Issue No. 1416 www.alwatandaily.com 150 Fils with IHT

THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012 @alwatandaily 20 PAGES

KD 1,000 fine for barbecuing at banned locations: Authority

Pakistan PM vows to face contempt verdict in person

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Amnesty says veil bans rob Muslims of jobs, education 16

Parliament rejects third annual plan

MADRID: Bayern Munich’s Philipp Lahm (center) vies with Real Madrid’s Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo during the UEFA Champions League second leg semi-final football match Real Madrid against Bayern Munich. Bayern Munich became the first team to advance to a Champions League final and will play Chelsea in the final at Allianz Arena on May 19. Chelsea eliminated defending champion Barcelona a day earlier. - AFP More on 20

Police arrest members of a combined group of ACT UP and Occupy Wall Street activists who chained themselves, blocking traffic, at Wall Street and Broadway, near the New York Stock Exchange, on Wednesday, April 25, 2012, in New York. (AP)

A Tunisian journalist holds a TV frame on April 25, 2012 during a sit-in outside the theatre municipal in Tunis to protest against the aggressions committed against Tunisian Television journalists. Dozens of protesters had been camped outside the offices of Wataniya since March 2 in the capital Tunis, demanding the “cleansing” of the national broadcaster and jeering at journalists. (AFP)

Bayern beats Real Madrid, to play Chelsea in finalStaff Writers and Agencies

KUWAIT: The National Assembly rejected a draft bill on the 30 billion dinar ($108 bil-lion) development plan on Wednesday as op-position deputies accused the government of failing to make progress on the major invest-ments it provides for.

The plan, spread over four years until 2014, provides for a series of huge infrastructure projects including a new airport terminal, new oil refinery and hospitals and is aimed at diver-sifying an economy heavily reliant on oil.

Details of the plan must be voted on each year and parliamentarians rejected the part of the plan for the 2012-2013 fiscal year on Wednesday. There is a separate plan for the budget. Twenty-eight lawmakers voted against the bill, while at least seven abstained and 16 agreed to it.

Government officials say the plan is mak-ing progress, pointing to interest from interna-

tional companies for the future large tenders.The Minister of Works said last month

that Kuwait would launch an initial tender for construction of a second terminal at its inter-national airport soon, a project worth around 700-800 million dinars.

Commenting on the issue, MP (Member of Parliament) Marzouq Al-Ghanem described the plan as “meaningless” and a “lie to the people of Kuwait”. For his part, MP Ali Al-Diqbasi accused the government of obstructing the implementation of the development plan. “We are not students of the government nor can its ministers lecture us,” the MP said.

MP Hamad Al-Mattar stated that the selec-tion of ministers is not done in accordance with a specific approach, an action plan or a vision.

Meanwhile, MP Ahmad Lari viewed the plan as a “waste of time for the government, the Parliament and the people.” He suggested that it is presented at the beginning of the up-coming legislative term.

In his contribution, MP Abdulhameed Dashti billed the plan as “mere rhetoric”, while MP Abdulatiff Al-Omairi squarely place the blame on the doorstep of the government, which according to him is laying hurdles before the plan.

Moreover, MP Osama Al-Munawer went as far as suggesting that the plan can be a subject of interpellation, claiming that the Undersec-retary of the Ministry of Public Works is one of the “corruption stalwarts.” Deputy Speak-er Khaled Al-Sultan argued that the plan has failed to achieve the set objectives, due to a lack of leadership in the previous government.

MP Abdurrahman Al-Anjeri, for his part, opined that the real key to development would be a populist prime minister. “If the situation persists as it is, parliaments will come and go...and generations to come will curse us because we have failed to introduce genuine reforms,” the MP assertively said.

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Parliament charges Audit Bureau to look into investments

KUWAIT: The National Assembly charged the Audit Bureau on Wednesday to look into details related to the considerable losses in investments of the Social Security Institution abroad, upon a recommendation made by the lawmakers.

The Member of Parliament (MPs) approved recommendation states the bu-reau is to seek help of two international specialized offices to look into the accounts, criteria and mechanisms of allotting sums for investment, and the distribution of sums invested abroad.

The Audit Bureau is required to present an official report of its findings to the National Assembly within three months.

The vote on this recommendation was approved by 39 MPs whereas 16 ab-stained. Each of the 55 MPs were called at by name to cast vote.

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EU urges Israel to reverse settler outpost decisionCAPITALS: The European Union called on Israel on

Wednesday to reverse its decision to legalize three settler outposts in occupied Palestinian territory.

“I am extremely concerned about the decision of the Israeli authorities regarding the status of the settlements of Sansana, Rechelim and Bruchin in the occupied Pales-tinian territory,” said EU foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton.

“I call upon them to reverse this decision,” she said in a statement.

An Israeli ministerial committee decided Tuesday to legalize the status of the three communities, which were established in the 1990s but did not have Israeli status.

They will join the 120 official settlements across the occupied West Bank that are home to more than 342,000 people.

“The EU has repeatedly called on Israel to end all settlement activity. Settlements are illegal under interna-tional law, an obstacle to peace and threaten the viability of a two-state solution,” Ashton said.

The chief EU diplomat said the Israeli decision ran counter to the spirit of an April 11 statement by the Quartet of Middle East peace brokers, the European Union, United States, Russia and United Nations.

The Quartet, she recalled, “expressed concern about unilateral and provocative actions, including continued settlement activity.”

The United States also voiced concern about the de-cision, saying it was unhelpful to efforts to make peace with the Palestinians. Washington asked the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for “clarifica-tion.” -AFP

PARIS: France wants to see at least 300 UN observers in Syria within two weeks and will push for a “Chapter 7” resolution at the United Nations unless Damascus complies with the terms of a peace plan by early May, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Wednesday.

Chapter 7 of the UN charter allows the Security Council to authorize actions which can ultimately include the use of military force.

Speaking to reporters after meeting opponents of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, Juppe said there had to be a rapid

deployment of UN observers as the plan was “extremely compromised”. “This cannot continue indefinitely. We want to see observers in sufficient numbers, at least 300 ... deployed as quickly as pos-sible,” Juppe said, adding that he wanted them in Syria within “two weeks not three months”. UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous has said it would take a month to deploy the first 100 monitors.

Juppe said it was “unacceptable” for Damascus to try to dictate which na-tionalities could take part in the mission. -Reuters

France wants 300 UN observers in Syria in 2 weeks

Saudi girls’ school defies clerics with basketball

Egypt’s actor Adel Imam to appeal jail term for defaming Islam

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s current account surplus surged 78 percent in 2011 mainly thanks to a jump in exports, the Gulf Arab country’s central bank said on Wednesday.

The current account of one of the world’s top oil ex-porters booked a surplus of 19.53 billion Kuwaiti dinars (70.3 billion US dollars) in 2011, or 54.8 percent of 2010 gross domestic product, compared to 10.98 billion in 2010, or 30.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), it said.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected Kuwait’s current account surplus to reach 35.2 percent of GDP in

2011 and 33.6 percent of GDP this year.“That increase...was mainly an outcome of the rise

in the surplus of the balance of goods,” the central bank said, adding that it soared by 66.7 percent on an annual basis.

It has not yet released 2011 GDP data for the mem-ber of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Coun-tries (OPEC) economy.

Growth in the net value of Kuwaiti residents’ assets abroad also accelerated during 2011, the central bank said. More on 9

Kuwait 2011 current account surplus jumps 78%

South Sudan frees prisoners to defuse tensions

JUBA/BEIJING: South Sudan freed Sudanese prisoners of war on Wednes-day in a gesture it hopes will defuse tensions between Khartoum and Juba whose armies have been embroiled in escalating cross-border fighting that has threatened to tip into all-out war. Sitting atop one of Africa’s most significant oil reserves, Sudan and South Sudan have been unable to resolve a dispute over oil revenues and border demarcation since the South gained independence in July. Nearly all oil production has now stopped and the border fighting in con-tested oil-producing regions has grown more intensive, prompting China, which has economic interests in both countries, and the African Union to push for a diplomatic deal.

“The SPLA (South Sudan’s army) handed over prisoners of war to the ICRC. They were 14 who were captured during the battles of Heglig from April 10-15,” Philip Aguer, spokesman for South Sudan’s army, said in Juba. More on 4

JEDDAH: A girls’ school in Saudi Arabia has defied a religious ban on fe-male sports by erecting basketball hoops and letting pupils play at break-time, the Saudi daily Al-Watan reported on Wednesday.

Powerful clerics in the conservative Is-lamic kingdom have long spoken against allowing girls to play sports, with one se-nior figure saying in 2009 it might lead them to lose their virginity by tearing their hymens.

Saudi Arabia’s austere interpreta-tion of Islamic law prevents women from working, opening bank accounts or hav-ing some elective surgery without the permission of a male relative. They are not allowed to drive.

King Abdullah has pushed for women

to have better opportunities in education and employment and last year said they could vote and run for office in future mu-nicipal elections, the only official polls in the monarchy.

The school in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province has now become the first state-run girls school openly to encourage sports, Watan reported, quoting a super-visor as saying it would expend pupils’ energy “in a positive way”.

Private girls schools already offer sports classes.

In recent months Saudi Arabia has faced criticism for having never fielded a woman athlete at the Olympics, with Hu-man Rights Watch calling for it be barred from this year’s London games.

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CAIRO: The Arab world’s most fa-mous comic actor, Adel Imam, will ap-peal a decision by an Egyptian court to sentence him to three months in jail for insulting Islam in his films and plays, his lawyer told Reuters on Wednesday.

A court found Imam guilty of defam-ing Islam on Feb. 2 and fined him 1,000 Egyptian pounds ($170) in absentia. Imam has frequently poked fun at the au-thorities and politicians during a 40-year career and his more serious films have dealt with the rise of Islamist militancy.

The timing of his case - at a time when Islamists are in the political ascendan-cy - and his high own profile has raised fears that ultraconservative Muslims, who

swept parliamentary elections, are trying to force their views on society.

“Mr. Adel Imam will appeal to annul the verdict, which was given on the wrong legal basis,” Sawat Hussein, his lawyer, told Reuters.

“My client’s films were certified, not censored, by surveillance authorities be-fore their release to the public.”

The case against Imam was brought by a lawyer with ties to Islamist groups. Asran Mansour accused the actor of of-fending Islam and its symbols, including beards and the Jilbab, a loose-fitting gar-ment worn by some Muslims, the Egyp-tian news portal Ahramonline reported.

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France’s Sarkozy rules out deal with far-rightPARIS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy ruled out any deal with the far-

right National Front of Marine Le Pen, backed by nearly a fifth of voters in a presidential election first round, to give them cabinet jobs or help them win seats in parliament.

An opinion poll showed two-thirds of Sarkozy supporters want him to break with past policy and strike an alliance with the Front after Le Pen’s 17.9 percent score on Sunday made her 6.4 million backers key to a May 6 presidential run-off. Both Sarkozy and Socialist Francois Hollande, who beat the conservative by 28.6 percent to 27.2 percent on the first round and leads opinion polls for the runoff, are striving to respond to the protest vote without angering traditional supporters. Sarkozy said on Wednesday that listening to Le Pen’s backers did not mean he could envisage far-right ministers in a conservative-led government.

More on 5

Jameel W. KarakiStaff Writer

KUWAIT: Retired Lieutenant General, Ahmed Al Rejaib, asserted on the strength of the bilateral relationships between Ku-wait and South Africa in all aspects during his participation in a celebration held by the embassy in Kuwait on the occasion of the Freedom Day, on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 at Salwa Al Sabah Hall.

On his part Van Tonder, the South Afri-can Ambassador to Kuwait expressed, his pride in the citizens of South Africa who contributed in forming a free and democrat-ic society, noting that their achievements have been achieved based on democracy.

Tonder also expressed his gratitude for the Kuwaiti investments in the tourism and infrastructure sectors, adding that his coun-try is facing many challenges in the process of ongoing transformation, reconstruction and the development of his country espe-cially in dealing with the phenomenon of inequality in society.

Meanwhile, the American Ambassador to Kuwait, Matther H. Tueller rejected the Iranian threats to American ships in the Gulf and explained that the US Navy and the international forces have been present in the international waters for a period of time due to its responsibility for the secu-rity of the Gulf, stressing that any threat against it won’t be acceptable.

As to the Iranian condition related to reducing the enrichment of uranium to lift sanctions, he said that the Security Council has constantly asked Iran to disclose its nu-

clear program and to change its policy and approach, especially since there are indica-tions to increase its nuclear activities for the operation of nuclear reactors.

Regarding what is published about the request of some Iranian lawmakers to create a new governorate that includes the UAE islands, he hoped that Iran would commit to the good relations with its neighbors and to stop intervening in the affairs of other countries.

Comminuting on the situation in Syria, he expressed his happiness regarding the new step taken by the United Nations on increasing the numbers of observers. “Un-fortunately there’s a tragedy in Syria every-day happening to the civilians.”

Mustafa Bahya, the Tunisian Ambas-sador to Kuwait described the visit of the Tunisian President to Mohamad Al- Monsef Al-Marzouki as successful, where it had a political significance due to its synchroni-

zation with the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of establishing the diplomatic relations between Kuwait and Tunisia

About the Kuwaiti investments in Tu-nisia and whether the country requested a loan from the Kuwaiti Fund for Develop-ment, he explained that there is a policy in Tunisia that stresses on not requesting for loans to maintain a balanced fiscal policy and to rely more on interior resources and attracting foreign direct investments.

In terms of attracting tourists, he noted that Tunisia received eight million tourist in 2010 compared to a 40 percent reduction in this number during 2011, adding that his country is going to organize a promotion to attract more Kuwaiti tourists to Tunisia.

In his commentary of what happened in Tunisia regarding clashes with protestors, he clarified that some protests were banned based on the request of the merchants and residents, where it’s a main street, howev-er, the civil society didn’t accept this ban, where later on apologies were presented for those who were affected”.

On the sides of the event, Sudan’s Am-bassador to Kuwait, Ibrahim Marghani ap-preciated the quick response of Kuwait by sending an aircraft to extinguish the fires erupted in Heglih area due to attacks initi-ated by the south.

He also described the Southern of-ficials as provocateurs, noting that Sudan gave them 85 percent of oil (founded and financed by Khartoum, yet later the South-ern government “closed the door and didn’t give Khartoum the 15 percent,” adding that it is no more a financial matter but dignity.

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Attacking the Minister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shamali, Al-Anjeri accused the minister of covering up bigwigs, while the latter asked him to use proper words, adding that mutual respect should be maintained. Al-Shamali elaborated fur-ther by telling MPs that the Parliament is not “Okaz (open fair) market.”Al-Anjeri struck back at the minister, “The promise is under way. If you had enough dignity in your profession, you would have re-signed.” In the same context, MP Khaled Al-Tahous remarked that there could be no genuine development under “corrupt leaderships,” adding that most ministers did not even read the plan.Likewise, MP Dr. Faisal Al-Mislem said that the real problem lies in the lack of a political lead-

ership able to implement the plan. “We will introduce constitutional amendments so that the people are empowered to select a prime minister,” the lawmaker pointed out. He revealed that he and a number of colleagues including MPs Abdurrahman Al-Anjeri, Faisal Al-Yahya, Ahmad Lari, Jamaan Al-Harbash and Adel Al-Damkhi will come up with a draft law for Consti-tutional amendments, so that ministers are stripped off their parliamentary member-ship. Responding to this preposition, the Minister of Information Sheikh Moham-mad Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah as-serted that the appointment of a prime minister is a prerogative of His Highness the Amir and that successive governments are Constitutional. The minister pointed out that the government is cooperative with the Parliament in discussing the plan.

Al-Harbash called for a national dialogue, adding that the country is going through a gray phase; hence development projects should be introduced. “We want to lift Ku-wait out of its staggering condition,” the MP elaborated. Correspondingly, MP Adel Al-Damkhi called for a Constitutional amendment that will enable the people to choose a populist prime minister. He added that it is inconceivable that the Par-liament votes on the selection of a crown prince, while it cannot do so as far as a prime minister is concerned. In the mean-time, the Parliament asked the Legal and Legislative Affairs Committee to speedily compile a report on a draft law for address-ing the conditions of Bedoun (Stateless Ar-abs) and refer it to the Bedoun Committee so that it can be tabled before the National Assembly.

kuwaitTHURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

aLwataN DaiLY

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KD 1,000 fine for barbecuing at banned locations: Authority

KUWAIT: Persons who barbecue at banned public loca-tions will be fined 1,000 Kuwaiti dinars, the Director-General of Kuwait Municipality warned on Wednesday.

Ahmad Al-Sebeeh, in a statement to Kuwait News Agen-cy (KUNA), indicated that the authority, after realizing that some citizens and residents do not abide by public cleanli-ness laws because of soft penalties, decided to increase the fine for such a violation from KD 100 to KD 1,000.

There are specific locations for barbecuing in 144 pub-lic parks, he said, stressing that grilling is restricted to these places.Municipal teams will monitor such violations, he re-stressed, urging the nationals and expatriates to abstain from inflicting damage on public properties, such as the seaside green spots, with such random barbecuing, dumping of ash-es on plants and littering. Beautification of the public spots costs the State millions of dinars for entertainment and well-being of the people, thus these properties must not be target of such harmful acts and conducts. -KUNA

Municipality committee proposes recommendations on Rahya fireEnvironment Committee calls for securing Rahya tires dump yard in collaboration with Fire DirectorateStaff Writer & Agencies

KUWAIT: The Environmental Committee in the Municipal Council proposed on Wednesday to annul a previous recommendation, dated to June, 2007, concerning auction of used tires in Rahya area south of Jahra.

Chaired by Member of Municipality Jenan Bushehri, the committee recommended that the municipality take all necessary measures to ensure safety in Rahya area, and provide all necessary con-ditions to maintain safety and tranquility in the area, including a recommendation to coordinate with the municipality and the Fire Department regarding oth-er equipment and material found at the site.

Bushehri added that the committee also called for proposing tenders for eliminating the damaged, used, or ruined tires to be stored and packaged in accordance with the requirement of environmental standards as a first step prior to initial operation of waste recycling factories. She also noted that a request was submitted to the Environment Public Authority (EPA) to review and establish a report on Rahya area regarding environmental effects or con-sequences resulting from storing tires, and further the committee also called for a study on the site of the fire, including any effects on the soil or air.

On the other hand, the Environment Committee at the Municipality Council recommended during a workshop regarding the Rahya tires dump yard, the cancellation of the council’s decree issued in 2007 concerning an auction to sell used tires. It also asked the Kuwait Municipality to secure the site through assigning guards, in addition to taking necessary steps to prevent other possibilities of fire in collabo-ration with the Fire Directorate.

Head of the Environment Committee at Munici-pality Council Jenan Bu Shahri asked the municipal-ity to float tenders to shred and stock up the tires at

the Rahya dump yard based on environment terms. She explained that the committee had asked the EPA to prepare a study about the environmental status at Rahya, in order to determine the consequences of stocking up the tires for a period that exceeds eight years, and to determine the environmental impact of the fire. This study should include the effect of the fire on water, air, and soil. The authority must also set a plan to rehabilitate the burnt site and to contact the Industry Public Authority (IPA) to take effective steps to grant licenses for the recycling of the used tires.

Moreover, Municipal Council member Abdullah Fehad stated that everyone is shrugging off the re-sponsibility of the fire; especially that carelessness resulted in the fire. He added that the council has made numerous recommendations regarding Rahya fire issue and a vote will be held on them. He stressed that the public criticize the Municipal Council be-cause its officials do not want to be held responsible, and remarked that the IPA does not want to take over the Rahya site. He noted that burying the tires is not a logical solution.

Furthermore, Municipal Council member Abdul Kareem Seleem mentioned that handling used tires is challenging only in Kuwait; especially that the is-sue took political dimensions. He revealed that he does not wish to hand over the Rahya site to the IPA, because there is a company that made a request to invest in the project. He stressed that the Environ-ment Department at the municipality should ensure safety procedures at the site, then float tenders and projects to take advantage of the tires.

Municipal Council member Ashwaq Al-Modaf believes that the Fire Directorate has handled the fire at Rahya disastrously, since it hailed soil on the fire, which damages the soil.

Municipal Council member Abdullah Al-Kandari said that the government failed to handle the situa-tion effectively, and remarked that tires are discarded in the United States, while the government in Kuwait fails to discard two million tires. He stressed that the council is willing to allocate the Rahya area; espe-cially after companies from Saudi Arabia and Qatar asked to invest in the tires in Kuwait. He asked the Fire Directorate to secure the site through installing firefighting equipment in case other fires break out in the area.

Parliament rejects third annual plan

Staff Writer

KUWAIT: In a press release made available to Al Wa-tan, Member of Parliament (MP) Marzouq Al-Ghanim ex-pressed his astonishment at the way an application made for the motion in the National Assembly is dealt with.

The MP Al-Ghanim was referring to the application made by the office of Public Prosecutor to lift the immu-nity from the members of the Legislative Authority. The MP believes that such request should be dealt with in lines with rules and regulations and that it should be based on the identity of the applicant.

The MP Al-Ghanim was also critical in the way the Speaker of the National Assembly MP Ahmad Al-Saadoun stopped him from talking and discussing the issue which is very important as it is related to lifting the immunity over the controversial issue of breaking and entering the parliament. He noted that he was given the opportunity by the Vice-President of the National Assembly MP Khaled Al-Sultan to discuss the topic however when he began to discuss the issue he was interrupted by the Speaker.

“One would assume that if the MP is given his turn to talk, he would be allowed to speak about the point of order he wishes to discuss, but Al-Saadoun refused to let me continue and thus he violated the National Assembly bylaw Article 83. I can only say that he is contradicting himself when he was an MP demanding that the bylaws are implemented and now that he is the Speaker he him-self is violating them,” he explained.

The MP Al-Ghanim also maintains that the Speaker deliberately called the session off after he saw his name listed as one of the intended speakers.

As for lifting the immunity from some of the MPs, MP Al-Ghanim said that some of the MPs have expressed their desire to see the immunity being lifted, adding at the same time the fact that some of the accused have expressed themselves that the immunity should be lifted so that in-vestigation takes its course of action.

KISR sets standards to setup renewable energy

technology compound by 2015Mervat Abdul DayemStaff Writer

KUWAIT: Kuwait began taking its first steps to setup a compound for renewable energy technol-ogy to produce 70 megawatts of power per day in Al-Salmi. The renewable energy projects will pro-duce 20 percent of the power required in Kuwait by 2032, which will turn Kuwait into a country that is advanced in using renewable energy and tech-nology to produce power.

This was announced by the General Manager (GM) of Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) Naji Al-Mutairi Wednesday morning after signing a contract with an international counseling firm that will take part in preparing the engineer-ing and technical standards and specifications to design and operate the compound.

He added that this project will move Kuwait from the phase of depending on one source of power to having multiple sources of power through focusing on renewable energy.

He revealed that the institute had begun earlier to prepare economic, technical, and environmen-tal studies concerning the project. Those studies showed that the climate in Kuwait is suitable for generating power from renewable energy. He went on to say that the whole compound is expected to be ready by 2015, where tenders will be floated through the Central Tenders Committee.

Ministry of Electricity and Power Undersecre-tary Ahmed Al-Jassar stated that this project is an important step in the path of executing plans con-cerning experimental solar power stations.

The compound will introduce the new technol-ogy to Kuwait and will broaden its spectrum of usage, which allows Kuwait to become advanced in this field. He went on to say that this project has positive economic, environmental, and social effects on the long term, not to mention finding a solution to the growing power consumption that relies basically on crude oil and its derivatives.

Parliament Speaker contradicts himself by violating NA bylaw Article 83: MP Al-Ghanim

Iranian threats are rejected: American Ambassador

Disabilities organizations conclude 3-day workshopKUWAIT: Representatives from several disabilities

organizations in Kuwait concluded a 3-day series of workshops led by Dr. Richard Welch, an American lec-turer at Georgia State University on Tuesday, April 24. This was stated in a press release issued Wednesday. The workshop was held at the Center for Child De-velopment and was co-sponsored by the United States Embassy and the Ministry of Information’s Office of Foreign Media; representatives of both participated in the workshop.

Participating disabilities organizations included; Al Nibras School for Special Needs, the Center for Child Evaluation and Teaching, the Kuwait Association for Learning Differences, Kuwait Association for Down’s Syndrome, Kuwait Society for the Guardians of the Disabled, the Public Authority for the Disabled, Train-ing Gate International, Kuwait Society for the Handi-capped, and Abeer2.

During the workshop, the participants studied a step-by-step process to develop public relations cam-paigns for their individual organizations. More broadly, the workshop focused on helping the disabilities com-munity develop effective strategies to communicate with the broader Kuwaiti society about the important work being done by these NGOs. One participant com-mented that the workshop was invaluable as it taught her “how to be precise and targeted” with her out-reach. A Ministry of Information official remarked that it was “a great pleasure to participate in this workshop with such outstanding representatives of Kuwaiti civil society who are truly dedicated to helping Kuwaitis with disabilities.”

Van Tonder, the South African Ambassador to Kuwait and his wife during a celebration held by the embassy in Kuwait on the occasion of the Freedom Day, on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 at Salwa Al Sabah Hall. (Al Watan)

Group photo of representatives from several disabilities organizations in Kuwait on Tuesday, April 24, 2012.

BAGHDAD: The Iraqi embassy denied on Wednesday press reports that Baghdad planned to shut Safwan border checkpoint. The embassy said in a statement that the pas-sageway witnessed increasing activity, movement of travelers and commercial exchanges between the Republic of Iraq and the sisterly State of Kuwait. -KUNA

No intention to shut Safwan checkpoint: Embassy

Parliament charges Audit Bureau to look into investments

KUWAIT THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

ALWATAN DAILY

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FILE - Picture obtained from the internet shows State owned Grand Mosque located in Sharq.

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KUWAIT: The National Assembly charged the Audit Bureau on Wednesday to look into de-tails related to the considerable losses in invest-ments of the Social Security Institution abroad, upon a recommendation made by the lawmak-ers.

The Member of Parliament (MPs) approved recommendation states the bureau is to seek help of two international specialized offices to look into the accounts, criteria and mechanisms of allotting sums for investment, and the distri-bution of sums invested abroad.

The Audit Bureau is required to present an official report of its findings to the National As-sembly within three months.

The vote on this recommendation was ap-proved by 39 MPs whereas 16 abstained. Each of the 55 MPs were called at by name to cast vote.

In response to some remarks by MPs, Min-ister of Finance Mustafa Al-Shamali said “the state of affairs of the institution’s investments is sound, good, and constantly monitored by the bureau. This is an important issue, and this is a suitable measure, and we have no objections in this regard. We shall cooperate with the bureau on the report.” The minister meanwhile urged careful choice of phrase when handling this is-sue. “Terms such as investigation could prove counter-productive, though we do recognize ful-ly the National Assembly’s right to request the

Audit Bureau to conduct any form of action.” We must make sure we keep to most fitting terms, and that efforts are steered towards a clear des-tination and objective, he said.

The National Assembly also charged its En-vironment and Nuclear Energy Committee to look into the Mishref Plant dossier. It also asked the committee to look into the Ahmadi gas leak dossier.

There was also discussion of conducting a survey of areas suffering inadequacy of services and public utilities and inadequate infrastruc-ture and the drafting of a remedy program and inclusion of sufficient budgets in the state’s bud-get. -KUNA

KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah gave orders on Wednesday to renovate the Grand Mosque, located in Sharq.

Deputy Minister of Amiri Diwan Af-

fairs Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah stated that the Amir had given orders to the Amiri Diwan to take charge of necessary repair and renovation of the State Grand Mosque, on basis of forecast reports by relevant technical committees. -KUNA

Amir orders renovation of Grand Mosque

Kuwait funds renovation of key road in Lebanon

Developing psychiatric care in Kuwait ‘vital’, says official

E-government’s site ranks 50th on UN list: CAIT

Kuwaiti delegation satisfied with Qatar visit

Capital Governor meets Chinese Guangdong vice GovernorGUANGZHOU, China: Kuwait Capital Gover-

nor Sheikh Ali Al-Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah held on Wednesday an extended meeting with the Chinese Guangdong Vice Governor Zhao Yufang.

During the meeting, Yufang thanked Sheikh Ali for his welcomed visit to Guangdong, hoping it would give impetus to bilateral ties.

She added that the exchanging visits between se-nior officials of both countries help achieve the desired

development in economic, commercial and industrial cooperation. Yufang said work in the Kuwait-Chinese joint petrochemical complex in Guangzhou is in full swing, hoping it would be a real translation of the strong Kuwaiti-Chinese relations. She underlined that Guangdong has made great stride in the economic sec-tor in the past years, noting that the province contrib-utes 13 percent of the total Chinese income.

Yufang pointed out that Guangdong economy is

ranked third on the list of the strongest economies among Chinese cities.

For his part, Governor of the Capital Sheikh Ali said talks with the senior officials of Chinese govern-ment revealed deep desire to bolster bilateral relations and cooperation, especially in the fields of energy, trade and industry.

Sheikh Ali praised the level of Kuwaiti-Chinese relations in the past few years. -KUNA

BEIRUT: Representative of Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) Nawaf Al-Dabbous inspected on Wednesday the construction side of a main road linking the district of Al-Hazmiah just east of Beirut and the re-sort town of Sofar, located approximately in the middle of the Beirut-Damascus highway.

The project is aimed at facilitating the flow of traffic between the capital and several regions, namely Mount Lebanon, the eastern Bekaa Valley and neighbor-ing countries, said Al-Dabbous in remarks to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

KAFED is funding basic sections of the venture, such as Al-Sayyad round-about, located at the eastern entrance of Beirut, where tunnels and causeways were being built, as well as Camille Chamoun Boulevard, also a key road inter-section on the outskirts of the capital.

Large parts of the project will be finished in the end of the summer and the whole venture will be executed by the year-end, he added.

The venture also includes renovation of a five-km-long section between Al-Sayyad roundabout and the town of Al-Hazmiyeh, located on hills overlooking the capital. Three bridges and relays will be built in Al-Fayadiah district, where the ministry of defense is located.

Moreover, it is also aimed at building other tunnels and causeways farther eastward, in addition to beautifying the market of the resort town of Bham-doun, a favorite recreational destination for many Kuwaiti tourists.

Totally, the project is aimed at rebuilding a road stretching for 24 kms, at a projected cost of 146 million US dollars. KFAED has offered Lebanon 17 loans to Lebanon since 1966 valued at $550 million. -KUNA

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Health held on Wednesday the 4th Kuwait Psy-chiatric Conference to further develop the psychiatric care and treatment.

In the opening speech of the event delivered by Health Ministry Undersec-retary Omar Al-Sayed Omar, on part of Health Minister Dr. Ali Al-Obeidi, the official said that the three-day event would focus on educating and spreading awareness on the psychiatric health of children.

He noted that the psychological well-being of the parents would reflect posi-tively on their children, adding that psychiatry was an ever developing field of medicine that required practitioners to further expand their skills.

On her part, head of the conference Dr. Haya Al-Mutairi said in her speech that psychiatric facilities in the Arab world were in need for development and integration to provide the best medical care available.

The conference is witnessing the participation of medical officials from Saudi Arabia and the UK, Al-Mutairi indicated, adding that workshops would be held on the sideline of the conference to provide latest treatment within the psychiatric field. -KUNA

LONDON: Kuwait’s e-government website is ranked 50th on a global scale, according a UN report listing the top sites on a global scale, said an official from the Kuwaiti Central Agency for Information Technology (CAIT) here Wednes-day.

CAIT’s Bashayer Al-Awwad told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on sideline of a conference on human development that the event, sponsored by the agency, Kuwait’s Civil Service Commission (CSC), and Microsoft, would focus on the role of IT in shaping skills of leaders and managers in government institutions.

She noted that the main theme of the conference would focus on the trans-formation to the digital cloud technology which would enable improving gov-ernment services online.

Internet security is also to be touched upon during the event, said the Ku-waiti official, hoping that CAIT would contribute to the development of IT ser-vices in Kuwait. -KUNA

DOHA: The activities and field visits by members of the Kuwaiti delega-tion, which ended its official visit to Qatar Wednesday, were satisfactory and allowed transparent discussion to take place on many issues of mutual interest and stressed the strength of bonds between the two nations and people, head of delegation Ahmad Barrak Al-Haifi said.

Assistant Undersecretary for Parliament Activities Al-Haifi recalled the meetings with Qatari Shura Council Speaker Mohammad Al-Khulaifi, with Deputy Premier and State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Ahmad Al Mahmoud, and Kuwaiti Ambassador Ali Slaiman Al-Haifi. The meetings tackled important issues and yielded positive outcome, he said.

Such official visits, he noted, boost joint action within the GCC region, and the efforts to guarantee this particular visit’s success on the part of Qatari au-thorities and Kuwaiti Embassy are praiseworthy.

The Kuwaiti delegation included representatives for the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Cabinet. -KUNA

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BEIRUT: syrian security forces shot dead four civilians on a bus in the northern province of idlib on Wednesday, dissidents said, as inter-national pressure built on Damascus to honor uN-backed ceasefire pledges to order soldiers and tanks back to barracks.

in the latest violence to undermine the flaky 13-day-old truce, the British-based syr-ian Observatory for human rights (sOhr) said the four were killed at a checkpoint on the main road from Aleppo to the capital.

it said an elderly man was killed in heavy fighting in the southern city of Deraa, crucible of the revolt against president Bashar Al-Assad that flared after Arab uprisings elsewhere.

A woman who visited Douma on tuesday night said the largely anti-Assad town east of the capital had been under constant shelling and was without water, power or mobile phone signal.

“there was bombardment all night. Artil-lery and tanks. We didn’t sleep at all. Not for a moment,” the woman told reuters in neighbor-ing lebanon. “Most residents have gone down to live on the ground floor because most of the second and third floors have been hit.”

there was no mention of the bus shooting or bombardment in syria’s rigidly controlled media or comment from the authorities in Da-mascus, which has barred most foreign jour-nalists since the revolt started more than 13 months ago.

Former uN secretary-General and cease-fire broker Kofi Annan told the security Coun-cil on tuesday that syria had failed to withdraw weapons from population centers in violation of the terms of the April 12 truce.

the latest violence, occurring two days after 31 people were killed in hama city im-

mediately after uN ceasefire monitors left the area, may prompt more diplomatic pressure on Damascus.

