest in Daraa, killing four tated, rebel-held neighborhood of Aleppo, writing people, the first deaths of the revolt. graffiti on the walls to remind residents and rebels alike of the original goals of the uprising that erupt- Batons and bullets ed four years ago: “Freedom, dignity and social Protests grew and spread in towns and cities equality.” The 37-year-old, once an actor in the the- across provinces, met by batons and bullets. ater, is now a fugitive, on the run both from Protests were often joyous. In the central city of President Bashar Assad’s forces and Islamic State Homs - one of the worst hit by the crackdown - exul- group militants who have taken advantage of the tant crowds of protesters danced arm in arm and civil war to take over much of northern and eastern singing to the beat of a drum “Yalla Irhal, ya Bashar!” Syria. - a simple yet powerful lyric translating to “Come on, Hakawati is among the secular activists with a Bashar, leave.” Raed Fares remembers the day the dream of a democratic Syria who were the back- uprising reached his hometown of Kafranbel in bone of the peaceful protest movement that erupt- northwestern Syria, a month after the Daraa ed in March 2011 against Assad’s autocratic rule. protests. About 60 protesters came out of the Grand Their dream didn’t just fail, it exploded. They Mosque and walked to the main square, shouting: watched it perverted in ways that reached new “God, Syria, Freedom!” They were met with about depths of horror year after year, from barrel bombs 150 security agents who took down their names smashing historic cities to Islamic radicals behead- and sent them home. A few days later, the police ing and burning opponents. raided homes and arrested dozens of young men. Protests swelled from a few dozen to thousands. Assad or radicals Across opposition areas, the army moved in, terror- Four years later, many Syrians believe the con- ized protesters and closed down mosques, and resi- flict has become a choice between rule by Assad dents began to take up arms to defend themselves, and rule by Islamic radicals, and many, the activists joined by defectors from the military. Assad’s securi- admit, prefer the former. Hopes of democracy seem ty forces deployed tanks, snipers and eventually distant in a wrecked nation where more than warplanes and helicopter-dropped barrel bombs. 220,000 people have been killed, countless others Activists, bloggers and opposition figures went maimed and millions dispersed in the worst underground to avoid arrest. Ghayyath Mattar, a humanitarian crisis of the 21st century. The conflict rights activist, was killed under torture by security has bred extremism that has touched countries forces. Mazen Darwish, a Syrian writer and leading across the globe and instilled chaos that may activist, was imprisoned. Yassin Al-Haj Saleh, a secu- redraw the map of the Middle East. lar revolutionary who spent 16 years in political HOMS PROVINCE: In this Thursday, Jan 26, 2012 file photo, Syrian army defectors celebrate shortly after they defected and join the anti- Those original activists lucky enough to have imprisonment, fled to Turkey after living under- Syrian regime protesters at Khaldiyeh area. -— AP survived or escaped abroad now struggle to come ground for months. In Kafranbel, Fares and a group to terms with what went wrong. Many say the chaos of friends began drawing witty, colorful protest erupted between moderates and extremists, first Islamic State group, which also holds about a third the activist alias of Qusai Zakarya, fled Syria in early is exactly what Assad wanted to preserve his rule. signs skewering the Assad regime and satirizing the the Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, then the Islamic of Iraq, is imposing its brutal rule in the large swath 2014. He had survived the deadly August 2013 “Quite simply, all the moderate voices that have war. The posters were an instant hit on social media State group, distracting from the fight against it controls, and the Nusra Front’s rule over its own chemical weapons in the Ghouta region in called for a civil, democratic state have been either and shot Kafranbel to fame. Assad. areas is hardly better. In that light, some Syrians see Damascus, and a two year government siege of his silenced or radicalized,” said Hakawati. “This was But as moderates were suppressed, radicals Fares, 42, refused to fight, insisting the word was Assad as the lesser of two evils, with his grip bring- hometown of Moaddamiyeh where people died Bashar Assad’s plan, and it worked.” moved into the void. Fares remembers his first stronger than the gun. He runs a media center and ing a degree of calm in Damascus and other main because of lack of food and medicine. Since arriv- Inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings in encounters with them. The opposition succeeded in “Radio Fresh,” a station funded by American NGOs cities. Activist Kassem Eid admits with regret that ing in the US a year ago, he has been giving presen- Tunisia and Egypt, Syria’s revolt erupted in March driving government forces out of Kafranbel in described as the only opposition station operating the millions of displaced, the devastation of cities, tations at universities and meeting with American 2011, when security forces arrested a group of August 2012, a moment of victory. But as they tried from inside Syria. In January 2014, Islamic State mili- the suffering and the hunger have all become side- politicians to tell them about his experience in teenagers who scrawled anti-Assad graffiti on a to organize a local administration, “the beards tants tried to assassinate him, spraying his car with line issues for many in the face of the radicals. Syria. As the death toll mounts, some young wall in the southern city of Daraa. A small protest entered the fray,” he said, referring to Islamic mili- 40 bullets. He was hospitalized for three months. In “That’s absolutely not fair. They’re looking at the activists acknowledge some naivetÈ in their deci- took place in Damascus’ old city on March 15 tants. Within months, the euphoria was clouded by December, he was detained and beaten by Nusra side effects and forgetting about the cancer. The sion to challenge one of the region’s most brutal calling for reforms, considered by many the start worries over the extremists taking over. In opposi- Front for three days. cancer is the Assad regime,” he said in an interview police states, but defend the right to take up arms of the uprising. Three days later, security forces tion-held areas around the country, mini-wars Now extremists control about half of Syria. The by phone from the United States. Eid, who went by in self-defense. — AP INTERNATIONAL TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 Mali vows to never surrender to terror BAMAKO: Mali vowed yesterday not to surrender to ble” killings, calling them a “breach of international terror and to punish the jihadists behind a deadly humanitarian law”. It emerged after the Bamako attack nightclub attack in the capital, as local and French that the Belgian victim, 44-year-old Lieutenant Colonel investigators joined forces to hunt the killers. Ronny Piens, had been in charge of security for the Bamako has been on high alert since a heavily- European Union delegation in Bamako. armed gunman burst into La Terrasse, a popular The body of Fabien Guyomard, the 30-year-old venue among expatriates, early Saturday and killed Frenchman who died at the nightclub, is due to be five people, including a French national and a repatriated later yestersday. The anxiety gripping the Belgian. expatriate community in the aftermath was under- A counter-terrorism team arrived from Paris lined Sunday by the decision of the French Lycee of overnight to join the investigation, with the Bamako to delay its return from holidays for 48 hours assailant and a suspected accomplice still at large to strengthen security. Troops and police from Mali despite a huge manhunt and stepped-up vehicle and the UN are a permanent fixture in the city of 1.8 checks across the capital. “We are still standing,” million people. Zakaria Maiga, a Malian friend of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said in a defiant Guyomard who survived the attack, said he was “sur- first public reaction after visiting La Terrasse and prised” by the ease with which the assailants-armed eight people wounded in the attack, including two with automatic weapons and grenades-were able to Swiss nationals. “Those who dared claim this attack get downtown. French President Francois Hollande will pay dearly,” he said, adding that they “have has led the international outcry, condemning the failed and will fail” to spread fear. Government “cowardly attack” and vowing to meet Keita to offer spokesman Choguel Maiga echoed him, saying Paris’s help to its former colony. An anti-terrorist prose- Malians “will not allow themselves to be affected or cutor from Paris arrived in Bamako late Sunday with 10 intimidated by terrorist acts”. French police to “work on Saturday’s incident hand-in- He urged the predominantly Tuareg rebellion in hand with their Malian colleagues” airport and security the restive north to rubber-stamp a peace agree- sources said. ment signed on March 1 by the government, to The attack was the first to target Westerners in bring about “a real basis for the stabilization of our BAMAKO: Malian people look at newspapers’ front pages. — AFP Bamako, although Mali’s vast desert north is riven by country.” Al-Murabitoun, a jihadist group run by recent cartoons of Prophet Mohammed, “whom the Repatriation of bodies ethnic rivalries and an Islamist insurgency, and has leading Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar, miscreant West insulted and mocked,” it said. The Fears over security mounted further on Sunday seen numerous militant attacks on security forces. claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said group was referring to cartoons published by Paris when a Chadian peacekeeper and two Malian children Jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda controlled an area of was partly to avenge Ahmed El Tilemsi, one of its satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which lost 11 staff were killed as militants shelled a UN base in the north- desert the size of Texas for more than nine months commanders killed by the French army in Mali in in a jihadist attack exactly two months before the eastern rebel stronghold of Kidal. UN Secretary- until a French-led military intervention in 2013 that December. The action was basically prompted by Bamako massacre. General Ban Ki-moon also condemned the “intolera- partly drove them from the region. — AFP

IS behead guards in Libya attack Saudis silence Swedish TRIPOLI: Militants from Libya’s Islamic State affiliate Libya’s two rival governments. In the Philippines, beheaded eight Libyan guards in an attack on a central oil Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said minister at Arab League field last week during which the extremists abducted nine Manila was working with the employer of the nine, foreigners, a Libyan spokesman said yesterday. In the Austrian-owned VAOS Oil Service, the Libyan government Philippines, authorities said yesterday that four of their and embassies of the other foreigners abducted. The Al- Saudi twitter account returns after suspension nationals were among the nine abducted from the oil field. Ghani oil field had suspended operation for two weeks prior An Austrian, a Czech, a Bangladeshi and a Ghana national to the attack and most of the workers had left by the time were also taken while one hostage remains unidentified. the gunmen arrived there, he added. CAIRO: The Swedish foreign minister am back with the same account,” the user Friday’s attack on the Al-Ghani oil field near the town of Al-Mesmari, the Libyan army spokesman, said that fol- accused Saudi Arabia of blocking her known as @mujtahidd said in an email to Zalla, some 750 kilometers southeast of the capital, Tripoli, lowing the attack on Al-Ghani, fighter jets took off from the speech at an Arab League meeting yes- AFP. “The good thing is I got all my fol- was part of a series of deadly assaults on Libya’s oil lucrative Ras Lanouf port on Libya central coastline and targeted the terday due to her stance on human lowers back,” about 1.8 million of them. infrastructure by the Islamic State group. The attacks in militants. Earlier, Tripoli-based militias said their own fighter rights in the region, Swedish media He says the documents and tweets that recent weeks have forced Libya to declare 11 fields non- jets tried to stop the attack on Al-Ghani but failed. The reported.”The explanation we have been he publishes aim for “a more just and operational, including al-Ghani, and invoke a force majeure Libyan turmoil has provided fertile ground for militants given is that Sweden has highlighted the transparent situation” in the conservative clause that exempts the state from contractual obligations. allied with the Islamic State group, which is fighting in Iraq situation for democracy and human Muslim kingdom. Libya’s military spokesman, Ahmed Al-Mesmari, warned and Syria to expand its self-styled caliphate. The Libyan IS rights and that is why they do not want On Friday he told AFP that Twitter cit- that Islamic State militants’ long-term goal is to take over affiliate now controls the eastern city of Darna and also me to speak,” Foreign Minister Margot ed the posting in April 2014 of a “private Libya’s petroleum industry. Sirte, and has carried out several deadly suicide bombings Wallstroem told news agency TT in Cairo. document” related to the royal family as across the country. “It’s a shame that a country has blocked the reason his account could no longer Countries lifeline In January, militants from Libya’s IS affiliate stormed a my participation.” An Arab diplomat con- be accessed. “I explained to Twitter “This is the lifeline of the Libyan people,” he said yester- luxury hotel in Tripoli, and in February, they released a video firmed to AFP that Riyadh had stopped administrators my high profile as a credi- day, adding the consequences of such a loss would be dire. showing the beheading of 21 captured Egyptian Christians. the Swede from making her opening ble whistle-blower from within the circles During the attack on Al-Ghani, an employee watched the The Egyptian military launched airstrikes on Darna in retali- speech. of power in Saudi Arabia,” he wrote from beheadings of the eight oil guards and subsequently died ation for the horrific slayings. Also yesterday, Gen Khalifa Wallstroem had been invited as an the email address that was listed with his of a heart attack, Al-Mesmari also said. He not elaborate on Hifter, a veteran general leading a campaign against honorary guest to the Arab ministers’ suspended account. CAIRO: Saudi ambassador in Cairo, how the army knew about the beheadings but the force Islamist militias, was sworn in as Libya’s army chief in a cere- meeting in praise of her government’s He did not identify himself and said Ahmed Kattan attends a meeting serving as oil guards is closely allied to the Libyan military, mony before lawmakers at the parliament based in the east- decision to recognize Palestine in he could not be reached by telephone. of league foreign ministers at the which answers to the eastern-based government, one of ern city of Tobruk. —AP October. Her cancelled opening speech- @mujtahidd added that he told Twitter it Arab League headquarters. — AFP published by the Swedish foreign min- “constitutes giving in to pressure” if it istry mentioned neither Saudi Arabia nor “One must protest against what are merely accepted complaints regarding Wallstroem’s feminist foreign policy nearly mediaeval methods” of punish- something he published last year. The agenda but stressed women’s and ment, Wallstroem told TT. Yet her country “whistle-blower” said Twitter did not tell human rights. has a decade-long arms-trading deal him why the suspension, in effect since “Freedom of association, assembly, with Riyadh which is due for renewal for late last week, had been lifted. Some of religion and expression are not only fun- another five years in May. The deal has the information from @mujtahidd was damental rights and important tools in come under fire within Wallstroem’s false but at other times it proved to be the creation of vibrant societies,” it read Social Democrats, while their Green Party accurate, such as his report of King and noted that “women’s rights do not coalition partners oppose it categorically. Abdullah’s death hours before the royal only benefit women, but society as a court made an official statement on whole.” Wallstroem has rarely comment- Mystery account returns January 23. ed on Saudi Arabia but in January she A widely-followed “whistle-blower” Abdullah was replaced by his half- slammed the kingdom’s treatment of who tweeted about the Saudi royal fami- brother Salman. Twitter use is wide- blogger Raef Badawi, who had been sen- ly said yesterday he has returned to spread in Saudi Arabia, where even King tenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in Twitter after a brief suspension by the Salman has an account. Official media prison for insulting Islam. social media platform of his account. “I are tightly controlled, however. — AFP Top US officer in Iraq as Tikrit fight begins

BAGHDAD: The top US military officer arrived yesterday in Baghdad urging patience in the battle against the Islamic State group as Iraqi forces pressed their largest operation yet against the jihadists. Some 30,000 men have been involved in a week-old operation to recapture Tikrit, one of the jihadists’ main hubs since they over- ran large parts of Iraq nine months ago. And yesterday, Kurdish peshmerga forces launched an offensive south and west of the oil city of Kirkuk, further increasing the pressure on the last IS strongholds east of the Tigris River. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, flew in on a C-17 military transport aircraft and was due to hold talks with top Iraqi officials. The United States began carrying out air strikes against IS in August, the first of what is now a 60-nation coalition of most- ly Western and Arab states supporting Baghdad’s fight back. But its jets, drones and 2,600 military advisers on the ground BAGHDAD: Gen Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff have not directly been involved in the bat- (left) and Iraqi Defense Minister Khalid Al-Obeidi hold a press conference tle for Tikrit, which Prime Minister Haider at the Iraqi defense ministry headquarters. — AP Al-Abadi announced on March 1. ingly influential paramilitary Popular from a village near Albu Ajil. Washington has been uneasy about Mobilization units, which are dominated “We did not have any relations with IS, the leading role played by Iran, which is by Shiite militias, have been closing in on we were oppressed,” he said, adding that not part of the coalition, in the Iraqi gov- Tikrit in recent days. On Sunday, those those who fled were held and interrogated ernment’s efforts to re-conquer jihadist- forces retook the village of Albu Ajil, where by the Asaib Ahl Al-Haq Shiite militia for held provinces. Qassem Soleimani, who is some Sunni tribesmen have been accused one day and released. in charge of foreign operations for Tehran’s of involvement alongside IS militants in Revolutionary Guards, has been ubiqui- the June 2014 massacre of hundreds of Kurdish operation tous on the front lines and become a cult new, mostly Shiite recruits from the near- The militia’s leader, Qais Al-Khazali, figure among Iraqi Shiite fighters. During a by base of Speicher. spoke to his fighters on the front line visit to a French aircraft carrier in the Gulf The leader of the Popular Mobilization Sunday and urged them not to do any- taking part in the air campaign, Dempsey units, Hadi Al-Ameri, had described the thing that could tarnish a victory over IS in appealed for “strategic patience” in the Tikrit operation as an opportunity for Tikrit. The UN said last week that around fight against the IS group in Iraq and Syria. revenge, sparking wide fears over the fate 30,000 people were displaced by fighting of Sunni civilians in the area. Shiite military around Tikrit. Jihadists militants, holding No carpet bombing commanders, including among the most out in Tikrit with only a few hundred men, “Carpet bombing through Iraq is not hardline, have since toned down their lan- are increasingly surrounded. the answer,” he said Sunday. Dempsey guage and publicly urged their fighters to Applying further pressure, the Kurdish stressed that training the Iraqi army, which exercise restraint. Dozens of families dis- forces that control Kirkuk yesterday imploded when IS attacked in June 2014, placed by the fighting fled to Samarra, the launched an operation pushing to the would take more time, as would initiatives other main city in Salaheddin province south and west. Kurdish security official to bring Iraq’s Sunnis back into the fold. “I where Tikrit is also located, to receive Westa Rasul said the operation was do think it’s going to require some strate- assistance and be sheltered in camps. “I backed by coalition air support. Police gic patience,” he said, adding that “these am a farmer, I left my sheep and my cows Brigadier General Sarhad Qader said secu- underlying issues have to be resolved”. behind,” said Atta Abu Alaa, a 50-year-old rity forces were proceeding cautiously to Iraqi soldiers, police and the increas- who had fled with 12 members of family avoid explosives planted by IS. —AFP TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 INTERNATIONAL GOP against Iran nuclear negotiations

WASHINGTON: Forty-seven Republican agreement with the stroke of a pen,” they which would require a two-thirds majority McConnell said the president would ship plus presidential contenders Marco senators warned yesterday that any wrote, “and future Congresses could mod- Senate vote to be ratified. Last week, need congressional approval to lift sanc- Rubio of Florida, Rand Paul of Kentucky agreement the Obama administration ify the terms of the agreement at any Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, tions already imposed on Tehran and Ted Cruz of Texas. strikes with Iran to limit Tehran’s nuclear time.” The US and other nations are seek- R-Ky, postponed action on legislation that because of its nuclear program. “I think The next negotiations are scheduled program may be short-lived unless ing a pact that would let Western powers would give Congress a vote on any deal he cannot work around Congress forev- for March 15, and wide gaps remain Congress approves the deal. In an open verify that Iran will not obtain a nuclear that emerges. He delayed the measure in er,” McConnell said. Obama said in a between the two sides. Iran has said its letter to Iranian leaders, Sen Tom Cotton, weapon. Though the five-paragraph letter the face of solid Democratic opposition to separate CBS interview that the US nuclear program is peaceful and is R-Ark and 46 other Republicans said that is addressed to leaders in Tehran, it seems moving ahead on the bill now, just weeks would “walk away” from the talks unless aimed at producing energy. There was without congressional approval, any deal as much aimed at delivering a message to before an end-of-March deadline for they produce a procedure for verifying no immediate Iranian government reac- between Iran and the US would be merely Obama. Republicans and some negotiators to produce an outline of an that restrictions on Iran’s nuclear effort tion to the letter or any discussion of it an agreement between President Barack Democrats want Congress to vote on any agreement. are working. The letter released yester- in Iranian media. Cotton is a freshman Obama and Iran’s supreme leader, agreement. The pact the bargainers are day was signed by 47 of the Senate’s 54 senator who serves on the Senate’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “The next presi- working on does not require congression- Tehran sanctions Republicans. Included were McConnell Armed Service and Intelligence commit- dent could revoke such an executive al approval because it is not a treaty, On CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday, and the rest of the Senate GOP leader- tees. — AP

Hillary Clinton urges action to achieve women equality

UNITED NATIONS: Hillary Clinton, a likely greater chance to live healthy and secure US presidential candidate, is urging the lives, and their fundamental human rights world to take action and address “the great are now protected by law in many coun- unfinished business of the 21st century” - tries throughout the world.” the report said. the achievement of equality for women “Women and girls have access to educa- that 189 nations called for at a ground- tional and work opportunities that were breaking UN conference 20 years ago. previously unimaginable.” Clinton came to the Beijing conference as the US first lady and brought delegates Legal barriers to their feet in a keynote speech that But on the negative side, the report said inspired women around the world when more than 170 countries currently have she declared: “Human rights are women’s legal barriers in place that prevent women rights and women’s rights are human and girls from experiencing the same rights.” In the introduction to a new report rights, protections and liberties as men and on the status of women in 2015, she boys. An estimated 1.4 million girls are nev- recalled those words and said the latest er born every year, largely due to the pref- data provides evidence that advancing the erence for sons in China and India. Violence full participation of women and girls against women remains “a global epidemic” expands global prosperity and stability. with one in three women worldwide expe- riencing physical or sexual attacks. An esti- ‘A wake-up call’ mated 200 million fewer women than men The report entitled “No Ceilings,”assess- are on the Internet in the developing es the gains and gaps for women and girls world, and 300 million fewer women own a since the 1995 conference and concludes mobile phone. that “there has never been a better time to The report said even when there is be born female.” But it says change has progress, a woman’s chance of equal rights been far too slow when it comes to and opportunities is often determined by women’s security, economic opportunity geography, income, age, race, ethnicity, dis- and leadership. “I hope it serves as a wake- ability, sexual orientation and cultural up call, and also as a call to action for us all,” norms. “Only by getting data into the hands Clinton wrote. “Unlocking the potential of of citizens and leaders alike on what effec- women and girls around the world is both tive steps have been taken - and what the right thing to do and it is also the smart haven’t - can we close the gender gap in thing to do.” our global community,” said Dr Jody NEW YORK: People walk in the International Women’s Day march for gender equality and women’s rights from the United Nations to Times According to the acknowledgments, the Heymann, founding director of the UCLA Square. —AP report grew out of “the mutual commit- center and dean of its School of Public ment” of Melinda Gates and Hillary and Health. She said in an interview that there Chelsea Clinton to women’s and girls’ rights has been progress on the legal and policy and opportunities. The Bill and Melinda front in every region and in countries at all NYC marks International Gates Foundation and the Bill, Hillary and income levels. She also cited some impor- Chelsea Clinton Foundation joined forces tant progress - 50 countries expanded the with The Economist Intelligence Unit and length of paid maternity leave and 32 the WORLD Policy Analysis Center at UCLA countries increased the age of marriage Women’s Day with march to produce it. On the plus side, the report with parental consent. said more than 95 percent of the 56 nation- But Heymann said “most importantly and al constitutions adopted after 1995 guaran- strikingly is the extent to which unequal tee gender equality, compared with 79 per- opportunities in 2015 still remain embed- ‘If women are equal, men are free’ cent of those enacted earlier. The life span ded in the law.” She said 61 countries allow of girls born today is almost 73 years, on girls to be legally married at a younger age NEW YORK: Thousands of men and women way to go before we get to equality,” McCray public issue, or in the United States. Dev Singh, average, about four years more than in than boys, and more than 150 countries lack from around the world stopped traffic in mid- added. She pointed to universal prekinder- 14, came from Pennsylvania with a group of 1995. The number of women who die in protections critical to ensuring women’s town Manhattan on Sunday, passionately raising garten, paid sick leave and other causes that her about 100 teens and adults belonging to a spiri- childbirth has decreased by 42 percent economic participation such as anti-discrim- their voices for women’s rights. “Women’s rights husband, Mayor Bill de Blasio, has emphasized tual movement called the Sant Nirankari Mission globally since 1995, with the biggest reduc- ination laws, access to capital and leave for are human rights!” some shouted amid a as a mark of progress for women in New York that originated in India. “We believe in equality, tion in South Asia. Girls and boys attend caregivers. Melinda Gates said in the intro- cacophony of car horns, drumbeats and police City. In November, New York joined the UN’s Safe and the key to respecting everyone is love,” the primary school at nearly equal rates world- duction that it’s “frustrating” to see how commands. The afternoon march started in Dag Global Cities Initiative, which works to combat boy from Chadds Ford, outside Philadelphia, said wide - and primary school is now tuition- many areas there are where data show Hammarskjold Plaza opposite the United sexual harassment and violence in public places. after crossing Manhattan to the beat of a drum free in almost 90 percent of low-income progress is lacking. “But when we identify Nations, ending hours later in Times Square. Caeli Waldron, 26, flew in from Los Angeles to pounded by another youth in the group. countries. the biggest gaps we have what amounts to Participants called for equality for the gender lead a contingent of high school students Speakers at the UN headquarters gathering “Today, women and girls have a much a blueprint for action,” she said. — AP that traditionally is paid less for work and often marching as part of a program called Girls Learn preceding the march included Nobel Prize win- has a smaller voice in policy decisions. International, which involves American youth in ner Leymah Roberta Gbowee, a peace activist the global movement for girls’ education. from Liberia. She acknowledged the men who ‘Generations of feminists’ “Women’s inequality affects men because we’re joined the women for the march, calling them “Today, you are marching in the footsteps of all fighting for equality in various ways, we’re all “men sisters.” UN officials say much has been generations of feminists,” said New York City’s connected - whether it’s racial or gay or eco- achieved under the Beijing Declaration and first lady, Chirlane McCray, noting that nomic rights,” said Waldon, adding that if, for Platform for Action, signed by 189 governments International Women’s Day commemorates the instance, a man is married to a woman earning in 1995 as a pledge for realizing women’s rights. day in 1908 when thousands of women marched less for equivalent work, “your family is not But UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the through the city demanding shorter hours, bet- going to be as stable.” gains have been too slow and uneven. He said ter pay and voting rights. Established by the the most urgent issue is rape being used as a Socialist Party of America, the celebration spread ‘Everyone is love’ war weapon, from Nigeria and Somalia to Iraq to communist and socialist countries, especially Another marcher hoisted a sign that read: “If and Syria. “We don’t need any words, we need the former Soviet Union, where Vladimir Lenin women are equal, men are free.” A salient issue global action,” the secretary-general said. “All the made it an official holiday. “This march started on Sunday was rape - whether in India, where in women must be at the front and center of our more than a century ago, but we still have a long recent months it has become a divisive and very world.”—AP Trial for Boston bomb blast recalls horror

BOSTON: Moments after being blasted into the pinning the bulk of the blame on the older broth- er’s until the trial’s sentencing phase. air “like a rocket” in the Boston Marathon bomb- er, defense lawyers hope to persuade the jury at The bombing killed Martin Richard, 8; restau- ing, nurse Jessica Kensky saw that her husband’s US District Court in Boston not to sentence their rant manager Krystle Campbell, 29, and graduate leg had been blown off and leaped into action, client to death. Prosecutors maintain that the student Lingzi Lu, 23. Massachusetts Institute of SASKATCHEWAN: Former US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks to a struggling to put a tourniquet on him, she testi- defendant also read jihadist magazines online Technology police officer Sean Collier, 27, was crowd in Saskatoon. — AP fied yesterday. Running on adrenaline, she did and “believed that he was a soldier in a holy war shot to death three days later. not realize the blast from one of the two home- against Americans.” A friend of Lu’s, fellow Chinese exchange stu- made pressure-cooker bombs had set her back Despite his lawyers’ admission of responsibili- dent, Dan Ling Zhou, 24, testified that the pair Presidential hopefuls not on fire, Kensky told jurors in the third day of ty, Tsarnaev has not changed his plea from not were both badly injured in the abdomen by the accused bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s federal trial guilty. In the first weeks of the trial, prosecutors blasts. Zhou was brought to a hospital, where she worried by launch failure in Boston. “There was smoke, there was blood. I say evidence will focus on the ethnic Chechen’s drifted in and out of consciousness, asking about was most focused on my husband, he was right actions leading up to the bombing and in the Lu when she woke. “Every time I wake up, I ask WASHINGTON: Most US presidential can- about five weeks, although political posi- next to me still, and his foot and his leg were kind four chaotic days that followed. US District Judge them whether or not they find her,” Zhou testified. didates really don’t want to spend nearly tioning starts earlier. A look at why this of detached,” said Kensky. “A man came over as I George O’Toole has worked to keep both defense “So I ask again. And she says, ‘Oh,’ she says, ‘She two years bowing and scraping to voters exercise in democracy is so drawn out in was trying to fumble to put a tourniquet on and prosecution attorneys focused on direct evi- passed away. You don’t know that?’ So I guess and campaign donors. Most voters sure the US. Patrick and said, ‘Ma’am you’re on fire, you’re on dence of Tsarnaev’s guilt, leaving the question of everyone found out earlier. But they were trying don’t want to hear about the presidential fire.’” Tsarnaev, 21, is accused of killing three peo- how his responsibility compared with his broth- to protect me, so they didn’t tell me.” — Reuters race for anywhere near that long. Why, The system ple and injuring 264, including Kensky, at the then, does it take so long to pick a US presi- American presidents serve for a set four- famed race’s crowded finish line on April 15, 2013. dent? Blame American-style democracy? year term. Future contenders start planning Kensky, who rolled into the courtroom in a wheel- Blame the pollsters and consultants who for the next election years in advance, with chair, lost her left leg on the day of the bombing. feed off the horse race. Blame the no limits on what they can spend in the pri- Her right leg was amputated in January of this unquenchable thirst for campaign cash. If maries and often no limits in the general year because it had failed to heal from injuries you’re a candidate, blame other candidates election. That’s different from many parlia- sustained in the blast. for forcing you to get going so early. mentary democracies, in which elections She and her husband, Patrick Downes, were Whatever the reason, 20 months out from may be called without much notice and taken to separate hospitals and did not see each the November 2016 presidential election, where there are limits on paid advertising other for two weeks until a volunteer medical no fewer than two-dozen potential candi- and spending. The US system is particularly crew brought her to visit him. Tsarnaev’s attor- dates are maneuvering to run and they’re complex. Candidates compete in a maze of neys opened their case last week by bluntly already elbowing one another for advan- state caucuses and primaries to get their declaring that the defendant and his older broth- tage. Candidates are hiring staff, donors are party’s nominations, then orchestrate sum- er were responsible for the attack as well as the taking sides, party operatives are digging mer party nominating conventions before fatal shooting of a police officer three days later, up dirt on potential opponents and activist competing head-to-head in the fall general in an effort to focus attention on the brother’s groups are holding straw polls of dubious election. role in the plot. value. Contrast that with the rest of the “It’s a hard thing to figure out, and it’s world. not something you do quickly,” says Tom ‘Holy war against America’ Israelis will spend about four months Rath, a GOP activist in New Hampshire, the Defense lawyers contend that Tamerlan picking their next prime minister. In India, first primary state on the political calendar. Tsarnaev, 26, who died following a gun battle the formal campaign season for national Any hope of dominating in the primaries with police three days after the bombing, was the elections was even shorter last year. In requires months of advance work to lock driving force behind the attack, with Dzhokhar BOSTON: Joe Kebartas of South Boston holds anti-death penalty sign as he stands next to a Canada, federal elections typically last up supporters in the states.—AP following along out of a sense of submission. By quote by John F Kennedy on the wall of the federal courthouse. — AP p10 2_Layout 1 3/9/15 9:25 PM Page 1

TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 INTERNATIONAL

Merkel says honesty key in postwar reconciliation

TOKYO: German Chancellor Angela China and South Korea, are at a low point, “It’s difficult for me as the German Merkel waded into the fraught area of with Beijing and Seoul both demanding chancellor to give you advice on how to wartime forgiveness during a visit to Tokyo does more to atone for its past. deal with part of your neighborhood,” Japan yesterday, saying that “facing histo- Both countries suffered from Japan’s mili- Merkel said in response to questions. ry squarely” and “generous gestures” are tarism in the first half of the 20th century. “But I think history and experience tells necessary to mend ties. Merkel was us also that peaceful means of reconcilia- speaking in Tokyo ahead of the 70th Constant WWII references tion have to be found,” she said. anniversary of Japan’s defeat in World But Japanese nationalists say Tokyo War II, in which Prime Minister Shinzo has apologized enough, and that the Balancing act Abe’s conservative views on Tokyo’s war constant references to WWII are covering Merkel’s visit to Japan is part of her crimes are under scrutiny, and as China flak for governments in China and South swing through G7 member nations and South Korea continue to call for ever Korea who are seeking to direct popular before Germany hosts the group’s next more contrition. anger elsewhere. There were “great minds summit in June. She has already visited “Germany was lucky to be accepted in and great personalities who said we the other five nations. The visit, her third the community of nations after the horri- ought to adopt a policy of rapproche- to Japan in almost 10 years in office, is ble experience that the world had to ment... and without these generous ges- seen as a balancing act between meet with Germany during the period of tures by our neighbors this would not Germany’s ties with Beijing and Tokyo. National Socialism (Nazism) and the have been possible,” Merkel told her audi- She has been to China seven times dur- Holocaust,” she said in a public lecture ence. ing the same period. hosted by the left-leaning Asahi newspa- The German leader’s comments came Thanking Japan for joining Western per. “This was possible first because on the first day of a two-day trip to Tokyo, powers in imposing sanctions on Russia Germany did face its past squarely, but her first in seven years. Abe visited over its annexation of Crimea in southern TOKYO: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo also because the Allied Powers who con- Germany last year. China’s foreign minis- Ukraine, Merkel said: “Japan and Germany Abe bow towards the national flags as they review honor guards before their trolled Germany after the Second World ter Wang Yi on Sunday said Abe would be share common interests whenever the talks at the prime minister’s official residence. — AFP War would attach great importance to welcome at Beijing’s commemorations of strengthening of the international rule of Germany coming to grips with its past.” the end of WWII if he is “sincere” about law is to be brought about.” Issues “such about further sanctions against Russia by But at the same time, it’s important to “One of the great achievements of the history. Beijing has not given a specific as the sea and trade routes in the East saying that Japan would “respond appro- continue pursuing dialogue with Russia. time certainly was reconciliation between date for the parade, but it regards and South China Sea”, where safety is priately” in coordination with other G7 Together with Chancellor Merkel, we will Germany and France... The French have September 3, the day after Japan signed seen threatened by territorial rows members. But “we are not in an environ- strongly call on Russia to play a con- given just as valuable a contribution as its formal surrender to Allied forces on between China and its neighbors, “will ment where the G8 including Russia can structive role in achieving a diplomatic the Germans have,” she said. Relations board the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, as also link Europe with your part of the hold meaningful discussions”, Abe told and peaceful resolution of the Ukraine between Japan and its wartime victims, victory day. world,” she said. Abe replied to questions reporters. “I think Russia recognizes this. issue.” —AFP

German professor sorry for India ‘rape problem’ emails

NEW DELHI: A professor in Germany yes- “hurtful words”. In a statement uploaded on terday apologized for refusing an Indian the German embassy website, the profes- male student an internship because of his sor apologized saying: “I have made a mis- country’s “rape problem”, after the German take. I sincerely apologize to everyone ambassador to India condemned the inci- whose feelings I have hurt.” The incident dent. Annette Beck-Sickinger, a professor at comes after a government order to ban the Leipzig University, expressed regret after broadcast of a documentary about the her emails refusing the Indian man sur- December 2012 fatal gang-rape of a young faced on social media, causing a wave of student in New Delhi has reignited debate anger. on the safety of women in India. The incident prompted Germany’s India has seen an outpouring of anger ambassador to India Michael Steiner to over the frightening levels of violence write a letter objecting to her “oversimplify- against women since the attack, which ing and discriminating generalization” of sent shockwaves around the world. In his Indian men. Beck-Sickinger wrote in an letter, Steiner asked the professor to “cor- email on Sunday that she did not “accept rect a simplistic image (of India) which-in any Indian male students for internships” as my opinion-is particularly unsuitable for she heard “a lot about the rape problem in a professor and teacher”. “Your oversim- India”. “I have many female friends in my plifying and discriminating generaliza- group, so I think this attitude is something I tion is an offense... to millions of law- cannot support,” she wrote to the Indian abiding, tolerant, open-minded and hard- student, whose identity has not been working Indians,” he wrote in a letter revealed. uploaded on the German embassy web- He replied asking for the reasoning site. “Let’s be clear: India is not a country behind her “painful generalizations” and of rapists.” —AFP

Putin honors Chechen leader who praised Nemtsov suspect

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin according to Russian news agencies. CHAD: Nigerian special forces run past Chadian troops in an hostage rescue exercise at the end of the Flintlock exercise. — AP bestowed a state award yesterday on the leader of Chechnya, the North Caucasus Vehement loyalty strongman who hailed the suspected killer Kadyrov, head of the Chechen Republic of an opposition politician as a “true patri- since 2007, has been widely criticized by Chad and Niger move ot.” Documents posted on the Kremlin web- human rights groups for violence against site Monday listed Ramzan Kadyrov as a dissidents, including abducting and killing recipient of the Order of Honor, which is them. But he has earned gratitude from given in recognition of achievements in Putin for his vehement loyalty to the public life. Kadyrov drew criticism Sunday Kremlin and for relentlessly crushing the to attack Boko Haram from government opponents after praising Islamic insurgency against Moscow’s rule. Zaur Dadayev, a Chechen suspect in the Chechnya suffered two wars over the past murder of Kremlin foe Boris Nemtsov. two decades between Russian forces and Neighboring countries pledged to defeat extremists Kadyrov said Dadayev was a “deeply reli- separatist rebels increasingly under the gious man” who was committed to Russia sway of fundamentalist Islam. While work- N’DJAMENA, Chad: Forces from Chad and Niger North Africa. Boko Haram has carried out mass Cameroon as an escape and supply route. but had been offended by Nemtsov’s com- ing to crush radical religious movements, opened a new front in the regional military fight kidnappings, including of schoolgirls. ments after the attack on French satirical Kadyrov has himself imposed many Islamic against the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, “They are bandits and criminals who have Death toll at 10,000 publication Charlie Hebdo, which had pub- rules on Chechnya, including demanding as army vehicles full of soldiers crossed the bor- nothing to do with religion,” Ngobongue said. Residents in potential conflict zones in lished cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. that women wear headscarves. der into northeast Nigeria, officials and witness- He spoke to reporters after the closing ceremo- Cameroon have been asked to leave, the minister While opposition figures have blamed Putin also granted a medal for “services es said yesterday. The escalation in a joint mili- ny for Flintlock, training in counter-terrorism tac- said. Tens of thousands of Nigerians have taken the Russian government for being behind to the motherland” to a man that British tary campaign against the Nigeria-based Boko tics that included US Special Forces and involved refuge in the area, among 1.6 million people driven the killing of Nemtsov, Russia’s police accuse of poisoning former security Haram comes just weeks before Nigerians head 20 countries. Witnesses in the Niger town of from their homes by the insurgency. International Investigative Committee has suggested services agent Alexander Litvinenko. The to the polls for an election which many fear will Bosso reported about 200 military vehicles concern has increased along with the casualties. that Islamic extremism as a possible several dozen recipients of state awards turn violent, and after the militants have crossing over into Nigeria since Saturday. Adam About 10,000 people were killed in Boko Haram’s motive for the slaying. Dadayev was in a listed Monday included Andrei Lugovoi, a attacked neighboring countries who have Boukarna, one resident, said the deployment uprising last year, compared to about 2,000 in the Moscow court Sunday with four other former KGB agent believed by British pledged to help Nigeria defeat the extremists. was followed by loud detonations, signaling four previous years, according to the US Council on suspects in connection with the shoot- authorities to have been responsible for heavy combat with Boko Haram. Foreign Relations. The United States, Britain, France ing of Nemtsov, who was gunned down Litvinenko’s death by poisoning in 6-year insurgency Describing the stepped-up military activity, and the European Union are backing the formation as he walked across a bridge near the November 2006. Lugovoi denies that Chadian Brig Gen Zakaria Ngobongue said Nigerian military spokesman Brig Gen Chris of a multinational force of 8,750 troops led by Kremlin on Feb 27. Two of the suspects, charge. Russia has flatly refused to consider yesterday that his soldiers, alongside troops Olukolade said Sunday night that “there were Nigeria and Chad with contingents from including Dadayev, were charged with extraditing Lugovoi and fellow suspect from Niger, had entered Nigeria. He declined to some pre-emptive maneuvers along an axis in Cameroon, Niger and Benin. Several other coun- murder, while three others were remand- Dmitry Kovtun to face trial in Britain. Since give details about the ongoing operation. the theater. Nigerian forces were also involved.” tries also have pledged to help. On Saturday, Boko ed to jail pending the filing of charges, Litvinenko’s death, Lugovoi has carved out Already Chadian forces had crossed into north- Military spokesmen from Nigeria and Niger Haram leader Abubakar Shekau reportedly which must be done within 10 days. All a political career, becoming a member of eastern Nigeria from Cameroon to fight the could not immediately be reached for further pledged his group’s allegiance to the Islamic State five suspects are from Chechnya or other parliament with the nationalist Liberal jihadists, he said. Boko Haram has been fighting comment yesterday. Cameroon’s minister of group, raising fears that the conflict largely restrict- parts of the restive North Caucasus, Democratic Party of Russia.—AP a nearly 6-year insurgency against the Nigerian defense, Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo’o, said troops ed to northeast Nigeria and its neighbors’ borders government, and on Saturday declared their from Nigeria and Chad would fight Boko Haram could be internationalized. Mamane reported allegiance to the extremist Islamic State group in while soldiers from Cameroon and Niger would from Niamey, Niger. Associated Press reporter the Middle East, raising fears that the conflict guard their borders to prevent the militants from Edwin Kindzeka Moki contributed to this report could be internationalized with IS fighters from escaping. Boko Haram has been using from Yaounde, Cameroon. — AFP African migrants start new lives in Morocco

CASABLANCA: Marthe N’Dri began her beauty zation that gave her the money to start her shop. Moroccan Association to Support and Promote business in Morocco by going to people’s homes to “There was no one else.” Over the past year, Small Businesses, known by the French acronym, do braids and hair weaves, using skills she picked Morocco has been working to grant legal status to AMAPPE, which helped set up her business and is up as a beautician in her native Ivory Coast. Now the tens of thousands of immigrants who arrive now overseeing her plan to expand it. The fact that she’s ready to expand her tiny corner stall in the with European dreams to give them an opportunity N’Dri, who came as an illegal immigrant four years narrow warren of alleys known as the Senegalese to settle and take advantage of the health and edu- ago, is able to get such advice is a mark of how Market in Casablanca. She plans to install a chair cation system. Already 27,000 migrants living in much Morocco has changed in its attitudes toward next to the racks of hair extensions, cosmetics, plan- Morocco have applied for papers and 18,000 - immigration. tains and bags of manioc, and make her fellow including all of the women and children who migrants beautiful - with the help of local organiza- applied - have received residency. To live with dignity tion providing funds and business advice to new- One new addition to the program, announced “Moroccan society is in the process of changing, comers. last month, is to help the immigrants start small is becoming aware that there are foreign migrants, It is simple dreams like this that could be the businesses. For now, the business program is that they need to work, that they need to live with future face of immigration in Morocco. African restricted to registered refugees and funded by the dignity, that they need the same rights to work, to migrants who originally planned to make the per- UN But soon it will be expanded with funding from housing, to health care as Moroccans,” said the ilous crossing from Morocco to Europe are increas- the European Union to all migrants in Morocco with director of AMAPPE, Said Makhon. The organization ingly deciding instead to set up shop in the North legal status. Morocco has been under pressure from has so far given business support to 300 people and African kingdom, taking advantage of new laws its European neighbors to stem the flow of migrants trained another 90. that make it easier for the migrants to obtain per- using the country as a transit point, and that pres- Caseworkers at AMAPPE will review migrants’ manent residency and work permits here. sure has been a catalyst for the new immigration business plans and then decide how best the policy. If the laws are now favorable for migrants in organization can help them out with small grants. European dreams Morocco, they are also getting a boost from organi- The immigrants who decide to stay, however, face MOSCOW: (From left) Tamerlan Eskerkhanov, Shagid Gubashev and Khamzad Bakhaev “I need a bit of help to grow my business so that zations teaching the newcomers how to make it in challenges making it in a poor country with 10 per- suspected of involvement in the killing of Boris Nemtsov sit in a court room. — AP I can move forward,” said N’dri, thanking the organi- an unfamiliar land. N’Dri is being advised by the cent unemployment and a low growth rate.— AP TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 INTERNATIONAL

