SUBSCRIPTION WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2014 JAMADA ALTHANI 23, 1435 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Philippines New Syria Bader Al-Kharafi Atletico embassy doing chemical appointed to frustrated by everything to claims Coutts Mideast defence-minded help deportees3 emerge7 Advisory25 Board Chelsea20 Barrak claims billions in Max 40º Min 26º public funds siphoned off High Tide 06:50 & 17:57 Court to decide next week on closure of newspapers Low Tide 11:46 40 PAGES NO: 16144 150 FILS By Staff Reporter KUWAIT: Coordinator of the Opposition Coalition and for- mer MP Musallam Al-Barrak revealed during an interview on Man United fire Moyes Al-Youm satellite channel that a former senior official’s cash holdings swelled from $235 million in June 2007 to as much as $23 billion in Dec 2013, attributing this to massive corrup- MANCHESTER: Manchester United yesterday sacked tion of public funds. He however did not reveal the name of manager David Moyes after a disastrous 10-month the official but insisted that he has documents to prove his spell that left the world-famous Premier League club claims. Barrak also strongly lashed out at the government in turmoil. The English giants followed the stunning for causing the closure of Al-Watan and Alam Al-Youm news- announcement by naming veteran midfielder Ryan papers for two weeks, claiming this is a move to stifle free- Giggs as interim manager. Moyes, 50, succeeded Alex doms. Ferguson at the Old Trafford helm last July, but the In a related development, the lower court yesterday set season quickly became a nightmare as the team next Tuesday as the date to issue its verdict on a petition slumped to a series of embarrassing defeats. After against the closure of the newspapers, but refused to allow feverish speculation, United confirmed the sacking in the papers to resume publication. A judge on Sunday a brief statement. ordered the two papers shut for two weeks for allegedly vio- “Manchester United announces that David Moyes lating a news blackout slapped by the attorney general. The has left the club,” it said. “The club would like to place two newspapers challenged the order on Monday demand- on record its thanks for the hard work, honesty and ing that it should be scrapped and urgently asked the court integrity he brought to the role.” A second statement to allow the papers to resume publication until the court added that the 40-year-old Giggs, “the club’s most has issued a decision. decorated player, will assume responsibility for the Defense lawyers blamed the government lawyer for first team until a permanent appointment can be causing the papers to remain shut after he demanded a made”. United’s players reported for training as usual delay in the ruling until he had read the case and prepared yesterday beneath an intense media spotlight, but his defense. The new decision means that the two newspa- the club said that no further comment would be pers will not be able to publish their print edition at least made “on this process until it is concluded”. until April 30. The original order expires on May 3. Al-Watan Experienced Dutch coach Louis van Gaal emerged newspaper is owned by Sheikh Ali Al-Khalifa Al-Sabah, a for- as the British bookmakers’ favourite to succeed mer minister and a senior member of the ruling family, while Moyes on a permanent basis. The 62-year-old, whose Alam Al-Youm is close to the opposition. previous clubs include Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Opposition MP Riyadh Al-Adasani threatened on Monday Munich, recently expressed a desire to work in that he could include the closure of the two newspapers in a England. His contract as manager of the Netherlands MANCHESTER: In this file photo taken on Oct 1, 2013, Manchester United manager David Moyes (right) planned grilling against the prime minister in cooperation expires after this year’s World Cup in Brazil. speaks to Manchester United’s Welsh midfielder Ryan Giggs during a training session at the team’s with MPs Abdulkarim Al-Kandari and Hussein Quwaiaan. Continued on Page 15 Carrington training complex. — AFP (See Pages 14 &19) Continued on Page 15 PLO delegation in Gaza for talks GAZA: Palestine Liberation Organization resolution to the seemingly endless duel. delegates arrived in Gaza yesterday to A deal could restore a measure of sover- Watchdog to discuss unity with militant group Hamas eignty to Abbas in Gaza and boost his for the first time since their 2007 conflict, negotiating power with Israel in any regulate Saudi in a potential boost for Palestinian presi- future peace talks, although such a part- dent Mahmoud Abbas. Few Palestinians nership could also provoke a backlash expect a breakthrough in the deadlock from Israel against the PLO in the occu- YouTube shows that has paralysed Palestinian politics, pied West Bank. DUBAI: Saudi Arabia plans to regulate local companies and many have low expectations of