“the situation in syria continues to be un-acceptable,” Annan said, according to a tran-

script. “the syria authorities must implement their commitments in full and a cessation of violation in all its forms must be respected by all parties.” he also noted reports that secu-rity forces were targeting people who had met

members of the fledgling uN monitoring mis-sion, which is meant to end a conflict in which the united Nations says at least 9,000 people have been killed.

Damascus says 2,600 of its security person-

nel have been killed by the anti-Assad armed groups that operate in parts of the country of 23 million.

speaking to the 15-nation security Coun-cil, Annan stressed the need to get “eyes and ears on the ground”, although so far there are only 15 unarmed monitors in syria out of a planned final team of 300 to be deployed un-der the acronym uNsMis.

reasons for the slow deployment are not clear.

Activists say even the minimal uNsMis presence has led to a drop in the daily death toll, but uN peacekeeping chief herve ladsous said it would take a month to deploy the first 100 monitors - a timeline that drew derision from many syrians.

“it takes them a month to arrive? Are they coming on horses?” asked a resident of homs, a city which has endured sustained army shell-ing. he declined to give his real name.

Annan said syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Mouallem had written to him saying that “the withdrawal of massed troops and heavy weapons from in and around population cen-ters is now complete and military operations have ceased”.

however, Annan’s team also cited satel-lite imagery as evidence that tanks are lurking out of sight on the outskirts of cities, and even syria’s ally russia voiced concern.

“if this is the case, if the promise in the let-ter has not really been carried out, that would mean it is a breach of the promise they made on saturday,” Churkin said. “i’m certainly go-ing to bring it to the attention of Moscow.”

France said it still supported Annan’s peace plan but could not do so forever unless syria implemented it fully. -reuters

Syrian forces shoot up bus, UN derided

A handout image released by the Syrian opposition’s Shaam News Network, on April 25, 2012, shows smoke ascending from burning build-ings in the area of Al-Qusoor in Homs province. (AFP)

AMMAN: international rights groups denounced Jordan on Wednesday for charg-ing a news website editor with anti-regime incitement after publishing a report on a graft probe into a 7 billion us dollar hous-ing project.

the detention of Jamal Muhtaseb, chief editor of Gerasa News, “is a serious viola-tion of Jordanian law and freedom of infor-mation,” said paris-based media watchdog reporters Without Borders.

“his reporting of this corruption case has been in the public interest,” rsF said on its website.

For its part, the New-York based hu-man rights Watch warned that Amman “risks earning a reputation for repression and intolerance” by arresting Muhtaseb.

Muhtaseb was arrested and charged on Monday after a report on his website quoted an unnamed lawmaker as claiming “lower house deputies had received royal directives not to indict a former minister for alleged graft.”

last year, the government opened an investigation into the huge housing project for low-income citizens after calls by parlia-mentarians to probe suspected corruption.

the military state security court has re-manded Muhtaseb in custody for 14 days pending trial, and he faces 15 years in jail if convicted.

Gerasa News reporter sahar Muhtaseb, sister of Muhtaseb, was also charged and arrested in the same case but later re-leased on bail of 5,000 Jordanian dinars ($7,000/5,300 euros).

“using a state security court to try a journalist is completely illegal under Jor-danian law and is indicative of the govern-ment’s nervousness and determination to suppress freedom of information in this af-

fair,” rsF said.the court’s jurisdiction includes crimes

that are deemed harmful to Jordan’s inter-nal and external security.

“We call for (Muhtaseb’s) immediate re-lease and the withdrawal of all the charges,” rsF added.

Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher at hrW, said “Jordan cannot claim to be making democratic reforms while prosecutors hunt down journalists doing their job.”

“Jordan’s parliament should eliminate penal code articles that punish non-violent speech offences, and in the meantime, au-thorities should instruct prosecutors to stop bringing charges under those articles.”

hrW said Muhtasab’s case is the latest in a series “in which people have faced charges for speech or demonstrations deemed criti-cal of the government,” including a group of pro-reform demonstrators and a outspo-ken former lawmakers. it added that this is “a pattern that undermines the credibility of Jordan’s reform efforts.”

“Jordan’s talk of reform is meaningless as long as the law deprives citizens of meet-ing and speaking freely, especially about politics and their leaders,” Wilcke said.

the powerful islamic Action Front, the political arm of Jordan’s Muslim Brother-hood, warned that “freedoms are retreat-ing” in the kingdom.

“targeting journalists must stop and the state security court must be dissolved,” the iAF said on Wednesday, demanding the government release Muhtaseb.

Jordan’s Centre for Defending Freedom of Journalists and the country’s press union have condemned Muhtaseb’s detention.

And journalists held a sit-in to demand Muhtaseb’s immediate release. -AFp

Jordan denounced for charging journalist TRIPOLI: libya, preparing for elections

in June, has banned parties based on religion, tribe or ethnicity, the government said on Wednesday, and a new islamist party viewed as a leading contender signaled it would chal-lenge the decision.

National transitional Council spokesman Mohammed Al-harizy said the council passed the law governing the formation of political parties on tuesday evening. “parties are not al-lowed to be based on religion or ethnicity or tribe,” he told reuters.

he did not make clear how this would affect a political party formed in March by libya’s Muslim Brotherhood and other isla-mists. the new party was expected to make a strong showing in the election, the first since

last year’s overthrow of Muammar Gadhafi in a NAtO-backed popular uprising.

the head of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Development party said the NtC needed to make it clearer what it meant by banning religious parties. he said this would cause con-troversy in conservative libya, whose popula-tion of six million is made up almost entirely of sunni Muslims.

“this kind of clause is only useful in coun-tries where there exists many religions, not in libya where most people are religious Mus-lims,” sawan told reuters.

“this law needs to be reviewed by the NtC and if it’s not changed, we would have to pro-test it.”

libya’s NtC has already indicated that the

country will be run in accordance with sharia, though the exact place of islamic law in the legal system will be settled only once a new constitution is written after elections.

political analysts have said the Muslim Brotherhood is likely to emerge as libya’s most organized political force and an influ-ential player in the oil-exporting state where islamists, like all dissidents, were harshly sup-pressed during the 42 years of Gadhafi’s dicta-torial rule.

islamists have performed strongly in post-uprising elections in tunisia, Egypt and Moroc-co since October and they are also likely to do well in libya, a socially conservative country where alcohol was already banned before the 2011 revolution. -reuters

Libya bans religious, tribal or ethnic parties

Hunger striker’s appeal rejected by Israeli court

JERUSALEM: israel’s supreme Court has rejected an appeal by a palestinian prisoner who has been refusing food for more than seven weeks to protest being held without charge, his lawyer told AFp on Wednesday.

hassan safdi, 31, was arrested on June 29, 2011 and has been held without charge under a procedure called administrative detention, which means a prisoner can be held for renewable periods of up to six months.

he has been on hunger strike since March 5.safdi’s lawyer Osama Maqbul told AFp he had lodged an appeal against the

administrative detention order with an israeli military court last month but it had been rejected. A second appeal, this time to the supreme Court, was also rejected, Maqbul told AFp, with the court urging safdi to end his protest.

“his appeal was rejected yesterday by the supreme Court in Jerusalem, which ratified the detention order based on the secret file which consists of intelligence information,” he said.

“the court advised him to eat because he will not be released.”After 52 days on hunger strike, safdi had lost 30 kilograms (66 pounds) and

was “in critical condition,” Maqbul said, indicating that the prisoner was suffering kidney problems. safdi is one of eight palestinian prisoners who have been refusing food for an extended period of time, with six of them now being held in the hospital wing of ramle prison near tel Aviv.

“six prisoners who started their hunger strike several months ago have been placed in the medical ward of the ramle prison and are on a drip,” sivan Weizman, spokeswoman for the israel prisons service said.

Five of them are being held in administrative detention, and two -- Bilal Diab and thaer halahla -- are now entering their 57th day on hunger strike.

Over the past week, another 1,350 prisoners have begun an open-ended hunger strike to protest against the conditions in which they are being held.

there are 4,699 palestinians being held in israeli jails, of whom 319 are in ad-ministrative detention, according to prisoners’ Club figures. -AFp

Top Shiite cleric offices in Iraq attacked

BAGHDAD: unknown people have attacked the offices of two of iraq’s top four shiite clerics in the central city of Najaf with sound bombs, a security official there said on Wednesday.

“the office of Grand Ayatollah Bashir Al-Najafi in central Najaf city was attacked with a sound bomb on tuesday evening,” the official said, adding that “there was an attack with a sound bomb that targeted the office of Grand Ayatollah ishaq Al-Fay-adh on sunday evening.” Both are members of the marjaiya, which is composed of the four top shiite clerics here.

the attacks, which came after the interior ministry said it had withdrawn “surplus” guards from the clerics, caused mate-rial damage but no casualties, the official added.

“the ministry withdrew the surplus of bodyguards ... because there are some personalities who have more than they need,” the interior ministry said on Wednesday. sadr Al-Din Al-Qubanchi, a leading shiite cleric, said during a meeting with Al-Najafi that “it is natural that the marjas are targeted, because they follow the true path,” said the head of Qubanchi’s office, Abdul latif Al-Amidi. “it is not possible to keep silent anymore and we wait for the marjas to condemn these actions and we demand the govern-ment to do its job,” QAl-ubanchi was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, Al-Amidi quoted Al-Najafi as saying the target “is not Bashir Al-Najafi or ishaq Al-Fayadh; the target is the reli-gion and the (shiite) sect,” and that “we urge our brothers to call on the officials to do their job.” -AFp

Israel military chief says Iran undecided on bombJERUSALEM: israel’s military chief toned down the rheto-

ric over iran’s nuclear programme on Wednesday, describing the iranian leadership as “very rational” and unlikely to take the decision to build a bomb. speaking to the left-leaning haaretz newspaper, lieutenant General Benny Gantz said iran was systematically approaching the point at which it would be able to decide on whether to build a bomb, but had not yet made that decision. “it still hasn’t decided yet whether to go the ex-tra mile,” he said. so far, israel and Washington do not believe that tehran has actually taken the decision to develop a nuclear bomb, a decision which would require the ability to quickly pro-duce weapons-grade uranium.

“in my opinion, he would be making a huge mistake if he does so, and i don’t think he will want to go the extra mile,” Gantz said, referring to iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who is the final authority on all national issues.

the iranian leadership was made up of “very rational peo-ple,” he said, and the international regime of hard-hitting sanc-tions was “starting to bear fruit.”

Defence Minister Ehud Barak was on Wednesday also taking a somewhat softer line on iran, saying it had “not yet decided to manufacture atomic weapons” also suggesting the sanctions could work. “if the Americans, and the Europeans and we our-selves are determined, there is a change of stopping the iranians before they acquire the atomic bomb.” israel and much of the West suspect iran is using its civilian nuclear programme as a cover for a weapons drive – a charge which tehran vehemently denies. israeli officials have repeatedly warned that a nuclear iran would pose an existential threat to the Jewish state, and have refused to rule out a pre-emptive strike to prevent it from happening. -AFp

JUBA/BEIJING: south sudan freed sudanese prisoners of war on Wednes-day in a gesture it hopes will defuse ten-sions between Khartoum and Juba whose armies have been embroiled in escalating cross-border fighting that has threatened to tip into all-out war.

sitting atop one of Africa’s most sig-nificant oil reserves, sudan and south su-dan have been unable to resolve a dispute over oil revenues and border demarcation since the south gained independence in July. Nearly all oil production has now stopped and the border fighting in con-tested oil-producing regions has grown more intensive, prompting China, which has economic interests in both countries, and the African union to push for a dip-lomatic deal.

“the splA (south sudan’s army) handed over prisoners of war to the iCrC. they were 14 who were captured during the battles of heglig from April 10-15,” philip Aguer, spokesman for south sudan’s army, said in Juba.

Aguer was referring to the heglig oil-field which the splA had captured earlier this month, but later withdrew from, un-der international pressure. Juba has since accused sudan’s armed forces of bombing its territory, a claim Khartoum denies.

south sudan’s government and its army have said the deal had been bro-kered by Egypt during its foreign minis-ter’s visit to both countries about 10 days

ago, and Aguer said the prisoners would be flown back to Khartoum via Cairo.

he said the men were mostly suda-nese from the north as well as one south sudanese who he said had been recruited as a mercenary, adding the sudanese army was holding at least seven splA members as prisoner of war.

“We have requested that they be re-leased if they have not been killed,” he said. there was no immediate comment on the prisoners from Khartoum.

Clashes appear to have ebbed follow-ing weeks of cross-border fighting after sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Ahmed Karti said Khartoum was ready to resume talks on security issues, a day after presi-dent Omar Al-Bashir had ruled out nego-tiations.

Earlier, residents of Bentiu, about 80 kilometer (50 miles) from the contested border, said the area had come under at-tack from sudanese fighter jets, saying they feared their dusty town might be the next target in the conflict.

the African union urged both sides to resume talks, which have collapsed sev-eral times, to strike a deal within three months or face a binding ruling.

the Au’s peace and security Coun-cil issued a seven-point roadmap late on tuesday that called on both sides to cease hostilities within 48 hours and called for the “unconditional” withdrawal of troops from disputed areas. -reuters

South Sudan frees prisoners to defuse tensions

Sudanese prisoners of war board International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) ve-hicles following their release in South Sudan’s capital Juba, on April 25, 2012. (AFP)

France’s Sarkozy rules out deal with far-right

Insane diagnosis based on ‘fabrications’: BreivikOSLO: Confessed mass killer Anders

Behring Breivik on Wednesday slammed a psychiatric report that declared him in-sane as based on “evil fabrications” meant to portray him as irrational and unintelli-gent.

“It is not me who is described in that report,” the right-wing extremist, who admitted killing 77 people in bomb and shooting attacks on July 22, said in court.

A second psychiatric examination found Breivik sane. The five-judge panel trying Breivik on terror charges for the at-tacks will consider both reports.

Breivik admits to the bombing of Os-lo’s government district that killed eight people and a subsequent shooting massa-cre at a Labor Party youth camp that left 69 people dead, most of them teenagers. He claims the attacks were “necessary” and that the victims had betrayed Norway by embracing immigration.

If found guilty, Breivik would face 21 years in prison, though he can be held lon-ger if deemed a danger to society. If de-clared insane, he would be committed to compulsory psychiatric care.

After listening to testimony describing the horrific injuries of the bombing vic-tims, Breivik showed no remorse, saying if anyone should apologize it was the gov-erning Labor Party. He said he had hoped they would change policy on immigration after his attacks.

“But instead they continue in the same direction, so the grounds for struggle are unfortunately even more relevant now than before July 22,” Breivik said.

Sounding irritated, the 33-year-old Norwegian accused the two psychiatrists who declared him psychotic of deciding on the diagnosis prematurely, saying their

judgment was clouded by their emotional response to the attacks.

“They lack expertise in evaluating vio-lent political activists,” Breivik said.

Earlier Wednesday, victim’s relatives sobbed in the courtroom as forensic ex-perts presented autopsy reports of the vic-tims, including two passers-by who were

torn to pieces by the explosion. Breivik was expressionless.

A 26-year-old man who was hit by debris on the street outside the building and hospitalized for three weeks after the bombing recalled that he didn’t immedi-ately realize that he had been injured.

Eivind Dahl Thoresen testified that it was only when he rushed to help anoth-er victim that he realized something was wrong with him, too.

“The way he looked at me: ‘Are you going to help me? Look at yourself,’” Thoresen told the court.

Thoresen said he then saw blood pumping out of his left arm. His jeans were soaked with blood. He sat down and cried for help as panic started to set in.

Two people provided first aid, bandag-ing his wounds with clothes that Thoresen was carrying in a bag. Thoresen’s lawyer showed the court a picture of the grim scene, taken by one of the men who helped him. Thoresen was on the ground, grimac-ing in agony, his white T-shirt stained by blood.

“I felt alternately cold and warm,” Thoresen said. “At that point I was sure I would die.”

He was taken to a hospital where doc-tors surgically removed shards from his arms and legs. He had another operation just a few weeks ago and still walks on crutches. -AP

PARIS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy ruled out any deal with the far-right National Front of Marine Le Pen, backed by nearly a fifth of voters in a presidential election first round, to give them cabinet jobs or help them win seats in parliament.

An opinion poll showed two-thirds of Sarkozy support-ers want him to break with past policy and strike an alliance with the Front after Le Pen’s 17.9 percent score on Sunday made her 6.4 million backers key to a May 6 presidential runoff.

Both Sarkozy and Socialist Francois Hollande, who beat the conservative by 28.6 percent to 27.2 percent on the first round and leads opinion polls for the runoff, are striving to respond to the protest vote without angering traditional supporters.

Sarkozy said on Wednesday that listening to Le Pen’s backers did not mean he could envisage far-right ministers in a conservative-led government.

“There will be no pact with the National Front,” he told France Info radio, saying there were too many issues on which the parties disagreed to imagine giving the party cabinet posts.

“There will be no National Front ministers, but I refuse to demonize men and women who in voting for Marine Le Pen cast a crisis vote, a vote of anger, a vote of suffering and a vote of despair. I have to listen to their message and take them into account, and not think it’s time to hold my nose.”

France holds a parliamentary election in June and Le Pen, whose party has no seats in the outgoing legislature, hopes to capitalize on the surge in her vote in the presiden-tial contest.

Hollande told France 2 television he would not make concessions to the far right but he did want to show he had understood voters’ fear and anger about factory closures.

The Socialist, who has a 10-point lead over Sarkozy in voting intentions for the runoff, said that if elected, he

would try to prevent a series of industrial layoffs which he said were being deliberately held back until after the election.

“I hear the anger. I see the workers who are wonder-ing about the future of their jobs, who are fighting against outsourcing, who do not accept the redundancy plans, who

express their anger by voting for Marine Le Pen,” Hollande said.

“Regarding redundancy plans, I want us to have mea-sures that can protect and reinforce our industry,” he said, without going into detail. “I will not allow this string of clo-sures, that has been put off until after the election, to take place.”

Stemming declineSarkozy, the first sitting president to lose the first round

of a re-election vote, is being punished for economic mal-aise, rampant unemployment and his brash presidential style, which many voters dislike.

Making his own gesture to disgruntled factory workers on Wednesday, Sarkozy said it was important to realize that the impact of financial crisis was much harsher for people working in industry than those in secure civil servant po-sitions. Sarkozy and Hollande battled for the blue-collar worker vote in their election campaign, but opinion polls show many in that group flocked instead to either the far right or hard left.

Hollande is citing Le Pen’s vote to fuel his push to add pro-growth clauses to Europe’s budget discipline pact. He said he would at once start talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the need for a greater growth focus.

“I will renegotiate the treaty, Mrs Merkel knows that,” he told TF1 television late on Tuesday. “And if the French give me their backing, my first trip will be to confirm to her that the French have voted for a different kind of Europe.”

The risk of a revolt against Berlin’s emphasis on deficit-cutting over promoting economic growth was highlighted by the collapse of the Dutch government in a row over bud-get cuts.

“There is a cry of distress against a Europe that is not going in the right direction. It needs to be able to drive us towards the future rather than being all about austerity,” Hollande said on Wednesday. -Reuters

WORLD THuRSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

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FILE - A supporter (right) sticks campaign posters of France’s incumbent President and right-wing ruling party Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) candidate for the French 2012 presidential election, Nicolas Sarkozy. (AFP)

Norwegian anti-Muslim fanatic Anders Behring Breivik speaks with a member of his defence team Tord Jordet in the courtroom in Oslo April 25, 2012. (Reuters)

Pakistan tests nuclear-capable ballistic missile

PARIS: Pakistan successfully test fired a nuclear-capable intermediate range ballistic missile on Wednes-day, the military said, less than a week after India test launched a long range missile.

The exact range of the missile was not revealed, but retired General Talat Masood, a defence analyst, told AFP intermediate range ballistic missiles could reach targets up to 2,500 to 3,000 kilometers (1,550 to 1,850 miles) away - which would put almost all of arch-rival India within reach. On Thursday India test fired its long range Agni V missile, which can deliver a one-ton nuclear warhead anywhere in China.

“Pakistan today successfully conducted the launch of the intermediate range ballistic missile Hatf IV Shaheen-1A weapon system,” Pakistan’s military said in a state-ment. India and Pakistan - which have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 - have routinely carried out missile tests since both demonstrated nuclear weapons capability in 1998.

Pakistan’s most recent missile test came last month with the launch of the short-range nuclear-capable Ab-dali, while in April 2008 it tested the Shaheen II, or Hatf VI, missile with a range of 2,000 kilometres.

Wednesday’s missile, which landed in the sea, was a version of the Shaheen-1 with improvements in range and technical parameters, the military said, and can carry nuclear and conventional warheads.

“This is part of Pakistan’s program to develop nuclear and missile deterrence. It has a series of missiles in its inventory. This is perhaps the longest range missile in its program,” retired general Masood told AFP.

“The whole object is essentially India-centric while India’s own program is directed towards China. Pakistan is engaged in improving its missile system as India con-tinues to increase its capability.”

Director General Strategic Plans Division Lieutenant General Khalid Ahmed Kidwai congratulated scientists and engineers on the successful launch, and the accu-racy of the missile in reaching the target. He said the im-proved version of Shaheen 1A would further consolidate and strengthen Pakistan’s deterrence abilities.

Pakistan’s arsenal includes short, medium and long range missiles named after Muslim conquerors.

India’s missile test last week brought a muted inter-national response, with China downplaying its signifi-cance, insisting the countries were partners not rivals, and Washington calling for “restraint” among nuclear powers. This was in sharp contrast to the widespread fury and condemnation that greeted North Korea’s unsuccess-ful test launch of a long-range rocket on April 13. -AFP

Pakistan PM vows to face contempt verdict in personPARIS: Pakistan’s embattled

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday vowed to appear in per-son to face the verdict in a contempt of court case that could see him jailed and thrown out of office.

The Supreme Court will rule on Thursday whether Gilani is guilty of contempt for refusing to write to the authorities in Switzerland to ask them to re-open corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. The charges carry a maximum jail sentence of six months and conviction could lead to Gilani being disqualified from office.

“I will appear before the court to-morrow,” the PM told a cabinet meet-ing in Islamabad on Wednesday.

“We are satisfied with the input given by our lawyers and we are also satisfied with the input by the Attor-ney General.”

He did not say whether he would quit if he is convicted.

The Swiss shelved the cases against Zardari in 2008 when he be-came president and a prosecutor in Switzerland has said it will be impos-sible to re-open them as long as he remains head of state and is immune from prosecution.

Gilani insists that Zardari has full immunity. But in December 2009 Pakistan’s Supreme Court overturned a two-year political amnesty that had frozen investigations into Zardari and other politicians.

Zardari and his late wife, former premier Benazir Bhutto, were sus-pected of using Swiss accounts to launder about 12 million uS dollars allegedly paid in bribes by companies seeking customs inspection contracts in the 1990s. -AFP

Malawi vows to allow diplomats to work freely

Murdoch denies seeking favors from UK leaders

PARIS: Malawi’s new President Joyce Ban-da vowed Wednesday to allow foreign diplomats to work freely, seeking to improve donor ties strained under the late leader Bingu wa Muth-arika.

Banda spoke as she named career diplomat Bernard Sande as the new ambassador to Brit-ain, one day after London resumed full diplo-matic ties with Malawi and ended a year-long diplomatic feud.

“I assure the British prime minister of my commitment to improving Malawi’s economic and governance situation and to assure him that... all envoys accredited to Malawi will oper-ate freely without obstruction,” she said.

Britain’s previous envoy Fergus Cochrane-Dyet was booted from Malawi when a leaked diplomatic cable showed he had accused Muth-arika of “becoming ever more autocratic and intolerant of criticism”. London responded in

kind. Donors have also suspended hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Malawi in concern at Mutharika’s governance.

Banda, who took office two days after Muth-arika’s death on April 5, has already urged major donors to restore their support.

The suspension of aid is one factor behind Malawi’s crippling foreign currency shortages, which has made it difficult for the country to import enough fuel to meet its needs. -AFP

PARIS: Media baron Rupert Murdoch tried on Wednesday to downplay his influence on British politics, saying in his first appearance at a press ethics inquiry he had never asked a prime minister for anything.

His testimony on oath at the Leveson inquiry in London came a day after claims emerged dur-ing evidence from his son James that a minister leaked details to Murdoch’s News Corp. about a bid for control of pay-TV giant BSkyB.

The 81-year-old told British lawmakers last year that he had meetings with a string of British leaders including Prime Minister David Cameron, but on Wednesday Murdoch said he wanted to “put some myths to bed.”

“I’ve never asked a prime minister for any-thing,” Murdoch told the judge-led inquiry sit-ting at the Royal Courts of Justice, as he dis-cussed ties going back as far as premier Margaret Thatcher in the 1970s.

Murdoch also rejected “untrue” rumors that he was unhappy with Cameron for ordering the inquiry following the phone-hacking scandal that closed down his News of the World newspa-per in July last year.

But the fallout continued from the docu-ments that News Corp. released to the inquiry on Tuesday, with culture minister Jeremy Hunt saying he would make a statement to parliament to rebuff calls for his resignation.

Emails and texts apparently showed that Hunt’s office leaked information to uS-based

News Corp. about its bid for full control of the highly profitable BSkyB. The bid collapsed in July last year due to the hacking row.

Hunt, who is lead minister for the Olympic Games which open in London on July 27, was charged with the decision on whether the take-over should be allowed to go ahead.

“I am going to be making a very, very deter-mined effort to show that I behaved with total integrity,” the minister told reporters as he left his home early Wednesday.

Cameron’s spokesman insisted the premier had full confidence in Hunt but the premier was expected to face a grilling at Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions session in parliament.

Murdoch’s testimony at the inquiry is his highest profile appearance in Britain since he told a parliamentary committee last year that he had meetings with Cameron and former pre-miers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Murdoch was also attacked with a foam pie at that hearing.

Giving evidence on Tuesday, James Mur-doch, the deputy chief operating officer of News Corp., said he had discussed the pro-posed takeover with Cameron at a 2010 Christmas party.

Cameron has previously denied having had any “inappropriate conversations” with James Murdoch at the party.

Transcripts of emails and text messages be-tween Frederic Michel, News Corp’s public af-

fairs executive, and Adam Smith, special advisor to Hunt, appeared to reveal close collaboration over how to counter the deal’s opponents.

In one text published on the inquiry’s web-site, Michel wrote: “Think we are in a good place, no?”, to which Smith replied: “Very yes. Jeremy (Hunt) happy.”

Britain’s newspapers suggested the Murdoch family were exacting revenge after the govern-ment distanced itself from News Corp. in the wake of the hacking scandal.

“Murdochs turn tables on Cameron and Hunt,” said the Financial Times on its front page, while the Daily Mail carried the headline: “Re-venge of the Murdochs”.

In Tuesday’s session, James Murdoch also re-peated his assertion that he did not know about the extent of phone hacking at the 168-year-old News of the World.

The Sunday tabloid was forced to shut down after a wave of revelations that its staff illegally accessed the voicemail messages of a murdered teenage girl and the families of dead soldiers as well as dozens of celebrities.

The scandal claimed the jobs of two senior policemen with ties to the News of the World, and Cameron’s media advisor, a former editor of the tabloid.

Murdoch still owns The Sun, The Times and the Sunday Times in Britain. News Corp also owns the Wall Street Journal and Fox News in the united States. -AFP

The movement in Kuwait did not even call for observing the performance of the executive authority or public expenses unlike the movement of Egypt which called for many things such as restricting large properties.

Dr. Waleed Al-Tabtabaie

We agreed with members of the Majority Bloc to approve the government’s request for lifting

the parliamentary immunity of the MPs who were accused of storming the head-quarters of the National Assembly on November 16th, 2011. Therefore, MPs voted for lifting immunity in the last par-liamentary session.

However, we approved lifting immu-nity for many reasons. Such as that the MPs did not commit any crime by enter-ing the headquarters of the parliament at night as MPs were practicing in national political activities.

The MPs also entered the building because security individuals blocked all ways to the parliament and assaulted some demonstrators and activists as a re-

sult MPs and many other youths rushed towards the parliament. The MPs and youths entered the parliament just to ac-cess the building safely and they were ad-vised by some security leaders to head to the parliament to be more secure.

The other thing is that the former gov-ernment and its corrupt media sources attempted to show such a step as a dan-gerous crime. They also tried to fabricate

stories against the MPs and youths who entered the parliament. For such reasons we decided to visit the fair Kuwaiti judi-ciary to finalize this issue and to disclose all the facts.

As MPs, it is not good for us to protect ourselves with the parliamentary immu-nity and let tens of youths down wherein the youths who participated in entering the parliament were sent to jail. We don`t

like to let youths face their fate at courts alone. Just because they don`t have par-liamentary immunity.

The last thing is that this case can be considered as a new test to the Kuwaiti judiciary to prove being fair and indepen-dent which will never be subject to any pressures. We look forward to witness-ing a further success by our fair judiciary through this test.

Khalil Ali Haydar

The Muslim Brotherhood Movement has been opposing two things for decades. Although the movement was the first to call for applying them both. The readers might bbbe sur-

prised through discovering that the movement in 1952 had asked for assigning a president for Egypt wherein the very president can maintain the chair all his life. They called for such an issue before it occurred in any Arabian country. On September 16th, 2012- two months after the July Revolution- the movement submitted a draft constitution naming it the “Islamic draft constitution for Egypt”. The constitution consisted of 103 articles and the constitution named the parliament as a national assembly. According to the constitution the MP at that time represented the whole nation and not only with his electoral constituency. And MPs elected to represent the nation for five years.

The constitution indicated that people have the right to resist au-thorities if authorities could not achieve success for the citizens and the oppressed. Article 25 says that the MPs elect one of them as a president to the country and the president can maintain the chair all his life. The parliament also has the right to elect a prominent figure to hold the position of president even if such a figure is not an MP.

The movement opposed other issues such as socialism especially the confiscating of lands and huge estates from landlords. The Mus-lim Brotherhood in Syria supported certain principles of socialism therefore a leader of the movement had published a book by Damas-cus University in 1959 about supporting some socialist principles. The title of the book was “Socialism of Islam” and the book was published in Egypt many times.

In 1952 a researcher close to the movement prepared a research by the title “The Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian Society” and one of the prominent personalities of the movement had super-vised preparing the research which was conducted as a university seminar. The researcher said people will get surprised when they dis-cover that the movement was the first to call for restricting property in which such a step can be considered as one of the most important reform project at the time of the research. He added saying that the late leader Al-Banna called for that by the newspaper of the move-ment before 1948. The researcher unveiled that the leader said “Our Islamic instructions urge us to re-consider the property system in Egypt. As well as decreasing the huge property of people but the owners of such a huge amount of property should get convenient compensation in addition to encouraging owners of small projects to develop their projects in order to enable the poor to feel that they have something in the country and distributing the government property to the poor as well”. What about the Muslim Brotherhood Movement in Kuwait? The late Kuwaiti citizen Abdulaziz Al-Mutaw-wa established the first group for the movement in Kuwait in 1947 and it was similar to a bureau at that time after that it was changed into a society. Falah Al-Mudairees wrote a book about the move-ment but the movement did not call for putting a constitution to the country at that time. They did not even talk about freedom of faith, thinking or the right of establishing unions and societies although the movement in Egypt asked for such things. The movement in Ku-wait did not even call for observing the performance of the executive authority or public expenses unlike the movement of Egypt which called for many things such as restricting large properties.

Fuad Al-Hashem

In a reply to a comment made by some people over the participation of MP Shuaib Al-Muwaizeri in the recent majority MPs meeting, MP Shaye Al-Shaye said that

the minister had called him and asked him to take part in the event “as a Kuwaiti citizen not as a minister”. Accord-ing to Al-Shaye, he approved the minister’s participation based on such an idea.

Now let us see how many Kuwaiti citizens are in the country. According to the Civil Service Bureau the num-ber of Kuwaiti nationals have reached 1, 700, 000 people. So, if those people for the sake of the argument phoned MP Al-Shaye, I am sure that he would receive them all because of this particular principle in which he strongly believes in. Of course, we have to be realistic about this and admit that that was not the true reason behind the whole affair.

We know that there were different reasons all togeth-er. Minister Al-Muwaizeri took part in the event in his of-ficial capacity as a minister. Leaked information strongly suggests that. The minister’s warnings and observations are not meant to be made during an unofficial capacity.

This is alright but the issue here is the time and place the minister sought to deliver the message. My concern is not the ideas and ideologies Al-Muwaizeri entertains as a citizen. My concern is what Shuaib Al-Muwaizeri says as a minister.

As it turned out the minister was keen to address the

issue of national security carefully and deliberately. Ac-cordingly, one of the lines he had stressed on was “the issue of the national security of Kuwait would be compro-mised if Bashar Al-Assad’s regime was toppled.”

As a citizen, Al-Muwaizeri is in no doubt a decent and honest person. He is really down to earth and a God-fearing man. The problem here is that the minister Al-Muwaizeri who had taken part in the meeting was over loaded with recommendations.

Let me remind minister Al-Muwaizeri who seems to be aware of certain but baseless fears and anxieties regarding the security of the country. It was not a long time ago, during the early 1990s when our ally the United States entered Kuwait and liberated us from the Iraqi in-vasion and then after that did away with the regime of former president Saddam Hussein ending his nearly four decades of power and brutal rule.

The entire group of leading figures in the former re-gime were all put on trial and punished one way or the other. The entire army is now controlled and ruled by either the Iranians or the Syrians. All this is happening while we here in Kuwait are enjoying peace and security.

In fact, we are thoroughly enjoying peace and quiet and the needed security so much so that some had broken into the National Assembly.

Others say that churches should not be built and some say that religious places should be under close scrutiny. Not to mention of course the number of parliamentary interpellations conducted recently. This surely suggests that the country enjoys healthy freedom and that despite all nearby disturbances, conflicts and disputes in neigh-boring countries, there was never a direct impact on Ku-wait and its people.

If this is happening when Iraq is bordering our coun-try, so surely we should have no fear at all when the coun-try in concern is Syria whom we have no borders with. Problems were already there when the former regime of Colonel Qadhafi ended. The same thing goes for the for-mer regime of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

Again, in Yemen, there were demonstrations and armed fighting as in Libya, but again we never felt that the security and safety of Kuwait was seriously com-promised. I would like the minister to imagine a mes-sage from a Syrian who has been in hellish condition for

many months and found out that the minister prefers that Assad’s regime would be removed from power because there is fear and anxiety on his part that the security and safety of the country would be compromised. Surely, the issue, among other things, of killing innocent people, children, women and elderly people would be raised.