India and Sri Lanka work together repatriating thousands of Tamils

NEW DELHI: India said yesterday it was stretch of sea. Sri Lanka this week to strengthen ties and another 37,000 are residing else- crushed by the army in May 2009. “We working with Sri Lanka’s new govern- “We had agreed when Sri Lanka’s for- with its new President Maithripala where in the state, Jaishankar said.ref Sri are discussing a lot of issues with Sri ment to repatriate thousands of ethnic eign minister was here (India) in January Sirisena. Modi is expected to visit Sri Lanka’s new government has said it will Lanka and the issue of reconciliation minority Tamils who fled the island dur- to find ways by which these refugees Lanka’s former war zone and Tamil heart- focus on reconciliation after the features significantly,” said Jaishankar. ing nearly four decades of separatist war. could go back with honor, dignity (and) land of Jaffna during the three-day visit, decades-long war, which claimed an esti- “We want to encourage that process.” Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar safety,” Jaishankar told reporters. “We’ve starting on Friday. mated 100,000 lives and exposed deep Modi’s visit comes a month after Sri said discussions were ongoing for the already had one meeting on the bilateral Sri Lanka’s Tamils share close cultural ethnic divisions. Lanka’s Sirisena travelled to New Delhi return of 100,000 refugees from the side on January 30 to discuss the issue.” ties with those in India’s Tamil Nadu Tamil Tiger rebels fought for outright to rebuild ties hit by tensions over grow- southern state of Tamil Nadu, which is The comments come as India’s Prime state. Some 65,000 refugees are living in independence for their minority com- ing Chinese influence on the strategical- separated from Sri Lanka by a narrow Minister Narendra Modi prepares to visit 109 government-run camps in the state munity in Sri Lanka until they were ly located island. —AFP Kashmir fight blocks Modi’s reform push

SRINAGAR: A ruckus over the release from ment is considering calling a rare joint ses- prison of a man who led the most serious sion of parliament to push through market- revolt in decades against the Indian military friendly laws. in Kashmir is adding to mounting problems “The clock is ticking for the government,” for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he tries deputy finance minister Jayant Sinha said in to push economic reform through parlia- an interview with Mint newspaper pub- ment. The lower house of parliament was lished yesterday. Modi has a majority in the temporarily adjourned yesterday after lower house of parliament but needs cross opposition parties demanded to know why party support in the upper house. The oppo- separatist leader Masarat Alam Bhat was sition stalled proceedings in both houses to released at the weekend by Kashmir’s state protest the release of Bhat, accused of government, which Modi’s nationalist party orchestrating 2010 protests by Kashmiris supports. demanding independence from Indian rule “I am angered and condemn the release, that led to weeks of clashes. More than 100 just like other lawmakers,” Modi said in par- people were shot by Indian troops. liament. “I can assure you that my govern- Bhat’s release is an embarrassment for ment was not informed about the decision Modi’s Bharaitya Janata Party (BJP), which by the state government and neither were for the first time has a role in ruling the we consulted.” Modi swept to office ten Muslim majority state after forming an months ago promising rapid economic unlikely coalition. The Hindu nationalist BJP transformation but disparate opposition wants to bring the contested region into the parties have united to block his agenda, Indian mainstream, while its regional part- forcing the government to rely on executive ner, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), orders called ordinances to pass unpopular supports self rule. Bhat said in an interview policies. with Reuters on Sunday that even though With two weeks remaining of the current he had been released from jail, his life was session of parliament before a recess, the not much better because Kashmir resem- government needs to win support for ordi- bled a prison because of the heavy military nances, including those raising the foreign presence. Kashmir is a longtime source of direct investment limit in the insurance sec- dispute between India and Pakistan, with tor, or they will expire. Under pressure from both countries controlling different parts of investors and voters to perform, the govern- the region and claiming all of it. —Reuters

ISLAMABAD: Supporters of Pakistan’s Mumtaz Qadri, a former police commando who killed Punjab’s governor Salman Taseer, block a highway to protest against a court decision. —AP Death sentence given to ‘blasphemy’ killing in Pak ‘Police commando convicted of killing governor’

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani court yesterday thousands of people on death row but also has change in the future, Raja cautioned. Qadri is upheld the death sentence for a former police a moratorium on carrying out executions. Prime now able to try to strike an out-of-court settle- commando convicted of killing a provincial gov- Minister Nawaz Sharif partially lifted the mora- ment with Taseer’s family - something he would ernor he had accused of blasphemy but threw torium in December, allowing it to be used in not be able to do if he were still facing the ter- out terrorism charges against him. As a member terrorism-related cases. Judge Noorul Haq rorism charges, Raja said. of the Elite Police Force, Mumtaz Qadri was sup- Qureshi read out the decision to a packed court- Under Pakistan’s legal system, people con- posed to be protecting Gov Salman Taseer in room. Qadri’s lawyer, Mian Nazir, said the deci- victed in certain cases can pay so-called “blood 2011 when he shot and killed him in an upscale sion to throw out the terrorism-related charges money” to the families of their victims to gain neighborhood in the capital, Islamabad. was a “big relief” and that he would continue to their freedom. The country’s harsh blasphemy Qadri’s defense was that Taseer opposed appeal against the death sentence. laws allow for anyone convicted of insulting Pakistan’s so-called “blasphemy laws” by sup- Islam or the Prophet Muhammad to be sen- porting a Christian woman charged with Terrorism related tenced to death. Despite this, people often take SRINAGAR: A Kashmiri farmer works on a snow-covered rice field after fresh allegedly desecrating Islam’s holy book, the Pakistani legal expert Salman Akram Raja the law into their own hands, killing those snowfall yesterday. —AFP Quran. Qadri was convicted and sentenced later said the decision puts Qadri in a “relatively bet- accused of blasphemy. A group of Qadri’s sup- that year. Even though the court on Monday ter position” since his case is no longer a terror- porters gathered outside the court on Monday upheld the death sentence, it is unclear ism-related case, for which authorities can now blocked a main road and chanted slogans whether it will ever be carried out. Pakistan has carry out the death penalty. But that could against the decision. —AFP NDTV protests documentary ban with a blank screen Arrests rise to 42 in rapist lynching NEW DELHI: An Indian news network tweet in solidarity with NDTV’s protest,” ran a blank screen for an hour in protest tweeted Tushar Gandhi, the great grand- NEW DELHI: Indian police said yesterday they have ple stormed the Dimapur Central Prison on Thursday after 18 were arrested Sunday in an initial sweep. at a controversial government ban on son of India’s independence hero charged 42 people after the killing and lynching of a to snatch Khan, stripping him naked and beating Tensions had been rising in Dimapur ahead of the airing a documentary about the savage Mahatma Gandhi. “India’s Daughter”, by rape suspect who was dragged from his prison cell, him to death with sticks in the streets before string- incident after Bengali-speaking Khan was arrested gang-rape of a Delhi student. NDTV award-winning British filmmaker Leslee with more arrests overnight. Police have charged the ing him up to a clock tower. on February 24 for allegedly raping a 19-year-old broadcast a blank screen with only a Udwin, was due to be shown in seven men with rioting, arson and unlawful assembly over “Some of these 42 arrested men were also direct- tribal woman multiple times. flickering lamp in the background for an countries including India and Britain on the attack by a frenzied mob on Syed Farid Khan in ly involved in the lynching of the rape suspect Khan, Eighteen people were arrested on Sunday over hour from 9pm to 10pm on Sunday, Sunday. northeastern Nagaland state, widely condemned as and will face additional charges,” Inspector General the attack in Dimapur where hundreds of riot police when it was due to have shown the doc- The BBC brought forward its showing a barbaric act of vigilante justice. Thousands of peo- of Police, Wabang Jamir, said from Dimapur city, have been patrolling the streets in case of further umentary, “India’s Daughter”, to mark of the film to Wednesday after India trouble. The lynching comes as India is in the midst International Women’s Day. announced its ban, citing intense public of a raging controversy over a government order to The channel has made no public interest. The father of the victim, who ban the broadcast of a documentary about the comment about the ban, but its editorial died of injuries sustained during the December 2012 fatal gang-rape of a young student director Sonia Singh tweeted ahead of shocking attack in 2012, has said every- in New Delhi. the protest, “we won’t shout but we will one should watch the documentary, India has seen an outpouring of anger over fright- be heard”. India obtained a court order which showed “the bitter truth” about ening levels of violence against women since the banning the film, which included an attitudes to women in India. Officials at 2012 attack, which sparked shock both within India interview with one of the convicted the jail where Singh is being held said and around the world. But the lynching is also linked rapists, Mukesh Singh, last Tuesday on they had asked the BBC not to show the to ethnic tensions in Nagaland, whose indigenous the grounds it risked fuelling public documentary, claiming Udwin had vio- tribal groups have for years accused growing num- anger. Home Minister Rajnath Singh said lated the terms of the agreement allow- bers of Muslim migrants from neighboring Assam comments in which Singh blamed the ing her to interview the prisoner. But state and Bangladesh of settling on their land and 23-year-old victim and said she should Udwin said yesterday she had complied eating into resources. The mob overpowered security not have been out at night were “highly fully with the agreement. India’s Prime at the prison on Thursday searching for Khan, whom derogatory and an affront to the dignity Minister Narendra Modi, a vocal champi- Nagaland’s government initially said was a of women”. on of women’s rights in India, has so far Bangladeshi immigrant. Jamir said the city was The ban triggered a storm of protest made no comment on the row. On “slowly returning back to normal” with police lifting in India, and many people welcomed Sunday he urged an end to all forms of a curfew, but internet and mobile restrictions would NDTV’s move. “Well done NDTV for discrimination against women, tweeting remain for another 48 hours. “Complete curfew deciding to go off air for one hour... Very that “our heads hang in shame when we orders have been relaxed today but some prohibito- innovative and powerful,” Rifat Jawaid hear of instances of crime against DIMAPUR: A woman walks through a market as residents shop during six-hour break ry orders still continue,” Jamir said from Dimapur, tweeted. “Wish I could post a blank women”. —AFP in a round-the-clock curfew. —AFP around 1,660 kilometers east of New Delhi. —AFP China says Dalai Lama ‘profanes’ Buddhism

BEIJING: Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader his homeland in 1959 after an abortive Religious profanity Tibetan Buddhism.” custom was is historically disputed. China rou- the Dalai Lama is profaning Buddhism by uprising against Chinese rule, has said he “If the central government had not Exiles worry that China might just simply tinely rejects criticism of its policies in Tibet, suggesting that he will not be reincarnat- thinks the title could end when he dies. He approved it, how could he have become the appoint their own successor. In 1995, after the saying its rule, since Communist Chinese ed when he dies, the Chinese-appointed has also stated that he will not be reborn 14th Dalai Lama? He couldn’t. It has a serious Dalai Lama named a boy in Tibet as the rein- troops “peacefully liberated” the region in governor of Tibet said yesterday, in some in China if Tibet is not free and that no procedure,” Padma Choling, an ethnic Tibetan carnation of the previous Panchen Lama, the 1950, ended serfdom and brought develop- of China’s strongest comments to date on one, including China, has the right to himself, told reporters. “I think that, in fact, he second highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism, ment to a backward, poverty-stricken region. the subject. choose his successor “for political ends”. is profaning religion and Tibetan Buddhism,” China put that boy under house arrest and Beijing says the Dalai Lama, who fled to India Tibetan Buddhism holds that the soul Speaking on the sidelines of the annual he said, adding that the Dalai Lama was trying installed another in his place. after the 1959 uprising, is a “wolf in sheep’s of a senior lama is reincarnated in the meeting of parliament, Tibet governor to usurp Beijing’s right to decide. “If he says no Many Tibetans spurn the Chinese-appoint- clothing” who seeks to use violent methods to body of a child on his death. China says Padma Choling accused the Dalai Lama of reincarnation then no reincarnation? ed Panchen Lama as a fake. China’s officially establish an independent Tibet. The Dalai the tradition must continue and it must flip-flopping with his various pronounce- Impossible. Nobody in Tibetan Buddhism atheist Communist Party says it has inherited Lama says he only wants genuine autonomy approve the next Dalai Lama. ments on the issue, and of hypocrisy see- would agree to that,” he added. “We must the right of the old emperors to sign off on for Tibet and denies advocating independ- But the Nobel peace laureate, who fled ing as he himself was reincarnated. respect history, respect and not profane reincarnations, though how important the ence or violence. —Reuters TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 INTERNATIONAL Four Filipinos among the abducted in Libya

MANILA: Four Filipinos and five other an Austrian and a Filipino who worked “These underscore the escalating years, with rival governments and pow- percent of Filipinos work overseas. “In foreigners were abducted in an attack for a services company-were missing threat to the safety and security of erful militias battling for control of key view of this worsening situation we on a Libyan oilfield last week, the after the attack. Filipino oil workers in Libyan oil fields cities and the country’s oil riches. appeal once again to the estimated Philippines government said yesterday, Philippines foreign department which have been targeted by armed There were 13,000 Filipinos working 4,000 plus Filipinos who are still in after an assault Libyan officials blamed spokesman Charles Jose said Manila’s groups in recent weeks,” he told a news in Libya when the Philippine govern- Libya to get in touch with our embassy on Islamic State jihadists. Eight guards embassy in Tripoli reported four conference. A total of seven Filipinos ment ordered mandatory repatriation in Tripoli,” Jose said. VAOS Oil Services, were killed in the surprise attack on the Filipinos and five foreigners had been have now been abducted in the North in July 2014, the foreign department an Austrian contractor for the Al-Ghani southern oilfield of Al-Ghani on Friday, snatched, including the Austrian, two African state this year, Jose said, and said. The government and private oilfield, had evacuated dozens of other the Libyan unit tasked with protecting Bangladeshis, a Czech national and a the fate of another three seized in the employers have since brought many Filipino workers to the Libyan capital oil installations has said. Ghanian. He said he could not confirm Al-Mabruk oilfield early last month home, but about 4,000 others have before the attack, Jose said, adding that The Libyan National Oil Company the identity of the kidnappers, and that remains unknown. Libya has been remained, lured by salaries they could many will now return to the also said at the time that two foreigners no demands had been issued. wracked by conflict for the past four not expect in the Philippines. About 10 Philippines. — AFP WWII fire bombings of Jap an cities still ignored

TOKYO: It was not Hiroshima or Nagasaki, up like that,” said Ohtake. After about two but in many ways, including lives lost, it was hours and 40 minutes, the B-29s left. just as horrific. On March 10, 1945, US B-29 Survivors speak of the hush as dawn bombers flew over Tokyo in the dead of broke over a wasteland of corpses and night, dumping massive payloads of cluster debris, studded by chimneys of bathhouses bombs equipped with a then-recent inven- and small factories. Police photographer tion: napalm. A fifth of Tokyo was left a smol- Koyo Ishikawa captured the carnage of dering expanse of charred bodies and rub- charred bodies piled like blackened man- ble. Today, a modest floral monument in a nequins, tiny ones lying beside them. “It was downtown park honors the spirits of the as if the world had ended,” said Nihei, whose 105,400 confirmed dead, many interred in father sheltered her under his body, as oth- common graves. ers piled on top and were burned and suffo- It was the deadliest conventional air raid cated. All her family survived. Michiko Kiyo- ever, worse than Nagasaki and on par with oka, a 21-year-old government worker living Hiroshima. But the attack, and similar ones in the Asakusa district, survived by hiding that followed in more than 60 other under a bridge. “When I crawled out I was so Japanese cities, have received little atten- cold, so I was warming myself near one of tion, eclipsed by the atomic bombings and the piles that was still smoldering. I could Japan’s postwar rush to rebuild. Haruyo see an arm. I could see nostrils. But I was Nihei, just 8 when the bombs fell, was numb to that by then,” she said. “The smell is among many survivors who kept silent. A one that will never leave me.” half-century passed before she even shared her experiences with her own son. “Our par- Fighting to be remembered ents would just say, ‘That’s a different era,’” From January 1944-August 1945, the US Nihei said. “They wouldn’t talk about it. And dropped 157,000 tons of bombs on I figured my own family wouldn’t under- Japanese cities, according to the US stand.” Now, as their numbers dwindle, sur- Strategic Bombing Survey. It estimated that vivors are determined to tell their stories 333,000 people were killed, including the while they still can. 80,000 killed in the Aug. 6 Hiroshima atomic- bomb attack and 40,000 at Nagasaki three ‘Hellish frenzy’ days later. Other estimates are significantly SYDNEY: People walk in a Sydney park past the spot where a mother from India, IT professional Prabha Arun Kumar, 41, was stabbed to Where earlier raids targeted aircraft fac- higher. Fifteen million of the 72 million death.—AP tories and military facilities, the Tokyo fire- Japanese were left homeless. bombing was aimed largely at civilians, in The bombing campaign set a military places including Tokyo’s downtown precedent for targeting civilian areas that Shitamachi area, where people lived in tradi- persisted into the Korean and Vietnam wars Indian mother killed while tional wood and paper homes at densities and beyond. But the non-atomic attacks sometimes exceeding 100,000 people per have been largely overlooked. “Both gov- square mile. ernments, the press, media, radio, even nov- on phone with husband “There were plenty of small factories, but elists ... decided the crucial story was the this area was chosen specifically because it atomic bomb,” said Mark Selden, a Cornell was easy to burn,” says historian Masahiko University history professor. “This allowed Yamabe, who was born just months after them to avoid addressing some very impor- Fatally stabbed in a Sydney park the war’s end. Another departure from earli- tant questions.” er raids: the bombers flew low. “It was as if Survivors of the Tokyo firebombing feel SYDNEY: An Indian mother was fatally stabbed who has been in the country for some time, Sarada, told The Daily Telegraph. Instead she we could reach out and touch the planes, their pain has been forgotten, by history and in a Sydney park during a brutal attack as she going about her business and ends up being decided to walk, and was attacked near a quiet, they looked so big,” said Yoshitaka Kimura, by the government. After the war, only vet- was on the phone to her distraught husband killed in a very vicious way.” Police appealed for tree-lined path where bouquets of flowers were whose family’s toy store in downtown erans and victims of the atomic bombings back home, police said yesterday. Prabha Arun help from the public, releasing footage of Kumar yesterday left in her honor. Kumar was found by Tokyo’s Asakusa was destroyed. “The bombs received special support. “We civilians had Kumar, a 41-year-old IT professional, was taking walking from Parramatta Railway Station. a passer-by shortly after the attack and rushed were raining down on us. Red, and black, no weapons and no strength to fight,” Kiyo- a shortcut through Parramatta Park in the city’s “It’s a horrific crime. It’s a very, very disturbing to hospital, but had lost too much blood and that’s what I remember most.” Nihei, now 78, oka said. “We were attacked and got no west at around 9.30pm on Saturday when she crime,” Willing added. “We think that she sus- doctors were unable to save her. She was just was mesmerized as she watched from a rail- compensation. I am very dissatisfied with was killed. Family members told Indian media tained a number of injuries to the neck area with 300 meters from home. way embankment. “It was a blazing how the government handled this.” No spe- that the woman was speaking with her husband, what we believe is a sharp-edged weapon.” “I don’t know how I am going to face her firestorm. I saw a baby catch fire on its moth- cific government agency handles civilian G Arun Kumar, at the time and he heard her Police said there was nothing to suggest the husband,” Sarada said. “She is very close to her er’s back, and she couldn’t put out the fire. I survivors of fire bombings or keeps their scream for help. “She was walking while talking murder of Kumar, who planned to move back to husband and her daughter. “She talks to them saw a horse being led by its owner. The records, because there is no legal basis for to Arun on the phone when she said that a sus- India in April to be with her husband and nine- every day, as soon as she finishes work she horse balked and the cargo on its back that, said Manabu Oki at the Internal Affairs picious-looking man was following her,” brother- year-old daughter, was racially motivated. “Could calls her husband and keeps talking. She has a caught fire, then its tail, and it burned alive, and Communications Ministry. Yamabe, the in-law Thrijesh Jayachandra told Indian newspa- this be a random attack? Well, yes it could. It good family.” No arrests have been made so far. as the owner just stood there and burned historian, said authorities “are reluctant to per The Hindu. could be a whole range of scenarios... and we are A spate of violent crimes against Indian stu- with it,” she said. Firefighter Isamu Kase was acknowledge civilian suffering from the “The next moment he heard her screams for considering all of them,” Willing said. dents in Australia in 2010, including the mur- on duty at a train parts factory. He jumped wartime leaders’ refusal to end the war earli- help and then plead with the man not to harm der of 21-year-old Nitin Garg as he walked to onto a pump truck when the attack began, er.” (her) and take all her belongings if he wanted. ‘Very close’ family work at a fast-food restaurant in Melbourne, knowing the job was impossible. “It was a “If they don’t disclose such data, it can’t be Seconds later, he heard her scream and say she The dead woman’s flat mate said Kumar had heightened tensions between the two coun- hellish frenzy, absolutely horrible. People discussed. If the victims remain anonymous was stabbed.” The husband jetted into Australia probably not wanted to bother anyone to ask for tries. But the number of tourists visiting from were just jumping into the canals to escape then there’s less pressure for compensation,” yesterday and was helping police with their a lift home after finishing work late and arriving India has picked up since, and India’s charis- the inferno,” said Kase, 89. He said he sur- said Yamabe, a researcher at the privately investigation. “He’s understandably extremely at Parramatta train station at 9pm.”Because she matic leader Narendra Modi described warmer vived because he didn’t jump in the water, funded Tokyo Air Raid and War Damages distressed,” homicide squad commander Michael was working late regularly, she felt bad to ask for relations between the nations as “natural” dur- but his burns were so severe he was hospi- Resource Center, Japan’s main source of infor- Willing said. “Here we have an Indian national help,” her flat mate, who asked to be identified as ing a 2014 visit. —AFP talized for 15 years. mation about the fire bombings. Split-second choices like that determined Some survivors now refuse to be anony- who lived and who died. Kimura, a 7-year- mous. Nihei often travels from the distant old, escaped the flames as he was blown suburbs to the Tokyo Air Raid center to share into the entrance of a big department store her story with students and other visitors. MH370 report sparks while running toward the Sumida River, Years ago, Ohtake began walking the city to where tens of thousands of people died: draw up guide maps of areas destroyed by burned, crushed, drowned or suffocated in the bombings - maps the resource center the firestorm. Masaharu Ohtake, then 13, now uses. “The United States went too far new criticism of govt fled his family’s noodle shop with a friend. with the firebombing, but I don’t quite Turned back by firefighters, they headed understand why the Japanese government KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s han- maintenance “oversight”. But the air- traffic controller, pressed by Malaysia much to the fact now that we know toward Tokyo Bay and again were ordered and the rest of the Japanese don’t talk about dling of Flight MH370’s disappear- line said the battery on the separate Airlines for information on the plane nothing about the whereabouts of back. The boys crouched in a factory yard, this very much,” he said. “We are not just sta- ance faced new criticism yesterday cockpit voice recorder-good for 30 four hours after it vanished, said he our loved ones,” it said in an emailed waiting as flames consumed their neighbor- tistics. I don’t think we’ll still be around for after an interim investigation uncov- days once activated-was up-to-date would go and “wake up my supervi- statement to AFP. hood. “We saw a fire truck heaped with a the 80th anniversary,” Ohtake said. “So the ered a dud beacon battery and more and would have transmitted a signal sor” to help. Responding to the The director of Malaysia’s Civil mountain of bones. It was hard to under- 70th anniversary is pretty much the last potential missed opportunities to once it hit water. report, Voice370, an international Aviation Department, Azharuddin stand how so many bodies could be piled chance for us to speak up.”—AP track the plane a year ago. The inter- It added that the carrier had “tak- association of relatives, lambasted Abdul Rahman, declined comment to national investigation team set up by en significant steps to improve safe- authorities for a response “full of AFP on the radar issue. Transport Malaysia released its interim report ty” since MH370 was lost. The plane chaotic confusion”, saying that Minister Liow Tiong Lai said in a on Sunday, the first anniversary of vanished at night over the South “tremendous precious rescue time statement yesterday the contents of the disappearance. It contained no China Sea after turning away from its was lost” to intercept the plane. the report were a matter of “serious new clues on what caused the plane north-bound route from Kuala “(We) believe this has contributed concern”.— AFP to vanish with 239 passengers and Lumpur to Beijing. The government crew aboard. and state-controlled airline came But analysts and next of kin raised under fire in the crisis’s chaotic early questions over some findings, includ- days for a series of confusing and ing the revelation that the beacon contradictory statements. Previously, battery on the flight data recorder Malaysian authorities said the plane had expired more than a year before dropped off civilian radar after sys- the flight. “I hope the international tems allowing its position to be aviation body punishes Malaysia tracked appear to have been dis- Airlines for non-compliance with abled on board-but remained on mil- regards to the expired battery,” said itary radar for some time as it flew Lim Wee Hoon, a Malaysian national west toward the Indian Ocean. whose brother-in-law was aboard. Malaysia’s military did not act, She called the report part of a infuriating relatives over the missed continuing Malaysian “cover-up”. The opportunity to follow the plane. But battery discovery “raises issues over the investigative report, citing radar the integrity of maintenance” at the records, said a blip “consistent” with carrier, said Greg Waldron, Asia man- the military radar data actually did aging editor for Flightglobal maga- appear on civilian screens several zine. “Did that play a role in the times for about 30 minutes after the inability to find the plane? We really plane diverted and doubled back don’t know if that was a factor,” he over Malaysia. The report did not said. The plane is believed to have mention any reaction by civilian crashed in the remote southern authorities to this blip. Waldron said Indian Ocean, but nothing has been it “looks like it was MH370,” but the found despite an expensive and diffi- report does not clearly state that it cult search effort led by Australia. was. TOKYO: This combo of two photos shows initial destruction and reconstruction after the ‘Maintenance oversight’ Dozing supervisor March 10, 1945 firebombing. The top photo shows survivors commute near an incendi- In a statement yesterday, Malaysia The report also included a tran- ary bombed Kamiya Bar, (left) and Matsuya Asakusa department store, right after KUALA LAMPUR: A woman walks past placards highlighting the missing Airlines called the battery issue a script in which a Kuala Lumpur air- Tokyo firebombing.—AP Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, during a remembrance event. — AFP NEWS TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015

KUWAIT: Protesters rally in front of the National Assembly to demand the release of opposition leader Musallam Al-Barrak yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat Saudi interests may diverge from Egypt

CAIRO: Under its new monarch, Saudi Arabia appears to be moving to improve The new Saudi king, Salman, who rose to throne after his half-brother think is people’s reaction?” Sisi said, visibly angry as he spoke before the visit to relations with Turkey and Qatar and soften its stance against the Muslim Abdullah’s Jan 23 death, appears to view the greater threat as Iran or extremist the Saudi-owned channel Al-Arabiya. He was alluding to the Brotherhood and its Brotherhood with the aim of weakening Iran. The shift could lead to pressure on groups like Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group. Turkey and Qatar both could foreign backers. its ally Egypt to reconcile with them as well. The pressure, however, threatens to give a boost to a front against those opponents. “The new government, the new As part of their growing alliance, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations have open frictions within the alliance between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, two of the king, may feel that the old ways simply are not working,” said Brian Downing, a given Egypt billions of dollars to prop up its crippled economy. Still, there have Middle East’s strongest Sunni countries. Under the late Saudi King Abdullah, who Washington-based political analyst. been divergences between Egypt and Saudi Arabia - most particularly over Syria. died in January, the two nations increased their cooperation against militants, Both Sisi and Turkish President Receb Tayyip Erdogan were in Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia seeks the removal of Iranian-backed Syrian President Bashar Al- the Brotherhood and the influence of Shiite Iran in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and last week, each meeting separately with Salman and not with each other. Assad. That is one reason for its closing ranks with Qatar and Turkey, which both Yemen. Afterward, Erdogan told reporters that “Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey - this trio back factions fighting Assad. Sisi, meanwhile, consistently has avoided saying Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi - so far - has appeared to resist any - are the most important countries of the region. We all have duties to carry out whether Egypt objects to Assad remaining in power. Earlier this year, he had a reconciliation with Turkey and Qatar, the two top regional backers of Sisi’s No. 1 for the peace, calm and welfare of the region.” very public reconciliation with Qatar, but then ties cooled once more. The Saudi nemesis, the Muslim Brotherhood. Sisi rose to the presidency after, as army chief, Salman and Sisi discussed the issue of Egypt’s relations with Qatar and Turkey, government traditionally divulges little about its plans, leaving media commenta- he led the military’s 2013 ouster of Mohamed Morsi, a Brotherhood leader elect- according to Egyptian officials familiar with the talks. Sisi told his host that the tors close to its leaders the job of explaining its rationale. The state-linked Saudi ed Egypt’s president a year earlier. Since the ouster, Sisi has led a fierce crack- two’s policies continue to spread violence and terror in the region. The officials newspaper Okaz, for example, declared last week that Saudi-Egyptian relations down on Islamists, crushing the Brotherhood and branding it a terrorist organi- spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to have “entered a new turning point”. It said the kingdom is trying to “achieve closer zation, while Egyptian media have depicted Turkey and Qatar as trying to desta- the media. “I want to tell our brothers in Saudi Arabia who are listening to us: viewpoints between its sister Egypt and other countries in the region for the good bilize Egypt by backing the group. Imagine someone is trying to destroy a nation of 90 million people. What do you and benefit of all”. — AP

Three MPs hand over unlicensed firearms Intrigued by arms Continued from Page 1 versial cases regarding a private company called Continued from Page 1 one during a wedding celebration. By the way, shooting Advantage which the government partially financed and at weddings is a well-known ritual in the Arab world Maayouf welcomed the move and called on more MPs the case of alleged wrongdoings in the expenses of the That’s the difference between us and them. Arms must despite the many disastrous accidents that have hap- to follow suit to set an example for the people. Tameemi Gulf Football Cup organized in Kuwait several years ago, be licensed even in Kuwait, but few are. And even if you pened because of it. Still, people do not change and stick said that he took the initiative in response to the law and Turaiji said. He said the committee is scheduled to start apply for a license, not many will be approved and it will to keeping and using their arms inappropriately. in order to emphasize that only the state should have investigations next week. likely require wasta - of course. So I don’t think even if lawmakers came and handed firearms and not the people. Meanwhile, the court of cassation yesterday delayed to Still it’s wrong, in my opinion, that the public have so over a few pistols or Kalashnikovs, it will make a differ- In another development, head of the Assembly’s pub- rule on a petition by lawyers of jailed opposition leader many personal weapons. In the surrounding nations, I ence. Everyone will think they probably have more at lic funds protection committee MP Abdullah Al-Turaiji said Musallam Al-Barrak calling to release him on bail as the know for a fact that it’s very common that individuals home and few are likely to be impressed or guided by the yesterday the panel plans to re-investigate the case of the court looks into the case. Thamer Al-Jadaei, one of the have arms in their homes, be it Yemen, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, lawmakers to do the same. Most people, at least 60 to 75 joint venture with US giant Dow Chemical which Kuwait defense lawyers, said that the court was awaiting a report Syria, Lebanon, etc, etc. People in this part of the world percent, will not willingly hand over their weapons. Is the unilaterally scrapped in 2008 and as a result paid over $2.2 from the public prosecution on the matter and expected love guns. ministry ready to go in every house and do a search? And billion in fines. The deal was probed several times in the the report to reach the court early next week. Barrak start- How many times have we heard of a story that teens even if they do, searches are not likely to find everything. Assembly but reached no decisive conclusion to why ed last week serving a two-year jail term issued by the fighting over a dispute end up shooting each other with It’s a great initiative and it will help a little bit, Kuwait rushed the payment of the massive fine. court of appeals and has challenged the sentence to the their fathers’ guns? Or people kill themselves by mistake insha’Allah. But I think people will remain intrigued by The committee will also investigate two other contro- cassation court, whose rulings are final. while cleaning their weapons or someone shoots some- arms for the future. TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 ANALYSIS

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Focus Tea party may be on verge of being new party

By Steven R Hurst

he political chaos in the first two months of the new Congress, despite Republican control in Tboth houses, may signal that the tea party is morphing into a quasi-third party, a deeply conserva- tive band of legislators who routinely thwart Republican vows of effective government. Most recently, a group of tea party Republicans forced House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner to turn to Democrats to pass a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, particularly strik- ing at a time when the U.S. is battling Islamic State group attempts to hold huge parts of Syria and Iraq and wreak havoc in North Africa. The battle over Homeland Security funding hinged on 52 Republicans who refused to approve the meas- Franco symbols live on in Spain ure unless it included a section that would overturn President Barack Obama’s executive action that tem- porarily lifted the threat of deportation for millions of By Ingrid Bazinet symbols but this is the first time that so seeing victims of the Franco era pay with built in the 1950s to commemorate the vic- people in the country illegally. While the Republican many mayors have been targeted at once, their taxes for the upkeep of the dictator’s tory of Franco’s forces, is another disturbing advantage in the House is 245-188, the largest majori- our decades after the death of dicta- said Ranz. tomb,” said Emilio Silva, the founder and leftover from the regime, said Silva. “It is ty in 70 years, Boehner was finally forced to rely on tor Francisco Franco, Spain has not president of the Association for the located 800 metres from the official resi- completely turned the page on his ‘Taxes for Franco’s Tomb’ Recovery of Historical Memory (ARMH), dence of the prime minister and none of Democrats on a key vote to fund the department. F dictatorship as dozens of monuments hon- After Franco died in 1975, Spain’s transi- which represents victims of Franco. them in these 40 years has taken steps to It was a huge embarrassment for Boehner person- ouring his regime are still scattered across tion to democracy included an agreement “This does not happen in any other remove it or change its meaning,” he said. ally and the Republicans more largely. The speaker the country. “It would be inconceivable to among political parties to put the war and democratic country in the world,” added “It is public recognition for people who par- kept a brave face, siding with tea party demands on see a statue of the Fuhrer in Germany or of the Franco era behind them in the interest Silva, whose grandfather was shot by ticipated in the assassination of 100,000 immigration until he had to quietly change tactics, Il Duce in Italy,” said Eduardo Ranz, a 30- of unity and rebuilding. Both sides in the Franco’s forces in 1936 near Leon in north- civilians,” he added. dropping the extraneous measure so the department year-old lawyer who is leading efforts to would not go unfunded, at least for a week. Full fund- have the Franco symbols removed. “It ‘Humiliation’ ing then passed the House with 182 Democrats in the would be like if in Germany a victim of Just over 113,000 civilians disappeared chamber voting for it, along with 75 Republicans. But Nazis saw a swastika in the streets. It’s during Spain’s civil war and the early years unthinkable.” of the Franco dictatorship that followed, 167 Republicans voted against it, a striking rebuke to But in the Spanish city of Melilla, border- according to Silva’s association. Of these Boehner. ing Morocco, a bronze statue of the dicta- only the remains of around 6,000 victims of Republican Rep Tim Huelskamp, one of Boehner’s tor who ruled Spain with an iron fist from Franco’s forces have been found, mainly in strongest critics, said a fierce struggle between estab- the end of the country’s Civil War in 1939 mass graves, and given a proper burial, lishment Republicans and “grassroots conservatives” and his death in November 1975 is still on Silva said. Other Franco-era symbols that is brewing. “The war is on,” he said. And that likely will display. Ranz filed a lawsuit on Feb 11 to remain in Madrid include a plaque in the show itself in continued infighting within party ranks demand that 38 mayors from across the Royal Palace of El Pardo where Franco lived and between the House and the Senate over pending country remove the 86 symbols of the and two stone shields in the Palace of the issues like passing a budget, increasing the nation’s Franco dictatorship that are still on display Holy Cross, home to Spain’s foreign min- their public spaces. That date marks the istry. borrowing authority and passing a new use of force anniversary of the proclamation of the First The municipal governments of Madrid agreement for Obama in the battle against Islamic Spanish Republic in 1873. and Melilla did not reply to requests for State group militants. The mayor of Madrid, Ana Botella, wife comment on the lawsuit. Melilla city hall of former conservative prime minister Jose has refused to remove the statue of Franco, Open Split Maria Aznar, is among those targeted by arguing it honours the military and not the Robin Lauermann, a political scientist at Messiah the lawsuit. Another lawsuit is to be filed dictator. “Spain is a unique case in the dem- College, thinks the “war” Huelskamp speaks of will on April 14, the anniversary of the procla- ocratic world, not just because no one was eventually lead to an open split between tea party mation of the Second Spanish Republic in put on trial over the dictatorship but also Republicans and their more mainstream party col- 1931, targeting Franco symbols linked to because numerous monuments are still religious schools and Spain’s Catholic present,” said Silva. leagues. “I think it continues until you have the fatal A photo taken on Feb 18, 2015 shows the Arco de la Victoria (Victory Arch) Church, which was close to the dictator- Chon Vargas, whose union leader grand- error, the fatal decision that does not get made that ship. “The goal is to restore dignity to the in Madrid. Spanish dictator Francisco Franco had it built in 1956 as a tribute father was executed by shooting following creates a catastrophe, or the fatal decision that does victims of the Franco regime, to stop us to his Nationalist army who defeated the republicans during the Spanish a summary trial in 1939, said the symbols get made,” Lauermann said. from being humiliated as a country, to Civil War (1936-1939). —AFP were a “humiliation” for the families of That could well happen over Obama’s health care improve our history as a nation and home- Franco’s victims. Her mother Ascension program, she said. The US Supreme Court is preparing land, and respect the law,” said Ranz. conflict - Franco’s Nationalists and the western Spain. Silva was referring to the Mendieta lives on a street named after five to rule later this year on the constitutionality of a part He was referring to a 2007 law that man- Republicans of the leftist government he Valley of the Fallen, a huge mausoleum to brothers who fought for Franco’s forces of the law. If the court rules against the government, dates removal of all remaining Franco sym- ousted -committed atrocities but under a the late dictator just outside of Madrid that during the civil war who had a reputation Obamacare could be gutted. While the program isn’t bols from public buildings, with some 1977 amnesty, no war crimes trials were was built largely by prisoners drawn from for being especially cruel. “I want the name exceptions allowed for works of particular held. Addressing this dark chapter of the forces Franco had defeated in the civil of this street to be changed. Jews received widely popular in the United States, a sufficient num- religious or artistic significance. There have Spanish history has been largely taboo. “We war. reparation. We also demand it,” said Vargas. ber of people have begun to see the benefit and could been other lawsuits against Franco-era have arrived at the paradoxical situation of The 50-m high Victory Arch of Madrid, —AFP turn against Republicans. That may force the main- stream to kick out the tea party so that mainstream Republicans can begin to find acceptable replacement legislation. England’s rotting carcass laid bare James Riddlesperger, political scientist at Texas Christian University, says the tea party is the right-wing By Ed Osmond months earlier, giving Eoin Morgan just two success at number three in the Tri-Series, was recently, and Alex Hales, an explosive hitter at fringe of a mainstream Republican party that realizes it months to stamp his authority on the side. dropped down to number six. the top of the order, was left kicking his heels must “close the gap with Democrats on some things” if ngland’s dismal showing at the World Cup Reaching the Tri-Series final in Australia offered a on the sidelines until being called up to face government is to function with any sort of normalcy. proved once and for all how far they have glimmer of hope for the World Cup campaign Explosive Hitter Bangladesh. Reliable off-spinner James That’s what happened with Boehner when the chamber Efallen behind the other test-playing but that was quickly undermined by inexplica- Gary Ballance was installed at number Tredwell was also repeatedly overlooked finally voted to fund the Homeland Security without nations in one-day cricket but it should have ble team changes. James Taylor, an unqualified three, having played little competitive cricket despite the struggles of a pedestrian seam demands for repeal of Obama’s immigration tactics. come as no surprise. The team’s early exit from attack of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and, That reality will leave the tea party more isolated as the tournament was confirmed by a 15-run loss particularly, Steven Finn. Coach Peter Moores Republicans look forward to the 2016 presidential con- to Bangladesh in Adelaide yesterday, but in reali- must take his fair share of the blame. His statis- test. “It’s one thing to get the Republican nomination ty England’s decline has been caused by a deep- tic-dominated preparations have long been for president, but it’s another thing to win the national rooted lack of tactical acumen and flawed plan- questioned and he has clearly failed to moti- election,” Riddlesperger said. “You have people saying ning. While teams like Australia, India, New vate a team which does include talented one- Jeb Bush is the front-runner, and while that may be Zealand and South Africa regularly post scores day cricketers, notably wicketkeeper Jos true, Jeb Bush is not going to be a candidate that of 350-400, England still try to nudge and nurdle Buttler and opener Moeen Ali. appeals to the tea party.” —AP the ball around for 40 overs before launching a Morgan is a fine limited-overs batsman but desperate late assault. he has been out for nought four times in his last They are pleased to get past 300, a target eight innings, suggesting he failed to cope well that does not challenge sides stocked with the with the extra demands of captaincy. There will All articles appearing on these flailing blades of David Warner, Virat Kohli, be an inevitable clamour for the recall of Kevin pages are the personal opinion of Brendon McCullum and AB de Villiers. The Pietersen, a notion that was given credibility English seam bowling attack is toothless and last weekend when new England and Wales the writers. Kuwait Times takes no lacking in guile, powerless to stem the flow of Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves said it was responsibility for views expressed boundaries, and results at the World Cup have a possibility. That appeared to contradict what therein. Kuwait Times invites read- been embarrassing. They lost by 111 runs to ECB managing director Paul Downton said ers to voice their opinions. Please Australia, by eight wickets to New Zealand and recently and it is ironic that the future of the send submissions via email to: opin- by nine wickets to Sri Lanka, all completely one- gifted but high-maintenance Pietersen is again sided mismatches in which England were out- on the agenda just over a year after he was [email protected] or via snail played in every aspect of the game. sacked for undermining team morale. That situ- mail to PO Box 1301 Safat, Kuwait. But it was no real shock given the chaotic ation epitomises the muddled state of English The editor reserves the right to edit preparations for the tournament. Alastair Cook England batsman James Taylor reacts after he was dismissed by Bangladesh cricket, the carcass of which was again laid bare any submission as necessary. was sacked as one-day captain in December, a bowler Taskin Ahmed during their Cricket World Cup Pool A match in in a traumatic and humbling World Cup cam- decision which should have been taken six Adelaide yesterday. Bangladesh defeated England by 15 runs. —AP paign. —Reuters TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 SPORTS