any Continued on Page 15 that screen shows on YouTube, a senior official was quot- ed as saying in local media yesterday - a move that could stifle its nascent creative industries. The kingdom is the world’s top per capita user of YouTube. Dissatisfaction over state broadcasters’ staid programming and societal restrictions have created a uniquely captive audience for web-based entertainment, in a country where nearly half the population is under 25. But YouTube’s popularity has now brought Saudi Arabia’s homegrown production houses under the gaze of the General Authority for JEDDAH: A foreign woman wears a mask as she leaves a local hospital’s emer- Audiovisual Media, a recently formed watchdog. gency department in this Red Sea coastal city yesterday. — AFP Riyadh Najm, the Authority’s president, told the pan- Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat that his organization would soon issue a manifesto to organize - or regulate - Saudi MERS deaths hit 81 the work of YouTube channels. It will include rules and RIYADH: The MERS death toll has climbed The World Health Organisation said on conditions that would be “in accordance with the nature to 81 in Saudi Arabia, which sacked its April 17 that it has been informed of 243 of society and laws in this context”, Najm said. “We are health minister as cases of infection by the laboratory-confirmed cases of infection working on embracing these talents and developing coronavirus mount in the country. A 73- with MERS worldwide, including 93 deaths. their artistic and technical abilities.” Licensing would help year-old Saudi who suffered from chronic Saudi Arabia on Monday dismissed its guarantee quality, he said. illnesses died in Riyadh and a compatriot health minister, Abdullah Al-Rabiah, with- This follows a new Saudi law that defines terrorist diagnosed with the virus, aged 54, died in out any explanation. Rabiah last week visit- crimes as any act that “disturbs public order, shakes the security of society, or subjects its national unity to dan- GAZA: Hamas deputy leader Musa Abu Marzouq (left) looks on while the head of the port city of Jeddah, the health ministry ed hospitals in Jeddah to calm a public hit the delegation of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and senior figure in said late Monday. The ministry said it has by panic over the spread of the virus ger, or obstructs the primary system of rule or harms the the mainstream Fatah party Abbas Azzam Al-Ahmad (second left), Hamas Prime registered 261 cases of infection across the among medical staff that triggered the reputation of the state”. kingdom since the discovery of the Middle temporary closure of a hospital emergency Continued on Page15 Minister in the Gaza Strip Ismail Haniya (second right) and deputy head of the East Respiratory Syndrome in Sept 2012. room. — AFP (See Page 28) Palestinian parliament Ahmad Bahar chat during a meeting yesterday. — AFP Shake-up in pharma world Novartis, GSK announce mega-deals GENEVA: Drugmakers Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline In the biggest of the deals announced yesterday, announced an extreme makeover yesterday, unveiling Novartis said it plans to buy GSK’s oncology (cancer treat- multibillion-dollar deals also involving US group Eli Lilly in a ment) business for $16 billion in cash, including $1.5 billion major shakeup of the pharmaceutical sector. The string of that would depend on future performance. In exchange, the takeovers and ventures by the three giant healthcare groups Swiss group would sell its vaccines division, excluding flu will see Novartis sharpen its focus on the high-grossing can- vaccines, to the British company for up to $7.1 billion, also in cer sector, GSK boost its share in vaccines and Eli Lilly cash. The two groups further announced a joint venture to strengthen its animal health unit. The mega deals come as create “a world-leading consumer healthcare business” the global pharmaceutical industry is quickly shifting to deal focused on wellness, oral health, nutrition and skin health with a raft of challenges, including deep cuts in government and expected to book around $10 billion in annual sales. healthcare spending worldwide. Non-prescription drugs like Novartis’s Nicotinell prod- The fast-changing sector was also abuzz yesteray with ucts aimed at helping people stop smoking and its speculation that the biggest deal in pharma history could be Voltaran Dolo back pain relief medication, and GSK’s in the making after a report that US giant Pfizer was interest- Panadol pain-relief tablets will fall under the joint venture. ed in buying its British competitor AstraZeneca for a report- “The geographic footprint would span all regions, with ed $100 billion, sending the latter’s share price soaring more scale and commercial presence in the developed world as ZAATARI REFUGEE CAMP, Jordan: Saudi billionaire Prince Waleed bin Talal visits this camp that hosts more than 6.0 percent.