Perhaps, the Syrian citizen would also say something to the effect that it would be unfair for the lives of 25 million Syrians to be sacrificed for the benefit and con-venience of a few criminals ruling the country for many years with unmatchable brutality. Caution and pragma-tism go hand in hand. I am sure you agree.

I shall now move to one brief news that I found to be extremely sad. The new recruits in the Israeli army are now busy throwing canned food over the fences separat-ing them from the Syrian borders near the Golan Heights. The soldiers are feeding soldiers in Brigade seven and 10 because they were abandoned by the top officer in the army as the latter are busy designing and planning how to kill more and more innocent people of Syria.

One Israeli soldier managed to take a shot of some of the Syrian soldiers as they were pointing out to their mouth gesturing that they were hungry and they needed food desperately.

This war criminal Bashar Al-Assad is fully preoccu-pied with killing and massacring his own people and then the Islamic Republic of Iran is fully endorsing him and his actions against the civilians! How bizarre!

OPINIONTHURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

ALWATAN DAILY

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Pragmatism should dominate our minds not mere caution

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The Muslim Brotherhood Movements in Kuwait and Egypt

The minister’s warnings and observations are not meant to be made during an unofficial capacity.

Mohmmed Thallab mthallab@alwatan.com.kw

The other thing is that the former government and its corrupt media sources attempted to show such a step as a dangerous crime. They also tried to fabricate stories against the MPs and youths who entered the parliament.

Why have we called for lifting immunity?

The development

plan

Governm

ent

National

Assem

bly

Felix SalmonReuters

There’s a new credit card out there, called Barclay-card Ring, which manages the rare feat of being a good, solid financial product even as it’s also

incredibly gimmicky. It’s being branded as “the first ever crowd-sourced credit card” - a financial product “built on a community” which, by the looks of the stock photography on the website, is full of incredibly happy, healthy, outdoorsy types who live only in bright sunshine. You don’t just apply for this thing, you “join the conversation”.

Which is not to say you shouldn’t apply. This card has an eight percent APR, and no penalty APR. You miss a payment? You default on some other credit card debt? Your APR stays at eight percent. For “revolvers” - people carrying a balance - this has got to be one of the cheapest credit cards out there, and certainly one of the least dangerous. The fee schedule is the one place where you don’t find gimmicks: no 0% APR balance transfers (with three percent up-front fee hidden in the small print), no hugely complicated reward program you’re never going to use, no annual membership fee which you have to mentally amortize against the per-ceived value of all those hypothetical rewards.

I hope and trust that the idea of a card without a penalty APR will catch on. Under new regulations, credit-card companies aren’t allowed to apply a new penalty APR to the entire balance being revolved any-more; they have to apply it just to new purchases - and they have to pay that high-rate balance down first. As a result, penalty APRs aren’t nearly as profitable as they used to be. And when you do introduce a card with no penalty APR, it becomes incredibly easy to make ap-ples-to-apples comparisons between cards: you should just go for the one with the lower rate.

Barclaycard is also promising to publish its own P&L statement for the card, showing how much money it’s making from interest payments, from late fees, and from interchange fees.

That’s going to be interesting, when it starts be-ing published in the next few months. It says that any profit over and above its own reasonable hurdle-rate expectations will then be rebated back into the “com-munity” somehow, although the exact mechanism here is unclear. The general idea seems to be that if the card members want something like onshore card servicing, then they’ll be given the choice to essentially pay for it, out of the excess profits that the card is rebating back to them.

At the same time, watching a big bank try to be all cool and down with the social kids can be rather like watching your father try to rap. The Twitter feed is em-barrassing enough, but the sponsored posts are much worse. For instance: companies who “get” social media are “are the ones that are leading the fold and have good futures ahead of them”, says BrainFoggles, who seems to have been paid to write that by something called Dweeb Media, which specializes in “creating conversational blog post campaigns”.

And when I spoke to Barclaycard’s Paul Wilmore, I was far from convinced when he tried to sell me on the idea that if people with a Barclaycard Ring feel as though they’re part of a community, they’re going to be less likely to default on that card. That might be true with credit-union credit cards, where people really are part of a pre-existing community. But I doubt that the group of people with this Mastercard rather than that one will ever cohere into something real enough to change collective behavior by 200-300bp, as Wilmore is hoping.

For the representative of an exercise in radical transparency, Wilmore was also surprisingly reticent on some pretty basic issues. For instance, what’s Bar-claycard’s profit margin going to be on this card? That number is going to be public, but he wouldn’t even give me a hint. Or, why do you need to become a card-member before being able to read either the official cardmember agreement or the shorter summary agree-ment? Why aren’t those documents freely available on the card’s website, for people to read before they apply for the card?

Wilmore did tell me, quite proudly, that Barclay-card has filed no fewer than 14 patents around this card, which scared me a little: I’m not a fan of the idea that financial innovations can or should be patented. Insofar as there are good ideas here, I want to see them broadly adopted, but if anything these patents seem designed to discourage anybody else from trying out interesting products in this space.

In a sense, then, I wish that Barclaycard had just re-leased a simple no-annual-fee, no-rewards, no-penalty-APR card and left it at that. I fear that the gimmicky social side of Barclaycard Ring is going to overshadow the fact that underneath its trendy exterior it’s actu-ally a perfectly good product. Even if, as someone in fi-nancial media, I will admit to looking forward to those P&L statements.

Felix Salmon is the finance blogger at Reuters. The opinions expressed are his own.

It’s not simply an austerity backlash in the euro zone; it is a policy backlash, as every-one appears to blame everyone else for a

host of overlapping and conflicting policies which clearly aren’t working.

A series of political and monetary ructions are showing that it is very difficult to predict with any confidence what path Europe will choose, much less who will lead it there or even how the euro zone will be constituted and or-ganized.

All of this argues for increased risk premia on euro zone assets, a conclusion duly enacted on Monday by financial markets. Little sur-prise, given developments:

Conservative French President Nicolas Sarkozy came second to Socialist Francois Hol-lande in a first round election over the week-end, and is expected to lose a May sixth runoff, leaving France likely led by a man who aims to renegotiate the European fiscal pact to make it more growth-friendly. Sarzoky’s hopes are now pinned on wooing enough of the nearly 18

percent of voters who opted for far-right, anti-immigration candidate Marine Le Pen. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his cabinet ten-dered their resignation after his coalition was unable to convince the anti-immigration, anti-euro Freedom party to sign on for the budget cuts needed to hit EU targets.

On the same Sunday, May sixth, that France returns to the polls Greece is to hold an elec-tion, with the largest number of seats expected to fall to the New Democracy party, whose lead-er Antonis Samaras is pledging lower taxes, of all things, and to call a halt to across-the-board wage and pension cuts, expecting to make up the shortfall through better collections. Magic beans have thus far not been mentioned.

The common denominator here is clearly some measure of revulsion at the prospect and impact of fiscal austerity, and not without some cause. Austerity as it is being practiced, with nation-states expected to slim down without

recourse to a weakening currency but instead propped, inefficiently, by the ECB and, insuf-ficiently, by the promise of collective action, is managing at the same time to both stifle growth and make the economy dependent on ECB pain relief.

It is not quite as simple as that. What makes the future path of events in the euro zone even more difficult to forecast is the mass support being won by fringe parties, some of which share antipathy to the euro and immigrants but some of which seem simply eccentric.

Even in staid Germany, the architect of fis-cal austerity, things have taken a turn towards the bizarre, where the amorphous Pirate Party came third in a national opinion poll, behind only Angela Merkel’s ruling conservatives and her rival Social Democrats.

The Pirates, whose loose platform concen-trates on issues of freedom of speech and free-dom of the Internet, recently attracted censure

when a leading member compared the party’s rise to that of the Nazis, a blunder for which he has since apologized.

Clearly, we are in choppy, if not tremen-dously deep, waters, making it all the more dif-ficult to predict how things will play out.

Also of interest, and concern, is the grow-ing, if not new, rift between how the ECB be-lieves it should be left to get on with its job and how politicians across the euro zone seem to think things ought to work.

Hollande has called on the ECB to cut rates and to begin to lend directly to governments, a step the bank is by charter forbidden to take. Officials from Spain’s Economy Ministry have called publicly on the ECB to increase its pur-chase of bonds.

“The success of the next phase of the cri-sis response will hinge on Europe’s willing-ness and ability, together with the European Central Bank, to apply its tools and processes

creatively, flexibly and aggressively to support countries as they implement reforms and stay ahead of markets,” US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told the IMF at its recent meeting. The IMF also pressured the ECB to be more active.

Little of this sits well with the ECB, which probably ultimately will be forced to act in support if events spiral badly, but which surely would do so reluctantly and quite possibly be both a day late and a euro short.

ECB council member and Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann turned his fire in the op-posite direction in a speech in New York on Monday.

“More of the same will not take us any-where,” Weidmann said. “The analgesic we administer comes with side effects. And the longer we apply it, the greater these side effects will be, and they will come back to haunt us in the future.”

Weidmann is right: he is being asked to do the impossible, and being asked to do it often by people who are only making his job more difficult and the results of ECB intervention less beneficial.

The only sensible and predictable actors seem to be those who, looking at the scene, are selling euro zone assets.

James Saft is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

Euro zone’s backlash whiplash

viewsTHURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

ALwATAN DAiLY

7

The common denominator here is clearly some measure of revulsion at the prospect and impact of fiscal austerity, and not without some cause.

When credit cards go social Cancer by the numbers

ReutersJames Saft

John Allen PaulosProject Syndicate

It is difficult to communicate medical risk to a large audience, especially when official recommendations conflict with emo-tional narratives. That is why, when the United States Preven-

tive Services Task Force (USPSTF) in 2009 presented its guide-lines for breast cancer screening, which recommended against routine screenings for asymptomatic women in their 40’s and biennial, rather than annual, mammograms for women over 50, the public responded with confused fury.

The key to understanding this response is to be found in the nebulous zone between mathematics and psychology. People’s discomfort with the findings stemmed largely from faulty intu-ition: if earlier and more frequent screening increases the likeli-hood of detecting a possibly fatal cancer, then more screening is always desirable.

If more screening can detect breast cancer in asymptomatic women in their 40’s, wouldn’t it also detect cancer in women in their 30’s? And, if so, why not, reductio ad absurdum, begin monthly mammograms at age 15?

The answer, of course, is that such intensive screening would cause more harm than good. But striking the proper balance is challenging. Unfortunately, it is not easy to weigh breast cancer’s dangers against the cumulative effects of radiation from dozens of mammograms over the years, the invasiveness of biopsies, and the debilitating impact of treating slow-growing tumors that would never have proven fatal.

The USPSTF recently issued an even sharper warning about the prostate-specific antigen test for prostate cancer, after con-cluding that the test’s harms outweigh its benefits. Chest X-rays for lung cancer and Pap tests for cervical cancer have received similar, albeit less definitive, criticism.

The next step in the reevaluation of cancer screening was taken last year, when researchers at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy announced that the costs of screening for breast cancer were often minimized, and that the benefits were much exaggerated.

Indeed, even a mammogram (almost 40 million are given an-nually in the US) that detects a cancer does not necessarily save a life.

The Dartmouth researchers found that, of the estimated 138,000 breast cancers detected annually in the US, the test did not help 120,000-134,000 of the afflicted women. The cancers either were growing so slowly that they did not pose a prob-lem, or they would have been treated successfully if discovered clinically later (or they were so aggressive that little could be done).

A related concern is measurement. Since the patient’s dura-tion of survival is calculated from the time of diagnosis, more sensitive screening starts the clock sooner. Survival times can thus appear longer, even if the earlier diagnosis had no real effect on survival.

Naturally, individual cases dictate which tests and treatments are best, but an additional concern about frequent screenings is the problem of false positives. When one is looking for something relatively rare (whether cancer or terrorists), it is wise to remem-ber that a positive result is often false. Either the “detected” pa-thology is not there, or it is not the sort that will kill you.

Consider the following hypothetical example. Assume that the screening test for a certain cancer is 95 percent accurate, meaning that if someone has the cancer, the test will be positive 95 percent of the time. Next, assume that if someone does not have the cancer, the test will be positive only one percent of the

time. Finally, assume further that 0.5 percent of people - one of every 200 - actually have this type of cancer. If your doctor tells you that you have tested positive, does this mean that you are likely to have the cancer? Surprisingly, the answer is no.

A little arithmetic shows why. Suppose that 100,000 screen-ings are conducted. On average, 500 people will have the cancer. Since 95 percent of them will test positive, there will be, on av-erage, 475 positive tests. Of the 99,500 people without cancer, one percent will test positive, yielding 995 false positives out of 1,470 positive tests. In other words, even if you tested positive for the cancer, the probability that you actually have it is only about 32 percent.

That answer is decidedly counterintuitive and hence easy to reject. Most people do not think in terms of probabilities other than “50-50” and “one in a million.” But, whatever the prob-abilities, the fact remains that there will generally be a high per-centage of false positives when screening for rare conditions. Moreover, the patients who receive these faulty diagnoses will usually receive further treatments, which often will have harmful consequences.

The “availability heuristic” - a pervasive cognitive bias caused by people’s tendency to estimate the likelihood of a phenomenon by how easily an example of it comes to mind - routinely clouds the issue. People relate much more readily to a friend dying of cancer than they do to statistics about strangers suffering from the consequences of testing.

But the bottom line is that the ongoing reevaluation of can-cer screening is evidence-based. When it comes to policymaking, decisions must be based on facts and argument, not anecdotes and stories, however compelling those narratives may be.

John Allen Paulos is Professor of Mathematics at Temple University and the author of Innumeracy and A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper.

People’s discomfort with the findings stemmed largely from faulty intuition: if earlier and more frequent screening increases the likelihood of detecting a possibly fatal cancer, then more screening is always desirable.

Barclaycard is also promising to publish its own P&L statement for the card, showing how much money it’s making from interest payments, from late fees, and from interchange fees.

FILE- Lindfors opposes a measure approved by the state Legislature earlier this month, that would require health facilities performing mammograms to notify patients with dense tissue that they may want to receive additional screenings. (AP)

FILE - A building of Swiss bank Credit Suisse in Zurich, Switzerland, March 12, 2012. (AP)

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NoodlesSalmiya Tel: 25712233

The PeacockRadisson Blu HotelTel: 25673000

Noodle Factory AvenuesTel: 24954751

• ContinentalCasper & Gambini’s

Kuwait CityTel: 22430054

La MarinaSharq MallTel: 22426672

• fast fooDBurger King

Tel: 22444466

Domino’s Pizza Tel: 1800800

Hardees Tel: 1888333

KFC Tel: 1888666

Little Caesar’s Tel: 1888855

Pizza Hut

Tel: 1815050• frenChLe Notre

Gulf RoadTel: 25758888

• inDianDawat Restaurant

Bneid Al GarTel: 22411728 Abu HalifaTel: 23724251Al Alamia Mall, JahraTel: 24554642

Taal RestaurantSalmiya Beda’Tel: 22253142

Winner’sSalmiya Tel: 25739954Abu Halifa Tel: 23711374 / 5Riggae Tel: 24895501 / 2Jahra Tel: 24560088/8800

Asha’sTel: 22244502/3/9Marina CrescentTel: 24954700

BukharaSheraton HotelTel: 22422055

Tourist RestaurantKuwait CityTel: 22411702

Mugal MahalFarwaniyaTel: 24726126/7FintasTel: 23915588SalmiyaTel: 25722223/4SharqTel: 22425132

TikkaTel: 1822833

• internationalAl-Bustan

Radisson Blu HotelTel: 25673000

Al-HamraSheraton HotelTel: 22422055

Al-Marsa Restaurant

Le MeridienTel: 22510999

Atrium Restaurant

Courtyard Marriott Hotel

Tel: 22997000

Beit 7Kuwait CityTel: 22450871

Café RioAl-FanarTel: 25732226

DunesRitz HotelTel: 22499911

FailakaAl-Manshar Rotana HotelTel: 23931000

La BrasserieJW MarriottTel: 22455550

RitzShamiyaTel: 24820184 ShuwaikhTel: 24844350

SquareInternationalTel: 22437681

Test n’ TasteVilla ModaTel: 24827010

Teatro Hilton Kuwait ResortTel: 23725500

Flavors RestaurantSafir Hotel &Residences -FintasTel: 25455555

AlRoshinah Restaurant

Safir Hotel &Residences -FintasTel: 25455555

• italianCiro’s Pomodoro

Kuwait CityTel: 22424004

Il Forno Restaurant

Courtyard Marriot HotelTel: 22997000

Johnny Carino’sSalmiyaTel: 22667050

La PiazzaKuwait CityTel: 24246639

Lorenzo

Kuwait CityTel: 22400737

NinoGulf RoadTel: 22541900

Pizza ExpressAbdullah Al-SalemTel: 22560273Al-Bida’aTel: 22253166 AirportTel: 24342681Tel: 23725500

RicardoSheraton HotelTel: 22422055

• JapaneseEdo

Shaab Tel: 22659590

KeiJW Marriott HotelTel: 22422650

Korea & Japan Restaurant

New Park HotelTel: 25634200

Maki Al-Blajat St.Tel: 25733561Marina WavesTel: 22244560

SakuraCrowne Plaza HotelTel: 24742000

ShogunThe Palms HotelTel: 27070022

Sushi ClubAl-Blajat St.Tel: 25712144

WasabiAl-Bida’aTel: 22253112Kuwait CityTel: 22494000

• lebanese Al-Berdawny Palace

Tel: 25661117

Ayam ZamanHoliday InnTel: 18477777

Burg Al-HamamGulf RoadTel: 22529095

Saj ExpressKuwait CityTel: 22497822

Fakhr Al-Din Restaurant

Kuwait CityTel: 22423180

GardenNew Park HotelTel: 25634200

Kabab-JiTel: 1861616

Mais Al-GhanimKuwait CityTel: 22402590

Palm PalaceSalmiyaTel: 25756331

Saj ExpressKuwait CityTel: 22497822

SaraiAl-Bida’aTel: 22253180/1

Shisha &

ManoushaSalmiyaTel: 25722607 / 8

Villa FairouzShaabTel: 22652030

Yeldes Palace Kuwait CityTel: 22455212

Zahrat TunisHawalli Tel: 22662444/333

• persianKabab Al-Hijja

Bnaid Al-GarTel: 22517512

ShabistanCrowne Plaza HotelTel: 24742000

• seafooDAl-Ahmadi

Crowne Plaza HotelTel: 24742000

Al-Boom Radisson Blu HotelTel: 25756000

Al-NoukhazaCrowne Plaza HotelTel: 24742000

ShrimpyGulf RoadTel: 22563118

Totally FishMarina CrescentTel: 22244960/1

• steak houseRelais De L’Entrecote

Al-Fanar ComplexTel: 25729600

Terrace Grill JW Marriott HotelTel: 22455550

The Gaucho GrillThe Palms HotelTel: 25667370 -

• tex-MexChi Chi’s

SalmiyaTel: 25625811

Tumbleweed Southern Grill

Al-Bida’aTel: 22253154/5

Te l : 1 8 3 9 0 9 0Salmiya - Jabriya - Keifanwww.healthstop.com.kw

eMergenCY - police - fire - ambulance 112 - traffiC hotline 1 88 41 41 CiVil iD 1 88 99 88 - airport 1888 180 - kaC booking 17 1 HOTLINESERVCES

fajer 03 : 46

shorook 05 : 10

Dohor 11 : 46

aser 03 : 21

Maghreb 06 : 21

ishaa 07 : 43

praYer tiMes

Telephone for Test & Complaints

MINISTRy OfC O M M u N I C a T I O N S

Jabriya (Surra)Jleeb Al-ShuyoukhOld JahraNew Jahra & AbdalyHawallyRas Al-SalmiyaAl-RiqaSalmiyaShuwaikhSabah Al-Salem (Messila)SulaibiyaSulaibikhat

2531 00002431 00002477 00002457 0000

2261 00002571 00002394 00002561 00002481 00002551 0000

2467 00002487 0000

MINISTRIESAwqaf & Islamic AffairsCommerce & IndustryCommunicationsDefenseEducationHealthHigher EducationElectricity & WaterFinance

2248 00002248 00002481 90332484 83002481 77022487 74222240 13002537 10002248 0000

HOSpITaL CHaRgESf O R E x p a T R I a T E S

C.T. Scan KD 95 KD 70Angiogram KD 90 KD 140 I.V.P KD 55 KD 40MCUG KD 55 KD 40Asc Urothrogram KD 55 KD 40Sinogram KD 40 KD 40Sialogram KD 40 KD 40

H.S.C. KD 40 KD 40Barium Enema KD 50 KD 35Barium Meal KD 45 KD 30O.C.G. KD 45 KD 30 Ultrasound KD 15 KD 10 Ultrasound desfruct KD 130 KD 65M.R.I. KD 245 KD 180

VISITORS RESIDENTS VISITORS RESIDENTS

aMbulanCeCentral Adan 23940600 / 23941455Amiri Hospital 22422366Da’iya 22510854Fahaheel 23919098Farwaniya 24883000Farwaniya 24725149Jahra 24570583Mubarak Al Kabir 25311437Sabah 24815000Salmiya 25739011Shuaiba 23261927

publiC hospitals

Adan General Hospital 23940600Al-Sabah Chest Hospital 24815000Al-Sabah Maternity Hospital 24848067Amiri General Hospital 22450080As’ad Al-Hamad Dermatology Center 24832067Farwaniya General Hospital 24883000Ibn Sina Hospital 24840300Jahra General Hospital 24575300Mubarak Al-Kabeer General Hospital 25312700Subhan Renal Hospital 24840027Sulaibikhat Orthopedic Hospital 24874240

priVate hospitalsAl-Rashid Hospital 25624000Dar Al-Shifa Hospital 22802555Hadi Clinic 1828282London Hospital 1883883Mowasat Hospital 25726666Salam Hospital 22533177

priVate health Centers/ CliniCs

Boushahri Clinic 1885544British Medical Center 23713100Care Clinic 22610666International Clinic 25745111

publiC health Centers/ CliniCs:

Dasman Clinic 22447602Faiha Polyclinic 22545188Farwaniya Polyclinic 24726033Hawalli Polyclinic 22611645Inaya Germen Medical Center 25750777Sabah Al-Salem Clinic 25524821Salmiya Polyclinic 25723500Shamiya Clinic 25610660Shuwaikh Clinic 24848913Yarmouk Clinic 25336482

MEdICaL SERVICES C E N T R a L 4 7 2 2 0 0 0

Andrology, Male Infertility and Im-potence SpecialistAbdullatif A. Al Salim 2533 4438

Dentists & Oral SurgeonsAhmed Al Balool 2262 2211Badri K. Al Rayes 2574 2557Duha Al Shaqan 2264 4614Ebraheem Behbehani 2573 0000Farida Al Herz 2257 3883Maria Blanaru 2573 0000Najat Essa-Bahman 2262 4595Najeeb Kassim 2573 9277Salwa A. Abdulsalam 2573 0000Kuwait Medical Center 2575 9044 / 5

EndocrinologistsLatifa Al Dowaisan 2572 8004Kamal Abdulaziz Al Shome 2532 9924

Ear, Nose & Throat SurgeonsHossam Eldin Abdulfattah 2574 5056Abdulmohsen Mousa Jafar 2565 5535

Dermatologist & VenereologistsFahad I. Al Othman 2266 5166Taibah M. Almonayes 2573 7477Dr. Mohamed Bo Hamra 2266 5166

GastroenterologistMohamed A. Al Shimali 2532 2030 - 2263 9955

UrologistFawzi Taher Abul 2565 0064Ali Yousef Mehdi 2533 3501

General PractitionerDina Al Rifai 2533 3501 - 2533 3502

Obstetricians & GynecologistsSamira Al Awadi 2573 8055Ma’asouma Maksheed 2573 1275Mohamed Gamal 2534 9077Mai Al Snan 2532 1171

Cosmetic SurgeonDr. Adel Quttainah 2562 5030 / 60

dOCTORS & dENTISTS I N p R I V a T E p R a C T I C E

Tel.: FaxAfghanistan 2532 9461 2532 6274Algeria 2251 9220 2251 9497Argentina 2537 9211 2537 9212Austria 2255 2532 2256 3052Australia 2232 2422 2232 2430Azerbaijan 2535 5247 2535 5246Bahrain 2531 8530 2533 0882Bangladesh 2531 6042 / 3 2531 6041Belgium 25722014 2574 8389Bhutan 2251 6640 / 50 2251 6550Bosnia 2539 2637 2539 2106Brazil 2532 8610 2532 8613Bulgaria 2531 4458 2532 1453Canada 2256 3025 2256 4167China 2533 3340 2533 3341Cuba 2254 9361 2254 9360Cyprus 2243 3075 2240 2971Czech 2252 9018 2252 9021Denmark 2534 1005 2534 1007Egypt 2251 9956 2256 3877Ethiopia 2533 4291 2533 1179Eritrea 2531 7426 2531 7429Finland 2531 2890 2532 4198France 2257 1061 2257 1058Germany 2252 0827 2252 0763Greece 2481 7101 2481 7103Georgia 2535 2909 2535 4707Hungary 2532 3901 2532 3904India 2253 0600 2257 1192Indonesia 2483 9927 2481 9250Iran 2256 0694 2252 9868Italy 2535 6011 2535 6030Japan 2530 9400 2530 9401Kenya 25353314 / 25353362 25353316Lebanon 2256 2103 2257 2182

Libya 2257 5183 2257 5182Malaysia 2255 0394/5/6 2255 0384Morocco 2531 2980 / 1 2531 7423Netherlands 2531 2650 2532 6334Niger 2565 2943 2564 0478Nigeria 2562 0278 2562 0296North Korea 2532 9462 2535 1097Oman 2256 1956 2256 1963Pakistan 2532 7651 2532 8013Philippines 2534 9099 2532 9319Poland 2531 1571 2531 1576Qatar 2251 3606 2251 3604Republic of Botswana 2538 3619 2539 3529Romania 2484 5079 2484 8929Russia 2256 0427 2252 4969Saudi Arabia 2240 0250 2242 0654Senegal 2257 3477 2254 2044Slovak Republic 2535 3895 2535 3894Somalia 2539 4795 2539 4829South Africa 2561 7988 2561 7917South Korea 2533 9601 2531 2459Spain 2532 5829 / 7 2532 5826Sri Lanka 2533 9140 2533 9154Switzerland 2534 0172 / 5 2534 0176Syria 2539 6560 2539 6509Thailand 2531 7530 2531 7532Tunisia 2252 6261 2252 8995Turkey 2253 1785 2256 0653UAE 2535 5764 UK 2259 4320 2259 4339Ukraine 2531 8507 USA 2259 1001 2538 0282Venezuela 2532 4367 2532 4368Vietnam 2531 1450 2535 1592Yugoslavia 2532 7548 2532 7568Zimbabwe 2562 1517 2562 1491

EMbaSSIES &C O N S u L a T E S

Foreign AffairsHousingInformationJustice, Legal & Administrative AffairsEnergyPlanningSocial Affairs & LabourPublic Works

2242 51412530 10002241 5301

2248 00002241 52012242 82002248 00002538 5520

South SabahiyaFintas ZoorAhmadiArdiyaFahaheelFarwaniyaKuwait CityMishrefManqafNuzhaUmm Al Haiman & WafraShuaiba

2361 00002390 00002395 00002398 00002488 00002391 00002471 00002240 00002538 00002371 00002251 00002328 0000

2326 0000

9 4 9 0 4 0 4 0warsha@warsha.comWE FIX IT

O n - s i t e I T s e r v i c e sCall, sms, Email us

SERVICESTHURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

ALWATAN DAILY

8

RESTauRaNTL I S T I N g S

Bus No. Origin Destination Via

METROpOLITaN a R E a b u S R O u T E S

Orthopaedic Orthopaedic Kheitan *MessilaSalmiyah *Kheitan *SalmiyahOrrthopaedicAl-Jleeb Al-Jleeb *Al-JleebKheitanSalmiyahJahra GateSulaibiyaAl JleebKheitanJabriyaSalmiyahAl-JleebMessilahKheitanFahaheelKheitanAl Jleeb *Al-Jleeb *FahaheelFahaheelJahraFahaheelJahra GateAirportFahaheelAl-JleebAl-JleebFahaheel

1112131415161718202122232425262931323436383940415159 *101102103105139501502506507602

SharqSharq MirgabMirgabMirgabJahra GateSharq MirgabSharq MirgabSharqMirgabMirgabJabriyaSharqMirgabSharqSharq SharqSalmiyahJahra GateSharqSharq UN CircleMirgabMirgabMirgabMirgabMirgabAl-JleebFahaheelMirgabMirgabJahra GateSharqFahaheel

Shuwaikh4th Ring RdAirport RdRas Salmiyah4th Ring Rd4th Ring RdHawalliShuwaikhKheitanFarwaniyah3rd Ring Rd King Faisal RdHawalliHawalliAndalusShuwaikhShamiyahNuzhaFarwaniyahFarwaniyahBayanShuwaikhShuwaikhAl Rai6th Ring RdAl HasawiSabah Salem3rd Ring RdJahra RdShuwaikhUN CircleJahra RdFahaheel RdHawalliShuwaikhAhmadi

Tel.:

Abu Halifa 2371 7656Ahmadi 2398 0304Ardiya 2488 1273Bayan 2538 7762Dahar 2383 0500Dahiya 2256 0855Dasma 2253 1917Fahaheel 2391 2959Faiha 2255 2693Farwaniya 2471 1977Ferdous 2489 0583Fintas 2390 4388Hawalli 2264 1116Jabriya 2531 5855Jahra Ind. Area 2457 5565 / 2458 7392Jahra North 2455 2295Jleeb Al Shouyoukh 2431 1234Keifan 2483 2839Kheitan 2472 2590Mina Abdullah 2326 1144Nugra 2261 6662Omariya 2474 2160

Qadsiya 2257 4386Qurain 2542 3772Rabiah 2474 2160Rawda 2256 0058Riqqa 2394 1958Rumaithiya 2562 4123Sabah Al-Salem 2551 7229Sabahiya 2361 5619Salhiya (Kuwait City) 2242 7157Salmi 2457 6576Salmiya 2572 6950Salwa 2562 6950Shamiya 2484 5953Sharq 2244 2466Shuaiba Ind. Area 2326 1789Shuwaikh 2481 3726 / 2484 4842Sulaibekhat 2487 6555Sulaibiya 2467 0672Sulaibiya Ind. Area 2467 2728Surra 2531 2220Tayma’a 2457 1700Wafra 2381 0412Waha 2455 7902Zour 2395 0160

pOLICE STaTIONS

HOTELS FIVE STARAl-Manshar Rotana Hotel 23931000Crowne Plaza Kuwait 24772000Hilton Kuwait Resort 23725500JW Marriot Kuwait City Hotel 22455550Kempinski Julai’a Hotel & Resort 1 844 444The Regency Hotel & Resort 25766666Le Meridien 22510999Le Meridien Tower 22831831Marina Hotel Kuwait 22244970Movenpick Albid’a 22253100Movenpick 24610033Palms Beach Hotel & Spa 22824060Radisson Blu Hotels & Resorts 25673000Refad Palace 23908630Safir International Hotel Kuwait 22530000Sheraton Kuwait Hotel & Towers 22422055Safir Hotel & Residences Kuwait 25455555

FOUR STARCarlton Tower Hotel 22452740The Courtyard by Marriott Kuwait 22997000El Joan Resort 23281897Four Points by Sheraton Kuwait 22415001

Ghani Palace Hotel 25710301Holiday Inn 1 847 777Khalifa Resort 23280144Kuwait Continental Hotel 22527300New Park Hotel 25634200Al Bastaki Hotel 22555081Al Dana Hotel 23902760Heritage Village 22520600Palace Hotel 1 821 111Shiik Flamingo Hotel & Resort 25725050Swiss-Belhotel Plaza Kuwait 22436686

THREE STARImperial Hotel 22528766Oasis Hotel 22465489Safari House Hotel 22443136Second Home Hotel 22532100Spring Continental Hotel 25742410Ibis Hotel Salmiya 25713872Ibis Hotel Sharq 22928080

TWO STARInternational Hotel 25741788Kuwait Residence Hotel 22467560

CAPITALS: Standard & Poor’s (S&P) on Wednesday downgraded India’s cred-it outlook to negative as a weakening economy and gaping fiscal deficit put the country’s prized investment-grade rating at risk. The agency maintained India’s rat-ing at ‘BBB-’, but warned it faces at least a one-in-three chance of losing its status if its financial situation worsens.

The “BBB-” is one notch above ‘junk,’ which carries an increased risk of default and would see India having to pay higher interest rates on its public borrowing.

“India’s investment and economic growth have slowed and its current-ac-count deficit has widened, resulting in a weaker medium-term credit outlook,” S&P credit analyst Takahira Ogawa said in a media conference call.

“We are revising the outlook on the long-term ratings on India to negative.”

Asia’s third-largest economy is bat-tling stubborn inflation, the widest budget deficit of all major emerging economies, a weak fiscal position and slower growth on the domestic front.

Uncertainty in global markets and Europe’s long-running sovereign debt cri-sis have added to the pressures. India’s benchmark Sensex share index fell 150 points after the S&P announcement be-fore retracing some of its losses to trade

down nearly a percentage point, or 133.21 points, at 17,090.98. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, seeking to reassure investors, said the government was “con-fident of overcoming difficulties”, telling

reporters “there is no need for panic”.India’s economic reform process has

been paralyzed by a string of political scan-dals that has beset Prime Minister Manmo-han Singh’s Congress-led government.

S&P in 2007 hiked India’s credit rating to investment-grade, a move that paved the way for global funds to invest in govern-ment bonds and other debt in the country.

But now, Ogawa said, “there’s at least a one-in-three chance we may move the rating down in the next 24 months if the external position deteriorates, growth prospects diminish or progress on fiscal re-forms remains slow.”

India’s fiscal deficit was 5.9 percent of gross domestic product in the fiscal year ended on March 31, swelled by social spending programs targeting the country’s hundreds of millions of poor.