‘Great man’ Zola fired UAE to host Asian Cup Di Maria can inspire Utd MILAN: Gianfranco Zola was fired as coach of relegation-threatened BAHRAIN: United Arab Emirates were, as expected, named hosts of the LONDON: Angel Di Maria, whose form has declined since his British record trans- Cagliari yesterday after 10 Serie A games in charge despite the club 2019 Asian Cup yesterday after beating outsiders Iran to stage the expand- fer from Real Madrid to Manchester United, can still play an important role in his describing him as “a great man” who had brought them international pres- ed 24-team tournament. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) side’s quest for success this season, according to assistant manager Ryan Giggs. tige. The former Napoli, Chelsea and Italy forward, who finished his playing announced the safe bet decision after a meeting of their executive com- The 27-year-old Argentine became the most expensive player signed by a British career with the Sardinians in 2005, managed two wins, two draws and six mittee in Bahrain yesterday. club when he joined United for 59.7 million pounds ($90.3 million) last year but defeats, leaving Cagliari joint 18th in the 20-team table and four points Iran’s hopes were always hindered by the unwillingness to allow women after scoring three times in his first five league matches, he has not found the net adrift of the safety zone. to attend matches at home, a decision FIFA president Sepp Blatter labelled since January. “Cagliari announce that Gianfranco Zola and his staff have been “intolerable” on Friday after he claimed he had been given hope in 2013 “He’s a quality player and we’ll be looking for him to produce because it is big relieved of the technical leadership of the first team,” said the Sardinian that it would be overturned. Iran is also subject to western sanctions over game after big game now,” Giggs said before United play holders Arsenal in an FA club in a statement. its nuclear programme, which has made it difficult for the country’s foot- Cup quarter-final on Monday. However, they added: “It was a decision which was taken ball association to host friendly matches, a vital source of income for the “Players get used to different leagues, sometimes quickly and reluctantly against a great man who has written unforget- federation, which has hit the men’s team. The UAE have proved to be a safe sometimes it takes a bit of time. “He had a really good start to table pages in the history of Cagliari, bringing brilliance pair of hands in organising global soccer events, having staged the 2009 the season but with players who take risks and who can win and giving international prestige to the land of Sardinia. games it’s always difficult to be consistent because they will try “He and his staff depart with thanks for the work they and 2010 FIFA Club World Cups and the FIFA under-17 World Cup in 2013. The UAE and Iran were the only runners to host the Asian Cup after ear- things that other players won’t do. have done in recent months, carried out with dedication, “They’re capable of doing that and that’s why they’re ly interest from China, Bahrain, Lebanon, Malaysia, Oman, Thailand and professionalism and passion. We wish him heartfelt good match-winners and the best players.” While things have luck for the rest of his career.” Zola, who was born on the Saudi Arabia failed to materialise into a concrete bid. not gone well on the field for the Argentine, they have Mediterranean island, was appointed on Christmas Eve, The UAE will use six stadiums in three cities, two in Abu Dhabi, two in been even worse off it. The 4 million-pound house he replacing veteran coach Zdenek Zeman who managed Dubai and the Khalifa International Stadium in Al Ain, for the event, which was renting was attacked by burglars in January who two wins in 16 league games. —reuters is likely to be held at the start of the year when temperatures in the region used scaffolding poles to try to smash in doors while are coolest. —Reuters he and his young family were eating. —Reuters Rangers edge Blackhawks

CHICAGO: Derick Brassard scored 32 seconds Clinging to the Eastern Conference’s eighth into overtime and Cam Talbot made 29 saves and final playoff spot, Boston is 5-1-1 in its last for his fifth shutout of the season in the New seven. David Pastrnak and Loui Eriksson each York Rangers’ 1-0 victory over the Chicago had a power-play goal for Boston. Backup Blackhawks in the NHL on Sunday night. goalie Niklas Svedberg made 36 saves, while Brassard swooped in from left wing and fired a Tuukka Rask got the day off after playing 21 of shot past Corey Crawford on the stick side 22 games. Luke Glendening, Gustav Nyquist after taking a cross-ice feed from Mats and Marek Zidlicky scored for the Red Wings. Zuccarello. They have lost two straight after a three-game The Rangers moved within a point of the winning streak. first-place New York Islanders in the Metropolitan Division. Talbot was sharp in his AVALANCHE 3, WILD 2 15th start in 16 games since No. 1 goalie Semyon Varlamov stopped 29 shots and Henrik Lundqvist has been sidelined with a Zach Redmond had a goal and an assist as neck injury. Talbot has eight career shutouts. Colorado beat Minnesota. Cody McLeod and Crawford finished with 35 saves after stopping Gabriel Landeskog also scored for Colorado. a career-high 46 shots Friday night in a 2-1 Chris Stewart and Thomas Vanek scored shootout win over Edmonton. late for the Wild, and Devan Dubnyk had 18 saves in his 24th straight start for Minnesota. BRUINS 5, RED WINGS 3 The Wild had won five straight. Daniel Paille scored two goals, one short- handed, and Brad Marchand added a short- DEVILS 5, FLYERS 2 handed goal in Boston’s victory over Detroit. Adam Henrique scored two goals and Keith Kinkaid had 25 saves in his return to the lineup to lead New Jersey past Philadelphia. Jacob Josefson broke a second- period tie with a short-handed goal and defenseman Eric Gelinas added a power-play tally to help the Devils bounce back from a disappointing loss to Columbus and send the Flyers to their second loss in two days. Stephen Gionta also scored and Steve Bernier added three assists. Ryan White and Michael Raffl scored for the Flyers. OKLAHOMA CITY: Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) tries to take the ball away from Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (bottom left) in front of teammate Patrick Patterson (top) in the second quarter of an NBA basketball game. — AP HURRICANES 7, OILERS 4 Elias Lindholm had three goals for his first hat trick and added two assists as Carolina ral- Thunder roll, Warriors win lied from three goals down to beat Edmonton. Jeff Skinner scored twice, and Alexander Semin and Andrej Nestrasi added OKLAHOMA CITY: Russell Westbrook had his goals for Carolina. fifth triple-double in six games to help the Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had his second Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Toronto NBA results/standings career hat trick to increase his scoring total to Raptors 108-104 on Sunday night. 19 goals for Edmonton. Jordan Eberle added The NBA scoring leader had 30 points, San Antonio 116, Chicago 105; Golden State 106, LA Clippers 98; Utah 95, Brooklyn 88; Charlotte 108, a goal and two assists for the Oilers. matched a career high with 17 assists and added Detroit 101; Orlando 103, Boston 98; Oklahoma City 108, Toronto 104; Dallas 100, LA Lakers 93. 11 rebounds for his seventh triple-double of the SENATORS 5, FLAMES 4 season and 15th overall. Eastern Conference Western Conference Erik Karlsson scored the winner in the Enes Kanter had 21 points and 12 rebounds, Atlantic Division Northwest Division sixth round of the shootout as Ottawa beat and Serge Ibaka had 21 points and five blocks W L PCT GB Portland 41 20 .672 - Calgary after blowing a big lead in regulation. for the Thunder. They remained alone in eighth Toronto 38 25 .603 - Oklahoma City 35 28 .556 7 Alex Chiasson, Milan Michalek, Mark place in the Western Conference standings. Boston 25 36 .410 12 Utah 26 36 .419 15.5 CHICAGO: New York Rangers’ Ryan Borowiecki and Mike Hoffman scored for the DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points for Toronto. Brooklyn 25 36 .410 12 Denver 22 41 .349 20 McDonagh (27) celebrates with team- Senators, They led 4-0 in the third period The Raptors have lost three straight. Philadelphia 14 49 .222 24 Minnesota 14 47 .230 27 mate Derick Brassard after Brassard before giving up four straight goals to allow NY Knicks 12 49 .197 25 Pacific Division scored a goal to defeat the Chicago the Flames to tie it. Kris Russell scored twice WARRIORS 106, CLIPPERS 98 Central Division Golden State 49 12 .803 - Blackhawks 1-0 in overtime of an NHL Cleveland 40 25 .615 - for the Flames, and Joe Colborne and Mikael Draymond Green had 23 points and six LA Clippers 40 23 .635 10 hockey game. — AP Chicago 39 25 .609 0.5 Backlund added goals. — AP assists and Golden State beat Los Angeles for its Phoenix 33 31 .516 17.5 sixth straight home victory. Klay Thompson Milwaukee 33 29 .532 5.5 Indiana 28 34 .452 10.5 Sacramento 21 40 .344 28 added 21 points on 9-for-13 shooting. LA Lakers 16 46 .258 33.5 NHL results/standings Shaun Livingston gave Golden State another Detroit 23 39 .371 15.5 Southeast Division Southwest Division nice lift off the bench with a season-best 21 Memphis 44 18 .710 - points and eight rebounds in 28 minutes to help Atlanta 49 13 .790 - Boston 5, Detroit 3; Carolina 7, Edmonton 4; New Jersey 5, Philadelphia 2; Colorado 3, Houston 43 20 .683 1.5 the supporting cast take some pressure off do- Washington 35 28 .556 14.5 Minnesota 2; Ottawa 5, Calgary 4 (SO); NY Rangers 1, Chicago 0 (OT). Dallas 41 24 .631 4.5 everything point guard Stephen Curry. Curry Charlotte 28 33 .459 20.5 Miami 28 34 .452 21 San Antonio 39 23 .629 5 Western Conference Tampa Bay 41 20 6 222 177 88 didn’t score his first field goal until 5:16 before Orlando 21 43 .328 29 New Orleans 34 29 .540 10.5 Pacific Division Detroit 36 17 11 187 170 83 halftime and finished with 12 points and four W L OTLGF GA PTS Boston 33 22 10 176 170 76 assists. Austin Rivers had 22 points for Los Anaheim 42 18 7 198 184 91 Florida 29 23 14 163 188 72 Angeles. Dirk Nowitzki had 12 points for the Mavericks. HORNETS 108, PISTONS 101 Vancouver 37 24 4 187 178 78 Ottawa 30 23 11 184 173 71 They played without point guard Devin Harris Al Jefferson scored 24 points and streaking Calgary 36 25 5 191 172 77 SPURS 116, BULLS 105 for the second straight game because of an Charlotte beat Detroit in a matchup of Eastern Los Angeles 31 21 13 175 168 75 Toronto 26 35 5 176 205 57 Buffalo 19 42 5 126 224 43 Tony Parker had a season-high 32 points as injured right hand, but Chandler Parsons had 11 Conference playoff hopefuls. Mo Williams had 19 San Jose 32 26 8 187 186 72 San Antonio beat Chicago for its fifth straight points and six rebounds in 35 minutes after points and nine assists for the Hornets. They Arizona 21 38 7 142 222 49 Metropolitan Division victory. Tim Duncan failed to make a basket for missing seven games with a sprained left ankle. have won five straight to strengthen their bid for Edmonton 18 37 11 150 222 47 NY Islanders 42 21 4 214 189 88 the first time in his career, ending his NBA-record Carlos Boozer had 17 points and eight rebounds a postseason berth, while Detroit has dropped Central Division NY Rangers 40 17 7 198 155 87 streak at 1,310 games. He was 0 for 8 while and for the Lakers. six in a row. Reggie Jackson led the Pistons with Nashville 41 19 7 197 165 89 Pittsburgh 38 18 9 188 160 85 St. Louis 41 19 5 204 163 87 finished with three points. 25 points. Washington 36 21 10 200 165 82 Kawhi Leonard added 20 points, Patty Mills MAGIC 103, CELTICS 98 Chicago 39 21 6 190 154 84 Philadelphia 28 26 13 177 195 69 Minnesota 36 23 7 186 168 79 had 15 points and Manu Ginobili 14 for the Tobias Harris and Maurice Harkless combined JAZZ 95, NETS 88 New Jersey 28 28 10 151 170 66 Winnipeg 33 21 12 183 176 78 Spurs. Pau Gasol had 23 points and Aaron for 16 points in the fourth quarter to help Gordon Hayward scored 24 points, including Colorado 30 25 11 177 185 71 Columbus 27 34 4 166 207 58 Brooks added 22 for Chicago. Orlando rally to beat Boston. Victor Oladipo five straight to stop a Brooklyn rally, as Utah beat Dallas 29 27 10 207 220 68 Carolina 25 32 7 152 174 57 scored 22 points for the Magic, Harris had 21 and the Nets. Former Nets forward Derrick Favors Eastern Conference Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth MAVERICKS 100, LAKERS 93 rookie Elfrid Payton added 19 points, 10 added 22 points and eight rebounds for the Jazz. Atlantic Division one point in the standings and are not Monta Ellis scored 18 of his 31 points in the rebounds and seven assists. Isaiah Thomas Utah won for the seventh time in nine games Montreal 42 18 6 177 146 90 included in the loss column (L). third quarter and Dallas closed with a 16-3 spurt scored 21 points for Boston. Brandon Bass added and finished off a 3-1 road trip. Brook Lopez had in the final 6:36 to beat Los Angeles. 19 points and 16 rebounds. 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Nets. — AP

Real Madrid coaches and VIVA executives with the first group of players Real Madrid coaches and VIVA executives with the second group of players VIVA to announce 10 players selected for Real Madrid’s training

KUWAIT: VIVA, Kuwait’s fastest-growing and most developed players will be chosen from the best 50 winners selected on the The training program focused on different technical areas, Real Madrid coaches. VIVA is also committed to supporting their telecom operator, will be selecting the top ten players who will first try out day by a joint judging committee consisting of Real such as dribbling, short passing, turning and finishing. The pro- sport activities, showcase their promising talents, and improve visit Real Madrid’s training ground during the summer. Madrid coaches. Each of the players were judged on the basis of grams were also designed to develop young players in other their skills while contributing to the development of the Kuwait The top 10 players will be selected from over 400 participants their foot-balling capability and talent, physical fitness, discipline, fields, such as tactical understanding, and mental, physical and sports sector locally and internationally. To find out more about who joined the Real Madrid try outs, which were held on 5 March their communication skills amongst each other as players and social growth. All the players will enjoy a fully funded week-long VIVA’s partnership with Real Madrid, or any of its latest offers and 2015, at Corner Soccer field near the Kuwait Towers. The top 10 their general conduct on and off the field. training camp in Madrid, Spain being trained by some of the best promotions, visit one of the 65 VIVA branches. TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 SPORTS

Swiss Davis Cup Mullins, McCoy have Festival reign ends swiftly bookies running scared CHELTENHAM: The Costwold town of escape unscathed from the frenzy of the LONDON: Switzerland’s reign as a home tie against France who Cheltenham this week hosts jump rac- opening day,” said David Williams of Davis Cup holders was swiftly end- beat Germany with a day to spare. ing’s annual Olympics, the £4 million Ladbrokes. “It will shape the entire week. ed when they paid the inevitable “It’s been incredible the whole National Hunt Festival with two Irishman If all the Irish hotpots win we’ll be nurs- price for fielding a second-string week. To be in the quarter-finals in particular dominating the meeting’s ing more cuts and bruises than we’ve team and lost 3-2 to Belgium in for the second time in a row is a build-up. ever known.” the first round in Liege on Sunday. credit to everyone,” said world The four-day feast of racing starting Mullins and his stable jockey Ruby Just over three months since number five Murray who revelled Tuesday represents the last for 19-time Walsh unite in Wednesday’s Champion Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka in front of a Scottish crowd. champion jockey Tony McCoy. McCoy, Chase with Champagne Fever, who may drove them to an historic title in Isner, beaten in five sets by who is retiring at the end of the season, struggle to get a look in against Sire De Lille, it was a different story with- British number two James Ward on has high hopes of making it a swansong Grugy and Sprinter Sacre. out their big two as the Swiss Friday, had three set points in the to remember. With 30 winners already at Sire de Grugy returns to defend his became the first champions in 10 opener but could not convert and the fixture, McCoy’s book of rides include title won last year in the absence of years to fall at the first hurdle. despite some fierce resistance in defending Champion Hurdle victor Jezki, Sprinter Sacre, the brilliant 2013 winner Federer and Wawrinka had cho- the third set he could not keep the leading Triumph Hurdle fancy Hargam, who has returned after missing a season sen to stand aside after achieving 32-times champions alive. and Ned Buntline, who runs in the final with a heart problem. “We can’t say he is their ambitions and the stand-ins Italy, who beat Britain in the race of the week, which has been back to his immortal, unbeatable old were not able to upset the odds quarter-finals last year, went down renamed in his honour. self,” reported Henderson. against much higher-ranked play- to Kazakhstan in Astana where I’m not a believer in ‘it’s the taking “That probably won’t happen, but ers despite a heroic effort from 22- Aleksandr Nedovyesov, ranked part that counts’ - it’s about winning,” said we’re pretty pleased with where we are. year-old Henri Laaksonen. 130th in the world, stunned num- the racing legend from Northern Ireland. He’s not unbeatable, which he once was, The world number 344, who ber 22 Fabio Fognini in five sets to “However, my Cheltenham this year will but if he’s as good as he can be he still previously played for Finland, lev- seal a 3-2 victory. be better than next year. For that reason, has an outstandingly good chance.” elled the tie at 2-2 with a 6-3 3-6 3- Kazakhstan next travel to for- I’ll try to let myself enjoy it more than I’ve Henderson’s arch British rival Paul 6 7-6 (5) 6-1 win over Steve Darcis, mer Davis Cup heavyweights ever done. Nicholls trains the top two favourites for a player ranked 242 places higher. Australia who enjoyed a 3-1 victo- “In some ways I’ve never let myself Thursday’s highlight the World Hurdle, in For the second time in three days, ry over 2012 and 2013 winners the remarkable Laaksonen fought Czech Republic in Ostrava, Bernard enjoy it because when you have a win- Zarkandar and Saphir Du Rheu. back to prevail in a five-setter. Tomic clinching the win with a 7-6 ner, it’s about trying to win again next Regardless of how they fare, 24 hours Switzerland’s hopes, though, (4) 6-3 7-6 (5) triumph over Lukas time.” If Jezki gives McCoy a fairytale later in the Gold Cup Nicholls’ Silviniaco were extinguished in the deciding Rosol. farewell in the Champion Hurdle, he will Conti looks hard to beat. The nine-year- rubber when David Goffin, the Australia are through to the last have to get the better of hot favorite old is trying to claim the blue riband of world number 21 who was rested eight for the first time since 2006. Faugheen. jumps racing after two failed attempts, on Friday because of concerns World number one Novak The unbeaten seven-year-old is but his handler is hopeful it’ll be a case of over a back injury, proved too Djokovic’s Serbia crushed Croatia trained by Willie Mullins, who is sending third time lucky for the dual King George good for number 321 Adrien 5-0 and next take on Argentina or over a staggeringly-strong team in both VI Chase winner. Bossel and won 6-4 6-0 6-4. Brazil. numbers, around 50, and quality. Mullins “He’s been unlucky at Cheltenham in For the second year running Leonardo Mayer kept Argentina has four of the opening day favourites the past,” reflected the trainer. “”He looks Andy Murray led Britain to a first- in the tie against Brazil in Buenos with Faugheen joined by first race way better than he did this time last year round victory over the United Aires with a five-set win over Joao ‘banker’ Douvan, Un De Sceaux, and and he is in really good order. States when he beat John Isner 7-6 Souza in a match that set a compe- Annie Power. “If he wins a Gold Cup he will cement (4) 6-3 7-6 (4) in Glasgow. tition singles record by lasting six Just for good measure, Mullins also himself as one of the best.” Silviniaco The former Wimbledon champi- hours and 42 minutes. With the tie sends out Hurricane Fly, his record-break- Conti finished fourth last year to surprise on survived some early scares at 2-2, Argentina go into a fourth ing Grade 1 winner, to try and claim a winner Lord Windermere, who is back for against the big-serving American day on Monday with Federico second Champion Hurdle crown. a repeat. Also featuring in the line-up are before taking charge to steer Delbonis leading Thomaz Bellucci With all of Mullins’ might, it’s little the McCoy-partnered Carlingford Lough, Britain into an unassailable 3-1 6-3 in the deciding rubber after VANCOUVER: Japan’s Go Soeda serves against Canada’s Vasek Pospisil wonder bookmakers are apprehensive. Mullins’ well-backed Djakadam, and Bobs lead. In the quarter-finals they face bad light ended play. — Reuters during their Canadian Davis Cup match. — AFP “It would be madness to believe we can Worth, the 2013 hero. — AFP Mercedes-Benz Kuwait treats loyal customers to AMG Performance Tour

KUWAIT: The region’s most loyal AMG cus- ed an impressive line-up of models: A 45 AMG AMG GT S and C 63 AMG at the event was an tomers have returned from Abu Dhabi after 4MATIC, CLA 45 AMG 4MATIC, C 63 AMG added bonus for our customers, considering being treated to an exhilarating on-track expe- Coupe, C 63 S, CLS 63 AMG 4MATIC, E 63 AMG the anticipation for the high performance, rience at the 2015 AMG Performance Tour. A.R 4MATIC, SL 63 AMG, S 63 AMG 4MATIC, S 63 high-luxury automobiles across the Middle Albisher & Z. Alkazemi Company — the AMG 4MATIC Coupe, ML 63 AMG, GL 63 AMG, East. Mercedes enthusiasts have much to Authorized General distributor of Mercedes- G 63 AMG and the new Mercedes-AMG GT S. enjoy and look forward to as the portfolio con- Benz in Kuwait — flew 35 of its highly valued Michael Ruehle, CEO, Abdul Rahman tinues to grow,” added Ruehle. clientele to the UAE for the exclusive chance to Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Company: “Speeding The AMG brand enjoys more than 45 years drive the full AMG portfolio of cars on the around one of the most highly rated F1 tracks of heritage in the world of motorsport and world class Formula 1 Grand Prix track. The and experiencing the power of an AMG at every was originally established by former group also included 5 customers from turn is something that many car fanatics dream Mercedes-Benz engineers Aufrecht and Boubyan Bank - Platinum-banking. With the of. Participating in the AMG Performance Tour Melcher who had an overwhelming passion most impressive line-up of Mercedes-AMG was the perfect opportunity for us to demon- for speed. vehicles to date, the 2015 AMG Performance strate our appreciation to some of our most loy- Today, the high-performance AMG vehicles Tour generated as much adrenalin for drivers al AMG customers in a memorable way. We represent the ultimate definition of speed and as the 15,300 horsepower unleashed around have no doubt that they had an incredible time power with a global presence in the interna- the Yas Marina Formula 1 Circuit in Abu Dhabi. and have left with even more of an apprecia- tional motorsport arena, including the current In addition to the fleet of high performance tion of the engineering masterpieces that are position as the Formula One World Mercedes-AMG cars in this year’s exhilarating the Mercedes-AMG family.” Championship winner (the Mercedes-AMG AMG Performance Tour, the debut of the much An annual event that is an unquestioned Petronas Formula 1 team) for 2014. anticipated Mercedes-AMG GT S and brand highlight on the calendars of AMG enthusiasts The popularity of Mercedes-AMG vehicles new C 63 AMG models took place - facing each across the region, the 2015 AMG Performance in the region is also reflected in the company’s other as dynamic, powerful and poised as the Tour was attended by customers and media, global sales results, with the Middle East one heavyweight fighting machines they are. and comprised a series of on-track events that of the biggest markets for AMG cars world- Taking place at the iconic Yas Marina Circuit allowed the participants to fully experience wide. One in ten Mercedes-Benz cars sold in where last year the Mercedes AMG Petronas the ‘Driving Performance’ of AMG vehicles. the region is an AMG model. team won the F1 championship, the partici- To celebrate the racing heritage of Middle East results for 2014 recorded an pants experienced the unrivalled thrill of test- Mercedes-AMG vehicles, the AMG and efficiency. In the left corner the new C 63 ty of a Mercedes-AMG sportcar contender increase in sales of 25 percent for AMG mod- ing the ‘Driving Performance’ of Mercedes- Performance Tour 2015 included an exclusive AMG with its outstanding longitudinal and lat- with its first-class racetrack performance and els. The extensive Mercedes-AMG portfolio AMG vehicles in an environment that show- Middle East launch of two new cars, the eral dynamics exemplified a powerful high- daring, muscular looks. The power of both continues to grow with the latest innova- cased the power, speed and agility of these Mercedes-AMG GT S and the new C 63 AMG. performance athlete with pure fascination and machines was unleashed and tested on track tions and technologies developed by the exceptional machines. With unprecedented Powered by AMG 4.0-litre V8 biturbo engines, ultimate agility. of Yas Marina Circuit shortly after the special engineering team in Affalterbach and more access to the world-class Formula 1 Grand Prix both contenders combined racetrack driving In the right corner, the highly anticipated launch. exciting launches scheduled for the second track, this year’s AMG Performance Tour includ- dynamics with superb everyday practicality Mercedes-AMG GT S embodied the authentici- “The introduction of the all new Mercedes- quarter of 2015. TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 SPORTS UCI chiefs ‘protected’ Armstrong against doping

PARIS: An independent commission yesterday Armstrong, who defeated cancer to go on and The head of the US Anti-Doping Agency (USA- organiser of the race. The commission said accused top leaders of cycling’s world body of pro- win seven straight Tour de France races from 1999 DA) called for the prosecution of Verbruggen and Armstrong was seen as the “perfect choice to lead tecting Lance Armstrong and other drug cheats to to 2005, was stripped of his titles in 2012 and McQuaid over the alleged cover-up. Travis Tygart the sport’s renaissance” after the Festina drug scan- protect the sports reputation. banned from the sport for life. The fallen US cycling said that letting Armstrong’s lawyer rewrite the dal on the Tour de France in 1998. “The fact that he The commission also said doping remains wide- hero, 43, now admits taking banned substances. independent report was “a stunning example of was American opened up a new continent for the spread and called on the International Cycling The commission said it found no links between deceit.” “USADA will work with the current UCI lead- sport, he had beaten cancer and the media quickly Union (UCI) to enact widespread changes. The donations amounting to $125,000 he made to the ership to obtain the evidence of this sordid incident made him a global star.” Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) UCI and a cover up of his drug failures. The CIRC to ensure that all anti-doping rule violations related The commission highlighted lapses in cycling’s was set up following allegations of corruption to gave a damning assessment however of efforts by to this conduct are fully investigated and prosecut- general anti-drug regime including drug testers cover up Armstrong’s drug failures. Verbruggen and McQuaid to shield Armstrong from ed, where possible,” said Tygart, who guided the sometimes leaking information about who would UCI president Brian Cookson said the report investigation. “Numerous examples have been iden- investigation that finally brought Armstrong down. be the target of tests. highlighted “that in the past the UCI suffered tified showing that UCI leadership ‘defended’ or In 1999, Armstrong was allowed to provide a One expert told the commission that up to 90 severely from a lack of good governance with indi- ‘protected’ Lance Armstrong and took decisions backdated doctor’s prescription “to avoid sanction” percent of the race peloton was still doping. Others viduals taking crucial decisions alone, many of because they were favourable to him. This was in during the 1999 Tour de France when four out of 15 gave lower estimates. It said there were “serious which undermined anti-doping efforts.” circumstances where there was strong reason to tests taken showed banned corticosteroids, the allegations” that riders from one unnamed country The CIRC report pointed a damning finger at suspect him of doping,” said the commission report. CIRC said. When Armstrong made a comeback in paid what was called an “anti-doping tax” to avoid past presidents Hein Verbruggen and Pat McQuaid, The UCI “purposely limited the scope” of one 2009, the UCI allowed him to compete in the Tour tests. The commission said the the accusations were and Cookson stated: “The UCI management has 2005 independent investigation into Armstrong Down Under in Australia even though he had not received late in its mandate so had been passed to changed, we no longer close our eyes to doping. and the rider’s lawyers wrote portions of its final been available for testing for the previous six the UCI for further investigation. “The style of leadership of Hein Verbruggen is report, the commission said. “UCI exempted Lance months, as required. “The significant risk for cycling is that the num- criticised in the report and that style of leadership Armstrong from rules, failed to target test him The commission said it had information that ber of doping scandals and damage to the sport’s led to some of the major errors. despite the suspicions, and publicly supported him McQuaid “made a sudden u-turn” to let Armstrong reputation will cause both existing sponsors to “Image and the business of the sport were put against allegations of doping, even as late as 2012.” return 13 days early, against the advice of UCI staff. leave the sport and deter new sponsors,” said the before integrity and transparency and honesty, that The commission said “requesting and accepting The same day that Armstrong was allowed into report, highlighting the exit of Rabobank, a Dutch approach was taken too far.”I hope these two won’t donations from Lance Armstrong, given the suspi- the Tour Down Under, the American said he would bank, in 2012. Neither Verbruggen nor McQuaid have any role in cycling in the future.” cions, left UCI open to criticism.” ride in the Tour of Ireland. McQuaid’s brother was an made an immediate comment. — AFP Johnson rallies for victory

MIAMI: American Dustin Johnson overcame J.B. Holmes’s five-stroke final-round lead for a one-shot victory at the WGC-Cadillac Championships on Sunday, just over a month after returning from a half-year break from the game. Johnson, in his fifth tournament since taking a leave of absence in July to deal with personal issues, carded a three-under 69 at Trump National Doral for his ninth PGA Tour win. “All of them are good but this one might be the best for sure,” said Johnson, who kept his cool on the difficult 18th, which he had bogeyed in his three previous rounds, to make par and secure the win. “I’ve been working hard on my game and been working hard on me, and so it means a great deal to have some success right out of the gate. It gives me a lot of confidence, too,” said Johnson. Holmes, who led the tournament after each of the first three rounds at Doral, quickly lost ground with three early bogeys. He dropped another stroke at 14 but made a birdie two holes later to salvage a three-over 75 that left him alone in sec- ond place. “Dustin played a great round,” said Holmes, “I knew it was going to take a good round to beat me, even if I had a little bit of an off-day and 69 out here is pretty freaking good.” Holmes said he was not surprised to find him- self in a thre-way scrap at the top having come into the final round in command. “It always ends up that way. You just expect it. Very rarely does some- body have that big lead and hold it through the whole day. The guys are good out here.” Johnson also came within inches of another hole-in-one on the par-three fourth hole - which he and Holmes had both aced on Saturday. Masters champion Bubba Watson, who led by two strokes at the turn and looked ready to run PUERTO RICO: Germany’s Alex Cejka poses for pictures with this trophy after winning away with the tournament, finished in third after the Puerto Rico Open golf tournament in Rio Grande. — AP his four-under 32 on the front nine was undone by three bogeys over a four-hole stretch on the back nine. Australia’s Adam Scott (71) and Sweden’s Cejka clinches Henrik Stenson (72) finished tied for fourth. World number one Rory McIlroy, who struggled with his ball-striking throughout the week, finished tied for Puerto Rico Open ninth, eight shots behind Johnson, after an even- par he shot even-par 72 that was capped by a dou- DORAL: Dustin Johnson holds the Gene Sarazen Cup after winning the Cadillac Championship golf tournament. — AP PUERTO RICO: German veteran Alex Cejka and here I am. And I’m very, very pleased. I ble-bogey on the 18th. — Reuters sank a 15-foot birdie putt at the first extra don’t think I’m going to sleep tonight.” A hole for victory in a five-way playoff at the four-time winner on the European Tour, he Puerto Rico Open on Sunday. endured a 12-year global drought before KTA concludes Under-14 tourney The 44-year-old outlasted Americans winning on the secondary US-based Jon Curran, Tim Petrovic and Sam Web.com tour in 2014. Saunders and Argentine Emiliano Grillo to “At least I can say I played PGA Tour for a seal the win. long time and I won. That’s a good sen- They all finished at seven-under-par 281 tence I can use when I retire.” Cejka started at the Trump International course in Rio the final round strongly, with four birdies in Grande to force the first five-man playoff the first six holes, but did not pick up on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson won another stroke the rest of the way, with his the 2006 BellSouth Classic. lone bogey coming at the par-three 11th. Curran and Grillo both bogeyed the par- Grillo, playing on a sponsor exemption, five 18th in regulation to fall into the play- perhaps had most to rue of the playoff los- off. Cejka, who shot a closing 69, collected ers after missing a short par putt for victory $540,000 for his first win on the PGA Tour. at the 72nd hole. “The first victory is always the toughest, so Saunders, the grandson of the leg- I’m glad it’s done,” Cejka told reporters, endary Arnold Palmer, also had cause for admitting he was surprised that Curran and regret after missing a makeable birdie putt Grillo both butchered the 72nd hole. in the playoff. “I had everything ready to go to the air- Overnight leaders Chris Smith and Scott port and almost was very satisfied with a Brown both shot 73 to finish two strokes off third-place finish. “Suddenly it changed, the pace, equal 10th. — Reuters McIlroy disappointed with form MIAMI: With one tournament left to Orlando, for the March 19-22 Arnold prepare for his bid to complete a Palmer Invitational, his last scheduled career grand slam at next month’s event before the Masters. Masters, Rory McIlroy says he is disap- Asked whether he had any alarm pointed with his form and his ‘tenta- bells ringing ahead of the April 9-12 tive’ approach to shots. The world Masters, McIlroy was frank: “My inabili- KUWAIT: Kuwait Tennis Association Tournament won first place, followed by Talal Kamal (Yarmouk), and third place was won by Ali number one shot an even-par 72 in the ty to hit the ball right-to-left isn’t for Under-14 was concluded Saturday at Kheitan (Yarmouk) and third place was taken by Essa Ahmad and Abdelwahab Al-Shawaf. The final final round of the WGC-Cadillac something that you want going into club, in the presence of KTA Assistant Treasurer Qabazard and Bader Antar from Yarmouk also. standings of participating clubs are as follows: Championship on Sunday, leaving him Augusta. It is something I want to try Ahmad Al-Qallaf, and Kheitan’s club board mem- The doubles matches were won by Ahmad Yarmouk 342 points, Kheitan 140 points, one-under for the week and well back and work on a little bit. ber, and Director of Tennis Hakim Al-Enezi. Khamis and Talal Kamal (Yarmouk), second place Kuwait 84 points, Salmiya 78 points, Kazima 46 of the leaders. “Statistically, I hit the ball better. Still Ahmad Mufid Khamis from Yarmouk club went to Bader Abdelaziz and Essa Qabazard points, Shabab 24 points. A frustrating week, which included it’s just not quite as comfortable as I the Northern Irishman’s infamous toss- would like. “I’ve got a week off now to ing of a three-iron into a pond and in try to work on the game a bit and get a which his ball-striking has been below little sharper for Bay Hill.” his standards, ended with a double- Having been in such consistently bogey at the 18th. “The game’s just not good form in the lead-up to the Honda quite there. I’ve got a week off now to Classic, McIlroy is having to adjust to try and work on it a little bit,” said his ball-striking being off and says McIlroy, who missed the cut at last some fear has crept into his game. week’s Honda Classic. “I am pretty disap- “(I’m) tentative, a little bit scared to pointed with how I played overall. I felt it play certain shots, because I feel like I was a little better again today for the can’t at the minute. So, hitting away most part but a bit of a disappointing from flags, trying to make sure that I finish. But it’s just not quite 100 percent.” am missing it in the right areas. Just McIlroy will visit Augusta National playing quite conservatively, which is next week for a friendly round with his very much unlike me,” said McIlroy. “I father and Super Bowl winning-quar- have just got to get back at it tomor- terback Tom Brady of the New England row and try to figure out what I need Patriots before heading to Bay Hill, to do.” — Reuters TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015

Scots hope this is not final World Cup fling

NEW ZEALAND: Given that Scotland still have a 156 at Saxton Oval in Nelson. “It got totally out of hand. I had people from more big-match experience between the elite four- mountain to climb to win their first ever cricket A bowling unit that impressed in a comfortable Nepal tweeting to say ‘good luck, I’m sure it won’t be yearly tournament, said skipper Preston Mommsen. World Cup game, it is a pity that tales of bowler Iain win over Ireland ahead of the World Cup has been as tough as climbing the mountain’.” “For me what is even more important is what Wardlaw scaling Mount Everest turned out to be picked apart at times during the tournament but happens in between every World Cup and the fix- nothing more than a joke that got out of hand. both Josh Davey and Wardlaw have enjoyed some NO JOKE tures that are made available to associate nations Cricket’s global showpiece has confirmed the success and collected some high-profile victims. While Wardlaw’s Everest claim was made in jest, and the ... amount of cricket they’re playing at a high Scots are a way from being able to compete with the Right-arm seamer Wardlaw took three wickets Scotland have been no joke at the World Cup. With quality level,” he said. top test playing nations but they have shown against New Zealand, including those of in-form the ICC set to cut the number of teams at the next “Because at the moment, it’s quite clearly not glimpses of quality and been involved in some of openers Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum. tournament to 10 from the current 14, qualification enough.” Coetzer, Aberdeen born and bred despite the tournament’s most enjoyable games. However, while he has been far from embar- will become that much harder. the South African-sounding name, was disappointed After briefly threatening co-hosts New Zealand in rassed on the field, Wardlaw has somewhat sheep- Scotland played 24 matches between the 2011 at the defeat to Bangladesh but hoped his perform- their opener, Scotland were beaten handily by ishly had to set the record straight about his claim to and 2015 World Cups, with just four of those against ance with the bat had helped Scotland stake a claim England and Bangladesh but were on the verge of a fame-that he climbed Everest. test nations, and a continued lack of exposure to top for inclusion at future tournaments. “It’s nice to show milestone win against Afghanistan, losing a nailbiter “A couple of years ago, when I first started with level cricket could leave them caught up in a vicious the world what we’re capable of,” he said. in the final over. Their six-wicket loss to Bangladesh Scotland, we had a bit of a joke. Somehow it got mis- circle. One of four non-test playing nations at the If the ICC go ahead with its plans, however, it may on Thursday also featured the first World Cup centu- construed, put on the website and it spiralled out of World Cup alongside Ireland, Afghanistan and be some time before we see the likes of Scotland at ry by a Scotland batsman, Kyle Coetzer smashing control,” he told the BBC. United Arab Emirates, “associates” Scotland needed the World Cup again. — Reuters

Five great England one-day disasters

ADELAIDE: England’s humiliating 15-run defeat by Bangladesh in Adelaide yesterday, that saw them knocked out of the World Cup, was far from the first time they’d been embarrassed in 50-over cricket. Below AFP Sport looks back at five other one-day international matches England would rather forget.

March 2 1994, Kingstown, St Vincent: Lost to West Indies by 165 runs England’s heaviest ODI defeat in terms of runs saw the West Indies pile up 313 for six, opener Desmond Haynes leading the way with 83. In reply England-against one of the less celebrated West Indies’ attacks slumped to 148-9 in 50 overs, with Graeme Hick’s 32 the only individual score of 20 or more in the innings.

July 1 2006, Headingley: Lost to Sri Lanka by 8 wkts A terrible day for English cricket started with the death of fast bowling great Fred Trueman. The confusion among fans at the Yorkshire legend’s Headingley home ground on how to pay tribute-some stood for a minute’s silence while others applauded-was echoed by England’s bowlers. Defending a seemingly stiff target of 322, they were ren- dered helpless as Upul Tharanga (109) and Sanath Jayasuriya, with a stunning 152, put on 286 for the first wicket-still a world record opening partnership in ODIs-with fast bowler Stephen Harmison’s 10 wicketless overs costing 97 runs.