The government hopes to trim the defi-cit to 5.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, but analysts are skeptical given the government’s record borrowing plans.

India’s economy is forecast to expand around 7.6 percent this fiscal year, from the 6.9 percent estimated for last year, the second slowest pace in a decade.

S&P’s negative outlook came as Moody’s Analytics, part of credit analysis giant Moody’s Corp, said India’s economy was growing well below potential.

“The government has lost all momen-tum” on economic reforms, Glenn Levine, senior economist at Moody’s Analytics, said in an investor note. -AFP

thursdAY, April 26, 2012

BUSINESSSee page 11

Kuwait 2011 current account surplus jumps 78%

Bourse ends day’s trading at 6,326.5 points

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s current account surplus surged 78 percent in 2011 mainly thanks to a jump in exports, the Gulf Arab country’s central bank said on Wednes-day.The current account of one of the world’s top oil exporters booked a surplus of 19.53 billion Kuwaiti di-nars (70.3 billion US dollars) in 2011, or 54.8 percent of 2010 gross domestic product, compared to 10.98 bil-lion in 2010, or 30.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), it said.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected Kuwait’s current account surplus to reach 35.2 percent of GDP in 2011 and 33.6 percent of GDP this year.

“That increase...was mainly an outcome of the rise in the surplus of the balance of goods,” the central bank said, adding that it soared by 66.7 percent on an annual basis.

It has not yet released 2011 GDP data for the mem-ber of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Coun-tries (OPEC) economy.

Growth in the net value of Kuwaiti residents’ assets abroad also accelerated during 2011, the central bank said.

Taking into account the net value of external assets of some government institutions and the central bank’s own reserves, the account showed an overall surplus of KD 13.46 billion compared to a KD 10.48 billion sur-plus in 2010.

In more news, trading ended at Kuwait Stock Ex-change (KSE) Wednesday on a mixed board, though main indices were green. The price index gained 8.9 points to reach 6,326.5 points, while the weighted in-dex came to 419.53 points a drop of 1.75 points. Trades came to 5,505 spot transactions worth 38,599,110 Ku-waiti dinars, with 550,860, 000 shares changing hands till end of session.

As for sector indices, there were four readings in

green and three in red. Top gainer sector was industrial which put on 40.1 index points, while biggest loser was banking on a down of 85 index points.

Top share for the day was that of Manazel Holding Company, while biggest loser was the Gulf Franchising Holding Company stock. Top-volume share was that of Abyaar Real Estate Development Company.

Meanwhile, trading at Kuwait Stock Exchange starts the day in red with a drop of 2 points, reading 6,325.6 points at 9:39 a.m. Wednesday, while the weighted index came to 420.44 points, down 0.84 points.

Trades came to 1,220 spot transactions, valued at KD 8.6 million and with 113.6 million shares changing hands. -Agencies

Shareholders approve 10% bonus shares distributionCompiled by Al Watan Daily

KUWAIT: Award winning Jazeera Airways Group held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Shareholders at the company’s headquarters in Kuwait where share-holders approved the Board’s recommendation to issue a 10 percent bonus shares to shareholders following a record-breaking year.

For the year 2011, the company earned record 10.6 million Kuwaiti dinars in net profit with an earnings per share (eps) of 48 Kuwaiti fils, a record KD 57.8 million in revenue, up 36 percent from 2010, and a record KD 14.9 million in operating profit.

FY2011 Financial Highlights:

• FY2011 revenue of KD 57.8 million, up 36 percent from FY 2010’s KD 42.6 million

• FY2011 operating profit of KD 14.9 million, vs. KD 1.0 million in 2010• FY2011 net profit of KD 10.6 million, vs. FY2010’s net loss of KD 2.8 million• FY2011 average yield: 46 percent

The results reflect the success of the company’s Turn-Around Plan that was implemented in second quarter 2010 and had steered the company into continued profit-ability for the last six quarters.

Jazeera Airways Group Chairman Marwan Boodai said, “The year 2011 was a record-breaking year despite the continued over capacity, the impact of political un-rest on travel within our network, and an increasing fuel cost. Jazeera Airways today has a solid network, increas-ing load factors, reduced cost, high aircraft utilization, in addition to an aircraft leasing arm with assets deployed across the globe, from the US to the Middle East to Asia. Jazeera Airways Group today has a sustainable business model that has generated sustainable profitability quar-ter-on-quarter for six quarters in-a-row.”

Speaking to shareholders, Boodai gave an overview of the company’s focus areas and milestones in 2011. He

said, “We had three priorities in 2011. First, building on the momentum of record-breaking returns seen in Q3 and Q4 2010.Second, successfully mitigating the impact of the political unrest on the business. And third, captur-ing a strong market share on the Cairo-Kuwait route that was launched in May 2011.”

Bodai said that the initial indicators for the first quarter of this year show positive results and fair per-formance. He also expected that the public registration will begin next July to increase the capital of the com-pany. Bodai said that the company is seeking to increase the capital by 20 million Kuwaiti dinars with 100 fils the nominal value for each share.

“The total amount of capital will then reach KD 44 million,” he remarked.

Bodai’s statement came during the General Assembly extraordinary meeting on Wednesday. He explained that the Al-Jazeera Airlines is about to complete procedures regarding hiring a new plane from the Sahab Company by net July.

He also said that the plane would be ready for opera-tional purposes as the airlines is expecting more opera-tional activities following the launch of Najaf Airport.

Dubai lender ENBD posts $174.51 million Q1 net profit

DUBAI: Emirates National Bank of Dubai (ENBD) is wary of new regulations limiting loan exposures to state-linked entities, Dubai’s larg-est lender said on Wednesday, after posting first-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ forecasts. The United Arab Emirates’ central bank this month pro-posed introduced regulations which limited lending to state-linked entities to 100 percent of any bank’s loan book, a move designed to minimize the impact of problem loans.

US Crude $103.62 $0.07

London Brent $117.82 $0.33

Kuwait Crude $116.29 $0.15

Information Courtesy: KAMCO

market watch

KUWAIT DUBAI QATAR OMAN ABU DHABI BAHRAIN EGYPT SAUDI

cUrreNcIeSUS Dollar

Buy 0.2778Sell 0.278

EuroBuy 0.3668Sell 0.3671

British PoundBuy 0.4476Sell 0.448

Japanese YenBuy 0.003419Sell 0.003422

Saudi RiyalBuy 0.0741Sell 0.0741

UAE DirhamBuy 0.07563Sell 0.07569

Qatari RiyalBuy 0.07636Sell 0.07630

Bahraini DinarBuy 0.7369Sell 0.73746

Indian RupeeBuy 0.005295Sell 0.005289

Philippine PesoBuy 0.00652Sell 0.006507

Prices in Kuwaiti fils as of April 25, 2012 Courtesy: KAMCO

OIL marketS

0.14%6337

0.59%1660

0.13%8653

0.65%5914 0.28%

2512

0.04%1148 0.39%

7542

0.82%4908

The new iPad is seen in a window display at an Apple Store on April 24, 2012 in San Francisco, Califor-nia. Based on high sales of the iPhone and iPad, Apple reported a 93 percent surge in second quarter earnings with a profit of $11.6 billion, or $12.30 per share compared to $6 billion, or $6.40 per share one year ago. (AFP)

Credit Suisse reports plunging first quarter profits

CAPITALS: Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse said Wednesday that its 2012 first-quarter (Q1) profit plunged to just 44 million Swiss francs (48.3 million US dollars, 36.6 million euros) from 1.1 billion francs a year ago. The bank said the poor result was largely the result of an accounting loss on its own debt, and weaker earnings from its investment bank activities. “Our reported results were adversely impacted by accounting driven fair value losses due to tightening of our own credit spreads,” chief executive Brady Dougan said.

He noted that the impact of those losses reached 1.6 billion francs. Credit Suisse said it had reduced risky assets by 33 percent over the past year to bring its books in line with new international regulations under the Basel III rules which were drawn up in the wake of the financial crisis to make banks reinforce their capital re-serves. Basel III risk-weighted assets now stand at $210 billion, the bank said. While the net result represented an annualized 96-percent drop in profit, it nonetheless came in above analysts’ expectations.

Analysts interviewed by the financial firm AWP had on average forecast net losses of 337 million francs.

The investment banking division’s pre-tax earnings fell by a third from the same period last year however, while those at Credit Su-isse’s private banking unit were down by 27 percent.

The asset management division was the only unit to report im-proved results, reporting income before tax of 250 million francs, an increase of 43 percent. The results caused little concern among investors. Credit Suisse shares were up 0.25 percent to 23.61 francs in morning trading on the Swiss stock exchange, which was 0.17 percent higher overall. -AFP

Dubai launches $1.25 billion two-part Islamic bond

DUBAI: The Dubai government launched a 1.25 billion US dollar two-tranche Islamic bond on Wednesday, issue arrang-ers said, at the lower end of earlier indicated yield guidance, signaling healthy appetite for the emirate’s latest debt market foray. Dubai launched a $600 million five-year tranche at 4.9 percent and a $650 million 10-year tranche at 6.45 percent. Final guidance issued earlier on Wednesday had been tighter than initial indications from the previous day.

Three sources said order books were almost four billion dollar when books closed at about 0830 GMT. Order books for the emirate’s foray into capital markets - a $500 million 10-year issue last June - were below $2 billion. The new bonds were already trading higher in the grey market, an indication of demand for the deal. The five-year tranche was trading 0.25/0.50 higher while the 10-year part was up 0.20/0.45 per-cent, according to two regional traders.

“The continued pickup in Dubai’s economy, led by the ex-ternal sectors, should support demand for the issue along with the strong appetite for Islamic bonds,” said Monica Malik, chief economist at EFG Hermes. Dubai’s budget deficit nar-rowed sharply to 3.7 billion UAE dirhams (one billion dollar) last year, helped by higher oil revenues and lower spending on development projects, a sovereign bond prospectus pro-duced by the emirate showed. Helped by an economic revival in trade and tourism and its safe-haven status amid the Arab Spring civil uprisings, Dubai has been climbing back from the depths of its debt crisis of 2009 which caused many jittery in-vestors to flee overnight. Proceeds of the issue will be used to cover the budget deficit and refinancing debt, a senior govern-ment official, requesting anonymity, told Reuters on Tuesday.

The government has direct public notes’ maturities of 6.5 billion dirhams in 2013, according to the latest bond prospec-tus, and just over seven billion dirhams in 2014. In addition, related party debt, consisting of a $20 billion facility borrowed from Abu Dhabi in 2009 also matures in 2014. -Reuters

Burgan Bank Group reports KD 17.5 million Q1 net profit,

reflects 48 percent growthKUWAIT: Burgan Bank Group reported Wednesday 17.5 million

Kuwaiti dinars net profits for the first quarter of 2012 (growth of 48 percent), compared to KD 11.8 million for the same period in 2011. Earnings per share increased to 11.9 Kuwaiti fils compared to 7.8 fils for the same period in 2011. This was announced in a press release on Wednesday. Revenues has reached to KD 42.6 million reflecting a growth of 10 percent from KD 38.8 million reported in the first quarter of 2011. Operating profit grew by 15 percent to reach KD 26.6 million compared to KD 23 million for the same period in 2011. Customers’ deposits grew to KD 3,040 million, a nine percent increase from year ended on Dec. 31, 2011, while loans grew by seven percent reaching KD 2,406 million. The consolidated financials include the results of the group’s operations in Kuwait as well as its subsidiaries, namely Jordan Kuwait Bank, Gulf Bank Algeria, Bank of Baghdad, Tunis International Bank, in which Burgan Bank has a majority stake. During the first quarter of 2012, the subsidiaries have demonstrated a steady growth path and maintained profitability. Majed Essa Al-Ajeel, Chairman of Burgan Bank Group said, “We are pleased with our re-sults during the first quarter of the year.

Our financial performance continues to be solid, and the Group demonstrates a consistent growth trend across its operations despite the slow economic growth in the region”. “Burgan Bank Group’s con-servative strategy, prudent risk approach, and sustainable financial performance helped maintain the group’s overall position locally as well as regionally. The group announced earlier that it has entered into an agreement with Eurobank EFG to acquire a 99.26 percent stake in Eurobank Tekfen, Turkey. The final execution of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals from Central Bank of Kuwait (“CBK”) and Turkey’s Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA). The value of this transaction reflects a clear strategic approach, where Burgan Bank Group acquired an existing and leading banking plat-form that enjoys an extensive network of 60 branches across vibrant areas in Turkey, with a total price that equates to the cost of obtaining a license for an initial operational start-up,” added Al-Ajeel.

Jazeera Airways announces record net profit of KD 10.6 million

S&P downgrades India outlook to negative

Farmers carry baskets of cucumbers for sale at the market at Phaphamau in the northern city of Allahabad on April 25, 2012. Standard and Poor’s downgraded India’s credit outlook to negative as a weakening economy and gaping fiscal deficit put the country’s prized investment-grade rating at risk. (AFP)

BUSINESSthursDAY, April 26, 2012

ALWATAN DAILY

10

Iraq Apriloil exports to hit 2.4 million barrels per day

Qurna 2 output seen at 500,000 barrels per day in 2014

WEST QURNA, Iraq: iraq expects oil exports to reach more than 2.4 million barrels per day (bpd) in April and is planning to export 2.9 million bpd in 2013, its oil minister said on Wednesday.

“hopefully for this month, we will export more than 2.4 million barrels per day,” Abdul-Kareem luaibi told reporters, adding the bpd estimate for 2013.

in more news, production at iraq’s West Qurna phase-2 oilfield is expected to hit 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2014, iraq’s oil minister said on Wednesday, as drilling of the first oil well began.

iraq is expected to be the world’s biggest source of new oil supplies over the next few years after signing contracts for big development projects with major oil companies. the supergiant oilfield in the south is man-aged by russia’s luKOil.

“this is the first oil well out of 23 wells to be drilled as (part of) the first phase of developing the West Qurna two oilfield,” Abdul-Kareem luaibi told reporters while getting ready to climb a rig and press a button to start the drilling.

iraq’s oil production had been held back by decades of war and sanctions, but officials say they now expect it to rise quickly.

the head of state-run south Oil Co. said on Friday output from iraq’s southern oilfields was seen reaching 2.75 million bpd by the end of the year.

luKOil sealed a 20-year deal to develop the virgin West Qurna phase-2 oilfield in an auction in December 2009, pledging to boost output to a plateau target of 1.8 million bpd in six years.

its partner, Norway’s statoil, sold its minority stake in the field last month, making luKOil the sole foreign partner in one of iraq’s biggest new oil projects.

luKOil said in a statement that drilling operations

at five well pads would occur simultaneously and that wells would be as deep as 5,000 meters. it said total in-vestment in the field would be around $25 billion.

“production from the oilfield will reach 150,000 bar-rels per day by the end of 2013 and increase steadily to 500,000 barrels in the second half of 2014,” sergei Nikiforov, a vice president for development and produc-tion at luKOil told reporters at West Qurna, 80 km (53

miles) north of the southern oil city of Basra.West Qurna-2 is the world’s second-largest undevel-

oped field with recoverable oil reserves of around 14 bil-lion barrels, according to luKOil.

south Korea’s samsung Engineering signed a one bil-lion us dollar oilfield service contract with iraq for the field last month, part of an initial development plan to start production at the field. -reuters

Gold holds above $1,640 ahead of Fed

DekaBank courts investors in Kuwait Foreign firms vie for Libya oil industry revivalTRIPOLI: libya’s first post-war oil

and gas exhibition attracted dozens of foreign companies to tripoli this week, avid to win new business and hopeful that questions about contracts and security will ultimately be resolved in their favor.

After a virtual shutdown last year, libyan oil output has climbed to near pre-war levels of 1.6 million barrels per day since the conflict that ousted Muam-mar Gadhafi ended, but concerns remain over security and how the North African country’s new rulers will treat foreign companies.

libya needs foreign investment and expertise to increase oil and gas produc-tion. But uncertainty about existing con-tracts and about the terms of any new deals will persist until a clearer landscape emerges after June elections for a nation-al assembly.

“(We need) a stable environment ... security. We also need answers to ques-tions about what will be the role of iOCs (international oil companies) in the fu-ture,” Jean-Daniel Blasco, vice president North Africa for exploration and produc-tion at France’s total, told a conference that ran alongside the exhibition.

“What will be the relationship be-tween the ministry and National Oil Cor-poration? When will the next exploration rounds be issued? ... will EpsA 4 remain the model for future exploration? these are the main questions,” he said, referring to libya’s last exploration and production sharing agreement program.

the interim government has set up a committee to look into corruption al-legations in the Gadhafi regime. its deter-

minations could lead to the reworking of lucrative deals in the member of the Or-ganization of petroleum Exporting Coun-tries (OpEC), which has Africa’s largest crude oil reserves.

Meanwhile, a shake-up of the sector has given more power to the oil ministry and carved up the responsibilities of the state’s National Oil Corporation (NOC).

“We are cooperating with the com-mittee, we gave them all the information we have,” Oil Minister Abdulrahman Ben Yazza told reuters. “We hope they will finish their work soon and give out all the information needed.”

When asked about the next potential offering of blocks or contracts, he said: “We are studying this matter and we will (talk) about this soon.”

Increasing future productionthe government has reiterated there

will be no new deals until after the polls and that it is too early to say what future contracts would look like. in the mean-time, businesses are ensuring they make themselves well known on the ground.

Companies from around the world exhibited their expertise in exploration, production, refining and services at the four-day Oil & Gas libya 2012, which runs until thursday. Among them were total, repsol, Wintershall and statoil, already among the biggest firms already operating in libya.

repsol expects to reach its pre-war libyan output of 340,000 bpd by sum-mer. it hopes for a rise to up to 380,000 bpd in coming years, Nemesio Fernadez-Cuesta, upstream director, said.

“A lot of libyan people know they need the international oil companies for financing, added technology, and we don’t foresee any major problems,” he told re-uters. “this process (regime change) can generate some difficulties, but we think we will be able to deal with them.”

unlike in iraq, the scale of the dam-age in libya was limited, although oil offi-cials have cited the need for maintenance and upgrades after fields were hastily shut down. that means potential business for the numerous European and Middle East-ern engineers, consultants and others at the exhibition.

“We hope to re-establish a lot of con-tacts with libyan clients, existing and new,” Erik huber, of Dutch engineering and environmental consultancy royal haskoning, said. “We trust that there will be a lot of investment in the libyan oil industry.”

But behind the public statements of optimism, worries are evident. protesters in Benghazi closed off the office of NOC subsidiary the Arabian Gulf Oil Company on Monday and tuesday, and their de-mands included the ouster of Gadhafi-era officials.

“the problem is that some people want a clean cut from before (the Gad-hafi-era), but some are needed for their expertise. Getting through change is key,” a European oil executive said. “We just have to be patient for now.”

security also remains one of the big-gest concerns of foreign companies re-turning to libya. the numbers of expa-triate workers still have yet to return to pre-war levels. -reuters

Nancy OteifaStaff Writer

KUWAIT: DekaBank, a pioneer asset management company in Germany held a roundtable discussion tuesday at JW Marriot to talk about the bank’s future plans and the situation in Europe. the event was attend-ed by thomas Neisse head of the Board of Managing Director, chief executive officer (CEO) at DekaBank, ulrich heugebauer Managing Director, and head of Quantitative products at DekaBank and ulrich Kater Chief Economist at DekaBank.

Kater started by saying that there are three mes-sages from Europe to Kuwait, the first one refers to the fact that the price of oil is very dependent in the cur-rent state of the economy. the world economy is rela-tively stable and there are some threats mainly from the financial system, he explained.

“there is stable development in the European cur-rency union and so we support the last initiative by the international Monetary Fund (iMF) to enhance the financial means to support the European system,” he stated. the second message is that we think that the euro as a currency is not in danger as we now have a strategy to cope with the problem. the strategy lies in the fact that the southern European countries are obliged to adjust their economy to make reforms in the field of the labor market, and structure reform in the healthy sectors. this is currently in progress, he ex-plained, but to be successful it will take years to show positive results.

the third message is important for countries that are wealthy like Kuwait, where financial markets are a little more dangerous than they were in the past due to the financial crisis and it is more difficult to maintain the wealth through the international financial markets.

“in Germany the country is very stable and we can’t see any symptoms of the crisis. unemployment is very low, the economy is doing well and from there Deka-Bank is about to advise on how to invest your money in

this unstable world. Conservatism of our strategy is one of our main characteristics,” he stated.

Neisse added, “We have 180 billion euros worth of assets on management and DekaBank’s investment mainly serve a network of saving banks, which can be found all over Germany.”

“We have 230 saving banks together and these banks have been founded 200 years ago, initiated by the local authorities, to provide the local individual and local companies with banking services, including accounting, savings, credit and financing,” he said.

“it is a form of retail banking in its purest sense. these saving banks are avoiding every risk, and they don’t invest in the capital market because it is a ‘lose market’. this business philosophy is reflected in our products and therefore we believe that we have a high skill in managing risks concerning investment risk, counterpart risk and we monitor our custody very closely,” stated Neisse.

he noted, “if someone wants his money to be in-vested very safely, then we can offer a lot of things, we are very German in our investment attitude and this is needed these days when financial markets shows fluc-tuation.” Kater added, “As Europe slowly continues its economic recovery, it offers excellent investment op-portunities for investors looking for stability and long terms returns.”

“since we were last here in November 2011, the Eurozone appears to have begun to make some prog-ress on economic recovery, although there is still much work to be done. unsurprisingly, the financial markets remain exceptionally risk-averse and no investment area can be considered risk-free, as it may have done in easier times. But although the market believes that quick gains are unlikely, it also understands that there are opportunities, although the return to European eco-nomic and political stability will take time to achieve. We remain confident that there are exciting long-term investment possibilities today which will make very at-tractive opportunities for outside investors.”

LONDON: Gold held above 1,640 us dollars an ounce in Europe on Wednesday as the dollar’s slide to a three-week low against the euro supported prices, but moves were muted ahead of a policy announcement from the us Fed-eral reserve later in the day.

Appetite for nominally higher-risk assets such as stocks and commodities also improved, helping lift gold, as stron-ger-than-expected company earnings and solid demand for peripheral euro zone debt helped calm some investors’ jit-ters.

spot gold was at $1,641.79 an ounce at 1217 GMt against $1,641.73 late on tuesday, while us gold futures for June delivery were down $1.60 an ounce at $1,642.20.

the Fed is expected to say it will hold interest rates at record lows later, keeping the opportunity cost of holding bullion low. its accompanying statement will be closely watched for signs that another round of quantitative easing is imminent.

Gold touched a high for the year above $1,790 an ounce in late February as investors bet on a fresh round of mon-etary easing. it quickly retreated, however, after a spate of firm economic data eroded those hopes and has held within a $70 range this month, its tightest monthly spread since last June.

“the Federal Open Market Committee announcement could be the trigger that takes gold away from its trading range,” BNp paribas analyst Anne-laure tremblay said.

“Any mention of the need for further monetary ac-commodation would of course be positive for the precious metal. On the other hand, a focus on a higher inflation and employment forecast, rather than on current risks to eco-nomic growth, could see gold correct lower.”

the dollar remained the chief driver of gold prices. Gold’s correlation with the euro/dollar exchange rate has been at its highest since early January this month.

the us unit fell to its lowest in three weeks versus the euro, making gold cheaper for holders of other currencies, as a rise in appetite for riskier assets encouraged cautious selling of the low-yielding dollar ahead of the Fed an-nouncement.

the euro rose as investors were relieved when success-ful auctions sent yields on Dutch, spanish and italian debt

lower on tuesday, after the Dutch government collapsed in a crisis over budget cuts.

Subdued Indian buyingphysical gold demand has been light in recent weeks,

offering little support to bullion prices.“Following the outflows from gold exchange-traded

funds the day before yesterday, demand in the united states also appears to be on the ebb from another side,” Commer-zbank said in a note.

“the us Mint, for example, is on course to record its poorest rate of gold coin sales in April for five years. so far, only 17 thousand ounces have been sold this month, as compared to an average figure of 70 thousand ounces in the first three months of the year.”

spending on gold in major consumer india at this year’s hindu and Jain holy festival of Akshaya tritiya on tuesday was subdued compared with the usual heavy buying, as families struggled with rising expenses and high prices.

price volatility could rise ahead of Wednesday’s May COMEX options expiry, as call and put options investors look to profit from heavy bets at the $1,650 strike price.

platinum was up 0.9 percent at $1,553.49 an ounce, re-covering some lost ground after its recent unperformance. the metal widened its historically unusual discount to the gold to nearly $100 on tuesday.

One ounce of platinum currently buys 0.94 ounces of gold, down from 0.96 ounces a week ago, and 2.3 ounces of palladium, against 2.4 ounces last Wednesday.

silver was up 0.3 percent at $30.88 an ounce, while spot palladium was up 0.9 percent at $669.25 an ounce.

“palladium has been somewhat of an outlier in that it has been moving slowly but steadily higher over the past 10 days and was in need of a modest correction,” iNtl FCs-tone said in a note. “however, platinum has been weak for some time now, and deteriorating chart patterns have only exacerbated the selling.”

“Nevertheless, the precious metals complex as a whole could see a rather decent move higher if the upcoming Fed-eral reserve policy statement contains enough hints of a possible ease that, in turn, will enable fund money to flow back into the complex.” -reuters

An Indian man checks a gold ornament at a jewelry shop in Hyderabad, India, Tuesday, April 24, 2012.

FILE- In this image made on Sunday, May 31, 2009, employees work at the Tawke oil field in the semiautono-mous Kurdish region in northern Iraq. Iraq expects oil exports to reach more than 2.4 million barrels per day (bpd) in April and is planning to export 2.9 million bpd in 2013, its oil minister said on Wednesday. (AP)

Biofuels driving up global food pricesBRUSSELS: the European union continues to ignore

that its biofuels policies are driving up global food prices and pushing people in poor countries off their land, accord-ing to a report released Wednesday by the international aid agency, ActionAid.

the report titled ‘Fuel for thought’ says that increased demand for biofuels may push global food prices to crisis levels; Eu’s biofuels policies alone could push up oilseed prices by up to 33 percent, maize by up to 22 percent, sugar by up to 21 percent and wheat by up to 10 percent, between now and 2020.

laura sullivan from ActionAid’s office in Brussels noted that if the Eu continues to ignore the impacts of its biofuels policy on people living in some of the poorest parts of the planet, it will effectively be sponsoring hunger and human rights abuses on a massive scale.

With an estimated 13-19 million hectares of land out-side of Europe needed to meet the Eu-wide targets, forced displacements of poor people from their land are set to increase, to grow fuel for the European market, warns the report.

the ActionAid report, launched at a biofuels con-ference with participants from the Eu, united Nations, NGOs and business, in Brussels shows how a series of deals by European companies have led to mass displace-ments and rights abuses in countries in Africa and latin America.

Eleven villages in tanzania were affected when a British company seized 8, 200 hectares of land to grow fuel for the European market.

in Guatemala, a country that the Eu labels as being a significant supplier of biofuels for the European market, the grabbing of land for sugar production has resulted in violent clashes and three deaths.

ActionAid called on the Eu to investigate the full im-pacts of its biofuels policies on human rights and to drop its 10 percent target for renewable energy in transport by 2020, 88 percent of which will come from first generation biofuels. -KuNA

BUSINESSthursDAY, April 26, 2012

ALWATAN DAILY

11

For more Information please contact "Global" at (+965) 180 42 42 or www.globalinv.net

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-

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300

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162 160

-

Manafae Inv.Kuwait China Inv.

485

Global Index - Investment

-

75.90-

-

560-

325

Kuwait Syrian

-

53-

- - 53

Amwal -

Ahlia Insurance

-

Al Masar -

Gulf InsuranceKuwait Insurance

Al-Imtiaz 132

KW BH Int'l Exch.- Taiba Kuwaiti Holding

Tamdeen Inv.

-

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Strategia

-

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48

-

100

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108

Global Index - Insurance

- Warba Insurance

220114

112

-

4943.63

2

98850

204

-

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1-

-

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1080.5- 30.5

120

75 73860

96Union R.E.

Int'L Resorts

MabaniERESCO

INJAZZAT REInv. Holding Grp

Commercial R.E

Aa'yan R.ESanam R.E.

Kuwait R.E HoldingAqar

Al Argan Int'L

Arkan Al-Kuwait R.E

Tijara & R.E Invest

Themar Int'L Holding Grand R.E Projects

Al Dar National R.EAL Mazaya

-

Abyaar

- Manazel 16.5 KBTFirst DubaiMunshaat

134REAM

Al Tameer

25.523.5

Safat Global

15.5134

15.5

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60

27.0 27.0 26.0

27.0 27.0

- -

70

14.0

49.75232

- 134

220134

- 220

49.73

- Mena Real Estate

Global Index - Real Estate

450126

-

128 242

455 Pipes Ind. & Oil

Al Moudon Intl. R.E

59

17.5

16.5

26.0 24.5

5970

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-

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-

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Kuwait Re-Ins.

48

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National R.E.

-

Kuwait R.E.

Wethaq Insurance

126 100

Tamdeen R.E.

United R.E.

Ajial R.E.

Pearl R.E.204 Salhia R.E.

Massaleh R.E.Arab R.E.

224

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82

37.5

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16.2770.58

18.38450 470 465 2.2%

124 128 130 2- 1,240,000 38 5.19157,920 124.0 128.0 0.0% 132.0 128.0

Portland Cement

Kuwait Foundry

Gulf Cables & Elec.

Metal CollectingShuaiba Industrial

720 -

110 - 460

1,420

- 720

-

-

-

- 720

104

1,420335

150 150

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-

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--

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Marine Services

- 1,420

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Refrigeration Ind. 158 150

212

6.491,420 1,460 -

1,440 4.6%3.3%

180

8.02335 3.0%216

340 3402.4% 222 193.84

4.3%

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116

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-8,480

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80,000 3- - -

For more information please contact “Global” at (+965) 180 42 42 or www.globalinv.net

Date of Closig Prices: 25/04/2012Trading Prices of Kuwait Stock Exchange

Dubai lender ENBD posts $174.51 million Q1 net profitWary of central bank loan rules

DUBAI: Emirates National Bank of Dubai (ENBD) is wary of new regulations limiting loan exposures to state-linked entities, Dubai’s largest lender said on Wednesday, after posting first-quar-ter earnings that beat analysts’ forecasts.

the united Arab Emirates’ central bank this month proposed introduced regulations which limited lending to state-linked en-tities to 100 percent of any bank’s loan book, a move designed to minimize the impact of problem loans. Chief Executive rick pudner told a media conference call that the bank was currently assessing its exposure and would contact the united Arab Emirates (uAE) central bank before the september deadline.

“the rules will definitely affect our loan book. Not only for us but also for all commercial banks in the country,” pudner said.

“We are currently reviewing our position and will discuss with other banks and the central bank at a later stage,” he added.

the lender is among the most exposed to state-linked entities restructuring debt and has seen its loan-loss provisions shoot up in the past quarters. Earlier on Wednesday, ENBD, 55.6-percent owned by the investment Corporation of Dubai, posted a forecast-beating 641 million uAE dirhams (174.51 million us dollars) first-quarter (Q1) net profit, helped by a near 50-percent rise in non-interest income and lower impairments.

in the year-earlier period, the bank had made a profit of 1.4 billion dirhams, boosted by a one-off gain on the stake sale of unit Network international. two analysts polled by reuters had fore-cast a net profit of 565 million dirhams and 570 million dirhams for the first three months of 2012.

the bank said it remained “cautious” in its outlook and the external environment remained challenging.

impairments fell to 1.1 billion dirhams in the quarter, from 1.4 billion in the prior-year period, but rose slightly from end-Decem-ber due to specific provisions in the bank’s corporate portfolio, as well as an increase in provision allowances, the statement said.

shares in Emirates NBD dropped 2.8 percent on the Dubai bourse. they have fallen two percent year-to-date.

IntegrationAt the government’s behest, the bank was asked to absorb

Dubai Bank in October after the debt-laden islamic bank had to be rescued by the authorities. ENBD was given cash by the united Arab Emirates’ federal government and guarantees by Dubai to help it integrate the business. integrating Dubai Bank with Emir-ates islamic is in progress and expected to be finalized at the latest by the first half of next year, pudner said.

“Work on the integration started a few weeks ago and we hope to complete it by end of this year or first half 2013,” he said. sourc-es told reuters last month that ENBD was laying off 15 percent of its 8,000-strong workforce with a view to cutting costs.

the move led to savings of 140 million dirhams last year, Chief Financial Officer surya subramanian said on the call. the bank expects to save a further 80 million dirhams this year from the re-

dundancy plans. ENBD became the first Gulf Arab borrower to tap the offshore Chinese renminbi market when it priced a 750 million yuan ($118.8 million) three-year bond in March.

it also printed two dollar-denominated offerings during the quarter - a $500 million sukuk, or islamic bond, in January and a $1 billion conventional bond in March.

Emirates NBD is confident of meeting all its debt maturities this year. the bank has already paid 1.7 billion of debt during the first quarter and has more than eight billion maturing by the end of 2012, subramanian said. -reuters

FILE - Men walk past the head office of Emirates NBD on Bani-yas Road in Dubai Feb. 6, 2012. Emirates National Bank of Dubai (ENBD) is wary of new regulations limiting loan expo-sures to state-linked entities, Dubai’s largest lender said on Wednesday, April 25, 2012, after posting first-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ forecasts. (Reuters)

Gatehouse Bank realizes 34.4 million pounds real estate investment in UK

LONDON: Gatehouse Bank plc, a london-based wholesale sharia compliant investment bank, announced in a press release this week the successful delivery of its realized investment in uK real estate, through the sale of a two prop-erties as part of a uK student accommodation portfolio in a deal worth 34.4 million sterling pounds. the deal represents an excellent return for Gatehouse’s investors, who have benefited from an internal rate of return of 18.6 percent during the two year holding period, and a return on investment of 37.2 percent on exit.

Fahed Boodai, Chairman of the Board of Di-rectors at Gatehouse Bank announced via an ex-clusive video link from london,

“Over the past two years we have invested in the student accommodation sector on behalf of our investors, confident of the excellent return potential, which we believe we have successfully delivered in the realization of the uK student ac-commodation portfolio investment.”