March 2, 2011, Bangalore: Lost to Ireland by 3 wkts An experienced England side were stunned at the World Cup by their non-Test opponents as Ireland recorded one of the greatest wins in their cricket history. NEW ZEALAND: India players warm up during training ahead of their 2015 Cricket World Cup Group B match against Ireland, in Hamilton. — AFP Batting first, England made 327 for eight featuring 92 from Jonathan Trott and 81 by Ian Bell. With Ireland 111 for five in the 25th over, the match was going according to the formbook. Point-seeking Ireland But Kevin O’Brien had different ideas, smashing the fastest-ever World Cup hundred, off just 50 balls, before John Mooney (33 not out) saw Ireland home with five balls to spare. expecting no easy ride March 26, 2011, Colombo: Lost to Sri Lanka by 10 wkts ‘Anything can happen in a knockout game’ was the posi- tive spin of loyal England followers before this World Cup WELLINGTON: Ireland do not expect an “They’re obviously qualified but I’m pret- India came out after West Indies, I don’t a country ourselves, and hopefully the ICC quarter-final against Sri Lanka. easy ride from India in their penultimate ty sure they’ll be looking to get top spot in think they’ve necessarily got a weaker suit will take notice and we’ll start looking at the Instead it became the most lopsided last eight clash World Cup Pool B clash today, even though the group as well,” he added. “I don’t expect as such. “The first 10 overs is going to be next World Cup,” he said. imaginable. Firstly England were held to 229 for six before Tharanga (102 not out) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (108 not out) the world champions have already qualified them to come in any way lightly at our- big, we have to start the game well and get “If you want to progress your game saw Sri Lanka to victory with 63 balls to spare in front of their for the quarter-finals with four wins out of selves, so we’ll be ready for that.” With India into it.” Porterfield has become pretty much and grow the game of cricket, then cut- own fans. four. The Irish have enjoyed an excellent in fine form, Ireland will be looking to put the spokesman for the battle against the ting teams in world competitions isn’t the campaign with three wins out of four but some pressure on them from the very first International Cricket Council’s plan to way forward.” Indian seamer Mohit February 20, 2015, Wellington: Lost to New Zealand by 8 still need one more point from their final ball at Seddon Park. reduce the field from 14 to 10 teams for the Sharma said the team were well aware of wkts two matches against India and Pakistan to While the Indians can almost take for next World Cup. the threat Ireland presented and they After starting their World Cup campaign with a 111-run secure a spot in the knockout stage. granted a strong batting line-up, Porterfield Since the cut will most likely be made at would need to be on top of their game to defeat by Australia, it was hard to imagine that England’s “It’s a nice position to be in but it doesn’t thought their bowlers had also acquitted the expense of non test-playing nations, he win a fifth straight match. “They played next game might produce an even more comprehensive count for anything if we don’t keep getting themselves well in their four-wicket victory sees Ireland’s qualifying for the knockout good games earlier and still have a defeat-but that’s what happened. good performances,” Ireland captain William over West Indies last week. rounds as having wider significance than chance to qualify,” he said. “They have a England, after winning the toss, were skittled out for just Porterfield told a news conference in “Whatever we do first tomorrow, we just national pride. “Hopefully we do make good team. We have to play well to beat 123 in 33.2 overs, with swing bowler Tim Southee taking a Hamilton on Monday. have to start well,” he said. “Seeing how hard those quarter-finals and keep pushing on as them, and we’ll try to do it.” — Reuters national record seven for 33. New Zealand, on the back of captain Brendon McCullum’s whirlwind 77 at the top of the order, raced to their victory target in 12.2 overs. A match meant to last 100 overs was Bangladesh erupts in joy completed in 45.4. — AFP

DHAKA: Cricket-mad Bangladesh erupt- while the sports minister announced Watson takes his second ed in joyous celebration yesterday after bonuses for each player. the national team dumped England out The country’s opposition leader chance with both hands of the World Cup, with fans hailing the Khaleda Zia, who has been confined to dramatic victory as the country’s greatest her office in Dhaka for the last two SYDNEY: The obituaries had been written only three days ear- sporting triumph. Impromptu victory months as part of a long-running chapter lier, Shane Watson’s 13-year international cricket career processions broke out across the country, of political unrest, also congratulated the declared dead and buried. with some of the loudest celebrations team. And yet at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday, there taking place at Dhaka University where Former national team captain Akram was the unmistakeable figure of the Australian raising his bat around 5,000 people had been watching Khan, who skippered Bangladesh in the in celebration of his 32nd one-day international half century. the match in Adelaide on a big screen. Tigers’ first World Cup appearance in The 33-year-old was only the support act to Glenn The crowds, including hundreds of 1999, rated the victory over England as Maxwell’s brilliant 53-ball 102 in a match-winning partnership girls, started dancing and chanting one of the team’s finest moments. of 160, and his bowling later in the match was expensive at 1- “Bangladesh, Bangladesh” as Rubel “Let’s be clear, we were stronger than 71, but Watson was back, back, back. Hossain clean-bowled last man James England in every department. It’s one of “I thought he played really well, yeah. His batting was how Anderson to guide the Tigers to a 15-run the most historic occasions in our cricket we know Watto can bat. He’s got amazing power,” said his cap- victory their first ever place in the quar- history,” Khan, who led Bangladesh to a tain Michael Clarke. “He played a big part in helping set the ter-finals. controversial win over Pakistan in 1999, game up, that partnership between Maxi and him. He held his The Tigers have been international told AFP. Local television channels broad- nerve under pressure with the ball as well.” cricket’s whipping boys for much of the cast footage of young men honking the The death knell for the all-rounder’s career had appeared last two decades and few experts expect- horns of their bikes and cars in Dhaka to sound when he was left out of the team for Australia’s ed them to get out of a group that and the port city of Chittagong. Many fourth World Cup match against Afghanistan in Perth last included joint hosts New Zealand and boarded lorries and jammed the roads Wednesday. He was omitted because of poor form, chief Australia, as well as Sri Lanka. chanting slogans for the cricketers. selector Rod Marsh said, and something would need to “I can’t believe that we’ve pulled it off. DHAKA: A Bangladesh cricket fan waves the national flag as he celebrates the nation- There were similar scenes in the cities change going forward if he was to return to the side. We’ve finally shaken off the tag of min- al team’s win against England in the ICC World Cup 2015. — AFP of Khulna, Rajshahi, Barisal and ‘Had his immediate return been confusing for Clarke and nows. Two more victories and we’ll be in Mymensingh, the hometown of man-of- his team mates?’ the Australia skipper was asked after the 64- the final!” said Rashid Ahmed, a 22-year- the-match Mohammad Mahmudullah. run victory over Sri Lanka that put Australia through to the old student. Fellow student Tamir Islam, Female university students came out quarter-finals. Clarke, who had spent much of his pre-match who is a keen cricketer, said: “I am sure no of their dormitories and sprinkled colours news conference on Saturday emphasising that he was no petrol bombs or molotov cocktails will go at each other well into the night. “No one longer a selector, grinned and mimed a fisherman reeling in off today. We’re united in cherishing the can stop the Tigers now. It’ll be our World his line. “I am not going there,” he laughed. “The selectors pick biggest triumph in our sports history.” Cup,” said a female fan, according to local the 11 players and my job is to get the best out of the 11 play- Social media was flooded with people Somoy television. ers. No chance am I getting hold of that hook. celebrating and photos of a Bengal tiger Some of the loudest cheers were “The selectors made it pretty clear and I tried to make it chasing James Bond starring Daniel reserved for Bangladesh bowling hero clear at the toss of the coin that it was horses for courses in Craig. “There’s screaming and whooping Rubel Hossain, who grabbed the last two terms of selection today. from every yellow hat on a construction wickets, but whose World Cup chances “They went for the extra experience with Watto in the site,” Australian Sarah-Jane Saltmarsh, looked remote after he was accused of bowling department with only playing two front-line fast who lives in Dhaka, wrote on her rape by a 19-year-old film actress. bowlers so that was a big part of why they made that call.” Facebook page. Rubel was allowed to travel to Clarke had relegated Watson down the order to bat at “Every rickshaw-wallah (cycle rickshaw Australia after a court granted him bail, number six, leaving the in-form Steve Smith in the crucial drivers) is cheering, the guards outside while the actress reportedly said she number three position. my building almost hug me as I come would withdraw the case if the cricketer Watson’s 86-ball 67 kept his one-day average above 40 and in...Bangladesh is through to the World agreed to marry her. Maxwell at least was grateful for his experience and support Cup Quarter Finals for the first time!” . “He is my hero no matter what!,” said as he scored his maiden one-day century. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh young banker Abdullah Al Maruf, as the “He played beautifully, to see the way he hit the ball was Hasina, a cricket buff herself, sent a mes- crowd cheered “Rubel! Rubel!” in front of special,” said the 26-year-old. “It was a really special partner- sage of congratulations to the team just DHAKA: A Bangladesh cricket fan holding the national flag celebrates the national a big screen at the Teachers Student ship we could have together ... it was a lot of fun.” — Reuters moments after the victory in Australia team’s win against England in the ICC World Cup 2015. — AFP Center in Dhaka University. — AFP TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 SPORTS British architects to design Qatar WCup final stadium

DOHA: Renowned British architects Foster sible for such projects as the redevelopment and Partners was named yesterday as the of the Reichstag Building in Berlin, the Hearst designer of the stadium that will host the final Tower in New York and, perhaps most perti- of the controversial Qatar football World Cup nently, the revamp of Wembley Stadium in in 2022. The 80,000 seater stadium will be London. built in the purpose-built city of Lusail, some The company’s selection comes after a 15 kilometres (10 miles) north of the capital long tender process. The announcement Doha. The stadium will be the centrepiece of a comes just weeks after a FIFA committee rec- huge $45 billion (38 billion euro) construction ommended playing the tournament in project which will see an entire new city rise November and December 2022, because of from the desert in time for football’s biggest concern over Qatar’s climate. tournament in seven years’ time. The decision Traditionally the World Cup is played in was announced by Qatar’s Supreme June and July, but summer temperatures in Committee for Delivery and Legacy, which is Qatar soar above 40 degrees Celsius (104 overseeing preparations for the World Cup in Fahrenheit) The Supreme Legacy committee the tiny, energy-rich Gulf kingdom. said in a statement that the building of the Hassan Al Thawadi, the committee’s secre- stadium in Lusail will incorporate “workers tary-general, said: “We look forward to work- welfare standards”. The Qatar World Cup bid ing with them (Foster and Partners) in creat- has been seriously damaged by continued ing an iconic, contemporary stadium inspired accusations over working conditions for the by Qatari culture. thousands of migrant construction labourers “Lusail Stadium will be the centrepiece of who are building facilities for football’s show- the tournament, an architecturally innovative piece event. stadium which maintains sporting functional- In recent weeks, rights groups have ity and delivers on our sustainability commit- demanded more action be taken by the ments.” Qatari authorities to protect those workers. The stadium at Lusail is also expected to Last month, Qatar said it would introduce host the first game of the tournament as well a major labour law reform to ensure thou- as the opening ceremony. Lord Foster, the sands of workers building venues for the 2022 chairman of Foster and Partners, said it was an World Cup are paid on time. SPAIN: Schalke’s Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (center) kicks a ball during a training session at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium on the eve of “honor to design this centrepiece stadium”. The changes, approved by Qatar’s Emir the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg football match against Real Madrid. — AFP “We are delighted to have won the interna- Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, will see tional competition,” he added. The architects workers get paid at least once a month and in are an internationally acclaimed firm respon- some cases every fortnight. — AFP Elimination unthinkable for out-of-form Real

MADRID: European champions Real Madrid will problem up front when we have scored so many final. We will give everything to get to Berlin. expect to take another step closer to becoming goals throughout the season, but I think it is the “We have the team to do it and we hope to the first team in 25 years to retain the truth,” said the Italian on Saturday. repeat the success of last year.” Madrid will be Champions League when they host Schalke However, captain Iker Casillas has insisted boosted by the return of Luka Modric after over today holding a 2-0 lead from the first leg of that they won’t suffer a hangover from their La four months out with a torn thigh muscle. their last 16 tie. Liga woes at the Bernabeu. “This competition is Sergio Ramos also returned to training on Madrid have strung together 10 consecutive different. For Madrid fans it means everything,” Sunday after a month on the sidelines with a victories in Europe stretching back to their suc- he told the club’s website. Schalke were on the hamstring problem, but isn’t expected to be cessful run to their 10th European Cup last sea- receiving end on Real’s run towards the title at risked by Ancelotti with a potentially decisive La son, but have found the going a lot tougher the same stage of the competition last season in Liga clash with Barcelona just 10 days away. domestically in 2015. Los Blancos surrendered a 9-2 aggregate hammering. Schalke, meanwhile, enjoyed a far more suc- their lead at the top of La Liga at the weekend as And Casillas is adamant that Ancelotti’s men cessful weekend as they registered a first win in they were beaten 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao, whilst still have all the qualities required to go all the five games with a 3-1 victory over Hoffenheim. Barcelona thrashed Rayo Vallecano 6-1. way once more. “We know that it will be very dif- That result boosted the Royal Blues chances of a That was Madrid’s fourth defeat in 14 games ficult but we will fight to achieve it. We are ambi- return to the Champions League next season, this year with coach Carlo Ancelotti admitting he tious and we have a mixture of youth and expe- but left-back Christian Fuchs retains hope a was at a loss to explain how his star-studded rience so why not? famous comeback at the Bernabeu. “We travel strike force of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema “Last year we played against teams that had now to Madrid in a positive frame of mind, no and Gareth Bale has so suddenly gone off the caused us problems in the past and we were one will bet on us, so maybe there is a chance boil. “It seems strange to say Madrid have a capable to play good football and get to the for us,” said the 28-year-old. —AFP Lyon return to the top

PARIS: Lyon moved back up above Paris Saint- Germain to the top of the Ligue 1 table on Sunday after Nabil Fekir inspired them to a thrilling 5-1 vic- tory at Montpellier. Fekir and the league’s leading scorer Alexandre Lacazette both bagged braces, and Corentin Tolisso was also on target as OL recovered from falling behind to an early Lucas Barrios goal at the Stade de la Mosson. It was a very welcome victory for Hubert Fournier’s side, who won just once in five Ligue 1 outings in February, and it ensures they end the weekend where they started it, on top of the table. “The match was a little strange,” reflected Fournier. “We conceded a goal pretty quickly but we didn’t fall apart, we kept going, and came back.” ITALY: Napoli’s Croatian defender Ivan Strinic fights for the ball with Inter Milan’s Reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain had Argentinian forward Rodrigo Palacio (left) during the Italian Serie A football match. — AFP temporarily gone top after easing to a 4-1 win at home to Lens on Saturday, but OL are a point clear Napoli blow 2-0 lead of the capital club again, and four ahead of Marseille in third. Montpellier came into the game on a run of just one defeat in seven matches and ROME: AS Roma recorded their eighth draw in Marek Hamsik on 51 minutes and Gonzalo they took the lead just six minutes in when Barrios nine Serie A games when they were held 0-0 at Higuain 12 minutes later put them in control. tapped in after great work by Bryan Dabo. lowly Chievo on Sunday while crisis club Parma Rodrigo Palacio got one back on 72 minutes and were involved in another goalless stalemate on three minutes from time the Argentine forward It was the Paraguayan’s eighth goal in his last 10 their league return. Third-placed Napoli failed to earned a penalty when he was pulled down Ligue 1 games, but in Fekir and Lacazette Lyon gain ground on leaders Juventus and second- inside the box by Henrique who received a sec- boast the most exciting attacking duo in France this placed Roma after blowing a two-goal lead to ond yellow card. Mauro Icardi coolly converted season. The visitors were back level on the half-hour draw 2-2 at home to Inter Milan. from the spot, his 15th goal of the season. mark, Lacazette converting from the penalty spot FRANCE: Lyon’s French midfielder Nabil Fekir (right) vies with Montpellier’s French forward “This draw is different from the other ones,” Bottom club Parma, who had their two previ- after Fekir was brought down in the box by Anthony Mounier (left) during the French L1 football match. — AFP Roma coach Rudy Garcia told Sky Sports Italia. ous matches called off because of a financial cri- Abdelhamid El Kaoutari. Lasne in the area. However, Barrios saw his penalty “It’s an important win for us. We needed it after “It’s an unsettling draw. “We played poorly, sis, showed excellent fighting spirit as they And the outstanding Fekir then scored a magnif- saved by Anthony Lopes, and Lyon went on to add last week’s draw at Toulouse and the French Cup everyone was just standing around. I didn’t picked up a well-deserved point against fellow icent goal to put OL in front, cutting in from the two more goals in injury time. Substitute Mohamed win,” said Saint-Etienne coach Christophe Galtier, recognise my team.” strugglers Atalanta. Hosts Parma had Cristian right and playing a one-two with Yoann Gourcuff Yattara set up Tolisso for the fourth goal and then whose team needed penalties to win at third-tier Second-placed Roma are now eight points Rodriguez red-carded in the 87th minute while before curling a shot past Geoffrey Jourdren and laid the fifth on a plate for Lacazette-his 23rd of the Boulogne-sur-Mer in the Cup. adrift of runaway leaders Juventus (58) who host several fans displayed banners showing their into the far corner of the net. season-as Lyon repeated their 5-1 win against “We have had quite a few injuries lately and lost Sassuolo late yesterday. Napoli have 46 points. disapproval of club president Giampietro It was a 10th goal of the season for the talented Montpellier in the reverse fixture in October. a few players so there have been some changes in Chievo midfielder Federico Mattiello broke his Manenti. Fekir, who has been at the centre of a tug of war Earlier on Sunday, Saint-Etienne brought their the team. “But this has given us the chance to look leg in a sickening collision with Roma’s Radja Edy Reja’s first game as Atalanta coach ended between Algeria and France, with both desperate seven-game winless streak to an end with a 2-0 vic- at some of the younger players. And the substitutes Nainggolan midway through the first half. prematurely when he was sent off for dissent for him to commit his international future to them. The pair went for a loose ball and some of but his side managed to avoid a fifth straight tory over strugglers Lorient on Sunday and have played their part, too.” Fekir and Jordan Ferri both hit the bar in the sec- leapfrogged Bordeaux into fifth place, closing in on Meanwhile, Guingamp slumped to a third Mattiello’s team mates appeared to be in tears defeat. ond half before Fekir scored again to take him to 11 on the bench after the 19-year-old fractured his Elsewhere, Antonio Di Natale scored his 10th the European places. Yohan Mollo came off the straight league defeat, going down 1-0 at home to for the campaign, chipping in after another tibia and fibula. league goal of the season as Udinese won 3-2 to bench to break the deadlock with just 15 minutes Lille with Nolan Roux scoring the only goal of the The draw kept Chievo six points clear of the inflict Torino’s first defeat in 12 Serie A games. It Gourcuff assist. Montpellier could have set up a to go before Max-Alain Gradel made sure of all game. The weekend also saw Marseille win 6-1 at relegation zone. Napoli appeared destined for is the ninth straight season that the 37-year-old nervy finale after they won a penalty when Samuel three points in injury time, with both goals coming Toulouse and fourth-placed Monaco triumph 3-1 three points against Inter when goals from striker has reached double figures. —Reuters Umtiti was harshly adjudged to have fouled Paul after Lorient’s Didier Ndong had been sent off. away at Evian. — AFP Basel take on Porto

PORTUGAL: Porto are almost certain to expense of Liverpool and are aiming to However, it remains to be seen how be without captain and leading scorer reach the quarter-finals for the first time they will fare without Colombia forward Jackson Martinez when they host FC since 1973/74. Martinez who suffered a groin injury in Basel, who are rapidly gaining in confi- “It means we have come back again to Friday’s 1-0 win at Braga. dence, in their Champions League last 16, near our best level of performance. The Martinez has scored six goals in eight return leg today. Basel coach Paulo Sousa, boys enjoy playing at this level. It also Champions League appearances this sea- whose side were held 1-1 at home in the means that we can recover more quickly son and is also the leading scorer in the first leg, said they were nearly back to and present ourselves in Porto at our Portuguese League with 17 goals. their best following the winter break best.” Sousa, in his first season at Basel Overall, he has scored 86 times in 125 which saw the departures of midfielders after leading Maccabi Tel Aviv to the appearances since he joined the Dragons Marcelo Diaz and Serey Die. Israeli league title last term, is on familiar from Mexico’s Chiapas in July 2012. Porto, The Swiss champions thumped FC ground as he faced Porto 12 times as a who are attempting to reach the last Thun 3-0 on Saturday, leaving them seven player-seven with Benfica, four with eight for the second time since winning points clear at the top of the league, with Sporting Lisbon and once with the trophy under Jose Mourinho in 2004, a performance which delighted the Panathinaikos. have lost on five out of their last six Portuguese coach. Porto, second behind Benfica in the appearances in the round of 16. “It was an amazing, amazing perform- Portuguese championship, have won They are unbeaten against Swiss ance, and I’m really, really happy,” said their last six league games without con- opponents since losing 3-0 to PORTUGAL: (Left to right) Porto’s Algerian midfielder Yacine Brahimi, Spanish defender Ivan Sousa, whose side reached the ceding a goal and are also unbeaten in Grasshoppers in a UEFA Cup match in the Marcano, Brazilian defender Maicon and Porto’s Brazilian defender Danilo take part in a training Champions League knockout stage at the the Champions League this season. 1980/81 season. — Reuters session at the Dragao stadium. —AFP Thunder roll, Johnson rallies Warriors win for victory

TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 15 17 Elimination unthinkable for out-of-form Real Page 19

ADELAIDE: England batsman James Taylor (left) walks back to the pavilion as Bangladesh celebrate his dismissal during their 2015 CricketWorld Cup Pool A match at the Adelaide Oval. — AFP Tigers devour England

ADELAIDE: Bangladesh knocked England out nation at the tournament with their only win ence. Certainly on a day like today you look at of the World Cup yesterday sparking scenes of thus far against Scotland. it and you know we have a lot of work to do in wild celebration for the Asian whipping boys’ This was Bangladesh’s third win over one-day cricket,” he said. “All you know is it’s a millions of long-suffering fans and wide- England in their last four one-day internation- game we felt we should have won. We’ve just spread derision for the game’s inventors. als, including the two-wicket success in got to take that on the chin.”Condemnation of Mohammad Mahmudullah smashed 103 to Chittagong during the previous World Cup England’s exit was swift and brutal. become the first Bangladesh player to make a four years ago. “Well done Bangladesh! England pathetic! World Cup century while brother-in-law “I feel very proud,” said Bangladesh captain When are we going to pick the selectors to Mushfiqur Rahim made 89 as the Tigers Mashrafe Mortaza, who led his side superbly pick a team for the one-day format? Time for clinched a nail-biting 15-run win to reach the in the field. “Mahmudullah scored his first change,” wrote former England all-rounder Ian quarter-finals for the first time. hundred for Bangladesh, and Mushfiqur was Botham on Twitter. Kevin Pietersen, controver- They had to recover from being eight for also brilliant at the end. sially exiled from the England squad last year, two to post a challenging 275 for seven after “I think Rubel Hossain will be very happy tweeted: “I CANNOT BELIVE THIS! I JUST CAN- being sent in to bat in overcast conditions. as he picked up four crucial wickets. We had a NOT! But, well done Bangladesh! You England, needing a victory to stay afloat good combination today, especially with the deserved it!” after winning just one of their previous four seven batsmen. They showed their guts, and Mahmudullah and Rahim put on 141 off Pool A matches, were bowled out for 260 as the bowlers then did a very good job.” 144 balls for the fifth wicket after Bangladesh SCOREBOARD seamer Rubel Hossain claimed four wickets Victory meant Bangladesh assured them- were struggling at 99 for four in the 22nd and wicket-keeper Rahim held four catches. selves of a place in the knockout phase even over. Scoreboard at close of play in the World Cup match between England and Bangladesh Ian Bell made 63 but England slipped to 163 before their last pool match against co-hosts Mahmudullah, who hit seven fours and a on Monday in Adelaide, Australia. for six before Jos Buttler (65 off 52 balls) and New Zealand while England will return home six in his maiden one-day international centu- Bangladesh Innings: England Innings: Chris Woakes (42 not out) briefly revived their after their closing ‘dead’ league match against ry, surpassed the previous highest individual T. Iqbal c Root b Anderson 2 M. Ali run out (Sarkar, Rahim) 19 hopes with a 75-run stand for the seventh Afghanistan in Sydney on Friday. Bangladesh score at a World Cup of 95 by I. Kayes c Jordan b Anderson 2 I. Bell c Rahim b R. Hossain 63 wicket. team-mate Tamim Iqbal against Scotland last S. Sarkar c Buttler b Jordan 40 A. Hales c Rahim b Mortaza 27 But the dismissals of Buttler and Chris BESIEGED MOORES week. J. Root c Rahim b Mortaza 29 M. Mahmudullah run out (Woakes) 103 Jordan off successive balls in the 46th over Besieged England coach Peter Moores, in Rahim’s 77-ball knock contained eight E. Morgan c Al Hasan b R. Hossain 0 turned the match Bangladesh’s way. his second spell at the helm, insisted he boundaries and a six. Soumya Sarkar, a 22- S. Al Hasan c Root b Ali 2 J. Taylor c Kayes b Ahmed 1 “It was pretty poor, to be knocked out of would not make any hasty decisions over his year-old left-hander playing only his fifth ODI, M. Rahim c Jordan b Broad 89 J. Buttler c Rahim b Ahmed 65 the World Cup is unbelievably disappointing,” future. teamed up with Mahmudullah to retrieve the Sa. Rahman c Morgan b Jordan 14 C. Woakes not out 42 said England captain Eoin Morgan, whose “Well, it’s certainly not my decision. I said situation with an 86-run stand for the third M. Mortaza not out 6 C. Jordan run out (Al Hasan) 0 side will bow out having failed to beat a Test yesterday I’m here to try and make a differ- wicket. He made 40. A. Sunny not out 3 S. Broad b R. Hossain 9 J. Anderson b R. Hossain 0 Bell and Moeen Ali gave England a flying Extras (b-1 lb-4 nb-1 w-8) 14 Total (for 7 wickets, 50 overs) 275 Extras (lb-4 nb-1) 5 start with an opening stand of 43 off 44 balls Total (all out, 48.3 overs) 260 Fall of wickets: 1-3 I. Kayes, 2-8 T. Iqbal, 3- World Cup result and standings when a messy run out cost Ali his wicket. Alex Fall of wickets: 1-43 M. Ali, 2-97 A. Hales, Hales marked his first appearance in the tour- 94 S. Sarkar, 4-99 S. Al Hasan, 5-240 M. 3-121 I. Bell, 4-121 E. Morgan, 5-132 J. Pool A nament by helping Bell add 52 for the second Mahmudullah, 6-261 M. Rahim, 7-265 Sa. Taylor, 6-163 J. Root, 7-238 J. Buttler, 8- At Adelaide wicket, before he was caught behind off Rahman 238 C. Jordan, 9-260 S. Broad, 10-260 J. Bangladesh 275-7 (Mahmudullah 103, Mushfiqur Rahim 89) v England 260 all out (Jos Buttler 65, Ian Bell 63) Mortaza for 27. Did not bat: R. Hossain, T. Ahmed Anderson. Bangladesh won by 15 runs Rubel then dismissed Bell and Morgan Bowling: J. Anderson 10-1-45-2; S. Broad Bowling: M. Mortaza 10-0-48-2; R. (nought) in four deliveries to make it 121 for 10-0-52-1; C. Jordan 10-0-59-2 (w-5); C. Hossain 9.3-0-53-4; A. Sunny 8-0-42-0; S. Played won lost tied no result points run rate four in the 27th over and from that point on, Woakes 10-0-64-0 (nb-1 w-2); M. Ali 9-0- Al Hasan 10-0-41-0; T. Ahmed 9-0-59-2 (nb-1); Sa. Rahman 2-0-13-0. Pool A England were struggling. — AFP 44-1 (w-1); J. Root 1-0-6-0. New Zealand 5 5 0 0 0 10 +3.090 - qualified Result: Bangladesh won by 15 runs. Australia 5 3 1 0 1 7 +1.597 - qualified Bangladesh 5 3 1 0 1 7 +0.211 - qualified Sri Lanka 5 3 2 0 0 6 -0.151 - qualified England 5 1 4 0 0 2 -1.001 Downton backs Moores after woeful exit Afghanistan 5 1 4 0 0 2 -1.881 Scotland 4 0 4 0 0 0 -1.423 LONDON: England and Wales Cricket Board for his second spell as England head coach 11 obviously going to be pressurised - was that chief Paul Downton is standing behind under- months ago, but Downton insists the former experience. “We’re very early into an appoint- Pool B fire coach Peter Moores in the aftermath of Lancashire coach remains the right man for ment. Much as we’d like to change things India 4 4 0 0 0 8 +2.246 - qualified England’s embarrassing World Cup exit. the job. instantly, it takes time. “Look at New Zealand South Africa 5 3 2 0 0 6 +1.462 Moores’ men crashed out of the tourna- “I have every faith in Peter Moores,” and where they were with their one-day crick- Pakistan 5 3 2 0 0 6 -0.194 ment in the group stages yesterday as a humil- Downton told Sky Sports. “Part of the reason et two years ago - it takes time to bring things Ireland 4 3 1 0 0 6 -0.820 iating 15-run defeat to Bangladesh saw for appointing Peter Moores was he is a very through. West Indies 5 2 3 0 0 4 -0.511 Zimbabwe 5 1 4 0 0 2 -0.595 England hit a new low in a woeful World Cup experienced coach. “We had a very successful team between UAE 4 0 4 0 0 0 -1.691 campaign that has included four defeats in five “Whoever took this job was going to have 2009 and 2013, we have to rebuild again. Note: Top four in each group qualify for quarter-finals. matches. a really difficult job. “We had a side that broke “There are no shortcuts. We have to back our Moores’ tactics and team selection have up in Australia, we had to introduce new play- players, invest in them and in time we will be been widely criticised since he was appointed ers and part of dealing with it - which was back there again.” — AFP Kuwait real estate sales witness drop in January

Page 22 Business Japan lowers Q4 growth estimate TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 Page 23 EU urges Greece to ‘stop KBT awarded prestigious ‘50 Best Global Employer Brands’ wasting time’ on reform Page 26 Page 25

KUWAIT: The annual general meeting (AGM) and extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of Gulf Bank of Kuwait at the Jumeirah Hotel yesterday. .— Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat Gulf Bank moving toward a new path Bank posts KD35.5m in net profits for 2014 • New Board of Directors elected KUWAIT: Gulf Bank yesterday held its annual general meeting (AGM) and extraordinary general meeting (EGM) at the Jumeirah Hotel, Kuwait and approved the company’s audited financial results for the year ended 31 December 2014. Gulf Bank announced an operating profit before pro- visions of KD 106.8 million for the year ending 2014 and a net profit at KD 35.5 million, which is a 10 percent increase over 2013. At the end of December 2014, the Bank’s total assets were KD 5,331 million. There has been a significant gain in market share in loans, mainly attributable to the 23 percent growth in retail loans. Overall, this resulted in a growth of 9 percent vs. the 6 percent market growth. The growth in low cost deposits was 16 percent increasing the total deposits at the bank to KD 4,340 million. Total shareholders’ equity increased to KD 511 million from KD 483 million in 2013. The Bank maintained its positive trend of reducing the non-per- forming loan ratio which decreased from 6.5 percent at the beginning of the year to 3.2 percent by December 2014 and increased the total coverage ratio of non-per- forming loans to 266 percent.

Election The general assembly endorsed the recommenda- tion of Gulf Bank’s Board of Directors for a stock divi- KUWAIT: Omar Kutayba Alghanim (center) addresses the AGM. dend of 5 per cent (5 shares for every 100 shares held). trols, enhancing risk management, corporate gover- and Cash Management Bank in Kuwait’ from Asian On completion of the three year term of the existing nance and also in improving product offerings and Banker, ‘Best Car Loan’ and ‘Best Customer Service board of directors, Gulf Bank announced the election of delivery channels. (Retail)’ from Banker Middle East, ‘STP’ Award from its revised board of directors. The reconstituted Board “This progress was also recognized by the interna- Citibank and ‘HR Professional of the Year’ award at the signals the continued development of Gulf Bank as one tional credit rating agencies. During 2014, Moody’s 6th Annual MENA HR Excellence Awards. In the long of the most significant financial institutions in Kuwait. upgraded Gulf Bank long term rating to Baa1 from term we remain committed to growing our business The revised Board of Directors consists of: Chairman Baa2 and the Stand Alone Financial Strength rating to and investing in every aspect of our operations to pro- Omar Kutayba Alghanim, Deputy Chairman, Ali Morad D from D-, maintaining a positive outlook. Standard duce improvement right across the board and deliver Behbehani, and the other Directors are: Sayer Bader Al- Poor’s also affirmed the bank’s long-term credit rating strong performance for you, our shareholders. Sayer, Khaled Faisal Ali Al-Mutawa, Bader Nasser Al- at BBB+ with a positive outlook. Both agencies, in their “Gulf Bank continues to invest in youth, entrepre- Kharafi, Jasem Mustafa Boodai, Bader Abdulmohsen El- assessments, affirmed the bank’s asset quality, capital- neurship and talent development in the local commu- Jeaan, Omar Hamad Yousef Al-Essa, Farouk Ali Bastaki ization, solid revenue generating capacity and sound nity through its Corporate Social responsibility initia- and First Alternate: Rashid Nader Hamad Al-Essa, and risk management systems and practices. tives by participating in programs such as INJAZ local Second Alternate: Bader Ali Abdullah Banyan. “Our Wholesale Banking Group performed in-line and regional competitions, the Annual gathering of Omar Kutayba Alghanim, said: “I am very pleased to with the market, and we continue to streamline our National Union of Kuwaiti Students - USA branch, as report that over the past year we have maintained and operations there to deliver a faster and more efficient well as a wide variety of job shadowing programs. Our have even accelerated the progress we have seen in customer service. During 2014, as part of our new annual sponsorship of the memorial journey for pearl previous years. Gulf Bank is today a great and strong strategic approach, we also reorganized our Corporate diving continues to strengthen our position as an inte- bank. It has overcome the difficult times in an admirable Banking Group to focus on local companies and mar- gral part of the Kuwaiti society. Gulf Bank has numer- way. The strategy is clear and the mandate of the Board ket segments, such as the construction sector, and we ous staff volunteers working together with our youth is to grow. In our Wholesale Banking Group, we will rein- are well placed to support the ‘Kuwait Development on various development programs throughout the force our advisory and products capabilities. In Retail, Plan’ with financing of key infrastructure, healthcare year. products and newer channels are being upgraded. We and oil sector projects, amongst others. At the same will execute under strict risk criteria and as per our poli- time we refined our diversified corporate product suite HR development cies that have helped make Gulf Bank safe and sound. so that we are now being able to offer clients a more “With our relentless focus on talent; Gulf Bank places In doing so, we have continued to focus on developing comprehensive range of products and services to bet- great value on its Human Resources and continuously our customer services, invest in our employees, our sys- ter serve current market needs. delivers exceptional initiatives that help the progress tems and our branch network and maintain our prom- “I am also proud to add that we have continued to and development of its staff. This was culminated with ise to customers to deliver the best and fastest banking increase our branch network, which now stands at 59 the launch of Durrat Al-Khaleej training center early services in Kuwait. branches across Kuwait. In doing so, we will be ever 2014 and the recent launch of a customized Graduate closer to our customers, and better placed to deliver Development Program in collaboration with the Recognition them the best possible banking services in Kuwait. It Institute of Banking Studies (IBS). The program focuses “During 2014, the bank continued the focus on its was pleasing that we continued to be acknowledged on the development of local talent and aiming at creat- core competence of commercial and retail lending by our industry peers for service excellence with the ing a pool of holistic bankers and leaders of the future. within the Kuwaiti market, and on strengthening its bank receiving several awards over the course of 2014, “Our progress could not have taken place without domestic franchise. The strategy has shifted to risk including ‘Bank of the Year’ from Arabian Business, ‘Best the dedication of our staff and I would like to particu- adjusted growth following a period starting in 2009 Retail Bank in Kuwait’ award from International Finance larly thank them for their immense efforts. I am also during which the focus was on strengthening the bal- Magazine, ‘Best Domestic Retail Bank’ and ‘Best Human very grateful to our customers for their faith and trust, ance sheet and managing down a substantial portfolio Resources Development’ awards from Banker Middle to our Board of Directors for its wisdom and support of impaired loans. The bank continued to make East, ‘Best Customer Experience Overall Branch’ from and to you, our shareholders for your continued loyalty progress during 2014 in strengthening systems, con- Ethos Integrated Solutions, ‘Best Domestic Payments as we continue our development.” TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 BUSINESS News Kuwait real estate sales in brief

Aramco operating 212 witness drop in January oil and gas drilling rigs MANAMA: National oil firm Saudi Aramco is cur- rently operating a total of 212 oil and gas drilling rigs and has not decided whether to increase that NBK ECONOMIC REPORT number this year, a senior executive said yesterday. Amin Nasser, senior vice-president for upstream KUWAIT: Sales in Kuwait’s real estate mar- heaviest in the Ahmadi governorate, which tions, 94were recorded during the month, commercial sector was the only sector to operations at Aramco, gave the figure when speak- ket were down in January for the second accounted for 38 percent of all residential the lowest since October 2013.The average record month-on-month gains in January, ing to reporters at an energy industry conference in month in a row to KD 312 million on slower transactions during the month. This, howev- transaction size was KD 1.3million, support- increasing by 15 percent over December residential and investment sector activity. er, is a significant drop from August 2014 ed by a single transaction worth KD 22 mil- 2014. The sector’s improving performance Bahrain. Aramco deployed 210 oil and gas rigs in Compared to the same month last year, when Ahmadi accounted for a substantial lion in the Capital governorate. Whole in recent months is believed to be support- 2014, an exceptionally busy year, company sources however, sales were up slightly, by 2 per- 71 percent of all transactions. Moreover, the buildings accounted for 53 percent of all ed by a large demand for retail space in the had said previously. Nasser said the company had cent year-on-year (y/y). The commercial sec- average transaction size in January was KD transactions while apartments constituted country. not decided whether to increase the number of rigs tor continued its steady growth as demand 376,000, up 5 percent month-on-month 37 percent of all transactions. The Ahmadi The Kuwait Credit Bank (KCB) approved in 2015, but would wait to see production demand. for retail space increases according to mar- (m/m), which could be because some low- governorate once again witnessed the bulk 408 housing loans of approximately KD “It depends on the requirements.” Industry sources ket talk. In contrast, the residential and er-priced units from Sabah Al-Ahmed Sea of activity, with 44 percent of all transac- 20.7 million in January, a drop of22 percent investment sectors remained sluggish for City are now out of the picture.(These had tions. The Farwaniya governorate account- y/y. Again, this was largely due to a base said on Monday that so far, Aramco’s drilling plans the month, the latter likely a reflection of pressured the numbers down previously) ed for 25 percent. and seasonal effect. Disbursed loans for 2015 looked likely to remain unchanged for oil, subdued investor sentiment in the context Meanwhile, sales in the investment sec- Sales of commercial properties totalled KD 18.9 million, an increase of24 but there could be an increase in gas rigs as Saudi of the current environment of low oil prices. tor totaled KD 122 million in January, a increasedby38 percent y/y to reach KD44.3 percent y/y. Loans disbursed by the KCB are Arabia’s domestic demand for gas was rising. Saudi January sales in the residential sector decrease of 13 percent y/y. The sector has million in January. (Chart 6.)The commer- expected to continue to grow on the back Aramco has asked international oil service compa- totaled KD 146 million. This was an increase been going through slight correction of cial sector witnessed three large transac- of a commitment made by the Public nies for 25 percent discounts because of the plunge of 9 percent y/y. 389residential transactions late, with investors concerned that high tions worth over KD 25 million in total in Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) to were recorded during the month-the lowest prices are putting pressure on investment the Farwaniya governorate. Nine transac- distribute 12,000 units by the end of March in oil prices since last June. since February 2014.Activity was once again returns. In terms of the number of transac- tions in total were recorded in January. The 2015. US dollar stable against dinar at 0.298 Oil drops KUWAIT: The exchange rate of the US dollar against the Kuwaiti dinar yesterday exchanged at KD 0.298 towards $59, whereas the euro exchanged at KD 0.323 compared to yesterday’s exchange rates, said the daily bulletin of stock builds the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK). The Sterling pound exchange rose to KD 0.449, the Swiss franc was at KD 0. LONDON: Brent crude oil fell towards $59 a barrel 302 whereas the Japanese yen remained stable at KD yesterday as the dollar strengthened and a supply 0.002. glut pushed global oil inventories to record highs. The dollar hit a more than 11-year high against a Oman, Brunei SWFs basket of currencies after the US unemployment in aircraft leasing rate in February fell to its lowest level since May 2008, making commodities priced in the greenback MUSCAT: Sovereign wealth funds from Oman and more expensive for holders of other currencies. Oil Brunei are partnering to establish an aircraft leasing inventories are rising across the world as production firm with capital of 200 million rials ($520 million), outstrips demand, offsetting tensions in the Middle the Omani fund said yesterday. Omanís State East and the risk of output cuts in Libya and Iraq. General Reserve Fund (SGRF) is setting up the firm Brent was down 35 cents at $59.38 a barrel by with Oman Brunei Investment Co (OBIC), which is 1130 GMT. The North Sea crude oil futures contract itself a 50-50 venture between SGRF and the Brunei fell 4.6 percent last week in its biggest decline since Investment Agency. The new venture, Oman Brunei the week ended Jan. 9. Aviation Leasing Co (OBALC), will invest in and man- US crude was up 5 cents a barrel at $49.67. It age the purchase and lease of commercial aircraft closed down $1.15 on Friday, ending a third week of operated by airlines in the Middle East and globally. declines. “More and more investors are coming to ìAircraft leasing represents an attractive investment the conclusion that the market is awash with oil,” product and in due course we will be offering insti- said Carsten Fritsch, senior oil and commodities GENEVA: Currency rates are displayed at an exchange office in Geneva. In a shock announcement on Jan tutional investors the opportunity to participate in analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. 15, Switzerland’s central bank said it was ending a three-year bid to artificially hold down the value of the the sector through an aviation leasing fund,î said “Unprecedented stocks levels cannot be ignored Swiss franc against the euro, in a move that immediately sent the safe haven currency soaring. —AFP Abeer Al-Abduwani, chief executive of OBIC. OBALC forever.” will be owned 30 percent by SGRF, 60 percent by Goldman Sachs analysts argued in a note to OBIC and 10 percent by other investors. clients that oil prices would reverse recent gains due Iraqi Kurds on track to to rising global inventories. They forecast US crude would drop to around $40 a barrel. Egypt extends bidding Oil producers in the Organization of the meet Baghdad oil deal for ten oil blocks Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have opted CAIRO: Egypt has extended a deadline for companies not to curb output, despite oversupply in many ARBIL: Iraq’s Kurdistan region said yes- including the agreed special allocation oil exports at a time when revenues to bid for 10 oil exploration concessions to May 31 from parts of the world, choosing to defend market share terday it was on track to keep its side of funds for the peshmerga forces,” the are strained by low global prices and March 31, state-owned Ganoub El Wadi Petroleum rather than try to support oil prices. OPEC Secretary- of an oil export deal reached with the statement read. The peshmerga are the cost of financing a war against Holding Company (Ganope) said yesterday. Egypt General Abdullah Al-Badri has said the group federal government in December and the Kurdish regional armed forces. Islamic State insurgents in the north wants to attract more international firms to explore for should not cut output to “subsidize” higher-cost urged Baghdad to uphold its own end Baghdad cut budget payments to and west. oil and gas to help the country to cope with its worst shale oil, now being produced in large quantities in of the bargain. the Kurds in January 2014 as punish- But the deal has already showed energy crisis in decades. Ganope has extended the clos- By the end of February, the ment for their attempts to export oil signs of strain. So far this year, North America. Oil prices fell by 60 percent between ing date of its international bid round 2014 (10 block) autonomous region had supplied independently, plunging the Baghdad, which is suffering a financial June 2014 and this January but recovered by almost for two months, it said in a statement on its website. a third between January and February on Middle almost 97 percent of the crude oil it autonomous region into economic cri- crisis of its own, has paid only a frac- agreed to hand over to Iraq’s State Oil sis and forcing it to seek loans at home tion of the Kurds’ budget share, argu- “This extension was requested by the companies inter- East supply disruptions, strong winter demand and ested in the concessions, in order for them to make a high refinery margins. Marketing Organization (SOMO) and abroad. ing that the oil shipped did not nearly according to the timetable, a regional Under the December deal, the match the expected volumes, and it more thorough evaluation of the blocks available,” Fighting in several oil-rich countries has kept a lid government statement. Kurds committed to export an average had been forced to reduce expendi- Mohamed Salah, Ganope’s vice chairman for agree- on production and exports. In Libya, up to 10 for- “The KRG (Kurdistan Regional of 550,000 barrels per day (bpd) ture across the board. ments and exploration, said. The 10 blocks are West eign workers are missing in the latest attack on oil- Government) in turn expects the fed- through SOMO at the Turkish port of The Kurds in turn blamed outages Gebel el-Zeit, Southeast Ras el-Ush, Northeast Geisum, fields by Islamist militants and there is a possibility eral government to honor its obliga- Ceyhan in return for the reinstatement in neighboring Turkey and technical North Magawish, Northwest Shadwan, Northwest Sea they have been taken hostage, Czech and Libyan tions under the budget law and to of budget payments in 2015. The issues at the Kirkuk oilfields for a short- Bird, North al-Baraka, South al-Baraka, Southeast Qena, officials said on Saturday. —Reuters provide the KRG with its legal monthly agreement was hailed as a break- fall in January, but said this would be and Kharit, the Ganope statement said. entitlement to its share of the budget, through that would help Iraq increase made up. —Reuters

EXCHANGE RATES

Al-Muzaini Exchange Co. UAE Exchange Centre WLL Syrian Pound 2.580 Sierra Leone 0.000066 0.000072 Nepalese Rupees 3.980 Singapore Dollar 0.213881 0.219881 South African Rand 0.018857 0.027357 ASIAN COUNTRIES Malaysian Ringgit 81.940 COUNTRY SELL DRAFT SELL CASH Sri Lankan Rupee 0.001869 0.002449 Japanese Yen 2.473 Chinese Yuan Renminbi 48.115 Taiwan 0.009366 0.009546 Indian Rupees 4.788 Australian Dollar 229.42 Thai Bhat 10.165 Thai Baht 0.008867 0.009417 Pakistani Rupees 2.937 Canadian Dollar 243.16 Turkish Lira 114.025 Srilankan Rupees 2.239 Swiss Franc 313.34 Nepali Rupees 2.988 Euro 332.63 Arab Singapore Dollar 217.250 US Dollar 298.15 Bahrain Exchange Company Bahraini Dinar 0.787040 0.795040 Hongkong Dollar 38.552 Sterling Pound 457.15 Egyptian Pound 0.037941 0.041041 Japanese Yen 2.52 Iranian Riyal 0.000083 0.000084 Bangladesh Taka 3.844 COUNTRY SELL CASH SELLDRAFT Philippine Peso 6.769 Bangladesh Taka 3.827 Iraqi Dinar 0.000189 0.000249 Europe Thai Baht 9.193 Indian Rupee 4.785 Jordanian Dinar 0.417904 0.425404 Belgian Franc 0.007799 0.008799 Irani Riyal transfer 61.555 Sri Lankan Rupee 2.230 Kuwaiti Dinar 1.000000 1.000000 Irani Riyal cash 121.740 Nepali Rupee 3.010 British Pound 0.443704 0.452704 Lebanese Pound 0.000149 0.000249 Pakistani Rupee 2.926 Czech Korune 0.003869 0.015869 Moroccan Dirhams 0.021346 0.045346 GCC COUNTRIES UAE Dirhams 81.04 Danish Krone 0.039496 0.044496 Nigerian Naira 0.001227 0.001862 Saudi Riyal 79.805 Bahraini Dinar 791.34 Euro 0.318550 0.326550 Omani Riyal 0.770997 0.776677 Qatari Riyal 82.218 Egyptian Pound 38.96 Norwegian Krone 0.033855 0.039055 Qatar Riyal 0.081458 0.082671 Omani Riyal 777.520 Jordanian Dinar 423.63 Romanian Leu 0.085811 0.085811 Saudi Riyal 0.079137 0.079837 Bahraini Dinar 794.870 Omani Riyal 773.22 Slovakia 0.008856 0.018856 Syrian Pound 0.001267 0.001487 UAE Dirham 81.490 Qatari Riyal 82.10 Swedish Krona 0.031320 0.036320 Tunisian Dinar 0.148840 0.156840 Saudi Riyal 79.42 Swiss Franc 0.298230 0.308430 Turkish Lira 0.116880 0.123880 ARAB COUNTRIES Turkish Lira 0.116880 0.123880 UAE Dirhams 0.080466 0.081615 Egyptian Pound - Cash 41.200 Dollarco Exchange Co. Ltd Yemeni Riyal 0.001351 0.001431 Egyptian Pound - Transfer 39.132 Australasia Yemen Riyal/for 1000 1.396 Australian Dollar 0.221657 0.233157 Tunisian Dinar 152.050 Rate for Transfer Selling Rate New Zealand Dollar 0.212764 0.222264 Al Mulla Exchange Jordanian Dinar 422.410 US Dollar 299.100 America Lebanese Lira/for 1000 2.008 Canadian Dollar 239.440 Canadian Dollar 0.231565 0.240065 Syrian Lira 2.133 Sterling Pound 450.840 US Dollars 0.295050 0.299750 Currency Transfer Rate (Per 1000) Morocco Dirham 30.619 Euro 329.740 US Dollars Mint 0.295550 0.299750 US Dollar 298.550 Swiss Frank 295.280 Euro 329.450 EUROPEAN & AMERICAN COUNTRIES Bahrain Dinar 795.625 Asia Pound Sterlng 454.750 US Dollar Transfer 299.450 UAE Dirhams 81.810 Bangladesh Taka 0.003544 0.004144 Canadian Dollar 241.100 Euro 327.270 Qatari Riyals 82.980 Chinese Yuan 0.046405 0.049905 Indian Rupee 4.790 Sterling Pound 453.060 Saudi Riyals 79.945 Hong Kong Dollar 0.036485 0.039235 Egyptian Pound 39.115 Canadian dollar 237.990 Indian Rupee 0.004535 0.004936 Jordanian Dinar 422.175 Sri Lankan Rupee 2.237 Turkish lira 113.880 Indonesian Rupiah 0.000019 0.000025 Egyptian Pound 39.142 Bangladesh Taka 3.838 Swiss Franc 304.630 Sri Lankan Rupees 2.241 Japanese Yen 0.002395 0.002575 Australian Dollar 234.230 Philippines Peso 6.740 Indian Rupees 4.774 Kenyan Shilling 0.003316 0.003316 US Dollar Buying 299.150 Korean Won 0.000260 0.000275 Pakistan Rupee 2.922 Pakistani Rupees 2.938 Bahraini Dinar 794.900 Bangladesh Taka 3.843 Malaysian Ringgit 0.078218 0.084218 GOLD UAE Dirham 81.500 Philippines Pesso 6.755 Nepalese Rupee 0.003022 0.003192 20 gram 238.100 Saudi Riyal 79.700 Cyprus pound 734.170 Pakistan Rupee 0.002755 0.003035 10 gram 121.740 Philippine Peso 0.006657 0.006937 *Rates are subject to change 5 gram 61.560 Japanese Yen 3.470 TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 BUSINESS Frugal Germans fuel economy with spending spree

BERLIN: Sales of new kitchens are up At Fischers Fritz, where main courses percent, its lowest rate since reunifica- consumers to spend on other items. money are an absolute joke. Some of more than 10 percent already this year set diners back up to 90 euros, turnover tion in 1990. German workers have Last month IG Metall, Germany’s them are almost negative. So the only at German kitchen maker Haecker. For soared by 10 percent last year. Head secured the highest negotiated wage biggest trade union, secured an inflation- sensible solution was to take out a loan those who would rather someone else chef Christian Lohse said people host- increases in two decades. A dramatic busting 3.4 percent wage increase that at a low interest rate and invest it in the did the cooking, roasted monkfish and ing events were now ordering delicacies drop in energy prices is putting more will likely benefit 3.7 million workers. house,” he said. turbot with truffles are flopping onto like trout caviar, not staples like cash in pockets too. Retail sales posted their biggest The surge in spending is likely to plates at Berlin’s Michelin-starred sausage. Household spending contribution to monthly increase in seven years in outlast weak oil prices due to low job- restaurant Fischers Fritz. “Germans think in terms of security growth in Europe’s largest economy January and industry association HDE lessness and expectations of bigger A blizzard of corporate good news and seem to feel secure at the moment. rose at its strongest rate in three years expects them to increase for a sixth paychecks, said Christian Odendahl, shows that famously frugal Germans are That’s really noticeable in the way in 2014 and it made up more than half consecutive year in 2015, with 1.5 per- chief economist at London’s Centre for now snapping up soccer shirts from they’re spending - the restaurant indus- of Germany’s national output last year. cent growth. “It’s not just about the European Reform. Adidas and electronics from retail chain try is booming,” he said. “People say: Along with resurgent investment it has falling oil prices but also about the “Without a negative external shock, Media-Saturn. ‘Let’s just have a bigger, better party eclipsed Germany’s legendary exports labour market situation, incomes and this optimism is likely to feed on itself With interest rates on savings low, because if I can only get 0.0 or 0.1 per- as the main driver of growth. low interest rates - these factors will without more restrictive monetary or unemployment falling, oil prices sliding cent interest on my money it’s not “The mood among consumers is continue to have a positive effect for fiscal policy stopping it. The result and pay rises outpacing inflation, econ- worth investing it so I might as well just excellent at the moment - it’s almost this year at least,” said HDE managing would be stronger wage growth, even omists say German consumers have spend it.” euphoric,” said Rolf Buerkl, analyst at director Stefan Genth. more optimism, and even more con- finally woken up and are likely to keep market research group GfK. His firm Consumers are shelling out on big- sumption.” on spending through 2015. Markus Frugality still prized says Germans are more willing to buy ticket items such as cars, furniture and Haecker expects its kitchen sales to Sander, marketing head at Haecker, a Frugality is still a prized national now than at any time since a one-off appliances like refrigerators, televisions grow by up to 6 percent this year. family firm with more than 1,200 trait, and Germans still saved 9.2 per- blip in late 2006 ahead of a sales tax and dishwashers. Others are treating Germans, less likely to own their own employees, said Germans were now cent of their disposable income on aver- hike. themselves to smartphones, long-haul homes than other Europeans and more splurging on high-end kitchens - many age last year. But while that figure is The government expects the econo- trips and cruises or renovating their restrained in interior design, are costing more than a new car - because high by global standards, it was my to expand by 1.5 percent this year, homes. increasingly seeing open-plan kitchens low interest rates made saving unattrac- Germany’s second lowest since 2000. but others say that is an understate- as a status symbol and investing in tive and loans cheap. There are many signs that spending ment. Insurer Allianz has raised its fore- Only sensible solution wood, glass and stone designs. “Five years ago the front-page head- could increase further still this year, wel- cast to 2.1 percent from 1.6 percent, Lawyer Volker Schmitt, 53, is one of “You have to ask what the alternative lines were all about unemployment. But come news to struggling countries which would see Germany motoring them. He is replacing the roof of his is - does the consumer want to save his now you read about job growth every- across the euro-zone who have long ahead of the wider euro zone. 1930s house in eastern Berlin and turn- money, invest in shares or in physical where so people are feeling less wor- complained that Germans hold back Bundesbank President Jens ing the loft into a living room. After sav- objects such as the home? At the ried and they’re spending more on the rest of the bloc’s growth by buying Weidmann has described the fall in ing up for years, he decided it was no moment, given the low interest rate, durables like furniture and kitchens,” he less than they make. global energy prices as a small econom- longer worth keeping his money in the he’s tending to put it into consumption,” said. German unemployment is now at 6.5 ic stimulus package freeing up cash for bank. “The interest rates on deposited said Sander. —Reuters Japan lowers Q4 growth estimate, averts recession Demand, wages remain week

TOKYO: Japan’s economy escaped called “quantitative easing,” Europe the economy have pushed the value in many industrial economies, Nobel recession last quarter but grew less and Japan are still counting on it to of the Japanese yen lower, raising Prize winning economist Robert than first estimated as demand and help spur growth. But falling oil import costs but also yielding a Shiller of Yale said at a recent news wages remained weak, the govern- prices and relatively weak domestic windfall for big Japanese corpora- conference in Tokyo. ment said yesterday. demand have slowed Japan’s tions that earn much of their profit Shiller praised Abe for seeking to The world’s third-largest econo- progress toward its goal of a 2 per- overseas. inspire more confidence, and for my is recovering from a blow to cent inflation rate. Abe has been urging business pledging to shake up stagnant consumer and business spending Extreme monetary easing has leaders to put more of their record industries and cut through bureau- FRANKFURT: The headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) is pic- from a sales tax hike on April 1, been the linchpin of the earnings into raising wages, to help cratic red tape that many in Japan tured in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. The European Central Bank 2014. Purchases plunged after announced yesterday that it and the national central banks of the euro area surging to beat that increase. The have started buying bonds as part of the long-awaited purchase program to government said the economy kickstart inflation in the single currency area. —AFP grew an annualized 1.5 percent in the final quarter of 2014 compared with its earlier estimate of 2.2 per- ECB, euro central banks cent growth. It contracted 2.6 per- cent in the July-September quarter begin buying bonds and 6.4 percent in the April-June quarter. For all of 2014, Japan’s economy FRANKFURT: The European Central Bank ECB chief Mario Draghi had announced stagnated, neither growing nor announced yesterday that it and the nation- last week that the central bank would launch contracting from the previous year. al central banks of the euro area have start- its bond purchase program yesterday. Monday’s revision reflects lower ed buying bonds as part of the long-awaited Under the program, central banks will private demand, flat-lining corpo- purchase program to kick-start inflation in buy around 60 billion euros of public and rate and residential investment and the single currency area. private bonds each month at least until a downward revision to business “The ECB and Eurosystem national cen- September 2016. The move comes as tradi- inventories. It also showed a slight tral banks have, as previously announced, tional efforts to boost sluggish economic drop in incomes. started purchases under the Public Sector activity in the 19-nation euro-zone have More recent data have shown a Purchase Program,” the ECB announced via been exhausted through interest rate cuts recovery in exports and increased the micro-blogging site Twitter. Earlier, a that have brought borrowing costs to nearly orders of machinery, which are spokesman for the German central or zero. vital drivers for growth. Both the Bundesbank confirmed that it had been The policy known as quantitative easing government and central bank say “active in the market since 9:25 am (0825 or QE is also being adopted as the euro- the economy is still in the midst of GMT).” zone faces growing threats of deflation, in a moderate recovery. “The econo- Further details about the purchases-the which falling prices lead consumers to put my is growing. Wages are growing. amounts or whether they were public or pri- off purchases in expectation they will drop Only the shock of untimely con- vate-sector bonds-were not immediately further, sparking a damaging cycle of falling sumption taxes is hampering available. production, job creation and prices. —AFP growth,” Koichi Hamada, a Yale TOKYO: Pedestrians walk across a street as a Shinkansen bullet train (top) passes a railway sta- University economist and adviser tion in Tokyo yesterday. Japan’s economy grew less than initially thought in the final quarter of to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, told 2014, revised government data showed yesterday, revealing an even weaker emergence from reporters last week. “There is a rosy recession than previously believed. —AFP future for the Japanese economy.” Turkish CB cuts forex The central bank is spending tril- “Abenomics” economic revival strat- support consumer demand. So far, view as a major hindrance. lions of yen (tens of billions of dol- egy, along with strong government most increases have come in the But the impasse over spending deposit rates, lira firms lars) a month on asset purchases, spending and sweeping reforms. form of bonuses, while increases in remains a challenge in Japan and else- seeking to spur inflation and end Progress in those areas has also base wages for the majority of work- where, he said. “People are worried ISTANBUL: The Turkish Central Bank The changes will take effect today. once and for all chronic deflation been modest, with government ers employed by smaller companies and the result of the worrying is they said yesterday it was cutting its one- that Hamada and some other econ- spending rising 0.1 percent in the have lagged inflation. don’t want to spend much,” Shiller week forex deposit interest rates, trig- Ministers to brief Erdogan omists say is slowing growth. last quarter from the year before. Anxiety over job insecurity and said. “There’s no easy cure for these As the US wraps up its era of so- The massive injections of cash into stretched incomes is a problem seen psychological fluctuations.” —AP gering gains in the lira after a week of Undeterred by the market’s nega- sharp declines driven partly by worries tive response to his interference, on over political pressure on the bank. Saturday the president told the busi- By 0943 GMT the lira firmed to ness community not to profit from the Orascom rises in NASDAQ Dubai debut 2.5930 against the dollar after the cen- strong dollar. Prime Minister Ahmet tral bank announcement. It hit a Davutoglu, Central Bank Governor DUBAI: Shares in Orascom Construction rose today or tomorrow having de-merged from been in talks with several big investors about build- record low of 2.6470 late on Friday and Basci and Deputy Prime Minister around three percent on their NASDAQ Dubai mar- Amsterdam-listed parent firm OCI. Last November, ing coal burning plants to bolster its generation was at 2.6270 in early trade. Babacan were expected to brief ket debut on yesterday and the company said it Orascom Construction had announced a joint ven- capacity. The bank stepped in to support the Erdogan in the coming days, closely was in talks to finance the first phase of a $5 billion ture with Abu Dhabi’s state-owned International The project is split into two phases. The first lira after it hit record lows on concern watched by markets for whether they coal-fired power plant in Egypt. Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) to build the power phase will provide 1,800-2,000 megawatts and will about the future make-up of the gov- would negotiate for a hike in rates. Orascom shares climbed 2.9 percent to close at plant with a total capacity of 3,000-4,000 cost about $3 billion, while the total budget is $5 ernment’s economic team and about Turkey’s lira earlier came under $14.69. The company, majority owned by Egypt’s megawatts on Egypt’s Red Sea coast. billion, Orascom Construction chief executive pressure exerted by President Tayyip slight pressure after data showed billionaire Sawiris family, will join Cairo’s bourse Egypt is facing major energy shortages and has Osama Bishai told reporters in Dubai. The firm is negotiating with banks to arrange the debt part of Erdogan on the central bank to cut industrial output fell in January, under- the first phase. “We are targeting to achieve finan- rates. Analysts said it was the third lining the growth worries behind the cial close if not the end of this year, the first quarter time the bank, which has been verbal- government pressure on the bank to of next year,” Bishai said. ly pressured by key political figures cut rates. “These transactions take at least 12-15 months. and unable to hike rates, has used Industrial production fell a calendar- With this type of transaction you’re looking at back-door methods to stem the lira’s adjusted 2.2 percent year-on-year in somewhere like 80 (percent) debt and 20 (percent) decline since last week, after increased January, the data showed, below a equity.” its daily forex-selling auction amount Reuters poll forecast of a 1.6 percent rise The project is provisionally a 50-50 partnership and tightened lira liquidity slightly. in output. “Economic activity slowed with IPIC. “We’re talking to other strategic and tech- nical investors that may come or may not,” Bishai BGC Partners chief economist down significantly. In fact all the other said. “Once we conclude that, the final structure will Ozgur Altug said the bank’s forex leading indicators are weak and indicat- be announced.” He said the first phase would likely deposit facility was used by banks in ed a slowdown in the first quarter,” said take 30-38 months to build, although construction late 2012 and at that time the rate was Deniz Cicek, economist at Finansbank. could start prior to financing being finalised, while much lower. “Usually, this facility is “The main issue for the central bank the second phase could start before the first was used in the worst times and we think is inflation but they also consider completed if the government approved it. that seeing the Bank taking some growth. As long as the lira continues to As part of its market debut, Orascom has issued actions against lira depreciation is fall, I’m not sure how much the central 12.98 million new shares in Egypt, representing 11 positive for sentiment,” he added. bank can do to counter the growth percent of its share capital, in an offer that was 5.1 times subscribed. The central bank said in a state- slowdown,” he added. The main Istanbul “Dubai provides our institutional and UK and US ment it was cutting the one-week stock index was up 1.36 percent by 1022 shareholders a base that is dollar denominated,” deposit rate for dollars to 4.5 percent GMT, outperforming a 0.86 percent fall Bishai said. Orascom’s customer order backlog was from 7.5 percent in line with global in the emerging markets index. The $5.6 billion as of Sept. 30, of which about 43 per- interest rate developments. benchmark 10-year bond yield fell to cent was from the United States, with the reminder ATHENS: The sun lights the ancient Acropolis hill with the 5th century BC Parthenon It also cut its one-week euro deposit 8.25 percent from 8.39 percent at mostly split between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The temple, in Athens yesterday. Euro-zone finance ministers discuss about Greece at a rate to 2.5 percent from 6.5 percent. Friday’s close. —Reuters company has since accumulated nearly $1 billion of Eurogroup meeting as Athens had submitted seven reform proposals. —AP additional orders, Bishai said. —Reuters BUSINESS TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 Fed rate hike talk weighs on global stocks

LONDON: Global stocks fell yesterday as last futures 0.1 percent lower. “Investors’ expectations are now higher, German exports in January fell by the bloc are falling at an annual rate of 0.3 week’s strong US jobs data continued to rever- The market has strongly rallied since the and with sluggish German exports data this largest amount since August, dropping percent. berate around markets, with traders thinking start of the year, with the FTSEurofirst 300 morning and doubts over when the Fed will far more than expected and raising wor- The divergence between the Fed and it’s now more likely that the Federal Reserve surging 14 percent in the run-up to the start of start raising rates, people are tempted to just ries over the outlook for Europe’s biggest the ECB is one of the main reasons why will start to raise interest rates in the summer. the ECB’s quantitative easing program, under book profits.” economy. the euro sunk Friday to $1.0823, its lowest In Europe, France’s CAC-40 fell 0.2 to 4,931 which it will buy 60 billion euros a month of The drop in European stocks yesterday mir- FED TALK DOMINATES: The main level in over 12 years. Yesterday, it while Germany’s DAX dropped 0.2 percent to bonds. “It’s ‘buy the rumor, sell the news’. rored a sell-off on Wall Street on Friday, where focus in the markets was last Friday’s recouped some ground, trading 0.3 per- 11,529. The FTSE 100 index of leading British European stocks have jumped 15 percent strong US jobs data fanned expectations that strong US jobs data for February showing cent higher at $1.0873. shares was 0.7 percent lower at 6,864. Wall since the start of the year and the positive the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates a forecast-busting 295,000 increase in Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 1 percent to Street was poised for modest losses at the bell, impact from QE has broadly been priced in by sooner than previously thought. Also weigh- nonfarm payrolls, which ratcheted up 18,790.55 points and Seoul’s Kospi shed 1 with Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 now,” Saxo Bank trader Pierre Martin said. ing on sentiment on Monday, data showed expectations that the Fed will raise inter- percent to 1,992.82. Hong Kong’s Hang est rates as soon as June. The Fed has Seng declined 0.2 percent to 24,123.05. held interest rates close to zero for more The Shanghai Composite Index was the than six years to stimulate growth follow- only major index to buck the regional ing the 2008 global crisis. trend, adding 1.9 percent to 3,302.41 “European risk assets took their cue after China’s February exports were from the softening price action seen on stronger than expected. Friday by US investors this morning, as Exports jumped 48.3 percent in last week’s jobs number unexpectedly February over a year earlier, rebounding pulled forward the market’s expectation from January’s 3.3 percent decline and of a rate hike by the Fed,” said David bringing total growth so far this year to White, a trader at Spreadex. 15 percent. Imports shrank for a second Of interest too is the start of the month, declining 20.5 percent and bring- European Central Bank’s 60 billion-euro ing the total contraction this year to 20.2 ($65 billion) per month bond-buying pro- percent. The trade minister said Saturday gram. The bank hopes the program will that weakness was expected in February stimulate the euro-zone economy and trade but expressed confidence China get inflation back to the target of just can hit the government’s target of 6 per- below 2 percent. At present, consumer cent growth this year in total imports and prices in the 19-country single currency exports. — Agencies TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 BUSINESS UAE minister hits back in airlines subsidy row

ABU DHABI: The United Arab Emirates’ growth has hit the businesses of legacy subsidy.” Mansouri said recent heated and of course our colleagues and friends German airports, especially those in economy minister hit back at criticism of carriers in the US and Europe. exchanges between airline executives must have the possibility to prove the Frankfurt and Munich where Lufthansa Gulf airlines during a news conference The Gulf carriers denied they received were not healthy and could affect rela- results and then discuss it.” European carri- has hubs, often blaming the influence of with his German counterpart yesterday, subsidies and said US-based airlines them- tions between nations. ers - in particular Lufthansa, the region’s the German carrier for denying them demanding those who accuse them of selves benefited from government help in “We shouldn’t underestimate the value largest airline by revenue - have long said access. Both ministers indicated there was benefiting from government subsidies the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. “You of the aviation industry in terms of its con- one of their biggest challenges coming a need to further discuss the terms of the provide proof. cannot throw accusations without proof,” tribution to nations - Germany, the US, from Gulf state-owned carriers. air services (Open Skies) agreement A dossier compiled by a group of US Sultan bin Saeed Al-Mansouri told a news Europe,” Mansouri said, citing the shared Lufthansa’s former chief executive, between the two countries. airlines alleged last month that the UAE’s conference alongside German Economy benefits from aircraft purchases, travel and Christoph Franz, often spoke out against Etihad Airways bought a 29 percent Emirates and Etihad Airways, as well as Minister Sigmar Gabriel yesterday, declin- tourism. the major Gulf carriers, saying their state- stake in Germany’s second-largest air- Qatar Airways, had received more than ing to say whether the pair discussed the owned status meant they did not com- line, Air Berlin, in a strategy to expand $40 billion in state subsidies, giving them airline subsidy issue. Lufthansa pete on a level playing field with priva- into the European market without the an unfair advantage. The dossier was part “The subsidy word is misused in many Speaking at the same event, Germany’s tized carriers because of subsidies. need for substantially more landing of a renewed wave of criticism from situations. Unless there’s proof and you Gabriel said: “Of course we have to prove it In return, Emirates has long com- slots, and to bring more traffic to its Abu Western carriers against the trio, whose put it there, you should not use the word and discuss it in the existing framework plained about securing landing rights at Dhabi hub. —Reuters EU urges Greece to ‘stop wasting time’ on reform Dijsselbloem says Greek reform letter incomplete

BRUSSELS: The head of euro-zone Sapin said on leaving Paris for the both said publicly they want to radio interview he did not expect finance ministers urged Greece meeting that while he was not keep Greece in the currency area. substantial decisions on Greece at yesterday to “stop wasting time” worried about a risk of Greece But in a sign that German senti- Monday’s Eurogroup meeting and buckle down to serious talks defaulting, “things are serious”. A ment may be shifting, Ramsauer because ministers were waiting for and implementation of a reform source at the European Central said a temporary “Grexit” would be more financial details on the program to secure urgently need- Bank said the cash position of a “great opportunity” for the coun- reform plans. He criticized ed fresh funds from its internation- Greek banks, on a drip-feed of try to boost its economy and Varoufakis’ talk of a referendum or al creditors. emergency funding, appeared to administration “making it fit to returning to elections, saying it “Little has been done since the be stabilising after heavy deposit return to the euro area from a posi- would only delay what needed to last Eurogroup (meeting two outflows from December to late tion of strength”. be done. weeks ago) in terms of talks, in February. The ECB would not allow Greeks want to stay An opinion poll on Monday terms of implementation,” Greece to increase its issuance of Seeking European support for showed a large majority of Greeks GENEVA: People queue to change their Swiss francs at a currency exchange Eurogroup chairman Jeroen short-term treasury bills because it his government’s efforts to allevi- want Athens to reach a compro- office yesterday in Geneva. The Swiss franc strengthened 29 percent to Dijsselbloem said on arrival for a could not allow monetary financ- ate deep hardship caused by aus- mise deal with lenders to avoid 0.8517 against the euro. —AFP meeting of ministers of the 19- nation currency bloc. “We have to stop wasting time GM plans $5bn stock buyback, and really start talks seriously,” he said, adding that euro zone part- averts showdown with funds ners stood ready to support Greece if it continued on the economic reform path. Euro zone officials DETROIT: General Motors has headed off a the company this year to roll out more new were not persuaded by a letter potentially divisive proxy fight by agreeing to vehicles in the coming years. Wilson, 43, filed sent by outspoken Greek Finance buy back $5 billion in stock by the end of next notice of his board candidacy on Feb. 9 in a let- Minister Yanis Varoufakis on Friday year. The move announced yesterday is part of ter to Barra. He represents four hedge funds - outlining seven planned measures. a deal with Harry Wilson, a former member of Taconic Parties, Appaloosa Parties, HG Vora They said it was only a starting the government task force that restructured Parties and Hayman Parties - which own 34.4 point and no basis for releasing GM coming out of its 2009 bankruptcy. In million GM shares, about 2.1 percent of the frozen bailout money. exchange, Wilson agreed to withdraw his hos- company. Varoufakis irritated EU partners tile candidacy for the Detroit automaker’s Under a deal with the funds, Wilson would in a weekend newspaper interview board of directors. get up to 4 percent of any profits they made on by dangling the prospect of a refer- Wilson had accused GM of hoarding cash to GM stock. endum. Dijsselbloem said earlier the detriment of shareholders and had sought “We arrived at a win-win outcome that the steps outlined were “far from an $8 billion buyback. GM, which had $25.2 bil- includes a thoughtful approach to critical capi- complete”, adding that it would be lion in cash at the end of last year, now says it tal allocation issues,” Wilson said in a statement very difficult to complete the will maintain a cash balance of $20 million and issued by GM. In an interview with The reform program during the four- aim to keep its investment-grade status. Associated Press last month, Wilson said share- month extension of Greece’s The share repurchase will begin immediate- holders are frustrated with GM because it’s an European Union/International ly and finish before the end of 2016. Investors underperforming company with substantial Monetary Fund bailout that runs appeared to like the announcement. GM shares cash that needs help reaching its potential. until end June. rose 95 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $37.49 in morn- “They are not a very good steward of capital,” Shut out of capital markets and ing trading yesterday. Negotiations with Wilson said. with international loans frozen Wilson’s group had been going on for about Before a jump in the stock price after raising against a background of falling tax two weeks and culminated during the week- the dividend in early February, GM “had not revenues, Greece could run out of cash later this month. Hardline end, CEO Mary Barra said yesterday. She would- generated a dollar of net value for sharehold- BRUSSELS: Eurogroup President and Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem (right) speaks n’t say much about the talks or whether Wilson ers,” Wilson said. GM shares were trading German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters Athens with European Central Bank President Mario Draghi yesterday during a meeting of Eurogroup was resistant to a smaller stock buyback than around $33, about the same price as its post- finance ministers at EU headquarters in Brussels. —AFP initially demanded. The company also talked bankruptcy public offering in November of must start implementing its obliga- with other major shareholders, who agreed 2010, he said. tions and refrain from unilateral with the buyback, she said. The company, he said, has not improved its changes to its commitments. ing of the government, the source terity, leftist Greek Prime Minister having to leave the euro. Barra indicated that the buyback might profit margins appreciably, and is behind other Varoufakis, who wants a negoti- said. Alexis Tsipras will meet European Some 69.6 percent of Greeks say have come without Wilson’s prodding. “We automakers in working with parts supply com- ated restructuring of Greece’s debt A senior politician in German Commission President Jean-Claude the new leftist-led government were on a path to do this anyway,” she said yes- panies to develop more models off fewer car to official lenders, was quoted by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conser- Juncker on Friday. A Greek official should look for an “honourable terday. GM announced a 20 percent dividend and truck architectures. Italy’s Corriere della Sera on vative bloc said Greece would be said they would discuss how compromise” to resolve the crisis, increase when it released fourth-quarter and GM restored its quarterly dividend in Sunday as saying the leftist-led better off outside the 19-nation Greece can use EU funds to tackle according to a Marc survey for the full-year numbers last month, and Chief January of 2014 for the first time in six years. In government could call a referen- euro zone, suggesting that what he called the humanitarian newspaper Efimerida Ton Financial Officer Chuck Stevens said further early February the company announced it dum or early elections if European Schaeuble privately agreed. crisis. Syntakton. Only 27.4 percent of returns to shareholders were under considera- would raise the dividend 20 percent in the sec- partners rejected its debt and “By leaving the euro zone, as Juncker has been trying to those questioned wanted Greece tion for the second half of the year. Combined, ond quarter to 36 cents, pending board growth plans. The finance ministry Finance Minister Schaeuble has mediate between the new Athens to refuse any compromise, even if the two moves will cost the company $10 bil- approval. GM faces uncertainty in several areas later clarified that the Marxist for- suggested, the country could make government and its EU creditors, that meant having to leave the lion by the end of 2016. that could drain its cash stockpile. The Justice mer academic had been replying itself competitive again from a cur- notably Germany, but his efforts euro-zone. Stevens said Monday that the $20 billion Department is investigating the company for to a hypothetical question and that rency perspective with a new have irritated Berlin, the euro- Tsipras won power in January cash reserve is high enough for GM to with- failing to disclose a deadly ignition switch any referendum would “obviously drachma,” former transport minis- zone’s main paymaster, which is promising to renegotiate the stand the costs of its ignition switch recall and problem in its small cars to government safety regard the content of reforms and ter Peter Ramsauer, a member of keen to avoid sending mixed mes- bailout package and end austerity, any potential economic downturn. The compa- regulators. That penalty could be as much or fiscal policy” and not whether to the Bavarian Christian Social Union sages to Greece. but was forced to accept a four- ny, he said, had always stated that it planned to more than the $1.2 billion that Toyota paid in a stay in the euro. (CSU), wrote in Bild. German Deputy Finance month conditional extension to keep a $20 billion to $25 billion reserve. similar case. The switches are responsible for at French Finance Minister Michel Merkel and Schaeuble have Minister Steffen Kampeter said in a avert bankruptcy. —Reuters Because of efficiencies and cost cuts, the com- least 57 deaths, and GM has committed to pany could look at drawing that down even making payments to those injured and families further, he said. of those who were killed. The company has set He said he did not expect credit rating aside $400 million for the payments but says Libya to export over 2m barrels agencies to change their outlook on GM. Also they could go as high as $600 million. Monday, GM said it would return capital to Like other Detroit automakers, GM also shareholders each year and said it will faces the financial uncertainty of contract talks of oil from east this week announce those plans each January. It also reit- with the United Auto Workers union later this erated plans to invest more than $9 billion in year. —AP BENGHAZI: Libya is set to export more than omy ended a blockage. Strikes and technical two million barrels of crude oil this week from delays have hampered efforts to export since. Gold rises as dollar Kuwait Credit Bank (KCB) The two ports in the east where output has The Zueitina official gave no output figure but pauses but further topped 245,000 barrels per day, oil officials an industry source put production last month weakness seen Auto Loan Approval Project said yesterday. at Harouge Oil Co and a field called 103 con- Rising exports from the ports of Hariga and nected to Zueitina at around 30,000 bpd. LONDON: Gold rose yesterday as the dollar uwait Credit Bank (KCB) is financial insti- time and eliminates human error in input and Zueitina offer some hope for the OPEC mem- Libya also exports some 80,000 bpd from rally paused but remained near a three- tution wholly owned by the State of processing. A loan which used to take two days ber state’s oil sector, which has been battered two offshore fields, while the eastern Brega month low after a strong US jobs report KKuwait, specialized in granting social to complete will now be completed in less than by Islamist militant attacks and fighting port supplies Libya’s Zawiya refinery. This puts boosted expectations the Federal Reserve loans and mortgages to Kuwaiti citizens. five minutes. between rival factions. national output at about 400,000 bpd a day, would soon raise interest rates. The objective has been to provide a conven- In order for KCB to follow their vision and ful- Output from four fields including Sarir, the still a fraction of the up to 1.6 million bpd Spot gold rose 0.5 percent to $1,173.26 ient and simplified automated loan application fill the ambition of a fully automated real time country’s largest, has reached 243,000 to Libya pumped prior to the 2011 uprising an ounce by 1033 GMT. It fell 2.6 percent process for citizens. online application loan service partners SAP & 245,000 bpd, said Omran Al-Zwai, spokesman which toppled leader Muammar Gaddafi. on Friday, its biggest daily loss since Oct. 1, The New ‘5 Minute LoanApproval’ MDS have been bought on board to for state firm Arabian Gulf Oil Company (AGO- Major oilfields have stopped working due 2013, and reached its lowest since Dec. 1 at Project fulfil the technological requirements $1,163.45 after the US nonfarm payrolls. CO) which dominates production in eastern to the struggle between the recognized gov- The project objective was to of the project with the recent instal- “What we saw on Friday, even though it make it more convenient and com- lation of datawarehousing and inte- Libya. AGOCO restarted output at the Sarir ernment in the east and a rival administration was a big day for gold, the US dollar and fortable for the citizen to apply for gration software at the bank. and Messla oilfields after a pipeline blast cut that took control of the capital Tripoli in rates, it is still part of this gradual recovery the loan and obtain approval with “The new project will certainly off supplies to Hariga last month. August 2014. in the US economy that will continue to minimum effort. It was to improve help raise the job satisfaction of the The two fields pump around 180,000 bpd, The emergence of militants aligned with evolve throughout this year,” Julius Baer the loan application process and employees who operate the system, while AGOCO also runs the Hamada and Islamic State have further hit the sector. Up to commodity analyst Warren Kreyzig said. make it a fully automated. seeing that customers too are satis- Nafoura fields. A fifth field, Bayda, has been 10 foreign workers are missing after an attack Data showed US employers stepped up To achieve this Kuwait Credit fied with the impressive service. And closed to an outage, Zwai said. on the Al-Ghani oilfield by militants loyal to hiring in February and the jobless rate fell Bank (KCB) had to be abreast with with on average 400 loan applica- A tanker has loaded 600,000 barrels of Islamic State last week. to its lowest level since May 2008, sending the latest technologies and advances Tariq Al-Usaimi tions per week, and the extension of Treasury yields higher. Higher interest rates of data management and integrated the project to handle the 105,000 crude at Hariga while a second one will load Militants have also stormed and damaged one million this week, Zwai said. The smaller several oilfields around Al-Ghani, forcing the could dent demand for non-interest- systems. It acknowledged the government’s backlog of new houses being granted to the bearing assets such as gold. “The number port of Zueitina is expecting a tanker to load government to declare force majeure, pull out timely investment smart chip technology that Kuwaiti citizens by the government, these sys- fuelled expectations that the Fed will now 630,000 barrels of crude later yesterday, an oil workers and shut down production at 11 oil- connects it to the Civil ID card across different tem improvements are key in maintaining KCB’s raise rates sooner rather than later, with governmental entities to obtain the data position as the most trusted and forward think- official said. fields in the central Sirte basin. Libya’s two the consensus now back to a June increase required for loan approval. ing bank in Kuwait. At this stage KCB is now The tanker mark only the second time oil biggest oil ports, Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, as opposed to September,” said INTL On the bank’s side, the project increases evaluating SAP’s in-memory ‘Hana’ platform for has been loaded at the port since April 2014 stopped working in December due to fighting FCStone in a note.—Reuters employee productivity by 95%, reduces waiting the impending volume explosion” when a group campaigning for eastern auton- between rival factions. —Reuters TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 BUSINESS

KBT awarded prestigious ‘50 Best Global Employer Brands’

KUWAIT: KBT has been awarded Unilever Gulf FZE - UAE, Tenneco opment, mainly focused in the Employer Branding among sever- ment of its people, making them with the prestigious ‘50 Best China - China, Morgan Stanley - GCC countries. KBT owns and al countries around the globe. proactive to the business needs Global Employer Brands’ during Hong Kong, BAI Co (Mtius) Ltd - manages both Commercial and With over ten years of existence, and the environment in which the the “9th Employer Branding Mauritius, Barclays Bank Ghana - Residential Towers in Kuwait and the network of Employer company operates. Our goal and Awards”, hosted by Employer Ghana, Telecom Malaysia Berhad - the UAE. KBT has also ventured Branding Institute has increased ambition is to remain as an Branding Institute and World HRD Malaysia. into providing services in the both in size and stature with sev- employer of choice for both cur- Congress at Taj Lands End, Kuwait Business Town Real State of Kuwait. eral HR leaders from over 36 rent and future employees.” Mumbai, India. Estate Company (KBT) has its The Employer Branding Countries, recommended individ- “With the support of its talent- “We are proud to announce name among the leading Real Institute is a virtual organization uals and organizations contribut- ed and dedicated staff, KBT has this as the second set of presti- Estate companies in Kuwait. The with senior leaders in HR connect- ing to its exemplary work. turned around to be a profit mak- gious award the company is company was established in 1999 ing with each other in the cyber Salem Al-Hassawi, Chairman of ing company and now one of receiving after the GCC Best and was publically listed on the space to share the best practices in KBT, reiterated: “We are honoured most sought after employer Employer Brands 2014”, said the Kuwait Stock Exchange on Dec. 16, Employer Branding and outstand- by the award as it recognizes KBT brands,” added Rishi Jacob, Chairman, Salem Al-Hassawi. 2008. Head quartered in Kuwait, ing professionals in several coun- as a preferred employer and an Finance Manger of KBT. The KBT This award together with the KBT currently operates in Kuwait tries, contributing to “Talent employer of choice. The compa- team played a vital role in for the former, recognized KBT as a leader and the United Arab Emirates. KBT Management, Talent Development ny’s efficient and prudent policies past two years in completely in attracting and retaining top was the pioneers in establishing a Salem Al-Hassawi and Talent Innovation”. have helped us reach the zenith transforming and restructuring National and Global talents. KBT financial hub in Kuwait during the This virtual organization is of excellence. As an Employer the company and making it the shared its success with other top year 2007, named “Kuwait town Kuwait City, the company’s exemplary to the manner in Brand, KBT understands its one of the most sought after brands around the globe, to name Business Town”. Strategically locat- operations include Real Estate which it is run and creates a plat- responsibility and believes in con- employer brands in GCC and the a few; Mobily - Saudi Arabia, ed in the financial district, down investments - trading and devel- form to celebrate the best in tinuous training and develop- globe.

Ford supports region’s goal to reduce vehicular fatality rate GCC Traffic Week

DUBAI: As the region kicks off its 31st the vehicle and avoiding crashes in the first annual GCC Traffic Week, Ford joins officials place. These include roll stability control, from throughout the Middle East to remind lane departure warning, trailersway control, drivers to keep their attention on the road adaptive cruise control with collision warn- as everyone works toward the common ing, BLIS(r) blind spot information system goal of reducing road fatalities. with cross-traffic alert, high-speed warning “We can’t emphasize enough that road chime and parking/back-up assistance. safety begins with the driver,” said Jim Ford also regularly hosts “Driving Skills Benintende, President, Ford Motor for Life” driver-training programs through- Company Middle East & Africa. “We out the region. Driving Skills for Life engages young drivers and addresses four key areas that are critical factors in vehicle accidents. These include distractions / haz- ard recognition, vehicle handling, space management and speed management. These four key areas pose the most prob- lems for young drivers and play a role in more than half of the vehicle crashes involving young people worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, the Middle East has one of the highest rates of traffic accidents in the world. Road accidents are the second major cause of death for adults in the UAE and the primary cause of death of children. “First and foremost, safety always begins Qatar Airways unveils three with a seat belt,” said Benintende. applaud the efforts that leaders through- “Everyone in the vehicle should always be out our region are initiating to raise aware- buckled up. Second, despite the best tech- new destinations in Pakistan ness of this important issue.” nology, it is important for drivers to always Over the past years, Ford has introduced remain alert behind the wheel. In some a number of innovative systems and tech- parts of our region more than half of all DOHA: Qatar Airways unveiled the launch dates looking to expand more, and now thanks to new the world’s largest producer of hand-sewed foot- nologies in its vehicles designed to keep traffic accidents are caused by people of three new passenger destinations in Pakistan agreements in place between the relevant balls, with local factories manufacturing 40-60 drivers and passengers safer on the road. using their mobile to text and talk while as part of the airline’s continued expansion strat- authorities, we will soon enjoy significantly million footballs a year, amounting to roughly 70 These include inflatable seat belts, MyKey, a driving. At the very least, using hands-free egy. greater capacity between Qatar and Pakistan. percent of the total world production. Europe, 360-degree camera view and MyFord technology, like MyFord Touch with SYNC, Beginning 16thJuly 2015,the airline will begin “Our customers will be able to take advan- the Americas and the Middle East are important Touch with SYNC. can help drivers maintain more focus on four weekly passenger services to Sialkot where tage of an enhanced choice of destinations regions for travel to and from Sialkot and key Other technologies are designed to the road ahead and the vehicles around it already operates dedicated freighter services when we launch our operations to Faisalabad, destinations include London Heathrow, assist the driver in maintaining control of them.” three times a week. Sialkot also marks Qatar Sialkot and Multan in Pakistan adding greater Manchester, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Rome, Airways’ first new passenger route to Pakistan convenience for both business and leisure trav- Dammam, Abu Dhabi and New York. since 2004. ellers. As a commercial and industrial centre Multan A day later, on 17th July 2015, Qatar Airways “With our state-of-the-art new home at is very well connected with industrial hubs in Gulf Bank sponsors will add Faisalabad to its Pakistan network with Hamad International Airport and its rapid and the rest of the country through rail and air. The three flights a week, and from 1st August 2015, convenient connections, these three new routes city is also an important agricultural centre as it Qatar Airways will spread its wings further in offer a significantly enhanced offering for our is home toa wide variety of crops and livestock. women’s symposium Pakistan with the launch of three flights a week passengers to and from Pakistan and we look Qatar Airways’ key destination markets to to Multan. forward to welcoming them onboard with our Multan include routes in the Middle East and KUWAIT: Gulf Bank is sponsoring ‘The nomic growth, political policies and legal Qatar Airways currently operates 45 flights a five-star service.” North America. Role of Civil Society Organizations in change in society in general and women’s week spread across 4 cities in Pakistan - double Faisalabad is Pakistan’s third largest city and Qatar Airways will operate an Airbus A320 in Women’s empowerment’ Forum in the empowerment in particular. Also, differ- daily flights to Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, has experienced rapid industrial development as a two-class configuration of up to 12 seats in celebration of International Women’s Day. ent civil society organizations and inter- and three flights a week to Peshawar. Karachi it has nurtured itself into a major growth centre Business Class and up to 132 in Economy Class The Fifth Annual Symposium of the national agencies will share best practices was first launched by the airline in 1995, with high economic activity. Key markets in on all the new routes to Pakistan. Women’s Research and Studies Center is and shed light on crucial areas that need Peshawar in 1998, Lahore in 1999 and Islamabad Qatar Airways’ route network for Faisalabad will With five new destinations on the horizon organized by Kuwait University’s College to get greater attention. in 2004. include destinations in the Middle East and the (Amsterdam, Durban, Faisalabad, Sialkot and of Social Sciences in cooperation with Gulf Bank continues to show its com- Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Americas - Jeddah, Dubai, Muscat, Bahrain, Multan), Qatar Airways will increase its global UNDP Kuwait and the General Secretariat mitment towards all sectors of the Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker explained the Kuwait, New York, Washington, Chicago and portfolio to 151 destinations across Europe, Asia of the Higher Commission of Planning Kuwaiti society, reaffirming its position as importance of the new routes to Pakistan, say- Montreal. Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, North America and Development. The Forum will show a leading Kuwaiti financial institution that ing: “We have had a well-established operation Sialkot is a large economic hub as the city and South America. The carrier currently oper- women’s role in social development, eco- is socially dedicated. in Pakistan for many years, but have always been boasts of several manufacturing industries. It is ates a modern fleet of 147 aircraft. Senegal dairy firm bets the farm on cattle that roam

RICHARD TOLL, Senegal: Bagore Bathily was working as a of global dairy. ‘We’re not in Switzerland’ business commercially viable. vet to Senegal’s pastoralist farmers when he was struck by Demand for milk in Africa is expected to grow sharply The company markets pasteurised milk, yoghurt, fresh East Africa’s industry uses highly milk productive cattle an absurdity: 3 million cows roam the country but no dairy in the next decade due to population growth and rising cream and sour milk under the brand name Dolima, which such as Holstein Friesians crossed with local breeds, said company processes their milk. incomes, leading to an increase both in production and means “give me more” in Wolof, Senegal’s national language. Amos Omore, Tanzania country representative for the Demand for dairy products was growing among imports, said Torsten Hemme, IFCN managing director. It does not publish results but Bathily says sales have International Livestock Research Institute. “It is very difficult to Senegal’s middle class but consumer choice was limited to The processing industry is dominated by companies climbed from 250 million CFA francs ($431,466) in 2007 to 2.2 build commercial dairy marketing because the limited milk those made from imported milk and cheap milk powder. including Brookside in Kenya, FrieslandCampina and billion CFA francs ($3.83 million) in 2013. It is now the number available is sold to neighbors and in local markets,” Omore Others had failed to solve the riddle but Bathily decided to Promasidor in Nigeria, and Fan Milk in Ghana, which has two dairy producer in Senegal behind Saprolait, which uses said. try. “If I could start a dairy industry that will buy milk from received investment from Dubai-based Abraaj Group. imported powdered milk, but success has not come easy. the local farmers and make products that consumers will When Bathily, now 39, launched La Laiterie du Berger Pastoralists make up nearly a third of Senegal’s population Rainy season like, we could create something sustainable,” he said. (LDB) in 2006, it was - and it still is - the only dairy pro- but the average herd consists of only two or three cows pro- Bathily established LDB’s main plant in the town of Richard Bathily’s idea touched on two questions central to cessing company in Senegal using milk from the local ducing a few litres of milk a day. Peuhl farmers migrate hun- Toll, around 450 km (280 miles) north of the capital Dakar on Africa’s development: how to monetize subsistence liveli- herd. dreds of kilometers in search of pastures. the River Senegal and the Mauritanian border. hoods and how to kick-start production of consumer He raised around 1 million euros ($1.2 million) with To reach herders’ milk Bathily contends with bad roads, a The town is an agro-industrial hub with a sugar manufac- goods in a continent reliant on imports. help from family and an angel investor, France-based lack of storage facilities and power cuts. turer and rice farmers. It is also near the homesteads of nearly Africa’s dairy industry produced around 17 million tons Investisseurs & Partenaires, to start the firm. LDB has since “We are not in Switzerland with green hills, clement weath- 1,000 pastoralists from whom LDB collects milk twice a day. of products in 2014, of which around 7 million were made increased its capital to give Danone and its social invest- er and cows that produce 20 litres of milk per day,” he said. For Before dawn, logistics manager Souleymane Ba dispatches from imported milk, according to the International Farm ment fund a stake. Grameen Credit Agricole and Phitrust decades, businessmen and researchers have wrestled with five vehicles loaded with hundreds of numbered plastic con- Comparison Network (IFCN), which promotes knowledge Partners also own shares. how to make Africa’s cows more productive and the dairy tainers. —Reuters TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 technology