Boodai added, “Gatehouse Bank was quick to seize the market opportunity to enable an im-pressive return on investment. We promised that we would deliver a solid return to our investors, and we have achieved that result yielding a 9.1 percent return in the first year, and an increase to 9.7 percent in the second year. When the time was right, we managed to deliver a successful exit result within two years, one year ahead of sched-ule as we have achieved our targeted returns. im-portantly, we delivered the asset sale with a view to reward our investors with a profitable return on investment as a priority, rather than retain as-set management fees for the additional holding period.

Gatehouse, has clearly demonstrated to its investor clients its ability to develop a commend-able track record of transactional experience. this is due to our unrivalled expertise in the market, which includes a strong uK and us real Estate team of originators, analysts, asset managers and a credit and market risk team who provide end-to-end commercial real estate solutions to investors. We have the capability to source and originate successful acquisitions, and also return

profits upon exit, to manage the full life cycle of real estate investment for investor advantage.

As an FsA regulated bank, we are also unique-ly positioned with a competitive advantage, given our ability to add a depth of product offering in liquidity and wealth management options for our investors, which adds further financial comfort and meets their objectives for wealth preserva-tion.” Boodai concluded, “Combined with its re-cent successful exit of the VA Oceanside Clinic property in the us for $54.5m, the student ac-commodation realized investment showcases the caliber and track record of Gatehouse’s cross con-tinental transactional experience in the us and uK real estate market.”

stuart Jarvis, Vice president, real Estate, head of student Accommodation commented on the transactional highlights of the transaction stating, “Despite the economic downturn, aver-age rental growth rates in the student accommo-dation sector have remained extremely resilient, certainly when you compare the rates to tradi-tional real estate investments in the past year. We are seeing strong returns not just in london, but also in the regions, mainly due to the lack of supply of purpose-built student accommodation coupled with the rising demand of overseas stu-dents looking to study in the uK.

“Gatehouse has earned an excellent track record in student accommodation; it’s an attrac-tive investment sector that delivers good yields for our investors. We continue to actively look for investment opportunities to complement our cur-rent investment portfolio of student accommoda-tion in Glasgow and Oxford.”

Gatehouse continues to provide an attractive portfolio of property investments for investor clients with more than 500 million us dollars in total real estate acquisitions. Gatehouse special-izes in originating, structuring and funding in-vestments in a sharia compliant manner. to meet continuing investor demand for high quality property investments, Gatehouse provides lead-ing advice and opportunities to investors across a diverse range of properties ranging from office, student and logistics sectors.

For more Information please contact "Global" at (+965) 180 42 42 or www.globalinv.net

25 / 04 / 2012

Global General Index

4,860,000--

9

-40,000

-

1,100,000

-

- -4,480,000

-

-

10,240,000

-13,360,000

320,000

15,680,000

110,000

420,840-

-1,920,000

42--

18,820,000

10617,640,000

-1

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150

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822,1202,833,840

280 5

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-

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0.5-

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71

10-

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181.23

5-

6,512,500

63

-0.776,327.60

-

20

10-

900 20-

-

5--

6,336.50

Chng

440

Prev. Close

44510801080

Last Close

-

-

33

4

-

---

-

4

-

17

0.64%

Volume

-1.49%8.98%

P/ELowBid

-0.42%

HighTran.

Trading Prices of Kuwait Stock Exchange

Last Close Previous Close Change MTD

Value(KD) Ask

180.46YTD

Date of Closing Prices:

DTD

26.0

- 38.5

26.0

48.5 69

101,200

-

4-

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3.0-6.0-

2.78%Trading Activity Last Annual CloseLast

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312,500

-

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1

-

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280 -

60

226.0

38.0

-

52

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66

Company

KSE Price Index

National Bank 1,080

Burgan Bank 430

High

440

Kw Finance House 740

Commercial Bank -

435 750

- 880

Ahli Bank

265

Kw Projects

590 Global Index - Banking

600

104 104 Commercial Facilit.Kw Investment

-

315 320

323.16106

260265 -

148

104

52

325National Invest.

275435

590

270435

750

321.40Boubyan Bank

Int'L Financial Adv.

Int'L Investor

Int'L FinanceMARKAZKMIFIC

Securities House -

- Ind. & Fin. Inv.Securities Group

ALOLA Inv.

106

- 118

164 Al AMAN Inv. 37.0

Osoul Inv.

Ahlia Holding -

-

32

Aref Inv. Group -

Coast Invest. 62

-

KAMCO

- 70

Al Safat Inv.

Housing Finance51

290

GLOBAL Inv.

Nat. Int'l Holding

- 39.0

- MADARAl Deera Holding

Al Salam Group 230.0 -

-

- Ekttitab Holding

Sokouk Holding

NOORAl-Madina Finance

Al Qurain Holding 99.0

- 69.0

54

39.5

Ahli United Bank 890 International Bank

Gulf Inv. HouseA'ayan Leasing

ALMAL Inv.

-

1,060 Low

--

KFIC

275

-

Bayan Inv.

Gulf Bank 440

25.0 130

25.0

265

118

162

102

13.0 60

146

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100 38.5 38.5

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51

71

38.555

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---435

-230,000

Yield

96.0 226.0

130

230

52

54

39.5

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580

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440

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1,040

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15.55425 37.84510

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26.75900 128.53

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95.0 22.0

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134

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6071

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-

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2,880,000

64.0820,520

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132

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Ajial R.E.

Pearl R.E.242 Salhia R.E.

Massaleh R.E.Arab R.E.

238

Kuwait R.E.

Wethaq Insurance

138 116

Tamdeen R.E.

United R.E.132

Kuwait Re-Ins.

56

-

56

- First Takaful Ins. -

National R.E.

-

Ex-D220 -

1,440,000

540,0002,780,000

2

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40,320,000200,000

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155,000

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1.0

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65.0 64.0 17.5

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44.0 43.0

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-- 51.0 48.0 51.0

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66 70

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59

17.5

59

22.0

41.0 28.5

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160

31.0

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228

Al Moudon Intl. R.E

Nationl Ind Group

Markaz Real Estate

Global Index - Real Estate 58.35226

- 134

220134

- 220

58.54

37

87

17.5 - 41.0

17.5 -

- 44.0

70

21.5

134REAM

Al Tameer

39.0 31.0

21.0 134

24.5

39.0

Mena Real Estate

Al Dar National R.EAL Mazaya

37

Abyaar

- Manazel 24.5 KBTFirst DubaiMunshaat

Commercial R.E

Aa'yan R.ESanam R.E.

Kuwait R.E HoldingAqar

Al Argan Int'L Arkan Al-Kuwait R.E

Tijara & R.E Invest

Themar Int'L Holding Grand R.E Projects

Union R.E.

Int'L Resorts

MabaniERESCO

INJAZZAT REInv. Holding Grp

65.0

-

1101.0 36.5

118

75 741,000

93

-

56

43.48

1

961,000

232

6

4

-

12240.50

-

Global Index - Insurance

- Warba Insurance

220122

-

93110

1,000

134

116

40.50

56

-

114

37.5 8

-

340,000

-400,000

-

-23494,480

18.5

9392

18.075

1,000

-

1,02074

-102

38.0-

118

37.0-

55114

236

-

-

---

10

-

-

56

-

-

55

80,6802,160,000

-

281,080,000

-

-

86,040

111,28066,600

-1,640,000

--

8,703,180-

32

-

-

176,520

-

-

-

----

-- -

42.50-

51 5264

61

-

--

198 -KW BH Int'l Exch.

- Taiba Kuwaiti Holding

Tamdeen Inv.

-

Gulf North Africa

Strategia

-

Amwal -

Ahlia Insurance

-

Al Masar -

Gulf InsuranceKuwait Insurance

Al-Imtiaz 108

300-

Kuwait Syrian

53

67 -

62 60 69

-

500

Global Index - Investment

-

82.40-

-

520-

Manafae Inv.Kuwait China Inv.

204

220

40.5

3.5% 190

-

28.00.0%

5.0%3.8%-

270

144

13416.47

108 200 - 6.4%

42.22

152 246

460

4.3%0.0%

124475

-

116

2.4%6.7%

540

97 47 0.0%

4.7%

118 63

44.910.0%

0.0%

40.5

59 64

3.7%

0.0%

148

42.5

325

0.0%

310

0.0%

0.0%89

114

73

32

60

0.0%

74.96

134 220

610

85.99

520 450

280

102

102

0.0%

0.0%

114 77 6.9%

0.0%250 3.4%

37.5

52.0

28.5

100 10.78

22.83130

224

108 15.166.4%27.0

120 0.0%

85 0.0%1.0%

62

104 94 840 1,080 29.41

23.37

54 52 74

35.0 77

422.48

68.0

75 97

0.0%

0.0%0.0%

0.0%5.7%

45.0 31.0

80

92 23.0

0.0017.5 17.5

116.65

57

52.0

64 174

70 12.82

587.1%

59 0.0%-67

39-

-

125,840

36

40.0-

38.5

24.524.0 25.5

-40.5

0.0%0.0%

39.5

0.0%0.0%

2.53

-40,000

0.0%6.3%150

51.050.0168

24,640,000-

2,160,000 88,28037

5

2.0-4,080,000

-65,880,000

1

282

-145

134 3.7%0.0% 40

49

Ex-D

230 2

-

1,160,000

0.19

2.5

207,485,000

---

3-

80,000

2,800,0001.0-- -

3,520,000

-

-

23

2,960--

1

- -

-

25

-

1,535

-25

80,000

1 560 000

9,548,440

67,80022 139,500

353 040

13.93

15.34

0.00

50.3213.63

13.3864711.96

13.38

21.8011.9213.67

63.13

59 13.5

43.0

92

85

-

21.0

0.0%0.0%

0.0%

91

51 47

0.0%

20.0 11.0

0.0% 38.0

573.07

16.18

50

64 42.5

0.000.00

154 255

26 58

114 20.9419.76

114

6875

198

32.50

265

32.50 --

265 --2.0 196.0 880,000

-114 -

82.82

6675

2-

60 1 201,640,000

134

526442.50

-

-

Ex-D - -520 Ex-D

-

500 - -

300

--

30

98,56021

--

0.42- 104,260,000 1,243

--

-

- -

310,020

377,120343,680

9

25

19-

22

61,640

-

2931

1

156,400

2035

1,253,280

-

724,240

62

2,800

-

568,640

-3,190,840

12227

14,880

211,880

-

-6,960

-

198

924 38,760

20.587

-42.5

34.5-84150,320

120,800

57-

31.0

226228

Kuwait Remal R.E59 0.0%

3355859 57 58

345 340 340 340345 5- 410,000

6 55,900 880 7.4% 920

13.08290 3.4%162

345 2900.0% 222 19.53134

455 3.3%

7.291,240 1,480 132

1,260 5.8%0.0% 158 122

20.11415 475 124 0.0%

260 228 0.0%136 116

214

156

124 228

450 Pipes Ind. & OilNationl Ind. Group

- 1,260

Heavy eng. & Ship.

Refrigeration Ind.450 122

Kuwait Cement

290

226

660 31.52

102

20154

6

1,240280

27,500-

20 625

860

60,000

300,000

65,00040,000

-

156

230124460 10-

2-

122

240,0002-251,560,000

2

-

9 29,40027,000

353,040122

6,24086,800

-

154280

445

1,24034,600122

226

850

1221,260290

880

228

450

1,240

156 850

-

285

880 Portland Cement

Gulf Cables & Elec.

Marine Services

122

-

-

4 0

-

192,720

-1,875,00010-

-2,390,000

880,000

-

76 0.0% 88 70

280 -

74 1

960 910

-

7,700,000

2,120,000

-

-37,500

4,380,000

1,500,000

40,000 2

-

1,480,0009,432,500

23194

-

1,084,2801942 7,510

1 196 600

10,080-

84

100

-74.073.0

21,000

248 395255 260

- 3951,680

-

1.0-

-30,000

-

2,480,00080,560

-39

-120

-424,480

-148

173,640--

28

440,000-

--

75

-128

- --

23,200,000

-

290

100--

99

184

17.5 18.5

-

126

-76

270

56,320-

115,560102-

57320

140

132

164110

560

166,280

0.0%

4.2%

2.8%

0.0%

8.8%

7.1%

0.0%

5.5%0.0%

-

7400.0%

2,480

250

130

285

-8.3%

3.0%

0.0%2.0%

78.0

-

320

415-

-

-425

750

1,000

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

-355

395

280

350

0.0%

-

4.4%

0.0%

0.0%

194

350

710 78.0

1,120

132

305

2,440

136

550

132

260

28.5

132

84 104 154

23.5

102 104

84 88

-24.5

385

22.0250-400

190

8

108

582,760

- 126

1,671,250

- -

69.0520

2,460

138-

--

-

1,757,360

104,400-

1,680

142

1,386,150

344,000-

76.0

325162

-

295

- -

---

-

- 1,100

-390

-

--

-

-46

-216

3.6%222

89

6.9%-

620

-

Ex-D-

-

8.4%

178--

218

0.0%10

12-

0.0%-

4 305 3102.2%3.3%

-

176

44

310

44216

102128

102 -

560,000

275

216415

10,000

--

-

-

-

192

168

224

3,980,000

-

Ex-D5- 60,000

--

-

1--

40,000

3

25 10,000 1

880,00080,000

-

21

-

3,45018,08078,560

4,840-

0.0%

10.0%

495 0.0%0.0%

120 216

51

88.41

315

180 102

13.22

5.20275

102 79 550

415 216

630

12.38206

224

2.2%

17.40

28.05196

1,100

36.430.0%

230

1,400

128 13.15

51 210

300 35.32

9.94340

228 325 152 102 93

24.93

0.00340

41

174.76

214 16.94

18.02

222 128

260

280

0.0041 162

163.04 13.80

18.88

95 1,920

430 65

16.45

81.0 900 690 11.15

11.83

110 102

84

45.0 110 58.86110

295 20.96170

7.1%

54

8.13260 3.4%

7.6%

12.824.79

9.91340

260

230 58

22.18

12.84530

68

12.91

255

329.5814.0 270

260

91

0.00

9.95154

13.11520

5.58

120

86.17

16.0

41.84

10.8730.0

80104

Burgan Well DrillingNational Ranges

84

Safat TEC

Al Safwa Holding

National Slaughter

-

106

-

22.5 Credit & Collection

-

Jeeran Holding

IFA H&RCombinted Group

Mushrif Trading

Palms Agro

Aref energy

Gulf FranchisingGulf Petroleum Safwan

19.0 -

27.5

73.0

- 130

- 255

71.0

1,680

-

2,460 136

77 - Nafaaes Holding

Privatization Holding

Hits Telecom 102

Human Soft

750 78.0

-

Salbookh Trading IKARUS

National Cinema

Boubyan Int'L Ind.

--

-

192

420 --

76.0

216 216

-

Safat Energy

Market Complexes

- Kw Hotels

2,420

-

-

112

City Group

190

138

730

-

74

-

108

Global Index - Industrial

- 146

18.0

-290

-100

130

-

-

178

-

305 -

305

--

158

--

166

425

-

-

-

77

--

116

226 88

620 1,100

226

6201,100

216

-

340

-

90

6

-

216

255

-

120,960-

-

- -

226350228

-124216

340116

0.0% 120

140 0.0%0.0%

0.0%5.0%540

1,500 1,740

26.5130

0.0%22.5

70.0

1,700

7.7%

0.0%0.0%6.6%0.0%

0.0%0.0%

280

12.0 198

490 380

22.5

61 84

13.46

15.98

0 00

14.840.0%

0.0%7.8%

73 86

89 126

78.0 57.0 0 0%

275 0.0%

33

216

88

-

15106

-66

-

1,009,550

67,720

-

47-

-108

-

-

43

-1,105,000

91,700

-

-

708,320

6,200

7,640111,920

18,300

-

--

23-

241

360,000

-

--

17,400,000

23-

15-

-12,500

1,520,000

3,120,000-

10-

271

-1.0

4-

49,360,0005-

750

425

--

-

2.0-

290

--

330

-

-

0.17-

-

-

4-

-

6-

2-

11 660 0002,640,000

-120,000

99

70.0

154132540

-

2,460

--

30058

4.0

4-

--550

110 --

1444-112

350160

9976

290

18.0

260

300

255

330

52

255

104260

270

100

2,460

140550

132

69.0 -

126

24.5

168.14960

78.0

78270

132

21.5

1,680

21.0 -

73.0

-

-

73.0 102

126

-

540

154

1,680

25.0 120

22.5

70.0

75

108

52

350110

78.0 740

-

224

425

167.9775

190

128

280

305

216

-

275

89226

122

--

120

216-

345345 345 226

- 620

91

Kuwait Foundry

Consumer Industries

- 122

Boubyan Petroch.

Equipment Holding

Gulf GlassHilal Cement

ACICO

Qurain Kuwait Gypsum

Sultan CenterArabi Group

Agility

Educational Group

ZAIN

Eyas

Indep. Petroleum

Kw Cable Vision

National Cleaning

Automated System

Kw Gulf Link

KCPCNAPESCO

K.S.H

Wataniya Tele.

Nat. Ind.Co.

Metal Collecting

Building Material

Shuaiba Industrial

Al Kout Ind. Project

United Industries

K-PAK

610

-

75

0.0%

4.2%

72.0

2-

-

128

27.0

84 88

58

960

98

128

-

-

620

415

290 -

164

178

-Ex-D

18.0

- - - 10698 94 -

1

4.0

0.0% 110 -

8869

184

560

136

3401,360

80

95

1,360

82

136

340

-95 96

11898

-

20,4001,196,600

387,700

-

186,050

5

-

-

4,050

567,480128,360 120

-

120

108

85

260 265

-365

46.5

236-

280

234-

69

205,200

94,70025,550

106285

-375

450 460

-

1,360

-

290540

92

0.0%290- -

5.5%2956.9%

116186

0.0%

0.0%0.0%

4.7%6.0%0.0%

0.0%

0.0%5.5%

174.0

-

-

-

172.0

255

7,6403

--

353220.516.5

-

-

--

-

---

--

50-53073 437,900 520

0.0%

- --

1,145,000-

70 70 -

70 92.0

- 74.0

73 7417,320,000

- --

-

-

- - -

-

47.161,220

16.69-

13.99

- -

-

-

-

455

-

1,220

40.5

40.74-

- -

455

9.60

-

8.89

5.03

0.00541.46

55

46

172 102 118

6.46250

32.06

0.0%

73 43

11.30

387.72132

0.0%330 232

0.0%126 7.9%122

350

0.0%

108 10.1%0.0%-

64

610

0.0%

1.5%

4.2%5.4%

3.7%

8.5%

0.0%

0.0%

-

130

- 178285

87

1,380

95126

56

126

174108

-

866285

1,500 136

0.0%

0.0%

4.8%

12.1%

4.2%

0.0%6.9%0.0%

44.60

90

11.38

705.36

44

390

791.90

334.34365.22

72 0.0%0.0%

340 340295

13,050

100

315

11.38

11.42

7.0%7.12

1,360

10.04500

6.02

57

265

4.5%6.0%

0.0%290

-

580

95

114

124

305

295 300

102340

104350

80

168 3.4%

305

270 104 340

280 130 172

300

4.1% 390

122-

49.0 0.0% 62.0 770 1.9%

8.7298

485 0.0%

14.91218

4.6%300

15.27

114

182

1

1,788

77 82 92 156

2 7,640-

- 1123,280

11,613,490-

-

-

11.96

270 236

44.0

410 345

33.57

9.4817.36

40

--

112-

2

40

178

91280,000126 122

- 20,000

-

178

2

-

7,640-

-169,880

--

1,960,000- -

-

--

80,000

-14

--

-

-

91

--

114 -4

-

-3

-

35,280

3

1

-100,000 6

-

13,280,000

290 295

-3,560

29,000-

70

-126

455 57.0

-

Ahli United Bank Ithmaar Bank 39.0

290

Inovest 71

455 57.0

74 56.0

36.5 176

37.5 39.0172 174174

43.52Global Index - Non-Kuwaiti 43.39

144

170

0.12

144

-

33,160,000

74

Al-Shamel - -

- -

Al-Bareeq Holding AFAQ

--

Dulaqan R.E

250106

-

5151

240,000

--

33825,000

--

345

-

--

Al-Safat Real Estate

- -

Specialities Group 510

- -

520Ajwan Real Estate

19.0

2 -

-

5

--

- Kw Medical ServicesDar Al-Thuraya Real E

Eid Food

-

- 2,260106 -

Flex -Maidan Clinic

106

1-

Total Parallel Market Amar For Fin. & Leas. 55 55-

Masaken Inter.

33

-

-

31

-

-

550

-

33

345

520

- 39.5 92.0

2,260 39.5

-

78

---

5,600 -

451,140

65

- 0.0%0.0%

- -

93.060

- 14.560.6%

80

-

-

- -

-

-0.0%

-

42.0

- - -

80,000

0.0%-

- - --

-

- -

22.19-

- -

- -

9.98- 816.78-

-

Ex-D- 19.0

106250

- -- -

-

-

- --

1,580,760

- -77,320,000

211572

41,200,000

Markaz Real EstateInvestment Funds

- 122 -- 122

Fujaira Cement

Advanced Technolgy

-

Gulf Fin. House 57.0

-

-

Ras AlKheimah

-

-560

334.98

8680

114

69

Sharjah CementGlobal Index - Food

-United Food

126 -

87

Al Soor Fuel

Kw FoodStuffUnited Poultry

Al Nawadi

Future Kid

Zima Holding

455 -

96

-

Global Index - Services

-

Alrai Media

Dana Al-Safat

-

450

-

-

86 -

--

-

-

United Gulf Bank 178 - -

-290 178

ARIG

Egypt Kw HoldingBahrain Kw Ins.

126

810

82

-

- LiveStock Trans.

Yiaco Medical

- 285

Um Quwain Cement

Al Jazeera Airways

K G L

Hayat Comm.Future Comm.

Kuwait Resorts

Al-Muwasat

Mubarrad Transport

Gulf Cement

Kout Food

Mashaer HoldingOula Fuel

ALAFCOUPAC

265

340

290

300

106 Mushrif Trading

265 10.32

3.86

18.62

0.0012.34

21.12

7.71

0.0%

549,52041

222

8.8%

1,263,440

340

114 126

745,120

4,376,560

-

Ex-D-

5-

Ex-D

51 70

20.47640

265

21.95

3

-21

3

-25

271

0.14

108-

-

5-

370450 5

265

334.84

-

70,0005.0-40.0

1

2-

-

-

-

60,000

50,000-

1,300,000

-

5.35--

1,040,0008,400,000

Ex-D

-5

5,000

-

5.0

-

650,000-

-

-

5-

-1

-

210,000

40,000720,000

5-

11,660,000

- 810

124 265

64120

-

120

365

63

-

-

365

69

-

455

47.0

12069

810 47.0

770

260

236 236

184

-

82285

747.11

285

365

108

-

295

260

102

290285 -

96

118

752.46

81285

-

80,000-

-

-

145,770,000

168

98

265

335

295

300168

Global Special IndicesTotal Market

Global Index - Islamic 565.27

Global Index - Kuwaiti Co.'sGlobal Index - 10 Large Cap. 185.04

550,860,000 38,599,1105,505

-0.89 -0.47%DTDPrev. Close

191.02Change

190.12Close

-2.66%-0.93%-0.63%

570.59186.22 -1.18

-5.31 1.01% 0.58%

0.30%-1.58%MTD

4.69%

-2.75%

YTD14.75

STOCKSWITH NBK CAPITAL thursday, april 26, 2012

ALWATAN DAILY

12

SAUDI ARABIA

Rebased Performance Summary Best Performers

Tadawul Index (% Chg.) Close % Chg.% of stocks trading above 1yr avg. price 4250.SSE Jabal Omar Development Co. 22.90 4.3%Advance/Decline Ratio 2290.SSE Yanbu National Petrochemicals Co. 53.50 3.9%Tadawul Index 52 week High / Low 2250.SSE Saudi Industrial Investment Grp. 23.90 3.5%Turnover (SAR '000) 1020.SSE Bank Al Jazira 28.30 2.9%Market Cap. (SAR '000) 4220.SSE Emaar the Economic City 13.40 2.7%

Highest Turnover Worst Performers

Turnover (SAR) Close % Chg.43Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Dev. Co. 3050.SSE Southern Province Cement Co. 102.25 -2.6%42Jabal Omar Development Co. 4190.SSE Jarir Marketing Co. 160.50 -1.8%1 Alinma Bank 1050.SSE Banque Saudi Fransi 38.10 -1.3%42Emaar the Economic City 1040.SSE Saudi Hollandi Bank 28.70 -1.0%20Saudi Basic Industries Corp. 2050.SSE Savola Group Co. 34.50 -0.9%

Quotes

% Chg. High Low High Low on high YTD 12 mths PE PB1 Al Rajhi Bank 78.50 0.6% 79.00 77.75 899 82.75 67.25 -5.1% 13.0% 1.9% 117,750,000 16.0 3.6 1 Alinma Bank 15.15 0.0% 15.25 15.05 40,322 16.25 9.05 -6.8% 62.0% 48.5% 22,725,000 nmf 1.4 2 Almarai Co. 64.25 0.0% 64.75 63.75 393 71.75 48.41 -10.5% 12.3% 17.6% 25,700,000 22.4 3.6 1 Arab National Bank 30.60 0.0% 30.90 30.50 204 33.70 26.60 -9.2% 11.3% -8.4% 26,010,000 12.0 1.6 1 Bank AlBilad 30.80 2.3% 31.20 29.90 3,157 32.90 17.20 -6.4% 55.2% 66.5% 9,240,000 28.3 2.7 1 Bank Al Jazira 28.30 2.9% 28.50 27.60 985 31.90 15.75 -11.3% 67.0% 46.3% 8,490,000 31.3 1.8 1 Banque Saudi Fransi 38.10 -1.3% 38.50 38.10 121 40.00 30.00 -4.8% 13.1% 2.0% 34,443,081 11.8 1.8 4 Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Dev. Co. 11.75 0.0% 11.85 11.60 55,603 13.85 6.05 -15.2% 62.1% 30.6% 12,690,000 11.5 0.8 4 Emaar the Economic City 13.40 2.7% 13.55 13.00 41,036 13.60 6.20 -1.5% 82.3% 95.6% 11,390,000 nmf 1.5 7 Etihad Etisalat Co. 69.00 0.4% 70.00 68.00 2,200 68.75 50.00 0.4% 31.4% 27.8% 48,300,000 9.5 2.6 4 Jabal Omar Development Co. 22.90 4.3% 23.35 21.95 27,815 21.95 11.10 4.3% 88.5% 60.2% 21,283,260 nmf 2.4 4 Jarir Marketing Co. 160.50 -1.8% 163.00 160.50 97 165.00 105.50 -2.7% 15.3% 51.4% 9,630,000 17.8 9.9 4 Kingdom Holding Co. 12.30 1.7% 12.50 12.00 1,595 13.10 7.05 -6.1% 39.0% 42.2% 45,582,352 nmf 1.7 2 National Industrialization Co. 35.50 0.3% 35.60 35.20 1,516 50.75 35.10 -30.0% -12.8% -7.3% 19,788,711 8.3 1.7 2 Rabigh Refining & Petrochemical Co. 22.80 0.2% 22.85 22.65 1,366 29.80 21.20 -23.5% -1.9% -23.0% 19,972,800 nmf 2.4 1 Riyad Bank 25.00 0.4% 25.00 24.90 839 26.90 23.10 -7.1% 7.3% -3.8% 37,500,000 11.9 1.2 1 Samba Financial Grp. 50.50 -0.5% 51.25 50.25 362 56.75 42.40 -11.0% 8.4% -7.8% 45,450,000 10.6 1.6 2 Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Co. 180.75 0.4% 180.75 180.00 89 200.00 165.00 -9.6% 2.7% 3.3% 45,187,500 11.1 5.0 1 Saudi Arabian Mining Co. 33.60 0.3% 34.10 33.50 1,040 37.50 24.25 -10.4% 32.8% 22.6% 31,080,000 nmf 1.8 2 Saudi Basic Industries Corp. 102.75 0.2% 103.00 102.25 3,942 112.00 87.75 -8.3% 6.8% -7.8% 308,250,000 10.7 2.1 3 Saudi Cement Co. 95.50 -0.8% 96.50 95.00 260 98.00 55.50 -2.6% 32.6% 67.5% 14,611,500 15.4 5.0

35,133 404,693 24,839

31,115 20,915 18,385 16,041

631,009 15,701 19,551 53,699

4,651 653,893 546,949 151,656

Market Cap.(SAR '000)

6,275 96,054 27,745

70,633 611,544 25,239

Volume('000)

546,948,774 404,693,020

Company Name CloseDaily Turnover

(SAR '000)52-Week % Change

631,008,977 611,544,341

7,931 / 5,9168,953,096

1,475,370,165

80%2.00

653,892,863

7,542 (0.4%)

Trailing

114

116

95

105

115

125

25-Jan-12 25-Feb-12 25-Mar-12 25-Apr-12

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite Saudi SE

Rebased Performance Bull/Bear Indicator Daily Index Performance Snapshot

GCC Best Performers

Close % Chg.ITH Ithmaar Bank USD 0.145 7.4%AHCAamal Co. QAR 17.59 4.7%425Jabal Omar Development Co. SAR 22.90 4.3%

MENA Indices Highlights IFC International Finance Co. KWD 0.106 3.9%229Yanbu National Petrochemicals Co. SAR 53.50 3.9%

PE PB GCC Worst PerformersSa Saudi Arabia (Tadawul All Share Index) 7,542 0.4% 17.5% 7,931 5,916 2,387 393,411 12.99 2.00 Ku Kuwait (KSE Weighted Index) 420 -0.4% 3.4% 467 396 139 101,518 14.35 1.44 Close % Chg.UAUAE (ADX Index) 2,512 0.3% 4.5% 2,775 2,293 24 66,354 8.63 1.04 AREAREF Energy Holding Co. KWD 0.126 -4.6%

UAE (DFM Index) 1,660 -0.6% 22.7% 1,754 1,301 122 34,716 10.77 0.79 SULSultan Center Food Products Co. KWD 0.108 -3.6%Qa Qatar (DSM Index) 8,653 -0.1% -1.4% 8,892 8,071 107 124,732 11.36 1.89 DFMDubai Financial Market AED 1.14 -3.4%OmOman (MSM Index) 5,914 -0.7% 3.8% 6,372 5,419 11 18,202 10.54 1.60 KPRKuwait Projects Co. (Holding) KWD 0.315 -3.1%Ba Bahrain (BSE Index) 1,148 0.0% 0.3% 1,407 1,129 0 17,211 9.02 0.88 TAQAbu Dhabi National Energy Co. AED 1.31 -3.0%Eg Egypt (EGX 30 Index)* 4,908 - 35.5% 5,628 3,587 - 56,858 9.55 1.34 Jo Jordan (Amman General Index) 2,003 0.0% 0.5% 2,214 1,921 10 27,599 13.74 1.61 GCC Highest TurnoverM Morocco (Casa All Shares Index) 10,324 -0.4% -7.2% 12,203 10,233 2 56,970 15.12 3.22 Le Lebanon (Beirut SE Index) 1,177 0.7% 0.0% 1,403 1,164 2 10,522 6.32 0.85 Pa Palestine (Al-Quds Index) 470 0.1% -1.5% 513 465 1 2,517 9.04 1.15 430Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Dev. Co. (KSA)Tu Tunisia (Tunis SE Index) 5,082 0.1% 6.8% 5,115 4,091 8 10,060 15.56 1.77 425Jabal Omar Development Co. (KSA)

115Alinma Bank (KSA)422Emaar the Economic City (KSA)201Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (KSA)* Market Closed

April 25, 2012

Country (Index) IndexLevel % Chg. 52 Wk

High52 Wk LowYTD Turnover

USD million Mkt. Cap.