For virtual reality creators, a question of control SAN FRANCISCO: At the Game achieving realistic imagery that won’t PlayStation 4 could be glimpsed in con- controllers was matched with a set of Smaug from “The Hobbit” films. Developers Conference, it’s easy to leave users feeling queasy, there’s no cert on screen, with floating text indicat- motion-detecting sensors positioned on Other solutions on display at GDC imagine what virtual reality will look like such consensus on just how they should ing each button’s duty. top of shelves at opposite ends of a included the latest rendition of the when it eventually hits the marketplace. interact with what’s displayed inside the “It really just depends,” said Richard room. Virtuix Omni, a treadmill-like contrap- What it will feel like, however, is an goggles. Marks, director of research at Sony tion that tracks users’ feet. At nearly 150 entirely different matter. “For us, it’s a choice we want to give Computer Entertainment America. “I Floating tools pounds, it’s both the bulkiest and safest From wand-shaped controllers to the player,” said Elisa Di Lorenzo, busi- think with DualShock 4 and Move, we On screen, the controllers depicted solution because users’ movement is motion-detecting sensors, VR creators ness development manager at Untold have good coverage for a number of hands in various environments, like a restricted. are trying out all sorts of input methods Games, developer of the VR adventure experiences, but it’s a big area of cartoony kitchen and a fantastical dun- “There’s are a number of VR games on the road to bringing the immersive “Loading Human.” In the latest demon- research, for sure. It’s not done. That’s geon. They also served as floating tools close to being finished, so it’s really a technology into consumers’ homes. stration of the game, users can simply not a problem that’s been solved.” used to create a three-dimensional question now of if the technology is For decades, to interact with virtual look at the direction they want their Oculus VR, which launched the latest painting. Meanwhile, the sensors simul- going to further improve,” said Simon worlds depicted on television and com- avatar to move, or more precisely, they VR frenzy three years ago with the intro- taneously tracked the user’s movement Carless, executive vice president at UBM puter screens, gamers had to rely on can push a joystick on a controller to go duction of the first Oculus Rift proto- in a 15-by-15-foot space, with an on- Tech Game Network, which hosts GDC either hand-held controllers with an there. During a demo of the latest type, has yet to land on a formal control screen grid popping up if an actual real- and other technology conferences. assortment of buttons, directional pads Project Morpheus VR prototype at this scheme. The headset has been demon- world wall was nearby. That answer should come soon. HTC and analog sticks, or a keyboard coupled week’s annual gathering of game strated at trade events with various con- “When I could walk around the room and Valve plan to release Vive later this with a mouse. designers, Sony employed a pair of its trollers. in the Valve demo, I cared a lot less year, while Sony announced this week The head-mounted VR displays that wand-like PlayStation Move controllers, The most precise and immersive about the resolution and everything that Project Morpheus is due in stores intentionally obstruct users’ vision are whose illuminated bulbs are tracked by solution could actually be a combina- else on screen because it was really intu- the first half of 2016. Oculus VR hasn’t providing new challenges for designers the PlayStation Camera, to serve as tion of several different systems. In a itive,” said Alasdair Coull, head of said when the Rift will be available to seeking to create a sense of presence on hands in a VR shootout simulation. In demo of the HTC Vive, a newly unveiled research and development at Weta consumers. There’s another unanswered the screen. While creators agree that another showcase involving toying with headset from the smartphone manufac- Digital. The company partnered with question looming over all these devices: boosting frame rates and lowering tiny robots, a VR rendition of the tradi- turer and game distributor Valve, a pair Oculus and Epic Games for a passive VR How much will this cost? No one is say- latency as much as possible are key to tional DualShock 4 controller for the of wand-shaped gizmos similar to Move encounter at GDC with the dragon ing yet.— AP All eyes on Apple’s Cook as watch launch expected

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc Chief able last year. Companies, including Executive Officer Tim Cook yesterday is Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, LG Electronics expected to announce details of the first Inc, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and product developed under his leadership, a Qualcomm Inc, collectively have not yet watch that Apple hopes will transform the had a wearable hit. More companies are market of wearable technology. expected to test the waters this year, The company provided a sneak preview including possibly Xiaomi Technology Co of the “Apple Watch” in September, has Ltd, China’s largest maker of smartphones. shown it to fashionistas, and even bought a Meanwhile, traditional watch brands 12-page advertising spread in Vogue mag- such as Swatch are beginning to make azine, but fans and skeptics are eager for timepieces with features such as activity more details. tracking. With a rectangular face of about 1.5 Roughly 4.6 million smartwatches were inches (38 mm) in the smaller of two sizes, shipped in 2014, according to research firm the watch wirelessly tethers to an iPhone, Strategy Analytics. Analysts estimate that measures heart rate, and can tap wearers Apple could sell anywhere from 10 million on the wrist to signal a new message or to 32 million Apple Watches in 2015. By appointment. The price will start at $349. comparison, Apple sold about 15 million Apple has said the watch will launch in iPads in 2010, after an April launch. April and speculation is rife on what capa- Apple will have to “tweak” its stores to bilities, from healthcare and fitness to navi- handle the watch, Cook told the Telegraph gation and entertainment, will be included. newspaper recently. Cook is expected to Apple fans have been waiting for a new take stage in a carefully choreographed type of product for five years, raising presentation. The company has not con- expectations. firmed the event is about the Watch, but It is an open question whether Apple or the invitation simply reads “Spring anyone else can create a new market for Forward,” a word play on the resetting of watches. The first watches based on Google watches for daylight savings, which begins Inc’s Android Wear software became avail- the day before. — Reuters

MONACO: Journalists (background) work as telemetry screens and live video feeds are pictured at the control centre for the Solar Impulse 2 solar powered aircraft in Monaco early on March 9, 2015, during the planeís take-off from Abu Dhabi in the first attempt to flyound ar the world Abe’s robot panel in a plane using solar energy. The flight of Solar Impulse 2 will cap 13 years of research and testing by two Swiss pilots witha round-the-world trip in which it will land 12 times and last about 25 days spread over five months. — AFP aims to give drone Solar-powered plane begins industry an edge round-the-world attempt TOKYO: The government of Japan, a below 150 meters and at least 9 kms (5.6 country with a proven track record in miles) away from airports. Drones used in electronics and robotics, is looking to fast agriculture need two operators, with pre- track industry-friendly regulation to give cautions for the surrounding environ- Clean technology ‘can achieve the impossible’ its drone sector an edge over the United ment. States. Japan has been using drones in its ABU DHABI: The first attempt to fly around the jet, but its weight is around that of a family car. 65 ground staff will travel with the two pilots. Companies from motorcycle maker farming industry since the 1980s, when world in a plane using only solar power launched From Muscat, it will make 12 stops on an epic Should a problem occur while sleeping, the sup- Yamaha Motor to security firm Secom Co an unmanned Yamaha R-50 helicopter from Abu Dhabi yesterday on a landmark journey journey spread over five months, with a total flight port staff can wake up the pilot. are readying drone technology and serv- took to the air to spray pesticide on rice that will test its pilots’ endurance to the limit. time of around 25 days. It will cross the Arabian Sea “We want to share our vision of a clean future,” ices, as advisers to Prime Minister Shinzo crops. Today, more than 2,500 agriculture “The adventure has started,” Solar Impulse chair- to India before heading on to Myanmar, China, Piccard said of the mission, which was ridiculed by Abe drive a regulatory overhaul. drones are in operation. man Bertrand Piccard said emotionally, after pilot Hawaii and New York. the aviation industry when it was first unveiled. The Robot Revolution Realization Yamaha is now looking to adapt its Andre Borschberg took off from Abu Dhabi’s Al- Landings are also earmarked for the midwest- But the 57-year-old, who hails from a family of Committee, an advisory panel appointed drone technology for patrolling Japan’s Bateen airport at 7:12 am (0412 GMT) on the his- ern United States and either southern Europe or scientist-adventurers and in 1999 became the first by Abe, will review existing radio and civil borders or for checking oil and gas toric circumnavigation aimed at promoting green North Africa, depending on weather conditions. person to circumnavigate the globe in a hot air bal- aeronautics laws and set up industry-run pipelines, spokesman Kenji Otsuki told energy. The 400 kilometre (215 nautical mile) maid- The longest single leg will see a lone pilot fly loon, clung to his belief that clean technology and best practice for drones. Another panel is Reuters. en leg to the Omani capital Muscat was expected non-stop for five days and nights across the Pacific renewable energy “can achieve the impossible”. asking companies for ideas on how to Secom will this month launch a service to take around 12 hours. After four hours’ flying, Ocean between Nanjing, China and Hawaii, a dis- The plane is powered by more than 17,000 solar open up new special economic zones in for small businesses that includes having Borschberg was on schedule, having already tance of 8,500 kilometres (5,270 miles). cells built into wings that, at 72 metres (236 feet), Tokyo and other big cities to drones on a a surveillance drone that can be scram- entered Omani air space and covered just over a are longer than a jumbo and approaching those of test basis. The Fukushima area, blighted bled to take photos of an intruder when third of the distance. The takeoff by Solar Impulse Cockpit like home an Airbus A380 superjumbo. by the 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster, an alarm sounds. Spokeswoman Asuka 2, which was originally scheduled for Saturday but Borschberg and Piccard will alternate stints fly- Thanks to an innovative design, the lightweight could also become a “field test zone” for Saito said the company also wants to delayed due to high winds, capped 13 years of ing the plane, which can hold only one person, carbon fibre aircraft weighs only 2.3 tonnes, about robots and drones, largely free of regula- pitch its security drones for use at the research and testing by Swiss pilots Borschberg with the aircraft able to fly on autopilot during rest the same as a family 4X4 and less than one percent tion. 2020 Tokyo Olympics. and Piccard. Live video streaming on the website breaks. of the weight of the A380. “We want to keep an eye on the And Ricoh Co Ltd, an office equipment monitoring his progress www.solarimpulse.com “You have to make the cockpit like your own The Si2 is the first solar-powered aircraft able to world’s drone market, starting with the maker, has been testing its digital cam- showed the pilot, wearing an orange jumpsuit, house... you go to the toilet, you wash yourself with stay aloft for several days and nights. The propeller United States, and consider Japan’s way of eras on drones to monitor crop growth in breathing into an oxygen mask. wet wipes, you eat, you drink, you recline the seat craft has four 17.5 horsepower electric motors with doing things,” said Tamotsu Nomakuchi, field tests, said new business develop- “From Mission Control Center in #Monaco the to have some rest, you turn on the autopilot,” rechargeable lithium batteries. who heads the robot panel. “It’s not about ment manager Wataru Ohtani. Partly due engineers are helping me to perform Oxygen Mask Piccard told reporters. It will travel at 50-100 kilometres per hour, with copying other markets, but learning to the lack of regulations for outdoor test tests from #SolarImpulse,” he tweeted. The pilots have undergone intensive training in the slower speeds at night to prevent the batteries about them and creating something bet- flights, Ryo Konomura, one of the founders Borschberg had earlier attempted to give media preparation for the trip, including in yoga and self- from draining too quickly. ter.” of Tokyo University’s Phenox Lab, devel- interviews before calling his wife, according to the hypnosis, allowing them to sleep for periods as “This airplane is conceived to stay airborne days oped an indoor drone with artificial intelli- live feed. Shortly before takeoff, the 63-year-old short as 20 minutes but wake up feeling refreshed. and nights in a row, maybe a week, so we hope ‘YEAR ONE’ gence capability. Japanese drone industry pilot tweeted that the “challenge to come is real for All this will happen without burning a drop of that we make these very long flights because this is The only aviation regulations covering supporters have dubbed 2015 “Year One of me & the airplane”. fuel. The pilots will be linked to a control centre in the demonstration of the vision of flying solar pow- drones in Japan require that they fly the Era of the Drone.” — Reuters The wingspan of the one-seater plane, known Monaco where 65 weathermen, air traffic con- er with no fuel forever,” said Piccard. It is scheduled as the Si2, is slightly bigger than that of a jumbo trollers and engineers will be stationed. A team of to arrive back in Abu Dhabi in July. — AFP Ubisoft game aims to be what the doctor ordered SAN FRANCISCO: Ubisoft unveiled a tablet ‘lazy eye.’” Amblyopia involves one eye being far calibration and settings as well as monitoring video game crafted as a prescription for a med- less useful than the other, creating a situation in progress. ical condition known as “lazy eye,” blending the which the brain responds by suppressing visual Testing has shown “Dig Rush” is about 90 per- worlds of play and health care. input from a weak eye and relying on the strong cent effective in improving vision of those with The France-based video game titan created eye, according to Koziak. the condition, according to Amblyotech chief “Dig Rush” in collaboration with US health tech- Relying on one eye results in people losing operating officer Robert Derricotte. nology startup Amblyotech, using treatment depth perception. “Dig Rush” requires both eyes Current treatments are relatively ineffective technology patented by innovators at McGill to take part in order to effectively play the game. and involve providing a patch to cover a person’s University in Canada. Characters, equipment and scenes set on a gray dominant eye to force the weaker eye to work “This is a good demonstration of the positive background are either red or blue, and players with the brain, but still leave a patient without impact that video game technology can have on wear glasses that filter out one color or the other 3D perception, Derricotte said. our society,” said Ubisoft senior producer depending on the eye. “This is a game changer,” Derricotte said. Mathieu Ferland. “The only way to play this game is to force “Doctors have been patching patients for over The game targets amblyopia, a condition in the patient to use two eyes,” Ferland said. “This 200 years; this is a radical new way to treat which a person’s eye and brain are out of sync, is treatment is reconditioning the brain to use Amblyopia.” Pricing for the game had yet to be reported to affect three percent of the global both eyes.” announced. Koziak saw “Dig Rush” as the first of population. If untreated, people with can go a new order of treatments delivered by touch- blind in one eye, according to Amblyotech chief Game as prescription screen tablets instead of traditional medical executive Joseph Koziak. Amblyotech is seeking approval from US reg- methods. TOKYO: German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, watches Honda Motor Co.’s interac- “When you look at a person who has it, one ulators to have “Dig Rush” be prescribed by doc- “I look at the table as the syringe of the tive robot Asimo, demonstrate at the Miraikan, or the National Museum of Emerging eye is visually misaligned as compared to the tors. Medical care providers would provide future; where you use a visual display to admin- Science and Innovation in Tokyo, yesterday. — AP other,” Koziak said. “The traditional monicker is tablets as treatment tools, tending to training, ister a drug to a patient,” Koziak said.—AFP TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 HEALTH & SCIENCE Scanner targets HIV boltholes in boost for cure

PARIS: Real-time imaging in lab monkeys has point- spongey bones in the nasal passages. ed to the havens where HIV lurks after being beaten “Before we can hope to eliminate reservoirs of back by drugs, scientists said yesterday. infected HIV cells, we must first identify tissue sites The achievement may provide a powerful that can possibly serve as these viral reservoirs,” France pushes health weapon in the quest for an AIDS cure, they hope. Villinger said in a press release. “We believe we can Antiretroviral drugs bring the human immunodefi- now do this more effectively in our animal models ciency virus (HIV) down to levels that, using conven- and that this strategy can translate these non-inva- reform despite anger tional methods, are undetectable. But the virus is a sive techniques into investigating the eradication of stealthy foe. In retreat, it holes up in a small number HIV infection and targeting of virus reservoirs in PARIS: President Francois Hollande’s government announced of cells in certain tissues-and when treatment is humans.” yesterday a reform aimed at making it easier for low-earners to stopped, it rebounds. Attacking HIV’s last redoubts is the goal set in get access to a doctor, risking the ire of medics who complain In a paper published in the journal Nature 2010 by Nobel laureate Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, the new funding arrangements will leave them out of pocket. Methods, researchers reported a groundbreaking who co-identified the AIDS virus. Despite progress, The standard current practice in France is to pay 23 euros way to identify these “reservoirs” among rhesus the work remains at an early stage as scientists wres- up-front for a consultation and be reimbursed by the public monkeys which had been infected with the simian tle with understanding the viral reservoirs and the health insurance fund later - an arrangement the Socialist gov- equivalent of HIV. enduring problem of virus mutation. ernment argues puts many low-earners off going to the doctor. A team led by Francois Villinger at Emory A main avenue of approach is so-called kick-and- The reform makes it free for the patient at the point of use University in Atlanta in the US state of Georgia kill-to flush the virus out and then destroy it with and requires the general practitioner to seek payment from the tagged the virus with an antibody that sticks to a drugs-which means identifying the boltholes is a fund. Practitioners argue this will raise their administrative viral surface protein. vital step. workload and lead to late payments for their services. The antibody itself had been tagged with a short- Close similarities between primates mean that “The (arrangement) will be made available for everyone lived radioactive isotope of copper that is common- monkeys and simian HIV are excellent substitutes in because it is fair and extends access to healthcare,” Health Minister Marisol Touraine told a news conference, adding that it ly used in medical scans. the lab for humans and our version of the virus. would be in place by the end of 2017. A positron emission tomography (PET) scanner Since 1981, about 78 million people have been Touraine said the government would create a specific guar- PARIS: French Health Minister Marisol Touraine speaks was then brought into play, spotting the radioactive infected by HIV, according to the UN programme antee mechanism to ensure doctors were paid. Doctors across during the presentation of France’s new Public telltales in real time. UNAIDS. France have already staged lightning strikes against the meas- Healthcare Bill, yesterday at the Health ministry in It showed that the virus was present in the colon, Thirty-nine million have died from AIDS-related ure and and called a March 15 protest. — Reuters Paris.— AFP lymph nodes, small bowel, genital tract and illnesses. — AFP Dwarf planet Ceres is ready for its close-up

LOS ANGELES: The mysterious dwarf planet Ceres is ready for its close-up. Located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, Ceres was the largest unexplored space rock in the inner solar system. But that distinction ended Friday, when NASA’s Dawn spacecraft arrived after a nearly eight-year journey, which includ- ed a stopover at the asteroid Vesta. It’s now cir- cling the dwarf planet on a 16 -month mission.

Five things to know about Ceres: THE DISCOVERY Ceres was spotted on New Year’s Day in 1801 by Italian monk and astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi who was searching for a star. It was the first object discovered in the asteroid belt, a zone littered with rocky debris left over from the formation of the sun and planets 41/2 bil- lion years ago.

THE NAME Piazzi named the object “Ceres Ferdinandea” after the Roman goddess of harvest and in hon- or of King Ferdinand IV of Naples and Sicily. Other astronomers shortened it to Ceres. The BRISTOL: An undated handout photo released by the University of the West of word cereal also has its origins in the goddess’ England in Bristol on March 5, 2015 shows a toilet that unlocks energy stored within name. The chemical element cerium, discov- urine to generate electricity. British scientists on Thursday unveiled a toilet that ered in 1803, was named after the celestial unlocks energy stored within urine to generate electricity, which they hope could be Ceres. used to light remote places such as refugee camps. — AFP THE IDENTITY CRISIS Located about 250 million miles from the Power-generating urinal sun, Ceres was deemed a comet when it was first discovered. Then it was promoted to a pioneered in Britain planet and later downgraded to an asteroid. Since 2006, it has been classified as a dwarf planet like Pluto, the one-time ninth planet. LONDON: British scientists unveiled a toi- £600 ($914, 827 euros) to build and install, Dwarf planets are spherical in shape like plan- let that unlocks energy stored within urine providing an “everlasting” source of power, ets, but they share the same celestial neighbor- SPACE: This NASA image obtained March 6, 2015 shows Ceres, taken by the Dawn spacecraft to generate electricity, which they hope according to research team leader Ioannis hood with other similar-sized objects. on March 1, just a few days before the mission achieved orbit around the previously unex- could be used to light remote places such Ieropoulos. plored world. The image shows Ceres as a crescent, mostly in shadow because the spacecraft’s as refugee camps. The units contain bacteria that breaks THE BRIGHT SPOTS trajectory put it on a side of Ceres that faces away from the sun until mid-April. When Dawn Students and staff at the University of down the chemicals in urine, in the process Ceres - with a diameter of about 600 miles - emerges from Ceres’ dark side, it will deliver ever-sharper images as it spirals to lower orbits the West of England in Bristol are being releasing energy in the form of electricity is thought to have a rocky core surrounded by around the planet. — AP encouraged to use the prototype urinal, which is stored on a capacitor within a fuel an icy mantle. Long ago it might have harbored which has been developed with aid agency cell. an underground ocean. As Dawn approached propulsion engines, Dawn will make the first above Earth. The spacecraft will take sharper Oxfam and is currently located on campus. “The microbial fuel cells (MFC) work by Ceres, it sent back images of a pair of puzzling close-ups of a dwarf planet, which won’t begin images of the mysterious spots and use its If the unit is found to provide a reliable employing live microbes which feed on bright spots inside a crater. Scientists think the until mid-April when the spacecraft emerges instruments to confirm whether Ceres’ surface is source of power, the researchers hope it urine for their own growth and mainte- shiny dots may be exposed ice or salt. from Ceres’ shadows. Dawn will study Ceres for still active and spewing plumes of water vapor. can be installed in refugee camps to pro- nance,” explained Ieropoulos. 16 months from varying altitudes, getting as This summer, another NASA spacecraft vide a constant supply of electricity-and “The MFC is, in effect, a system which THE MISSION close as 235 miles above Ceres’ surface, or the dubbed New Horizons will make the first visit light. taps a portion of that biochemical energy. Launched in 2007 and powered by ion distance of the International Space Station to the dwarf planet Pluto. — AP “It is always a challenge to light inacces- “This technology is about as green as it sible areas far from a power supply,” gets, as we do not need to utilise fossil fuels explained Andy Bastable, Head of Water and we are effectively using a waste prod- and Sanitation at Oxfam. “This technology uct that will be in plentiful supply.” is a huge step forward. Living in a refugee The University of West of the England Environmental issues top major camp is hard enough without the added team announced in 2013 that it had creat- threat of being assaulted in dark places at ed a urine-powered fuel cell that was able night. The potential of this invention is to recharge a mobile phone. The “Urine- legislative meeting in China huge.” tricity” project is funded by the Bill and Each unit could eventually cost around Melinda Gates Foundation. — AFP BEIJING: China’s severe environmental problems major pollutants and improve energy efficiency. “They’ve made a big deal about air pollution in and government pledges to fix them have dominat- At a news conference Saturday, the newly the last couple of (legislative meetings),” said Alvin ed the start of the country’s annual legislative meet- appointed environment minister, Chen Jining, prom- Lin, the Beijing-based China climate and energy pol- ing, as leaders try to ease public worries about air, ised the strictest enforcement of China’s environ- icy director of the U.S. environmental group the For marathon runners pacing water and soil contamination that threaten to derail mental laws. The environmental focus, which includ- Natural Resources Defense Council. “‘Under the the country’s economic rise and cast doubts on the ed a flurry of other announcements about crack- Dome’ made it so they really, really have to talk may be a matter of gender ruling Communist Party. downs on coal use and carbon emissions, reflects about it.” Chinese officials at the meeting said they Two days into the session of the National worries that mounting public anger over hazardous would cut coal consumption by 160 million tons NEW YORK: With spring just weeks away explanation is that men are naturally more People’s Congress in a Beijing shrouded with smog, pollution could threaten the government’s rule. The over the next five years, while the vice mayor of and as people begin training for upcoming competitive and risk-taking, going harder Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged Friday to “pun- government is trying to control the debate and, in a Beijing said the capital would shut down 300 facto- marathons, research shows men and and slowing dramatically, Hunter said. But ish, with an iron hand, any violators who destroy the sign of the issue’s sensitivity, began blocking online ries and take 200,000 heavily polluting vehicles off women are naturally conditioned to run that theory ignores the physiological differ- ecology or environment, with no exceptions,” access Friday to a phenomenally popular documen- the roads this year. In November, Xi pledged to stop the endurance races differently. ences between the sexes. according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency. At tary, “Under the Dome,” that was released a week the growth in Chinese carbon dioxide emissions by In a study published in the journal “The best women will never outrun the the meeting’s opening event on Thursday, Premier Li ago and lays out the health and societal costs of the 2030 and, by that same year, double the share of its Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, best men,” she said. “Physiological differ- Keqiang swore the government would cut back on country’s environmental crisis. energy matrix generated by non-fossil fuels. scientists who researched runners in 14 ences explain that men will always be Still, measurements of the particulate matter marathons found that women who tackle faster: Women have smaller hearts, more PM2.5 in Beijing’s air Saturday were seven times the the 26.2-mile (42-km) race paced them- fat to carry, less hemoglobin, less muscle level considered safe by the World Health selves more evenly than men. But whether mass.” Exercise physiologist and running Organization. And China continues to emit more this reflects a difference in nature, nurture coach Tom Holland tells his marathoners it greenhouse gases than any other country - twice or a combination of the two remains an is not who goes fastest, it is who slows that of the United States, the world’s second-biggest open question. “We need to find out why down the least. emitter of carbon dioxide. women are pacing differently,” said Dr. Holland, author of “The Marathon Sandra Hunter, professor of exercise sci- Method,” preaches negative splits, or the Nervous offficials ence at Marquette University in Milwaukee. strategy of running the second half of the “They are really serious about this, except the “Is it the physiology, or is it a risk-taking race faster than the first. problem is really entrenched,” said Willy Lam, a polit- psychology for the men?” “For the first eight to 10 miles (13-19 ical analyst at Chinese University in Hong Kong. “It is Hunter is one of several researchers who km) you have to run at an intensity that intertwined with all aspects of industry and agricul- compared the sex differences in marathon feels almost too easy, but for the average ture and so forth, and it’s a really difficult problem to pacing among 92,000 performances. While person, that takes a lot of discipline,” he tackle.” the extent varied, the sex difference in pac- said, adding he has seen many men hitting The depth of public passion about China’s ailing ing occurred at all 14 marathons studied, the wall at about mile 20 (32 km). “As a rac- environment became clear this past week with the the study showed. Successful distance run- er I like to get behind women,” he said, release of the 104-minute documentary by Chai ning requires appropriate and almost even “because historically they’re more even- Jing, a former state television network reporter. pacing, so the findings suggest that paced.” Hunter believes too much about More than 175 million people viewed the film online women are superior to men in this way, exercise performance is based on men in just a few days. Chen, a former university presi- Hunter said. alone. CONAKRY: Medical staff who takes part in the fight against the Ebola virus, works yesterday at dent recently appointed China’s environment minis- “The better runners tend not to slow “The assumption is that women respond the Donka hospital in Conakry. More than 9,700 people have died of the disease since the west ter, at first praised the film, saying it reflected “grow- dramatically,” she said. “Among the slower the same,” she said. “Sometimes they do; African epidemic emerged in southern Guinea in December 2013, with nearly 24,000 people ing public concern over environmental protection runners, the sex difference widens.” One sometimes they don’t.” — Reuters infected, according to the World Health Organization. — AFP and threats to human health.”—AP TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 HEALTH & SCIENCE Rural hospitals get billions in extra Medicare funds WASHINGTON: A law that allows rural helps to “support a hospital’s fixed costs those rehabilitation services in the very “The question is what is right for our from the inspector general’s office found hospitals to bill Medicare for rehabilita- and offset losses from other lines of same bed as in-patient ones. They con- rural patients and their access to high- the vast majority would not meet the tion services for seniors at higher rates business.” tinue to bill for their full costs, rather quality services designed to care for the requirements if forced to requalify. than nursing homes and other facilities Legislation passed by Congress in than the far lower price of providing frail, elderly patients in their home com- In a written response, Centers for has led to billions of dollars in extra gov- 1997 created the designation of “critical those services elsewhere. munities.” Medicare and Medicaid Services admin- ernment spending, federal investigators access hospitals” to help small facilities HHS investigators examined a sam- istrator Marilyn Tavenner agreed swing- say. Most patients could have been in remote areas survive. Rather than pay- Modifying system pling of 1,200 critical access hospitals bed usage has increased. But she said moved to a skilled-nursing facility within ing set rates for services as throughout Alan Morgan, CEO of the National that submitted swing-bed claims the report was stilted by using a sam- 35 miles of the hospital at about one- the rest of the Medicare system, the fed- Rural Health Association, did not dispute between 2005 and 2010, estimating 90 pling of hospitals that may not be repre- fourth the cost, the US Department of eral government reimburses the hospi- that Medicare could save money by percent of the patients could have been sentative; inflating savings by not taking Health and Human Services’ inspector tals for 101 percent of their costs. They modifying the system. But he said cared for elsewhere. The average swing- into account the cost of transporting general said in a report being released also often receive state funding and dozens of rural hospitals have closed in bed hospital reimbursement in 2010 was patients out of a hospital; and ignoring yesterday. Hospitals juggling tough bal- grants. the past five years, and nearly 300 others $1,261 daily, versus an average estimat- the fact that though an alternate facility ance sheets have come to view such In most US hospitals, Medicare are on the brink. The Obama administra- ed cost of $273 daily if the patients had may only be 35 miles from the hospital, “swing-bed” patients as lucrative, fueling patients who break their hip, for exam- tion has already proposed a reduction to been moved. Medicare paid for 914,000 it may be much farther from a patient’s a steady rise in the number of people ple, would receive in-patient treatment all reimbursements made to critical days of swing-bed care in 2010, up from family. getting such care and costing Medicare until they are ready to return home or access hospitals that Morgan said would 789,000 in 2005, the report found. “The report does not take into an additional $4.1 billion over six years, receive rehabilitative services at a nurs- further accelerate the closures if enact- Some hospitals received critical account the burden on patients of being the report said. ing home or elsewhere. But critical ed. “Medicare could save money in many access designation under old rules and treated farther from home and family,” The authors wrote that the windfall access hospitals are allowed to provide ways. That’s not the question,” he said. were grandfathered in. A previous report she wrote. — AP

LONDON: A worker pushes a wheel barrow past a residential home where the basement is being dug out in west LONDON: Signs of a basement being dug are seen in west London on March 6, 2015. — AFP London on March 6, 2015. — AFP London’s ‘iceberg homes’ plumb the city’s depths

LONDON: In London’s most upmarket districts, den. It can sometimes go under the road,” com- “We’re looking at decades of living in a build- shovel-wielding teams are hard at work in what plained Murad Qureshi, a Labour member of the ing site,” one of them said. Dr Fatima Sultan joins look like mines hidden beneath luxury homes, London Assembly, the elected body that holds Upon meeting a neighbour, conversation sidestepping the British capital’s planning rules the London mayor to account. immediately turns to the topic. Noise, parking by expanding underground. Often the new spaces house luxurious marble restrictions, street closures, dust: the list of incon- Royale Hayat Hospital Some of their more hi-tech kit may end up swimming pools, home theatres or garages for veniences seems endless. KUWAIT: Dr Fatima Sultan, is the new nancy. She manages normal and com- buried there-it is reported that the cost of bring- classic cars. They all hope that their neighbourhood will physician at RHH Department of plex vaginal and caesarean section deliv- ing it back above ground is more than its value- “This is really the super-rich extending very follow the lead of Kensington & Chelsea, which in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. She is an eries, as well as medical disorders in and the bowels of the British capital have already large properties even further, “ Qureshi said, call- late 2014 became the first in London to impose active member at the Royal College of pregnancy and postpartum complica- become a graveyard for around 1,000 excavating ing the properties “iceberg homes”. restrictions on basement building. Obstetricians and Gynecologists (RCOG), tions, early pregnancy complications, machines. Last year, Qureshi unsuccessfully tried to From now on, only one extra level is allowed, the International Society of Ultrasound menstrual disorders, chronic pelvic pain, The trend started in the late 1990s, when resi- impose limits on such developments in the capi- and it must not extend beyond 50 percent of the in Obstetrics and endometriosis, fibroids, and dents developed small basements, calculating it tal. “A lot of local residents are very concerned surface of the garden. Gynaecology (ISUOG), the treats infertility. Dr Fatima was a cheaper way of increasing floorspace than about these extensive developments causing International Society for performs Obstetric and moving house while sticking to the strict height floods, sink holes, structural damage to neigh- ‘Nuisance’ relevant Gynecological Endoscopy Gynecological Ultrasound rules imposed by the city’s conservation bodies. bouring properties and the construction of these “We did a big consultation with all our local (ISGE), UK. She is also a lec- Scans, But Paul Schaaf, partner of architectural firm deep basements is very disruptive to the immedi- residents and the view was that we should not turer in Gynecological in addition to The Basement Design Studio, told AFP that since ate neighbourhood,” he said. ban basements but that we should try to restrict Ultrasound at Birmingham Hysteroscopic surgery - the 2008 recession, his firm has largely been them,” said Timothy Coleridge, the Conservative City University, UK. Novasure endometrial abla- called in to help with vast spaces beneath houses ‘Living in a building site’ mayor of Kensington & Chelsea responsible for Prior to joining Royale tion, treatment of fibroids, in the opulent neighbourhoods of south and The work can take several months, even years. planning rules. Even the angriest residents realise Hayat Hospital, Dr. Fatima polyps, septum and adhe- west London. At the chic Orme Square in Westminster, a that a total ban would undermine the value of was a consultant sions using Myosure, “We ended up doing different ones, larger sewer recently collapsed. The road above had their home. “I’m a Conservative, we don’t normal- Obstetrician and Versapoint, and TCRE, ones where people weren’t so much affected by been carrying trucks laden with soil removed ly like doing property restriction, but there is a Gynecologist at County Laparoscopic surgery, major the recession in well-established residential prop- from the home of a famous English television pre- limit to what is fair when people live so close to Hospital, Stafford and abdominal and vaginal erties, in Kensington and north London,” he said. senter. For two fed-up residents, who wished to each other,” Coleridge said. Central Manchester gynecological surgery, cos- Permit applications for this type of work have remain anonymous, the link is clear. It still took two years to convince the govern- Dr Fatima Sultan University Hospitals in UK. metic vaginal surgery and soared: in 2013, Kensington & Chelsea Town Hall Walking through the neighbourhood where ment agency in charge of planning, he said, Dr. Fatima is experi- prolapse repair, received 450 compared to just 20 a decade ago. they have lived since childhood, they despairingly pointing out that this was the first time “that the enced and trained to care for and treat Gynecological cancer and women’s “We’re talking about two or three floors down pointed out each construction site. nuisance caused to other people due to building patients of normal and high-risk preg- health Screening. and extending beyond the boundaries of the gar- It is rare to find a street without them. work is relevant”. — AFP WHAT’S ON TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015

Public health awareness day at Abdullah Al-Mubarak Health Center bdallah Al-Mubarak Health Center organized a Public Health Awareness Day that coincides with the celebrations of the National and Liberation Days. Dr Walaa Al-Kandari the head of the center said that she along with her colleagues are keen on having the community be made aware of the importance of having health checkups, and comply with their doctors, instructions, and the periodical checkups. The day Aincluded blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, body weight, besides other information on well being. Sebamed was among the sponsors of the event and gave information on the proper care of the skin. Women’s conference

akistan Women’s Forum in collaboration with the Pakistan Embassy of Kuwait will be Pholding a conference to celebrate International Women day and Yom-e-jamhuriya Pakistan on 13th of March. Her Excellency Sheikha Fareeha Al Ahmad Al Sabah will be gracing the function as the chief guest and Ambassador of L.R: Ambassador of Venezuela Hadel Mostafa Paolini, Cuban Ambassador Andres Garido Pakistan Aslam Khan will be the guest of honor. and the Ambasador of Nicaragua Oscar Mazier at a ceremony on the occasion of second anniversary of late president Hugo Chavez at the Venezuelan Embassy.

‘ACK award’ recipients honored

he Australian College of Kuwait (ACK) estab- care; part-time work and internships; and lastly, recipients for their ongoing commitmentsto- A culinary journey during lished the “ACK Award”, a volunteering pro- personal development such as sports, arts and wards their learning goals involving the commu- Tgram where students work with staff men- others. nity. He emphasized that ACK places the cre- Chaine des Rotisseurs dinner tors in setting personal goals and then recording A group of 23 ACK students,who have now ation and maintenance of a nurturing environ- achievements over a 2-semester period. completed the first level of the “ACK Award”, ment at the heart of its strategic plan. Finally, at Crowne Plaza Kuwait The program aims to provide opportunities received their Certificates of Achievement in a Prof. Terro wished continuous success to the cer- in extending students learning and social com- special ceremony heldby ACK’s President, Prof tificate recipients and pledged to support any mitments beyond the classroom. Each student Mohamad Terro, and the Dean of the College, Dr future activities that would enhance the aca- he Chaine des Rotisseurs dinner was recently ner hosted by The Chaine des Rotisseurs. must set goals in 4 key areas, including:acade- Gad Elbeheri. demic and personal development of the held in the Al Afrah Ballroom at Crowne Themed the “Winter Wonders” menu; guests mic excellence; community and environmental President Terro congratulated the certificate College’s students. TPlaza Hotel to great acclaim. This prestigious were treated to an exclusive selection of appetiz- event was attended by their Excellencies the ers and mouth-watering dishes created and pre- Ambassadors of Lebanon, Armenia, Malta, pared especially for the event by the Hotel’s Chef Germany, Korea, and The United States of America, Jayaweera Christopher Silva and the culinary team KDNA holds 4th ‘Malabar Maholsavam’ UN refugee representative along with a number of at the Crowne Plaza. The feast reflected the real fla- hospitality professionals and food lovers. vor of fine dining and the outstanding service Chaine des Rotisseurs is an International exceeded expectations. Association of Gastronomy, with over 25,000 The event took place in the Al Afrah Ballroom - members worldwide. Well established in over 80 an exclusive venue that manages to feel intimate countries, the organization started its Kuwait and yet grand simultaneously - the perfect place chapter in the year 1982 and now has over 120 for exquisite dinners and events. The glamorous members. The distinctive character of the associa- lights, settings and silverware added a sparkling tion is to bring together amateurs and profession- charm to the event. als from all walks of life that share a love of excel- The ambience and setting of the ballroom was lent and innovative cuisine and value the qualities impeccable - with every small detail taken into of fine dining and the encouragement and fur- account. Mohamed Najia congratulated Ramy thering of the age-old passion for the culinary arts. Haykal, General Manager, Crowne Plaza Kuwait; The evening began with a welcoming speech Chef Jayaweera Christopher Silva; Nabil Shawky- by Mohamed Najia - Bailli Delegue. Thereafter the F&B manager and the entire kitchen and service guests enjoyed an epicurean adventure by staff for their splendid service and in making the Crowne Plaza - created and served with great style whole evening an elegant and an unforgettable and precision, as is the norm at each unique din- culinary journey. ozhikode District NRI Association (KDNA) Kuwait Nandanam School, Dance Kuwait, Upasana and Brake Dr Gargi Jain to Hiba Kabir and Sharif Muhammed to held its 4th Malabar Maholsavam on 27 February House and a Comedy Show pleased the crowd with Rasha Zubair and Mishael Rafeeque, the 2nd Prize win- Kat the Indian Central School, Abbassiya. The event their dance moves, upbeat numbers and funny jokes. ner in National Inter School Championship by Sohan was a multi-dimensional show, titled ‘Kallai Kadav’ that The oppana of the KDNA kid’s team fascinated. The Roy. KDNA Souvenir Released by IV Sasi and handed highlighted the beauty and wealth of the Malabar cul- arrival of Paatu to the arena wavered the entire audience over to Abid Ali I Black. Henna competition winner Greetings tural heritage and its long-standing relationship with to the zenith. Farzeena Nawas received 1st prize from Afzal Khan, 2nd Kuwait. Furthermore, many eminent socio-cultural per- The finale was fittingly explosive with a live orchestra Prize winner Nazreen from Kalathil Abdurahman, 3rd sonalities from Kuwait and India were in attendance. with a grand performance by musical performances by prizes to Sahmseena and Manuja Madhu from Chief Guest Ambassador of India to Kuwait Sunil Jain play back singer Afsal, with fabulous singer Akhila Anand Sajeevan Kunimmal. Cooking competition 1st Prize was appy Birthday to and the guest of honor renowned writer and film direc- from the Malayalam film industry and Preethi Varrier received by Rizwana Begum from Ayyoob Kecheri, Mark Anthony Rico tor I V Sasi were felicitated on the occasion. Sohan Roy, [reality show winner]. The event concluded with the Grand Hyper, 2nd Prize winner Subaida Soopy from Hand Risa Meneses the famous Director of Dam 999 also attended the func- appreciation of the various facets of Malabar Basheer Batha, 3rd Prize winner Sneha Lijo from (Right) (March 7). I hope tion. To commemorate Kuwait’s National and Liberation Maholsavam, and recognitions of the passionate partici- K.Alikoya. And many gifts were distributed on stage for this is the beginning of Days, a poster exhibit was displayed detailing the history pants who made the day special and ended with a the winners of Fancy Dress Aswin Deva, Archana your greatest, most won- of Kuwait in colorful caricatures. Next were a musical coupon draw and a variety of wonderful prizes was Krishna and Abhiram Anoop. Face painting winners: derful year ever! Good show of Mehfil by Kuwait Melodies, and the Band Show. handed out to the winners. Neha Shafeer, Alina Rose Jonhson and Liya Sara Famous M-80 Moosa and Pathu team - Vinod Kovoor KDNA President Aziz Thikkodi presided over the Kuriakose. health. Greetings coming and Lakshmi Surabhi starred in a rib-sticking comedy function, General Secretary Sathian Varoonda, Indian KDNA President Aziz Thikkodi handed over the from your friends and show that evoked laughter from the audience. Community School Secretary Vijay Karayil, Chairman Memento to IV Sasi, Krishnan Katalundi handed over loved ones. Subsequently, a medley of entertainment featuring Suresh Mathur delivered their speeches. the Memento to Director Sohan Roy. Program General Oppana, Cinematic Dances & classical dance & Fusion The academic awards for the winners for the top- Convenor M M. Zubair gave welcome speech and Dances from the famous Dance Schools in Kuwait, ie. pers marks in 10th & 12th classes were distributed by Treasurer Zaheer Alakkal delivered the vote of thanks. WHAT’S ON TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015

Thousands partake in NBK’s Walkathon titled ‘Let’s Walk Together’

midst a carnival-like atmosphere, thousands of male utive year. Isam Jasem Al Sager, NBK Group Chief Executive Executive Officer, at Al-Babtain Group. Al Mattar also thanked all the public and private authori- and female enthusiastic participants of all age Officer, Shaikha Khaled Al Bahar, NBK Deputy Group Chief Speaking in front of thousands of contestants, spectators ties and institutions that helped in turning this event into a Agroups on Saturday 7th March, 2015 took to the Executive Officer and Salah Yousef Al Fulaij, NBK- Kuwait and guests, who gathered at the end of the walkathon to great success. Al Mattar added “NBK strongly supports sport- smooth course of National Bank of Kuwait (NBK’s) Annual Chief Executive Officer joined many NBK officials who took celebrate the awarding of the first-place winners and enjoy ing events and encourages sporting activities as means to Walkathon titled “Let’s Walk Together”. Thousands of cheer- part in the Walkathon. the carnival, NBK Public Relations Executive Manager, Manal promote a healthier and more active lifestyle for members ing supporters and spectators and media people lined the The Walkathon culminated with a prize giving ceremony Al Mattar said that the huge participation from the various of the community. NBK’s 2015 Walkathon aimed to encour- racing route on the Arabian Gulf street to the finish line at where NBK awarded the top 120 participants, and gave age categories at the 21st version of NBK’s Annual age each individual to believe in their ability towards mak- the Shuwaikh Beach Park where the hugely successful con- away many valuable prizes alongside the three brand new Walkathon had by far exceeded all expectations, providing ing a change.” clusion of this event and the award ceremony was marked Renault 2015 cars from Al Babtain Group as grand prizes. yet another testament of the great community confidence NBK’s Social Media team broadcast the Walkathon live on with a variety of entertainment activities. Sara Essa Al Mulla, Swar Al Azhar Al Sherni and Jayslon in this mega event which has become one of the much NBK’s Official Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram NBK organized its annual Walkathon for the 21st consec- Dsouza received their keys from Saleh Al-Babtain, Chief awaited NBK public activities. Pages, posting regular updates throughout the day.

NBK Walkathon Winners

Men Race - Blue 7 Mohammed Hamoud 3637 2 Mareka Rezerywa 6921 10 Nada Al Bana 9096 Boys - Children Race - Purple Position Name Number 8 Steven Maden 4270 3 Athena Admesoa 7965 Position Name Number 1 Ali Ahmed 0166 9 Ali Hassan Ashour 3580 4 Suhaila Rabeh 6661 Boys - Children Race - Pink 1 Khaled Abu Zaid 1873 2 Kolit Ferjet 193 10 Mamdouh Mustaf 3613 5 Maryam Najim 6925 Position Name Number 2 Mustafa Khan Ali 1922 3 Alaa Eldin Qambar 1549 6 Maryam Al Mudhef 6818 1 Abdulrahman Qambar 291 3 Omar Mansour 1967 4 Kareem Reda 1694 Men Race - Maroon 7 Yasmin Farhan 6868 2 Mahmoud Rashed 14 4 Sajed Ali 1920 5 Omar Anwar Al Qattan 1296 Position Name Number 8 Marwa Ali 8086 3 Atef Hamadah 115 5 Talal Abdulaziz 2418 6 Mohammed Al Sowaid 0338 1 Nader Dashti 4442 9 Romana Erena 7772 4 Omar Mahjoub 21 7 AzizAllah Ghulam 1618 2 Tayssir Ali 4700 10 Salam Al Shami 7000 5 Mohammed Ahmed Haroun 70 8 Rami Omar 1125 3 Abdulsattar Saqer 4500 Girls - Children Race - Purple 9 Fadi Yashi 0246 4 Ramadan Ahmed 4600 Women Race - Red Girls - Children Race - Pink Position Name Number 10 Abdulmajed Zeyad 1596 5 Khaled Turki 4597 Position Name Number Position Name Number 1 Joud Hani 2010 6 Hassan Al Eidan 4413 1 Renita Haboubtha 8464 1 Fatma Jassim 290 2 Hadeel Merhif 2045 Men Race - White 7 Mohammed Ali 4403 2 Olivate Tozouba 8653 2 Farah Beknajek 245 3 Dalal Abdulhussain 2224 Position Name Number 8 Ahmed Abdulmaqsoud 4520 3 Erena Hamad 8519 3 Khadija Al Abed 191 4 Maryam Zadah 2105 1 Abdulrazaq Salem 2334 9 Ibrahim Al Mousawi 4447 4 Entisar Mustafa 8730 5 Aseel Ahmed Osama 2117 2 Faisal Al Beidah 2846 10 Jim Murphy 4887 5 Loudmela Hovman 8979 4 Esraa Musatfa 103 3 Abdulaziz Al Jaber 3355 6 Len Len 8538 5 Esraa Al Harbi 241 4 Mohammed Abu Al Hassan 2202 Women Race - Light Blue 7 Amani Mohammed 8534 Boys - Children Race - Green 5 Faisal Thamer 1983 Position Name Number 8 Hala Sadeq 8333 Boys - Children Race - Orange Position Name Number 6 Alaa Abdulaziz 2259 1 Farah Al Mulla 5137 9 Maryam Ahmed 8789 Position Name Number 1 Musatafa Maqsouri 2751 7 Saad Al Salman 2697 2 Hajar Hazem 5930 10 Alison Tayler 8272 1 Nael Wael 1703 2 Omar Qambar 2713 8 Faisal Al Enezi 2855 3 Dana Osama 6049 2 Yazan Ahmed 1521 3 Saad Shehab 2804 3 Mahdi Ali 479 9 Mahmoud Al Sayed 2388 4 Abrar Al Dousari 5138 Women Race - Pink 4 Mujtabi Ali 2796 4 Abdulla Ezz Eldin 484 10 Aziz Kazer 2266 5 Aya Osama 6052 Position Name Number 5 Omar Adel 2570 6 Farah Qasem 6528 1 Armjared Maria 9098 5 Yousef Shahin 1709 Men Race - Green 7 Dina Abdulhussain 5972 2 Majida Qasem 9029 Position Name Number 8 Amnah Al Farhan 6013 3 Najat Jouwadi 9095 Girls - Children Race - Orange Girls - Children Race - Green 1 Salem Malek 4114 9 Hind Hazem 5959 4 Najat Ban Kar 9084 Position Name Number Position Name Number 2 Sameih Fodah 3620 10 Sham Al Arouri 5177 5 Najat Salman 8999 1 Sayedah Zahraa Al Mousawi 482 1 Ward Shahir 2719 3 Adel Al Baroun 3747 6 Elina Rezvona 8861 2 Fatmah Awad Ali 1514 2 Senza Antoini 2896 4 Abdulaziz Al Hati 4194 Women Race - Yellow 7 Selesteni Amanda 8982 3 Raghad Sayed 1698 3 Hadeel Al Awadi 2684 5 Abdulwahab Ahmed 3850 Position Name Number 8 Batoul Al Sayed 8989 4 Zahra Khan Ali 1559 4 Dalaa Mohammed 2625 6 Talal Jelan 3693 1 Marwa Mahmoud 6796 9 Reyana Akrendez Shamar 8929 5 Reema Beshara 1643 5 Najyah Alaa 2802 TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 TV PROGRAMS

16:20 Invent It Rich Basics 06:00 Flightplan-PG15 17:10 How Do They Do It? 02:35 Barefoot Contessa - Back To 08:00 Fatal Instinct-PG15 17:35 How Do They Do It? Basics 10:00 The Cold Light Of Day-PG15 18:00 Through The Wormhole With 03:00 Jenny Morris Cooks The 12:00 500 mph Storm-PG15 Morgan Freeman Riviera 14:00 Flightplan-PG15 00:50 How Sharks Hunt 18:50 How It’s Made 03:25 Jenny Morris Cooks The 00:00 Veep 16:00 Europa Report-PG15 01:45 The Wild Life Of Tim 19:15 How It’s Made Riviera 00:30 The Daily Show With Jon 18:00 The Cold Light Of Day-PG15 Faulkner 19:40 Food Factory 03:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Stewart 20:00 Olympus Has Fallen-PG15 02:15 The Wild Life Of Tim 20:05 Food Factory 04:15 Chopped 01:00 Last Week Tonight With John 22:00 The Sanctuary-PG15 Faulkner 20:30 Game Changers 05:05 Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Oliver 02:40 Tanked 20:55 Game Changers Coo 01:30 Girls 03:35 Secret Creatures Of Jao 21:20 Machines Of Glory 05:50 Siba’s Table 02:00 Curb Your Enthusiasm 04:00 Secret Creatures Of Jao 22:10 How Do They Do It? 06:10 Sweet Genius 03:00 Hot In Cleveland 04:25 The Wild Life Of Tim 07:00 Roadtrip With G. Garvin 03:30 Melissa & Joey 22:35 How Do They Do It? 00:00 Freeloaders-18 Faulkner 07:25 Roadtrip With G. Garvin 04:00 Community 23:00 Game Changers 01:30 Schuks! Your Country Needs 04:50 The Wild Life Of Tim 07:50 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 04:30 The Tonight Show Starring You-PG15 Faulkner 08:15 Chopped Jimmy Fallon 03:30 Scary Movie 5-PG15 05:15 Treehouse Masters 09:05 Barefoot Contessa - Back To 05:30 My Name Is Earl 05:30 Fred 2: Night Of The Living 06:02 Call Of The Wildman Basics 06:00 Til Death Fred-PG 06:25 Call Of The Wildman 09:30 Farm Kings 06:30 Dads 07:00 Article 99-PG15 06:49 Secret Creatures Of Jao 10:20 Roadtrip With G. Garvin 07:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers 00:00 Violetta 09:15 Mystery, Alaska-PG15 07:12 Secret Creatures Of Jao 10:45 Easy Chinese 08:00 Community 00:45 The Hive 11:10 Reza, Spice Prince Of India 11:30 Standing Ovation-PG15 07:36 Steve Irwin’s Wildlife 08:30 My Name Is Earl 00:50 Art Attack 11:35 The Big Eat... 13:45 Timer-PG15 Warriors 09:00 Hot In Cleveland 01:15 Art Attack 12:00 Chopped 15:45 Article 99-PG15 08:00 Steve Irwin’s Wildlife 09:30 Two And A Half Men 01:40 Jungle Junction 12:50 Siba’s Table 18:00 Mafia!-PG15 Warriors 10:00 Two And A Half Men 01:50 Jungle Junction 13:15 Guy’s Big Bite 20:00 The Heat-PG15 08:25 Too Cute! 10:30 Dads 02:05 Jungle Junction 13:40 Guy’s Big Bite 22:00 Stand Up Guys-PG15 09:15 Secret Creatures Of Jao 11:00 The Tonight Show Starring 09:45 Secret Creatures Of Jao 02:15 Jungle Junction 14:05 Guy’s Grocery Games 02:30 Violetta 14:55 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Jimmy Fallon 10:10 Call Of The Wildman 12:00 Til Death 10:35 Call Of The Wildman 03:10 The Hive 15:20 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 03:20 Art Attack 15:45 Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity 12:30 Community 11:05 Gator Boys 13:00 My Name Is Earl 12:00 Too Cute! 03:45 Art Attack Coo 16:35 Chopped 13:30 Dads 12:55 Secret Creatures Of Jao 04:10 Jungle Junction 01:15 Playing For Keeps-PG15 17:25 Jenny Morris Cooks Morocco 14:00 Melissa & Joey 13:25 Secret Creatures Of Jao 04:25 Jungle Junction 03:15 Pawn-PG15 04:35 Jungle Junction 17:50 Guy’s Big Bite 14:30 Two And A Half Men 05:00 Centre Place-PG15 13:50 Treehouse Masters 18:15 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 15:00 Two And A Half Men 14:45 The Wild Life Of Tim 04:45 Jungle Junction 07:00 Knife Fight-PG15 05:00 Art Attack 18:40 Siba’s Table 15:30 The Daily Show With Jon 09:00 Great Expectations-PG15 Faulkner 19:05 The Big Eat... Stewart 15:15 The Wild Life Of Tim 05:25 Art Attack 11:15 Centre Place-PG15 05:50 Mouk 19:30 Chopped 16:00 The Nightly Show With Larry 13:00 Mirror Mirror-PG15 Faulkner 20:20 Guy’s Grocery Games Wilmore 15:40 Tanked 06:00 Kim Possible 15:00 Heaven’s Door-PG 06:25 Binny And The Ghost 21:10 Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity 16:30 Til Death 17:00 Great Expectations-PG15 16:35 Secret Creatures Of Jao Coo 17:00 Late Night With Seth Meyers 17:05 Secret Creatures Of Jao 06:50 Girl Meets World 19:15 Ain’t Them Bodies Saints 07:15 H2O: Just Add Water 22:00 Reza Spice Prince Of 18:00 Hot In Cleveland 21:00 McCanick-PG15 17:30 Rogue Nature With Dave Vietnam 18:30 Melissa & Joey Salmoni 07:40 Jessie 23:00 The Frozen Ground-18 08:05 Wizards Of Waverly Place 22:25 Reza Spice Prince Of 19:00 The Simpsons 18:25 Treehouse Masters Vietnam 19:30 Marry Me 19:20 Secret Life Of Pets 08:30 Wizards Of Waverly Place 08:55 Hannah Montana 22:50 Roadtrip With G. Garvin 20:00 The Tonight Show Starring 19:50 Secret Life Of Pets 23:15 Roadtrip With G. Garvin 09:20 Hannah Montana Jimmy Fallon 20:15 Tanked 23:40 Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives 09:45 Suite Life On Deck 21:00 The Daily Show With Jon 21:10 Queens Of The Savannah Stewart 22:05 Treehouse Masters 10:10 Suite Life On Deck 00:00 Fruitvale Station-18 10:35 Good Luck Charlie 21:30 The Nightly Show With Larry 23:00 Secret Life Of Pets Wilmore 01:30 Faces In The Crowd-PG15 23:30 Secret Life Of Pets 11:00 Good Luck Charlie 03:15 Quiz Show-PG15 11:25 American Dragon 22:00 Web Therapy 23:55 Monster Hammerhead 22:30 Curb Your Enthusiasm 05:30 The Fifth Estate-PG15 11:50 American Dragon 07:45 Bully-PG15 12:15 Kim Possible 00:40 Ade In Britain 23:00 Jonah From Tonga 01:30 Come Dine With Me Ireland 23:30 Late Night With Seth Meyers 09:30 All Is Lost-PG15 12:40 Kim Possible 11:15 Faces In The Crowd-PG15 13:05 Good Luck Charlie 02:00 Emmerdale 02:25 Emmerdale 13:00 The Fifth Estate-PG15 13:30 Dog With A Blog BULLET TO THE HEAD ON OSN MOVIES ACTION HD 02:55 Coronation Street 15:15 The French Minister-PG15 13:55 Dog With A Blog 03:25 Get Your Act Together 17:15 All Is Lost-PG15 08:00 World Championship 16:00 Hoarding: Buried Alive 01:15 Julius Jr. 14:20 H2O: Just Add Water 19:00 Kon-Tiki-PG15 Highlights 16:50 Say Yes To The Dress 01:25 Calimero 00:00 Beat My Build 04:25 Paul O’Grady: For The Love 01:00 Bates Motel 14:55 Liv And Maddie Of Dogs 21:00 Texas Killing Fields-PG15 09:00 PGA European Tour 17:15 18 Kids And Counting 01:40 Henry Hugglemonster 00:50 Valentine Warner Eats 02:00 Banshee 15:20 Binny And The Ghost 04:50 Paul O’Grady: For The Love 23:00 Eden-PG15 Highlights 17:40 Sister Wives 01:50 Zou Scandinavia 15:45 Girl Meets World 03:00 True Detective 12:00 Golfing World 18:05 Sister Wives 02:05 Mouk Of Dogs 04:00 Revenge 01:15 Come Dine With Me 16:10 Violetta 05:15 Lewis 16:00 World Golf Championship 18:30 Craft Wars 02:15 Jungle Junction 02:05 Masterchef: The 17:00 Gravity Falls 05:00 Bones Highlights 19:20 Sister Wives 02:25 Art Attack 06:10 Take On The Twisters 08:00 Franklin & Bash Professionals 17:25 Hank Zipzer 07:05 Come Dine With Me Ireland 17:00 PGA European Tour 20:10 World’s Worst Mum 02:50 Julius Jr. 03:00 Antiques Roadshow 17:50 Binny And The Ghost 09:00 Bones Highlights 21:00 The Undateables 03:00 Calimero 07:30 Get Your Act Together 10:00 Revenge 01:00 How I Live Now-PG15 03:50 Come Dine With Me 18:15 Jessie 08:30 Paul O’Grady: For The Love 03:00 Alfie Boe: The Bring Him 18:00 Golfing World 21:50 What Have I Got 03:15 Henry Hugglemonster 04:15 Rachel’s Favourite Food For 18:40 Dog With A Blog 12:00 Emmerdale 19:00 NRL Full Time 22:15 What Have I Got 03:25 Zou Of Dogs 12:30 Coronation Street Home Tour-PG15 Living 19:05 Dog With A Blog 08:55 Paul O’Grady: For The Love 20:00 Super Rugby Highlights 22:40 Extreme Couponing 03:40 Mouk 13:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 05:00 Horizon-PG15 04:40 Beat My Build 19:30 Violetta Of Dogs 23:00 NRL Full Time 23:05 Mob Wives 03:50 Jungle Junction 14:00 Franklin & Bash 07:00 Madea’s Witness Protection- 05:30 Valentine Warner Eats 20:20 Binny And The Ghost 09:20 The Chase PG15 23:55 The Undateables 04:00 Art Attack Scandinavia 20:45 H2O: Just Add Water 10:15 Lewis 16:00 Emmerdale 04:25 Julius Jr. 16:30 Coronation Street 09:00 Percy Jackson: Sea Of 05:50 Come Dine With Me 21:10 Austin & Ally 11:10 Emmerdale Monsters-PG 04:35 Calimero 06:40 Masterchef: The 21:35 Jessie 11:35 Emmerdale 17:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 04:50 Henry Hugglemonster 18:00 Franklin & Bash 11:00 The Secret Life Of Walter Professionals 22:00 Gravity Falls 12:00 Coronation Street Mitty-PG15 03:00 Live WWE Raw 05:00 Zou 07:35 Valentine Warner Eats 22:25 Sabrina: Secrets Of A 12:30 Ade In Britain 19:00 Criminal Minds 07:00 Snooker Shootout 05:15 Mouk 20:00 Bones 13:00 Christmas In Conway-PG15 Scandinavia Teenage Witch 13:25 Take On The Twisters 15:00 Gravity-PG15 09:00 Golfing World 00:40 Dates From Hell 05:25 Jungle Junction 08:00 Antiques Roadshow 22:50 Sabrina: Secrets Of A 14:20 Come Dine With Me Ireland 21:00 The Voice 10:00 Darts U.K Open 05:35 Art Attack 23:00 True Detective 17:00 Percy Jackson: Sea Of 01:05 Dates From Hell 08:50 Come Dine With Me Teenage Witch 14:45 Lewis Monsters-PG 14:30 WWE This Week 01:30 Deadly Affairs 06:00 Julius Jr. 09:15 Beat My Build 23:10 Wolfblood 15:35 The Chase 18:45 The Book Thief-PG15 15:00 WWE Raw 02:20 American Greed 06:10 Calimero 10:05 Bargain Hunt 23:35 Wolfblood 16:30 Arthur And George 21:00 Not Fade Away-PG15 18:00 WWE Experience 03:10 Blood Relatives 06:25 Henry Hugglemonster 10:45 Come Dine With Me 17:15 Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night 23:00 Rush-18 19:00 WWE Afterburn 04:00 Extreme Forensics 06:35 Zou Takeaway 11:35 Masterchef: The 23:00 Golfing World 04:45 Dates From Hell 06:50 Mouk 18:20 Take On The Twisters Professionals 05:07 Dates From Hell 07:00 Jungle Junction 12:30 Antiques Roadshow 19:10 Coronation Street 01:00 Good Morning America 05:30 Deadly Affairs 07:10 Art Attack 13:20 Come Dine With Me 19:35 The Chase 07:35 Julius Jr. 00:00 Christina Milian Turned Up 03:00 Supernatural 06:20 True CSI 13:45 Beat My Build 20:30 Arthur And George 07:45 Calimero 00:55 The Soup 04:00 Sons Of Anarchy 07:10 American Greed 14:40 Bargain Hunt 21:15 Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night 08:00 Jungle Junction 01:25 Keeping Up With The 05:00 Good Morning America 01:00 Twigson 03:00 ICC World Cup H/L: ENG v 08:00 Nightmare Next Door 15:25 Come Dine With Me Takeaway 08:10 Zou Kardashians 22:20 Coronation Street 07:00 Emmerdale 02:45 Dudley Do Right BAN 08:50 Fatal Encounters 16:15 Masterchef: The 08:25 Henry Hugglemonster 02:20 E! News 22:50 Emmerdale 07:30 Coronation Street 04:30 Tony Hawk: Boom Boom 04:00 Live ICC World Cup: IND v 09:40 Murder Shift Professionals 08:35 Julius Jr. 03:15 Escape Club 23:15 Emmerdale 09:00 Switched At Birth Sabotage IRE 10:30 I Was Murdered 17:10 Antiques Roadshow 08:50 Mouk 04:10 The E! True Hollywood Story 23:45 Lewis 10:00 Emmerdale 06:00 Barbie Of Swan Lake 12:00 ICC Cricket 360 10:55 Stalked: Someone’s 18:00 Come Dine With Me 09:00 Calimero 05:05 E!ES 10:30 Coronation Street 08:00 Barbie Fairytopia 16:00 ICC World Cup H/L: IND v Watching 18:25 Beat My Build 09:15 Jake And The Never Land 06:00 Keeping Up With The 11:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 10:00 Kong Return To The Jungle IRE 11:20 Forensic Detectives 19:15 Beat My Build Pirates Kardashians 12:00 Intelligence 11:30 Ploddy Police Car 21:30 ICC Cricket 360 12:10 American Greed 20:10 Nordic Cookery With Tareq 09:40 Doc McStuffins 06:55 Keeping Up With The 13:00 Killer Women 13:00 Dudley Do Right 13:00 Disappeared Taylor 10:05 Art Attack Kardashians 14:00 Live Good Morning America 14:30 Barbie And The Diamond 13:50 On The Case With Paula 20:35 Bill’s Kitchen: Notting Hill 10:35 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 07:50 Style Star 16:00 Switched At Birth Castle Zahn 21:00 Vacation Vacation Vacation 00:00 Is It Real? 11:00 Sofia The First 08:20 E! News 17:00 Intelligence 16:00 A Cat In Paris 14:40 Who On Earth Did I 21:20 Masterchef: The 01:00 Animal Intervention 11:25 Sheriff Callie’s Wild West 09:15 Giuliana & Bill 18:00 Killer Women 18:00 Kong Return To The Jungle Marry? Professionals 02:00 Armageddon Outfitters 11:50 Calimero 10:15 Giuliana & Bill 19:00 Switched At Birth 20:00 Eleanor’s Secret 15:05 Who On Earth Did I 03:00 Car SOS 12:05 Jake And The Never Land 11:10 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills 04:00 Animal Impact 20:00 Intelligence 22:00 Barbie And The Diamond Marry? Pirates 11:35 #RichKids Of Beverly Hills 05:00 Alaska Wing Men 21:00 Killer Women Castle 00:45 Secret Eskimo Escape 15:30 American Greed 12:30 Jake And The Never Land 12:05 E! News 06:00 Perilous Journeys 22:00 Supernatural 23:30 A Cat In Paris 01:35 Extreme Couponing 16:20 I Was Murdered 13:05 Extreme Close-Up 07:00 Wild Sri Lanka 23:00 Sons Of Anarchy 02:00 Mob Wives 16:45 Stalked: Someone’s Pirates 13:35 The E! True Hollywood Story 08:00 Is It Real? 02:50 Say Yes To The Dress Watching 12:55 Handy Manny 00:20 Fast N’ Loud 14:30 Style Star 09:00 Animal Intervention 03:15 Little People, Big World 17:10 Murder Shift 13:05 Justin Time 01:10 Gold Rush 15:00 Keeping Up With The 10:00 Armageddon Outfitters 03:40 Craft Wars 18:00 Disappeared 13:20 Sofia The First 02:00 Gold Divers: Under The Ice Kardashians 11:00 Mad Scientists 04:30 Cake Boss 18:50 Fatal Encounters 13:45 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 02:50 Alaska: The Last Frontier 16:00 Keeping Up With The 11:30 Mad Scientists 00:00 Saving Santa-PG 05:00 Sister Wives 19:40 Forensic Detectives 14:10 Sheriff Callie’s Wild West 03:40 Auction Hunters: Pawn Shop Kardashians 12:00 Beyond Magic with DMC 00:00 2 Guns 02:00 Muppets Most Wanted-PG 05:30 Sister Wives 20:30 On The Case With Paula 14:35 Julius Jr. Edition 17:00 Giuliana & Bill 13:00 Rescue Ink 02:00 Bullet To The Head 04:00 Man Of Tai Chi-PG15 06:00 18 Kids And Counting Zahn 14:45 Jake And The Never Land 18:00 Christina Milian Turned Up 04:05 The Liquidator 14:00 Expedition Wild 04:00 Orcs! 06:00 Quartet-PG15 06:25 World’s Worst Mum 21:20 The Will Pirates 19:00 E!ES 04:30 Backroad Bounty 15:00 Apocalypse: The Second 05:30 The Lone Ranger 08:00 Grace Unplugged-PG 07:15 Say Yes To The Dress 22:10 Who On Earth Did I 15:15 Doc McStuffins 20:00 Fashion Bloggers World War 08:00 Flightplan 07:40 Little People, Big World Marry? 15:40 Henry Hugglemonster 05:00 How It’s Made 20:30 Fashion Bloggers 10:00 Marvel’s The Invincible Iron 05:30 How It’s Made 16:00 World’s Toughest Fixes 10:00 Fatal Instinct Man-PG 08:05 Cake Boss 22:35 Who On Earth Did I 15:55 Zou 21:00 House Of DVF 17:00 Air Crash Investigation 12:00 The Cold Light Of Day 08:30 Cake Boss Marry? 16:05 Justin Time 06:00 Yukon Men 22:00 E! News 12:00 Man Of Tai Chi-PG15 18:00 Breakout 14:00 500 mph Storm 08:55 Bakery Boss 23:00 Devil In The Details 16:20 Sofia The First 06:50 Fifth Gear 23:00 Kourtney And Khloe Take 14:00 No Clue-PG15 19:00 Apocalypse: The Second 16:00 Flightplan 09:45 Cake Boss 16:50 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 07:40 Fast N’ Loud The Hamptons 16:00 Grace Unplugged-PG 23:50 Deadly Sins 08:30 Auction Hunters: Pawn Shop World War 18:00 Europa Report 18:00 Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit- 10:10 Sister Wives 17:15 Lilo & Stitch Edition 20:00 World’s Toughest Fixes 20:00 The Cold Light Of Day PG15 10:35 Sister Wives 17:40 Adventures Of The 08:55 The Liquidator 21:00 Air Crash Investigation 22:00 Olympus Has Fallen 20:00 Lone Survivor-PG15 11:00 Craft Wars Gummi Bears 09:20 Backroad Bounty 22:00 Breakout 22:00 Shiver-PG15 11:50 Bakery Boss 18:05 Chip n Dale Rescue 09:45 How It’s Made 23:00 Mad Scientists 12:40 World’s Worst Mum Rangers 10:10 How It’s Made 23:30 Mad Scientists 13:30 Oprah: Where Are They 18:30 Ducktales 10:35 Gold Rush 00:05 Chopped OSN FIRST COMEDY HD Now? 00:10 Zou 19:00 Art Attack 00:00 Veep 11:25 Gold Divers: Under The Ice 00:55 Grill It! With Bobby Flay 00:00 Bullet To The Head-18 14:20 Oprah’s Next Chapter 00:25 Mouk 19:25 Sofia The First 12:15 Alaska: The Last Frontier 01:20 Amazing Wedding Cakes 00:30 The Daily Show With Jon 02:00 Orcs!-PG15 02:00 Darts - U.K. Open 15:10 Cake Boss 19:55 Jake And The Never Land Stewart 00:35 Jungle Junction 13:05 Auction Hunters: Pawn Shop 02:10 Barefoot Contessa - Back To 03:30 The Lone Ranger-PG15 07:00 Golfing World 15:35 Little People, Big World 00:50 Art Attack Pirates Edition 20:20 Jake And The Never Land 13:30 The Liquidator Pirates 13:55 Backroad Bounty 20:50 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 14:20 Yukon Men 21:25 Sofia The First 15:10 Fifth Gear 21:50 Adventures Of The 16:00 Fast N’ Loud Gummi Bears 16:50 How It’s Made 22:20 Chip n Dale Rescue 17:15 How It’s Made Rangers 17:40 Alaska: The Last Frontier 22:45 Ducktales 18:30 The Island With Bear Grylls 23:15 Art Attack 19:20 Survive That! 20:10 The Liquidator 20:35 Backroad Bounty 21:00 The Island With Bear Grylls 21:50 Survive That!

00:00 Programmes Start At 7:00am KSA 07:00 Phineas And Ferb 07:20 Best Sports Ever 07:25 Phineas And Ferb 00:40 How It’s Made 07:50 Supa Strikas 01:05 How It’s Made 08:15 The 7D 01:30 Man vs The Universe 08:40 Ultimate Spider-Man 02:20 Through The Wormhole With 09:05 Lab Rats Morgan Freeman 09:30 Kickin’ It 03:10 How Do They Do It? 09:55 Ultimate Spider-Man: 03:35 How Do They Do It? Web Warriors 04:00 Food Factory 10:20 Phineas And Ferb 04:24 Food Factory 10:45 Zeke & Luther 04:48 Invent It Rich 11:10 I’m In The Band 05:36 Invent It Rich 11:35 Camp Lakebottom 06:24 Weird Connections 12:00 Mighty Med 06:48 How Tech Works 12:30 Lab Rats 07:12 Food Factory 12:55 Marvel Avengers 07:36 How Do They Do It? Assemble 08:00 Weird Connections 13:20 Phineas And Ferb 08:25 How Tech Works 13:40 Japaneezi Going Going 08:50 X-Machines Gong 09:40 Food Factory 14:05 Zeke & Luther 10:05 How It’s Made 14:30 Pair Of Kings 10:30 Invent It Rich 14:55 Randy Cunningham: 9th 11:20 Invent It Rich Grade Ninja 12:10 How Do They Do It? 15:20 Marvel Avengers 12:35 How Do They Do It? Assemble 13:00 Weird Connections 15:45 Phineas And Ferb 13:25 How Tech Works 16:10 Supa Strikas 13:50 X-Machines 16:35 Pair Of Kings 14:40 Food Factory 17:00 Lab Rats 15:05 How It’s Made 17:30 Mighty Med 15:30 Invent It Rich OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN ON OSN MOVIES ACTION HD 18:00 Kickin’ It Classifieds

TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015

Kuwait KNCC PROGRAMME FROM THURSDAY TO WEDNESDAY (05/03/2015 TO 11/03/2015)

SHARQIA-1 FANAR-4 OUTCAST 2:30 PM OUTCAST 11:45 AM YOUM MALOUSH LASMA (Arabic) 1:30 PM OUTCAST 4:45 PM OUTCAST 2:00 PM YOUM MALOUSH LASMA (Arabic) 3:45 PM OUTCAST -3D 7:00 PM FOCUS 4:00 PM YOUM MALOUSH LASMA (Arabic) 6:00 PM NO THU THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SPONGE OUT OF WATER 6:00 PM YOUM MALOUSH LASMA (Arabic) 8:15 PM Special Show “FOCUS” 7:00 PM FOCUS 8:00 PM YOUM MALOUSH LASMA (Arabic) 10:30 PM THU OUTCAST 10:15 PM YOUM MALOUSH LASMA (Arabic) 12:45 AM OUTCAST 9:15 PM OUTCAST 12:15 AM OUTCAST 11:30 PM FANAR-5 SHARQIA-2 OUTCAST 12:45 PM AVENUES-6 AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 12:45 PM OUTCAST 2:45 PM FOCUS 11:30 AM AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 3:30 PM AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 4:45 PM FOCUS 1:45 PM AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 6:15 PM AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 7:30 PM FOCUS 4:00 PM AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 9:00 PM OUTCAST 10:15 PM FOCUS 6:15 PM AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 11:45 PM OUTCAST 12:15 AM FOCUS 8:30 PM FOCUS 10:45 PM SHARQIA-3 MARINA-1 FOCUS 1:00 AM AMERICAN HEIST 12:00 PM AMERICAN HEIST 11:30 AM 12:15 AM AMERICAN HEIST 2:00 PM AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 1:15 PM 360º- 1 AMERICAN HEIST 4:00 PM AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 4:00 PM FOCUS 12:30 PM YOUM MALOUSH LASMA (Arabic) 6:00 PM AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 6:45 PM FOCUS 2:45 PM YOUM MALOUSH LASMA (Arabic) 8:15 PM AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 9:30 PM FOCUS 5:00 PM YOUM MALOUSH LASMA (Arabic) 10:30 PM AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 12:15 AM FOCUS 7:15 PM AMERICAN HEIST 12:45 AM FOCUS 9:30 PM MARINA-2 FOCUS 11:45 PM MUHALAB-1 YOUM MALOUSH LASMA (Arabic) 11:45 AM OUTCAST 12:45 PM AMERICAN HEIST 2:00 PM 360º- 2 experience, technical Indian small family or a OUTCAST 2:45 PM YOUM MALOUSH LASMA (Arabic) 3:45 PM ALIEN OUTPOST 12:00 PM FOR SALE expert in entire IT functions working lady near Al Rashid OUTCAST 4:45 PM AMERICAN HEIST 6:15 PM ALIEN OUTPOST 2:00 PM including infrastructure Hospital. Shara Amman FOCUS 6:45 PM YOUM MALOUSH LASMA (Arabic) 8:00 PM ALIEN OUTPOST 4:00 PM Mitsubishi Lancer Ex 2014, storage, network, systems, round about Salmiya in a OUTCAST 8:45 PM YOUM MALOUSH LASMA (Arabic) 10:15 PM ALIEN OUTPOST 6:00 PM white color, km 3500. KD FOCUS 10:45 PM AMERICAN HEIST 12:30 AM ALIEN OUTPOST 8:00 PM virtualization & cloud pio- central A/C flat from March OUTCAST 12:45 AM ALIEN OUTPOST 10:00 PM 2550. Tel: 97868418. neer with transferable Visa. 20th onwards with a sepa- MARINA-3 ALIEN OUTPOST 12:05 AM (C 4943) Contact 99154727 or tijo- rate room & bathroom, big MUHALAB-2 OUTCAST -3D 1:00 PM 10-3-2015 [email protected] hall etc at a good location. AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 1:15 PM OUTCAST 3:00 PM 360º- 3 (C.4941) Contact: 99838117 or AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 4:00 PM THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SPONGE OUT OF WATER (3D)5:00 PM KIDNAPPING MR. HEINEKEN 1:00 PM AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 6:45 PM OUTCAST 7:00 PM KIDNAPPING MR. HEINEKEN 3:00 PM 9-3-2015 99315825. (C 4940) AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 9:30 PM FOCUS 9:00 PM KIDNAPPING MR. HEINEKEN 5:00 PM CHANGE OF NAME 8-3-2015 AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 12:15 AM OUTCAST -3D 11:00 PM KIDNAPPING MR. HEINEKEN 7:00 PM OUTCAST 1:00 AM KIDNAPPING MR. HEINEKEN 9:00 PM I, Nainan Polachirackal ACCOMMODATION MUHALAB-3 KIDNAPPING MR. HEINEKEN 11:00 PM Cherian, holder of Indian CUT BANK 11:30 AM AVENUES-1 KIDNAPPING MR. HEINEKEN 1:00 AM Passport No. F6168416, CUT BANK 1:30 PM AMERICAN HEIST 12:15 PM Sharing accommodation CUT BANK 3:30 PM AMERICAN HEIST 2:15 PM AL-KOUT.1 issued at Cochin and hav- CUT BANK 5:30 PM AMERICAN HEIST 4:15 PM YOUM MALOUSH LASMA (Arabic) 11:30 AM ing residence at Manathatil (separate room & bath- YOUM MALOUSH LASMA (Arabic) 7:30 PM AMERICAN HEIST 6:15 PM AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 1:45 PM House Cheruparambathu room) is available in 112 YOUM MALOUSH LASMA (Arabic) 9:45 PM AMERICAN HEIST 8:15 PM AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 4:30 PM Rd., Kadavanthra P.O., Salmiya for vegetarian CUT BANK 12:05 AM AMERICAN HEIST 10:15 PM YOUM MALOUSH LASMA (Arabic) 7:15 PM AMERICAN HEIST 12:15 AM YOUM MALOUSH LASMA (Arabic) 9:30 PM Ernakulam, Kerala, Pin FANAR-1 YOUM MALOUSH LASMA (Arabic) 11:45 PM 682020, hereby declare ALIEN OUTPOST 11:45 AM AVENUES-2 change my name to Anil THE PUBLIC AUTHORITY FOR ALIEN OUTPOST 1:30 PM CUT BANK 11:45 AM AL-KOUT.2 Cherian Polachirackal. FOCUS 3:15 PM CUT BANK 2:00 PM AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 11:45 AM CIVIL INFORMATION ALIEN OUTPOST 5:15 PM CUT BANK 4:15 PM ALIEN OUTPOST 2:30 PM (C 4942) FOCUS 7:15 PM CUT BANK 6:30 PM ALIEN OUTPOST 4:30 PM 9-3-2015 Automated enquiry about the ALIEN OUTPOST 9:15 PM CUT BANK 8:45 PM ALIEN OUTPOST 6:15 PM Civil ID card is FOCUS 11:00 PM CUT BANK 11:00 PM KIDNAPPING MR. HEINEKEN 8:00 PM ALIEN OUTPOST 1:00 AM CUT BANK 1:15 AM AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 10:00 PM SITUATION WANTED AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 12:45 AM 1889988 FANAR-2 AVENUES-3 CUT BANK 12:30 PM AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 12:00 PM AL-KOUT.3 Accountant (Indian) having CUT BANK 2:30 PM AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 2:45 PM OUTCAST 12:15 PM 23 years experience in Prayer timings CUT BANK 4:30 PM AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 5:30 PM Digital (2D) Middle East and Africa, cur- KIDNAPPING MR. HEINEKEN 6:45 PM AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 8:30 PM OUTCAST 2:15 PM rently in Kuwait from 2006 Fajr: 04:45 CUT BANK 8:45 PM AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 11:15 PM OUTCAST 4:15 PM looking for a suitable place- KIDNAPPING MR. HEINEKEN 10:45 PM AVENUES-4 FOCUS 6:30 PM CUT BANK 12:45 AM YOUM MALOUSH LASMA (Arabic) 12:45 PM OUTCAST 8:30 PM ment with transferable iqa- Shorook 06:04 FOCUS 3:30 PM FOCUS 10:30 PM ma. Contact: 97934610. FANAR-3 YOUM MALOUSH LASMA (Arabic) 5:45 PM OUTCAST 12:30 AM (C 4944) Duhr: 11:58 AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 12:15 PM FOCUS 8:15 PM 10-3-2015 AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 3:00 PM YOUM MALOUSH LASMA (Arabic) 10:30 PM AL-KOUT.4 Asr: 15:20 THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SPONGE OUT OF WATER 5:45 PM YOUM MALOUSH LASMA (Arabic) 1:00 AM CUT BANK 11:30 AM Management level IT OUTCAST 7:45 PM AMERICAN HEIST 1:30 PM Maghrib: 17:53 AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 9:45 PM AVENUES-5 CUT BANK 3:30 PM Engineer (B.Tech.-VCAP5- AL TIJARA SHATARA (Kuwaiti Film) 12:30 AM OUTCAST -3D 12:15 PM AMERICAN HEIST 5:30 PM VCP4-CCNACCNP-MCP- Isha: 19:10 PMP-BS7799), 14 Years

Directorate General of Civil Aviation Home Page (www.kuwait-airport.com.kw)