USD millionTrailing

107,909,506

Turnover (USD)174,357,482 168,255,600

*Market Closed 163,065,446 145,841,339

114

110

95

100

105

110

115

120

25-Jan-12 25-Feb-12 25-Mar-12 25-Apr-12

S&P GCC Large/ Mid CompositeS&P Pan Arab Large/ Mid Composite

Bahrain

Kuwait

Oman

Qatar

Saudi

Dubai

Abu Dhabi

-1%

0%

1%

-2 1 4Period's Liquidity Ratio (PLR x)

Daily

Ret

urn

(%)

-1%

0%

1%

Bahr

ain

Jord

an

Kuwa

it

Leba

non

Mor

occo

Om

an

Qat

ar

Saud

i

Duba

i

Pales

tine

Tunis

ia

Abu

Dhab

i

5 Saudi Electricity Co. 13.75 0.0% 13.80 13.70 2,575 16.30 12.85 -15.6% -1.1% -0.7% 57,290,665 23.8 1.1

1 Saudi Hollandi Bank 28.70 -1.0% 28.90 28.40 338 29.30 21.42 -2.0% 15.6% 12.9% 11,391,030 11.2 1.5 22 Saudi Industrial Investment Grp. 23.90 3.5% 24.20 23.00 4,089 27.20 18.55 -12.1% 25.8% -5.5% 10,755,000 21.7 1.7

2 Saudi International Petrochemical Co. 21.75 0.5% 21.80 21.55 1,721 24.45 17.75 -11.0% 10.4% 1.2% 7,975,000 10.8 1.5

1 Saudi Investment Bank 18.80 0.0% 18.95 18.70 212 21.00 15.55 -10.5% 16.4% -1.6% 10,340,000 14.6 1.2

2 Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co. 18.00 1.1% 18.05 17.75 8,107 21.30 15.50 -15.5% 3.4% -2.4% 27,000,000 nmf 1.8

7 Saudi Telecom Co. 42.40 -0.5% 42.90 42.30 2,679 42.60 33.00 -0.5% 25.4% 18.8% 84,800,000 11.1 1.8 20 Savola Group Co. 34.50 -0.9% 34.90 34.50 318 35.50 23.70 -2.8% 20.2% 25.9% 17,250,000 13.6 2.1 30 Southern Province Cement Co. 102.25 -2.6% 107.00 102.25 105 106.75 63.25 -4.2% 18.9% 61.7% 14,315,000 15.0 5.9 1 SABB 36.70 0.6% 36.70 36.30 31 46.30 34.20 -20.7% -9.8% -20.0% 36,700,000 12.7 2.1 3 Yamama Saudi Cement Co. 50.00 -0.5% 51.00 49.90 838 83.25 47.50 -39.9% -28.6% -14.2% 10,125,000 13.8 3.0 2 Yanbu National Petrochemicals Co. 53.50 3.9% 54.00 52.00 2,453 56.25 41.60 -4.9% 21.6% 4.4% 30,093,750 9.5 2.9 7 Zain - Saudi Arabia 9.75 0.0% 9.90 9.65 29,972 11.50 5.25 -15.2% 75.7% 40.3% 13,650,000 nmf 3.5 292,128

10,990 1,118

42,044 130,417

3,986 145,299 114,078 11,030

37,284

35,389 9,699

97,080

Rebased Performance Bull/Bear Indicator Daily Index Performance Snapshot

MENA Best Performers

Close % Chg.428Kingdom Hldg. Co. SAR 5.60 9.8%GECGalfar Engineering & Contracting OMR 0.703 8.8%KCBAl Khaliji Commercial Bank QAR 6.35 8.6%

MENA Indices Highlights QGTQatar Gas Transport Co. QAR 21.60 8.0%BKMBankMuscat OMR 0.720 8.0%

PE PB MENA Worst Performers

Sa Saudi Arabia (Tadawul All Share Index) 5,250 -4.0% 9.3% 10,090 4,130 2,183 264,263 10.24 1.77 Ku Kuwait (KSE Weighted Index) 406 1.8% -0.2% 787 316 718 98,547 9.99 1.52 Close % Chg.UAUAE (ADSM Index) 2,695 0.6% 12.8% 5,148 2,137 122 69,783 7.29 1.37 FACCommercial Facilities Co. KWD 0.265 -13.1%

UAE (DFM Index) 1,745 1.9% 6.6% 5,860 1,433 305 37,413 6.87 0.88 238Rabigh Petrochem. SAR 22.95 -8.9%Qa Qatar (DSM Index) 5,590 3.9% -18.8% 12,627 4,230 196 65,352 8.85 1.74 201Saudi Basic Industries Corp. SAR 48.00 -8.6%OmOman (MSM Index) 5,478 5.1% 0.7% 12,109 4,224 46 15,024 9.50 1.68 225Saudi Industrial Inv. Grp. SAR 13.70 -6.8%Ba Bahrain (BSE Index) 1,681 0.4% -6.8% 2,903 1,572 4 18,727 8.07 1.29 101Riyad Bank SAR 24.70 -6.4%Eg Egypt (Hermes Egypt Index (HFI))* 463 - 8.5% 1,033 328 - 63,640 7.67 1.56 Jo Jordan (Amman General Index) 2,825 2.2% 2.4% 5,044 2,551 67 33,782 12.71 2.15 MENA Highest TurnoverM Morocco (Casa All Shares Index)* 10,621 - -3.3% 14,635 9,406 - 59,990 18.36 3.95 Le Lebanon (Beirut SE Index)* 1,094 - -7.2% 2,119 1,043 - 8,507 6.47 0.86 Pa Palestine (Al-Quds Index) 546 0.9% 23.6% 739 407 2 2,079 8.67 2.50 201Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (KSA)Tu Tunisia (Tunis SE Index)* 3,282 - 13.6% 3,418 2,837 - 6,576 13.85 1.92 115Alinma Bank (KSA)

NBKNational Bank of Kuwait (KUW)KFI Kuwait Finance House (KUW)EMAEmaar Properties (UAE)

TurnoverUSD million

64,280,166

Turnover (USD)343,553,085

97,126,838 88,742,222

Trailing Mkt. Cap.USD million

119,955,261

April 21, 2009

Country (Index) IndexLevel % Chg. 52 Wk

High52 Wk LowYTD

*Market Closed

113

111

113

85

90

95

100

105

110

115

19-Jan-09 3-Feb-09 18-Feb-09 5-Mar-09 20-Mar-09 4-Apr-09 19-Apr-0

Bahrain

Kuwait

Oman

Qatar

Saudi

Dubai

Abu Dhabi

-6%

0%

6%

-1 1 3Period's Liquidity Ratio (PLR x)*

Dai

ly R

etur

n (%

)-6%

-4%

-2%

0%

2%

4%

6%

Bahr

ain

Jord

an

Kuw

ait

Om

an

Qat

ar

Saud

i

Dub

ai

Pale

stin

e

Abu

Dha

bi

STOCKSWITH NBK CAPITAL thursday, april 26, 2012

ALWATAN DAILY

13

KUWAIT

Rebased Performance Summary Best Performers

KSE General Index (% Chg.) Close % Chg.KSE Weighted Index (% Chg.) IFC.KSE International Finance Co. 0.106 3.9%% of stocks trading above 1yr avg. price PCEM.KSE Kuwait Portland Cement Co. 0.880 2.3%Advance/Decline Ratio KAMCO.KSKIPCO Asset Management Co. 0.285 1.8%KSE General Index 52 week High / Low SRE.KSE Salhia Real Estate Co. 0.236 1.7%KSE Weighted Index 52 week High / Low CABLE.KSEGulf Cable and Electrical Industries Co. 1.260 1.6%Turnover (KWD '000)Market Cap. (KWD '000)

Highest Turnover Worst Performers

Turnover (KWD) Close % Chg.IFInternational Finance Co. AREFENRGAREF Energy Holding Co. 0.126 -4.6%ZAZain Kuwait SULTAN.KSSultan Center Food Products Co. 0.108 -3.6%K Kuwait International Bank KPROJ.KSEKuwait Projects Co. (Holding) 0.315 -3.1%A Agility KCEM.KSE Kuwait Cement Co. 0.450 -2.2%K Kuwait Finance House ABAR.KSE Burgan Co. for Well Drilling 0.255 -1.9%

Quotes

% Chg. High Low High Low on high YTD 12 mths PE PBA Agility 0.425 0.0% 0.425 0.420 2,390 0.435 0.248 -2.3% 13.3% 0.0% 444,906 16.5 0.5 A Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait 0.600 - - - - 0.657 0.590 -8.7% -4.6% 0.0% 907,944 20.0 1.9 T Al Themar Intl. Holding Co. 0.087 0.0% 0.087 0.087 80 0.104 0.079 -16.3% -4.4% -13.0% 88,088 nmf 1.0 A Alafco Aviation Lease and Fin. Co. 0.295 -1.7% 0.300 0.295 1,300 0.380 0.280 -22.4% -6.3% -22.4% 230,033 5.8 1.5 A AREF Energy Holding Co. 0.126 -4.6% 0.130 0.126 440 0.132 0.085 -4.5% 18.9% 5.0% 94,500 nmf 1.4 B Boubyan Bank 0.590 0.0% 0.600 0.590 375 0.620 0.530 -4.8% 0.0% -1.7% 1,031,459 nmf 4.3 B Boubyan Petrochemical Co. 0.620 0.0% 0.620 0.620 10 0.630 0.530 -1.6% 10.7% 8.8% 300,762 34.3 1.2 B Burgan Bank 0.435 0.0% 0.435 0.430 580 0.524 0.410 -17.0% -3.8% -15.4% 672,061 13.3 1.5 A Burgan Co. for Well Drilling 0.255 -1.9% 0.255 0.248 30 0.420 0.198 -39.3% 20.3% -45.7% 53,454 36.5 1.0 C Combined Grp Contracting Co. 1.680 0.0% 1.680 1.680 13 1.945 1.300 -13.6% 6.3% -8.5% 162,339 16.4 4.0 C Commercial Bank of Kuwait 0.790 - - - - 0.940 0.700 -16.0% 0.0% -16.0% 1,004,898 nmf 1.9 F Commercial Facilities Co. 0.260 -1.9% 0.265 0.260 100 0.380 0.255 -31.6% 0.0% -30.7% 139,559 9.8 0.9 G Global Investment House 0.049 - - - - 0.055 0.019 -10.9% 0.0% 16.7% 64,309 nmf 3.1 G Gulf Bank 0.440 -1.1% 0.440 0.440 230 0.552 0.425 -20.3% -9.5% -19.0% 1,158,558 37.8 2.7 C Gulf Cable and Electrical Industries Co. 1.260 1.6% 1.260 1.240 28 1.680 1.240 -25.0% -11.3% -24.1% 264,513 7.3 1.5 IF IFA Hotels & Resorts 0.395 - - - - 0.495 0.285 -20.2% -16.8% -10.2% 179,283 nmf 3.7 IK Ikarus Petroleum Industries Co. 0.190 -1.0% 0.192 0.190 40 0.214 0.138 -11.2% 11.8% 28.4% 142,500 16.9 1.0 IF International Finance Co. 0.106 3.9% 0.106 0.100 18,820 0.242 0.096 -56.2% 3.9% -58.4% 85,106 nmf 0.8 JAJazeera Airways 0.455 1.1% 0.455 0.450 210 0.485 0.120 -6.2% 0.0% 273.0% 100,100 9.5 3.9 K KIPCO Asset Management Co. 0.285 1.8% 0.290 0.280 110 0.295 0.236 -3.4% 16.8% 1.8% 75,041 nmf 0.9

420 (-0.4%)

1,942 95 31

101 35

- 8

21 - 26

-

222 6

250 8

Market Cap.(KWD '000)

7 388 56

1,010 -

Volume('000)

603,650

Company Name CloseDaily Turnover

(KWD '000)52-Week % Change

6,337 (0.1%)

53%0.35

6,523 / 5,694467 / 396

1,942,000

28,211,813 38,653

1,386,150 1,123,350 1,009,550

Trailing

114

104

95

100

105

110

115

120

25-Jan-12 25-Feb-12 25-Mar-12 25-Apr-12

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite KSE Weighted Index

F First Gulf Bank 9.04 -1.0% 9.11 8.96 440 10.75 6.98 -15.9% 17.0% 2.7% 27,120,000 7.2 1.0 G Gulf Cement Co. 1.09 - - - - 1.50 0.67 -27.3% 53.5% -25.9% 894,996 nmf 0.7 M Mashreq 91.45 - - - - 102.00 74.70 -10.3% -9.9% 22.4% - 18.8 1.3 N National Bank of Abu Dhabi 8.68 0.9% 8.75 8.65 522 9.00 7.38 -3.6% 7.0% 2.8% 33,631,167 9.1 1.3 N National Bank of Fujairah 4.51 - - - - 4.70 3.00 -4.0% -0.9% 8.9% 4,961,000 17.7 2.4 N National Bank of Umm Al Qaiwain 1.94 - - - - 2.24 1.63 -13.4% 7.2% 1.0% 3,104,000 9.7 0.9 S Sharjah Islamic Bank 0.91 1.1% 0.93 0.89 851 1.02 0.80 -10.8% 8.3% 2.2% 2,207,205 8.4 0.5 S Sorouh Real Estate Co. 1.14 0.9% 1.16 1.13 11,219 1.48 0.67 -23.0% 34.1% -22.4% 2,992,500 8.9 0.5 T Tamweel 1.26 -1.6% 1.33 1.25 52,765 1.49 0.53 -15.4% 109.0% 27.3% 1,260,000 13.6 0.6 U Union National Bank 2.99 -0.3% 3.00 2.95 927 3.90 2.82 -23.3% 3.5% -10.7% 7,461,919 4.9 0.7 U Union Properties 0.45 -2.2% 0.47 0.45 24,773 0.50 0.24 -9.1% 74.4% 15.1% 1,515,086 nmf 0.6 U United Arab Bank 3.95 - - - - 4.50 3.28 -12.2% 8.5% -21.0% 3,935,785 11.4 2.0

* Closing Prices, Turnover and Market Cap. in USD-

12,842 68,347 2,767

11,335

4,531 - - 777

3,981 - -

UAE

Rebased Performance Summary Best Performers

DFM Index (% Chg.) Close % Chg.ADSM Index (% Chg.) ADCB.ADS Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank 3.20 2.2%% of stocks trading above 1yr avg. price ALDAR.AD ALDAR Properties 1.15 1.8%Advance/Decline Ratio SIB.ADSM Sharjah Islamic Bank 0.91 1.1%DFM Index 52 week High / Low ARKAN.AD Arkan Building Materials Co. 0.96 1.1%ADSM Index 52 week High / Low ADNH.ADS Abu Dhabi National Hotels 2.00 1.0%Turnover (AED '000)Market Cap. (AED '000)

Highest Turnover Worst Performers

Turnover (AED) Close % Chg.A Arabtec Holding DFM.DFM Dubai Financial Market 1.14 -3.4%TATamweel TAQA.ADS Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. 1.31 -3.0%E Emaar Properties EMIRATES Emirates NBD 2.81 -2.8%D Dubai Financial Market UPP.DFM Union Properties 0.45 -2.2%A ALDAR Properties DEYAAR.D Deyaar Development Co. 0.38 -1.8%

Quotes

% Chg. High Low High Low on high YTD 12 mths PE PBA Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank 3.20 2.2% 3.24 3.18 2,207 3.32 2.69 -3.6% 15.1% 19.0% 17,905,912 5.5 0.8 A Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank 3.16 -0.3% 3.25 3.16 168 3.55 2.92 -11.0% 0.0% -1.9% 7,472,471 6.5 1.1 T Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. 1.31 -3.0% 1.34 1.26 611 1.63 1.14 -19.6% 9.2% -16.6% 8,154,750 12.5 1.1 A Abu Dhabi National Hotels 2.00 1.0% 2.00 2.00 356 2.90 1.98 -31.0% -9.1% -32.0% 2,000,000 8.0 0.2 A Air Arabia 0.61 -1.3% 0.61 0.60 12,576 0.76 0.57 -19.6% 3.6% -18.7% 2,832,687 10.5 0.5 A ALDAR Properties 1.15 1.8% 1.16 1.14 14,951 1.60 0.76 -28.1% 25.0% -28.1% 4,697,898 7.3 0.7 A Amlak Finance 1.02 - - - - - - 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1,530,000 nmf 1.1 A Arabtec Holding 3.62 0.3% 3.69 3.56 32,758 3.63 1.24 -0.3% 127.7% 151.4% 5,411,900 21.3 1.8 A Aramex 1.84 0.6% 1.85 1.84 554 1.96 1.69 -6.1% 2.2% -3.7% 2,693,944 12.7 1.4 A Arkan Building Materials Co. 0.96 1.1% 0.96 0.95 15 1.65 0.71 -41.8% -5.0% -41.8% 1,680,000 nmf 1.0 C Commercial Bank of Dubai 2.71 0.0% 2.71 2.71 60 3.24 2.71 -16.3% -1.9% -5.1% 5,523,934 6.9 0.9 D Dana Gas 0.47 0.0% 0.48 0.46 9,375 0.69 0.34 -31.9% 4.4% -31.9% 3,102,941 6.1 0.4 D Deyaar Development Co. 0.38 -1.8% 0.39 0.36 8,528 0.46 0.20 -16.9% 77.5% 21.9% 2,184,084 nmf 0.6

D du 3.24 0.0% 3.26 3.19 1,057 3.63 2.80 -10.7% 12.1% -1.2% 14,811,429 13.5 2.4 D Dubai Financial Market 1.14 -3.4% 1.18 1.14 17,509 1.38 0.68 -17.4% 35.7% -17.4% 9,120,000 nmf 1.2

D Dubai Islamic Bank 1.99 -1.0% 2.03 1.99 2,202 2.28 1.88 -12.7% 2.6% -10.4% 7,556,137 7.5 0.8 E Emaar Properties 3.28 -0.6% 3.31 3.27 14,724 3.34 2.41 -1.8% 27.6% -1.8% 19,979,262 11.1 0.6 E Emirates NBD 2.81 -2.8% 2.88 2.81 15 4.63 2.65 -39.3% -4.4% -25.3% 15,617,347 6.2 0.4 E Etisalat 8.75 0.5% 8.79 8.65 1,671 11.20 8.57 -21.9% -4.2% -15.5% 69,178,725 11.9 1.8

48,385 43

14,614

3,399 20,297

4,424

163 4,418 3,197

- 118,987

1,019 14

803 713

7,637 17,250

Market Cap.(AED '000)

Trailing

7,054 531

17,249,736

Company Name CloseDaily Turnover

(AED '000)Volume('000)

52-Week % Change

118,987,003 68,346,513 48,384,910 20,297,085

399,779,184

64%0.83

1,754 / 1,301

1,660 (-0.6%)

2,775 / 2,293537,025

2,512 (0.3%)

114

105

119

95

105

115

125

135

25-Jan-12 25-Feb-12 25-Mar-12 25-Apr-12

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite Abu Dhabi SE Dubai FM

K Kuwait Cement Co. 0.450 -2.2% 0.450 0.450 60 0.630 0.415 -28.6% -2.2% -25.0% 286,945 20.1 1.9 K Kuwait Finance House 0.740 -1.3% 0.750 0.740 805 1.000 0.720 -26.0% -11.2% -26.0% 2,149,081 35.7 1.2 F Kuwait Food Co. 1.360 - - - - 1.620 1.360 -16.0% -8.1% -11.7% 546,723 11.4 1.9 K Kuwait International Bank 0.270 -1.8% 0.275 0.265 4,160 0.350 0.236 -22.9% 5.9% -20.6% 280,078 25.8 1.3 P Kuwait Portland Cement Co. 0.880 2.3% 0.880 0.850 65 1.580 0.660 -44.3% 23.9% -44.3% 79,996 31.5 1.3 K Kuwait Projects Co. (Holding) 0.315 -3.1% 0.320 0.315 70 0.405 0.281 -22.2% 8.6% -21.3% 421,021 14.0 0.7 M Mabanee Co. 1.000 0.0% 1.020 1.000 155 1.020 0.691 -2.0% 27.9% 41.0% 611,189 29.4 4.2 M Mena Holding 0.033 - - - - - - 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 21,780 2.3 0.1 N National Bank of Kuwait 1.080 0.0% 1.080 1.060 313 1.145 0.909 -5.7% 6.1% -4.2% 4,701,777 15.5 2.1 N National Industries Co. 0.305 -1.6% 0.305 0.305 60 0.340 0.260 -10.3% 8.9% -7.6% 105,592 24.9 1.4 N National Industries Grp. Holding 0.228 -0.9% 0.228 0.226 1,560 0.285 0.192 -20.0% -12.3% -20.0% 295,283 nmf 0.8 N National Investments Company 0.146 0.0% 0.148 0.146 480 0.285 0.144 -48.8% -15.1% -47.9% 127,927 nmf 0.7 N National Real Estate Co. 0.134 -1.5% 0.138 0.132 2,780 0.168 0.056 -20.2% 4.7% 21.8% - nmf 0.7 O Oula Fuel Marketing Co. 0.260 -1.9% 0.265 0.260 50 0.360 0.260 -27.8% -13.3% -11.9% 85,722 21.1 2.0 A Qurain Petrochemicals Industries Co. 0.216 0.0% 0.216 0.216 560 0.226 0.186 -4.4% 0.9% 11.3% 237,600 13.1 1.1 S Salhia Real Estate Co. 0.236 1.7% 0.242 0.234 1,440 0.246 0.200 -4.1% 13.5% 8.3% 121,003 16.9 0.9 S Sultan Center Food Products Co. 0.108 -3.6% 0.112 0.108 1,500 0.136 0.093 -20.6% -10.0% -14.3% 62,514 nmf 0.9 T Tamdeen Real Estate Co. 0.234 0.0% 0.238 0.234 400 0.270 0.216 -13.3% 1.7% -10.0% 87,310 22.8 0.9 A The Commercial Real Estate Co. 0.088 -1.1% 0.089 0.088 440 0.097 0.067 -9.3% 14.3% 18.9% 161,464 15.3 0.6 S The Securities House 0.130 - - - - - - 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 88,400 nmf 7.0 N Wataniya 2.460 0.0% 2.460 2.420 38 2.480 1.880 -0.8% 26.8% 21.8% 1,239,921 3.4 1.5 Z Zain Kuwait 0.740 -1.3% 0.750 0.730 1,875 1.200 0.690 -38.3% -17.8% -38.3% 3,187,576 11.2 1.5

92 1,386

166 94 39

-

377 13

121 344

334 18

353 70

56 22

156 -

1,123

27 604 -

STOCKSWITH NBK CAPITAL thursday, april 26, 2012

ALWATAN DAILY

14

QATAR

Rebased Performance Summary Best Performers

DSM Index (% Chg.) Close % Chg.% of stocks trading above 1yr avg. price AHCS.DSMAamal Co. 17.59 4.7%Advance/Decline Ratio QNNS.DSMQatar Navigation 69.70 0.4%DSM 52 week High / Low QEWS.DSMQatar Electricity & Water Co. 141.30 0.4%Turnover (QAR '000) QGTS.DSMQatar Gas Transport Co. 16.53 0.4%Market Cap. (QAR '000) QTEL.DSM Qatar Telecom 129.00 0.1%

Highest Turnover Worst Performers

Turnover (QAR) Close % Chg.MMasraf Al Rayan VFQS.DSMVodafone Qatar 8.35 -1.1%IQIndustries Qatar CBQK.DSMThe Commercial Bank of Qatar 73.00 -1.0%C The Commercial Bank of Qatar BRES.DSMBarwa Real Estate Co. 27.50 -0.5%QQatar National Bank ERES.DSMEzdan Real Estate Co. 19.05 -0.5%QQatar Gas Transport Co. DHBK.DSMDoha Bank 59.30 -0.5%

Quotes

% Chg. High Low High Low on high YTD 12 mths PE PBA Aamal Co. 17.59 4.7% 18.00 16.80 475 21.90 14.00 -19.7% 21.7% 10.0% 9,577,755 19.5 1.6 K Al Khalij Commercial Bank 16.44 -0.1% 16.45 16.36 55 18.20 16.06 -9.7% -4.3% -9.7% 5,918,400 12.1 1.1 B Barwa Real Estate Co. 27.50 -0.5% 27.65 27.30 328 33.25 27.50 -17.3% -8.2% -14.2% 10,700,928 8.9 0.9 C The Commercial Bank of Qatar 73.00 -1.0% 73.50 72.00 261 85.50 68.00 -14.6% -13.1% 2.1% 18,063,585 9.5 1.4 D Doha Bank 59.30 -0.5% 59.50 59.10 26 67.00 50.00 -11.5% -7.5% 16.5% 12,257,180 9.7 1.9 E Ezdan Real Estate Co. 19.05 -0.5% 19.05 19.00 7 24.97 18.60 -23.7% -14.2% -19.8% 50,530,062 nmf 1.8 IQIndustries Qatar 144.80 0.0% 146.50 144.80 209 148.50 118.80 -2.5% 8.9% -1.8% 79,640,000 10.3 3.3 M Masraf Al Rayan 26.90 -0.2% 27.00 26.40 1,637 28.10 22.50 -4.3% -3.4% 17.5% 20,175,000 14.3 2.4 Q Qatar Electricity & Water Co. 141.30 0.4% 142.50 141.00 65 148.00 129.50 -4.5% 1.2% -2.4% 14,130,000 10.4 4.7 Q Qatar Gas Transport Co. 16.53 0.4% 16.68 16.50 835 18.63 16.47 -11.3% -5.6% -9.3% 9,155,041 11.1 4.7 Q Qatar International Islamic Bank 51.00 -0.2% 51.30 51.00 40 56.20 45.50 -9.3% -5.6% 8.7% 7,719,806 11.5 1.7 Q Qatar Islamic Bank 77.40 -0.1% 77.70 77.10 21 85.30 76.30 -9.3% -8.2% -1.8% 18,289,094 12.8 1.7 Q Qatar National Bank 133.40 -0.2% 134.00 133.40 107 141.73 122.73 -5.9% -3.5% 7.1% 93,343,907 12.0 2.3 Q Qatar Navigation 69.70 0.4% 69.90 69.30 7 87.50 69.40 -20.3% -8.9% -15.9% 7,982,406 11.4 0.8 Q Qatar Telecom 129.00 0.1% 129.00 128.50 7 284.77 127.70 -54.7% -45.8% -50.8% 22,704,000 8.8 1.1 V Vodafone Qatar 8.35 -1.1% 8.41 8.30 237 9.22 7.24 -9.4% 10.6% 5.6% 7,059,090 nmf 1.1 1,977

1,634 14,248

504 941

43,722 9,191

13,851 2,051

19,022 1,564

133 30,401

Trailing

8,356 909

9,002

Volume('000)

52-Week % Change Market Cap.(QAR '000)Company Name Close

Daily Turnover(QAR '000)

30,400,697 19,021,964 14,247,600 13,851,098

454,137,948

8,653 (-0.1%)

43,721,607

44%0.50

8,892 / 8,071388,113

114

103

90

100

110

120

25-Jan-12 25-Feb-12 25-Mar-12 25-Apr-12

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite Doha SM

BAHRAIN

Rebased Performance Summary Best Performers

BSE Index (% Chg.) Close % Chg.% of stocks trading above 1 yr avg. price ITHMR.BSE Ithmaar Bank 0.15 7.4%Advance/Decline Ratio AUB.BSE Ahli United Bank 0.62 0.0%BSE 52 week High / Low #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/ATurnover (BHD '000) BATELCO.BBahrain Telecommunications Co. 0.46 -0.9%Market Cap. (BHD '000) #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A

Highest Turnover Worst Performers

Turnover (BHD) Close % Chg.B Bahrain Telecommunications Co. BATELCO.BBahrain Telecommunications Co. 0.46 -0.9%IT Ithmaar Bank #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/AA Ahli United Bank AUB.BSE Ahli United Bank 0.62 0.0%N National Bank of Bahrain ITHMR.BSE Ithmaar Bank 0.15 7.4%B Albaraka Banking Grp. BARKA.BS Albaraka Banking Grp. 0.93 -

Quotes

% Chg. High Low High Low on high YTD 12 mths PE PBA Ahli United Bank* 0.620 0.0% 0.620 0.620 35 0.680 0.599 -8.8% 2.8% -6.3% 3,244,804 10.3 1.3 B Albaraka Banking Grp.* 0.930 - - - - 1.063 0.857 -12.5% -0.4% -14.6% 943,462 8.0 0.8 A Arab Banking Corp.* 0.420 - - - - 0.530 0.420 -20.8% 0.0% -26.3% 1,306,200 6.2 0.4 B Bahrain Islamic Bank 0.088 - - - - 0.116 0.082 -24.1% -2.2% -24.1% 82,691 nmf 0.8 B Bahrain Telecommunications Co. 0.460 -0.9% 0.464 0.460 110 0.488 0.380 -5.7% 17.3% -5.4% 662,400 8.3 1.3 B BBK 0.400 - - - - 0.426 0.390 -6.1% -3.4% -6.1% 340,542 10.6 1.4 IN Investcorp Bank* 797 - - - - 797 797 0.0% 0.0% -30.0% 637,560 4.5 0.6 IT Ithmaar Bank* 0.145 7.4% 0.145 0.140 540 0.145 0.065 0.0% 123.1% 45.0% 388,276 nmf 0.7 N National Bank of Bahrain 0.545 0.0% 0.545 0.545 14 0.600 0.545 -9.2% -5.2% -9.2% 466,171 10.1 1.7 U United Gulf Bank 0.260 - - - - 0.424 0.260 -38.7% -13.3% -36.0% 216,986 nmf 1.0

* Closing Prices, Turnover and Market Cap. in USD

- 78 8

-

- - 51

-

Market Cap.(BHD '000)

Trailing

22 -

7,690 -

Company Name CloseDaily Turnover

(BHD '000)Volume('000)

52-Week % Change

29,414 8,213

1,407 / 1,129180

6,488,381

26%1.00

50,716

1,148 (0.0%)

114

101

90

100

110

120

25-Jan-12 25-Feb-12 25-Mar-12 25-Apr-12S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite Bahrain SE

OMAN

Rebased Performance Summary Best Performers

MSM Index (% Chg.) Close % Chg.% of stocks trading above 1yr avg. price RNSS.MSMRenaissance Services 0.65 0.5%Advance/Decline Ratio NBOB.MSMNational Bank of Oman 0.30 0.3%MSM 52 week High / Low RCCI.MSM Raysut Cement Co. 1.07 0.0%Turnover (OMR '000) OCOI.MSM Oman Cement Co. 0.62 0.0%Market Cap (OMR '000) OTEL.MSMOman Telecommunications Co. 1.28 -0.2%

Highest Turnover Worst Performers

Turnover (OMR) Close % Chg.B Bank Dhofar BKDB.MSMBank Dhofar 0.45 -1.1%B Bank Muscat BKMB.MSMBank Muscat 0.62 -0.5%R Renaissance Services OTEL.MSMOman Telecommunications Co. 1.28 -0.2%OOman Telecommunications Co. OCOI.MSM Oman Cement Co. 0.62 0.0%N National Bank of Oman RCCI.MSM Raysut Cement Co. 1.07 0.0%

Quotes

% Chg. High Low High Low on high YTD 12 mths PE PBB Bank Dhofar 0.449 -1.1% 0.454 0.440 1,828 0.549 0.423 -18.2% -1.3% -17.2% 493,952 12.3 2.2 B Bank Muscat 0.619 -0.5% 0.622 0.617 668 0.679 0.572 -8.8% -7.1% -8.0% 1,112,215 9.0 1.3 N National Bank of Oman 0.302 0.3% 0.302 0.300 205 0.324 0.291 -6.8% -3.2% -1.6% 334,624 9.8 1.2 O Oman Cement Co. 0.624 0.0% 0.624 0.624 1 0.629 0.416 -0.8% 44.4% 3.3% 206,465 16.1 1.4 O Oman Telecommunications Co. 1.283 -0.2% 1.285 1.280 82 1.425 1.041 -10.0% -2.0% 15.9% 962,250 8.6 1.9 R Raysut Cement Co. 1.070 0.0% 1.070 1.070 15 1.112 0.711 -3.8% 40.8% -2.5% 214,000 14.3 2.1 R Renaissance Services 0.646 0.5% 0.650 0.641 251 1.053 0.458 -38.7% 18.5% -37.0% 182,233 nmf 1.1 162

62 0

105 17

Market Cap.(OMR '000)

Trailing

831 413

61,887

Company Name CloseDaily Turnover

(OMR '000)Volume('000)

52-Week % Change

831,298 413,221 162,354 105,082

7,007,958

5,914 (-0.7%)37%0.67

6,372 / 5,4194,261

114

106

95

105

115

125

25-Jan-12 25-Feb-12 25-Mar-12 25-Apr-12

S&P GCC Large/Mid Composite Muscat SM

THURSDAY, ApRil 26, 2012

LIFEStress fracture of the foot

The bones of your feet are designed to absorb the weight and energy of the rest of your moving body. But when nearby muscles are overused and can no longer absorb the shock of running, jogging or playing sports, for example, your foot may develop a stress fracture. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons says possible warning signs of stress fracture of the foot include:

•Pain that gradually worsens over time, increasing during weight-bearing activities and improving during rest.

•Swelling at the top of the foot and outside the ankle.•Tenderness or soreness.•Bruising.

NEW YORK: A new international cam-paign hopes to save a group of people who have been dubbed “the most threatened tribe in the world” - the Awá tribe of Brazil - from encroaching outsiders who are gobbling up their land according to LiveScience.

The Awá live in the Brazilian state of Mara-nhão on lands set aside for their hunter-gather-er lifestyle. But according to the tribal advocacy group Survival International, which is leading the new campaign, the tribe is increasingly un-der threat by illegal settlement and logging on their lands. One reserve set aside for the tribe, the Awá Territory, is one-third deforested, its trees stripped by illegal logging operations, some with sawmills operating only miles from Awá land.

“When the forest is destroyed, they either flee or they simply die,” said Survival’s field di-rector Fiona Watson, who has worked with and interviewed many of the 360 surviving Awá who are in contact with society. On her last visit, she told LiveScience, “They were saying

to me, ‘We’re suffering from hunger now.’”

Tribal life under threatThe issue of indigenous people’s land rights

is an international one. Survival International estimates more than 150 million tribal people currently live in 60 countries worldwide. The most voiceless of these are uncontacted tribes, people who live without interaction with the outside world.

Uncontacted tribespeople are often ro-manticized as “primitive” people who aren’t aware of the outside world, which is a myth, ac-cording to Survival. In fact, many are purpose-fully avoiding society after deadly run-ins with civilization in the past. Not only do clashes between native peoples and settlers sometimes result in violence, uncontacted people lack im-munity to common diseases and can be felled by a simple flu virus.

Survival estimates that there are about 100 uncontacted Awá in addition to the 360 or so who have semi-settled in villages on their le-

gally protected land. After first contact with the Awá in 1973, the Brazilian government has opened up the region where the tribe has long roamed. After iron ore was discovered in the area, the European Community and the World Bank even helped fund a railway and other de-velopments in the region.

“This acts like a magnet for settlers to pour in, and ranchers, so Awá land started to be in-vaded,” Watson said.

Land rights battleThe Awá’s right to their land was formally

recognized in 2005, making mining and other activities by outsiders illegal; but satellite pho-tos of the forest reveal that these rights are not being honored. Illegal logging has left the scar of deforestation on the land. This is especially devastating to the Awá, who depend on the for-est for their survival, Watson said.

“When you talk to the Awá, it’s just so clear how much the forest means to them,” she said. “They just get everything from it.”

That includes food - babaçu nuts and açaí berries as well as fresh meat - and medicines and supplies, such as the resin of the maçaran-duba tree, which is used to make torches.

As the forest vanishes, the Awá are trapped in a legal battle to save it. In 2009, a federal judge ruled that illegal settlers had to leave the Awá territories within 180 days. A legal appeal by one of the largest cattle ranchers in the re-gion delayed the ruling. In December 2011, a second federal judge ruled that colonists and ranchers had to leave the land by December 2012. Survival fears that continued legal wran-gling will delay these departures, too. If the case continues in the legal system, it could take 20 or 30 years for the Brazilian Supreme Court to decide it. By that time, it will be too late for the Awá.

“Time is not on their side,” Watson said.

Violence and protectionIn addition, reports from Awá tribe mem-

bers and from the Brazilian Indian affairs of-

fice FUNAI suggest that this land controversy can all-too-easily turn deadly. In 1988, for ex-ample, townspeople in west Bahia, Brazil, met a lone native man who turned out to be of the Awá tribe. The man, Karapiru, had been living alone in the forest since 1975, when ranchers killed his daughter and wounded him and his son. The ranchers had taken his son, leaving Karapiru to believe him dead. “It’s a violent part of the Amazon,” Watson said. “You have bows and arrows against guns.”