Arrival Flights on Tuesday 10/3/2015 FDB 057 Dubai 14:30 Departure Flights on Tuesday 10/3/2015 FDB 058 Dubai 15:10 Airlines Flt Route Time GFA 221 Bahrain 15:00 Airlines Flt Route Time KAC 617 Doha 15:15 JAI 574 Mumbai 00:10 KAC 788 Jeddah 15:10 AIC 976 Goa/Chennai 00:05 KNE 473 Jeddah 15:20 JZR 239 Amman 00:25 OMA 645 Muscat 15:25 BBC 044 Dhaka 00:40 SVA 501 Jeddah 15:45 JZR 267 Beirut 00:30 ABY 127 Sharjah 15:45 PIA 206 Lahore 00:40 GFA 222 Bahrain 15:45 JZR 539 Cairo 00:40 UAE 857 Dubai 15:45 FDB 072 Dubai 00:45 KAC 773 Riyadh 15:50 KLM 411 Amsterdam/Dammam 00:40 FDB 051 Dubai 16:00 JAI 573 Mumbai 01:10 OMA 646 Muscat 16:25 THY 772 Istanbul 00:45 NIA 251 Alexandria 16:15 KLM 411 Amsterdam 01:55 ABY 128 Sharjah 16:25 FDB 069 Dubai 00:55 KAC 562 Amman 16:20 DLH 635 Frankfurt 02:15 KAC 741 Dammam 17:00 QTR 1084 Doha 01:00 QTR 1072 Doha 16:40 ETH 621 Addis Ababa 02:45 FDB 052 Dubai 17:00 PGT 858 Istanbul 01:35 RJA 640 Amman 16:55 THY 773 Istanbul 02:55 JZR 266 Beirut 17:05 ETH 620 Addis Ababa 01:45 ETD 303 Abu Dhabi 16:55 PGT 859 Istanbul 03:25 NIA 252 Alexandria 17:15 UAE 854 Dubai 03:50 QTR 1073 Doha 17:40 GFA 211 Bahrain 02:30 UAL 982 IAD 17:05 FDB 068 Dubai 03:55 JZR 538 Cairo 17:45 UAE 853 Dubai 02:35 SVA 510 Riyadh 17:15 ETD 306 Abu Dhabi 04:05 UAE 858 Dubai 17:45 JAI 526 Chennai/Abu Dhabi 02:50 GFA 215 Bahrain 17:30 MSR 613 Cairo 04:10 ETD 304 Abu Dhabi 17:50 FDB 067 Dubai 02:55 JZR 325 Al Najaf 17:50 KKK 6508 Istanbul 04:10 RJA 641 Amman 17:55 JZR 777 Jeddah 17:55 RJA 648 Amman 03:05 QTR 1085 Doha 04:30 SVA 511 Riyadh 18:15 MSR 612 Cairo 03:10 UAE 875 Dubai 18:00 MSC 406 Sohag 05:05 UAL 982 Bahrain 18:20 ETD 305 Abu Dhabi 03:10 TAR 328 Tunis/Dubai 18:05 QTR 1077 Doha 05:15 GFA 216 Bahrain 18:20 KKK 6507 Istanbul 03:20 JZR 177 Dubai 18:20 THY 765 Istanbul 05:40 JZR 184 Dubai 18:40 QTR 1076 Doha 03:45 FDB 063 Dubai 18:40 FDB 070 Dubai 06:30 JZR 238 Amman 18:50 MSC 401 Alexandria 04:05 ABY 121 Sharjah 18:40 JAI 525 Abu Dhabi/Chennai 06:35 TAR 328 Tunis 18:55 THY 770 Istanbul 05:35 KAC 786 Jeddah 18:45 JZR 164 Dubai 06:55 JZR 134 Bahrain 19:10 DHX 170 Bahrain 05:40 QTR 1080 Doha 18:50 RJA 649 Amman 07:05 ABY 122 Sharjah 19:20 VDA 2902 LEJ 06:00 AXB 393 Kozhikode 19:15 JZR 560 Sohag 07:10 UAE 876 Dubai 19:40 BAW 157 London 06:40 KAC 774 Riyadh 19:15 GFA 212 Bahrain 07:15 QTR 1081 Doha 19:50 KAC 412 Manila/Bangkok 07:10 KAC 618 Doha 19:15 THY 771 Istanbul 07:30 FDB 064 Dubai 19:55 FDB 053 Dubai 07:45 KAC 542 Cairo 19:25 FDB 054 Dubai 08:25 GFA 218 Bahrain 20:15 QTR 1086 Doha 07:50 KAC 674 Dubai 19:25 BAW 156 London 08:45 AXB 393 Kozhikode 20:15 THY 6776 Istanbul 07:50 KAC 678 Muscat/Abu Dhabi 19:25 QTR 1087 Doha 08:50 KAC 283 Dhaka 20:30 SVA 512 Riyadh 07:55 GFA 217 Bahrain 19:30 KAC 513 Tehran 08:55 KAC 361 Colombo 20:50 KAC 416 Kuala Lumpur/Jakarta 08:05 KAC 166 Paris/Rome 19:40 SVA 513 Riyadh 08:55 KAC 343 Chennai 20:55 KAC 352 Kochi 08:10 KAC 104 London 19:55 THY 6776 Dubai 09:20 JAI 571 Mumbai 21:00 KAC 382 Delhi 08:15 KAC 742 Dammam 20:00 KAC 787 Jeddah 09:25 VDA 2903 Ahmedabad 21:00 KAC 302 Mumbai 08:20 JAI 572 Mumbai 20:00 KAC 671 Dubai 09:25 OMA 648 Muscat 21:05 KAC 206 Islamabad 08:25 MSR 618 Alexandria 20:05 ABY 126 Sharjah 09:40 MSR 607 Luxor 21:05 KAC 101 London/New York 09:50 KAC 332 Trivandrum 08:30 OMA 647 Muscat 20:05 GFA 047 Istanbul 21:15 UAE 856 Dubai 09:55 UAE 855 Dubai 08:40 FDB 061 Dubai 20:20 KAC 351 Kochi 21:15 ETD 302 Abu Dhabi 10:20 ABY 125 Sharjah 09:00 GFA 047 Bahrain 20:30 FDB 062 Dubai 21:20 KAC 561 Amman 10:25 ETD 301 Abu Dhabi 09:20 DLH 636 Frankfurt 20:50 DLH 636 Dammam 21:35 FDB 056 Dubai 10:35 KAC 282 Dhaka 09:20 ALK 229 Colombo 21:10 DHX 171 Bahrain 21:50 QTR 1071 Doha 11:00 FDB 055 Dubai 09:40 MEA 402 Beirut 21:20 KAC 381 Delhi 22:00 KAC 165 Rome/Paris 11:15 QTR 1070 Doha 10:00 ETD 307 Abu Dhabi 21:30 ALK 230 Colombo 22:10 GFA 214 Bahrain 11:25 IRA 675 Lar 10:40 FDB 073 Dubai 21:35 IRA 674 Lar 11:40 ETD 308 Abu Dhabi 22:15 GFA 213 Bahrain 10:40 UAE 859 Dubai 21:40 KAC 541 Cairo 12:05 KAC 301 Mumbai 22:15 GFA 219 Bahrain 21:45 UAE 873 Dubai 11:00 KAC 677 Abu Dhabi/Muscat 12:20 MEA 403 Beirut 22:20 MSC 405 Sohag 11:25 QTR 1074 Doha 21:55 JZR 776 Jeddah 12:20 KAC 203 Lahore 22:20 JZR 165 Dubai 11:30 JZR 135 Bahrain 22:05 MSC 402 Alexandria 12:25 FDB 074 Dubai 22:30 MEA 404 Beirut 11:55 UAL 981 Bahrain 22:10 UAE 874 Dubai 12:30 GFA 220 Bahrain 22:30 UAE 871 Dubai 12:50 ETD 309 Abu Dhabi 22:15 MEA 405 Beirut 12:55 UAE 860 Dubai 22:50 MSR 610 Cairo 13:00 KLM 415 Amsterdam 22:15 KAC 785 Jeddah 13:00 KAC 205 Islamabad 22:55 KAC 514 Tehran 13:10 FDB 059 Dubai 22:30 JZR 176 Dubai 13:45 ETD 310 Abu Dhabi 23:00 JZR 561 Sohag 13:45 AIC 981 Chennai/Hyderabad/Ahmedabad 22:30 MSR 611 Cairo 14:00 QTR 1075 Doha 23:05 KAC 672 Dubai 13:55 PIA 239 Sialkot 22:35 UAE 872 Dubai 14:15 KLM 415 Dammam/Amsterdam 23:15 QTR 1078 Doha 14:05 JZR 185 Dubai 23:15 JZR 324 Al Najaf 14:25 KAC 411 Bangkok/Manila 23:30 KNE 472 Jeddah 14:25 THY 764 Istanbul 23:35 KAC 673 Dubai 15:00 PIA 240 Sialkot 23:35 SVA 500 Jeddah 14:30 FDB 071 Dubai 23:45 QTR 1079 Doha 15:05 FDB 060 Dubai 23:55 DIAL161 FOR AIRPORT INFORMATION stars34 TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 CROSSWORD 837 STAR TRACK

Aries (March 21-April 19) Libra (September 23-October 22)

Your focus this morning may be on celebrating some special occasion in Your mind is in a receptive mode and ready for whatever projects are set before the workplace. You put in the hours and enjoy the company but this afternoon you may you today. In order to avoid any misunderstandings from a sensitive higher-ranking person go in a different direction. You may have said yes recently to a volunteer organization today, remove your own emotions-come from the truth. Office politics may become disastrous and they are going to take you at your word-they need your help. Perhaps you will be conversations, so stay away from it when at all possible. This time is a high achievement cycle. helping in some youth violence prevention or intervention program. Beginning a pilot It is easy for you to get along; you are surrounded with people that want to achieve what you project provides such services as anger management and conflict resolution training, job have achieved. Keep moving forward to new goals. Social activity with co-workers, friends or training, employment, counseling, educational assistance, victim awareness training, family is enjoyable this afternoon. You may have insights into the inner workings of a loved peer mentoring and substance abuse and health services referrals. If you are not plan- one today. You help bridge a communication gap. This evening you search for different ways ning the organization, you will be there to help. You are a positive influence to others. to relax.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

Career opportunities call out to you today. Push forward now-go forward The atmosphere crackles with your own energy today. Logic is important but and conquer! Your energy is high and you feel vital. You feel in harmony with yourself, could be forgotten if decisions are made too quickly. Balance will return this afternoon. the entire world and everybody in it. Others can feel this, so they in turn are drawn to you, Practicality takes on a special importance as you weed through the chores and demands of the making this a successful day for any kind of group endeavor. Best of all, relations with the day. You are in a self-reliant mood-determined to move forward and accomplish much. You opposite sex are at a peak. This is a super day for just about anything that comes to your can focus on your goals and know that you have a good chance of success. Keep alert and do attention. This afternoon you will enjoy the company of a friend. You attach importance not be afraid to make your views known to bosses and other authority figures. Friends or rela- to friendships and taking part in group activities with friends. Harmony and beauty are tives are happy to drop in and join you for a snack and a fun get-together later today. Charm deeply satisfying. Close personal ties to other people are a focal point for your feelings- oozes from every pore and others enjoy being with you. Sharing with others is favorable. marriage and other partnerships are key arenas for this.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) There is an instinctive push to be in control. This inner push could lead to a Your great sense of fairness makes you a good judge or lawyer. You may be greater interest in investing, management, teaching, etc. Others value you for able to bring a group together with words or ideas that transport others. Refinement and your ability to make smart decisions. You have a natural sense of what the public wants and can ACROSS DOWN relationships are usually the keys to emotional satisfaction for you. Your base of security, express yourself well. Clear decisions affecting others could be made now. Some of your co- 1. A unit of pressure. 1. A Chadic language spoken south of Lake which is your home and loved ones, is the place you want to be this evening. Visiting with workers or customers may find you especially witty from time to time. Your sense of humor 4. Lack of strength or vigor esp from illness. Chad. friends that come by your place or playing a competitive game in your yard is fun this helps you make demands on others in an acceptable manner. Others value you for your inde- 12. System of measurement based on cen- 2. A native or inhabitant of Sweden. afternoon. Companionship with close family and friends is important and you will want to pendence and unique qualities. Romance and such creative pursuits as hobbies are outlets for timeters and grams and seconds. 3. English prelate noted for his pessimistic ser- take every opportunity to keep this network of loved ones close to you. This is a successful much of your energy this afternoon. You want to plan out tomorrow’s schedule this evening- 15. Slender bristlelike appendage found on mons and articles (1860-1954). and fully packed day. Consider a walk with your family or loved one after dinner and retire careful . . . Family interests may take priority. the bracts of grasses. 4. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part early tonight. 16. Of or relating to Liberia or its people. of an organism. 17. The quality of a color as determined by its 5. English theoretical physicist who applied dominant wavelength. relativity theory to quantum mechanics and Cancer (June 21-July 22) Capricorn (December 22-January 19) 18. A pauper who lives by begging. predicted the existence of antimatter and the 20. The function or position properly or cus- positron (1902-1984). Your emotions are accented today. Emotions are great to warn us when trouble Your attitude is positive and you look for ways to improve the world. Mental stimu- tomarily occupied or served by another. 6. A soft silvery metallic element. is near or to enjoy the finer things in life. Remember to set aside emotions when solving prob- lation from others is the key for you right now. A group meeting this morning has you comparing 21. American prizefighter who won the world 7. A strip of land projecting into a body of lems today and you will achieve most positive results. Good communication is sure to reign, no the views of others and making suggestions of your own. You may gain attention for finding heavyweight championship three times (born water. matter where you are today. Plans take you where you want to go . . . Travel could be available solutions to technical problems today. You have a tendency to enjoy working in group activities. in 1942). 8. The products of human creativity. soon. There are opportunities today to meet people that could help you, your profession or your You may display an urge to be recognized by co-workers, but this could cause jealousy. This after- 22. The content of cognition. 9. Dignified manner or conduct. family. An insight about your support system, your mother or other females may be important noon you may desire to seek out a new friend or do something with a neighbor or relative you 23. An associate degree in applied science. 10. A plant hormone promoting elongation of just now. Some sort of genealogy study brings to you an interest in family background. You have not seen in a long time. It is a good time to go out and witness the splendor of nature. This 25. Someone who eats no animal products at stems and roots. could discover a student, neighbor or a young person that opens up to you this evening. could involve an interest in some social activities and pursuits like religion and volunteer work. all. 11. (Norse mythology) A dwarf who possessed 27. A rare heavy polyvalent metallic element a treasure that was stolen by Loki. that resembles manganese chemically and is 12. A Bantu language spoken by the Chaga Aquarius (January 20- February 18) used in some alloys. people in northern Tanzania. Leo (July 23-August 22) 28. Electronic warfare undertaken to insure 13. A Russian prison camp for political prison- You are your usual expressive and sociable self today. There are things you have Stay clear of financial propositions that involve risk-taking. It is also not a effective friendly use of the electromagnetic ers. always wanted to try but never had the time-you are creative and curious. You make time for good time for combining business with pleasure. However, this workday is full of cheery, spectrum in spite of the enemy's use of elec- 14. A French river that flows through the heart one personal project today. Originality and invention are your tickets to grabbing the brass ring lighthearted people and you probably wish it was this way more often. Everything seems tronic warfare. of Paris and then northward into the English . . . So to speak. The exchange of ideas becomes a focal point of your day. This could include a to bring out your best qualities today. You may find that your sales technique or job 31. The occurrence of a change for the worse. Channel. conference or a trip to a new computer store during the noon break. Learning, knowing a little responsibilities move along in an easier fashion and with successful results. You are the 33. Of the blackest black. 19. (Greek mythology) Goddess of the earth about a lot of things, staying in touch and on top of the latest developments are what satisfies driving force that comes up with new solutions. Your psychic abilities are more prominent 35. A soft silvery metallic element of the alkali and mother of Cronus and the Titans in your need for mental stimulation. Neighbors and brothers or sisters may join in some fun cele- and you enjoy the interaction with others. Learning what makes people think the way they metal group. ancient mythology. brations tonight. Young people bring laughter to the table. do is interesting but you should be careful about expressing too many opinions. Close per- 36. A constellation in the southern hemi- 24. Before noon. sonal ties are important and enjoyable this evening. sphere near Telescopium and Norma. 26. To fix or set securely or deeply. 38. The branch of information science that 29. A historical region of southwestern India deals with natural language information. on the west coast. Virgo (August 23-September 22) Pisces (February 19-March 20) 40. Ability to apply knowledge or experience 30. (Judaism) A Jewish festival (traditionally 8 or understanding or common sense and days) celebrating the exodus of the Israelites This is a good time to celebrate! Relationships, professional and personal, are Enjoy wearing silver today. There is a lot of higher consciousness associated insight. from Egypt. the keys to emotional satisfaction now. Harmony is deeply satisfying-and the lack of it may with this time of year. Art and music may be subjects that keep coming up for discussion. If 45. An indehiscent fruit derived from a single 32. German organist and contrapuntist (1685- become emotionally unsettling. You are learning to put the supersensitive you in the past. The ever there was a day to work with groups, this is it! You are a natural when communicating ovary having one or many seeds within a 1750). trials you have faced in the past have given you the wisdom you need to deal with present and with others. You have a natural sense of public affairs and may enjoy working with the fleshy wall or pericarp. 34. A hard gray lustrous metallic element that future trials. Being human and understanding the human condition helps you to be an under- public and in political situations. Clear decisions affecting others are easily made. Others 47. Title for a civil or military leader (especially is highly corrosion-resistant. standing helpmate, co-worker and teacher. You are also learning to look past any emotional seek you out for your psychological insight. Young people enjoy your company. Close rela- in Turkey). 37. Tall perennial herb of tropical Asia with maneuvers with compassion-yours or others. Close personal ties to other people are impor- tionships take on more emotional depth, power and importance. You seem to know just tant this day. You always try to be helpful when a friend needs help and today someone needs what a loved one is thinking or needs this evening. This talent can bring rewards. Romantic 48. Tropical woody herb with showy yellow dark green leaves. your help. feelings are deepened. flowers and flat pods. 39. Committee formed by a special-interest 49. Related to or characteristic of or written in group to raise money for their favorite politi- Amharic. cal candidates. 50. A logarithmic unit of sound intensity. 41. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling). Yesterday’s Solution 51. The Tibeto-Burman language spoken in 42. (Babylonian) God of wisdom and agricul- the Dali region of Yunnan. ture and patron of scribes and schools. 52. A toxic nonmetallic element related to sul- 43. A human female who does housework. fur and tellurium. 44. English essayist (1775-1834). 53. A white soft metallic element that tarnish- 46. A genus of Caltha. es readily. 54. A B vitamin that prevents beriberi. 57. A form of energy that is transferred by a 55. A very poisonous metallic element that difference in temperature. has three allotropic forms. 60. Someone who works (or provides workers) 56. Lower in esteem. during a strike. 58. A drug (trade names Atarax and Vistaril) 62. Relating to or associated with heat. used as a tranquilizer to treat anxiety and 65. A state in northwestern North America. motion sickness. 69. Deciduous South African tree having large 59. A radioactive element of the alkali-metal odd-pinnate leaves and profuse fragrant group discovered as a disintegration product orange-yellow flowers. of actinium. 71. According to the Old Testament he was a 61. A silvery ductile metallic element found pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel primarily in bauxite. (9th century BC). 63. The principles of right and wrong that are 73. A branch of the Tai languages. accepted by an individual or a social group. 74. The sense organ for hearing and equilibri- 64. Material consisting of seed coverings and um. small pieces of stem or leaves that have been 75. Characteristic of or relating to winter. separated from the seeds. 79. A unit of length of thread or yarn. 66. The main city of ancient Phoenicia. 80. The Palestinian uprising (beginning in 67. Cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a 1987) against the Israeli occupation of the skewer usually with vegetables. West Bank and Gaza Strip. 68. Jordan's port. 82. A light touch or stroke. 70. The United Nations agency concerned 83. (Roman Catholic) A greeting signifying with atomic energy. Christian love for those assisting at the 72. (botany) Of or relating to the axil. Eucharist. 76. Antibacterial drug (trade name Nydrazid) 84. Medieval plate armor to protect a horse's used to treat tuberculosis. head. 77. The 7th letter of the Greek alphabet. 85. A loose sleeveless outer garment made 78. Airtight sealed metal container for food or from aba cloth. drink or paint etc..

Yesterday’s Solution

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Afghanistan 0093 Luxembourg 00352 GOVERNORATE PHARMACY ADDRESS PHONE Albania 00355 Macau 00853 Algeria 00213 Macedonia 00389 Ahmadi Sama Safwan Fahaeel Makka St 23915883 Andorra 00376 Madagascar 00261 Sabah Hospital 24812000 Abu Halaifa Abu Halaifa-Coastal Rd 23715414 Angola 00244 Majorca 0034 Amiri Hospital 22450005 Danat Al-Sultan Mahboula Block 1, Coastal Rd 23726558 Anguilla 001264 Malawi 00265 Maternity Hospital 24843100 Jahra Modern Jahra Jahra-Block 3 Lot 1 24575518 Antiga 001268 Malaysia 0060 Madina Munawara Jahra-Block 92 24566622 Argentina 0054 Maldives 00960 Mubarak Al-Kabir Hospital 25312700 Capital Ahlam Fahad Al-Salem St 22436184 Armenia 00374 Mali 00223 Chest Hospital 24849400 Khaldiya Coop Khaldiya Coop 24833967 Australia 0061 Malta 00356 Austria 0043 Marshall Islands 00692 Farwaniya Hospital 24892010 Farwaniya New Shifa Farwaniya Block 40 24734000 Ferdous Coop Ferdous Coop 24881201 Bahamas 001242 Martinique 00596 Adan Hospital 23940620 Modern Safwan Old Kheitan Block 11 24726638 Bahrain 00973 Mauritania 00222 Ibn Sina Hospital 24840300 Bangladesh 00880 Mauritius 00230 Hawally Tariq Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St 25726265 Barbados 001246 Mayotte 00269 Al-Razi Hospital 24846000 Hana Salmiya-Amman St 25647075 Ikhlas Hawally-Beirut St 22625999 Belarus 00375 Mexico 0052 Physiotherapy Hospital 24874330/9 Hawally & Rawdha Hawally & Rawdha Coop 22564549 Belgium 0032 Micronesia 00691 Ghadeer Jabriya-Block 1A 25340559 Belize 00501 Moldova 00373 Kindy Jabriya-Block 3B 25326554 Benin 00229 Monaco 00377 Ibn Al-Nafis Salmiya-Hamad Mubarak St 25721264 Mishrif Coop Mishrif Coop 25380581 Bermuda 001441 Mongolia 00976 Kaizen center 25716707 Salwa Coop Salwa Coop 25628241 Bhutan 00975 Montserrat 001664 Rawda 22517733 Bolivia 00591 Morocco 00212 Bosnia 00387 Mozambique 00258 Adaliya 22517144 Botswana 00267 Myanmar (Burma) 0095 Khaldiya 24848075 Brazil 0055 Namibia 00264 Brunei 00673 Nepal 00977 Kaifan 24849807 Bulgaria 00359 Netherlands 0031 Shamiya 24848913 Burkina 00226 Netherlands Antilles 00599 Burundi 00257 New Caledonia 00687 Shuwaikh 24814507 Cambodia 00855 New Zealand 0064 Abdullah Salem 22549134 Cameroon 00237 Nicaragua 00505 Canada 001 Nigar 00227 Nuzha 22526804 Cape Verde 00238 Nigeria 00234 Industrial Shuwaikh 24814764 Cayman Islands 001345 Niue 00683 Central African 00236 Norfolk Island 00672 Qadsiya 22515088 Chad 00235 N. 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Kuwait Times 2015 photography competition ‘Kuwait Culture & Heritage’ Capture the movement! Sponsored by Burgan Bank, Chevron and Ashraf & Co, hosted by Holiday Inn Salmiya uwait Times hopes that its 2015 pho- tography competition provides an Kopportunity for professional and non- professional photographers to take rare pho- tos that reflect quick response in document- ing their surroundings. Capturing movement in photography is the best skill to match the “Kuwait Culture & Heritage” theme selected for Kuwait Times’ 9th annual photography competition, which takes place from Feb 15 to April 16 in cooperation with Al-Anbaa newspaper and Al-Yaqza magazine. Adnan Saad, the competition’s organizer and Kuwait Times’ Deputy General Manager, said photographers of all ages can take part with pictures of Kuwait’s culture and her- itage. Each contestant can provide a maxi- mum of five photos printed on 30x50cm paper. Photos with texts or processed through Photoshop or other photo process- ing software will be automatically disquali- fied. Only pictures taken correctly, shot in Kuwait and that carry the photographer’s name are qualified to enter the competition, Saad added. Participants do not have to be profession- al photographers or use professional cam- eras to take pictures. Anyone can participate even with a cell phone camera, as long as the picture is taken in a creative way and in high resolution, Saad said. The main objective of the competition is to encourage and improve photography in Kuwait, and show- case the talents of Kuwaitis and expatriates in the field of photography, Saad indicated. The photos must be put in an envelope that has the competition’s coupon fixed on the back. The coupons are printed every day in Kuwait Times, Al-Anbaa and Al-Yaqza mag- azine. The last day to submit the photos is April 16, 2015. The winners will be awarded during a ceremony at Holiday Inn Salmiya with valuable prizes presented by Al Yaqza, Ashraf & Co and Kuwait Times. Brighten up your wardrobe with Centrepoint’s spring collection ith spring fast approaching its time shorts, overalls and tee-shirt dresses. The col- impressive line of ready-to-wear for both men to ditch the sombre darker shades lection also features a range of both casual and women. Nautical prints and colours are a Wand revitalize your wardrobe with a and dressed up elements through the incor- classic for spring and women can choose from dash of colour. Be at the centre of choice and poration of lace and balanced neutral colours. a variety of summer dresses, pencil skirts, maxi fun this spring with Centrepoint’s latest collec- Boys can be equipped for the warmer dresses and peplum tops that incorporate tion sure to add that spark of energy into your months ahead with tropical floral prints and tones of whites, pinks, royal blue and sky blue. wardrobe and your home. nautical elements that infuse indigo and blue For those looking for a more classic look, For parents looking for practical yet fun tones into the collection. Items that are fea- monochrome crop tops, shorts and dresses outfits for their kids this spring, Juniors pres- tured heavily in this collection include knit are the best bet within the collection. A third ents an entire range of outfits for the young shorts, sweatpants, straight legged jeans and option for women is to go retro with feminine ones under the theme “Back to Nature”. Spring casual one-pocket t-shirts. Juniors have also fabrics such as lace, jacquard and bonded jer- is the time of the year when children are most added new licensed brands to their in-store seys in shades of green, grey, yellow and pink. likely to explore nature and play in the wilder- collection including Moodstreet, NONO, The retro trend isn’t just reserved to women ness, Juniors collection is specifically designed Longboard, LEGO Wear and Hot Wheels. this year; men can incorporate elements of the to let them do so with ease. Your little girls can If you are looking to add sparks of colour to “Rock and Roll” era with pieces such as select from a range of light lace dresses, your own wardrobe, Splash has launched an bomber jackets, chinos and cigarette denims. For those looking for comfort, Splash has uti- lized fabrics such as reverse terrys, white dob- bys and satins. Unique print and appliquÈs are included in the collection through novelty printed sweaters and intarsia printed track- suits. If you prefer a more classic look, Splash also offers pique jackets and bomber jackets in blues, crystal tones and warm neutral ivory and lavender. floater sandals and canvas sneakers for casual colours. Shoemart also has a variety of shoe options wear. for men, women and children. Women can Dazzle your loved ones with cosmetics and Pastel shades select from heels that incorporate a playful perfumes available at Lifestyle. Cosmetics Shoemart has a range of offerings for men, palette of pastels and classic nudes or flats include striking red lipsticks and bronze toned women and children this season. A theme that with pops of colour and texture. Men can look eye shadows along with dark black liquid eye- runs throughout the collection is a striking into both smart and casual styles that incorpo- liners. offering of pastel shades. For women looking rate distinct forms of leather and suede com- This spring Centrepoint is the definitive for the best seasonal accessories, Celeste’s binations. Little girls have the option of both one-stop shop for the family’s fashion and range of bangles and bracelets with floral strappy sandals and cute flats with metallic lifestyle needs. embellishments are sure to be a must have for elements. Surprise your boys with character Visit Centrepoint at Al-Rai, Avenues, this Spring-Summer. Bags and clutches incor- based shoe collections including McQueen, Hawally, Salmiya, Fintas, Jahra, Fahaheel, porate popular pastel shades such as blue, Ben10, Lightning and Jake shoes as well as Sulaibhikhat, and Kuwait City. LIFESTYLE37 TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 Music & Movies

Comedy takes centre stage on OSN this March SN, the home of comedy and the Monday nights on OSN Movies leading pay-TV network in the Comedy HD is ‘Boy’s Night In’ - jam- OMiddle East and North Africa, packed with laugh-a-minute movies, brings you a month of spectacular com- such as Anchorman 2, The Hangover 3, edy this March - because laughter is the Last Vegas, and Grown Ups 2. Every best medicine! Tune in to all OSN chan- Tuesday from 8pm KSA, tune in for a nels to watch themed comedy nights ‘Crazy Duo Double Bill’, featuring films screening the best new comedy shows, like Ride Along, Pineapple Express, and talk shows and movies. Step Brothers, while Wednesday’s Khulud Abu Homos, Executive Vice ‘Comedy Icons Double Bill’ theme night President, Programming & Creative is dedicated to legendary comedians, Services, OSN said: “There’s no better will films starring heavyweight funny- way to unwind than with your favourite men (and women!) including Jim Carrey, comedy shows, and this month OSN is Robin Williams, Ben Stiller, and Tina Fey. the true home of comedy with com- If you’re looking for something a little pelling programming that’s guaranteed more serious to sink your teeth into this to tickle everyone’s funny bone. We are month, then OSN First HD has a line-up committed to delivering the strongest of new seasons to entice you - including programming proposition to our sub- the highly acclaimed political dramas scribers every day of every week, with House of Cards (S3), and Scandal (S4), as exciting new content that’s exclusive to well as sci-fi action favorite, Helix (S2). our channels.” OSN Movies Box Office HD is also Start your week with workplace- packing a hefty punch with its 9pm KSA themed comedy nights every Sunday on premieres this March, featuring three OSN Comedy First HD from 7pm KSA. new titles within months of their cinema Enjoy back to back laughs with new sea- release. Watch Matthew McConaughey son premieres of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Anne Hathaway star in blockbuster (S2), Men at Work (S3), and all-new sci-fi adventure Interstellar, while the episodes of the ever-popular The Mindy laughs continue in Horrible Bosses 2 and Project (S3). Penguins of Madagascar, the star-stud- From left, model Cara Delevingne, takes a photographer with actor Woody Harrelson, singers Kanye West and Paul McCartney prior to Stella Watch the freshest rib-tickling come- ded spin-off of the popular ‘Madagascar’ McCartney’s ready to wear fall-winter 2015-2016 fashion collection during Paris Fashion Week, Paris, France yesterday.—AP dy with brand new series Mulaney (S1), films. Marry Me (S1), and a Friday night double Adding to the enjoyment of comedy dose of You’re the Worst (S1). in April will be Tonight is Madness; a Throughout the month, OSN Comedy sketch comedy and improvisation televi- Kanye and Paul McCartney hit First HD will launch new episodes of sion show hosted by Abdullah Bin your favourite comedy greats: The Haider which features A-list celebrities League (S6), Modern Family (S6) - a dou- that lead two teams of aspiring comedi- ble bill every Wednesday night from ans each week as they compete against stellar Stella McCartney show March 18 at 7pm KSA, Brickleberry (S3), each other playing a variety of outra- and New Girl (S4). geous games. Viewers can watch this heir musical styles couldn’t be further undressing for fall- winter 2015, with a hint of stitched on the front. On OSN Movies HD, every Saturday fun-filled show exclusively on OSN apart, but that didn’t stop rapper Kanye the corset. Then, in a fabulous series of huge yeti-style evening brings you a new comedy pre- Yahala! HD. Plus, look forward to an TWest and former-Beatle and fashion dad Silhouettes were cinched chicly with a belt at “Fur Free Fur” coat looks - which shimmied past miere, starting with hit police comedy Arabic comedy movie premiere every Paul McCartney arriving at the Stella McCartney the waist or were bustier-shaped. Elsewhere stylishly - McCartney evoked the spirit of her late sequel, 22 Jump Street, starring Friday at 9pm KSA. show buddy buddy to join actor Woody there were voluminous “comfort” shapes on animal rights activist mother, Linda. They were Channing Tatum and Johan Hill. Harrelson on the front row. But the strong beautiful loose knit sweater-dresses in earth sometimes twinned with great ‘70s kick flare celebrity presence wasn’t needed to attract tones, which would fall nonchalantly off one arm pants - which together with flashes of eclectic attention to the 43-year-old’s designs. It was a - as if in a state of undress. Menswear tuxedos metallic panels in dresses and skirts - gave the stellar collection. Hitting the on-trend stop, with a deep V-cleavage were worn against nude collection a real disco lift.—AP Stella McCartney sensually explored styles of skin, with a reversed, off kilter side pocket panel Madonna unveils renegade, romantic sides in new album ‘Rebel Heart’

adonna proves her staying the other side was going to be power as a creative force the more romantic, vulnerable Mand an enduring pop icon side and they end up getting all with her new album, “Rebel mushed together,” she said. “Rebel Heart,” her 13th studio release Heart” is her first album since that also shows her renegade and 2012’s “MDNA,” which shot to the softer sides. It is a revealing por- top of the Billboard 200 chart. It is trait of the Material Girl, showing also somewhat autobiographical the Grammy-winning singer as a with tracks like “Veni Vidi Vici,” trail-blazer and provocateur but which chronicles her career, and also someone who is sensitive, personal, revealing feelings of reflective and outsider. Madonna, insecurity, heart ache and loss. 56, told Reuters that the album’s The album’s 19 tracks includes ‘Suge’ Knight expected title “Rebel Heart” reflected her lush, lyrical ballads, such as “Devil original intent to make a two- Pray,” “Ghosttown” and “Joan of sided record featuring 10 songs Arc” that ponder the meaning of in court for murder case on each. life, breakups and love. “Each time ormer rap music mogul Marion “Suge” in a Compton parking lot in January. “One side was going to be the they write a hateful Knight is scheduled to appear in a Los He’s pleaded not guilty to murder, more rebellious, provocative, word/Dragging my soul into the FAngeles courtroom for a hearing attempted murder and hit-and-run envelope pushing part of me and dirt/I wanna die/Never admit it about evidence in his murder case. It will charges. His attorneys are asking a prosecu- but it hurts,” she says in “Joan of be Knight’s first court appearance since the tor to hand over potential evidence in the Arc.” But Madonna also lets loose Death Row Records co-founder told a case. Knight went to the hospital following with catchy dance numbers judge he had fired his attorneys and was his last court appearance on March 2, the including “Living for Love” and going blind due to medical issues. Knight is third time he’s sought emergency medical “Unapologetic Bitch,” a collabora- accused of striking two men with his pick- care since being charged with murder.—AP tion with Grammy-nominated up truck, killing one, during an altercation American DJ Diplo. “He likes to make people get up out of their seat and dance and so do it,” she said about Diplo. “Living for Love,” the lead single has a thumping disco beat with Marion “Suge” lyrics about the heartache of a Knight, right, is parting and picking herself up to joined by his attor- find love again. ney David Kenner, Madonna returns to themes of left, during his sex and religion, which she said arraignment, in she finds infinitely interesting These CD covers images released by Interscope Records shows “Rebel Compton, Calif.— topics. “They are as important to Heart,” the latest release by Madonna.—AP people as they are misunder- AP on four songs, Swedish DJ and tracks. Madonna will support stood,” she explained. “They both producer Avicii, American produc- “Rebel Heart” with an internation- bring a lot of light into the world er and songwriter Toby Gad, al tour beginning in Miami on and a lot of darkness. For those among others. West, rappers Nas Aug 29.—Reuters reasons, I like to explore them.” and Nicki Minaj and boxer Mike For “Rebel Heart,” Madonna col- Tyson also lent their vocals on laborated with rapper Kanye West Introducing the spring 2015 GUESS accessories collection and advertising campaign his season, GUESS introduces an enticing spring ture heats up offering a wide range of platform heels and accessories advertising campaign shot by Claudia wedge sandals in soft tans and chic white hues. Tand Ralf Pulmanns and directed by Paul Marciano, For women, beautiful gold and silver watches with crys- CEO and Chief Creative Officer for GUESS Inc. The cam- tals offer a classic, feminine appeal, while simple and paign features models Samantha Hoopes, Bojana sophisticated white silicone strap styles offer a sportier Ksrmanovic, Solveig Mork and Silvu Tolu wearing the sea- look. Layered chain necklaces and bracelets with classic son’s stand-out accessories including handbags, footwear, GUESS logo pendants and crystallized heart charms are eyewear, jewelry and watches for men and women. perfect statement pieces for the spring fashion season. The campaign, shot poolside against icy blue and clean Silver and gold hardware bangles and rings lend timeless white backdrops allows the season’s hottest accessory style to the delivery and are transitional pieces that carry styles to pop in the foreground. Piercing blue and white over from season to season. The spring eyewear collection denim jackets and crisp white button down shirts are includes on-trend reflective lenses, feminine cat-eye sun- sleek, polished styles that complement the seasons color glasses and sophisticated reading glasses. For men, large palette for accessories. Handbags are offered in a wide navy blue chronograph faces paired with two-tone metal range of fashion-forward styles including classic totes and and silicone strap styles perfectly compliment the edgy, oversized satchels in classic GUESS monogram, denim, masculine look. Reflective, dark metal aviator sunglass eyelet and quilted patterns. The spring footwear collec- styles are the must-have accessory for men this season. tion has something for every GUESS Girl as the tempera- lifestyle TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 FASHION Stella flowing and faux-furry at Paris fashion week

Models wear creations for Stella McCartney’s ready-to-wear fall- winter 2015-2016 fashion collec- tion presented during Paris fash- ion week, in Paris, France yester- day. — AP/AFP photos

oose but tailored, flowing but body without suffocating it found dresses, lightened by gauzy sheer silk and even black and white tweed, that and fluidity. But it was McCartney’s McCartney backstage. “Over 50 million structured - Stella McCartney pre- ample expression in the show at the peeking out underneath. Trousers - were slim to the body but tied at the faux fur coats in both black and ivory - animals are being killed a year for fash- Lsented a study in contrasts for her opulent Opera Garnier, where father which in McCartney’s world usually waist. A wool trouser suit recalled a reined in by geometric stitched patch- ion, and I don’t agree with it.” The Winter 2015 ready-to-wear show yes- Paul McCartney was on hand, along hang low in the crotch - were high- classic grey sweatsuit in both color and es at the sides and sleeves - that designer said even the most discerning terday in Paris in a collection both with Kanye West and Woody waisted and cinched, but roomy in the comfort, but McCartney’s version in caught the eye. “If the fashion industry would not be able to tell the difference supremely luxurious and as relaxed as Harrelson. thighs and leg for a fluid, sensual feel. light wool was pure luxury, with folds just for one season gave up fur and did when looking at real versus fake. “In sportswear. McCartney’s affinity for Diagonals of thick ribbed knits Her standout faux furs featured along of fabric at the waist and cut-outs at fake fur as its replacement, it would fact, I think mine would look better,” freely moving pieces that skirt the draped the figure on long-sleeved with wool coats in lodens and greys, the short sleeves giving movement have a massive impact,” said she said. — Reuters lifestyle TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 TRAVEL

FromFrom sandsand dunesdunes toto skiski slopesslopes MoroccanMoroccan stylestyle

People walk on a slope at the Oukaimeden ski resort.

n a clear day, skiers can see the dunes of the Sahara same way. Authorities in El Haouz province, where the desert shimmer in the distance from the Moroccan resort is located, have built several open-air car parks and Oski resort of Oukaimeden, the highest in North set up a bus station to help ease traffic. Work is also under- Africa. The view is impressive, even on a cloudy day, but ski way to open a second road. instructors say a lack of infrastructure and hotels stands in Locals make a modest but brisk business from the way of growth. The resort is located in the High Atlas November to March when, snow permitting, skiers spend Mountains, a mere 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the popu- money for lessons or to hire ski gear. Off-season, local lar tourist destination of Marrakesh with its luxury hotels entrepreneurs offer trekkers the chance to climb up to and pools. Mount Tubkal, one of the highest peaks of the Atlas range Oukaimeden in southern Morocco is perched at an alti- reaching an altitude of 4,000 meters. Paragliding is also tude of 3,600 meters (about 11,800 feet). Joumayna, a visi- being promoted, especially when temperatures in the tor from Britain who took the only chairlift to climb 1,000 Marrakesh plain below soar to 45 degrees Celsius (113 meters to the summit, said: “We are at the top, so close to Fahrenheit). “Everyone comes here. The French, the British the clouds. It’s magnificent.” Six T-bar tows and 18 pistes ... really, everyone, including many Moroccans,” said Brahim were covered by a heavy carpet of snow this year for the Chah, who also gives skiing lessons. first time in nearly two decades. Local officials say a record Dubai’s Emaar group announced plans more than eight number of visitors-some 30,000 a day-visited Oukaimeden years ago to invest $1.4 billion in developing the resort during the first weekends of the winter season. together with 11 hotels and the world’s highest altitude “But that is not enough. Much more needs to be done 18-hole golf course, but the project remains on standby. to build the infrastructure so that we can compete with Oukaimeden is one of two ski resorts in Morocco, along People sit on a chair lift at the Oukaimeden ski Europe,” said Mohamed Bennani, a ski instructor with the with Ifrane, a smaller, picturesque resort of the Middle resort, in the Atlas Mountains, 30 kilometers from Royal Moroccan Ski Federation. Bennani said the shortage Atlas near the northern city of Fez. Tourism earnings are a the popular tourist resort of Marrakesh, on of hotels and chalets resulted in most visitors coming from backbone of Morocco’s economy and the kingdom hopes February 17, 2015. — AFP photos Marrakesh only to spend the day. “It’s like when people go to double the number of visitors from 10 million to 20 mil- to the beach for the day,” he said. Oukaimeden has only lion by 2020. — AFP three small hotels, including one with 15 rooms run by a Women walk in the snow at the Oukaimeden ski resort. French family, and a handful of chalets. Bouzekri Attifi, who runs a private school in Marrakesh, Paragliding to beat heat agrees Oukaimeden does not have enough beds for visi- Driving to Oukaimeden is a challenge, along a narrow tors. He had taken 50 schoolchildren on a day trip to the road that winds its way up. “The road’s too small and it can resort, leaving Marrakesh at dawn. “I had to urge the ski be closed for four to five days when there’s heavy snowfall,” federation to provide us with a place where the children said ski instructor Hazzan Azougagh. A weekend escape can have some breakfast before hitting the slopes,” he said. can turn into a nightmare when up to 5,000 cars head the

A woman wearing a niqab descends down on a slope A skier descends a slope at the Oukaimeden ski resort. on a sled. A man uses a drag lift to go up a slope.

A man skis at the Oukaimeden ski resort. People sit on a chair lift at Oukaimeden ski resort. A woman wearing a niqab walks in the snow at the Oukaimeden ski resort. From sand dunes to ski slopes Moroccan style

TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 39

Fireworks from the United Kingdom’s Jubilee Fireworks dot the sky at the scenic Manila Bay during the 6th International Pyro musical competition Saturday, March 7, 2015 at the Mall of Asia shopping complex at suburban Pasay city south of Manila, Philippines. The fireworks competition, which runs for six consecutive weekends, features entries from 11 countries with Canada winning the championship last year. The United Kingdom has won the championship twiceItaly already. — AP showcases Matisse’s oriental influences

he influence of Arab, African and Asian art Masters or rather to understand it in a complete- which were to recur in his work for decades. on Henri Matisse is the theme of a major ly personal way. “Next came the knowledge and The Pushkin has also provided “Goldfish”, Tcollection of the French artist’s work that influence of the arts of the Orient,” he said. arguably the best known of the paintings on dis- has gone on show in Rome. The exhibition, Matisse also once said that modern art, “in its play in Rome. Art historians believe that master- “Matisse Arabesque”, runs until June 21 at the very essence is closer to archaic and primitive piece was less obviously inspired by the time Scuderie del Quirinale, the former stables of arts than to the arts of the Renaissance.” Matisse spent in Tangiers, where he registered Italy’s presidential palace which have been his admiration for the locals’ capacity to spent transformed into a museum that boasts spectac- ‘Exceptional paintings’ hours gazing into goldfish bowls in quiet con- ular views over the Eternal City. Those ideas form the basis for the exhibition templation. The “Moorish Screen”, from the Curator Ester Coen has set out to demon- and Coen illustrates the point by accompanying Philadelphia Museum of Art, provides the most strate how Matisse’s enduring fascination with Matisse’s paintings with examples of the kind of obvious demonstration of Matisse’s admiration what he would have referred to as the Orient decorative arts from which the artist took inspi- for the decorative traditions of North Africa and influenced the work of an artist considered one ration, among them Moorish tiles, African masks, the Middle East and his willingness to incorpo- of the fathers of modern art. In particular, a love shields and wood carvings, and textiles from rate them into contemporary scenes, enhancing of arabesque - designs based on the inter- places as far afield as Uzbekistan and Japan. The a magical quality to his work at the expense of twined, flowing lines of early Islamic art - had a exhibition also underlines the huge impact that realism. huge influence on how Matisse (1869-1954) the time Matisse spent in Morocco in 1911-12 The collection of more than 100 works had came to think about perspective and space in had on his subsequent career. Works such as been put together in collaboration with some of his painting. “Zorah on the terrace”, one of a number on loan the world’s leading museums: The Tate in Late in his life, the Frenchman reflected that from Moscow’s Pushkin museum, and London, New York’s Met and the Pompidou Visitors attend a preview of a sound and light show as part of the exhibition his education had involved a gradual realization “Moroccan Garden” (from New York’s MoMA) Centre in Paris, as well as the Pushkin, the ‘Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Giants of the Renaissance’, projected on that he had to “forgot the technique of the illustrate some of the motifs and techniques Hermitage in St Petersburg and MoMA. “There the walls of the Carrieres de Lumieres site (Quarries of lights), in the southern French are some exceptional paintings here and it was city of Les Baux-de-Provence. The exhibition travels through the greatest masters of very difficult to get them released,” said Coen. Italian painting at the end of the 15th and start of the 16th century in Florence, “That makes it all the more important to have Milan and Rome and runs through March 6, 2015 - January 3, 2016. — AFP photos this opportunity to breath the air of the Orient and to appreciate the Islamic art that Matisse brought to Paris.”— AFP Vatican offered stolen Michelangelo papers for cash thief who stole two historic and made public when the documents disap- hugely valuable documents writ- peared in 1997. The missing items were a Aten by Michelangelo offered to letter signed by Michelangelo and a doc- return them to the Vatican’s archives for ument he is thought to have written. cash, a spokesman for the Holy See They formed part of a large archive revealed yesterday. Confirming the linked to the construction of St Peter’s 1997 theft of the papers for the first basilica, which was completed in 1626 time, the spokesman said the offer had after nearly a century of stop-start works. been made recently to a top Church Michelangelo, who was an architect official, Cardinal Angelo Comastri. and engineer as well as a sculptor and “Naturally, as we are talking about painter, was brought in to oversee con- stolen documents, the cardinal refused,” struction in 1547. Although he died in People look at a painting by French artist Henri Matisse during a press preview of the exhibition A woman poses in front of a painting by French the spokesman said. 1564, he is considered one of the princi- “Matisse Arabesque” on March 4, 2015 at the Scuderie del Quirinale museum in Rome. —AFP photos artist Henry Matisse (The red fishes - 1911). The Vatican did not divulge any fur- pal architects of a building that has ther details about the approach or become synonymous with the Roman explain why the theft had not been Catholic Church. — AFP

A woman takes a picture of a painting by French artist Henri Matisse A man walks past a painting by French artist Henri Matisse (The (Plum Blossoms, Green Background, 1948). Italian woman, 1916).