Other tribes have also been haunted by vi-olent clashes. In August 2011, FUNAI officials were alarmed to find evidence of a fight be-tween drug traffickers and uncontacted native people, who went missing after the violence.

Watson and her colleagues are hoping that their new campaign will put pressure on Bra-zil to honor the Awá’s legal right to their land and provide the funding needed to enforce the protected areas’ borders. “It’s a very simple, di-rect message to the Minister of Justice,” Watson said. “The land belongs to the Awá.”

NEW YORK: Children exposed to multiple instances of violence age faster on a cellular level than children without violent experienc-es, a new study finds according to LiveScience.

Although childhood stress has long been linked with later disease risk and health prob-lems, the study is the first to show acceler-ated biological aging in childhood as a result of stress. “Those kids are ‘older’ than they are supposed to be,” said study leader Idan Shalev, a postdoctoral researcher at Duke University. If the cellular aging isn’t reversed, Shalev told LiveScience, the children would likely be at risk for premature death.

Violence and stressTo gauge biological aging, Shalev and his

colleagues examined a portion of DNA called telomeres. These sequences cap the ends of our

chromosomes (packets of DNA), but they get shorter with every cell division, acting as a sort of molecular “clock” that signals wear-and-tear on DNA.

Several studies have found that adults who experienced violence as children tend to have shorter telomeres than those with peaceful childhoods. But those studies couldn’t deter-mine whether the telomeres had been short-ened because of childhood stress or because of later adult health problems stemming from that stress, Shalev said.

To find out which was the case, he and his colleagues began a study that looked not back-ward, but ahead. Using a sample of 236 chil-dren from a British sample born between 1994 and 1995, the researchers took DNA samples by swabbing the children’s cheeks and then measured the length of each child’s telomeres

at age 5 and age 10.By the 10-year-old time point, 17 percent

of the children had experienced domestic vi-olence in their households, 24.2 percent had been frequently bullied and 26.7 percent had been physically abused by an adult, accord-ing to interviews with the children’s mothers. (Some kids were already in protective custody as a result of this abuse.) Because some chil-dren experienced more than one type of vio-lence, the researchers split them into groups: kids who hadn’t experienced violence (54.2 percent), kids who had experienced one type of violence (29.2 percent), and kids who had experienced two or more types of violence (16.5 percent).

Wear and tearThe results of the DNA analysis showed

that children in the final group, those who had experienced two or more types of violence, had significantly faster telomere shortening be-tween ages 5 and 10 on average than the other children. The findings held true after control-ling for health, body weight, gender and socio-economic status.

The violence does not necessarily have to affect the child physically, the researchers re-port in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. In-stead, it seems the telomere shortening is a re-sult of cumulative stress. It’s not yet clear how stress translates to shorter telomeres, Shalev said, but inflammation, an immune response to stress, may be to blame. “We know that vio-lence is associated with higher inflammation levels,” he said. “Higher inflammation levels are associated with shorter telomere length.”

There is some hope that telomere shorten-

ing can be halted, Shalev said. A healthy diet, physical activity and even meditation are as-sociated with longer telomeres, he said. The researchers plan to follow up with their study participants, who are now 18.

But the study also highlights the long-term damage that childhood trauma can create, said Elissa Epel, a health psychologist at the Uni-versity of California, San Francisco, who stud-ies stress and cell aging, who wasn’t involved in the current study.

“Now we have some evidence that indeed children’s immune-system aging can be ad-versely affected by severe stress early in child-hood, a scar that could last possibly decades later,” Epel told LiveScience. “This study un-derscores the vital importance of reducing vio-lent exposures for children - both serious bul-lying and abuse in the family.”

Campaign to save world’s ‘most threatened’ tribe launched

Awá men are skilled hunters who handmake their own bows and arrows. Awá tribespeople depend on the forest for their hunter-gatherer lifestyle.

The charred remains of burned forest on Awá land, only several kilometers from an Awá community. (Agencies)

A bright star cluster, set against a dazzling landscape of glowing gas and dust clouds inside a slithering constellation, takes center stage in an amazing new photo by a telescope in Chile. The cluster, called NGC 6604, is visible in the upper left portion of the image, which was taken by the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. The young star cluster is the densest part of a more sprawling cosmic group that contains about 100 luminous blue-white stars, according to ESO officials. In the new picture, NGC 6604’s associated nebula, called Sh2-54, is also visible. This stellar nursery is made up of glowing clouds of hydrogen gas and dust. NGC 6604 is located about 5,500 light-years away in the constellation of Serpens (The Serpent). Despite the brightness of NGC 6604, the cluster is often overshadowed by the nearby and more prominent Eagle Nebula, which is also known as Messier 16. (AFP)

Bullying, child abuse hasten aging in kids

CONNECTICUT: For people with tinnitus, which features chronic ringing, buzzing, hissing or clicking in the head and ears, poor sleep makes it even more dif-ficult to cope with the condition, researchers have found according to HealthDay News.

The study included 117 tinnitus patients treated at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit between 2009 and 2011. The more severe the patients’ insomnia, the greater their complaints about their tinnitus symptoms and the worse their emotional distress, the findings showed.

“Tinnitus involves [mental], emotional and psycho-physiological processes, which can result in an increase in a patient’s distress,” study co-author Dr. Kathleen Yaremchuk, chairwoman of the hospital’s ear, nose and throat department, said in a Henry Ford Health System news release. “Sleep complaints, including insomnia, in these patients may result in a decrease in their tolerance to tinnitus.”

“Treating patients with tinnitus is challenging,” Yaremchuk said. “A chronic tinnitus patient presents a challenging clinical picture that may include anxiety, de-pression, annoyance or self-reported emotional distress. And one of the most frequent self-reported complaints of tinnitus patients is ‘getting to sleep.’”

The researchers said their study also offers further proof that treatment of insomnia in patients with tinnitus may reduce tinnitus symptoms’ severity.

More than 36 million Americans have tinnitus. The exact cause is not known, but several conditions have been found to trigger or worsen tinnitus, including ex-posure to loud noises, wax build-up in the ears, sinus or ear infections, head and neck injuries, and disorders such as Lyme disease, fibromyalgia and hypo- or hyper-thyroidism.

The findings were presented at the recent Combined Otolaryngological Spring Meetings in San Diego, Calif. The data and conclusions of research presented at medi-cal meetings should be viewed as preliminary until pub-lished in a peer-reviewed journal.

Poor sleep heightens ‘ringing ear’ disease symptoms: Study

Climate right for Asian mosquito to spread in N. Europe

PARIS: The climate in northwestern Europe and the Balkans is becoming suit-able for the Asian tiger mosquito, a dis-ease-spreading invasive species, scientists said on Wednesday.

The warning comes from scientists at the University of Liverpool, northwestern England, who say the two regions have been having progressively milder winters and warmer summers.

These temperate conditions favor the mosquito, which gained a foothold in Al-bania in 1979 and is now present in more than 15 countries on Europe’s southern rim. “Over the last two decades, climate conditions have become more suitable over central northwestern Europe -- Bene-lux, western Germany -- and the Balkans,” they said.

At the same time, drier conditions in southern Spain have made that region less welcoming for the insect, they said.

The Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes al-bopictus), a native of tropical and subtrop-ical areas of Southeast Asia, can transmit viruses that cause West Nile fever, yellow fever, dengue, St. Louis and Japanese en-cephalitis and other diseases.

In 2005-6, it caused an epidemic of chikungunya, a disease that attacks the joints, on the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion.

A year later, it unleashed an outbreak of chikungyuna in the Italian province of Ravenna. In 2010, it was fingered as a transmitter of dengue virus in France and Croatia.

As of last December, the mosquito was

present in more than 15 countries, from southern Spain to parts of Greece and Tur-key, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Reporting in Britain’s Journal of the Royal Society Interface, the Liverpool team looked at European weather records for 1950-2009 and ran a widely-used com-puter model to simulate weather trends for 2030-2050.

“Similar trends are likely in the fu-ture with an increased risk simulated over northern Europe and slightly decreased risk over southern Europe,” says the study.

“These distribution shifts are related to wetter and warmer conditions favoring the overwintering of A. albopictus in the north, and drier and warmer summers that might limit its southward expansion.”

The paper points out that weather alone does not mean that the species will automatically spread there.

It also notes that the study did not con-sider vegetation or soil types which also determine whether the mosquito would be able to breed there. In addition, cold snaps or hot, dry spell also help limit mosquito survival, and these too were not included in the investigation.

In the mid-1960s, the Asian tiger mos-quito was limited to some parts of Asia, India and a handful of Pacific islands.

It has since spread to North and South America, the Caribbean, Africa and the Middle East, as well as Europe, mainly by hitchhiking a ride in exported materials. -AFP

CULTUREALWATAN DAILY

16thursDAY, April 26, 2012

Amnesty says veil bans rob Muslims of jobs, educationLONDON: Bans on full-face veils in France and Belgium

and a failure by other European countries to stop employers from enforcing informal dress codes means Muslim women are being denied jobs and education, Amnesty international said on tuesday.

in a wide-ranging report highlighting examples of dis-crimination against Muslims across Europe, Amnesty said governments were pandering to prejudices by stopping Mus-lim women from wearing full-face veils and urged France and Belgium to repeal their own bans on such veils.

“Muslim women are being denied jobs and girls pre-vented from attending regular classes just because they wear traditional forms of dress,” said Amnesty researcher Marco perolini.

“rather than countering these prejudices, political par-ties and public officials are all too often pandering to them in their quest for votes,” he added.

the human rights group said countries like Belgium, France, switzerland and the Netherlands were also failing to prevent employers enforcing informal policies that banned religious dress - such as headscarves worn by many Muslim women - on the grounds of preserving neutrality, promoting a corporate image or pleasing customers.

pupils in these countries and others had also been barred from wearing religious and cultural dress, it said.

“Women should be able to wear whatever they prefer ... states have focused so much in recent years (on) the wearing of full-face veils as if this practice were the most widespread and compelling form of inequality that women have to face,” the report said.

Amnesty called on the European union to ensure Eu-ropean legislation banning discrimination by employers on the grounds of religion or belief was properly implemented across its 27 member states.

it also urged European leaders to avoid introducing bans on the wearing of religious or cultural dress at schools and universities.

France banned clothing that covers the face in April 2011 and Belgium followed suit in July of the same year, while similar legislation has been proposed in the Netherlands, italy and some spanish regions.

Citing individual witnesses, Amnesty said France’s intro-duction of the ban had increased hostility against Muslim women wearing the niqab, a veil across the face that only reveals the eyes.

it said the ban was the wrong approach to address con-cerns that some Muslim women were being coerced to wear such clothing against their will because of cultural or family pressures.

Governments should not try to impose restrictions on full face veils for security reasons or just because a section of the public found it objectionable, it added.

it cited cases in which employers had refused to hire women who declined to remove their headgear.

One Dutch Muslim woman told Amnesty how a travel agency in Antwerp said it could not employ her if she insisted on wearing a headscarf. “We cannot hire you for front-office positions, we do not want to lose clients,” she was told.

in the same report, Amnesty also urged switzerland, which uses referendums to decide some legislation, to an-nul votes that were discriminatory after the country barred the construction of new minarets following a referendum in 2009.

“there is a groundswell of opinion in many European countries that islam is alright and Muslims are OK so long as they are not too visible. this attitude is generating human rights violations and needs to be challenged,” perolini said. -reuters

A Saudi woman looks at items on sale at a charity exhibition in Riyadh on April 22, 2012. Bans on full-face veils in France and Belgium means Muslim women are being denied jobs and education, Amnesty International said on Tuesday. (AFP)

Saudi girls’ school defies clerics

with basketballJEDDAH: A girls’ school in saudi Arabia has defied a

religious ban on female sports by erecting basketball hoops and letting pupils play at break-time, the daily Al-Watan reported on Wednesday.

powerful clerics in the conservative islamic kingdom have long spoken against allowing girls to play sports, with one senior figure saying in 2009 it might lead them to lose their virginity by tearing their hymens.

saudi Arabia’s austere interpretation of islamic law prevents women from working, opening bank accounts or having some elective surgery without the permission of a male relative. they are not allowed to drive.

King Abdullah has pushed for women to have better opportunities in education and employment and last year said they could vote and run for office in future municipal elections, the only official polls in the monarchy.

the school in saudi Arabia’s Eastern province has now become the first state-run girls school openly to encourage sports, Watan reported, quoting a supervisor as saying it would expend pupils’ energy “in a positive way”.

private girls schools already offer sports classes.in recent months saudi Arabia has faced criticism for

having never fielded a woman athlete at the Olympics, with human rights Watch calling for it be barred from this year’s london games.

Amid mounting international scrutiny of the issue, local media reported this month that the deputy educa-tion minister for female student affairs, the kingdom’s first woman minister, was looking into setting up “a compre-hensive physical education program” for both sexes.

“the school administration is hoping to instill the importance of sports among the students and introduce them to its benefits, as well as allowing them to spend their spare time doing something beneficial,” Amina Bu Bsheit, a school supervisor, was quoted as saying by Wa-tan.

she added that the school, which was not named in Watan’s report, still does not provide a physical education class but that the students play during weekly “activities classes”. -reuters

‘Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad’:Iraqi take on Shakespeare’s 16th century classic

Top Philippine dishes emerge from junk food shadowsFRANCE: Claude tayag sees himself as a food mission-

ary, hoping to convert people at home and abroad to the secret cuisine wonders of the philippines.

the southeast Asian nation’s table-fare has long suffered a poor reputation internationally compared with its regional neighbors.

Across the world, indian curry houses compete with Viet-namese noodle soup shops or Chinese dim sum restaurants in offering a taste of Asian food, but there are comparatively very few places serving Filipino dishes.

Back home, many locals also undoubtedly prefer their meals fast and cheap -- in the style of their former Ameri-can colonial rulers -- with deep-fried chicken and hamburger chains dominating the food scene.

But standing in his kitchen over a huge pot of pork bone marrow slowly simmering in a traditional adobo-style mix of vinegar, soy sauce and garlic, tayag insists philippine food can “wow” as much as any other in Asia.

“it’s a very misunderstood cuisine. Firstly, Filipino cuisine is so diverse,” tayag says as he stirs the pork that he is prepar-ing for dozens of guests who have gathered at his home.

“You cannot explain it in one sentence. You need a whole day, a whole month to talk about it.”

tayag, an artist, writer and chef, has turned his rustic home a couple of hours’ drive north of Manila into an infor-mal restaurant, where diners feast on a 10-course meal that takes them on a culinary tour of the archipelago.

the lunchtime extravaganza lasts for three hours and one version of his menu starts with an eclectic trio of dips -- fermented rice, crab fat and a pesto made from the native pili nut.

it ends with a Filipino version of the italian panna cotta -- made from carabao’s milk, which has a higher fat content and is thus richer than that produced by cows.

throughout the afternoon diners wash down their food with jugs of ice-cold tea made from calamansi juice, ginger, lemongrass and honey.

Bookings often have to be made weeks in advance for the restaurant that tayag runs with his effervescent wife, Mary Ann, who entertains the guests as hostess with in-depth de-scriptions of all the dishes.

tayag, 55, says his restaurant’s popularity is testament to a small but developing food culture in the philippines.

“in every major province, there are people like us, work-ing for the preservation and the propagation of slow-cooked food,” tayag says.

“And one can say there’s a rediscovery of Filipino cui-sine... it’s come about slowly with the emergence of high-end Filipino restaurants in Manila, but also the cable tV travel and cooking shows. And the food bloggers.”

indeed, 15 years ago restaurants serving top-end ver-sions of traditional Filipino food were a rarity in Manila, let alone in out-of-the way locations such as tayag’s home in Angeles City.

Nowadays -- propelled also by a fast-growing middle class -- Filipino restaurants are starting to feature much more in the philippines’ major cities.

Nevertheless, tayag acknowledges that us-style junk food remains the most popular option for most of the nearly 100 million Filipinos when they choose to dine out, particu-larly the poor masses who need cheap options.

“We need to create awareness. We are fast losing our tra-ditional ways... with the onslaught of these fast foods, the malls, and all that. You know, the American lifestyle,” he says. Asked to describe Filipino food, tayag says it does not necessarily have the obviously bold, intense flavors like spicy indian or hot thai dishes.

“Our flavors are more nuanced... there’s a nuance of sweet, sour, salty and bitter,” he says.

tayag then explains one of his favorite expressions to de-scribe how people in the philippines feel when they eat the food they love -- linamnam.

linamnam, which has no direct translation in English, re-fers to a thrill, an excitement, a tingling sensation. -AFp

FRANCE: romeo is shiite, Juliet sunni, and they must contend not only with warring families but a country torn by conflict and sectarian strife: this is the story of “romeo and Juliet in Baghdad”.

pistols have replaced swords and some characters wear traditional dish-dashas, abayas and keffiyah scarves, but the changes go far beyond props and cos-tumes. the play is a distinctly iraqi take on William shakespeare’s 16th-century classic -- it is in the iraqi dialect of Arabic, with an iraqi cast and an iraqi director who also adapted the play, weaving in the conflict and suffering with which iraqis have had to live for the past nine years and more.

One of the final scenes combines the general horror of suicide bombings in iraq with a reference to a specific attack on Oc-tober 31, 2010, in which militants killed 44 worshippers and two priests in Our lady of salvation church in Baghdad.

romeo flees to the church after killing the hot-headed tybalt, and is later joined there by Juliet.

in the play’s biggest departure from shakespeare’s original story, Juliet’s spurned suitor paris enters the church wearing a belt of explosives and blows himself up, killing romeo and Juliet.

Monadhil Daood, 52, who adapted and directed the play, said that paris is a member of Al-Qaeda and is not an iraqi -- a reference to foreign fighters who came to iraq after the 2003 us-led invasion.

the reality of iraq, and especially the sectarian violence here, ultimately pro-vides a more tragic setting for the story of the two star-crossed lovers than Verona, italy, where the original “romeo and Ju-liet” was set.

in 2006, militants bombed the shiite Al-Askari shrine in samarra, unleashing a sectarian war of bombings and death

squad murders that killed tens of thou-sands of iraqis and forced many more from their homes. that violence was eventually brought under control, but attacks remain common even today, and many iraqis face other problems such as severe deficiencies in basic services such as electricity and water.

it is the reality of life here, which they have experienced first-hand, that the play’s leading actors want to convey.

“romeo and Juliet in Baghdad is (about) an iraqi problem, 100 percent, so romeo will suffer iraqi sufferings,” said Ahmed salah Moneka, 23, who plays ro-meo.

“Now,” he said, “it is an iraqi story.”“i want to convey messages of the

suffering of this generation and previous generations, and the suffering of love,” Moneka said.

“there are two sects in iraq and it has happened many times that two people from those two sects love each other and they cannot continue” their relationship, said sarwa rasool, 23, who plays Juliet, adding that this not only goes for sunnis and shiites, but also Arabs and Kurds.

Anyone “who has a goal must not put sectarianism in front of (that) goal, or this tribe or that, or any other matters that stop love,” she said. Both Moneka and rasool have had personal experience with sectarian tragedy.

“My friend committed suicide because her lover was Arab and she was Kurdish

and her family did not accept him,” said rasool, who is herself Kurdish.

And the urr neighborhood in north Baghdad where she lives was hit by sec-tarian violence.

“During the time of saddam’s regime, my area was mostly sunni, but after its collapse it became mostly shiite, and they started killing each other,” she said.

there was an old man who owned a shop in her neighborhood, which she could see from her home.

“Because he was from the other sect (sunni), he was killed by the Mahdi Army,” she said, referring to shiite cleric Moqtada al-sadr’s militia. “they came and killed him in front of my eyes; this is a simple example of what we witness.”

“Our generation grew up in a war and lived its childhood during a war and em-bargo,” Moneka said.

“i have friends who were injured in explosions, and i lost two of my friends during the sectarianism,” he said. “that made my performance stronger and deeper and more serious.”

the play, which opened to a packed house at iraq’s National theatre on April 16, was commissioned for the World shakespeare Festival, part of the cultural program for the london 2012 Olympics.

it will show in stratford-upon-Avon from April 26 to May 5, and in london from June 28 to 30. But it is ultimately a play tailor-made for iraqis, and its director Daood said that it should be performed in iraq again after its run in England.

“i think it’s a play that speaks directly to the iraqi people first; it was written for iraqis -- it wasn’t written for an inter-national festival circuit,” said Deborah shaw, who commissioned the play.

“i need to help my people,” said Daood. “i need to tell them, come and see yourself, because i am the mirror.” -AFp

Actors from the Iraqi Theatre Company perform a scene from “Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad” during rehearsals on April 16, 2012 in preparation for the World Shake-speare Festival. (AFP)

Customers eat their lunch at the Bale Dutung, the house of chef and artist Claude Tayag in Angeles, Pampanga, north of Manila on March 17, 2012. (AFP)

entertainmentaLWatan DaiLY

17thursDAY, April 26, 2012

Song Of The Day

Fahad AlSabahStaff Writer

Song: sunflowers for Alfred royArtist: Mariah CareyAlbum: CharmbraceletGenre: r&Bin short: Mariah Carey’s ode to her late father couldn’t have been more enticing or moving; “sunflowers for Alfred roy” is a subtle, yet powerful number that shows a different side of Carey. As usual, her vocals are always on point.

To listen to the song visit www.alwatandaily.comE-mail your feedback to falsabah@alwatandaily.com

The BuzzBeyonce named People’s most beautiful womanGrammy-award winning singer and new mother Beyonce was named the world’s most beautiful woman for 2012 on Wednesday by people magazine. the 30-year-old entertain-er was awarded people’s top spot after she and her rapper husband Jay-Z welcomed their first child, a daughter named Blue ivy Carter, who was born in New York in January. “i feel more beautiful than i’ve ever felt because i’ve given birth. i have never felt so connected, never felt like i had such a pur-pose on this earth,” the singer told the magazine. Beyonce topped the magazine’s annual list and joined other women who have held the title including Michelle pfeiffer, Julia rob-erts, Nicole Kidman, halle Berry, Jennifer Aniston, Angelina Jolie and last year’s winner Jennifer lopez. the full list can be found on www.people.com/mostbeautiful -reuters

Fox picks up Axe Cop for Saturday nights“Axe Cop” has locked up a tV deal. Fox has acquired the rights to Malachai and Ethan Nicolle’s web comic “Axe Cop” for its upcoming saturday night animated block Animation Domination hD. “Axe Cop” is the first addition to the slate, which will air from 11 to 12:30 on saturday nights begin-ning in 2013. “Axe Cop,” which premiered online in January 2010, follows “the adventures of an axe-wielding police of-ficer and his loyal team of allies as they fight bad guys.” With an axe. -reuters

Deion Sanders cited for fight with estranged wifeFormer Dallas Cowboys star Deion sanders has been charged with misdemeanor simple assault in the wake of an altercation with his estranged wife that got her arrested at their mansion in suburban Dallas. police said late tuesday that further investigation led to citations against both Deion and pilar sanders, who still live together in prosper. police say the charge doesn’t warrant arrest. A police spokesman wouldn’t detail the allegations, but says simple assault could be as simple as touching or jerking from a grip. A message left with sanders’ attorney wasn’t immediately returned. the hall of Famer tweeted Monday that pilar had attacked him, and he posted a photo of his children filling out police re-ports. he later removed the post. -Ap

CBS announces premieres of Big Brother and more“Big Brother,” the long-running reality tV staple, will return to the airwaves thursday, July 12 at 9 p.m., CBs announced tuesday. the network also unveiled the premiere dates for its new reality offerings “Dogs in the City” and “3.” “Big Brother” will air Wednesdays at 8, thursdays at 9 and sun-days at 8, beginning with the sunday episode on July 15. the live eviction shows will air on thursday. “Dogs in the City,” which stars New York City-based “dog guru” Justin silver as he resolves issues between pooches and their own-ers, will premiere Wednesday, May 30, at 8 p.m. the dating series “3,” meanwhile, will kick off sunday, July 22, with a 90-premiere at 9 p.m., and switch to hour-long episodes following the premiere, running sundays back-to-back with “Big Brother.” -reuters

E! network, Kardashians sign new reality show dealthe Kardashian family will continue living life on tV for the next three years. the E! Entertainment network said tues-day it had reached a deal with its most bankable franchise to make three more seasons of “Keeping up With the Kar-dashians.” terms were not disclosed. the sixth season of the show averaged 3 million viewers on sunday nights, the cable networks’ top series. Five of the 10 most-watched shows in the network’s history, in fact, involved the Kardashians. the 18-episode seventh season begins on May 20. E! said the entire family is covered by the deal: Kim, Kourtney and rob Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian Odom, and Bruce, Kris, Ken-dall and Kylie Jenner. E! will continue to have the first crack at any spinoff projects. -Ap

Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, TI headline Music MidtownFoo Fighters, pearl Jam, t.i. and ludacris will headline two days of concerts in september at Atlanta’s Music Midtown. Organizers of the music festival announced on tuesday that the event will take place at piedmont park. the musicians are slated to perform from sept. 21-22. the two-day concert marks the second straight year Music Midtown will be held after a five-year break. Coldplay and Black Keys headlined the one-day festival last year. tickets go on sale April 28 and start at $100 for a two-day festival pass. -Ap

Murdoch ‘never asked a UK prime minister for anything’

LONDON: rupert Murdoch rejected ac-cusations on Wednesday that he used his me-dia empire to play puppet master to a succes-sion of British prime ministers, electrifying a media inquiry that has shaken the government and unnerved much of the establishment.

the appearance of the world’s most pow-erful media mogul is a high point in an in-quiry which has laid bare collusion between ministers, police and Murdoch’s News Corp, reigniting concern over the cozy ties between big money, the media and power in Britain.

Murdoch, 81, was immediately asked about his relationship to politics and British “toffs”, a reference to his regular attacks on Britain’s gilded establishment, which the Aus-tralian-born tycoon has lampooned as snob-bish and inefficient.

he said he was keen to put straight some myths about him.

“i have never asked a prime minister for anything,” Murdoch said calmly when asked about his links to former prime Minister Margaret thatcher, one of his favorite British leaders.

Cameron, under intense criticism for his own ties to Murdoch and facing calls to fire a senior minister who stands accused of break-ing rules to help News Corp, told a raucous session of parliament on Wednesday that politicians from all parties had got too close to the magnate.

“i think on all sides of the house there’s a bit of a need for a hand on heart,” he told a chamber of jeering opposition lawmakers. “We all did too much cozying up to rupert Murdoch.”

Cameron and at least two former prime Ministers are expected to appear for ques-

tioning in the coming months.some politicians had expected the mag-

nate - courted by prime ministers and presi-dents for decades - to come out fighting, hav-ing been on the back foot for almost a year over a newspaper phone hacking scandal that has convulsed his empire.

But Murdoch appeared calm and laconic,

at times provoking chuckles from some of the 70 lawyers, family members and journalists packed into the Victorian gothic courtroom when he cracked jokes about the destruction of unions and a disgraced former British min-ister who lied in court.

the man who has for years portrayed himself as an underdog, said he had simply

tried to shine a light on the country on the behalf of the working classes.

“i think that it is fair when people hold themselves up as iconic figures, or great ac-tors, that they be looked at,” he said. “i don’t think they are entitled to the same privacy as the ordinary man on the street.”

But he admitted that his opinion had been carried by his sun newspaper, one of his favorites for years. “i’m not good at holding my tongue,” he said. “if you want to judge my thinking, look at the sun.”

he also shed some light on recent British political history, saying that then prime Min-ister Gordon Brown had reacted to the news that the sun newspaper would be withdraw-ing its support for the labor party by threat-ening to “declare war” on News Corp.

“i did not think he was in a very balanced state of mind,” Murdoch said.

Asked if as reported he had initially found Cameron to be lightweight, Murdoch replied: “No. Not then.” he had also not found it strange when Cameron took time out of his own private holiday to meet him on a yacht off a Greek island in 2008.

“i’ve explained that politicians go out of their way to impress people in the press,” he said.

As the questioning went on Murdoch started to appear agitated. the session was adjourned in mid-afternoon and will resume on thursday.

Murdoch biographer Michael Wolff told reuters he thought the News Corp boss had performed brilliantly. “i’d like to see fire-works as much as the next guy but that hasn’t happened,” he said. “Murdoch is very much on his game.” -reuters

In this image from video, News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch appears at Lord Justice Brian Leveson’s inquiry in London, April 25, 2012 to answer questions under oath about how much he knew about phone hacking at the News of the World tabloid. (AP)

CAIRO: the Arab world’s most famous comic actor, Adel imam, will appeal a decision by an Egyp-tian court to sentence him to three months in jail for insulting islam in his films and plays, his lawyer told reuters on Wednesday. A court found imam guilty of defaming islam on Feb. 2 and fined him 1,000 Egyptian pounds ($170) in absentia. imam has fre-quently poked fun at the authorities and politicians during a 40-year career and his more serious films have dealt with the rise of islamist militancy.

the timing of his case - at a time when islamists are in the political ascendancy - and his high own profile has raised fears that ultraconservative Mus-lims, who swept parliamentary elections, are trying to force their views on society.

“Mr. Adel imam will appeal to annul the ver-dict, which was given on the wrong legal basis,” sawat hussein, his lawyer, told reuters.

“My client’s films were certified, not censored, by surveillance authorities before their release to the public.” the case against imam was brought by a lawyer with ties to islamist groups. Asran Man-sour accused the actor of offending islam and its symbols, including beards and the Jilbab, a loose-fitting garment worn by some Muslims, the Egyp-tian news portal Ahramonline reported. Among films and plays targeted by the lawyer were the movie “Morgan Ahmed Morgan” and the play “Al-Zaeem” (“the leader”), the report said.

Court cases against directors, actors, artists and intellectuals accused of failing to respect religious authority are relatively common in Egypt.

Egypt’s most successful film star, imam has been a box-office sell-out for much of his career. should his appeal be rejected, imam would have to serve the sentence. -reuters

Egypt actor to appeal jail term for defaming Islam

FILE - In this Sunday, Nov. 11, 2005 file photo, Egyptian film actor and comedian Adel Imam, right, walks with Egyptian actress Laila Elwi, left, during the Second Dubai International Film Festival red carpet reception in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (AP)

Flying Burrito Brothers member Ethridge dies at 65

MERIDIAN: John Christopher “Chris” Ethridge ii, a Mississippi-born musician, bassist and songwriter who was a founding member of the 1960s country-rock band “the Flying Burrito Brothers,” has died. he was 65.

Officials with robert Barham Family Funeral home said tuesday that Ethridge died Monday at Anderson regional Medical Center in Meridian. the family said in a state-ment that Ethridge had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in september. Born and raised in Meridian, Ethridge moved to los Angeles when he was 17. Ethridge collabo-rated with another seminal southern music figure, Gram parsons, on several projects, including the Flying Burrito Brothers and the international submarine Band, and he co-wrote several of parsons’ solo tunes. Ethridge spent eight years on the road with Willie Nelson and can be heard on the country legend’s “Whiskey river.” Nelson wrote in a tweet Monday, “(Willie Nelson and Friends) are sad to hear of the passing of Family member & friend Chris Ethridge he was a talented musician & we were honored to call him Family.” services will be held Wednesday in Meridian. -Ap

NEW YORK: Motown week proved the ironic un-doing of singer Gladys Knight on tuesday’s “Dancing With the stars,” but her final “dance duel” against the other bottom-finisher, roshon Fegen, brought a split decision from the three judges as to who should go home. in the end, it was the singer who was escort-ed off the ballroom floor for the final time. she had started off rocky in the first weeks of season 14 on the hit tV dance competition, but had shown recent improvement and was never in the bottom two until this week. Yet her rumba to “My Girl” on Monday’s performance show earned the lowest score, 21, from the judges.

Disney Channel star Fegen fared only marginally better with a judges’ score of 23. But after fans voted the two as the lowest finishers, they had to face off in the newly introduced dance duel, in which the judges decide who is eliminated.

Knight, a 67-year-old Grammy-winning singer who was partnered with professional dancer tristan MacManus, was poised and gracious in defeat, saying

she was “amazed at this journey.”Judge Carrie Ann inaba wanted to keep Knight

over Fegen, but was outvoted by fellow panelists len Goodman and Bruno tonioli.

“i learned so many things, and found so many friends and family,” she said. After Monday’s per-formance she was prepared for her demise, saying “More than likely they’re going to have us in the dance duel,” before adding “What-ever!”

two other dancers, Melissa Gilbert and Maria Menounos, were also declared in jeopardy early on, but had good enough scores and enough fan votes to keep them from the final dance-off.

Opera singer Katherine Jenkins, who has wowed judges and fans consistently all season, scored a 29 as did Jaleel White, she with a samba and he with a cha-cha-cha. 1

Musical highlights of the tuesday’s elimination round included Boys ii Men performing “One More Dance” and Natasha Bedingfield singing “Wild hors-es” to accompany a dance performance. -reuters

Dancing With the Stars says goodbye to Gladys Knight

In this April 23, 2012 photo released by ABC, singer Gladys Knight, right, and her partner Tristan MacManus perform on the celebrity dance compete-tion series, “Dancing with the Stars,” in Los Angeles. (AP)

Obama, on the Fallon show, slow jams the newsCHAPEL HILL, North Carolina: Add this to the list of ways the president of

the united states woos young voters in an election-year: he slow jams the news. Obama, appearing on NBC’s “late Night with Jimmy Fallon” show, joined the com-edy host in a popular feature of his program. the president, looking in the camera, talked earnestly about student interest rates as the roots, Fallon’s hip house band, laid down a rhythm. then the camera cut to Fallon in the foreground, where he punched up the message in his own way. “Now is not the time to make school more expen-sive for our young people,” Obama said. then Fallon: “Ohhhh yeaahh. You should listen to the president.” the episode was taped during Obama’s appearance at the university of North Carolina at Chapel hill. -Ap

President Barack Obama laughs with Jimmy Fallon during commercial break as he participates in a taping of the Jimmy Fallon Show, Tuesday, April 24, 2012, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (AP)

If you have an event you wish to include, please email: aroundtown@alwatandaily.com

AROUND TOWN / TIME OUTALWATAN DAILY

18THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012

Aries: March 21 - April 19Difficult as it may be for you to face all those proj-ects you’ve left undone, Aries, know that you’ll be free to move on once they’re complete. People from your past figure prominently now. Perhaps

they come forward to repay an old debt or possibly claim re-payment from you. Don’t abandon your dreams. Once you’ve cleared a path for them, they’re more likely to come true.

Taurus: April 20 - May 20You could have a “eureka!” moment today, Taurus, as events from your past unexpectedly bubble to the surface of your mind and crystallize in a surprising new way. Suddenly, you have a clear understanding

of how these past events affect your present behavior. You can use this new knowledge to bring about change. There is clearly a situation at work or at home that is in need of transformation.

Gemini: May 21- June 21Sometimes it’s easier to tend to life’s mundane de-tails rather than lift your eyes and see the big picture, Gemini. For example, it’s likely that you’ve grown complacent at work. Could it be that you aren’t at

the right job or in the right career after all? Busying yourself with trivia isn’t the way to avoid answering the question.

Cancer: June 22 - July 22Change is in the air. Whether it’s a dramatic change of faith or a major shift in your life’s goals, prepare yourself for a profound transformation. It’s likely due to the fact that you now have more freedom to

do what you want, when you want. Perhaps a financial windfall has made this possible. Take care to choose your new path wisely. It doesn’t offer you the choice of returning to your old lifestyle.

Leo: July 23 - August 22It’s time to refill the well of your soul, Leo. You spend so much of your life in service to others that it’s only natural that you feel drained sometimes. Rather than try to push past this feeling and go on

as though nothing is the matter, consider it a sign that something is amiss. Admit if you’re feeling unappreciated. You’ve spent too much time putting the happiness of others before your own.

Virgo: August 23 - September 22You would make an excellent judge, Virgo. You’re able to consider all aspects of a situation. This is a bit of a blessing and a curse, because it can make it difficult to come to a decision. Today you could

face the challenge of reconsidering past decisions. Once-binding contracts need to be reviewed and new ones created.

Libra: September 23 - October 22Just because one person is no longer a part of your life doesn’t mean that all people are unreliable. Peo-ple change, as do situations. It’s possible that this person was no longer a healthy influence on you, in

which case the departure is for the best. You’re going to have to become more adaptable, Libra, because there are more changes on the horizon, especially where your career is concerned.

Scorpio: October 23 - November 21It can be hard to release old habits and beliefs even as new, better ways of thinking struggle to gain a foothold. It’s time for you to do this, Scorpio. You might find it difficult to confide your feelings to an-

other, but a frank conversation with close friends will do much to ease your mind. There’s no question that you’re changing. Your friends will show you that this transformation is positive.

Sagittarius: November 22 - December 21You always suspected that your job was making you crazy, but it never occurred to you that it could make you sick, too. Is it really worth it? You may be ask-ing yourself this question today. Fortunately, your

talents apply to several professions. Why not take a closer look at other fields? One way or another, it’s clear that change is coming.

Capricorn: December 22 - January 19Just how long has it been since you indulged in a big helping of your favorite guilty pleasure, Cap-ricorn? It’s time to let the youngster in you come out and play today. Eat that chocolate, read those

mindless magazines, or skip down the sidewalk. You’ve been tak-ing life much too seriously lately. Even grownups are entitled to indulge in the pleasures of youth from time to time.

Aquarius: January 20 - February 18If you feel like you’re trying to push a square peg into a round hole, you’re probably right, Aquarius. Whether you’re having personal or professional difficulties, there are times when it just doesn’t pay

to try so hard. In fact, it’s often a sign that there is something fundamentally wrong with the relationship. Try to take more of a philosophical attitude, Aquarius. If it’s meant to work, it will.

Pisces: February 19 - March 20Things aren’t always as they first appear. People you thought you knew well and circumstances that you thought you understood thoroughly now seem anything but straightforward. Has the world really

changed that much or has your perception altered somehow? It’s time to direct this “altered” vision inward.

HOrOSCOPeS

SuDOku

Feature o f t h e d a y

DILberT NANCy

MODerATeLy CONFuSeD GrAFFITI

Month a t a g l a n c e

Gulf Jazz Festival KuwaitApril 25 - 26/8 p.m./Al Hashemi II Grand Ballroom at Radisson Blu Hotel: Sponsored by Cadillac the Gulf Jazz festival will begin on April 25 with an opening concert and dinner performed by: Full Drive Quartet (Poland) and Vivian Buczek (Sweden). Following night will feature a special concert per-formed by Michaella Rabitsch and Robert Pawlik Quartet (Austria). Tickets are available at Radisson Blu Hotel in Al Bida’a to contact event holders visit http://www.gulfjazzfest.com/ or call +965 2567 3000.

NSPC Charity ExhibitionApril 25 - 27/ 10 a.m. - 10 p.m./Alraya Center: The National Society for Pro-tection of Children would like to invite you to its annual charity exhibition on April 25, 26 and 27, from 10:00 a.m. till 10:00 p.m. at Al Raya Centre, ground floor in Sharq. The exhibition will include many participants offering kaftans, bags, accessories, fine jewelry, food, sweets, books and paintings from Kuwait and the GCC. The event is available for the public and is free of charge.

Art exhibitionApril 15-26/ 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. / Gallery Tilal: Abdul Rasool Salman’s rhythms are mundane encounters of beauty that sprouted from the ego and sur-rounding events, creating emotions which dissolved into aesthetic visual messages.

Golden era clubApril 27/ 5 p.m. - 7 p.m./ Rumaithiya: Join the Golden Era (an exclusive seniors club) for a 3500 km, zero carbon footprint, journey to a beautiful European country credited with amazing achievements. Dr. Leos Tovarek’s dynamic presentation will give a unique insight into the Czech Republic; its history, culture, strengths, potential and future. Home sick Czech nationals are particularly invited to share their culture. Venue- House #34, next to Abu-Tammam Intermediate School for Boys, Sate Alhusari St., Block 2, Rumai-thiya. For details call 97172788/ 66208183.

Pretty Little Things Charity EditionApril 28 - May 1/3:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m/Sadu House: Try new things, meet the people behind regional brands, help raise funds to refurbish a part of the orphanage, chat under the stars by candlelight and stay a while. Open-ing day will be April 28 at 7:00 p.m. with special appearance by Fishyface booth and the event will extend from April 29 to May 1 from 3:00 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. held in Sadu House; Gulf Road; in front of the National Muse-um of Kuwait. Come and meet: Razan Al Azzouni, Fyunka, Sotra Boutique, Th\\’haba, May Jewelry, Paper Design Nest, The Yard, Peices By Farah, AK Eco Gioelli, Muneera Alsharhan, So Lulu, Baby B, Lina Jewelry Design, and more! For more information visit Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/events/122809627847930/.

Diwaniya presentationMay 1/ 7 p.m. /The AWARE Center: The AWARE Center cordially invites in-terested Western expatriates to its diwaniya presentation entitled, “Criminal Laws in Islam,” by Dr. Teresa Lesher. Criminal law in Islam aims to safeguard the community and exists when there is potential harm to a second party. Join Dr. Teresa Lesher for a discussion of Islamic law (shariah) regarding the penal-ties for the major crimes, including murder, manslaughter, armed aggression, theft, rape, adultery, slander and intoxication, and how these rules protect the citizens’ material, spiritual and social development. Q&A follows a 20-minute presentation.

Holiday NoticeThe Embassy of India will remain closed on Sunday, May 6, 2012 on account of “Buddha Purnima”.

Open House for Indian CitizensAmbassador of India would be holding an Open House for Indian citizens to address their problems\grievances on Wednesdays of the second and the fourth weeks of every month between 1500 hrs and 1600 hrs in the Embassy. In case Wednesday is an Embassy holiday, the meeting will be held on the next working day. To ensure timely action/follow-up by the Embassy, it is requested that, wherever possible, Indian citizens should exhaust the existing channels of interaction/grievance redressal and bring their problems/issues in writing with supporting documents.

General A n n o u n c e m e n t s

Sepp is a Domestic Long Haired (DLH) male cat. He will be 2-years-old April 2012. This friendly, laid-back boy loves a good cuddle and likes a high vantage point in a cat tree or ledge to look out from. He would do best in a home with children over 12 years of age. To adopt, contact +965 67006122 or visit the website www.kspath.org

Mario is a gentle and affection-ate 6-years-young Spitz male. This friendly boy does great with people and dogs of all ages.

K’S PATH invites applicants for the adoption of pets

Elementary Advanced Intermediate

Splash showcases a tropical fashion paradise for Spring Summer 2012

KUWAIT: Celebrating 10 suc-cessful season’s Splash showcased its all new tropical collection to make the headlines. The brand host-ed a fashion show at the Avenues showroom which was attended by local media and senior officials from Landmark Group Kuwait. Attendees were treated to a sneak peak of the new colorful collection. The collection inspired from the world of Aqua Mania, Out of the Blues, Survivor and Soul Searcher was presented by live models creat-ing a contrasting medley.

Brimming with glitz, glamour and gloss this year’s Tropical collec-tion is a mix of contemporary and traditional fashion statements. A perfect way to unwind with the 60’s for inspiration. The clean graphic lines of simple and dropped-waist shifts, pinafore dresses, A-line skirts, and collarless cardigan jack-ets, printed and knee-length shorts with highly decorated fabrics lend texture and depth. Shades of grey and white, offbeat mid-tones of burnt orange, parrot green, saxe blue and yellow ochre are contrast-ed with fabrics like lightweight suit-ings, drapy viscose, micro checks, twills and jersey.

Speaking on the concept of Splash Fashion Paradise Saibal Basu, C.O.O, Landmark Group, Kuwait said: “We are very excited to showcase the new collection and give our customers the opportunity to experience new trends, tread un-explored fashion territory and im-merse in cultural chic and discover the language of fashion. We aim to provide our customers with trendy fashion and edgy styles coupled with sophisticated glamour.”

Splash’s growing presence in Kuwait is an indication that people are getting more discerning when it comes to fashion. We combine quality and style to appeal to a broad customer base. This season we decided to transport people into a travel destination that was surrounded by cool blues, tropical sunshine and the serenity of life. Customers come to Splash and find something that fits their personal style and their budget.”

SPORTSthursDAY, April 26, 2012

ALWATAN DAILY

19

Cricket Basketball

Patience key to unlocking West Indies potential

Pavlovic rallies Celtics to 78-66 win over HeatBOSTON: With much more to lose in po-

tential injuries than gain with another victory, the Boston Celtics and Miami heat let their reserves decide the second-to-last game of the regular season.

rest and recovery were of much greater importance as both teams looked ahead to the postseason and patched together lineups that hardly resembled last year’s second-round play-off series.

the result was sloppy at times, but turned into a relatively even matchup before the sel-dom-used Celtics rallied for a 78-66 win over the starless heat on tuesday night.

sasha pavlovic led Boston with a season-high 16 points, scoring 12 in the fourth quarter as the Celtics pulled away by shooting 50 per-cent (11 for 22) in the period and forcing Miami into eight of its season-high 25 turnovers.

leBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were out for the heat. ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and rajon rondo didn’t play for the Celtics.

rivers said rondo and Garnett should be back in the lineup on thursday when Boston hosts Milwaukee in the final game of the regular season. By rallying for a win tuesday, the Celt-ics - locked into the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference as a division winner - can still get home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs against Atlanta with another victory on thursday and a loss by hawks. Atlanta heads into the season finale with a one-game lead but Boston won the season series.

the Celtics would prefer to open the play-offs on the road with a healthy lineup than be back at home with rondo (back), Garnett (hip flexor) or Allen (bone spurs) still hobbled by in-juries.

Dexter pittman had 12 points, James Jones scored 11 and udonis haslem grabbed 13 re-bounds for the heat, whose 25 turnovers were a season high. Miami failed to score 20 in any quarter and had just 16 in each of the final two periods.

Marquis Daniels finished with 13 points, Brandon Bass had eight points and eight re-bounds for the Celtics. paul pierce finished with eight points. he started the game, but sat out the fourth quarter while pavlovic thrilled the remaining fans as the Celtics improved to 3-1 against the heat this season.

the Celtics had almost as many turnovers (7) as points (10) in the first quarter and failed to score until a little past the midpoint of the open-ing period. But after the sloppy start, Boston’s patchwork lineup came together in the third quarter, tying it with a 10-0 run late and then outscoring the heat 10-4 to start the fourth.

sean Williams hit two free throws to put Boston up 58-54, then pavlovic pulled up with a baseline jumper for a 60-54 lead with 6:35 re-

maining and Miami called a time out.pavlovic continued to pick apart the heat,

driving for a dunk that put the Celtics up 62-56, then hitting a 3-pointer to stretch the lead to nine with 4:45 left.

pavlovic’s previous high for the season was 10, two fewer than he scored in the final quar-ter.

pierce hit a jumper, fed Bass with a pass un-der the basket for a dunk and then pavlovic hit a jumper to get the Celtics started on a 10-0 run that tied it at 46-all late in the third quarter. it was tied at 50 entering the fourth. Daniels stole the ball from Juwan howard and took it uncon-tested for a dunk that put the Celtics up 54-52, Boston’s first lead since 18-17 in the second quarter. -Ap

ROSEAU, Dominica: West indies were again guilty of letting a strong position slip from their grasp when they ended the second day of the third test against Australia 163 runs adrift, but their young squad will be given a chance to develop.

Australia’s tail wagged to punish the hosts, recovering from 169 for seven to reach 328 all out before the Caribbean middle or-der slumped as the home side fell to 165-8.

it was a disappointing day for the Do-minican crowd, who had hoped to see Dar-ren sammy’s young team push on from their promising work on Monday and make a bid to tie the three-test series.

Despite the setback, assistant coach toby radford said that his inexperienced team were going to be given a chance to prove their potential.

“these are young guys, talented guys, who i think will have good careers and we’ve got to be patient with them,” the Welshman said.

“it’s not suicide for us. You learn, you come back and are stronger. hopefully we can go to England and then perform there,” he said, looking ahead to the next action for West indies.

Opening batsmen Adrian Barath and

Kraigg Brathwaite have not been able to give their team solid starts with just one half-cen-tury stand between them in this series.

Brathwaite, who made his third consecu-tive duck on tuesday, is just 19-year-old, how-ever, and his partner is only three years his senior.

With Darren Bravo, 23, and Kieran powell, 22, also in the lineup, 37-year-old shivnarine Chanderpaul is the only top order batsman with extensive international experiece.

radford said the West indies coaching staff were working closely with Barbadian Brathwaite, who made a half-century in the first test and is considered one of the most exciting prospects in the Caribbean.

“You chat with him. You talk with him. You practice with him whenever you can and you remind him how good a player he is. he played very well in Barbados in that first innings,” he said. “today he got out in a similar fashion to how he got out in the second innings in Barbados, just hanging the bat a little bit, but again you back him. he’s a good player. he’s a young player. Our job as coaches is to keep his confidence high and work on any little issues as they come along. You’ve got to back your young players,” he added. -reuters

West Indies batsmen Adrian Barath (right) and Kieran Powell run a quick single during the third test match between the West Indies and Australia, April 24, 2012. (AFP)

South Africa turnsdown Bangladesh tour request

JOHANNESBURG: south Africa have turned down a request from Bangladesh to play a limit-ed over series in May primarily because of a hec-tic schedule, the country’s cricket board said on Wednesday. the Bangladesh Cricket Board, after their brief pakistan tour this month was postponed following a court order, had approached Cricket south Africa (CsA) with a proposal to play one-day and twenty20 internationals in May.

“unfortunately there are too many practical obstacles that prevent us from accepting this com-

mitment,” CsA acting chief executive Jacques Faul said in a statement.

“At the moment most of our senior proteas are spread around the world in England and india and those who are at home are undergoing rehabilita-tion from injuries picked up during the past sea-son. We also have to bear in mind that the proteas have a hectic schedule ahead of it with very impor-tant tours to England and Australia with the World twenty20 in sri lanka sandwiched in between,” he added -reuters

Boston Celtics Avery Bradley (center) goes up for a shot in front of Miami Heat players, April 24, 2012. (Reuters)

Jazz drop Suns 100-88, secure playoff spotSALT LAKE CITY: paul Millsap scored 26 points and Al Jefferson

went on a personal 8-0 fourth-quarter run as the utah Jazz defeated the phoenix suns 100-88 tuesday night to secure a Western Conference play-off spot.

the victory halted utah’s seven-game losing streak to the suns, dat-

ing to March 2010. Jared Dudley and Michael redd scored 15 apiece for phoenix, and hakim Warrick had 12 for the suns, who were without for-ward Channing Frye because of a shoulder injury.

the suns won the season series but can’t catch the Jazz with just one game remaining. utah can still claim the No. 7 seed if Denver loses its final two games. the suns trailed 85-80 when Jefferson scored eight straight to put the game out of reach.

Jefferson finished with 18 points and 16 rebounds and is headed back to the playoffs for the first time since his 2005 rookie season. he raised his right index finger skyward then punched the air as the final buzzer sound-ed. Jefferson called tuesday’s game the biggest of his career. he didn’t disappoint, spinning on the baseline for a dunk then making an 18-footer to start his personal run late in the fourth. he also had two of utah’s eight blocked shots.

the Jazz return to the playoffs after missing out last year in a season that saw hall of Fame coach Jerry sloan abruptly resign Feb. 10, 2011, and the team trade superstar point guard Deron Williams two weeks later.

utah also has played seven overtime games, including a double-overtime loss to toronto, triple-overtime win over Dallas and quadruple-overtime loss in Atlanta. seventeen other games have been decided by five points or fewer. the Jazz go into the playoffs with seven of their 14 players age 26 or younger, including four who are 21 or younger - Gordon hayward, Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter and Alec Burks.

phoenix’s regular-season finale at home against san Antonio on Wednesday could be steve Nash’s final game for the suns. the two-time NBA MVp and eight-time All-star will become a free agent this summer and is reportedly seeking a three-year deal the Jazz led by 10 points early in the third quarter after Jefferson’s 17-foot jumper and were still ahead 58-50 on a dunk by Millsap following hayward’s steal.

the Jazz led 25-19 after one, fueled by Millsap’s 5-of-6 shooting and 11 points. utah closed the quarter on a 6-0 run sparked by Josh howard, active for the first time after missing 18 games because of left knee sur-gery. he entered with 2:43 left and hit his first two shots. the suns surged ahead 27-25 in the second, scoring the first eight points of the quarter while the Jazz missed their first seven shots. utah then went with its big-three lineup, with Kanter at center, Favors at power forward and Millsap at small forward. the lineup produced an 8-0 utah run. -Ap

Utah Jazz guard Alec Burks (10) dunks over Phoenix Suns forward Ha-kim Warrick (21) during an NBA basketball game, April 24, 2012. (AP)

Tennis

Mardy Fish unsure when he’ll return to tennis tourBEVERLY HILLS: Weeks after waking up in the mid-

dle of the night feeling ill, Mardy Fish is not certain when he’ll return to the tennis tour and says he could miss the French Open. the highest-ranked American is also still trying to figure out exactly why he felt the way he did.

“i’m doing OK. We’re doing lots of tests to try to fig-ure out what’s going on and what went wrong,” Fish said tuesday in a telephone interview from California with the Associated press. “it’s sort of unclear as to how or why it happened yet, but we’re trying to figure it out. it’s not something i’m super comfortable talking about. it certainly was a scare.”

hours after losing a match at Key Biscayne, Fla., on March 29, the No. 9-ranked Fish went to be checked by a doctor, then saw another doctor the next day. the diag-nosis was fatigue, and he was ordered to take some time off. he pulled out of the us Davis Cup team’s quarterfi-nal against France the following week.

“that was really devastating and disappointing to not be able to go there,” Fish said. “if you know me, you know that it had to be something pretty significant.”

Fish then returned briefly, losing his opening match at a tournament in houston on April 12.

As for his upcoming schedule, Fish said he’d like to take part in the European clay-court circuit by entering the events at Madrid, starting May 6, and at rome, start-ing May 13. But he doesn’t know whether he’ll be able to participate there - or if he’ll make it to the year’s second Grand slam tournament, the French Open, which begins May 27.

“i’m not 100 percent sure whether i’ll be back for that,” Fish acknowledged, “but that’s the goal.”

the 30-year-old Fish has a 7-6 record in 2012. last

season, he reached a career-best ranking of No. 7 and took part in the season-ending tour championships for the first time. that meant his season was longer than usu-al, which might have worn him out.

“it was a good problem to have, but i kind of ran into

not having a break of more than four weeks in a row for 12 months. ... so i needed a break - and i’m taking it now,” Fish said.

“i’m taking some time now to kind of relax,” he add-ed, “and try to keep my mind off tennis a little bit.” -Ap

Stosur sets up Stuttgart rematch with Goerges

STUTTGART, Germany: World number five sam sto-sur cruised into the stuttgart clay court tournament second round on tuesday with a 6-2 6-2 win over China’s shuai peng to set up a clash with last year’s winner Julia Goerges.

German Goerges, who beat Australian stosur in the last four en route to the stuttgart title in 2011, was made to bat-tle a lot harder by russian Anastasia pavlyuchenkova before edging past the world number 23 5-7 6-3 6-4.

“it is normal if i come here as defending champion,” Go-erges told reporters. “Of course there will be expectations and the pressure is on you. i need to improve my game.”

Fellow German Andrea petkovic crowned her comeback on the tour after more than three months out with a back in-jury with a confidence-boosting 6-1 6-4 victory against wild card Kristina Barrois to set up a second round clash with world number one Victoria Azarenka.

World number seven Marion Bartoli also moved into the second round with a trouble-free win over Czech iveta Be-nesova.

Former Wimbledon finalist Bartoli pinned the Czech back with a barrage of groundstrokes and got the first break to lead 3-2 in the first before breaking again to clinch the set with a powerful two-handed backhand down the line.

Qualifier Benesova broke straight back in the first game of the second set but Bartoli upped her game again to ease home.

World number eight li Na needed a tie break to grab the first set against Czech lucie safarova but got a quick early break to clinch a 7-6 6-4 victory. -reuters FILE - US Davis Cup team member Mardy Fish serves during a practice session in Fribourg, Feb. 8, 2012.

(Reuters)

THURSday, apRil 26, 2012

SPORTSFootball

Sports Editors HighlightLONDON: Manchester City will visit Malaysia for the first time in July, marking

the English Premier League club’s only stop in Southeast Asia, the event promoter said Wednesday. The club will meet a select squad of Malaysian League players on July 30 at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium on the outskirts of the capital Kuala Lumpur, promot-ers ProEvents said in a press release. Manchester City will come to Kuala Lumpur after playing English Premiership rivals Arsenal in Beijing on July 27, it said. Malaysia has hosted several top English Premier League clubs in recent years as those have increas-ingly courted Asia, keen to nurture a fan base and to help attract sponsors. Earlier this month, Arsenal announced they would hold an open training session in Kuala Lumpur on July 23 and a match against Malaysian League players the next night. - AFP

MADRID: Manuel Neuer was the hero for Bayern Munich on Wednesday as his side went through to the Champions League final after beating Real Madrid 3-1 on penalties in the Santiago Bernabeu. They will face Chelsea in their own Allianz Arena in Munich on May 19th after losing their return leg 2-1 after extra-time, to send the tie into penalties with the Germans having won by the same score in the first game.

The keeper stopped Madrid’s two initial spot-kicks from Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, and Sergio Ramos blazed one over the bar before Bastian Schweinsteiger held his nerve to put the four-times European Champi-ons through to the final.

Earlier Ronaldo had scored twice for Real before Arjen Robben grabbed one back in a frantic first half-hour to level the tie. As the players gradually tired it became clearer that we would be seeing penalties be-coming decisive in a semi-final for only the third time in the Champions League era. The game started at a furious pace and German international Sami Khedira had the first chance of the game on three minutes for Real forcing a save from Neuer in the Bayern goal.

Two minutes later and Madrid were ahead thanks

to Ronaldo from the penalty spot after Angel Di Ma-ria’s shot had fortuitously hit the outstretched arm of David Alaba.

Bayern’s response was immediate and Robben should have leveled the game when he met Alaba’s cross in the six-yard box. Iker Casillas in the Madrid goal did enough to hurry the Dutchman whose shot spun over the bar when it seemed certain he would score.

At the other end the Bavarians searched for a breakthrough and Mario Gomez and Luiz Gustavo both came close with long shots as the match constantly switched from end to end. Their reward came from the penalty spot after Pepe pushed Gomez, and although Casillas got a touch, it was Robben who leveled the tie at 3-3 on aggregate with the two sides having replicated the first-leg score within 27 breathless minutes.

Gomez glanced a header wide for Bayern on the re-start as the Germans seemed to have halted the home team’s early dominance. The second-period then settled down as both teams took a more thoughtful ap-proach to attack and a number of niggling fouls from both defenses made chances scarce. - AFP

ENGLAND: Former England striker Michael Owen thinks he could still feature for Premier League title-chasers Manchester United before the end of the sea-son, despite being sidelined by a string of injuries.

The 32-year-old has not featured since November 2 due to a thigh problem but is now back in full training.

With just three games of the league season left, Owen accepts he is unlikely to start but is keen to be involved from the bench.

Reigning champions United lead Manchester City by three points at the top of the table before a poten-

tially vital derby at Eastlands on Monday.“I can’t imagine myself getting back and starting

in the 11,” Owen told MUTV, United’s own television station, on Wednesday. “My mindset has got to be get myself ready mentally, physically and everything else because I might be needed for 10 or 20 minutes at a late stage of the season. Who knows? It could be the last game of the season at Sunderland.” Owen’s only league appearance this season was in a draw at Stoke in September but he has scored three goals in two League Cup matches. - AFP

Bayern beats Madrid on penalties to reach final

Juve and Milan scrape wins as Cesena relegated

Bayern Munich’s midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger celebrates after scoring the winning penalty during the penalty shoot out at the end of the UEFA Champions League semi-final football match, April 25, 2012. (AFP)

Owen aims for return this season

ROME, Italy: Juventus and AC Mi-lan’s thrilling tussle for the Serie A title continued on Wednesday as they both scraped 1-0 wins against struggling sides.

Juventus maintained their three points lead over Milan as a late goal by Marco Borriello was enough to defeat Cesena and consign the losers to Serie B for next season.

It was just as well Borriello popped up to score as Juve were off colour with Andrea Pirlo missing a ninth minute pen-alty.

Milan too made heavy weather against relegation-threatened Genoa be-fore Ghanaian star Kevin-Prince Boateng pounced to score the winner four minutes from time to ease the nerves of the San Siro home crowd. Defeat leaves Genoa just one place above the drop.

The title contenders continue their battle on Sunday when Juventus are away to second from bottom Novara while Mi-lan have the tougher task away to mid-table Siena.

A rejuvenated Inter Milan are right back in the running for a place in next season’s Champions League after win-ning 3-1 at Udinese earlier on Wednesday thanks to an inspired performance by Wesley Sneijder.

The Dutchman scored twice as the nerazzurri came from behind at the Sta-dio Friuli to make it three wins and two draws in five games since former youth coach Andrea Stramaccioni replaced Claudio Ranieri in the dugout.

Inter capitalized fully on a slip-up by Lazio, whose grip on third place was weakened by a 2-1 defeat at struggling Novara earlier in the day.

Lazio are a point clear of Napoli, who won 2-0 at Lecce, while Inter and Udinese

are a further two points behind in fifth and sixth place respectively. Meanwhile, Roma lost 2-1 at home to Fiorentina and slip to seventh.

With the sides around them all drop-ping points, Inter are suddenly looking well-placed to salvage a top-three finish from a season overshadowed by coach-ing changes and a failure to impress in Europe.

They went behind after just six min-utes in Udine when Danilo netted for the home side, but Samir Handanovic allowed a weak Sneijder shot through his grasp for the equaliser in the tenth minute.

Sneijder then put Inter in front after

excellent build-up play from Diego Milito and the 3-1 victory was complete before half time as Argentine midfielder Ricardo Alvarez turned the home defence inside out before slotting home.

Lazio are now three games without a win after substitute Giuseppe Mascara scored a delightful free-kick 11 minutes from time to give Novara a win that is like-ly to only delay their return to the second tier. Lazio now face a crunch clash with Udinese on Sunday. Having lost 4-0 to Ju-ventus on Sunday, Luis Enrique’s Roma looked set for a draw against Fiorentina when Francesco Totti cancelled out Ste-van Jovetic’s opener. - AFP

BERLIN: Arsenal’s Per Mertesacker has handed Germany coach Joachim Loew a pre-Euro 2012 boost by declaring himself fit for June’s European Champi-onships. The 27-year-old centre-back has been out since damaging ankle ligaments in the Gunners’ 2-1 Premier League win over Sunderland in February, but expects to be fully fit for Euro 2012 which starts on June 8. Mertesacker said the injury, which allowed him to focus on his fitness, could have been a blessing in disguise.

“I hope so, and I think that by the time the Euro starts, I will have achieved a level of fitness like never before,” Mertesacker told German magazine Sport-Bild.

“In the past, I have always missed out when it comes to getting the optimal preparation time. I haven’t had to bend and twist to accommodate Arsenal to be fit for the Euro.”

Meanwhile, Loew has said he expects Germany’s rising stars Mario Goetze and Marco Reus to play a key role for him at Euro 2012. Dortmund’s Goetze, who turns 20 on June 3, and Moenchengla-dbach’s Reus have been in superb form this season. Attacking midfielder Reus, 22, has scored 16 goals to help Gladbach in their bid to qualify for a Champions League place.

Goetze has just returned after five months out injured, but impressed at the start of the season as Dortmund retained

the Bundesliga title and he orchestrated Germany’s 3-2 win over Brazil last Au-gust. Both Reus, four appearances, and Goetze, who has scored two goals in 12 internationals, are relatively inexperi-enced, but Loew is backing them both.

“I believe that both of them will play more than just a role off the bench for us at the Euro,” he said. “Marco Reus hasn’t

played for the national team so often, but for me he is one of the success stories of the season. Goetze has also been involved for perhaps a year, but he plays as if he has always been a part of the team.”

Loew will name his squad for Euro 2012 on Monday May 7 and said only “four or five” positions are still up for grabs. -AFP

Cesena’s Guillermo Daniel Rodriguez Perez fights for the ball with Juventus’ Mirko Vucinic (center) during the Italian Serie A football match Cesena vs Juventus , April 25, 2012. (AFP)

FILE - Arsenal’s Per Mertesacker (left) challenges Sunderland’s Stephane sesse-gnon during their English Premier League soccer match at the Emirates Stadium in London, Oct.16, 2011. (AFP)

PARIS: This Saturday’s French Cup final will be a veritable David versus Goliath affair as third-tier min-nows Quevilly take on Ligue 1 giants Lyon at the Stade de France.

France’s national knockout competition is no stranger to giant-killing, with Calais famously going all the way to the final in 2000 before losing to Nantes.

Quevilly, who hail from a suburb of the Normandy city of Rouen, have a proud history in the competition too, having lost to Marseille in the 1927 final and also reached the last four in 2010, where they lost to even-tual winners Paris Saint-Germain.

This year’s run has been nothing short of remark-able, with Quevilly beating Marseille 3-2 after extra time in the quarter-finals and then eliminating another top-flight side in the last four in the shape of Rennes. Of Quevilly’s 26-man squad, 17 are paid to play the game, including 14 who are on full-time federal contracts.

Goalkeeper Yassine El Kharroubi is on loan from second-division club while captain Gregory Beaugrard

and fellow defender Kevin Giboyau have contracts as youth coaches. Coach Regis Brouard, a former Mont-pellier player who has become one of France’s most coveted young managers, oversees daily training ses-sions and makes sure the day-to-day running of the club is just like that of a top-tier outfit. Things are im-proving behind the scenes, and Quevilly already invest in youth development.

In addition, they will have two artificial training pitches completed this summer, although for the mo-ment Brouard oversees sessions on local municipal fields. Journeys to away games are undertaken by bus, and the players must pay for physiotherapy them-selves.

And while the majority of Quevilly’s players are technically professional, the best-paid of those takes home 3,200 Euros ($4,224 US dollars) a month.

Meanwhile, Lyon’s biggest earner, Yoann Gourcuff, pockets a cool 450,000 Euros ($594,000 US dollars) a month. - AFP

Amateurs in name only, Quevilly set for Cup final

Quevilly’s play-ers celebrate with supporters after the French Cup semi-final football match Quevilly vs. Rennes, April 11, 2012. (AFP)

LONDON: Chelsea has been defying expectations all sea-son, from the surprisingly poor domestic campaign to the as-tonishing humbling of Barcelona. ‘’Miracle Men,’’ the Daily Tele-graph called them on the front page of its sports section after the 2-2 draw advanced them to the final. The obituaries written for an aging team have been ripped up and replaced with tributes to a fearless squad that defied the odds to reach the Champions League final for the second time in four years.

Winning the European Cup for the first time had seemed an unlikely proposition when Andre Villa-Boas was booted out in March with the domestic campaign in turmoil and Chelsea seem-ingly headed out of the Champions League.

While the Blues struggled in the Premier League, they ad-vanced 3-2 on aggregate to the final. Chelsea had to play with 10 men from the 37th minute when Terry was sent off for putting his knee into the back of Alexis Sanchez, and the captain will miss the final. ‘’For many teams it would be a killer,’’ Chelsea goal-keeper Petr Cech said. ‘’But we showed great strength of mind and character not to lie down.’’

Such fighting spirit has not always been evident this season. When Villas-Boas was fired, the Portuguese was widely reported to be at odds with his squad, which was facing Champions League elimination after losing 3-1 to Napoli in the last-16 first leg.

Turning around that fixture provided Roberto Di Matteo with the ideal launch pad for his stint in the dugout until the end of the season. While the Premier League form has still not recov-ered, Chelsea is through to an FA Cup final against Liverpool and on course for the cup double.

The victory also helped to pierce the mystique attached to all-conquering Barcelona, which overwhelmingly dominated the two legs but failed to complete its slick passing carousels with enough goals. Chelsea is sixth in the Premier League and must overtake Tottenham or Newcastle to clinch the fourth qualifica-tion spot. - AP

Chelsea defies expectations, humbles Barcelona

Chelsea’s Ramires (2nd right) celebrates with team mates after scoring during their Champions League semi-final sec-ond leg soccer match, April 24, 2012. (Reuters)

Mertesacker hands Germany a pre-Euro boost